Inflation Reduction Act Gains Traction As it Heads Toward a Vote

As the Senate moves toward a vote on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a new poll shows that the bill’s provision to lower drug prices is favored by an overwhelming majority of Americans of both parties.

More than 70 percent of those polled reported support for prescription drug price provisions, including allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices, placing caps on out-of-pocket costs, and limiting drug price increases. More than 50 percent also supported extending Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for an additional three years.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) said Thursday that he plans to try to advance the bill as soon as this weekend and that all Democratic members are currently on board with the legislation.

“Lowering drug prices is a top priority for all voters, just like it is for our members,” said Alliance President Robert Roach, Jr. “Congress must listen to the American public and pass this critical legislation as soon as possible.”

You can help by sending a message to your Senators urging them to vote yes when it comes to the floor for a vote.

Anti-Retiree GOP Candidates Win Primaries

Many candidates who advanced in primaries this week can be added to the list of those running this November who have publicly attacked Social Security and Medicare, including in important races like Arizona and Washington.

Blake Masters, a Trump-backed candidate who won the Republican primary for Senate in Arizona, has called for the privatization of Social Security, even going so far as to say that he expects this essential earned benefit to not be there for future generations. He will face Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ) this November.

In Colorado and Washington, Republican candidates Tiffany Smiley and Joe O’Dea seek to unseat Democratic Senators Patty Murray (WA) and Michael Bennett (CO), respectively.

Photo: “Blake Masters speaking at an event in Phoenix, Arizona.” Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Flickr

O’Dea has said he supports “cutting entitlements,” code words for cuts in Social Security and Medicare. Both candidates are strongly backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Sen. Rick Scott (FL), whose election-year campaign plan would sunset Medicare and Social Security in five years.

Several prominent Republicans have publicly supported Sen. Scott’s plan, including Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) and Sen. Ron Johnson (WI). Sen. Johnson said he favors an even more extreme plan this week, saying that Social Security and Medicare should be re-approved on an annual basis by Congress, ending the earned benefits program as we know it.

“The number of dangerous schemes to cut or end Social Security and Medicare being discussed by Republican politicians is alarming,” said Alliance Executive Director Richard Fiesta. “It’s clear that Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot this November and seniors need to pay attention or risk losing the benefits they have earned over a lifetime.”

Alliance Members Join Kentucky Flooding Relief Efforts

Members of the Kentucky Alliance are pitching in to help assist union members who lost family members and homes during last weekend’s tragic flooding in Eastern Kentucky. At last count, 37 people have lost their lives with many more missing.

“Our members will join a caravan of union volunteers tomorrow to help replenish supplies in Eastern Kentucky,” said Kirk Gillenwaters, President of the Kentucky Alliance. “I encourage any Alliance member who wishes to donate to the Union Disaster Relief Fund to send a check to United Way of Kentucky.”

The address for the Union Disaster Relief Fund is:

United Way of Kentucky

P.O. Box 4653

Louisville, KY 40204-0653

IMPORTANT: Please print “Union Disaster Relief ” on the memo line of the check

Kaiser Health News: ‘True Cost of Aging’ Index Shows Many Seniors Can’t Afford Basic Necessities

By Judith Graham

Fran Seeley, 81, doesn’t see herself as living on the edge of a financial crisis. But she’s uncomfortably close.

Each month, Seeley, a retired teacher, gets $925 from Social Security and a $287 disbursement from an individual retirement account. To make ends meet, she’s taken out a reverse mortgage on her Portland, Maine, home that yields $400 monthly.

So far, Seeley has been able to live on this income — about $19,300 a year — by carefully monitoring her spending and drawing on limited savings. But should her excellent health worsen or she needs assistance at home, Seeley doesn’t know how she’d pay for those expenses.