Candidates discuss retiree concerns in forum Thursday

Pensions and healthcare topped the list of concerns Thursday at a candidate forum hosted by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association of Rome-Northwest Georgia.

“All retirees should be concerned about entitlements (they have earned),” said Bob Harrell, NARFE Region III field vice president. “And our health plan. The current administration has tried to butcher it several times.”

Click here to see a link to NARFE position papers about various retiree issues.

Bud Gammon, the Rome Democrat seeking to oust U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, said he would oppose any federal action to cut retirement benefits.

“Four years ago Congress let my company take my pension away and give bonuses to the top 20 people who took us into bankruptcy,” the retired commercial pilot said. “That was one of the core issues that got me stirred up.”

Gammon said he opposes an existing policy that cuts retirement pay if federal retirees start a second federal career.

He also called for stronger efforts to close a coverage gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, and for a change to the law barring the import of cheaper medicines from other “industrialized countries with good safety standards.”

John O’Keefe, deputy district director for Gingrey, said the Congressman “crossed the aisle” to vote against a proposed cut to Medicare physician reimbursements.

“Most Republicans were opposed, but he’s a doctor so he looks at it from the point of view of patients,” O’Keefe said. “A lot of doctors would have stopped seeing patients if the cuts went through.”

Gingrey is a co-sponsor of two NARFE-backed bills, O’Keefe noted.

One would address the Windfall Elimination Provision that cuts Social Security benefits to a segment of federal, state and local government retirees. The other would let retirees pay health premiums with pre-tax income, the same as active employees.

Other candidates attending the NARFE lunch-hour forum were state Reps. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, and Barbara Massey Reece, D-Menlo; Rick D’Arezzo, the Democratic nominee for state House District 14; and Tracy Bennett, who is running for the state Senate District 31 in Bartow County seat as a Democrat.

Democrat Bud Gammon for Congress