Social Security Recipients: GOP> "DROP DEAD!"

Dear Seniors, retirees, widows, orphans, and disabled workers,

Drop Dead!

Sincerely,

Your Republican Representatives & Senators

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Dear Wealthiest Americans,

See you at the country club, the deal's done.  He caved in quicker than my wife's first souffle.

 Venally Yours,

Your Republican Representatives & Senators

PS  My numbered Swiss account remains the same as before

Call To Action: $250 Emergency Social Security Payment

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate are both scheduled to vote on Wednesday, December 8 on a $250 emergency payment to seniors. The payment would go to seniors, veterans, disabled individuals, and railroad retirees who did not receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2010 through Social Security or other programs, as well as retired government workers who do not receive Social Security benefits. These beneficiaries received a similar payment in 2009.


TAKE ACTION - -Click on this link:  HERE

BACKGROUND

This is the second consecutive year that Social Security beneficiaries did not receive a COLA. As you know, the Consumer Price Index in Social Security (CPI-W), which measures the rate of inflation, does not accurately reflect the rate of inflation faced by seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries who spend a huge amount of their income on health care. The $250 emergency payment will help with medical, pharmaceutical, and other costs of daily life in these difficult times.  Gasoline prices are climbing once again, insurance *(Gap plans and Medicare Part D plans) premiums are soaring, and an early and harsh winter will cause heating bills to mount up for those on limited and fixed incomes.

The Senate will need 60 votes to stop a filibuster and pass this measure. The House will need a simple majority of votes. You need to make your voices heard.  Simply click the link above to get the phone number and contact information for your representative as well as the main Capitol switchboard.

But, don't delay.  The vote is tomorrow; and the Republicans have already declared war on the middle class and unemployed....Stop them from doing the same thing to Social Security recipients!

Let your representative and senators know that you are watching them and that you are counting on them to protect you by voting in favor of the emergency payment for seniors.  We need your call, please do it now!

Some Seniors To See $250 Soon!

 In The Doughnut Hole? -- Your Check Is In The Mail

Try Not to Spend It All In One Place!

After tomorrow, seniors who are heavily burdened with high cost prescriptions can begin looking in their mail boxes for a bit of relief as a result of our recent health care reform legislation.  Seniors stuck in the Medicare Part D (Drug Plan) "doughnut hole" will begin receiving a one-time automatic payment from the federal government with the first checks going into the mail Thursday, June 17.

Tragically there are some people, even though the year is barely half finished, who have already "maxed out" on their coverage and can look to their mailboxes by Friday or Saturday. The "doughnut hole" is the coverage gap facing seniors, who are Medicare prescription subscribers, when they reach a point at which they must pay 100% of drug costs out of pocket (and continue paying premiums to the insurance company) until they qualify for catastrophic coverage.

This year, seniors on the plan will shell out the full price of their medications once they have spent $940 out-of-pocket (front-end co-payments) and will not get additional coverage until they have ponied up another $3,610.  Once they reach this "catastrophic" level, seniors (continuing to pay their full premiums) will pay 5% of drug costs.  The plan is run by private insurance companies with multiple variations, different drug coverages, and other variables which vary from company to company and from state to state--there is no single unified plan.  Each year, the insurance companies raise their premiums, reduce or completely eliminate drugs in their coverage.  Compounding this dismal situation for seniors is the often heard story of physicians insisting their patients take a name-brand (high cost) drug rather than its lower cost generic.

As the year progresses, seniors who hit the "doughnut hole" can expect their check within 45-days of getting there.  While the $250 is welcome, it hardly makes a real dent in the burdensome drug costs faced by millions of seniors already seeing their home equity and 401K plan values decline and daily increasing energy and food cost increases.