Democratic victories keep Social Security and Medicare safe for seniors

Social Security and Medicare are lifelines for most Americans as they head into their retirement years. This is especially true for seniors like me, who live with a chronic medical condition. In 2009, I was diagnosed with HIV. This means that I rely on a daily antiretroviral medication to stay healthy and prevent myself from developing AIDS, which killed one of the best people I have known.

Over the course of this year, Republicans have threatened to slash Medicare and Social Security if they took control of Congress. This has been a life-or-death concern for me. Because the fact is, if these programs are cut, I will not be able to make ends meet, and I will soon die. Thankfully, now that Democrats are set to control the Senate for at least the next two years, I feel much more confident that I will be able to rely on these programs, though the threat has not passed — it’s merely been delayed.

After I retired from a career in the hospitality industry at the beginning of 2021, I began collecting Social Security, which provides me with just enough income to get by, along with the money I’m making from a couple of part-time jobs. Between these several streams of income, I’m making $2,000 at most each month. This is enough to pay for my rent, utilities, groceries, and a few creature comforts like Netflix in my hard-earned retirement.

If Republicans had taken control of the Senate and cut Social Security, I couldn’t keep my lights on or my water running. Any cuts to Medicare would be disastrous; I have to take my HIV medication every single day, so anything that reduces the security of my health care coverage puts my health at severe risk.

On the retail market, my HIV medication costs $3,800 a month, nearly double what I make in a month. Fortunately, Medicare Part D covers part of my costs. Without the assistance I receive, I would need to spend money that I simply do not have.

At age 65, I am lucky to have the capacity to work part-time for some extra cash if I need it. But I know that I won’t be able to do that forever. Social Security and Medicare were designed to provide seniors like me with a social safety net as we age. These are not “entitlement programs,” as Republicans claim. I paid into these programs for decades and now they are simply returning my money back to me.

Cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be nothing less than theft of the money that hardworking taxpayers have paid into these programs for our retirement. The funds in these programs are our money to use.

If I could sit in a room with the politicians threatening to slash these programs, I would tell them, “What you’re doing is taking away my assurance and my security that I will live on a healthy basis for the rest of my life. You are backing me into a corner and probably condemning me to be sick for the rest of my life — or killing me.” That’s not being alarmist. It’s a fact. I will die if I don’t have access to Medicare and Social Security, as will millions of seniors across the country.

We deserve leaders who recognize the danger of threats to Medicare and Social Security and who will instead work to strengthen these programs for my generation — as well as the generations to come. I am glad that, in this next Congress, at least one of our legislative branches will be controlled by leaders dedicated to protecting the social safety net that seniors rely on.

Scott DeBerg is partially retired and lives in Cedar Rapids.