Letter: Think of Medicare's future before voting

We all keep hearing the doomsday scenarios about the future of Medicare. Certainly, changes will have to be made to ensure the program is as strong and as dependable for future generations as it has been since being signed into law in 1965.

There is a right way and a wrong way to address the future of Medicare, and I hope everyone takes the time to ask candidates running for office how they propose to guarantee the benefits, the access, and the affordability of Medicare for not just those in or near Medicare age, but for their children, grandchildren and beyond.

Rising health care costs overall, aging baby boomers and advances in health care technology certainly mean that responsible reforms to Medicare have to be considered. But — and this is a big but — Medicare must be preserved as a program of social insurance, serving all of society.

Reforms must not reduce basic protections, ask beneficiaries to shoulder out-of-pocket costs they cannot afford, or unfairly pinch the already struggling middle class. How do we do all of this?

That's what we need to be hearing from congressional candidates — now before we cast our votes. Savings proposals for Medicare should focus like a laser beam on waste and fraud as well as seek ways to improve efficiencies while maintaining quality and choice. It can be done and anyone running for Congress should tell us how they propose to do it and pledge to work across party lines to get it done.

JANE PETERSON

ELMIRA