Taxing Seniors for Medicare
Rosenblatt touches lightly on the full impact of the Medicare catastrophic act on the elderly and should have researched the act in greater depth. Without dwelling on the many areas that adversely affect most of the elderly, I will comment only on one set of figures Rosenblatt included in his article--that for the full amount of the surcharge to be assessed, a single person would have to have an income of $45,000 and a married couple $90,000.
My wife and I file a joint return for income tax on a far, far, far lesser amount than $90,000. Even so our tax bill exceeds the amounts shown in the ridiculous AARP chart which accompanies the article, and the resultant income tax requires that we will have to pay the maximum $1,600 surcharge.
This is so because we, like many other elderly, are on fixed incomes that are subject to full taxation, have paid for our homes and cannot deduct mortgage interest, have few debts that carry deductible interest and no longer can claim dependent children for deductions. We have no tax shelters.
The AARP, which fully supports this preposterous act, is a poor source for statistics.
CHARLES K. PRITCHARD
San Diego
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