1:10 A.M. — When he was diagnosed with kidney failure six years ago, North Fort Myers resident Mark Potter turned to Social Security disability benefits to pay for a kidney transplant.
“Social Security saved my life,” said Potter, a 45-year-old waiter. “If Social Security didn’t kick in, I would have lost my home.”
Potter was one of 20 locals who gathered Thursday at Fort Myers’ Social Security Administration building to celebrate Social Security’s upcoming 75th birthday. The federal government program, which provides protection to workers against lost wages due to old age, disability or death, will turn 75 Saturday.
“We didn’t want something like this to pass without a celebration,” retired steel worker Bob McNatt, 72, said as he ate a slice of cake frosted with “Happy Birthday S.S.” “This program has worked so well in our lifetime. It has never missed a paycheck. For a government agency, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
About 3.5 million Florida residents rely on Social Security payments, according to government statistics released this month. Florida residents receive more than $45.5 billion per year in Social Security benefits, an amount equivalent to 6 percent of the state’s annual gross domestic product.
The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, which hosted Thursday’s event, is concerned the federal government could cut Social Security in the future.
In February, President Obama created a national commission to recommend how to reduce the national deficit. In December, the commission will issue a report that could include cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
“I dread that because so many people will be hurt,” said Lehigh Acres resident Loretta Smiley, 80. “A lot of people these days don’t have good pension plans and rely on Social Security.”
North Fort Myers’ Bill Onion, a retired steel worker, agreed.
“For most people, Social Security means the difference between a comfortable retirement and one living in poverty,” Onion said.
Social Security lifts 1.5 million Florida residents out of poverty, according to government statistics.
Social Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus, which is projected to grow to $3.3 trillion by 2023.
“A lot of young people think Social Security won’t be there when they retire but it will be,” said Don Badie of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans. “It’s a great program, and it should be left alone.”
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), speaks to an audience at Temple Emeth in Delray Beach Monday afternoon. Deutch, with representatives of Families USA and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, offered community leaders a detailed presentation of the gains for Florida residents under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Richard Graulich/The Palm Beach Post
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), speaks to an audience at Temple Emeth in Delray Beach Monday afternoon. Deutch, with representatives of Families USA and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, offered community leaders a detailed presentation of the gains for Florida residents under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
With polls across the country showing that seniors have misgivings about what health reform might mean for their Medicare benefits, Democrats took their case to the friendliest possible audience on Monday.
About 200 people, many of them Democratic campaign volunteers and Kings Point Democratic Club members, listened intently as U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch told them the Affordable Care Act would extend the life of the Medicare trust fund and improve coverage of preventive health screenings.
He reassured the seniors gathered at Temple Emeth west of Delray Beach that their out-of-pocket drug costs would fall, and he expressed relief that he wasn't facing the angry crowds that packed town hall meetings across the nation last summer.
"It's great that today we can skip the talk of 'death panels,' and all of the fear-mongering, and talk about the real meaning of health reform," said Deutch, D-Boca Raton.
But even with the reassurances, Deutch faced questions about how the country can afford the Affordable Care Act, which is projected to cost nearly $1 trillion over 10 years.
"The Congressional Budget Office looked at this and said health reform is actually going to lower the deficit," Deutch told the crowd.
That's due in part to an estimated $500 billion in cost-cutting to Medicare over 10 years. While the act contains strict language forbidding rationing, benefit cuts and premium increases, about $200 billion of the savings will come out of the Medicare Advantage program.
The George W. Bush-era program pays private insurers an extra subsidy to offer Medicare insurance plans that operate as health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations. Under the act, top-rated plans will receive incentives to continue offering coverage. For most, though, there will be an increase to Medicare Advantage providers' rates next year, and after that subsidies will shrink.
Burt Goodman of Boca Raton said he was concerned about losing access to doctors he liked because of those cuts.
"I have a cardiologist I use, a dermatologist I use, and I don't want to give them up," said Goodman, 79. "I don't like to look at this selfishly, but I'd like to continue in my plan."
That fear - of losing access to trusted doctors - is a key reason about 46 percent of seniors nationwide said they have an unfavorable view of the Affordable Care Act, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll of 1,504 adults conducted in July.
The poll exposed a generation gap in how people feel about the health law. Among all adults, 65 percent said they expected to be better off or the same under health reform; among people 65 and older, that figure dropped to 57 percent.
The poll showed that opposition to health reform has weakened across all age groups since the spring. But a generation gap remains.
Kaiser Family Foundation CEO Drew Altman said the polls show that some of the opposition stems from lingering misunderstandings about what the Affordable Care Act actually does.
"A year after the town meeting wars of last summer, a striking 36 percent of seniors said that the law 'allowed a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare,' and another 17 percent said they didn't know," he wrote.
Deutch invited health policy expert Dee Mahan, from nonprofit health consumer group Families USA, to explain some of the specifics.
"Nothing and no one is going to get between you and your doctor," said Mahan, director of long-term services advocacy at Families USA. "That's been a lot of scare tactics used on seniors that are not true."
As for Medicare Advantage's future, Mahan predicted some plans will shut down. The ones that survive will be the highest-quality plans, she said.
"It's actually going to mean better value for the government and better value for beneficiaries," she said. "Health reform increases coverage for your children and for your grandchildren."
But will health reform survive court challenges and a possible change in the makeup of Congress?
That's what Nathan Barson, 83, of Delray Beach wanted to know.
"How vulnerable is this legislation? If we get a new Congress, how vulnerable is it?" he asked.
Deutch predicted that as families realize that children with preexisting conditions can no longer be denied coverage, and as lifetime and annual coverage caps disappear, and as 32 million previously uninsured people gain coverage, there will be no turning back.
Left unanswered was how the government will find hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud, abuse and inefficiencies in Medicare over the next 10 years.
Letter to the Editor Written by Barbara DeVane, FLARA's Recording Secretary and President of Capital Alliance for Retired Americans
Thanks for fighting for state retirees
Our thanks go out to Bill Cotterell and the Tallahassee Democrat for the great coverage on our campaign against the elimination of the health insurance subsidy for FRS retirees across the great state of Florida. Also, thanks to Jeanette Wynn of AFSCME for setting up a toll-free number for us to call into President of the Senate Jeff Atwater's office and her great lobbying team, led by Doug Martin, for making FRS retirees a number one priority. And, of course, thanks to my state president Tony Fransetta, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, for turning loose our 216,000 members to help us.
Most of all, thanks to the thousands of retirees and friends who made the calls, wrote the letters, sent the e-mails to legislators asking for their support in opposing this misguided idea of hurting retirees who have given so much service to the people of the state of Florida. The grassroots response was tremendous because "an injury to one is an injury to all."
It is time for the members of the Legislature to engage in real fair and comprehensive tax reform in this state and stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of workers and retirees. I welcome all retirees and those near retirement to join us in that struggle and the many other struggles to protect retirement security for the millions of us in the state of Florida.
BARBARA A. DEVANE
President
Capital Alliance for Retired Americans
Retirees cheer health-care vote
posted Mar 29, 2010 - 9:32:33pm
Editor, The Beacon:
The historic health-care vote is a bold step toward helping retirees in Florida and across the country enjoy longer, healthier lives. It will help seniors better afford to see a doctor and get a prescription filled.
This landmark act will help current and future retirees in several specific ways:
• Closing the Medicare “doughnut hole” coverage gap, so seniors will no longer have to cut dangerous corners on their medications;
• Eliminating co-pays for preventive screenings to help older Americans more quickly and affordably identify and treat diseases such as cancer and diabetes;
• Cutting wasteful spending to extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund, so seniors can better afford premiums, which have doubled over the past eight years; and
• Reducing costly health problems by assisting pre-Medicare retirees with insurance costs and banning discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.
This was not an easy vote for some House members. Retirees owe a debt of gratitude to those who displayed political courage by standing up to an insurance industry willing to pay any price to protect its record profits.
Our work is not done. Today’s milestone is not the final step in the legislative process, and I urge Congress to complete its work on health reform as quickly as possible. Florida retirees are struggling to get by and cannot afford to wait any longer.
On behalf of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, I want to thank the Democratic Congressional delegation from Florida for bringing us to this historic moment in health care reform.
Published: Monday, March 29, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 6:16 p.m.
As a retiree, I am upset that U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, voted against the health care bill.
Mr. Buchanan voted against helping retirees here in his district being better able to afford to see a doctor and get a prescription filled. The bill he voted against closes the Medicare "doughnut hole" coverage gap, eliminates co-pays for preventive screenings for diseases, and will help early retirees afford coverage and no longer be discriminated against because of pre-existing conditions.
I know this was not an easy vote for some House members. But while all of Florida's Democratic House members showed political courage by standing up to the insurance industry lobbyists, Congressman Buchanan did not.
Retirees here in Manatee County are struggling to get by and cannot afford to wait any longer. I am disappointed in Mr. Buchanan's vote.
Harry Kamberis
Holmes Beach
FLARA's Vice President, Jim Weldon pictured with Dr. P. Gwendolyn Findley, Associate Director, VA Hospital.
Mr. Weldon generously donated copies of Book titled The Best Care Anywhere, by Phillip Longman to the VA Hospital.
The Best Care Anywhere, by Phillip Longman.........Ten years ago, veterans hospitals were dangerous, dirty, and scandal-ridden. Today, they're producing the highest quality care in the country. Their turnaround points the way toward solving America's health-care crisis.
The group Health Care for America Now sent the Grim Reaper who was wearing a sign that read "GOP Health Plan" to the Florida GOP. The reaper wasn’t invited into the building. An advocate with the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans accompanied the costumed character and accused the Republicans of standing in the way of reform.
"We’re here to ask the Republican Party, why are you being an obstacle? Why are you playing politics with people’s lives? That is not helpful to Florida’s families. Now Mr. Reaper loves it, but its not good for the health for our families here in Florida. So we’re going to go in and say ‘trick or treatment’ to the Republicans who are standing in the way of meaningful health care reform in this country and in this state," said DeVane.
The grim reaper visit is just one of 40 political events taking place across Florida this weekend in support of health care reform.
Tallahassee.com, Tony Fransetta:Pre-Medicare is good; Medicare for all even better, October 22, 2009
Tony Fransetta: Pre-Medicare is good; Medicare for all even better
Access to health care for all seniors is important. Having a Medicare system that works? Crucial.
As we age, visits to doctors' offices increase. Before President Johnson signed Medicare into law 44 years ago, many seniors lacked health care because of the cost. Imagine! But now, through Medicare, our federal government provides a valuable program for seniors and people with disabilities to improve their medical well-being.
Since 2003 and the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act, Medicare Advantage plans (code for private insurance companies) have taken a toll on traditional Medicare. These Medicare Advantage plans are reimbursed at a higher rate than traditional Medicare, sometimes as much as 17 percent higher. This cost is being paid out of the traditional Medicare fund and is a strain on the Medicare budget. Passage of health care reform will reduce this overpayment to private insurance companies, thereby easing any burden on working families' tax dollars.
In addition to cost savings in overpayments, meaningful reform will prohibit private-insurer discrimination against seniors with pre-existing conditions. Also, seniors will have more control when choosing providers.
The cost of prescription drugs, too, will go down. As things stand now, seniors on fixed or limited incomes often face agonizing either/or choices between high-priced medications and ever-increasing living expenses. True reform will provide more help for low-income seniors, more flexibility in changing drug plans and a closing of the dreaded doughnut hole — a gap in coverage that costs the average Medicare recipient thousands of dollars.
All of these factors — and the promise of no co-payments for Medicare preventive services such as check-ups and cancer screenings — add up savings for all seniors and taxpayers.
There's more.
Meaningful reform should also bring savings to Medicare in the form of early Medicare enrollees. Persons age 55-64 (the pre-Medicare age group) should be allowed to buy in to Medicare. More than 5 million Americans age 55-64 do not have health insurance. People in this age group should be able to see a doctor more often, especially for preventive care, as this is the wrong time in your life to have to cut corners with your health. Through meaningful reform, we can create an affordable way for them to buy in to Medicare coverage.
This early enrollment would allow people to seek medical care for their ailments. As of right now, these pre-Medicare people wait until they turn 65 and enter the Medicare system already ill. Sometimes, they have waited so long that their once easily treatable condition is now an expensive and life-threatening illness. An opportunity to buy in at a younger age reduces the possibility of long-term health care issues.
In fact, why not extend Medicare to everyone?
Medicare is a great American success story. Medicare for all would be a great American legacy.
Humana Protest Action, West Palm Beach, October 15, 2009
Subject: Right Now in Florida: Raucous Rally & Sit-In
Raucus Rally & Sit-in at Humana Today in Florida
Right now, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans joins allies Floridians for Health Care, Health Care for America Now! and others for a sit-in at Humana's offices.
Cries of "HEALTH CARE NOW!" can be heard from a horde of protesters young and old. Five representatives are inside the Humana building while strong health insurance reform advocates rally outside. Events just like this are being held in 9 other cities across the nation as we speak.
For coverage of the Florida event, stay tuned to the Palm Beach Post, Channel 5 & Channel 12 news.
Last month at these same offices in West Palm Beach, seniors with FLARA and numerous labor and community allies held a press conference and rally denouncing Humana's scare tactics aimed towards seniors.
Today, they continue their work protesting big insurance company misdeeds and pushing for no-nonsense health insurance reform that will benefit Americans young and old.
Just this week, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national insurance industry trade association of which Humana is a member, launched multimillion-dollar ad campaign targeting seniors in key states across the nation.
Despite recent reports in the press about seniors skepticism about health insurance reform, FLARA President Tony Fransetta is not one to be fooled. He points out on the somewhat confusing Medicare Advantage debacle that "Up to 16 years ago Human offered the same, in fact, equal or better benefits than they do now." Fransetta points out "It was during the last Presidential administration that the deal was enacted to award the insurance companies their additional payments without an increase in the benifits or level of service."
Congressman Connie Mack’s October 2, 2009 Fort Myers Health Care Forum, by Jennifer Kenny, ARA State Organizer, Florida
Congressman Connie Mack’s October 2, 2009 Fort Myers Health Care Forum
The Harborside Event Center in Ft. Myers was Congressman Connie Mack’s choice of venue for the Oct. 2, 2009 Health Care forum.Approximately 700 guests attended.Upon arrival Tony Fransetta, President of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans was greeted by a group of Pro Health Care Reform activist.This group stood across the street from Harborside and waved their signs and chanted for Health Care Reform Now.
Once inside it was not apparent at first who the pro health care reform and non-reform folks were.When Congressman Mack started his partisan opening remarks it was immediately apparent which side of the isle the participants favored.Congressman Mack started his remarks by expressing his concern for individual freedoms and support of limited government.He went on to blame the trail lawyers for holding up health care reform.In closing his remarks, the Congressman expressed his concern for the health insurance companies and their ability to compete.He stated that a public option “will under price private plans, crowding them out”.
Congressman Mack introduced his prestigious panelist.First to speak was Jim Nathan, President & CEO of Lee Memorial Health System.Mr. Nathan’s remarks were founded on logic.He expressed a need for significant, sustainable health care reform.Mr. Nathan cited statistics that supported his point that health care reform is necessary.The next speaker was Edward Morton, Managing Director of Wasmer, Schroeder and Company. The third speaker was Ambassador Al Hoffman, Jr., former ambassador to Portugal from 2005 to 2007.Mr. Hoffman immediately told the audience that he is in agreement with Congressman Mack.He likes Health Savings Accounts, and asked the question “How can we re-organize private insurers to be more competitive through Free Market?”To wrap up his comments the ambassador spoke about spending.He inappropriately referred to his wife’s spending as to infer that “spending” was somehow linked to women.For this remark he received a chuckle from the audience, yes even some women laughed at themselves.Next we listened to several inappropriate remarks from the podium, this time from Robert Sanchez.Mr. Sanchez is the policy director of the James Madison Institute, a non-partisan policy-research center based in Tallahassee Florida.Mr. Sanchez referred to a pregnancy rider attached to an insurance policy to replace a blanket policy that automatically covered pregnancy.His point was well taken and even made sense.Then he had to muddy it up by remarking that only a “cougar” should add the pregnancy rider.Yes, once again some women laughed.Next Mr. Sanchez spoke about Medicare fraud.He referred to a person with an ethnic name who was found off shore and returned to the United States for indictment for Medicare fraud.The story went that this person billed Medicare for services his business did not perform.Mr. Sanchez then told the audience of mostly white non-Hispanic middle aged citizens that all they have to do to experience real Medicare fraud is to travel to “little Havana” to view the many Medicare fraud clinics.Finally Dr.Allen S. Weiss addressed the audience.Dr. Weiss is the President and CEO of NCH Healthcare System.Dr. Weiss made clear two important suggestions for any health care reform.He suggested a change in care delivery that includes less expensive, evidence based medicine and preventative health care.Dr. Weiss also supported standardization of medical care.
Upon conclusion of the panelist remarks, the audience was given an opportunity to ask questions.A Veteran took the floor to speak about the responsible health care delivery he receives from the Veterans Administration health care system.He asked why Congressman Mack did not support a government option when the VA has a proven record of accomplishment?Congressman Mack spoke about his own health insurance at that point and the veteran was asked to take his seat.A 51-year-old injured unemployed service industry worker took the floor to inform those present of her work related injury and how her place of employment has gone out of business.She went on to tell us how her injury affects her daily life and told the audience and prestigious panel that she can- not afford to pay for the suggested medical test that a specialist told her to have.Two of the panelist offered suggestions for charitable avenues, Congressman Mack asked the woman to call his office and then the Congressman told the audience about his blue cross/blue shield health insurance policy.His point being that his health insurance policy is not anything special.Tony Fransetta had an opportunity to take the microphone, first he introduced himself as the President of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, next he mentioned that FLARA has over 200,000 members in Florida, and then he thanked Congressman Mack and his staff for hosting the health care forum.President Fransetta then asked Congressman Mack why he was not supporting Public Option and real health care reform.Congressman Mack made some remarks including referring back to his health savings account idea and then went on to remark how his blue cross/blue shield policy is not any better than the coverage some of the audience has.
All in all, it was a well-run health care forum.Listening to some of the panelist proved to be a task.Congressman Mack’s answers to the questions asked did not always apply directly to the question.I found it quite remarkable how he transitioned from the question to what sounded like a sound bite.There was some booing and hissing from both sides of the debate.We received plenty of dirty looks from the non-reformers in our area.I was surprised that the women laughed aloud at themselves when the brunt of sexist remarks.I have not had this experience for quite some time and felt very uncomfortable.Overall it is safe to say that the audience behaved.President Fransetta was pleased with the turn out of both FLARA members and friends that we recognized outside and inside the Harborside auditorium.FLARA members in attendance included Don Badie, Retired Steelworker, Jim Getts, retired UAW, and Connie Boscoe, retired AFSCME.
News-Press.com "Community Conversations: Health Care Forum Attracts Passionate Crowd" Oct. 4th, 2009
Anyone looking for town hall meeting style confrontations at U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV's health care forum Friday night would have left disappointed.
Sure, there was passion, and standing ovations, boos and occasional audience outbursts. However, Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey, who moderated the forum at the Harborside Event Center, told me security only had to remove one person for disruptive behavior.
Not bad for a room full of 1,600 people, interested in what has become such a volatile issue.
People poured their hearts out, because they either wanted a government solution to address their loss of insurance or they wanted no part of an expanded government role in health care.
The five-member panel of experts leaned toward a "less government is best" philosophy, but Lee Memorial Health System CEO Jim Nathan reminded people: "We don't have a traditional free market health care system."
He and other panelists called for an end to partisanship, because all agree the system is broken.
Mack, a Republican, criticized the Democrats for failing to unite behind one health care solution. He laid out his plan: tax incentives, association health plans, allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines and tort reform.
The last of these - tort reform was especially popular among the audience. Lawyers were a favorite target that night.
After the forum I heard state Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, an attorney and chairman of the Health Care Regulation Committee, and Fort Myers City Councilman Warren Wright, a pharmaceutical sales representative, debate the tort reform issue.
Before the event began, I asked audience members for their thoughts and here's a sampling:
- Tom Mikos of Cape Coral said: "I'm against Obama, against health care and against cap and trade." He's hoping that if the 111th Congress passes a health care plan and cap-and-trade legislation, that the 112th Congress will repeal it.
-Tinna Rubin of Fort Myers, a licensed practical nurse, has a son with bipolar disorder. She said psychiatrists won't accept her insurance, which will expire in February. It costs her $800 a month. "I happen to believe in national health insurance. We desperately need it," she said.
-Frank Shannon of Fort Myers is suspicious of President Obama's intentions and believes he "wants to completely destroy this country," and is intent on "nullifying the Constitution. ... Under no circumstances do you vote for a government-sponsored or -run health care system," he said.
- Don Badie of Cape Coral is a retired steelworker who lost his health coverage along with hundreds of thousands of co-workers a few years ago. He now has Medicare, "So, I'm OK," he said, but he'd like to see Medicare for all.
- Jack Hess of North Fort Myers, a retired Publix supermarket manager, asked: "If any type of health care is passed, would the House of Representatives and the Senate be willing to accept the same health care reform as everybody else?"
Mack addressed that issue and insisted that he has the same type of health insurance available to the public. He has Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO.
- Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Inc., said he believes Mack and other public option opponents are afraid, perhaps, of the insurance companies.
"What's wrong with competition? What's wrong with free enterprise? What's wrong with a competitive public option that would lower prices?"
More than 200 people who couldn't attend the forum watched it live on news-press.com and followed a live chat.
Chat commentators tended to be more hostile to Mack and the panel. Here are a few examples:
- "Is Connie Mack incapable of speaking and engaging in discourse beyond dogmatic slogans?" - Kathleen Davey
- "I think this panel is loaded with a bunch of rich people that don't give a damn for the working class." - Dale Shroll
- "I don't believe any of you on that dais has ever had to deal with not having health insurance or the threat of losing it." -Eileen Richards
Former ambassador Al Hoffman, citizen member of The News-Press Editorial Board and a panelist, offered a solution he acknowledged "may not sound Republican": "All Americans should belong to one insurance pool and lower costs to the lowest possible denominator."
Jim Nathan put it simply in his opening remarks, in which he urged bipartisan cooperation: "Significant, sensible and sustainable health care is essential."
Watch a replay of the forum video and chat on news-press.com. Send us your letters about health care to mailbag@news-press.com.
Photos and footage of FLARA's Rally and Press Conference at Humana
CLICK ON LINKS BELOW TO ACCESS GREAT PHOTOS AND FOOTAGE OF PRESIDENT FRANSETTA AND FLARA MEMBERS IN ACTION AT RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE AT HUMANA ON SEPTEMBER 29, IN WEST PALM BEACH, FL.
Seniors to Humana: "Don't Lie to Us" By: Jerry Waxman October 1, 2009
The press conference started at 12:00 on Tuesday, September 29th outside of Humana's headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. This wasn't the usual group of activists rallying for health care reform; this was a 21st century version of the Over the Hill Gang, although there were no wheel chairs or walkers in sight. The seniors in this group were members of the Florida Alliance For Retired Americans, with over 200,000 active members in the state, who were very upset with Humana for its recent scare tactics aimed at seniors regarding health care reform. Tony Fransetta, a Korean war veteran and president of FLARA, chastised Humana for its recent letter to its Medicare Advantage clients stating that under the new laws proposed they could lose their benefits
Fransetta read from his open letter to Humana's CEO, Michael McCallister:
The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans denounces recent mailings to Medicare Advantage recipients. These mailings are a shameful attempt to protect your profits and they are spreading misinformation about health insurance reform. We demand that you immediately cease and desist from sending further mailings and apologize to those seniors who have received this misleading mail from Humana.
We are very disappointed and saddened at Humana's deliberate attempts to misinform Medicare Advantage recipients about health insurance reform in order to bolster your bottom line.
We all know that Humana makes outrageous profits because of Medicare Advantage overpayments. All seniors, whether or not in Medicare Advantage, are now paying an extra $43.20 a year in Medicare premiums because of these overpayments to Humana and other insurance companies. More than 31 million Medicare beneficiaries are now forced to pay this extra premium money, which goes to your profit margin, not health care for seniors.
It's time to make Medicare work for seniors, not Humana and the insurance industry. Many seniors know the truth and are working hard to make health insurance reform a reality.
The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and its members and allies across Florida and the nation will continue to work to ensure that our hard earned tax dollars go toward health care for which they were intended and not unethical insurance company schemes.
Fransetta then told the group assembled that the Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services had ordered Humana to cease and desist from their current letter writing citing that the information was confusing and misleading.
Once the conference ended Fransetta and his seniors went into the office to present Humana with an enlarged copy of the letter. The office manager tried to duck them but Fransetta's group would not be denied. Once the manager appeared he tried to empty the office stating that it was a place of business, but the seniors forced a face to face confrontation. Fransetta told the manager in no uncertain terms that what Humana was doing was wrong and that his own office tactics were abominable. He presented the letter with instructions to forward it to Humana's CEO.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL-- Humana offices in West Palm Beach were the scene of a demonstration Tuesday at noon.
Some area seniors, along with members of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, are protesting misinformation sent out by Humana regarding healthcare reform and Medicare.
Humana was sanctioned by the federal government for falsely warning seniors that health insurance reform would cut their healthcare benefits.
Humana later issued this response:
Here are our statements on the Humana letter sent to Medicare Advantage members recently, as well as our position on health reform:
"Humana is cooperating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to resolve this matter. We reviewed CMS guidance and believe these informational and educational materials did not require a filing with the agency. Humana supports health reforms that guarantee coverage for everyone and don't require people with pre-existing conditions to pay higher premiums. We also believe Medicare Advantage members deserve to know the impact that funding cuts of the magnitude being discussed would have on benefits and premiums.The Partners Web site has been taken down and there have been no Partners mailings since Sept. 11."
On health reform:
"Humana believes every American should have affordable, quality health care coverage. Health care reform must first and foremost address rising costs, and we need a system that creates health. Currently, 70 percent of health care costs go toward preventable, chronic disease."
On Medicare Advantage:
"Medicare Advantage plans work to keep people healthy, with chronic care and wellness programs that aren't available in original Medicare. More than 10-million seniors have chosen Medicare Advantage, and surveys show they're overwhelmingly satisfied."
By the way, Humana is Florida's largest Medicare health benefits company, with nearly half a million members statewide, including more than 375,000 Medicare Advantage members.
Last November, when he worked hard to get Barack Obama and fellow Democrats elected, Sam Oser didn't dream that today he would be hearing - and saying - what he is about his party.
Oser, 83, past president of the Democratic Club at Century Village near West Palm Beach, says he is surrounded by senior citizens who are extremely stressed about the health care reform legislation before Congress.
"Seniors are angry, nervous and actually depressed," Oser says.
He and other Democratic leaders say they are working to insulate their members against what they consider false claims, "scare tactics" by Republicans and insurance companies regarding health care reform, that have glutted the media in recent months.
But they say the fact that Democrats in Congress may be forced to accept compromises in order to get reforms passed this year also concerns seniors, if those compromises affect their benefits.
The Century Villages near West Palm and Boca Raton voted overwhelmingly for Obama - 71 percent to 28 percent .
But senior Democratic leaders say health care reform could have repercussions for the party in 2010.
"It's very delicate for the Democratic Party," Oser says. "If they feel the Democrats are not looking out for them, people may not come out and vote, when normally they come out on crutches and in wheelchairs."
Marvin Manning, president of the Democratic Club at the Century Village west of Boca Raton, also is concerned.
"There are no Democrats, no Republicans when it comes to this," says Manning, 83. "We are all in the same boat. If the government comes down on us, we'll have to look at who is representing us.
"I've been in leadership in the Democratic Party, but there comes a moment when you have to chastise your party," Manning says. "I'm very concerned about my future. I'm very uptight. This is emotional."
Oser and Manning were both upset after a vote Thursday in the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., proposed an amendment to the health care reform bill that would have helped close the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription payments, a gap in coverage that seniors are passionate about.
But Nelson's proposal was defeated when three conservative Democrats joined Republicans to vote it down.
"The Democrats are not hanging together as one group and that could hurt them badly," Oser says.
Manning says his fellow elderly Democrats also are concerned at the speed with which the Obama administration is moving. "It took six days to make the world, so don't try to change it in six minutes," Manning said.
He says the fact that the administration feels it must pass some kind of reform this year scares seniors, especially when there is talk of trimming the Medicare budget. The administration says it will do so by cutting waste and corruption, but not all seniors trust that their benefits would remain intact.
Mae Duke, current president of the Democratic Club in Century Village by West Palm Beach, says some seniors panicked three weeks ago when Humana Inc. mailed a letter warning clients that reform legislation could cause many seniors to lose benefits. Humana is one of the nation's biggest providers of Medicare Advantage, which is Medicare administered by a private insurer. Critics say such policies cost taxpayers more but are no more effective and should be eliminated.
Medicare authorities castigated Humana for issuing "misleading and confusing" information and are investigating the company. Humana said it did nothing wrong, but it stopped sending the letters and has removed the text from its Web site.
On Tuesday, two dozen members of the Florida Alliance of Retired Americans protested Humana policies outside the company's West Palm Beach offices.
"Humana is cooperating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to resolve this matter," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "We also believe Medicare Advantage members deserve to know the impact that funding cuts of the magnitude being discussed would have on benefits and premiums."
Duke says the panic caused by the Humana letter subsided after her group met. "We told them not to react to all this propaganda," she says.
9/29/09 HUMANA LIES TO SENIORS ABOUT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM
HUMANA LIES TO SENIORS ABOUT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE & HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM
by New Path to Middle Class
Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 06:54:24 AM PDT
Today: Florida Seniors Fight Back at Palm Beach Protest
Today at 12 noon, The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) is holding a rally and press conference in front of the Humana office in West Palm Beach.FLARA, seniors and allies will denounce Humana’s recent mailings to Medicare Advantage recipients that contained outright lies and were intended to scare seniors about health insurance reform. FLARA will also deliver an open letter to Humana, Inc.
Humana made national news last week when it was sanctioned by the federal government for falsely warning seniors that health insurance reform would cut their health care benefits. Currently the federal government pays private insurance companies like Humana, on average, 14% more for providing coverage to Medicare Advantage clients than it would to pay for the same care under traditional Medicare. Humana profits from wasteful overpayments to Medicare Advantage programs and wants to keep it that way.
Tony Fransetta, President of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, said, "What Humana is doing is unconscionable. Although payments to Humana under Medicare Advantage have increased drastically in the last several years, benefits and services for seniors have not. Now, to add insult to injury, Humana has mailed to its Medicare Advantage recipients false information about health insurance reform. Now is our chance to cut wasteful overpayments to the big insurance companies. This will be good for Medicare, it will be good for seniors and ultimately good for all Americans."
TCPALM NEWS - September 11, 2009 - Health Care Reform Sparks Spirited Exchange in Nettles Island (Mark Boston, FLARA Area V.P.)
Health-care reform sparks spirited exchange in Nettles Island
By Jim Mayfield Friday, September 11, 2009
HUTCHINSON ISLAND — One need not necessarily be shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of vocal citizens grilling a jittery congressman to find a spirited debate on health-care reform.
Only about a dozen area residents turned out Thursday night for a town hall meeting on health care hosted by the Nettles Island Community Action Association in this small community nestled along the Indian River to hear activists make their case for a single-payer health-care system.
But only moments after the last speaker rested, a lively discussion began.
“This presentation was very simplistic,” resident Richard Portante told the panel. “Seventy percent of Americans are in favor of keeping their existing health plan. Why can’t we just tweak (what we have)?”
The exchange came after panelists argued that a heath-care system run by for-profit insurance companies was ineffective and inefficient.
“We pay twice as much as any other industrialized country for health care and we get a poorer result,” said speaker Rick Ford, president of Floridians for Health Care. “It’s because of inefficient for-profit insurance companies that ration care based upon your ability to pay.
“One-third of every health-care dollar (currently) goes to administrative overhead,” Ford said. “There are only two alternatives preserve private insurance companies and their waste or go national.”
But Portante shot back that people can’t negotiate with the government.
“Especially if they’re the only game in town,” he said.
Nettles Island resident Mark Boston, area vice president for The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Inc., urged the gathering to support a proposed single-payer program, most easily understood as “universal Medicare.”
Under such a plan, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 676, a single public or quasi-public agency would pay for the services, but health care delivery would remain private, proponents said.
The panel argued a single-payer system could be financed by capturing administrative waste, existing Medicare and Medicaid funds, smaller payroll deductions and additional income tax on the top 5 percent of the country’s earners.
“The country already finances 64 percent of health care costs,” Ford said.
Mary Oliver said she likes Medicare, a single-payer system.
She said her son, who is deaf and suffers from a brain injury, recently received a $9,000 medical bill for emergency room treatment.
“He had to pay a little more than $100 out of pocket. Doesn’t that tell you something?” ********************************************************************************
PALM BEACH POST ARTICLE - Sept. 10, 2009 - Locals React to OBama's Health Care Reform Speach (FLARA Pres, Tony Fransetta)
"My fear is that health insurance companies will be in control of all of this. We need to be in control of them."
- Bob Bloom, owner of Ink & Toner USA in suburban West Palm Beach
"One thing the president didn't give enough detail on is how do you control utilization. Utilization drives expenses."
- Jonathan Satter, chairman of the board of the Palm Beach County Health Care District; principal and co-founder of W.G. Compass Realty
"It's not about health care, it's about the election in three-plus years and taking this president down in three-plus years. It's so sad that politics are more important than coming together and mutually trying to get credit like they used to do when I was younger."
- Tony Fransetta, president Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, a group affiliated with the AFL-CIO
"It needs to come to come to a head. . . . Why can't we take all of the good stuff that's going and put it in the pot. Eighty percent of all of these issues we all agree on. Let's just start with that."
- Carol Ryan, she and her husband own A-1 American Electric in Palm Beach Gardens
"To provide people with an option is very important. . . . The number of people we see continues to grow as the economy has its trouble and people lose their jobs. There are people who are educated who have college degrees who are now facing no insurance for the first time in their lives, and really don't know how to navigate through the public health care system.
- Robert Glass, executive director of the free Community Health Center of West Palm Beach
"I don't see how if (the public option) is not subsidized, how they're going to pay for it. Once again the idea is for everyone who can't purchase insurance elsewhere to go toward this public option. Well, who's that going to be? That's going to be your high-risk individuals. I'd love to see it work; I don't see how it can."
- Richard Martiniuk, employee benefits consultant for Plastridge Insurance in Palm Beach Gardens ********************************************************************************
TCPalm News - Letter to the Editor, Aug. 29th submitted by Mark Boston
Letter: Congressman Rooney should support single-payer system
By reader submitted Saturday, August 29, 2009
I cannot understand why Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, says he wants to lower our taxes when House Resolution 676 (Single Payer Healthcare for All) can save the eight counties in his district $737 million in county property tax bills. Also, the state can save another $310 million. A total of $1.47 billion would be saved if he would co-sponsor and vote for HR 676.
If Congressman Rooney keeps saying he wants to save his constituents tax money and defends the failed insurance company policies of the past, it is time for him to “walk the walk.”
Column: Ruckus outside health care forum near Delray Beach, but plenty of reason on both sides
By Frank Cerabino Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 20, 2009
It's easy to get so caught up in the circus of America's newest spectator sport - the health care town hall meeting - that you might miss something real underneath the surface.
I found out Thursday that if you ignore all the political pageantry, hyperbolic rhetorical flourishes and contrived confrontation, somewhere, under that blinding, distractive presence, are reasonable people on both sides.
People who speak in conversational tones. People even capable of talking and listening to those who don't share their worldview.
I didn't find much of that inside the town hall meeting organized by the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans at the South County Civic Center. That turned out to be a staged love fest for government health care by a ticketed audience of mostly retirement-age liberal Democrats and the congressmen they adore.
But outside, where the unticketed mingled under a relentless sun, there were softer voices that reflected that big middle ground being overshadowed by the carnival.
"I don't want to pay any more than I have to, and I think you don't either," Al Lima, 61, of West Palm Beach, told Jonathan Ligonde, 25, of Miramar.
Neither man carried an incendiary sign, a tea bag or a gun, and neither had health insurance. Lima, who is self-employed, was wary of a big federal plan, while Ligonde, a pharmacy technician at a drugstore, thought that a big government plan made the most sense.
"I like competition too," Ligonde said. "But I think the government has to play a role because we're talking about people's lives, not cheeseburgers."
They went back and forth for minutes, listening and talking, without mentioning death panels, Adolf Hitler or Karl Marx. They had to ignore the man shouting in a bullhorn near them and a high school marching band bursting into song at odd moments. But they persisted.
"You make a lot of good points," Lima told Ligonde. "Let's just agree to disagree."
It was refreshing. So was meeting Judy Smith, 64, of Boynton Beach, who found a shady spot under a palm tree with her church friend Gloria Taylor, 81. The two women oppose what they call "Obamacare," but they're embarrassed by the way some foes of health care have acted at town hall meetings.
"It makes all the protesters look like idiots," Smith said."I would like to see more changes in the system for people who don't have health care," Smith said. "We have people like that in our own family. But I think this is just too much for the government to handle. There's a problem, but I don't think big government is going to fix it."
So what is?
"I don't know," she said. "I'm just Judy Smith. I don't think I have to come up with a better solution. I'm only saying that the one they came up with is worse. And I guess the devil we know is better than the devil we don't."
Taylor, her friend, who lived in Canada, said she too is worried about a bigger government involvement in health care. Just the thought of a 1,000-page piece of legislation scares her.
"My brother-in-law is going blind in Canada, and he has to wait six months for an appointment," she said.
Reasonable concerns. I should have dragged Smith and Taylor over to meet two other women I had just spoken with in the same parking lot. Because like Smith and Taylor, Diana Davis, 53, of Lake Worth, and her friend Deanna Fessenden, 49, of Royal Palm Beach, spoke not in parroted talking points, but in the personal language of experience.
And their experience is that they can no longer afford private insurance and need a government plan.
Davis carried her last insurance bill in her purse, the one that raised her premium from $900 to $1,100 a month.
"I couldn't pay it, and because I have a pre-existing condition I don't have any health insurance now," she said.
Fessenden also found her health insurance unaffordable.
"With two kids in college, it was either health care or college," she said.
Her friend piped up: "And now she should get a mammogram and ..."
And then something very non-statistical happened.
Fessenden started crying.
"I'm so sorry," Davis told her.
And so was I. Sorry that in this circus world of health care discussions we focus too much attention on the clowns and not enough on people like Lima, Ligonde, Smith, Taylor, Davis and Fessenden.
There are reasonable people among us. Maybe one day their voices will get to the center ring.
FLARA's Health Care Reform Meeting - By Pat Emmert, Pres., Palm Bch Treasure Coast AFL-CIO
FLARA HEALTH CARE REFORM MEETING AUGUST 20, 2009 I doubt that we will ever have another annual FLARA health care meeting like the one today.There was not an empty seat.There also was not an empty parking space.I got there at 12:30.The police had the driveways blocked off.Had to park down the street in Morikami Park.Walked far back to the event. When I got to the Civic Center, I was holding 20 tickets for union members, but there were no empty seats.I think maybe too many tickets were given out.The deputies weren’t going to let me enter, but I mentioned their Colonel’s name, and they permitted some of our union guys to put a “STAFF” tag around my neck.I gave the tickets I had to Bill Sauers, who was Sergeant At Arms.I did run into the Colonel at the end of the meeting and thanked him.Senator Nelson’s aide, Michelle, directed me to a Reserved seat.Senators Aronberg and Deutch were sitting on the front row.When Aronberg left, I grabbed his seat, and spent the rest of the time with Senator Deutch, who was, I think, happy to see me. Prior to the Congressmen speaking, we had the national President of ARA and former CWA officer speak.She was phenomenal.If you haven’t heard Congressman Alcee Hastings (D.23) speak, you need to.He is awesome.He supports single payer health care and is a co-sponsor of HR676, as is Congressman Wexler.They were both great and had several standing ovations.Congressman Hastings said that the Chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party had made a public statement that he (Hastings) was not meeting with his constituents.He read a letter that he had addressed to Mr. Dinerstein, and had sent him a copy of his very heavy schedule, and suggested that Dinerstein set something up, and he would be happy to come and speak.He had received no response to that request.He brought his property tax bill with him and a payroll stub to show that as a Congressman, he pays $400 plus dollars a month for his health care. All questions had to be written on cards.Some of the tea partyers had gotten in, and both Congressmen handled their ridiculous questions with aplomb.Tony would not allow the questions to be screened, so they can never say that their questions were not addressed.One of the questions was so asinine.Congressman Wexler is like a rock star in his district, which is largely composed of retirees, who are on Medicare and very obviously support health care reform. The question to Wexler was, “Why do you support this health care bill when the majority of the people in your district oppose it?”Wexler got a big smile on his face and the rest of the people in the room started laughing.Tony said, “Obviously, that is not a true Page 2. statement.”That had to be an out of state person who had no knowledge of Wexler’s district. I would estimate that between the protesters outside, security staff inside and attendees, we had 1,000 union members out there today.The ones doing the walking outside in the heat were the younger guys. Unions that I saw represented:Teamsters Local 769 (Mike Scott, Josh Zivalich and John Sherman); Ironworkers Local 402 (5 members); American Postal Workers Union (Wayne Parker, President and some of his members); IATSE Local 500; IBEW Local 728 (both Broward and Palm Beach members); PBA; SEIU (Lisa Tilson); International Union of Operating Engineers (Gary Waters and John Mullen and members); Office & Professional Employees; retired UAW.There were teachers from different unions.Marna Davidson with the Retired Teachers Chapter is on the FLARA Board.I am certain that I have missed some unions. Overall, the crowd inside was very well behaved.Outside, it was obvious that the tea partyers were not accustomed to having the other side protesting.They complained because there was a band playing; said that was to stifle them.It was very hot.I heard that there were a few heat stroke victims.Inside, there was no screaming at all.After the meeting was over, there was a young man in the back of the room trying to scream over the crowd noise at Wexler.I nodded my head to the deputy and pointed to the fellow.When he saw the deputy look at him, he shut up and left with everyone else. When I was walking the mile back to my car, there were three or four protesters on the corner.One of them was complaining that they had not been allowed to be heard, never mind that they were trying to crash an organization’s function.No one was paying any attention to him, then he said, “This is the fault of the unions.The unions are going to die.”Before I gave it a second thought that I was walking alone, I said to him, “Don’t you worry about the unions, Mister.”He looked around.I had on a shirt that had the AFL-CIO logo on the left side.He read my shirt, and then he said, “I didn’t say anything.”By that point, I had realized that I was all by myself, and that I should just continue on to my car. Page 3. I commend Tony Fransetta, Deborah Dion and all the others who put this together.All of the major networks were there, as well as AlJazerra and CNN.The meeting was streamed live to WPTV Channel 5 (NBC). Submitted by: Pat Emmert, President Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO (CLC)
Thousands of activists for and against President Obama's health-care proposals are massing in suburban Delray Beach for a forum with Democratic U.S. Reps. Robert Wexler and Alcee Hastings.
As of noon, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies estimated that nearly 2,000 people had shown up outside the South County Civic Center, which has a capacity of 500 people. Deputies were bracing for the crowd to swell to as many as 5,000 people.
About 70 deputies began setting up around 7:30 a.m. for the meeting, which began at 1 p.m.
"And of course you've got every news agency in the world," said sheriff's Lt. Shane Cioffi. "I was actually interviewed by Al Jazeera."
Chants of "Yes we will!" outside the civic center competed with a man on a megaphone shouting, "No ObamaCare!"
"SOCIALIZED MEDICINE: A PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER," reads one hand-lettered sign across from the entrance of the civic center, where the parking lot was jammed full by 11:30 p.m.
Another sign, printed, says in red and blue letters: "HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA NOW!"
Other signs along the center's circular driveway express support for Israel and opposition to terrorism.
Meanwhile, a high school marching band from Pompano Beach was performing arrangements of songs including the Michael Jackson hits Beat It and Thriller, as well as Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely. The band was recruited by Hastings' staff to support the pro-reform activists, chief of staff Art Kennedy said. "We knew the anti-health care group would be here, so we wanted some way to counter them," Kennedy said.
Nearby, critics of the Democrats' proposals held up a sign reading: "THEY BUSSED IN THE BAND TO SILENCE OUR VOICES!"
Liberal and conservative groups nationwide have urged activists to attend the forum, sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans. The alliance, concerned that the meeting would draw an overflow crowd to the 500-seat civic center, was giving its members preference for free tickets for the event. That enraged some conservative critics of Obama, who said they would express their displeasure in the parking lot.
One such group, the South Florida Tea Party, was also planning a mass burning of AARP membership cards. AARP, which has angered conservative groups by endorsing health care reform, drew similar protests from liberal groups six years ago after endorsing President Bush's Medicare prescription-drug plan.
Earlier this week, roughly 800 people flocked to Stuart for a health care town hall meeting Tuesday evening hosted by U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta. Only about 300 could fit inside the Johnson Auditorium at Indian River State College, while outside, one man was arrested for spitting on another, then keying a minivan as deputies chased him.
On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, briefly addressed health care at a community meeting in suburban Boynton Beach, disappointing activists on both sides who had hoped for a more extensive debate. Klein is planning to hold a town hall meeting Aug. 26, but only by telephone.
Crowds expected at Delray Beach town hall on healthcare reform
BY BETH REINHARD
outside the closed doors. Deluged with calls for weeks, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) turned its annual public forum in Delray Beach into a ticketed event. That means the 500 seats will be mostly filled by members of the liberal, union-affiliated group that favors a healthcare overhaul. Organizers are requiring questions in writing, hoping to avoid the screaming matches that have disrupted town halls across the country as Congress contemplates sweeping reforms.
But outside the South County Civic Center, protesters are planning a show of force. Yelling and screaming will be encouraged. Hostile signs will be waved. A group called the South Florida Tea Party plans to burn AARP cards in a rebellion against the retiree group that wants Congress to act. ``They're trying to create chaos, and I don't think that serves anyone well,'' said FLARA president Tony Fransetta, who is expecting CNN and other national media. Several members of Congress representing Broward and Palm Beach counties wereinvited to Thursday's town hall, but only Democrats Alcee Hastings of Miramar and Robert Wexler of Boca Raton agreed to come. Other Florida Democrats, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Ron Klein of Boca Raton, are scheduling telephone town halls on healthcare that will keep their constituents at a distance.
The Palm Beach County Republican Party is calling Thursday's forum a ``sham'' because FLARA turned down hundreds of ticket requests. The result: a political call-to-arms race, with groups on both sides of the debate urging their members to show up -- even if they have to stand outside -- for fear they would be outnumbered by their opponents. ``We must seize this opportunity even if the representative is not in your district,'' cried one e-mail pressing GOP activists to show up. On the other side of the political spectrum, AFL-CIO members have been mobilized to make sure ``our retirees are SAFE, SECURE and are able to attend this event, just like they have in the past without FEAR, NTIMIDATION and not SUBJECTED TO UNRULY behavior,'' read one e-mail. An arm of the Democratic national party is calling for ``making sure the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform.'' Fransetta said about 15 sheriff's deputies will be standing by.
Support for the Democratic administration and its healthcare agenda is eroding in Florida, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Less than half of the voters, 47 percent, approve of President Barack Obama -- down from 58 percent in June. Most Floridians oppose enacting healthcare reform if it will ``significantly'' increase the federal deficit. ``At least in Florida, the protests against the proposed healthcare overhaul that have been surfacing at town meetings held by members of Congress have struck a chord with the public,'' Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown said in a news release. ``Voters approve of the demonstrations and they overwhelmingly disagree with the view expressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that these protests are `un-American,' ''
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrote in a recent newspaper column, ``Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.''
The rally in Delray Beach starts at noon, and the meeting is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m.
Meetings with Wexler, Klein likely to be contentious
Officials concerned that their session isn't a health-care town hall
By Brian HaasSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
2:18 a.m. EDT, August 18, 2009
WEST DELRAY - Organizers are bracing for raucous protests at two Palm Beach County political meetings this week, worried they will disrupt events like protesters at health care meetings nationwide have done.
The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans will host a health care town hall meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach with Rep. Robert Wexler, D- Boca Raton. The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations is holding a talk about catastrophic home insurance proposals 9:30 a.m. Wednesday west of Boynton Beach with Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton. Both groups expressed fears Monday that their events will meet the fate of recent town halls. Across the United States, some meetings have been disrupted by vocal critics of current health care proposals who are fearful of the cost, potential government involvement and specific provisions in the bills.
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans President Tony Fransetta said he worries that hundreds could show up to Wexler's health-care town hall, only to find they can't get in because the event is sold out. Fransetta said the alliance has been inundated by telephone calls this week from people angry about the health-care proposals. "The tickets, they're already gone," said Fransetta. "These groups know that, but they're still inciting their people to come down here, trying to cause unrest." The alliance plans to have sheriff's deputies on hand at the town hall to keep the peace. "I've always had a couple deputies there," Fransetta said. "If someone stands up and starts hollering this or that, they're gonna be told to be quiet and sit down or they'll be removed from the meeting." Wexler was traveling Monday, but said by e-mail he wasn't concerned about protests. "I'm not too worried about disruptions. I believe it is in everyone's interest to engage in a healthy and civil conversation," he wrote. "Unfortunately, many of these protesters would only like to disrupt the event and prevent this conversation from taking place." There are similar worries by the residential associations coalition. "I'm worried. I think some have the idea that this is an open forum," coalition president Ken Lassiter said. "It's not. It just happens that the guest speaker is Congressman Ron Klein."
Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the South Florida Tea Party organization, said he and a few dozen members of his organization plan to corner Klein Wednesday to press him about health-care reform. "People are very concerned that their health care is being taken over by the government," Wilkinson said. "This would be a great opportunity for Klein to answer some questions. All he has to do is have a public meeting. "Wilkinson said Klein has refused to talk to his group. "At every single venue he seems to avoid us in one of the most important issues, which is health care," he said. Klein's office said that it had received no requests from Wilkinson or other Tea Party officials to meet. Klein said he's not afraid to talk about health care, but event planners say that guests will not be allowed to ask questions at the meeting. "If they want to ask about health care, we'll talk about health care," Klein said. "People have every right to express themselves . . . but certainly to do it in a way that is constructive and respectful."
Brian Haas can be reached at bhaas@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6633.
Palm Beach Post Article
Health care forums: Is crowd fury honest or orchestrated?
When the union-backed Florida Alliance for Retired Americans put on health care forums in the past, President Tony Fransetta never worried about having enough room in the 500-seat South County Civic Center near Delray Beach. ut this year he has had to institute a kind of health care rationing: He's requiring people to reserve tickets for his group's next event at 1 p.m. Thursday, at which U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, is scheduled to discuss Democrats' plans for a nationwide overhaul.
Fransetta wants to make sure his group's members are not denied seats because of protesting outsiders.
Across the nation, the congressional town hall meeting has become the summer's hottest ticket in political theater. Among other attractions, some events have featured choruses of loud boos from critics of the health care proposals, one North Florida Democratic congressman tarred and feathered in effigy, and scuffles among rival activists. In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, public appearances by members of Congress are drawing intense interest from activists on the left and right, but so far, little in the way of fireworks. This month, though, 100 or more opponents of the Democratic legislation turned out at a Broward County library in response to reports - false, it turned out - that U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, would field questions on health care. They ended up venting at Klein's staff for two hours.
This week, local fans and foes of President Obama's proposals will have three opportunities to confront their members of Congress.
Besides Wexler's appearance Thursday, Tequesta Republican Tom Rooney is hosting a health care forum Tuesday night in Stuart, and Klein will speak Wednesday morning at a community forum near Boynton Beach. Klein's appearance before the Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations is supposed to focus on homeowner insurance. He also is planning a "telephone town hall" Aug. 26, specifically on health care. Nonmembers of the coalition cannot speak at the Boynton area meeting. But leaders of the conservative, anti-tax South Florida Tea Party organization, one of the louder voices against the Democrats' health proposals, are encouraging members to show up and try to question Klein. Wexler's appearance at Thursday's Florida Alliance forum has been publicized by the Tea Party group and at least three other conservative organizations - FreedomWorks, Conservatives for Patients' Rights and The South Florida 9-12 Meetup Group - as an opportunity to demonstrate against the Democratic plan.
The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America, an offshoot of the 2008 Obama campaign, has publicized the event as well. So has the liberal news and commentary Web site Firedoglake.com, which has praised Wexler as a "health care hero."
Organizing for America's Web site includes information on a variety of events, including those it does not sponsor, such as a health care demonstration by other liberal groups last week outside the Coral Gables office of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Organizing for America also sets up phone banks, including one in Lantana last week, in which callers urge voters to contact their member of Congress to express support for Obama's proposals.
Elsewhere in Florida, the liberal Health Care for America Now, affiliated with the community activist group ACORN and several labor unions, has organized events. And throughout the state, the Service Employees International Union and other labor groups are alerting their members to health care-related gatherings.
Activists on the left have long made use of "community organizing" to try to influence policy. The ability of conservatives to turn out crowds for town hall meetings on health care has prompted cries of "manufactured anger" from the White House and suggestions that the protesters are being orchestrated by big-money interests.
That's disputed by the two groups that have been most active in Palm Beach County protests.
"We really don't coordinate with anyone else outside the county," said Ed Fulop, a blinds salesman from North Palm Beach who is a leader of the local 9-12 group.
The group, one of several inspired by conservative talker Glenn Beck, has 300 to 350 Palm Beach County members, Fulop said.
South Florida Tea Party organizer Everett Wilkinson said his group has participated in conference calls with the national group FreedomWorks, which is chaired by former congressional Republican leader Dick Armey, but that's about as far as its ties go to any national effort.
Since organizing an April 15 rally in West Palm Beach that drew 1,000 or more people, Wilkinson said the local Tea Party group has built an e-mail list of about 5,000 names, mostly in Palm Beach County.
"Despite popular opinion, we're completely funded by small donations. We're not professionals," Wilkinson said. "We have a Web site, and we make our own signs. I can't even afford to buy T-shirts. We're bare-bones."
FreedomWorks' Washington-based director of federal and state campaigns, Brendan Steinhauser, said his group maintains contact with a variety of groups and activists and has a field director for Florida.
But he said the national help does not explain the crowds turning out for congressional town hall meetings across the United States.
"It's the networks the people created on a local level that have been turning people out at the events," Steinhauser said. "We're obviously encouraging that, but it's coming from the ground up."
Who's who in the health care debate
These are some of the national groups - for and against President Obama's proposals - that are spreading the word about congressional appearances on health care:
Opponents
FreedomWorks
A nonprofit group whose Web site includes directions to congressional town hall meetings, an 'August recess action kit' with criticisms of Democratic health care proposals and information about anti-tax Tea Party protests, it also has been holding its own demonstrations outside offices of U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.
The group is chaired by Dick Armey, a Texas Republican lobbyist who once served as majority leader of the U.S. House.
Conservatives for Patients' Rights Founded by Rick Scott, co-founder and former chief executive of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain, CPR has aired ads that includes horror stories about British and Canadian health care. It has worked with the same public relations firm that attacked Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's war record in 2004.
South Florida Tea Party
A Lantana-based nonprofit group that says it promotes 'fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets,' its founders organized an anti-tax protest in West Palm Beach on April 15 as part of a nationwide series of demonstrations.
The South Florida 9-12 Meetup Group An Internet discussion group drawing inspiration from Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck's 9-12 Project, whose goals include recapturing the feeling of patriotism that prevailed on the day after Sept. 11, 2001, its members arrange their gatherings on the Web site Meetup.com.
Supporters
Organizing for America An arm of the Democratic National Committee and post-election offshoot of President Obama's 2008 campaign, which uses the Web site BarackObama.com to publicize events and ask for volunteers, the group has held rallies outside the offices of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., urging him to support the president’s proposals.
Democracy for America
An offshoot of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's 2004 campaign, it has aired television ads attacking Democratic U.S. senators who are wavering on Obama’s health care proposals.
Service Employees International Union
A 2 million-member labor union, it has been active in promoting Democratic candidates and causes, including a Web site urging people to combat 'lies' about Obama's health care plan. On Aug. 6, a conservative activist gained national attention after claiming to have been attacked by SEIU members outside a congressional town hall meeting in St. Louis, an event that became an online sensation on YouTube.
Health Care for America Now
A nonprofit advocacy group that says it works with a national campaign of more than 1,000 organizations supporting Obama's health care proposals, it claims to be affiliated with the community activist group ACORN, the AFL-CIO and the NAACP civil rights organization.
Supporters, opponents eye Aug. 20 health care forum with Wexler; other congressmen uncertain
by George Bennett | August 10th, 2009
Supporters and opponents of a Democratic health care overhaul bill and at least one member of Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation will converge next week for a public forum sponsored by a labor-backed retiree group. U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, plans to attend the Aug. 20 event at 1 p.m. at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach. The event is sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and supports the Democratic bill. Other local members of Congress were invited but it wasn’t immediately clear today whether any others would attend. Opponents of the legislation plan to show up as well. “We’ll be there with signs but, more importantly, we’ll be there with questions,” said Everett Wilkinson, the state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots group.
Other health care meetings around the U.S. have been raucous affairs, but Florida Alliance President Tony Fransetta says he plans to ensure that the Aug. 20 meeting is orderly. He said audience members will have to submit questions in writing. “I’m going to get with the Sheriff’s department. We’re not going to tolerate somebody coming in and disrupting the whole thing,” Fransetta said. “If somebody jumps up, screaming, in a disruptive manner, I’m going to make sure they’re escorted from the meeting.” Wilkinson said his group doesn’t plan to be disruptive. “We don’t encourage that. We’re trying to encourage discussion,” Wilkinson said.
In addition to Wexler, Fransetta said U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, is scheduled to attend. Klein’s office did not immediately confirm his participation. U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, hasn’t determined whether he will attend, Hastings’ office said. U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, declined because of a scheduling conflict.
Town-Crier Article July 2009
Article published in the Town-Crier July 2009
Stop Scaring Floridians!
Editor’s note: The following is a letter from Florida Alliance for Retired Americans President Tony Fransetta in response to Republican Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite’s recent comments criticizing the Democrats’ healthcare reform proposal. Rep. Brown-Waite’s remarks earlier this week were not only inappropriate and inaccurate, but they were a misleading and divisive attempt to scare Florida’s seniors in the current debate over national healthcare reform. My message to Rep. Brown-Waite is this: when your political passion is greater than your ability to be sensible, responsible or even honest, you have a serious credibility issue. This should be about the healthcare Floridians need, not politics. As someone who represents more Medicare beneficiaries than any other member of Congress, Rep. Brown-Waite is unfortunately choosing political scare tactics over the pressing needs of her constituents. The bill she assailed, HR 3200, would make giant strides to improve the quality of life for Americans of all ages.
Do her comments mean that she opposes the creation of a public plan option to expand access to health coverage, make private plans in Florida more equitable and affordable, and drive quality improvements in the healthcare system? Do her comments mean that she opposes the bill’s closing of the “donut-hole” coverage gap in Medicare Part D? One in four seniors spends part of each year simultaneously paying full price for their prescriptions while also paying their monthly premiums. Do her comments mean that she opposes creating an affordable Medicare buy-in for early retirees age 55 to 64 who cannot obtain or afford private insurance? There are nearly five million people in this age group who put their health at risk because of delays in diagnosing or treating chronic medical conditions such as diabetes. Not only do Florida retirees have a lot at stake in the healthcare debate, but we also worry about our children and grandchildren in these difficult times. Working together, we can create a healthcare reform plan that helps all Americans. There is no place in this debate for Rep. Brown-Waite’s politics of divide and conquer.
Tony Fransetta, Wellington
AFL-CIO BLOG
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Drop Dead? Is That the Way Republican Reps. Talk to Seniors?
Opponents of critically needed health care reform continue to demonstrate how out of touch they are with working America—and in a recent egregious comment by a House Republican, the opposition has also insulted the nation’s seniors.
Here’s what Florida Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite said Tuesday on the House floor: “Last week, Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: ‘Drop dead.’ ”Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, is outraged by Brown-Waite’s injudicious and downright ugly comment. Rep. Brown-Waite’s remarks earlier this week were not only inappropriate and inaccurate, but they were a misleading and divisive attempt to scare Florida’s seniors in the current debate over national health care reform. As someone who represents more Medicare beneficiaries than any other member of Congress, Brown-Waite is unfortunately choosing political scare tactics over the pressing needs of her constituents. The bill she assailed, H.R. 3200, would make giant strides to improve the quality of life for Americans of all ages. Do her comments mean that she opposes the bill’s closing of the “donut hole” coverage gap in Medicare Part D? One in four seniors spends part of each year simultaneously paying full price for their prescriptions while also paying their monthly premiums. Do her comments mean that she opposes creating an affordable Medicare buy-in for early retirees age 55-64 who cannot obtain or afford private insurance? There are nearly 5 million people in this age group who put their health at risk because of delays in diagnosing or treating chronic medical conditions such as diabetes. In sum, says Fransetta: There is no place in this debate for Rep. Brown-Waite’s politics of divide and conquer. Nor for this type of insulting language.
IN THE FIELD
This Week in the Field
ALLIANCE RETIREES IN ACTION:
As Health Care Heats up on the Hill, Members Rally in Florida Several Florida Alliance members showed their support for affordable health care by joining Central Florida AFL-CIO, Change to Win unions, Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and other labor and community activists in a rally outside Senator Nelson's Orlando office July 1, 2009. Donesa Jackson, Vice President of the Florida Alliance, spoke to the crowd about the importance of the public option in the health care reform. Additionally, three FLARA members met with Senator Nelson's District Director to discuss retirees' stake in the health care reform; specifically discussing long-term care, the CLASS act and Medicare Part D.
FLARA made another appearance the same week, taking advantage of Congress' July 4 recess by rallying at congressional state offices. "We support Congressmen Wexler's position on health care - health care for everyone," spoke Tony Fransetta, President of the Florida Alliance at a July 2 rally outside Rep. Robert Wexler's Boca Raton office. The rally was attended by both conservative and liberal grassroots organizations, situating themselves on separate street corners. The Florida Alliance showed their support for Obama's public option plan, and praised Wexler for supporting a comprehensive health reform that would bring affordable coverage to all Americans.
SUN-SENTINEL ARTICLE - JULY 2, 2009
By Patty PensaSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
6:20 PM EDT, July 2, 2009
BOCA RATON - Opposing sides in the debate over health care reform staked their separate corners of Military Trail and Butts Road Thursday afternoon, waving signs and American flags to honking motorists.
It was hard to tell which side -- for a public option or against -- passersby were supporting.
"We have to bring it to people's attention," said Dorothy Glauser, of Boynton Beach who is against President Barack Obama's proposal. I think it's ridiculous, the health plan. It's very expensive. I don't want my retirement to go to people who don't have coverage."
The demonstration outside U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler's office started with the conservative group FreedomWorks, which planned similar events outside congressional offices around the state. About 30 people joined the local protest, with another dozen across the street to represent the other side.
The gathering came at a lull in the health care debate with Congress away for the week for the Fourth of July holiday. Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, came to support Obama's plan and "balance the issue."
"They are interested in continuing the problem we've had in this country for years," Fransetta said. "If something is cheaper and better, why wouldn't the public avail themselves of it?"
Obama's call for a public option is designed to contain costs and "keep insurers honest," the president said this week at a town hall meeting in Virginia. He has advocated people keeping their private insurance if they are satisfied with it.
Elaine Laffey, of Margate, who organized the protest outside Wexler's office, doesn't think it's the right plan.
"The government should reserve public funding for the poor and provide tax breaks for private insurance," she said.
In response to protesters outside his office, Wexler said in a statement that he is "always happy to hear from people of different opinions but I would remind those who oppose health care reform that we already have a de facto public option for health care."
The de facto public option, he said, is taxpayers covering the cost of the uninsured treated at hospitals.
"We can do better than this in terms of both cost and quality of care," Wexler said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the president and my colleagues in Congress to achieve that."
Patty Pensa can be reached at ppensa@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6609.
Health Care Forum (Due to the huge response to this event, tickets will be available first to Florida Alliance members and affiliates additional tickets will be made available to the public) The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans will be sponsoring an important health care event on Thursday, August 20, 2009.Co-sponsors for this event include Floridians for Health Care and Delray Beach Chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans.We will be discussing with elected officials vital information about health care for today?s retired Americans. We wish to implement policies that ensure seniors and people with disabilities access to affordable health care and prescription drugs. Our main goal during this forum is to discuss single payer health care in America. Date:Thursday, August 20, 2009 Time:1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Location:South County Civic Center 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach, FL 33446 Many elected officials have been invited and are expected to attend this important event.
EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT - YOU TUBE
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, 12773 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 211, Wellington, Florida President, Tony Fransetta Telephone: 561-792-8799; fax: 561-792-8797
