Anna Becker

My story is typical of many seniors these days and having health conditions that make it impossible to find a job--though there is a severe case of senior discrimination in the job market these days--and my husband of 45 years plus is in the same predicament.  Both of us were employed since we were 14 years old having worked our way through school and becoming professional in our occupations.  Then when the jobs began drying up in America, our jobs were taken by younger professionals.  This process was very demeaning as it was a force the 'old people' out of their jobs because they're too expensive for us to keep.  In our professions, this has been a dangerous mantra for business to employ because it is the more experienced people who teach the newly hired inexperienced people how to do the job best--this epiphany works in both the public and the private sectors.As a result of becoming unemployed through senior discrimination, seniors loose their health insurance because they can no longer pay for it.  A series of health compromises ie. heart attack, degenerative disk disease, Polymyalgia, Porphyria, sleep apnea, big pharma side effects leading to use of other pharma drugs leading to greater side effects--all of which complicates the daily lives of seniors--nevermind that they can't pay for big pharma! With such health disorders that plague seniors and no health coverage--no wonder seniors commit suicide regularly.  Our culture teaches us that we seniors should not rely on our children who are already homeless in today's economy so with no where to turn for support--food stamps and other safety net monies--are nonexistent in most communities.  So with no medication, no housing, no food, etc--suicide seems the likely recourse.  My husband and I count our blessings regularly that we're not part of this group of seniors.In order to pay our healthcare costs and still live in our home, we downsized into a smaller property selling our farm.  We were caught in the refinancing scandel of Bank of America known as the "Making Home Affordable" legislation for which Bank of America severely violated their resonsibilities to the American taxpayers and ALL those who fell prey to their financial grandizement schemes! We were facing bankruptcy as our California lawyers fighting for my husband's share of his inheritance--lawyers took 3 years and $55,000 to get a measley $142,500 that remained then told us they would no longer represent us.  We fell in arrears with our Bank of America credit cards because Bank of America did not honor my request through my HUD counselor a refinance that I could afford.  Not having the chance to talk to a Bank Of America negotiator for my "making home affordable" refinance, I was given a loan much larger than my original loan and a monthly payment that was the same as before!  The only reason I got this refinace was due to help from both senators; however, Bank of America did NOT follow the legislation and absolutely did NOT follow federal guidelines nor give me an affordable mortgage in hopes that we will eventually foreclose.  My husband and I faced bankruptcy when the small inheritance came through giving us more time once again before we will need to claim bankruptcy.  My credit is severely damaged although we were able to settle our credit card accounts in litigation so there is NO opportunity to pay down my mortgage and become more financially stable with lowered monthly mortgage payments.Together, my husband and I make a good retirement income as compared to current retirees, but with $25,000 to $30,000 in healthcare costs annually--we're headed towards bankruptcy again!