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Friday Alert 9/23/05
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.org
Scrambling for Funds Lawmakers Suggest
Delaying Medicare Drug Benefit
Facing a $200 billion price tag to rebuild the Gulf
Coast, House and Senate Republicans are seeking budget cuts to offset recovery
costs. Some rank-and-file GOP members, many of whom opposed the Medicare bill
when it narrowly passed Congress, are openly defying the Bush administration by
suggesting a one-year delay in the Medicare drug benefit, potentially saving $40
billion. The White House and Republican leaders in Congress are adamantly
opposed and assert the benefit will proceed as scheduled.
It is a rare sign of disunity among the GOP, but the debate over Katrina's
costs have exposed fault lines within and between both political parties. The
Bush administration has failed to provide any detail on how it intends to pay
for the recovery but has said what it will not do. President Bush and GOP
leaders have rejected calls for tax increases. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
(R-TX) said this week that rolling back the administration's massive tax cuts,
which go mostly to Americans making $1 million a year while virtually none go to
middle-income families, are akin to a tax increase and "not an option." DeLay
intends to move forward with additional tax cuts, costing the federal treasury
$70 billion. This year alone, the Bush tax cuts will cost $225 billion,
according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Democrats argue that
Republican budget cuts-including $35 billion in cuts to Medicaid, food stamps
and student aid-would affect those least likely to afford them while tax cuts
primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.
For their part, Congressional Democrats have proposed delaying parts of the
Medicare law in those states directly hit by Katrina and the surrounding states
hosting evacuees. Democrats are concerned that those evacuees on Medicaid, who
are eligible for automatic enrollment in the Medicare drug benefit, cannot be
located and may not know how to obtain drugs when their Medicaid drug coverage
ends December 31.
Basic Medicare Premium to Increase 13%
The premium for Medicare Part B will shoot up 13% next year, raising the cost to
$88.50 a month. In addition to the $88.50, some beneficiaries will begin paying
an extra premium for the new prescription drug benefit, expected to average $32
a month. Doctors are billing Medicare for longer, more intensive office visits,
more laboratory tests and more frequent and complex imaging procedures, thus
contributing to the premium increase. In addition, doctors are currently
lobbying Congress to block a 4.4% cut they face in Medicare payments next year
for each service they provide. Should their lobbying efforts succeed, patients
will have to pay even higher premiums as Medicare spending on doctors' services
increases.
Medicare premiums are deducted from monthly Social Security checks, so for
older and disabled Americans living on fixed incomes, this increase will
significantly impact their budgets. About one in four Medicare beneficiaries
can receive assistance that pays for their entire Part B premium, but only one
in 10 actually receives it because they are unaware it exists, are reluctant to
apply, or find applying too difficult.
Seniors Prove Social Security Privatization Is the
Wrong Way
Social Security has long been known as the explosive third rail in American
politics: touching it meant political death. Enjoying broad public support, it
lifted millions of seniors out of poverty, giving them a powerful voice in
politics. President Bush defiantly began his second term boasting that he would
not only touch the third rail, he would use his "political capital" to radically
overhaul Social Security through privatization. Older Americans, however,
rejected the idea that privatization was not about them and fought back by
overwhelmingly opposing the Bush plan because it would cut guaranteed benefits
and amass trillions in new debt that would burden their children and
grandchildren. "Millions of Alliance members have worked tirelessly to fight
privatization and thanks to their work, today more Americans oppose the Bush
plan than when he announced his domestic priority," said George J. Kourpias,
president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. "But our members must remain
vigilant."
The president has vowed to continue his quest to privatize the 70-year-old
program until his last day in office. This week he convened his 2001 Commission
to Strengthen Social Security, made up of the same folks who recommended private
accounts in the beginning. The president, who will never face re-election, may
be unbowed, but his Republican colleagues in Congress are not. Last week, Rep.
Tom Reynolds (R-NY), who is spearheading GOP election efforts for 2006, told the
leadership to abandon privatization, suggesting a vote on Social Security would
mean political suicide for vulnerable Republican members. Apparently the third
rail is still explosive.
Senate to Test Vote on Reimportation
An amendment to the agriculture spending bill that would block
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from enforcing its ban on importing
prescription drugs is scheduled for a vote in the Senate. Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) promised Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) he could submit the
amendment and use it as a test vote for Senate support of relaxing restrictions
on drug importation from countries such as Canada that use price controls keep
medicine costs low. Prescription-drug importation has broad support in Congress,
but is strongly opposed by the Bush administration and GOP leaders in both
chambers. The White House has warned that President Bush will veto the final
version of the agriculture bill if it includes provisions to relax curbs on drug
importation. However, according to the agreement with Frist, if the Vitter
amendment gets 60 votes, a stand-alone drug imports bill would be given floor
vote at a later date.
Medicare Recipients Needed for Case
Against Drug Industry Greed
The Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) Project is
building a case against the drug industry for inflating prices, which adversely
affect consumers. PAL, a national coalition of over 100 organizations including
the Alliance for Retired Americans, is tirelessly working to change the system
by making prescription drugs more affordable. PAL must identify by the end of
September individuals on Medicare who have paid for certain drugs used to treat
cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, emphysema and hepatitis C. Contact the
Prescription Access Litigation Project by calling toll-free 1-866-208-9800, ext.
2810 or email
hodin@communitycatalyst.org.
Make a Difference for Working Families
in the Gulf Coast
Help working families rebuild after Hurricane Katrina by
making a tax-deductible donation to the AFL-CIO Union Community Fund:
https://secure.ga3.org/08/UCF_Katrina_Relief.
Become part of a progressive grassroots movement! Join the Alliance:
www.retiredamericans.org/join |
