• Ask Hillary!
• Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Bill Reintroduced
• Customer Satisfaction with Medicare Hotline Declining
• U.S. Adults Favor Employer-based Healthcare Proposals
• Clinton Backs Expanded Family Medical Leave
• Life Expectancy Reaches Record High of 77.9 Years
• New Report Details Drug Company Price Gouging
• NYSUT Florida Retirees Join Breast Cancer Awareness Drive
• In Historic Vote, 28,000 NYC Child Care Workers Say 'Union Yes'
• Stretch Your Dollars with AFT Car Rental Discounts
• Quote of Note: Declining Service on Medicare Hotline
• Web Site of the Week: Social Security Benefits Hike

ASK HILLARY!
Do you have a question you would like to ask Hillary Clinton? Let us know and we will select questions from AFT members for an interview with the AFT's endorsed presidential candidate. Submit your question for Hillary today and we will share the candidate's answers on the AFT's Campaign '08 Web site soon. The AFT executive council endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, citing her proven ability to advance our nation's key priorities and her bold plans for a stronger America. AFT members are invited to find out more about the endorsement process and the candidate at the AFT's Campaign '08 Web site (log-in required).

MEDICARE DRUG PRICE NEGOTIATION BILL REINTRODUCED
Senate majority whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), along with Reps. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), on Oct. 23 reintroduced legislation that would require the federal government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. The bill, supported by the AFT, would allow Medicare to establish a formulary that would give HHS leverage in negotiations. Durbin said, "Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries are stuck with confusing, costly plans designed by insurance and drug companies. What seniors deserve is an affordable, straightforward drug benefit." According to a report released Oct. 23 by Consumers Union and the Medicare Rights Center (an AFT-backed group), private insurers do not negotiate significant savings for Medicare beneficiaries. The report found that Medicaid saves 26 percent on drug spending, while the Medicare drug benefit will save 8.1 percent this year. Berry estimated that about $40 billion could be saved through a government-led drug negotiation program. [Read more]

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH MEDICARE HOTLINE DECLINING
Customer satisfaction with the federal government's privately run Medicare hotline has declined, according to a report released in September by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Researchers found a satisfaction rate of 71 percent—a 13 percentage point drop compared with a similar study conducted in 2004. The report also found that 44 percent of callers said they had difficulty accessing information, which was about the same in 2004. The share of callers hanging up before their questions were answered increased to 21 percent, compared to 12 percent in 2004. In addition, two-thirds of the callers said they hung up because of long wait times. Only five of the callers surveyed received answers to their questions from the automated system callers reach before speaking to an operator. The study is based on a poll of 206 people who called the hotline during one week in late January. The hotline received 49 million calls in 2006—a 68 percent increase from 2004. The inspector general's report recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services review and simplify the automated system and assess whether to hire more staff. Tens of thousands of people call the hotline daily, with calls surpassing 100,000 on some days.

U.S. ADULTS FAVOR EMPLOYER-BASED HEALTHCARE PROPOSALS
U.S. adults favor employer-based healthcare proposals over tax credits, according to a recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey. The poll found 62 percent support a requirement that large employers offer health insurance to employees—a provision included in healthcare proposals from Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.)—and 31 percent oppose such a requirement. Fifty-one percent favor a requirement that individuals obtain health insurance—a provision included in the Clinton and Edwards proposals—and 39 percent oppose such a requirement. Forty-four percent back tax credits to help individuals purchase private health insurance—a provision included in healthcare proposals from former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R)—and 45 percent oppose such tax credits. In addition, the survey found that 53 percent favor an expansion of Medicare to all U.S. residents and that 36 percent oppose such an expansion. Conducted between Oct. 19 and 22, the poll included responses from 1,209 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CLINTON BACKS EXPANDED FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE
In a lecture delivered Oct. 24 at Iowa State University, Sen. Hillary Clinton said that federal and state governments should seek to provide working mothers and lower-income workers with more paid leave. In addition, she advocated an expansion of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which currently requires companies with 50 or more employees to allow workers to take unpaid leave to care for sick family members or infants, to companies with 25 or more employees.

LIFE EXPECTANCY REACHES RECORD HIGH OF 77.9 YEARS 
Life expectancy for U.S. residents in 2005 reached a record high of 77.9 years, an increase from the previous high of 77.8 years in 2004, according to a preliminary report released in September by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control. Life expectancy for blacks increased to 73.2 years in 2005 from 73.1 years in 2004, and life expectancy for whites remained about the same at 78.3 years. Mortality rates among all residents for heart disease, cancer and stroke decreased in 2005. Deaths from HIV dropped to 12,456 in 2005 from 13,063 in 2004. Mortality rates for respiratory disease, accidents, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease rose in 2005. Age-related deaths decreased for whites, blacks and Asians in 2005 but increased for Hispanics.

NEW REPORT DETAILS DRUG COMPANY PRICE GOUGING 
A new report by Dianna Porter, director for policy with the Alliance’s Department of Government and Political Affairs, details the shocking extent of price gouging by pharmaceutical companies. Paid for by the Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund (ARAEF), the report concludes that for millions of Americans, high drug prices are a major barrier to maintaining an acceptable quality of life. Outrageous Fortune: How the Drug Industry Profits from Pills, shows that retirees are struggling more that ever to afford the medications they need to live comfortably and even survive. The report demonstrates how the drug industry continues to profit at the expense of seniors, as higher and higher prescription prices and more stringent restrictions on generics force retirees into the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole.”

NYSUT FLORIDA RETIREES JOIN BREAST CANCER  AWARENESS DRIVE
As part of NYSUT's goal of 10,000 union members participating in this year's "Making Strides against Breast Cancer," NYSUT Florida retirees took part in the three-day 60-mile Susan G. Komen walk. On Oct. 19-21, more than 2,000 women and men from Clearwater to St. Petersburg walked to help raise awareness and funds to find a cure for this disease. Elly Rotheim, treasurer of NYSUT's Sarasota TRIF Unit, a participant in last year’s walk, this year served as pit crew captain for a team of 105 participants, including educators and healthcare providers. Each team member had to raise at least $2,200 in order to qualify for the walk. Last year's team raised $188,000; with contributions still coming in, this year’s group has so far raised $266,000.

IN HISTORIC VOTE, 28,000 NYC CHILD CARE WORKERS SAY 'UNION YES' 
In the largest addition of unaffiliated workers in the history of the AFT, 28,000 child care workers have voted overwhelmingly for representation by the AFT-affiliated United Federation of Teachers in New York City. The organizing drive was the most extensive in nearly 50 years in the nation's largest city. According to the New York State Employment Relations Board (SERB), which on Oct. 23 tallied secret-ballot cards mailed in between Sept. 5 and Oct. 15, the child care workers voted 8,382 to 96 to form a union that will be represented in contract talks by the UFT. The organizing campaign was a joint project of the UFT and the community group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which together collected more than 12,000 signatures from daycare providers this summer in support of a union election. This followed New York governor Eliot Spitzer's executive order in May allowing providers—who are among the lowest-paid workers in the region—to form a union. The providers covered by the order are those who receive government subsidies to watch, care for and educate children from low-income families in preschool and after-school settings.

STRETCH YOUR DOLLARS WITH AFT+ CAR RENTAL DISCOUNTS 
Traveling during the holiday season? Car rental discounts with Alamo, Budget and National help AFT members stretch their travel budget. Visit AFT’s Web Site www.aft.org/aftplus/travel/carrental.htm to find members-only car rental specials.

QUOTE OF NOTE:  Declining Service on Medicare Hotline
“Congratulations [for being named] the lucky guy who gets to clean up the mess your predecessors left behind....Based on CMS' record, I can only assume the agency selected the private contractor whose service left beneficiaries less satisfied and more frustrated.”

U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.)
Letter to CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems
Sept. 28, 2007

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK:  www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/colafacts.htm
Social Security benefits go up 2.3 percent on Jan. 1, 2008, as part of the annual cost of living adjustment. Find out more right from the horse’s mouth.