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OWL has partnered with Amgen for the Act 2 Reduce Fractures campaign. Award-winning actress Blythe Danner has joined Amgen in an effort to educate and encourage women to help strengthen their bones.
Check out more information about the campaign.
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Social Security Update
The latest edition of the Social Security Update from socialsecurity.gov is now posted online.
Read it now!
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Now You Can Contribute to OWL Just by Searching Online!
Use the search engine: iSearch.iGive.com and use the search bar provided just as you would a Google search. It is free for you and OWL automatically receives a donation every time you search!
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Quote of the Month:
"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Experts weigh in on how to create more jobs in the New America Foundation's Decent Jobs Forum
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King Memorial in Washington Open to Public
On Sunday, August 28th, the King Memorial opened to the public. The memorial serves as a celebration of MLK's life and legacy. The official dedication ceremony has been postponed due to Hurricane Irene. View more photos of the memorial (taken by OWL Executive Director Bobbie Brinegar) on OWL's Facebook. Read an editorial on MLK's impact from Boston.com |
Nancy Pelosi Makes Statement on Women's Equality Day
San Francisco - Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement August 26th on Women's Equality Day:
"On Women's Equality Day, our nation marks a turning point for progress and civil rights, a watershed moment in our ongoing pursuit of liberty and justice for all. On this day 91 years ago, we did more than ratify an amendment to our Constitution; we extended the core blessing of democracy - the right to vote - to all of America's women. In doing so, we strengthened our country.
Today, we celebrate and honor the work of those brave leaders - America's suffragettes - who challenged the status quo, reached for the ballot, and succeeded against all odds. Out of their effort, women were empowered; out of their success, we moved closer to fulfilling our promise of equality, our heritage and our hope.
The struggle of these courageous leaders continues in our time: in the fight for equal pay for equal work; in the battle for true equality in business and government, in law, medicine, and the arts. With women as our families' primary caregivers, we must preserve Americans' health security, and strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. And with women comprising half of the workforce and leading our economy as business owners, we know that advancing women's empowerment today means focusing on the top priority of all Americans: job creation.
We must strengthen women workers and entrepreneurs, expand our middle class and ensure the economic security of our families. In reaching for that goal, Congress can build on the legacy of Women's Equality Day, advance the cause of equality and opportunity, and make our nation stronger."
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NAELA Calls on Congress to Reauthorize the Older Americans Act
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) has called on Congress to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA) before it expires this year. The OAA was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson and it was the first federal program that provided services for older adults, such as legal services, ombudsmen in nursing homes, home-delivered meals, senior centers, jobs and training for low-income older adults, health services, and more. Specifically, the reauthorized OAA should include more funding and better delivery of Title III-B legal services, which provides legal assistance for older adults on issues related to housing, fraud, elder abuse, Social Security, and other matters. For more information, visit NAELA's website. |
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OWL Member Barbara Mason Shares Her Personal Story about Social Security
"I am among the older women who depend on social security along with my pension. I will be forced to sell my home and live in poverty if social security pay is lessened or eliminated. I have worked since I was 16 years old, (now I'm 82.) I have always paid into social security and paid my taxes. I do not believe the Super Six committee would take away my social security at this time in my life. Social Security is not to be used for any funding other than to pay workers who have paid into it. It is a known fact that it has been raided several times in the past. While you have been given the task of deciding where to make cuts, please leave social security as it is. Also, any cuts affecting women, children and Medicare should be very carefully weighed. I am still a voter and have many friends who are in similar situations."
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Raising Medicare's Eligibility Age Would Raise Costs, Not Reduce Them
A recent article from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states that raising Medicare's eligibility age would raise overall healthcare spending. Raising Medicare's eligibility age from 65 to 67 figures to be one option before the new congressional "supercommittee" on deficit reduction, and there's speculation that the Administration will include it in the budget plan that it will release after Labor Day. As former Obama White House advisers Ezekiel Emanuel and Jeffrey Liebman argue in a recent New York Times article, this proposal is a "classic example" of "cost-shifting cuts [that] don't actually reduce health care spending, they just shift costs from the government to the private sector." In fact, it would raise overall health care spending, as we explain in a new report. Read the full article. |
New Report Released: Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for their Parents
A study released in June by the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging and the National Alliance for Caregiving found that caregiving costs Americans $3 trillion in lost wages, pension and Social Security benefits with women losing the most (on average $324,000 compared to men losing $284,000). The study also discussed gender roles and caregiving. Read the whole report. |
Take Action Now!
PROTECT PATIENT ACCESS TO OSTEOPOROSIS TESTING Ask Congress to cosponsor the "Preservation of Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act" (S. 1096/H.R. 2020) and protect patient access to osteoporosis testing. Reimbursement cuts for bone density tests may jeopardize access to osteoporosis care for many individuals with or at risk for osteoporosis by making it harder for them to be tested. If fewer physicians are able to provide bone density tests in their office, many patients will need to travel long distances for a DXA test and many may forgo testing altogether. Bone density tests are critical to detecting osteoporosis, improving the quality of life of osteoporosis patients and preventing debilitating and costly fractures before they occur. Although the Affordable Care Act temporarily raised reimbursement rates for DXA tests in physician offices, rates will be cut on January 1, 2012 unless Congress acts soon. Tell your Senators and Representative to cosponsor legislation to maintain the Medicare reimbursement rates for DXA to protect patient access to osteoporosis testing. Send a letter to Congress on National Osteoporosis Foundation's website. |
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