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Friday Alert
Friday, June 20, 2008(Alliance for Retired Americans)
Seniors’ Votes May Be the Key to
Victory in 2008
Results of the
first Washington Post-ABC News poll
since the Democratic nomination contest ended,
published on Tuesday, showed Sen. John
McCain (R-AZ) leading Sen.
Barack Obama (D-IL) among all
seniors. Among all voters, Sen. Obama is
running ahead of Sen. McCain, 48% - 42%.
In contrast to the Washington Post-ABC
numbers, a Reuters/Zogby poll released on
Wednesday had the two candidates essentially
tied among voters over the age of 65.
According to CNN political analyst Bill
Schneider, “We're going to see an age
division in this election bigger than we have
usually seen. Older voters have been
trending more Republican ever since
1992.” Like many of the current polls
show, Sen. Obama also did better with younger
voters than with seniors during the Democratic
primaries. Combined exit polls from the
primaries plus the Iowa and Nevada caucuses
found that Sen. Hillary
Clinton (D-NY) won 59% of voters age
65 and older, compared with 34% for Sen.
Obama. “Older voters will be crucial in
November,” said Edward Coyle,
Executive Director of the Alliance. “If
Sen. Obama were to capture the older vote in
addition to the other demographics that he
currently carries, it would be very difficult
for Sen. McCain to catch him.”
Midwest Devastated by Natural
Disasters
The Alliance’s thoughts
are with the victims of the tornadoes and
widespread flooding which have struck Iowa and
other areas of the Midwest recently.
Heavy rain has caused several major Iowa rivers
feeding into the Mississippi to flood their
banks over the past few weeks; no less than
nine of these rivers have already reached
record flood levels. Governor Chet
Culver has declared 83 of the state’s
99 counties “disaster areas,” and agricultural
damage is estimated to be at least $1
billion. Also in Iowa, four people were
killed and another 40 were injured when a
tornado hit a Boy Scout camp in the western
part of the state. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency estimates more than 11
million people around the Midwest will be
affected by these natural disasters, as
flooding continues down the Mississippi
River. “It is difficult times like these
that remind us no matter which generation we
are a part of, how important it is to band
together to help those in need and rebuild our
communities,” said Iowa native George
J. Kourpias, President of the
Alliance.
Alliance Executive Board Welcomes
New Members
On Tuesday, the
Alliance Executive Board held its last meeting
before the November general election.
Fifteen new board members were recognized,
including State Presidents Kevin
Lynch of Connecticut, Elmer
Blankenship of Indiana, Doug
Hart of Arizona, John
Carr of Maine, John
Newman of North Carolina, and
Dave Friesner of Ohio.
The group discussed plans to educate and
mobilize Alliance members in order to elect a
pro-retiree, pro-worker President and increase
the strength of seniors on Capitol Hill.
The Executive Board also passed a resolution
calling on Congress to hold down energy
costs. The resolution calls for Congress
to enact legislation that will include taxing
the windfall profits of oil and energy
companies; funding the Low Income Heating
Energy Assistance Program at the authorized
level of $5.1 billion; making it illegal for
foreign states to engage in energy cartels; and
suspending the acquisition of petroleum for the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Alliance Charters its 29th State:
South Carolina!
On June 13th, the
South Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans
(SCARA) held its founding convention, with
members electing Pam Creech
and Julie Harbin as the
Alliance’s first Co-Presidents. In
addition to Creech and Harbin, convention
attendees elected Jim Campbell
as Executive Vice President, Lottie
Irick as Secretary and LeRoy
J. Marcotte as Treasurer. Four
Regional Vice Presidents were also elected and
include Sam Breudner, Bill McKee, B.E.
Stevenson and Elaine
Johnson. Judy
Cato, Executive Vice President of the
Alliance, and Edward Coyle were on hand to
welcome South Carolina into the
organization.
Florida Board of Medicine Rule
Would Increase Patient Costs
The
Florida Alliance has once again stopped a
proposal by the Florida Board of Medicine to
raise prices for patient copies of medical
records, a change that would have dramatically
increased the cost for many of the state’s
retirees to acquire necessary documents.
Florida seniors often need many official copies
of their medical records, as documentation is
required to see specialists, apply for
insurance programs and benefits or transition
into long term care facilities. On June
5th, FLARA President Tony
Fransetta and Secretary
Barbara DeVane met with the
Board’s Rules & Legislative Committee to
express their opposition to the proposal and
their concern that by increasing costs for
those who may be able to afford it least, the
action would be detrimental to the health,
welfare, and affordability of medical services
of all Floridians. The committee agreed
to postpone the change, marking the third time
FLARA and community partners have been able to
stop this increase from taking effect.
High Gas Prices Affect Medicare by
Raising Ambulance Costs
The rising
cost of gas is causing unforeseen issues in
programs such as Medicare - soaring gas prices
are increasing costs for ambulance companies
who transport Medicare patients. To
offset increased gas costs, Sen.
Charles Schumer (D-NY)
introduced legislation to increase Medicare
reimbursements for ambulance companies
nationwide. Twenty-three senators are
co-sponsoring Schumer’s bipartisan bill,
according to Long Island
Newsday. “Skyrocketing fuel prices
were already affecting seniors on a fixed
income,” said Ruben Burks,
Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “It
should not be surprising that it would affect
the Medicare program as well.”
Did You Know…
Today’s
newborns have the longest life expectancy in
U.S. history, estimated at 78.1 years, up from
77.8 years in 2005 (U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention).
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