Bart Klion, 95, and his wife, Barbara, faced a tough choice in January: The upstate New York couple learned that this year they could keep either their private, Medicare Advantage insurance plan — or their doctors at Saratoga Hospital. The Albany Medical Center system, which includes their hospital, is leaving the Klions’ Humana plan — or, depending on which side is talking, the other way around. The breakup threatened to cut the couple’s lifeline to cope with serious chronic health conditions. Klion refused to pick the lesser of two bad options without a fight. He contacted Humana, the Sarato ..read more

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2024 Winter Legislative Toolkit Our legislative toolkit has all of the things you’ll need to mobilize for change on key retirement security issues this winter. These resources include issue position papers and fact sheets, sample letters to the editor, event guides, and digital materials. Read more   The post 2024 Winter Toolkit appeared first on Retired Americans ..read more

Susanne Gilliam, 67, was walking down her driveway to get the mail in January when she slipped and fell on a patch of black ice. Pain shot through her left knee and ankle. After summoning her husband on her phone, with difficulty she made it back to the house. And then began the run-around that so many people face when they interact with America’s uncoordinated health care system. Gilliam’s orthopedic surgeon, who managed previous difficulties with her left knee, saw her that afternoon but told her “I don’t do ankles.” He referred her to an ankle specialist who ordered a new set of X-rays and ..read more

Shelly Olson’s mother, who has dementia, has lived at the Scandia Village nursing home in rural Sister Bay, Wisconsin, for almost five years. At first, Olson said, her mother received great care at the facility, then owned by a not-for-profit organization, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. Then in 2019, Sanford Health — a not-for-profit, tax-exempt hospital system — acquired the nursing home. The covid-19 pandemic struck soon after. From then on, the facility was regularly short of staff, and residents endured long wait times and other care problems, said Olson, a registered nur ..read more

During an appearance on CNBC’s Squawkbox program this morning, Donald Trump told host Joe Kernan that there “is a lot you can do to cut” Social Security and Medicare. Below is a response from Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a grassroots advocacy organization with 4.4 million members nationwide. “Today Donald Trump matter of factly told CNBC’s Joe Kernan that cuts to Social Security and Medicare would happen if he was elected president, once again proving why older Americans should vote for President Biden. “Cutting Social Security and Medicare would be ..read more

Washington, DC – The Alliance for Retired Americans released its 2023 Congressional Voting Record, which scored each U.S. Senator and Representative on critical retirement security issues, today. “Almost every member of Congress claims to care about seniors,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “Our annual voting record shows which House and Senate members actually back up their words with actions and vote in older Americans’ best interests.” Ten Senate and House floor votes are considered in the report. They include votes on bills and amendments to establish a fiscal commission ..read more

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding President Biden’s State of the Union address: “Tonight President Biden told the American people that the state of the Union is strong. That’s not news to older Americans who are paying less for prescription drugs now than they were before President Biden took office in 2021. “Of course, there is more to be done to ensure every American has a secure retirement. President Biden laid out a plan tonight to move us far closer to that goal. “First, defend Social Security and Medi ..read more

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, in response to news that the U.S. House Budget Committee plans to vote on Thursday, March 7 on a Concurrent FY 2025 Budget Resolution: “Seniors are beyond disappointed to learn that the House Budget Committee will be voting tomorrow on a budget proposal that would make trillions of dollars in cuts to older Americans’ earned benefits. “The budget resolution is bringing back the Fiscal Commission and the GOP leadership doesn’t even know that Social Security cannot add to the debt. Incr ..read more

It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking. Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over. Then, there were the problems my father-in-law had replacing the devices’ batteries. And the times he’d end up in the hospital, unable to understand what people were saying because his hearing aids didn’t seem to be functioning. And the times he’d drop one of the devices ..read more