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The truth about the new Medicare law
Union trains speakers bureau 
March 24, 2004 Joan Sommermeyer, a paraprofessional trustee from Half Hollow Hills TA, takes notes at the Medicare meeting. When Sheila Goldberg asked a retired friend to encourage his elected officials to vote against President Bush's new Medicare bill, his response was, "Oh, my union has good benefits." "We need to inform people of the negative aspects of the law because they don't fully understand," said Goldberg, a retiree from the Plainedge Federation of Teachers on Long Island. "They just don't know how this law will hurt them." New York State United Teachers hopes to change that. More than 45 retirees, in-service members and community activists were trained at the statewide union's headquarters to teach the public about the flawed Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act passed last year. "We want people to understand that Medicare matters," said NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin. "This law unravels the program as we know it through privatization and capping future government spending. Since this passed, George Bush's (polling) points on health care went down 13 points. People are scared." The new law scares many. "This is not just an issue for retirees and seniors," said Floyd Cameron, NYSUT legislative representative. "A lot of it really hits in-service workers as well." More than 41 million people now receive Medicare benefits. The new law gives more control to employers, HMOs and drug companies; threatens the Medicare structure; and offers little control on health care inflation or prices charged for prescription drugs. "Repeal or fix is our goal," said Lubin. "We want to reach our members and other groups throughout communities across the state." Armed with the facts about the sham law, the speakers bureau hopes to reach as many voters as possible. "This is ammunition against the Bush campaign," said Cassandra DeCarlo, a political action coordinator with the United Federation of Teachers in New York City. "When we call in-service members and retirees, we are going to give them the information they need to know in order to vote in the right way." Agreeing was Tim Southerton, vice president of the Sayville Teachers Association and a trustee with the Suffolk School Employees Health Plan. "As union leaders, it's a natural outgrowth of what we do," Southerton said. "We find out what threats there are to what our members and retirees have and mobilize them to try to protect it. This is a bad deal and they may not find out until the time comes that they face a personal catastrophe. We have to change the law before that happens." For more information about the speakers bureau, or to set up a presentation for groups of 15 or more about the Medicare law and what you can do to change it, contact the NYSUT Legislation Department, 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, N.Y. 12210-2455, attention Cathy Colitsas; or call (800) 342-9810. Watch for updates on www.nysut.org. - Clarisse Butler |
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