The NRLN urges you to make your voice heard in our nation's capital. By typing your zip code into the box at right you can access the latest Action Alert, learn more about your elected officials, see how they voted on bills important to you as a retiree, see election data, register to vote and more in the Capwiz pages.
BILL KADEREIT
PRESIDENT'S FORUM
Health Reform Implementation Timeline
The volume of information we read and hear and the various ways in which political parties, individual politicians and self-interest groups characterize the new Health Care Reform bill is very confusing, even to those who are close to it. The NRLN's Washington team is usually on top of most details and we review many data sources and opinions before publishing what we believe is an objective view of passed or pending legislation, to the extent that it may affect retirees.
We also rely on what we feel are objective outside resources on a variety of subjects. One that I feel is research oriented and less biased than most is the Kaiser Family Foundation. For health care and in particular prescription drug topics, the KFF is usually very thorough and presents its comments in a more understandable way.
Recently, Kaiser published a Health Reform Implementation Timeline that provides a very concise description of the bill and when its elements will be implemented. We hope you agree that the KFF summary helpful. The summary can be read here . Please keep this as reference that might help answer some of your questions and questions you may get from others. I suggest that you bookmark the Kaiser Family Foundation website at www.kff.org for grassroots and personal use.
NRLN Works To Protect Pensions And Benefits
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) is a non-partisan, grassroots coalition of retiree associations, individual retirees and pre-retirees devoted to enacting federal legislation to protect pension plans and retirement healthcare benefits.
With support from its more than 2 million members and Washington, DC-based staff, the NRLN identifies and rallies support for Federal legislation will guarantee fair and equitable treatment of retirees from the private and public sectors. Learn more about the NRLN and legislation important to retirees by clicking on the links above.
NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda Directed To Protecting Retirees
The NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda created by the NRLN Legislative Committee with considerable input from NRLN-affiliated retiree associations is directed to protecting retirees' pensions and benefits. Sections of the Legislative Agenda include:You are encouraged to read the NRLN 2010 Legislative Agenda to learn about the issues that the NRLN is advocating with members of Congress. The NRLN's Grassroots Network Members are vital to advancing the Legislative Agenda with their U.S. Representatives and Senators.
- Pensions Protection
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Reform
- Health Care Reform
- Maintenance of Cost Payments (MCP)
- Medicare
- Bankruptcy Reform
- Social Security Reform
NRLN AGENCY INSURANCE PLANS
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The NRLN Agency has added health care plans to its offerings of life insurance and casualty insurance for retirees and family members. NRLN Agency is offering health care plans as a replacement for employer-sponsored plans or for supplemental Medigap and/or other supplemental specialty coverage. |
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NRLN RECENT ACTIVITIES
Adobe® Reader® is required to view some documents. Please download it by clicking the image to the right. NRLN 2010 Survey Needs Your Input
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) is extending you an invitation to participate in its 2010 online survey. Responses will be valuable to the NRLN Board and Retiree Association leaders in planning the 2011 Legislative Agenda and setting future directions and priorities for the NRLN and Retiree Associations.
It will also provide the NRLN with an expanded understanding of issues regarding retirees' pensions and benefits plus retirement security. The completion deadline for the survey is October 1, 2010, but please don't wait, take the survey today. Results will be compiled in total and by retiree group to provide Retiree Association leaders insight into the opinions of its membership.
Combined results will be posted on the NRLN website in November. Click here to access the survey.
Attend NRLN Washington, DC Fly-In Set For September 13 - 14, 2010
NRLN President Bill Kadereit has invited NRLN Grassroots Network Members to participate in the NRLN's 2nd annual Washington, DC Fly-In September 13 - 14 for face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffs.
NRLN Grassroots Network members are needed to meet with their U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them what they are going to do to protect retirees' pensions and Social Security. Lawmakers need to hear from constituents about how health care and prescription drug costs are eroding the retirement income of America's retirees. Retirees need to tell their elected representatives that they need to be treated more equitably in corporate bankruptcy courts, in payment calculations when the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation takes over a pension plan, and retirees need to be protected in company mergers and acquisitions.
If you think there is a fairly good chance that you would come to Washington, DC to communicate to your elected representatives the concerns of retirees, please go to www.nrln.org/flyin.html to register. Read more..
Pension Asset Protection – Retirees Must Prevail
The NRLN came very close to having its Pension Asset Protection (PAP) language retained in H.R.4213. Unfortunately, the House Ways and Means Committee's staff did not keep the PAP language in the bill and the U.S. House passed it on May 28th and sent to the Senate. On June 2, NRLN President Bill Kadereit and the Presidents of the GMRA, NCRO and DEAR plus five of their Board Members had a face-to-face meeting with Representative Sander Levin, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee at his Roseville, MI office.
Chairman Levin was provided with an understanding of why the NRLN is passionate about legislation being necessary to prevent companies from using pension plan assets for non-pension expenses. Chairman Levin was told that the NRLN will continue to seek PAP whether that is through the introduction of a stand-alone bill or as a provision in a pension reform bill that the Obama Administration is considering. Read more...
NRLN and Retiree Association leaders met with Rep. Sander Levin at his Roseville, MI office. (from left) Chuck Austin, NCRO President; Ray Sturdy, DEAR; Bill Kadereit, NRLN President; Bob Foresta, DEAR, Rick Knoth, GMRA; Rep. Levin (wearing tie); Bob Tompkins, DEAR President; Deb Morrissett, NCRO; Chris Dyrda, NCRO; John Christie, GMRA President.
Corporate Bankruptcy Reform Needed To Protect Retirees
NRLN Grassroots Network members are asked to send the NRLN's sample letter to their U.S. Representatives and Senators to request support for hearings and legislation to provide fairer treatment for retirees in corporate bankruptcy courts. Read more...
NRLN Update on 2010 Priorities
NRLN President Bill Kadereit has emailed to NRLN Grassroots Network members an update on key 2010 legislative issues and requested their assistance in growing the number of members in the NRLN Grassroots Network database. Read more...
MEDIA NEWS
Opinion: Hands off Social Security
By Sen. Bernie Sanders; Politico ~ Sep 01, 2010
The White House deficit commission is reportedly considering deep benefit cuts for Social Security, including a steep rise in the retirement age. We cannot let that happen.Read more...
U.S. to Reimburse Companies' Retiree Health Costs
By Drew Armstrong, Bloomberg - Aug 31, 2010
The Obama administration will deploy $5 billion to help defray companies’ costs for health insurance provided to early retirees who leave the U.S. workforce at ages 55 to 64. The program, created with the health overhaul, will pay 80 percent of health insurance costs, up to $90,000 a year, for each early retiree...Read more...
Opinion: Social Security Bait and Switch
From Review & Outlook; The Wall Street Journal ~ Aug 30, 2010
Yet even as President Obama beseeches Republicans to help him reduce the deficit and reform entitlement spending, he and his political allies are playing the Social Security card for all it's worth in this campaign season... Read more...
Social Security: The futile fight for what’s been promised
By Bill Bonner; The Christian Science Monitor ~ Aug 29, 2010
Social Security redistributes wealth from the young to the old. The government keeps promising young payers that they'll get their share - but no one believes it anymore.Read more...
A flash point for Social Security
By Jim Powell; The Daily Caller ~ Aug 27, 2010
The flash point for Social Security could come when hard-pressed taxpayers conclude that even though they’re paying monstrously high payroll and other taxes to support current beneficiaries, Social Security will be broke before they get any benefits. Nobody will be supporting them as they supported other people... Read more...
Some Booing, and Mooing, Over Social Security
By Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal - Aug 25, 2010
The co-chairman of a fiscal commission apologized Wednesday after likening Social Security to a "milk cow," in a Washington flap that highlights a bigger dispute...Read more...
More than 3 million seniors may have to switch drug plans
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, AP; The Daily Caller ~ Aug 25, 2010
More than 3 million seniors may have to switch their Medicare prescription plan next year, even if they’re perfectly happy with it, thanks to an attempt by the government to simplify their lives. The policy change could turn into a hassle for seniors who hadn’t intended to switch plans during Medicare’s open enrollment season this fall...Read more...
Will Health Law Provision Suffer Fate Of 'Doc Fix'?
By Meghan McCarthy; National Journal ~ Aug 25, 2010
Republicans continue to hammer Democrats over the new health care law's impact on Medicare, arguing that reducing the program by an estimated $500 billion will weaken seniors' benefits... Read more...
Social Security and Younger Americans
By Paula Span; The New York Times ~ Aug 25, 2010
It’s not surprising that Americans over age 65 are virtually unanimous in seeing Social Security as an important government program. As a group, they rely on it as the single greatest source of income in retirement. But a poll has found young people line up solidly behind Social Security, too...Read more...