Medicare Part B premium increase
On Nov. 12, Medicare (CMS) announced that the Part B premium for 2022 would be increased to $170.10 per month compared to $148.50 for 2021. This increase of $21.60, which is 14.5%, is certainly one of the largest in recent years.
As a volunteer Medicare counselor for Pima Council on Aging and Tucson Medical Center for the past 16 years I’m sure this will be a significant problem for many lower income people on Medicare. It seems from CMS’s news release that one of the major justifications is that the average Social Security benefit increase is to $1,565 per month, which after deducting the $21.60 increase is still $70.40 per month higher than 2021. With the current inflationary increases ongoing in our country this seems to be a weak excuse for a 14.5% increase.
I would hope that our Congressional representatives could take action to lower this increase for 2022.
Terry Allen
East side
Steller reveals self, not Masters
Re: the Nov. 14 article “Candidate reveals self with attack on friend.”
Tim Steller’s recent opinion column about Blake Masters, who is running for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, suggests that there is something wrong if a person grows intellectually, develops different views over time, and makes new friends after high school. More often than not, those things occur when someone, like Mr. Masters, receives a Stanford University and Stanford Law School education followed by several years of experience in the business world. Instead of “revealing” Mr. Masters, the opinion column actually “reveals” Mr. Steller as one who was attempting to undermine a candidate for public office whose political views differ from his own.
Roger Taft
Northeast side
Climate changes now
The world needs to adapt to climate change. It has been happening for billions of years. We have the Paris agreement with 195 nations signing on. So far it has been a failure. The United States has done a remarkable job of reducing our CO2, but let’s look at the problem. China is the biggest polluter and can continue to produce more CO2 till 2030. India also has till 2030. They will probably double their 2020 level. Most of the 195 nations are poor, want to grow their economy, produce electricity, power their factories, heat their homes. The cheapest way is coal. Who has built most of the coal fired power plants world wide? China! We need to be careful in limiting our economy. I do not like China, India, Russia and Iran having a good laugh at our expense.
Valentine Ferraris
East side
No venues at a Grant Road Casino!
Re: the Nov. 14 article “New casino one step closer.”
The article states the city is closer to a deal with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to build a casino. It would be on a vacant lot immediately southeast of the Grant Road I-10 exit. I urge the city to consider the traffic ramifications of this enterprise.
I have lived west of the exit since 1979 and observed uncounted projects on Grant Road to aid traffic flow. Yet I still sit, cooling my heels at the I-10 underpass traffic lights. Grant Road alterations to increase traffic flow are a never-ending project and always will be.
A casino immediately east of the underpass affects traffic on I-10 exit lanes and Grant Road. My issue is the use of the casino as a venue.
A few hundred cars converging on this intersection will bottleneck Grant Road and be a significant safety issue on the East and Westbound I-10 exit lanes.
Michael Burdoo
West side
Disrespecting the fully-vaccinated
Re: the Nov. 14 article “COVID numbers in county creeping up again.”
The article stated “Of all the fully vaccinated people in Pima County, only 1.25% have had a breakthrough case, resulting in only .03% being hospitalized.”
If so few of our fully-vaccinated have a mild breakthrough case, why is their fully-vaccinated status being disrespected?
Personally, yesterday, with my wife and I having had three full-strength Moderna shots, the last one this past August, and proving it by showing our CDC vaccination cards at Tucson Music Hall, we were still required to be fully masked at all times for a concert.
Why was our fully-vaccinated status so disrespected?
We left at intermission and won’t be back until the Tucson Music Hall respects those who are fully vaccinated — or in our case, more than fully — by not requiring them to be masked.
Dr. James J. Stewart
Foothills
Missed chance to honor an all-time great
Tuesday’s UA Women’s Basketball runaway out victory against Texas Southern University missed an opportunity to recognize the most accomplished basketball player, men or women, to ever set foot on the McKale Center hardwood. TSU head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is one of the greatest women’s basketball players. At USC, she made the Women’s Final four three times and won outright twice. Representing USA basketball, she won numerous international titles including a gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. After 10 years overseas in international hoops, Coop joined the NBA Houston Comets where she rained in points from 1997 to 2000 averaging 21 points per season and winning the WNBA title four years in a row before starting a prolific coaching career.
Most people missed the best moment in last night’s game when Coach Barnes and Coach Coop hugged and chatted for an extended period before the game. Those of us who witnessed it knew something special was happening. Go Coop!
Bill Oppenheimer
Northwest side
Both turn-out gear and COVID vaccine protect us
As a retired fire officer with 38 years of service I am disappointed with my brothers and sisters in the fire service who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine. So much of what we do in the fire service is based on science, yet some firefighters will not accept the science behind the vaccine. I would suggest to my colleagues to research the data from around the world on who has died from receiving the vaccine and those who have died that have not received the vaccine. Of course this same logic follows for all those who deny getting the vaccine. In the fire service we take pride in saving lives, this should start with us.
Fred DINoto
Northwest side
EV bidirectional charging update
Re: the Nov. 7 article “Right kind of EVs can transform the grid.”
In a recent Guest Opinion, I wrote Volkswagen would be offering an electric vehicle (EV) with bidirectional charging (BDC) in the U.S. next year. This no longer appears to be the case. Even Ford is only offering BDC on its F150 pickups.
With time short for meaningful climate action, this is insufficient. Every EV produced without BDC is a lost opportunity to use more renewable energy. Estimates of the amount of grid-based battery storage available in 2030 range from 70–140 gigawatts. After allowing for technical constraints, 600 (5%) of the estimated 16,000 gigawatts of battery storage available in EV batteries in 2030 could be used by the grid to take more advantage of renewable energy sources.
By mandating the inclusion of bidirectional charging (and maybe paying union wages) to receive full tax credits for new EVs — wherever made, the U.S. can resolve its EV trade dispute and lead the world in transitioning to renewable energy.
Steven Lesh
East side
