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Friday Alert March 14, 2008
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or
New Hampshire Alliance
Members Greet Sen. McCain with
Protests...
On the eve of Senator
John McCain's Tuesday visit to Exeter, New
Hampshire, the New Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans
united outside the Concord Legislative Office Building to
protest his plan for Social Security privatization.
Local seniors urged McCain and his Senate colleagues
John Sununu and Judd Gregg
to keep their “hands off my Social Security.”
Participants in the event included John
Mendolusky, President of the New Hampshire Alliance
for Retired Americans, several state legislators, and
members of the groups New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for
Action, Working Families Win, and Americans United for
Change. In an interview appearing in the March 3
edition on The Wall Street Journal, Sen. McCain
said, “As part of Social Security reform, I believe that
private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines
that President Bush proposed.” The
proposal that Sen. McCain favors is the same George W. Bush
privatization plan rejected by the American people in 2005
for jeopardizing the economic security of current and future
retirees and ravaging guaranteed benefits for seniors and
the disabled. Pictures from a second Alliance event,
last week’s Arizona Social Security protest, are available
at www.retiredamericans.org/ht/d/Gallery/pid/335.
...As the U.S. Senate
Rejects Social Security Privatization
Again
On Thursday night, the U.S. Senate
voted 57-41 to reject an amendment to the FY 2009 Budget put
forward by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) that
would have funneled surplus Social Security funds into risky
private accounts rather than keeping them in the Social
Security trust fund. Sen. McCain did not vote.
“Sen. DeMint tried and failed for the third year in a row to
privatize Social Security,” said Edward
Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance.
“Three strikes and you should be out, but I’m sure he’ll
keep trying.” Complete results of the Senate vote are
available at http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00065.
IRS to Mail out
Information Assisting Seniors with Their Stimulus
Rebates
Starting next week, information
packets will be mailed out to recipients of Social Security
or Veterans Affairs benefits to help them in filing for
their 2008 stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service
announced on Monday. According to Reuters, the 10-page
tax package -- specially designed for people who may qualify
for an economic stimulus payment but who normally do not
file tax returns -- will contain everything seniors will
need to file a 2007 tax form immediately. Under the
recently enacted economic stimulus plan, individuals may be
eligible for the minimum payment of $300 and $600 for
married couples, even if they do not normally file a tax
return. To qualify for the minimum economic payment,
individuals or couples must have at least $3,000 in any
qualifying government income from retirement, disability or
survivors' benefits. “Seniors need to pay close
attention so they don’t lose out on their rebate,” said
Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the
Alliance. Facts about the stimulus bill are also
available on the Alliance website at http://www.retiredamericans.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/6066.
Hospitals Turn the Tables
on Insurance Companies, Offer “Favorability”
Ratings
Hospitals are hitting back at
some of the country’s biggest health insurance companies,
who have recently started rating facilities and providing
the results to beneficiaries for use in deciding where to
seek treatment. The Los Angeles Times reports
that a group of medical centers has commissioned a survey of
113 executives from more than 500 hospitals, approximately
10% of all hospitals in America, to “help consumers shop for
coverage.” The results of interviews designed to
measure relationships between health care centers and
insurers found that three of the five largest insurance
companies in the nation had approval ratings that were more
negative than positive. UnitedHealth Group Inc.
received the worst score, attaining an “unfavorable” opinion
from 91% of respondents, and “favorable” marks from only 8%
of executives. WellPoint Inc. and Cigna were the other
two corporations receiving the poorest ratings. “This
survey confirms some of what we have always suspected about
some of this country’s biggest insurance companies – that
dealing with them is increasingly difficult and complex, and
that they do not have the patients’ best interests in mind,”
said George J. Kourpias, President of the
Alliance.
Social Security Changes
Mean More Seniors Are Delaying
Retirement
A study published in February
by the Social Security Administration found that Americans
are postponing their retirement dates due to an increase in
Social Security’s full benefits retirement age (FRA).
The moving FRA has created a shift in the large number of
retirements that generally occur when workers may begin
receiving their full Social Security benefits.
Eighteen percent of men and 12% of women born in 1937
claimed payments at age 65, when they were able to collect
full retirement checks. But for Americans born in
1940, the peak retirement age moved to age 65 and 6
months. In addition to raising the age to become
eligible for full Social Security benefits, the change
resulted in a greater benefits decrease for retirees who
begin collecting at age 62. The study concluded that as a
result, people who might otherwise have retired early were
more likely to delay taking Social Security until their FRA,
to avoid a reduction in benefits.
Regional Conferences Less
Than Two Weeks Away
U.S. Rep.
Shelley Berkley (NV-01) will address
Alliance members from across the west at the national
Alliance’s first regional conference of 2008, March 24-26 in
Las Vegas, Nevada. The Western Regional Conference
will provide a forum for activists to work together and
prepare for November’s Presidential election while learning
how to increase grassroots advocacy. Locations and
dates for later conferences are: Northeastern Regional
Conference, April 17-18, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Midwestern Regional Conference, April 28-29, 2008 in St.
Louis, Missouri; and Southern Regional Conference, June 4-5,
2008 in Orlando, Florida. For copies of the official
registration form for any of the four regional conferences,
call 1-888-373-6497, email Joni Jones at jjones@retiredamericans.org,
or visit our website at www.retiredamericans.org.
EDITOR'S NOTE: THE NEXT FRIDAY ALERT WILL BE
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008.
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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