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Health Care Reform 
Tue Jan 18, 2011 at 14:01:27 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
Let's not forget this shining example of Republican Hypocrisy uttered by our very own Representative Mike Coffman when we watch all the reports tonight about Republicans who want to repeal recently passed health care reforms:Rep. Mike Coffman (R) of Colorado was jogging on Christmas morning when he stepped on something hidden by snow, fell, and ended up on crutches. "I successfully tested our health care system," Coffman said.
"It works."
Of course it does -- for him. Coffman, who has great taxpayer-subsidized insurance as a member of Congress, went for X-rays, found that he'd broken a bone, and received a cast and some painkillers. It cost him a $30 co-pay. A friend of a friend is a specialist, who saw Coffman on short notice and concluded that the conservative lawmaker would not need surgery. The visit to the specialist -- at an exclusive clinic in Vail -- wasn't covered by his insurance, but Coffman, who makes $174,000 a year as a House member, had no trouble paying the $350 out-of-pocket expense. No one, and I mean No One, should let Coffman pretend he's standing on some kind of principle in this debate. And if he ever does stand on principle, it will be on a Taxpayer-Funded, Well-Healed ankle that tested the system........but only for those who make $174 Big Ones and think everyone else has that very same plan.
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Sat Aug 28, 2010 at 09:07:29 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
Amendment 63 - as marketed by reactionaries from the Jon Caldara camp at the Independence Institute is misleading; asserting it promotes choice for Colorado's concerned citizens. Let's really look at what Amendment 63 will do in light of the federal coverage mandate by 2014.
Insurance coverage vs Health Care?
The US adopted a federal insurance based system in 1973, ratcheting the controls of the insurance industry to write, regulate, and request federal funding to support their industry. As such, a private system of health care management organizations - HMO's and PPO's - and insurance coverage products were created. The feds would pay a share to the insurance industry, employers would pay additional funds to the insurance industry, the taxpayer would pay a share to the insurance industry. That's a lot of shares - to the tune of 17% GDP - that kept a lot of shareholders and insurance executives happy for decades. Further, the industry was self-regulating doing what's best for the taxpayers.
Health Care transitions
HCR is transitioning the nation from an insurance industry controlled system to a care based system with options that will range from private insurance to State and federal care based opportunities. Reforms are creating a variety of choices for citizens to choose from, based on an individual's socio-economic situation. In otherwords options to fit within a budget - no freebies outside qualifying benchmarks.
Amendment 63 is misleading
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Thu Jul 29, 2010 at 10:12:35 AM MST
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Kaiser Health has posted new poll up which show just how much the Fox unNews and other right wing memes have disturbed those most apt to vote on misinformation.
[L]arge shares of seniors mistakenly believe the law includes provisions that cut some previously universal Medicare benefits and creates "death panels." Half of seniors (50%) say the law will cut benefits that were previously provided to all people on Medicare, and more than a third (36%) incorrectly believe the law will "allow a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare."
Sadly, those on or close to Medicare respond
- 52% are aware that the new law will result in premium increases for some higher income Medicare beneficiaries
- 50% know that HCR will gradually close Medicare's "doughnut hole"
- 33% know the law will eliminate Medicare's co-pays and deductibles for some preventive services.?
- Despite Medicare's actuaries predicting that the health reform law will extend the life of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund by 12 years (from 2017 to 2029), only 14 percent of seniors know this and nearly half (45%) of seniors think the health reform law will weaken the financial condition of the fund.?
Beyond that sad response, is some better news:
Half the public (50%) now expresses a favorable view of the law, while 35 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion (down from 41% in June).??
If you dig deeper, you will find:
Among Republicans, opposition to the law remained steady at 69 percent, but the intensity of that opposition ticked upward. Fifty-three percent of Republicans said they had a "very unfavorable" opinion of the law this month, up from 50 percent in June. Independents, who can tip the balance in elections, split 48 percent to 37 percent in favor, compared with 49 percent to 41 percent a month earlier. The intensity of opinion among this group showed little change; just less than a fifth expressed a very favorable view, and just more than a quarter expressed a very unfavorable view.
We need to work to turn this around for this key voting segment, otherwise we will see both opposition to Colorado reform as well as a Palin-Boehner-McConnell cessation and repeal for any reform. It starts with one voter at a time. Remind those you know why they should vote and why it's important.
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Wed May 26, 2010 at 10:05:42 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
The Obama administration has a hard time getting credit for the good things it has accomplished. So it matters that there is some interesting infrastructure work going on that will help improve our nation's health. We know that economics are going to be critical and cost cutting is essential but we also know that our health care needs improving. In the past few weeks, there were two indications of progress in that direction. One is the Presidential appointment, and the acceptance of the appointment, of Harold Varmus, M.D., to be Director of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the other is the "carrot" being given to biotech firms to reward therapeutic discovery projects. A total of $1 billion in tax credits and grants is available to firms who have made investments made in 2009 and 2010 or who have promising unfunded projects.
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Sun Apr 25, 2010 at 10:54:53 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
I have written in the past in this space of my dismay that a number of states and the District of Columbia allowed health insurance companies to rescind existing policies to women in abusive relationships as evidence of pre-existing conditions. Now, WellPoint Insurance is in the news for breaking contracts with women who are identified as having breast cancer. H.R. 3590, the new health care reform bill, has a provision to protect patients and a fine of $100 a day if such a violation occurs---but there is no adjudication or enforcement mechanism in the act. HHS has been assigned the task of developing guidelines in this area. On April 22, Secretary Sibelius wrote to WellPoint deploring this activity. I view this as a pretty weak response and $100-a-day fine as a pathetic punishment.
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Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 06:32:38 AM MST
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One of the things that Campaign Managers dread is that that moment when their candidate opens his or her mouth and says something that will divert the entire arc of the campaign. We are witnessing such a moment with Sue Lowden in Nevada. By now you have seen the video of her insisting that she did not misspeak when she said that patients should barter with their doctors instead of just paying or providing their insurance.
This insane proposition has been dissected and derided all over the Web and some on cable news shows. One point I haven't seen is that while Ms. Lowden is right that farmers and ranchers used to trade live-stock for care, the level of care they were trading for was far less sophisticated than it is today. When you could bring a chicken to a doctor, there were no antibiotics, no MRI, anesthetic was Ether for the Flying Spaghetti Monsters sake!
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Wed Apr 21, 2010 at 06:29:54 AM MST
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There are a lot of wacky people in the world. At times it is part of the joy of living, when you run into someone who is willing to give you a five hour mini-seminar on crop-circles or try to explain the universe with the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky. If you have a reasonable sense of the ridiculous and a lot of time on your hands it is a harmless source of entertainment. The problem comes when one persons wackiness intersects with the legislative process.
This is where we are in at least two states, Virginia and Georgia in regards to the forced implantation of micro-chips. Below is a video from last nights Rachel Maddow Show; where they reenact the testimony of a woman before a Georgia State House committee.
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Wed Mar 31, 2010 at 08:14:33 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
I spend a lot of time on Huffington Post as a way to get most of my news aggregated into one place. So beginning with a new HP story from Dan Froomkin.
Link Here
As we discuss HCR for the next few years, something to think about when dealing with Insurance Companies. They are for profit, their focus is to make profit. Not to provide competent care, not to provide a valuable service, not anything else, except in service of profit. The shareholders have rights too and to hell with those sick people. I know, that is hyperbole, but its starting to look like they are thinking along those lines. The Insurance companies are looking to extract as much as they can before they have to provide any form of reimbursement or payment for claims.
In the short run, companies are expected to keep doing what they've been doing, which means, among other things, jacking up their rates. "There's nothing to stop them from raising their premiums, and that's what they're going to do," said [Marcia Angell, a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine who now teaches at Harvard Medical School], a supporter of "single-payer" health insurance.
More below the fold.
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Fri Mar 26, 2010 at 14:37:04 PM MST
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Activists are disappointed (to put it lightly) that health insurance legislation, and not health care reform, passed after a year of intense debate and discussion at the highest levels of government. A few solidly progressive items made it through the process; many more did not. Among those that did not is a public option, to say nothing of single-payer.
Flying somewhat below the back-and-forth arguments of whether or not a public option should have been a part of the legislation and what form it might or might not take is an effort that should be lauded. Rep. Alan Grayson (D,FL-08) has a piece of legislation that accomplishes many progressive goals: H.R. 4789, the "Medicare You Can Buy Into Act". Rep. Grayson has done what many activists wish more of our elected officials would do: show some leadership.
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Thu Mar 25, 2010 at 10:42:45 AM MST
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I've generally not done much on the HCR bill up til this point because I've been hoping that the United States Senate would follow through with their promises to provide affordable insurance to all. I am all for adding some more folk to insurance, its batting about .500 right now. The problem of course is the affordable part.
Cenk Uygur's Article on Huffpost
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 at 22:58:01 PM MST
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The old site had a number of diaries about our Blue Dogs, Betsy Markey and John Salazar. They both desreve our support and thanks for making Health Care Reform possible. Certainly, the teabaggers and our right wingers will try to drive them from Congress because of their votes. They need our thanks. ActBlue's site for each is at
http://www.actblue.com/directo...
John has raised $7387 there and Betsy, $247,761. They both need some help. Why not give them each what you can?
Some times we need to thank even those whom we sometimes oppose when they have helped the country, their constituents and all of us in Colorado.
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