Oral

The ability of American workers to retire when they are no longer able to work and still enjoy a decent standard of living is an important value for American working families and a measure of our social progress as a nation. However, in the richest country in the world, retirement security is eroding for the vast majority of American workers as employers increasingly walk away from their obligations to provide health care and retirement benefits for their employees. It will feature a discussion of the relationship between health and income in retirement and the need for a fundamental reform of our health care system to prevent retirement in America from becoming a privilege of only the wealthiest families. It will also feature a discussion of what the Pension Protection Act might mean for workers' retirement prospects. Public and private-sector solutions to the emerging crisis in retirement will be explored.

Session Objectives: 1) Recognize and discuss the relationship between retirement income and our social progress as a nation. 2) Describe and discuss recent trends impacting retirement security for U.S. workers. 3)Describe and discuss how financial crises in certain high-profile industries, like airlines, have imperiled the retirement prospects of hundreds of thousands of workers as companies have abandoned their pension plans. 4) Describe and and discuss the relationship between health and income in retirement. 5) Describe and discuss the importance of access to quality affordable health care in retirement. 6) Describe and discuss the effects of poverty among retirees on nutrition.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing