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If one is to believe the Republican and Tea Party message so far one might surmise... everything the democrats have done so far is not what the majority wants. "Is this the change we want" "take back our Government" has been a reoccurring theme in opposition leading up to the 2010 election.
Has there been Progress? That will be your call on November 2nd.
National priorities as I saw them in 2006 and 2008 were, work on getting us home from Iraq ASAP and start putting some more pressure on bin laden.
In 2008, to work on the sectors of our life that would make the biggest impact to our economy because it had just collapsed.
Our Leaders are working to change these notables (Health care/Insurance reform, Education and Energy Independence) and has created a tea-party and Republican backed gridlock message of... sorry we just can't afford anything right now...
Health Insurance reform - Go ahead, admit it, It is one big scary legislative effort to get government and consumer health care spending sustainable. Some say the effort so far has been too much to quick. Some don't believe the CBO estimates that it will save us $ down the road... Smart money should be spent, because the longer our leaders put it off the less and less we will be able to gain a foothold on the problem.
Sure... there are questions in minds about access and affordability to medical care.
Will we still see 30+% operating costs by private Insurance Companies? How exactly will containment and reduction come in to play.
Ask a Doc or Nurse what they think, I bet we might be surprised that they also want reforms...
Many doctors are saying if there are solutions that make the medical insurance business better lets hear them... I believe we were going to get more Advanced Practice Nurses trained to help reduce costs and increase the quality care.
As consumer's we should be outraged at the "next round" of increases by the handful of big insurers and they are still looking to muddy up what they will and wont pay for and are simply make it unaffordable to get insurance. It might just take a consumer revolution to solve this...
I am still of the belief that without credible competition the situation will remain a problem in NH. Revert back to an earlier time where competition was to help reduce the costs of health care and make us healthier here in NH. Did it work? Is Shopping across state lines the answer? What's wrong with small businesses banding together to create a larger pool of risk?
Yes, the answer lies in consumer spending, human nature and logic to solve amongst other things "insane profits".
I am pretty sure Republicans are not interested in dealing with Reform of these important programs...
Thanks for your ear...
Next installation will be on Energy Independence...
The Vice President spoke about the Republican Tea Party last night and he got the attention of Senator Corker (R-TN). Corker's complaint wasn't that Biden was tying the Republicans to the Tea Party, but that Biden's message disparaged the Tea Party! (Shorter Corker: Calling Republicans Tea Baggers is not fair to Tea Baggers!) Anyway, it made me smile a little as I thought that Biden was on to something, but did not go far enough. This is not your father's Republican Party, this is the radical Republican Tea Party.
I don't buy for a second any of the faux anger on the right. The claims that Obama is a socialist or that the Dems are big tax and spenders is all demagoguery and no bite. The stimulus bill was much less than most economists thought necessary to fight off the Great Recession. While what was passed helped millions, it wasn't quite enough for millions more. Arguments have been made that what was passed was what was politically feasible, but let's remember that the bill passed without a Republican vote in the House, after the President agreed to include $300 + billion in tax cuts in the package.
According to a recent Bloomberg poll 61% of the American public
want to keep health care reform. Of that 61%, 47% want to "see how it works" and 14% say "it should be left alone".
Sam Stein, at Huffington Post
The numbers underscore increasing public approval of the health care reform law. It also illustrates the potential dangers the Republican caucus assumes by make the repeal agenda a major plank of its campaign platform.
Kaiser Health News has more on some of the benefits of the law that the average person may have missed in the hoopla and disinformation surrounding the bill.
Some of these include:
No co-payments for some preventive care
Helping Employers Cover Early Retirees
A new program will help employers handle the cost of health care for retirees age 55 and older who are not eligible for Medicare, the federal program for the elderly. The reimbursements will cover 80 percent of medical claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees, their spouses and dependents.
Expanded Medicaid Coverage
In 2014, Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor, will expand to include everyone who makes less than 133 percent of the poverty line ($14,400 this year for individuals). Currently, most poor people without children aren't covered by the program. But in the meantime, under the law, states can expand their Medicaid programs to cover these people, and get federal aid to do so.
Care Coordination for People on Medicaid and Medicare
Approximately 8.8 million "dual eligibles" -- individuals who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid, many of whom are poor elderly -- could benefit from a new federal office designed to coordinate their medical care.
Looking at premium hikes
Insurers must justify premium increases to the federal government and state insurance commissioners. If premium hikes are deemed to be unreasonable - federal regulators have yet to define what "unreasonable" means - states could exclude insurers from offering their coverage on health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014.
This last provision has gone into effect, but federal regulations have not yet been made.
This law is massive and complicated. It's an important step in reforming a healthcare system that was spiraling out of control and threatening to take the economy with it. It is a major accomplishment that was a century in the making.
Dean had a link to the TPM story on this, but The Monitor's Shira Schoenberg gives some more details:
On the House floor, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Rep. William O'Brien of Mont Vernon tried to nullify federal health care reform on the basis that it exceeds the power the granted to the federal government by the Constitution. The amendment declared the law unconstitutional and invalid in New Hampshire. It would make enforcing health care reform a crime.
Once the nullification amendment failed, and the bill passed, Republicans lined up to file official protests. The protest slips read: "As most of NH Citizens find forced National Health Care repugnant and this bill facilitates the implementation of Universal Health Care on NH citizens, I file my protest against this vote according to Part Second, Article 24 of the NH Constitution."
I'd like to remind these representatives, again, there's a statue of Daniel Webster outside the State House. Daniel Webster fought hard against nullification back in the early 19th century.
In 1830, in one of the greatest exchanges in Senate history, Webster opposed nullification and argued for the supremacy of the federal government (Webster Hayne Debate). Webster and Andrew Jackson were united in their opposition to nullification, but disagreed on most other matters.
In the midst of budget debates and other issues affecting the people of New Hampshire, my state rep and his party colleagues have nothing better to do than create ideological theater.
It's scary to think what would happen if this group were to get the majority in the next election.
Concord -- New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley issued the following statement on the historic vote in the House to pass comprehensive health insurance reform:
"The House passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act brings our country another step closer to guaranteeing comprehensive health care for all Americans. This legislation reins in the insurance companies' worst practices while extending coverage to 36 million Americans and cutting the deficit by more than $100 billion in ten years.
"In the Granite State alone, more than 140,000 people are uninsured, and the number grows daily as rising premium costs make it more difficult for middle class families to afford quality health insurance. Earlier this year, WellPoint Insurance announced that premiums for New Hampshire residents would increase 12 to 13%.
"This landmark reform could not have been possible without the hard work of New Hampshire's Democratic congressional delegation - Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congressman Paul Hodes, and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
"Specifically, the legislation includes four key cost savings provisions that Senator Shaheen authored, including measures that will help Americans access more affordable prescription drugs, prevent costly hospital re-admissions, improve the coordination of care, and protect access to comparative effectiveness research so that patients and doctors can make more informed decisions.
"The bill also includes provisions that prevent insurance companies from cutting important coverage for women. Congressman Hodes refused to stop fighting until mammograms, mastectomy stay coverage, direct access to OB/GYNs, and maternity care coverage could not be cut from the plans currently held by 80% of New Hampshire's insured women.
"And thanks to the effort led by Congresswoman Shea-Porter, the Affordable Health Care for America Act will fully close the Medicare 'donut hole.' Eliminating this coverage gap is long overdue, and will alleviate the financial burden placed on thousands of senior citizens in the Granite State, many of whom are on a fixed income and rely on their Medicare coverage to survive."
(Posted by Harrell Kirstein, deputy press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.)
Republicans need to explain why they oppose covering 140K+ Granite Staters, reining in abusive insurance industry practices, and addressing ever increasing costs
Concord - Today, Republicans held yet another press conference attacking efforts to make sure more Americans have access to health care and once again, they've failed to offer any real ideas on how to address the serious challenges facing New Hampshire and the country.
"Republicans need to explain to the people of New Hampshire why they refuse to offer any ideas on how to cover the 140 thousand Granite State citizens that are without health insurance," said Derek Richer, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
"They also need to explain to the voters why they don't have a plan to deal with health care costs that continue to spiral out of control, or why they oppose the efforts in this legislation to lower prescription drug costs, make sure seniors can afford their prescription drugs, or prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition like breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma."
"Republicans are happy to issue partisan, political attacks. But their silence on any real solutions is deafening," Richer added.
The federal health insurance reform being debated would dramatically improve health care both in New Hampshire and across the country. In addition to covering 140 thousand uninsured citizens and dealing with ever rising health care costs, the legislation includes a number of provisions that would directly benefit the people of the Granite State including: prohibiting insurance companies from dropping coverage when individuals get sick, banning lifetime limits on coverage, and giving individuals the right to appeal unfair insurance company decisions to an independent party.
The legislation would also establish affordable options in insurance exchanges - a new marketplace where individuals and small businesses can compare cost and quality and pay for the plan that is right for them. These exchanges would include a guaranteed package of benefits, including free preventive care.
"Health insurance reform is complex, but critically important," said Richer. "And if the Republicans really wanted to help the people of the Granite State they would offer real solutions instead of constant partisan attacks. At the very least, they need to answer why they oppose many of these key provisions in the reform package that would dramatically improve our health care system and help rein in costs."
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Check it out, the number has been reached and it sounds like a very good plan:
From a report on The Hill:
Reid retained one proposal that emerged from negotiations between liberal and centrist Democrats: the creation of multi-state, nonprofit health insurance plans that would be negotiated by the federal Office of Personnel Management, which manages the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
The new language also includes vouchers for some middle-income people to purchase health coverage on the new insurance exchange rather than from their employers if they earn too much to exempt from the individual mandate to buy insurance but not enough to qualify for federal subsidies.
With a vote in the Senate Finance Committee scheduled for tomorrow, the health insurance lobby is mounting a last ditch effort to derail the Baucus bill.
But it seems that AHIP is unwittingly making the case for a public option, perhaps better than anyone else could.
An industry funded report done by PricewaterhouseCooper's claims the Baucus bill will cause premiums for already insured people to go up, $1700 a year for a family and $600 a year for a single person.
Ezra Klein points out that PricewaterhouseCooper has expertise in this field.
In the hallowed tradition of the tobacco and energy industries, the health insurance industry has commissioned a report projecting doom and despair for those who seek to reform its business practices. The report was farmed out to the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has something of a history with this sort of thing: In the early-'90s, the tobacco industry commissioned PWC to estimate the economic devastation that would result from a tax on tobacco.
What I'm going to put down here might ruffle a feather or two, but here goes. And I'm glad bigger fish than I have already mentioned it somewhat, so I know I'm not alone on this.
I'm not feeling in the Grand Moment about Ted Kennedy's death. Mostly for two reasons: 1) I'm not old enough to remember the whole JFK or RFK thing, even if I once did run into Jackie O in an art supply store as a kid, and 2) frankly, I've always been a little turned off by the quasi-royalistic treatment the Kennedy family (or the Bushes, or Jacksons, or whoever) receives in popular discourse.
But here's what I do know. A public servant and proud Democrat who for decades was known for his remarkable legislative accomplishments in social justice in general, and health care in particular, who has ever placed the needs of the common man foremost, has passed, right in the heart of the greatest attempt to reform health insurance since LBJ and Medicare.
Consequently, this is a dangerous moment for the cause Ted Kennedy cherished the most.
All day long I have been hearing on the radio and in the news how Kennedy had a special ability to reach across the aisle to get things done. And there is no denying the truth to this.
I predict the GOP will use that Kennedy legacy to try to kill Kennedy's dream of health care for all Americans. They will claim that unless a bill is bi-partisan and supported by at least 1,375 Republican Senators, it won't have That Kennedy Quality of reaching across the aisle. This talking point will subsequently reverberate throughout the traditional media, precisely because it plays right into the heart of hearts of Village Broderism.
It is also exactly why I added that video to Doug's post. Because Ted Kennedy was always smart enough to know when the Republicans are arguing in bad faith, and to call them out on it when it needed calling out.
So ask yourself this in the days going forward: what would be the most appropriate way to honor the life and work of Ted Kennedy?
The answer to that question for me is to double the volume on my support for a durable public option. And to have eagle eyes to spot the ways in which those who want to kill Kennedy's dream will use his life in the senate to do so.
The lion would have expected nothing less from us. So I'll save feeling sad for later.
Update: What a sucker I am, predicting things to happen tomorrow that were already underway earlier today. From John H. Sununu's statement:
"Senator Kennedy was a principled political advocate who was able to work across philosophical differences to produce good, effective legislation. He will be remembered as the classic model for great bipartisan policy development."
Another distinguished colleague of Senate Republican Judd Gregg, and recipient of the finest government health insurance we taxpayers can provide, tells a weeping woman to go get her neighbors to pay for her husband's medical care.
Here, let me put it in capitals so I can be as clear as I can be:
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS NO POLICY INTEREST IN HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM. (VIDE BUSH, GEORGE W., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1/2001-1/2009).
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS EVERY POLITICAL INTEREST IN BLOCKING HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM.
THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT AND SUPERMAJORITY IN CONGRESS, FOR WHOM AMERICA VOTED BY MANDATE SIZED MARGINS, DO NOT NEED REPUBLICANS TO PASS HEALTH INSURANCE LEGISLATION.
As Markos said last night at the book signing (I'm paraphrasing): No one who visits a beautiful national park or a well maintained road cares about whether the bill that made those things was bi-partisan. They're just happy that it's there.
