New AFL-CIO Report Shows 1,061,501 Wisconsinites Could Be Harmed By Any Lame Duck Congressional Deal to Cut Social Security

Cuts to Medicaid could affect 437,310 children and 146,292 seniors in Wisconsin.

www.aflcio.org/content/download/57801/820421/file/WI.pdf

Leon Burzynski: "This is not just about my generation, it's about my kids and grandkids. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are American success stories and promises that we must protect for future generations. We must not leave future generations out in the cold."

Milwaukee, WI, 11/22/12 - According to a new report released by the AFL-CIO, 1,061,501 Wisconsinites could be negatively impacted if Congress attempts cuts to Social Security, including 146,516 people with disabilities and 77,143 children. Of the 1,028,272 Wisconsin residents who get their health care coverage from Medicaid, 437,310 children and 146,292 seniors could be affected if the lame duck Congress makes cuts to Medicaid benefits. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid combined deliver $28.8 billion per year into the Wisconsin economy.

As the so-called "fiscal cliff" approaches, members of Congress have suggested cuts to benefits for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, even while calling for renewing tax cuts for the richest 2%. If those tax cuts are renewed, the richest 2% in Wisconsin would receive an average of $32,600 in tax cuts, while the rest of Wisconsin taxpayers would receive an average of $1,350. The 2012 House Republican budget plan would cut federal support to Wisconsin's Medicaid program by at least $15.1 billion over 10 years.

Wisconsin working families have been mobilizing around the Lame Duck session and will continue calling on Congress to end tax cuts for the richest 2% and to say no to cuts to benefits for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

"We need to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits and other important programs that support our working families," said Wisconsin ARA leader, Leon Burzynski. "Retirees, people with disabilities and children shouldn't have to suffer because some in Congress want to give more tax breaks to the richest 2%. It's time for the richest 2% to pay their fair share and for our elected officials to strengthen programs that create jobs and rebuild the middle class."

Burzynski added, "This is not just about my generation, it's about my kids and grandkids. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are American success stories and promises that we must protect for future generations. We must not leave future generations out in the cold."

2013 COLA Announced: Federal Annuities Will Rise Next Year

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) was pleased to inform its members today that federal retirees will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their civil service annuities beginning in January 2013. Retirees in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) will receive a 1.7 percent increase to their annuities next year, the same increase given to Social Security recipients.

 

“We at NARFE are pleased to hear that retirees will receive some relief from the rising costs of everyday goods,” commented NARFE president Joseph A. Beaudoin. “NARFE continues to support strong COLAs based on fair assessments of increases in consumer prices, including medical costs, to keep federal annuities in line with inflation.”

 

To trigger a COLA for 2013, the average CPI-W for the months of July, August and September of 2012 needed to rise above the 2011 average for those same months. It did, by 1.66 percent, which results in a 1.7 percent COLA for federal annuitants covered by both CSRS and FERS.

 

Under current law, COLAs for federal retirement annuities, as well as for military retiree annuities and Social Security payments, are determined in reference to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is calculated by economists and statisticians with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPI-W is the current index used for measuring increases in the prices of consumer goods throughout the economy. It includes prices on all consumer goods, including food and beverages, housing, clothing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, communication, and more.

 

“This is welcome news for retirees who have seen the cost of living continue to increase over the past year,” continued Beaudoin. “As Congress debates ways to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff,’ NARFE is prepared to oppose any changes to the COLA formula that would have an adverse effect on retirees.”

 

The new CPI-W figure for September 2012 was 228.184. The average CPI-W for the third-quarter of 2012 was 226.936. This is the new reference figure for determining the 2014 COLA.

Wisconsin Seniors Saved $38 Million With Health Reform

Average senior who hit donut hole saved $639 per year due to drug discounts

Madison, WI – Over 59,300 Wisconsin participants in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program saw their drug costs reduced by $38 million due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2011, according to new statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This is an average of $639 per participant. Nationally, 3.6 million Americans who hit the donut hole saved $2.1 billion, or an average of $604.

The donut hole is a gap in the 2003-passed national drug program and without the correction by the ACA, seniors who had drug costs between $2,900 and $7,600 would have had to have paid 100 percent of the amount in that gap. The ACA provides a 50 percent discount on brandname prescriptions drugs and a 14 percent discount on generics within the gap, and by 2020 the donut hole will be closed completely.

“I’m thrilled to see the statistics bear out what we’ve been hearing from seniors across Wisconsin – that health reform is making prescription drugs more affordable,” said Leon Burzynski, President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans.

Over half of Medicare enrollees made less than $22,000 in 2010, and enrollees in general spend a disproportionate share of their income on health expenses. This means the ACA drug discounts are benefiting Medicare enrollees even more as a percentage of their income.

The ACA is more commonly known as health insurance reform. Besides the donut hole drug discounts, ACA also offers many preventive services for seniors without co-pay or deductible and also extended the solvency of Medicare due to fighting waste and fraud and focusing on preventive care.

The original release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can be found at http://www.dhhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/02/20120202a.html. County and zip code-specific breakdowns of the information can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Plan-Payment/. More on the Affordable Care Act at www.healthcare.gov.

House panel approves bill to shrink federal workforce

By Kellie Lunney  / klunney@govexec.com  / November 3, 2011

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would reduce the federal workforce through attrition by 10 percent over the next three years.

In a 23-14 vote, the panel approved the measure, which calls for hiring one federal employee to replace every three workers who retire or leave their job, shrinking the workforce across-the-board by 10 percent by 2015. The bill was amended to include the contractor workforce as well as government employees. There are about 2 million federal employees and the contractor workforce is roughly 10.5 million.

H.R. 3029 would make exceptions for certain national security concerns or any event that threatens public health or safety. The attrition policy would stay in effect through Sept. 30, 2014. The proposal also includes a provision that limits procurement on service contracts to supplement the reduced workforce "except in cases in which a cost comparison demonstrates that such contracts would be to the financial advantage of the government." Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., the bill's sponsor, estimates the legislation will save $139 billion over the next decade.

In recent days, federal employee groups have publicly opposed the legislation through letters to the committee and press releases. "The bill undermines critical government services for the American people, ranging from defending our borders to safeguarding our food and drugs to assisting taxpayers and processing tax refunds," National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley said. "The list goes on and on. Yet, this legislation fails to consider the negative impact on those services."

The Government Managers Coalition, composed of the five major federal sector executive and management professional associations, wrote a Nov. 2 letter to committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., expressing concern over the impact downsizing the government will have on agencies' ability to serve the public. "A reduction in the size of the federal workforce could well amount to a reduction in vital services Americans expect on a daily basis," the letter stated. "Past efforts to reduce the civil service carried out during the Clinton administration resulted in an immediate deterioration of service to the public, leading to the hiring of contractors to make up for lost work."

During the committee's markup Thursday, Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., suggested changing the bill to allow the government to hire two employees, rather than one, to replace every three workers who retire or leave. Issa said he didn't have any "inherent objection" to that number and pledged to work with Cooper on a figure as the bill winds its way through the House. "We have a little headroom in the 10-year window," Issa said, referring to the savings the bill's supporters claim attrition will produce over the next decade.

Opponents of the legislation complained that a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in the government workforce was arbitrary and did not take into account such critical services as law enforcement or those provided to veterans. "I don't think it's a good management principle," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who voted against the measure.

Reducing the federal workforce through attrition was also a recommendation of the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission, created by President Obama and led by former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson from Wyoming and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

During an Oct. 26 hearing of the joint congressional super committee on deficit reduction, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf mentioned the effect a smaller federal workforce could have on government operations. "Having fewer federal workers would probably lower the levels of service that federal agencies provide to the public, unless cuts in the agencies' workforces were accompanied by actions to enhance productivity," he said.

Source: Government Executive

NARFE Lauds OPM for Consultation on New Voluntary Annuitant FEHBP Option

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste praised John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for consulting with NARFE on a proposed Medicare-related pilot project in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The proposed project would test the viability of a voluntary “sub-option” within the FEHBP that would pay all or part of a Medicare Part B (as appropriate) for Medicare-eligible federal annuitants. The proposal was released yesterday in OPM’s “2010 FEHBP Carrier Letter” (also known as the “Call Letter”).

“If proven feasible, the Medicare sub-option could save some federal annuitants money and help to contain costs in FEHBP for workers, retirees and survivors,” said Baptiste. “What’s more, we appreciate that, through our consultation with Director Berry, the call letter clarifies that the ‘sub-option’ would not open the door for separately rated annuitant plans, which we believe would result in retirees and survivors paying substantially higher premiums than other FEHBP enrollees. NARFE would oppose the creation of any FEHBP plan for annuitants with premiums based on their age and health costs.”

The OPM letter stipulates: “We do not support splitting risk pools for annuitants and active employees and believe that these pilots can demonstrate ways of stemming cost growth through strengthened benefits coordination.”

The new coverage would be offered to Medicare-eligible annuitants as a sub-option of an existing FEHBP plan. If an annuitant chose the sub-option of an insurance carrier’s “standard option,” they would pay the same premium share as a worker or retiree enrolled in the traditional standard option. However, unlike the standard plan, the sub-option would pay all or part of a Medicare Part B premium, as appropriate. As a result, an annuitant enrolled in the sub-option would save about $1,200 a year on Part B premiums.

However, a sub-option participant would be required to pay the same deductibles, co-payments and coinsurance as workers or retirees who are age 64 and younger and not yet eligible for Medicare. With the exception of premiums and prescription drug co-payments, most annuitants age 65 and older who are enrolled in Medicare and a traditional FEHBP fee-for-service or preferred provider plan pay no out-of-pocket costs. Therefore, the sub-option could be cost-effective for an annuitant who does not have high out-of-pocket costs. In addition, annuitants might appreciate an option for what is basically seamless coverage, which mirrors what they had while they were on the payroll.

“Given the potential savings to federal annuitants, and the voluntary nature of the pilot, we believe that the Medicare sub-option ought to be given a chance. We are pleased that the Call Letter clarifies that the sub-option will not automatically become a regular feature of FEHBP until OPM evaluates it and decides whether it merits continuation after the second year of the demonstration. NARFE will continue to review the development of the new option with OPM as the pilot project moves forward,” Baptiste added.

NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/ retiree organization, NARFE represents the retirement interests of nearly 5 million current and future federal annuitants, spouses, and survivors.

NARFE Concerned About Proposal to Have OPM Administer “Public Option”

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste announced today that NARFE is concerned about a compromise proposal being considered in the Senate’s health care reform bill that would have the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administer a health care delivery system consisting of at least two national, private nonprofit insurance plans or a government plan. Baptiste said that NARFE specifically opposes a component of the proposal that would require Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans to offer coverage though the OPM-administered public option, if the personnel agency cannot otherwise find at least two carriers willing to offer nationally available plans.

“Most organizations are successful when they focus on their core mission like a laser beam,” Baptiste said. “OPM should be in the business of attracting the best and brightest to federal service, if our nation is to effectively grapple with an unparalleled economic upheaval, two overseas wars and homeland security. OPM’s role as the government’s HR office is too important to dilute with the massive undertaking of creating and administering a new health care system for millions of Americans.

“While NARFE supports access to comprehensive health care for all Americans, we are concerned that an OPM-administered health care system is being proposed as a political solution to a legitimate national problem,” she said. “It would make better public policy to have the Department of Health and Human Services manage this new program since one of their fundamental responsibilities is to administer large health care systems for diverse communities of coverage.

“In addition, we are troubled that this proposal could compromise the integrity of the FEHBP, which is an earned employer-sponsored worker and retiree benefit. For that reason, we insist that the FEHBP and the proposed OPM-administered plan be negotiated and managed separately to ensure that FEHBP continues to offer federal workers and annuitants comprehensive coverage with affordable and predictable premiums. For example, NARFE opposes part of the proposal that would require FEHBP plans to offer coverage in the public option because the mandate may encourage some insurance carriers not to participate in either program. As a result, competition and choice, which are hallmarks of the FEHBP, would be undermined.

“Above all, any proposal to have OPM administer a public plan must guarantee that federal workers and annuitants who like the health insurance coverage they currently have through the FEHBP are allowed to keep it, just like other Americans who are covered by employer-sponsored health plans.

NARFE Thanks President Obama for Signing into Law Re-Employed Annuitant and FERS Sick Leave Bills; Association’s Persistence Results In Victory

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste today commended President Obama for signing into law the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which includes several civil service improvements long sought by NARFE.

“Enactment of this legislation to eliminate inequities, increase productivity and address the skills shortage in the civil service is a great victory for active and retired federal employees — and something that NARFE has worked for behind the scenes for a long time,” said NARFE President Baptiste. “We are happy the president has signed this important bill into law, and we are grateful to our friends in Congress who moved heaven and earth to include the civil service improvements in the final legislation.”

Baptiste praised Reps. Steny H. Hoyer, D-MD; Chris Van Hollen, D-MD; Frank R. Wolf, R-VA; James P. Moran, D-VA; Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC; Gerry E. Connolly, D-VA; John P. Sarbanes, D-MD; Donna F. Edwards, D-MD; Elijah E. Cummings, D-MD; and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-MD, for the significant role they played in this victory on behalf of NARFE and the federal/postal community. In addition, she thanked Reps. Edolphus Towns, D-NY; Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA; and Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-CT; Susan M. Collins, R-ME; Daniel K. Akaka, D-HI; and Jim Webb, D-VA, who served as the Defense bill conferees, for helping to persuade their colleagues, particularly Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-MO, to include the civil service provisions.

The new law allows federal agencies to re-employ federal retirees on a limited, part-time basis without offset of annuity; permits Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) workers to initially credit half, and in 2014 all, of their unused sick leave toward retirement; provides for retirement equity for federal employees in Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Territories; ends the Department of Defense’s pay-for-performance personnel system, the National Security Personnel System or NSPS, restoring employees to the federal General Schedule pay system; and includes other civil service provisions.

“During the past several years, NARFE has played a leading role, along with other federal and postal employee organizations, in overcoming many obstacles to achieve passage of these needed civil service improvements,” Baptiste said. “For example, absent NARFE’s persistence, legislation sponsored by Collins; Sen. Herb Kohl, D-WI; and Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-OH, (S. 629) to allow federal retirees to be re-employed by the government would not have been included in the final Defense bill. Many federal retirees continue to make critical contributions to our safety and well-being during this time of national need, when work force shortages have deprived some agencies of employees with critical and specialized skills,” Baptiste said.

Baptiste was particularly pleased that a compromise was reached on the FERS sick leave legislation by phasing in the allowance. “We recognize that the inequity in the treatment of accrued sick leave between FERS and CSRS has hurt productivity and increased agency costs,” Baptiste said. “For that reason, we have strongly supported the concept that all federal civilian retirement programs credit unused sick leave toward retirement.” The NARFE president specifically lauded Moran for being a long-time champion of this issue.

* * *

NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/retiree organization, NARFE represents the retirement interests of nearly 5 million current and future federal annuitants, spouses, and survivors.

Note: APWU of Wisconsin members (especially those under FERS) may want to write letters to Senator Herb Kohl and thank him for his support.