As 2009 draws to a close, ProtectSeniors.Org would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you - our dedicated grassroots advocates - for all you've done this year to advance our goal of saving Retiree Health Care.
You wrote almost 30,000 e-mails to Congress and President Obama, and had 34 Opinion-Editorials and 31 Letters to the Editor placed in publications all across the country.
Your efforts, combined with the on-the-ground lobbying of our Washington, D.C., team, resulted in 56 bi-partisan co-sponsors of H.R. 1322, the Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act, and most importantly, the inclusion of protections for retirees into the House of Representatives' Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3962).
The Year 2010 will be a significant year for retirees as the Health Care showdown continues.
ProtectSeniors.Org will continue to fight to keep our language in the Health Care Reform Bill and will keep working on alternative fronts to ensure that retirees are protected - period.
As we continue to encourage you to contact your Members of Congress and President Obama, in closing, we want to wish you all the joys of the holidays and the happiest of New Years!
(Organization Background: ProtectSeniors.Org was formed by Jim Casey, a Verizon retiree and 9-year board member of the Association of Bell Tell Retirees to concentrate on one issue: Passage of legislation that will make it illegal for a corporation to take away the Health Benefits earned by their retirees, which were promised in lieu of salary or hourly wages, and vacations. ProtectSeniors.Org was created to help protect retirees from the robbery of earned benefits, which seriously jeopardizes their financial security. Since Retiree Health Care Issues have been largely ignored by Congress, ProtectSeniors.Org has helped lead the charge to see that the Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act (H.R. 1322 in the 110th Congress) gets passed. It is essential that protections, similar to those afforded by ERISA for pensions, be put in place to protect promised Health Care Benefits.)
