Sarah Blakeney

Sarah Blakeney moved to Boston from North Carolina over 60 years ago in search of opportunities that were not available in the segregated South. She quickly found work in a factory where she spent the next 35 years stitching children’s blouses and then building computers.

Despite her hard work, retirement has not been easy. Even with affordable housing, Sarah performs an incredible juggling act to pay the bills every month. Sarah's social security check is $1,418.50 a month. She then must pay $312.50 for Medicare premiums and another $125 for prescriptions. Sarah spends 31% of her income on premiums & prescriptions! If she was under 65, she would spend just 2.9% of her income on healthcare. Why at the age of 91 is Sarah paying 10 times that?

UPDATE 2020: Thanks to the hard work of Mass Senior Action members, Medicare Savings Program was expanded to 165% of the federal poverty level. Sarah was among the first to apply and be approved under the expansion. Sarah is now only paying small co-payments for her prescriptions. This has taken a HUGE weight off of Sarah’s shoulders, but she continues to fight for the expansion of MSP to benefit others still struggling with their healthcare expenses.