Seniors

Vote Expected This Week; Bill Repeals Broken Physician Payment Formula That Hurts Access to Care for Seniors and Military Families

Nov. 17, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. –Today, leading advocates for seniors, military families and physicians joined together to call for passage of legislation in the House that will preserve access to care for seniors, baby boomers and military families through repeal of the broken Medicare physician payment formula.

A vote on H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009, is expected this week, and the American Medical Association (AMA), AARP and the Military Officers of America (MOAA) call on members of Congress to honor the federal government's obligations to seniors and military families and pass the bill.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—A new poll of AARP members released today finds strong support across party and ideological lines for elements of health care reform included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives. The bill, which strictly limits how much more insurance companies can charge based on age and closes the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole, was endorsed by AARP.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) reminded seniors that they have from November 15th until December 31st to take advantage of the open enrollment period for Medicare’s prescription drug plans. During the open enrollment period, seniors can choose to enroll in or modify their existing prescription drug plan.

“I urge seniors to closely review all of the Medicare prescription drug plans and use the open enrollment period to select the plan that is right for them,” Rep. McNerney said. “With 47 specific plans available in California, seniors have a number of options to choose from before December 31st.”    » read more »

Access to Care for Seniors and Military Families at Stake; Campaign to pass bill includes new radio ads airing today

Nov. 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Urging swift passage of a bill to repeal the broken Medicare physician payment formula that threatens seniors’ access to care, the AMA added a new dimension to its Medicare campaign today with radio ads airing in markets across the nation. In addition to the ads, the AMA is activating its nationwide grassroots network of patients and physicians and intensifying communication to physicians through online and social media.    » read more »

Reminds Americans Medicare Open Enrollment Begins This Week; Open enrollment period is the best opportunity to choose Medicare drug and health plans for 2010

November 12, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- With Sunday marking the beginning of Medicare’s open enrollment period, AARP is reminding its members and all older Americans to compare their current Medicare drug and health plans with others that are available and choose the one that best fits their needs. People in Medicare have until December 31 to add, drop or change prescription drug and health care plans for 2010. Each year, AARP encourages its members and everyone in Medicare to carefully consider their options for the coming year.    » read more »

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC – More than three-quarters of older Americans are concerned that financial scams will damage their retirement nest eggs or those of someone they know, AARP and North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) said today.

In a survey released today by AARP, entitled Protecting Older Investors: 2009 Free Lunch Seminar Report, 78 percent of Americans age 55 and over surveyed indicated that they are very or somewhat concerned about financial scams affecting them or someone they know. A common setting for fraudsters to engage with their victims is by offering a free lunch or dinner, by which an older individual near retirement age is solicited to attend and learn more about investing in retirement.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) - Congressman Baron Hill issued the following statement addressing false claims circulating about how the Affordable Health Care for America Act would impact seniors:

“This week, I have heard from several Southern Indiana seniors who are justifiably concerned by what they’re hearing from a group outside Indiana regarding how Medicare would be affected by the health care reform bill. This group is being disingenuous, scaring folks with alarming and false claims, and as such, I’d like to set the record straight.    » read more »

Reminds Seniors About Medicare Enrollment Period

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Rep. Brad Ellsworth is reminding 8th District seniors and their families to take advantage of the upcoming Medicare Part D Open Enrollment period beginning November 15th. The annual Open Enrollment period allows seniors to sign-up for a drug plan or make changes to their current coverage.

Seniors can enroll by contacting their chosen plan directly or contacting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or by visiting: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/openenrollment.asp. The Open Enrollment period begins on November 15th and continues through December 31st of this year.    » read more »

November 10, 2009 -- Rep. Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Rules applauded the American Association of Retired Persons and joined them in praising the Affordable Health Care for America Act, noting it would greatly help senior citizens.

“I’m proud to see that in the many organizations that have signed on to support this bill, AARP has joined our coalition and endorsed our bill,” said Slaughter. “They represent 40 million seniors nationwide and understand that this bill will do more to protect seniors and bring down their medical costs than any other single piece of legislation in decades. The reason health care will succeed this time around is because we have support from so many important groups like AARP.”    » read more »

Murphy Testifies at Banking Hearing in Support of Bill to Provide Housing for People with Disabilities

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) testified on how to expand affordable housing options for seniors and Americans living with disabilities at a Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development hearing. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Banking Committee, joined Murphy in calling for the modernization of federal housing assistance programs to ensure they can meet the needs of low-income residents of Connecticut and the rest of the nation.    » read more »

Introduces amendment to grandfather in current Medicare Advantage beneficiaries

11/04/09 -- Washington, DC – Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) today introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill currently pending in the U.S. House, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). Klein’s amendment grandfathers in current enrollees in private Medicare Advantage plans to ensure that any future changes to the program do not impact the care they receive. This amendment marks another step in Klein’s fight to strengthen and protect Medicare for our seniors.    » read more »

U.S. Also Files Complaint Against Two Atlanta-Based Nursing Home Chains and Their Principals

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy, Omnicare Inc. of Covington, Kentucky, will pay $98 million, and drug manufacturer, IVAX Pharmaceuticals of Weston, Florida, will pay $14 million to resolve allegations that Omnicare engaged in kickback schemes with several parties, including IVAX, the Justice Department announced today. Approximately $68.5 million of the settlement proceeds will go to the United States, while $43.5 million has been allocated to cover Medicaid program claims by participating states.    » read more »

Puts Seniors’ Access to Care at Risk; AMA calls on Congress to permanently fix Medicare physician payment formula

Oct. 30, 2009 -- Statement of J. James Rohack, MD, President, American Medical Association:

“Medicare’s final 2010 payment rule confirms that in 60 days physicians face steep cuts of 21.2 percent – the largest payment cut since Congress adopted the fatally flawed Medicare physician payment formula. Access to care and choice of physician for seniors, baby boomers and military families is at serious risk – and Congress must fix the payment formula once and for all this year.    » read more »

Cosponsors Bill To Restore Fairness in the Workplace Following Recent Supreme Court Ruling

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is joining an effort to protect older workers from age discrimination in the workplace. On June 18, 2009, in the case Gross v. FBL Financial, the Supreme Court changed long-standing practices and ruled that victims of age discrimination need to prove that the age discrimination was the “deciding factor” in employment decisions, making it much more difficult for these workers to protect their rights.

As a result, Feingold is cosponsoring legislation introduced by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, to restore fairness for older workers.    » read more »

Additional $250 for seniors would amount to approximately 2% increase for the average Social Security recipient

10/19/09 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Rep. Eric Massa voiced his support for President Obama's plan to fund additional $250 payments for seniors, veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities. The payment proposal comes on the heels of a recent government announcement that there will be no Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2010 due to falling consumer prices.    » read more »