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Friday Alert August 31, 2007
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or
As Census Announces New Figures
Regarding the Uninsured ...
The number
of those without health insurance is rising, according to the
Census Bureau's annual snapshot of American living
standards. The Wall Street Journal reported on
Wednesday that nine million people have been added to the ranks
of the uninsured during the past seven years. About 47
million people, or 15.8% of the population, lacked health
insurance last year, up from 15.3% in 2005. Approximately
two-thirds of the increase in the number of uninsured last year
came in households with pretax income of $75,000 or more.
The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health
insurance increased from $6,772 to $10,728 between 2000 and
2005, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported
earlier this month. Private-sector workers and employers
shared the burden of the increased costs, with workers paying
$971 more for health insurance in 2005 than they did in
2000. “The number of uninsured just goes higher and
higher,” said Edward Coyle, Executive
Director of the Alliance. “These figures are
exceptionally senseless given our nation’s
wealth.”
... AFL-CIO Announces Health Care Drive
for 2008 Elections
At its annual Labor Day
briefing, also on Wednesday, the AFL-CIO announced an historic
new drive that puts the full force of 10 million of its members
and 3 million Alliance retirees behind winning secure, high
quality health care for all by 2009. “Health care is
the top domestic issue for our members and for all Americans,
and the AFL-CIO is making the 2008 elections a mandate on fixing
our broken system,” AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney said. Mr. Sweeney said that while the
AFL-CIO – like the Alliance - is not endorsing a specific
health care approach at this time, any proposal that gets
labor’s support would have to meet several criteria.
It must control costs; cover everyone in the country; provide
preventive care; preserve the right of patients to choose their
own doctors; require the government to police greed and
incompetence; lower employer costs; and require employers, the
government and individuals to “share fairly” in the
cost. Mr. Sweeney and Heather Booth, who
will direct the AFL-CIO campaign, said that there are several
elements of the health care reform campaign. These
include: educating union members and their families about the
need for federal action on health care benefits, as well as
recruiting employers to support health care reform; linking
national health care reform to reform work at the state level;
and activating shareholders around health care. “We
are especially vested in making sure that retirees are not
victimized, and promises are not broken, when corporations
struggle with legacy costs,” said George J.
Kourpias, President of the Alliance.
New Minnesota Law Reveals the Reach of
Drug Companies
Attention has focused
recently on a particular committee in Minnesota that decides
which drugs are used by Medicaid programs. A new state law
requiring the Minnesota Medicaid Drug Formulary Committee to
disclose potential conflicts of interest and record its
committee votes is revealing how much money big pharmaceutical
companies give to members of state panels. Only Maine,
Vermont and now Minnesota mandate pharmaceutical companies
report payments to panel members, usually doctors and
pharmacists, for education, research, and other services.
According to a recent Associated Press report, two of the eight
members on Minnesota’s committee were paid handsomely by
the pharmaceutical industry to speak about various products
– one received more than $350,000. The advisory
panel’s recommendations to Minnesota’s Human
Services Department are generally followed, and companies paying
one or both of the members manufacture approximately one in
three drugs on the state’s preferred list. The
committee influenced $240 million in drugs for 202,000 patients
last year. The two members maintain the payments had no
effect on their decisions, and a representative for one drug
company even said the member who received money from his
business voted against his company’s products. But
some ethicists are questioning similar arrangements between
pharmaceutical companies and drug advisers in other
states. “Those who rely on Medicaid are also those
who most need protection from the influence of drug
companies,” said Ruben Burks,
Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.
Alliance Legislative Conference:
Activists Converge on Washington,
D.C.
Walk-ins will be welcome at the
Alliance’s September 4-7, 2007 National Legislative
Conference in Washington, D.C. Please note that exhibits
are open only on the first day of registration, Tuesday,
September 4th, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Come early for
a drawing of a $250 prize, free T-Shirts, give-a-ways and
more! The actual conference program begins on the 4th at
1:30 p.m., with a theme this year of “Building for
America’s Future.” Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-OH), candidates for the Democratic
nomination for U.S. President in 2008, will speak.
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential
candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC),
is also confirmed, and we are working with other presidential
candidates on their availability. The President’s
Award will be presented to Elmer Blankenship,
President of the Indiana Alliance, for his lifetime of public
service on behalf of older Americans. The Leadership Award
will be presented to Sen. Debbie A. Stabenow
(D-MI) in recognition of her years of outstanding leadership in
the U.S. Congress on behalf of older Americans. To obtain
copies of the official registration form, either call
1-888-373-6497, email Joni Jones at jjones@retiredamericans.org
or visit our website at www.retiredamericans.org.
The conference will be held at the Hilton Washington and
Towers. Hotel reservations must be made by calling the
Hilton and Towers directly at 1-888-324-4586. Be sure to
ask for the Alliance for Retired Americans National Legislative
Conference attendee rate. Due to the conference,
the next Friday Alert will be published on Monday, September 10,
2007.
Did You Know ...
Top
private-equity and hedge fund managers made more in 10 minutes
than average-paid U.S. workers earned all of last year,
according to a new study released on Wednesday. The
research groups “Institute for Policy Studies” and
“United for a Fair Economy” reported that in 2006,
the 20 highest-paid fund managers made an average of $657.5
million, or 22,255 times the U.S. average annual salary of
$29,500. The study, citing data from the U.S. Labor
Department and Forbes magazine, was reported by Bloomberg
News.
Become part of a progressive grassroots movement!
Join the Alliance
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Alliance for Retired Americans 815 16th
St, NW Washington, DC 20006 www.retiredamericans.org
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