NYSUT retirees are making their voices heard as the Obama administration turns its attention to health care.

NYSUT Board member and Election District 51 director Loretta Donlon, along with Jeanette Pietrantoni, the Retiree Council 7 treasurer and editor of the RC 7 newsletter, The Central New Yorker, participated in a recent public forum on health care in Syracuse.

The forum was organized by the health task force of an interfaith coalition, the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse, that will send a transcript to the Health and Human Services Secretary for review, as the new administration develops a national health policy.

"Many of the participants suggested a single-payer system, similar to Canada and other nations," Donlon reported.

"The issue of Americans spending more for health care than other industrialized nations, but receiving less care for each dollar spent, was made several times throughout the evening."

Conference to tackle longterm care issues

The New York State Coalition for the Aging and the Council of Senior Centers & Services of New York will hold a joint conference March 3 in Albany on the need for community-based longterm care.

The Coalition for the Aging's executive director is Joanne Macklin, who is known to many NYSUT retirees in her former role at NYSUT as the executive assistant for the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.

The conference will be held at Empire State Plaza, meeting rooms 4 and 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Registration fees vary; for information, contact the Coalition for the Aging at 518-465-0641 or info@coalitionforaging.org. Details on registration are on the Coalition's Web site at www.coalitionforaging.org.

— Darryl McGrath