Attendees:

John Kotson—IBM Retiree; RMAC Chairman

Hazel Floyd—AUSWR CO/WY President; RMAC Member

Barbara Wilcox—AUSWR Health Care Specialist; RMAC Member

Pat Finley—AUSWR Retiree; RMAC Webmaster

Helen Domaratz—IBM Retiree; Member Congressman Jared Polis SAGE Council

John Rommelfanger—AUSWR Retiree; Sage Council Member

Joe Halpern—AUSWR Retiree; RMAC Member

Guests

Carlie Armstrong—Constituent Advocate for US Senator Michael Bennet

Ken DeBey—Colorado Alliance of Retired Americans Advocate

National

Carlie Armstrong Discussions

1. Post Super Committee Budget
   Failure—Senator Bennet is still hoping for a comprehensive solution using the
   “Gang of Six” recommendations as a basis. He wants to avoid sequestration.
   Carlie will check on his position on President Obama’s plan to cut $4 trillion.
2. Year End Unfinished Business in
   Congress
   1. Medicare Payments to Doctors—Talks
      ongoing on how to fix the Sustainable Growth Formula (SGR). Carlie will follow
      up with other staffers to ascertain progress. [SGR extended 2 months since RMAC
      meeting.]
   2. Payroll Tax Cut—Comes out of Social
      Security Trust Fund. RMAC has mixed feelings about it; trust fund must be
      restored, [also extended for 2 months].
   3. Unemployment Insurance Extension—
      RMAC has mixed feelings about it, 2 years of unemployment payments seems
      awfully long and it adversely affects the deficit. [also extended for 2 months]
   4. 
      Other
      1. John Rommelfanger described the issue
         raised by Dr Wasserman that Medicare spends $8 billion annually supporting
         medical residencies but doesn’t require the doctors to treat Medicare patients
         or learn anything about geriatrics. John R will send Carlie the paper
         describing this issue.
      2. Carlie provided information about
         others on Senator Bennet’s staff located in Colorado. A new staffer in Fort
         Collins, Ellen Steiner, specializes in Social Security and health care
         outreach. Tara in Durango, works statewide with Medicare cases; she is a
         Registered Nurse (RN). Pueblo has Dwight Gardner, regional director, plus 2
         staff people.

Discussion of 2007 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Retiree Health Care
Ruling

1. Background—most company sponsored
   retiree health programs are Medicare “carve out” plans which preserve the
   equity between pre and post Medicare retirees. Prior to year 2000, employers
   routinely coordinated health care benefits with Medicare to preserve this equity.
   In, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that offering different
   health care benefits based on Medicare eligibility was in violation of the Age
   Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). In 2007, bowing to extreme lobbying
   from industry, the EEOC issued a ruling which permits corporations to reduce or
   eliminate all company sponsored health benefits for retirees eligible for
   Medicare. This rule was challenged in the courts by AARP all the way to the US
   Supreme Court which upheld the rule’s authenticity.
2. When the rule was released by the
   EEOC, all six of its members (5 Commission members and 1 counsel), were
   President Bush appointees. Today, all six members have been newly appointed or
   re-affirmed by President Obama. RMAC believes that it is time for a Democratic Commission
   to re-examine the EEOC rule to determine if it should be modified or repealed
   to reflect the original intent of ADEA.
3. At the time of the EEOC Rule’s
   conception, the rule was supported by labor unions who bought into corporate
   propaganda that corporations would have to cancel health benefits for all
   employees or face financial ruin unless they were allowed to unload Medicare
   eligible retirees.
4. A comprehensive Q&A document on
   the EEOC Retiree Health Rule is online at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_retireehealthrule.html.

Colorado/RMAC

Discussion of Century Link Changes to AUSWR Benefits

1. CenturyLink bought Qwest earlier in
   2011. In September, CenturyLink announced changes to health benefits for
   Medicare eligible management retirees who retired after 1990. The company is
   dropping the group plan for these retirees and is instead providing them with
   some money in a health reimbursement account to buy Medicare Advantage or
   Medigap plus Medicare D prescription drug insurance on the open market.
2. The transition from the company group
   plan to Medicare plans is being handled very poorly; retirees are confused and
   scared and the fear is many will not succeed in buying the coverage without a
   coverage gap and while still eligible for “guaranteed issue”.
3. The EEOC ruling paved the way for
   this kind of employer action.

Status of 2-page white paper “The Need for Medicare Catastrophic
Coverage”—a shorter, 2-page version of the paper is now available. Barbara Wilcox will send the paper to Carlie
Armstrong. All other RMAC members should deliver the paper to their respective
staff members.

Other

Future of RMAC—John Kotson is resigning as RMAC Chairman
because of health related problems. The group thanked John for his years of
service and vowed to continue the effort. We agree to consider affiliating with
the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN).

Next Meeting—January 27, 2012 at Hazel Floyd’s home.

John Kotson

Barbara Wilcox