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The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2026 GiveBIG 2026 Karen Richter The 2026 GiveBIG campaign will begin on April 28 and will end on May 5. It is the most important fundraiser of the year for the PSARA Education Fund. GiveBIG contributions finance the Education Fund’s educational work, which includes the production and mailing of The Retiree Advocate and additional educational presentations and publications. Like past years, the Executive Boards of PSARA(c4) and the PSARA Education Fund(c3) have challenged our members to collectively match the Executive Boards’ contributions. For the 2026 GiveBIG challenge, our Boards have very generously pledged $27,160. PSARA’s reputation has grown regionally and nationally. We have been invited to share our expertise about Medicare, Social Security, climate and social justice issues, and state legislative issues by a growing number of organizations and individuals. For example, in April, Representative Adam Smith held a roundtable on the privatization of Original Medicare, specifically, the WISeR pilot project. PSARA was the primary resource for information about WISeR, the problems with the program, and efforts that are being made to defund the program. Please see Robby Stern’s article in the April edition of the Advocate for a comprehensive discussion of our work. We hope you can contribute to the PSARA Education Fund this year. Donations can be made on the GiveBIG website from April 28th to May 5th. https://www . wagives.org/donate/PSARA-Education-Fund You can also make a GiveBIG donation through PSARA’s website, www.psara.org , anytime between now and May 5th. Or, you can send a check to PSARA at 321 16th Ave South, Seattle, WA 98144. The Education Fund will receive the full amount of your donation by this method. Just write GiveBIG in the memo line. Thank you for being PSARA members and for your support. Karen Richter is Co-President of PSARA and Vice President of the PSARA Education Fund. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2026 Recognizing Vannetta Molson PSARA member Vanetta Molson, a retired nurse, was honored by the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Association (MMPNO) at their March 11 luncheon. Vanetta was a former member of PSARA's Executive Board and former Treasurer of the PSARA Education Fund. Vanetta was also a member of the Black Panther Party's Seattle chapter, the first chapter organized outside the Bay Area. In the photo, she poses with retired King County Council member and PSARA Executive Board member Larry Gossett. Larry offered a touching testimonial for Vanetta at the luncheon. Named after Mary Mahoney, the first African American graduate nurse in the USA, MMPNO was founded in 1949 with the goals of providing mutual support for African American nurses, and offer-ing scholarships to students pursuing careers in nursing. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents September 2025 Deceit, Resistance, on Social Security’s 90th Birthday Steve Kofahl Thursday, August 14, marked the 90th anniversary of the passage of the Social Security Act. At his Oval Office event, President Trump asserted that the Administration had eliminated the federal taxation of Social Security benefits and improved customer ser- vice at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Both claims are false. His “One Big Beautiful Bill” provides a tax deduction of as much as $6000 for some beneficiaries, but about half of them will still pay taxes on their benefits when the tax deduction offset is considered. The SSA Chief Actuary finds that the loss of Trust Fundincome resulting from this legislation advances the date when the Trust Funds will be depleted by six months, from early 2034 to late 2033. The deportation of undocumented workers may advance the date by another six months, according to some analysts. Trumplied when he previously asserted that undocumented workers receive benefits, and that 235,000 of them had been removedfrom the beneficiary rolls this year. Undocumented workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings, but are ineligible to receive benefits under the Social Security Act. More deportations mean less income to the Trust Funds. The alleged service improvements are a ruse, a product of changes in both SSA field office procedures and the Agency’s displayof service data. Workers have been repeatedly redirected to address high-profile workloads and backlogs, at the expense oftheir regular assigned duties. Field Offices no longer take benefit applications on a walk- in basis. Instead, visitors are scheduled for a future telephone interview that will likely be several months later. The delay is not measured or reflected in public-facingperformance reports, nor is the public harm acknowledged. To make matters worse, SSA launched a flawed 800# chat-box in April. It too-often responds to a different question than the one asked by the caller, fails to route the call to a live agent when requested, and/or terminates the call. Absent a caller’s intent to file and date of contact being documented by SSA, there can be a permanent loss of benefits because there are strict limits on retroactivity. The National Academy of Social Insurance has released an initial report documenting the inherent problems in utilizing artificialintelligence (AI) at the SSA, and continues to study the subject, but SSA Commissioner Bisagnano is committed to expanding its use, no doubt to justify steeper future staff cuts. Increasing the use of AI in making disability determinations at the SSA is aparticular concern, because of accuracy and equity issues. A trained human, who is not pressured to deny an application or appeal, must always be the final disability decision-maker. The American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Social Security Field Operations Employees (AFGE Council 220) led over 50 actions on August 14. It revealed that benefit applications increased 18% between January and May, that in 46 states over 10% of SSA staff was lost in the 12 months ending in March (9% in Washington State), and that more than 30% of offices lost more than 10% of their staff. SSA has shed 7,000 employees, with staffing at a 50-year low. Senators Cassidy (R-LA) and Kaine (D-VA) have proposed creation of a $1.5 Trillion private investment fund over five years that would be placed in escrow for 70 years to “save” Social Security. Treasury Secretary Scott Bes- sent (like Bisagnano, a Social Security Trustee by virtue of office, charged with protecting the Trust Funds), called Trump’s $1,000 tax-deferred accounts for newborns a “backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” We need to make it crystal clear to our elected representatives that we will not tolerate any privatization of our earned Social Security benefits, that Congress should “scrap the cap” on earnings subject to the payroll tax, and that SSA staffing and personalized service must be fully restored ASAP! Steve Kofahl is a former President of AFGE 3937, representing Social Security Administration workers, a member of PSARA's Executive Board, and a Co-Chair of PSARA's Social Security Task Force. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents March 2026 Resisting Authoritarianism - Free Washington Project Cindy Domingo The Trump administration’s systematic attacks on human rights call for the broadest and most united response possible by all who oppose the implementation of Project 2025’s agenda. PSARA heard this call, and, in January, joined with 12 other Washington state organizations to launch the Free Washington Project (FWP). Inspired by other unified efforts such as Free DC, ICE Out of California, Hands Off Chicago, and Bay Rising, FWP brings together grassroots groups, nonprofits, unions, religious organizations, student groups, and anti-intervention organizations to connect and coordinate efforts against authoritarianism, especially to stand against military escalation and the criminalization of protest. Organizing the Resistance In Free Washington Project’s first large public event, the webinar “Organizing the Resistance: Voices from Minnesota” was organized in early February and drew 250 participants. With all eyes on the struggle between the resistance movement and Trump’s militarized ICE forces, FWP sought to learn applicable lessons and build solidarity with the forces that comprise Minnesota’s resistance. Guest speakers from Minnesota included Mark Tilson from Freedom Trainers, Sophie Breen of Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Bernie Burnham and Todd Dahlstrom from Minnesota AFL-CIO, Friendly Vang-Johnson with Friendly Hmong Farms, and Rabbi David Basior who is from Seattle and traveled to Minnesota with 1,000 faith leaders to support the resistance. The speakers’ clear message was that Minnesota’s tremendous response to Trump’s militarized attacks against the people of Minnesota, who are acting in defense of immigrants and want justice for Alex Pretti and Renee Good, was a result of years of the movements there working in coalition. According to Burnham, “We started organizing for a number of things that we felt were good for working people and families, one of those being paid family medical leave. So that goes back a lot of years. Since that time, people have stayed in coalition…It’s labor, community groups, faith groups. You name it… a lot of people stuck together…One of the things that has made this a bit easier [is that] we’ve been in a relationship for a long time.” Breen from MIRAC also noted that the networks that came together after George Floyd’s May, 2020, murder by police reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and contributed to the response to repression in the state. Since the webinar, Tilson and Breen have been contacted by local Seattle groups to assist in rapid response training as Washington groups prepare for a potential uptick in ICE activity. Mission and Goals In addition to building a network of anti-authoritarian groups, Free Washington Project also seeks to build a diverse network that would be multi-racial, multi-sector, and multi-generational to coordinate actions and events by FWP’s member organizations. Through FWP’s website, freewaproject.org , member organizations can share resources, trainings, and announcements to reinforce all efforts of the network at the local, regional, and state levels. A broad network will also protect those most impacted such as LGBTQ-IA+, immigrant, and refugee communities. FWP has been working with One America and NWIRP and others on efforts to protect immigrant communities, since mass deportation continues to be the most visible centerpiece of Trump’s domestic repressive policies. Organizations that want to join Free Washington Project’s work should start by going to the website to see FWP’s complete mission and goals and points of unity. Minnesota’s resistance movement makes it clear that a unified movement with diverse response tactics can force the Trump administration to start removing some of their armed ICE forces. These tactics include rapid response, mass mobilizations that range from local to national, civil disobedience, utilization of social media to override false propaganda and misinformation, general strikes, and pressuring elected officials to protect all people from violent militarized actions. Minnesota’s resistance movement has also forced Congress to begin taking concrete action around ICE. However, it is clear from Alex Pretti’s and Renee Good’s murders and the violence perpetrated in Minnesota by ICE, that ICE must be abolished. ICE cannot be reformed. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents October 2025 DECLINE TO SIGN Don’t Be Fooled! Pam Crone He’s at it again. Multimillionaire Brian Heywood isn’t done yet messing with our rights and values. He's paying to circulate petitions for three new initiatives: 1L 26-001 Restoring the "Parents' Bill of Rights" 1L 26-638 Defending equity in interscholastic sports 1L 26-126 Requiring verification of citizenship for voter registration The first one would allow parents to opt their children out of school classes and activities the parents deem objectionable, prevent their children from seeing books and other educational materials, and violate the privacy rights of their children and potentially interfere with needed medical care and mental health counseling by requiring the parents be notified of such activity. The second would bar students from participating in sports that match their gender identity. Students would have to undergo intrusive tests to "prove" they were "biologically" male or female, whatever that means, in order to play their favorite sport. The third initiative is a voter suppression effort. This one is from the Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh who teamed up with Heywood in 2024. We will do everything in our power in Washington State to ensure that everyone eligible to vote can do so. We weren’t fooled in 2024 so let’s not be fooled this time. PSARA mounted a full on assault on initiatives that would have rolled back the Climate Commitment Act, WA Cares, and our progressive revenue source, the Capital Gains tax. And we won! Voters soundly defeated those initiatives at the ballot box. Once again, these new initiatives would hurt Washingtonians, especially our young people. We are not fooled by these blatant attacks on our transgender community, our teachers, and the privacy rights of our young people. So when you head out shopping this weekend or go to a sporting event, DECLINE TO SIGN . We can nip these harmful initiatives in the bud before they even go to the Legislature. Pam Crone is a retired PSARA lobbyist and the Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents July 2025 Are You Considering Residential Solar? Resources and Tools to Help You Get Started Anne Shields Are There Still Financial Incentives for Installing Solar? Yes! State sales tax exemption: Washington provides a sales tax exemption for solar energy systems, including rooftop solar panels,other materials and their installation. The exemption is available through 2029 and is usually provided through your contractor. You can request a refund if you are charged sales tax on eligible materials. Residential renewable energy tax credit: The federal government first enacted a solar investment tax credit in 2006, which allows people who install solar panels on their homes or businesses to claim a reduction in the income taxes that they would normally pay to the IRS. The amount of this reduction is capped at 30% of the amount invested in the solar array. WA’s Community Solar Program Might Save You Money Olympia Community Solar’s non-profit group purchasing model might reduce your costs and help simplify the installation process. The Solarize program is currently open to enrollment by residents of Island, Mason, Lewis, East King, Skagit, Thurstonand Whatcom counties and the cities of Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Redmond, Sammamish, Kirkland, and Kenmore. What about the Tariffs on Solar Panels? The Trump administration tariffs on solar imports are unlikely to slow the rollout of solar power in the US. Even if it becomes a little more expensive, solar remains one of the cheapest clean energy sources. The good news is that Washington State’s solar panel manufacturing industry is growing rapidly and now supplies many local installers. Where Can I Learn More? The Dept. of Energy online Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar is a great resource for learning the basics of residential solar installation. Olympia Community Solar’s 11-minute video, Five Steps to Going Solar, might also be a useful starting point. These resources and tools will help you get started, but make sure to work with solar installers for custom estimates of how much power your own system would be likely togenerate. Getting Bids and Choosing a Contractor The non-profit Solar Washington recommends getting at least three bids and checking references on all contractors that you decide to consider. Solar WA also recommends finding vetted local installers through the Washington Solar Energy Industries Association (WASEIA). You will be able to find a wide range of reputable, local solar installers through the WASEIA online tool foridentifying installers in your region. Comparing Installation Bids Solar WA offers a detailed list of Questions for Solar Shoppers and advice on comparing bids that you may find useful. Many factors go into an installer’s bid and cost structure, including labor required, the equipment used, the amount of power generated, warranties, and financing options. Overhead costs: Some solar equipment suppliers have high overhead costs, resulting in higher bid amounts. However, homeowners should be wary of bids significantly lower than other bids, as this may signal that an installer is cutting corners. Equipment costs: The number, type and quality of panels installed can be a significant factor in the estimates you receive. Different types of solar panels produce varying amounts of electricity, and some panels last longer than others. Warranties and production guarantees : Many installers provide warranties, but what those warranties include and do not include will vary. Generally, higher solar bids may include better warranties that could save you money in the long run. Some companies provide additional guarantees, such as production guarantees and coverage for any potential damage to your roof. When reviewing your bids, you should always read through warranty information carefully and check if the information you receive is clear about its coverage, process, and coverage amounts. Permits and policies: Your bids should include state or local permit costs for solar panel installation or usage. Be sure to review and compare these costs across all your bids. Anne Shields is a member of PSARA's Climate and Environmental Justice Committee and Third Act Washington. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2026 Why Responsible Investing Matters for Retirees—and Our Future Laila Salib For retirees, few things matter more than stability: secure pensions, reliable Social Security and Medicare, and an economy healthy enough to support future generations. These goals are directly connected to how our public funds are invested—and they can be undermined by investments in harmful industries. The Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) currently invests in dozens of companies whose practices pose risks to environmental health, workers’ rights, human rights, and long-term public well-being. Investments in the “war economy” also strengthen corporations that lobby Congress for ever-larger Pentagon budgets. The result is a vicious cycle: war spending grows, social programs shrink, and retirees pay the price. Large weapons manufacturers illustrate the problem clearly. Beyond producing instruments of war, these companies have caused significant environmental harm. In the early 2000s, Northrop Grumman alone was linked to more than 20 EPA Superfund sites. Weapons production is resource-intensive, carbon-heavy, and often exempt from environmental standards applied to other industries. The resulting toxic waste, groundwater contamination, and long-term health risks raise public healthcare costs and strain Medicare and other social supports. Labor practices are another concern. Despite receiving billions in public contracts, major weapons manufacturers have histories of union-busting, outsourcing, and wage suppression. A 2020 Government Accountability Office report found that more than 700 defense contractors were cited for willful or repeated safety, health, or fair-labor violations between 2015 and 2019. Weak labor standards erode the economic foundation that Social Security and Medicare depend upon. These corporations also wield enormous political influence. Weapons manufacturers rank among the most powerful lobbying forces in Congress, helping sustain rising military budgets even as lawmakers claim there is “not enough money” for Social Security, Medicare, affordable housing, or elder care. Every dollar unnecessarily spent on weapons is a dollar not invested in the well-being of seniors, families, and communities at home. International conflicts may feel distant, but investment decisions connect us directly to their consequences. For more than two years, Palestinians have endured devastating civilian harm and displacement. Over the past two years alone, more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 169,000 injured in Gaza. The human costs of investments in companies tied to serious human-rights violations and complicit in genocide are real—and these reverberate here at home. Technologies developed and tested in military contexts abroad, such as mass surveillance and predictive policing tools, are increasingly used by US agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For example, ICE contracts with Palantir, a company whose software is used with impunity by the Israeli military against civilians. What is deployed overseas does not stay overseas. The effects on our communities are devastating. Washington for Peace and Justice (WA4PJ), alongside Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), is asking pension holders to join the “Cut Ties with Genocide” coalition. Advocates can learn more or sign on at cut-ties.org . WA4PJ and JVP are also supporting anticipated legislation by Representative Farivar that would require WSIB to adopt a responsible investment frame-work—one that weighs environmental damage, labor practices, and social risk alongside financial returns. This approach does not sacrifice performance; research consistently shows that responsible investing can reduce long-term risk and improve stability in funds. As Jeff Johnson noted in last month’s PSARA newsletter, “when a respected fund like WSIB shifts away from harmful investments, it sends a powerful signal to other institutional investors." You can learn more and organizations can sign on at futures-wa.org . Retirees understand better than most that long-term thinking matters. Supporting responsible investment standards is a practical, fiscally sound step toward protecting pensions, strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and leaving a healthier, more stable world for generations to come. For these reasons, supporting this future bill is not only an ethical choice—it is a smart investment in our collective future. Laila Saliba is Treasurer of the PSARA Education Fund and an activist with Washington for Peace and Justice, in coalition with Jewish Voice for Peace. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents October 2025 View From the Screen: A Review of Sorry, Baby Randy Joseph Spoilers… always spoilers. This is not a cozy film but a story wishing for comfort and protection, dreaming of cozy and safe in a world where bad things happen. Where warm knitted sweaters and blankets might really protect us. Sorry, Baby - a film written and directed by the extraordinary Eva Victor, takes place over 3 years, portraying a deep friendship between two PhD students…Agnes (played by Eva Victor) and Lydie (played by Naomi Ackie) – and how Agnes survives if not heals from this bad thing that happens to her. The story is an intense, nuanced, layered character study of Agnes during a terrible time of her life and yet it manages to mix it up with lovely and funny moments. Please don’t be afraid of the sad subject matter. Eva Victor would want us to watch it and not be afraid. It’s life – stick with her. Watch out as well for lots of interesting, relevant literary references and books being read on screen (e.g., the character Milkman from Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon; Giovonni’s Room by James Baldwin; Lolita and more! Even a clip of the movie 12 Angry Men…). Our protagonist Agnes is a star PhD candidate in the Literature Department of a small New England University who lives with her best friend in an old white clapboard house isolated in the woods. They are like 4th grade best friends – they study together, eat together, take baths together - jump up and down with joy for each other – hurt for each other – sacrifice for each other. Agnes comes home late one night not herself…clearly wrecked. Their beloved and admired mentor – novelist and Professor Preston Decker -– has sexually assaulted her. She tells Lydie the story blow by blow. Lydie listens carefully and deeply and puts her in a hot bath and listens more. The rest of the film is about sadness and survival, about healing and not ever healing – loneliness and anger and loss. About the power of love and friendship no matter what. The day after the assault Decker resigns his position and leaves town. She reports the rape to the University. They refuse to investigate because he doesn’t work there anymore. Agnes doesn’t want to call the police. She says she wants him to be a person that wouldn’t do that. If she has him arrested, he would just be a person in prison who does that. The loss of the relationship they had developed over years is profound. In one minute, she loses the person she thought was a protector, mentor, cheerleader and in his place gains a rapist. A few years later she tells a colleague that Decker must have hated her. Because if you like a person, if you respect a person then there is a certain way you treat them. Like a person. The assault from a trusted professor who encouraged her - praised her to the University always - calls her whole academic career into question. Was she really the “extraordinary” writer he said she was? Did she really deserve her PhD? After she is granted her degree, the University offers Agnes Decker’s teaching position and his very office. Although she is thrilled, she also questions whether she earned this or not. Was his recommendation just to keep her quiet? Did the school offer her the job for the same reason? Should she enjoy and prosper in the light-filled office that was formerly his or should she burn it down? Life goes on as it does. She teaches and we get a glimpse of her competency and joy in literature and the teaching of it. We see her tentative relationship with a sweet neighbor. And we see her struggle to connect and be able to picture a future with “what everyone wants.” She can’t see past the sadness. Lydie falls in love – marries and moves to another city. A serious loss. Agnes stays home. Same home. Same school. Lydie worries about Agnes. “Do you ever leave the house?” Their slightly tongue-in-cheek play continues… “Please don’t die,” she says. Agnes responds, "You please don't die." Translation: I love you so much. And in reply I love YOU so much. That never changes. One day 3 years later Agnes falls apart after a jealous colleague Natasha confronts Agnes and spews that Agnes was Decker’s favorite. That even though she, Natasha, had 5-minute sex with Decker … even so - he never read her own dissertation. Agnes drives a long way out of town, sobbing and unable to think or even breathe. She stops at a roadside sandwich shop with her windows up crying. The owner comes out – a middle-aged man with sadnesses of his own – says he knows someone with anxiety attacks and would she open the window and breathe with him please. They sit outside his shop on a curb and talk together about bad things. (One of the best scenes in the movie.) He reassures her that 3 years from a bad thing isn’t very long at all. Time does not heal all. Lydie, wife and baby come to visit Agnes. Agnes gets alone time with the baby. Her face is full of love for this baby. She tells her all the things she wished people would have said to her. She holds the baby up to her face and tells her how sorry she is that bad things will happen to her. Sorry, Baby. She hopes they won’t, but they probably will. She will be there for her, she says. She will listen and not be scared. “You can tell me any bad thought, and I will say yes, I have had that thought 10 times worse. You can tell me you want to kill yourself and I will say, yes, I know that feeling. I will be there for you baby no matter what.” Randy Joseph is a member of PSARA. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents October 2025 Sanders and Wyden Introduce “Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act” Steve Kofahl Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy Ranking Member Bernie Sanders introduced this legislation on September 10. A bill number is not yet assigned. They were joined by 28 original Senate co-sponsors, including Senator Murray, none of them Republicans. Senator Cantwell (Finance Committee) has not yet signed-on, so please give her office a call. The legislation is endorsed by Social Security Works; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; Alliance for Retired Americans; National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare; and 7 other organizations. The 40-page bill is designed to reverse staff and service cuts at the Social Security Administration (SSA), and respond to Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) activity at the SSA, thereby making it much easier for the public to receive their earned benefits, and protecting sensitive personal information. It consists of 12 sections. Section 1 states that the bill would amend the Social Security Act to permanently appropriate funding for the administrative expenses of the SSA, and for other purposes. Section 2 exempts the SSA from the jurisdiction of DOGE and certain Trump executive orders. Section 3 prohibits access to beneficiary data systems by political appointees and special government employees, except for those appointed to or employed by the SSA. Violators can be subject to criminal and civil penalties. The Comptroller of the U.S. is tasked with reporting to the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees. Section 4 requires consent of SSA employees for transfers from the competitive civil service to excepted (at-will) employment. It requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to consent to such transfers, and to report to Congress. Section 5 prohibits living individuals from being added to SSA’s Death Master File. Section 6 prohibits SSA from reducing the numbers of field offices and hearing offices below the January 1, 2025 numbers. SSA must maintain meaningful and efficient access to live toll-free number agents. Staff- ing reductions below 2024 levels are prohibited. Section 7 re-establishes SSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity; the Office of Transformation; and the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight. Section 8 permanently funds SSA administration of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and parts of Medicare at the level of 1.2% of Social Security benefits payable per year. It excludes benefit and administrative costs from discretionary spending caps and the 1974 Congressional Budget Act. Section 9 provides for up to $2 billion in Treasury funds not otherwise appropriated to be devoted to increasing awareness of SSI eligibility for disabled children, reducing disability claims and appeals backlogs, improving SSA technology and infrastructure, and offering an online SSI application. Section 10 reduces overpayment withholding to 10% of a monthly benefit for overpayment decisions made after March 25, 2024. Section 11 provides that states may receive payments from the SSA Commissioner to protect the legal rights of disabled applicants and recipients. Section 12 establishes at least 10 annual Social Security Assistance and Representation Grants over the next 5 years to assist applicants and benefit recipients. Steve Kofahl is a retired President of AFGE 3937, representing Social Security workers, and a member of PSARA's Ecutive Board < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents September 2025 Rest, Recharge, Find Joy in Our PSARA Community and Resist Facism! In-Person Concert Featuring Janet Stecher, Mark Aalfs, and Peter Costantini Saturday, October 25th We are delighted to welcome back by popular demand PSARA members Janet, Mark, and Peter on October 25th from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. The concert will be held in the Beaumont Room of the Bay Vista Residential Tower on the sixth floor, 2821 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121. Appetizers and sparkling waters will be provided. Bring a dish to share if you would like. Janet, Mark, and Peter have played for us over the years and will once again lead us in song with some of our favorite tunes from the labor, peace, civil rights, and climate justice movements. Janet Stecher has been a figure in topical music in Seattle through her participation in the singing group Shays’ Rebellion, and in the duo Rebel Voices, with Susan Lewis. She conduct- ed the Seattle Labor Chorus since its founding in 1997 to 2019. She was also a longtime Board Member of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association. Janet was a member of Musicians Local 76-493, and a recipient of the Joe Hill Award, granted by the Labor Heritage Foundation of Washington, DC. The award, named after labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill, is a lifetime achievement award for persons who have contributed to the successful integration of arts and culture in the labor movement. It is granted to persons based on their dedication, participation, and promotion of labor, labor arts, culture, organizing, and/or history. Previous recipients include artists Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, Anne Feeney, and labor organizer Cesar Chavez. Mark was active in the late 1970s, volunteering to support the United Farmworkers. He spent four decades working in the energy industry, managing green power and green building programs. His greatest satisfaction has been working with the large community of energy efficiency and renewable energy workers and citizens of the Pacific Northwest to achieve historic levels of energy efficiency and renewable energy acquisition. For Mark, music has been a part of his life, always inspiring, energizing, and encouraging others to stand together for our social fabric and democracy. Peter arrived in Seattle from the East Coast in 1973. He Joined Mark and other bright lights of the Seattle protest music scene. He spent 20 years working construction and was active in two locals of the Laborers International Union. He was a founding member of the Seattle Tenants Union and sat on the executive board of the National Tenants Union. Peter spent most of his life involved with the immigrant justice movement, spent 20 years in the software industry, and at the same time was a journalist producing several specials on Mexico and Nicaragua for MSNBC News and later for Inter Press Service, a Roma-based non-profit newswire. We are joyful our PSARA family can be together again to sing along with Janet, Peter, and Mark and recharge ourselves to continue our fight against fascism. For more information, watch for PSARA email updates. If you don't get regular emails from PSARA, please email organizer@psara.org to get on our email list. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 We Want to Hear From You! Tell Us About your Experiences with Social Security Have you experienced unacceptably bad results when contacting (or trying to contact) the Social SecurityAdministration (SSA)? Years of underfunding by Congress has left the Agency with 57,000 employees, the lowest staffing in 50 years. At least7,000 more are being cut right now. Offices are being closed. Hold times on the toll-free number are way too long, andthe MySSA website has been crashing. One million disability claims and appeals await decisions, processing times have tripled, and 30,000 applicants die each year while waiting for a final decision. PSARA wants to share powerful personalstories about degraded services and harm to workers and their families with our elected repre- sentatives and/or the press. At the same time, we want to hear from you about what SSA programs and services mean to you and to your family, andwhat would happen if they were lost or further eroded. Retirees, disabled individuals, their spouses and dependent chil- dren, and surviving spouses and children in the event of a worker’s death, all rely on timely and compassionateservice delivery. The same is true for clients who apply for Medicare and Supplemental Security Income. Incomeverifications needed to qualify for other programs, and referrals to these providers, are also vitally impor- tant. Help us save Social Security and restore service delivery. Please share your personal stories with organizer@psara.org . < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents December 2025 Letter from State Medical Associations: "The WISeR Model expands the burdensome prior authorization processes that physicians already experience in Medicare Advantage" October 31, 2025 Dr. Mehmet Oz Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244 Dear Dr. Oz, On behalf of the undersigned state medical associations, we write to raise concerns about the prior authorization (PA) pilot under the WISeR model as it relates to Medicare. While our organizations appreciate the aim of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase accountability, value in healthcare delivery for Medicare beneficiaries, and reduce spending on services deemed low-value or wasteful, we believe the current design of this pilot risks unintended consequences including delayed care, reduced access, and increased burdens on both patients and physicians. Moreover, we are deeply concerned by both the lack of operational details released to date and the pace at which CMS is advancing a program of this magnitude, particularly one that shifts critical decisions away from physicians and patients – without sufficient transparency, stakeholder input, or evidence it will improve patient care. Administrative burden placing barriers to patient access Our organizations are concerned that the WISeR Model expands the burdensome PA processes that physicians already experience in Medicare Advantage (MA) and the commercial insurance markets into Traditional Medicare. The demonstration represents significant departures from current standards and seems to conflict with CMS’ recent, highly laudable achievement of securing a commitment from the health insurance industry to fix the broken PA process, to include reducing the overall volume of PA requirements. PA has consistently been identified by physicians as one of the most burdensome and disruptive administrative requirements they face in providing quality care to patients. In a 2024 American Medical Association survey, 93 percent of physicians reported that PA causes care delays, 82 percent indicated that the process can lead to treatment abandonment, and an alarming 29 percent said that PA had led to a serious adverse event (hospitalization, disability, or even death) for a patient in their care. Beyond the risk for patient harm, expansion of PA requirements under the WISeR model will exacerbate the administrative burdens already associated with PA. Surveyed physicians reported major burdens associated with this process, with practices completing an average of 39 PAs per physician, per week. This significant workload requires practices to hire additional personnel, with 40 percent of the surveyed physicians reporting that their practice employs staff who work exclusively on PA. Growing evidence linking practice burdens to professional burnout for physicians and other health care professionals underscores the importance of addressing administrative workloads. The introduction of such PA protocols in Traditional Medicare also risks creating unnecessary delays in patient care, increasing practice expenses, and diverting time and resources away from direct patient care. Our organizations recognize that CMS intends to use artificial intelligence and machine learning tools in the WISeR Model to help identify potentially unnecessary services more efficiently and consistently than manual reviews alone. We appreciate that technological advances can appropriately create efficiencies when applied responsibly and transparently. However, reliance on AI and other automated tools raise significant risks if not governed properly. We are also concerned that the vendor incentive structure within the WISeR Model could result in excessive denials motivated more by the potential for vendor profit than by fair and balanced clinical judgment. When third-party entities are paid based on the volume of denied services, there is a clear risk that care that is medically necessary for certain patients will be inappropriately denied in pursuit of savings. Physicians are committed to delivering high-quality, evidence-based care to Medicare beneficiaries. However, the prior authorization pilot risks creating barriers to care, undermining patient outcomes, and imposing unsustainable administrative demands on practices. We respectfully urge CMS to cease implementation and work collaboratively with stakeholders to design payment processes that protect the Medicare Trust Fund while achieving value, without jeopardizing patient access. Sincerely, James Jameson, MD President, Arizona State Medical Association John Bastulli, MD, FASA President, Ohio State Medical Association Bridget Bush, MD, FASA President, Washington State Medical Association Peter Blumenthal, MD President, Medical Society of New Jersey Sumit Nanda, MD President, Oklahoma State Medical Association < Back to Table of Contents