This letter will go to Senators Cantwell and Murray; Representative Jayapal; Insurance Commissioner Kudurer; 46th District Senator Valdez and Representatives Pollet and Farivar.

Backgound of the letter: PSARA members Robby Stern and Anne Watanabe gave an excellent presentation to Aljoya Residents on the background and current threats to Medicare. The residents wanted a method to express their opposition to WISeR. One suggestion was for everyone to send a letter in opposition to their elected officials. Someone else suggested we all sign on to one letter and send it as a group of residents. Elaine Berman (AFT-NY Re- tired) and Susan Levy (AFT-WA Retired) drafted the letter and collected statements of agreement. And with the help of many other residents we were able to move forward and send this letter:

We are some of the over 170 residents at Aljoya Thornton Place a senior living community located in the Northgate Area of Seattle (450 NE 100 St). We are all on Medicare and are deeply concerned about the rising costs and limited availability of our health care. Specifically, we want to keep and improve Medicare for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

We have recently learned about a trial project by CMMS to expand prior authorization requirements for Traditional Medicare through their newly proposed “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model" be- ginning next year. Washington will be one of the pilot states. We are strongly opposed to this potential erosion of Medicare benefits, the addition of private for-profit firms to our basic Medicare program, the possible increase in pre-authorization denials of medically necessary services in the interest of profits and possible increased cost to us and the Medicare Trust Fund. 

We urge you to oppose this pilot program right now. Medicare works well and we don’t want to turn it over to more for profit businesses. Money should go, as it was intended, to provide health care for seniors...not to business profits.

Will you support us and let everyone in your political orbit know that you are opposed to WISeR and ask them to join in the opposition to WISeR? We at Aljoya are a politically active community and have been picketing at the corner of NE 100 and 5th Ave NE. almost every Friday afternoon against a lot of the new administration’s anti- humane policies.

This newest WISeR program is an immediate threat to our health and ability to live an active life. Please work to get the trial program cancelled BE- FORE it is started.

Thanks for your consideration. Do come and join us some Friday at our 3:30 demonstration.