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A handful of states have passed laws that require certain employers to automatically open retirement plans for employees when they are hired instead of waiting for workers to decide to do so on their own, and about 20 more are considering such laws. Mr. Obama said he wanted to encourage more of these laws to be passed. The president spoke during the sixth White House conference on aging, an event that takes place roughly once a decade. Mr. Obama noted that the conference was particularly well timed because it was being held almost 50 years after legislation was passed creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which provide health care to the elderly and the poor. (Harris,7/13)

The president praised Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and said the programs reaffirmed the greatness of the United States, allowing older Americans who had worked hard to retire independently. He used his grandmother as an example, saying Medicare and Social Security allowed her to continue to live on her own after she had retired and his grandfather died. (Kennedy, 7/13)

President Obama on Monday threw his weight behind California’s bid to provide more workers with retirement savings accounts. ... A few other states, including Illinois, Oregon and Connecticut, are pursuing similar plans. ... The goal is to provide workers with an added retirement benefit beyond Social Security and Medicare. (Peltz, 7/13)