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Friday Alert March 28, 2008
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. - Washington DC, 20006 - (202)
974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or
Western Regional Meeting is Pronounced a
Success!
Monday through Wednesday of this week, the Alliance
held its Western Regional Meeting - the first of four regional meetings in
2008 - in Las Vegas, Nevada. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley
of Nevada, who represents Las Vegas;
Scott Watts, President of the Nevada Alliance;
Danny Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO;
Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the national Alliance; and
Richard Fiesta, Director of the Department of Government and Political
Affairs for the national Alliance. Alliance members had a chance to voice
their own opinions throughout the conference and in smaller breakout sessions.
Executive Vice President Judy Cato of the national Alliance
spoke about community-based issues, and national Alliance President
George J. Kourpias addressed pensions, health care, long term care,
housing, energy costs, and the national debt in his remarks. He then swore
in the following newly-elected regional board members to the Alliance Executive
Board for their respective sub-regions: Bill Holayter of
Washington State (Subregion 1);
Luis Duran of California (Subregion 2);
Frank Lay of Colorado (Subregion 3); and
Jo Etta Brown of Nevada (At-Large). Locations and dates
for later conferences are: Northeastern Regional Conference, April 17-18,
2008, Philadelphia, PA; Midwestern Regional Conference, April 28-29, 2008, St.
Louis, MO; and Southern Regional Conference, June 4-5, 2008, Orlando, FL.
For copies of the official registration forms, call 1-888-373-6497, email
Joni Jones at
jjones@retiredamericans.org, or
visit www.retiredamericans.org.
Health Care Survey Shows Seniors Struggling
to Pay for Prescription Drugs
Medicare Part D is not
protecting seniors from unaffordable prescription drug prices, according to the
results of the AFL-CIO's 2008 Health Care for America Survey. More than 26,000
people, including over 1,600 Alliance members, responded to the survey over a
seven-week period in January and February. Compared to 46% overall, 53% of
Medicare beneficiaries who responded said prescription drugs are either not
affordable or not covered, reflecting the inability of the privately
administered Part D drug benefit to negotiate with big drug companies for lower
prices and the dangers of the "donut hole" period when prescriptions are not
covered. 38% of Medicare recipients also reported specialists as either not
covered or not affordable, while 37% placed tests, preventative care and
checkups in this category. One third of all respondents went without medical
care due to cost, one quarter described "serious problems" paying for care and
79% called health care a top voting issue. "Thank you to every Alliance member
who participated in this survey," said George J. Kourpias,
President of the Alliance. "Your responses prove that seniors have had enough,
and that we will be making a change in November."
Trustee's Report Shows Medicare and Social
Security Sustainability
The Medicare and Social Security
Trustees' reports issued Tuesday confirmed that the programs do not face an
immediate crisis, while highlighting America's growing health care problems. The
Social Security surplus is expected to continue for more than three decades,
with the trust fund not set to expire until 2041. Medicare's trust fund will be
insolvent by 2019, due largely to continually rising health care costs. Both
dates are unchanged from last year's account "Reports of Medicare's death have
been greatly exaggerated," said Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA),
chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. "Though the trigger
has been pulled by Republican ideologues, this year's trustees report shows that
Medicare remains solvent and sustainable." The Bush Administration has used the
report to renew efforts to privatize both programs. Under Medicare's 45% trigger
law, the President must reduce Medicare spending when the program is expected to
be more than 45% funded by general government revenue for more than two years -
Tuesday's was the third such consecutive warning. "The President is using this
artificial measure to ignore America's real health care crisis and protect big
insurance company programs that have already stolen years from Medicare's
solvency," said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the
Alliance.
Dates for Mailing Stimulus Rebate Checks
Announced
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has listed the
dates for mailing out stimulus payment checks, which will be issued according to
the last two digits of the main tax filer's Social Security number. Recipients
who use direct deposit will be among the first to receive the payments, starting
on May 2. Paper checks will be put in the mail starting on May 16.
The IRS is scheduled to mail checks by July 11 to all eligible taxpayers who
have filed a return by the April 15 deadline. Those who file a tax return
after April 15 will receive their economic stimulus payment later. A
return must be filed by October 15 in order to receive a stimulus payment this
year. See the IRS online calculator
for an estimate of the amount you will receive. For the complete schedule
of payments by Social Security number, visit
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html.
State Alliance News From Florida and MD/DC
Last week, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans held its 2008 Legislative
Conference, where a panel of elected officials and community activists addressed
issues including affordable housing, healthcare, nursing homes and the upcoming
Presidential election. Speakers included State Reps. Shelly Vana
(Dist. 85) and Susan Bucher
(Dist. 88); Lynn Bannister, U.S. Senator
Bill Nelson's Director of Outreach;
Richard Polangin, FLARA's Government Affairs Director; and
Sarah Byrne, Legislative Representative for the national Alliance.
Members also participated in a press conference, organized by FLARA President
Tony Fransetta, to draw legislative attention to senior housing
and call for self-sufficiency and affordable housing for older Floridians. Also
last week, MD/DC Alliance President Bruce Dunton testified
before Maryland's House Ways and Means Committee. He urged legislators to
support HB 79, an income tax exemption that would provide an extra $2,200 for
many seniors on fixed incomes. "Our expenses are rising and our incomes are not.
We just got hit with a huge electricity increase. Many of us are in the Medicare
Part D donut hole, so pay more for our prescription drugs," Dunton testified.
"The extra $2,200.00 could go a long way to help us meet ends."
Did You Know...
Fewer
Americans are counting on Social Security to retire - 60% now planning
retirement expect it to be a primary income source, down from 65% in 2007. (The
Wall Street Journal).
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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