On Friday, Aug. 14, Protect Our Care Georgia hosted a roundtable of Georgia seniors to continue the “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign, a multi-month effort giving voice to the millions of Americans rightfully sick of Trump and Republicans in Congress gutting our health care. Speakers discussed the impact of the Trump administration’s recent Medicare cuts, closures of rural hospitals, Medicaid funding cuts, and our broken health care system.
While seniors are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, the Trump administration recently announced that it is ending a key Medicare Part D subsidy that helps seniors afford prescriptions – a move that administration officials themselves admit will “likely result in higher prescription costs and increase premiums for about half of recipients.”
Georgians are already fed up with the growing health care crisis after Trump and Republicans like Representative Mike Collins slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and gutted ACA tax credits to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Since then, more than eight million people, including over 190,000 Georgians have lost the coverage they relied on to see a doctor when they’re sick, while costs have skyrocketed for millions more. Over 80 hospital wards, over 40 maternity wards, and nearly 320 clinics have shuttered nationwide. Because of Donald Trump and his Republican allies, everyone, everywhere, will pay higher costs, regardless of where they get coverage.
Richard Krise, a retired educator from White County said, “Mike Collins telling seniors to get off Social Security and go back to work shows how disconnected he is from the people he represents. We work with people in their 80s and 90s. They are not going to get a job at Starbucks to make up for higher prescription costs. They worked, paid into these programs, and earned these benefits. I expect more from someone elected to represent us.”
“When I learned the Trump administration was ending this Medicare prescription drug protection, my first question was: Why? We already saw what happened when assistance for ACA coverage went away and costs skyrocketed. Why would we deliberately do the same thing to seniors?” said June Krise, a retired registered nurse from White County. “Mike Collins should be calling on the Trump administration to reverse this decision, not standing by while seniors face higher prescription costs. These cuts do not stop with one senior. I see adult children who have lost jobs themselves trying to support parents in their 80s. When the government makes health care less affordable, the financial burden gets pushed onto the entire family.”
“When I go to fill a prescription and expect a $10 copay but find out it is $100, that money has to come from somewhere. Maybe it is groceries. Maybe it is another bill. Seniors should not have to constantly wonder what basic necessity they are going to cut because their health care costs went up,” said Karen Davenport, a retired educator from DeKalb County. “We worked, we paid taxes, and we are still paying taxes. That money should be used to help the people who built this country, not to give more tax breaks to billionaires while seniors are being asked to pay more for medicine and health care.”
“As an accountant, I know exactly what happens when a fixed expense goes up and your income does not. You have to cut somewhere else. Rent, utilities, and car payments are fixed, so too often the flexible item becomes food. That is the reality for seniors living on fixed incomes,” said Levy Frazier, a retired accountant from Fulton County. “People say it is only another $10 or $15 a month. Multiply that by 12. Then add higher rent, utilities, groceries, medical deductibles, and prescriptions. Mike Collins needs to understand that seniors cannot budget their way out of every health care cut. When rent can consume half or more of your Social Security check, higher prescription costs mean people start postponing doctor visits or going without something else they need.”
Gloria Jenkins, retired educator from Fulton County, shared, “When I lost my Medicaid coverage, I had to move from the medication that was working for me to a lower-level blood pressure medicine, and I felt the physical consequences. I know I am not alone. Seniors are being forced to make health decisions based on what they can afford instead of what their doctors say they need. Our church food pantry had to expand from one day to two because so many people are hurting. These health care cuts are happening at the same time every other basic necessity is getting more expensive.”
“Georgia seniors deserve affordable prescriptions, reliable access to care, and leaders who will protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security rather than shifting additional costs onto people who can least afford them,” said Liz Ernst, Protect Our Care Georgia Director.
Through “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now,” Protect Our Care is bringing the voices of patients, families, caregivers, and providers directly to lawmakers through nationwide events, storytelling efforts, accountability actions, digital engagement, and a coast-to-coast bus tour this fall.
Protect Our Care is a nonprofit organization that is leading the fight for better health care at lower costs.
