AARP forum addresses health care
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By Sean J. Miller | Wednesday, October 18, 2006 |
More Americans are relying on Social Security benefits and Medicare in their retirement as fewer private companies offer pension plans and health-care costs continue to increase, said Ridge Multop, director of congressional relations at AARP.
“When you look at even the large companies, they’re freezing their pension plans,” Ridge said. “Social Security is still the strongest element of retirement security.”
Multop was one of several AARP staffers who addressed an election issue forum Tuesday at the Clarion Hotel in Davenport. The AARP is nonpartisan organization, but it publishes a voter’s guide that surveys where candidates stand on issues important to its members.
Both 1st Congressional District candidates were invited to address the forum but couldn’t make it because of scheduling conflicts, organizers said.
Social Security reform is an important issue to AARP members, Multop said. Although the program has enough funding to pay all benefits through 2040, it will need to be revamped in order to cope with the Baby Boomer generation’s retirement.
Multop criticized the Bush administration’s proposed reform of the retirement benefit program — which would allow workers to deposit some of their Social Security deductions into private accounts.
Private accounts would take money out of the system, he said.
“That’s not a solution. It would make it harder to strengthen the program and create a mountain of federal debt for our children,” Multop said.
The AARP supports raising the cap on Social Security deductions, which stands at about $94,200, he said. The increase in revenue from people with incomes over the cap would put needed money back into the program.
“We need to do some innovative things to help people have a secure retirement,” he said.
The forum also addressed increasing health care costs.
Steven Carter, the Midwest associate director for AARP, said there needs to be public and private partnerships to lower health-care costs for consumers.
“We are close to spending $2 trillion a year on health care in this country,” he said.
“The biggest cost factor is treating people with chronic illnesses,” Carter added, not medical insurance costs related to lawsuits.
“I’ve never seen enough evidence that shows caps on damages reduces the cost (of health care),” he said.
AARP has joined with other civic groups calling for reform of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, also called Medicare Part D. Carter said the AARP thinks the program can be effectively delivered through private insurance companies.
“We’ve dealt with the coverage, but we still need to do more to deal with prescription drug prices,” he said.
One way to do that is by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices with pharmaceutical companies, he said, which is something the current law prohibits.
Bruce Koeppl, the Iowa director of AARP, said the forums provide a chance for voters to learn more about complex issues.
“Frankly, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to do that,” he said. “People take [the forums] very seriously. They want to be informed.”
Barbara Franklin, 55, of Bettendorf said she enjoyed the forum but was still undecided whom she would vote for in November.
“They give out the information and let people make up their minds,” Franklin said. “It’s very helpful, and I think more people should take advantage of these opportunities.”
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
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