Elder Economic Security Initiative™
Greetings Friend,
In This Issue
Economic Stimulus Package
WOW Meets with Obama Transition Team
CBO Releases New Healthcare Budget
PAYGO Law
WOW Meets with Obama Transition Team
Labor Secretary Selected
WOW Sign-On Letter
GAO analyzes Medicare Advantage
KFF looks at the future of Medicare, State Budgets, and COL Variations
Recession's Affect on Older Workers
Progress of Women Report
Caregiver Service
Medicare and Medicaid Caps
Rising LTC Costs
Lower Utility Bills for Elderly
Community Care Saves Money
PIC Call to Service
EESI Blog
Stop by our blog: http://wow-eesi.blogspot.com/ Take a look, post a comment, or respond to our weekly poll!
The WOW Office will be closed December 25, 2008 to January 1, 2009. We will re-open in the new year on January 2.
Happy Holidays!
We hope you will find this week's information helpful and please feel free to pass it along.
- EESI Team
_________________________________________________________
House and Senate staff are hard at work now drafting an economic recovery blueprint that will go to the President-elect before the Christmas holiday so that it can be turned into legislative language by the new year. The package is expected to come with a price tag of roughly $800 billion. It is being reported that about one-fifth of the spending in the package could go toward health care, including funds to reimburse the states for Medicaid spending. Approximately $200 billion is being considered for tax relief for low-wage and middle-class workers, including a payroll tax holiday. President-elect Obama has asked that the economic recovery plan include five main parts: (1) health care financing; (2) funding for energy saving programs; (3) public works projects; (4) school construction and renovation; and (5) expanded jobless aid and food stamps. Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) hopes to have the House finish its work in the second week of January; the Senate Finance Committee has scheduled votes to begin on January 8th.
WOW spent the week communicating with Presidential Transition Team members, Congressional offices and partner organizations trying to ensure that women benefit from infrastructure and clean energy jobs and that the package include job training, Unemployment Insurance Modernization, a moratorium on TANF time limits and other safety net improvements. Rep. Charles Rangel, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, requested a dedicated set-aside in the package for workforce development targeted to women entering the workforce and other disadvantaged groups.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new cost estimates on Thursday with respect to health care options and funding. To see the two health-care related reports, go to http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9924/12-18-KeyIssues.pdf and http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925. According to CBO, there are “serious concerns” about the “efficiency of the health care system, but no simple solutions are available to reduce the level or control the growth of health care costs.” In 2009, health care spending nationwide will make up 17 percent of the gross domestic product, or $2.6 trillion. By 2017, health care spending will make up 20 percent of GDP, and spending per person will rise from $8,300 to $13,000. Meanwhile, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid will nearly double by 2019, to $1.4 trillion.
Members of the moderate-conservative wing of the Democratic party –the so-called “Blue Dogs” – plan to press House leaders and the incoming Obama administration early next year to support putting the anti-deficit “pay-as-you-go” budget rule into law. They will ask for this commitment to be included in the economic recovery legislation. The Blue Dogs will be 51 members strong in the 111th Congress. There appears to be a good chance that the House will move to make the PAYGO rule statutory; its fate in the Senate is less certain. The Blue Dog Coalition will ask President-elect Obama to support the effort; they hope his support will overcome Senate resistance.
In The Administration/Transition
Wider Opportunities for Women hosted a meeting for women’s organizations on Women, Work and Families at the request of the Obama Presidential Transition Team. Subjects covered included quality jobs with self-sufficient wages and good benefits, anti-discrimination and affirmative action, older workers, work and family life balance, work supports and women in nontraditional occupations. WOW also met individually with agency transition team members, making recommendations for early action within the Department of Labor at the Women’s Bureau and Office of Federal Contract Compliance.
Obama Chooses Rep. Solis for Labor Secretary, Congressional Quarterly.
120 Organizations join Wider Opportunities for Women in appeal to President-Elect Obama to include women in the economic recovery plan. Click here for the text of the letter.
-
GAO: Medicare Advantage: Characteristics, Financial Risks, and Disenrollment Rates of Beneficiaries in Private Fee-for-Service Plans
-
Kaiser Family Foundation:
-
Urban Institute: How is the Recession Affecting Older Workers?
-
Boston Globe: The LifeWeavers Network Benefit
- Inside A.R.M. (MD): More Caps on Medicare and Medicaid no Solution to Rising Health Care Costs
- Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN): A Growing Price Tag for Long-Term Care, Editorial
- Naperville Sun (IL): City should Consider Lowering Utility Bills for Senior Citizens
- The Olympian (WA): Community Care Shift has Saved $1 Billion
- Presidential Inaugural Committee: Get Involved in Service
Forward this message to a friend
Support Lifelong Economic Security for Women and their Families: Donate Today| (202) 464-1596
Wider Opportunities for Women at www.wowonline.org
Celebrating Over 40 Years of Building Pathways to Economic Independence