It’s been quite a week. TGIF. On Monday, I woke up light-headed and nauseous thanks to another episode of “As the AFib Returns.” (More on that next week.) On Tuesday, I got $90 deposited into my checking account courtesy of the Social Security Administration. On Wednesday, the local community paper hit newsstands with a feature story on Mustang Sal and well, us. (I might write about that next week, too.) Friends and family from Hudsonville to Hazel Park and the Grosse Pointes called, emailed and texted us to give props. It’s our 15 minutes of fame, thanks to Mustang Sal and an intrepid reporter for C&G Newspapers named Maria Allard. Then yesterday, I received a personal email from the president of the United States. No lie.
Here’s what he said:
Dear Jennifer,
Congress provided 2 Billion Dollars to make improvements to the Medicare program for Americans enrolled in traditional Medicare.
I believe the best way to do that is to put healthcare dollars back where they belong—directly in the hands of the American People.
As a result, you are receiving a One-Time Payment of $90 to offset some of the cost of your October Medicare premium. This will ensure these funds benefit YOU and your individual healthcare needs.
Healthcare Dollars should benefit Patients, not Insurance Companies or Government Bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower Healthcare Costs, increase Accountability, and Put Patients First.
As a result, I am proud to be the First President in History to bring down Americans’ prescription drug prices. Through TrumpRx, we are delivering massive discounts on Household Prescription Drugs, and my Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Agreements have already saved Americans more than 1 Billion Dollars on much-needed Medications.
We also secured an unprecedented 50 Billion Dollar investment to transform Rural Healthcare, expanded access to Health Saving Accounts for millions of people on Obamacare, and restored Price Transparency, all while rooting out the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse across our Healthcare System.
I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare.
May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.
Then he closed with his official trademark medium-point black Sharpie signature that looked an awful lot like my last EKG, adding his name and job title in all caps in case I didn’t recognize the chicken scratch.
Despite countless gratuitous capitalizations, the annoying use of serial commas and a really boring font, I appreciated his genuine concern about my health care, which should always be two words in my copy editor brain.
I’m presuming Natalie Harp drafted the email around midnight Wednesday before encouraging him to hit “send.” She’s the White House Appointments Secretary known as the “human printer” who finds only positive stories about her boss online and rides in SUV trunks if necessary.
But back to Tuesday’s free money. Just 90 U.S. dollars?
Either my monthly SSA benefit had dropped considerably, or this was an early Halloween prank. What’s next? Toilet-papered trees? Cocktails with the Grim Reaper?
Then it hit me: Was he paying me way less than half of my current monthly Medicare premium in exchange for a vote supporting his endorsed candidates in the upcoming midterm elections? Or, am I just being my old cynical self?
Yes, and yes.
According to news reports, this one-time, $90 deposit is a Medicare Part B premium rebate from the feds to help offset October health care costs covered under the program. We’re talking doctor’s visits, ambulance services and lab tests.
Funded by the Medicare Improvement Fund, the $90 will be given to those enrolled in traditional Original Medicare Part B living in the United States. That’s more than 20 million people.
But 40 million others over age 65 – including my beloved who has yet to receive her deposit and is quite ticked off about it – can kiss that cash goodbye. If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, receive Medicaid assistance for Part B or pay higher-income-related adjustments, you’re SOL.
You get zip. Nada. Niente.
If you sense some pre-midterm elections pattern of giving here, you’d be correct.
In September, roughly a million Americans who were reportedly overcharged for their Affordable Care insurance received a $500 refund. I don’t know of anyone who has gotten this.
That could be because a million is a small fraction of the more than 19 million people enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage since 2014 when it went into effect under President Obama.
Then there’s the administration’s third pledge about all Americans receiving $5,000 each if Republicans retain control of Congress – that is, the House and Senate – in the midterms on November 3. That would require approval from Congress, like starting wars, and cost more than $1 trillion.
Under U.S. federal law, it’s illegal to give payments that are intended to influence the way a person is voting. As in, a bribe. But some claim the offer could be seen as a pledge to cut taxes, which is legal.
If so, then why hasn’t another politician – or sitting president, for that matter – done this before?
Because they knew better. Optics mattered. So did integrity.
Anyway, my pal Sparky, who lives in The Villages retirement community in central Florida, received an email Thursday from the Sumter Democratic Party about these $90 deposits. But the sender, an official with SDP’s Executive Committee, cut to the chase.
Here’s what he wrote:
The administration’s $90 pre-election bribery checks have started rolling out. We received ours today.
The irony (and like everything else this administration does, the stupidity) of these checks is that Social Security requires almost everyone to have their “checks” deposited electronically. So, they’ll never see his name on these checks. Many won’t even realize it’s been deposited, and if they do see $90 in their checking account, they won’t have any idea why!
We’ve decided the best way to respond to this is to donate our $90 to organizations or candidates who will fight this administration. We’re seeing reports across the country from candidates who are reporting a sudden increase in $90 donations.
Here are some places that would put your $90 to good use for the November election.
Then the county official included the names of three qualified candidates running for state office in Florida and linked each name to their websites. Genius!
Inspired, I added the $90 deposit to my checkbook ledger (yes, I still write a few checks and balance my stone tablet monthly) and contributed that amount plus another $10 for good luck to a Michigan candidate of my choice.
Nobody’s choice but mine.
And since I continually need to dig myself out of the deep hole of gloom and doom I’ve been in thanks to a decade of this political nonsense, I also donated a few bucks to one of my favorite charities, It Gets Better.
Since 2010, this nonprofit organization has continued its mission to uplift, empower and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe through storytelling, education and building global community.
Their vision: No matter how difficult things may be, it can get better.
Take it from me. It does. And it will.
(YouTube audio only: I swear I’m not making this up. In 1976, the lead guitarist of American rock band Blue Oyster Cult wrote “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” after a heart arrhythmia diagnosis. His name was Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser. He wrote the song while picturing an early demise for himself, imagining eternal love that transcends death. Well, Roeser got better and turns 78 in November.)
