FLARA'S NEWSLETTERS AND REPORTS BY JENNIFER KENNY, ARA STATE ORGANIZER FOR FLORIDA
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans leaders and members traveled from around our great state of Florida to congregate in a park adjacent to Brevard Community College in Titusville, on February 27.FLARA President Tony Fransetta braved the cold with fellow FLARA members for the two-hour event that included guest speakers from national and state AFL-CIO and local labor and community leaders.For some members in attendance the journey meant long hours either driving their personal vehicle or riding in one of the many buses that the Florida AFL-CIO provided for transportation to the rally.President Fransetta personally drove over 200 miles to attend the rally.FLARA members attended for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they are good Americans and wanted to support American workers.President Fransetta stated, “Florida Alliance for Retired Americans wishes to extend our most sincere well wishes to the 9,000 workers who are facing the potential of losing their jobs at Kennedy Space Center next year”.
FLARA members have good sense; they realize that their retirement security rests in the hands of the American worker. Good jobs are needed to ensure that American workers earn a decent income.American workers are the foundation of a community.Without wage opportunities,American workers will have to move away from their community seeking wages elsewhere. An exodus of workers could potentially leave homes boarded up and/or abandoned. As the tax base evaporates, much needed services such as fire, rescue and police will be diminished. As houses are boarded up and crime increases, seniors will be left stuck in their once prized retirement homes.As with most Americans, seniors’ homes are a primary financial investment. Retirees will be forced to stay in their neighborhoods, even as these neighborhoods become increasing dangerous to live in. The possibility that crime will increase in partially inhabited neighborhoods is great. While some seniors may be concerned about becoming a victim of a crime, a still greater concern is the response time of fire, rescue and police. A worst-case scenario includes fire, rescue and police officers being laid off because the tax base is no longer there to pay salaries and keep all locations open. This will increase the “wait” time involved when a senior could be in desperate need of one or more of these services. Furthermore, seniors will be subject to the loss of their working family members, friends and community service providers as these groups move away for financial opportunities in other areas of the country.
Bravo to all the FLARA members who made the trip to Titusville. You braved the travel, the rain, and the chill in the air and lent your voice to the voice of the American worker. For those FLARA members who could not attend this rally, thank you for your support of senior issues. FLARA leadership will keep you informed of all future actions to save American Jobs.
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans has a “buy” Union; "buy" American policy when purchasing goods and services.
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans started out 2010 ready for the upcoming Florida legislative session.FLARA leaders and rank and file members have been carefully watching committees in the Florida legislature and have identified several bills worth noting.Key amongst these bills are the following:
HB 153 and the similar bill in Senate S 146 will permit counties to create independent special tax districts to provide funding for senior services.FLARA supports this bill.
HB 275—Insurance Coverage of Prescription Drugs.The language in this bill prohibits insurance companies from switching their prescription drug coverage mid-cycle of a contract year.Thereby ensuring continuity of care for the insurance customer.FLARA supports this bill.
HB 19—this is a house memorial that was introduced by a group of Republican house members.The memorial aims to limit the scope and exercise of federal power.This writer wonders why these Florida legislators do not just ask to secede from the union right now?What happened to obey the laws of the land?
HB 491—controversial in that this proposed bill eliminates language that requires “teaching nursing homes” to be affiliated with an accredited hospital.
HB 715—titled Health Service Claims, this proposed bill would require insurance companies to document their reasons for denying services.FLARA supports this initiative.
HB 739—Health Care—this bill refer to home health care agencies.Revises duties of administrators, director of nursing & training requirements for home health aide.Not only requires a written contract, but states that patient or legal representative shall receive copy of service agreement.FLARA supports this bill.
HB 845—Reverse Mortgage Loans to Senior Individuals provides additional protections to seniors under the law when contracting to reverse mortgage their home.FLARA supports this bill.
HB 1283—titled “Health Care” this bill provides minimum staffing, prohibits mandatory overtime for health care workers in addition to other language that ensures the care, safety and well being of the patient.FLARA supports this bill.
In the Senate FLARA supports SB 1528.Introduced by Florida Senator Deutch this bill revises provisions relating to local comprehensive plans that include affordable housing for seniors.
The Florida legislative session is scheduled to run from March 2 thru April 30 if they can complete their work in this 60-day time period.Florida Alliance for Retired Americans will meet in Tallahassee on March 17 and 18 for our annual legislative conference.During our time in Tallahassee we will host a press event in the capitol building, lobby our elected officials and host guest speakers during our regularly scheduled FLARA business meeting.If you have never lobbied, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from a great group of folks.You have the power to change legislation in the State of Florida and nationally.On average, people age 60 plus make up 25% of registered voters in all 67 counties in Florida.Not to mention that seniors VOTE.
Interested in learning more about the legislative process? Please contact the FLARA office @ 561-792-8799.We will work with you and/or your group to make you feel comfortable in your role as an advocate for senior issues.
Newsletter (July)
All throughout July Florida Alliance members stayed busy lobbying Senator Nelson’s district offices in South, Central and North Florida.We met with Sen. Nelson’s staff to discuss Health Care reform and how important changes to Medicare such as closing the donut hole, adding long term care such as the CLASS Act, and to allow Medicare to negotiate cost of prescription drugs.We also stated our strong support to allow folks 55 to 64 years old to buy-in to Medicare.This will ensure that they have adequate medical care prior to entering the program at age 65.It will also keep Medicare cost down because these folks will not have to wait to seek medical professional care if they need it.In addition to the Medicare items mentioned, we addressed our concern over taxation of benefits for our working families.We are opposed to taxing working families who need their health care benefits and in fact sometimes take a job or stay with an organization strictly because the company provides health insurance.Sometimes this insurance is at the cost of pay raises and/or promotions.Finally under real health care reform we want all employers to provide health insurance for their employees and if they do not they should be directed to pay into a Public Option system—we call this “pay or play”.Public Option will level out the cost of all health insurance charges because it will create a competition amongst all the providers.
On July 9, Tony Fransetta wrote an Op-Ed concerning Congresswoman Brown-Waite’s untrue allegations concerning health care reform.Tony’s op-ed plainly stated that the Congresswoman needs to “stop scaring seniors”.This article was published in the Palm Beach Post as well as on the AFL-CIO blog page.
FLARA members also met with Congressman Grayson’s staff in Ocala Florida, (D-8).Again we voiced our opinion concerning all the health care related items in the paragraph above.
Tony Fransetta, President of Florida Alliance for Retired Americans had an opportunity to make a youtube video concerning Single Payer Health Care.President Fransetta also worked with Floridians for Health Care, a FLARA affiliate on multiple Single Payer events in early July.
FLARA members also participated in Health Care reform sign waving events in Crystal River and Tampa.
To wrap up July, the Alliance declared a “week of action” from July 27 to 31.To kick off the week the Alliance hosted two nationwide conference calls.Alliance members learned about the importance of health care reform as it applies to seniors and had an opportunity to ask questions.Florida Alliance members participated in droves!Please keep checking both the national and state web sites to be sure you are included in these types of calls.This entire week was directed at health reform action items.We wrote letters and opinion editorials to the editors of our local papers.In fact Tony Fransetta, Vivian Silbiger and Don Badie all had their letters printed! FLARA leadership also had radio opportunities.President Fransetta participated as a call-in guest to a St. Pete radio station.Ernie Hartless, FLARA area VP for Jacksonville hosted a call in radio show to high light health care reform.As you all know, July 30 marked the 44th Anniversary of Medicare.In Jacksonville, FLARA members and affiliates came together for a commemorative breakfast.Local members, Bunny Baker and Karen Hazlett cooked and served up a wonderful feast.FLARA area VP, Ernie Hartless addressed the group about the history of Medicare, and the importance of advocating for improvements to Medicare.Informational fliers were shared on upcoming health care reform and a conversation ensued that addressed some frightening myths that have been directed at seniors. In Tampa, Bob Meeks FLARA area VP hosted a sign-waving event with his fellow Teamster retirees.
Newsletter (August)
August 2009
Florida Alliance Holds Annual Convention
The annual Florida Alliance for Retired Americans convention was held in Orlando on June 1 and 2. It was attended by over 60 delegates from across the state. After opening with the Pledge of Alliance and roll call, elections were held for officers. The slates for Union Executive Vice Presidents and Community Executive Vice Presidents were unchallenged. Congratulations to all elected officers! Thank you for your volunteer commitment to FLARA. Over the course of the two days, a number of elected officials spoke to the convention. State Senator Gary Siplin (D-19) gave a legislative update. State Representative Joseph Abruzzo (D-85) made an important health care presentation. The delegates were delighted to have our friend Debra Booth, District Director for Congressman Alan Grayson (D-8) give a federal legislation update. Ms. Booth was also able to answer questions on behalf of Congressman Grayson. Other state elected officials included Scott Plakon (R-37) and Mike Horner (R-79). Both men made informative comments and delegates were left with an understanding of how and why they voted against most of the FLARA legislative agenda in the recent Florida legislative session. Unfortunately, State Representative Bryan Nelson R-38 was unable to keep his commitment to speak. Rep. Nelson had a family emergency that could not be postponed. While the convention delegates were disappointed, all wished Rep. Nelson and his family well in their time of need for understanding. Ed Coyle, Executive Director of the national Alliance for Retired Americans delivered the message that we must continue to be active in legislative and policy debates, particularly on health care and Social Security debates. Concerning health care, the Alliance advocates for closing the donut hole, no means testing for Medicare, government negotiating drug cost with pharmaceutical companies, and absolutely no tax on a person’s health care benefits. On the topic of Social Security, while privatization is not at the top of the list in Washington D.C., there are still those who would opt for Social Security privatization. Executive Director Coyle cautioned delegates to continue to be speaking out against privatization.
Other noted speakers included: Steve Protulis, Executive Vice President, Elderly Housing and Development Operation Corporations (EHDOC); Janet Conner, AFL-CIO; Edward Chester, AFSCME; and Bonnie Reiter of the National Elder Abuse and Guardianship Victims Task Force. The delegates were also brought up to date on FLARA business that included President Fransetta’s report, Treasurer Marna Davidson’s financial report, Harold LaBell’s Trustees Report, Regional Director Bill Cea’s regional report, area Vice President’s and club reports and Alliance field organizer Jennifer Kenny’s organizing presentation.
FLARA Members Attend Legislative Conference in Washington From June 15-18 over 500 Alliance for Retired Americans members from across our nation attended the national Alliance’s 2009 Legislative Conference. Florida’s delegation was the third largest of all states in attendance.
Our members were motivated by prominent speakers during the general sessions, educated on a variety of topics during breakout /workshop sessions, and enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow retirees from across our state and nation.
In addition to the plenary sessions and training workshops, everyone at the conference traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with elected officials from their state. To meet with both U.S. Senators from Florida, we split our delegation in two.
We advocated for a comprehensive health care reform bill that includes a public plan option, does not tax health benefits, allows early retirees the option to buy-in to Medicare, and requires employers to provide benefits through a "pay or play" system. We also addressed the need for meaningful long-term care legislation such as Senator Kennedy’s proposed Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act of 2009. Also known as the CLASS Act (S.697 & H.R.1721), it would help Americans better afford the daunting costs of long-term care. FLARA members worked hard at this four-day conference but left energized and prepared to continue advocacy efforts for all seniors.
Health Care Reform: Time to Finish the Job
Barbara J. Easterling
President, Alliance for Retired Americans
Thank you to all who attended our recent Alliance Legislative Conference. Nearly 550 retirees came to Washington to lobby their elected officials on health care reform and participate in workshops and trainings to strengthen their grassroots organizing skills. It was a great conference, and I am encouraged by the progress we are making. Think about it – in less than one year we have elected a pro-retiree, pro-worker President, helped put health care front and center in the national debate, and organized hundreds of lobby visits in our states and at the U.S. Capitol. But we are a long way from the finish line. Now comes the hard part – converting opportunity into results. It is time to finish the job.
So what can we do? I have four ideas:
First, continue to lobby your elected officials;
Second, write a letter to the editor of your local paper, highlighting some of the issues that are important to retirees in the health care debate;
Third, educate your neighbors on health care and where your elected officials stand; and
Fourth, encourage everyone you know to become involved with their state and national Alliance to help make health care reform a reality.
I am so impressed by the work Alliance members are doing around health care. You bring such incredible energy, enthusiasm, and passion to your work. We must continue to educate and mobilize our neighbors this summer. Our country will never be a just society until every American has access to quality, affordable health care.
Grassroots Activity to Reform Health Care
Florida Alliance President Tony Fransetta and Palm Beach/Treasure Coast FLARA area Vice President Mark Boston were joined by a group of FLARA affiliates on Tuesday June 23 at Senator Nelson’s West Palm Beach office. The purpose of the visit was to educate the Senator on the Alliance’s health care viewpoint. Staff warmly greeted all and comments were duly noted. The same week, President Fransetta joined a group of FLARA and community activist for a Health Care Rally on Thursday evening West Palm Beach. FLARA area Vice President Donesa Jackson organized two meetings with Senator Nelson’s staff at the Orlando office. Both meetings were well attended by FLARA affiliates.
Mark Your Calendars: FLARA Board Meeting, September 17
Please mark you calendar and plan to attend the next quarterly board meeting. The meeting will be held on September 17 in the Tampa/Busch Gardens area. All FLARA members and guests are encouraged to attend. Please call the FLARA office at 561-792-8799 for more details.
The Summer of Health Care
July
All throughout July we stayed busy lobbying Senator Nelson’s district offices across the state. We met with his staff to discuss health care reform, including closing the Medicare donut hole, helping to make long-term care more affordable, and allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. We urged the Senator to support allowing early retirees age 55-64 to buy-in to Medicare. If people in this age group could see a doctor more regularly, it would dramatically lower health care costs.
We spoke of our support for requiring all employers to provide health insurance for their employees, but if they do not, they should pay to support a Public Option system. We call this "pay or play." Public Option will level out the cost of all health insurance charges because it will create a competition amongst all the providers.
On July 9, Tony Fransetta wrote an Op-Ed in the Palm Beach Post concerning Congresswoman Brown-Waite’s untrue allegations concerning health care reform. Tony’s wrote that the Congresswoman needs to, "stop scaring seniors." FLARA members also met with Congressman Grayson’s staff in Ocala Florida. Again we voiced our opinion concerning all the health care items mentioned above.
We ended July by declaring a "Week of Action" to coincide with the 44th anniversary of Medicare. Alliance members from across Florida and the nation joined in an Alliance conference call to update retirees on the latest developments in the health care debate. During our week of action, we wrote letters to our local newspapers, with Fransetta, Vivian Silbiger and Don Badie all seeing their letters published.
President Fransetta participated as a call-in guest to a St. Pete radio station, and Ernie Hartless, FLARA area VP for Jacksonville hosted a call in radio show to highlight health care reform. In Jacksonville, FLARA members came together for a special birthday breakfast for Medicare, with Bunny Baker and Karen Hazlett preparing a wonderful meal. Hartless addressed the group about the history of Medicare, and the importance of advocating for improvements. Informational fliers were shared on upcoming health care reform and a conversation ensued that addressed some frightening myths that have been directed at seniors. Also on the July 30 birthday, FLARA VP Bob Meeks hosted a sign-waving event in Tampa with his fellow Teamster retirees.
August
We continued to meet with Senator Nelson’s staff throughout the state, while also attending health care rallies. In Orlando, President Fransetta addressed a crowd of over 1000 who came together to share their common interest in health care reform. He also joined a panel discussion with SEIU Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry and Congressman Alan Grayson. He also participated in Rabbi Barry Silver’s community forum on health care hosted at Temple Bethel-Gor-ba-Dor.
In the Panhandle, Barbara DeVane, FLARA Recording Secretary, traveled from Tallahassee to Pensacola, talking to Central Labor Council leadership about health care reform and the need to organize their retirees into clubs. Ms. DeVane was instrumental in organizing a very successful health care town hall meeting in Tallahassee.
Our most high-profile event of August was the 5th annual health care forum hosted by the Delray Beach Club, a FLARA Affiliate. In a time of contentious town hall meetings, media from around the world, including CNN and Al-Jazeera covered the meeting. Please visit www.flara.org to see the widespread press coverage of the event, including numerous interviews with FLARA leaders and activists.
To insure an orderly, informative event, FLARA limited the tickets to members and worked with local law enforcement to provide adequate security in the face of protests by reform opponents.
After an informative presentation by Rick Ford of the FLARA affiliate and an inspiring address by national Alliance president Barbara Easterling, both Representatives Alcee Hastings and Robert Wexler spoke to the attendees and answered their questions.
Message from Barbara J. Easterling, President, Alliance for Retired Americans:
Dear Alliance Member:
As president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, I know that many older people are scared and confused, fearful of the change that health reform may bring.
But this isn’t because they are bad people. They are scared and confused because lobbyists and places like Fox News are spending millions of dollars – and spreading millions of lies – to preserve the status quo. Why? Because they are the winners in our current system, a broken system that puts profits ahead of people, the special interests ahead of the public interest.
Let’s make it our mission to help separate fact from fiction. When someone says to you that health reform will be bad for seniors, set the record straight.
Tell them how we have an opportunity to close the Medicare Part D doughnut hole, lower prescription drug costs, help early retirees afford health care coverage, and assist middle-class families with the costs of long-term care. We can end the out-of-control premium increases at the big insurance companies through fair competition from a high-quality public alternative to the corporations who profit by denying us care and discriminating against our pre-existing conditions.
But it is not just about us. Think about your children and grandchildren. How are they doing in these difficult times? What would happen if they lost their job? At a time of sky-high premiums and unfair rules against pre-existing conditions, would they be able to get health insurance? Would they be able to pay their doctor’s bill or get a prescription filled?
We will win this health care fight. We will improve health care in America. Retirees have a lot to gain from health care reform. We can give future generations a retirement that they can count on. This can be our lasting legacy. Thank you for your great work.
Barbara J. Easterling
President, Alliance for Retired Americans
.
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, 12773 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 211, Wellington, Florida President, Tony Fransetta Telephone: 561-792-8799; fax: 561-792-8797