NRLN Presents Legislative Agenda to White House Staff

As the result of a number of NRLN letters sent to the White House, President Obama's staff charged with crafting and managing health care reform policy for the Administration invited the NRLN Washington, DC team to a one-on-one meeting. Marta Bascom, NRLN Executive Director, and Michael Calabrese, NRLN Legislative Strategist, met on Thursday, Feb. 17th, with key staff members to reiterate the NRLN's primary health care legislative priorities. The NRLN staff placed emphasis on the reimportation of safe, lower cost prescription drugs; the NRLN's Maintenance of Cost Payment proposal to protect retirement benefits as currently embodied in the House health care reform bill, and Medicare buy-in for retirees ages 55-64 at a cost that will not burden Medicare, plus other issues important to retirees.

The White House staff restated President Obama's commitment to comprehensive health care reform and reviving the conference on the bills that have been passed by the House and Senate. The NRLN urged the White House to support the NRLN's efforts on Capitol Hill to get these proposals passed independently should they not pass in a comprehensive national health care bill. Many of the issues of great importance to retirees are not included in the final, pared-down bills on the Hill and need to be addressed immediately.

The fact that the White House invited the NRLN's staff to a meeting demonstrates that our messages are gaining the attention of government leaders. The emails and phone calls to Washington, DC from our Grassroots Network members are an important part of making the voices of retirees heard. Together, our efforts will make a positive contribution to retirement security.

Finally, I want to share with you below the text of a letter that I sent to Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader, with a copy to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on the subject of pension asset protection. A similar personalized letter was sent to six other leaders in the Senate. We are closely tracking the pension funding relief issue in Congress and may need to call on our Grassroots Network members to send letters and make phone calls to their elected representatives.

Bill Kadereit
President, National Retiree Legislative Network

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February 14, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2803

Dear Senator Reid:

It is understandable that a number of Senators would be sympathetic to the appeals from numerous companies for temporary relief from pension plan funding requirements due to the steep market slide in 2008. The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN), which represents the interests of more than 2 million retirees who have retired from 114 companies and public entities, recognizes the plight of these companies. We would not want to force contributions to pension plans that would cause irreparable harm to the companies, trigger layoffs or result in companies declaring bankruptcy.

However, pension plan assets currently held in trust should not be allowed to be used by these same companies to pay for operating expenses. ERISA should be amended to stop companies from using pension assets to make severance payments during a corporate restructuring. These "back door reversions" represent a widespread practice by companies to circumvent the Congressional policy against reverting pension assets for corporate purposes. It simply doesn't make sense for Congress to authorize a funding hiatus without simultaneously closing this back door.

To better protect the pensions of retirees and future retirees, I urge you to include in the Senate's pension funding relief bill language similar to the provisions that are in Section 111 (pages 65 and 66) of H.R. 3936, the Preserve Benefits and Jobs Act of 2009, sponsored by Representatives Earl Pomeroy and Pat Tiberi.

The language in Section 111 relating to a company's ability to amend its pension plan, in part, states: "No ad hoc amendment to a defined benefit plan which is a single employer plan which has the effect of increasing liabilities of the plan by reason of increases in benefits, establishment of new benefits, changing the rate of benefit accrual, or changing the rate of which benefits become nonforfeitable may take effect during the plan year if the adjusted funding target attainment percentage for such plan year is- ''(I) less than 120 percent, or ''(II) would be less than 120 percent taking into account such amendment."

An increasing number of companies have tapped pension assets to pay for lump sum payments equal to six (6) months or even twelve (12) months pay to employees who agree to retire within a specific time window. In 2001 and 2002, a struggling Lucent Technologies charged $2.2 billion in lump sum "termination benefits" to its various employee pension plans. More recently, GM used $2.9 billion in pension assets to make lump sum severance payments during 2008 - and ended the year with a $12.4 billion pension deficit ($20 billion by PBGC calculations). AT&T, Bethlehem Steel, Chrysler, Consolidated Freightways, Delphi, Delta Air Lines, Federal Express, Polaroid, Qwest, United Airlines, Verizon and many other corporate plan sponsors have raided pension assets with impunity and used those assets to cover their business restructuring expenses.

These back door reversions are not offset by corresponding reductions to pension liabilities and are gone forever. This practice places pension plans at risk to be terminated. It is past time to end this pilfering of defined plan pension assets. These actions threaten the security of pension plans and the potential is great that the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) might have to take over the plan in the future. Furthermore, depleted assets reduce the likelihood the plan will ever generate surplus assets that can be used to offset corporate health care costs for retirees or be available for pension Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), a benefit that non-government retirees seldom receive.

The NRLN has researched and written a whitepaper on how companies are misusing pension plan assets and provides our proposed amendments to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to prevent the abuses. I have attached the Executive Summary from the whitepaper. If you would like to receive a copy of the entire whitepaper, please contact Marta Bascom, the NRLN's Executive Director, on (703) 863-9611 or by email at marta.bascom@linkspace.net .

The Senate has an opportunity for a quid pro quo-companies receive temporary funding relief and retirees gain the protection of their pension assets from being used for non-pension expenses. Please don't miss this opportunity to provide for the financial security of America's retirees. NRLN members who are Nevada residents have retired from AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, Chrysler, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, Qwest and NRLN individual members retired from many other companies will appreciate your support on this matter.

Sincerely,
Signed
Bill Kadereit
President, National Retiree Legislative Network

Attachment

Copy to: Representative Nancy Pelosi, Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
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                                                          NRLN
                                                 National Retiree
                                              Legislative Network

Back Door Reversions:
Draining Pension Assets for Severance and Other
Corporate Purposes Threatens Retirement Security
Executive Summary

The use of pension assets to make severance payments during a corporate restructuring is the largest and most widespread "back door reversion" by which some companies are seeking to circumvent the Congressional policy against reverting pension assets for corporate purposes. When pension funds were used to finance hostile takeovers and the mass layoffs that typically followed, in 1990 Congress stopped the practice by imposing a 50 percent excise tax on pension reversions. But today's "back door reversions" are more insidious. Although ERISA explicitly prohibits the use of qualified pension assets for "layoff benefits," companies can amend a plan at any time not merely to offer older workers enhanced early retirement benefits (by awarding extra years of service credit), but even to offer lump sum severance payments equal to a year's salary or more as part of a corporate restructuring.

The 2006 Pension Protection Act tightened up on this practice somewhat by requiring plan sponsors to pre-fund a plan amendment that increases benefit liabilities to the extent the plan's funding level would fall below 80 percent (after taking account of the new benefit liability). However, as the 2008 stock market meltdown demonstrated, a plan that is only 80 percent funded during a bull market could easily end up below 60 percent funded in a bear market - and in default with the PBGC if the plan sponsor declares bankruptcy. Moreover, any significant reduction below full funding not only leaves all plan participants insecure, it also reduces the ability of the plan to build a surplus that could be used to grant cost-of-living adjustments to longtime retirees, whose fixed monthly benefits erode with inflation, or to offset the cost of retiree health benefits through a Section 420 transfer.

The trend toward distressed companies using employee pension assets to pay severance costs - instead of relying on a restructuring reserve or other corporate assets - is not new to the current financial crisis. Lucent, United Airlines, AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Federal Express, Delta and Delphi are among the other companies that have tapped pension assets to pay corporate restructuring costs. Some of these companies drained pension assets for severance payments as they spiraled downhill toward bankruptcy and an eventual taxpayer bailout courtesy of the PBGC. Other companies, left under-funded, cut other retiree benefits across the board. And some others, although their plans remained solvent, used up "surplus" assets that could have benefitted the vast majority of plan participants if used instead for cost-of-living adjustments or offset the cost of retiree health care benefits. In the current crisis, General Motors used pension assets to pay for billions in severance payments during 2008 - and ended up with such a dangerous degree of under-funding that in early 2009 the Treasury Department restricted the practice as a condition of the federal bailout loan package.

The most effective way for Congress to protect plan participants (and taxpayers) from unfunded liabilities from severance, layoff or any other benefit increase is simply to increase the target funding level threshold required for unfunded benefit increases and lump sum payouts from the 80 percent level, currently required under the PPA, to 120 percent. Severance or other benefit increases to selected individuals that are not funded should be paid out of the company's operating expenses, not from the pension trust. This would not limit the ability of plan sponsors to enhance benefits. What it does do is require companies to currently fund lump sum payouts or other benefit increases that would otherwise cause the plan to become under-funded or worsen its level of under-funding. Amendments increasing benefits that are collectively bargained or negotiated between a plan sponsor and bona fide union representatives, or in the context of a jointly-trusteed Taft-Hartley plan, should be exempted from this more restrictive funding level.

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       NRLN Challenge in 2010 - Protect Social Security and Medicare

After the dust settles on the national health care debate, we will be challenged to lobby harder than ever to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits. Congress never intended to address Medicare benefits in a meaningful way in health care reform legislation. But the President and some members of Congress have announced that 2010 will be the year when they form task forces and committees to address Medicare and Social Security.

We are making progress on pension asset protection legislation and hope to wage a strong campaign to protect existing health care benefits and not just maintain Medicare benefits but to get catastrophic coverage (out-if-pocket limits) added to Medicare. A summary version of the Top Priorities and the rest of our 2010 Legislative Agenda are shown below.

The NRLN board and retiree association leaders from across the country met in Washington D.C, last week, to set the NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda for lobbying to protect your income and health care related benefits. They approved our budget and lobbying plans and met with guest speakers from Capitol Hill and federal agencies to discuss what can and must be done to maintain and advance retiree benefits. Topics ranged from pension security to bankruptcy and Medicare. Executives from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), the Department of Labor, and Congressional committees spoke and responded to questions.

Perhaps the best part of our NRLN Annual Leadership Conference was when conferees walked to appointments on the Hill to tell their members of Congress about our Legislative Agenda and what they want Congress to do about it. NRLN members made appointments and met with forty-six different members if Congress and their staffs on January 13.

Leaders from the GM, Chrysler, Kodak, and Lucent Technologies retiree associations met with House and Senate Judiciary staffs and legal counsel and hope to get a hearing scheduled to air the need for corporate bankruptcy law reform. The Delta Pilots, Chrysler and Alcatel Lucent members met with Congressional leaders on PBGC rules reform and grilled our PBGC speakers. Lucent, Qwest, Detroit Edison, and AT&T retiree attendees met on pension security and prescription drug legislation. We all expressed concern over the future of Medicare, Social Security and other issues specific to our retiree associations. Prospective NRLN members, association leaders from John Deere and Raytheon met with seven (7) different members of Congress. We will highlight details of the entire conference in our first 2010 issue of the FOCUS Newsletter. Soon we will invite you and others to another Fly-In lobby day that will take place probably in September.

Be sure to express appreciation to your retiree association presidents and others from your associations who attended last week and do your part by contributing time and money to the NRLN-affiliated retiree associations and the NRLN if you can. They are very serious on your behalf and unlike other larger U.S. organizations that claim to be friends of the retiree, they actually work hard to support just you. They don't have to be doing this, please support them.

Most of all, sign up your friends and neighbors, send us email distribution lists and work hard to help us grow a strong grassroots network in your hometown. Tip O'Neil, a deceased Speaker of the House once said "all politics is local". That is so true, meet with your hometown members of Congress and ask them what they are doing to support your retiree agenda.

Bill Kadereit
President, National Retiree Legislative Network

NRLN
National Retiree
Legislative Network
 

NRLN
National Retiree
Legislative Network

Summary of NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda
(Full NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda is available at www.nrln.org)

                                              2010 TOP INITIATIVES

PENSION ASSET PROTECTION (PAP): The NRLN advocates legislation that stops corporations from taking pension assets from defined pension plan trusts to pay for lump sum severance and early retirement incentives. The NRLN advocates that pension funds not be used to pay executive non-qualified pensions and other deferred compensation. The NRLN advocates that pension plan assets should not be transferred to or be taken over by third party financial or other institutions.

PBGC REFORM: The NRLN advocates that the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation must be regulated to ensure equitable calculations of benefit payments earned by retirees.

BANKRUPTCY REFORM: The NRLN advocates that bankruptcy reform is needed to place retirees' pensions and benefits on a list of obligations that companies can't shed. Retirees often lose pension, health care, and other benefits and, unlike secured creditors, rarely have the ability to recover losses.

PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF RETIREE HEALTH CARE BENEFITS:
MAINTENANCE OF COST PAYMENT: The NRLN advocates a Maintenance of Cost Payment (MCP) proposal that would establish a fixed monthly payment to retirees equivalent to the value an employer provided prior to the reduction or cancellation of retirement health care, prescription drugs, life insurance, long-term care or other benefits. Companies would be entitled to tax credits as an offset to MCP payments.

MEDICARE BUY-IN FOR AGES 55-64: The NRLN advocates that adults age 55 to 64 be allowed to buy Medicare coverage at a cost that does not burden the Medicare system. Access could be limited to individuals without access to an employer-sponsored or other group health plan that is actuarially equivalent or superior to Medicare.

INCLUSION OF CATASTROPHIC COVERAGE IN MEDICARE: The NRLN advocates that Congress should extend protection against catastrophic medical costs to the Medicare population by setting a reasonable maximum limit on out-of-pocket costs.

PROTECT RETIREES IN MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: The NRLN advocates law that clarifies what a parent foreign owner's pension plan obligations are to abide by ERISA should its U.S. subsidiary be spun off or dissolved. Clarification must include situations where foreign corporations that own U.S. subsidiaries are also acquired by a third party, foreign-owned corporation.

REDUCE THE COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The NRLN advocates the reduction of prescription drug costs for Americans through passage of legislation that: (1) Enables re-importation and importation of safe prescription drugs approved by the FDA; (2) Enables Medicare to develop formularies and take competitive bids for prescription drugs; (3) Staffs and funds the FDA to reduce the generic drug approval backlog; (4) Prevents drug companies from colluding to control pricing or subvert free market practices.

PROTECT MEDICARE: The NRLN advocates that Congress must guard against reductions in Medicare expenditures that negatively impact the care that retirees receive from doctors, hospitals and other health care services.

PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY: The NRLN advocates legislation to make Social Security financially sound without reducing current and future retiree benefits.

THE REMAINDER OF THE 2010 NRLN LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Cash Balance Plans: The NRLN advocates the elimination of "wear-away" rules contained in cash-balance plans.

EEOC Rule: The NRLN advocates elimination of the EEOC final ruling issued on December 26, 2007, allowing employers to cancel earned health care benefits of Medicare eligible retirees.

Company Benefits Bundling: The NRLN advocates legislation to prohibit companies from forcing retirees to choose between company pre-determined bundles of plans or none of their sponsored Health Care and Prescription Drug Plans. Bundling practices hold retirees hostage to such plans.

Encourage Retention Of Company-Provided Health Care For Retirees: The NRLN advocates legislation that would increase the Medicare Part D prescription plan subsidy paid to employers who offer better coverage than required for equivalent coverage in Part D, if they agree to maintain their current plans.

Taxing Health Care Benefits: The NRLN advocates that the portion of premiums paid by employers that is currently treated as a tax-free benefit to employees and retirees should remain tax free.

Deductibility Of Health Care Costs: The NRLN advocates new legislation that enables health care and Medicare premiums to be tax deductible, similar to the way health insurance premiums for the self-employed are deductible. Such deductions would be exempt from the 7.5% (AGI) limitation.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA's): The NRLN advocates changing the IRS Code of 1986 to allow HSA funding directly from IRAs for all years, not one year, without tax penalties and limits on annual contributions.

Withdrawals To Pay Retiree Health Premiums: The NRLN advocates laws that enable penalty- free withdrawals from 401k, IRA, SEP and other qualified accounts to pay retiree health care premiums.

Alternate Minimum Tax: The NRLN advocates legislation that raises the Alternative Minimum Tax threshold level and also the annual inflation indexing of the threshold.

Taxing Social Security Income: The NRLN advocates legislation to amend the tax codes to eliminate federal and state taxes on all Social Security income and/or allow a tax credit for taxes withheld.

401-k / IRA Mandatory Distribution Requirement From 70 ½ to age 75: The NRLN advocates legislation that will allow individual choice to defer Required Mandatory Distribution (RMD) from retirement savings accounts.

 

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Lucent Retirees Organization Newsletter
SPECIAL NOTICE
November 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                           2009 LRO FALL NEWSLETTER AVAILAILABLE ON WEBSITE.

This is a special newsletter! It arrives and is available at the same time as your Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Open Enrollment
Package. In this newsletter we discuss your Open Enrollment and Healthcare benefits in much more detail. Also included in the
newsletter are the results of LROs meeting with ALU Officers, Regional News and much more.

The 2009 Fall Newsletter is now available for you to read on the LRO website
at:http:// www.lucentretirees.com/docs/Newsletter2009-FALL.pdf   

The LRO hopes you will find the new format of the newsletter attractive and easy to read.

You will need Adobe Reader software to be able to open the newsletter. If you do not have Adobe Reader software, please
go to the following link and download the latest version of the FREE Adobe Reader:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
If the link above to the LRO website does not provide you access to the newsletter, you may go to the LRO Home
Page/Latest News at: http://www.lucentretirees.com  and click on the link in the item about the newsletter.

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Lucent Retirees Organization | PO Box 412 | Chatham | NJ | 07928
 

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Lucent Retirees Organization Newsletter
Alcatel-Lucent Confirms Annual Open Enrollment Period
October 17, 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alcatel-Lucent Confirms Annual Open Enrollment Period for the 2010 Health and Welfare Benefits Coverage
October 15, 2009

In a recent mailing to management retirees, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) confirmed that the annual open enrollment period for the 2010 Alcatel-Lucent health and welfare benefits starts November 9, 2009 at 8:00am Eastern Standard Time (EST) and ends on November 20, 2009 at 6:00pm EST. Late enrollments will not be allowed so you must take action before 6:00pm EST on the last day of open enrollment.

For open enrollment you will need your password to access your personalized benefits information and/or enroll. If you want to check out your password to see that it is active, go to your Benefits Resources website at: http://resources.hewitt.com/alcatel-lucent and Select "Log On" - then enter your social security number and password.
If you misplaced or can't remember your password, you should request a new one now. It can take up to ten days to receive a new password in the mail. You can request a new password by going to your Benefits Resources website at: http://resources.hewitt.com/alcatel-lucent. Select "Log On"; then enter your social security number, then select "I Forgot My Password." If you have a preferred email address on file you can request to have the new password sent to you electronically, or, you can request to have it mailed to you. Note that it can take up to ten days to receive the new password in the mail.

For those that don't have internet access, you can call the Alcatel-Lucent Benefits Center at 1-888-232-4111 to request a new password. Follow the prompts to enter your social security number. Then press "99" followed by the # key. At the next menu, press "2", and then press "1"; you can then hang up - your request is complete and your new password will be sent to you.

Alcatel-Lucent will mail a bright yellow envelope containing your enrollment materials to you. It should arrive in early November. This package will contain both personalized and non-personalized information about your 2010 benefits and how to enroll. Alcatel-Lucent reports that Benefit Representatives will not have information about your 2010 benefits prior to the open enrollment date of November 9; therefore, they have requested that you do not call the Alcatel-Lucent Benefits Center with questions about your 2010 benefit options or pricing prior to November 9. If you want to review non-personalized enrollment information prior to receiving it in the mail you can log on to the BenefitAnswers Plus website at www.benefitanswersplus.com, starting the week of October 19, 2009.

Alcatel-Lucent has announced that the SecureHorizons "MedicareDirect" PFFS Retiree Plan will again be offered as a medical plan option for 2010. In late October, SecureHorizons will mail coverage information to those of you that are currently enrolled in this plan or will become Medicare eligible by December 31st. For those who have opted out of this plan but now may be interested in enrolling for 2010, watch for details in the mail on how to request a plan information package.

ALU will also be offering the Medco Rx Plan for 2010 to those who are on their health care plan. As in 2009, you will have to be on both their health care and prescription drug plans, or you will not be eligible to either plan.

Should you need additional assistance during the open enrollment process, the Lucent Retirees Organization (LRO) encourages you to visit the LRO Benefits website at www.lucentretirees.com and click on the Benefits tab. Additional information and resources will be available to help you through the 2010 benefits open enrollment process. This site will be updated on a continuous basis as more timely information becomes available.
LRO Benefits Team

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                                                                   NRLN Bulletin
                             U.S. House TriCommittee's Bill Includes Proposals NRLN Advocated

After three years of the NRLN and its Grassroots Network members lobbying Congress on our Maintenance of Cost Payment (MCP) proposal to protect retiree benefits, we have learned that a U.S. House TriCommittee's health care reform bill released on Tuesday, July 14, contains elements of what we have been proposing.  In dealing with Congress it is rare that one gets in a bill all of what is being sought and this bill is no exception.  However, we consider it an important accomplishment that the three House Committees that the NRLN has been lobbying have included three provisions that have been central to the health care initiatives in the NRLN's Legislative Agenda.  These include:

• A Maintenance of Cost Payment (MCP)-type proposal that gives employers a financial incentive to retain and pay for health care coverage for retirees by purchasing coverage through new state-administered insurance exchanges that greatly limit the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums based on age;

• A $10 billion reinsurance program for retirees under which former employers that continue to provide and pay for insurance coverage for pre-Medicare-eligible retirees age 55 to 65 can be reimbursed for 80 percent of the cost of claims between $15,000 to $90,000.

• Immediately reduce the Medicare Part D prescription drug "doughnut hole" by $500, beginning in 2011, and eliminate it entirely in phases over 15 years.

In addition, the House bill should generally lower health insurance costs for older workers and retirees by instituting insurance regulations that guarantee coverage, prohibit exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and put a fairly strict limit on the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums based on age.

The NRLN has lobbied in both the House and Senate for an MCP-type solution. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee's health care bill has a high-claim reimbursement provision nearly identical to the one in the House bill. Both provisions would be funded initially at $10 billion, but would be temporary and phase out as employers purchase coverage for retirees through the exchanges.  NRLN will advocate that this retiree reinsurance subsidy for employers be made permanent.  The NRLN also continues to advocate for higher subsidy levels for pre-65 individuals who have retired early-either voluntarily or forced-and the more rapid elimination of the "doughnut hole." 

Last September, I testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and recommended the MCP.  In addition, I requested that retirees ages 50 - 65 be allowed to buy into Medicare on a cost basis.  While the House and Senate Committees did not propose allowing pre-65 retirees to buy into Medicare directly, we are pleased that the Committee members recognized the need to provide an incentive to employers to continue coverage since it is difficult and often cost-prohibitive for men and women in this age group to purchase health care insurance.  The House Tri-Committee bill also includes a public plan option that is functionally the same as a Medicare buy-in at cost, since it would reimburse using Medicare rates and will use all doctors and hospitals currently accepting Medicare patients, unless they affirmatively opt out. Since 2006, the first year of operation for Medicare Part D, the NRLN knew that the out-of-pocket cost for prescription drugs once the "doughnut hole" was reached would be a financial burden for many retirees and we have lobbied to eliminate it.

A great deal of credit goes to the NRLN Grassroots Network members who have sent thousands of emails and talked with Senators and Representatives to advocate support for the NRLN's health care agenda. Your NRLN Executive Director Marta Bascom and our Legislative Strategist Michael Calabrese have both worked very hard on the Hill with Congressional staffs, telling our story and advocating our proposals.

We will need to continue our lobbying efforts to have the provisions beneficial to retirees in whatever additional bills that eventually are drafted in the Senate and the bills that are ultimately voted on in both chambers.  Our Washington team will continue to be engaged daily with Congressional staff members who are working on health care proposals. 

We will let you know when the time is right and what message we'd like for you to once again communicate to your elected representatives in an email, a phone call to their office and in talking with them when they are back home during the Congressional Summer Recess in August.  Until that time, please send your members of Congress the NRLN's sample letter that can be accessed through the NRLN's Action Alert at:  http://capwiz.com/abtr/home/ . Look for the Action Alert headline: CONGRESS MUST HEAR THE HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF 50 MILLION AMERICAN RETIREES.  It is my opinion that there is no such thing as telling your elected representatives too often what you want included in health care reform legislation and what you want them to oppose.

Because leaders in the U.S. Senate are now saying they will not vote on a bill until after they return to Washington following the Summer Recess (Aug. 10 - Sept. 7), it appears likely that the NRLN Grassroots Network members who come to Washington on Sept. 15 - 17 will have an opportunity to lobby health care issues on Capitol Hill along with our pension protection and bankruptcy reform initiatives. It is not too late for you to decide to join us in Washington. Details about this event are available in a video clip and an invitation posted on the NRLN website home page at www.nrln.org .

Bill Kadereit, President

National Retiree Legislative Network
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                         NRLN's Letter Sent To President Obama On Prescription Drugs

Below is the text of a letter that NRLN President Bill Kadereit has faxed to President Obama.  Letters on this prescription drugs issue were also faxed to Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief-of-Staff; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services; Senator Byron Dorgan and Senator Olympia Snowe, who introduced the "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act", and Representative Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who is one of the architects of the health care reform legislation being drafted in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ed Beltram, Vice President - Communications

National Retiree Legislative Network

----------------------------------------------
(Faxed on NRLN Letterhead)

July 13, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

As a U.S. Senator and a Presidential candidate you supported reimportation of prescription drugs.  Therefore, I was shocked to read in a July 7th article in The Wall Street Journal that W. J. "Billy" Tauzin, the chief lobbyist for America's pharmaceutical industry, stated he has heard "reassuring words" from White House officials that if the health care bill passes "the cost savings will be so great that reimportation of U.S. manufactured prescription drugs from other countries will be unnecessary." (By Alicia Mundy, "White House Assures Drug Makers on Reimportation," WSJ, July 7, 2009.)

For a number of years the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN), which represents the interests of more than 2 million retirees from 87 employers, has urged Congress to pass legislation to allow U.S.-licensed pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import FDA-approved medications from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and pass along the savings to their American customers. This would be accomplished by the enactment of the "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act" introduced by Senators Byron Dorgan and Olympia Snowe in March 2009.

I'm sure you recall that when you were a Senator in 2006, you co-sponsored with Senator David Vitter a bill for the reimportation of prescription drugs.  Senator Vitter was able to get his reimportation prescription drug plan passed in the Senate by a 55-36 vote last week as part of to the bill funding the Homeland Security Department.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also voted for Senator Vitter's plan.  I think this shows there is broad bi-partisan support for unlocking the chains that the U.S. drug industry has had around American consumers.  I hope you will urge the Conference Committee to keep the reimportation provision in the bill.

If Mr. Tauzin has received reassuring words from the White House that reimportation will be unnecessary, Mr. President, you would be ill advised to break your campaign promise to support reimportation. Giving the drug companies a pass on competition gives the appearance that industry giant PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,  has bought itself out of health care reform legislation through its commitment to provide $80 billion in health care savings over the next 10 years.

The pharmaceutical industry has made the $80 billion in promised health care savings sound like a good deal for Americans. However, even if that $80 billion in voluntary savings could be enforced, it represents less than 3 percent of the projected dollars that Americans will spend on drugs during the next 10 years.  What we had understood to be your party's legislative agenda to reduce drug costs would save far more for both the federal budget and American consumers, especially retirees.

Passing legislation for the importation of prescription drugs from FDA-approved countries, competitive bidding by makers of prescription drugs for Medicare Part D, funding the FDA to reduce generic drug backlogs, and stopping drug companies from making contracts that require payoffs to generic manufacturers who withhold new generic drugs from the market would produce a savings for Americans well in excess of the 3 percent.

I strongly urge that you ask Congress to commission a CBO study to determine the combined cost savings potential of these initiatives. Also, please ask the Attorney General to stop the open restraint of trade practiced where brand dug makers pay generic drug makers to hold products from the market until patents expire.

According to an analysis by the Washington Post, PhRMA was the health care industry's biggest spender on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009 spending $7 million and employing 136 lobbyists, including 49 former government staff members.  Yielding to Big PhRMA is not the way to bring the change to Washington that you promised during your Presidential campaign.

News articles about Mr. Tauzin's statements that reimportation of prescription drugs will be unnecessary did not report who in the White House provided the alleged assurance.  I'm requesting that you provide the NRLN the name of the White House staff member who met with Mr. Tauzin.  Please ask that staff person to meet with Marta Bascom, the NRLN's Executive Director in Washington, DC, to discuss reimportation issues and other ways to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Marta can be reached on 703-863-9611.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my requests.

Sincerely,

Signed by Bill Kadereit

President, National Retiree Legislative Network

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NRLN Grassroots Call To Action - Health Care Reform Legislation

All indications in our nation's capital are that some form of health care reform legislation will be passed this year. The Congressional timetable appears to be that bills will be introduced this summer and debated and voted on this fall.

It is now time for the NRLN Grassroots Network members to demonstrate they can be an effective force for gaining the attention of and influencing members of Congress. The NRLN is asking you to immediately call the state or district office of your U.S. Senators and Representative to request an appointment to meet with them when they are "back home" during the Memorial Day "District Work Period" scheduled for May 25 - 29.

You may do a search for your Senators' and Representative's office phone numbers either by their name or by your zip code on the NRLN website at http://capwiz.com/abtr/dbq/officials/ . If you search by your zip code, photos of your elected representatives will appear. Under the photos of your Senators and Representative, click on the "info" option. This will present a webpage with a photo of your lawmaker and a number of "tabs." Click on the "Contact" tab and you will access a webpage showing the addresses and phone numbers for the Washington, DC and state offices. Write down the phone number for the state office that is the closest to you.

When you call that phone number, inform the staff member that you are interested in having a one-on-one meeting with your elected representative to discuss your position on what should be in health care reform legislation. As you confirm appointments, please advise me by email at Rfjm9870@aol.com so that I can record it and follow with any added support I can provide; like helping to get others to join you.

If an appointment for a personal meeting is not possible, ask if the Senator or Representative will be conducting a Town Hall meeting in your area. If so, attend it, ask questions and make comments based on the NRLN's Health Care Reform Talking Points provided at the end of this email. Also, try to talk directly with your lawmaker before or after the Town Hall meeting. If Town Hall meetings aren't scheduled, ask for a meeting with the senior staff member in that office.

I encourage you to print a copy of the Talking Points at the end of this message and take them to your meeting with your Senators and Representative or senior staff member and leave the copy with him or her.

By meeting with your members of Congress during the May 25 - 29 period, you will be working to shape the future for health care reform in America. It is critical that retirees have a voice in this process. We will also ask Grassroots Network members to again engage their elected representatives during the Independence Day recess on June 29 - July 5. In mid-September we are planning a "Retiree Health Care Week" in Washington, DC. We will ask constituents of key Senators and Representatives involved with health care legislation to come to Capitol Hill for meetings.

I would appreciate receiving an email from you after you have met with your Senators and Representative. Let me know their name, state/district and a brief summary of what transpired in your meeting. Send your email to Rfjm9870@aol.com.

Your participation in this "call to action" will be greatly appreciated.

Bob Martina, Vice President - Grassroots Network
National Retiree Legislative Network

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National Retiree Legislative Network
Agenda on Health Care Reform Legislation

• Please keep retirees in mind during Congress' deliberations on health care reform. Guard against harming Medicare or company-sponsored health care benefits that retirees have earned.
• Health care reform legislation should prevent broken promises to retirees by providing what the NRLN calls a Maintenance of Cost Payment (MCP). The MCP would establish a fixed monthly payment to retirees equivalent to the dollar value of benefits an employer provided at retirement, prior to the reduction or cancellation of retirement benefits such as health care, prescription drugs, life insurance, long-term care, catastrophic coverage and other benefits. The MCP would be use to purchase replacement coverage for