Monday, December 21, 2009

The Road to Health Care Reform..

Well, the last holdouts Ben Nelson and Bernie Sanders are going to vote for the Health Care Bill. That makes 60 Votes. Republicans are hoping the blizzard that hit Washington DC will keep key votes away. Some have prayed that a Senator would die or become disabled. Yup, they actually prayed for this!!?? I have been concerned about ALL the consessions the president has made. Some groups feel that women are being thrown under the bus but another blogger wrote this and maybe its not so bad...(Senate Bill that is..)All of us are anxious to see the final language from the Senate. And a final bill must ensure that the subsidies provided are sufficient to make insurance truly affordable for working families. But based on what we know, here are my top ten reasons for why progressives should support the Senate passing the bill:

1. Largest Expansion Of Coverage Since Medicare’s Creation: Thirty-one million previously uninsured Americans will have insurance.

2. Low/Middle Income Americans Will Not Go Without Coverage: For low-income Americans struggling near the poverty line, the bill represents the largest single expansion of Medicaid since its inception. Combined with subsidies for middle income families, the bill’s provisions will ensure that working class Americans will no longer go without basic health care coverage.

3. Insurance Companies Will Never Be Able to Drop or Deny You Coverage Because You Are Sick: Insurers can no longer deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition. They can’t rescind coverage or impose lifetime or annual limits on care. Significantly, the bill also ends insurer discrimination against women — who currently pay as much as 48% more for coverage than men — and gives them access preventive services with no cost sharing.

4. Lowers Premiums For Families: The Senate bill could lower premiums for the overall population by 8.4%. For the subsidized population, premiums would decrease even more dramatically. According to the CBO, “the amount that subsidized enrollees would pay for non-group coverage would be roughly 56 percent to 59 percent lower, on average than the nongroup premiums charged under current law.”

5. Invests in Keeping People Healthy: The bill creates a Prevention and Public Health Fund to expand and sustain funding for public prevention programs that prevent disease and promote wellness.

6. Insurers Can’t Offer Subprime Health Care: Insurers operating in the individual and small group markets will no longer sell subprime policies that deny coverage when illness strikes and you need it most. Everyone will be offered an essential benefits package of comprehensive benefits.

7. Helps Businesses Afford Coverage: Small employers can take advantage of large risk pools by purchasing coverage through the bill’s state-based exchanges. Employers with no more than 25 employees would receive a tax credit to help them provide coverage to their employees. The bill also establishes a temporary reinsurance program for employers providing coverage to retirees over the age of 55 who are not eligible for Medicare.

8. Improves Medicare: The bill eliminates the waste and fraud in the Medicare system, gets rid of the special subsidy to private insurers participating in Medicare Advantage and extends the life of the Medicare trust fund by 9 years. It also closes the doughnut hole that affected 3.4 seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D in 2008.

9. Reduces The Deficit: Not only would the bill expand coverage to 30 million Americans without adding to the nation debt, it would also reduce the deficit by up to $409 billion over 10 years.

10. Reduces National Health Spending: A CAP-Commonwealth Fund analysis concludes the bill could reduce overall spending by close to $683 billion over 10 years – with the potential to save families $2,500. Even the most conservative government estimates conclude that the bill would reduce national health care expenditures


NOW they have to reconcile the Sanate and the House versions. Janurary 2010 will be an eventful month for sure. Local politics should have news that is sure to rile up folks and we might be getting more snow and snow-jobs. Well its off to work I go in the snow

2 comments:

Laci the Chinese Crested said...

Who need reasons, Health care is a no brainer. I just don't like how they MAKE people buy it. There should be a more equitable way of insuring all.

genmanager said...

Hi, I've enjoyed reading your blog. I was directed here by a link from a hs friend who I suspect her politics to the right of mine. Anyway, it was disgusting that they prayed for Robert Byrd not to make it to the Senate on time to meet the vote. You wonder if the party of no really has any ideas at all.

I think both the House and the Senate had to give up some ground to pro-life representatives. There were other compromises which I personally may not have been in favor of but if they lead to the passage of any meaningful health care bill I can live with them and hope that we can improve in the coming years.

A few comments per your numbers:
1. I love that fact though wish we were not making some health care companies that got us here in the first place, richer. I was for medicare for all, single payer, if not that, buy in.

3. The charging higher premiums for women is a big thing, good to get rid of it. Too bad we couldn't have gotten rid of the anti-trust exempt status these companies now enjoy.
7. As a former small business owner with about 20 employees any help will be welcome. We had insurance but most of our employees could not afford to pay the premiums that we had to charge because we were just not rich enough.
8. "helps medicare reduce waste and fruad" This one I'll wait and see. Even in the very rare occasion when both sides want to do something in this area, in the past it has been almost impossible.
Read my post regarding this.
http://genmanager-dablog.blogspot.com/2009/11/further-thoughts-on-medicare.html
Hopefully, it will be different this time. I didn't know it extended medicare by 9 years, good find.
Anyway, I've enjoyed reading (not done yet!), thanks for all the hard work that I know goes into a blog like this.
With your permission, I would like to create a link to your blog from my links list for interested people to read.
Cheers, David