• Medicare Conferees Set Oct. 17 Deadline
• GAO Study Reveals Rx Discount Cards Save Little
• 15 House Republicans Demand Privatized Medicare
• Veterans Administration Drug Purchasing Plan Cuts Costs
• FDA Says CanaRx Operations Are Illegal
• Commonwealth Fund Examines Candidates' Healthcare Proposals
• California Governor Signs State’s Largest Teacher Retirement Incentive
• Fewer Seniors Leaving Inheritances
• Boost Your Chapter Treasury Through AFT PLUS Newsletter Reimbursements
• Doing the Math: Older Adults Online
• How Times Have Changed
• Quote of Note
• Web Site of the Week: http://www.ava.org/

Medicare Conferees Set Oct. 17 Deadline 
The countdown on the Medicare/prescription drug bill has begun. Republican leaders met the week of Sept. 22 with GOP members of the conference committee and laid out a four-week timetable that calls for a final agreement by Oct. 17. “Activists now have to redouble their efforts to apply pressure to members of Congress to oppose both S. 1 and H.R. 1,” says George Kourpias, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. Then we can start over in the right direction.” According to AFT legislative director Charlotte Fraas, “Both bills privatize Medicare, have huge gaps in coverage, have no guaranteed premiums, threaten employer-provided benefits and put patients at risk with private insurers that will determine what coverage is provided and which drugs are covered.” Between now and Oct. 17, AFT encourages all retired members to make sure that every retiree in America, their families, neighbors and friends understand why these bills need to be revamped or else die in conference. Both Fraas and Kourpias agree that now is the time for older Americans to draw a line in the sand and just say no to those who want to dismantle the Medicare program. Call, visit or e-mail your elected representatives and keep your message simple. Tell them:

• Seniors want a drug benefit program that works like the rest of Medicare.
• Seniors do not want Congress to threaten retiree benefits they already have.
• Seniors don’t want to have to leave Medicare and join a private insurance plan to get prescription drug coverage.
• Seniors don’t want to leave the doctors they trust.
• Seniors want and need a voluntary, universal, comprehensive and affordable prescription drug benefit under Medicare now—not private-sector plans in 2006.

Contact your senators and representative in Washington, D.C., via AFT’s toll-free hotline, 800/839-5276, or Legislative Action Center, http://www.unionvoice.org/legislativeaction/home.html, or contact them in your state or district during the October recess. 


GAO Study Reveals Rx Discount Cards Save Little
The nonpartisan General Accounting Office released a study in September showing that the prescription drug discount cards included in the House and Senate Medicare plans would provide minimal savings for consumers. On average, the prescription drug cards saved less than $5 per prescription when compared to the retail prices of nine popular drugs in three regions nationwide, the report said. In some cases, drug card prices were higher than pharmacy prices, and the GAO noted that the card's annual $25 fee further offset savings. While the Bush administration and lawmakers in the House claim that a Medicare drug card would save older and disabled Americans up to 20 percent on their medications, Democrats call this figure misleading because it includes generic drug discounts with already-low prices. Pharmacy benefit managers say they need more details from Congress before deciding if they will participate in the program. 


15 House Republicans Demand Privatized Medicare
A small but crucial group of 15 House Republicans held a news conference Sept. 17 to outline several provisions that a final Medicare bill must include to gain their support. According to a draft of a letter sent last week to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the group, led by Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) and Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.), demanded that a final Medicare bill include a provision requiring traditional fee-for-service Medicare to compete with private health insurers beginning in 2010, a generous expansion of health savings accounts and provisions to ensure that the cost of the bill would not exceed $400 billion over 10 years. They also insisted that the final bill exclude price controls on prescription drugs. The 15 lawmakers said that they would vote against any bill that failed to meet every one of these criteria.  


Veterans Administration Drug Purchasing Plan Cuts Costs
A study released in September by the National Academy of Sciences found that the Veterans Administration drug purchasing plan significantly reduced drug expenditures, without sacrificing quality. Under the plan, VA doctors and pharmacists analyze research to develop a list of preferred drugs for various conditions. The VA then obtains discounts for those treatments through bulk purchasing, using generic drugs when possible and employing competitive bidding. The House and Senate bills would subsidize drug coverage provided by private health plans, which would bargain with drug companies--most likely through pharmacy benefit managers--for discounts and rebates to be passed on to beneficiaries. Both bills stipulate that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials cannot interfere in any way with those negotiations. 

FDA Says CanaRx Operations Are Illegal
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned officials at Ontario-based CanaRx Services, which reimports U.S.-manufactured prescription drugs to the United States, that company operations are illegal and may endanger the health of customers. A Sept. 16 FDA letter gave CanaRx 15 days to respond before the agency begins prosecution. The reimportation issue has been picking up steam in recent weeks. Bipartisan backers of a House-passed bill to make it easier to buy drugs from Canada and other developed nations--technically the House position in the Medicare conference--recently threatened to vote against a final bill that lacks their provisions. The FDA and the drug industry vehemently oppose the proposal. Among those attending the meeting was Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who this month ordered a state study on the feasibility of purchasing Canadian drugs for the state's 240,000 workers and retirees. Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Minnesota's GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty have announced similar plans. “This is, in the final analysis, not about safety,” said Blagojevich. “It's about money.” The FDA has already rejected the Illinois proposal; the governors are looking into challenging the federal ban in court.  


Commonwealth Fund Examines Candidates' Healthcare Proposals
The healthcare plans being promoted by Democratic presidential candidates would not provide healthcare coverage to all 41 million uninsured U.S. residents, but they would reduce the numbers of uninsured people far more than President Bush's proposals, according to a study released Sept. 17 by the Commonwealth Fund. Under Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals, 9 million to 19 million uninsured people would not receive coverage, while under Bush’s plan, 37 million would remain uninsured, the study found. Six Democratic presidential candidates have released healthcare proposals--former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Rep. Richard Gephardt (Mo.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.). Bush’s proposal to increase insurance coverage is included in his fiscal year 2004 budget but has not yet been included in his campaign platform. The study drew the following conclusions about the Democrats' plans:

• Lieberman's plan would leave the fewest uninsured, with 9 million, while Edwards' plan would leave the most, at 19 million.
• The proposals maintain the employer-sponsored health insurance system but vary in how they aim to strengthen it.
• The plans would generally extend coverage for low-income people by expanding public programs--including Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program--in a variety of ways.
• The plans rely on tax credits to help finance coverage.
• The Democrats' plans generally build upon group health insurance options. Bush's plan is tailored to the individual insurance market.
• The suggested costs of the Democrats' plans over 10 years range from $590 billion for Edwards’ to $2.5 trillion for Gephardt’s. Bush’s plan would cost $89 billion over a decade. Kucinich, generally regarded as a long shot for the nomination, has proposed a $6.1 trillion single-payer universal healthcare plan.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll published in mid-September found that 61 percent of U.S. residents disapprove of the way President Bush is handling healthcare cost, availability and coverage. 


California Governor Signs State’s Largest Teacher Retirement Incentive
On Sept. 5, Gov. Gray Davis signed Assembly Bill 1207, authorizing school and community college districts to offer teachers retirement credit for an additional two years of service or two years of additional service plus two years of age. Once bargained, this option represents the largest retirement incentive ever offered public employees in California. The California Federation of Teachers sponsored the legislation. “We consider this a win-win for teachers who have served their students for many years and for the state of California,” said CFT president Mary Bergan. “The teachers get a better retirement package, and, in the long run, the people of California save money.”

Fewer Seniors Leaving Inheritances
With life spans stretching longer and the cost of healthcare skyrocketing, the idea of parents leaving bequests is becoming secondary to their using the money to live as comfortably as possible. At the same time, many older Americans today have a different ethos about passing on money than their ancestors had. Some believe it's better for their children to make it on their own, and others want to use whatever little funds they have left to enjoy themselves. The result is a potentially dramatic drop-off in the transfer of wealth in many families, which may affect successive generations’ planning about everything from paying off longstanding debts to how long they will stay in the workforce. New statistics from a forthcoming AARP report indicate that 14.9 percent of baby boomers in a 2001 survey expected an inheritance from their parents, down from 26.9 percent in 1989. Among “post-boomers” (those born after 1964), the figures are even more startling. Only 5.8 percent expect a bequest, down from 10.8 percent. One of the most common reasons is the astronomical cost of long-term care. As many as 46 percent of senior citizens over age 65 will live in nursing homes sometime in the next 20 years, AARP says.  


Boost Your Chapter Treasury Through AFT PLUS Newsletter Reimbursements 
Is your local or retiree chapter’s publication participating in the AFT PLUS Newsletter Reimbursement Program? The program is designed to encourage local unions to inform members about their benefits by including member benefit ads in their newsletters. The ads are camera-ready and available in hard copy in the AFT PLUS Editors' Kit. The program is simple. The local or retiree chapter runs the month-specific benefit ad in its newsletter, sends a copy of the newsletter to the AFT PLUS Member Benefits Department and AFT PLUS sends a reimbursement check. Reimbursement amounts are determined by a payment schedule. Now is a great time to start participating. If your publication is not already taking advantage of this offer, ask the editor to call 800/238-1133, ext. 6353 to get started.  


Doing the Math: Older Adults Online
How many older adults are online? It depends on whom you ask. The last large survey--a U.S. Census Current Population Survey of more than 50,000 households--was conducted in September 2001, long enough ago for the numbers to have changed quite a bit. Three more recent surveys (published between February and April 2003) report considerably different numbers.  

* For the 50+ population, 36 million adults (48 percent);
* For those ages 50-64, 25 million adults (61 percent); and
* For the 65+ population, 11 million adults (32 percent). 

See http://links.aarp.org/50plusonline. 


How Times Have Changed
Each fall, Beloit College in Wisconsin publishes a list of items to remind us of what the world looks like to college freshmen. Students entering college this fall were mostly born in 1985. Here’s what the world looks like to them:

* Gas has always been unleaded.
* Computers have always fit in their backpacks.
* Stores have always had scanners at the checkout.
* Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
* Michael Eisner has always been in charge of Disney. 


Quote of Note
“When our president insists that we can have it all—big cars, big oil, lower taxes, with no sacrifice or conservation—why shouldn’t the world believe that we are all about protecting our right to binge?”  

Thomas Friedman
New York Times

Web Site of the Week: http://www.ava.org/
The American Volkssport Association is network of 350 walking clubs that organize more than 3,000 walking events per year. Events, which are open to the public and usually involve a modest fee, cover all 50 states and are designed for walkers of all ages and skills.  

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Contributors and sources: Bill Cunningham, Shantel Edmonds, Dolores Sanchez, Bernadette Bailey, Congress Daily, BNA Health Policy Report, Inside AFT, Alliance for Retired Americans Friday Alert, Medicare Rights Center, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Las Vegas Sun, Commonwealth Fund, Hartford Courant, New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Next Age Speakers Resources, Kaiser Health Policy Report. Frank Stella, editor; Annette Licitra, copy editor; Renee Turner, design.