SOCIAL SECURITY Seniors continue juggling act

Social Security's 2.1-percent cost-of-living increase for 2004 won't cover all seniors' added expenses.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
Many seniors go back to work, cut food costs, turn down the thermostat and don't fill prescriptions to make ends meet as living costs rise more quickly than their incomes.
Social Security's 2.1-percent cost-of- living adjustment for 2004 is welcome, but it doesn't cover increased expenses, particularly for utilities and prescription drugs, said Barbara Baker of Bazetta, while sitting with friends at the Warren SCOPE Senior Center.
"When my Social Security check goes up, so does the cost of my supplemental insurance policy, and the coverage it provides goes down," said Baker, 72.
That is the dilemma many seniors face.
Social Security checks increase 2.1 percent beginning in January 2004, an average of $19 a month, according to the Social Security Administration.
But at the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services raised the cost of Medicare $7.90 a month, which is deducted from SS recipients' checks. That leaves a net average increase of $11.10 a month.
For some, however, the 2.1-percent increase will be a wash, financially -- and might even cost them money.
Supplemental income
Maxine Schwartz, 68, of Warren, lives in subsidized housing where 30 percent of her income is taken for rent. Her SS check is about $540 a month, making her 2.1-percent increase equal about $11.34. With the increase in Medicare and the increase in her rent, she doubts she will see much actual new money.
To supplement her income, Schwartz works 20 hours a week for SCOPE through the U.S. Department of Labor's Mature Services job training program.
Fortunately, she said, her minimum-wage earnings from Mature Services do not count as income when computing her rent, allowing her to use the money she earns for a vehicle and other items.
Some other seniors who are on Medicaid could face an even more serious problem, said Paula Wright, licensed social worker at the Mahoning County Senior Center.
She said if the SS increase pushes them above income eligibility requirements, they lose Medicaid health benefits. While they qualify for Medicare, they have to pay for prescription drugs out of their own pockets, something they can't afford to do, even with help through the Mahoning County Prescription Drug Assistance Program, Wright said.
Cost-cutting
Wright said most seniors live on Social Security, and by the time they pay for rent, utilities, medications and food, there is not much money left.
"I had one lady say [last week] that she hasn't turned on the thermostat in her house yet," Wright said. Many turn their thermostats down to save on gas and close off rooms as a way of economizing, she said.
"Every little bit helps, but by the time they take Medicare out, there won't be much of an increase," said Agnes Mastronarde, 82, of Campbell. Mastronarde works 20 hours a week at the Mahoning Senior Center as a receptionist under the Mature Services program.
Like most of the other seniors interviewed, she agrees the biggest problem is the cost of prescription drugs. Hers are partially paid through a supplemental insurance program.
She has a friend, however, who sometimes doesn't get prescriptions filled because she doesn't have the money. Some people cut doses to make drugs last longer, neither of which is good, Mastronarde said.
"It's OK," Hideko Trekur, 74, of Warren, said of the cost-of-living adjustment, but it's not enough. She said she sometimes cuts down on food so she can pay bills.
Trekur, who also works at SCOPE under the Mature Services program, said she receives $862 a month from Social Security after the cost of Medicare is deducted and gets help with the cost of prescription drugs through Trumbull County's Prescription Assistance to Seniors Program. Drugs that used to cost her $300 a month now cost about $180, she said.
Better care, higher costs
Medical expenses definitely are the biggest worry, said Baker, a widower whose husband worked at LTV Steel. She said the company eliminated hospitalization benefits in April 2002, leaving her with only a supplemental policy she buys.
As a result, Baker favors some kind of national health-care plan.
"We're the biggest country in the world, and we can't take care of people's health needs," she said with a question in her voice.
Janet Schweitzer, executive director of SCOPE, said that health care is better than it ever has been.
"The proof is we live longer and better," Schweitzer said. "We as seniors may have things wrong with us, but we are alive and kicking" because of the medicines.
The problem is the high cost of prescription drugs has put seniors into a situation they didn't expect and for which they could not prepare, she said.
The time has come to revisit the idea of universal health care, Schweitzer said. Business is running health care instead of doctors and nurses, she added.
"We've got to get some kind of effort going to decide what is the best answer," Schweitzer said.
alcorn@vindy.com