Alliance for Retired Americans
14 January 2006I am a big fan of the Alliance for Retired Americans. The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is “to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security.” The organization has an excellent newsletter and an extremely informative website. I want to stress that this organization does not focus only on those who have retired, but also addresses the larger picture, which includes all those who will retire in the future–which includes just about everyone.
I appreciate in particular the attention ARA pays to progressive legislation at the State level, which provides direction and precedence for possible future legislation in Alaska. I have included below a reprint of most of ARA’s thought-provoking newsletter of January 13, 2006. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter on the home page of the ARA newsletter, and the website has more information about each of the subjects briefly covered in the newsletter.
Part D Chaos Leaves Poorest and Sickest Seniors without Medications
Promoting Part D in a November radio address, President Bush declared “the days of low-income seniors having to make painful sacrifices to pay for their prescription drugs are now coming to an end.” The harsh reality is the poorest and sickest seniors are bearing the brunt of problems plaguing Part D.
Under the law, most low-income recipients should pay no deductible, no premium and no more than $5 per prescription. But widespread reports reveal low-income patients who qualify for extra help are being asked to pay unaffordable co-payments or meet the $250 deductible required for higher income recipients. Some patients are going without their drugs because pharmacies do not know if Part D insurers will reimburse them. Others desperate for their medicine are going to emergency rooms.
The Bush administration pledged to correct problems while insisting that a million prescriptions were being filled daily. Little comfort to the 6 million low-income Americans who lost their Medicaid drug coverage on December 31 for the new Part D plans, so-called “dual eligibles.”
Advocates repeatedly warned of potential problems in transitioning dual eligibles who were automatically enrolled in Part D. Dual eligibles tend to be older, sicker and more likely to have cognitive impairments. While Medicare officials had assured a smooth transition complete with safety net plans to allow for such contingencies, the complexity of Part D rendered those regulations useless. Patients, pharmacists, advocates, even those staffing Medicare’s helplines, were unaware of the information.
“The severity of this health care crisis cannot be overstated,” said George J. Kourpias, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “Denying our most vulnerable seniors their medications is a matter of life or death.”
A growing number of states have enacted emergency legislation, spending millions to provide medications for their neediest citizens without any assurance that the federal government will cover the cost. Two Democrats, Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), plan to introduce legislation that would require reimbursements to states when Congress returns at the end of January.
Social Security Privatization “Model” a Failure
Last spring President Bush declared that the privatization of pensions in Chile was a “great example” for Social Security reform in the United States, a questionable assertion given the current state of Chile’s 25-year-old privatized system. The New York Times reported this week that the need for immediate repair of Chile’s private pension plans has become a major issue in the country’s presidential elections.
In 1981, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet took $22 billion deposited in the government-run social security fund and handed it over to private investment funds known as AFPs (Pension Fund Administrators). Chile’s workers allow a minimum 10% deduction of their monthly paycheck deposited into the AFP of their choice. The workers in Chile were promised a high rate of return and a secure future, empty promises echoed by President Bush as he tried to convince American workers that private accounts were the best option for their futures.
The crude reality facing most Chilean workers today is that they have very little money saved in their accounts while administrative costs to manage funds, paid to AFPs, eat up between one-quarter and one-third of workers’ contributions. Consequently, the AFPs have become the single most profitable Chilean industry.Another disturbing trend is that younger workers are not participating in the private pension plans. In 1973, 77.7% of the labor force in Chile was covered by the government’s Social Security system. Today, the old system and privatized system combined cover only 60% of the labor force, leaving 40% with no coverage at all.
Despite the President’s failed campaign to privatize Social Security, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card acknowledged on Wednesday that while Congress does not have the appetite to touch unpopular Social Security reform in an election year, President Bush will resurrect privatization efforts in 2007.
Nevadans Fight and Win in Battle to Keep Drug Imports
After a hard-won victory that enacted legislation allowing Nevadans to purchase low-cost prescription drugs from Canada, the newly appointed Attorney General in Nevada, George Chanos, tried to overturn the law, citing the threat of the state’s legal liability. Technically, reimporting drugs is illegal, though federal enforcement has been lax. Eight states have launched programs to help their residents purchase low-cost drugs, and Nevada is the first to require state licensing and inspection of Canadian pharmacies. “George Chanos based his opinion the arguments of the pharmaceutical lobby, rather than the seniors and legislators who fought for and passed the bill allowing reimportation,” said Ruben Burks, secretary-treasurer of the Alliance.
The attorney general’s opinion threatened a state program that would help Nevadans get drug discounts of 50 to 70 percent. Nevada has one of the fastest growing retiree populations in the country. A coalition representing 40,000 Nevada seniors, including the Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans, took to the streets in Las Vegas and Carson City Thursday to protest the Attorney General’s opinion and let the Nevada State Pharmacy Board know that Nevadans really need this program. The Board disregarded the Attorney General’s opinion and refused to stop the program, which should begin this summer.
“Fair Share Health Care” Wins Decisive Victory in Maryland
The AFL-CIO’s “Fair Share Health Care” campaign won an important victory in Maryland yesterday as the state’s legislature reversed the Republican governor’s veto and became the first state to require large companies to pay their fair share of health care costs for employees. According to the measure, large employers with more than 10,000 employees will need to pay 8% of their payroll into health care or contribute to Medicaid. In Maryland, Wal-Mart, which employs 17,000 residents, is the only company that does not meet these requirements. Despite $10 billion in profits last year, Wal-Mart has become notorious for its low wages and inadequate health coverage; fewer than half its employees are insured. According to the company’s own research, 46% of the children of Wal-Mart’s 1.33 million employees nationwide are either uninsured or on Medicaid. The Maryland victory is a turning point, closely watched nationally by states struggling to meet their Medicaid expenses. The AFL-CIO is pursuing similar legislation in some 30 states.
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