Medicare turns 49; some want to dismantle it

Wednesday was the 49th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare into law. It was a landmark piece of legislation that extended health coverage to older Americans and people with disabilities, and today, Medicare covers about 58 million Americans, including more than 700,000 Louisianans. However, it's important to remember many politicians opposed the law vigorously for decades, even after it was passed. Sound familiar?

Fast forward 49 years, and Medicare is enormously popular with Americans. However, some in Congress, like U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, are still attacking the program and trying to dismantle it. Cassidy is the only candidate in the U.S. Senate race that supports raising the eligibility age and making Louisianans work until age 70 to qualify for Medicare coverage.

Cassidy has also voted to transform Medicare into a voucher program and force seniors to pay more for their traditional coverage.

In vote after vote, Cassidy has thrown in with the extremists of his party that want to undermine the Medicare system and dismantle this crucial safety net for seniors and people with disabilities. He's siding with people like Gov. Bobby Jindal, who was a congressional intern when he basically invented the GOP's plan to end the guarantee of Medicare.

Even Cassidy's Republican opponent, Rob Maness, wouldn't go as far as Cassidy in raising the retirement age to 70.

Deep down, the congressman must understand just how unpopular these stances are with Louisianans, which is why he's throwing rocks on the issue. But Cassidy is living in a big glass house since he has actually admitted that he voted for the exact same Medicare savings as Sen. Mary Landrieu — except he voted for them in order to pay for a massive tax break for millionaires and billionaires. In Cassidy's cruel calculus, tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires outweigh a sacred promise we have made to older Americans.

As Medicare approaches the 50-year mark, it's stronger than ever.

Through reductions to waste, fraud and abuse, the Medicare trust fund is now solvent until 2030. Seniors are getting more out of Medicare now, too. In 2013, more than 530,000 beneficiaries in Louisiana received preventive services, like cancer screenings and flu visits, with no out-of-pocket cost. In addition, more than 65,000 Louisianians saved an average of $862 on their prescriptions because the Affordable Care Act is closing the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole."

So "Happy Birthday" to you, Medicare! Louisiana seniors are counting on the promise of Medicare to ensure their security and peace of mind for decades to come. We can't afford to have someone in the Senate like Congressman Cassidy that wants to blow out the candles on this essential health care program.

— State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, is the chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party.