Friday Alert
Friday, May 7, 2010(Alliance for Retired Americans)
New Alliance Voting Record Focuses
on Health Care, Medicare, and
Economics
On Tuesday, the Alliance
marked Older Americans Month by releasing its
latest voting record, a new report detailing
the 2009 votes of every U.S. Senator and
Representative on key issues affecting current
and future retirees. The document is
available at http://bit.ly/9KfGCU.
"Higher scores show a commitment to improve
health care, strengthen Medicare, and put
seniors ahead of drug and insurance companies,"
said Alliance President Barbara J.
Easterling. "The 2009 voting
record showed a continuation of support for
seniors in America, despite a tough economy,"
she added. The voting record examines 10
key Senate votes and 10 key House votes,
showing the roll calls on issues such as
helping pre-Medicare retirees afford health
care, as well as Medicare-covered preventive
screenings for seniors. Several votes
addressed national spending on health care,
including historic votes on epic health
insurance reform.
One hundred
eighty-three U.S. House members achieved
perfect scores of 100% in 2009. One
hundred and eighty-five received failing grades
(60% or lower), with 16 receiving scores of
zero. Of the House members appointed to
the President's National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform in 2010, Reps.
John Spratt (D-SC) and
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) scored
100% with the Alliance; Rep. Xavier
Becerra (D-CA) scored 90%; Rep.
Dave Camp (R-MI) scored 10%,
and Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) scored
0%. The panel is considering major
changes that would affect the financial future
of Social Security and Medicare.
Fifteen members of the U.S. Senate achieved perfect scores of 100% in 2009, while 43 received failing grades of 60 percent or lower. Both Senators from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar (D) and Al Franken (D), received perfect scores in 2009. The same was true for both of the Vermont Senators, Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I). However, all of the Senators from the states of Georgia, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming scored zero. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has the lowest current lifetime Senate score with the Alliance, 1%.
"America Speaks": Forums for the
Privatizers
The launch of the
President's National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform has renewed the
urgency of the Alliance's mission to protect
Social Security and Medicare from benefit
cuts. Against that backdrop, on June 26,
town halls on the budget and economy will be
convened across the country by "America Speaks"
- supposedly a non-partisan, non-profit - in an
effort to "find common ground about the choices
necessary to address the nation's growing
deficit and national debt". The forums
will be linked together by satellite and the
internet and the resulting recommendations
shared with members of Congress and the Fiscal
Commission. "America Speaks is funded, in
part, by the Peter G. Peterson
Foundation, and the Alliance shares the concern
of many of our allied organizations that these
town halls will not include our perspective
regarding the deficit's causes and fixes,” said
Ruben Burks,
Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. "It
would be extremely helpful to have Alliance
members participate in these forums," he
declared. The meeting sites announced so
far are in Albuquerque, NM; Augusta, ME;
Casper, WY; Chicago, IL; Columbia, SC; Dallas,
TX; Des Moines, IA; Detroit, MI; Grand Forks,
ND; Jackson, MS; Kansas City, KS; Louisville,
KY; Missoula, MT; Philadelphia, PA; Portland,
OR; Portsmouth, NH; Redlands, CA; Richmond, VA;
and San Jose, CA. Detailed information on
the town halls, including the registration
process, can be found at: http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/.
Administration Announces $5B for
Early Retirees to Save on Health
Insurance
The percentage of large
firms providing workers with retiree coverage
has dropped from 66% in 1988 to 31% in
2008. In order to entice employers to
keep providing medical coverage to early
retirees, the Obama administration is making $5
billion available until the safety net of the
new health care law is in place.
Effective next month, federal subsidies will
allow employers to recoup a big chunk of the
cost of medical claims for early retirees, aged
55 to 64 and not yet eligible for
Medicare. The program will end in 2014,
when Americans will be able to choose from
additional coverage options through the health
insurance exchanges. Employers can use
the savings to either reduce their own health
care costs, provide premium relief to their
workers and families or a combination of both.
The Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) will begin the Early Retiree Program on
June 1, 2010. You can learn more about
the program at http://bit.ly/cul1cn.
National Women's Health
Week
Coinciding with Mothers Day,
May 8-16 is National Women's Health Week, a
weeklong health observance coordinated by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
Office on Women's Health (OWH). National
Women's Health Week empowers women to make
their health a top priority. With the
theme "It’s Your Time," the nationwide
initiative encourages women to take simple
steps for a longer, healthier, and happier
life. For more information, go to HHS'
Office of Women's Health web site at www.womenshealth.gov/whw.
Two Alliance Members Speak at
Capitol Hill Events
Stella Johnson
and Caesar Dudley,
community-based members from Washington DC,
powerfully spoke on behalf of the Alliance at
separate events on Capitol Hill this
Thursday. Johnson joined House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and
AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka
at a Steelworker-sponsored rally to
celebrate the passage of the new health reform
law. Johnson, who has fallen into the
Medicare doughnut hole, said the new law will,
"help seniors like me who struggle every day to
afford the prescriptions and medical tests that
they must have." Dudley spoke alongside
several leading House Democrats to launch a
congressional Seniors Task Force and unveil a
Seniors Bill of Rights. [ www.dems.gov/seniors/bill-of-rights
] "People are living longer and longer,
and our government must pay more attention to
the needs of this growing population," he
said. For pictures from yesterday, go to
http://bit.ly/bwc9KC.
For video footage of Ms. Easterling's press
conference on reforming Wall Street, held last
week with Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV) and Sens. Sherrod
Brown (D-OH), and Chris
Dodd (D-CT), go to http://bit.ly/cKm3pM.