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Health care continuing worry for retirees
A topic of continuing concern for PEF Retirees is our health insurance coverage.
We have come to expect our health insurance premiums will rise every year.
In addition, as one PEF retiree commented, higher copayments and revision of
prescription drug formularies constitute “sneaky, backdoor increases.”
The PEF Retirees do not negotiate their health care benefits. New York state,
through the Health Insurance Council, makes a unilateral decision as to the
extent of health insurance coverage and associated costs.
The NYS Department of Civil Service administers state retiree benefits and can
change them at any time. To address this, the PEF Retirees have been heavily
involved in continuing efforts to gain passage of a health care protection bill.
Health care is a conundrum that will continue until our national political
leaders develop the will to solve it. And it’s not for the lack of dedicated
revenue. In 2004, our country spent 15.5 percent of Gross National product or
$6,167 per person on health care. Yet, 45 million Americans are without health
insurance. A report by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine
estimates 18,000 Americans die prematurely every year because they lack health
insurance. Who is our government serving?
In 2003, the pharmaceutical industry had 637 lobbyists in the nation’s capital
to ensure the passage of the Medicare drug bill (which prohibits the federal
government from using competitive bidding for Medicare drugs). Major drug
companies spend tens of millions of dollars annually to keep generic drugs off
the market.
We cannot expect any relief from the current administration in Washington. Its
latest proposal is tax credits as a replacement for employer health insurance
coverage. This may only exacerbate the problem. Tax credits will give employers
an excuse for dropping health insurance benefits, will make health insurance
unaffordable for greater numbers, will result in adverse selection for those
with insurance, and will contribute to the rising cost of health care.
PEF Retirees is not content to witness the decline of living conditions in our
country. We maintain our health insurance benefits are rightfully earned and we
will continue to support those candidates, policies and programs that promote
health care in America.
We have the power to make these changes if we all pull together for a government
more responsive to our needs.
The
Communicator May 2007
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