To view this mail in a browser, copy [link removed] into your browser.
[link removed]
Insider's Report: National Committee Holds Spirited Town Hall Meeting on Drug Pricing The National Committee has been holding town hall meetings [link removed] across the country, which coincide with intensifying efforts in Congress to pass
meaningful drug price reduction legislation. [link removed] Senator Ron Wyden (OR) headlined one of these spirited town hall meetings on
November 8, 2019 in Portland, Oregon as part of the National Committee's "Don’t Cut Pills, Cut Profits" [link removed] campaign. A capacity crowd of local seniors attended the event along with U.S.
Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Oregon state representatives and policy
experts from the National Committee.
According to National Committee legislative director Dan Adcock, "The town hall was an unqualified success. The audience was engaged and
interested. There were good questions and compelling stories. People were glad
to hear the latest on prescription drug pricing from key players on Capitol Hill
and their own state legislators."
Drug prices and out-of-pocket costs paid by seniors have soared,
forcing some older Americans to go without needed medications, cut pills and
skip doses — or even choose between paying for medicine and groceries.
Fortunately, the elected leaders at this town hall are working hard to right
this wrong.
The National Committee has been beating the drum about seniors'
rising health care costs for several years. Now, a new study from Health Affairs [link removed] confirms that seriously ill seniors face especially daunting financial
hardships. According to the study, 53% of seriously ill Medicare patients are
experiencing grave difficulty paying their medical bills, with unaffordable
prescription drug costs posing the biggest challenge.
To mitigate the financial strain on seniors, the National
Committee advocates catastrophic caps on out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part B
and Part D beneficiaries, improved supplemental Medigap coverage and the passage
of legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma, which
would produce some $345 billion in cost savings over seven years. These
represent reasonable, common sense solutions to stop seniors from going broke
because of soaring health care costs in the world's wealthiest nation. [link removed] Please consider becoming a member now [link removed] to help us keep the pressure on Congress. Your continued support is essential to
the National Committee's mission of protecting your earned benefits. Good Bills
The National Committee endorses the "Fair COLA for Seniors Act" (H.R. 1553), [link removed] introduced by U.S. Representative John Garamendi (CA-03). This bill would use
the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) for the purpose of determining
Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) for a broad array of federal retirement
programs, including Social Security. Using the CPI-E will ensure that benefits
for retirees are not diminished by rising prices for the goods and services that
seniors disproportionately consume. Current measures of inflation fall short in
that they do not adequately take into account the rising costs incurred by
retirees in consumer categories such as housing and health care.
This bill represents a bold step on behalf of seniors by safeguarding the future
value of Social Security benefits. You can read more about our endorsement by
clicking here. [link removed] The Results Are In!
Next year's Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) was recently
announced. And seniors can expect to receive a 1.6% COLA, which will yield about
a $24 per month increase for the average beneficiary. With Medicare Part B
premiums predicted to rise by about $8 next year, the net COLA for most seniors
will only be $16 per month. The new COLA inches up the average monthly
retirement benefit to $1,503 and results in a mere $288 yearly raise for seniors
trying to get by on fixed incomes.
That's why I asked our readers in the last issue of Benefits Watch: At a time when seniors are facing soaring prescription drugs costs and rising
housing expenses, do you believe next year's 1.6% COLA is adequate?
The results from our recent poll are fascinating, but they're only available to National Committee members! Join the National Committee today [link removed] and we'll immediately give you the results of this important poll. Ask Us
Did you know that a team of experts in the field of Social Security policy is
available to answer your questions about benefits? For 37 years, the National
Committee has been helping thousands of our members and supporters with a broad
range of concerns on Social Security.
Whether you're currently retired or approaching retirement, the National
Committee's "Ask Us"section can help answer your questions about Social Security. You can either
search our archives for valuable advice on a broad range of concerns at www.ncpssm.org/ask-us-recent/ [link removed] or email your question to
[email protected] mailto:
[email protected]?subject=.
This week's question is: Someone told me if you don't sign up for Social Security as soon as you are
eligible, but do sign up a few years later, you get back pay to when you were
first eligible. Is this true?
Click here to read the answer. [link removed] Recent Headlines
Social Security 2100 and You [link removed] (November 14, 2019, WIZM, Audio Clip with Max Richtman)
The Cost of Prescription drugs vs R&D [link removed] (November 7, 2019, KEX, Audio Clip with NCPSSM director of government relations & policy, Dan Adcock)
Bonamici Releases Report on High Cost of Insulin in NW Oregon [link removed] (November 12, 2019, Official Website of U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici
(OR-01), Press Release)
Drug prices to rise in 2020, but public outcry may finally stir political will [link removed] (November 13, 2019, The San Diego-Union Tribune, Paul Sisson)
Opinion: Pelosi's price regulations for prescription drugs are long overdue [link removed] (November 18, 2019, MarketWatch, Peter Morici)
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] Member contributions to the National Committee, a nonprofit 501(c)(4)
organization, are not tax-deductible.
Copyright© 2019 by the National Committee
111 K Street, NE, Suite 700 | Washington, DC 20002
www.ncpssm.org [link removed] | 1-800-966-1935
Privacy Policy [link removed] | Disclosure Statement [link removed] | Click here to join [link removed]
Click here to forward this email [link removed] | Click here to unsubscribe [link removed]
