- President Obama has postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia because, let’s be honest, Congressional Dems won’t pass healthcare reform if he’s gone. (Reuters)
- The ACLU is suing the crap out of a Mississippi school that cancelled its prom instead of letting two girls hold hands or (gasp!) dance together. (Advocate)
- Israel has sealed off the West Bank due to concerns that young Palestinian men planned to incite violence after Friday prayers. So, how’s that peace process going, guys? (Voice of America)
- Glenn Beck thinks Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” is anti-American propaganda. You know, has anyone ever seen the Boss’ birth certificate?
- Johnny Weir, the Olympic figure skater who is putting his brother through college and supporting his parents financially, was not invited to participate in the “Stars on Ice” tour because sponsors thought he was “not family-friendly.” (GLAAD Blog)
Archive for posts ‘healthcare’
Wanker of the Day
- Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has introduced a four-page healthcare reform bill which would simply allow anyone who want it to buy into Medicare. A nice idea, but do we really need more healthcare bills at this point? (Down with Tyranny)
- Charlie Crist demands to know if Senate primary opponent Marco Rubio has purchased back wax, because that would be totally gay not fiscally responsible. (CNN)
- When I was little, I figured we’d eventually come up with cars that drive themselves. Unfortunately, this Toyota Prius is not quite preforming the way I’d hoped. (Detroit Free Press)
- Now ex-Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) admits he was doing all kinds of groping of his staff, except for the sexual kind! Yep, only doing that non-sexual groping… (LA Times)
- Visiting Pakistani legislators were not pleased that they were racially profiled at our airports, especially after they went and caught basically the whole Taliban for us. (NYTO
- Mitt Romney tried to defend his “Romneycare” as conservative healthcare reform, but conservative groups aren’t buying it because maybe Romneycare prevented some poors from dying, and that is unacceptable. (The Plum Line)
- Happy Same-Sex Marriage Day, DC! Last week, couples could begin applying for marriage licences, and today the first same-sex weddings begin! (WUSA)
- Un-un-conceding wingnut spoiler Doug Hoffman will run for Congress again in New York’s 23rd district because he is sad about not being America’s Laughingstock anymore. (TPM)
- Someone is making mysterious robocalls to Iowa to warn Iowans that Rick Santorum, aka Senator Man on Dog, is not insane enough! What?! (CNN)
- Remember the planned Middle East peace talks, from two days ago? They are over before they started because of disputes over East Jerusalem. (Ha’aretz)
Deep Thought
How long do you have to wait after getting socialist Canadian healthcare before the death panels kill your parents and baby with Down Syndrome?
Mandatory Reading on HCR
Next time you run in to someone who doesn’t think we need healthcare reform now (like, say, certain Democratic members of Congress), point them towards this excellent NYT editorial:
HOW REFORM WOULD WORK: Let’s be clear, the changes Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are proposing are significant. But, despite what the critics charge, this is not a government takeover. And the program is not only fully paid for, it should actually reduce the deficit over the next two decades.
Under the new system, all people would be required to have health insurance or pay a penalty. If you are poor or middle class you would also get significant help through Medicaid coverage or tax credits to pay the premiums.
The legislation would create exchanges on which small businesses and people who buy their own coverage directly from insurers could choose from an array of private plans that would compete for their business. It would also require insurance companies to accept all applicants, even those with a pre-existing condition. And it would make a start at reforming the medical care system to improve quality and lower costs.
46 MILLION AND RISING: If nothing is done, the number of uninsured people — 46 million in 2008 — is sure to spike upward as rising medical costs and soaring premiums make policies less affordable and employers continue to drop coverage to save money.
The Congressional Budget Office projects 54 million uninsured people in 2019; the actuary for the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects 57 million.
It should be no surprise that people without insurance often postpone needed care, and many get much sicker as a result. That is morally unsustainable. It is also fiscally unsustainable for safety net hospitals — which foist much of the cost on the American taxpayer when the uninsured end up in the emergency room. As the number of uninsured rises, that bill will rise.
The Senate’s reform bill would reduce the number of uninsured by an estimated 31 million in 2019. The Republicans’ paltry proposals would cut the number by only three million.
BUT I HAVE INSURANCE: While most Americans have insurance, many pay exorbitant rates because they have no bargaining power with insurers.
…
If current trends continue, the number of underinsured Americans — those who have coverage too skimpy to pay substantial medical bills or protect them from high out-of-pocket spending — will also rise from an estimated 25 million in 2007 to 35 million in 2011, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a respected research organization.That will increase the risk that this group will forgo needed care and will expose many more of them to potential bankruptcy if they cannot pay huge medical bills. Some 72 million adults currently have medical debt or problems paying their bills even though most of them have insurance. Reform would help them by setting minimum standards of coverage and providing subsidies to tens of millions of low- and middle-income people to help pay their premiums.
BUT I LIKE MY INSURANCE: Most Americans get their insurance through large companies, with large group bargaining power. While they complain about premiums and paperwork, most seem satisfied with their coverage.
…
For this group, the real advantage of reform is security. If they get laid off, decide to be self-employed or switch to a smaller employer that offers no insurance, they will still be guaranteed coverage — even if they are a cancer survivor or have heart trouble or any other pre-existing condition. And they will be able to buy insurance on the exchanges.I’M JUST WORRIED ABOUT COSTS: You should be. The cost of medical care is rising far faster than wages or inflation. And despite all of the talk about reform “bending the curve,” no one is yet sure how to do that.
…
Pending reform legislation, specifically the Senate bill, would launch an array of pilot projects to test reforms in delivering and paying for care. It would also create a special board to accelerate the adoption of anything that seemed to work. That seems a reasonable way to go and a lot better than standing by as costs continue to spiral out of control. The Republicans’ proposals — including their call to cap malpractice awards — would make only a small dent in the problem.WHAT ABOUT THE DEFICIT?: Republican critics of health care reform have done an especially good job of frightening Americans with their talk of bankrupting the Treasury. The truth of the matter is that the pending reform legislation has been designed to generate enough revenue and savings to more than offset the substantial cost of expanding Medicaid and providing subsidies to the middle class.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate bill would reduce deficits over the first 10 years by $132 billion and even more in the second decade.
…
If reform is defeated, it seems likely that most of the proposed experiments designed to cut costs — first within Medicare and then throughout the rest of the health care system — will die as well. The legislation needs to be passed to establish a structure to force continuing improvement over the years. That is the best chance of restraining soaring medical costs that threaten the solvency of families, businesses and the federal government.
It’s been over a year since President Obama and the Democratic Party began working to reform healthcare. It’s time to pass the damn bill.
- The Obama administration is probably going to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a military court because of the usual reasons (Republicans whine a lot, Democrats suck, etc.). (WaPo)
- Newsflash, morons: Medicare is government-run healthcare. Literally, it is healthcare which is run by the government. Gah! (Pollster)
- Break out that “Mission Accomplished” banner: foreign oil companies now have their best access to Iraqi oil fields since 1972. (Business Week)
- Hahaha, absolutely everyone from all across the political spectrum hates party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith (R-AL). (CNN)
- A government-hating crazy man shot and injured two Pentagon police officers yesterday. Fortunately, no one else was injured. (ABC News)
- Welcome to yet another episode of “homophobic ‘family values’ Republican drunkenly stumbles out of gay nightclub.” This week, California! (CBS13)
- Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) says he and a dozen of his buddies will continue to let Americans die because they cannot afford health insurance. This is the very definition of “pro-life.” (The Hill)
- The RNC has unveiled its 2010 election strategy: exploit our dumb donors’ fear of the black guy. No one could have predicted, etc. (Politico)
- Most House Republicans would rather let schools physically and mentally abuse children than vote for a bill that a Democrat introduced. (Media Matters Action Network)
- HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebeilus has politely asked insurance companies to be more transparent about premium increases. So, no need for a healthcare reform bill then! (MSNBC)
- Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is such a Washington outsider! After all she has only been there for, oh, twelve years. First person to get pics of Blanche Lincoln in a Razorbacks jersey wins! (CNN)
Wanker of the Day
If you want to help prevent low income women from dying of stupak, “A medical condition (subset of sepsis) resulting from unsafe – unnecessarily so – back alley abortions as a result of the ‘Stupak Amendment’ to the 2009 Health Care Reform Bill,” why not give the distinguished gentleman from Michigan a call at (202) 225-4735. John Cole has a suggested script:
Hi, my name is XXXXX and I am from XXXXX, and while not normally a constituent, Rep. Stupak insists on making me with his repeated attempts to kill HCR because of his fetus fetish. Please be assured I intend to donate the maximum amount to any opponent of Bart’s, Republican or Democrat, if he manages to torpedo HCR, and will worked to have him stripped of any and all committee assignments and removed from the Democratic caucus. And this includes if he should have any delusional gubernatorial aspirations.
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