Tag: Health Care Reform

Categories
Barack Obama Domestic Policies United States White House

President Obama Changes Position on Health Care Mandates

“Instead of refighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what needs fixing and let’s move forward.”

Those were the words of President Obama in his State of The Union address at the end of January, and today, the President signaled just how much he was willing to listen, comprimise, or adopt new policies that he hopes will accomplish the “fix.” Today, President Obama spoke with governors at a White House meeting and told them that he was willing to allow states to withdraw from the controversial mandate requirement in 2014 instead of 2017, if they could prove that they can insure the same amount of people the original Health Care Reform did, at the same cost.

“I think that’s a reasonable proposal; I support it, it will give you flexibility more quickly while still guaranteeing the American people reform.”

According to reporting from The New York Times;

The bipartisan amendment that Mr. Obama is now embracing was first proposed in November, eight months after enactment of the Affordable Care Act, by Senators Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, a Democrat, is now a co-sponsor.

The legislation would allow states to opt out earlier from various requirements if they could demonstrate that other methods would allow them to cover as many people, with insurance that is as comprehensive and affordable, as provided by the new law. The changes also must not increase the federal deficit.

If states can meet those standards, they can ask to circumvent minimum benefit levels, structural requirements for insurance exchanges and the mandates that most individuals obtain coverage and that employers provide it. Washington would then help finance a state’s individualized health care system with federal money that would otherwise be spent there on insurance subsidies and tax credits.

“It seemed to make sense that rather than have states invest in a system that may not be best for them, you change the date to 2014 from 2017 and give them the flexibility to design it,” said one of several administration officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly before the president. “But it’s clear that states must do a number of things to qualify for a waiver.”

The Health Care Reform passed by a Democratic controlled congress in 2010 divided the country along party lines, with most Democrats in favor of reform and most Republicans against. The White House and Democrats have admitted fault and have taken responsibility  now for  explaining to Americans the benefits of reform. And with the mis-representation of many parts of the law, many Americans are still advocating a total repeal of the bill, a promise that House Republicans have made and seemed determined to do. In reality however, repeal will not happen because of a Democratic controlled senate, and a promise of a veto if the bill makes it to the President’s desk.

Read the rest of The New York Times report here.

Categories
Politics Supreme Court of the United States United States

Judge Rules Health Care Is Constitutional, News Media Gone Fishing

So the theory is true — that proponents for health care reform will get little to no media press coverage as compared to those opposed to it. A  few weeks ago when a Republican judge ruled the entire Health Care Reform was unconstitutional and should be thrown out,  because of one aspect  called the individual mandate, the media went crazy! They were all over the story like white on rice. But yesterday, when the third judge – U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler – ruled in favor of the Obama administration and agreed that the bill is constitutional, we heard crickets!

And I am not the only one saying this. Here’s what Jed Lewison said about the unfair coverage;

coverage of Judge Roger Vinson’s decision against reform saturated the media, even though his ruling had no immediate impact on health reform.

The Vinson ruling received A1 coverage in The New York Times and dominated cable news. The Kessler ruling was covered on A14 of the Times and as far as cable news goes, I was only able to find two references to it — both on Fox, and each for less than a minute. (I’m basing this on closed caption text searches, so it’s possible I missed a couple of references, but there was hardly any coverage at all.)

After the Vinson ruling, Steve Benen pointed out the huge disparity in coverage between the two rulings in favor of reform and the two rulings against reform. Even if you were to dismiss the significance of those numbers on the theory that the rulings against reform were bigger news because they happened after the rulings that upheld reform, yesterday’s ruling should be at least as significant as Vinson’s ruling because it means that three judges have now ruled in favor of reform compared with two who have ruled against it.

If you’re keeping score, it’s 3 Democratic judges for the constitutionality of the bill, and 2 Republican judges against.

But have no dispare. There’s sure to be another Republican judge to rule against Health Care Reform, and then we will once again hear all manner of analysis and theories and punditry, references and cross-references, and interpretation, and evaluations, and breakdowns, and…..

Categories
Bill O'Reilly United States

Fox’s Bill O’Reilly Needs A Lesson In Honesty

In the heat of the Health Care battle when all manner of accusations were made against President Obama and the Democrats implementation of  Health Care reform, Senator Tom Coburn accurately said that FOX News were spreading false and misleading information insinuating that Americans will be jailed if they don’t purchase Health Insurance.

Bill O’Reilly, in his effort to prove Mr. Coburn wrong and restore Fox’s unknown reputation for truth-telling, brought the senator on his show, The O’Reilly Factor and did what he does best – lied-  saying no one at FOX ever made the statement.

Of course, it’s all on tape…

Categories
Featured Health insurance New York Repeal United States

Congresswoman Votes for Repeal, But Didn’t Know Who Pays Her Health Care

Apparently, not all Republicans in Congress who voted to repeal the Obama Care Health Law know that their Health Care is paid for by the Government. That appeared to be the case with Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle, Republican Representative from New York.

The freshman Congresswoman held her first town hall meeting in Newark NY, and had to be told by a staff member that her Health care is paid for by tax payers. Reporting the story is Marnie Eisenstadt:

“Buerkle, who voted to repeal the health care reform act, was twice asked about the health insurance she receives as a government employee. At first she said she couldn’t understand why people were so interested in her health insurance, and that taxpayers didn’t pay anything for it. She later corrected herself after being handed a note from a staffer. Like most employees, she pays for a portion of her insurance and her employer, the government, pays the rest, she said.”

Seems to me that the wrong person got elected here. Can we hold another election and get her staffer instead?

Categories
Chuck Schumer Politics Republican

Democrats Looking At Other Options Besides Individual Mandate

Mccaskill 220-250
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

They’re pretty certain the provision will hold up against the onslaught of the Republicans and the Supreme Court, but just in case the unexpected happens, some Congressional Democrats are already making other preparations to replace the individual mandate.

One idea floating around is that of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO). According to her plan, an open enrollment period will be offered where people can voluntarily buy insurance policy. After that period passes, anyone wishing to purchase insurance will incur a penalty, causing their policy to be considerably higher.

The idea is based on existing requirements, where once a year individuals get to choose their insurance policies that best suit their needs. After that period passes, they face an expensive alternative when the need to get insurance arises.

Derek Thompson of the Washington Posts explained it this way;

Let’s say I tell you at the beginning of flu season that you can buy Nyquil for a $2 discount today, but tomorrow the price will go up to $20 forever. What do you do? You stock up on Nyquil, of course! Note that I haven’t required that you do anything. I’ve just weighted the incentives to make you buy the medicine. It’s not a mandate, just an irresistible deal.

Although this plan sounds like a great idea, even Claire McCaskill have reservations. She explains, “the issue is will the research support that approach as workable to still allow us to cover people with pre-existing conditions.”

The advantage of the individual mandate meant that everyone had a responsibility to insure themselves, thus, bringing more money into the insurance industry eventually reflecting in lower premiums for individuals. It also allow for the coverage of pre-existing conditions because more people will be involved in the program. Mrs. McCaskill’s method raises questions about whether pre-existing conditions and other important aspects of the Health reform will be implemented if individuals choose not to participate.

As Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) expressed his concerns with this idea, saying that altering the mandate will weaken the bill. He said;

“You’d have to look at the specific proposals. The bottom line is that if you change the mandate, one of two things will happen: Many of the good things in the bill will not be there, such as pre-existing conditions, or premiums will go way, way up.”

The individual mandate is under attack by Republicans as unconstitutional, although when the idea was first floated in 1993 for then president George Bush, they were all in support of the idea. Mr. Mark Pauly, the original author of the now controversial idea said questioning the mandate’s constitutionality was never the issue when it was first introduced, saying;

“I don’t remem­ber that being raised at all. The way it was viewed by the Con­gres­sional Bud­get Office in 1994 was, effec­tively, as a tax. You either paid the tax and got insur­ance that way or went and got it another way. So I’ve been sur­prised at that argument.”

Categories
Healthcare Mitch McConnell Repeal Republican Senate United States vote

Senate Votes on Health Care Repeal

After the Republican controlled House of Representatives approved a measure to repeal the Health Care Reform passed by President Obama and the Democratic controlled congress in 2010, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Leader promised a vote will be held in the Senate as well.

Mr. McConnell attached the repeal bill to another legislation for aviation as an amendment, and the vote was held yesterday needing 60 votes to pass. It failed along party lines, with all 47 Republicans voting for repeal, and all 51 Democrats voting against it.

McConnell however, promised to continue his efforts to deny Americans the very same health coverage he and the rest of Congress has, saying;

“This fight isn’t over, we intend to continue to fight to repeal and replace Obamacare with sensible reforms that would lower the cost of American healthcare…

This issue is still ahead of us and we will be going back at it in a variety of ways”

The Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, pleaded with Republicans to work with Democrats on finding “common sense” ways to improve the bill;

“It’s time for Republicans to set aside the battles of the past. It’s time to move on from extreme, ideological plans to repeal a health care law that is lowering prices, expanding access to care and lowering our deficit.”

There was one area of bipartisanship where both Democrats and Republicans agreed overwhelmingly. One provision of the Health Reform Law was repealed through an amendment, and received a vote of 81-17. The provision required businesses to file a 1099 form for every purchase they made over $600.00. That provision has been under heavy attack, and criticized as unnecessary and burdensome additional paperwork. Both parties voted, and the amendment was adopted.

Categories
Ezra Klein Politics United States

Ezra Klein Is Wrong On This Issue

Steve Benen of The Washington Monthly ran an interesting piece, stating that judges who voted against the Affordable Care Act, or what the conservatives are calling ObamaCare, receive more press attention than those who voted for the bill.

He then broke it down by the numbers showing that on verdict 1, which supported the Democratic position of Health Care, received an average of 581 words from The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press and Politico.

On verdict 2, which also went in favor of the Democrats and the Obama administration, received an average of 438 words per article from the same four news agencies.

However, when verdict 3 came out by Federal District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, whose decision went against the Democrats, the same four news agencies wrote an average of 1648 words in articles. Then yesterday, January 31st, another Federal Judge in Florida issued verdict 4 against the Health Reform Bill, and receive an average of 1742 words from the four. Mr. Benen question was, “If there’s a sensible explanation for this, I’d love to hear it.”

Ezra Klein, who writes for the Washington Post responded to Mr. Benen’s article saying,

“I actually think there is a sensible explanation for this: The two judges who ruled for the bill upheld the status quo. And they went first. So their rulings changed nothing. No one could accuse me of harboring an anti-ACA agenda, but I didn’t give those rulings much coverage.

The two judges who ruled against the bill called for enormous changes to the status quo, and enormous changes to the status quo are almost the definition of what “news” is. These two rulings have genuinely called the bill’s future into question, and that’s a big story.”

Well, although I tend to agree with Ezra Klein on many issues, and besides the fact that we share the same first name, I’ll have to disagree with his position on this matter.

Benen is right! There is simply no sensible explanation for the one-sided coverage. And although some may claim the sensationalism of a Federal Judge voting against the status quo is the “definition of what news is,” I prefer to think of the sensationalism of a life changed, if the Health Care reform law remains in effect. Now that’s news!

Categories
Barack Obama Chuck Schumer Democratic Mitch McConnell Politics Repeal Senate vote

Republican Minority Tries To Control Democratic Majority In Senate

Republican Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell

Over the last two years of the Obama administration, Republicans went on a rampage, setting a record for the most filibusters – the process of debating an issue with the eventual outcome of slowing down or stopping the policy from being voted on – in one year since the practice began back in the mid 19th century. That record, set by the 111th congress is 132 filibusters. Now that the Republicans are the majority in the House of Representatives, they are demanding that the Democratic controlled Senate vote on all the bills the House votes on.

The particular bill that Republicans are demanding the Senate to vote on is their measure to repeal the Health Care Reform bill, the single most important piece of legislation instituted by Democrats. The House of Representatives voted last week to repeal the bill by a vote of 245 to 189, and now Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader is promising “No”, insisting that the Democratic Senate vote on the issue and do the same. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has stated he has no interest in bringing this repeal issue to the Senate.

In a television appearance on Fox News yesterday, Mr. McConnell assured the viewers that he will make sure the Senate votes to take away their health care. When asked how he intends to override Harry Reid’s decision not to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, Mitch said;

“I’m not going to discuss how we’ll do it from a parliamentary point of view here. If that does not pass, and I don’t think anyone is optimistic that it will, we intend to go after this health care bill in every way that we can.”

As minority leader, Mitch McConnell cannot set the agenda for the Senate, but the belief among other congressional leaders is that the Republicans in the  could offer the repeal bill as an amendment to another bill, thus, forcing the Senate to have the vote. Democratic Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin discussed this possibility;

“If some Republican senator wants to offer it as an amendment at some point, it’s possible they will. It’s possible we’ll face that vote. But having spoken to my members in the Democratic caucus, with Sen. Reid, we feel there’s still strong support for health care reform.”

The lies and scare tactics used by Republicans in the Health Care debate of 2009 have caused a split among the American people. In early polls, taken when the bill was being debated in congress, as much as 60% of the public believed the Republican propaganda  against health care reform. But recent polls have shown a change in the public’s perception of the law. According to a recent Associated Press-GFK poll, only 1 out of 4 (25%) Americans are now asking for Republicans to repeal the bill. With poll numbers like these, Democrats are feeling optimistic that the bill will stand up against any amendment trick brought on by  the senate. Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senator from New York appeared on CBS, and expressed his optimism;

“If the Republicans offer an amendment on the floor, then we will require them to vote on the individual protections in the bill that are very popular and that even some of the new Republicans House members have said they support. So in the end, their repeal bill is going to be so full of holes it looks like Swiss cheese.”

Individual parts of the bill that have shown strong support among the American people include: allowing young adults to remain on parent’s policy until the age of 26; ending pre-existing conditions for children that went into effect in 2010; ending pre-existing condition for adults that will go into effect in 2014; helping to close the “donut hole” for seniors needing prescription drugs; providing preventative care screenings among others.

The individual mandate in the bill, which requires everyone to obtain health care insurance, is the major contention with the American people. Democrats argue that this mandate is necessary to ensure the improved level of care required in the bill.

If Republicans succeed in getting Senate Democrats to vote on an amended bill with health care repeal as an attachment, the bill will need 60 votes to pass. Democrats control the Senate with 53 votes, with Republicans in the minority with 47. If 13 Democrats crossed party lines and voted with Republicans to achieve the needed 60, the repeal bill then goes to President Obama’s desk for a signature. The President, however, has promised to veto any repeal bill that makes its way to the White House.

Related articles
Categories
democrats House of Representatives Politics Pre-existing condition Repeal Republican United States

What Will A Health Care Repeal Mean For You

Senator Harry Reid Democrat  from Nevada

Republicans in the House of Representatives succeeded today in getting enough votes to repeal the Health Care Act, signed into Law by President Obama in March 2010. They are trying to persuade the Senate – which is still controlled by Democrats and led by Harry Reid of Nevada – to continue the repeal process. Senator Reid has signaled no desire to bring the Health Care repeal to a vote in the Senate, thus, the bill is dead on arrival.

But congressional Republicans are not giving up. They have assured their conservative base and the Teaparty that they will do all they can to take away their health care. So the next step for these Congressional Republicans will be to defund the bill to the point that it cannot be properly implemented.

What does this mean for the average American?

Well, the parts of the bill that have  already been implemented, will get rolled back if  funding is no longer there. Some of these benefits that Americans will lose include:

  • Children with pre-existing health conditions will once again be dropped from their parent’s coverage
  • Young adults under the age of 26 will no longer be able to stay on their parent’s policy
  • Seniors will once again have to split the cost of prescription drugs in half, because the additional funds provided by the Health Care reform will no longer be available
  • Insurance companies will use less of the money they collect in premiums for your health care needs. More of your premium will be used for overhead expenses and CEO bonuses
  • You will no longer have the additional  options given under the Health Care reform bill to appeal health insurance decisions regarding your coverage
  • You will have to pay for preventative care.

These are just some of the measures from Obama’s Health Care reform that have already been in effect, and will be lost if the Republicans get their way.

Oh, and let’s not forget the tremendous  financial implications. See the video below for more…

Categories
Health Care Medicare Medicare Part D Politics Repeal Sarah Palin United States

While Republicans Promise Repeal, More Health Benefits Go into Effect

Just days before its Republican enemies are officially sworn into office in the House of Representatives and Senate — armed with their zeal and desire to repeal it — major parts of the new Health Care law with a total of 21 provisions, will go into effect in 2011.

The areas of the law scheduled to take effect January 1st 2011, are geared towards consumer protection and as its purpose suggests, it should be very popular with the American people once the measures are fully implemented. Some of the measures scheduled to take effect on January 1st are:

  1. Rebates to Consumers if Insurance providers use less than 80% of premiums for clinical services. Providers would be required to use up to 80% of your premium to provide clinical services and quality of care to you. If they use less than this percentage, a rebate check covering the difference must be sent to you.
  2. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must provide a 50% discount on brand-name prescriptions filled in the Medicare Part D coverage. Also, federal subsidies for generic prescriptions kick in on January 1st.
  3. Eliminate cost-sharing for Medicare covered preventative services. Also, waives the Medicare deductible for colorectal cancer screening tests and authorizes Medicare coverage for a personalized prevention plan, including a comprehensive health risk assessment.
  4. Creates the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test new payment and delivery system, with the goal of reducing costs while maintaining or improving quality.
  5. Reduces the Medicare Part D premium subsidy for those with incomes above $85,000/individual and $170,000/couple. Also, freezes income requirements for medicare part B premiums at 2010 levels for the next 8 years.
  6. Creates a new Medicaid state option to permit certain Medicaid enrollees to designate a provider as a health home and provides states taking up the option with 90% federal matching payments for two years for health home-related services.
  7. Provides 3-year grants to states to develop programs to provide Medicaid enrollees with incentives to participate in comprehensive health lifestyle programs.
  8. Establishes a national, voluntary insurance program for purchasing community living assistance services and supports (CLASS program).

Republicans, however, are  promising to stop the progress of these reforms by cutting off all necessary funding. They will take over the agenda in the House of Representatives on January 5th, and will introduce more Republicans to occupy more seats in the Senate on that same day.

Polls suggests that Americans have mixed feelings about the new Health Care reform measures, mainly because they were misled by Republicans and a Conservative media. Some Republicans have even won awards for misleading or lying to the American people, like Sarah Palin’s winning Lie Of The Year Award for claiming the Health Reform contains “Death Panels” to “kill your grandma.”

Democrats claimed that they are up for the coming fight, as they try to keep their signature history-making policy alive. The rumble starts January 5th 2011.

Source: The Kaiser Family Foundation

Exit mobile version