ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

Our colleagues in Nevada have joined with the Nevada Broadcasters Association to encourage voters in Nevada to participate in the upcoming caucuses. See below for ads in English and Spanish.

Wall Street Journal: A Union, a Small Biz Group and AARP Walk Into a Hospital

“Access to affordable health insurance is the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 issue for small business across the United States,” NFIB president Todd Stottlemyer told the LAT.

Washington Post: A Check for Social Security

Forty organizations, including AARP, Easter Seals, Gray Panthers and various labor unions, wrote House appropriators this month to urge increased funding for Social Security. Their letter said that Social Security field offices get about 850,000 visitors per week and that visitors at many field offices have to wait more than two hours for service.

New York Times: Expecting Presidential Veto, Senate Passes Child Health Measure

Talks seeking a bipartisan compromise on health insurance for low-income children were cut short on Thursday, and the Senate then swiftly passed a bill to provide coverage for 10 million youngsters, fully expecting President Bush to veto it.

U.S. News & World Report: New Rules Push Workers Into 401(k)'s

New employees who don't enroll in their company's 401(k) plan next year may find themselves saving for retirement anyway.

We're watching so you don't have to... the latest in the health care ad world? Chris Dodd, link here.

My colleagues down in Florida had a fun event last night in the spirit of Halloween, reaching out to parents and asking them to tell presidential candidates that the "future should not be scary" on the issues health care and lifetime financial security.

Divided We Fail is growing. Today, the National Federation of Independent Business joined the Divided We Fail coalition. Small business is joining the call to end the partisan bickering and come together to find solutions on health and financial security. These issues are a big deal to small businesses - more than 27 million of the estimated 46 million Americans without health care are small-business owners, employees or dependents of small businesses.

This is exactly the type of thing - groups that represent a whole bunch of different constituencies coming together- that is needed to get action on the issues we know people care about.

Fellow bloggers over at the OMB Watch Blog put in a plug for yesterday’s testimony from AARP’s CEO Bill Novelli. Testimony here and subsequent hullaballoo here and here. Making sure that Social Security is around for the long term is a fixable problem that will involve tough choices for all generations. But the real crisis is the exploding costs of health care, and it’s good to see that there are other people that get it. I am sure this is not the end of this discussion and you can bet we’ll be keeping tabs on it as it unfolds.

Good wrap up from the Kasier Family Foundation yesterday on state of CHIP, as well as some more stories today on the ongoing food fight. Seems the President yesterday continued his campaign against the bill, speaking out against the tobacco tax. Lots of reaction to that also, including AARP.

Today, Senator McCain was at the Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals Forum on Health Care talking about the importance of the private market in health care. He mentioned the importance of the safety net, as well as bringing down costs.

We’ll keep pressing for more details, but glad he’s out there talking about it.

More debating last night from the Democratic Presidential candidates, with Social Security taking center stage for part of the evening. For those of you who were out trick-or-treating early, AARP comments here, and a sampling of some other folks:

Marc Ambinder with a quick replay;

NBC on Senator Obama and Social Security;

The Politico on Senator Clinton and Social Security;

And just because... Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters on how you know there has been too many debates.

Associated Press: Bill Makes Do Not Call Listings Forever

David Certner, legal policy director at AARP, says many people don't know about the need to re-register every five years. So the legislation, he says, is important.

"People don't want these unwanted calls," Certner said. "For an older person, sometimes it's more than just a bother. It can be a great inconvenience to try to get to a phone only to find out it's simply a call you don't want to receive in the first place."

Associated Press: Boomers Buying Long-Term Care Coverage

Average Age of People Buying Long-Term Care Benefits Falls Below 60 Years for the First Time

Associated Press: Bush Balks at Revised Child Health Bill

President Bush told Republican lawmakers on Tuesday he will not agree to legislation expanding children's health insurance if it includes a tobacco tax increase, a decision that virtually ensures a renewed veto struggle with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

The Hill: Physician groups seek quicker action on Medicare payment fix

Lobbyists for physician interests are growing increasingly anxious that Congress won’t act fast enough to prevent a 10 percent cut in doctors’ Medicare fees in 2008.

Today, the Senate Budget Committee is going to be talking about the long term challenges of Medicare and Social Security, with lotsa folks testifying, including AARP CEO Bill Novelli. Starts now, you can watch here.

Yesterday, Ray linked to the Robert Ball column in the Washington Post, which caused comments aplenty in the blogosphere yesterday.

Some highlights:

Kevin Drum, Political Animal recognizing the challenges for Social Security are not insurmountable

Jared Bernstein, TPM Café on Social Security and its’ connection to tax policy.

Brian Angliss, Scholars and Rogues calling for politicians to make the hard choices.

Enjoy!

Washington Post: A Can't-Miss Event for the Next President

If I had the power to summon all 16 of the people running for president to be in one place, I would want them in a Senate hearing room for a session that is taking place tomorrow morning.

US News & World Report: How to Avoid a Death Trap

But choose wisely, warns Jean Setzfand, director of financial security for AARP. Indeed, many financial institutions now require an in-person meeting to confirm that the person is a credible agent, she says.

New York Times: Looking at Dutch and Swiss Health Systems

His visit arose, health department officials said, because policy experts here have promoted Swiss and Dutch changes as models.

Wall Street Journal: Some No-Brainer Savings Ideas

The average Social Security benefit is about $11,000 a year. It is meant to supplement retirement, not fund it altogether, yet half of all families have no other savings in retirement accounts. People who do set money aside are not putting away nearly enough; half report savings of less than $25,000.

The Clinton campaign has put together it’s own ad on Social Security- link here.

The candidates are continuing to talk about the issues… Senator Barack Obama has a new ad about Social Security and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has a new ad on health care. Good to see candidates focusing on health and financial security; we look forward to hearing more about these issues in the coming weeks and months.

Washington Times: AARP magazine targets 'new 50'

"We are experiencing a lot of change in our society," says Emilio Pardo, the AARP's chief brand officer who is leading efforts to attract a younger and highly engaged clientele, which he calls "the new 50." "In many ways, you have not only boomers redefining retirement but also redefining life stages."

Washington Post: A Social Security Fix For 2008

Social Security benefits are modest by any measure and are already being cut -- by raising the age of eligibility for full benefits and by deducting ever-rising Medicare premiums from benefit checks. So the benefits provided for under present law will replace, on average, a lower percentage of prior earnings than in the past. To cut them further would undermine all that Social Security has achieved -- exposing millions of vulnerable people, both elderly and disabled, to needless economic hardship.

Wall Street Journal: Pay to Be Taxed By Social Security Breaks $100,000

If you're working on your budget for next year, here's something to keep in mind: Nearly 12 million people will have to pay higher Social Security tax.

Associated Press: Edwards: 2-year ban on new drug ads

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Sunday that prescription drug companies should wait two years to begin advertising their new products to consumers.