ARA Obama Health Care

This is from the weekly ARA newsletter, Friday edition-today's: (retired American's newletter has some very interesting and timely news by the way)


FRIDAY ALERT
Alliance for Retired Americans
815 16th Street, NW, Fourth Floor • Washington, DC 20006 202.637.5399 • www.retiredamericans.org • arafridayalert@retiredamericans.org
March 6, 2009

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Alliance Participates in White House Health Care SummitPresident Barack Obama stepped up his effort to pass health-care-reform legislation this week, naming a new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and hosting a White House summit to discuss solutions to the issues at hand. On Monday, the president announced Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as his choice to head HHS. The same day, he named Nancy Ann Min DeParle, who served as a top health official in the Clinton administration, the new director of the White House Office on Health Reform.

The President hosted a White House summit on how to overhaul the health-care system on Thursday, with approximately 120 invited members of Congress, advocates from non-profits, and others gathering to discuss the road forward. Alliance Executive Director Edward F. Coyle was one of the advocates in attendance.
Rather than craft health care legislation on its own, the administration is offering a set of principles to shape a process in which all stakeholders will make concessions.

As an opening maneuver, Obama set aside $634 billion in his proposed budget to be dedicated to health reform. The 10-year reserve fund could be used to provide health insurance to some of the 46 million Americans who do not have it today. To raise that money, Obama would cut itemized tax deductions for the wealthiest Americans and trim federal payments to hospitals, home health aides, drug manufacturers and some physicians.

White House budget director Peter Orszag said on Sunday that he wants to see the effort offset with tax increases or spending cuts so it does not add to the deficit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The White House proposal contains numerous elements that are likely to come under debate, including whether businesses should be required to provide insurance to workers and whether Americans should be required to sign up for insurance. A Democratic proposal to set up a public program to compete with private health-insurance companies is also under discussion. Next up will be Senate confirmation hearings for Gov. Sebelius, who was a two-term state insurance commissioner before becoming governor.

Said Mr. Coyle, “The Alliance for Retired Americans believes that any health care reform passed by Congress must: allow Medicare to negotiate volume discounts with drug manufacturers; close the ‘donut hole’ in Medicare Part D coverage; and provide early retirees age 55-64 the option to purchase Medicare coverage. I look forward to working with my fellow Summit attendees and the Obama administration to improve health care for current – and future – retirees.”

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It was good that a member of labor, retiree organization was at conference. Where are the folks that support HR676, such as the nurse's organizations? Seems some early stacking the deck for the insurance/pharm companies.

Also beware, when folks in Washington or the state houses talk about "benefit reform", they naturally are talking about getting further into your pocketbooks by cutting any promiced benefits. This of course sounds familiar to many in the Canco retirement community for that is exactly what American-National, Silgan, Crown-Cork has done to the retirees. Retirees for many other companies can report this as well and the list would be many, many pages.

Of course, some would remind me this is early; but I think the powers-that-be should be very aware our position here in St. Louis. I figure with the "give-backs" to the company (or theft of benefits one might say), I have already donated to the great society and I for one really do not wish to hear that "compromise" or " give a little" bull hockey.

After all, I am not one who has accepted insurance or drug company blood money nor is any in our merry little band on the West Bank in Missouri.

Most of the SOAR 11-3 folks feel exactly this way.