Reply #13: As a middle-aged single, I agree with the above [View All]

I'm committed to voting for Kerry in the fall, but during the primaries it was irritating to see all the talk about "working families" and "health care for children" and no mention of a little-recognized but very much hurting demographic: middle-aged single people who have lost their former jobs and are surviving on temp jobs and handouts from relatives, with no regular income and no health coverage, hoping they live long enough to be eligible for Social Security. (I am self-employed, but I know a lot of people in this boat, all of them formerly in well-paying jobs and committed to job hunting but beset by both a bad economy and evident age discrimination.)

What I'd like to see is health care for everyone, not only children, who--let's face it--with rare exceptions need just immunizations and routine checkups most of the time. "Health care for children" sounds heartwarming, but children are actually the cheapest demographic to cover. There's a reason that your health insurance costs increase drastically with age. The age group that is between 50 and Medicare eligibility pays through the nose and is most in need of relief. Why not extend eligibility for Medicare downward?

Strict enforcement of the laws against age discrimination would be helpful, too.

Affordable housing and pension fund protection are two other biggies for singles--and for other groups as well.