The Alliance is keeping all Texans, particularly seniors, in our thoughts during this past week’s freezing temperatures and related power outages. CBS News has compiled a list of organizations providing relief work if you would like to make a contribution.

State Legislators Push For Price-Hike Penalties to Lower Drug Prices

In the absence of federal action to lower drug prices, growing numbers of state legislators around the country are pushing legislation to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap costs at much-lower Canadian levels.

Legislators in Hawaii, Maine and Washington recently introduced bills that would impose an 80% tax on drug price increases that are not supported by evidence of improved clinical value. Oklahoma and Rhode Island lawmakers have filed bills that would set the rates paid for up to 250 of the costliest drugs to rates paid by the four most populous Canadian provinces, which they say could reduce prices by an average of 75%.

Experts and the American public agree that the problem is growing. According to a recent survey released by Politico and Harvard, 87% of Americans favor government action to lower drug prices, particularly Medicare beneficiaries with high out-of-pocket costs. In January the Rand Corp. released a new study that found list prices in the United States for prescription drugs in 2018 were 2.56 times higher than the prices in 32 other developed countries, while brand-name drug prices averaged 3.44 times higher.

“We need Congress to pass legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate lower prices,” said Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance. “The action at the state level is necessary because the Senate did not act on H.R. 3, legislation passed by the House last year. We must finally hold drug corporations accountable for making medicines affordable for everyone who needs them.” 

House Committee Will Focus on USPS Next Week

After months of continued Postal Service delays, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold a hearing on the Postal Service on February 24. Among the witnesses are Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein and Postal Service Inspector General Tammy L. Whitcomb.

Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney says, “The hearing will examine legislative proposals to place the Postal Service on a more sustainable financial footing going forward while preserving the delivery performance standards on which the American people rely.”

Older Americans rely on the Postal Service to deliver prescription drugs and other essential goods, and increasing numbers of Americans are reporting delays in delivery of their bills, resulting in substantial late fees and penalties.

The delays are a result of so-called “reforms” implemented by Mr. DeJoy, including elimination of overtime and suspension of requirements for timely delivery. Postal service employees have also been hit hard by the pandemic, with thousands of workers unable to work due to illness or quarantine requirements.

“Everyone relies on the post office,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “Americans have relied on it for 200 years and Congress needs to ensure that it can meet its critical mission.” ACTION NEEDED: The Alliance has teamed up with other organizations that support the Postal Service to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition that will be delivered to Congress before next week’s hearing. Please click here and add your name.

KHN: Family Caregivers, Routinely Left Off Vaccine Lists, Worry What Would Happen ‘If I Get Sick’

By Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News

Robin Davidson entered the lobby of Houston Methodist Hospital, where her 89-year-old father, Joe, was being treated for a flare-up of congestive heart failure.

themselves are similarly terrified of becoming ill and wondering when they can get protected against the coronavirus.

Like aides and other workers in nursing homes, these family caregivers routinely administer medications, monitor blood pressure, cook, clean and help relatives wash, get dressed and use the toilet, among many other responsibilities. But they do so in apartments and houses, not in long-term care institutions — and they’re not paid.

“In all but name, they’re essential health care workers, taking care of patients who are very sick, many of whom are completely reliant upon them, some of whom are dying,” said Katherine Ornstein, a caregiving expert and associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai medical school in New York City. “Yet, we don’t recognize or support them as such, and that’s a tragedy.”

Click to read more.

Former President Trump and Hate Groups Sued Over January 6 Capitol Riot

The NAACP and Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) sued former President Trump on Tuesday, claiming that Trump incited the Capitol riot on January 6 in violation of a Reconstruction Era law called the Ku Klux Klan Act.

The lawsuit also names former New York City mayor and close Trump ally Rudy Giuliani as well as two white supremacist groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

“The January 6 riots were an attack on our democracy and those responsible must be held accountable,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “We will be monitoring the progress of this lawsuit in the coming months.”

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