Social Security Isn’t the ‘Dole’

As seniors with more than 30 years of experience in human services--and long-forgotten soldiers in the “war on poverty”--my wife and I are thankful our medical benefits are secured. However, even though we have started new careers as resident managers for HUD-subsidized seniors’ apartments, working for companies that provide health insurance coverage, we shudder to think what will happen when we become unable to work.

At the seniors’ apartments where we’ve worked for the past three years, we’ve seen the hopes and dreams of seniors lost when they quickly become impoverished due to debilitating illnesses, even though most of their health care is paid for by Medicare.

Yet the attitudes of well-paid employees covered by generous health plans through their employers often are negative when they see that Medicare doles out $200 billion a year, as if the poor are getting something for nothing.

Originally, the word “dole” meant “one’s allotted share, portion or destiny.” Today it means “giving or distribution of food, money or clothing to the needy.” The word is most closely associated with government programs that serve the poor.

My wife and I paid into Social Security for at least 50 years. And even when we were raising six children, we paid high income taxes, as did many middle-class workers of our generation.

During the period of our “retirement” and eligibility for Medicare, we pay a significant portion--$48 a month each--from our Social Security fund for Medicare. We have also seen our costs for drugs, dental care and eyeglasses dramatically increase. And yet we have to struggle to maintain our dignity knowing that some believe we are living “off the dole.”