Iowa seniors warned about proposed changes to retirement programs

By any measure, Social Security works, says Midge Slater, who is something of an evangelist for the 77-year-old retirement program.

It works for seniors, for women, rural Iowans, disabled workers and the state's economy, said Slater, a field organizer for the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans.

At the Witwer Center in Cedar Rapids Monday, Slater shared Social Security Administration data showing nearly one in five Iowans receives Social Security benefits averaging $13,117 a year. More than two-thirds of those Iowans – 68 percent -- are retired workers. Disabled workers are another 12 percent, widowers 9 percent and children 7 percent of the 584,113 Iowans who receive benefits.

To underscore the numbers, Slater pointed out that the poverty rate for older Iowans is just over 6 percent. Without Social Security, however, 47 percent of Iowans 65 and older would live in poverty.

Social Security doesn't cover all of their needs, “but it gives us some money to live, eat and stay healthy,” she told about a dozen people at the congregate meal site.

Social Security recipients who have paid into their system throughout their working lives have a significant impact on Iowa's economy, Slater said. Their $7.7 million in annual Social Security benefits is an amount equivalent to 5.5 percent of the state's Gross Domestic Product. The impact is greater in rural areas where nearly one in four Iowans receives Social Security compared to one in six non-rural Iowans.

Social Security's economic impact is equivalent to 8 percent of the GDP in Iowa's 79 rural counties. In non-rural counties, it accounts for less than 6 percent GDP.

Proposals to change Social Security “would mean bad things for the state,” Slater said.

The Alliance, which is affiliated with organized labor, and its allies will be making similar presentations in Des Moines and Waterloo in coming days, said Matt Sinovic of Progress Iowa.

He warned seniors that proposals to change Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act would “end Medicare as we know it” and wipe out health care savings they already realize. Sinovic said 400,000 Iowans have received free prevention care as a result of health care reform and saved $32 million on prescription drugs.

In Iowa, 508,487 people receive Medicare benefits averaging $8,513 a year and 522,746 Iowans get Medicaid benefits averaging $5,663 a year. In all, Iowans get $15 billion in benefits from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Norm Sterzenbach of Cedar Rapids, also with the Alliance for Retired Americans, encouraged the seniors to become familiar with the issues before voting and questions reform proposals.

“Reform,” he said is “Washington-speak for cutting programs.”