Archive for March, 2007
Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs…enough to make you sick
Thursday, March 29th, 2007Do you have $215,000 socked away for your retirement healthcare costs? Most don’t. But that’s what Fidelity’s annual healthcare survey shows retirees will need to cover their medical bills. And not surprising…that number is 7.5% higher than last year. That’s significantly higher than inflation and expected to continue growing at the same unsustainable clip, year [...]
Everything Old is New Again…and Again
Thursday, March 29th, 2007“President Bush did a nice job starting the discussion” says Kansas Senator and Presidential candidate Sam Brownback. Believe it or not he’s talking about the President’s failed attempt two years ago to persuade the American public to send their Social Security benefits to Wall Street. The truth is, the more the President talked about private [...]
While You Weren’t Watching…
Thursday, March 22nd, 2007At the risk of saying…”we told you so”…here’s yet another example of why it’s clear that Social Security privatizers are still hard at work on Capitol Hill. The Senate this afternoon considered an amendment offered by Senator Jim Demint (R-SC) to privatize Social Security. Sen. DeMint described his amendment as saving the SS surpluses while [...]
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
Ask Mary Jane. NCPSSM Contributor: Mary Jane Yarrington, Senior Policy Analyst This is my first foray into the blogging world but what a perfect vehicle to continue doing what I’ve been doing for years…answering questions about the Social Security and Medicare programs. Over the past forty years, one question comes up over and over. A [...]
Part D Still Needs Help
Thursday, March 15th, 2007It’s hard to believe but there are still 3-4 million low income seniors not enrolled in Medicare’s Part D, even though they qualify for subsidies. CMS has got to do a better job in reaching out to these folks. We’re certainly not fans of the Medicare Modernization Act (which created Part D) but there are [...]
110th Legislative Agenda Focuses on Critical Issues for Seniors
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007With the war in Iraq, Congressional hearings on US Attorney firings and countless other issues currently leading the news, it’s easy to lose sight of all of the other important issues still simmering on Capitol Hill’s back burner. Among them, many proposals which are critical to seniors currently receiving Social Security and Medicare. Here is [...]
Let’s Rethink Aging
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007What a wonderful challenge and theme for this year’s Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging! Nearly 4 thousand professionals in the field of aging are in Chicago today for the two day event. This is a huge gathering of some of the America’s best thinkers on aging [...]
"60 Minutes" Hops on the Bandwagon
Monday, March 5th, 2007It’s hard to describe our current budget picture in 10 minutes or less…we understand that challenge. But it would’ve been nice if Sunday’s 60 Minutes piece hadn’t jumped so fully in lock-step behind the administration’s “we can’t afford our seniors” line. While Comptroller General David Walker acknowledged the critical role that skyrocketing healthcare costs play [...]