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April 27, 2007

(Alliance for Retired Americans)

Administration Uses Trustees Reports to Scare Seniors
The trust funds for Social Security and Medicare will last a year longer than previously estimated, trustees said Monday.  The trustees report that Social Security is solvent through the year 2041, and Medicare is solvent through 2019.  The report triggered a warning that will require President Bush to submit to Congress next year proposals for dealing with Medicare's problems.  The Medicare funding warning is triggered any time two consecutive trustee reports conclude that the amount of general revenue needed to finance Medicare will top 45% of the program's outlays, and the trustees first made that determination last year.  While Congress must consider the proposals, it is not required to act on them.  Medicare advocates at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities say that the 45% threshold is not a meaningful measure of the health of Medicare.  They argue that Medicare’s basic problem is its large projected cost, not what share of that cost comes from general revenues rather than payroll taxes.  The threshold also makes it harder to address Medicare’s fiscal problems fairly.  “If the Bush administration is so concerned about rising Medicare costs, why did it threaten to veto a common sense bill before the Senate earlier this month, S. 3, which would have lowered the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate bulk discounts with the pharmaceutical companies?” asked Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance.

“Medicare for All” Bill Introduced
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-MI) on Wednesday introduced companion bills (S. 1218 and H.R. 2034) that would allow U.S. residents younger than age 65 to enroll in Medicare, according to reports this week in CQ HealthBeat and the Kaiser Daily Health Report.  Under the "Medicare for All" bill, residents would be eligible to enroll in Medicare or any of the health insurance plans offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, or they could continue to receive coverage under private plans. However, the lawmakers say that the measure does not yet have enough support for consideration in either the House or Senate.  “The legislation is based on the premise that Medicare is a successful program that has saved countless lives, and could help younger Americans in addition to seniors.  That logic makes a lot of sense,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.  “This is an intelligent idea.”

Bush Backpedals a Bit on Social Security Privatization
President Bush discussed privatizing Social Security on Tuesday during an interview on television’s The Charlie Rose Show.  The President stated, “I wish we could get it done.  I’m not sure it’s going to happen.  I tried, as you might recall, in '95 -- I mean, in 2005 -- and, you know, I just don’t think it’s going to -- you know, I’ll keep pushing, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. It’s a little defeatist.  I don’t see it happening yet is a better way to put it.”  In response, Alliance President George J. Kourpias commented, “This is good news, but we cannot rest yet.  Alliance members need to keep their guard up, because this President still believes deeply in privatization, no matter how risky it is.  His comments are more a reflection that the U.S. Senate and House are now run by political opponents than they are a willingness to follow the wishes of the American people.”  The group Americans United for Change, a coalition of which the Alliance is a member organization, supplied the transcript of the President’s comments.

Most Doctors Get Money, Gifts from Drug Industry Representatives
In a paper in PLoS Medicine, an online journal, a Georgetown University Medical Center official and a former Eli Lilly drug representative reveal the tactics used by drug reps to manipulate physicians into selling drugs.  A friendly, outgoing physician is the easiest to influence.  Often the physician’s staff is dined and flattered in hopes that they will act as emissaries for a rep's message. Physicians who prescribe the rep's drugs are amply rewarded with gifts, such as golf bags or silk ties.  Drug companies purchase data on physicians’ prescribing habits in order to identify doctors who are most open to influence by drug reps. Another technique that drug reps use is to give doctors "free" drug samples, which the doctors can then give to patients. Reps provide samples of the most promoted, usually most expensive, drugs, and patients given a sample for part of a course of treatment almost always receive a prescription of the same drug.  A sales force of 100,000 drug reps (one rep per 2.5 targeted physicians) provides the gifts.

Alliance’s Colorado President Gets Gubernatorial Appointment
Governor Bill Ritter (D) has appointed Colorado Alliance President Frank Lay to the Colorado Commission on Aging.  The news follows a victory earlier this month for Colorado Alliance members and their grandchildren with the passage of HB 1100, a bill to freeze a mill levy in order to help fund education.  The Colorado Alliance had lobbied hard for the bill with phone calls, letters, e-mails, and a press conference in support of its ratification.

Are Seniors Healthier Than Their Baby Boomer Children?
As the first wave of baby boomers edges toward retirement, evidence suggests that they may be the first generation to enter their golden years in worse health than their parents, according to last Friday’s Washington Post.  Boomers are healthier in some important ways -- they are much less likely to smoke, for example -- but large surveys are consistently finding that they tend to describe themselves as less healthy than their forebears did at the same age.  They are more likely to report difficulty climbing stairs, getting up from a chair and doing other routine activities, as well as more chronic problems such as high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.  While cautioning that the data are just emerging, researchers say that the findings track with several unhealthy trends, notably the obesity epidemic.  Despite gym memberships, baby boomers tend to be less physically active than their parents and grandparents, their daily routines often dominated by desk jobs and the drive to and from work.  Some researchers are skeptical, saying that U.S. life expectancy has increased consistently for decades, accompanied by a steady drop in disability rates.  Rising rates of chronic disease may simply mean that such illnesses are being diagnosed earlier, translating into longer lives and less disability.