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Friday Alert
Friday, October 23, 2009(Alliance for Retired Americans)
Bill to Keep Doctors' Pay from Being
Dramatically Slashed Fails
The
Senate voted 47-53 against invoking cloture on
a Medicare doctors' reimbursement bill on
Wednesday, falling 13 votes short of stopping a
filibuster. The bill, S. 1776, would have
fixed a formula in Medicare that currently
would have doctors' reimbursements cut 21% in
2010 and another 5% in years beyond 2010.
All Republicans voted against the bill, as well
as the following 13 Democrats:
Evan Bayh (IN), Robert
Byrd (WV), Kent
Conrad (ND), Byron
Dorgan (ND), Russ
Feingold (WI), Herb
Kohl (WI), Joe
Lieberman (CT), Claire
McCaskill (MO), Bill
Nelson (FL), Jon
Tester (MT), Mark
Warner (VA), Jim Webb
(VA), and Ron Wyden
(OR). Congress for the last several years
has stopped the cuts in a piecemeal fashion -
often one year or 18 months at a time, and S.
1776 would have permanently fixed the
problem. It is likely that the Senate
will now go back and again do a one-year
fix. Opponents wanted the bill "paid for"
in budget terms, although this Congress had
passed a resolution earlier this year exempting
this and other crucial issues, like war
funding, from the normal budget process.
"Seniors need certainty and security to know
that their doctor will always be there for
them. This bill would have given seniors
on Medicare the security they need," said
Barbara J. Easterling,
President of the Alliance. The bill was
especially important in smaller communities and
rural areas, where there are fewer patients and
where seniors need to make sure that there are
enough doctors to treat
them.
Alliance
Leaders, Activists Speak out on Health Care
from Coast to Coast
Nevada Alliance
President Scotty Watts joined
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV) on two separate telephone
press conference calls this week. The
first was in support of the Medicare "Doctors
Fix" (see previous article), and the second was
to discuss retiree concerns such as Social
Security, health care, and prescription drug
costs. On Tuesday, Florida Alliance
members were among 25 health care advocates who
staged a protest at the Orlando office of Rep.
Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL).
Participants urged Kosmas to support a
pro-retiree, pro-worker health care bill,
including a strong public option, as an
affordable alternative to private
insurance. On the west coast, Ms.
Easterling spoke at the California Alliance's
convention, which was held Tuesday and
Wednesday this week in Los Angeles.
Nan Brasmer was re-elected as
President; as were Community Vice Presidents
Maureen Allen, Rosario Holguin, Arnie
Kasendorf, Michael Lyon and
Diana Madoshi.
Nancy Tilcock and
Artist Gilbert were elected
new Community VP's. Easterling also spoke
to a retiree group about health care and the
2009 Virginia governor's race at an event in
Annandale, VA on Thursday, and Alliance
Executive Director Edward F.
Coyle traveled to Washington State to
speak at the Washington Alliance's convention
on Thursday.
Midwestern Alliance Chapters:
Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa
Indiana
is ending its troubled $1.34 billion deal with
a team of vendors to automate the application
process for food stamps, Medicaid and other
benefits. The system has been highly
criticized for lost documents, slow processing
times and a lack of face-to-face interaction
between caseworkers and welfare
recipients. The news came just two days
after social services advocates, including
Indiana Alliance members, held a news
conference to say that Indiana needs viable
public solutions to fix a crisis in public
welfare. In Missouri, Alliance activists
traveled to Humana's corporate office in
Springfield, MO on Monday to lodge a formal
complaint against the company. Missouri
Alliance President Dave
Meinell and three colleagues presented
an open letter addressed to Humana's CEO,
Michael McCallister, which
read: "Both your mailings to Medicare
Advantage recipients, as well as the current
ads you are now running in Missouri with AHIP
(America's Health Insurance Plans), falsely
warn seniors that their benefits are at
risk." In Iowa on Thursday - two days
after UnitedHealth Group, the largest U.S.
insurer, announced a 13% third quarter jump in
profit to $1.03 billion - seniors and leaders
from the Iowa Alliance called on Senator
Charles Grassley (R-IA) to
stop putting the interests of big insurance
ahead of Iowans and to support health insurance
reform. The seniors descended on four of
Grassley's offices, in Cedar Rapids, Des
Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo, to urge him to
stop lying to Americans about health
reform. Activists brought a bar of soap,
to be donated to a local shelter, to Grassley's
offices, telling the Senator that he should
have his mouth washed out with soap for his
lies.
News from New England: New Hampshire
and Maine
Alliance Director of
Government and Political Affairs
Richard Fiesta and Director of
Field Mobilization Dani Pere
traveled to Concord for the New Hampshire
Alliance's convention on Saturday.
Charlie Balban was elected
President; Ron Geoffroy, Sr.
was elected Executive Vice President;
Audrey Buchanan-Swan was
elected Treasurer; and John
Mendolusky, outgoing president of the
NH Alliance, gave the Thomas C.
Deary Award to John
Hoar, Sr. The award is made in memory
of Tom Deary, a tireless NH seniors
advocate. Last Friday, the Consumers for
Affordable Healthcare, a coalition of consumer
advocates in Maine, presented its 2009 Consumer
Advocate Award to John Carr,
President of the Maine Council of Senior
Citizens-Alliance for Retired Americans, in
recognition of his commitment to quality,
affordable health care.
Future Alliance Events: Conference
Call, Las Vegas Convention
You are
invited to join Alliance members across the
country for a national conference call and
health care reform legislative update on
Wednesday, October 28 at 2:00 pm EDT. To
participate in the call, please RSVP by email
to araorganizing@retiredamericans.org
or call 1-888-633-4435 to be sent the call-in
details. RSVP's must be made by Friday,
October 23rd at 5:00 pm EDT. Please join us to
discuss the critical components that must be
included in any successful health care reform
legislation. The call will identify key
legislators to contact; discuss advocacy
strategies for November and December; and
include questions and comments from the
field. Also, mark your calendars
for April 5-8, 2010 for the Alliance's National
Convention in Las Vegas, where we will kick off
our grassroots efforts for the important 2010
elections. We will have workshops and
training sessions to strengthen our organizing
and advocacy skills, and hear from leading
experts in public policy, health care and
aging, and the media. Convention
attendees will be electing officers for the
Alliance. Watch for more details in an
upcoming Friday Alert.