This writer has read both the main bill, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), and the Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). Below are the Key Provisions of H.R. 3590 and H.R. 4872 (Health Reform Act (s) signed in March by President Obama.)
2010
HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION—Provides aid to states in establishing offices of health insurance consumer [Read More →]
From Rita Carlson; INTERVIEW BY JESSE PEARSON, PHOTOS BY PHILIP ANDREWS OF VICE MAGAZINE via Jason Linkins of the Huffington Post, 12/28/09
The most recent issue of Vice Magazine features an interview with David Simon, who unpacks at length on the television show he’s best known for creating, The Wire. Along the way, Simon — almost [Read More →]
Dec 11, 2009
The Associated Press: “A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer, prompting a rebuke from patient advocates.” An earlier version of the bill in a Senate committee forbid the practice, but a tweak would allow limits so [Read More →]
on fivethirtyeight.com
(a very popular site for political commentary)
Imagine what the American Trucking Association would say if the interstate highway system was a jumble of unconnected, poorly paved roads, every mile of which was nonetheless tolled at exorbitant rates. Think what the American Telemarketing Association would do if half the calls their employees dialed every day were [Read More →]
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 05:46:09 PM PST
A few weeks ago, Countdown Sr. Producer Richard Stockwell came up with an idea: create a series of free clinics which would not only deliver care to the uninsured, but would demonstrate the need for health care reform that covers all Americans.
On Saturday, Stockwell attended the first of those free [Read More →]
On Thursday, John Boehner, leader of the House Republicans, proved what I have suspected for quite awhile: he spends more time in the tanning salon as a congressman than he spent in civics class as a student. Boehner, along with the rest of his Republican colleagues, stood on the steps of the Capitol waving “his” copy of [Read More →]
By David S. Broder of the Washington Post
Friday, October 30, 2009
There is an air of desperate improvisation to Sen. Harry Reid’s scheme to pass a “public option” as part of health-care reform but at the same time provide an easy exemption for any state that objects to it. The warning flags ought to be flying for [Read More →]
One of the major goals of health care reform is to cover the vast numbers of uninsured. But how vast, really, is that pool of people? Who are they? And how important is it to cover all or most of them?
Critics play down the seriousness of the problem by pointing out that the ranks of the uninsured include many people who have chosen to forgo coverage or are only temporarily uninsured: workers who could afford to pay but decline their employers’ coverage; the self-employed who choose not to pay for more expensive individual coverage; healthy young people who prefer not to buy insurance they may never need; people who are changing jobs; poor people who are eligible for Medicaid but have failed to enroll. And then there are the illegal immigrants, a favorite target of critics.
— New York Times Editorial
If you go to a health care town hall meeting, expect to see a lot of patriotic T-shirts and “Proud Grandma of …” tote bags. Don’t expect to see anything from Forever 21. There are some notable exceptions, but generally speaking, town-hallers are old. Ask one of these senior citizens why the under-60 set is absent, and you’ll probably be told that it’s because young people just don’t care about the country. They really don’t even care about themselves; after all, 27 percent of them are uninsured! In July, Mark Steyn of the National Review articulated why most people believe young Americans don’t have health insurance: “[T]hey’re 22 and [they think they’re] immortal and life’s a party.”
— Meredith Simons — Double X Blog