politics

Seriously, this is the find out stage that rural America has been asking for for years, and surprisingly avoided so far.

But they might face people's justice instead.

I’m not sure anything would pry them away from the GOP.

That’s a good one: a reference back to a famous quote to please the educated, crude humor to please the less civilized, memorable for all

Yeah, usually they're openly fucking children.

This is not hyperbole. There are many elderly living alone, SScheck to SScheck with no one to lean on.

They’re a common admission when neighbors call in wellness checks and they’re found down or confused.

The other piece is the people who supply medical care and social services still get paid, one way or another and that payment comes from SS and Medicare. Every time someone doesn’t pay their bill, costs increase. That said, the purpose of a hospital care management team is to transition these elderly cases to a safe living situation. If that is now assisted living or a nursing home it happens by the grace of those institutions now essentially taking the monthly SS check to pay for the new room and board situation with caregivers on site.

These institutions would certainly miss the SS check. In fact, there’s a hard cap on the level of profit these institutions can make because they rely on the monthly senior benefits to pay their staff, supplies, and electricity. Those monthly benefits don’t really increase. And before you scream that there should be no profit, without profit, these institutions would not exist. People get paid, or doors close. We see this a lot on well meaning but short sighted (regarding money) mental health care institutions. But for elderly care, up until now, SS and Medicare paying costs has been reliable.

Which raises the question. If the nursing home doesn’t get paid and the dependent old person gets evicted? Where do they get evicted to? Bedbound, confused, where do they go?

I have an answer for that one. A medical reason will be found to drop them at a local ER, with no return (the needs of a patient can exceed the capability of an institution so this is legal and happens often enough). This makes the displaced SS recipient and senior citizen a not paying hospital customer. Moreover, they are a non-acute person taking up an acute care bed, leaving the ER even more clogged with even longer wait times as the flow out (in the form of discharges, freeing beds for ER admissions, which frees space in the ER for people in the waiting room) slows down even more.

I give the long explanation so you can follow yet another crack as it forms, leading to the eventual collapse of the already tenuous and strained healthcare system.

Your statement that they may just die is apt. Strangely, Heritage is serious about banning assisted suicide because it “lacks dignity”.

Well Grampa Simpson more then likely didn’t need social security because of the pension he received after working 30yrs as a night watchmen at the cranberry silo.

according to this survey: in 2023 only 64% of retired people age 65+ received any income from pensions. I can’t he but think that number is probably inflated as they note “Sources of income include the income of a spouse or partner.”

But he DID earn social security

That's what they want for all of us who aren't "productive".

No, he's malicious.

indeed. republicans do not care.

Texas' lieutenant governor suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy

See also: COVID-19 response under Trump

It’s laying the groundwork for “if you complain we’ll take your benefits away completely, because you’re a fraudster” instead.

I think they are counting on 2024 being our last elections.

Reminds me somewhat of when Paul Bremer, Bush Jr's "vice-roy" in Iraq, decided to disband the Iraqi Army overnight, leaving tens of thousands of heavily armed Iraqis stranded without a job or source of income. IIRC, that's how the Iraqi insurgency started.