Monday, January 18, 2010

Selecting a Senator: Going National With the Massachusetts Model

Seeing as it has turned into the BIG ISSUE in the Senate race in my state, let's give you a taste. I expect it will only help BROWN!

"the tax will reduce the quality of coverage for some workers.... companies will try to stay below the cap by increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for employees, and through measures like dropping dental and vision coverage.... you’d solve your problem by pushing it to the individuals.’’

Pffffft!

Almost makes me want to vote for the prick, but nope, nope.

I'll go with a Kennedy again.

"‘Cadillac’ tax on hatchback care?; Senate health bill’s surcharge on high-cost plans could eventually end up hitting middle class hard" by Beth Healy, Globe Staff | January 15, 2010

Many Massachusetts workers could face reduced medical benefits under a proposed tax in the US Senate’s health overhaul bill that is designed to pressure employers to offer less costly insurance coverage.

Dubbed a “Cadillac’’ tax because it was originally aimed at highly paid executives with premier health plans, the measure now looks more like a Ford or Hyundai tax, according to health care industry analysts. They say the penalty will eventually affect a wide spectrum of people with middle-class incomes but high-cost benefits, particularly in Massachusetts, where insurance premiums are the highest in the nation.

Related: Memory Hole: Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care

Also see:

Sure you want to use us as a model, America?

Under the Senate bill, employer health plans with premiums above $23,000 for families and $8,500 for individuals would be subject to a 40 percent surcharge on the portions exceeding those levels, starting in 2013.

Little steep, ain't it?

Also see: How's Your Health Tax?

Labor leaders yesterday struck a deal with the White House to delay the tax’s impact on unions and increase the thresholds slightly. The compromise was seen as a way of moving the health bill forward....

Oh, ANOTHER DEAL, huh?

See: Selecting a Senator: Massachusetts Referendum on Obama

I'll deal with labor below.

While the aim is to give employers an incentive to keep insurance costs down, critics fear the tax will reduce the quality of coverage for some workers. Analysts say companies will try to stay below the cap by increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for employees, and through measures like dropping dental and vision coverage.

“You’re likely to reach Cadillac status pretty quickly’’ in Massachusetts, said Robert W. Seifert, a health overhaul specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Health Law and Economics in Charlestown. He said the goal of the measure is to encourage employers to keep costs down. But “The danger is that the incentive would be strong enough so that you’d solve your problem by pushing it to the individuals.’’

And what about the PLAN the POLITICIANS HAVE, America?

You know, the ONE YOU PAY FOR?!!

See: A Healthy Insult For the American People

Yeah, YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT ONE because it is TOO EXPENSIVE -- or so say the same fellas tossing TRILLIONS at BANKS, WAR-LOOTERS, and FAVORED INTERESTS and then scrapping up kickbacks masquerading as campaign cash.

Linda J. Havlin, a partner at Mercer, a benefits consulting firm based in New York, said the tax emerged as a way to help pay for expanded health coverage across the country. “During the process of refining the reform provisions, the focus on executive medical plans seemed to disappear,’’ Havlin said. “Instead, the idea of taxing any ‘generous plan’ emerged.... ’’

More gibberish.

But what the Senate bill deems “generous’’ may come as a surprise to many.

And JUST WAIT until it is PASSED and signed into law!!!

According to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, the state’s second-largest insurer, some small businesses - like a beauty salon with a half-dozen employees - are already at the tax threshold, with a type of plan that costs the shop’s employees $25 to visit a doctor and $1,000 for a hospital stay.

Like I said, this bill is meant to DESTROY SMALL BUSINESS and American society so A FEW can GET RICH!

Other plans that require copayments but do not have large deductibles could soon fall into the “Cadillac’’ camp as well.

You re getting SO RIPPED OFF by THIS GOVERNMENT, America!!!

“This will drive people into less-rich consumer plans,’’ said Vin Capozzi, a senior vice president at Harvard Pilgrim, which, like many insurers, has lobbied against the tax. “The reality is, it will impact middle America, right smack in the middle class.’’

Like a STAKE through the HEART!

Let the REVOLUTION BEGIN, Democratic pawns and servants! ONCE THIS PASSES, you are FINISHED in WASHINGTON!!!!!

Once the American people are PRESENTED THIS BILL, they are going to be ANGRIER than EVER!!!!!! Where is THEIR EXEMPTION and DEAL, huh?

Donna Kelly-Williams, a maternity nurse at Cambridge Health Alliance and president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said a tax on premiums will not improve the nation’s health care system. “The more you attack the coverage . . . of those of us that are currently insured, the bigger the problem,’’ Kelly-Williams said. “It turns out to be less health care for all of us.’’

YUP!

Unions have been among the loudest critics of the proposal, saying it is unfair to workers who have traded larger paychecks for better insurance coverage....

Don't tell it to me!

Related: Labor's Empty Threat

Nice leaders you guys got!

--more--"

I guess I should give them a chance to defend themselves:

"Unions OK tax on high-cost health plans; Administration agrees to labor exemptions" by David Espo and Sam Hananel, Associated Press | January 15, 2010

WASHINGTON - Union leaders bowed to White House demands yesterday for a new tax on high-cost health plans as part of landmark health care legislation taking final shape in intensive negotiations.

I give up on labor.

“We are on the doorstep’’ of success, President Obama said.

The tentative agreement on the tax, which included significant concessions by the administration, was disclosed as leading lawmakers set an informal timetable of today for a compromise on the health care bill that Obama made a top priority in taking office a year ago.

Democrats expressed the hope that the agreement would quickly open the way for progress on other key issues, as well as attempts by the White House to squeeze additional financial concessions from drug makers, nursing homes, and other health care providers.

On a separate issue, makers of generic drugs, backed by the White House and a senior congressional ally, sought to reduce the patent protection that pharmaceutical companies receive for their new-to-market biotech products. The House and Senate bills both limit competition for 12 years.

The president has told lawmakers he wants the tax on high-cost plans included in the legislation to help rein in costs. But that position courted conflict with labor leaders, who fear exposing their membership to higher taxes, as well as with House Democrats, who omitted it from the legislation they initially passed.

The day’s events underscored the urgency with which the White House and top Democrats were working, and the tentative agreement on a new tax on high-cost plans was the most prominent fruit of the effort....

That's all the bill is, and the urgency is even greater this morning!

In a significant victory for unions, the 40 percent excise tax would not apply to policies covering workers in collective bargaining agreements, state and local workers, and members of voluntary employee benefit associations through Dec. 31, 2017....

Yup, EVERYONE gets a DEAL but YOU, individual citizen!

You will be PAYING FOR IT ALL with REDUCED CARE and BENEFITS!!!!

A union official familiar with the details said the tentative agreement would raise the threshold on insurance policies subject to tax from $8,500 in the Senate-passed bill to $8,900 for singles and from $23,000 to $24,000 for family coverage. Even the new thresholds would be subject to adjustment if unexpected rises in health care occur by the time the plan is effective, the official said....

SOME DEAL!!!

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And you WILL GET a HEALTH TAX no matter WHO WINS the Senate seat in Massachusetts!

"With Senate seat in jeopardy, Democrats seek health options" by Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | January 18, 2010

Related: National Health Care: The Democrats' Final Option

That is their FIRST CHOICE!

WASHINGTON - Faced with the possibility that Republican Scott Brown could win tomorrow’s US Senate election, Democrats in Washington are discussing with great urgency how they could keep his vote from scuttling comprehensive health care legislation, President Obama’s top domestic priority.

Of course, if the SHOW were on the OTHER FOOT, Democrats would be HOWLING!

Yeah, go ahead, SPIT in the FACE of the WILL of the PEOPLE!

Make us even angrier!!!

Democrats have been counting on having all 60 members of their caucus on hand to pass the bill, which is the number needed under Senate rules to defeat a Republican filibuster. Without all 60 votes, Democratic leaders would still have a number of options for hustling a health bill through Congress. None is certain to work, and all carry political risks.

One possibility is that the House could quickly pass the Senate version without changing it, and later, both chambers could pass fixes that reflect the evolving House-Senate compromise. This could be done using a special parliamentary procedure called “reconciliation,’’ which requires only a simple majority vote of 51 votes in the Senate....

(mushroom cloud)

Another possibility would be for Democrats to hurry and pass a compromise bill before Brown were seated....

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised at that either; they can move pretty fast as long as it isn't helping you, American.

An even remoter possibility is that Democrats could start over....

But the final legislation would also be incomplete because of the strict rules that require anything passed under reconciliation to be related to raising or spending money. Thus, many important provisions - establishing the new health insurance marketplaces, for instance, and tougher regulations on insurers - could not be included.

So you will be getting JUST the TAX at FIRST, America!

Democrats will have to weigh the political consequences.

You mean, like a LOSS of CONGRESS?

An unusual parliamentary maneuver or hasty vote could give Republicans ammunition against them in what is already shaping up to be a tough election season.

“If House Democrats choose to ignore the wishes of Massachusetts voters and approve the Senate’s unpopular government health care takeover, their reelection campaigns will make this special election look like a walk in the park,’’ said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

They have done it before, lots of times.

"They would ignore the result even if voters approved"

Also see: I Made Forbes Magazine

But John Rother, executive vice president for policy and strategy of AARP, the seniors’ lobby, which endorsed the House bill and generally has supported the health overhaul, believes Democrats will find a way to pass a health overhaul.

To shoot themselves in the foot, yup!

“I think that health care is so important to the future fiscal situation of the country, and Obama’s ability to govern, and the Democratic Party’s political prospects that it will happen one way or another,’’ he said.

Oh, so IT REALLY IS NOT ABOUT your HEALTH at all, America!!!!!!!!!

See: Why Obama Wants A Health Care Bill This Year

Yeah, THAT'S WHAT I thought!!!!

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Why would you even want this BAD BILL, America?

"Health bill has coverage problems; Disabled workers face Medicare wait" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press | January 18, 2010

WASHINGTON - The failure to repeal the Medicare waiting period illustrates the difficult trade-offs Democratic lawmakers faced to keep the costs of the legislation from ballooning.

The MORE YOU FIND OUT about this BILL, the WORSE IT GETS!!!

Yup, TRILLIONS for BANKS and WARS, but.... oh, NEVER MIND!!!!!!!!

For example, if the bill passes Congress and is signed by Obama, about 18 million eligible Americans would remain uninsured, many still unable to afford coverage, even when the legislation is fully in place in 2019....

Oh, so the INSURED PART won't fully kick in until TEN YEARS from now, huh?

But there could be a catch....

There ALWAYS IS!

Potential problems have appeared....

But HURRY UP and PASS IT or you are an "obstructionist!!!"

Don't read it or worry about any problems, just pass it!!

You wouldn't want to dishonor a dead man by denying his dream -- even if you get poked in the.... see?

Need that healthcare already!

--more--"

Of course, that's where the JOBS are, right?

"Health care help always needed" by Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | January 10, 2010

Looking for a job? The health care industry needs more than a few good workers.

Health care has remained one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal US job market, and demand for health care workers is expected to continue to grow as the nation’s population ages....

The Boston area, considered one of the nation’s leading health care centers because of its concentration of hospitals, biotechnology firms, and pharmaceutical companies, also is experiencing job growth in the health care sector.... Of course, like most industries, health care has taken a hit.

Sigh!

Massachusetts hospitals cut more than 1,000 positions in 2008, and the Massachusetts Hospital Association estimates a similar number of cuts took place in 2009. Nursing jobs in Massachusetts - while projected to grow across the nation by 22 percent between 2008 and 2018 - also are scarce for the first time in years....

But the situation is better than it was a year ago, said Karen Nelson, senior vice president of clinical affairs for the Massachusetts Hospital Association....

Really, I'm sick of the buts, ifs, neverthelesses, and all the other colorful words that are used as tools to shovel MSM s*** agendas.

This is NOT NEWS REPORTING and it is WHY PEOPLE DON'T READ NEWSPAPERS anymore and WHY BROWN is SO CLOSE to Coakley!

Some health care jobs require people to spend years in school, pass exams, and meet other criteria. But many of the fastest growing jobs in the field don’t require years of specialized training. In fact, the greatest need for workers includes aides, assistants, and technicians - positions that don’t require extensive schooling....

--more--"

Also see: A Tale of Two Economies

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