|
President Vetoes
Medicare Bill; Congress Quickly Overrides
Tuesday, President Bush vetoed H.R. 6331,
the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of
2008”. Congress quickly acted to override the veto; the
House voted 383-41 (Roll Call No. 491) for the override,
while the Senate voted 70-26 (Record Vote No. 177), with
both chambers achieving more than the two-thirds required to
pass Public Law No: 110-275. 153 Republican Representatives
defied the Bush Administration to vote for the bill’s
passage, 24 more than for the legislation’s initial passing
on June 24; 4 additional Republican Senators also voted
yes. Complete results of the House override vote are
available at
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll491.xml, and the
full the Senate results can be found at
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00177.
Alliance members sent thousands of letters
to Congress and submitted dozens of letters to the editor to
ensure physicians continue to treat Medicare patients,
low-income seniors receive extra assistance with health care
costs, and Medicare Advantage programs will be reformed so
that more money goes to seniors and not large corporations
through the passage of H.R. 6331. “Through his misguided
veto of the Medicare bill, President Bush
once again reflexively sided with the special interests of
the big insurance companies, rather than with seniors
struggling to afford quality health care,” said Alliance
President George J. Kourpias. “Thank you
to all of the Alliance members who have tirelessly worked
this past year to make sure your members of Congress knew
how important this bill was, and that we will continue to
watch them closely.”
Patients Buying Fewer
Prescription Drugs
The growth in prescriptions filled by U.S. pharmacies is at
its slowest in at least ten years, as increasing health care
costs and a slowing economy are making medication harder to
afford. According to a recent Wall Street Journal
article, the drug industry usually remains stable in
economic downturns, because patients still require
medicine. However, the number of prescriptions filled in
the second quarter of 2008 may have actually decreased, due
to higher numbers of Americans without health insurance and
“skyrocketing out-of-pocket drug costs” putting the cost of
some medications out of reach. Patients are facing
additional burdens as the health care industry has forced
consumers to shoulder larger percentages of many costs. A
Kaiser Family Foundation study found that for a “preferred
drug” through a tiered insurance plan, average co-payments
rose 67 percent from $15 in 2000 to $25 in 2007. In fact,
23 percent of respondents to a Kaiser foundation poll failed
to fill a prescription in the last year for cost reasons, up
from 20 percent in 2005. Additionally, 19 percent either
skipped doses or split pills, an increase from 16 percent in
2005.
Late Baby Boomers’
Retirement May Be Hurt by Housing Market Collapse
In the face of proposals to cut or delay benefits for Social
Security and Medicare, the Center for Economic and Policy
Research (CEPR), a nonpartisan think tank, warns Congress
should “take into account the financial situation of near
retirees” who could be almost completely dependent on Social
Security and Medicare benefits to support their retirement.
According to a CEPR report, due the collapse of the housing
bubble the majority of people who were between the ages of
45 and 54 in 2004 will accumulate little or no wealth by
2009. The CEPR looked at three scenarios in which 2009
housing prices remained the same, dropped 10 percent, or
dropped 20 percent; even when prices remained the same, the
median household would have 24.7 percent less than in 2004.
In contrast, those who rent their homes will have more in
2009 than in 2004 in all three scenarios. The combination of
the destruction of housing wealth with a low personal
savings rate may leave many near retirees completely reliant
on Social Security and Medicare benefits during retirement.
“With the economy slowing, it is more important than ever to
ensure Social Security and Medicare remain strong and
available to retirees as they were intended to be, rather
than tools of private companies left to the whims of the
markets,” said Alliance Executive Director Edward
Coyle.
U.S. Health Care
System Falls Short
According to a report released this week by the Commonwealth
Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, a
nonprofit research group in New York, U.S. health care is
the most expensive in the world, but does not meet critical
benchmarks for quality, access, and other major performance
measures. While America spends twice as much per capita on
health care, it ranks lower than most other industrialized
nations on numerous indicators of overall care; the U.S.
score averaged 65 out of 100 over 37 categories, and fell to
last for “preventing deaths through use of timely and
effective medical care.” As health care costs increase and
even the insured face medical bills they cannot afford,
Americans also have less access to care than they did a year
earlier – an estimated 75 million people in the U.S. have
either no or inadequate health insurance. “As rising costs
make care even harder to afford, we must work even harder to
achieve a universal health care system,” said Ruben
Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.
Alliance Partners
with Caregiver Resource
The Alliance has joined with Aging with Grace, a national
eldercare resources company, to bring members a solution to
their eldercare issues. An experienced Aging with Grace
Eldercare Specialist can educate you on the eldercare
options that are most appropriate for your family or loved
one, coordinate contact between you and those resources, and
facilitate the initiation of services such as in-home care,
adult day care or respite care or referral to a senior
living community. They help identify where you are in your
current caregiver situation, where you need to be and then
work to get you there! To learn more about Aging with
Grace, visit
www.agingwithgrace.net or call toll free 866-570-8588.
Did You Know...
Several recent studies indicate that older Americans are
generally happier than younger ones (The Washington Post).
Become part of a progressive grassroots movement!
Join the Alliance:
www.retiredamericans.org/join
____________________________________________________________________
Alliance for
Retired Americans 815 16th St, NW Washington, DC
20006
www.retiredamericans.org
This message is being sent to you as a Member
of the Alliance of Retired Americans. The Alliance is a
nationwide membership organization organized under Internal
Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (4) and dedicated to educating
all Americans about and advocating on behalf of retirees and
seniors. The Alliance is responsible for the content and
has paid all costs associated with the preparation and
distribution of this message.
____________________________________________________________________
|
