• McElroy Elected New AFT President
• More Than 200 Retirees Pack AFT Conference
• Medicare Law Likely To Reduce Drug Coverage for 3.8 Million
• Republican Leaders in Congress Delay Drug Reimportation Bill
• Four Million Beneficiaries Now in Medicare Drug Cards
• Popular Drugs 38 Percent Cheaper from VA than Medicare
• Medicare Okays Obesity Treatment Coverage
• John Kerry on the Record for Seniors
• Private Employers' 2000-2004 Benefits Spending Rose 24 Percent
• U.S. Healthcare Mediocre Despite Huge Expenditures
• NLRB Overturns Graduate Employees' Right To Unionize
• Magazine Discounts for Great Summer Reading
• Quote of Note
• Web site of the Week: http://www.elderhostel.org

McELROY ELECTED NEW AFT PRESIDENT
AFT convention delegates have elected Edward J. McElroy to be the union's new president, along with a new secretary-treasurer, executive vice president and 39 vice presidents. All terms are for two years. Elected with McElroy in balloting July 16 were Nat LaCour as AFT secretary-treasurer and Antonia "Toni" Cortese, an AFT vice president from New York, as executive vice president. McElroy, first elected AFT secretary-treasurer in 1992, succeeds Sandra Feldman, who for health reasons did not run for another term. He is a former president of the Warwick (R.I.) Teachers Union and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, and he served as president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO from 1977 until 1992. McElroy was elected to the AFL-CIO executive council in November 2001. He also chairs the AFL-CIO's Department for Professional Employees, a coalition of 25 national unions representing more than 4 million professional, technical and administrative employees. LaCour, the AFT's executive vice president since 1998, has chaired a number of key AFT committees and initiatives, including the executive council's organizing committee, the council's ad hoc committee on affiliate accountability, and the AFT task force on healthcare. Cortese has served as an officer of the New York State United Teachers since 1973 and has been responsible for NYSUT's division of research and educational services. She also is a longtime member of the AFT executive council and a vice president of the New York state AFL-CIO. For additional coverage of the AFT convention and McElroy's address to delegates on July 17, go to www.aft.org/convention.

MORE THAN 200 RETIREES PACK AFT CONFERENCE
"We need your energy and influence." That was the message Diana Kerry, sister of Sen. John Kerry, delivered to some 220 AFT retiree delegates and guests at the AFT retiree conference July 13-14 in Washington, D.C. It was a message echoed in the speeches of AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour and Alliance for Retired Americans president George Kourpias, who also addressed the gathering. "Our society is growing older, LaCour pointed out, "and issues that affect older Americans are becoming the dominant issues of our day. "The retiree leaders were also celebrating 25 years of growth as well as the AFT program's silver anniversary. AFT retiree members now number more than 193,000 in nearly 100 chapters including all constituencies, coast to coast. LaCour presented charters to two new retiree chapters: AFT Oregon Retirees and AFT Retirees of New Jersey, the statewide retiree group for K-12 educators and community college retirees. The delegates honored two of their own: long-time Detroit Federation of Teachers president and retiree chapter chair Mary Ellen Riordan received the Jeannette DiLorenzo "Retiree of the Year" award, and outgoing AFT retirement committee chair Walter Dunn, who retired last month after 20 years as NYSUT second vice president, was honored for his service to AFT retirees. The following day delegates chose among workshops on financial planning, elder law, legislative issues and the 2004 elections, how to improve your memory and building a retiree leadership team. They also had the option of attending an open forum with Dunn and retiree director Frank Stella.

MEDICARE LAW LIKELY TO REDUCE DRUG COVERAGE FOR 3.8 MILLION
About 3.8 million Medicare beneficiaries — over 1 million more than previously estimated — could lose some or all of their employer-sponsored retiree prescription drug coverage when the Medicare drug benefit begins in 2006, according to new documents released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services July 13. According to HHS officials, without a Medicare drug benefit, about 11.5 million beneficiaries would receive employee-sponsored prescription drug benefits. Under the new law, about 7.6 million of those beneficiaries will continue to receive employer-sponsored drug coverage, and the remaining 3.8 million are expected to get their primary drug coverage from Medicare. The law calls for the federal government to give companies a subsidy equal to 28 percent of drug costs from $250 to $5,000 per year for any retiree who has employer-sponsored drug coverage at least equal in value to the standard Medicare drug benefit. Employers will not have to pay taxes on the subsidies and still will be able to take tax deductions for the cost of providing retiree health benefits. Employers who limit drug coverage still might offer benefits to supplement the Medicare drug coverage, but they would not receive government subsidies for doing so.

REPUBLICAN LEADERS IN CONGRESS DELAY DRUG REIMPORTATION BILL
Republican leaders have delayed the scheduled mark up of a drug reimportation bill (S. 2493) originally set for mid-July. The action came because the bill's sponsor, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), apparently does not have the votes to pass it in his committee. A competing bi-partisan measure, the Dorgan-Snowe bill (S.2328), which the AFT and the Alliance for Retired Americans both support, would allow importation, ensure drug safety and penalize drug companies that interfere with imports. Gregg's bill, a weaker version, limits the number of countries eligible for reimportation, lengthens the time frame and fails to penalize drug companies that limit U.S. imports. The AFT urges you to contact your senators and tell them to support the Dorgan-Snowe bill and reject the Gregg bill. Click on www.unionvoice.org/campaign/medicare071204 to send a letter to your U.S. senators and representative. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of seniors favor legalizing reimportation from Canada, and older voters are likely to make affordable prescription drugs a key issue in determining their vote this November. President Bush and his administration have vehemently opposed reimportation efforts. Sen. John Kerry is a co-sponsor of the Dorgan-Snowe bill.

FOUR MILLION BENEFICIARIES NOW IN MEDICARE DRUG CARDS
Confusion and skepticism still reign among seniors as less than 10 percent of all eligibles have so far signed up for the Medicare drug card. During an appearance before the Senate Special Committee on Aging July 19, CMS administrator Mark McClellan said that 3.9 million beneficiaries have enrolled in the program so far--about half of the 7.4 million expected to sign up for the cards. He added that the drug discount card program is delivering savings that are slightly higher than the 10 to 15 percent originally projected: ranging from 11 percent to 18 percent for brand-name drugs and 37 percent to 65 percent for generic drugs. Less than 14 percent of low-income beneficiaries--who are also eligible for a $600 subsidy and reduced premiums and co-pays--have signed up for the drug discount card.

POPULAR DRUGS 38 PERCENT CHEAPER FROM VA THAN MEDICARE
A study by Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) finds that prices for 10 drugs commonly prescribed to seniors in Maryland are 38 percent cheaper when purchased through the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA). The popular drugs, including Celebrex, Lipitor, Prevacid and Zocor, are 37 percent cheaper when ordered from Canada. The study examined the average price for each drug among the 33 different Medicare drug cards available in Maryland, finding that a one-month supply of all 10 drugs totaled an average of $945.84. By comparison, the cost of the same drugs purchased without the card through Drugstore.com would be $958.90, a savings of about 1 percent. In Canada, the drugs would have cost $595.93 and through the VA they would have cost $586.97. Cardin, who supports a VA-style system of bulk buying for Medicare — prohibited under the Medicare law — has introduced a bill (HR 3702) to permit Medicare to negotiate prices.

MEDICARE OKAYS OBESITY TREATMENT COVERAGE
HHS secretary Tommy Thompson announced July 16 that his department would remove language from Medicare's coverage manual that states obesity is not an illness. The decision will allow expanded Medicare coverage of obesity treatments. Previously, the program only covered obesity treatments when beneficiaries also had related conditions such as diabetes. The new policy does not specify which treatments will be covered, but officials expect a flood of applications for Medicare to begin paying for therapies such as stomach reduction surgeries, diet programs and psychological and behavioral counseling. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requested the policy change in 2001, obesity contributes to 400,000 deaths each year, making it the second-leading cause of preventable deaths nationwide. Currently, 37 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are overweight and 18 percent are obese. Between 1991 and 1998, the prevalence of obesity among people between the ages of 60 and 69 increased 45 percent. Last year, Medicare and Medicaid spent $75 billion on obesity-related illnesses.

JOHN KERRY ON THE RECORD FOR SENIORS
In nearly 20 years in the Senate, John Kerry has compiled an impressive record for seniors:

• Kerry opposed the Medicare prescription drug measure in the Senate because it fails to offer all seniors real relief from skyrocketing prescription drug prices.
• He has repeatedly voted to use the surplus to protect and extend Social Security.
• Kerry has several times co-sponsored legislation to increase pension coverage at small businesses and to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
• Kerry has consistently opposed efforts to privatize Medicare and prescription drugs.
• His Veterans' Prescription Drug Reform Act of 2003 allows veterans waiting for their first visit with a Department of Veterans Affairs physician to use the VA pharmacy to fill prescriptions written by a private physician.

PRIVATE EMPLOYERS' 2000-2004 BENEFITS SPENDING ROSE 24 PERCENT
Health insurance costs are swallowing up more of employers' total spending on compensation to workers, according to a new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this month. Spending on benefits by private-sector employers increased by 24 percent from March 2000 to March 2004, in large part because of higher health insurance premiums, according to BLS. Over the same period, worker wages increased by 15 percent. The current trend marks a sharp reversal from the trend in 1994 to 2000, when worker wages increased at a faster rate than benefit costs. The BLS numbers indicate that benefits represent 29 percent of total worker compensation in 2004, compared with 27 percent in 2000, and that wages represent 71 percent this year, compared with 73 percent in 2000.

U.S. HEALTHCARE MEDIOCRE DESPITE HUGE EXPENDITURES
Although the United States spends about twice as much per person on healthcare as Australia, Canada, England and New Zealand, the overall quality of care is no better, according to a study in the May issue of Health Affairs. Researchers examined 21 quality indicators such as cancer survival rates and incidence of infectious diseases in the five countries. The U.S. was the only participating country without some form of universal health system. The study found that no single country performed the best or worst overall. The U.S. scored highest for five-year breast cancer survival rates and screening for cervical cancer and had the lowest incidence of measles and the lowest smoking rate, tied with Canada. The U.S. also had the worst five-year survival rate for people who had undergone kidney transplants, however, as well as the highest incidence of hepatitis B. The U.S. was also the only country to have a rise in deaths from asthma, according to the study, which examined health data through the year 2001.

NLRB OVERTURNS GRADUATE EMPLOYEES' RIGHT TO UNIONIZE
AFT members are expressing anger over a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling released July 15 that effectively withdraws the right, under the National Labor Relations Act, of graduate employees at a private university to bargain collectively. The ruling was issued as 3,000 delegates gathered in Washington, D.C., for the union's biennial convention. Within a day, delegates approved a special order of business opposing the decision. "The ruling is outrageous," said executive vice president Nat LaCour, announcing the development during a celebration of the union's organizing victories. A short time later, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) concurred, telling delegates: "This is a shameful disregard for the rights of these employees." The graduate employees "should have the same rights as all workers. They are not second-class citizens." The board's decision overturns an earlier ruling in a case involving New York University teaching assistants, research assistants and proctors. In November 2000, an NLRB regional director ruled they were employees within the statutory definition of the labor relations law and therefore had the right to unionize. The following year, graduate employees at Brown University filed a petition to hold a bargaining election and the university asked the NLRB to review the NYU decision.

MAGAZINE DISCOUNTS FOR GREAT SUMMER READING
Are you missing out on your favorite magazine? Do you want to save money on subscriptions? AFT PLUS can help you do just that. As an AFT retiree, you are entitled to magazine discounts through the AFT PLUS Subscription Services program. Save up to 50 percent on your favorite magazines and on gift subscriptions for your friends and family. Choose from more than 1,000 titles including Bon Appetit, Business Week, Golf Digest, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Prevention, and Sports Illustrated. Call 1-800-877-7238 or visit http://www.buymags.com/aft to place your order, check a rate or obtain a current listing of all available publications.

QUOTE OF NOTE
"Strength and wisdom are not opposing values."

Former President Bill Clinton

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK:
http://www.elderhostel.org
America's largest educational travel organization for adults 55 and over, Elderhostel is a not-for-profit organization providing learning experiences to nearly 200,000 older adults each year through more than 10,000 programs in more than 90 countries.