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The NRLN Review provides a monthly report on National Retiree Legislative Network actions, events in Congress and important retirement news. 2022 2021 2020 2022 REVIEW …
Today, January 3, 2023, marks the beginning of the new 118th Congress (2023 & 2024). The NRLN has posted its 2023 Legislative Agenda on the NRLN website at www.nrln.org. To read the updated document, click on the Action Network tab and select Legislative Agenda from the dropdown menu.
As I stated in a December 19 email, the NRLN Board identified protecting retirees from pension de-risking, converting a retirement plan to insurance company annuities, as one of its top 2023 legislative priorities with Congress in 2023. We also want to convince members of Congress to save Delphi salaried retirees’ pensions by reintroducing and passing the Susan Muffley Act. Other top priorities for retiree income protection include Social Security Protection, Protection of Retirees in Mergers, Acquisitions and Spin-offs, Protecting Vested Pension Benefits from Plan Asset Transfers and Bankruptcy Reform.
With regard to retiree health benefits the top priorities are: End Taxpayer Rebates to Healthcare Insurance Industry, Stop ACO REACH from Destroying Medicare. Protect Medicare/Medigap/Advantage Benefits, Introduce and pass Health Coverage Tax Credits (HCTC) for 2022 and future years thus helping Delphi and Avaya NRLN members. Reduce the Cost of Prescription Drugs and Other Cost Reductions for Retirees.
Bills that were introduce in the 117th Congress died at the end of 2022. The Legislative Action Priorities Committee will be identifying the key bills the NRLN supported which did not pass. I will send letters to Representatives and Senators to ask them to reintroduce the bills.
As you know, in the November midterm elections the Republicans won control of the House for the first time since the 115th Congress. Democrats retained control of the Senate, expanding their majority to 51-49 (with a coalition of 48 Democrats and three independents who caucus with the Democrats).
We are waiting to see who the new Chairs and Ranking Members will be in the House for the Committees which receive bills on retirement issues. We anticipate there will be some different Chairs and Ranking Members on Senate Committees that handle retirement bills.
Learning the changes will be important to targeting their offices when we resume the NRLN Fly-in February 26 – March 1, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. Any NRLN member interested in participating in the Fly-in, other than NRLN Board Members and Association and Chapter Leaders who have already been contacted, should send an email to Ed Beltram, VP-Communications, at contact@nrln.org.
Sunday, February 26, is the day for airline flights for attendees who live too far away for a Monday morning flight to Washington, DC. The NRLN Board will meet from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Monday at the YoTel Hotel near Capitol Hill. Any attendee is welcome to view Board proceedings. At 1:00 p.m. presentations will begin on lobbying issues and there may be a guest speaker.
Tuesday and Wednesday (until time to depart of airport or train) will be devoted to advocating NRLN issues on Capitol Hill. All attendees are expected to make advance appointments with their Representative, Senators or members of their staffs.
The Fly-in will be a very important way to communicate our top 2023 Legislative Agenda priorities to lawmakers. I hope you will join us.
Bill Kadereit, President
National Retiree Legislative Network
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The NRLN Review provides a monthly report on National Retiree Legislative Network actions, events in Congress and important retirement news. 2022 2021 2020 2022 REVIEW …
The following NRLN Legislative Agenda is a compendium of legislative proposals developed to address concerns of retirees who retired from more than 300 U.S. companies and public entities. The full agenda focuses on retirement issues, such as, Income Security (including Social Security) and Health Care Security (including Medicare). The agenda is revised annually, or more often if necessary.
Each year, agenda proposals are fully reexamined and prioritized and the top proposals are supported by Position Papers, detailed White Papers and Executive Summaries are available on this website. A set of one-page Talking Points is also developed for each of the top priorities and are used as a lobbying aid in Washington, D.C. and for NRLN Grassroots Network members to use in advocating NRLN’s proposals with their U.S. Representatives and Senators.
Annual preparation, prioritizing of objectives and grassroots lobbying has proven to be an effective and efficient way to represent retirees and has earned recognition for the NRLN as an effective retiree advocacy organization. Direct any questions about the NRLN Legislative Agenda to contact@nrln.org or call toll free 866-360-7197.
Today, January 3, 2023, marks the beginning of the new 118th Congress (2023 & 2024). The NRLN has posted its 2023 Legislative Agenda on the …
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When you watch the podcast, Alyson Parker, NRLN Executive Director will inform you about the NRLN’s year-end push.
Alyson continued her comments by describing the NRLN process taking place to develop the NRLN’s 2023 Legislative Agenda. She noted that protecting retirees in de-risking (when a company sells its pension plan to and insurance company) will be an NRLN priority in 2023.
Bill Kadereit, NRLN President, opened his section of the live podcast with comments on Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. He said MA competition with Medicare was approved by Congress because insurance companies promised they could perform better.
In the last section of the live podcast, Ed Beltram, NRLN VP-Communications, presented questions from NRLN members for Alyson and Bill to answer.
Welcome to the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) Podcast produced by and for America’s Retirees and those over age 50.
I’m Bill Kadereit, President of the NRLN and your Podcast host.
NRLN S3 E2 NRLN Podcast | NRLN’S 2023 Agenda, Medicare Advantage Discussion and Q/A
NRLN S3 E1 NRLN Podcast | Start of the Medicare 2022 Annual Enrollment Period
NRLN S2 E4 Congress Must Take Action to Reduce the Price of Prescription Drugs
NRLN S2 E3 Denial of Access to Medicare Supplemental Plan Premiums
NRLN S2 E2 Choosing a Medicare Part D, with Bill Kadereit
NRLN Podcast S2, E1 | Medicare Privatization and Direct Contracting
Welcome to the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) Video Podcast produced by and for America’s Retirees and those over age 50 who will someday reach eligibility to receive Pensions, Social Security, Medicare and other benefits they earned and paid for over a lifetime of work.
I’m Bill Kadereit, President of the NRLN and your Podcast host.
S1_Ep1
NRLN President’s Forum – ACO REACH Is Lipstick on a Pig Based on earlier messages you may be aware that the NRLN opposed the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center’s (CMMI) Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) which threatened to destroy original Medicare. Under pressure from the NRLN, other Medicare advocacy groups and a few members of Congress, CMMI has announced that on January 1, 2023, DCEs will be changed to the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) Model.
In my Clarion Call column in the spring NRLN FOCUS newsletter posted on the NRLN website I call ACO REACH putting lipstick on the DCE pig. Click on the FOCUS graphic on www.nrln.org.
CMMI is now accepting applications for ACO REACH from the 51 DCEs and 453 ACOs. This will speed up the effort to privatize original Medicare.
The ACO model is not a model in practice, it is simply an unproven shelter for heterogenous healthcare entities that is supposed to serve original Medicare enrollees. Instead, they are formed by individuals who want to use federal tax dollars to consolidate, capitalize and operate on the shoulders of taxpayers.
ACOs, formed in 2013, are paid original Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) rates plus undisclosed federal subsidies. CMS never has disclosed a set of ACO financials or the dollar value of subsidies paid or whether they match the costly Medicare Advantage scheduled $50 billion subsidies to insurance companies this year.
On February 28, I sent a letter to Medicare Trustees requesting they include in their 2022 report to Congress ACOs’ revenues, cost and profitability (including all special incentive payments). This information should be compared with all other parts of Medicare in the annual report. A letter asked the MedPAC commission chairman and executive director to include the information on ACOs in its 2022 report to Congress. (The letters are posted at: http://www.nrln.org/soledad/letters-to-washington-2/)
The NRLN doesn’t understand what CMS trying to prove. Original Medicare carries 2% overhead, Medicare Advantage carries a subsidized 15% overhead and profit burden and the DCE model trial companies expect federal subsidies to help cover 40%. It is unknown what level of taxpayer rebates and incentives ACO REACH will be provided.
Recently, Alyson Parker and I had conference calls with staff members of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee to express the NRLN’s concerns about ACO REACH. The NRLN will continue to oppose ACO REACH and anything else that threatens original Medicare.
Bill Kadereit, President
National Retiree Legislative Network
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