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Friday Alert
Friday, May 29, 2009(Alliance for Retired Americans)
Be Careful When the Insurance
Industry Says It Would Like to
Help!
According to the AFL-CIO
blog, profits at ten of the country's largest
publicly traded health insurance companies rose
428 percent from 2000 to 2007, while consumers
paid more for less coverage. One of the
major reasons, according to a study by the
group "Health Care for America Now," is the
growing lack of competition in the private
health insurance industry, which has led to
near monopoly conditions in many markets.
The report says such conditions warrant a
Justice Department investigation, and Sen.
Charles Schumer (D-NY) says
that it provides compelling evidence of the
need for a public health insurance plan option
as part of the health care reform initiative
President Obama and Congress
are developing. "A public health plan
option is a key component of the Alliance's
health care reform principles," said
Barbara J. Easterling,
President of the Alliance, agreeing with Sen.
Schumer.
Recently, the insurance industry has begun lobbying Congress to block the public plan option. Last Friday, Paul Krugman wrote in The New York Times about the "medical-industrial complex" making a big show of working with President Obama on health care reform, but then double-crossing those whom they pretended to support. "Even as they met with the president, pretending to be cooperative, insurers were gearing up to play the same destructive role they did the last time health reform was on the agenda," Krugman wrote, referring to a May 11 meeting at the White House. White House officials had announced after the meeting that major players in health care, including the American Hospital Association and the lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans, had united to support a national effort to control health care costs. However, just three days later, the hospital association insisted that it had not, in fact, promised what the president said it had promised. And the head of the insurance lobby said that the idea was merely to "ramp up" savings. Also last week, The Washington Post reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina was preparing to run a series of ads attacking the public plan option. The ads show troubled Americans being denied their choice of doctor, or forced to wait months for appointments. "The insurance companies' interest groups came to the table pledging support, but are actually trying to block reform," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. The Wall Street Journal reports that another group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, is buying air time for a 30-minute Sunday morning infomercial featuring "horror stories" about the Canadian and British health care systems and warning the U.S. government is about to take over health care here. For more on the insurance companies' ads, visit the AFL-CIO blog at http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/05/28/here-come-the-big-lies-about-health-care-reform/#more-14523.
Letter to Senators Explains Dangers
of Charging More for Insurance Based on
Age
Last Friday, the Leadership
Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO), a broad
coalition of aging organizations chaired by the
Alliance, sent a letter to Senate Finance
Committee Chair Max Baucus
(D-MT) and ranking member Charles
Grassley (R-IA) regarding the
committee's proposal to reform insurance market
rating rules. LCAO, a coalition of 60
national not-for-profit organizations concerned
with the well-being of America's 87 million
people over age 50, voiced its concerns that
the Finance Committee's proposal would allow
insurance companies to charge older Americans
up to 5 times what they charge younger citizens
for coverage. The letter stated that such
a policy will result in many older Americans
not having access to affordable, quality
coverage, and that older adults are already
much more likely to spend a significant portion
of their income on health care. "One
result of lack of insurance or of being
uninsured for older adults is that they may be
deferring care until they are eligible for
Medicare, which can lead to more serious health
problems and higher costs for Medicare later,"
said Edward F. Coyle,
Executive Director of the Alliance. Go to
http://www.retiredamericans.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/id/12942
to view the letter.
UAW Likely to Approve Deal with
General Motors
A majority of
rank-and-file members of the United Auto
Workers (UAW) will likely approve a ratified
agreement with General Motors Corp. (GM) that
will give the union a stake in the U.S.
automaker in return for concessions, according
to initial tallies. The company is
expected to file bankruptcy in the next few
days. Under the terms of the amended
agreement, the UAW would receive half of the
$20 billion GM owes a union-aligned healthcare
trust in the form of stock and new debt,
instead of cash. A trust fund run by the
United Auto Workers union would have a 17.5%
stake in the new GM. A concession
included in the tentative deal is the
elimination of dental, vision and some
prescription drug coverage for hourly
retirees. UAW also would hold a seat on
the GM board of directors. However, the
deal will leave hundreds of thousands of GM
retirees paying higher out-of-pocket medical
expenses, the Wall Street Journal
reports.
Alliance Activity in the Northeast
On Wednesday, Ms. Easterling spoke
at the New York State Alliance Convention in
Latham, NY. On Thursday, the New
Hampshire Alliance held a Senior Roundtable in
Concord, NH to learn about retirees'
experiences with the Medicare Part D
prescription drug program.
Come to the Alliance Legislative
Conference on June 15-18, 2009
Less
than three weeks remain until the Alliance's
2009 Legislative Conference, which will take
place June 15-18 in Washington, DC at the
Washington Hilton. Alliance members will
have the opportunity to meet with Congressional
representatives and Administration officials,
organize grassroots activities to improve
Medicare and strengthen retirement security,
and voice their opinions in breakout
sessions. Scheduled speakers include Rep.
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL);
Larry Cohen, President of the
Communications Workers of America;
James Hoffa, General
President, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters; Gerald McEntee,
International President, American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees;
R. Thomas Buffenbarger,
President, International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers; and many
others. Go to www.unionvoice.org/retirees/events/conf_2009/details.tcl
to register, e-mail Joni Jones
at jjones@retiredamericans.org,
or call 1-888-373-6497.
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