GRAY PANTHERS GENERAL MEETING

June 19, 2010

Joint meeting with OWL: Medicare with Steve Allison, and Protecting Social Security with Peter d'Anna

On June 19th, 2010, the Gray Panthers and the Sacramento Older Women's League (OWL) held a joint meeting that of special interest to persons approaching age 65. Steve Allison of the Health Insurance Counseling Advocacy Program (HICAP) explained Medicare step-by-step and what this insurance coverage means under Healthcare Reform.

Peter d'Anna from the National Committee to Protect Social Security discussed the current Social SDecurity situation.

Documents and links from the meeting:

HICAP presentation, Steve Allison: PowerPoint PDF
http://www.cahealthadvocates.org/HICAP/
To contact a HICAP Counselor in the 9-county Sacramento Region call (916) 376-8915
Statewide, call 1-800-434-0222
Medicare Website: www.medicare.gov
(Comparison and quality of care information on Medicare HMOs and Medigap plans)
Health Services Advisory Group www.hsag.com; 800-841-1602 (Medicare Quality of Care Issues and Complaints)
Department of Managed Health Care: www.dmhc.ca.gov; 888-466-2219 (Quality of care issues and complaints about HMOs)
Department of Insurance: www.insurance.ca.gov; 1-800-427-9357 (Complaints regarding insurance)

Social Security with Peter d'Anna:

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (http://www.ncpssm.org/)

Steve Allison from HICAP Peter d'Anna from the Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Pictures More pictures

---

May Meeting

This month's Gray Panthers Meeting was a presentation on the Propositions for the June 201 Ballot by the League of Women Voters, followed by a vote to determine the recommendations of our organization, and the election results.

Proposition 13 -- Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings, State of California -- Legislative Constitutional Amendment - Put on the Ballot by the Legislature - Majority Approval Required.
Gray Panthers: YES; election Yes

Proposition 14 -- Elections. Increases Right to Participate in Primary Elections, State of California -- Legislative Constitutional Amendment - Put on the Ballot by the Legislature - Majority Approval Required
Should the California Constitution be amended to require that all candidates for statewide or congressional office run in a single primary open to all registered voters, with only the top two vote-getters, regardless of their political party preference, advancing to the general election?
Gray Panthers: NO; Election, YES.

Proposition 15 -- California Fair Elections Act, State of California -- Put on the Ballot by the Legislature - Majority Approval Required
Should California lift the ban on public funding of political campaigns and establish public funding for Secretary of State candidates in the 2014 and 2018 elections?
Gray Panthers: YES; Election Yes

Proposition 16 -- Imposes New Two-Thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers, State of California -- Initiative Constitutional Amendment - Put on the Ballot by Petition Signatures - Majority Approval Required
Should the California Constitution be amended to require two-thirds voter approval before local governments can start up or expand electric service?
Gray Panthers: NO; Election NO

Proposition 17 -- Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage -- State of California -- Initiative Statute - Put on the Ballot by Petition Signatures - Majority Approval Required
Should automobile insurance companies be permitted to offer a discount to drivers who have continuously maintained auto insurance coverage, even if they change insurance companies?
Gray Panthers: NO; Election NO

---

Great Links!

Garrison Keillor: A toast to hroth and hrothgar of the nation
http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=14764831&siteId=297

Frank Rich in the NY Times: The Rage is Not about Health Care http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28rich.html?scp=2&sq=frank%20rich&st=cs

Southern Poverty Law Center: http://www.splcenter.org/?ref=logo
Rage on the Right: The Year in Hate and Extremism: Special Report: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring

---

March 29, 2010, 5:16 pm
The New Landscape of Health Care
http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/the-new-landscape-of-health-care/
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Stuart Bradford
Tuesday’s special section in Science Times helps you make sense of the health care overhaul.

What’s in It for Me? Well columnist Tara Parker-Pope helps you begin to figure out how the new law is going to affect you in the short term. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30well.html?ref=health

Lowering the Cost of Womanhood: Denise Grady explores insurance companies’ practice of “gender rating,” or charging women more than men for the same coverage. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30women.html?ref=health

Paying for Others’ Bad Habits: The majority of Americans say people with unhealthy lifestyles should pay more for health insurance, but, as Dr. Sandeep Jauhar writes, personal responsibility is a complex notion. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30risk.html?ref=health

Mental Health Parity: The law makes it possible for millions to get the same coverage for illnesses like major depression or schizophrenia that they would for diabetes or cancer, Sarah Kershaw explains. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30mental.html?ref=health

Affordable Long-Term Care: Paula Span writes about a little noticed provision in the new health law that will help people plan for long-term care. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30care.html?ref=health

Reforming an Eroding Doctor-Patient Bond: The doctor may say, “Here are your prescriptions, and make sure you get the M.R.I.” But what happens when the patient is thinking, “I can’t afford all these medications, or the M.R.I.,” asks Dr. Pauline Chen in her Doctor and Patient column.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30doctor.html?ref=health

View From a Nurse’s Station: Theresa Brown says the most important job of any nurse is to be a patient advocate, but disparities in health coverage can make this challenging.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/nursing-care-more-effective-on-level-playing-field/

Curbing Unnecessary Care: Gina Kolata writes that the health care law attempts to tamp down unnecessary tests and treatment, but it will not change the chronic overuse of care.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30use.html?ref=health

The Surprises: In a bill this large, there are bound to be some unexpected provisions. Michelle Andrews finds a few of them. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30fine.html

When Taking Care Taps the Soul: Abigail Zuger explores the medical morality tales everywhere evident in a new novel. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/health/30zuger.html

And please join the discussion on the Well blog, “Making Sense of the New Health Care Bill.”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/making-sense-of-the-health-care-law/

---

Upcoming Meetings

We have decided to use the last 15 minutes of every meeting for updates on IHSS, the budget, and healthcare/Medicare issues.

---

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/02/23/2556752_79-year-old-earns-degree-from.html Our Own Gray Panther Alice Thomas Finishes Law School 79-year-old earns degree from McGeorge School of Law By Blair Anthony Robertson brobertson@sacbee.com Published: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1D Last Modified: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 - 9:00 am LEZLIE STERLING Bee file, 2008 Alice Thomas, recently graduated from McGeorge School of Law, will take the bar exam this summer. Alice Thomas had the audacity to enroll in law school at an uncommonly old age, the perseverance to remain as her longtime companion battled and eventually succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, and the tenacity to endure setbacks that included academic probation before finally graduating from McGeorge School of Law. Now, at age 79, she is the oldest graduate in McGeorge history and one of the oldest lawyers-to-be the nation has ever known. And she owes a ton of money she borrowed to pay for her education – money she will begin repaying after she takes the California or Nevada bar exam this summer and, with any luck, begins life as a rookie lawyer at age 80. Yes, she's determined. Yes, she's stubborn, and yes, finally, she is done with law school. When Tim Naccarato, the principal assistant dean at McGeorge, announces one by one the graduates at the May 15 ceremony, he has Thomas' permission to point out her staggering achievement to the crowd. "She has been a delight since the day she got here," said Naccarato. A traditional legal education takes three years; an older law student is usually someone in his or her 30s. After a long career doing office work in the construction industry, Thomas enrolled at McGeorge in 2002 to pursue her long-held dream. She finished her course work in late December. Thomas held off on agreeing to a newspaper interview until she landed the job she was seeking at a Reno law firm, where she will work on legal issues involving the elderly. "I was so nervous during my final exam because I thought, 'If I don't do well, I'm out,' " Thomas said. There was plenty of pressure. Time was not on her side. Thomas struggled mightily at McGeorge. Her longtime companion (she asked that his name not be published) developed symptoms of Alzheimer's and eventually died. Thomas served as his caregiver, and the distraction eventually became too much. Her grades plummeted and she was placed on academic probation. Thomas had to petition for reinstatement to continue. During her years at McGeorge, it is a safe bet that no one prompted more double-takes upon taking a seat in class than Thomas, who was significantly older not only than her fellow students but all but one professor. "Most of the time, the other students acted like I wasn't even alive. Some of them asked if I was really serious," she said. "I told them I could take a first-class trip around the world and not spend as much money and not have to work as hard." Thomas was, indeed, a fixture on campus, lugging her thick law books from class to class in a suitcase on wheels. Said Naccarato with a chuckle. "I used to kid her that she looks like she's going to Las Vegas for the weekend." Thomas often wore a pearl necklace, dressed conservatively and, to her frequent dismay, sometimes wondered about the fashion statements of her fellow students. "I see people coming in here with bare midriffs and their fannies showing," she said, frowning. To pay for law school, Thomas had to get low-interest student loans. Now she has to start paying them back – to the tune of $70,000. She doesn't expect to change the world as a lawyer, but she hopes her time in the field will at least allow her to "nibble at" some injustices. Thomas is in no mood for a life of leisure. At an age when she could be planning her next cruise, she is thinking about the months ahead, her new job and the arduous process of studying for the bar exam. She will turn 80 in July and likely won't find out if she passed until around Thanksgiving. During her years at McGeorge, Thomas worked at the school's Elder Law Clinic, helping seniors with a variety of legal challenges. Initially, she was reluctant to be pigeonholed as someone who wanted to work only on behalf of seniors, but she says she grew to love the work and embraced the wide range of challenges. While a student, Thomas often confronted the question of why she was putting herself through such a tough task. A legal education is notoriously difficult and stressful, full of long hours and seemingly endless reading and memorizing. Back in 2008, Thomas told The Bee she wanted to become a lawyer so she could help people, make money doing it and continue to flourish as an active person. "A lot of people my age think I'm out of my mind," Thomas said at the time. "But a lot of older people just sit and watch the grass grow, and they end up disintegrating. "When you quit learning something, you might as well crawl into a coffin and pull the dirt in after you." © Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Town Hall Meetings in our Area

---

---

---

Sept. 9: Taking Back the Airwaves: Are The Media
Serving the Public Interest?