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A panel of judges has ruled that subsidies are no longer legal. For millions of Americans, this means they will immediately be slapped with charges up to $800 a month for what many are paying under a hundred…
They will drop their insurance out of necessity, or will be dropped for non-payment.
Republicans are celebrating this…
When the law was written in 2010 it was assumed that all states would do their own exchanges. In states that are doing their own exchanges, there will be no change. That is what the law says and as Republicans say: the law is law….
But for states like Delaware which rightly decided that the Federal exchange would be cheaper for its citizens because of the larger pool, that line in the law was never changed…. It says “state exchanges”… (Remember the law is alleged to be some 15,000 pages long, and is still, believe it or not, something I have not yet read….)
But in one line the word “state” is indeed there and that, according to this particular court, means that it is illegal for the federal exchanges to be subsidized… I have looked, and at this early moment just hours after the decision, there is no confirmation (just estimates) on how many insured that will affect…..
But to all you who were insured in the Federal exchange? Guess what? You got no Obama care….
Map courtesy of Kaiser
To hear the far extremist right saying “ha, ha, ha, suffer bitches” you can go here or here…
Now…
On this same day, another Federal court in the same city, decided this was indeed legal. There were two cases before two different conservative courts, and we got two opposite decisions. It now goes up the next step and will probably hit the Supreme Court. Which should mean that IF insurance companies are willing, the Obamacare program can continue as is until struck down… But as we saw with Obamacare last November, when it comes to making money, private insurance companies are ruthless and lack heart…
Second… to fix this, all we need is a bill put forth, worded like this…. A bill: To amend the ACA Healthcare law by removing the word “state” and inserting “all or any”…..
That will happen in the Senate, but will never happen in the House…. Which is why, in whatever state you read this, you must get Democrats into your Congressional seat… IF you succeed, or if ENOUGH of you succeed, your insurance can and will continue… You will continue to be insured.
Remember it is just one stupid word so don’t be bulldozed by smart-assed Republicans gloating over the “rule of law” .,… (They don’t honor rule of law when it applies to one of their favored corporations….) It can easily be changed… but it must require people sympathetic to Obamacare for it to get passed….. Only Democrats can guarantee you your insurance will continue… Only Democrats.
You must, must make your vote count this November; you must make your friends, neighbors, church goers go to the polls in your behalf; unfriend them if necessary, bitches….. Your entire future depends on this one vote… Seriously, you could be dead next year thanks to your … Republican friends….
Courtesy of Kaiser Foundation
Should you live or die from an accident or life threatening illness? Depends apparently on where you live… If you live in the Blue, you survive. If you live in the Orange, goodbye… Simple, clear, concise.
Served to you courtesy of ALEC and the Republican Party of the United States of America
Uninsured percentage is lowest since 2008….. This is what was driving costs upwards and now? … they are insured…..
God bless Obamacare, and all those individuals who kept it moving forward into reality. We are truly witnessing something amazing in our times….
I never thought of this. These guys are brilliant. Connecticut and New York have figured how to keep food stamp (SNAP) benefits at their current level.
First how they were cut. In the Farm Bill just passed, the Republicans insisted and got a large reduction in the amount being paid for SNAP (food stamps)… This huge reductions can devastate economies in states with large numbers of recipients. If you take a 20% cut, close to 20% will be cut from being spent in Grocery stores, thereby hurting the economy.
In a piece of legislation primarily aimed against Blue States, the Republicans targeted a program called “Heat and Eat” in which states states could qualify residents for higher food stamp benefits by giving them a small amount of heating assistance.. That level used to be $1 dollar. The new law raised that to $20 dollars thinking that no state would pay the premium and that would force cuts to the Federal Program.
The genius is in the benefits and rate of return…
Connecticut will spend about $1.4 million in federal energy aid, increasing benefits for 50,000 low-income Connecticut residents from $1 to $20 so they do not lose $112 in monthly food stamp benefits…… It will preserve about $67 million in food stamp benefits….So the rate of return for Connecticut is 4785% (correct, thousands) meaning that for every dollar spent on heat, Connecticut gets $4785 dollars back in food benefits to be spread thoughout their state….
New York will spend about $6 million more towards the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program’s funding to maintain food stamp benefits totaling $457 million… New Yorks rate of return is 7611% meaning for every dollar spent, they get $7,611 dollars back.…
Now if they would just raise taxes on their one percent’s income to pay for those small increases, .. it comes as free money….
If only Delaware could quickly jump on the wagon and get those dollars into our state and make the Republican supporters in this state, pay for the damage their Republican campaign funds do to both our state and the United States of America….
But alas. we are stuck fighting the battle of Common Core… instead of truly fighting for education by fighting against poverty…..
There is a reason the opponents of Obama care are racing the clock to defund it before October 1st. They know how popular it will become to the American people.
I just looked and Delaware does not have their worksheets up yet, but in the state offices, things are looking rather rosy for the citizens of Delaware… Most of you will save thousands per year on medical bills. Not all, but most.. Looking at the voting trends, those who vote often, will all save money with insurance.
Other states do have their insurance options up and I have been looking through them. The general trend is thusly. If you are young, you are going to incur an expense you have not had to yet pay. Sorry. That will come with sticker shock, as does a new car, as does your first house. However, it should allow you the confidence to get checked out sooner, and therefore live healthier in your golden years than you otherwise would today if you had to pay full expense for care.
Hopefully, since you have to pay for it anyway, you will take advantage of it.
But you! Oh you! Who are old? Who have pre-existing conditions? Who have suffered with poor coverage for so long? You are going to love what this does. You will be able to figure out medical costs to the penny across your future years with your financial planning advisor, no matter what happens to your body. The costs will be fixed, and a lot cheaper than you paying through the nose upon each occurrence.
One can describe it as buying a warranty. What, the initial questioners ask? You want me to pay money to this shop each month even when nothing happens? Yes and if something happens you get your car fixed for free. Some gripe about losing $150 a month, until they see their first bill at a hospital would have cost them $5,000…. Then … they finally understand.
And you with families? Especially you who have not taken your kids to a doctor because you couldn’t afford it? You’re kids can now go…
So yes, those with money to lose will spend it all on ads telling you horror stories and capitalizing on one or two exceptions they make up as to who will pay more…
but just wait till October 1st, when you see that you start saving thousands… EVERY SINGLE YEAR!
Then remember the Republican party tried to run the economy over a cliff, twice, to stop these savings from coming to you…..
October 1st, it is almost here. About time for the pirated version to be leaked, don’t you think?
August 18, 2015
Today, in a domino tumbling of bad news for Delawareans, it was announced that Christiana Care would be leaving the state. The local medical facilities and clinics would go up for sale. In hours, AI Dupont announce it was leaving all health care organizations, and would only take privately funded patients. One hour later, BayHealth announced it was closing Kent General and Milford Memorial…
All cited Highmark as the reason. Highmark announced their plan to pay insurance claims only to their own doctors and hospitals. This freezes out all others, since most patients do not have an option but to take the employer’s offered medical plan. Since the first of August, over 90% of Delawareans have switched to Highmark.
This action was originally allowed in Delaware by Karen Weldin Stewart, the insurance commissioner in 2012 and was subsequently supported by ALEC legislator Patty Blevins currently head of the Senate… Neither could be reached for comment. Both are vacationing in the Grand Cayman Islands.
The medical profession is falling apart. Hospitals, insurance, clinics, are all taking your money, and spending it on themselves, not you. In an age when middle America is biting bullets, those in charge of Medicine are getting rich. Steve just put up where Hallmark is denying insurance payments to those in its own clinic, then applying their credit card used for the co-pay, to soak up the total amount of the bill.
People are finding their bank balances zero, at very inopportune times.
When we grew up, doctors were decent people. Now all they want is $$$$. They don’t help people anymore. It is time to change that. It is past time to change that.
Competition. That is how. Doctors who work on the cheap. Of, if you want, you can keep your high priced physician, who does nothing but talk to you for 5 minutes, have a prescription called in for you, and for that take a full day’s wages out of your pocket.
Imagine getting medical attention for $5? Here is how.
We hire the smartest college graduates from the finest schools. These are smart people. Once hired, we take them away to a retreat, and give them a 5 week program grounded in everything medical. Everyone has been to a doctors office. How hard can it be? In that five week course, they learn everything a doctor needs to know. WE then put them in clinics across the inner cities, areas where it is hard to staff, so people can get medical coverage for $5 dollars a visit. One can imagine how busy they would be!
These are very smart people. They can figure out the rest as they go along. Who really needs to know the name of every bone? The names of every muscle? How the digestive system works. Does it really matter if you can’t remember whether the large intestine comes before or after the small intestine? If one can’t remember, just stick your fingers up (wear gloves of course) and find out.
The problem is all those doctors who went to expensive medical school, and over charge because of it. Being a doctor is so simple, even a cave man can do it. The reason medical costs are so high, is because of medical boards that set pricing.
This program will get around that, by hiring college students at normal college student wages, and put them in clinics charging $5 a pop…
One would think insurers would prefer paying out $5 instead of $500! They will be on board. KWS will make sure of that. And one of the greatest things about this program, is that when incompetent existing doctors throw in their towel, or get banned by their customer’s test scores, we have a whole crop of ready-to-go doctors who can jump into to any practice at a moment’s notice.
Just give them a medical book, and we have cheap, quality health-care. After all, they are very smart people you know.
This is not medieval England. Today, anyone can be a doctor. you just type the symptoms into Google, and write the perscription it spits out. We don’t need four years of medical school on top of our undergraduate program. We need people who jump in, and Heal for America.
Really. They are just doctors. We’ve all been to doctor’s offices. How hard could it be? Competent medical care on the cheap!.. “‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished!” Just think of all those lazy investors crying crocodile tears because they can’t rip us off anymore! I mean 5 weeks is enough to learn about everything. Even 6 weeks study is too much.
Our medical profession needs kicked. We can’t delay any more this concept’s implementation.
Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News
I haven’t been paying attention. Thank Goodness Steve has.
A bill was placed on the docket to change Delaware Law. It was supposed to slip through the last minute when no one was watching. That is Blevins SB 151 regarding the Treasury… Since it was a surprise, a lot of hoopla as been thrown in the fire by pundits reacting to the impact of first impressions. In their defense that was all they had to go on…
Due to time constraints this investigation will take a series of small steps, probably spread across Delaware’s official blog circuit, with help from Starkey of the News Journal…
But to back up the word coup in my title, I first want to show you how the original language was written then show you how it looked with the changes after SB 151. Of course this was stated as necessary to keep the state treasure in line, a ploy that El Som and Cassandra seem to have swallowed hook, line and sinker.
First the original bill:
For those who follow along (you all are great) here is the passage number Title 29; 2716(a)(2)
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(1) Require as a condition to any deposit of such funds in any state or national bank or savings and loan institution that such deposits be continuously and fully secured by direct general obligations of or obligations the payment of the principal and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America or other suitable obligations as determined by the Board;
(2) Require that the selection of financial institutions to provide banking and investment services pursuant to this section be conducted on an open and competitive basis; and
(3) Require that temporary clearing accounts as well as major disbursement accounts be established in a bank or banks whose principal office is located within the State.
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That was the original piece of legislation. Patty’s bill seeks to amend the section 2 of that piece, the embolden area. From SB 151…
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(2) Require that the selection of financial institutions to provide banking and investment services pursuant to this section be conducted on an open and competitive basis as defined by the Board.; It shall be the responsibility of the Board to approve the selection of each of the said financial institutions by a majority vote of the members of the Board. The Board, by a majority vote of its members, shall be responsible for setting the policy as to the allocation between short and long term investments and the allocation of funds to the respective financial institutions selected through the open and competitive process; and
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Notice a “lot” of new language. In the synopsis this was sold as a clarification of the responsibilities of the board and the trimming of the responsibilities of the Treasurer. Instead, in what is now typical Markell modus of operandi, this if more of a surreptitious law-change than a clarification.
Previously the directive was this should be done in on an open and competitive basis. The previous directive specifically states this further down: 2716 (e)(1)
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The investment of money belonging to the State shall be made by the State Treasurer in accordance with policies established by the Board and subject to the terms, conditions and other matters, including the designation of permissible investments relating to the investment of the money belonging to the State,
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It is obvious to all that the existing law separates the Treasurer specifically out from all other board members when it comes to the investment of the state’s finances.
And that was really all existing code says in regards to the investment portfolio of the state’s money.
But, the new law, the one proposed by Blevins titled SB 151, makes HUGE changes. Now the board must make that decision. The board which according to Title 29; 2716(c)(4):
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The Board shall meet as often as shall be necessary to properly discharge its duties; provided, however, that the Board shall meet at least 2 times annually; and provided further, that the State Treasurer or the Chairperson of the Board shall be authorized to call special meetings of the Board.
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and 2716 (c)(2)
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a quorum of 5 members shall be necessary to hold a meeting of the Board.
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and 2716 (d)(5)
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The use of teleconferencing or videoconferencing is authorized for use in conducting meetings of the Cash Management Policy Board.
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Even now under existing policy only 3 people out of nine, if they time their conference-call correctly, can decide the future investment strategy of this state. Patty Blevin’s law would now give those three people (whomever they might be) unprecedented power and remove the current oversight of the only elected official responsible to the public.
“Coup” is the proper term for it.
kavips 