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."

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."

State by State Increases in Number of Insured Americans, Thanks to Obamacare @alternet

State by State Increases in Number of Insured Americans, Thanks to Obamacare @alternet

"Republicans should stop their posturing and concede that the ACA is a success."

PERRspectives: Sorry, GOP: Senate Obamacare 'Repeal' Does Not Reduce Deficits

PERRspectives: Sorry, GOP: Senate Obamacare 'Repeal' Does Not Reduce Deficits

"repealing Obamacare increases Uncle Sam's deficits. Unless, that is, you change what the meaning of "repeal" is. Which is precisely the shell game Republicans are playing now. And just like "death panels" and a "government takeover of health care" (Politifact's Lie of the Year for 2009 and 2010, respectively), the Senate's partial Obamacare repeal is just another of the GOP's killer lies on health care."

Over Our Dead Bodies If You Cut Social Security | Bernie Sanders

SAVE Act Calls For One-Time Payment To Make Up For No COLA

SAVE Act Calls For One-Time Payment To Make Up For No COLA

"Today, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced legislation to boost Social Security and other critical benefits for seniors, veterans and other Americans following last month's announcement that there will be a zero cost-of-living adjustment in 2016."

Seniors, Veterans Need A Raise Says Sen. Franken

Obamacare Is Saving Lives: Early Cancer Detection And Treatment For Young Women On The Rise

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/11/27/obamacare-is-saving-lives-early-cancer-detection-and-treatment-for-young-women-on-the-rise/
"A new study conducted by researchers at the American Cancer Society found that, since the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare) took effect, more women between the ages of 18 and 25 are being diagnosed with cervical cancer in the early stages, a time when treatment is more likely to be effective."

Republicans Celebrate Christmas By Voting To Take Healthcare Away From 17 Million Americans

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/12/03/republicans-celebrate-christmas-voting-healthcare-17-million-americans.html
"The fact that Senate Republicans chose to hold this vote during the holiday season spoke volumes about their priorities. Tonight’s vote was an advertisement for how Republicans intend to harm working people if they take back the White House."

GOP’s Obamacare lie-fest: “Post-truth” politics dominated the Republican debate

GOP’s Obamacare lie-fest: “Post-truth” politics dominated the Republican debate

"The lying even extended down into the undercard debate."

Kentucky’s New Tea Party Governor: Say Goodbye To Healthcare

To Help Hard-Hit Seniors, Warren/Sanders Bill Would Boost Social Security

To Help Hard-Hit Seniors, Warren/Sanders Bill Would Boost Social Security

"Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation on Thursday that would provide tens of millions of Americans with an emergency payment while tackling a corporate loophole that boosts CEO pay."

Newly Elected Kentucky Governor Promises To Gut Medicaid

Let's recap hilariously wrong Republican predictions about Obamacare

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/11/03/1443846/-Let-s-recap-hilariously-wrong-Republican-predictions-about-Obamacare
"There are definitely two sides to our politics today, and they are "right" and "wrong." In a sane world, that whole "wrong" crowd would never have a platform or be treated seriously again."

Big Pharma CEO Admits It's All About Profit

Lazy Reporters Don't Think To Check Paul Ryan's Budget Math

Lazy Reporters Don't Think To Check Paul Ryan's Budget Math

"In addition to wanting to privatize both Social Security and Medicare, Ryan has indicated that he essentially wants to shut down the federal government in the sense of taking all of the money for the non-military portion of the budget."

Ben Carson Pretends He Doesn't Really Want To End Medicare

Ben Carson Pretends He Doesn't Really Want To End Medicare

"It's pretty bad when even a host on Fox isn't buying the B.S. you're shoveling. Wallace pushed and pushed Carson on where the money would come from for his program, and Carson either doesn't even understand what his own health care proposal would do, or he's just lying through his teeth."

Jeb! Bush has a plan for America seniors, sort of, and it isn't pretty

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/27/1440952/-Jeb-Bush-has-a-plan-for-America-seniors-sort-of-and-it-isn-t-pretty
"If you were waiting breathlessly for policy details on Social Security and Medicare from Jeb! Bush (beyond his endorsement of his brother's disastrous Social Security privatization scheme, or how much he wants to "phase out" Medicare) here you go. While it's pretty weak on actual specifics, Jeb! has released his plan to "Preserve, Protect and Reform Medicare and Social Security." In other words, how he'll privatize Social Security and phase out Medicare under the usual Republican guise of "protecting" them."

Chris Christie: Social Security Is 'Insolvent' | Fact Checked

Ben Carson’s Plan for Health Care is a Comically Bad Version of Socialized Medicine (Video)

Ben Carson’s Plan for Health Care is a Comically Bad Version of Socialized Medicine (Video)

"What Carson is essentially advocating for is socialized health care just a really bad version of it. What he wants to do is set up what he calls “health savings accounts” that are established the moment someone is born. The way he wants to accomplish this is by taking the money Americans are currently paying for health insurance and putting it into these HSAs established by the government. That, ladies and gentlemen, is socialized health care. But the idiotic part of his plan is that he doesn’t want these HSAs to cover catastrophic health care. For those situations he wants people to purchase their own care at what he thinks will be a heavily discounted rate considering the bulk of their health care would be provided via these HSA accounts. So, in other words, he wants Americans to pay money into a government account to cover part of their health care while still having to purchase catastrophic coverage through a private insurance company. That’s just stupid. And his plan does nothing to address those who can’t afford to pay into these accounts. But why even have the gap in coverage? If you’re going to go all-in with a form of socialized health care (which is Ben Carson’s plan) then go all in. Don’t half-ass it by not covering catastrophic occurrences. This is all about semantics. Either the government is raising taxes on Americans to cover socialized medicine (eliminating the need to pay private insurance companies monthly) or you’re creating these HSA’s that people pay into with the money they would normally pay to private insurance companies. Either way, it’s money Americans are handing over to the government to pay for health insurance. That is socialized health care. It’s just that Carson’s plan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. While covering day-to-day health care needs is great, it’s the catastrophic events in someone’s life that tend to leave millions in mountains of debt. And don’t believe for a moment that these “catastrophic-only” policies would be cheap, either. If there’s one thing insurance companies prove time and time again, it’s that they’re going to get their money and try to screw over their policies holders whenever they can."

Red States Spent $2 Billion Rejecting Medicare Expansion

Red States Spent $2 Billion Rejecting Medicare Expansion

"If there's one thing you can count on from Republicans, it's that their governing principles always include finding new ways to kick poor people in their teeth as they did here: Red States Spent $2 Billion in 2015 to Screw the Poor"

Kentucky Is Obamacare’s Undeniable Success Story. This Man Is Trying To Burn It All Down.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/09/14/3698831/matt-bevin-kentucky-eliminate-health-care/
"The nation’s most unlikely Obamacare success story — a state system that has provided more than 500,000 Kentuckians with affordable health insurance — might well be ransacked by a Tea Party candidate named Matt Bevin."

Republican 2016 Candidate To Seniors: I’m Cutting Your Social Security, ‘Get Over It!’

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/republican-2016-candidate-to-seniors-im-cutting-your-social-security-get-over-it-4/
"John Kasich, like the rest of his GOP comrades who live to serve the corporations and the billionaires of America, want to take away that basic dignity and security from Americans who have worked hard all their lives and sever one of our nation’s most sacred social covenants. He is also basing his ideas on the false belief that this program is in trouble and that it won’t be around much longer anyway, so it may as well be cutting now. The “get over it” remark shows just how much disregard this man shows for America’s seniors.
Of course, Kasich is lying; there’s no way the Governor of a state doesn’t know what the numbers are like"

Kasich Tells Social Security Recipients To 'Get Over' Potential Cuts In Benefits

Kasich Tells Social Security Recipients To 'Get Over' Potential Cuts In Benefits

"The reduction in benefits Kasich is referring to is the actuarial projection for how long Social Security can pay 100 percent of promised benefits before running short. No one "has" to get over anything. Congress needs to get up off its butt and fix the cap for Social Security to be more realistic in today's dollars.

Don't be fooled by Kasich's faux populism. He's just like the rest of them, except he's more skilled in how to sell you that sh*t sandwich sitting on the counter."

Tea Party: We Will Wreck Economy Unless Next Speaker Agrees To Slash Social Security & Medicare

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/tea-party-we-will-wreck-economy-unless-next-speaker-agrees-to-slash-social-security-medicare/
"McCarthy realized that, even if he could get the votes needed without capitulating to demands that will effectively destroy America as we know it, he would still need to deal with the Freedom Caucus. Even someone as extreme as McCarthy realizes that he needs to step up his game on that front if he wants the Freedom Caucus to take him seriously. He needs to be ready to criminalize poverty, institute the death penalty for same-sex marriage, destroy women’s health, defund the public school system, and destroy our infrastructure to even begin to be someone these 40 extremists will deal with. No one wants that responsibility, even someone who is widely considered too stupid to become Speaker"

Reminder: Paul Ryan is a wild-eyed, right-wing nut. He’s acceptable to the insane caucus because he is one of them

Reminder: Paul Ryan is a wild-eyed, right-wing nut. He’s acceptable to the insane caucus because he is one of them

"Ryan justifies taking food from babies, pills from seniors, and money out of your wallet to give to rich people by simply assuming that if you’re not of the elite, it’s because you’re a lazy, no-good waste of space."

Bernie Sanders Explains Social Security

Demanding Medicare-for-All, Medical Students Rise Up Nationwide

Demanding Medicare-for-All, Medical Students Rise Up Nationwide

"Taking a stand for the future of their profession and the healthcare needs of the nation, medical students across the U.S. are holding rallies and demonstrations on Thursday demanding the creation of a non-profit, publicly financed, single-payer system—a solution, they say, that is long overdue."

Paul Ryan's Plan To Kill Obamacare By 1000 Cuts

Paul Ryan's Plan To Kill Obamacare By 1000 Cuts

"They do not want people to have health care. They have no intention of doing anything other than rolling back what we've already gained."

End Prescription Drug Price Gouging

How Big Pharma Is Price-Gouging You @alternet

How Big Pharma Is Price-Gouging You @alternet

"The United States stands out among wealthy countries in that we give drug companies patent monopolies on drugs that are essential for people’s health or lives and then allows them to charge whatever they want. Every other wealthy country has some system of price controls or negotiated prices where the government limits the extent to which drug companies can exploit the monopoly it has given them. The result is that we pay roughly twice as much for our drugs as the average for other wealthy countries. This additional cost is not associated with better care; we are just paying more for the same drugs."

Prescription Drug Prices Are Out Of Control. Bernie Sanders Has A Plan.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/09/03/3697990/sanders-prescription/
"The U.S. has some of the highest prescription drug prices and spending in the world, with much higher average yearly spending compared with Europeans or Canadians."

Sanders Vows To End Pres. Bush’s ‘Prescription Drug Heist’

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/sanders-vows-to-end-pres-bushs-prescription-drug-heist/
"President Bush catered to a billion dollar industry and made sure that elderly Americans on Medicare had no choice but to pay insanely high drug prices; none of the Republican presidential candidates will address this issue, because they don’t care about vulnerable Americans who do not pad their bank accounts."