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Friday Alert 8/26/05
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.org
Stand Up to Respect and Protect Retirement Security!
The retirement security of millions of Americans is being whittled away
with rising health care costs, failing pensions and the possibility of a
privatized Social Security system. Retirees have a critical role to play in the
debate to protect a dignified, secure and independent retirement. You can make
an important contribution to this ongoing fight by coming to Washington, DC,
September 7-9 for the Alliance’s 2005 National Legislative Conference.
The goal of the conference is to educate, energize and mobilize retirees to make
a difference through activism. The conference will include a Social Security
Rally and Lobby Day on Capitol Hill as well as informative workshops on the
upcoming Medicare prescription drug benefit and the 2006 mid-term elections.
You will hear from elected officials including Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-NY), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Debbie Stabenow
(D-MI), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI). Also
featured are Doris Kearns Goodwin, author and historian,
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney and Craig Crawford,
Congressional Quarterly columnist, MSNBC and CBS television political pundit and
author. There’s still time to register by calling Joni Jones at 1-888-373-6497
or email
jjones@retiredamericans.org
. For local activists, onsite registration is also available; call Joni Jones
for more information.
Seniors Still Skeptical of Medicare Drug Plan
Republican lawmakers have spent their August recess promoting
the new Medicare drug benefit to their senior constituents, many of who remain
wary of the plan. Only 32% hold a favorable opinion of the benefit. Realizing
their political futures are on the line if the program fails to gain large
enrollment numbers, party leaders have urged members to work feverishly to sign
people up. But results from a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study show
Republicans have their work cut out for them. Slightly more than one in five
seniors say they plan to enroll in the benefit and one in three say they do not
plan to enroll. Four in 10 seniors say they haven’t heard enough to decide.
The majority of older Americans simply do not understand how Medicare’s
prescription drug coverage will work and if it will be worthwhile.
“America’s seniors will recognize a good plan when they see one. Their
skepticism of the new prescription drug benefit is well founded, and it’s
evident we’ll still be stuck paying exorbitant drug prices,” said George
Kourpias, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “No matter how hard
Republicans and the drug industry try to sell this plan, seniors are not going
to buy it without fully understanding it.”
Medicare Law Means Healthcare Industry Lobbying Booms
The new Medicare law has the healthcare industry in a lobbying
frenzy, The New York Times reports. Medicare is expected to spend more
than $1 trillion for prescription drugs in the next 10 years, according to the
Congressional Budget Office. In the months preceding the January 2006 debut of
the Medicare drug benefit, the federal government has issued a flurry of new
rules or guidelines related to the Medicare law. As a result hundreds of
lobbyists, many of whom were involved in writing the law, have been working
frantically to decipher the rules and seek changes beneficial for their clients,
inundating lawmakers with the industry’s interests while drowning out consumer
voices. With drug companies leading the way, the healthcare industry spent $325
million last year alone, more than any other group, to influence Congress and
federal agencies. “Sadly, money talks when it comes to influence in Washington,”
said Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the Alliance. “But in the end,
lawmakers will have to answer to voters, and seniors hold the upper hand with
their powerful voice and outsized role in elections.”
The 2003 Medicare law partially privatized the 40-year old health insurance
program, and the drug benefit will be administered by private health insurers
while the law expressly prohibits Medicare from negotiating bulk drug discounts.
As Prices Rise, Pressure Mounts to Legalize Drug
Imports
With constituents growing increasingly frustrated and becoming more
vocal about soaring prescription drug costs, members of Congress are feeling
pressure to respond and a new push for laws permitting the importation of
cheaper drugs from Canada and Europe may be closer to becoming a reality.
Lawmakers are getting an earful from voters frustrated by drug prices that
continue to rise at rates far outpacing inflation. A recent study found that the
drug prices for those most commonly used by seniors increased at twice the rate
of inflation.
In July, a bi-partisan amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-NE) and
Olympia Snowe (R-ME), passed the Senate Commerce Committee with a 14-8 vote. But
efforts to lift the ban on imports have been stymied by formidable opponents
including the powerful drug lobby as well as the Bush administration, claiming
unsubstantiated safety concerns. An overwhelming majority of Americans favor
legalizing imports; millions of Americans as well as a number of state governors
have defied the ban. On average Americans pay two-thirds more than Canadians,
80% more than the Germans, 60% more than the British, 100% more than the French,
and 112% more than the Italians.
Americans’ Savings Are Dismal to Nothing
Thirty years ago, Americans saved 11.5% of their disposable
income. By 1985 it had dropped to 9.5% and 10 years later 4.4%. Today it’s a
downright non-existent 0.0%, according to the latest figures compiled by the
U.S. Commerce Department. The grim realities of Americans’ savings underscore
the importance of Social Security’s safety net, which was intended to supplement
pensions and savings. As traditional pension plans continue to decline, Social
Security remains one of the only guaranteed sources of retirement income.
“More than ever, Americans are going to need the rock-solid benefits of Social
Security,” said Ruben Burks, secretary-treasurer of the Alliance. “Social
Security is not, nor was it ever intended to be, a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a
time-tested safety net that Americans can, and do, rely on.”
The dismal rates have shocked lawmakers from both parties into devising
incentives to encourage more Americans to save, rather than spend, their money.
House Ways and Means Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA) is expected to introduce a broad
retirement security bill this fall that would address savings and also includes
an ill-conceived proposal to use Social Security’s surplus for private accounts.
Last month, House Democrats unveiled AmeriSave, a package of proposals designed
to help middle-class Americans build retirement security by promoting savings
and pension fairness without burdening future generations with additional debt.
Respect and Protect Retirement Security! Come to Washington, DC
September 7-9 and Lobby Congress at the Alliance for Retired Americans
Legislative Conference - Register at
www.retiredamericans.org/legconf or call Joni Jones at
1-888-373-6497
Become part of a progressive grassroots movement!.
Join the Alliance
Alliance for Retired Americans 888 16th St, NW Washington, DC 20008
Click here to sign up for Alliance for Retired Americans.
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