Medicare Rights Center phone-in on Tuesday 12/11

Please join the Medicare Rights Center and the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations for:

No Benefit Cuts for Seniors! Fiscal Cliff Call-In Day: Tuesday, December 11

Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Older Americans Act, Section 202 housing, energy assistance and more are at serious risk in the budget negotiations now happening in Washington DC.

As Medicare continues to be an integral part of the deficit reduction debate, it is up to all of us to let Congress know that American families cannot afford any changes that would save the federal government money by cutting benefits and shifting costs to seniors and people with disabilities.

On Tuesday, December 11, please call toll-free 888-876-6242 (line provided by Families USA) and tell your members of Congress:

•Reduce the deficit through a balanced approach without increasing poverty or income inequality
•No benefit cuts to Medicare and Medicaid or shifting costs onto beneficiaries or states
•No cuts to the Social Security cost of living adjustment
•No additional cuts in Older Americans Act and other domestic discretionary programs below the current caps
•Include increases in revenue so the wealthy pay their fair share

Half of Medicare beneficiaries have annual incomes of $22,000 or less, and spend three times as much of their total expenses on health care as compared to non-Medicare households. Remind Congress that the only acceptable proposals should address rising health care costs overall and must pass a simple test—they should be a cost saver not a cost shifter. Tell Congress to address the real problem—rising health care costs overall.

For more information about the proposals that would affect people with Medicare, visit http://www.medicarerights.org/issues-actions/deficit-reduction-and-medicare.php