No one should have to deal with stuff like this in their sixties. You shouldn’t have to say that you are not gaming the system etc. It’s a testament to how broken American media is that you have to say that.

I don’t understand this war on its own people the American govt seems to be engaged in while parasitic billionaires and defence contractors rip society off.

Venture welfare is the real welfare queen in America and if there was a real press that would be obvious. These are grifters whom contribute nothing and rip people off..

I am not American and one of the things that has made my life easier as a divorced, only child with no children is that both my parents had/have decent pensions (as former public servants) and healthcare.

I really hope for future generations’ sake my country does not copy America. Here too grifting and not very bright economists talk about “freebies for the poor”. Economics is not a hard science unlike Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine and less reality-based and more political than those. Good scam to make the general public suspicious of real hard science while making a right leaning, far more bullshitty soft science this influential in public policy.

These are people again who contribute nothing to society, but scam their way forward. And until that is called out by people and the media we will be exploiting and ripping people off to feed an overfed parasitic billionaire class that produces little of value (unless junk capitalism -AI, crypto, social media etc are considered actually useful rather than the drains on human attention and human health they are).

I recently read Chomsky’s take on the NYT. I am not particularly a Chomsky acolyte -he has his moments. But I agreed with him that the NYT is mostly not liberal or conservative and merely amoral and mercenary. He may not have put it in those terms..

I hope things get better for you. Not one thing you describe is fair. It also sounds like all the opposition to “red-tape and bureaucracy” only applies to corrupt corporations intent on deregulation not when it is about making lives easier for your citizens. Again something where my country would be wise to not copy America.

Our country is so insane with all this, health care should be cradle to grave. If they need a little money to cover tourists and migrants they can add a small travel tax and hit the employers of migrants.

This is normal for SSDI... you are not allowed to have above a certain amount in the bank. Recipients usually forced to "spend it down"

I had something very similar happen when I started collected SS at aged 66. That first year my income was high enough (I honestly forget why this was the case) that I had to pay some relatively huge amount (to me it was huge, perhaps $150/month) for my Medicare. I could afford it, I wasn't going to be going hungry or unable to pay some other bill, but it was quite annoying.

And then I remember the various times in my life I've gone hungry, or just barely been able to buy food, and I realize I really am lucky and well off.