Tag: Health Debate

Clinton and Obamacare Will Not Solve the Health Care Crisis

It is an election year so there will be lots of whining and bitching about Obamacare….mostly from the Right…..but they truth is that none of these options will not solve our health care problem…..and the ones that are offered by the Right are at best….laughable.

While it has done a lot of good, the Affordable Care Act is not a long-term solution to the US health care crisis.

Bernie Sanders’ campaign, which proposed replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with a Medicare for All system, has sparked a much-needed debate over the need for a single-payer health system. But this bold proposal didn’t win him the election. And now that Hillary Clinton has become the presumptive nominee against Donald Trump, the debate over health care reform is about to become extremely narrow.

With the media and candidates in full general election mode, Sanders’ argument that we must do better than Obamacare will soon be replaced by Trump’s insistence that we must do worse. Clinton will almost certainly respond by pushing the status quo, which remains broken. Critical dialogue, at least on the national stage, will likely be in short supply.

Source: Why Hillary Clinton and Obamacare Will Not Solve the Health Care Crisis – Linkis.com

The part I like best are the ones that are in the most opposition are the ones that have all the health care they need…..it feels like they want to horde health care for people like them….only.

Healthcare Is Healthcare

What a marvelous topic…it has been the butt of jokes and the stuff of rants for years….not to mention all the wasted time Congress has spent on the issue…..is the ACA a bad idea or is it just a bad idea because it came from a president that some dislike?

With all the back and forth over Obamacare does any one have any thing positive to say about it that is more along the facts and not a rant…..

I do!  I do! (he said waving his hand in the air like a crazed primate)…..

For the first time ever, fewer than 10% of Americans lack health insurance, according to data released Tuesday by the CDC. And CNBC calls that “a clear sign of ObamaCare’s impact.” In 2015, only 9.1% of Americans—about 28.6 million people—were uninsured. That’s down from 14.2% in 2013 when ObamaCare really started to go into effect, the Hill reports. That drop amounts to another 16.2 million Americans who now have health insurance. “Today’s report is further proof that our country has made undeniable and historic strides thanks to the Affordable Care Act.” Sylvia Burwell, secretary of health and human services, tells CNBC. “Our country ought to be proud of how far we’ve come and where we’re going.”

But regardless of ObamaCare’s success in reducing the ranks of the uninsured—the Obama administration estimates more than 20 million Americans have gained insurance since the ACA passed in 2010—the Hill reports that Republicans still plan to use it as a wedge issue in November. Donald Trump and Senate Republicans believe hitting Hillary Clinton over ObamaCare will propel them to victories. “This healthcare law has been devastating to the Democratic Party,” John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, tells the Hill.

Is there any other facts that pertain to our health care?

Oh so much more…..since Bernie entered into the race for the Dem nomination there has been a new call for a single payer health care system…..and surprisingly enough a good portion of the populace agree with Bernie……

A majority of Americans support the single-payer, “Medicare-for-all” style health care system proposed by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

A new Gallup poll found that almost six in 10 U.S. adults would prefer a federally funded health care system that provides insurance for all Americans

Gallup presented the three leading presidential candidates’ proposed health care policies, without naming the candidates, and asked participants what they thought of them. A majority of Americans agreed with Sanders’ proposal, without knowing that it was his.  (read one…..)

Source: They agree with Bernie: Majority of Americans support single-payer, “Medicare-for-all” health care system – Salon.com

“It’s Time for Single Payer…..”

The election of 2016 has brought about the continuing saga of the ACA (Obamacare)….of course each candidate has their own opinion on the subject….if it is the GOP it is the never ending “Repel and Replace” mantra, like a stuck record……on the Dem side we have Clinton who is pretty much happy with it the way it is and then there is Sanders who promotes a single payer system…..one that is not very popular with the dolts that report the news……..

I personally like the idea of a single payer system…..basically Medicare for all…….it would be the best way to see that every American has equal access to health care….but that makes me a…..wait for it……socialist.

It appears that I am not alone in wanting to see the idea of single payer return to the conversation…..

Despite limited advances provided by the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. healthcare system remains “uniquely wasteful” and profit-driven, leaving tens of millions without any insurance and even more underinsured.

As a result, say leading physicians, “the right to medical care remains a dream deferred.”

In an effort to finally realize that dream, thousands of medical professionals across the country have signed onto the “Physicians’ Proposal for Single-Payer Health Care Reform,” calling for a publicly financed, single-payer National Health Program (NHP) that would cover all Americans for all medically necessary care.

Source: 2000+ Doctors Declare: “It’s Time for Single Payer to be Back on the Table” | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Food Nazi Speaks (Again)

Once again on the weekend the old Food Nazi has something to say about food and the way we Americans tend to flock to trends and fads……tell me how many of you eat kale?  Why?  It is a horrible tasting thing that at best makes a good garnish.

All that is this whole crappy thing about eating healthy.  We are told that a drink that looks like pond scum is good for you.  Or that some berry from the East has some sort of magic healing power.

A whole industry has been devised to help you eat healthy…..meanwhile you drop dead anyway.

There is the thing…..is it always that healthy?

Like many people, one middle-age woman in an Israeli study just couldn’t seem to find a diet that worked. The problem: The seemingly healthy tomatoes she was eating multiple times per week were actually causing her blood sugar levels to spike. The New Zealand Herald reports the researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have made a key insight in the science of dieting, discovering that the bodies of different people can respond differently to the exact same meal—even an apparently healthy one. “There are profound differences between individuals,” researcher Eran Segal says. “In some cases, individuals have opposite responses to one another.” What that means is a diet that works for one person might be ineffective for another, and the future of dieting could lie in meal plans created specifically for individuals.

Researchers monitored 800 volunteers for a week and surveyed nearly 47,000 meals with a focus on the glycemic index, which ranks foods based on how they affect blood sugar, according to a press release. Doctors and nutritionists have long used the index to recommend diets, believing it to be a constant for everyone. Instead, the study in Cell found that the glucose levels of volunteers responded differently to the exact same foods, independent of age or BMI, the Herald reports. “I think about the possibility that maybe we’re really conceptually wrong in our thinking about the obesity and diabetes epidemic,” Segal says. The assumption is that people who gain unwanted weight are ignoring advice because they’re unable to control their eating—”but maybe people are actually compliant, but in many cases we were giving them wrong advice.” (It was easier to be thin 20 years ago.)

If you want to eat healthy……then use your head and not the TV…

What Would Universal Healthcare Look Like in the U.S.?

Repeal Obamacare…..GOP fav rallying call…I say please do….for there is a better way……

Personally, I think universal health care is the only way to be sure that Americans have a healthy and productive life…..

This is a very informative conversation on the issue of universal health care…..please let me know your thoughts…..chuq

What Would Universal Healthcare Look Like in the U.S.?.

Hacked Or Not?

I tried to stay away from the regurgitation of the pros and cons of the Obamacare debacle…..but recently a reader (John Z.) of IST (this blog) asked if I had heard anything about the official website having been hacked by the right wing……I had heard the story but could not confirm that it actually had occurred…..and then I ran across this piece of info concerning the website……

Newser) – Imitation isn’t any form of flattery in this case. California Republicans are taking flak for a website (coveringhealthcareca.com) that highlights downsides of health care reform—but resembles an official site and has a URL similar to that of the state’s health care exchange (www.coveredca.com). Critics say the site, which was paid for by taxpayer dollars and publicized by Republican members of the state assembly, is a deliberate attempt to mislead people looking for the real thing, much like 10 other imitation sites that have already been shut down, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

“Republicans in Sacramento have wasted taxpayer dollars building a fake website in an attempt to sow confusion and fear, in a futile attempt to discredit the law,” charges the chairman of the progressive Courage Campaign group. After an outcry, the GOP site was updated to include direct links to California’s state insurance exchange, reports the Los Angeles Times. Republicans say the site was merely an effort to keep their constituents informed about ObamaCare, and note that traffic has increased tenfold since it first made the news.

This is the best answer I have for the question at this time………I do not doubt that the website could have been hacked….but until I have confirmation I will NOT speculate…….something we all should live by in this age of innuendos…..

What Is In The Mandate?

Oh God!  The ballet has begun again…….the debate on the law called Obamacare.  Silliness and absurdity are the chorus…….we are hearing all the crap over and over….kinda like the House votes on repealing the Law, 39 times I believe and yet it is still the LAW!  GOP has its head firmly placed in their anus…….before we go on let me say something clever to the Right wing….Obamacare is LAW!  Get over it you twats!

The taxes and the fines and lastly that damn pesky MANDATE.  But wait what is the mandate?  Can you describe it without dashing to the Google machine?  (pause here for the clicking of keys in search of mandate on Google).

Ezra Klein has attempted to explain the mandate……..

The individual mandate is a requirement that all individuals who can afford health-care insurance purchase some minimally comprehensive policy. For the purposes of the law, “individuals who can afford health-care insurance” is defined as people for whom the minimum policy will not cost more than 8 percent of their monthly income, and who make more than the poverty line. So if coverage would cost more than 8 percent of your monthly income, or you’re making very little, you’re not on the hook to buy insurance (and, because of other provisions in the law, you’re getting subsidies that make insurance virtually costless anyway).

The theory behind the mandate is simple: It’s there to protect against an insurance death spiral. Now that insurers can’t discriminate based on preexisting conditions, it would be entirely possible for people to forgo insurance until, well, they develop a medical condition. In that world, the bulk of the people buying insurance on the exchanges are sick, and that makes the average premiums terrifically expensive. The mandate is there to bring healthy people into the pool, which keeps average costs down and also ensures that people aren’t riding free on the system by letting society pay when they get hit by a bus.

The irony of the mandate is that it’s been presented as a terribly onerous tax on decent, hardworking people who don’t want to purchase insurance. In reality, it’s the best deal in the bill: A cynical consumer would be smart to pay the modest penalty rather than pay thousands of dollars a year for insurance. In the current system, that’s a bad idea because insurers won’t let them buy insurance if they get sick later. In the reformed system, there’s no consequence for that behavior. You could pay the penalty for five years and then buy insurance the day you felt a lump.

The Right is fighting the law and in particular the mandate as a TAX….and we know how Americans have been brainwashed into a “no taxation” mode……now we can debate the legitimacy of the argument that it is a tax but it will always depend on your political ideology……..I want to believe that the consumer is smarter than the GOP gives them credit………(I say that and I live in a state where I question the mental capacity of 75% of the voters….so I could be mistaken)……..

Actually the law is too weak….more so than too punitive to the taxpayer……personally, it does not go far enough…..but I can live with it….for now….

Now you have an idea what the mandate is……there is so much more to the law but the mandate seems to be what most are focusing on….at least for this week……

Hey! It’s Working!

I wish the twats on the Right would shut up and let the facts drive the conversation…..but that is probably too much to ask for in these times, huh?

We all know just how the Right feels about Obamacare, right?  They are always telling us what a dismal failure it is and will be…..and of course the Prez gave them more ammo when in postponed the small business part of the law……let me interrupt the mindless clowns and telling of the successes……..but first let’s look at the action taken by the House (again)………

(AP) – House Republicans voted today to delay core provisions of ObamaCare, emboldened by the administration’s concession that requiring companies to provide coverage for their workers next year may be too complicated. After a day of heated rhetoric, the House voted largely along party lines, 264-161, to delay by one year the so-called employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act. It voted 251-174 to extend a similar grace period to virtually all Americans who will be required to obtain coverage beginning Jan. 1, the linchpin of the law. The House legislation stands no chance in the Democratic-run Senate. Even if it somehow did, the White House promised two vetoes.

The dual political-show votes marked the 38th time the GOP majority has tried to eliminate, defund, or scale back the law since Republicans took control of the House in January 2011. “This administration cannot make its own law work,” said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, during House debate. Eager to counter the Republican criticism, Obama plans to deliver remarks tomorrow focusing on rebates that consumers are already receiving from insurance companies under the health care law.

And now as promised…..the SUCCESSES!

  • New York: Just today we found out that health insurance premiums for those in the individual market will plummet by 50 percent or more. The New York Times reports that someone who is paying $1,000 a month now will be able to purchase coverage next year for as little as $308 — and that’s not even counting potential Obamacare subsidies that could lower the cost even further.
  • California: The costs for a medium coverage plan are far below predictions. For example, in southern Los Angeles County Health Net is going to charge $242 a month for one of its plans while Blue Shield is charging $287 and Kaiser Permanente $325 for the same coverage. That means that the 5 million uninsured residents of California will now have more access to affordable, higher quality care than is currently available.
  • Montana: The individual and small group health plans sold on the marketplace will be cheaper and offer better coverage. Without the health law, insurance officials predicted the average premium in 2014 to rise by 10 percent to $290. Instead, the average cost for an individual plan will be $273 — about five percent lower than it would have been without the health law’s marketplace. Costs are going down even has insurance companies will now have to cover ten “essential health benefits,” including prescription drug and mental health services, that skimpy individual plans almost never cover.
  • Louisiana: Residents will soon see lower premiums as well. Just last week Louisiana’s largest private health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, estimated that two-thirds of its customers who buy their own policies will pay the same premiums or less for better coverage under the federal health care overhaul.
  • Washington: After warning that premiums would go up by 50-70 percent under Obamacare, Premera Blue Cross released rates for individual plans that are far lower that current levels. Premera currently offers individual plans for 21-year-old non-smokers at a monthly cost of $325, with a deductible of $1,800. In the exchange, that same person in King County could purchase a similar Premera plan with a lower deductible at a rate of $276 — a decrease of 15 percent.

BOTTOM LINE: Obamacare is working. And with 24 million Americans expected to gain coverage through the marketplaces by 2016, that’s great news for Americans’ pocketbooks — as well as their health. It’s time Republicans do their job and make sure their constituents get coverage and the benefits from Obamacare, instead of doing everything in their power to take away those benefits from their constituents.

Okay sports fans here is the ammo we all need to fight the revisionist bullsh*t of the GOP……..make good use of the information at hand………we can beat the pants off the Right when armed with facts…..you have your facts…..GET BUSY!