CAREGIVERS USA NEWS

Vol. I, No. 22
April 7, 2003

HOUSE PANELS DERIDES FDA IMPORT CRACKDOWN
A new House panel administered a bitter pill to the Food and Drug Administration, charging its crackdown on individual drug imports from Canada was "scaring hell out of seniors." Committee Chair Dan Burton (R-IN) said the FDA should be encouraging consumers to seek out lower drug prices in Canada and said he will "relentlessly champion the issue." Meanwhile, the Alliance for Retired Amricans says it will start its "Rx Express" bus trips to Canada next month, a move that's seen as a direct challenge to the FDA.

MEDICARE THRIFTIER THAN PRIVATE INSURANCE
A new study finds that Medicare has been tighter with a dime than private health insurers over the last few decades. The analysis reveals that per-enrollee Medicare spending grew at an average of 9.6 percent per year from 1970 to 2000 -- slower than the 11.1 percent average annual growth rate found for private health insurers.

BUDGET CUTS HIT HOME IN CALIFORNIA CAPITAL
Frail seniors, needy children and battered women are among those most threatened by the latest round of budget cuts sweeping cities, counties and states nationwide. Case in point: Sacramento County, California, seeking to slash $24 million from such community programs as senior centers, homeless shelters and home visitation programs.

SSI IS 30 YEARS OLD
Thirty years ago, a federal bureau was set up to oversee the creation of a new program Congress had conceived one year earlier. The name of the program was Supplemental Security Income, known by many today as SSI. This was the beginning of a vital program, now administered by the Social Security Administration, which, for decades, has been providing payments to millions of people who have low incomes, few assets, and who have disabilities or are age 65 or older. The SSI program today is making payments to more than six and a half million people.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/notices/supplemental-security-income/