A message from PEF Retirees President Jim Carr You have lots at stake in health care battles
The fate of health care for seniors and
everyone in America is at the heart, once again, of titanic power struggles in Washington. The Supreme Court is deciding how
much, if any, of national health reform (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is constitutional. Meanwhile, Congress and eventually
the president will weigh in on budget bills meant to devastate Medicare, Social Security, veterans’ benefits and many other programs we rely on every day. We have the most expensive, least
efficient health care system of any rich country on the planet. A recent international study found 22 of the 23 medical services studied cost more in the U.S. than in any other country studied. The Affordable Care Act saved nearly 4
million seniors $2.15 billion through discounts for their prescription medications. The law requires a 50 percent discount on drugs in the
CARR
Medicare “doughnut hole” gap between traditional and catastrophic coverage under Medicare Part D, and it would eliminate the doughnut hole entirely by 2020. If the Supreme Court
overturns or guts the Affordable Care Act, seniors will lose out on: prescription-drug discounts; no-copay
vaccines; and protection from being dropped by their for-profit insurance company when they need it most. Seniors also stand to lose a lot in the
federal budget bill proposed by Wisconsin Republican and House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan. It passed in the House of Representatives, but will have a tougher time in the Senate. Ryan’s budget would destroy Medicare and Social Security. It would replace
Medicare as we know it with a voucher system that would make seniors pay much higher health care costs. It would drive up a wide range of costs
for everyone while expanding tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. It attacks Pell Grants for college students, veterans’ benefits, Medicare and Social Security. Ryan and his supporters would treat
health care just like the sale of BMW cars: if you have enough money, you can buy it. The rich may buy two or three, but 99 percent of us cannot afford even one. As a society, we must decide if health
care is a right for all, or a product available only to those who can pay for it.
Retiring? Join PEF Retirees now! Membership equals benefits. Contact PEF Retirees
at 800-342-4306, x 289 or
PEFRetirees@pef.org
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