Tag Archives for Congress

Older Voters Talk Turkey to Congress

Printed October 26, 2012, Pawtucket Times 

            Even the Presidential election less than two weeks away, registered voters across the nation should exercise their Democratic right to vote.  Since the beginning of July local and state political candidates attended hundreds of public events scattered throughout the OceanState, passing out campaign literature, putting up signs throughout their legislative districts, along with distributing bumper stickers to promote their candidacy on their supporter’s vehicles. .

             During this current election cycle AARP moved to push Congress to address the major issues surrounding Social Security and Medicare, gathering opinions from millions of Americans in thousands of communities across the nation. 

            “People of all ages and across party lines believe Medicare and Social Security are critical to the health and retirement security of older Americans and yet all voters are hearing from the candidates about these programs are attack ads and 30-second sound bites,” says AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen S. Connell. “The next President and Congress could determine the future of Social Security and Medicare. Voters want and deserve to know where the candidates stand.”

Setting the Record Straight. 

            Last March, AARP, the nation’s largest aging advocacy group and its state groups, unrolled a new initiative to educate voters about the nation’s two largest domestic programs, Social Security and Medicare and to gather their thoughts to forward to decision makers inside the Washington Beltway.  

            Following its national headquarters’ lead, AARP Rhode Island geared up its final phase of its “You’ve Earned a Say,” initiative, an effort to gather grassroots feedback from “Outside the Beltway” to bring to Congressional lawmakers as they continue their heated debates as to how to bolster the solvency of the nation’s Social Security and Medicare programs.  The educational initiative was created to fuel conversations at the state and national levels to ensure that workers in every state, who have faithfully contributed into Medicare and Social Security Programs, had a direct say in the future reforms of these programs.

            AARP Rhode Island reached out to 130,000 Rhode Island members and its Washington, DC headquarters, to nearly 40 million members to raise awareness of the “You’ve Earned a Say” initiative.  It’s website, www.earnedasay.org, provided both factual and straightforward information as to policies that are being considered and enabled a person to share their ideas with Congress and those running against Congressional incumbents, as how to strengthen these programs. 

            So far, AARP’s educational initiative brought over 3 million people into this conversation on Medicare and Social Security and held over 3,000 events.  At the local level, AARP Rhode Island staff met over 4,000 aging baby boomers and seniors who shared their concerns about the future of these programs. 

            According to Connell, AARP’s “You’ve Earned a Say” initiative was created to bring balanced information to voters — both the pros and the cons — about the policy options being debated during the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections for both programs. 

            Earlier in this summer, AARP released a series of national surveys on the opinions of voters ages 50 and over, which found that these voters overwhelmingly think the candidates have not done a good job of explaining their plans on Social Security (67%) and Medicare (63%). Voters 50-plus – across party lines – say that getting more information on the candidates’ plans on Social Security (72%) and Medicare (70%) will help them determine their vote on Election Day on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

            Through the reports and ongoing You’ve Earned a Say events, AARP worked hard to elevate the voices of Rhode Island voters and provide them with nonpartisan information about candidates’ positions on issues important to aging baby boomers and seniors.  In August, AARP launched the “You’ve Earned a Say: Vote for Retirement Security” 2012 Voters’ Guides featuring information from presidential, senatorial and congressional candidates – in their own words – on their own specific plans to strengthen Social Security, Medicare and financial security.

            This week, AARP Rhode Island volunteers delivered a 10 page report entitled “Rhode Islanders Have Their Say about Medicare and Social Security” to Rhode Island Members of Congress and congressional candidates.  The state-specific report conveys the opinions of over 2,100 Rhode Islanders who have participated in the AARP initiative.  National and state-specific versions of the report were also delivered to both presidential and congressional candidates in every state, as well as sitting lawmakers, so they could hear directly from their constituents about their views of how to strengthen these vital domestic programs. 

A Rhode Island Snap Shot

            Out of  2,182 respondents, 32 percent believe Social Security is “okay as is,” followed by 26 percent who only saw a need for minor fixes.    Twenty three percent of those responding believed that Congress must make major changes to the program with 19 percent seeing this domestic program in “a state of crisis.”

            As to Medicare, 26 percent of the respondents say that Medicare “is ok as is” followed by 28 believing that only minor policy fixes are need to keep it solvent.  However, a whopping 31 percent believes major changes are needed to fix Medicare, followed by 15 percent saying Medicare is in “a state of crisis.”

            Twenty eight percent say that they expect the benefits from participating in Social Security and Medicare will equal the contributions they paid while 28 percent will get less benefits.  Forty four percent believe that they might get more back from these two programs the same that they contributed.

            Thirty six percent of the respondents say that more funding is needed to maintain the same benefits while 13 percent fear that benefits will be slashed.  Forty percent expect more funding is needed to shore up the program, but expecting a cut in benefits.  Twelve percent have no opinion.

            Finally, ninety one percent of the respondents want their voice heard by Washington policy makers but 47 percent do not expect it will make a difference.  Nine percent are not interested in getting involved.

            The majority of respondents (51 percent)  called for some changes to be made now, but suggested that Congress should wait before making major changes.  They (35 percent) also believed that higher paid workers aren’t paying enough into the Social Security program and that the program should become solvent before bettered benefit are paid out (68 percent).

            Additionally, the majority (70 percent) also called for a balanced approach when making revenue and benefit changes to ensure there is retirement benefits to future retirees. Fifty five percent also supported upper income workers get higher benefits because they contributed more into the system.

            Most of the respondents (48 percent) also suggested that Congress move slow in making major changes to Medicare, only making small fixes now.   Thirty six percent  believe that the biggest challenge facing Medicare is rising health care costs.  Seventy five percent agreed that all future retirees continue to get guaranteed coverage and care as those get now.  As with Social Security, a majority (62 percent) also called for a balanced approach when making revenue and benefit changes to ensure Medicare is available to future retirees.  Forty four percent say that premiums and funding from the genera federal revenues should not be used to cover increased health care costs.

            Voting may be more difficult in this heated partisan political campaign where voters must learn to separate political rhetoric and negative innuendoes from the substance of issues.  AARP’s “You’ve Earned a Say” initiative is a successful attempt to give back power to voters, helping them become more knowledgeable about Social Security and Medicare in order to rise above negative campaigning.  Your vote must be made by understanding the facts and not be influenced by the fiction of negative attack ads.

            Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Congress is Close to Passing Prescription Drug Legislation

Published in Pawtucket Times on June 23, 2003

Within days of the July 4th congressional recess, the House and Senate continue their debates on enacting legislation to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals for the nation’s elderly.

The AARP will kick off a media blitz to get a point across to lawmakers that while they may take a short break during recess, the nation’s elderly don’t get a break when it comes to affording the costly medications they need.

“There’s no recess [for seniors] from high prescription drug costs,”  AARP declares in a press release sent to the nation’s media outlets.

In a written statement, Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty, who chairs the state’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, calls on Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to pass meaningful Medicare drug benefits, rather than the legislative proposals being debated in the House and Senate chambers.

“While it is nice that after many years of promises Congress has finally taken on this issue these proposals will cause nothing but heartburn and headaches for seniors if passed,” said Fogarty, noting that many seniors will pay more for the program than they will get back in benefits. He charged that others will even be left without prescription drug coverage when they need it the most.

Under the Senate proposal, seniors would pay a $ 35 monthly premium and then have to meet a $275 deductible before Medicare starts to kick in to pay for half of the drugs costs.  Once senior’s reach a cost cap of $ 4,500 for the last year, they would then have to pick up the entire cost until they reach yet another cap of $ 5,800 in total drug spending. At this point, Medicare would then pay 90 percent of the covered drug costs.

Fogarty noted the Congressional Budget Office found that one-third of seniors would pay more money to enroll in the plan than they would actually get back in benefits.

That’s because a senior with $ 1,000 in annual drug costs would actually end up

$ 1,057 annual for the benefits ($420 in premiums, a $ 275 deductible and half of the drug costs).  A senior with $ 2,000 in drug costs would pay $ 1,557 out-of-pocket for the benefits.

Fogarty also called attention to the major gap in coverage for those whose costs exceed the $ 4,500 limit until they reach that $ 5,800 mark.

Furthermore, Fogarty, who authored the state’s expanded prescription drug program, said a study by Columbia University found that only those annual drug costs about $ 1,100 would benefit through the plan.  

In the House chamber, the Republican proposal also calls for monthly premiums of $ 35 along with a lower annual deductible of $ 250 with Medicaid paying 80 percent of the cost of drugs up to $ 2,000.

There is a gaping hole in coverage (in this legislative package).” Fogarty warned “Seniors would then have to spend at least another $ 1,500 depending on their income, on medications before coverage would again begin.”

According to Fogarty, Consumer Union, the publisher of the widely-read magazine, Consumer Reports, noted the “skimpy benefits [in the House and Senate proposal] and the historically high growth of prescription drug costs means that most who lack coverage today would wind up paying more for prescription drugs in four years than they do now.”

Will seniors see a prescription drug proposal enacted this year?

Probably, said Jason Ormsby, director of policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Allilance for Health Reform.

“There is a tremendous drive that I have not seen in the last there years [to enact a prescription drug bill],” said Ormsby.

He noted the House passed a legislative proposal to assist seniors in paying for costly pharmaceuticals, but it died in the Senate.

“The somewhat similar House and Senate bills will have a good change to pass by the July 4th recess,” Ormsby predicted.  Once passed, the legislative proposal will go to conference committee to iron out the differences between the 600-page House and 350-pshr Senate bills,” he said.

The prescription drug benefits are just a small portion of these massive legislative proposals, he noted.

Robert Greenwood, vice-president of public affairs for the National Pace Association, added: “Many Democrats see the limitation of these bills.  This legislation passed presents a historic opportunity to get this law on the book so it can be amended and improved in future years.”

While not a meaningful drug prescription proposal, it’s the first step in the right direction.

Once enacted into law, the Rhode Island congressional delegation must begin their efforts to improve the law – improve access for all: make out-of-pocket costs and cost sharing affordable; lessen gaps in coverage; more important, put the breaks to the steady increase in high-cost drugs.