Posts Tagged ‘health care reform’
We at USDemocrazy aren’t health policy wonks so we’re having a bit of trouble keeping up the congressional health care bills in the making…
especially since these bills seem to change every other minute!
But we are sure of one thing: Things are not going according to Democrats’ plans.
Here’s what we have learned…
First, we know the health bills on the table will lack a couple aspects Obama REALLY hoped for including:
- mandates for businesses to offer coverage to their workers.
- A government insurance option.
Secondly, despite Democrats’ attempts to get Republicans to link arms with them and sing Kumbaya , senators who wished to remain anonymous have announced,
“That no agreement has been reached…and…there is no guarantee of one…numerous key issues remain to be settled, including several options to pay for the legislation.”
It appears that much of what Democrats have at present is a significantly watered-down version of their original health care plan.
And speaking of water, it looks like the Democrats’ health care bills will have to wait till after summer vacations at the beach– and maybe lose some steam in the process.
While the House is ready for a vote according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi the Senate is not. The Senate has decided to postpone a vote on top health care bills to September.
While Congressional bill-writing sessions have remained very private. Here is what we found out about the bi-partisan healthcare reform bill in the making:
- Democrats hope to expand the ranks of non-profit health care insurers (these would not be government run) to provide competition to the current largely for-profit health insurance industry.
- As part of a compromise plan: potential health care legislation would not penalize businesses who refused to provide health care insurance to their employees but would provide incentives to those who did.
- The bill’s crafters hope to create of a commission which would recommend long-term savings in Medicare and expand Medicaid.
The cost of the plan will be according to Congressional leaders will be under 1 trillion dollars.
How will we pay for this? The following options are in consideration:
- An excise tax of as much as 35 percent on insurance with very high annual premiums (perhaps over $25,000).
- Fees on the manufacturers of medical devices and on the makers of both brand name and generic drugs coming onto the market.
- Limiting Flexible Savings Accounts to $2,000 annually.
So that seems to be the plan so far…but looking at the changes made ALREADY to Obama’s original health care plan, we’re sure more changes are on the way.
Stick with us and we’ll keep you updated with news on this STICKY health care mess.
If you’re like us here at USDemocrazy your head is probably swimming with news about the future of health care.
Obama’s giving a speech here, spending will increase there….there seems to be a zillion stories with tons of info.
And…if you are like us… you have been desperately searching for someone to summarize ALL this STUFF (minus any political fluff).
Our first search took us to Obama’s website. Too vague. Then we typed “Obama health care reform in a nutshell” into google. All we got was this cartoon by Mike Ramirez:
We like cartoons, but we wanted to learn more.
We do know Obama is keeping his options open. He is not saying much about his controversial health care bill. Meanwhile it is prudently being crafted behind closed doors.
Here’s Obama:
“We are still early in this process,” he said. “So you know, we have not drawn lines in the sand, other than that reform has to control costs and that it has to provide relief to people who don’t have health insurance or are under-insured.”
On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Mike Enzi, Republican’s ranking member on the health committee said of the pending legislation,
“This is the most comprehensive legislation that any of us will ever work on,” Enzi said Wednesday. “It will fundamentally impact one-sixth of the nation’s economy … affect the health care of every American. … It’s too important not to take the time to get it right.”
Not satisfied with this info, we decided to do our own research on this HUGE issue.
Here’s what we found out.
Obama appears to favor….
- Convincing doctors and hospitals to emphasize the quality of care they provide over the quantity of procedures they perform (and be paid accordingly).
- A public insurance plan similar to Medicare that would compete with private insurance companies.
- Having as many people insured as possible so that health care costs will be pooled within the largest possible population.
- All those who buy into the public plan would be offered the same rates regardless of their health risks.
- Mandating state health care plans to provide a certain minimum level of health benefits. This level being equal across the country.
- Increasing the availability of preventative measures and care for chronic conditions
- Modernizing the US health care system to lower administrative costs and increase effectiveness
- NOT borrowing/increasing the national deficit to pay for his health care plan
For more details and the best comprehensive analysis of the Obama plan we found thehealthcareblog.com.
This blog also tackles the difficult questions regarding HOW Obama plans to cut health care costs by instating a public plan with a trillion dollar price tag (YES, THAT IS TRILLION). I’m sure we’re all itching to find that out…
We also found several intelligent arguments presented against Obama’s cost-cutting plan and doubts with regards to Obama’s statements with which he used to back up his plan!
Hope you find our notes helpful. If you find something interesting that we haven’t mentioned yet please give us a tip off. We’ll leave you with this touching clip and a chance to decide for yourself on the health care solution America ought to adopt …
We at USDemocrazy are seeing double…no triple…no quintuple…
It’s not our eyesight, its the amount of times our eyes are seeing Barack Obama appear in our favorite blogs, newspapers, and magazines. He’s surprising us on the tube and on the radio. Obama bobbleheads, Obama t-shirts, an Obama girl and an Obama boy! And…an Obama deli sandwich called… the “Marble Rye Savior?!?”
Obama is everywhere! From burger joint Five Guys to a place on People’s Sexiest Man Alive listing. If only we could do both…
We suppose you’ve been seeing Obama just as MUCH as we have, so we’ve decided to narrow down his multiple appearances to a mere FIVE. Now its your turn to decide which “Obama -persona” is most fitting.
1) The First Nerd President of the Modern Era. John Hodgman, popular TV personality aka “PC” guy presents the president with this title at Radio and TV Correspondents’ dinner.
2) The Next Dick Cheney? During his campaign Obama promised transparency, now the President appears to be mimicking Bush with regards to government secrecy. Not quite a change we can believe in…
3) The Sexy stud, Political Heart-throb, World’s Biggest Celebrity. From Obama girl to Barbara Walters, Obama possesses legions of female fans as he walks the line between pretty boy and president.
4) The Socialist Traitor!?! Protests from the right regarding Obama’s increased government spending continue. From Democrats’ BIG FAT stimulus package, to Obama’s GM takeover and latest shaky Health Care reform push…how big a hole is Obama burning in the nation’s pocket book?
5) The Loving Family Man and Dorky dad. This guy made an appearance last Sunday! Follow our links to adorable slide shows of Obama and his family and it will be hard for you to think other wise!
