• AFT Retirees Blow the Whistle on Medicare Rx Bills
• Analysts Say Medicare Drug Bills Would Cause Serious Problems
• AFT Opposes Co-payments for Home Health Care
• CBO Says Fewer Seniors Likely To Join Private Plans
• Bush Administration Plans To Cut Medicare Payments to Doctors by 4.2 percent
• Drug Companies Squeeze Canadian Online Drug Pharmacies
• Nearly Half of Review Board Members Have Industry Ties
• Ohio Teachers' Pension Director Will Step Down
• Edwards Unveils $53 Billion Healthcare Proposal
• Getting by with a Little Help From Your Kids
• Time to Change Your Homeowners Policy?
• Quote of the Week
• And the Winner Is:

AFT RETIREES BLOW THE WHISTLE ON MEDICARE Rx BILLS
It may be summer in Arizona, Missouri, Florida and New York, but AFT retirees aren't taking time off.

In the past few weeks, retiree activists have joined both noisy demonstrations and quiet meetings with members of Congress to demand stronger drug coverage for all seniors and oppose privatizing Medicare by turning it over to insurance companies and HMOs.

Staff of congressional conferees continued to meet during the August recess to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate Medicare drug bills, expected to go to both chambers as early as September.

In the most dramatic event, UFT activist Luisa Kaufman-Phelan was arrested along with four other retirees during a demonstration of some 100 seniors at the office of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in Phoenix. The five retirees had refused to leave Kyl's office until they had talked with the senator (a member of the Senate-House conference committee working on the bills) about holding a town hall meeting on Medicare.

In Florida, AFT retiree activists Bill Cea, Phyllis Lapidus, Joan King and Donessa Jackson, Tina Sharp and others picketed and demonstrated at several congressional offices. The biggest demonstration involved about 100 retirees and activists at a town hall meeting of Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)—she of hanging chads fame in the 2000 election—in Bradenton.

Harris insisted that all questions be asked before she gave any responses. The standing-room-only crowd was not happy with her decision and booed loudly. Earlier, Harris’ staff had confiscated literature, prepared by the Alliance for Retired Americans, which included an analysis of the Medicare prescription drug bills and a chart showing Harris’ voting record this session.

In New York City, UFT and NYSUT staffers and Public Employees Federation retiree chapter vice president Mary Reid joined senior and union leaders in a meeting with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The activities are part of a broad-based campaign organized by the AFL-CIO and the alliance for much stronger Medicare drug coverage than the bills contain.

For information on the latest schedule of events across the country, visit the alliance Web site: http://www.retiredamericans.org.


ANALYSTS SAY MEDICARE DRUG BILLS WOULD CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS
Policy analysts both liberal and conservative are saying that either the House or Senate Medicare reform proposals are complex and unworkable.

Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, called the agreement among analysts "disharmonic convergence," adding, "Everybody's upset about something." Marilyn Moon, who recently left the Urban Institute and since has joined the American Institutes for Research, said, "My biggest problem is thematic--there's way too much expectation that the private sector can deal with all these problems, and too little protection for people if it all doesn't go right."


AFT OPPOSES CO-PAYMENTS FOR HOME HEALTH CARE
In an August letter to House minority leader, the American Federation of Teachers retirement program joined more than 20 members of the Leadership Coalition of Aging Organizations urging conferees to oppose new co-payments for Medicare home health users in the Medicare conference bill.

The letter called the co-payments an inefficient and regressive “sick tax” that would harm our nation’s poorest, most vulnerable beneficiaries. The co-payments would fall on the home health users with the highest Medicare expenses and the worst health.

The average user is 78 years old and an estimated 87 percent are women, most of whom live alone. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 70 percent of these individuals have annual incomes of less than $15,000. The letter said that a new home health co-payment would force more beneficiaries into nursing homes prematurely.


CBO SAYS FEWER SENIORS LIKELY TO JOIN PRIVATE PLANS
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that the so-called Medicare “reform” legislation will result in fewer patients enrolling in private health plans--not more, as supporters predict.

In fact, the CBO says that the proportion of Medicare beneficiaries in private health plans will be lower in 10 years than it is now. In a report released July 22, the budget office says 11 percent of Medicare beneficiaries would be enrolled in private plans if the House reform bill becomes law, compared to 9 percent if the Senate plan is enacted.  Currently, 12 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in health maintenance organizations and another 1 percent are enrolled in other private health plans.


BUSH ADMINISTRATION PLANS TO CUT MEDICARE PAYMENTS TO DOCTORS BY 4.2 PERCENT
Bush administration officials announced Aug. 11 that they expect to cut Medicare payments to doctors by 4.2 percent at the beginning of 2004, unless Congress passes legislation that would reduce or eliminate the cut.

The administration rule also would give doctors a slightly higher allowance for malpractice insurance costs because of sharp increases in providers' medical malpractice premiums. According to HHS, the cut is due to slow growth in the economy and to a significant growth in physician outlays.

The proposed cut follows a 5.4 percent payment reduction to doctors last year. Congress in February prevented a physician payment cut this year, saying that doctors should receive a 1.6 percent increase in Medicare payments in 2003. Administration officials said that the House and Senate Medicare bills (H.R. 1 and S. 1), which are being negotiated in conference committee, could prevent the payment reduction. Critics see the move as a power play to use some of the funds in the Medicare drug bills to up payments to doctors.

More info: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/
rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=19320.


DRUG COMPANIES SQUEEZE CANADIAN ONLINE DRUG PHARMACIES
Prescription drug prices at Canadian Internet pharmacies that cater to American customers will likely rise as top pharmaceutical companies restrict Internet pharmacies' access to their drugs.

In early August, New York-based Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, sent letters to 46 Canadian pharmacies telling them that they must now purchase their medicines directly from the company instead of from wholesalers. The move allows Pfizer to ban its customers from exporting drugs and could lead to the company cutting off drugs to pharmacies that do not comply.

Pfizer's move follows similar actions by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in January, AstraZeneca in April and Wyeth in June. After GSK instituted the policy, the prices of its products on Canadian online pharmacies rose by an average of 22 percent, according to Internet pharmacy tracker PharmacyChecker.com.

Last year, average drug prices in the United States were 67 percent higher than those in Canada and about twice those in Italy and France, according to a report by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, a Canadian health agency.

More info: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=19324

NEARLY HALF OF REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS HAVE INDUSTRY TIES
Almost half of medical school faculty members who serve on institutional review boards (IRBs) for clinical studies also serve as paid consultants to the pharmaceutical industry, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest, according to a study published Aug. 13 in the journal Academic Medicine.

The report found that 47 percent of faculty members who had served on IRBs reported that they had acted as consultants to drug companies or other sectors of the biomedical industry in the previous three years. In addition, about 25 percent of medical school faculty members who conduct research have financial relationships with the pharmaceutical industry.

Sheldon Krimsky, a professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, pointed to an "egregious conflict of interest" when IRB members vote on or promote a clinical trial for a drug developed by the pharmaceutical company for which they consult. He added that clinical studies funded by the private sector tend to produce outcomes much more aligned with the financial interests of those sectors than publicly funded studies.

More info: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=19370


OHIO TEACHERS' PENSION DIRECTOR WILL STEP DOWN
Herb Dyer, executive director of the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), has announced his resignation effective next year.

The move came after the group overseeing the state’s five-pension system hired an outside firm to conduct a performance audit of the pension system. Earlier, 108 state legislators had called for Dyer’s resignation. The STRS director came under fire after spending millions of dollars on bonuses, artwork and board-member travel at the same time the system's assets plunged more than $12 billion. The decline in assets caused the system's board to make major cuts to retiree health benefits.


EDWARDS UNVEILS $53 BILLION HEALTHCARE PROPOSAL
Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) July 28 unveiled a $53 billion healthcare proposal that would require parents to obtain health insurance for their children, providing tax credits to help lower-income families purchase the health coverage through employers or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Parents of children who have health insurance would receive tax relief. The proposal also would allow lower-income adults to buy subsidized health coverage through SCHIP. In addition, adults ages 55 and older and their younger spouses could purchase health coverage through Medicare. Edwards said that the proposal would provide health coverage to an estimated 12 million uninsured residents younger than age 21 and to eight million uninsured adults.

More info: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=19126


GETTING BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR KIDS
In a recent survey for AARP by WirthlinWorldwide, more than two-thirds of adults ages 25 to 44 whose parents have a computer said their folks contact them for computer or Internet help.

In fact, more than three-quarters of parents contact their child first for help, with nearly half of the children saying they are contacted more than twice a month. While some might expect that requests for technology support would be a burden, the survey indicates otherwise. More than three-quarters of those surveyed said having Mom or Dad online has made a positive difference in their lives.

More info: http://links.aarp.org/generationsreport.


TIME TO CHANGE YOUR HOMEOWNERS POLICY?
Would your current homeowners insurance replace your home in the event of a disaster?

Because of upward spikes in real estate prices, the homeowners insurance you bought when you purchased your home may not be enough to replace it today. And if you are buying homeowners insurance for the first time, the AFT PLUS Homeowners Insurance program may be right for you.

A program representative works directly with you to tailor a policy for your household. For a free quote, call toll-free 866/366-4607 or go to http://www.gmacinsurance.com/aft and click on the link for homeowners insurance. You can even request a free home replacement cost analysis to make sure that you are adequately covered. (This program is not currently available in all states.)


QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Support for Medicare legislation has evaporated in light of recent analyses suggesting that the bills are short on coverage and long on hope. The proposed legislation would not provide a meaningful drug benefit, although it may provide a starting point for future efforts to rein in drug prices and give elderly Americans a drug benefit big enough to make a difference in their lives.”

--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

AND THE WINNER IS: William Miller, a retired member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, won the $100 Powell’s Bookstore gift certificate for completing the short GetActive retiree personal profile. Hundreds more AFT retired members are now participating fully in AFT’s GetActive network. If you haven’t completed your profile, there’s still time. Click here http://www.unionvoice.org/aft_retirement/join.tcl