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Medicare Premiums Are Skyrocketing & Benefits Reduced Because Of The Big Beautiful (Ugly) Bill
To the Editor:
I dutifully paid into Medicare with every paycheck I earned over my almost-50 year career. That was the bargain. At retirement, my contributions would come back to me as the security in knowing that I could live in dignity without fear of catastrophic medical expenses.
As a now-retired civil servant paying Medicare premiums, I also have to pay thousands of dollars a year for a secondary health insurance policy to cover what Medicare doesn’t. My premium for that insurance skyrocketed by 12.5% this year after it increased by 13.5% in 2025. Reductions to Medicare coverage would multiply those soaring health care costs. I’m not unique. No doubt there are thousands of retirees in the Hudson Valley in the same boat.
By passing the “Big Beautiful Bill” with a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the “1%”, the “PAYGO” law triggered automatic Medicare cuts of up to $500 billion. That’s “billion” with a “B”. This was no secret. This mandatory trigger was known to every representative who voted for the bill, including Rep. Mike Lawler. Despite his pledges to protect Medicare, he voted for a half trillion dollar Medicare cut. Congress must have felt the heat. They later waived the cuts when they re-opened the government, but left some Medicare cuts behind.
The thing is, if Mr. Lawler was willing, indeed voted, to gut Medicare once, what’s to stop him from doing it again? Well, us! Call Mr. Lawler and tell him that you watch what he does, not what he says, and that he needs to protect, not undermine Medicare.
Robert Lukas
Rockland County, NY
