The Latest Report On Medicare Shows The Program Is Getting Stronger

The Latest Report On Medicare Shows The Program Is Getting Stronger: The Medicare Trustees had great news for American seniors on Friday: the program’s solvency has been extended for two full years past what the trustees predicted in 2012. In their annual report, the trustees wrote that Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be fully solvent through 2026. That’s over a decade longer than what the [...]/p

Medicare chief: Medicare outlook improves, Obamacare the reason

www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/31/1212863/-Medicare-chief-Medicare-outlook-improves-Obamacare-the-reason
"The annual Medicare trustees' report [pdf] has been released, and it reaffirms the various reports we've seen over the last year of health care spending slowing down. The viability of Medicare has been extended by two years, projected to remain fully solvent until 2026; last year’s projection was 2024. The extension is attributable to Obamacare, says the Medicare chief."

Now Empirical Proof That Republicans Lie - A Lot

How Obamacare May Help Make Health Care Cheaper By Forcing Insurance Giants To Compete

How Obamacare May Help Make Health Care Cheaper By Forcing Insurance Giants To Compete: More than 120 insurance plans want Americans to be able to buy their products on Obamacare’s new insurance marketplaces, one of the key provisions of the health law that will take full effect in 2014. The Obama administration is heralding that news as more proof that the Affordable Care Act is already doing its part [...]/p

Republican Lies Thwart Attempts to Reach Democratic Ideal of Educated Citizenry

Republican Lies Thwart Attempts to Reach Democratic Ideal of Educated Citizenry
"Senator Lindsey Graham is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to lying about the state of America’s social welfare programs.

In an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation last December, Graham said that, “I think we’re going over the cliff. It’s pretty clear to me they made a political calculation. This offer doesn’t remotely deal with entitlement reform in a way to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from imminent bankruptcy. It raises $1.6 trillion on job creators that will destroy the economy and there are no spending controls" The Senator couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are all doing just fine, and are far from going broke."

Nearly Zero Percent Savings Interest Rates Are Forcing Seniors to Ration for Survival, While Wall Street Investors Are Making Record Profits

Nearly Zero Percent Savings Interest Rates Are Forcing Seniors to Ration for Survival, While Wall Street Investors Are Making Record Profits
"The continual cries of "austerity" by the wealthy integrally relate to this tale of two economies, because there is no austerity being imposed on the wealthy: it's like the 1920's all over again for them.

However, seniors and the working class are being squeezed by cuts in benefits, pay, and the inability to earn interest of any meaningful size on money that they saved for retirement.For most Americans, they have been living in austerity for years now.

It's time to see some austerity imposed upon the 1 percent.

Far too many of the rest of us are already "austeritied" to rationing for survival."

Social Security, And Four Other Things The GOP’s Latest Senate Candidate Thinks Are Unconstitutional

Social Security, And Four Other Things The GOP’s Latest Senate Candidate Thinks Are Unconstitutional: Alaska Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Joe Miller is a throwback to the extravagant youth of the Tea Party. He embodies the era when conservative Republicans, drunk with the opportunity to bludgeon Democrats with a weak economy, turned off their filters and began proudly touting their most radical plans to change the country. Indeed, at the [...]/p

PERRspectives: Red States Rejecting Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Need It Most

PERRspectives: Red States Rejecting Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Need It Most
"the defining irony of the never-ending debate over Obamacare is this: health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best. The map of the states with the worst health care systems largely mirrors GOP strongholds in the Electoral College. Red state residents are generally the unhealthiest and more likely than their blue state cousins to be uninsured."

Texas Will Deny Health Coverage To 1.5 Million Low-Income Residents

Texas Will Deny Health Coverage To 1.5 Million Low-Income Residents: 1.5 million low-income Texans may go without health care coverage after lawmakers in the state voted against expanding Medicaid using $100 billion in federal funds offered under President Obama’s health care law. The decision comes almost a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot require states to enroll more Medicaid beneficiaries. [...]/p

How California Is Debunking The GOP’s Obamacare Talking Points

How California Is Debunking The GOP’s Obamacare Talking Points: On Thursday, California officials revealed insurance companies’ opening bids for the state’s Obamacare marketplace in 2014. The numbers are great for consumers — and terrible for right-wing fear mongering over the health law. Covered California, the agency tasked with constructing and maintaining the Golden State’s insurance marketplace, announced in a press release that rates submitted [...]/p

States that rejected Medicaid also have most uninsured, poorest health

www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/21/1210668/-States-that-rejected-Medicaid-also-have-most-uninsured-poorest-nbsp-health
"Sadly, the states that have the greatest need to expand Medicaid also have the Republican leaders who are refusing to participate. That's according to an analysis from the Los Angeles Times, which states health data to determine levels of coverage and overall health status in the states."

Uninsured Texans Seek Health Care In Mexico As Their Governor Resists Medicaid Expansion

Uninsured Texans Seek Health Care In Mexico As Their Governor Resists Medicaid Expansion: The debate over Medicaid expansion has devolved into a GOP platform for grandstanding about the health reform law and the Obama administration. But an NPR article from Tuesday shines a light on what, exactly, most Republican governors’ refusal to expand Medicaid will mean for real Americans by examining poor communities in a state headed by [...]/p

Medicare Essential: An Option to Promote Better Care and Curb Spending Growth - The Commonwealth Fund

Medicare Essential: An Option to Promote Better Care and Curb Spending Growth - The Commonwealth Fund
"Combining Medicare hospital, physician, prescription drug, and supplemental coverage into a single health plan could save $180 billion in overall health spending over the next decade while reducing out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries and improving care."

How the Affordable Care Act Helps Young Adults

www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/report/2013/05/20/63792/how-the-affordable-care-act-helps-young-adults/
"Since being signed into law in 2010, the Affordable Care Act has already expanded access to high-quality, affordable health coverage for the millions of young adults who can now stay on their parent’s health insurance plans. And beginning in 2014, even more young adults will gain health care coverage through the law’s health insurance exchanges—private marketplaces where individuals can shop for health insurance—and the expansion of Medicaid."

Further Austerity Will Subject Seniors To Even Deeper Poverty: Report | Common Dreams

Further Austerity Will Subject Seniors To Even Deeper Poverty: Report | Common Dreams
"The number of seniors living in poverty across the US is much higher than official figures suggest, says a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, with the rate twice that shown by US Census figures in twelve states."

The Government Bans Doctors Who Can’t Repay Their Student Loans From Treating Medicare Patients

The Government Bans Doctors Who Can’t Repay Their Student Loans From Treating Medicare Patients: Over ten percent of all doctors and nurses on the government’s Medicare and Medicaid blacklist end up on it because they defaulted on government-backed student loans. Medical workers on the blacklist are barred from treating Medicare and Medicaid patients or receiving federal reimbursements for a predesignated time period. According to a Modern Healthcare analysis of [...]/p

Why Repealing Obamacare Is A Horrible Idea

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The Most Expensive Hospital In The U.S. Charges Four Times More Than Average For Common Procedures

The Most Expensive Hospital In The U.S. Charges Four Times More Than Average For Common Procedures: Which hospital in the United States charges its patients the highest bills for common medical procedures? It turns out that the nation’s most expensive hospital is located in Bayonne, NJ, where you’ll pay nearly $100,000 dollars to treat your case of chronic lung disease — five times as much as what others hospitals charge for [...]/p

Americans Who Battle Cancer Are Twice As Likely To Go Bankrupt, Even If They Have Health Insurance

Americans Who Battle Cancer Are Twice As Likely To Go Bankrupt, Even If They Have Health Insurance: Cancer patients are much more likely to go bankrupt than Americans who aren’t faced with a cancer diagnosis, a new study finds. Even the Americans who have access to health insurance aren’t necessarily safe from bankruptcy, since the high cost of treating cancer can still put an untenable strain their finances. A team of researchers [...]/p

Four Better Ways To Spend The $55 Million Wasted On Votes To Repeal The Affordable Care Act

Four Better Ways To Spend The $55 Million Wasted On Votes To Repeal The Affordable Care Act: For the 37th time since 2011, House Republicans will hold a vote to repeal Obamacare on Thursday, bringing the total cost of all of their failed repeal votes to roughly $55 million in taxpayer money, according to one estimate. Last year, CBS News calculated that the number of hours spent on 33 repeal votes — [...]/p

How The GOP Is Putting America’s Safety Net Hospitals At Risk Of Bankruptcy

How The GOP Is Putting America’s Safety Net Hospitals At Risk Of Bankruptcy: In light of Republican-led states’ entrenched opposition to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, safety net hospitals around the country have expressed fears that they could go bankrupt as their government funding gets cut. On Monday, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would help these embattled hospitals by paring back planned cuts to [...]/p

Welcome to the Brave New World of Corporatized Medicine: Just Hope You Don't Get Sick! | Alternet

Welcome to the Brave New World of Corporatized Medicine: Just Hope You Don't Get Sick! | Alternet
""Business freedom" in America increasingly means the God-given right to exploit the vulnerability of the public."

Diabetes Drugs Linked To Cancer

Prescription Drugmaker Bribed Doctors With Cash and Visits to Hooters | Alternet

Prescription Drugmaker Bribed Doctors With Cash and Visits to Hooters | Alternet
"Prescription drugmaker Novartis AG was sued this week by the US government, for the second time, this time for allegedly bribing physicians into increasing prescriptions of the company's drugs. The drug maker is accused of coercing the doctors by taking them on outings to Hooters, on fishing trips, and offering pricey fees for speaking engagements. The lawsuit is seeking triple damages and civil penalties, claiming federal health care programs were forced to pay millions of dollars for kickback-tainted claims as a result."

Obamacare Is Already Forcing Private Insurers To Lower Their Premiums

Obamacare Is Already Forcing Private Insurers To Lower Their Premiums: As Thursday’s development shows, that public information empowers consumers by forcing insurers to compete with one another to attract customers. Or to put it another way — and contrary to conservative fear-mongering about the law — Obamacare is working exactly as it was intended to. And with 24 million Americans expected to gain coverage through the marketplaces by 2016, that’s great news for Americans’ pocketbooks — as well as their health.

Ed Schultz Is Back And Fired Up On Health Care!

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Sen. Bernie Sanders: Let's Get to Work Saving Social Security

GOP: Pay Bondholders, Not Medicare Recipients, If US Nears Default

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One Hospital Charges $8,000 ... Another Charges $38,000 for the Same Treatment? | Alternet

One Hospital Charges $8,000 ... Another Charges $38,000 for the Same Treatment? | Alternet
"Hospitals have gone out of their way for years to hide their procedure price lists, almost as if they were national secrets. But not anymore, because the cat is finally out of the bag."

Kentucky Will Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare, Cutting Its Uninsured Population By More Than Half

Kentucky Will Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare, Cutting Its Uninsured Population By More Than Half: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) announced on Thursday that he would accept federal money to expand his state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare. That brings the total number of states participating in the optional expansion up to either 22 or 18 (plus the District of Columbia) — depending on the actions of some state legislatures that [...]/p

Over Half The Slowdown Of Health Care Costs Could Be Permanent, Saving The U.S. Over $700 Billion

Over Half The Slowdown Of Health Care Costs Could Be Permanent, Saving The U.S. Over $700 Billion: One of the most important ongoing stories in the realm of budgets and health care economics is the remarkable drop in how much health care costs are projected to grow over the next decade. Back in March, David Cutler and Nikhil Sahni released some preliminary work arguing that, thanks to this slowdown, projections of government [...]/p

New Government Data On Hospital Services Proves That Americans’ Medical Bills Are Completely Random

New Government Data On Hospital Services Proves That Americans’ Medical Bills Are Completely Random: The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released highly-anticipated data on Wednesday that outlines what hospitals across America charge for common inpatient medical services. The takeaway from the new numbers? There is no rhyme or reason to what different hospitals charge for the same procedures across geographic regions (or even within the same region), [...]/p

10 Reasons Austerity Is a Crock | Alternet

10 Reasons Austerity Is a Crock | Alternet
"When we allow our economy to operate below full employment (as now), we are sacrificing trillions of dollars in lost output and income each year. We can never go back and recover it.  It is gone forever.  You’ve seen the debt clock?  Here’s the lost output clock."

How Sequestration Is Devastating Programs That Aid Senior Citizens

How Sequestration Is Devastating Programs That Aid Senior Citizens: Last week, ThinkProgress spoke to directors of Meals on Wheels programs across the country, and they detailed how sequestration is cutting meal delivery and on-site meal services to needy seniors who may now have to go hungry. Since then, stories about sequestration’s harmful cuts to seniors have continued to pour in from across the country. [...]/p

Why It's Going Cost a Lot of Money to Cut Meals on Wheels' Budget—Sequester Takes America Further Down the Hole | Alternet

Why It's Going Cost a Lot of Money to Cut Meals on Wheels' Budget—Sequester Takes America Further Down the Hole | Alternet
"Cutting Meals On Wheels doesn’t save the government a dime, it costs $489 million a year. Cutting IRS obviously increases the deficit because it lowers tax revenue. Other cuts also increase spending. All obviously hurt the economy. Tell me again, what’s the justification for this? Repeal this foolish and unjustified sequester."

States Take On Unregulated Pharmaceutical Facilities As House GOP Holds Back Nationwide Reform

States Take On Unregulated Pharmaceutical Facilities As House GOP Holds Back Nationwide Reform: After last year’s deadly meningitis outbreak was traced to unclean conditions at a New England-area pharmaceutical mixing plant, state and federal officials called for increased oversight of the largely unregulated facilities. But as states await congressional action to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state agencies more regulatory authority over the so-called “compounders,” [...]/p

California Insurance Commissioner Blasts Insurance Giant For Its ‘Unwarranted’ Rate Hikes

California Insurance Commissioner Blasts Insurance Giant For Its ‘Unwarranted’ Rate Hikes: California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Wednesday slammed UnitedHealth Group — the nation’s largest private insurance company — over its decision to cut benefits and raise premiums for health plans used by close to 5,000 California small businesses. The combination of cuts and hikes would amount to a nearly eight percent rate hike for small [...]/p

PERRspectives: Medicaid, ER Studies Make Strong Case for Obamacare

PERRspectives: Medicaid, ER Studies Make Strong Case for Obamacare
"This week, the New England Journal of Medicine published a major study of Medicaid in Oregonwhich has rapidly emerged of a Rorschach test of sorts. That is, partisans on either side of the political divide tend to see what they want to see in its results. While conservatives claim Medicaid expansion has been debunked by numbers showing little change in blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes over two years between those who did and did not gain access to Medicaid, liberals tout findings revealing "Medicaid improved rates of diagnosis of depression, increased the use of preventive services, and improved the financial outlook for enrollees"."

Sequester Forces Clinics To Turn Away Cancer Patients

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STUDY: Medicaid Provides Better Insurance Than Private Coverage And Medicare

STUDY: Medicaid Provides Better Insurance Than Private Coverage And Medicare: Medicaid gets a bad rap from a lot of conservatives for poor access to health care and poor health outcomes. It’s one of the main arguments in favor of schemes to cut Medicaid funding and block grant it to the states, on the grounds it will promote efficiency and innovation in the program. But a [...]/p

Budget Cuts Devastate Meals On Wheels: Enrollment Slashed, Services Cancelled | Alternet

Budget Cuts Devastate Meals On Wheels: Enrollment Slashed, Services Cancelled | Alternet
"One such service that may be cut is transporting seniors to the community center, as Meals on Wheels takes precedence. Without it, elderly clients “will go without food,” she said. “This will impact their health. It will impact their quality of life"."

Republican Claims People ‘Want To See More Sequestration, Not Less’

Republican Claims People ‘Want To See More Sequestration, Not Less’: While Congress scrambled to undo sequestration cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration last week after receiving complaints from frustrated travelers, one Republican is shrugging off the impact of the across-the-board cuts in his state: Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) said this week that most people that he’s spoken with in his district support the sequester and [...]/p

Dangerous targets: Why setting a specific deficit reduction target would worsen the economic and fiscal situation | Economic Policy Institute

Dangerous targets: Why setting a specific deficit reduction target would worsen the economic and fiscal situation | Economic Policy Institute
"In the near term, we should at least stop harming the economic recovery through fiscal contraction; more concretely, the sequester should be repealed, even if no offsets can be found. In the long term we should preserve public investment and concentrate efforts on the real driver of deficits: too-fast growth of per capita health costs driven by our private health care system."