| USAToday, June 10, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate dealt a blow to the drug lobby Thursday by voting to permit people in the United States to order lower-cost drugs from Canada over the Internet. The prescription drug plan, by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., passed the Senate by a 55-36 vote that added it to a $42.9 billion bill funding the Homeland Security Department. The Senate then approved the homeland security measure by a 84-6 vote Thursday night. Critics said Vitter’s amendment would open a gaping loophole that would expose people to Internet scams and unsafe drugs, but the allure of importing U.S.-made drugs from other countries where government policies have driven prices lower has long had a pull on lawmakers. But so too has the drug lobby, which has always defeated attempts to allow consumers widespread access to “reimported” drugs. Several Democratic leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and his top lieutenant, Dick Durbin of Illinois, initially opposed Vitter’s amendment, only switching their votes after it became clear the popular idea would pass. Their doubts about the idea may ensure the drug importation rule gets dropped during House-Senate negotiations on a final bill. Currently, U.S. travelers may return with a three-month supply of drugs when crossing the border. The development capped a day of dizzying activity on Capitol Hill on six different spending bills for the 2010 budget year. Read the rest of this entry » |
Archive for July 10th, 2009
SENATE VOTES TO ALLOW ONLINE PURCHASES OF CANADIAN DRUGS
Posted by James O'Rourke on July 10, 2009
Posted in *Healthcare Issues | Leave a Comment »
Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Will Lose Unemployment Benefits Soon
Posted by James O'Rourke on July 10, 2009
By Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group. Posted July 10, 2009.
Workers laid off early in the downturn are soon to be left without the basic sustenance of an unemployment check.
WASHINGTON — When a virulent disease is ravaging you like a cancer, you don’t want a cacophony of voices promoting different or contradictory cures. Yet that is what we’re starting to hear about the economic crisis, not only from a politically divided — and pretty scared — capital, but from within the Obama administration itself. In just the past few days, Vice President Joe Biden has said the young administration misread the depth of the recession — an honest account, since most private economists did as well. Laura Tyson, an outside economic adviser to the White House, said it’s wise to start preparing another stimulus package.
Then President Barack Obama made everything perfectly muddy when he said in an ABC News interview that the seriousness of the downturn and how to attack it is “something we wrestle with constantly.” Yet in the next breath, he expressed concern about the burgeoning deficit. But if anyone’s looking for some clear voices, there are 650,000 of them just waiting to be heard. That is roughly the number of long-term unemployed who will begin losing their jobless benefits in September, according to the National Employment Law Project. Remember, the recession didn’t start last fall when the government bailed out AIG and the financial system froze. It began in December 2007 — and 6.5 million jobs have been lost since then. Depending on which state and the sort of triggers that apply to benefits, hundreds of thousands of workers laid off early in the downturn are soon to be left without the basic sustenance of an unemployment check.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department says, the number of unemployed people out of work for 27 weeks or longer continues to grow, reaching 4.4 million last month. In June, three out of 10 jobless workers had been out of work for at least six months, according to the department’s data. The stimulus package the president signed soon after taking office did provide extended benefits, and boosted weekly payments. But even that extension runs out on Dec. 26, and would not apply to all the unemployed. Does anyone really believe that a significant portion of the unemployed will have found new work by then? Hardly. Both private and government economists now predict that unemployment will continue to rise at least through the end of this year.
“We can’t ignore this moment when all these folks are running out (of benefits),” says Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in *Economy | Leave a Comment »
MAKING SURE HEALTH CARE IS AFFORDABLE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50
Posted by James O'Rourke on July 10, 2009
| MAKING SURE HEALTH CARE IS AFFORDABLE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50
Center for Medicare Advocacy, July 9, 2009 The real goal of health care reform is to provide every American with access to high quality, medically necessary, health and medical services. To achieve this goal, Congress is working to make the new health program affordable for the federal government. But, most important, for health care reform to work it must be affordable for all health care consumers, including those over 50. Affordable Premiums Health insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to people based on pre-existing conditions or to charge them more based on health care conditions, health care usage, or gender. These system reforms will allow more Americans to purchase the health insurance they need. Insurance companies will, however, be allowed to charge higher premiums based on age (age rating). Unfortunately, age rating may be a proxy for pricing insurance premiums based on health status, especially on chronic conditions. The House of Representatives Tri-Committee draft bill allows insurance companies to charge older people twice as much as younger people. The Senate Finance Committee is contemplating letting insurance companies charge up to five times as much based on age. In other words, under the Senate proposal, the health plan that costs someone in his/her twenties $100/month or $1,200/year could cost someone in his/her fifties/sixties $500/month or $6,000/year. Both the House and the Senate are considering “affordability credits” or subsidies to help people with limited incomes pay for the cost of insurance – and hence improve their ability to access medical care. In order to reduce the cost of its health bill, however, the Senate Finance Committee is contemplating limiting subsidies to people with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, or about $32,490 for a single person. That’s not a lot of money for people who live in high cost areas like Washington, D.C., New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry » |
Posted in *Healthcare Issues | Leave a Comment »
SENIORS MOST AFFECTED BY FINANCIAL CRISIS
Posted by James O'Rourke on July 10, 2009
| July 3rd, 2009 Smart Money The current economic recession is expected to have a major impact on the way that Americans live for at least a generation. A fundamental shift appears to be underway with individuals seeking to reduce leverage and consume less. 70% of our economy is based upon consumption. For as long as I can remember we have always spent freely and saved very little. Debt was used to finance all major and most minor purchases. Young and old alike both levered up to enjoy the good life. This philosophy worked until the bubble burst in the fall of 2008. The psychological impact of the recession cannot be underestimated. This recession has changed many consumers spending habits forever. Most Americans believe that this economic downturn will have an effect on their quality of life for the foreseeable future. The people most effected by the financial crisis are senior citizens. Senior citizens rely upon a fixed income to manage their finances and pay their bills. Senior citizens are hurt the most by rising costs because there income doesn’t tend to rise with inflation as wages do. Rising medical costs and shrinking retirement plans are creating problems for seniors. The stock market crash of 2008 has forced many senior citizens to reduce their standard of living. Some have resorted to homesharing by taking in roommates to split costs. Many seniors have been forced to come out of retirement and go back to work. This problem is not just specific to the US alone. “In England a staggering one in five seniors – 2 million people – are now living below the poverty line. An alarming 22per cent of seniors are skipping meals, and as many as 25 per cent are cutting back on food. In addition, a further 42 per cent are struggling to afford essential items, 41 per cent are reducing the amount of electricity used and 38 per cent are minimising gas consumption. As the rest of the nation struggles with debt during the economic downturn, senior citizens are struggling to maintain basic living conditions.” Senior citizens are forced to work longer for survival. In Japan senior citizens are being enticed to return to the workforce as well. Some financial experts are saying that the new retirement age will be 70 in the future. Due to this economic setback many people will struggle to have a qualitative retirement that retire at 65. Trillions of dollars of wealth was lost due to the financial meltdowns. IRA’s and 401(k)’s saw their value drop in half. Now there is even talk of raising the age to 70 in order to qualify to get social security. Seniors may have to consider a partial retirement in the future where they work a part time job to supplement their income. |
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