• Urge Your U.S. Reps To Roll Back Medicare
  Means-Testing
• Three Million Seniors Likely To Fall into Medicare
  Donut Hole
• NYSUT Florida Leaders Gear Up for Elections
• Employer Health Premiums Rise Twice as Fast as Wages, Inflation
• Private Employers Reducing Retiree Health Coverage
• Hospital Services Most Expensive Part of
  U.S. Health System
• New Voting Technology Brings Complications
• Schwarzenegger Announces Opposition to
  State Universal Healthcare Bill
• Indiana Hospitals To Report Medical Errors in 2007
• Vermont Becomes 27th Alliance Chartered State
• Two AFT Retiree Leaders Pass Away
• Protect Your Pet and Save with AFT+
• Quote of Note
• Web site of the Week: http://www.lwv.org/ 

Urge Your U.S. Reps To Roll Back Medicare
Means-Testing
U.S. Rep Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) has launched a petition to discharge H.R. 5147, a bill to repeal the means-testing provisions in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, scheduled to start next year. The bill has been tied up in committee without a vote. The discharge petition, which must be signed by 218 representatives, would require an up-and-down vote on the House floor by all representatives. Under the 2003 Medicare law, for the first time in the 41-year history of the Medicare program, monthly premiums seniors pay will be tied to their income. Starting Jan. 1, 2007, almost 2 million seniors will be hit with a substantially higher Medicare Part B premium. Among higher-income seniors, premiums will jump to $106 a month, $143 a month and as much as $162 a month. Within three years, it is estimated that some seniors will be paying $391 per month for Part B. Those with incomes under $80,000 a year (individual) and $160,000 a year (couple) will pay $93.50 per month next year. Under the legislation, over the next three years, premiums for high-income seniors will continue to skyrocket dramatically—reaching almost $400 a month for some by 2009. In addition, President Bush’s budget would require, over time, more and more middle-income seniors to pay these higher Medicare premiums due to elimination of the inflation adjustment. Please call your U.S. representative on AFT’s toll-free hotline to the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 1/866/327-8670 and ask that he/she sign the discharge petition on H.R. 5147.

Three Million Seniors Likely To Fall into Medicare Donut Hole
Approximately 3 million seniors will reach the Medicare Part D coverage gap, informally known as the donut hole, this year, according to America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group of insurers. In 2006, the donut hole begins when a Medicare beneficiary’s total drug costs—the amount that you and your plan have paid for your prescriptions—reach $2,250. Once in the gap, you have to pay the full cost of your prescriptions until you have spent $3,600 out of pocket (just what you have paid, not what your plan has paid). This amount does not include your drug plan’s monthly premium, which you must continue to pay even though you are paying 100 percent of your drug costs. Once you have spent a total of $3,600 on your prescriptions, you will be out of the donut hole and reach catastrophic coverage. Your drug plan will then pay about 95 percent of your drug costs until the end of the calendar year. The process begins again on January 1, 2007. If you or someone you know has reached the donut hole, make sure they do not qualify for low-income assistance (for individuals, income below $14,700 and assets below $11,500; for couples, $19,800/income and $23,000/assets). Should you reach the donut hole ask your doctor if any of your prescriptions can be replaced by lower cost generics. Your doctor may also be able to give you free samples of your prescriptions. You can also shop around in your drug plan’s pharmacy network for the lowest price. If you can get a better price from a pharmacy in your plan’s network, you will not have to buy your prescriptions at your drug plan’s price (you will have to submit your receipt and your plan’s required paperwork in order for this cost to count toward the $3,600). If you are not happy with your drug plan you can sign up for a new one between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31.

Your best long-term move to reduce or eliminate the donut hole is to vote for those candidates for U.S. Senate and House who support the AFT and AFL-CIO position on the drug plan, giving Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices and create a national plan open to all Medicare beneficiaries wherever they live.

NYSUT Florida Leaders Gear Up for Elections
More then 40 NYSUT retiree leaders met in the Orlando area Sept. 26-27 to map strategies to mobilize and organize New York education retirees living in Florida. The transplanted New Yorkers heard reports on NYSUT activities in their former home state from NYSUT second vice president Kathleen Donahue; a rundown of AFT election strategies in Florida and across the country by AFT retiree director Frank Stella, and on the Florida Education Association’s legislative agenda and I Pledge campaign for smaller classes, competitive salaries and improved funding for public education from FEA public policy advocate Kevin Watson. UFT Florida coordinator Marna Davidson handicapped Florida races and described her unit’s plans for political action. NYSUT’s manager of retiree services, Pat Longo, fielded questions about NYSUT’s retiree program and reinforced the conference’s overarching message about the Power of One—how each activist and member had a role to play in changing the political landscape in favor of pro-union and pro-education candidates. Long-time Orange County Classroom Teachers Association political activist and retiree leader Joan King outlined NEA efforts in the fall elections and FEA-Retired’s legislative agenda, particularly its goal of raising the state stipend for retiree health insurance.

Employer Health Premiums Rise Twice as Fast as Wages, Inflation
Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums increased by an average of 7.7 percent in 2006, compared with increases of 9.2 percent in 2005 and 13.9 percent in 2003, according to an annual survey released Sept. 25 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.  Although the 7.7 percent increase marks the smallest rise in employer-sponsored health insurance premiums since 2000, premiums increased at more than twice the rate of employee wages (3.8 percent) and overall inflation (3.5 percent) in 2006. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have increased by 87 percent since 2000. Employees in 2006 contributed an average of $259 more for family health insurance premiums than in 2005. The survey showed the typical family health coverage now costing $11,480 a year, and single coverage averaging $4,240. Employee contributions for family health insurance premiums have increased by about $1,350, or 84 percent, since 2000, the report finds. About 60 percent of employees with employer-sponsored health insurance in 2006 are enrolled in Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), and about 20 percent are enrolled in HMOs. About 61 percent of employers in 2006 provided health insurance for at least some employees, a decrease from 69 percent in 2000. "There is nothing to suggest that employer-sponsored health insurance premiums won't continue to rise at rates that exceed inflation and will probably return to double-digit levels,” said Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney observed that Americans want much more than incremental improvements in their access to healthcare.

Private Employers Reducing Retiree
Health Coverage
U.S. employers are increasingly targeting health benefits as a way to save money, a trend that has left many retirees with thousands of dollars in additional healthcare costs, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the Times, employers began to reduce retiree health benefits in the 1990s because of changes in accounting standards that required more cost disclosure, and in recent years benefits have fallen victim to rising healthcare expenses and corporate cost cutting. Retirees on average account for 29 percent of healthcare costs for large employers that offered such benefits, according to Hewitt Associates. In addition, retiree healthcare costs for large employers that offered such benefits increased by as much as 10.3 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to a recent survey conducted by Hewitt and the Kaiser Family Foundation. As a result, many large employers, such as General Motors and AT&T/Lucent Technologies, have scaled back health benefits for retirees and have considered additional reductions to benefits for future retirees. Twelve percent of large employers between 2004 and 2005 said that they will not offer health benefits to future retirees, according to the survey. Currently, one in three large private employers offers retiree health benefits, compared with two in three in the late 1980s. "As these costs are shifted, the ability of retirees to access healthcare will be compromised,” said Ralph Craviso, senior director of workforce effectiveness for the human resources department at Yale University, “and that will result in pressure on the federal government. Then it will become a national political issue. I believe it is a crisis in waiting."

Hospital Services Most Expensive Part of U.S.
Health System
About 33 percent of every dollar spent on U.S. healthcare goes toward inpatient hospital care, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study also finds that in 2004:

• hospital bills totaled $790 billion, and $475 billion of that amount was billed to Medicare and Medicaid, excluding doctor fees;
• Medicare was charged $363 billion, or 46 percent of hospital bills, and Medicaid bills were $112 billion, or 14.1 percent of hospital bills;
• hospital charges to private insurers totaled $252 billion, nearly one-third of all bills; and
• $44 billion, nearly 6 percent of total hospital bills, went toward treating coronary atherosclerosis, making it the most expensive condition to treat. Charges for atherosclerosis ranked No. 1 for Medicare, No. 7 for Medicaid, No. 3 for private insurers and No. 2 for the uninsured.

New Voting Technology Brings Complications
Alarms are once again being raised that the 2006 congressional elections could be beset by problems at the polls. Already, glitches have occurred this year in primary elections in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. As USA Today summarized, "problems range from delayed delivery of new equipment to an insufficient supply of trained technicians to fix anticipated problems." The 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) mandated new voting technology, updated statewide voter registries, provisional ballots for those not on voter lists and identification requirements for certain new registrants, and most of its provisions take effect this year. As a Congressional Research Service study in Roll Call reported, however Congress authorized $600 million to help states meet its requirements, and then failed to provide the funding in fiscal 2005 or 2006. According to the Election Assistance Commission, national elections require about 2 million poll workers nationwide--many of them retirees. The workers needed training that HAVA mandated in order to be ready for the new equipment and rules, but they have not received it. Please call your local election office on Nov. 7 if you experience any problems with voting machines.

Schwarzenegger Announces Opposition to
State Universal Healthcare Bill
“I must veto S.B. 840 because I cannot support a government-run healthcare system,” California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger explained in a recent letter published in the San Diego Union Tribune. The bill, known as the California Health Insurance Reliability Act, would establish a California Health Insurance System that would make all California residents eligible for specified healthcare benefits through a single-payer system, which would negotiate for or set fees for healthcare services provided through the system and pay claims for those services.

Indiana Hospitals To Report Medical Errors in 2007
The Indiana State Board of Health in September adopted a rule that will require hospitals to report on 27 medical mistakes, including surgery on the wrong body part and deaths from contaminated medications. Hospitals and surgery centers in the state will be required to report errors within 15 days of confirming they were at fault and up to six months after an error took place. The first medical error report is expected to be released to the public in February 2007. On Jan. 1, Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered Indiana hospitals to report medical errors, but less than an estimated 100 errors have been reported, according to Terry Whitson, an assistant commissioner at the Indiana State Department of Health. Experts say a provision of the rule that prohibits error reports from being used in patient lawsuits will improve compliance from hospitals. Minnesota was the first state to enact such a law in 2004, and several other states are expected adopt similar rules.

Vermont Becomes 27th Alliance-Chartered State
The Alliance for retired Americans chartered its 27th state on Sept. 30. The Vermont Alliance for Retired Americans will be headed by union retiree Chet Briggs. In Ohio, Dave Friesner of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union was recently elected president of that state Alliance. Sally Steagall of AFSCME is Ohio's new treasurer.

Two AFT Retiree Leaders Pass Away
Former AFT vice president and Chicago Teachers Union president Thomas H. Reece died Sept. 17 at Rush North Shore Medical Center in Skokie, Ill., of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 68. Reece served as CTU president from 1994 to 2001, and also as president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and as an AFT vice president and national retirement committee liaison to the executive council during that same period. "Tom, as everyone called him, had an incredible dedication to our members and all working people in Chicago," said CTU president and AFT vice president Marilyn Stewart in a statement." His devotion to the Chicago Public Schools and the trade union movement was strong and unshakable to the end." Reece joined the CTU staff as a part-time employee in 1980, and became financial secretary in 1982 and a vice president in 1987. Reece is survived by his wife Marilynn, son Eric and two grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to the family in care of the CTU, 222 Merchandise Mart, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60654.

C. Sullivan Culver, Retired Chapter President Emeritus of the United Teachers of Dade, also passed on Sept. 17 at age 91. Sully, as he was known nearly universally known, played a major role in the merger of the Dade County Teachers Association, the African Americans educators association, with its white counterpart in the early 1960s. At the time he served as DCTA district director for Monroe, Broward and Dade Counties. At the time of his death, Sully had been assisting the UTD-R Chapter with its history.

Protect Your Pet and Save with AFT+
Now you can save two ways with AFT+ pet insurance. Our first plan includes policies for older pets, accident-only coverage and more. For specifics, visit http://www.unionpluspets.com/ or call 866/473-7387. Or you can take advantage of Pet Assure Veterinary Care Savings. Monthly premiums (discounted 40 percent for AFT members) allow you to save 25 percent off your bill at participating veterinarians. All pets covered, including exotics and horses. Coverage includes: preventive care, shots, surgery, X-rays, lab work, medications and more. Best of all, there’s no paperwork to complete. Your savings come directly off your veterinary bill. For more information or to enroll, call 888/789-7387 or visit www.unionplus.org/pets/pets.cfm.

Quote of Note
“Growing older is mandatory; growing up is optional; laughing at yourself is therapeutic.”

Anonymous

Web Site of the Week: http://www.lwv.org/
Founded in 1920, the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that has fought to improve government and affect public policies. The League neither supports nor opposes candidates. At the same time, by its own definition, it is wholeheartedly political and works to influence policy through advocacy.