Category Archives: Health Care

January 7, 2011 · 9:07 pm

My Thoughts: Why Politics Matter

I’m tired of people saying Politics doesn’t matter and tuning out of the Political process.  Not only is this an abdication of responsibility, it’s stupid.

Politics does matter and the votes taken in various elected bodies do impact everyone’s  life.

In fact, Political decisions impact almost every aspect of day-to-day life.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Drafting young men during the Vietnam War was a political decision as was ending the Draft.
  2. Going to War with Iraq and Afghanistan was a political decision.
  3. Creating Social Security and Medicare was a political decision.  Destroying them could be, too.
  4. Ending Slavery was a political decision.
  5. Granting Women the right to Vote was a political decision.
  6. How much money your hometown gets for roads and economic development is a political decision.
  7. The books and curriculum used to educate your children in public schools is a political decision.
  8. Financial Aid for College is a political decision.
  9. Whether or not you can park your car in your yard or put a ratty sofa on your front porch is a political decision.
  10. How much you pay in property, sales and income taxes are a political decision.
  11. Whether your food is safe and how this safety is assured is a political decision.
  12. Whether you have adequate Health Care is a Political decision.

These are just a few impacts off the top of my head.  So when I hear people say they aren’t voting or that one side is as bad as the other, or that it just doesn’t matter, it pisses me off.

Admittedly, I am passionate about this…I used to work in Politics and spent a good deal of time in Washington and Richmond.  I have been “behind the curtain.”  I’ve smoked cigarettes over cocktails at the Congressional Club with now Speaker John Boehner and ridden the back roads of Virginia with Senator John Warner.  I know neither side is perfect and I well know how the “other side”-for whom I used to work- manipulates the process and puts out false information.  I’ve seen the decline in civility by both sides and made my well-known choice.

I came to the conclusion that the Republicans look backwards with fear while the Democrats look forward with hope.  I’ve also reached the conclusion the Republicans cater to the wealthy and Corporate elite- as do the Democrats to a lesser degree.  This is an informed, fact-based decision I made as part of my personal journey.  You can disagree with me, but you can’t call me uniformed or accuse me of not thoroughly examining the issues to reach my decisions.

I also think we have a moral obligation in America to ensure our elected officials don’t forget the poor, the sick, the hungry, the elderly, college students hungry for learning but limited in funds and the homeless.  I think one of the main purposes of government is to ensure we have safe, reliable transportations– by road, by air and most urgently by train.  I think the government should level the playing field by allowing those who are born to less have the same opportunities as those who are born with more.  I think the government should ensure our food supply is safe, but not over burden local growers.  I think a lot of things…

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but I do expect them to be involved and to make fact-based decisions.  I can respect that…

I can’t respect people who tune out facts or don’t do their own due diligence.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Several Elections have been decided recently based on just a few votes difference.
  2. When given the facts, more people support the policies of the Democratic party, but more Republicans vote.
  3. Not voting for the Legislative branch of Government impacts the Executive and Judicial Branches.  Elected officials appoint and approve Supreme Court justices. Sometimes Judges decide Elections.  It’s all connected.
  4. When you vote, you have an obligation to know what the person you are voting for really stands for- not that they are the cutest or most telegenic or that you just know their name or Party.

For Democracy to work, you must have an informed, active electorate.  I hope people are paying attention to what is going on in Washington, the State Houses and the Supreme Court.  These decisions do matter and do impact your lives.

The Elites count on people being confused, misinformed and lazy when-and if- they vote.  It’s up to us to prove them wrong.  We haven’t done a great job the last year or so…

I may be dreaming, but here are a few things that I think would help rectify the situation:

  1. Get the big money out of politics.  Block Corporate donations and self-financing wealthy candidates by leveling the playing field.  Move to Public Financing of Elections with each qualifying Candidate having the same amount of money to spend.
  2. Require the Television and Radio stations to run an equal amount of adds for each qualifying candidate and/or Political Party.  Remember, the airwaves are Public Property that is leased to the media.  We need to make them do their civic duty and not just profit off a broken system.
  3. The media needs to do its job and check facts and call attention to mis-representations of facts- and lies- by all Candidates, Politicians and Parties.  I would love to re-implement the Fairness Doctrine- if for no other reason to put Fox News out of business- but that is impractical.
  4. Separate News from Entertainment.  The line has blurred too much….
  5. End Corporate monopolies of the Media.  Limit the number of media outlets that any one Corporation can own.
  6. Encourage people to check the facts on reputable web sites and from other non-mainstream media sources.  Form non-partisan grass-roots groups to educate them on how to do it…
  7. Enforce the Separation of Church and State.  Churches and Religious organizations who become involved in Politics should lose their tax exempt status.
  8. Encourage the growth of Third-and Fourth- Parties by making it easier for their candidates to get on the ballot and have appropriate funding.
  9. Require a fixed number of debates for all offices.  Don’t let politicians hide behind adds.  Put the public and media spot light on them all.
  10. End the revolving door between elected officials and lobbyists.  Elected Officials should not be able to lobby their former colleagues.  This is how the  insider Boys Club perpetuates itself.
  11. Develop and enforce ethics rules at all levels of Government.  With real, still penalties and not slaps on the hands.  Independent boards should manage inquiries and not political cronies.
  12. In Politics, just like in other areas of life, we need to encourage civility and reasonable debate- not encourage blood sport and boorish behavior.
  13. Make it easier to vote.  We need to find a secure way to vote via the internet.  We need to extend and expand early voting.
  14. We need to be confident all voting machines are secure and not subject to manipulation.
  15. Focus on encouraging more voters, not suppressing voters.

We need to encourage people to pay attention by restoring trust in the media and elected officials who represent the Public Trust.

This is not a game.

It is not a reality TV show.

Bottom Line:  Get serious, people!

Discuss among yourselves….

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Filed under Education, Health Care, History, My Journey, Politics, Race, Religion, Social Commentary, The Economy, The Environment, The South, Virginia

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January 7, 2011 · 7:47 pm

Virginia 5th District Rep. Hurt Will Repeal Health Reform, Incoherently Explains Why He Will Keep His Own Gov Health Care

This is the idiot they elected in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, my old home district, to replace the excellent Tom Perriello…

Click the link to go to ThinkProgress.org and see the video….

Newly-elected Rep. Robert Hurt (R-VA) campaigned for Congress on a promise to repeal health reform. This week, Hurt granted ThinkProgress a short interview outside of the Capitol, where he doubled down on his pledge to remove health reform. However, Hurt said he would not opt-out of the government health care granted to him and his staff as a member of Congress:

HURT: I’ll support the repeal. Okay, what else?

TP: After you vote to repeal health care, will you also reject government-sponsored, government-subsidized health care given to members of Congress?

HURT: Uhm, well obviously we’ve got — I’ve got a health insurance policy that I pay for through the government so I don’t really–

TP: Well there’s $700 a month in taxpayer money on average that goes to a member of Congress’s health care plan given by you know the taxpayer.

HURT: It’s a policy that’s issued by Anthem and it’s a policy that any– it’s open to the public.

TP: But my tax dollars and everyone’s tax dollars subsidize your plan as a member of Congress. And all of your staff members. You’ve got what, thirty members of your staff? Do you think they should have government-sponsored health care if you’re going to repeal it for everyone else?

HURT: If you’re going to pay members of Congress anything, if they’re going to have a salary and they’re going to have benefits, like so many people who are employed do, then I think it’s not unreasonable to offer those benefits. So I support that.

Hurt tried to initially deny that he received any special health care and that his plan is available to the public. In fact, the regulated private insurance that Hurt and his staff receive is not open to the general public because the general public does not have access to a regulate exchange or to taxpayer subsidies.

Members of Congress on average receive a $700 a month taxpayer subsidy for their private health insurance plan, which they can choose through a highly regulated exchange offered by the government. The federal system mirrors the reforms enacted by Democrats and President Obama, which end health insurance abuses by regulating coverage through an exchange, while offering subsidies to individuals and small businesses to make coverage more affordable.

via ThinkProgress » Rep. Hurt Will Repeal Health Reform, Incoherently Explains Why He Will Keep His Own Gov Health Care.

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Filed under Danville, Health Care, Politics, The Economy, Virginia

January 7, 2011 · 7:41 pm

ThinkProgress » Harvard Economist Estimates Health Repeal Would Destroy Up To 400,000 Jobs Per Year Over Decade

Of course facts mean nothing to the GOP and, apparently, a lot of voters….

Just as House Republicans gear up to repeal the “job killing” Affordable Care Act, the Department of Labor is reporting that the U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs last month, pushing the jobless rate down to a 19-month low of 9.4 percent.

In fact, since President Obama signed health reform into law on March 23, 2010, the economy has created approximately a total of 1.1 million new jobs in the private sector. One-fifth of the new jobs — over 200,000 — have been in the health care industry. Nevertheless, Republicans have spent the week decrying health reform as “job killing” legislation. Watch a compilation:

Aside from the fact that increasing access to health services will create thousands of jobs in the health care sector, Harvard economist David Cutler argues in new paper released this morning that repealing the health law would reverse these gains and could destroy 250,000 to 400,000 jobs annually over the next decade. Eliminating the law would increase health care costs and cause employers to reduce wages and cut jobs for those employees who already receive minimum wage or are in fixed contracts. From the report:

MORE:  ThinkProgress » Harvard Economist Estimates Health Repeal Would Destroy Up To 400,000 Jobs Per Year Over Decade.

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January 6, 2011 · 9:31 pm

2nd Arizona Patient Dies After State Budget Cuts Deny Transplant

I’m sorry, but the GOP hypocrisy is turning deadly.

Isn’t this the Party that made so much noise about “Death Panels” during the Health Care Reform Debate?  Looks like they are the ones who ultimately instituted them…

PHOENIX — A second person denied transplant coverage by Arizona under a state budget cut has died, with this death “most likely” resulting from the coverage reduction, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Jo Marie Gellerman said the patient died Dec. 28 at another medical facility after earlier being removed from UMC’s list for a liver transplant needed because of hepatitis C.

Gellerman cited medical privacy requirements in declining to release any information about the patient.

Arizona reduced Medicaid coverage for transplants on Oct. 1 under cuts included to help close a shortfall in the state budget enacted last spring.

Officials at the Tucson, Ariz., hospital said the patient’s death “most likely” resulted from Arizona’s scaling back coverage for transplants, she said.

It’s impossible to say with 100 percent certainty whether the patient would have died anyway, Gellerman said, “but we do know that his condition has gotten more severe since he was taken off the list.”

More from the Huffington Post:   2nd Arizona Patient Dies After State Budget Cuts Deny Transplant.

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January 6, 2011 · 8:21 pm

AMERICAblog News: Sorry Boehner, you don’t get to overrule CBO

More on the Republican’s trying to alter the facts…

From John Arovosis at Americablog.com

It’s really quite egregious what the Republicans in the House are trying to do, now in their second day of running the US House. The Republicans are trying to make it so that CBO is no longer the arbiter of how much legislation costs, and whether it adds or subtracts from the deficit.

For those who don’t know, the Congressional Budget Office is an independent agency of the Congress. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans run it. It is completely independent. But the Republicans are unhappy that CBO has concluded, repeatedly, that last year’s health care reform legislation will save over $100bn over the next ten years, and they’re even more unhappy that CBO has just upped its numbers to $230bn for the cost of repealing HCR over the next ten years.

So, when they’re confronted with incontrovertible facts, the Republicans attack the source, and lie.

Every single journalist working in Washington, DC knows about CBO. They know CBO is independent, and that CBO is what we use to “score” legislation, period. The Republicans can not be permitted to get away with removing CBO as the final arbiter of how much legislation costs. The damage to decision-making in Washington would be tremendous. The Republicans in the House literally issued their own analysis today of what they think health care reform will cost. And nobody cares. It’s irrelevant what the Republicans in the House, or frankly the White House, “thinks” health care reform will save us. What matters is what independent impartial arbiters say, and that’s CBO.

More:  AMERICAblog News: Sorry Boehner, you don’t get to overrule CBO.

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January 6, 2011 · 8:16 pm

New CBO Analysis: GOP’s Push For Health Law Repeal Would Increase Deficit By $230 Billion Over 10 Years

Talk about inconvenient truths….

Of course, the GOP Leadership has a way of just ignoring any facts that are inconvenient to their agenda…

Moments ago, the Congressional Budget Office released its cost estimate for the GOP’s health care repeal bill — H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, introduced yesterday in the House by the new Republican majority:

– 32 million Americans will lose coverage compared to current law: “Under H.R. 2, about 32 million fewer nonelderly people would have health insurance in 2019, leaving a total of about 54 million nonelderly people uninsured. The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019 would be about 83 percent, compared with a projected share of 94 percent under current law (and 83 percent currently).” (p. 8-9)

– Increases deficit by $230 billion over 10 years: “Consequently, over the 2012–2021 period, the effect of H.R. 2 on federal deficits as a result of changes in direct spending and revenues is likely to be an increase in the vicinity of $230 billion, plus or minus the effects of technical and economic changes to CBO’s and JCT’s projections for that period.” (p. 5)

– Huge deficit increases over next decade: “Correspondingly, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2 would increase federal deficits in the decade after 2019 by an amount that is in a broad range around one-half percent of GDP, plus or minus the effects of technical and economic changes that CBO and JCT will include in the forthcoming estimate. For the decade beginning after 2021, the effect of H.R. 2 on federal deficits as a share of the economy would probably be somewhat larger.” (p. 7)

– Individuals would pay more for health insurance: “Although premiums in the individual market would be lower, on average, under H.R. 2 than under current law, many people would end up paying more for health insurance— because under current law, the majority of enrollees purchasing coverage in that market would receive subsidies via the insurance exchanges, and H.R. 2 would eliminate those subsidies.” (p. 9-10)

– Average health care benefits would be worse: “In particular, if H.R. 2 was enacted… the average insurance policy in this market would cover a smaller share of enrollees’ costs for health care and a slightly narrower range of benefits.” (p.9)

– Premiums for employer-sponsored insurance would increase: “Premiums for employment-based coverage obtained through large employers would be slightly higher under H.R. 2 than under current law, reflecting the net impact of many relatively small changes.” (p. 10)

More:   ThinkProgress » New CBO Analysis: GOP’s Push For Health Law Repeal Would Increase Deficit By $230 Billion Over 10 Years.

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January 6, 2011 · 8:06 am

Aisle Not: Why One Woman Quit Grocery Stores for a Year | TakePart – Inspiration to Action

I would love to be able to get to this point…

I hate the professional Food Industry almost as much as the Pharmaceutical Industry….

Both have greatly contributed to the unhealthy, over-weight lifestyle so many Americans now lead…

If you haven’t seen “Food, Inc”, buy it or put it on your NetFlix list today.  It’s a real eye-opener.

One year ago, Carla Crownover kissed grocery stores goodbye.

She had just seen Food, Inc., Participant Media’s documentary on the seedy underbelly of the food industry, and she wanted nothing to do with the conventional food system that feeds the majority of Americans.

She pledged to abstain from grocery stores for 365 days and to go on a quest to find out where all the food she eats comes from. The end result? “I’ve learned a lot,” she told readers on her blog, Austin Urban Gardens.

TakePart caught up with Crownover recently, fresh after her one-year mark, to learn more about what it’s like to live off the food grid.

Prior to seeing Food, Inc., Crownover was already a conscientious eater. “I shopped the perimeter of the grocery store and didn’t buy many products in boxes or cans. I didn’t want to eat anything that had been manipulated to cook faster, or be ‘instant,'” she explains. “I had dropped diet sodas from my diet a couple years ago, and was leery of foods manipulated to have a long shelf life.”

When she sought out more information from Food, Inc., the film shocked her.

“Everything about factory farming [in the film] disgusted me. The feedlots packed full of animals standing in their own waste bothered me on several levels. I like to eat beef, but I don’t want the animal to have to live a horrible and unhealthy life so that I can have a steak.”

She saw genetically engineered chickens in the film that were too big to stand and never saw the light of day. “The chickens I get now from a local farm are free range up until their last moment,” she says. “The farmer once told me, ‘We like to believe they only have one bad day.’ And I loved that.”

via Aisle Not: Why One Woman Quit Grocery Stores for a Year | TakePart – Inspiration to Action.

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January 4, 2011 · 8:34 pm

Dems Accuse GOP Of ‘Enron-Type Accounting’ And Assaults On CBO

It’s already getting interesting…

I wonder if anyone will notice how the GOP is changing the rules and attempting to put forth an alternate reality.

No one seems to have noticed so far….or they wouldn’t be back in power in the House…

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats, removed from their rhetorical shackles by the coming Republican control of the House, are accusing the GOP of resorting to “Enron-type accounting” in their efforts to push legislation in the next Congress.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the incoming ranking member of the House Budget Committee, warned on Tuesday that Republican leadership is set to implement new rules that would effectively do away with the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO is often regarded as a nonpartisan, independent scorekeeper for Congress. And by taking away its input in legislative matters, Van Hollen said, Republicans were ushering in an era of make-your-own-reality-based budgeting.

“This is a huge loophole for Enron-type accounting … In the rule they pass tomorrow they are going to reiterate that the chair of the budget committee has the authority to come up with his own estimate of the budget impact of various pieces of legislation,” Van Hollen told the Huffington Post. “And a week from now, when they get around to repealing health care reform I think you will see they will go down and say this has zero cost impact.”

“It is a wholesale disregard of CBO estimates,” Van Hollen added. “After all, CBO is the one referee we have around here when it comes to the budget. So again, we are watching this unfold. But it does seem that they are putting in place the pieces to allow the Chairman of the Budget committee to literally make up the numbers as they go.”

The charges by the Van Hollen are fairly weighty in the wonky world of budgetary politics. But they underscore the extent to which Democrats feel that Republicans are turning the CBO and its scoring into partisan issues. Also on Tuesday, incoming Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) accused the budget office of misrepresenting the cost of the health care law for the benefit of persuading skittish Democrats to support the bill (the CBO estimated that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over ten years).

via Dems Accuse GOP Of ‘Enron-Type Accounting’ And Assaults On CBO.

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January 1, 2011 · 12:33 pm

Major Health Care Reforms Take Effect January 1 | TPMDC

From TPM:

Starting Saturday, two of the new health care law’s most significant reforms take effect — or at least begin to take effect.

The first will dramatically clamp down on insurance industry waste, abuse, and excesses. Starting on New Year’s Day, insurance companies will have to spend at least 80 percent of the revenues they receive from premiums on actual health care. Not on salaries or overhead.

Like so many of the law’s early reforms, the impact of a strict “medical loss ratio” will be invisible to most consumers. But don’t mistake that for insignificance. The bill’s most strident critics cite this one provision as the basis for the claim that the government is “taking over” the health care system. That’s a false claim, no matter how you slice it — this is about insurance companies, not, say, hospitals or pharmaceuticals, and those insurers are all still private. They’ll just have to play by stricter rules.

The other is much more visible. Senior citizens — a demographic that’s skeptical of the bill — will see real benefits. In 2011, the law will begin to close the Medicare Part D coverage gap — the infamous “donut hole.” Seniors who reach the donut hole will now receive a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs, the first step in a 10 year plan to fill the hole completely. Seniors will also now receive free annual checkups, screenings and other preventive care.

Other changes will also kick in. For a comprehensive list, see here. But these are the biggies. Add them to other reforms that have already taken effect — such as a ban on discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions, and the new right parents have of keeping their children on their family insurance plans until they’re 26 years old — and you’re talking about a bunch of stuff that would be very unpopular to repeal.

via Major Health Care Reforms Take Effect January 1 | TPMDC.

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December 23, 2010 · 5:04 pm

Shock: Christian Coalition Founder Pat Robertson Favors Marijuana Legalization | Raw Story

This is shocking…

Of course, buried in here is the opportunity for Pat and Company to make money off the Government running these programs as “faith based initiatives”…

Somehow, I think that may have been what made him “see the light”.

Count this among the 10 things nobody ever expected to see in their lifetimes: 700 Club founder Pat Robertson, one of the cornerstone figures of America’s Christian right movement, has come out in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Calling it getting “smart” on crime, Robertson aired a clip on a recent episode of his 700 Club television show that advocated the viewpoint of drug law reformers who run prison outreach ministries.

A narrator even claimed that religious prison outreach has “saved” millions in public funds by helping to reduce the number of prisoners who return shortly after being released.

“It got to be a big deal in campaigns: ‘He’s tough on crime,’ and ‘lock ’em up!'” the Christian Coalition founder said. “That’s the way these guys ran and, uh, they got elected. But, that wasn’t the answer.”

His co-host added that the success of religious-run dormitories for drug and alcohol cessation therapy present an “opportunity” for faith-based communities to lead the way on drug law reforms.

“We’re locking up people that have taken a couple puffs of marijuana and next thing you know they’ve got 10 years with mandatory sentences,” Robertson continued. “These judges just say, they throw up their hands and say nothing we can do with these mandatory sentences. We’ve got to take a look at what we’re considering crimes and that’s one of ’em.

“I’m … I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”

MORE:  Shock: Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson favors marijuana legalization | Raw Story.

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