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Friday Alert November 17, 2006
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or
Bush Administration Vows to Block
Negotiation of Drug Prices
The Bush
Administration announced that it would strongly oppose any
legislation allowing the government to secure cheaper drug
prices through negotiating with drug companies, as reported in
the New York Times. Secretary of Health and Human Services
Michael Leavitt claimed “federal price negotiations would
unravel the whole structure of the Medicare drug benefit, which
relies on competing private plans.” The same day
Leavitt refused to negotiate for cheaper prescription drugs,
White House counselor Dan Bartlett insisted that drug prices
have “come down” and “the proof is in the
pudding.” Both statements from the White House set
the stage for a contentious battle this January when the
Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to tackle
prescription drug costs within the first 100 hours of the new
session. “It’s unbelievable for this
administration to think that the cost of prescription drugs are
fine as they are,” said Edward Coyle,
Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans.
“The president would be hard pressed to find a retiree in
this country who would agree with him. Luckily the new
leaders we elected to Congress know that allowing the federal
government to negotiate drug prices on the behalf of seniors
would provide major savings for the Medicare program, savings
that could fill the donut hole.”
Part D Shopping
Season
November 15 marked the day 43 million
eligible Medicare beneficiaries could either sign up for a
private Part D drug plan or switch their plans. The
enrollment period ends December 31, but federal officials are
encouraging participants to act by December 8 to avoid problems
at the pharmacies as experienced this past January when the drug
program launched. Those who do not wish to change their
current plan will be automatically re-enrolled.
“While it is a complicated process, I encourage everyone
to thoroughly research their options during this enrollment
period,” said George J. Kourpias,
President of the Alliance. Many of the popular plans will
be charging higher premiums or possibly covering different
drugs. The Bush administration claims the average monthly
premium for Part D will be $24 in 2007, but it may be as high as
$135 according to the National Health Policy Forum.
“It is unfortunate that we have to sit down every year and
go through the same maze and mess of information just to make
sure the plan we settled on still fits our needs,” added
Kourpias.
PBGC Narrows Pension Deficit by $4.7
Billion
The Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures pensions for
44 million workers and retirees, announced this week that their
funding shortfall has dropped to $18.1 billion from the $22.8
billion that was recorded in 2005. The agency reported
that as of September 30, it had assets of $60 billion to cover
liabilities of $78.1 billion, according to an Associated Press
article. Officials at the PBGC attributed the shrinking
deficit to a provision in the recently passed pension law
allowing bankrupt airlines with frozen pension plans extra time
to make their plans financially whole. That provision led
to a sharp reduction in probable liabilities on the
agency’s balance sheet. “While it is
optimistic news that the PBGC’s financial condition has
strengthened, it doesn’t do anything to help the fact that
increasing numbers of corporations are dumping their pension
plans on the agency,” said Ruben Burks,
Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “Until Congress
holds those corporations accountable for their pension promises,
America’s retirees are at risk.”
Democrats Choose House Leadership for
110th Congress
Democrats in the House of
Representatives formally elected their leaders for the next
session of Congress. Rep. Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) will serve as the Speaker of the House. Rep.
Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) will be the new majority
leader. Joining the Democratic leadership team will be
House Majority Whip-elect James E. Clyburn
(D-SC), House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm
Emanuel (D-IL) and House Democratic Caucus Vice
Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT). Over on
the Republican side, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) will become the
minority leader, taking over the top GOP leadership post from
Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL).
Alliance Activities and Leadership
Travel
The Alliance hosted a successful
press conference this week on Capitol Hill with four newly
elected members of Congress. Representatives-Elect
Chris Murphy (D-CT), Heath
Shuler (D-NC), Ron Klein (D-FL) and
Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), joined by Alliance
Executive Director Edward Coyle and noted
pollster Guy Molyneux, expressed their views on
prescription drugs and explained how the retiree vote got them
elected. Rep.-Elect Murphy, who defeated Part D champion
Nancy Johnson, expressed dismay in the way the drug program was
passed in Congress and how “drug and insurance company
interests trumped the interest of seniors.” All four
of the new members vowed to make the fixes to the Medicare drug
program one of their top priorities for January, with Rep.-Elect
Shuler saying “This isn’t about partisan issues,
it’s about the quality of life for older
Americans.” Rep.-Elect Klein predicted the House
would quickly agree to allow the federal government to negotiate
prescription drug prices.
Alliance President George J. Kourpias
traveled to Las Vegas to speak at the International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Retirees Conference.
Addressing a crowd of nearly 1,000 retirees, Kourpias spoke of
the crucial role retirees play in politics, saying “Last
week, retirees sent a lot of bad politicians into
retirement. So to all of you, I say a big, and deeply,
deeply heartfelt thank you."
**Special Note**
Due
to the Thanksgiving Holiday, there will be no Friday Alert next
week. The next issue of Friday Alert will be sent on
December 1.
Become part of a progressive grassroots movement! Join the Alliance:
www.retiredamericans.org/join |
