Medicare Presentation Slated for Tuesday, July 16

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – Houston County has been called a retirement community and to say the county has an aging population would be an understatement. With a median age of 44.2 and nearly a quarter of the county’s population over the age of 65 – according to 2018 data from the US Census Bureau – the Medicare program is a real concern for many area residents.

With that in mind, Tami Barugh – Precinct 5 Democratic Chair – stopped by The Messenger offices on Monday, July 8 to report their would be a Medicare presentation given on Tuesday, July 16 at 6 pm in the Grapeland Urgent Care meeting room.

“We are bringing a speaker to Grapeland to talk about ‘Medicare for Y’all,’ which is now a House Bill (4127) in front of the Texas Legislature, to educate the community on the pros and cons of what ‘Medicare for Y’all’ means,” she said.

“Medicare is so important to everyone,” she continued. “We need to educate ourselves on how the program would actually work, how it would function and how the finances would go. It is something that would have a positive effect on our community because we are a rural community that is underserved. It would pay for our doctors and hospitals. It would be a win-win for us.”

She explained while the program possibly could be implemented at the federal level, the state of Texas could accomplish this in a more timely fashion and get it funded.

Clayton Tucker, of Our Revolution Texas Medicare for Y’all, will be the guest speaker and “… has been working really hard with Democrats who were elected during the last election to bring this forward into our state,” Barugh said.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].