Government [Hypocrisy] about taxpayer-funded health insurance
As before, Slate we’ve noted [government programs are saving insurance companies] if you add the failure of employer-linked health care with Medicare, Medicaid, government employment, and the military, a huge chunk of Americans already have taxpayer-funded health care. It’s a diverse lot. Rich old people and poor kids, university professors, congressmen, teachers, DMV clerks and their families. Pretty much everybody you see on CNBC yelling about socialism? Their parents and grandparents (if they’re still living) get taxpayer-funded health insurance. Mine do. Charles Grassley, the septuagenarian Iowan who is doing his darnedest to torpedo meaningful health care form, has it. Arthur Laffer, the 69-year-old economist who went on television and suggested that Medicare isn’t a government health care program, is eligible for Medicare. Dick Armey, who spent many years teaching at a state university and served several terms in Congress, has had taxpayer-funded health insurance for much of his adult life. Same for Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. Democratic senators like Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Ben Nelson? Yes, yes, and yes. Law professors at the University of Tennessee have it. The employees of George Mason University, which houses the free-market Mercatus Center, do, too. Policy analyst Betsy McCaughey, currently reprising her 1990s role of health care bamboozler, will be eligible for it in a few years’ time.
Obvious? Yes. But it’s still worth pointing out. All these people rely on—or have relied on—the government to pick up the tab for their health care and for their health insurance. And that hasn’t caused euthanasia or the abolition of private property. Funny how you don’t hear any complaints from worthies about taxpayer-funded health insurance when it’s covering them, their staffs, and their loved ones. For many of these people, especially the older ones, there literally is no affordable alternative. Insurance companies prefer to insure healthy people, not sick people—that’s how they make money. And older people are more likely to run into health trouble requiring expensive care. Dick Armey, who issuing to get out from under the tyranny of Medicare, is apparently under the illusion that insurance companies are really eager to cover 69-year-old men at a low cost. House Minority Leader John Boehner is a 59-year-old smoker whose skin has an orange hue. What do you think Aetna would charge him per month for a good policy?
After the stock-research scandals of the 1990s, analysts were required to disclose whether they or their families owned stock in the companies they were talking about. That has since emerged as a key gauge of credibility. I’d like to see something similar for the health care debate. Before they weigh in on the prospects for health care reform, interview subjects—pundits, talking heads, policy wonks, editors, members of Congress—would have to disclose whether they or their family members rely on taxpayer-funded health insurance.
Such a disclosure might eat into valuable airtime. But it would clarify the debate. We’re witnessing a conversation between various people who are dependent on taxpayer-funded health insurance telling the public why tens of millions of people shouldn’t have access to it. Most of the opponents of universal health care don’t really think the public provision of health insurance services is immoral, evil, or socialistic—after all, they’d be at risk of bankruptcy without it. And most aren’t opposed to deficit spending as a matter of principle. (How do they think we’re paying for the Medicare prescription drug entitlement the Republicans rammed through a few years ago?) In effect, they believe that taxpayer-funded health insurance is appropriate and crucial for some people—themselves, their staffs, their parents—but not for others; that some are entitled to it, and that others simply aren’t. In Washington, unlike at Whole Foods, they want us to believe that what’s good for the goose will poison the gander.
http://www.americanveteransaid.com/?gclid=CMGByr2r5a0CFSYaQgodLgqvnw
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The Affordable Care Act: One Year Later
The Affordable Care Act: One Year Later (medical Neglect)
The Affordable Care Act is a health care law that protects people who have insurance. The law also makes it easier for some people who do not have health insurance to find coverage. Reforms under the Affordable Care Act have brought an end to some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. These reforms have given Americans new rights and benefits, by helping get health coverage, ending lifetime and most annual limits on care, allowing young adults under 26 to stay on their parent’s health insurance, and giving patients access to recommended preventive services without cost.
The Affordable Care Act assists people in different ways. Some benefits of the law are determined by your age range and gender. Many other new benefits of the law have taken effect, including50% discounts on brand-name drugs for seniors in the Medicare “donut hole,” and tax credits for small businesses that provide insurance to employees. More rights, protections and benefits for Americans are on the way through 2014. See major parts of the law on an interactive timeline, or read the Patient’s Bill of Rights. Find out how the law provides better benefits and better health.
Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act
Not all Americans have equal access to health care—or similar health care outcomes. Low-income Americans, racial and ethnic minorities, and other underserved populations often have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care. They are also less likely to have health insurance than the population as a whole. There are many sources of health insurance coverage, such as a job, the military, or a state-sponsored program.
The Foundation for Prevention
The Affordable Care Act helps people who already have health insurance. The law also makes it easier for people without insurance to find coverage. Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes – are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nation’s health spending. Often due to economic, social, and physical factors, too many Americans engage in behaviors – such as tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol abuse—that lead to poor health.
Specifically, you will have access to two important insurance forms:
• An easy to understand Summary of Benefits and Coverage
• A uniform Glossary of terms commonly used in health insurance coverage
This will include basic information that every person should have, including:
• What is your annual premium?
• What is your annual deductible?
• What services are NOT covered by my policy?
• What will my costs be if I go to a provider in my network versus one that is not in my network?
http://www.healthcare.gov/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/HealthCareGov
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/September/01/health-care-politics.aspx
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/September/01/state-medicaid-issues.aspx
HEALTH CARE Reform in Action
The Affordable Care Act creates new health insurance programs for people at certain income levels. These programs may vary based upon where you live and the number of people in your household. Health reform makes health care more affordable, holds insurers more accountable, expands coverage to all Americans and makes our health system sustainable. These facts gives you what you should know about how the Affordable Care Act impacts your health options.
HOW THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IMPACTS PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE
The Affordable Care Act improves benefits for people with Medicare. The law protects Medicare’s guaranteed benefits. These benefits include care that you get from a doctor or in a hospital. Here are some facts you should know:
• Original Medicare will pay for more services. Most people with Medicare get their benefits from Original Medicare. Now there are new benefits as well.
o Medicare covers many preventive services. You will not have to pay out-of-pocket for most of these services. Preventive services include screenings for health problems such as cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Preventive services also include prostate exams.
o Medicare now covers wellness visits so that you and your doctor can develop and update a personalized prevention plan. You can get your free wellness visit each year.
o You will have access to reviews of Medicare doctors so you can choose the doctor who will provide you with the best care.
o Health care fraud costs Medicare money every year. Medicare is working more than ever to cut down on fraud to protect your benefits. There are new tools to find people who send false bills to Medicare, available at www.stopmedicarefraud.gov/.
• Medicare Advantage plans will focus more on quality. Some people with Medicare have a Medicare Advantage plan instead of Original Medicare. The law changed the way Medicare Advantage plans operate.
o The law rewards Medicare Advantage plans with bonuses if they provide high-quality care. Medicare measures quality using a star rating system. You can find your plan’s star rating at www.medicare.gov.
o Plans that get quality bonuses must spend some of that money on plan members. This means that you might get extra benefits or rebates from high-quality plans.
o Medicare Advantage plans must limit how much they spend each year on administrative costs. They must now spend at least 85 percent of your premiums on medical care and no more than 15 percent on administrative costs.
o Medicare Advantage plans cannot charge more than Original Medicare for some services. Examples of these services are chemotherapy, skilled nursing care, and kidney dialysis.
• Medicare Part D will cover more prescription drug costs. People with Medicare Part D will see changes to their prescription drug coverage. The Affordable Care Act will make it less expensive for you to fill your prescription drugs during the coverage gap, or doughnut hole.
o The doughnut hole in Medicare Part D is getting smaller. In 2011, you’ll get a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs and a 7 percent discount on generic drugs while you are in the doughnut hole. The exact discounts you receive depend on your plan.
o The doughnut hole will gradually narrow until it disappears in 2020.
o You will still get catastrophic coverage if you spend enough on prescription drugs each year. At that point, you will generally pay no more than 5 percent for each of your prescription drugs.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
If you are like many people with Medicare, you may have questions about what the health care law means for you. To find out more about what the health care law means for people with Medicare visit www.aarp.org/getthefacts.
You have a choice of how you get Medicare. You can get Medicare through the Original Medicare plan or Medicare Advantage plans. Your decisions about which plan you choose are important because they affect how much you pay for your health care and what is covered.
To find out more about your Medicare choices, visit www.medicare.gov.
FACT SHEET:
HOW THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IMPACTS PEOPLE WITH A
PRE-EXISTING CONDITION INSURANCE PLAN (PCIP)
The Affordable Care Act made a new insurance program for people who can’t get health insurance due to a health problem. This program is called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP. There is a PCIP program for each state. Here are some facts you should know:
• How to qualify for PCIP coverage. In order to get PCIP coverage, you must meet the following rules:
o You must have been uninsured for at least six months before applying for PCIP coverage; and
o You must prove that you have been unable to get health insurance because of a health issue.
• How the PCIP program works.
The PCIP program covers a broad set of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital services and prescription drugs. The program is also required to cover health care services for pre-existing health conditions.
o You will pay a certain amount each month for PCIP coverage. This monthly amount is your premium. Your premium will not be based on your health condition.
o You will not have to pay out-of-pocket for preventive services under the PCIP program.
o There is no annual or lifetime limit on your benefits under the PCIP program.
o The PCIP program will operate until 2014, when you will then be able to buy health insurance through the exchange.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Learn more about the Pre-existing Condition Insurance program in Learn more.
FACT SHEET:
VA/DOD HEALTH INSURANCE
The Affordable Care Act does not change VA or DOD health care. To find out more about VA Coverage, visit www.va.gov/health/default.asp. To find out more about DOD TRICARE coverage, visit tricare.mil.
If you are able to get health care services through TRICARE or the VA, then you may not need to buy other health insurance. But depending on individual circumstances, some people may still want to buy other types of extra private health insurance coverage.
http://healthlawguide.aarp.org/?CMP=KNC-360I-GOOGLE-IVS-HEALTHLAWG-1111&HBX_PK=affordable_care_act&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=affordable%2Bcare%2Bact&utm_campaign=G_OTC2B&360cid=SI_310557624_10799190061_1
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Social Security and Medicare entitlements
Someone please tell me what in the world is wrong with all the people that run this country! Story: Obama’s full address on debt ceiling impasse The Social Security’s retirement program has been a basic part of American life for more than 65 years. Suddenly, we’re broke and can’t help our seniors, War Veterans, Orphans, and Homeless etc.? Over the years, you save up more money and earn ‘credits’. Then after you retire, these savings are paid back to you, depending on how many credits you earned. Medicare is our country’s health insurance program for people age 65 or older. (That no entitlement)
They call Social Security and Medicare entitlements, even though most of us have been paying for them all our working lives. I have been paying into SSI (1.45% payroll) for over fifty years and it not over yet. It also is financed in part by monthly premiums deducted from Social Security checks. Every single month all Social Security recipients (around 30 million) pay for their own Medicare through deduction of $96.50 from this so call entitlements. Do the math. Where does that money get used along with Medicare part D, paid to the drugs company by the Government? And remember each prescription require a co-pay. And now, just when it’s time for us to collect, the Government is running out of money. Why and who authorized the Government to borrow from our Social Security in the first place? That money is supposed be in a lock box. (That no entitlement)
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Military vets higher rate unemployment
Unemployment rate for military vets twice as high as civilian rate
The unemployment rate for military vets is higher than that of the entire US population despite skills gained on active duty; up to 11 %, a full 2 % higher than the general population. Still the congress debates the merit of pay for their service. More than 90 % of our business leader never serves a day in service to our country. It’s no wander that they have no understanding of the skills that vets possess after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs. This is but one of few outlets specifically designs to assist vets after leaving the military. Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, recently introduced complementary legislation to the Veteran Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act of 2011 (H.R. 2433) to help curb rising veteran unemployment. The Tax Credit to Hire Veterans Act of 2011 (H.R. 2443) would provide a tax credit to be applied toward capital equipment purchases to small businesses that hire unemployed veterans. To learn more, visit the Military.com Veteran Jobs Center. Yet we still find congress up to their old method of balancing the budget on the back of a small minority. Specifically those who choose to serve our country.
Military Pay Held Hostage – Again
Week of July 18, 2011
The U.S. is about to hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and it appears Congress and the President are no closer to a deal to raise the spending limit. The impact of hitting the debt ceiling is not fully known, but the Department of Treasury says that “If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, the government would have to stop, limit, or delay payments on a broad range of legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and many other commitments.”
Read the full article on the Military Advantage Blog.
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