Question about the health care bill

[gturner]

Well, another problem is that by 2014 the health insurance companies think they might be out of business, because the new law requires them to pay out 80% of annual premiums instead of the current 60% (which was the previous law designed to keep insurers solvent, cover overhead, and leave enough room for major claims).

Since their current profit margin is just a couple of percent, that leaves them a bit short.

But until then they get a bunch of new customers, so their stock prices are up.

 

[Amaris]

It's a four tiered system.

Bronze (60%), Silver (70%), Gold (80%), Platinum (90%), and a special critical emergency type fund, but it isgoing to be very limited.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm sure you did. How interesting that you chose to direct that statement at me, then, in a thread that had nothing to do with something very funny yet inappropriate for Miscellaneous.

I know all about the faux indigence and 'outrage' at me as a person because of the low level of slime that I am considered because a bunch of whiney internet nerds took offense in a far too politically correct manner int he same realm where they act like the worst of humanity

You might not want to drag that in here.

Yes, enough with this stuff, from all concerned.

 

[John Picard]

[/quote]

Gap in health care law's protection for children

Interesting...Regardless, according to the article, after 2014, none of us (children or adults) will have to worry about being denied the purchase of healthcare insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Also, the Obama administration is working to see if they can fix the situation for children sooner. Though, I don't know if the latter is possible without new legislation.

There are so many flaws with this bill it isn't funny. And for *anyone* to claim that something is better than nothing proves that he is an ignoramus. No Child Left Behind is a terrific example of a flawed bill that everyone applauded when it was passed.

I am also tired to the ignorant fools who defend our elected representatives (and Senators) for voting on a bill they've never read, claiming that it's too large (ie 1,000+ pages). Fine -- amend the rules of the body chamber than no bill can exceed X-number of pages and can have no hidden amendments or earmarks. These bills should all follow the example of the requirements for bills passed in the State of Oklahoma via the Single Subject Rule (Article 8, Section 1).

SECTION V‑57
Subjects and titles ‑ Revival or amendment by reference ‑ Extent of invalidity.

Every act of the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except general appropriation bills, general revenue bills, and bills adopting a code, digest, or revision of statutes; and no law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only; but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended, or conferred shall be re‑enacted and published at length: Provided, That if any subject be embraced in any act contrary to the provisions of this section, such act shall be void only as to so much of the law as may not be expressed in the title thereof.

Well, another problem is that by 2014 the health insurance companies think they might be out of business, because the new law requires them to pay out 80% of annual premiums instead of the current 60% (which was the previous law designed to keep insurers solvent, cover overhead, and leave enough room for major claims).

Since their current profit margin is just a couple of percent, that leaves them a bit short.

But until then they get a bunch of new customers, so their stock prices are up.

I have a big problem with insurance companies (specifically HMO's) that deny coverage and use every ploy possible to not pay a claim. Search around and you'll find that in many interviews pre and post Presidency, the Obama Administration's goal is to put the insurance companies out of business. This is not a vain extrapolation of finding "hidden code" in any speeches or interviews. I have listened to actual interviews with both Mr Obama, as well as people in his Administration, where it was stated verbatim, "...ultimately, we want to put the health insurance companies out of business."


Overall, if the US would adopt a consumption tax and abolish an income tax, there would be more than enough money to literally rebuild the infrastructure of the US as well as provide Universal Healthcare. Sadly, the mere mention of such a tax brings vociferous debate in how the "rich" get out of paying their alleged fair share.

 

[gturner]

An update. Sure enough, Democrats voted against an amendment banning federal viagra money for child molesters, but the reconcilliation bill has to go back to the House for a revote anyway.

 

[paudemge]

2700 page bill, full of legalese. I wonder how many pages of new regulations this bill will spawn.

Coburn amendment also included Implement Republican Ideas President Obama Has Endorsed To Crack Down on Waste, Fraud and Abuse. The President's Proposal for health reform, released on February 22, 2010, highlighted nine Republican ideas to combat waste, fraud and abuse. This amendment includes each of those policy provisions which have been endorsed by President Obama. Certainly Washington politicians should be serious about stemming the hemorrhaging of taxpayer dollars lost to waste, fraud and abuse. Senators will have an opportunity to vote on proposals which have received bipartisan support, and which the President has endorsed.

 

[John Picard]

EDITORIAL: No Obamacare for Obama

Democrats exempt themselves from socialist medicine


President Obama declared that the new health care law "is going to be affecting every American family." Except his own, of course.
The new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. Leadership and committee staffers in the House and Senate who wrote the bill are exempted as well. A weasel-worded definition of "staff" includes only the members' personal staff in the new system; the committee staff that drafted the legislation opted themselves out. Because they were more familiar with the contents of the law than anyone in the country, it says a lot that they carved out their own special loophole. Anyway, the law is intended to affect "ordinary Americans," according to Vice President Joe Biden (who - being a heartbeat away from the presidency - also is not covered), not Washington insiders.
Mr. Obama frequently tossed around the talking point that the new law gave people the same type of coverage as Congress enjoyed. In his March 20 health care pep talk to wavering Democrats on Capitol Hill, the president said one of the advantages of the health care legislation was that "people will have choice and competition just like members of Congress have choice and competition." At yesterday's signing ceremony, Mr. Obama said Americans will be "part of a big pool, just like federal employees are part of a big pool. They'll have the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves." But the American people will have a public pool; the executive branch and congressional staffers kept their country-club pool private.

[Gomer Pyle]***SURPRISE, surprise, surprise!***[/Gomer Pyle]
More in the article.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

There's no public option in this bill, therefore nothing for the Congressmen to participate in.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

But aren't people in congress covered for life when they leave office? Even the one-termers? I say when they elave they have to purhcase one of the bronze, silver and unobtanium coverages

 

[Robert Maxwell]

They get pensions. They pay into Social Security but they don't receive it. Nor, I believe, do they receive Medicare. They're covered under government-offered benefit plans.

This is no different, I might add, from how most companies used to do things--you retired with a pension including cash payments and health insurance.

The state health exchanges are for poor people, not Congressmen. If you have an issue with that, go talk to the Senate Republicans who balked at having a real public option.

 

[Gertch]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/23/obamacare-for-everyone-but-obama/
[Gomer Pyle]***SURPRISE, surprise, surprise!***[/Gomer Pyle]
More in the article.

Check out page 1312. http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act-as-passed.pdf

Cool, Ready Reserve Corps from the Health Control Bill.

 

[John Picard]

Health care reform for better or worse

What people are saying about health bill passage

Daniel Henninger, deputy editorial page editor, in The Wall Street Journal: "When the voting stopped, the screen said the number of Republicans voting for Obama's bill was zero. Not one. Nobody. Pristine opposition is being spun as a Republican liability. It looks to me like a Republican resurrection. The party hasn't yet discovered what it should be, but this clearly was a party discovering what it cannot be. Put it this way: If you produce a bill that Olympia Snowe of Maine cannot vote for, you have not produced legislation 'for the generations.' ... You have produced once-in-a-lifetime legislation that no Republican from any constituency across America could vote for. Finally, we are achieving real political definition."

Interesting point that never occurred to me. If Olympia Snowe doesn't vote for it, then it's truly a bad, bad piece of legislation.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

waht the hell is this?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

waht the hell is this?

Sounds like a "health care army" to me.

 

[Snaploud]

Health care reform for better or worse

What people are saying about health bill passage

Daniel Henninger, deputy editorial page editor, in The Wall Street Journal: "When the voting stopped, the screen said the number of Republicans voting for Obama's bill was zero. Not one. Nobody. Pristine opposition is being spun as a Republican liability. It looks to me like a Republican resurrection. The party hasn't yet discovered what it should be, but this clearly was a party discovering what it cannot be. Put it this way: If you produce a bill that Olympia Snowe of Maine cannot vote for, you have not produced legislation 'for the generations.' ... You have produced once-in-a-lifetime legislation that no Republican from any constituency across America could vote for. Finally, we are achieving real political definition."

Interesting point that never occurred to me. If Olympia Snowe doesn't vote for it, then it's truly a bad, bad piece of legislation.

Yeah, it couldn't be because Republican leaders, special interest groups, and teabaggers put pressure on her to toe the party line.

waht the hell is this?

I assume it's a provision for dealing with a major epidemic. You could argue that Homeland Security should be in charge, but the Surgeon General (the principal adviser to Health and Human Services) is probably the expert on such matters.'

Edit:

The Surgeon General is a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and by law holds the rank of vice admiral [1]. Officers of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are classified as non-combatants, but can be subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions when designated by the Commander-in-Chief as a military force or if they are detailed or assigned to work with the armed forces. Officer members of these services wear uniforms that are similar to those worn by the U.S. Navy, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. Officers in Public Health Service wear unique devices which are similar to U.S. Navy Staff Corps Officers (e.g., Navy Medical Service Corps, Supply Corps, etc).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Health care reform for better or worse

What people are saying about health bill passage

Daniel Henninger, deputy editorial page editor, in The Wall Street Journal: "When the voting stopped, the screen said the number of Republicans voting for Obama's bill was zero. Not one. Nobody. Pristine opposition is being spun as a Republican liability. It looks to me like a Republican resurrection. The party hasn't yet discovered what it should be, but this clearly was a party discovering what it cannot be. Put it this way: If you produce a bill that Olympia Snowe of Maine cannot vote for, you have not produced legislation 'for the generations.' ... You have produced once-in-a-lifetime legislation that no Republican from any constituency across America could vote for. Finally, we are achieving real political definition."

Interesting point that never occurred to me. If Olympia Snowe doesn't vote for it, then it's truly a bad, bad piece of legislation.

Yeah, it couldn't be because Republican leaders, special interest groups, and teabaggers put pressure on her to toe the party line.

waht the hell is this?

I assume it's a provision for dealing with a major epidemic. You could argue that Homeland Security should be in charge, but the Surgeon General (the principal adviser to Health and Human Services) is probably the expert on such matters.

Isn't that waht the national guard is for? Like in I am legend or The Crazies? Don't we alraedy have the Zombie scanners?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The National Guard is not made up of medical personnel.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

since HHS already has a pandemic plan in place, I'm confused of the need for this in the bill

http://www.hhs.gov/pandemicflu/plan/

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The Reserve Corps would help facilitate actualizing said plan in the event of a real pandemic, don't you think?

 

[Snaploud]

since HHS already has a pandemic plan in place, I'm confused of the need for this in the bill

http://www.hhs.gov/pandemicflu/plan/

That's a plan outlining guidance for the handling of a pandemic. I wouldn't be surprised if the provision in the health reform bill was a direct result of that guidance.