"Path to Prosperity?" For Many Senior Citizens, VP Pick Ryan's Plan Would Be Path to the Poorhouse | Common Dreams

"Path to Prosperity?" For Many Senior Citizens, VP Pick Ryan's Plan Would Be Path to the Poorhouse | Common Dreams
"If Americans who are embracing Rep. Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" -- and that now includes Mitt Romney -- spent a few minutes reviewing a few recent research reports, they just might conclude that the Wisconsin Republican's plan to reduce the deficit might better be renamed the "Path to the Poorhouse" because of what it would mean to the Medicare program and many senior citizens."

Paul Ryan’s Original Medicare Plan Ends Medicare, Period

Paul Ryan’s Original Medicare Plan Ends Medicare, Period: In April of 2011, after Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan had been House Budget Chair for only a few months, he convinced nearly the entire House GOP caucus to vote for a laissez-faire budget resolution that would slash education, raise taxes on the middle class, and destroy Medicaid’s promise to provide health care to [...]/p

12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan

12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan: Mitt Romney has picked as his running mate 42 year-old Republican Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the architect of the GOP budget, which the New York Times has described as “the most extreme budget plan passed by a house of Congress in modern times.” Below are 12 things you should know about Ryan and his policies: [...]/p

Medicare Pilot Program Could Help Save Seniors Thousands Of Dollars

Medicare Pilot Program Could Help Save Seniors Thousands Of Dollars: Medicare has just launched a new three-year pilot program to work to revise a policy that often sticks seniors with large medical bills, potentially helping to save seniors thousands of dollars in outpatient care. Current Medicare rules make a distinction between inpatient care and outpatient care — requiring patients to spend at least three days [...]/p

Why the Right Has New Legal Ammunition in Its Quest to End Medicare, Social Security and Our Entire Social Safety Net | Alternet

Why the Right Has New Legal Ammunition in Its Quest to End Medicare, Social Security and Our Entire Social Safety Net | Alternet
"If you think the right wing would have been content with killing the healthcare reform law that is the centerpiece of President Obama's agenda, think again. With a new strategy in hand, they're coming for it all: Medicaid, Social Security and welfare programs -- in addition to the Affordable Care Act.

Conservatives may have been dealt a momentary set-back when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in June, but there's every reason to think they plan to use that decision to launch even more legal attacks not just on the healthcare reform law, but on the entire social safety net -- and plenty of reason to worry they'll succeed."

Without Medicaid Expansion, Missouri Hospitals Could Lose $400 Million

Without Medicaid Expansion, Missouri Hospitals Could Lose $400 Million: State hospital officials across the country have been speaking out in favor of the Obamacare provision that expands Medicaid coverage to an estimated 17 million low-income people across the country, urging their legislators to opt into the health care exchanges set up under the law. Despite the significant financial benefits for states that accept the [...]/p

Missouri GOP Picks Guy Who Thinks Medicare Is Unconstitutional For U.S. Senate

Missouri GOP Picks Guy Who Thinks Medicare Is Unconstitutional For U.S. Senate: Yesterday, Missouri Republicans selected Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) as their candidate to oppose Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) bid for reelection. Akin, who like nearly every Republican in Congress voted for Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to phase out Medicare, is a staunch opponent of Medicare in general. Indeed, he told a Tea Party group last [...]/p

Swing voters want their Social Security, Medicare and good government

Swing voters want their Social Security, Medicare and good government
"A new survey of American suburban and swing voters by Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies demonstrates just how mainstream the progressive vision for the country on the role of government really is. On issues of income inequality, the social contract, government regulation of industry for health and safety of the public, these swing voters demonstrate that, while they don't like these concepts in the abstract, they support the specific programs at issue, and want to keep them strong."

State Agency Estimates Medicaid Expansion Would Save Oklahoma $47.8 Million

State Agency Estimates Medicaid Expansion Would Save Oklahoma $47.8 Million: The Oklahoma Health Care Authority has just released a report estimating that accepting the expansion of Medicaid coverage could save their state nearly $48 million a year. Their findings are similar to the results from another recent study that estimated $350 million in savings for Arkansas under the expansion. The Obamacare provision that expands Medicaid [...]/p

Study: Seniors Would Pay More For Medicare Under Republican-Backed Plan

Study: Seniors Would Pay More For Medicare Under Republican-Backed Plan: Lawmakers like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-WY) support radically restructuring the current the Medicare system into a voucher program that provides seniors with “premium support” credits to purchase coverage from an exchange of private health insurers or remain in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential candidate, has embraced the [...]/p

Eight More Ways Women Will Benefit Under Obamacare Starting Tomorrow

Eight More Ways Women Will Benefit Under Obamacare Starting Tomorrow: When eight Obamacare regulations go into effect tomorrow, 47 million women will benefit from the guaranteed coverage of preventive services — including contraception coverage — without co-pays. The new rules will require most insurance plans to begin including the services at no additional cost at the next renewal date that falls on or after August [...]/p

A History Of Paul Ryan’s Attempts To Dismantle Social Security

A History Of Paul Ryan’s Attempts To Dismantle Social Security: That House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) supports the privatization of Social Security is well known. Ryan proposed $1.2 trillion in cuts and the partial privatization of Social Security upon taking control of the Budget Committee in 2011, and he has constantly warned about the supposed doom facing the program if major reforms aren’t [...]/p

Happy Birthday to Medicare | Common Dreams

Happy Birthday to Medicare | Common Dreams
"Keep that in mind the next time you hear a politician or pundit argue that the Medicare program should be converted to a private voucher program, where seniors would get a flat amount to buy a health policy from a commercial insurance company. Such schemes are lucrative for the big private insurers but would be bad for most seniors, leaving them with inferior and progressively deteriorating coverage."

The CEO Plan to Steal Your Social Security and Medicare

The CEO Plan to Steal Your Social Security and Medicare
"Many of the same folks who brought the economy to ruin just a few years ago are now going to come up with a plan that is supposed to set the budget and the economy on a forward path. At the center of their proposal are big cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

The most popular Social Security cut among this gang is a reduction in the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) by 0.3 percentage points. They are betting that are ordinary people are too dumb to notice this cut since it is a relatively small amount each year."

Obamacare Has Saved Seniors $4 Billion On Prescription Drugs

Obamacare Has Saved Seniors $4 Billion On Prescription Drugs: The Centers for Medicare And Medicaid Services (CMS) released data showing that over 5.2 million seniors and people with disabilities have already saved nearly $4 billion on prescription drugs as a direct result of the Affordable Care Act. The CMS data also showed that over 1 million people with Medicare saved an average of $629 [...]/p

New Arkansas Study Says Medicaid Expansion Would Save State $350 Million

New Arkansas Study Says Medicaid Expansion Would Save State $350 Million: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities today pointed out a new study from Arkansas’ Department of Human Services, which found the expansion of Medicaid in health reform would save the state $350 million between 2014 and 2025. This stands in stark contrast to an earlier estimate from the state that participation in the reform [...]/p

Study: Medicare Beneficiaries Receive Higher Quality, More Affordable Care

Study: Medicare Beneficiaries Receive Higher Quality, More Affordable Care: A study from the Commonwealth Fund found that adults receiving health care through Medicare receive higher quality care than those who have insurance through their employers or purchase their own coverage. The report concluded that Medicare beneficiaries are both the most satisfied with their insurance, and also the least likely to have problems paying medical [...]/p

Former Republican Leader Calls On GOP Governors To Implement Obamacare Exchanges

Former Republican Leader Calls On GOP Governors To Implement Obamacare Exchanges: Some Republican governors continue to resist implementing health insurance exchanges in their state as required under the Affordable Care Act, but former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is urging Republicans to embrace health reform. In an editorial for The Week, Frist argues that both parties should accept the exchanges, which originated as a “Republican [...]/p

How Income Inequality Has Hurt Social Security

How Income Inequality Has Hurt Social Security: Inequality has been front and center this political season, but one relatively unexamined aspect of the problem is the way it has exacerbated the financial distress of Social Security. As work by Monique Morrissey at the Economic Policy Institute/p

The Republicans' killer lies on health care

The Republicans' killer lies on health care
"If Mitt Romney and his right-wing allies get their way in Washington, D.C. and in the states, today's horrifying health care statistics will only grow worse in the GOP's future nightmare for America. That's just the sad truth."

Aetna Shareholders ‘Dismayed’ Over Insurer’s Donations To Anti-Obamacare Campaigns

Aetna Shareholders ‘Dismayed’ Over Insurer’s Donations To Anti-Obamacare Campaigns: A group of Aetna shareholders is challenging the health insurer for donating to the American Action Network and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — two organizations dedicated to undermining Obamacare. Aetna donated over $7 million to the two groups during the Democrats’ effort to enact health care reform, though the contributions did not become public [...]/p

State Hospitals: ‘It Only Makes Sense’ To Support Expanding Medicaid Under Obamacare

State Hospitals: ‘It Only Makes Sense’ To Support Expanding Medicaid Under Obamacare: When the Supreme Court upheld President Obama’s health care reform bill, it also altered an Obamacare provision that expands Medicaid so that states could choose to opt out of program expansion without losing federal funds. Now, all eyes are on the states as more and more Republican governors announce they will refuse the Medicaid expansion [...]/p

Mitt Romney's Offer of Government of Billionaires, for Billionaires, by Billionaires | Common Dreams

Mitt Romney's Offer of Government of Billionaires, for Billionaires, by Billionaires | Common Dreams
"How else can one explain the allegiance of the Republican party to the profoundly unpopular Ryan tax plan, which would eviscerate Medicare and Medicaid while delivering more tax cuts to the rich? What is the future of a party in a democracy when the powers-that-be can no longer even understand, much less address, the welfare of the vast majority of its citizens?"

SEE 2012 CLEARLY: Robert Reich Puts Things In Perspective In Under 3 Minutes

Gov. Rick Perry Opts Out of Medicaid Expansion While Texas Ranks Worst in U.S. for Health Care | AlterNet

Gov. Rick Perry Opts Out of Medicaid Expansion While Texas Ranks Worst in U.S. for Health Care | AlterNet
"He joins other Republican governors across the country in pledging to or considering turning down $258 billion in Medicaid funds and leaving 9.2 million Americans uninsured. A new study by the Brookings Institution found that states led by Republican governors have the most uninsured Americans, making political moves like Perry’s particularly harmful to Americans’ health."

Elizabeth Warren on what Republicans are trying to repeal

Elizabeth Warren on what Republicans are trying to repeal
"For seniors, health care reform means expanding Medicare coverage to pick up the costs of prescription drugs. As the donut hole closes, the average Massachusetts senior has so far saved about $650. But Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, and their fellow Republicans want to take that away."

GlaxoSmithKline Fined $3bn for Healthcare Fraud : Information Clearing House

GlaxoSmithKline Fined $3bn for Healthcare Fraud           : Information Clearing House
"GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanour criminal charges and pay $3bn to settle what government officials describe as the largest case of healthcare fraud in US history."

Obamacare is an effective middle-class tax cut; GOP repeal would be an effective tax increase

Obamacare is an effective middle-class tax cut; GOP repeal would be an effective tax increase
"As usual, serving their corporate owners, Republicans are trying to undermine President Obama's Affordable Care Act, now casting it as a tax increase, with Mitt Romney as usualsometimes sort of agreeing, except when he doesn't. Also as usual, the Republicans and Romney are factually wrong"

What the Affordable Care Act is all about

What the Affordable Care Act is all about
"That's the status quo Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to return to: needless, premature, painful death for people who aren't lucky enough to have won in the health insurance lottery."

How Obamacare Would Have Helped Workers Laid Off By Bain

How Obamacare Would Have Helped Workers Laid Off By Bain: "For older workers, Medicare would no longer be a safe bet. Romney plans to turn it into a voucher program, where a beneficiary is given a pre-determined amount of money with which to either buy private insurance or traditional Medicare. The government’s contribution will not keep up with rising health care costs, meaning seniors will likely have to spend more on care each year."

STUDY: Uninsured In Republican-Controlled Southern States Would Benefit Most From Medicaid Expansion

STUDY: Uninsured In Republican-Controlled Southern States Would Benefit Most From Medicaid Expansion: A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that southern states would see the most dramatic reduction in their uninsured populations because of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. The study found that all states would benefit from the expansion, but southern states — many run by conservative governors who have pledged to opt out of the measure [...]/p

Supreme Court’s decision valuable because it upholds important safety net legislation | Economic Policy Institute

Supreme Court’s decision valuable because it upholds important safety net legislation | Economic Policy Institute
"The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is valuable legislation for a host of reasons, but most notably, it provides coverage for millions of Americans who would not have been able to secure insurance, and therefore, health care when they need it."

How Well Does Conservative Misinformation About Obamacare Work? New Chart Illustrates: Pretty Well | AlterNet

How Well Does Conservative Misinformation About Obamacare Work? New Chart Illustrates: Pretty Well | AlterNet
"Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum created a new chart yesterday that illustrates how well Americans understand Obamacare amidst conservatives’ relentless manipulation of the facts. Apparently, their misinformation works pretty well."

5 Consequences Of The GOP’s Bill To Repeal Obamacare

5 Consequences Of The GOP’s Bill To Repeal Obamacare: The economy may be struggling to create enough jobs to keep up with population growth, but Republicans are busy drafting legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act — a law which the Supreme Court upheld last week and has already extended coverage for thousands of uninsured Americans. On Monday, the GOP will convene an “emergency” [...]/p

Why Medicare Gets A Boost From Obamacare, As Told By Andy Griffith

Rest in peace, Andy.

10 Reasons Most People Like Obamacare Once They Know What's Really In It | Personal Health | AlterNet

10 Reasons Most People Like Obamacare Once They Know What's Really In It | Personal Health | AlterNet
"There are two Affordable Care Acts. There's the legislation passed by Congress in 2009, and then there's the mythical Affordable Care Act – the perfidious “government takeover” decried and demagogued by so many conservatives (and quite a few liberals). The former is quite popular, the latter gets decidedly mixed reviews."

Obamacare Is A Major Tax Cut For Middle Class Families

Obamacare Is A Major Tax Cut For Middle Class Families: Following the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling, Republicans — including Mitt Romney — have vigorously insisted that the Affordable Care Act is a tax on the American people. But instead of being a tax increase, Obamacare will provide millions of families with large tax credits to make health care more affordable. Only about 1 [...]/p