• More than 500 Seniors Join Alliance To Sock-It-to-Bush Rally
• Medicare Bill Could Eat Up 37 Percent of Social Security Checks
• GAO: White House Violated Law on Medicare
• HMOs Will Cost Medicare 12 Percent More in 2005
• Senators Urge Frist To Call for Vote on Drug Reimportation
• Medicare Web Site Now Allows Beneficiaries To Compare Some Medication Prices
• New Alliance Report Focuses on Crisis in Retiree Healthcare
  82 Million U.S. Residents Uninsured in Last Two Years
• Medicare To Cover Diabetes Screening in 2005
• Is This Worry Really Necessary?
• Save on New and Used Books
• Quote of Note
• Web site of the Week: http://www.kclabor.org/retirees.htm

MORE THAN 500 SENIORS JOIN ALLIANCE TO SOCK-IT TO BUSH RALLY
More than 500 seniors, including a contingent of about 30 AFT retirees joined the Alliance for Retired Americans' national "Socked-Out Seniors" rally in Washington, D.C., September 29 in Lafayette Square Park directly across from the White House.  "Our purpose is to send President George W. Bush this message: Seniors are angry and will vote in November against any candidate who supports privatizing Social Security or dismantling the traditional Medicare program," says Alliance President George J. Kourpias.  “Seniors are fed up with a president who has socked it to them with skyrocketing drug costs, record-breaking Medicare premium increases and threats to privatize Social Security.” Sock-waving seniors heard from AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Rich Trumka, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rep Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) as well as several national and state Alliance leaders. In addition to the rally in the nation's capital, hundreds of Alliance members joined in other rallies in California, Florida, Nevada and Ohio.

MEDICARE BILL COULD EAT UP 37 PERCENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS
New data from the Department of Health and Human Services, released earlier this month, reveal that the Bush administration has again withheld key information about the new Medicare bill. The new data show that seniors will spend 37 percent of their Social Security check on Medicare expenses when the new drug benefit starts in 2006 and that this percentage will increase to nearly 50 percent by 2021. Since 2001, the Bush administration has put out a Medicare Trustees report that includes how much of an individual’s Social Security check will go to Medicare, but the 2004 report withheld the information. This is at least the second time that the Bush White House has withheld key information from Congress about the true cost of the Medicare drug bill. 

GAO: WHITE HOUSE VIOLATED LAW ON MEDICARE
The Bush administration violated the law by allowing private insurers to limit choices of some patients in a small trial program of managed healthcare under Medicare, congressional investigators said Sept. 27. Preferred provider organizations, which offer members a network of discounted healthcare providers, have enrolled 105,000 Medicare beneficiaries in 19 states. In some cases, insurers refused to pay claims for home health visits, nursing care, dental work, routine physicals and other services obtained from providers who were not part of the PPO network, the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of the federal government, said. By law, these plans should have been required to cover all services in their benefit packages even if those services were obtained from providers outside of the plans’ provider networks. The PPO trial is intended to test the viability of this kind of managed care in Medicare. About 90 percent of Medicare's 41 million beneficiaries are in traditional Medicare, where they can choose their doctors. Last year's Medicare prescription drug law included a prominent role for managed care plans, including PPOs, which the administration estimates will enroll up to a third of Medicare clients over the next 10 years. Sen. Max Baucus, (D-Mont.), who requested the GAO report, said there is no evidence to back administration claims that managed care is cheaper than traditional Medicare.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Medicare-Managed-Care.html?ex=1097393235&ei=1&en=63964c3a761e958b

HMOs WILL COST MEDICARE 12 PERCENT MORE IN 2005
Medicare in 2005 will pay $4 billion more for the care of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans administered by private health insurance than the program fee-for-service plans administered by the government, the former chief of staff of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health told a forum sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform on Sept. 22. Brian Biles, now a health policy analyst at George Washington University, said that Medicare will pay Medicare Advantage plans, most of which are HMOs, an average of almost 12 percent more than the program would pay under the fee-for-service plan, or about $829 per beneficiary. "If you're paying 108 percent on average, you're not saving money," he added. Biles noted that although Medicare Advantage plans in rural areas in 2005 will receive the largest increases in payments per Medicare beneficiary—about $1,300 more per beneficiary than the fee-for-service plan—only 2 percent of rural beneficiaries are enrolled in such plans, and they account for only 3 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees. Medicare Advantage plans in urban areas will receive only about $1,050 more per Medicare beneficiary than the fee-for-service plan; urban beneficiaries account for more than 25 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees.

SENATORS URGE FRIST TO CALL FOR VOTE ON DRUG REIMPORTATION
A bipartisan group of six senators in a letter released Sept. 20 repeated their request that Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) schedule a vote during the current session of Congress on legislation they sponsored that would allow the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Frist spokesperson Amy Call said that Frist's position likely has not changed since earlier this month when he doubted he could find time to bring up the bill this year. Senate minority leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) signed the letter. Under the senators' bill (S 2328), U.S. residents could legally reimport as much as a 90-day supply of prescription drugs from FDA-approved Canadian pharmacies for personal use. After 90 days, the legislation would allow licensed pharmacists and prescription drug wholesalers to reimport medications from Canada. In addition, U.S. residents who travel to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland or current European Union nations could return with as much as a 90-day supply of prescription drugs for personal use. After one year, pharmacists and wholesalers could reimport medications from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland or EU nations that were members as of Jan. 1, 2003. Pharmacists and wholesalers that reimport prescription drugs would have to register with the FDA; pay fees of as much as 1 percent of the price of the medications to fund the cost of additional federal inspectors and customs agents; and track and document the chain of custody of medications from manufacturer to consumer. The AFT, AFL-CIO and many senior advocacy groups are all supporting the bill, which the White House and Republican congressional leadership oppose.

MEDICARE WEB SITE NOW ALLOWS BENEFICIARIES TO COMPARE SOME MEDICATION PRICES
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Sept. 15 unveiled its Lower Cost Rx Comparison Tool on the Medicare Web site and a toll-free phone service (1/800/MEDICARE) to offer consumers a way to compare prices for some medications. The price comparison tool includes information on 52 brand-name and generic medications. The prices cited are those available to seniors who use Medicare drug discount cards, which became available in the spring and so far only have attracted about 10 percent of Medicare's 43 million beneficiaries. The site does not compare prescription drug prices to medications available over the counter. The drugs listed in the tool account for about 25 percent of all drug spending among Medicare beneficiaries. The unveiling of the tool comes as the controversial Medicare law has become a hot issue in the presidential campaign. Gail Shearer, a health policy analyst at Consumers Union, said, "If this helps educate doctors about the need to talk with patients about insurance coverage and price and value, this is a good first step.” She added, "The Web site is challenging to use. You need to be really Web-savvy and good with a computer mouse to get useful information." Fewer than 25 percent of seniors regularly use the Internet. Shearer said that while the pricing database provides the kind of information consumers desperately need, the site would be more useful if CMS added information comparing drugs' effectiveness in treating the same conditions.
More info: http://www.medicare.gov/AssistancePrograms/home.asp?dest=NAV|Home|QuickSearch#TabTop

NEW ALLIANCE REPORT FOCUSES ON CRISIS IN RETIREE HEALTHCARE
Broken Promises: Retiree Health Care is the latest in a series of reports issued by the Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund. Written by Rudy Oswald, former research director of the AFL-CIO, the reports assesses current public and private approaches to retiree healthcare costs and offers proposals to address the erosion of such care. The report is available online at http://www.retiredamericans.org/ or by calling 202/974-8222. 

82 MILLION U.S. RESIDENTS UNINSURED IN LAST TWO YEARS
Nearly 82 million U.S. residents under the age of 65 were uninsured at some point in 2002 and 2003, an increase of seven million over the rate of 74.7 million in 2001-2002, according to a study from Families USA conducted by the Lewin Group. The report, released in June, found that 81.8 million people, or 32 percent of U.S. residents under age 65, were uninsured at some point during 2002 and 2003. About half of those lacked coverage for at least nine months, and two-thirds lacked coverage for at least six months, the study found. About half of all U.S. residents ages 18 to 24 -- most of whom had recently left school and begun work -- were uninsured during part of the two-year period, and 27 million of those at some point during that time were children younger than 18, accounting for more than one-third of all U.S. children. The report also found that African Americans and Hispanics were most likely to be uninsured, with nearly 60 percent of Hispanics and 43 percent of African Americans lacking coverage at some point during the study period. Among whites, the uninsured rate was 23.5 percent. Among families with incomes of at least $75,000, 13.5 million were without insurance for part of 2002-2003. Texas had the highest uninsured rate in the U.S., with 43.4 percent of residents under 65 without coverage at some point during the study period. Other states with high rates of uninsured non-elderly residents at some point in the study period included New Mexico with 42.4 percent, California with 37.1 percent, Nevada with 36.8 percent, Louisiana with 36.2 percent, Arizona with 35.7 percent, Mississippi with 35.1 percent and Oklahoma with 35 percent.

MEDICARE TO COVER DIABETES SCREENING IN 2005
Diabetes affects close to one-fifth of all people covered by Medicare—more than seven million older adults.  Starting in January 2005, Medicare will cover lab tests to screen high-risk individuals for diabetes. Currently, Medicare covers medical treatment for people with diabetes, including the following services and supplies when necessary:

• diabetes self-management training and education;
• glucose monitors, lancets and test strips.  Note that Medicare does not cover insulin—except when used with an infusion pump—or syringes;
• foot care once every six months if you suffer from peripheral neuropathy and as long as you have not seen a foot-care specialist for another reason between visits;
• medical nutritional therapy, which is designed to help you learn to eat right so you can better manage your illness; and
• annual glaucoma screenings.

To get coverage, you must receive these services and supplies from Medicare-certified providers.
More info: http://www.medicare.gov/Health/Diabetes.asp

IS THIS WORRY REALLY NECESSARY?
Stress management experts say that only 2 percent of the average person’s worrying time is spent on things that might be helped or improved by worrying. The other 98 percent of worry time is wasted, as follows:

• 40 percent on things that never happen;
• 35 percent on things that cannot be changed;
• 15 percent on things that turn out better than expected; and
• 8 percent on petty worries.

If you tend to be a worrier, ask yourself whether the things you worry about fall within the 2 percent category that can be changed or improved by worrying, or whether they belong in one of those categories that make up the other 98 percent.

SAVE ON NEW AND USED BOOKS
Powell's Bookstore offers an extensive selection of new and used books for everyone in the family. Powell's is the only online union bookstore. You can purchase bestsellers, children's books, e-books, textbooks and more right from the comfort of your home. Orders of $50 or more receive free shipping. Ordering couldn't be easier. Simply visit the AFT PLUS Web site, http://www.aftplus.org/, click on discounts, and then books. Start browsing today!

QUOTE OF NOTE
"I believe there are too many choices [among Medicare drug cards].Too many choices, too many options can result in paralysis.''

—U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Senior Democrat, Senate Finance Committee

The Medicare Web site, http://www.medicare.gov/, displays prices for more than 60,000 drug products that can be purchased with 73 discount cards at more than 50,000 pharmacies.

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.kclabor.org/retirees.htm
This Alliance for Retired Americans-sponsored Web site provides links to current information on Social Security, Medicare, healthcare and other issues geared toward seniors and even includes some other union sites.

Contributors and sources: Bill Cunningham, Tim Evanson, Shantel Edmonds, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, St. Petersburg Times, AFT PSRP Electronic Newsletter, Congress Daily, Medicare Rights Center, Alliance for Retired Americans Friday Alert, Kaiser Health Policy Report. Frank Stella, editor; Mary Boyd, copy editor; Renee Turner, design.