Author Archives for Herb Weiss

All Ages Ultimately Benefit from AARP Advocacy

Published in the Pawtucket Times on June 17, 2002

Everyone has seen newspaper articles reporting how direct m ail pieces sometimes do not reach their attended audience.

Years ago, a friend of mine snickered when told me of a published account of a dog who received a draft notice. Now that’s humorous.

Or than there was an article gleefully reporting a fund-raising snafu where a high-ranking Democratic Congressman was invited to a very costly fundraiser. It was a no brainer for this lawmaker- he just chooses not to go.

Many of my colleagues dread receiving AARP membership solicitations, especially those persons in their late 40s. The mailing is viewed as a reminder that we are reaching midlife and growing older by the day.

With a deadline fast approaching and being “temporarily devoid of brow-furrowing themes,” Rhode Island columnist Philip Terzian told the tale of a misdirected AARP membership solicitation. He reports that his 17-year-old son recently received an invitation to join AARP, 33 years before his 50th birthday. In his tongue-in-cheek piece, Terzian talks about how his son was “haunted by the AARP.”

In that membership solicitation, AARP told the youngster “You have to be 50 or over to join- but you don’t have to be retired,” quipped a bemused Terzian. He speculated that his son was targeted by AARP membership because of the youngster’s unusual hobby. Being an amateur ornithologist, the young man’s name probably ended up on the mail lists, ultimately purchased by AARP to recruit new members, Terzian speculates.

Discounts, pharmacy services, a subscription to the glitzy Modern Maturity, along with lots of helpful information for aging baby boomers and seniors did not influence the late 40-ish Terzian to join, the ranks and file of AARP.

“Senior citizens as a political constituency are now almost as insatiable as veterans, nearly as ubiquitous as victims of cultural insensitivity,” says the aging baby boomer writer expressing why he chose not to send in his membership check.

Responding to Terzian’s piece, AARP-Rhode Island President Phil Zarlengo apologized for the marketing faux pas of putting the young Rhode Islander on the group’s mailing list. He publicly pledged to immediately remove the youngster’s name from a future membership solicitation.

At the top AARP spokesperson Zarlengo strongly disagreed with Terzian’s assertion that AARP’s political constituency to “insatiable,” in their efforts to lobby for federal dollars for senior programs.

AARP is pushing for prescription drug benefits that benefit all Rhode Island seniors, even those choosing not to purchase a minimally priced AARP membership, he said.

AARP’s misdirected mailing to a 17-year-old may well help us to ultimately rethink how we age in America.

No longer should we fear turning age 50, waiting for that AARP membership solicitation to drop through the  mailing slot, announcing midlife has approached, and that we are moving quickly toward our senior years.

Our society is aging.

In just 20 years, the proportion of the state’s population who are older than 65 will skyrocket to nearly 19 percent. Like other states, the percentage of Rhode Islanders who are older than 65, than 75 and even 85, is growing.

We also see a surge in the number of growing baby boomers, too – those born between 1946 and 1964.

Some like Terzian, have expressed dismay over AARP’s strong political muscle.

Right now, political battles are being waged at both the state and national levels for adequate pharmaceutical drug coverage, a coordinated long-term care  system, and more importantly, for a better quality of life for elders.  However, the national aging group’s struggle is not  shameless act to benefit one generation.

Ultimately, AARP’s actions will assist every generation that follows in today’s elder’s footsteps.

Aging baby boomers their children and grandchildren will benefit from sound aging policy, implemented through the successful results of AARP’s lobbying efforts.

It is now time for society to not judge age in chronological terms.  You are only as old as you feel, the old adage says. That’s how we should view aging.

Maybe it is time for AARP to rethink its membership age requirement.

With the graying of America, maybe we should view it as a humorous mistake when a 17-year-old receives an invitation to join AARO.  Tomorrow’s AARP members, who represent every generation, could work together on a redefined organizational mission.

Rather than working on late-life issues, the newly directed membership organization could strive to make a person’s journey throughout their entire lifespan a little easier, a bit better and brighter.

Now isn’t that worth the cost of an AARP membership?

Lawsuits Filed to Put Brakes on Rising Pharmaceutical Costs

Published in Pawtucket Times on June, 2, 2002

In conjunction with seniors advocates lobbying Congress for Medicare prescription drug benefits and state legislatures for financial relief in paying for the spiraling costs of pharmaceuticals, the AARP and other aging groups, along with state attorney generals, are going to court to put the brakes on spiraling prescription drug costs.

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, called for pharmaceutical companies to not delay generic drugs from coming quickly to market during an April forum on Capitol Hill, which was held to spotlight the anti-competitive practices of the prescription drug industry.

Delaying or preventing the widespread use of generic drugs endlessly increases costs for consumers, including Medicare beneficiaries as well as  third-party payers of health care, Pollack stated.

“It improperly extends drug monopolies that enables the drug companies to profit at the expense of everyone else,” he said.

The lawsuits bring litigated are intended to make the pharmaceutical marketplace work for everyone,” Pollack said, noting that it was ironic that the drug industry goes to great lengths to prevent the regulation of prices in the name of promoting a free market.

Legal initiatives are now a part of a broad AARP drive to reduce high drug costs that hit seniors hard in their pocketbooks. Washington’s largest aging advocacy group is ratcheting up its efforts to lower drug costs by joining three important cases against prescription drug manufacturers that have blocked the availability of lower-priced generic equivalents.

AARP CEO Bill Novelli has announced that his group’s attorneys will serve as co-counsel in three lawsuits that involve charges of patent abuse, suppression of generic competition and collusive agreements with generic manufacturers.

“Geriatric drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at equivalents give consumers quality drug alternatives at reasonable prices,” Novelli said today. “Our aim is to help people get affordable access to the drugs they need.”

The lawsuits mark the first time that AARP attorneys will co-counsel in federal anti-trust litigation against drug manufacturers, he said.

AARP’s legal actions come against a backdrop of rising prescription drug costs. Spending for brand-name drugs has tripled in the last decade, rising from $ 40.3 billion in 1990 to $ 121.8 billion in 2000, and is expected to more than triple to $ 414 billion in this decade. Generic drugs typically cost 50 percent or less than brand-name drugs.

According to the AARP, millions of dollars are at stake annually for older Americans, who account for 42 percent of the U.S. prescription drug consumption, and other consumers who purchased prescription drugs.

The three ongoing class action cases – all in federal court – are In Re: Buspirone Antitrust litigation, In Re: K-Dur Antitrust and In Re: Tamoxifen. The AARP chose the cases because they involve important drugs that are widely used by Americans age 50 and over.

AARP attorneys are participating in these cases as co-counsel in order to ensure that a strong consumer voice is represented throughout the proceedings, including any settlement.

AARP attorneys will serve as co-counsel in the three above-mentioned cases with attorney’s associated with the Prescription Access Litigation Project (PAL), a coalition of consumer and health care organizations that was launched last year by Boston-based Catalyst.

With AARP name recognition, resources and clout, it is easy to see why Community Catalyst Executive Director Rob Restuccia is ecstatic about AARP’s decision to joint three of PAL’s class action lawsuits.

“The PAL coalition welcomes the firepower of the AARP, firepower that will strengthen our capacity to challenge the anti-competitive activities of some drug companies,” he said.

In the midst of AARP’s lawsuits here in Rhode Island, low-and moderate-income seniors and disabled will now see lower pharmaceutical costs with the passage of the three legislative proposals that would expand drug coverage of the state’s Rhode Island Pharmaceutical Assistance for the Elderly program.

A thumbs-up goes to the Rhode Island General Assembly for the wisdom of acting on these legislative proposals.

Meanwhile, at the federal level, Rhode Island U.S. Reps. Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin are gearing up for expected House debates in early June over legislation to create a drug benefit for the Medicare Program. Stay tuned for this one.

Today’s Seniors are Healthier, But More Are Uninsured

Published in Pawtucket Times on May 27, 2002

Three years ago, Alice, 60, lost her job as a graphic designer along with 143 co-workers when the Providence-based company closed. Corporate management had made the decision to  move South to tap into a cheaper labor pool.

The Pawtucket resident considered her full-time job to be a fulfilling one. Most important, she had good health insurance coverage with a very nominal monthly cop-pay of $ 80. Although she received coverage under COBRA, Alice’s monthly health care premium shot up to $ 256. When the federally mandated health insurance coverage ended, her monthly health insurance premium almost double to $ 600.

Alice never went back to full-time employment, choosing to take partial retirement in order to collect a pension. To make ends meet, she is currently teaching art classes and working part-time for a nonprofit art group. When her COBRA coverage ran out, Alice signed up for health insurance coverage from the National Association of Self-Employed. This reduced her monthly premium to $ 253; however she was left with a $ 10,000 deductible per year.

At age 60, Alice recently had a hip replacement surgery. Before the operation, the hospital required a $ 5,000 down payment, forcing her to withdraw money from her several saving accounts. Now recuperating from surgery that costs more than $ 10,000, she is about $ 5,000 in debt.

According to a new AARP report, seniors age 50 and over may be healthier and living longer overall, but their long-term health security remains at risk. In the Ocean State, Alice and other seniors have lived the findings of the report. They struggle to maintain their costly health insurance  coverage.

The report, “Beyond 50: A Report to the Nation on Trends in Health Security” is the most comprehensive picture to date of the state of health care for older Americans.

Changes in health security during the last 20 years have been driven by increased reliance on prescription drugs and other innovative technologies, changes in chronic disease and challenges in chronic care, greater longevity and functional limitations patients’ roles and responsibilities as consumers and fluctuating cost growth, the AARP report finds.

“Americans age 50-plus have the chance to capitalize on wonderful advances in longevity. But they need a chain of dominoes to fall right – initial good health, adequate health care coverage, affordable quality care that’s easy to access and a system that encourages informed decision making,” said AARP CEO Bill Novelli.

“Missing one of these dominoes puts a person’s – and a generations – whole health security at risk,” says Novelli.

At age 50, Americans can expect to live another 30 years, the report notes, almost nine years longer than expected in 1900, and fewer are suffering disabilities. The aging baby boomers are healthier with fewer smoking and more using preventative services and trying to exercise.

The AARP report also found that more people age 50-64 are uninsured than in the past and those with insurance are worried about losing what coverage they have or receiving fewer benefits in the future because Medicare doesn’t cover prescription drugs and few Americans have long-term care insurance.

“It’s a good news/bad news report,” said Novelli. “Personal behavior can make a positive difference in people’s health and longevity, but health care for Americans age 50-plus is harder to get, to pay for and to manage. The health care system is a non-system.”

The AARP report calls for the public health system to continue to promote positive health behaviors.

In addition, the general lack of long-term care coverage and the increasing inadequacy and instability of health care coverage for portions of the 50-plus population must be addressed by policy makers.

In 2000, 39 million Americans were uninsured. Out of this number, 5.2 million were seniors between  ages 50 to 64. With the graying of America’s population, the Rhode Island congressional delegation must work closely together to craft meaningful legislation that will create a safety net for the underinsured and uninsured. It’s now time to fix this long-debated policy problem once and for all.

Every senior must have access to affordable health care services. For me, that right is as American as apple pie.