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Health Care Reform
Health care benefits are a lifeline for retirees. AUSWR remains committed to
help retirees who may have difficulty managing their benefits. The year of your
retirement guides the plans effective for you, your spouse and/or dependents.
For information about your BENEFITS, go to the BENEFITS link to the left.
Health Care Reform 2009
Healthcare reform is a major issue for all AUSWR retirees. Our organization is
affiliated with the National Retiree
Legislative Network based in Washington, DC. The NRLN is the legislative and
health care advocacy voice for more than 2 million retirees in 25 organizations
covering 87 companies. For more information about the NRLN, go to:
www.NRLN.org.
Three
AUSWR leaders are members of the NRLN Board of Directors. You can direct
comments or questions to them:
During the healthcare reform process in 2009, the NRLN continues to meet and
send letters to
key leaders in the Congress and the White House. NRLN members – and every AUSWR
member in our 14-state
area is also a member of the NRLN – can receive email Action Alerts instructions
telling
retirees how to communicate with their legislators and express their voice on
healthcare reform.
AUSWR supports the key points in the NRLN healthcare reform agenda:
National Retiree Legislative Network
Agenda
on Health Care Reform Legislation · Keep retirees in mind during Congress - deliberations on health care reform. · Guard against harming Medicare or company-sponsored health care benefits that retirees have earned.· Healthcare reform legislation should prevent broken promises to retirees by providing what the NRLN defines as a Maintenance of Cost Payment (MCP). The MCP would establish a fixed monthly payment to retirees equivalent to the dollar value of benefits an employer provided at retirement, prior to the reduction or cancellation of retirement benefits such as healthcare, prescription drugs, life insurance, long-term care, catastrophic coverage and other benefits. The MCP would be use to purchase replacement coverage for as much of the lost benefits as possible. Under the this proposal, companies would be entitled to tax credits to encourage them to continue to offer defined benefit plans or provide the MCP.
·
Don't tax retirees for the health
care benefits
they may still receive from their former employer.
·
Don't
raise the threshold for taking an itemized tax deduction
on personal health costs to 10% of adjusted gross income from 7.5% currently.
·
Allow open and fair competition in the healthcare insurance and delivery
industry.
·
Government should not own clinics and hospitals;
should not exercise control over doctors nor ration healthcare. We believe
doctors must be fairly compensated.
·
Catastrophic coverage
should be added to Medicare. When an employer eliminates its healthcare plan,
retirees usually lose
catastrophic coverage,
which limits out-of-pocket
medical expenses to a fixed amount, such as $1,500.
·
Men and women age 50 to 64 who have been laid off or retired early, either
forced or voluntary,
should be allowed to buy into Medicare at a cost that does not burden the
system
·
Eliminate the
doughnut hole
in
the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.
Congress should pass existing bills that call for:
Go to www.NRLN.org
and click on the link to read the NRLN's
complete Legislative Agenda.
See these web sites for information about the status of health care in the United States, discussion of health care issues, and ideas for reform of the health care system. We have attempted to include only non-partisan sources that have not taken a position on what should be done. The descriptions are taken from the web sites themselves. NATIONAL COALITION ON HEALTH CARE (NCHC) The Coalition, which was founded in 1990 and is non-profit and rigorously non-partisan, is comprised of almost 100 organizations, including large and small businesses, the nation’s largest labor, consumer, religious and primary care provider groups, and the largest health and pension funds. The Coalition’s Honorary Co-Chairmen are former Presidents George Bush, Gerald R. Ford, and Jimmy Carter, and its Co-Chairmen are former Governor Robert D. Ray (R-IA) and former Congressman Paul G. Rogers (D-FL). Members are united in the belief that we need – and can achieve – better, more affordable health care for all Americans.
KAISER NETWORK This website is provided by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public.
ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH REFORM A nonpartisan, nonprofit group that has organized forums, published issues briefs and published sourcebooks for journalists on current health care topics. CENTER FOR STUDYING HEALTH SYSTEM CHANGE (HSC) A nonpartisan policy research organization, HSC seeks to provide objective, incisive analyses that lead to sound policy and management decisions, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of the American public. HSC does not take policy positions, but is a resource for decision makers on all sides of the issues because of its reliable data and objective analysis. Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) A consortium of employers and insurers. Mission is to contribute to, to encourage, and to enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research and education.
Go to www.nrln.org for the latest hea
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