5/28/2008 - The Aiken Standard

Mike Wood, AARP Legislative Volunteer

Medicare premiums have more than doubled since 2000. These monthly Part B premiums could increase even higher than expected next year. That’s largely because Congress is likely to step in to extend a temporary fix, which expires in June of this year, of a flawed system for setting Medicare’s payment to doctors. Fixing the doctor payment system means an even higher premium for beneficiaries, unless Congress also takes steps to prevent further premium increases.
Raising Medicare premiums even more to cover skyrocketing healthcare costs is just not fair. Medicare beneficiaries have already been saddled with significant premium hikes over the past several years. Another premium increase would hit older Americans on top of the already rising costs they are paying in premiums for prescription drugs, deductibles for basic healthcare, coinsurance for doctor visits, and the costs of care that Medicare doesn’t cover, like hearing aids and eyeglasses.
Higher Premiums: Each time Congress steps in to fix the flawed physician payment system there is a direct cost for Medicare beneficiaries. That’s because by law, the monthly Part B premium ($96.40 in 2008) is set at 25 percent of Part B spending, which includes payments to doctors. Unless Congress takes action to protect against premium increases, beneficiaries will see their monthly premiums increase even higher than they normally would.
COLA Erosion: Each time the Part B premium is increased it significantly erodes or even eliminates the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA).
Beneficiaries Already Pay More: Increased costs to people on Medicare are not limited to premiums. Cost-sharing obligations, like paying 20 percent of the cost of going to the doctor, also jump each time provider reimbursement rates increase. In addition, the increased Part B spending also leads directly to a higher Part B deductible. For each increase of $10 billion in physician payments, beneficiary coinsurance amounts, in addition to higher premiums, increase roughly $2 billion.
Cumulative Impact Erodes Retirement Income: The average older person already spends about one quarter of their income on healthcare. This does not include the additional, and often substantial, costs of services that Medicare does not cover, including long term home and nursing home care. If Part B premiums and cost-sharing continue to escalate, many beneficiaries will find it increasingly difficult to pay for the care they need.
The bottom line is raising premiums even more after they have already doubled since 2000 is just not fair.
Michael C. Wood
Aiken

FOR AN APPLICATION: CALL 803-765-7371

Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols presents AARP South Carolina state director Jane

Wiley a proclamation declaring May 16 as Divided We Fail Day in Rock Hill.Mayor Echols was one of the first municipal officials to sign the Divided We Fail pledge.

AARP Driver Safety Program Coordinator Jeff Jeffcoat (center) recognizes Nancy Eaker (left) and members of the Spartanburg Public Safety Department for leading DSP classes in the upstate.  They were also recognized by Spartanburg City Council.

By Liv Osby - Greenville News - June 3, 2008

HEALTH WRITER

The first time Greta Mills' mother was the victim of a scam, it cost her $1,200. The second time ran her $900.

Now the 80-year-old is so fearful of scammers that she says she'll never give financial information over the phone again.

"They sound so serious. And they scared me to death," says Virginia White, who shared her story in the hopes it will keep others from becoming victims.

Senior citizens like White are often easy prey for con artists who cajole or bully them into turning over personal financial information or otherwise get them to pay for something they're not going to get.

In fact, 6,000 complaints were lodged with the state Department of Consumer Affairs last year, and that represents just the tip of the iceberg because many people are too embarrassed to report that they've been duped, says Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.

Bauer's Office on Aging has just launched a task force on senior fraud.

The task force brings together more than 40 law enforcement, consumer and advocacy agencies and organizations to both stop fraud and raise awareness among seniors about the crime.

"There are lots of scams out there," said Doris Gleason, director of community outreach for AARP South Carolina, one of the groups involved. "And there are people who lose thousands of dollars."

Seniors need to be mindful of scams involving phony charities, Medicare discount cards, prizes and sweepstakes, and counterfeit drugs, according to the Office on Aging. Also, they need to be on the lookout for funeral and cemetery fraud, telemarketing fraud, identity theft, and the ubiquitous Nigerian letter, which asks recipients to provide their bank account so a large money transfer can be made.

Mills says the con artists used different approaches with her mother.

"The first time, this guy called and told her the warranty on her car had ended and that he could sell her a new warranty for $1,200. And there was no such thing," says the Aiken woman. "The second time this man called and told her my step-dad, who'd been dead for three years, owed the bank some money. And if she didn't give her bank account number, they would be sending someone after her.

"Bless her heart," she says. "We had to close out her bank account and open a new one."

Mills says her bank told her that her report of scamming was the fourth one they'd gotten that day.

Gleason says the program, which will also include public service ads, should be have an impact.

"The better educated you are," she says, "the better off you'll be."

And White says she's now better educated about fraud than she ever thought she'd be.

"I don't think I'll ever be a victim again," she says, and with a chuckle adds, "The people I really owe might not get their money."

DON'T BECOME A VICTIM

• Never give Social Security, credit card or bank account numbers to anyone over the phone.

• Never click on emails purportedly from banks -- they could be fishing for your personal information.

• If you get a call from someone claming to be from a bank or the Social Security Administration or Medicare or even a phone company, hang up and call the agency directly to find out if the call was legitimate.

• Don't put outgoing mail in your mailbox.

• Review your bank and credit card statements carefully for false purchases or withdrawals.

• Check your credit report regularly.

• If you've been scammed, report it to the Department of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-922-1594 or the Lt. Governor's Office on Aging at 1-800-868-9095.Source: AARP and Office on Aging

ON THE WEB

For more information, go to www.aging.sc.gov/scams.

  AARP working against payday lenders - The State May 29

This is response to a letter from L.E. Pugh Monday, implying that the AARP gives money to legislators supporting the payday lending bill.

The AARP does not give money to elected officials, candidates or political parties, nor does the AARP have a political action committee.

However, as long as payday lenders continue to prey upon the elderly and the working poor, the AARP will continue to advocate for their ban or strict regulation on behalf of our 570,000 members in South Carolina.

Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.

JANE WILEY

AARP S.C. State Director

Columbia

 from The State May 28, 2008 

By JANE WILEY - AARP South Carolina state director

In communities across South Carolina, fresh economic jitters — triggered by a collapsing housing market, rising energy costs, a reeling stock market and a growing fear of recession — have reminded thousands of people that they may be living too close to the edge. They could outlive their retirement savings or be one major illness away from financial ruin.

For Divided We Fail — which recently marked its first anniversary and now represents more than 53 million Americans — this is an unacceptable state of affairs, even under dire economic circumstances. This is why Divided We Fail supporters, who hail from AARP, the Business Roundtable, the Service Employees International Union and the National Federation of Independent Business, continue to push a simple message: Every American should have lifetime financial security and access to affordable, high-quality health care.

These two issues are not just the problem of the neighbors down the block. They affect every American family. They are issues that unite all of us, since we may all require medical attention someday and we will all stop working. They strike at the heart of the American Dream, because they influence our freedom to make choices and create opportunities to improve our lives. A secure retirement, after a lifetime of work, should never be negotiable. Medical care should never depend on which way the political winds blow.

Over the past year, Divided We Fail reached out to the presidential candidates and to local and state officials to make them aware of the facts:

• Only one out of five workers today has a traditional pension plan.

• Only half of American families have saved money in any kind of retirement account, and the typical family has saved less than $35,000.

• 47 million Americans are uninsured; many of them are unable to afford health care because rising costs have priced them out of the health insurance market.

• 29 percent of Americans say they have skipped medical treatment, tests or prescriptions because of skyrocketing costs.

These facts animate the stories of ordinary people in South Carolina, who lie awake at night wondering how they can afford to grow old, or trying to imagine a rosy future for their children.

Divided We Fail has outlined an ambitious platform for financial security and health. It boils down to:

1. Providing for a secure retirement by strengthening Social Security and encouraging personal savings and effective retirement plans.

2. Providing access to affordable health care coverage, including prescription drugs, without burdening future generations with these costs.

3. And providing choice when it comes to long-term care, so people can maintain their independence at home or in their communities.

The Divided We Fail message is resonating. Financial security and health care are two of the top issues on voters’ minds. Our initiative on financial security and health care has received the endorsement of five of the eight members of the state’s federal delegation (Sen. Lindsey Graham and Reps. Gresham Barrett, James Clyburn, John Spratt and Joe Wilson) and the lieutenant governor, and we are now asking the members of the General Assembly for their support.

Divided We Fail will be holding events and sponsoring financial security and health care forums throughout the state this year. Much of the effort will be devoted to educating the public about the various options to address financial security and health care, along with the trade-offs that accompany each of them. Rather than a comprehensive prescription, Divided We Fail will offer a range of options to encourage policy innovation and discussion.

Lifelong financial security and high-quality, affordable health care cannot be finessed away during an election cycle. On the contrary, they must become fixtures of American life. Otherwise, Divided We Fail.

Ms. Wiley is state director for AARP South Carolina and Divided We Fail in South Carolina. You can learn more at www.dividedwefail.org.