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I fear that the Health Care Reform is being usurped by the undue influence of insurance and drug companies. It will be watered down, and engineered so that the for profit motivations will continue to drive the issue.
Part of our health care dilemma concerns the costs of health care. One price for all should be the guideline. As long as there is no consistent price for the various health services, there is no means of controlling their costs. Currently, it is common practice for health care providers to dramatically inflate their billings, only to write off those costs, based on some undisclosed agreements with the insurance companies. Insurance companies should pay the same amount that any uninsured persons would pay.
The costs for indigent care should be subsidized by the national and state government. A person's insurance coverage should be independent of where they are working. If a person has insurance through an existing employer's insurance plan, they should be able to continue that coverage when they leave that employment, until they either replace the insurance with their next employer's plan, or find another replacement plan. The COBRA program should be expanded to cover all employees, for as long as necessary. A person should not be required to give up a superior plan for an inferior one.
The culprits are many. They are often found under layers of paperwork turned bedrock, but in this case the culprit is right out there in front of us and as big as your TV screen.
According to a report in the November 23, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals advertising for the commonly prescribed antiplatelet drug clopidogrel (also known as Plavix), has been associated with increased drug costs and Medicaid expenditures,
Overall prescription drugs are cited as one of the three top reasons for Medicaid expenditure growth, and prescription drug costs have increased by an average of 15.4 percent per year between 1994 and 2004. Meanwhile, spending for advertising has increased more than 330 percent in the last 10 years.
It is important to know that there was no direct to consumer advertsiing for Plavix from 1999 to 2000. But, from 2001 to 2005, U.S. spending on advertsing directly to consumers for Plavix exceeded $350 million, an average of $70 million per year.
"The cost per unit of the drug increased by $0.40 (12 percent) per quarter year after advertising directly to consumers began, leading to an added $40.58 in pharmacy costs per 1,000 Medicaid enrollees per quarter. "Overall, this change resulted in an additional $207 million in total pharmacy expenditures," the report said.
Should health care consumers and policy makers be concerned about advertising that can increase drug costs for publicly funded reimbursement programs such as Medicaid and Medicare?
By Padmini Arhant
The Senate health care bill is currently under scrutiny requiring 60 procedural votes to qualify for the Senate voting process. At present, the democrats have 58 votes in favor with two independents unclear and the remaining Republican votes unanimously opposed to the bill. I’ve confidence in the (I) U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders with his support to alleviate the suffering of millions in Vermont and across the nation.
While the Democrats laying out the facts and figures, the Republican lawmakers are meticulously scanning for flaws in their defense to block the anxiously awaited health care legislation.
Senate version of the health care bill proposes $848 billion allowing coverage for 31 million uninsured Americans with a CBO (Congressional Budget Office) assessment confirming an impressive $130 billion cost savings otherwise a massive federal deficit reduction over a decade.
Remaining article continued @http://www,padminiarhant.com
Thank you.
Padmini Arhant
Recently, UPMC announced plans to close its Braddock Hospital. The hospital staff and the community oppose the idea, and are fighting to keep the hospital open. UPMC is just one glaring example of the many nonprofits that are losing their focus and are hurting our communities. It's fashionable for nonprofits to think that they should operate like businesses. That's fine, to an extent, but it often goes too far.
Continue . . . .
I wrote this article originally for the newspaper I work for. It's on peoplesworld.org. Appreciate any feedback.
The House of Representatives passed a historic health care reform bill on Nov. 7. By a vote of 220-215 the Democrats ushered in health reform legislation, the likes of which haven't been seen since Medicare passed in 1965.
Like many others in the labor, progressive and left movements, I see the bill, Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, as not the end of the monumental battle to guarantee health care for all, but a significant step along that road. It curbs the enormous influence the insurance giants have over the country's health care system. And that's a start.
In the first place, the bill would crackdown on the insurance industry by banning lifetime limits and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected the industry from federal investigations.
The bill would create a government-run insurance option to compete with private plans on a new insurance exchange for people who don't have employer coverage.
It puts in place mandates for the individual and employers to buy and offer, respectively, health insurance. At the same time the bill would offer subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.
The bill would expand Medicaid and provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
To pay for the trillion dollar cost over 10 years the bill places a surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families. And would cut waste in both Medicaid and Medicare, mainly by phasing out the Bush administration's privatization debacle of Medicare, called Medicare Advantage. This program was a giveaway to insurance corporations.
The bill also would end premium disparity based on health status and sex. Turns out, women are charged more for the same coverage than men. When it comes to pre-existing conditions - they cannot list pregnancy, c-section, rape and domestic violence.
All of which are tremendous victories. All of which have been hailed by Democratic lawmakers, along with the labor movement, civil rights organizations and health care reform advocates.
But, and there is a but.
There is something really disturbing that came alongside those victories.
A bi-partisan amendment, which passed, that would severely restrict women's reproductive health, beyond anything so far to date. Called the Stupak amendment, named after the Michigan Democrat who introduced it, the restrictions go beyond the 33-year-old Hyde Amendment which bans any federal dollars going to pay for pregnancy terminations. It would bar women who get any federal subsidy for health insurance from getting access to abortion even if it's paid with her own money.
To add to that something disturbing happened during the health bill discussion. When members of the House Women's Caucus attempted to take the floor to highlight why this bill overall was good for women, Republicans interrupted and blocked them.
It got so bad, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio accused the Republicans of censoring her remarks and blocking her right to make them.
The Republicans who shouted down the caucus members were men. It was like they were setting the stage for the Stupak amendment. Don't let women have a voice about health care, their actions seemed to say.
The Stupak amendment was passed by a 240-194 vote with 64 Democrats voting with all 176 Republicans. (Only one Republican voted for the health care bill in the end.)
Out of the 64 Democrats that voted for the amendment, only two were women. Out of the entire 176 Republican caucus, only 18 are women.
There is a major gender disconnect here. And women - 50 percent of the population, 40 percent of the breadwinners in the country - are underrepresented in the Congress and it was really apparent what such under-representation means in this vote.
But let's take it another step.
Pro-choice advocates in and out of Congress had agreed early on that this health care reform bill was about health care, and the fight on reproductive rights would be in another arena. Federal prohibitions like the Hyde Amendment would stay in place.
In fact, on Friday, Nov. 6, every major women's organization sent out last minute e-mails urging their members and supporters to call Congress to support the health reform bill, even with shortcomings. It was a very mature and politically astute approach.
For example the National Organization For Women urged its supporters to get their congressional representatives on board despite severe abortion restrictions. In fact, NOW said, a compromise measure called the Capps Amendment was part of the bill that came out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It was seen "as necessary to get the larger bill out."
According to NOW's analysis of the Capps Amendment, "abortion would be prohibited from being included in a list of Minimum Benefits Coverage, a listing that will be determined by an appointed committee of experts and consumers at some future date."
Further, the Capps Amendment was to ensure that at least one of the private insurance options in every premium rating level must include abortion coverage beyond rape, life or incest, and at least one of the private plans must exclude abortion in the newly established insurance exchanges and that in each region of the country, there is at least one plan in the Health Exchange that offers abortion services, but also one plan in the Health Exchange that does not offer abortion coverage, according to NOW's analysis.
State laws regarding abortion coverage, funding and referrals would have been untouched.
"Last minute restrictions adopted in the rule required to bring the House health care reform bill to the floor will explicitly prohibit federal funding for abortion services, guarantee patient access to insurance plans that do not cover abortions and require federal health officials to hire private contractors to handle payments to abortion providers," NOW said. "These restrictions represent a compromise to allow the full bill to go forward and were reached after days of negotiation with conservative abortion rights opponents in both parties."
NOW went on to report that members from the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus were "not pleased with the language but would not oppose it" in order to get support from a few additional Democratic anti-choice House members and to reach the "magic number of 218 votes."
So what happened between Friday morning and Saturday?
Some reports point to a last minute show down with anti-choice advocates insisting on the Stupak amendment going to the floor for a vote. With backs against the wall, Pelosi and the House leadership, reports say, had to let it go to the floor. The Hill reported a shouting match between Reps. George Miller and Rosa De Lauro, both Pelosi confidants, over the decision late Friday night.
Women are a core part of the coalition that helped elect Barack Obama and put a dagger through the heart of the ultra-right's control of politics in this country. Women are a core part of the coalition that will bring to life positive change in this country, including and especially curbing the power of mega-corporations and banks.
It's not easy to keep a diverse and multi-class coalition together on key interests like health care reform, climate change, education or economic recovery. But it's necessary. The Stupak amendment threatens that coalition.
There was already language agreed to that would have prevented any tax dollars going to pay for abortion procedures. It wasn't an easy thing to do but pro-choice advocates agreed to it for the greater good. Then in the eleventh hour, a monkey wrench. Somebody threw it. Seems to me, it played right into the interests of the big insurance companies, desperate to derail major health reform and muck up the political landscape as much as possible as the bill goes onto the Senate. On top of the main political hurdles to overcome in the Senate to get to health reform - the public option and how to pay for it, taxing the rich vs. taxing health plans - abortion, one of the most controversial issues of our time, gets added to the mix.
Why did Stupak and the 63 other Democrats join with all the Republicans in this "bridge too far?" There is much political parsing over that. Whatever the reasons, it only plays into the hands of the insurance giants and the ultra-right. And that won't win health reform.
President Obama said the Stupak amendment must not stand. He is a pro-choice president. Women's groups have demanded the Stupak language be stripped in the final bill. The insurance companies and ultra-right attempt to stop health care reform from going through is not going to happen. Women, and the whole coalition, won't let it.
We thank U.S. Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree for their continued support of health insurance reform.
The House voted late Saturday evening to move the process of health insurance reform forward, a step President Obama called “courageous.”
The president also asked the Senate to “take up the baton and bring this effort to the finish line.”
Rep. Michaud issued a statement prior to Saturday’s vote, saying in part, “This work is too important to fail, and I could not in good conscience let the perfect be the enemy of the possible.” Speaking on the floor of the House of the Representatives, Saturday, Rep. Pingree made her feelings clear, saying, “There can be no more delay.”
7 November 2009
Dear Congressman Rehberg:
I am writing in support of the current health care bill being debated in The House today. As a member of a life-long Montana family, I am concerned about this nation’s broken health care system, and the high percentage (more than 34%) of Montanans without health insurance. I encourage you to break from the partisan politics being played by the Republican party, think about those uninsured in the state you represent and VOTE FOR THIS BILL!
There is no reason this great country should have such a high number of uninsured. No one should be forced to choose between paying their rent or buying food and going to the doctor or getting their prescriptions. Allowing this to continue is un-American.
Do the right thing for Montana and vote YES for H.R. 3962.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Kello
Dozens of enthusiastic supporters of health insurance reform greeted Representative Chellie Pingree as she returned to Maine this morning.
A boisterous crowd of sign-waving Mainers welcomed the congresswoman minutes after her flight landed at Portland International Jetport.
The crowd had gathered to thank Pingree for her support of health insurance reform. The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a reform bill on Saturday night.
Speaking on the floor of the House Saturday, Pingree said, “I’m here in the memory of my brother. He had no public option to choose. He did what so many young families did. They spent down their savings, they sold everything they had…so they could qualify for Medicaid because no doctor would see him without insurance.”
“I have often wondered,” Pingree added, “if he would have survived if he had the medical care he needed.”
Referening the importance of the legislation, Pingree said, “This bill moves us much closer to a time when no one can be denied health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition, no one can be told you can’t have health care coverage, no one will have to go into personal bankruptcy.”
“I am so proud to be here casting the vote that so many of my constituents have waited too long for,” the congresswoman said. “There can be no more delay.”
Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning!
A very good email to recieve, thanks to all who are making this happen ...
"if enough good people do nothing, the other side will win"
Larry --
This evening, at 11:15 p.m., the House of Representatives voted to pass their health insurance reform bill. Despite countless attempts over nearly a century, no chamber of Congress has ever before passed comprehensive health reform. This is history.
... Tonight's vote brought every American closer to the secure, affordable care we need. But it was also a watershed moment in how change is made.... In the final phases of last year's election, I often reminded folks, "Don't think for a minute that power concedes without a fight," and it's especially true today. But that's okay -- we're not afraid of a fight. And as you continue to prove, when all of us work together, we have what it takes to win.... Let's keep making history,President Barack Obama
History is what can happen when we show up, participate, roll up our sleeves, and do the work. Tonight's historic passage of HR 3962 is a giant step toward health care reform in this country. Congratulations to President Obama, members of his tireless team, the Democratic House leadership, and all congressmen and congresswomen who voted in favor tonight. Now begins the work on the Senate side. Momentum is critical.
-- Patricia McGahan
Wilmington, North Carolina
The House of Representatives will vote today on health insurance reform.
All signs point to the vote being extremely close.
Call Representative Mike Michaud to urge him to vote YES on the Affordable Health Care For America Act.
Please call Rep. Michaud in Washington at 202-225-6306 and ask friends, family members, and co-workers to do the same, today!
Americans showed their creativity and passion for health care reform ...but the WINNING video all Americans should see is longer than 30 seconds, and so would be disqualified:
http://vodpod.com/watch/2367112-american-sickos-will-the-current-bills-help
http://blip.tv/play/gdElgajBUQI
My parents provided me with health care 33 years ago when my dad's job brought us to Canada. It has never failed me, and Canada's nowhere near the top of the list of countries that do better for their citizens than the U.S.
President Barack Obama, with respect ...
My young relative recently died in a hospital in San Diego because his health care coverage died ... soon after so did he. His mother has coverage, my wife has coverage but this young man died in their arms because he "couldn't get enough coverage".
My step son was hospitalized in Portland Oregon for mental health issues, we sold the farm at the base of Mt. Adams, so he is alive today ... we have no more farms to sell, what now???
We believe in you and await the "public option" ... please fight for it ... we are counting on you to fullfill your promises to "we the people"
How much more are you going to ask of us?
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President Obama can expect an instant surge in poll numbers if and when he gets back on board with the majority of Americans who don't give two figs what Snowe and the Party of No think...
To me the only mystery is why some seem to think there's any mystery. It's not like Republicans, with whom a mere 20% of Americans identify and only 36% still think have a clue about what to do are picking up the numbers.
I can only speak for my own disappointment in this once inspirational president who used to fill us all with so much hope, but I fully expect there are others who feel as I do. The President's approval numbers are inversely proportionate to his tacit approval for the antics of disingeuous Republicans such as Olympia Snowe and Chuck Grassley, support for spineless compromises such as Max Baucus's self-serving gift to the industry who supported and supports his re-election, his willingness to place the groups who elected him on hold, as he's done with the gay community, or to call us"opinionated," as he did when he recently described me and my fellow progressives that way. "Principled," Mr. Obama, and "resolute" are two of the adjectives I'd have chosen.
I don't need a public option, I live in Canada where they've understood for decades that single-payer provides the widest high quality coverage at the lowest cost to tax payers. Like over 80% of Canadians I'm very happy with the way it works, and I know it doesn't shut out private companies that enhance my coverage. I'm worried about my nephew and niece, who live in the States and have no health care. I'm worried about families who are plummeted into bankruptcy and still have to bury their 4-year-old child who dies of cystic-fibrosis, a disease that also claimed my first wife -- at the age of 40. She was Canadian. She was covered. "Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are more than words in Canada.
The so-called "public option" is the compromise. It has the potential of proving to Americans that the health insurance industry will either adapt and put up, as it has all over the globe, or shut up. Without a robust public option health care reform is a sham.
I was working on our Cancer Education 'hotline' when the call came in and I actually saved a life. I wrote up the story and sent it to CNN. As I expected, they did not think it 'news worthy'. What do you think?
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-342484
www.FocusOnCancer.org or www.AmericanCancerFund.org
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