Drowning in today’s sad state of affairs

As an elderly senior, I’m running out of coping skills. I once thought of myself as an educated middle-class citizen. No longer. Why? health/illness costs.

A notice just arrived for my Medicare Supplement (individual) cost increase. $600 more per year and ... the Part “D” premium and deductible increase amounts to $479-a-year raise — that’s over $1,000 a year more with a pension that has decreased nearly $300 a month due to their losing their principle in “subprime mortgages, etc.”

My condo, purchased three years ago at what I thought at that time was the bottom of the depression, is now in an “upside-down” mortgage-to-value situation — so that’s $60,000 down the drain. Leaves me with only two small annuities to convert to case payers next year when one paying me $350 month ends.

When they are converted, I’ll have no resources left to meet any emergency that comes along, let alone keep up with the seven months each year I’m in the “doughnut hole” paying $600 to $700 a month for drugs.

I don’t qualify for any help because I have too much income, but not enough to live comfortably, as I worked and saved to do. Could be a lot worse, I know, but I ask why I’m in this situation, along with many other seniors. Deregulation for one — I remember when banks could not cross state lines and so a bank failure only affected a few people — not a whole nation.

Greed — as an R.N. I saw the development of medicine into big business and doctors and drug companies take big profits. We’ve seen greed everywhere in our world — I’m not against profit, but when others are hurt by excess profit, we as a nation need to take a look at our policies and practices and who we vote for.

Claire Thompson

Wauconda