Outrage: Shortchanged on Short Notice

Budget cuts hurt Brenda Hanson. Photo by Naomi Harris

Brenda Hanson was staring at $1,700 in unpaid hospital bills for treatment for a rare form of uterine cancer when she got another blow. In late October she found out that her $1,294-per-month Social Security check—her only income—would be slashed by $96.40 as of Dec. 1, because the state of California will no longer pick up the tab for her Medicare Part B premium, which pays for doctor visits and outpatient treatment.

Hanson, 61, of Burbank, is one of about 57,000 older or disabled Californians who lost the medical care subsidy to help the state save $63 million each year. And those affected had only a month to prepare for the cut.

“I am trying to stay alive, trying to survive, not just financially,” says Hanson, a former legal secretary who is disabled because of her cancer. “Then they tell you they are going to deduct almost $100 from an already very limited income. I couldn’t believe it.”

Ironically, if Hanson’s Social Security check were $100 lower, her entire Part B premium would be paid by the state. But because her monthly income slightly surpasses the state’s poverty line, she now must pay the premium—and she already has to pay up to $675 each month to meet her deductible before the state or federal government will pay her medical costs. When her Social Security payment increases next year due to a cost-of-living raise, so will her deductible or “share of costs.”

“It might not be so bad if I didn’t have chronic cancer,” which requires constant CT scans and hospital visits, Hanson says, “but I do.”

Michael Zielenziger is a writer based in Oakland, Calif.