HealthCare Notes

1/30/16

Bernie Sanders Vows to Crack Down on Greedy Corporate Tax Dodgers

Bernie Sanders Vows to Crack Down on Greedy Corporate Tax Dodgers

"Singling out what he dubs the "top 10 corporate tax dodgers," Bernie Sanders on Friday pledged to close loopholes that let huge corporations avoid paying their fair share in taxes.  The list (pdf) includes General Electric, Boeing, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Merck, and notes that several of the companies' CEOs, even as they sit on massive retirement savings, want to raise the eligibility age for—and make significant cuts to—social safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security."

1/23/16

1/8/16

PERRspectives: Bogus GOP 'Repeal' Bill Pockets Obamacare's Medicare Savings

PERRspectives: Bogus GOP 'Repeal' Bill Pockets Obamacare's Medicare Savings

"But the GOP's partial Obamacare repeal scam is even more sinister than it appears at first blush. After all, every GOP budget since 2010 has kept those same Medicare savings and used them to help fund a massive tax cut windfall for the wealthy. All of those Paul Ryan budgets also called for the voucherization of Medicare, de facto rationing that would dramatically shift health costs to future seniors"

House Republicans define insanity, vote to repeal Obamacare. Again.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/6/1466740/-House-Republicans-define-insanity-vote-to-repeal-Obamacare-Again
"The effort is a promise as to what Republicans would do in 2017 if they keep the Senate and win the White House: throw millions of people off of their health insurance plans."

Heartless House Republicans Vote To Take Health Care Away From 22 Million Americans

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/01/06/house-dooms-gop-2016-voting-repeal-obamacare-defund-planned-parenthood.html
"The key takeaway from today’s vote is that Republicans are showing every American what they plan to do if they win the White House and keep control of Congress."

Big Strides for Health-Care Reform

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34292-big-strides-for-health-care-reform
"One of the remarkable aspects of the politics of health care reform in America is the way that conservatives - even relatively mild, seemingly informed conservatives - have managed to keep believing that the Affordable Care Act is unraveling, despite the repeated failure of disaster predictions to come true. Part of the way this works is that when it comes to Obamacare, the captive media and the right's pet "experts" hype every bit of bad news about the law, but go silent when the news is good (and, often, when the bad news turns out to be a false alarm). How many people will even hear about the news that enrollments are once again running above expectations, and that the enrollment pool is getting younger? Anyway, it's really helpful to have a new report from the Commonwealth Fund comparing the actual performance of the ACA with pre-implementation predictions. It turns out that premiums came in far below expectations. (The 2016 premium hikes rolled back some of this positive news, but overall costs still look very good.) On enrollments: Fewer people than expected signed up for the exchanges, but an important reason was that fewer employers than expected ended coverage and moved their employees into the individual market. Meanwhile, Medicaid expanded more than projected - and the overall reduction in the number of uninsured Americans was pretty much in line with forecasts. So the program is achieving its goals, albeit with a somewhat different mix of insurance types than was originally predicted, and doing so more cheaply than anticipated. That's a big success story - and remember, the critics scoffed at those expectations and prophesied utter disaster."

Paid Family & Medical Leave | Bernie Sanders

Once Again, The Right Wing's ACA Part-Time Myth Falls Apart

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/01/05/once-again-the-right-wings-aca-part-time-myth-f/207785
"Despite being repeatedly debunked, right-wing pundits have continued to push the false claim that the Affordable Care Act would negatively effect American employment, claiming its enactment would drive losses in full-time jobs while increasing part-time employment -- though no data has supported this assertion."

1/1/16

Governor Brags About Vetoing Healthcare For The Poor -- 6 times

Lack Of Public Options Is How The Economy Gets Rigged Against Us

Lack Of Public Options Is How The Economy Gets Rigged Against Us

"We are banned by law from buying into Medicare until we are 65 -- and Republicans are trying to get rid of that by turning Medicare into a limited voucher to buy private scam insurance. That rigs the health care game against We the People."

How Marco Rubio’s Scheme To Hurt The Poor Became A Campaign Rallying Cry (VIDEO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/23/how-marco-rubios-scheme-to-hurt-the-poor-became-a-campaign-rallying-cry-video/
"Even though it is illegal to coordinate with super PACs, the New York Times pointed out that as this new super PAC ad debuted, Rubio’s campaign sent out an email with the subject “Marco: The Only Candidate to Strike a Blow to Obamacare.” Stomping on the face of those simply trying to have insurance coverage to cover their health care costs has now become just another way for a Republican to be elected president."