Monthly Archive for May, 2011

Medicare, Paul Ryan, Lies, and Health Care Reform

May 26, 2011
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Americans are not stupid;  at least not the 48% of Americans living in New York’s 26th Congressional District.  Polls show that the victory by Democratic candidate, Kathy Hochul, in this traditionally conservative district was a reaction against the Republican budget proposal approved by most House Republicans and calling for a radical transformation of Medicare.

Paul Ryan, the Budget Committee Chairman who concocted this most recent Republican idea to kill Medicare,  would have you believe that his plan would not hurt seniors, his plan to to end Medicare as we know it would not hurt seniors.

He thinks people who are 54 years old – the first ones who will fall under Ryan’s plan -aren’t thinking about needing Medicare.

He thinks those older than 54 won’t feel threatened by his voucher plan idea.

He thinks people will somehow fall for this “kick-the-can-down-the-road” ploy.

What goes around …

There is some delicious satisfaction to watching Republicans squirm as Democrats accuse them of “ending Medicare as we know it.” Continue reading ‘Medicare, Paul Ryan, Lies, and Health Care Reform’

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The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for Hawaii

May 24, 2011
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The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for Hawaii

  • Small business tax credits.  18,600 small businesses in Hawaii could be helped by a new small business tax credit that makes it easier for businesses to provide coverage to their workers and makes premiums more affordable.1  Small businesses pay, on average, 18 percent more than large businesses for the same coverage, and health insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages in the past 10 years.  This tax credit is just the first step towards bringing those costs down and making coverage affordable for small businesses.

The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for Hawaii

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Will KISS apply to ACA?

May 17, 2011
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Will health care reform adhere to the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid?

Will it make health care simpler?

Is Mount Everest higher than K2?

Is the Sears Tower in Chicago taller than the Empire State Building in New York City?

Is Bill Gates richer than Warren Buffet?

It is relative.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will eliminate medical underwriting.  That will make life simpler for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Health care reform will also create state health insurance exchanges.  That will make it simpler for some people to shop for individual and small group health insurance policies.

But for many Americans, health care will still present some daunting choices.  And policy makers are already trying to get ahead of that process. Continue reading ‘Will KISS apply to ACA?’

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Corporations, Federal ‘Reform’ Keep Shifting Healthcare Costs to Workers

May 16, 2011
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 By Roger Bybee  May 13, 2011

In These Times

Despite its $14.2 billion in profits last year untouched by federal income taxes, General Electric is now demanding that its unionized workers accept a new high-deductible “Health Choice” health savings account plan.

GE’s demands are particularly obscene because it is sitting on $25 billion in savings and is threatening to close more U.S. plants, i.e. move more jobs to Mexico, China and elsewhere. And they’re particularly dangerous because GE is modeling bad behavior for other corporations to emulate.

As UE-GE Conference Secretary Steve Tormey has said, “Nobody is more symbolic of the assault on workers than General Electric.” The United Electrical workers union, one of a handful of unions now negotiating with GE, warned its members:

Corporations, Federal ‘Reform’ Keep Shifting Healthcare Costs to Workers – Working In These Times

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Romney Stands by Massachusetts Health Care Reform

May 12, 2011
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Mitt Romney not backing away from the health care reform law that he pushed forward in Massachusetts.

In a speech he delivered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the state where his father had been governor, the presidential aspirant went on to say that what was right for Massachusetts is not necessarily right for the rest of the country.

He then proceeded to trot out the tired Republican formulas for health care reform:  block grants to states, selling insurance across state borders, medical liability reform, and shifting more costs onto individuals.

I would have offered a different response for Mr. Romney.

The federal law on employee benefits, ERISA, ties the hands of states who want to expand health care coverage.  It’s called the ERISA preemption.  We came up with a solution that ducks the federal preemption.  It works in Massachusetts because Massachusetts has a high rate of unionization, a high rate of income and a very low rate of uninsured.  That is not a solution that could work in states like Texas or Mississippi that have none of those. Continue reading ‘Romney Stands by Massachusetts Health Care Reform’

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