‘Fine-Tuning’ the Medicare Surtax

The Times’ advice for fine-tuning Medicare’s catastrophic insurance is sound. However, health insurance for seniors, both government and private, needs a complete overhaul.

As a 65 year old who will be paying some percentage of the surtax, I’m not complaining. It is a bargain. However, my secondary insurance, retained from my job when I retired, already will pay much of what this program does. Better over-insured than under-insured, of course.

Some cautious few of us are buying long-term care insurance. Now that’s what we really need. It’s not cheap nor easy to find good policies which can cost from $700 to $1,200 a year.

Those seniors who are protesting the surtax--and those legislators who are tip-toeing around the issue--should spend their energies trying to come up with some basic long-term care insurance. A lot of us will willingly pay.

MARY MEYER

Pasadena