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Friday Alert
Friday, June 26, 2009(Alliance for Retired Americans)
President Obama Says He is
''Flexible'' on Offering a Public Health
Plan...
A New York Times
poll released on Sunday showed that a
remarkable 72% of Americans support a public
health care plan. President
Obama said that he believes insurers
are being illogical in opposing the public
option, arguing that if they provide the best
quality health care at an affordable price,
there is no reason the government's plan should
drive them out of business. However, on
Tuesday, the President signaled a willingness
to forego a public option in health care reform
- troubling many health care reform
advocates. "The private marketplace has
proved to be inadequate in providing for all
citizens, and we need a public option to fill
the void," stated Alliance Executive Director
Edward F. Coyle. He
added, "Most Americans have grown distrustful
of insurance companies' concern for their
customers' health needs, and that showed in the
New York Times' poll."
...While Sen. Conrad Floats a
"Co-op" Option to Take the Place of a Public
Plan
Sen. Kent
Conrad (D-ND) is calling for the
creation of co-ops, which would consist of
state or regional entities selling health
insurance to small firms and individuals, who
in turn would become part owners of those
entities. The groups would negotiate
rates with health-care providers and possibly
employ some of their own doctors, while abiding
by the same rules that apply to other health
plans, such as capital requirements.
However, many public-plan advocates doubt these
entities could rein in prices by competing with
private insurers. The idea of a co-op
represents a compromise on the public plan
option, which is one of the most contentious
points in crafting a bipartisan health care
reform bill. The co-op idea is now the
main option in play in the Senate Finance
Committee, and that committee's health care
overhaul is the leading initiative under
consideration, according to The Wall Street
Journal. In remarks this week, Mr.
Obama said he would consider the idea if it
helped reduce coverage costs for individuals
and small businesses. Sen. Conrad said
that the co-ops he envisions would differ from
Blue Cross plans due to the
collective-ownership model. The federal
government, states, and co-op members would
fund his proposal, with the government
providing seed money - perhaps as loans.
However, the co-ops would run independently
after that. "Co-ops are not the best
solution," said Barbara J.
Easterling, President of the
Alliance. "The top way to save money is
with a public plan." In a recent study,
the Commonwealth Fund estimates that reform
which includes a public health insurance option
will create cumulative savings of $3 trillion
over 10 years, while reform without the public
option would save less than one-third of this
amount.
Drug Industry Deal Has Conditions;
Democrats Work on Negotiations
The
breakthrough $80 billion promise for drug
companies to narrow the significant Medicare
doughnut hole gap in coverage will only be
considered valid by the pharmaceutical industry
as part of a larger health care overhaul.
Thirty to thirty-five billion of the $80
billion is expected to go towards reducing the
costs of Medicare beneficiaries, with the
balance funding the overall health
legislation. The agreement was considered
a notable stepping-stone on the way to
comprehensive health reform. Drug
companies now argue that their deal is only one
part of a "shared commitment," serving as a new
challenge as the health care reform is already
being threatened by several obstacles -
including how to fund the $1 trillion that the
overhaul is expected to cost over the next
decade. House Democrats are also drafting
a bill that would ask drug companies for an
additional $61 billion to fill the doughnut
hole.
Walmart Lowers Prescription Drug
Prices By Putting Their Customers at
Risk
The cost of prescription drugs
has been a recurrent theme in health care
reform, and Walmart has promoted their $4
generic drugs in an attempt to address the
issue. However, the group "Wake Up
Walmart" has released a report saying that
Walmart's medication comes from Ranbaxy - a
disrespected Indian drug maker - and that
Walmart actually profits off these foreign
investments. The FDA and the Department
of Justice have repeatedly investigated Ranbaxy
for insufficient contamination policies and for
issuing false records, and eventually banned
the importation of drugs manufactured at two
Ranbaxy facilities. According to the
Department of Justice, Walmart's supplier is
responsible for introducing potentially
"subpotent, superpotent, or adulterated" drugs
into the market. Medications used by
millions of Walmart shoppers could have
contained active ingredients from unapproved
sources, in unapproved blends, and in amounts
weaker than FDA-approved doses. Despite
these investigations, Walmart has given Ranbaxy
the "Outstanding Supplier Award." Stated
Ruben Burks,
Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance, "Walmart
has been putting consumers at great risk.
'Safe' and 'affordable' are not mutually
exclusive."
Alliance News: Conference in
Connecticut, Photos from the National
Conference
Ms. Easterling was in
Southington, Connecticut on Monday to attend
the Connecticut Alliance's Third Biennial
Conference. To see the first set of
pictures from the national Alliance's
legislative conference last week, go to www.retiredamericans.org/ht/display/Gallery.
The Alliance's Seidman Prize Awarded
to National Labor College
Student
The Alliance for Retired
Americans Educational Fund announced that
Ken Erdmann, a member of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, from Toledo, Ohio, has received this
year's Bert and
Annabel Seidman Prize for
Advancing Social Policy. Mr. Erdmann was
awarded the prize for his senior project,
Retirement! Now the Work Begins.
The prize, awarded to a National Labor College
student who displays great interest in the
aging field and in social justice, gives the
recipient $3,000 to help further his or her
work in those areas. "Ken's paper
embodied so many of the principles that drove
our parents," said Joan Seidman
Welsh and Betsy Seidman
Garaufis, the Seidmans'
daughters. "Volunteering was a way of
life for them long before retirement, and their
activism never let up, even into their
eighties."
DUE TO THE FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY, THE NEXT
FRIDAY ALERT WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY,
JULY 2ND.
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