Special Medicare Drug Benefit Edition

October 3, 2005

Special Medicare Drug Benefit Edition

• Get Ready: Medicare Part D Offerings Begin
• AFT Rx for New Medicare Drug Plans
• Basic Medicare Premium To Increase 13 Percent
• AFT-Backed Bill Would Allow Six More Months To Enroll in Medicare Drug Benefit
• Former AFT President Sandra Feldman Dies at 65
• Officers Meet with Affiliates in Hurricane-Affected Areas
• After Hurricanes, AFL-CIO Calls for New Direction
• Wyden Says Senate Will Back Federal Government’s Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices
• AFT Leaders Stand Up To Protect Retirement Security
• AFT PLUS MasterCard: Triple PLUS Features
• Quote of Note
• Web Site of the Week: www.medicareinteractive.org/aft

GET READY: MEDICARE PART D OFFERINGS BEGIN

Oct.1 was the first day that Medicare Part D plans could begin shopping their wares to the more than 40 million Americans with Medicare. Large numbers of plans have been approved, including 10 national stand-alone drug plans. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is overseeing the benefit, expects that most Medicare-eligible seniors will have a choice of between 11 and 23 plans. Comedians are already warning people with Medicare to get bigger mailboxes as the blizzard of promotions begins. Scores of companies are expected to join the gold rush, which is projected to increase drug maker profits by some $139 billion. Premiums will vary from the national average of $32 per month by location, coverage, overhead and ability to negotiate volume discounts. Aetna, for example, says it will charge premiums ranging from $27 to $68 per month, depending on the plan and where the beneficiary lives. Cigna will offer three different drug plans in all 50 states, with premiums ranging from $30 to $52 per month. Seniors should beware of marketing scams during this heavy promotional period. Insurers may market their plans over the phone but must abide by the federal do-not-call rules and honor do-not-call- again requests. Door-to-door solicitations are prohibited. Medicare ID numbers, bank account or credit card numbers or any other personal details should never be given marketers, especially over the phone.

AFT Rx FOR NEW MEDICARE DRUG PLANSTo help members and their families cope with the complexity and confusion generated by the new Medicare Part D plans, the AFT has created and sent a series of bulletins for people with Medicare (34A), union negotiators and lobbyists (34B) and drug plan sponsors and administrators (34C). The bulletin for people with Medicare can be found in the retiree section of the AFT Web site. In addition, the AFT has teamed up with the Medicare Rights Center, a nationally recognized leader in counseling people with Medicare, to create Medicare Interactive (www.medicareinteractive.org/aft), a special Web site with up-to-the-minute information on Medicare coverage and detailed coverage on the new prescription drug plan. Visit Medicare Interactive to get immediate answers to Medicare questions about Part D and many other parts of the program.

A Medicare Drug Planner Cost Estimator on the CMS Medicare Web site now allows those with no current drug coverage to enter their monthly drug costs and see how much money they could save under the new benefit. It also permits individuals to compare plans in their area. But the tool bases its calculations on the lowest-published premium in a person's state, which tends to be lower than an individual's actual premiums. Beginning Oct. 13, CMS plans to offer other tools that will help those who already know which drug plan they want and those who don't by providing customized plan options and alerting beneficiaries whether they already are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage or Medicaid plan or have employer-sponsored coverage.

More info: http://www.medicare.gov

BASIC MEDICARE PREMIUM TO INCREASE 13 PERCENT
The premium for Medicare Part B (physicians) will rise 13 percent next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Sept. 16, raising the cost to $88.50 a month. Doctors are billing Medicare for longer, more intensive office visits, more laboratory tests and more frequent and complex imaging procedures, thus contributing to the premium increase. Although the increase was not quite as steep as the 17 percent hike between 2004 and 2005, it is a source of major concern to CMS. The Part B deductible will be $124 in 2006, compared to $110 in 2005. The Part A deductible, which pays for inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility and some home healthcare, will be $952, compared to the current $912.

AFT-BACKED BILL WOULD ALLOW SIX MORE MONTHS TO ENROLL
IN MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT

The AFT has thrown its support behind HR 3861, a bill introduced Sept. 22 by Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) that would extend from May 15, 2006, until Dec. 31, 2006, the deadline for beneficiaries to enroll in the Medicare prescription drug benefit without financial penalties. The measure would also allow beneficiaries to make a one-time change in their enrollment plan during 2006 and prohibit beneficiaries' former employers from dropping retiree health benefits during the first year of the drug benefit. A starkly different response came from the other side of the aisle. The 110-member Republican Study Committee has proposed delaying the benefit for one year, estimating that such a move could save $31 billion. The cuts are part of “Operation Offset,” a list of suggested budget cuts intended to make up for the estimated $200 billion cost of recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina. The White House and Republican leaders in Congress are adamantly opposed to the move. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), indicted last week on ethics violations, has also said that rolling back the administration's massive tax cuts, which go mostly to Americans making $1 million a year, to pay the costs of rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is not an option. Republican leaders say that they intend to move forward with additional tax cuts, costing the federal treasury $70 billion. This year alone, the Bush tax cuts already in place will cost $225 billion, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

FORMER AFT PRESIDENT SANDRA FELDMAN DIES AT 65
Tributes and condolences poured into the AFT headquarters for former AFT president Sandra Feldman, who died Sept. 18 at her home in New York City after a three-year battle with breast cancer. She was 65. "Sandy's death is a great loss for the AFT personally and professionally," said AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "She was a leader without comparison." Her election to the AFT's top post followed a distinguished 30-year career with the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, including 11 years as UFT president. She was widely recognized as an authority on urban education, and her long-standing commitment to social justice dates back to her involvement with the early civil rights movement, both in New York and nationally, when she was arrested during the Freedom Rides and other protests in the 1960s. During Feldman's tenure as president, the AFT grew by more than 365,000 members, passing the 1 million mark in 1998 as the AFT adopted new initiatives to foster a "culture of organizing" within the union. As AFT president, she also served on the AFL-CIO's executive council, chairing the AFL-CIO's Committee on Social Policy and serving on numerous other committees. Details of a memorial service will be announced at a later date. Feldman is survived by her husband, Arthur Barnes; a brother, Larry Abramowitz of New York City; a sister, Helen Berliner, of Wylie, Texas; and two children and two grandchildren of Mr. Barnes. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family in care of the AFT, President's Office, 555 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001. For a full obituary or to submit tributes and messages of condolence online, go to http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2005/091905.htm.

OFFICERS MEET WITH AFFILIATES IN HURRICANE-AFFECTED AREAS
AFT president Edward J. McElroy and secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour met in Houston Sept. 20 with AFT leaders from Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana on the immediate and long-term needs of AFT members and affiliates in the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In addition to getting first-hand accounts of how members have been affected by the disaster, the AFT officers also brought in former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials to advise the union on how FEMA makes decisions on recovery and rebuilding efforts. This guidance is critical in helping the union expedite assistance for AFT members who have been displaced or have suffered losses in the disaster and to ensure that rebuilding the school infrastructure in New Orleans and other areas is a top FEMA priority. The group also focused on the AFT's lobbying agenda in Washington, D.C., and in the state legislatures to ensure that members' and schools' interests are represented in the recovery efforts and that this tragedy is not used to promote an ideological agenda. Meanwhile, McElroy is urging AFT members and affiliates to donate to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund to provide direct assistance to AFT members affected by the hurricane. To make a donation, go to http://www.aft.org/katrina.

AFTER HURRICANES, AFL-CIO CALLS FOR NEW DIRECTION
The AFL-CIO is urging a new national emphasis on building strong communities, good jobs and a just economy across the country--starting with the hurricane-swept Gulf Coast. The federation's America Needs a New Direction initiative, announced at a Sept. 22 news conference, calls for investments ranging from national priorities like affordable healthcare to local needs like rebuilding coastal communities. The AFL-CIO has been particularly critical of President Bush's suspension of Davis-Bacon wage protections, which require contractors to pay the prevailing wage to construction workers involved in any federal project. The Economic Policy Institute reports that with some construction industry wages already near or below the poverty line, the suspension of Davis-Bacon puts even more families at risk as they try to recover from massive losses the hurricanes inflicted. The road to recovery, says the AFL-CIO, lies in good jobs and in real supports, such as adequate unemployment compensation, quality education, job training and other public services. AFT president Edward J. McElroy said this must include rebuilding schools, noting that the condition of many of these schools, especially those in New Orleans, was abysmal even before the hurricanes struck. We should be "putting kids in [new] buildings that attest to the fact that this is the most important thing they do," he told reporters.

WYDEN SAYS SENATE WILL BACK FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S NEGOTIATING
MEDICARE DRUG PRICESSen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Sept. 27 that there are enough votes in the Senate to pass legislation that would authorize the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare directly with pharmaceutical companies. Wyden and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) co-sponsored an amendment in March that would have changed the 2003 Medicare law to give the HHS secretary such power, but the legislation failed by two votes during Senate budget deliberations. The Medicare law specifically prohibits federal officials from intervening in negotiations between Medicare beneficiaries and hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers and suppliers. The measure faces strong opposition from the Bush administration, Republican leaders in Congress and the pharmaceutical industry. Insiders predict that it will be a long-shot in the U.S. House of Representatives, which generally votes much more along party lines. A recent report by Families USA, a healthcare advocacy group, found that the average price for a year's supply of a prescription drug was $220 higher for people using the Medicare drug discount card than for members of a Veterans Administration health plan. The VA, a federal agency, negotiates prices for drugs directly with the manufacturer. The report also found that beneficiaries using the Medicare discount drug cards paid more for 49 of the 50 most frequently used drugs by senior citizens than they would have through the VA drug plan.

AFT LEADERS STAND UP TO PROTECT RETIREMENT SECURITY
More than 700 energetic senior activists, including nearly 150 AFT retiree leaders, journeyed to Washington, D.C., Sept. 7-9 to respect and protect retirement security. Delegates to the Alliance for Retired Americans national legislative conference came together to continue the work of mobilizing a powerful grassroots movement that makes America a better place for all its citizens. Highlights of the convention included a massive rally at the Capitol, featuring House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and several other members of Congress. The rally was followed by an afternoon of lobbying hundreds of elected officials to demand they say no to Social Security privatization and yes to comprehensive retirement security. Participants heard from a wide array of speakers, including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney and author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The goal of the conference was to educate, energize and mobilize retirees to make a difference through activism. The agenda also included informative workshops on the upcoming Medicare prescription drug benefit, the logistics of putting together a Social Security town hall meeting and techniques for developing leadership skills.

In a special half-day mini-conference, AFT leaders heard from New Orleans retired teachers Ed and Leatrice Roberts who recounted their exodus from the Crescent City and trek to Dallas. After hearing this simple, heartfelt story, retiree leaders contributed more than $2,100 to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund. AFT retiree leaders also attended special member-only workshops on issues in the 109th Congress, AFT’s response to the attack on defined-benefit pension plans, improving your memory and end-of-life health decisions. Other AFT workshops focused on improving chapter/council communications and strengthening local and national retiree programs. The new Medicare drug benefit was the focus of the national retirement committee, which met on Sept. 10.

AFT PLUS MASTERCARD: TRIPLE PLUS FEATURES
Only the AFT PLUS MasterCard offers members and their families exclusive money-saving benefits and Triple PLUS Features that no other card can equal. Triple PLUS Value means no annual fee, low-rate balance transfers with no balance transfer fees and exclusive union member rates. Triple PLUS Protection brings 100 percent protection against fraud and a union review committee that ensures the Union PLUS Credit Card offers benefits union members need. Triple PLUS Service guarantees all service calls are answered by representatives in the United States, 24 hours a day. To apply for your card, go to http://www.aftcard.com.

QUOTE OF NOTE
"Not one of these [Medicare drug] plans is allowed to call [people with Medicare] up or go to their homes unsolicited and ask for personal financial information. If someone calls up saying they are from Medicare and asks you to give them financial information, don't do it."

Mark McClellan, Administrator
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Sept. 23, 2005

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: www.medicareinteractive.org/aft
This special Web site, sponsored by the AFT and the Medicare Rights Center, offers comprehensive information on both the new Medicare drug benefit (Part D) and Parts A and B in an easy-to-follow question-and-answer format.

Contributors and sources: Bill Cunningham, Bernadette Bailey, New York Times, Associated Press, Long Island Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Las Vegas Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, CQ HealthBeat, Inside AFT, Alliance for Retired Americans Friday Alert, BNA Health Care Policy Report, Medicare Rights Center, Kaiser Health Policy Report. Frank Stella, editor; Mary Boyd, copy editor; Renee Turner, design.