Health CareReformThe long uphill struggle for

health care reform that was final-ly won earlier this year is alreadybeginning to pay off for retireesas $250 rebate checks make theirway into the pockets of millionsof Americans on Medicare.By the end of the year, three

million seniors who fall into theonerous Medicare Part D donuthole coverage gap will havereceived a rebate check to helpcover the costs of their prescrip-tion drugs.While the new health care

reform bill is complex and willnot be fully implemented until2020, retirees are certainly amongthe early winners of all thathealth reform will finally mean,especially to millions of unin-sured citizens. Despite the millions of dollars

spent to frighten vulnerableretirees with the scare of deathpanels and losing the right tochoose a doctor — like the “Harryand Louise” ads that sank healthreform in the early Clinton years— the legislation protects guaran-teed benefits, eligibility and theright to keep your doctor. Beyond the rebate checks, all

brand name drugs will be dis-counted by 50% when you reachthe coverage gap, effective Janu-ary 2011, with additional savingsover the next ten years until the

VOL. 22, NO. 2SUMMER 2010

The RTC is ahead of the curveonce again in its efforts to protectSocial Security.This time we must keep an eye

on the fiscal hawks who appear tobe a majority on the president’s National Commission on FiscalResponsibility and Reform and who are targeting Social Security, aswell as Medicare, to reduce the federal deficit.An RTC resolution — passed unanimously last April by the RTC and

UFT executive boards — called on the UFT and all our allies to alert thepublic to the likelihood that the “Entitlement Commission,” as the Fis-cal Reform Commission is more popularly known, will try and balancethe budget and reduce the deficit on the backs of senior citizens. TheAFT passed a similar resolution at its convention in July in Seattle.That call is more pressing now as the 18 members of the commis-

sion, who have so far held three meetings without any apparentmedia coverage of the events, move toward their December deadlineto find ways to address the growth in entitlement spending and toreduce the annual federal deficit to 3% by 2015.Our concerns are twofold. First, we are worried about both the

congressional and presidential committee members. Some appointeeshave repeatedly acted to weaken Social Security and Medicare.A columnist for the Los Angeles Times wrote recently about Com-

mission Co-chair Alan Simpson, the former Republican senator fromWyoming, “Get this man away from Social Security.” Simpson has along history of sniping at seniors as “greedy geezers.”And Co-chair Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North

Carolina and former chief of staff in the Clinton administration, wasquoted by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security andMedicare (NCPSSM) as telling North Carolina bankers, “We’re goingto mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security because if youtake those off the table you can’t get there.” “There,” of course,means deficit cuts.In addition to appointing the co-chairs, Obama has appointed two

corporate CEOs, David Cote and Anne Fudge; an academic, AliceRivlin; and labor leader Andy Stern.Our second concern is about what critics are calling the enor-

mous, unaccountable authority delegated to the Entitlement Com-mission, giving it unprecedented legal authority to propose changes

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRBy Tom Murphy

continued on page 4 continued on page 2

in both the tax code and majorentitlement programs like SocialSecurity and Medicare — authori-ty that circumvents the normalcongressional process. Commis-sion recommendations will onlyallow Congress an up or downvote with no amendments, whichcritics charge subverts congres-sional responsibilities.As Barbara Kennelly, head of

NCPSSM, points out, “Pushingthrough changes this important tomillions of Americans ultimatelydisenfranchises voters and hurtsthe political process. Restrictivetimelines, no amendments andlimited debate is not the way toaddress programs touching virtu-ally every American family.”Social Security is not responsi-

ble for our nation’s deficit. Thedeficit is the result of a decade of

borrow-andspend policies, twowars, billions of dollars in tax cutsfor the wealthy and a recessiondriven by the excesses of WallStreet. The Social Security TrustFund is owed $2.6 trillion loanedto the government to pay for otherprograms. And this is their target?Social Security, Medicare and

Medicaid are three separate pro-grams with three distinct sets ofpressures requiring separate solu-tions. Social Security is the moststable. With some tweaking ofrevenue sources such as raisingthe cap on very high income con-tributors, strong solvency can beextended for decades. The othertwo programs are intricately con-nected with the new health carelegislation (which extendedMedicare’s solvency by a decade)and as we monitor its incremen-

tal implementation, rationaladjustments can be made tostrengthen them. Remember thatsocial programs providing a safe-ty net for those otherwise vulner-able have been hallmark achieve-ments of progressive governmentlong advocated by the Americanlabor movement. Opponents havealways sought ways to dismantleor cripple them. We can’t let thathappen. We can boldly recognizethe economic and political pres-sures and think realistically aboutsolutions. But we must always actto strengthen what we havefought so hard to achieve.This newsletter launches our

campaign for action. Please takethe petition below, duplicate itand get it signed. Send it back tous and we will get it to the appro-priate parties.

2

Message from the chair continued from page 1

Petition to: President Barack ObamaHonorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader, United States Senate Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, United States House of Representatives

We, the undersigned, strongly urge President Obama to instruct the National Commission on Fis-cal Responsibility and Reform not to try and reduce the federal deficit on the backs of senior citizens.

Social Security and Medicare are earned benefits paid for by working men and women throughout their careers and are essential to the wellbeing of millions of American seniors.

The commission’s present mandate disenfranchises voters and subverts Congressional responsibil-ities for deciding such far-reaching and important fiscal considerations touching so many lives.

We urge the Obama administration and the Congress to reaffirm the social contract promise of SocialSecurity and Medicare to seniors and to exclude entitlement programs from the commission’s purview.

_________________________________________________ ___________________________________PRINT NAME SIGNATURE

_________________________________________________ ___________________________________ADDRESS CITY

_________________________________________________ ___________________________________STATE ZIP

Clip and return to: Tom Murphy, RTC Chapter Leader, 52 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004

3

The 47th annual luncheon ofthe Retired Teachers Chapter washeld on June 7 at the New YorkHilton Hotel. In April RTC ChairTom Murphy accepted an awardon behalf of former Chair TomPappas at the NYSUT Representa-tive Assembly and he donned aPappas mask for the occasion. Avideo of that was shown at thelunch (above), which led Pappasto wear his own mask – of Mur-phy (right).

Annual RTC lunch a big hit

Former Chapter Chair Tom Pappas addressed the

hugely popular luncheon.

UFT President Michael

Mulgrew was on hand,

and Tom Pappas

offered him some

advice.

gap is closed in 2020. Preventivecare benefits next year will pro-vide annual free physicals todevelop and update your wellnessplan and coverage forcolonoscopy, mammography,prostate tests, flu shots, etc.Retirees will continue to be

able to choose their own doctorsand the number of primary caredoctors, nurses and physiciansassistants as well as communityhealth centers will be increased.The new law also levels the

playing field by gradually elimi-nating the over $1,000 more insubsidies to insurance companiesper beneficiary enrolled inMedicare Advantage plans thatare paid for by all Medicare bene-

ficiaries, including the 77% of usenrolled in traditional Medicare.Elimination of the overpayment

costs for Advantage Plans andreduction of abuse and fraudthrough improved accountabilitywill keep Medicare strong andsolvent. By 2018, seniors canexpect an average savings in pre-miums of $200 and more than$200 in co-insurance than theywould have without the new law. The Elder Justice Act, included

in the new law, will improve thequality of nursing homes and,through a national program forcriminal background checks ofworkers who provide long termcare in both facilities and privatehomes, combat abuse and neglect

of the elderly.For early retirees, the president

has created a temporary reinsur-ance fund of $5 billion to offsetthe costs of employer-basedretiree health plans for thoseretiring before age 65.Retirees and their family will

be well served by the new law,which expands coverage so thatchildren up to age 26 can remainon their parents’ health insurancepolicy and prohibits insurancecompanies from denying coveragefor pre-existing conditions andfrom establishing lifetime limitson coverage.For retirees and all Americans,

the new law ensures increasedquality health care.

UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS52 BroadwayNew York, NY 10004

UFT RETIREEMichael Mulgrew, UFT PresidentTom Murphy, Chapter Leader

Sandra March, UFT Liaison to RTCCandy Cook, Director, Retiree Programs Lynn Lospenuso, EditorBarbara Shiller, UFT Special Sasha Greene, LMSW, Representative for RTC Director, Retiree Social Services

Health Care Reform continued from page 1