Day: October 9, 2009

And The Winner IS…………Obama!

The Nobel Peace Prize that is…….Pres. Barack Obama….OMG!…Here comes the noise from the Right…..the questions….what has he done?  So on and so on……actually, it is the HATE that will come through.

Just like the loss of the Olympics many on the Right will feel that they should speak out on this outrage…..my question is…if not him then who?

Qualifications?….what a crock!  I suggest that most of the conservative talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Beck and the rest are not qualified to be pundits….them do not depend on facts just the spin they care to carry.

Once again the Right seems to be against America being a winner anywhere…or maybe it is just the color of the man’s skin that bothers them the most.  There seems to be an overwhelming desire for the country to fail or to avoid any recognition…is it hate for the country or just that for a black man?

Time for these little pricks to be eliminated from the political landscape…they are doing NOTHING to make America stronger…they are however doing all in their power to turn the citizens on each other……that is something Americans should not allow…..but they do….and in doing so I question their motives…….

If these people cannot keep America first or appreciate the recognition, then maybe they should be the ones to pack up and find another country to INFECT!

Repubs Defend Medicare

That is right…you heard it right…the GOP is defending Medicare from any cuts that the Obama Admin may be considering…..No…this is not some parallel universe….unless you consider Washington in some parallel universe…I guess we could a case that it is….but that would be for the math dudes to work it out with a pencil.

I will bet you are wondering why I am attempting to be humorous?  After decades of trying to find ways to dismantle Medicare, they are now concerned that the Obama group will hurt seniors in their declining years.  I am NOT making this stuff up…I swear!

As written in Medical News Today website:

The GOP’s change of stance on Medicare raises questions about its motives, The Associated Press reports in a separate story: “Weren’t Republicans against Medicare before they were for it? It’s a question vexing Democrats in the fierce battle over President Barack Obama’s push for a health care overhaul as the head of the Republican Party has portrayed the GOP as the lone bulwark preventing deep cuts to the popular, government-run health plan for older people.”

“It’s a remarkable turnaround for a party whose leaders tried to slash billions from Medicare more than a decade ago and have assailed the program as a wasteful entitlement. None other than Ronald Reagan, a hero to Republicans, warned in 1961 that creation of Medicare would push the country toward socialism. The new GOP posture may be politically savvy given older Americans’ fears of major changes to Medicare, which were among the concerns widely on display at angry town hall meetings across the country last month. But the new stance also contradicts the party’s long history of skepticism toward government-run programs and Republican concerns about the long-term viability and health of the Medicare system”

Even thew chairman of the RNC is on the “save Medicare” bandwagon:

“Our seniors have really come under fire in the last few weeks, as more and more proposals look to be cutting benefits out of Medicare programs,” Steele said of the six-point proposal, which calls for the president to not cut Medicare benefits in his health care overhaul.

In an October 2006 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” then then-Senate candidate said that cuts to Medicare “absolutely” had to be “on the table” in order to “control runaway federal spending.”

“Everything has to be on the table, my friend,” Steele said at the time. “If you don’t have enough money in any given month, what do you do? You’ve got to reprioritize. You’ve got to take care of the business at hand.”

Are confused yet?  Don’t worry everybody is also……after a decade of trying to kill ALL Medicare and now they are ALL for saving it from the budget axe……

What brought about such a glorious turn around?  One word answer…..OBAMA!

You see if he, Obama, is calling for anything, anything at all then the GOP is against it….No it is not just politics…..it is a HATE for the man and his plan.

That Is Right…..A Fat Tax!

I have written several posts on the idea of making FAT a sin or making FAT socially unacceptable…..many in the media are jumping on the anti-fat thing, some go so far as to accuse people that are “fat” of all sorts of mortal sins….lazy…gluttony….etc….well, there is another way of doing this….another way of doing what they say cannot be done…..TAX THE BASTARDS! (sarcasm intended).

First it was Alabama…this story came from the LA Times:

The State Employees’ Insurance Board announced a new plan beginning next year in which state employees will be required to receive medication screenings for several conditions, including body mass index. Those considered obese or who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high glucose will have to pay $25 a month more in health insurance beginning in January 2011, if they don’t take steps to address their health problems.

The new rule will affect more than 37,000 people employed by the state. Alabama is the first state to issue a so-called fat tax. The state already charges smokers a $24 per month surcharge (which will increase to $25 next month).

Alabama has the second highest obesity rate in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over 30% of the population is obese, ranking just behind Mississippi. Still, a fat tax?

And then another Southern state has jumped on the bandwagon.  The NewsObserver.com:

“Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” said Anne Rogers, director of integrated health management with the N.C. State Employees Health Plan. “We need a healthy workforce in this state. We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles.”

State workers who don’t cut out the Marlboros and Big Macs will end up paying more for health care. Tobacco users get placed in a more expensive insurance plan starting in July and, for those who qualify as obese, in July 2011.

The idea of penalizing unhealthy lifestyles and rewarding healthy conduct is hardly new among insurance plans. Public health insurance plans in other states already penalize smokers or reward nonsmokers in insurance costs. South Carolina’s state employees health plan is scheduled to add a $25-per-month surcharge on smokers in January. Elsewhere in the Southeast, Kentucky and Georgia impose surcharges, and Alabama gives nonsmokers a discount.

Tobacco and obesity are leading risk factors for ailments such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and chronic breathing disorders. BioSignia is not under contract with the state health plan, but Smith said that employers like the state are trying to catch employees who are in pre-disease stages to save both lives and money.

Only a fraction of employers, though, offer financial incentives for healthy behavior or wellness programs, such as gym memberships or smoking cessation, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year. Differences in employees’ education, health literacy and access to basic health care could affect the usefulness of financial incentives in reducing health-care costs over time, the study said.

How lovely!  What is next….. Beer?  After all beer has a way of showing up on one’s waistline.  Granted there is already some taxation on beer and alcohol, there is always more room for expansion of that tax.

Yes, once again this is government inserting itself in people’s lives…you know the same government that seems not to want to do anything about guns and crime…..or the same government that seems reluctant to do anything about the effects of carbon emissions…that is also the cause of illness and bad for people’s health…..

If this survives any court challenge then the rest of the states will run herd over their employees.  Workers will have something else to make their pay checks smaller….and the insurance companies smile……

Another “Up” Side To Health Reform

We have all heard the argument for health reform….more insured people…healthier people….cheaper insurance….on and on….and yes we have all definitely heard the supposed downside if there is reform coming from the GOP mostly.

But with all said could there possibly be other benefits if health reform is passed?

Liz Wolgemuth writing for U.S. News And World Report:

If healthcare reform makes insurance much more affordable to individuals and businesses, it could result in a greater variety of career options for workers. For one thing, it would reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. Reform also could make it easier for workers to leave employers to whom they are “job-locked,” or committed to solely for health benefits–a situation more common to older workers and those with pre-existing conditions.

It also could ease one of the greatest obstacles to older workers’ job searches–even more pressing after nearly two years of recession and rocketing unemployment rates. “One of the long-standing barriers to hiring elderly workers is healthcare costs,” says David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Because rates are higher for smaller employers, “if that concern were taken off the table,” it would be easier for more businesses to hire older workers,

This would, in general, be a good thing for the economy. Workers who choose to stay with employers merely to receive health insurance are not ideal for employers, who benefit more from motivated and productive workers. At the same time, workers are not helped by staying in jobs so they can maintain their coverage. There is what Lahey describes as a “loss of well-being” when, say, an older worker is ailing but continues to work until he or she reaches 65 and can be covered by Medicare. Yet many workers, particularly low-income ones, feel that’s what they have to do.

Could there possibly be any disadvantage?  There is ALWAYS going to be a disadvantage to any government reform.

Small businesses pay as much as 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy, according to the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. Employees at small businesses also tend to get leaner benefits packages and pay higher deductibles. “Small firms are likely to be at a competitive disadvantage in the market for hiring workers,” according to the council’s report. While Obama’s goal may be competitive parity, opponents to existing healthcare reform legislation have argued that payroll taxes to pay for more affordable healthcare or mandates for levels of coverage could be prohibitive for small businesses.

There you have a few good versus bad of any health reform…weigh that as you struggle to make any sense of the noise coming out of Washington during the health debate.