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We’d rather have a good bill than a bipartisan one.
Posted on February 22, 2010 by scjustice
We’d rather have a good bill than a bipartisan one.
In advance of the health care summit later this week, President Obama put forward a proposal this morning to start the process of passing health care reform.
But the president’s plan is largely based upon the negotiations that were happening before Jan. 19th’s election in Massachusetts. It’s still a plan that is written with 60 votes in mind to succeed. It still includes elements written by Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson. It includes proposals from Republicans. It has all kinds of trade-offs aimed at senators who will never vote for this bill.
President Obama has given the Republicans and conservative Democrats ample opportunity to get on board with health care reform. It’s time to pass healthcare without them.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said if he has the votes, he will pass a bill with the public option. Reid has also said that reconciliation is how he’s going to pass health care, which would require only a simple majority — 51 votes. That means he doesn’t need a single Republican vote. Or Joe Lieberman’s or Ben Nelson’s for that matter.
The president’s bill is just an opening bid for discussion with Republicans, so you might think that it would include a public option that is supported by most Americans and is extremely popular with Democrats . But there is no public option in the President’s proposal.
The president has supported the public option in the past. And once this last ditch effort to curry Republican support for change fails, it’s time to pass the bill the president campaigned for.
Tell Congress we want a good bill, not a bipartisan bill. We need them to pass real health care reform with a public option using reconciliation.
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NPR: How Health Overhaul Would Affect The Uninsured
Posted on February 11, 2010 by scjustice
As Democrats have pushed for a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s health system, much of their plans and rhetoric have focused on providing coverage for America’s uninsured.
Although that effort stalled following Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s election to the Senate, President Barack Obama reiterated that imperative in his State of the Union address last month. “By the time I’m finished speaking tonight,” Obama said, “more Americans will have lost their health insurance. Millions will lose it this year.” He continued, “I will not walk away from these Americans.”
Here’s a look at who those Americans are.
How many Americans are uninsured?
According to the Census Bureau, in 2008, more than 46 million Americans, about 15 percent of the population, did not have health insurance. Some experts believe the number is now larger because of the recession.
Who are the uninsured?
Low income is a strong factor in identifying the uninsured. About two-thirds of Americans without coverage earn less than twice the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Almost 25 percent of the uninsured are eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state program to cover the poor, but are not enrolled.
The vast majority of the uninsured – 80 percent – are in working families. And, a higher percentage of minorities are uninsured than whites. Nearly 80 percent are U.S. citizens, and 15 percent are undocumented immigrants.
The uninsured rate for people between the ages of 19 and 29 is 30 percent, the highest rate of any age group. Although many of these young people are working, their wages are often low, and they may find coverage unaffordable.
People whose employers don’t offer health benefits may also find more costly individual insurance plans too expensive. For others, prior medical conditions can restrict their access to coverage. And still others, believing that they are in good health and will not need it, opt not to buy insurance.
The uninsured are less healthy than the rest of the population. While about 60 percent report they are in excellent or very good health, 10 percent say they are in poor or fair health. That’s twice as many as those with coverage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest National Health Interview Survey, released in December, found that 7.2 percent of Americans put off “needed medical care” in the first six months of last year.
Even though the latest Census Bureau figures indicate that more children slipped into poverty in 2008, their uninsured rate dropped from 11 percent in 2007 to 9.9 percent in 2008. The decline reflected the expansion of two government programs: the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid.
Who pays the medical bills of the uninsured?
A 2008 study in the journal Health Affairs estimated that uninsured patients received about $86 billion in care in 2008. Of that amount, $30 billion came out of their pockets, leaving more than $56 billion in uncompensated care: $35 billion for hospitals; nearly $14 billion for community-based providers and close to $8 billion for private physicians.
Some of those uncompensated costs are recouped by hospitals and providers through government programs established to help subsidize care for the poor.
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Kirby: Hospitals, Public Need Health Reform
Posted on February 8, 2010 by scjustice
The State Newspaper
Thursday, Feb. 04, 2010
I wonder if Scott Brown will ever accomplish as much as a sitting U.S. senator as he did on the day he won the election. And how ironic that Ted Kennedy’s death has had such an adverse impact on health care reform – the very issue about which he was so passionate. This debate continues to be the best civics lesson the American people have witnessed in decades. Every time I speak on reform, the primary fascination is with the political process, and for good reason.
The day after the Massachusetts election, I was in Washington for a meeting of my counterparts from across the nation. That morning’s Washington Post contained two headlines that suggest that the near-term future for hospitals looks very different than it had just 24 hours earlier. The implications of the primary headline are obvious: “Republican wins Kennedy’s seat.” Health care reform, like all other Obama initiatives, is seriously threatened now that there are 41 Republicans in the Senate. Simply stated, Republicans can now filibuster undesirable legislation, and Democrats can’t be assured of mustering enough votes to limit debate.
The secondary headline was more ominous for hospitals: “Democrats cut deal to form debt watchdog.” Sounds pretty innocuous, but it isn’t. The first two sentences of the article are as clear as anything I can write: “Faced with growing alarm over the nation’s soaring debt, the White House and congressional Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday to create an independent budget commission and to put its recommendations for fiscal solvency to a vote in Congress by the end of this year. Under the agreement, President Obama would issue an executive order to create an 18-member panel that would be granted broad authority to propose changes in the tax code and in the massive federal entitlement programs – including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – that threaten to drive the nation’s debt to levels not seen since World War II.”
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Tax cigarettes for health care
Posted on February 8, 2010 by scjustice
Tax cigarettes for health care
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Given the sad economy, increasing South Carolina’s cigarette tax offers lawmakers the best opportunity to get their hands on a pot of new money next fiscal year. The Legislature should hike the measly 7-cent tax — the nation’s lowest — and use it to support health care for needy South Carolinians.
Already, new cigarette tax proposals are emerging. State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, wants a $1.27-per-pack tax hike, with proceeds split between keeping teachers on the job and bolstering Medicaid.
The Legislature should use the tobacco tax strictly for health care, recognizing the burden that tobacco use puts on the state’s medical system. Raising the tax also would have the beneficial result of reducing the number of people who smoke. And a portion of the revenue could be used for cessation programs aimed at teens.
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Call Your Congressman NOW
Posted on January 22, 2010 by scjustice
Every Democratic House Member needs to hear the message – multiple times – that we want them to pass the Senate bill; we cannot take any vote for granted.
Action Steps
- Contact members of Congress to ask them to vote YES on the Senate bill
Contact all Democratic Members – those who voted yes and those who are on the fence. It is imperative that Members hear that Americans need health care reform and that we need the House to pass the Senate bill. A sample script:
We need to reform the health care system – the status quo is not a viable option for America’s struggling families. Health care reform will stabilize families’ finances, reduce the risk of medical debt and provide peace of mind to Americans across the country. Congress is so close to meaningful reform, and we urge you to pass the Senate bill. We will stand behind you when you make the right choice to support reform.
Call
John Spratt
202-225-5501
Call
James Clyburn
202-225-3315
The election of Scott Brown to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat will not stop our work for guaranteed quality, affordable health care for all. The urgent need for reform has not changed, but the need to demonstrate the struggles of American families and their widespread support for health care reform is even greater.
Today, majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate support passage of health care reform. Across the country, many people have worked hard to build that support, and the finish line is within reach. We are too close and have come too far to stop now.
Americans from across the country need to let our Members of Congress know that we need quality, affordable health care. The status quo is not a viable option.
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Win! X 3:Save Lives ● Fund Medicaid ● Improve Health
Posted on January 20, 2010 by scjustice
Help build a better and healthier South Carolina by saying YES! to raising the Cigarette Tax to fund our Medicaid health care programs.
- Over 700,000 South Carolinians, including over 100,000 children, were uninsured in South Carolina before the brunt of the recession hit.
- Smoking costs your household $524 a year in taxes because of health care costs directly attributable to smoking – even if you don’t smoke.
- Nothing works better to reduce youth smoking than raising the price through a tax increase.
- National health care reform will allow large numbers of currently uninsured South Carolinians to access affordable health care through Medicaid. The state will have to match a portion of those new costs.
- South Carolina’s Medicaid program already faces a $359 million shortfall this year, without federal Recovery Funds, which run out next year.
- Although cigarette taxes reduce smoking, revenues from cigarette taxes have proven to be a stable source of funding in states which have raised the tax – adult nicotine addicts will still smoke.
So, it only makes sense to raise the lowest in the nation’s cigarette tax – 7 cents a pack – to the national average – $1.34 per pack. A $1.27 increase to the national average would generate $238.6 million.
Where is the cigarette tax in the General Assembly?
H. 3584 passed the South Carolina House last year. That bill raised the cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack mainly to fund tax credits for premium subsidies for low-income workers in small businesses. National health care reform will make that unnecessary.
The Senate Finance Committee has reported H. 3584 to the Senate floor with an amendment that dedicates all but $5 million of the new revenues to the South Carolina Healthcare Trust Fund. Those funds could be – but don’t have to be – used for Medicaid. Because Senators Bright, Shoopman, Mulvaney, Verdin, Bryant, Ryberg, Grooms and Williams have objected to the Senate taking up the bill, the Senate will have to vote to set the H. 3584 for Special Order before they can vote on it.
The first fight this year is to get the Senate to consider H. 3584. Calls to Senators should emphasize: “Please vote to set the cigarette tax bill for Special Order.” We will later ask you to call your Senator again to urge them to support the cigarette tax for Medicaid.
After the Senate passes H. 3584, it will go back to the House, which can accept the Senate changes, amend them, or reject the changes and ask for a Conference Committee.
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Columbia Health Care Meeting about Cigarette Tax
Posted on January 15, 2010 by scjustice
DID YOU KNOW that raising the Cigarette Tax will save lives, improve health and make money for you, your family and your community?
Help build a better and healthier South Carolina by saying YES to the Cigarette Tax to help fund health care programs!
Please attend and bring your friends, family and neighbors to a community meeting to learn more about the Cigarette Tax and how together, we can get it passed!
When: January 19, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: The Vista Community Room
(located in the Suggs & Kelly Law Center at 500 Taylor St)
Contact: Carrie Draper, MSW for more information
(803.528.4498 or carried@scfairshare.org)
Hosted by South Carolina Health Care Voices
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Community Catalyst Health Care Reform Insider
Posted on January 8, 2010 by scjustice
Of Doughnuts and Dragons: The Health Reform Insider
Though a series of critical votes happened in the last month, not to mention the holidays, the issues that define negotiations between the House and Senate remain largely the same (check out our list if you need a refresher). Here’s an update on a few of those, and the process ahead.
The Overall Process
Reports that the House and Senate will bypass a formal conference committee and informally negotiate a bill instead have been circulating for over a month but, in one of those mysteries of the news cycle, the plan has recently become a hot topic.
The other important process piece (though also not really news) is that the Senate bill is expected to be the starting point for negotiations, and the House will likely have to wage a limited number of battles to make changes. Defining what that list will include is The Task for House Democratic leaders now as they seek to hold together their own fractious caucus. One item almost certain to make the list is closing the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole.” Indeed, Senate leaders have already stated publicly their intention to close the Part D coverage gap—though how to pay for it remains a matter of intense debate, with House members arguing that funding should come from the drug industry, and the Senate perhaps less keen to go that route (as the specter of its summer deal with PhRMA looms.)
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Sue Berkowitz Testifies in front of House Budget Committee
Posted on January 7, 2010 by scjustice
(Gannett Washington Bureau) – The federal government must provide more economic aid to South Carolina, especially to help unemployed and low-income people weather the recession, an advocate told lawmakers Wednesday.
Susan Berkowitz, director of S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center in Columbia, testified at a House Budget Committee hearing on how the recession and the $787 billion economic stimulus package have affected welfare and other social programs aimed at vulnerable Americans.
“Making sure that the unemployment extended benefits are continued … is really important,” Berkowitz said after testifying at the hearing held by Rep. John Spratt, D-York, chairman of the budget panel. “It’s critical. That and state fiscal relief.”
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