Category: Repeal

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Healthcare ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Talks Of ObamaCare Repeal Hurting Republican Rebranding Efforts

Republicans are in the midst of a vast re-branding effort. They have looked at the results of the 2008 and 2012 elections and have decided that the American people are correct – their policies are as popular as trickle down economics, and Americans are not buying those policies anymore.

The obvious next move for Republicans would be to dump the failed policies of yesterday and adopt policies that a majority of the American people want. What people want is health care; and after President Obama signed the affordable healthcare law in his first term, the American people voted overwhelmingly for him in 2012 guaranteeing him a second term.

But Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, are promising the American people that their cherished healthcare will be repealed. It is that stubbornness and their failure to accept the will of the people that is setting the foundation for more lost elections in the future.

I’m not complaining.

The LA Times reports on how Latinos, one of the fastest growing minority group, is responding to Republicans talk of health care repeal.

As Republican leaders try to woo Latino voters with a new openness to legal status for the nation’s illegal immigrants, the party remains at odds with America’s fastest-growing ethnic community on another key issue: healthcare.

Latinos, who have the lowest rates of health coverage in the country, are among the strongest backers of President Obama’s health care law. In a recent national poll, supporters outnumbered detractors by more than 2 to 1. Surveys show that Latinos overwhelmingly see guaranteeing health care as a core government responsibility.

Yet congressional Republicans continue to make repeal of the 2010 Affordable Care Act a top agenda item and have renewed calls for deep cuts in health programs such as Medicaid which are very popular with Latinos.

“Obamacare is a colossal mistake for our country,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said recently in a speech on the Senate floor. “It needs to be pulled out by its roots.”

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Mitch McConnell ObamaCare Politics Repeal

All Three Branches Of Government Approved ObamaCare – Republicans Promise Repeal

So ObamaCare was passed by the United States Senate, it was approved by the House of Representatives, it was signed into law by the President of The United States, and the case was adjudicated by The United States Supreme Court. All three branches of government approved of the law.

ObamaCare is now being implemented throughout the land. But Republicans in Congress are still wagering their fruitless battle lying to their followers by promising to repeal it.

Earlier in the week, Paul Ryan wrote a budget calling for the repeal of ObamaCare. His budget will be expected to perform a mystifying leap of faith, because while it calls for the repeal of ObamaCare, Ryan’s budget can only be balanced using funds that ObamaCare is saving the nation.

And now Mitch McConnell, using his CPAC speech, McConnell is promising to repeal ObamaCare.

Md. — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is vowing to repeal President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care law.

McConnell spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference next to a tower of 20,000 pages of health care rules and regulations. He calls it a “monument to liberalism” and says Republicans will not back down from the fight.

McConnell faces re-election next year. He says Republicans need to rebound from election losses last year and, quote, “punch back.” He says Democrats haven’t had a new idea, quote, “since the days of the Studebaker.”

He compares the possibility of Democrats nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton or Joe Biden for president in 2016 to, quote, a “rerun of ‘The Golden Girls.'”

After 34 tries at Repeal, Republican voters are still being fooled into thinking that the 35th time will be the charm. And the sad part of all this is, these unfortunate voters who apparently depend only on Fox for news, continue believing the empty rhetoric from their leaders.

 

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Healthcare ObamaCare Repeal

New Study – If Republicans Repeal ObamaCare Seniors Would Pay More

The report was done by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among other findings, the report says;

A number of Republican proposals to repeal the 2010 health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), include the elimination of the law’s Medicare provisions. This Data Note reviews the impact of repealing those provisions for Medicare beneficiaries and program spending.

If the ACA was repealed, Medicare spending would increase by an additional $716 billion over 10 years, Medicare’s hospital trust fund would be projected to be insolvent beginning four years from now, in 2016, eight years earlier than current projections, and many beneficiaries could see increases in premiums and costs for other services.

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ObamaCare Politics Repeal

CBO – ObamaCare Reduces The Deficit, Repealing It Increases The Deficit By $109 Billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation’s huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said Tuesday, supporting Obama’s contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

About 3 million fewer uninsured people will gain health coverage because of last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting states more leeway, and that will cut the federal costs by $84 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said in the biggest changes from earlier estimates.

Republicans have insisted that “Obamacare” will actually raise deficits — by “trillions,” according to presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But that’s not so, the budget office said.

The office gave no updated estimate for total deficit reductions from the law, approved by Congress and signed by Obama in 2010. But it did estimate that Republican legislation to repeal the overhaul — passed recently by the House — would itself boost the deficit by $109 billion from 2013 to 2022.

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fail ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Republicans Fall Short, Way Short Of Their Health Care Promises

Remember when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act also known these days as “ObamaCare” into law? Republicans all over this nation went wild, promising to the American people that they would “repeal and replace” the law. Well, we’ve seen multiple attempts – 33 so far, but whose counting – to “repeal” the law, but what happened to the “replace?”

Apparently, replacing is not that important. As a matter of fact, it is not even the issue.

From Politico: Even as they cheer their “Obamacare” repeal vote, here’s a reality check: House Republicans have done next to nothing they promised they would when it comes to health care.

Sure, they’ve voted to kill parts of President Barack Obama’s law more than 30 times, slashing funding, using the votes as red meat to rally the base — even squeezing some into law.

But they’ve fallen short of what they promised the American people they would do when it comes to actual health care policy.

Flash back to the campaign promises of 2010: GOP leadership told voters they would “enact medical liability reform,” allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, expand health savings accounts, “ensure access for patients with pre-existing conditions” and “permanently prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion.”

Eighteen months after taking the majority, they’ve passed only two of those: an abortion bill and liability legislation.

Republican leaders have passed a resolution asking committees to draft a replacement for the Obama health care law, but don’t look for any thick, comprehensive proposals; they don’t exist.

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Healthcare Repeal

Thanks ObamaCare – Over 6 Million Young Adults Insured, And Counting…

Even though much of the Affordable Care Act does not go into effect until 2014, conservatives insist the bill is making things worse for Americans. But a new study shows that one implemented provision of the ACA is already providing millions of young Americans with health insurance.

According to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, 6.6 million young adults have signed up for coverage through their parents’ health insurance plans. Under the ACA provision, young people can now stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26. About half of the 19-to-25 year-olds interviewed for the study reported opting in to their parents’ plans between November 2010 and November 2011.

Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote college presidents and student organizations urging them to remind students they can stay on their parents’ plans after graduation. “Now, graduating students are free to make career choices based on what they want to do, not where they can get health insurance,” they wrote.

[Think Progress]

But according to Republicans, giving Americans life saving health care is obviously not a good thing. They are in the process of Repealing the President’s Health Care Reform Law, which will result in 6.6 million young adults dropped from insurance policies all over this country. And for those seniors who are now saving money on their prescription drugs by having the donut hole closed? Republicans think you should spend more and if you can’t afford it, then just die already.

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Health Care ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Health Care Spending at Slowest Pace in More Than 50 Years

The New York Times is reporting that the growth of health spending has slowed substantially in the last few years, surprising experts and offering some fuel for optimism about the federal government’s long-term fiscal performance.

Much of the slowdown is because of the recession, and thus not unexpected, health experts say. But some of it seems to be attributable to changing behavior by consumers and providers of health care – meaning that the lower rates of growth might persist even as the economy picks up.

Because Medicare and Medicaid are two of the largest contributors to the country’s long-term debts, slower growth in health costs could reduce the pressure for enormous spending cuts or tax increases.

In 2009 and 2010, total nationwide health care spending grew less than 4 percent per year, the slowest annual pace in more than five decades, according to the latest numbers from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. After years of taking up a growing share of economic activity, health spending held steady in 2010, at 17.9 percent of the gross domestic product.

The growth rate mostly slowed as millions of Americans lost insurance coverage along with their jobs. Worried about job security, others may have feared taking time off work for doctor’s visits or surgical procedures, or skipped nonurgent care when money was tight.

Still, the slowdown was sharper than health economists expected, and a broad, bipartisan range of academics, hospital administrators and policy experts has started to wonder if what had seemed impossible might be happening – if doctors and patients have begun to change their behavior in ways that bend the so-called cost curve.

If so, it was happening just as the new health care law was coming into force, and before the Supreme Court could weigh in on it or the voters could pronounce their own verdict at the polls.

Source: The New York Times

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Health Care Nancy Pelosi Politics Repeal

Nancy Pelosi Predicts Health Care will Survive Supreme Court

In a vote of 6 to 3, the Supreme Court will uphold President Obama’s healthcare reform law, the top House Democrat predicted this week.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she’d respect whatever the high court decides, but forecasts the verdict would fall for the Democrats.

“I’m predicting 6 to 3 in favor,” Pelosi said during a long interview Tuesday with The Paley Center for Media in New York City, without specifying which justices would rule on which side.

The detailed prediction is something of a change for Pelosi, who has long said the Democrats’ reform law is “ironclad” constitutionally, but has also warned that speculation about Supreme Court decisions is just that — speculation.

Source: The Hill

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Politics Repeal

President Obama Confident Supreme Court will Uphold the Affordable Care Act

While the Judges on the Supreme Court lose sleep over the upcoming health-care decision – they’re not really losing sleep. We already have a pretty good idea what this historically activist court will do – President Obama chimed in today for the first time with his opinion on what he believe the Court will do.

“Ultimately, I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress,” Obama said at a news conference with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

Conservative leaders say the law, which once fully implemented will require Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty, was an overreach by Obama and the Congress that passed it.

The president sought to turn that argument around, calling a potential rejection by the court an overreach of its own.

“And I’d just remind conservative commentators that, for years, what we have heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism, or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law,” Obama said.

“Well, this is a good example, and I’m pretty confident that this court will recognize that and not take that step,” he said.

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health care law Politics Repeal

Here are Five Ways the Health Care law Helps Young Adults

Republicans have been on a successful campaign to repeal the Affordable Health Care Law, the signature piece of legislation passed by the Obama administration. They have managed to bring their case all the way to the Supreme Court and now a decision on the future of the law is expected sometime in June.

But one thing Republicans cannot deny – although they will try – is the immediate help the law is bring to both Seniors and young adults. Listed below are just some of the benefits young adults are presently experiencing because of the Affordable Health Care Law.

  1. Young adults can stay on their parent’s health insurance up to the age of 26. This is the case even if they’re married or live on their own. This provision resulted in 2.5 million young people gaining coverage. For young adults, this new protection means that they will have the freedom to make career choices based on what they want to do, not on where they can get health insurance. And for parents, it means they can breathe a little easier knowing their children are covered.
  2. The law offers free prevention benefits that keep people healthy. Now, young adults can receive recommended preventive  services, like flu shots, HIV and cancer screenings, contraceptive counseling and FDA-approved birth control, with no cost sharing. Visit  www.healthcare.gov/prevention for a full list of services and plan dates.
  3. Coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. For people who have been uninsured for six months and can’t buy private insurance because of a pre-existing condition, they may be able to join the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan. And under the new law, no plan can deny coverage to people under age 19 because of a pre-existing condition. To find out about plans available in your State, please visithttp://www.pcip.gov.
  4. Insurers cannot put limits on coverage. In the past, some people with cancer or other chronic illnesses ran out of insurance coverage because their health care expenses reached a dollar limit imposed by their insurance company. Under the health care law, insurers can no longer impose lifetime dollar limits on essential health benefits and annual limits are being phased out by 2014. Also, insurance companies can no longer drop people when they get sick due to a mistake you made on your application.
  5. Starting in 2014, there will be more options through the Affordable Care Act for coverage for young adults. New Affordable Insurance Exchanges, tax credits and the improvements to Medicaid will result in at least 30 million more insured people, including as many as 10 million young adults. For young adults, lacking affordable health care will soon become a thing of the past.
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Politics Repeal

Things I Know – The Health Care Law will be Upheld By the Supreme Court

I know that the Affordable Care Act will be upheld by the Supreme Court.

How do I know this?

Because before it was a good Democratic idea it was a good Republican idea. I’m sure the GOP vetted the law as an alternative to the Clinton health care plan. I’m sure that Mitt Romney and his attorneys vetted their Massachusetts plan before they proposed, passed and signed it. I also know that the Obama Administration is not “rolling the dice” on the law in the months just before the election. They have reasonable, rational motives in doing so because they know that the law, if the court relies on precedent, will be upheld.

I know that the Tim Tebow trade will end up to be a disaster for the Jets, and that the entire nation, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa will enjoy watching the nuclear meltdown that will occur next season.

How do I know this?

The team just signed Mark Sánchez to a contract extension and has now traded for another, more charismatic player who manages to confound the football experts with his unorthodox style and steely determination. The Jets have also said that Tebow will be involved in the offense during the season. What other backup quarterback gets that kind of promise? Answer: A quarterback who will be given every available chance to take the job from the starter. All Mark Sanchez has to do, assuming he keeps his job coming out of training camp, is to throw a couple of interceptions or lead the team to two first half field goals (only) in the season opener, and you can bet that everyone from Billy Graham, Jr. on down to the local church ladies will be calling for his head. And St. Tim will be ready. This won’t be a season; it will be a reality show. As a triumphant Giants fan, I can’t wait.

I know that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. So do you. So does the general media. So does the right wing media. So does Intrade. So do the Vegas odds-makers.

How do I know this?

Mitt is the only rational, reasonable Republican candidate of the bunch. He’s said some gaffey-type things, but most people are either shrugging them off or comparing them to the scary-ee things that Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are saying. Remember your history lessons. The United States doesn’t elect radicals to the highest office in the land. Of course, the Democrats thought Barry Goldwater was a far right kook and the Republicans thought that Walter Mondale was a socialist, but they were both wrong. Mitt’s a moderate who ran a liberal state in a moderate way and achieved some moderate success in Massachusetts. He’s not a religious zealot and he doesn’t have the anger issues that the other candidates have. Of course, how can you be angry when you make about $20 million dollars per year?

These are but three of the things I know. I welcome what you know. If you’re really in the know, you’ll go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest  

Knowledge is power.

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Health Care Politics Repeal

Americans are Believing the Right-Winged Propaganda about the Health Care Law

The right winged propaganda machine is succeeding.  A new ABC News / Washington Post poll reveals that a majority of Americans have bought into the lie and now believe that the health care law signed by president Obama should be repealed.

When asked about the individual mandate in the law, two thirds of those who answered the question say that it should be overturned or the entire law must be thrown out.

Two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. Supreme Court should throw out either the individual mandate in the federal health care law or the law in its entirety, signaling the depth of public disagreement with that element of the Affordable Care Act.

This ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that Americans oppose the law overall by 52-41 percent. And 67 percent believe the high court should either ditch the law or at least the portion that requires nearly all Americans to have coverage.

The case against the President’s Health Care Law goes before the United States Supreme Court next week where Republicans will argue that the law is unconstitutional because it requires American to purchase health insurance. No other alternative policies are suggested, so if the law is repealed the status quo takes effect again and the gouging of Americans by greedy insurance companies will once again be accepted.

Business as usual.

The poll was conducted by telephone March 7-10, 2012, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults.

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