Posts Tagged ‘GOP’
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
America’s senior citizens can breathe a sigh of relief. Even as the majority Republicans in the House of Representatives wield a surgeon’s scalpel to slash spending from the federal budget, they are unlikely to succeed at making significant changes to the extremely popular Medicare program. The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected serious cuts in the proposed legislation, which also included an attempt to block implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration pointed out that the Republican budget measure’s block on implementation funding would endanger short-term funding for Medicare.
The legislation would create “significant disruptions in services” to Medicare recipients, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). The payment delays, Sebelius wrote, would halt the need to undertake a lengthy process to issue new regulations governing Medicare Advantage payment rates since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) put in place its own set of payment rate rules. The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis questioned that claim because it believes that the Republican bill will reduce spending by $1.6 billion through the rest of 2011. Democrats maintain that the CBO’s review of Medicare spending is a separate issue from HHS’s lawful authority to fund the program.
Despite the Senate Democrats’ united front, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is “ready to take on health programs” as legislators on both sides of the aisle struggle with long-term spending concerns. Lawmakers continue talks regarding the current year spending measure still under consideration. A new continuing resolution that would fund government operations until April 8 has emerged. Though it includes deeper spending cuts, it is free of controversial riders such as language to restrict ACA implementation funds. Meanwhile, the CBO issued a report that legislation designed to further the defunding goal would add $5.7 billion to the deficit.
Democratic leaders insisted that some form of compromise by the House GOP members is now needed. “We’re looking for some give on the Republican side,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), he said, “needs something to bring his freshmen into the real world.” Boehner, referencing the Democrats and the White House, said “I hope the talks are going to continue, but we are not going to get very far if they don’t get serious about doing what the American people expect of us. “This is not going to be easy. Our goal, as I’ve said many times, is to cut spending and keep the government open.”
Tags: Congressional Budget Office, deficit, Democrats, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal budget, GOP, House Budget Committee, House of Representatives, Kathleen Sebelius, Medicare, Obama administration, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Representative John Boehner, Representative Paul Ryan, Senate, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Max Baucus, senior citizens
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Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
President Barack Obama is calling the states’ bluff on implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) by allowing them to opt out of its most onerous requirements three years earlier than currently permitted. Speaking at a meeting of the National Governors Association, Obama specifically pointed to a proposal from Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Scott Brown (R-MA) which he endorsed as a flexible approach. “If you can come up with a better system for your state to provide coverage of the same quality and affordability as the Affordable Care Act, you can take that route instead,” Obama said, noting that, “If your state can create a plan that covers as many people as affordably and comprehensively as the Affordable Care Act does, without increasing the deficit, you can implement that plan and we’ll work with you to do it.”
The president endorsed the proposal to allow states to apply for “innovation waivers” beginning in 2014, three years earlier than originally scheduled. Under the terms of these waivers, states would be exempt from several of the law’s requirements if they set up their own method of adequately expanding coverage. The “individual mandate” is the focus of multiple state lawsuits by states that contend it is unconstitutional.
The Obama administration has posted a detailed fact sheet on the proposal on the White House website. Additionally, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has blogged about it.
Despite lingering opposition to the healthcare reform law, the Obama administration is moving ahead with its implementation. Over the last 10 months, HHS has made $2.8 billion available to states to help them start reforming their healthcare systems. These funds let the states invest in improvements. These investments are showing signs of progress thanks to more comprehensive oversight of insurance premium increases, new rights and protections for consumers, additional choices for people living with medical conditions, and the elimination of some of the worst insurance industry practices.
The bipartisan proposal’s future is uncertain, with both Democrats and Republicans casting wary eyes at it. Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA), the House majority leader, said the healthcare law is “an impediment to job growth” and that he is still committed to repealing the ACA. “I was disappointed,” said Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and chairman of the Republican Governors Association. “Pretty much all he did was to reset the clock on what many of us consider a ticking time bomb that is absolutely going to crash our state budgets. The states need more than that.” Even some Democrats are cautious because they believe that it is impossible to expand healthcare coverage and reduce the deficit without the federal mandate. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) said “We want to give states as much flexibility as possible, but that flexibility shouldn’t fail to ensure that Americans in every state have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”
Writing in the Washington Monthly, Steve Benen asks “So, how big a deal is this? It marks a fairly significant departure from the administration’s status quo, but at its root, what we’re seeing is the White House call Republicans’ bluff. The GOP is convinced it can offer comparable coverage at comparable prices using Republican-friendly policies. Today, in effect, the president said, ‘Be my guest.’ Why? Because Obama knows it’ll take more than tort reform and HSAs to make the system work, and he sees a political upside to watching GOP officials scramble to actually craft their own plans, rather than bash his.”
President Obama also made it clear that the federal government is moving forward with healthcare reform. “I am not open to refighting the battles of the past two years or undoing the progress that we have made, but I am willing to work with anyone, governors or members of Congress, to make this law better…and fix what needs fixing,” Obama said.
Tags: 1099 problem, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal mandate, Flexibility, GOP, Governor Rick Perry, Governors, Healthcare law, healthcare reform law, House of Representatives, Innovation waivers, Kathleen Sebelius, National Governors Association, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama, repeal, Representative Eric Cantor, Republican Governors Association, Senator Max Baucus, Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Scott Brown, Steve Benen, Unconstitutional, Washington Monthly, White House website, “Innovation waivers”
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Thursday, January 13th, 2011
One of Illinois’ newest Congressman – Republican and Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh, who represents the 8th district that consists of Chicago’s far northwest suburbs – has refused to accept the government-sponsored health insurance plan that typically covers lawmakers. “I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy healthcare plans,” he said. Walsh’s wife is not thrilled with her husband’s decision; because she has a pre-existing medical condition, she is now forced to hunt for a pricey individual policy. So far, Representatives Bobby Schilling (R-IL) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) have joined Walsh in turning down congressional healthcare coverage.
Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY) called the Republicans’ bluff, writing a letter to GOP leaders asking that they refuse their federally subsidized coverage. “If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable care, your members should walk that walk.” Crowley sent his letter to incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Walsh’s stated legislative goals are repealing President Obama’s healthcare legislation and making major changes to Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, Walsh believes that reducing the size, scope and power of government is an end in itself. “An end in itself,” he said. “I think we were sent to D.C. to cut spending and grow the economy. We have to talk about cutting real programs” – as well as agencies — “like the Department of Energy and Department of Education.”
Tags: Bobby Schilling, Department of Education, Department of Energy, GOP, healthcare reform, Illinois, Illinois 8th Congressional District, Individual policy, Joe Walsh, John Boehner, Joseph Crowley, Medicare, Melissa Bean, Mike Kelly, Mitch McConnell, Pensions, Pre-existing medical condition, President Barack Obama, social security, Tea Party, Washington D.C.
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Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
The most egregious lie of the year, according to PolitiFact.com, is the suggestion that President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform law is a “government takeover of healthcare.” This is the opinion of PolitiFact.com, the St. Petersburg Times’ independent fact-checking website. In early 2009, Republican strategist Frank Luntz urged GOP legislators to call the bill a “government takeover.” According to Luntz, “Takeovers are like coups. They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom.” PolitiFact’s runner-up lie was Representative Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) statement that President Obama’s trip to India would cost taxpayer $200 million a day.
Jonathan Oberlander, a health policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said “The label ‘government takeover’ has no basis in reality, but instead reflects a political dynamic where conservatives label any increase in government authority in healthcare as a ‘takeover’.” Although the new law increases government oversight of health insurance companies, it relies on private companies and the free market.
Others are in agreement with PolitiFact’s stance. The online magazine Slate said “the proposed healthcare reform does not take over the system in any sense.” Princeton University professor Uwe Reinhardt, a healthcare economics expert, wrote in the New York Times that “Yes, there would be a substantial government-mandated reorganization of this relatively small corner of the private health insurance market (that serves people who have been buying individual policies). But that hardly constitutes a government takeover of American healthcare.”
When a spokesman for incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) was asked about Republicans’ insistence on using the phrase – even now that it’s been thoroughly debunked – the response was “We believe that the job-killing ObamaCare law will result in a government takeover of healthcare. That’s why we have pledged to repeal it, and replace it with common-sense reforms that actually lower costs.”
Tags: Fact.Check.org, Frank Luntz, Free market, GOP, healthcare reform legislation, John Boehner, Lies, Michael Steel, Michele Bachmann, New York Times, Obamacare, PolitiFact.com, President Barack Obama, public option, Slate, St. Petersburg Times, “Pants on Fire” rating
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Monday, December 6th, 2010
Even though Republicans will control the House of Representatives and have a larger presence in the Senate come January, they still are likely to hit some formidable roadblocks in their attempt to repeal the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act. Those roadblocks are such lobbying giants as the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PRMA). The groups are on board with the new healthcare reform law because they will gain an estimated 30 million (or more) new paying customers in the next few years. The reform law is expected to increase payments to physicians and hospitals who have felt squeezed in recent years. Additionally, analysts believe the new law is a major force for job creation in the healthcare sector.
“These guys were onboard for a reason,” said David Dranove, a professor of health enterprise management at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “Very few employers will drop private health insurance, and you will expand private insurance to 15 million people. If this legislation stands, we are not likely to see new reforms for a generation.”
Primary-care physicians, who are likely to benefit significantly from the healthcare reform law, will see their reimbursements from government insurance programs rise – although many believe the reform law is only the beginning. According to Dr. Cecil Wilson, AMA president, “While the 111th Congress made important improvements to our nation’s healthcare system, more work needs to be done.” Hospitals – which have been hard hit by patients unable to pay their medical bills because of unemployment – will be in better financial shape once more Americans get health insurance subsidies in 2014.
Pharmaceutical companies, which were among reform’s earliest supporters, oppose repeal, even though analysts say it will cost them $100 billion in government rebates. The upside is that the industry will obtain new customers who were previously uninsured and unable to afford the latest brand-name medications. Even the much-maligned insurance companies – who will have more than 15 million new customers – oppose repeal.
Tags: 111th Congress, Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, GOP, Health insurers, healthcare reform law, House of Representatives, Independent Payment Advisory Board, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, President Barack Obama, primary-care physicians, private insurance, Republicans, Senate
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Monday, November 8th, 2010
Now that the GOP has retaken control of the House of Representatives, one of their overarching goals – according to Speaker-of-the-House-to-be John Boehner (R-OH) – is to repeal the landmark Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act that would provide healthcare coverage for millions of Americans who now have no insurance.
In Boehner’s own words, “The American people are concerned about the government takeover of healthcare,” he said. “I think it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with common-sense reforms that will bring down the cost of healthcare insurance in America.” “Republicans will roll back whatever they can on healthcare,” noted Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director.
Yet, there’s no hard evidence that the Republicans want to replace the current law with their own version of healthcare reform. The GOP vision would give states the power to fund programs that extend coverage to some uninsured Americans. People would also be allowed to carry insurance policies across state lines. Mandates and government-run insurance pool would be non-existent. Additionally, Republican legislation would cap court malpractice awards and help people direct more pretax money into healthcare savings accounts. The Republican plan is anticipated to cut deficits by $68 billion over a decade. On the downside, it would cover only about three million of the uninsured, leaving 52 million Americans with no healthcare coverage, according to Douglas Elmendorf, who is currently the Congressional Budget Office director.
There’s a significant roadblock in the way of the Republicans’ healthcare plan: the presidential veto, which can be overturned only by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress. “It would be a symbolic vote – a vote of intention rather than reality,” said Joseph Antos of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute.
Complicating the situation is the fact that some aspects of healthcare reform already in effect are quite popular, such as the provisions forcing insurers to cover children with pre-existing conditions and allowing parents to keep kids up to age 26 on their policies.
Tags: Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Department of Health and Human Services, GOP, House of Representatives, IRS, John Boehner, Medicare, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama, repeal
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Sunday, October 3rd, 2010
Republicans are threatening to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as part of their “A Pledge to America” proposal. On the six-month anniversary of healthcare reform’s enactment, House Republicans issued their “Pledge” , which proposes overturning the law and replacing it with “real reforms” focusing on medical liability reforms to control “junk lawsuits” and defensive medicine. Other elements of the “Pledge” would expand health saving accounts; ban taxpayer funding of abortion; allow people to buy insurance across state lines; assure access for patients with pre-existing conditions by expanding state high-risk pools and reinsurance programs; as well as cutting the cost of coverage.
According to Stephanie Cutter, assistant to the president for special projects, “The (Republicans’) agenda claims to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but it repeals the new law’s ban on discriminating against uninsured Americans, including children who have a pre-existing condition. It will mean that seniors will pay more for their prescription drugs, and their new free preventive Medicare benefits will be cut.”
Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, noted that the GOP proposal “will raise taxes by more than $40 billion on up to four million small businesses that provide health benefits to their employees…and will result in premium increases by eliminating the billions of dollars in cost-saving measures.”
Democratic lawmakers assailed the “Pledge” as recycled ideas that will only intensify the nation’s problems. “Republicans want to return to the same failed economic policies that hurt millions of Americans and threatened our economy,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Even if Republicans vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama still has the power to veto their legislation. It’s likely that he would use his veto power to protect one of his major legislative achievements.
Tags: Democrats, GOP, health insurance, healthcare reform, Nancy Pelosi, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama, repeal, Republicans, Speaker of the House, White House
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Monday, May 24th, 2010
Although healthcare reform legislation is now the law of the land, Representative John Boehner (R-OH), the House Minority Leader, is still not shy about communicating his distaste for the bill. Recently, Boehner sent a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, citing increased cost estimates, job-loss information and what he perceives as a lack of follow-through on an executive order regarding abortion coverage that the GOP finds troubling.
Boehner’s letter is a response to a recent statement by Secretary Sebelius, which stressed the law’s initial deliverables, including health insurance reform and tax credits available to small businesses. “Now I’ve seen my fair share of propaganda, but this letter must have been written in an alternate universe,” Boehner said. Republicans have uniformly opposed the healthcare bill throughout the process; the majority claim that it will increase costs. Additionally, the GOP hopes that the healthcare law will guarantee them a majority victory over Democrats in November’s mid-term elections. The GOP is expected to win more mid-term elections in the House versus the Senate.
Sebelius said that “Now, I want to be clear: the Affordable Care Act is not a magic pill that will cure all the problems in our health care system. It will take time for all the benefits to kick in. And if you look at the history of major social legislation, you see that there are always revisions and adjustments along the way.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sides with Sebelius, saying “We’re very pleased with the unfolding of the healthcare bill, In a bigger sense, it is about a healthier America.”
Tags: Democrats, Department of Health and Human Services, executive orders, GOP, healthcare reform, House Minority Leader, John Boehner, Kathleen Sebelius, mid-term elections, Nancy Pelosi, Ohio, propaganda, Republicans, tax credits
Posted in Economics, Healthcare | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Mount Dora, FL, urologist Dr. Jack Cassell is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame after posting a typewritten sign on his office door that tells patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek healthcare “elsewhere”. The sign reads: “If you voted for Obama…seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.” Cassell, a registered Republican who opposes healthcare reform, says “I’m not turning anybody away – that would be unethical.”
William Allen, a professor of bioethics, law and medical professionalism at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, believes that Cassell might be walking a fine line between his right to free speech and his professional obligation. Physicians are not allowed to refuse patients on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability; but political preference is not one of the legally protected groups specified in civil rights laws. Because Cassell does not ask his patients who they voted for, he is “trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation,” Allen said. “But this is pushing the limit.”
Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL), whose district includes Mount Dora and who last fall criticized the Republican approach to healthcare reform as “If you get sick, America…die quickly”, called Cassell’s sign “Ridiculous. I’m disgusted.” According to the first-term Congressman, “Maybe he thinks the Hippocratic Oath says ‘Do no good.’ If this is the face of the right wing in America, it’s the face of cruelty. Why don’t they change the name of the Republican Party to the Sore Loser Party?”
Tags: Alan Grayson, Florida Medical Association, free speech, GOP, Jack Cassell, Leslie Campione, Mount Dora FL, President Barack Obama, Republicans, right wing, Sore Loser Party, University of Florida College of Medicine, urologist
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Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
In a rare Saturday evening roll call, the Senate recently voted 60 – 39 along straight party lines to open debate on wide-ranging healthcare reform legislation. The procedural vote – in which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) won backing from his entire 60-member caucus – moves the healthcare reform debate from committee into the full Senate. Even with an important victory under his belt, Reid still faces a fight from conservative Blue Dog Democrats – not to mention Republicans.
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) told ABC’s “This Week” that he voted to cut off a Republican filibuster because it opens the way to revising the legislation as it currently is written. “If I thought the bill couldn’t be amended and couldn’t be improved, I wouldn’t vote to move it forward and move the debate,” Nelson said. “Debate can begin. We ought not to stop the opportunity to improve the bill.”
Conversely, Senator Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told “Meet the Press” that Saturday’s vote was a victory for President Barack Obama and Senator Reid. “We have a lot of different opinions on our side of the caucus and we came together last night.” New York Democrat Charles Schumer agreed, saying the bill can win the necessary supermajority to fend off a filibuster because the Senate’s public opinion is adequately centrist. “There is no intent to compete unfairly with private insurance. This is a modest public option,” he said, noting that it has the same requirements as private insurance coverage.
Conservative Republicans, on the other hand, want to write entirely new legislation with significant GOP input. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said the current bill will be an expensive “disaster for our country” that would increase the deficit and force some Americans to lose healthcare coverage.
Whatever shape the ultimate Senate legislation takes, it will have to undergo reconciliation with the more liberal House of Representatives’ bill passed in early November. Although Saturday’s procedural motion required a 60-vote majority, passage of the final healthcare reform bill will require just 51 votes.
Tags: Democrats, filibuster, GOP, healthcare reform, House of Repres, President Barack Obama, Republicans, Senate, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Harry Reid, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
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