THE EDGE OF A CLIFF I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS STANDING ON (The Daily Whatever Press)—Bernie Sanders wants to lower the Medicare age to 55, and I am 56.
I’d like to report that I took this news with dignity, but alas, I did not. I read it, did the subtraction, did it again because I didn’t trust it, and then something behind my sternum that has been clenched for years just…let go. I’m not too proud to tell you that I actually cried with some weird mix of hope and relief.
Fifty-six minus 55 is 1. One whole year of clearance. I have never cleared a bar in my life, and I have been to a lot of bars.
What the man actually said
Last Thursday, 2 days after Democrats won back the House and the Senate, Sanders posted a video. In it, the 85-year-old senator from Vermont, who is about to chair the Senate’s health committee, laid out what he called an immediate first step: lower Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55, add dental, vision, and hearing, and cover every kid in America from birth through age 19.
Dental. Vision. Hearing. As it stands, Medicare treats your teeth, eyes, and ears as optional accessories, like floor mats that you have to pay hundreds of dollars for after you’ve picked out your dream car.
He says the whole thing can pass the Senate with 51 votes through budget reconciliation, which is Washington for “we don’t need a single Republican.”
Holy shit.