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Medicaid on the Ballot by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | October 29, 2012
There’s a lot we don’t know about what Mitt Romney would do if he won. He refuses to say which tax loopholes he would close to make up for $5 trillion in tax cuts; his economic “plan” is an empty shell. But one thing is clear: If he wins, Medicaid — which now covers more than 50 million Americans, and which President Obama would expand further as part of his health reform — will face savage cuts. Estimates suggest that a Romney victory would deny health insurance to about 45 million people who would have coverage if he lost, with two-thirds of that difference due to the assault on Medicaid. So this election is, to an important degree, really about Medicaid. And this, in turn, means that you need to know something more about the program. read more »How Insurers Could Game Medicare Vouchers by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | October 25, 2012
There are two tough questions facing the folks who want to remake Medicare into a premium support (or voucher) program. The first is that, despite decades of attempts, we don’t have a single good example of a competitive health insurance market driving down prices in a big way. Now some people think that perhaps it can work, and these efforts just got it wrong, somehow. I actually count myself in that camp, at least somewhat. But so far, the fact is that it just hasn’t worked. The second is that we do have evidence that a major way insurers compete is through trying to figure out who’s healthy and who’s sick and insuring the healthy people and turning away (or pricing out, or underserving) the sick people. And that’s a kind of competition we don’t much want. read more »America Is Even More Unequal than It Seems by Salvatore Babones, inequality.org | October 22, 2012
We all know that the United States is the most unequal of the rich nations of the world. Only relatively poor countries like Malaysia and Mexico have levels of inequality similar to those in the United States. All of the rich countries of western Europe and east Asia have much lower levels of inequality than we do. The real situation, however, is worse than the income data would suggest. Data on income inequality only tell half the story. The differences in the ways people live are only partly determined by income. They’re also determined by the levels of government services provided to everyone. This is most obvious when it comes to healthcare. In the rest of the developed world, everyone has health insurance. Depending how you count, about a quarter of working-age Americans don’t. Real inequalities in health coverage are even greater, since the richest Americans tend to have the best insurance. read more »Neoliberalism Kills: Part One by Joe Firestone, OurFuture.org | October 20, 2012
During the run-up to passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I wrote a number of posts (here, here, and read more »What Obama Really Wants To Do In A Second Term by Perry Bacon Jr., thegrio.com | October 19, 2012
Following President Obama’s strong performance in Tuesday’s debate, Republicans, including Mitt Romney, have seized on a new line of attack: the president isn’t being specific enough about his second term agenda. Non-partisan analysts are making the same claim, namely that Obama must provide more details about what he would do in his next four years to win. They’re wrong. Even though he’s not talking about these ideas much on the campaign trail, it’s likely Obama would push for immigration and energy reform and a long-term budget deficit reduction deal in a second term. But perhaps the most important goal of an Obama second term, one he has nodded at himself at times, is preserving the accomplishments of his first term. read more »WHY Is Mitt Romney Trying to Kill Me? by Clancy Sigal, readersupportednews.org | October 16, 2012
Under the influence of the painkiller Dilaudid, and dog-tired after another day of fighting for my life with my private health insurance company, I glimpsed Mitt Romney and his running-mate, Paul Ryan, entering my Los Angeles hospital room dressed in surgical gowns with scalpels in their hands ready to fatally operate on me. It was a drug-induced hallucination, of course. But the mirage made me sit bolt upright in bed and, fully awake, start to rethink my previous, bitterly dissenting view of Barack Obama. I have written bitterly attacking Obama's serial betrayals. He's no street-scrapper, our Barack. Prior to falling sick, I pined for a third-party candidate, and seriously thought about not voting. But a drug-induced vision of a Romney/Ryan medical hell changed my mind. On 6 November, I'm pulling the lever for Obama: my arrogant, self-sabotaging, drone-happy, compromise-addicted war president. read more »Medicaid Is the Real Target by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | October 16, 2012
Since August, when Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate, the two campaigns have fought a fierce battle over who is the most stalwart protector of Medicare. The irony is that—in the short term, at least—Medicare will stay unchanged, regardless of who wins the election. Seniors are among the most mobilized voters in the electorate, and there’s too much political risk involved in making big, immediate changes to Medicare. For that reason, Medicare reform plans on both sides are backloaded and will take time to unfold. The same isn’t true of Medicaid, the other major federal health-care program. The primary constituency for Medicaid—poor and working-class families—lacks the clout and influence of seniors. And while the Obama administration expanded the program in the Affordable Care Act, it has also made Medicaid a ripe target for conservative cuts to social insurance. read more »Mitt Romney: The Empty Suit Clueless About the Empty Chair by Leo Gerard, OurFuture.org | October 16, 2012
Billy Koehler died on March 7, 2009, for lack of health insurance. Mitt Romney said on Oct. 10, 2012, that’s impossible. The Republican nominee for President told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper last week: “We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.” read more »Death By Ideology by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | October 15, 2012
Mitt Romney doesn’t see dead people. But that’s only because he doesn’t want to see them; if he did, he’d have to acknowledge the ugly reality of what will happen if he and Paul Ryan get their way on health care. Last week, speaking to The Columbus Dispatch, Mr. Romney declared that nobody in America dies because he or she is uninsured: “We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.” This followed on an earlier remark by Mr. Romney — echoing an infamous statement by none other than George W. Bush — in which he insisted that emergency rooms provide essential health care to the uninsured. These are remarkable statements. They clearly demonstrate that Mr. Romney has no idea what life (and death) are like for those less fortunate than himself. read more »The BFD In The VP Debate by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | October 12, 2012
Man, that felt good. And it was fun, too. Vice President Joe Biden certainly looked like he was having a good time. In fact, Republicans' biggest complain seems to be that Biden was having too much fun. He laughed too much. That Republicans can't find much to attack in what Biden said during the debate — or much to defend about what Paul Ryan said — speaks volumes about the difference between the two major parties. That difference was reflected in the two men who represented the parties last night, and how they each came to be there.Joe Biden was chosen to be on the Democratic ticket because of what he knows. Paul Ryan was chosen to be on the Republican ticket because of what he believes. That was the "BFD" of the VP debate. And the "D" is for "difference." read more »
The Latest
House Health Care Bill Criticized as Panel Votes for Public Plan, The New York Times | July 31, 2009
The House Energy and Commerce Committee resumed work Thursday on major health care legislation, voting to establish a government-run health insurance plan, as top Republicans stepped up their criticism of the ambitious legislation. By a vote of 35 to 24, Democrats defeated a Republican effort to eliminate a section of the bill that would create the public health insurance option. more »
Survey: Canadians Like Their Health Care, mcclatchydc.com | July 22, 2009
New Ipsos-McClatchy online polls find that patients in Canada, despite some grumbles about waiting times, are much more likely to say that they have access to all the health care services they need at costs they can afford, by a margin of 65 to 49 percent. more »
Health Insurance Mandate Wins Support, The Washington Post | July 22, 2009
President Obama's dream of dramatically remaking the nation's health-care system is still a long way from reality. But if lawmakers can reach an accord, one thing is virtually certain: For the first time ever, every American would be required to carry health insurance. more »
GOP Fails to Strip Public Option From Health Reform, Associated Press | July 17, 2009
Republicans have failed to strip a government-run benefits plan from the House bill overhauling health care. The House Ways and Means Committee voted 25-15 to keep the government-run option in the bill, rejecting an amendment by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. All Democrats voted to keep the government option and all Republicans voted to remove it.
Battle Looms Over MRI Cuts, USA Today | July 17, 2009
As Congress debates a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, a battle is brewing over one provision that could affect the availability of MRIs and other tests, particularly in rural areas. more »
Massachusetts Takes a Step Back From Health Care for All, The New York Times | July 15, 2009
The new state budget in Massachusetts eliminates health care coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a growing deficit, reversing progress toward universal coverage just as Congress looks to the state as a model for overhauling the nation’s health care system. more »
Insured Bankrupted By Health Crises, The New York Times | July 1, 2009
Health insurance is supposed to offer protection — both medically and financially. But as it turns out, an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured. more »
Health-Care Market Characterized By Consolidation, Not Competition , tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com | June 30, 2009
Senators Closer To $1 Trillion Health Care Bill, Reuters | June 25, 2009
U.S. senators moved closer to agreement on a $1 trillion U.S. health care overhaul that would provide medical coverage to nearly everyone and could be paid for without adding to huge budget deficits. more »
FBI 'Cracks $50 Million Health Care Scam', BBC News | June 25, 2009
The FBI says it has uncovered a $50 million scam involving the U.S. health care system, making arrests in Florida, Michigan and Colorado. Fifty-three people have been charged with defrauding Medicare, the government insurance scheme providing care to the elderly and disabled. Doctors allegedly gave cash to patients to sign paperwork claiming to have had treatments which they were never given. more »
