WASHINGTON—AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond issued this statement following today’s introduction of the Affordable Health Care for America Act in the House of Representatives:

“Today, the House brings us one step closer to a decades-long goal of repairing America’s broken health care system. AARP commends the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and the committee chairs for making progress on an issue that has ended in failure too many times before.

“The Affordable Health Care for America Act will strictly limit insurance companies from discriminating against older Americans because of their age, while making other critical reforms that will make insurance available to every American, regardless of gender or medical history. At the same time, this bill brings improvements to the Medicare program by closing the dreaded prescription drug doughnut hole and adding new benefits to make preventive care more affordable.

“In the coming days, AARP will carefully review this comprehensive bill to determine precisely how it will affect the health care of all older Americans. The urgency for health reform continues to grow, and we cannot afford to delay action.

“We look forward to continuing our work with members of the House and Senate to pass a health care bill this year that protects and improves Medicare and makes quality health coverage available to Americans of all ages.”

For more information on AARP’s health care reform effort, please visit http://www.aarp.org/health/articles/health_reform_get_the_facts.html.

S. 1776 would have preserved access by replacing flawed payment system

WASHINGTON—AARP today criticized the Senate’s vote to block the Medicare Physician Fairness Act (S. 1776)—a bill that would have preserved access to doctors for people in Medicare.  A statement from AARP Senior Vice President David Sloane follows:

“On behalf of our 40 million members, AARP is deeply disappointed that legislation to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors was blocked in the U.S. Senate today, proving once again Washington lawmakers would rather play political games than protect the needs of seniors.

“The Senate’s failure to fix the flawed doctor payment system means that payment rates for doctors in Medicare could be cut by 21.5 percent in just a few months.  Short-term patches to preserve physician pay make the access problem worse by undermining doctors’ confidence in the Medicare program.

“AARP supported this bill because it would have given Medicare patients the certainty they deserve in knowing that access to their doctors would be preserved.  Despite today’s setback, AARP will keep fighting for a legislative solution that will protect seniors’ access to their doctors and ensure they can get the care they need to stay healthy.”

For more information on AARP’s health care reform effort, please visit http://www.aarp.org/health/articles/health_reform_get_the_facts.html.

AARP California ended the 2009 Legislative year with a number of important victories. At the close of the regular session, Governor Schwarzenegger signed 12 additional AARP-supported bills bringing the total for the year to 15 bills.

Here are highlights of some important bills from the 2009 Legislative year:

In August, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 392 (Feuer), urgency legislation that immediately restored 1.6 million dollars for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. The bill will help ensure the protection of over 250,000 older Californians, many of whom are elderly and live in nursing facilities.

In June, a broad team effort of both Capitol and Legislative District members and staff was successful in pushing back an effort to pass AB 761 (Calderon) this year. The bill would have allowed mobile home parks to circumvent local ordinances and raise rental rates by substantial amounts (when a vacancy occurs). Additionally, more than 200 AARP members made phone calls to help prevent passage of this bill for the rest of the year.

In May, the Governor signed AB 23 (Jones) -- "Cal-COBRA" legislation, which extends subsidized health insurance to employees of small employers (2-19 people) who are involuntarily terminated and are eligible for funds available under the American Recovery Act.

Additionally, our AARP California Capitol Action Team ended the year with Governor Schwarzenegger signing approximately a dozen bills.

Here is a complete list of AARP-supported bills signed by the Governor:

AMERICAN RECOVERY ACT
SBX3 24 (Alquist) Federal Stimulus

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT / VOTING RIGHTS
AB 30 (Price) 17 year old voter pre registration

FINANCIAL SECURITY / REVERSE MORTGAGES /
CONSUMER PROTECTION
AB 329 (Feuer) Reverse Mortgage Elder Protection Act
SB 94 (Calderon) Mortgage Loan Modifications: Restrictions on Upfront Fees SB 98 (Calderon) Life Insurance Fraud: Stranger Originated Life Insurance
AB 370 (Eng) Unlicensed Contractors

LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES
AB 215 (Feuer) Long term care facilities: Center for Medicare -- Ratings
AB 407 (Beall) Disclosures: Nursing Home Closures
AB 1169 (Ruskin) Transparency: Retirement Living Facilities

MEDI-CAL: ELIGIBILITY
AB 1269 (Brownley) Working Disability Program

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: RESEARCH
AB 292 (Yamada) Personal income tax contributions -- Alzheimer's Disease

PRESCRIPTION: LABELING
SB 470 (Corbett) Labeling

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
SB 23 (Padilla) Manufactured Housing: Emergency Preparedness Plans

Many thanks to our Capitol Action Team and all of you who contacted your legislators and the Governor in support of these important bills!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2009
 

WASHINGTON—AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond issued this statement applauding the introduction of the “Medicare Premium Fairness Act” (H.R. 3631):

“As health care costs continue to soar despite lower inflation throughout the economy, older Americans are hit particularly hard. Retirees have seen their savings wiped away by market losses while their health care bills continue to climb. People in Medicare today spend nearly a third of their income on health care. The lack of a cost-of-living update in Social Security means that millions more in Medicare could see their health care costs rise further out of reach.

“AARP applauds Chairman Rangel, Chairman Stark, Rep. Titus, Chairman Waxman, Chairman Emeritus Dingell and Chairman Pallone for introducing this important legislation. By holding Medicare premiums steady for all beneficiaries for the next year—premiums that have doubled since 2000—their bill would help ensure that health care is more affordable for people in Medicare—without burdening taxpayers or future generations with new spending.

“We urge every House member who worries about the health and economic security of their constituents in Medicare to support this legislation when it reaches the floor tomorrow.”

There's been a lot of confusion about what's involved in health care reform, and even more confusion about who is supporting what. At AARP, our core goal remains the same. We are fighting for our members today, just as we've fought for them for the last 50 years. Today, that means we're fighting to protect the Medicare benefits you’ve earned. We're fighting to guarantee that you’ll never be denied coverage because of your health or age. We're fighting to prevent anyone from coming between you and your doctor. And we're fighting to make sure patients don’t take a backseat to insurance companies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 22, 2009

WASHINGTON—AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond released this statement following the beginning of markup of health care reform legislation in the Senate Finance Committee:

“AARP applauds the work of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and the Senate Finance Committee as they continue to shape and strengthen health care reform legislation. This is an important step towards helping the millions of Americans who face spiraling health care costs and lack access to quality, affordable health care. We urge the Senate Finance Committee to strengthen and move this bill forward in order to enact comprehensive health reform this year to control skyrocketing costs, improve quality and give all Americans access to affordable, quality coverage.

“The legislation under debate includes several key health reform provisions that AARP has been fighting for, including prohibiting insurers from discriminating based on health status or pre-existing conditions, strengthening Medicare by improving quality of care and cutting out fraud and abuse and substantially filling the so-called ‘doughnut hole’ for prescription drugs.”

In a letter sent to Chairman Baucus (available here), AARP articulated pieces of the legislation it supports, amendments to the legislation it hopes are adopted and some provisions it is working to strike from the package. Specifically, AARP supports amendments which include:

* Placing a 2-1 limit on age rating;
* Ensuring that insurance premiums cannot exceed 10 percent of income; and
* Closing the doughnut hole for prescription drug coverage.

However, AARP is working to tackle omissions that must be addressed as this legislation moves forward, including:

* Inadequate subsidies, which could impact the ability of millions of Americans to afford coverage;
* No provisions to help low-income Medicare enrollees; and
* Insufficient provisions to expand access to and strengthen home and community-based services (HCBS) to help people live independently.


LeaMond added, “As the debate over health care reform continues, AARP will continue to work with Congress to ensure that any reform legislation makes coverage available and affordable for more Americans and improves quality of care. We urge the Senate Finance Committee continue their hard work and make health care reform a reality.”
 

Anticipated No Increase To Hit Nation’s Most Vulnerable The Hardest

Washington, DC – On the heels of AARP Public Policy Institute’s Solutions Forum addressing the lack of a Social Security COLA for 2010, AARP released the following statistics today which highlight the impact of the economic recession on Social Security recipients. Data shows that medical prices have risen during 2009, and Medicare beneficiaries with higher than average health care costs are hardest hit by not having a COLA next year.

Higher Medicare deductibles and premiums for Part D prescription drug coverage will be announced soon, adding to the health care cost burden. Moreover, because Medicare Part B and Part D prescription drug premiums are often deducted from Social Security checks, millions of Social Security recipients could see their benefit checks reduced in 2010, while they are still suffering from reduced retirement savings and a stagnant housing and employment market.

“Seniors face rising costs, but today have fewer resources to pay for them,” John Rother, AARP’s Executive Vice President for Public Policy and Strategy, said. “We urge Congress to address this issue quickly, so that seniors will not face reductions in their Social Security checks, or at least be compensated for increasing medical costs so vital to their well being.”

As advocates for older Americans examine the potential impact of a first-time no COLA for Social Security recipients, AARP has raised specific concerns regarding the rising costs of health care and significant losses in retirement savings.

AARP has compiled the following data to further the discussion taking place among advocates and lawmakers:


Stimulus

As part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, workers received a tax credit of up to $400 ($800 for couples), for 2009 and 2010. Social Security beneficiaries (and certain other retirees and disabled persons) received a one-time payment of $250 for 2009 only.

In addition, older households are more likely than younger households to spend any additional income that they receive, and this spurs economic recovery. (Source: Did the 2008 Tax Rebates Stimulate Spending? Matthew D. Shapiro and Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan and NBER, December 27, 2008.)


Retirement Savings

While the economy is recovering, household net worth is still about 17 percent lower than it was at the end of 2007 (and nearly 20 percent lower in inflation-adjusted terms). (Source, AARP Public Policy Institute calculations from Federal Reserve Board, Flow of Funds Account, Balance Sheet of Households and Nonprofit Organizations, September 17, 2009.)

Interest rates paid on savings account deposits have now also dropped to very low levels, leaving even conservative savers in a pinch. The average annual interest rate on a 6-month CD is less than half a percent today (0.44 percent in August 2009), down from 4.85 percent at the end of 2007. (Source: Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15, September 21, 2009.)


Employment

Many older workers now plan to work longer in order to rebuild their retirement savings in the wake of the recession. But some have already lost employment, and many will be unable to continue working. When older workers lose their jobs, it takes them longer to find a new one, and some of them instead opt to drop out of the labor force altogether, turning to Social Security and retirement savings.

Social Security claims are on the rise as the souring employment market forces older Americans out of the workforce and diminishes their personal savings. The number of applications for retirement benefits was nearly 9 percent greater than expected this fiscal year to date. (Source: Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, May 28, 2009. Data are for October 2008 through May 2009.)

In August, the average duration of unemployment was over 30 weeks for jobseekers aged 55 and older, compared to about 20 weeks in December 2007 and 24 weeks for jobseekers under age 55. (Source: Sara Rix, AARP Public Policy Institute, analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. See in particular The Employment Situation: August 2009; tables in BLS’s Employment and Earnings, January 2008 and September 2009; and BLS’s Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.)

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has explained, while the economy is expected to grow in the coming year, “the economic recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first, with unemployment declining only gradually from high levels.” Thus, increasing numbers of older Americans will rely on Social Security because they can’t find a job for some time to come. (Source: Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, remarks delivered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Annual Economic Symposium, August 21, 2009 and at the Brookings Institution, on September 15, 2009.)

Medical Costs

While overall inflation is low (or negative), medical costs continue to rise; and, older Americans spend more than others on health care.

Between August 2008 and August 2009 the cost of all goods and services other than medical care fell by 1.8 percent. In contrast, the cost of medical care rose by 3.3 percent. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index Summary, September 16, 2009, Table 1.)

Rising medical costs can be a disaster for retirees or anyone with unusually large expenses. On average, Medicare beneficiaries spend about 30 percent of their incomes on out-of-pocket medical expenses. (Source: AARP Public Policy Institute.)


To watch the webcast of the September 21st AARP Public Policy Institute’s Solutions Forum on the Social Security COLA, go to www.nextgenweb.org/aarp.