Letter: Social Security debacle

Shocked and in disbelief, we received a Social Security notice and were informed that starting next month, we will be required to pay an additional $270 a month for our Medicare and drug coverage; total premiums for the two of us, $633 a month.

Because of a one-time inheritance and an IRA transfer to a Roth IRA in 2011, we are classified as rich. Consequently, starting next month, over $104.90 a month individual Medicare premium was doubled along with a big drug premium increase.

We heard all the pre-election talk about the possibility of future entitlement and payment changes for the rich. However, we had no idea that increases would ever be hitting us. We are not rich. We never read or heard of the current program until now. My question is, how did this debacle come about without any advance notice. We've been given less than 35 days before this impacts our fixed income. Are we getting illegally gouged by the government?

Rick Farnsworth

Yuba City