You Won't Believe These Suez Canal Conspiracies
4 years ago
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Monday, June 26, 2017
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Wendell Potter: Taking the Initiative in a Struggle Against Excessive Rate Increases
Wendell Potter: Taking the Initiative in a Struggle Against Excessive Rate Increases:
click link for full
snip
"The biggest applause line Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) got at a gathering of Democratic Party activists last week came when she endorsed a ballot initiative to give the California Insurance Commissioner power to reject excessive health insurance rate increases.
Consumer advocates there decided to go the ballot initiative route after the insurance industry's friends in the legislature blocked a bill last year that would do the same thing. Feinstein became the first Californian to sign a petition. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones became the second"
'via Blog this'
------
need this in Missouri
click link for full
snip
"The biggest applause line Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) got at a gathering of Democratic Party activists last week came when she endorsed a ballot initiative to give the California Insurance Commissioner power to reject excessive health insurance rate increases.
Consumer advocates there decided to go the ballot initiative route after the insurance industry's friends in the legislature blocked a bill last year that would do the same thing. Feinstein became the first Californian to sign a petition. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones became the second"
'via Blog this'
------
need this in Missouri
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Vouchers for veterans and other bad ideas
Vouchers for veterans and other bad ideas
click link above for full
snip from article;
U.S. health care is remarkably diverse. In terms of how care is paid for and delivered, many of us effectively live in Canada, some live in Switzerland, some live in Britain, and some live in the unregulated market of conservative dreams. One result of this diversity is that we have plenty of home-grown evidence about what works and what doesn't.
Naturally, then, politicians — Republicans in particular — are determined to scrap what works and promote what doesn't. And that brings me to Mitt Romney's latest really bad idea, unveiled on Veterans Day: to partially privatize the Veterans Health Administration.
What Romney and everyone else should know is that the VHA is a huge policy success story, which offers important lessons for future health care reform.
Many people still have an image of veterans' health care based on the terrible state of the system two decades ago. Under the Clinton administration, however, the VHA was overhauled, and it achieved a remarkable combination of rising quality and successful cost control. Multiple surveys have found the VHA providing better care than most Americans receive, even as the agency has held cost increases well below those facing Medicare and private insurers. Furthermore, the VHA has led the way in cost-saving innovation, especially the use of electronic medical records.
What's behind this success? Crucially, the VHA is an integrated system, which provides health care as well as paying for it. So it's free from the perverse incentives created when doctors and hospitals profit from expensive tests and procedures, whether or not those procedures actually make medical sense. And because VHA patients are in it for the long term, the agency has a stronger incentive to invest in prevention than private insurers, many of whose customers move on after a few years.
And yes, this is 'socialized medicine"
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/relationships-and-special-occasions/columns/miss-manners/vouchers-for-veterans-and-other-bad-ideas/article_8c30a823-94bd-5d25-a2b7-7827e5b0743d.html#ixzz1dnG1zgEQ
click link above for full
snip from article;
U.S. health care is remarkably diverse. In terms of how care is paid for and delivered, many of us effectively live in Canada, some live in Switzerland, some live in Britain, and some live in the unregulated market of conservative dreams. One result of this diversity is that we have plenty of home-grown evidence about what works and what doesn't.
Naturally, then, politicians — Republicans in particular — are determined to scrap what works and promote what doesn't. And that brings me to Mitt Romney's latest really bad idea, unveiled on Veterans Day: to partially privatize the Veterans Health Administration.
What Romney and everyone else should know is that the VHA is a huge policy success story, which offers important lessons for future health care reform.
Many people still have an image of veterans' health care based on the terrible state of the system two decades ago. Under the Clinton administration, however, the VHA was overhauled, and it achieved a remarkable combination of rising quality and successful cost control. Multiple surveys have found the VHA providing better care than most Americans receive, even as the agency has held cost increases well below those facing Medicare and private insurers. Furthermore, the VHA has led the way in cost-saving innovation, especially the use of electronic medical records.
What's behind this success? Crucially, the VHA is an integrated system, which provides health care as well as paying for it. So it's free from the perverse incentives created when doctors and hospitals profit from expensive tests and procedures, whether or not those procedures actually make medical sense. And because VHA patients are in it for the long term, the agency has a stronger incentive to invest in prevention than private insurers, many of whose customers move on after a few years.
And yes, this is 'socialized medicine"
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/relationships-and-special-occasions/columns/miss-manners/vouchers-for-veterans-and-other-bad-ideas/article_8c30a823-94bd-5d25-a2b7-7827e5b0743d.html#ixzz1dnG1zgEQ
Thursday, April 7, 2011
SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE MEETING IN ST LOUIS 4-6
Special event and speaker to address current state of the struggle for Single-Payer HealthcareWednesday, April 6, 2011 9:15 PM
Attention all StL area Labor Campaign for Single-Payer Healthcare:
“Winning Universal Health Care Strategies for Victory”
The Missourians for Single Payer Health Care will hold Mosp’s:
Ninth Annual Health Care Address
11 am Sunday, April 17th at the Ethical Society
9001 Clayton Road in Ladue
Featured Speaker will be Ronald Hikel, a top administrator & advisor
On health care systems in Canada & the United States. He currently advises
Congressman John Conyers and has been a key activist in the effort to pass
H. R. 676 introduced by Congressman Conyers & endorsed by the Labor Campaign
For Single-Payer in the 111th Congress.
Hope you will make every effort to join in hearing Ron Hikel and participate in the
discussion at the Ethical Society following his address.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attention all StL area Labor Campaign for Single-Payer Healthcare:
“Winning Universal Health Care Strategies for Victory”
The Missourians for Single Payer Health Care will hold Mosp’s:
Ninth Annual Health Care Address
11 am Sunday, April 17th at the Ethical Society
9001 Clayton Road in Ladue
Featured Speaker will be Ronald Hikel, a top administrator & advisor
On health care systems in Canada & the United States. He currently advises
Congressman John Conyers and has been a key activist in the effort to pass
H. R. 676 introduced by Congressman Conyers & endorsed by the Labor Campaign
For Single-Payer in the 111th Congress.
Hope you will make every effort to join in hearing Ron Hikel and participate in the
discussion at the Ethical Society following his address.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Missouri hospitals owe it to the public to admit their mistakes.
Missouri hospitals owe it to the public to admit their mistakes.
click link
serious problem in our state
click link
serious problem in our state
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Whooping Cough
note: Missouri is dead last among the states in rates of childhood vaccinations. remind kids to have little ones get shots.
in fact, things have gotten worse since this report. time for feds to act.
Waiting for the "Jefferson city hillbillies" to act could mean cart-loads of dead babies.
-----
in fact, things have gotten worse since this report. time for feds to act.
Waiting for the "Jefferson city hillbillies" to act could mean cart-loads of dead babies.
-----
Friday, June 4, 2010
special event on Tuesday, June 8
Dear g, At a special event on Tuesday, June 8, Alliance members are invited to ask the President health care questions by telephone! A few members of the Alliance will be attending the event - which will include information on benefits for seniors under the new health care law - live, in Wheaton, Maryland. Other members are invited to ask the President questions by phone. Please read your Friday Alert newsletter tomorrow for the special phone number Alliance members can call to talk to President Obama! This one-time, national "tele-town hall" can also be seen and heard on television by watching C-SPAN, or on-line via web streaming at www.healthreform.gov. If you live in one of the following communities and would like to join a local watch party, please contact us at: ARAORGANIZING@retiredamericans.org
--------- ------- Health Reform & Medicare (05/26/2010 Web chat) From: USHealthReform | May 26, 2010 |
http://www.healthreform.gov Medicare & The Affordable Care Act What the Affordable Care Act means for Medicare recipients
--------- ------- Health Reform & Medicare (05/26/2010 Web chat) From: USHealthReform | May 26, 2010 |
http://www.healthreform.gov Medicare & The Affordable Care Act What the Affordable Care Act means for Medicare recipients
Thursday, April 15, 2010
a few flaws
this is a short list of flaws in new healthcare bill
Healthcare-NOW! is most aggrieved about the following aspects of the bill:
■About 23 million people will remain uninsured nine years out resulting in an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually. One-third of these will be undocumented immigrants who will be excluded from purchasing private insurance.
■Millions of people who are not eligible for public health insurance programs Medicaid and Medicare will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Many will find such policies too expensive to afford or, if they do buy them, too expensive to use because of the high co-pays and deductibles.
■Those remaining uninsured will be fined up to 2.5% of their income.
■Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power, and with it their ability to block future reform.
■The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals, threatening the care of the tens of millions who will remain uninsured.
■People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan’s limited network of providers, face ever-rising costs and erosion of their health benefits. As the cost of insurance grows, they will be taxed on their benefits.
■Health care costs will continue to skyrocket, as the experience with the Massachusetts plan (after which this bill is patterned) amply demonstrates. The industry lobbying group, American Health Insurance Plans, came just short of announcing the industry’s next rate increase in its brief statement in response to the bill: “The access expansions are a significant step forward, but this legislation will exacerbate the health care costs crisis facing many working families and small businesses.”
■The much-vaunted insurance regulations – e.g. ending denials on the basis of pre-existing conditions – are riddled with loopholes, thanks to the central role that insurers played in crafting the legislation. Older people can be charged up to three times more than their younger counterparts, and large companies with a predominantly female workforce can be charged higher gender-based rates at least until 2017.
■It allows insurers to expand so-called wellness programs that let insurers penalize subscribers by hundreds—and even thousands—of dollars for not meeting certain ‘wellness targets,’ such as a particular cholesterol number, blood sugar measurement or body-weight target.
■Women’s reproductive rights will be further eroded, due to segregation of insurance funds for abortion from all other medical services.
_-
more to come
Healthcare-NOW! is most aggrieved about the following aspects of the bill:
■About 23 million people will remain uninsured nine years out resulting in an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually. One-third of these will be undocumented immigrants who will be excluded from purchasing private insurance.
■Millions of people who are not eligible for public health insurance programs Medicaid and Medicare will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Many will find such policies too expensive to afford or, if they do buy them, too expensive to use because of the high co-pays and deductibles.
■Those remaining uninsured will be fined up to 2.5% of their income.
■Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power, and with it their ability to block future reform.
■The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals, threatening the care of the tens of millions who will remain uninsured.
■People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan’s limited network of providers, face ever-rising costs and erosion of their health benefits. As the cost of insurance grows, they will be taxed on their benefits.
■Health care costs will continue to skyrocket, as the experience with the Massachusetts plan (after which this bill is patterned) amply demonstrates. The industry lobbying group, American Health Insurance Plans, came just short of announcing the industry’s next rate increase in its brief statement in response to the bill: “The access expansions are a significant step forward, but this legislation will exacerbate the health care costs crisis facing many working families and small businesses.”
■The much-vaunted insurance regulations – e.g. ending denials on the basis of pre-existing conditions – are riddled with loopholes, thanks to the central role that insurers played in crafting the legislation. Older people can be charged up to three times more than their younger counterparts, and large companies with a predominantly female workforce can be charged higher gender-based rates at least until 2017.
■It allows insurers to expand so-called wellness programs that let insurers penalize subscribers by hundreds—and even thousands—of dollars for not meeting certain ‘wellness targets,’ such as a particular cholesterol number, blood sugar measurement or body-weight target.
■Women’s reproductive rights will be further eroded, due to segregation of insurance funds for abortion from all other medical services.
_-
more to come
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
St. Louis healthcare activist dies Melanie Shouse
Last week, Melanie Shouse died. She was a pro healthcare change activist and major Obama supporter in St. Louis, Missouri.
She died of cancer and had limited insurance. Alas, that is common enough story in Missouri where the state house hopes the sick die and die quickly if they do not have money. So sad is the fact that in the St. Louis area, St. Louis has some of the best, most modern tech and best doctors/hospitals in the world.
She will be missed.
------------
from labor vision
-----------------
---------------
From St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Melanie Shouse fought to her death for health care reform
BY MICHAEL D. SORKIN
Thursday, Feb. 04 2010
When Melanie Shouse began feeling ill, eventually finding a lump in her breast,
she couldn't afford a doctor. She and her partner had just used their savings
to open a business.
A year later, doctors told her she had terminal, stage four breast cancer.
She spent the next 4½ years fighting for health care reform that she didn't
live to see pass.
Ms. Shouse died Saturday (Jan. 30, 2010) at her home in Overland. She was 41.
In addition to advocating affordable health care for everyone, she was an
activist for clean energy, economic reform and public transportation.
She took the bus to and from her chemotherapy appointments in the Central West
End. Then she'd pick up a sign or banner and walk a picket line.
"This was an extraordinary woman, who never gave up hope that she could make a
difference," said Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation.
Ms. Shouse grew up in Indiana, graduated from high school in Plano, Texas, and
then from Texas A&M University with a major in biology.
She moved to San Francisco, where she met her future partner, Steve Hart, on a
picket line. They were together for 20 years.
They moved to St. Louis and opened Sweet Meat Stix in St. Ann, selling meat
from humanely raised beef.
She set goals for surviving her cancer. She campaigned for Barack Obama for
president, telling herself she had to make it through the primaries, then
Election Day and, later, the inaugural.
In a speech in November at the Arch grounds, she spoke about the need to "take
on the Big Insurance Monopoly and liberate American families from the slavery
of skyrocketing insurance premiums and canceled coverage, which leave millions
of us in a state of perpetual fear and insecurity ..."
Using herself as an example, Ms. Shouse said she had put off going to a doctor
because her health insurance policy had a $5,000 deductible. She called it
"'hit by a bus' kind of insurance."
When the insurance company wouldn't pay for a treatment that Ms. Shouse
believed would help her, friends protested at the company.
Insurance officials refused to accept their petition and called police,
recalled a friend, Kathy Geldbach. One of the police officers took the
petition, "marched up the company's steps and strongly encouraged those men to
look at the petition," Geldbach said.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro of Connecticut called Ms. Shouse a week ago in a
final, unsuccessful effort to get the insurance company to approve the
treatment.
Ms. Shouse did extensive research trying to help herself and others, said her
oncologist, Dr. Cynthia Ma.
"She was a very special person; I wish that we had been able to do more," Ma
said.
Ms. Shouse requested that her body be cremated wearing her Obama T-shirt.
Friends and family plan a celebration of her life at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at
Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Avenue.
In addition to her partner, among the survivors are her parents, Marianne and
Carl Shouse of Prairie Village, Kan.; two sisters, Maria Duda of Tampa, Fla.,
and Michele Macready of Vancouver, British Columbia; and her grandmother, Kay
Holtzman of Overland Park, Kan.
Memorial contributions can be made to Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice,
412 Greenleaf Drive, Kirkwood, Mo. 63122; Susan G. Komen for the Cure, St.
Louis affiliate, P.O. Box 790129, Dept. SK, St. Louis, Mo. 63179-0129; or St.
Louis Jobs with Justice, 2725 Clifton Street, St. Louis, Mo. 63139.
If you enjoy reading about interesting news, you might like the 3 O'Clock Stir from
STLtoday.com. Sign up and you'll receive an email with unique stories of the day,
every Monday-Friday, at no charge.
Sign up at http://newsletters.stltoday.com
She died of cancer and had limited insurance. Alas, that is common enough story in Missouri where the state house hopes the sick die and die quickly if they do not have money. So sad is the fact that in the St. Louis area, St. Louis has some of the best, most modern tech and best doctors/hospitals in the world.
She will be missed.
------------
from labor vision
-----------------
---------------
From St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Melanie Shouse fought to her death for health care reform
BY MICHAEL D. SORKIN
Thursday, Feb. 04 2010
When Melanie Shouse began feeling ill, eventually finding a lump in her breast,
she couldn't afford a doctor. She and her partner had just used their savings
to open a business.
A year later, doctors told her she had terminal, stage four breast cancer.
She spent the next 4½ years fighting for health care reform that she didn't
live to see pass.
Ms. Shouse died Saturday (Jan. 30, 2010) at her home in Overland. She was 41.
In addition to advocating affordable health care for everyone, she was an
activist for clean energy, economic reform and public transportation.
She took the bus to and from her chemotherapy appointments in the Central West
End. Then she'd pick up a sign or banner and walk a picket line.
"This was an extraordinary woman, who never gave up hope that she could make a
difference," said Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation.
Ms. Shouse grew up in Indiana, graduated from high school in Plano, Texas, and
then from Texas A&M University with a major in biology.
She moved to San Francisco, where she met her future partner, Steve Hart, on a
picket line. They were together for 20 years.
They moved to St. Louis and opened Sweet Meat Stix in St. Ann, selling meat
from humanely raised beef.
She set goals for surviving her cancer. She campaigned for Barack Obama for
president, telling herself she had to make it through the primaries, then
Election Day and, later, the inaugural.
In a speech in November at the Arch grounds, she spoke about the need to "take
on the Big Insurance Monopoly and liberate American families from the slavery
of skyrocketing insurance premiums and canceled coverage, which leave millions
of us in a state of perpetual fear and insecurity ..."
Using herself as an example, Ms. Shouse said she had put off going to a doctor
because her health insurance policy had a $5,000 deductible. She called it
"'hit by a bus' kind of insurance."
When the insurance company wouldn't pay for a treatment that Ms. Shouse
believed would help her, friends protested at the company.
Insurance officials refused to accept their petition and called police,
recalled a friend, Kathy Geldbach. One of the police officers took the
petition, "marched up the company's steps and strongly encouraged those men to
look at the petition," Geldbach said.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro of Connecticut called Ms. Shouse a week ago in a
final, unsuccessful effort to get the insurance company to approve the
treatment.
Ms. Shouse did extensive research trying to help herself and others, said her
oncologist, Dr. Cynthia Ma.
"She was a very special person; I wish that we had been able to do more," Ma
said.
Ms. Shouse requested that her body be cremated wearing her Obama T-shirt.
Friends and family plan a celebration of her life at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at
Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Avenue.
In addition to her partner, among the survivors are her parents, Marianne and
Carl Shouse of Prairie Village, Kan.; two sisters, Maria Duda of Tampa, Fla.,
and Michele Macready of Vancouver, British Columbia; and her grandmother, Kay
Holtzman of Overland Park, Kan.
Memorial contributions can be made to Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice,
412 Greenleaf Drive, Kirkwood, Mo. 63122; Susan G. Komen for the Cure, St.
Louis affiliate, P.O. Box 790129, Dept. SK, St. Louis, Mo. 63179-0129; or St.
Louis Jobs with Justice, 2725 Clifton Street, St. Louis, Mo. 63139.
If you enjoy reading about interesting news, you might like the 3 O'Clock Stir from
STLtoday.com. Sign up and you'll receive an email with unique stories of the day,
every Monday-Friday, at no charge.
Sign up at http://newsletters.stltoday.com
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Nixon-unions-Kennedy healthcare fight 1971
When folks talk about the Nixon/Kennedy healthcare fight, this short film shows part of that debate:
--------------
------------------------------
some of the "concerns" were the same in 71 as now. Alas, some of these "concerns" were argued over by the Bull Moose Party in 1912. Very little progress.
--------------
------------------------------
some of the "concerns" were the same in 71 as now. Alas, some of these "concerns" were argued over by the Bull Moose Party in 1912. Very little progress.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Barney Frank and townhall meeting MSNBC clip
Dissing Barney was not wise idea in attempted townhall disruption. Kudos to Barney:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
single payer upcoming debate in house Weiner admendment
Charlie A posted this on his blog and is of interest to the folks. C-span snip
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Nifty Obama protest signs
This vid is fantastic. Love some of the protest signs. From the Young Turk folks.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Unions big doners last election
This is a story from MSNBC/CQ on campaign donations by unions. Did we get our "money's worth" is a fair question.
Value of time and other resources given by unions is not in this, but easily worth millions.
Copyrighted article and I will remove if objections made:
-------------
MSNBC.com
CQ: Campaign cash: Unions big givers in 2009
Labor strongly supports a government-run insurance health insurance plan
By Bennett Roth and Alex Knott, CQ staff
CQ Politics
updated 11:32 a.m. CT, Mon., Aug 10, 2009
WASHINGTON - Organized labor gave more money to congressional campaigns than any other interest group at a time when overhauling health care and easing the ability of unions to organize sit atop Congress’ agenda.
Union political action committees shelled out $11 million to lawmakers during the first six months of this year. Ranking second were health care interests, which gave $9.5 million from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
While labor PACs were the top contributors in the previous election cycle, the health care industry jumped to second place in the first half of the year from fourth in the 2007-08 cycle. Revamping health care is the top priority of President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress as lawmakers struggle to fashion an overhaul proposal.
Labor strongly supports a government-run insurance plan that is part of legislation (HR 3200) that three House panels and one Senate committee have approved. Insurance companies and many parts of the business community oppose the so-called public option.
Finance and insurance company PACs contributed $9.2 million to lawmakers and ranked just after those representing health care in donations to lawmakers during the six-month period.
Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center and a former FEC chairman, said it is not surprising that labor leads the pack in giving this year.
“The unions have an agenda in this Congress, and they are trying to move legislation,” Potter said. He added that unions, which give overwhelmingly to Democrats, also may be trying early in the election cycle to shore up the majority party in Congress, particularly its vulnerable members.
Aside from the health care issue, unions have mounted a major push for legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize workplaces. The measure (S 560) has been aggressively opposed by business interests. Senate sponsors have signaled that they may have to drop a controversial labor-backed provision that would allow workers to agree to unionize when a majority sign a card, rather than voting by secret ballot.
The CQ analysis includes PAC contributions to campaign and leadership committees of all House candidates and contributions to campaign committees of Senate candidates. Not all Senate leadership PAC contributions are included because of varying filing deadlines.
The top recipient of labor money was Rep. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., whose campaign committee received $171,000 from union PACs. Murphy won a special election on March 31 to replace Kirsten Gillibrand, who was tapped to become New York’s junior senator.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’s campaign committee received the second-largest amount of labor PAC cash, getting $144,000. The California Democrat was followed by another, Rep. George Miller, the Education and Labor chairman, who received $119,540. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was next. His campaign committee collected $115,500.
The health care industry opened its wallets to leaders in the health care debate, including Reid, who was the top recipient of health care PAC money to candidates’ campaign committees. In the first half of this year, Reid received $168,500 from health care interests, amounting to almost a quarter of the PAC contributions his campaign received. The money represented the interests of a range of medical associations, hospitals, drug companies and other providers.
Notably absent among the top Democratic recipients of health care money was Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and a leading figure on health care for years. Kennedy has been fighting brain cancer and has not been in Washington for most of this session. The industry donated $4,000 to his campaign committee in the first half of the year.
The leading GOP recipient of health care contributions was Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Finance Committee and part of a bipartisan coalition struggling to come up with a compromise health care bill. His campaign committee got $118,400 from health care interests, about a quarter of his total PAC contributions.
One of Grassley’s largest contributions was $10,000 from WellPoint, an Indiana-based health insurance company that oversees Blue Cross plans in 14 states. As with many in the health insurance industry, WellPoint opposes the public option. The legislation discussed by the Finance Committee does not include such a government-run health plan.
Democrats, led by Pelosi, have singled out health insurance companies for criticism, suggesting they are trying to undermine health care legislation during the August recess. Pelosi received $139,500 in health care contributions to her campaign committee. That figure includes $2,500 from the political action arm of America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 health insurance companies.
Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, responded earlier this week to Democratic criticism of her industry by complaining that “a campaign has been launched to demonize health plans and the men and women who work hard every day to provide health insurance coverage to more than 300 million Americans.”
The latest filings also show that the top industries are continuing their trend of favoring Democrats, who now control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Overall, the PACs gave about 62 percent of their money to Democrats and about 38 percent to Republicans in the first half of this year.
Health care-related PACs gave more than 62 percent of contributions to Democrats in the first six months of 2009 and more than 37 percent to Republicans. And now that Democrats have the lion’s share of incumbents, even the traditionally GOP-leaning energy and natural resources companies gave slightly more of their PAC money, about 51 percent, to Democrats. Republicans got about 49 percent.
Organized labor, as it has in past years, gave most of its contributions, 92 percent, to Democrats.
CQ © 2009 All Rights Reserved | Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1255 22nd Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 | 202-419-8500
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32358502/ns/politics-cq_politics/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2009 MSNBC.com
------------------------------------------
Personally speaking: if the folks in congress cannot pass some pro-labor agenda items like real healthcare reform/real employee free choice act and more; time to rethink giving massive amounts of money to Democratic Party. In fact, labor should run some "pro-labor" folks for congress themselves and they would win in some districts.
Value of time and other resources given by unions is not in this, but easily worth millions.
Copyrighted article and I will remove if objections made:
-------------
MSNBC.com
CQ: Campaign cash: Unions big givers in 2009
Labor strongly supports a government-run insurance health insurance plan
By Bennett Roth and Alex Knott, CQ staff
CQ Politics
updated 11:32 a.m. CT, Mon., Aug 10, 2009
WASHINGTON - Organized labor gave more money to congressional campaigns than any other interest group at a time when overhauling health care and easing the ability of unions to organize sit atop Congress’ agenda.
Union political action committees shelled out $11 million to lawmakers during the first six months of this year. Ranking second were health care interests, which gave $9.5 million from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
While labor PACs were the top contributors in the previous election cycle, the health care industry jumped to second place in the first half of the year from fourth in the 2007-08 cycle. Revamping health care is the top priority of President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress as lawmakers struggle to fashion an overhaul proposal.
Labor strongly supports a government-run insurance plan that is part of legislation (HR 3200) that three House panels and one Senate committee have approved. Insurance companies and many parts of the business community oppose the so-called public option.
Finance and insurance company PACs contributed $9.2 million to lawmakers and ranked just after those representing health care in donations to lawmakers during the six-month period.
Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center and a former FEC chairman, said it is not surprising that labor leads the pack in giving this year.
“The unions have an agenda in this Congress, and they are trying to move legislation,” Potter said. He added that unions, which give overwhelmingly to Democrats, also may be trying early in the election cycle to shore up the majority party in Congress, particularly its vulnerable members.
Aside from the health care issue, unions have mounted a major push for legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize workplaces. The measure (S 560) has been aggressively opposed by business interests. Senate sponsors have signaled that they may have to drop a controversial labor-backed provision that would allow workers to agree to unionize when a majority sign a card, rather than voting by secret ballot.
The CQ analysis includes PAC contributions to campaign and leadership committees of all House candidates and contributions to campaign committees of Senate candidates. Not all Senate leadership PAC contributions are included because of varying filing deadlines.
The top recipient of labor money was Rep. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., whose campaign committee received $171,000 from union PACs. Murphy won a special election on March 31 to replace Kirsten Gillibrand, who was tapped to become New York’s junior senator.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’s campaign committee received the second-largest amount of labor PAC cash, getting $144,000. The California Democrat was followed by another, Rep. George Miller, the Education and Labor chairman, who received $119,540. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was next. His campaign committee collected $115,500.
The health care industry opened its wallets to leaders in the health care debate, including Reid, who was the top recipient of health care PAC money to candidates’ campaign committees. In the first half of this year, Reid received $168,500 from health care interests, amounting to almost a quarter of the PAC contributions his campaign received. The money represented the interests of a range of medical associations, hospitals, drug companies and other providers.
Notably absent among the top Democratic recipients of health care money was Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and a leading figure on health care for years. Kennedy has been fighting brain cancer and has not been in Washington for most of this session. The industry donated $4,000 to his campaign committee in the first half of the year.
The leading GOP recipient of health care contributions was Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Finance Committee and part of a bipartisan coalition struggling to come up with a compromise health care bill. His campaign committee got $118,400 from health care interests, about a quarter of his total PAC contributions.
One of Grassley’s largest contributions was $10,000 from WellPoint, an Indiana-based health insurance company that oversees Blue Cross plans in 14 states. As with many in the health insurance industry, WellPoint opposes the public option. The legislation discussed by the Finance Committee does not include such a government-run health plan.
Democrats, led by Pelosi, have singled out health insurance companies for criticism, suggesting they are trying to undermine health care legislation during the August recess. Pelosi received $139,500 in health care contributions to her campaign committee. That figure includes $2,500 from the political action arm of America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 health insurance companies.
Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, responded earlier this week to Democratic criticism of her industry by complaining that “a campaign has been launched to demonize health plans and the men and women who work hard every day to provide health insurance coverage to more than 300 million Americans.”
The latest filings also show that the top industries are continuing their trend of favoring Democrats, who now control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Overall, the PACs gave about 62 percent of their money to Democrats and about 38 percent to Republicans in the first half of this year.
Health care-related PACs gave more than 62 percent of contributions to Democrats in the first six months of 2009 and more than 37 percent to Republicans. And now that Democrats have the lion’s share of incumbents, even the traditionally GOP-leaning energy and natural resources companies gave slightly more of their PAC money, about 51 percent, to Democrats. Republicans got about 49 percent.
Organized labor, as it has in past years, gave most of its contributions, 92 percent, to Democrats.
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------------------------------------------
Personally speaking: if the folks in congress cannot pass some pro-labor agenda items like real healthcare reform/real employee free choice act and more; time to rethink giving massive amounts of money to Democratic Party. In fact, labor should run some "pro-labor" folks for congress themselves and they would win in some districts.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Obama open to taxing benefits
Obama, in his greatness is going to help with our overflowing wallets. He is open to taxing our meager healthcare benefits.
Yes, instead of considering single payer options like HR676; the idea to tax folks on healthcare benefits to pad the pockets of healthcare industry is gaining ground.
------------------------------
Obama said to be open to taxing health benefits
June 02, 2009 8:15 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to taxing health care benefits, something he campaigned hard against while running for president, according to senators who met with him Tuesday.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., raised the issue with Obama during a private meeting with the president and other Democratic senators and later reported the president's position: "It's on the table. It's an option."
The White House said later that Obama did not want to go that route.
"The president made it clear during the campaign that he has serious concerns about taxing health care benefits," Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said in a statement. "He stated again his belief that health reform can't wait another year, and that while all options should be considered, those options should include the revenue proposals that he included in his budget."
The federal government would reap about $250 billion a year if it treated health care benefits given to employees like wages and taxed them.
Baucus and others are eyeing that money as they search for ways to pay for a costly health care overhaul that would extend coverage to 50 million Americans who are now uninsured. That could cost some $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The president adamantly opposed health benefit taxes during the campaign, arguing they would undermine job-based coverage, and he criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain for proposing a sweeping version of the same basic idea. But since taking office he and members of his administration have indicated openness to almost all suggestions from Congress on health care, including taxing benefits.
Obama has made some suggestions of his own for paying for a health care overhaul, including cuts to Medicare and limiting tax deductions wealthy people can take, but they've run into opposition from Congress. And, they only add up to about $630 billion over 10 years.
Some experts think limiting the tax exclusion for health benefits is the only way to get the necessary money to pay for a sweeping health care overhaul.
But there's opposition from organized labor and from many Democrats, including House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who said recently there was "no way" he would support the approach.
Baucus wants to look at limiting - but not entirely eliminating - the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits.
"It was not in our plan, it was not in our budget," White House budget director Peter Orszag said earlier Tuesday. "We are saying we want the legislative process to play out, and that's all we have to say on that right now."
Obama is leaving the details of crafting a health care bill to Congress and used Tuesday's meeting to urge senators to swift action.
"This window between now and the August recess I think is going to be the make-or-break period," Obama said before the meeting was closed to reporters. "This is the time where we've got to get this running."
Baucus' Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, chaired by the more liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., are both producing sweeping health bills, with some differences emerging between the two committees.
At their weekly luncheon Tuesday, Senate Democrats got a first look at Kennedy's proposals, which would include a new public insurance plan to compete with private providers. The Finance Committee is also considering a public plan though some options being reviewed are more limited in scope than Kennedy's.
Obama brought Democrats from both committees to Tuesday's meeting, urging them to get a single bill through the Senate by early August despite their differences, and telling them they might not all get everything they want, according to senators who attended. Kennedy, who's been diagnosed with brain cancer, did not attend.
---
Associated Press writers Philip Elliott and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
(note, this is a copyrighted story and I shall withdraw if objections made)
http://my.earthlink.net/article/pol?guid=20090602/4a24a3c0_3ca6_1552620090602-410695111
Yes, instead of considering single payer options like HR676; the idea to tax folks on healthcare benefits to pad the pockets of healthcare industry is gaining ground.
------------------------------
Obama said to be open to taxing health benefits
June 02, 2009 8:15 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to taxing health care benefits, something he campaigned hard against while running for president, according to senators who met with him Tuesday.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., raised the issue with Obama during a private meeting with the president and other Democratic senators and later reported the president's position: "It's on the table. It's an option."
The White House said later that Obama did not want to go that route.
"The president made it clear during the campaign that he has serious concerns about taxing health care benefits," Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said in a statement. "He stated again his belief that health reform can't wait another year, and that while all options should be considered, those options should include the revenue proposals that he included in his budget."
The federal government would reap about $250 billion a year if it treated health care benefits given to employees like wages and taxed them.
Baucus and others are eyeing that money as they search for ways to pay for a costly health care overhaul that would extend coverage to 50 million Americans who are now uninsured. That could cost some $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The president adamantly opposed health benefit taxes during the campaign, arguing they would undermine job-based coverage, and he criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain for proposing a sweeping version of the same basic idea. But since taking office he and members of his administration have indicated openness to almost all suggestions from Congress on health care, including taxing benefits.
Obama has made some suggestions of his own for paying for a health care overhaul, including cuts to Medicare and limiting tax deductions wealthy people can take, but they've run into opposition from Congress. And, they only add up to about $630 billion over 10 years.
Some experts think limiting the tax exclusion for health benefits is the only way to get the necessary money to pay for a sweeping health care overhaul.
But there's opposition from organized labor and from many Democrats, including House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who said recently there was "no way" he would support the approach.
Baucus wants to look at limiting - but not entirely eliminating - the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits.
"It was not in our plan, it was not in our budget," White House budget director Peter Orszag said earlier Tuesday. "We are saying we want the legislative process to play out, and that's all we have to say on that right now."
Obama is leaving the details of crafting a health care bill to Congress and used Tuesday's meeting to urge senators to swift action.
"This window between now and the August recess I think is going to be the make-or-break period," Obama said before the meeting was closed to reporters. "This is the time where we've got to get this running."
Baucus' Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, chaired by the more liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., are both producing sweeping health bills, with some differences emerging between the two committees.
At their weekly luncheon Tuesday, Senate Democrats got a first look at Kennedy's proposals, which would include a new public insurance plan to compete with private providers. The Finance Committee is also considering a public plan though some options being reviewed are more limited in scope than Kennedy's.
Obama brought Democrats from both committees to Tuesday's meeting, urging them to get a single bill through the Senate by early August despite their differences, and telling them they might not all get everything they want, according to senators who attended. Kennedy, who's been diagnosed with brain cancer, did not attend.
---
Associated Press writers Philip Elliott and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
(note, this is a copyrighted story and I shall withdraw if objections made)
http://my.earthlink.net/article/pol?guid=20090602/4a24a3c0_3ca6_1552620090602-410695111
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Influence Game healthcare
This is from Boston Globe and simular article in the Post Dispatch:
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health lobbyist has great sway
Associated Press
If anyone could make or break President Barack Obama's health care agenda, it might be Karen Ignagni.
Erica Werner
May 24, 2009
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health lobbyist has great sway
By Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer May 24, 2009
WASHINGTON --If anyone could make or break President Barack Obama's health care agenda, it might be Karen Ignagni.
The Democratic former union official and firefighter's daughter is also the unlikely face of the powerful health insurance industry as its top Washington lobbyist.
Ignagni is such a formidable advocate that when she went head to head with industry-bashing filmmaker Michael Moore on the Oprah Winfrey show, she emerged not only unscathed, but with Moore seconding some of her points.
Now, with the prospect of a congressional health care overhaul looming, Ignagni's role is more important than ever. It's a moment she's long prepared for.
Ignagni and her board at America's Health Insurance Plans foresaw three years ago that 2009 could be a year that health care would top the agenda, and they decided to craft a plan.
For months, Ignagni has been fleshing out their proposal bit by bit at congressional hearings, ensuring maximum attention.
The plan would achieve Obama's goal of universal health coverage through a regulated insurance market. Insurers would agree to significant concessions such as not charging more to people with pre-existing conditions. In return, they want to quash a government-run insurance plan that Obama supports, but that Ignagni fears would put private insurers out of business.
Although Congress may not embrace all her proposals, Ignagni can claim notable success in positioning her industry as an ally of health care change, not its enemy. That's a 180-degree turnaround from where the industry was during the health care wars of the Clinton years.
Not only are health insurers at the table, they're sometimes driving the debate, as with the White House announcement this month that the health industry would cut its own costs by $2 trillion to further Obama's cause. Ignagni was a key architect.
"She's gifted at anticipating what issues are likely to be," said George Halvorson, chairman of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and AHIP's immediate past board chairman. He credited Ignagni with orchestrating the board's preparation for the health care debate.
"The fact that we sat down and wrestled with all of the issues on underwriting and so forth was genius on her part," Halvorson said.
But as publicly constructive as the insurance industry's role has been so far, a giant question mark remains: What will Ignagni do if Congress does produce a bill she doesn't like? Will her group try to kill it, resurrecting "Harry and Louise"-style attack ads that proved so devastating during the Clinton years? That could doom Obama's health care goals.
Liberals fear AHIP is already preparing the wrecking ball. Ignagni refuses to say how they'll respond to an unfavorable bill.
"We're how many weeks away from seeing whatever is proposed? So no responsible person could answer a question like that," Ignagni, 55, said in an interview.
"The people who are working on this issue, even in areas where we have differences, are very thoughtful, have the right objectives, and we have a long history of working with them," she added. "So we're going to give them the courtesy of thoughtfully responding to what they propose."
Ignagni didn't work for the insurance group that produced the "Harry and Louise" commercials. Indeed the man most responsible for them, Chip Kahn, who's now at the Federation of American Hospitals, went up against Ignagni when their two insurance lobbies merged in 2003, and she beat him out for her current job. Kahn declined to comment for this story.
"Whatever AHIP pays her, it's not enough. She's unbelievably effective," said Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt. "It's just amazing what she's achieved for them against all odds."
Ignagni's total compensation, according to AHIP's most recent filing from 2007, was $1.58 million, which includes $700,000 in base salary, $370,000 in deferred compensation and a bonus. Ignagni won't say how many hours a week she works. The number's so high it's embarrassing, she said.
Among successes cited by Reinhardt and others is helping persuade the Bush administration to develop private insurance plans within Medicare that are producing unexpectedly high payments for private insurers.
When Congress was considering expanding a children's health insurance program in 2007 by taking money from the private Medicare Advantage plans, Ignagni worked successfully to stop it.
Those private plans are being targeted again by Obama, who wants to squeeze them to pay for his health care agenda. Ignagni's industry group is organizing older people to defend the plans.
A front group called the Coalition for Medicare Choices has a Web site inviting older people to share their stories about Medicare Advantage. The fine print gives AHIP the right to use that information however it wants.
Ignagni's job isn't easy. AHIP's board consists of chief executives of top insurers and Ignagni has to bring them to consensus in order to make her moves. People who work with her say she does it by listening hard and being well-informed, respectful and prepared.
"She's always on her game and knows her substance," said Tom Scully, a former Medicare administrator. "Health insurance CEOs come and go, but Karen has been a constant."
------
On the Net:
America's Health Insurance Plans: http://www.ahip.org/
© Copyright
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health lobbyist has great sway
Associated Press
If anyone could make or break President Barack Obama's health care agenda, it might be Karen Ignagni.
Erica Werner
May 24, 2009
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health lobbyist has great sway
By Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer May 24, 2009
WASHINGTON --If anyone could make or break President Barack Obama's health care agenda, it might be Karen Ignagni.
The Democratic former union official and firefighter's daughter is also the unlikely face of the powerful health insurance industry as its top Washington lobbyist.
Ignagni is such a formidable advocate that when she went head to head with industry-bashing filmmaker Michael Moore on the Oprah Winfrey show, she emerged not only unscathed, but with Moore seconding some of her points.
Now, with the prospect of a congressional health care overhaul looming, Ignagni's role is more important than ever. It's a moment she's long prepared for.
Ignagni and her board at America's Health Insurance Plans foresaw three years ago that 2009 could be a year that health care would top the agenda, and they decided to craft a plan.
For months, Ignagni has been fleshing out their proposal bit by bit at congressional hearings, ensuring maximum attention.
The plan would achieve Obama's goal of universal health coverage through a regulated insurance market. Insurers would agree to significant concessions such as not charging more to people with pre-existing conditions. In return, they want to quash a government-run insurance plan that Obama supports, but that Ignagni fears would put private insurers out of business.
Although Congress may not embrace all her proposals, Ignagni can claim notable success in positioning her industry as an ally of health care change, not its enemy. That's a 180-degree turnaround from where the industry was during the health care wars of the Clinton years.
Not only are health insurers at the table, they're sometimes driving the debate, as with the White House announcement this month that the health industry would cut its own costs by $2 trillion to further Obama's cause. Ignagni was a key architect.
"She's gifted at anticipating what issues are likely to be," said George Halvorson, chairman of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and AHIP's immediate past board chairman. He credited Ignagni with orchestrating the board's preparation for the health care debate.
"The fact that we sat down and wrestled with all of the issues on underwriting and so forth was genius on her part," Halvorson said.
But as publicly constructive as the insurance industry's role has been so far, a giant question mark remains: What will Ignagni do if Congress does produce a bill she doesn't like? Will her group try to kill it, resurrecting "Harry and Louise"-style attack ads that proved so devastating during the Clinton years? That could doom Obama's health care goals.
Liberals fear AHIP is already preparing the wrecking ball. Ignagni refuses to say how they'll respond to an unfavorable bill.
"We're how many weeks away from seeing whatever is proposed? So no responsible person could answer a question like that," Ignagni, 55, said in an interview.
"The people who are working on this issue, even in areas where we have differences, are very thoughtful, have the right objectives, and we have a long history of working with them," she added. "So we're going to give them the courtesy of thoughtfully responding to what they propose."
Ignagni didn't work for the insurance group that produced the "Harry and Louise" commercials. Indeed the man most responsible for them, Chip Kahn, who's now at the Federation of American Hospitals, went up against Ignagni when their two insurance lobbies merged in 2003, and she beat him out for her current job. Kahn declined to comment for this story.
"Whatever AHIP pays her, it's not enough. She's unbelievably effective," said Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt. "It's just amazing what she's achieved for them against all odds."
Ignagni's total compensation, according to AHIP's most recent filing from 2007, was $1.58 million, which includes $700,000 in base salary, $370,000 in deferred compensation and a bonus. Ignagni won't say how many hours a week she works. The number's so high it's embarrassing, she said.
Among successes cited by Reinhardt and others is helping persuade the Bush administration to develop private insurance plans within Medicare that are producing unexpectedly high payments for private insurers.
When Congress was considering expanding a children's health insurance program in 2007 by taking money from the private Medicare Advantage plans, Ignagni worked successfully to stop it.
Those private plans are being targeted again by Obama, who wants to squeeze them to pay for his health care agenda. Ignagni's industry group is organizing older people to defend the plans.
A front group called the Coalition for Medicare Choices has a Web site inviting older people to share their stories about Medicare Advantage. The fine print gives AHIP the right to use that information however it wants.
Ignagni's job isn't easy. AHIP's board consists of chief executives of top insurers and Ignagni has to bring them to consensus in order to make her moves. People who work with her say she does it by listening hard and being well-informed, respectful and prepared.
"She's always on her game and knows her substance," said Tom Scully, a former Medicare administrator. "Health insurance CEOs come and go, but Karen has been a constant."
------
On the Net:
America's Health Insurance Plans: http://www.ahip.org/
© Copyright
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