Senior lobbying group not engaging in ’empty talk’
To the editor:
Because we've asked, AARP members have been talking to us a lot lately. The stories they tell are anything but the "empty talk" that the Review-Journal's April 29 editorial suggests.
Those stories include the emergency room nurse who said she saw people forced to come to the hospital because they could not afford the cost of regular medical care, and the woman whose husband was downsized after 34 years on the job and took a job in a retail store just for the health insurance.
We all know it: Health-care costs are out of control for individuals, employers and government alike. One in four Americans has problems paying medical bills and one in three says he has skipped treatment, tests or prescriptions because of costs. Eighty-one percent of AARP Nevada members say that they are very concerned about affording the cost of health care. Forty-eight percent of AARP Nevada members say that costs have caused them to not get a prescription filled, delay getting a prescription filled, or taken less than prescribed to make the medication last.
Americans spent about $2 trillion on health care last year -- well more than $6,000 for every man, woman and child. That's far more than any other industrialized country. And costs continue to grow at more than twice the general inflation rate. Yet we rank well behind other advanced societies in life expectancy and infant mortality. Forty-six million Americans are uninsured, and middle-class families are the fastest-growing segment.
In addition, financial security is just as tenuous for too many Americans. National saving is at an all-time low and pension plans are dwindling. Half of all private-sector workers are not signed up for a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plans. For many people, Social Security will be their only reliable, guaranteed retirement income source. But Social Security alone isn't enough.
We've heard our members and their concerns. That's why Divided We Fail will amplify the voices of Americans who believe that health and financial security are the most pressing domestic issues facing our nation today. This campaign will compel our nation's leaders to take action and develop common-sense, bipartisan solutions to ensure that all Americans can count on a lifetime of health and financial security.
This is just part of the effort for Divided We Fail. AARP is working not only to engage the American people as never before but also to support a building public movement that demands action, answers, and accountability on health and financial security from our current elected officials as well as those running in the 2008 presidential election. Together, we'll send this message to our elected officials -- stop the bickering and work together to address the health and financial security problems that so many Americans face.
The stakes are high. If we don't succeed, the American Dream -- for present and future generations -- will suffer. And America will have fallen short of its promise. Divided We Fail; together we can do anything.
Carla Sloan
LAS VEGAS
THE WRITER IS AARP NEVADA STATE DIRECTOR.
