How Obamacare Has Saved Seniors Billions On Prescription Drugs

How Obamacare Has Saved Seniors Billions On Prescription Drugs: New data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the Affordable Care Act shows that the health law already is helping people under Medicare with their prescription drug purchases. And millions of Medicare participants are taking advantage of preventive services available at no cost to them because of Obamacare. Here are three [...]/p

Mitt Romney's budget would gut Medicare, Medicaid and assistance programs

Mitt Romney's budget would gut Medicare, Medicaid and assistance programs
"That's a budget proposal so severely conservative, it's more drastic that the Paul Ryan budget. Ryan's proposing just a measly $5 trillion in cuts over the next decade; Romney would require between $7 and 10 trillion, making Ryan look like a piker. It's also even more unsustainable for the nation than Ryan's plan. There would be essentially nothing left standing but the Pentagon, looking out for the next war. Meanwhile, the casualites of past ones—disabled vets—would be shit out of luck. No wonder Romney won't put this all down on paper."

Medical Students Embrace Medicare for All | Common Dreams

Medical Students Embrace Medicare for All | Common Dreams
'f you ever want to rekindle your hope for American medicine, spend time with medical students. These bright, energetic minds are going into medicine for all the right reasons — to help people, relieve suffering and find new ways to cure illness and eradicate disease."

Meet Pete Peterson, Architect of Social Security and Medicare Cuts

Meet Pete Peterson, Architect of Social Security and Medicare Cuts
"ny lawmaker who thinks it's a good idea to raise the Social Security retirement age and erode Medicare should agree to relinquish their federal pension and health insurance retroactive to the day they take office. If they can't do that, then they recuse themselves from any vote concerning Medicare or Social Security. Seems like a fair deal to me."

House Republicans having a hard time defending Ryan budget vote

House Republicans having a hard time defending Ryan budget vote
"Rep. Paul Ryan's budget and his kinder, gentler approach to ending Medicare as we know it is no more popular in 2012 than it was in 2011."

Insurers Will Pay $1.3 Billion In Rebates To 16 Million Consumers Because Of Obamacare

Insurers Will Pay $1.3 Billion In Rebates To 16 Million Consumers Because Of Obamacare: Thanks to a provision of the Affordable Care Act, 16 million consumers and businesses are expected to receive about $1.3 billion in rebates from health insurance companies, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The medical loss ratio rule requires insurers to spend at least 80 to 85 percent of premiums on patient care; if not, [...]/p

REPORT: Retirees To Save $20K As A Result Of Obamacare

REPORT: Retirees To Save $20K As A Result Of Obamacare: One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is to keep health care costs from ballooning. So far, it has done some good; the law has already helped push Medicare costs lower, required insurers to keep administrative spending low or pay customers rebates, and created prevention programs to fight chronic diseases like heart disease [...]/p

Health Insurers Owe Millions In Rebates To Floridians Thanks To Obamacare Regulations

Health Insurers Owe Millions In Rebates To Floridians Thanks To Obamacare Regulations: Health insurance companies owe tens of millions to Florida policy holders after they failed to meet an Affordable Care Act provision that limits the amount of premium dollars that insurers can spend on overhead. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, Floridians could receive up to $149 million in rebates this summer, even though political [...]/p

Social Security Is Not Going Broke | Common Dreams

Social Security Is Not Going Broke | Common Dreams
"Which federal program took in more than it spent last year, added $95 billion to its surplus and lifted 20 million Americans of all ages out of poverty?"

Consumers In States Hostile To ACA To Receive Higher Average Rebates Than Residents In States That Support It

Consumers In States Hostile To ACA To Receive Higher Average Rebates Than Residents In States That Support It: By requiring everyone to purchase health insurance coverage in 2014, the Affordable Care Act provides millions of new customers to private health insurers. But the law also guarantees that companies don’t swindle premium dollars away on corporate profits and CEO bonuses. Under the law, insurers have to comply with a new Medical Loss Ratio or [...]/p

Obamacare will save Medicare $200 billion by 2016

Obamacare will save Medicare $200 billion by 2016
"The actual experience Medicare beneficiaries, and particularly seniors, have had with the Affordable Care Act has lessened some of the fear, and according to the March Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll, for the first time the law is seen more favorably by seniors than not."

Report: Obama’s Affordable Care Act Will Save Medicare $200 Billion

Report: Obama’s Affordable Care Act Will Save Medicare $200 Billion: pThe Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care reform law, will reportedly save Medicare more than $2 billion by 2016, while saving seniors nearly $60 billion in out-of-pocket costs, according to a new report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). According to the report, Medicare’s largest savings come from “cuts to [...]/p

Ryan’s Medicaid Cuts Would Have Cost States $555 Billion Over Past Decade

Ryan’s Medicaid Cuts Would Have Cost States $555 Billion Over Past Decade: States would have lost $555 billion over the past decade if House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed Medicaid cuts had been in effect starting in 2001, analysis from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows. Under Ryan’s plan, which would convert Medicaid to a block grant, federal Medicaid funds in most [...]/p

Health Care in an Age of American Decline » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Health Care in an Age of American Decline » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The U.S. has very little to show for its insanely expensive health arrangement.  Its per capita costs are twice those of other advanced OECD nations (11).  However, it ranks pretty low in health outcomes such as infant mortality and and life expectancy (12)."

Cashin' In Regular Jonathan Hoenig Suggests Eliminating Medicare and Medicaid

Cashin' In Regular Jonathan Hoenig Suggests Eliminating Medicare and Medicaid
"Republicans like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are basically saying the same thing Hoenig did here with their goal of destroying our social safety nets. They're just a little more subtle about it."

Patients Rarely Considered in Press Coverage of Medicare

Patients Rarely Considered in Press Coverage of Medicare
"For the elderly and disabled, catching up on the daily news during the latest Beltway brinkmanship—the deal to extend payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and current Medicare doctor fees—could be an exercise in frustration."

The Real Health Care Debate | Common Dreams

The Real Health Care Debate | Common Dreams
"Medical bills already lead to 62 percent of personal bankruptcies, and nearly 80 percent of those declaring personal bankruptcy because of medical costs had insurance. The U.S. spends twice as much per capita on health care as other industrialized nations, $8,160. Private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume 31 percent of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment through a single, nonprofit payer would save more than $400 billion per year, enough, the PNHP estimates, to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans."

Report: 15 Million Would Have Received $2 Billion In Rebates If ACA Provisions Were Enacted In 2010

Report: 15 Million Would Have Received $2 Billion In Rebates If ACA Provisions Were Enacted In 2010: About $2 billion in health insurance rebates would have been issued to over 15 million American consumers if the Affordable Care Act’s new medical loss ratio (MLR) rules had been in effect in 2010, a new study from The Commonwealth Fund reveals. The MLR rules, which were enacted in 2011, require a minimum percentage — [...]/p

PERRspectives: Romney-Ryan Plan is the Real 2012 Republican Platform

PERRspectives: Romney-Ryan Plan is the Real 2012 Republican Platform
Here, then, is an overview of the Romney-Ryan Plan, also known as the 2012 Republican Platform.

• Massive Tax Cuts for the Rich
• Ending Medicare as We Know It
• Shredding the Safety Net
• Increased Defense Spending
• What Loopholes Get Closed? That's a Secret!
• Trillions in New Debt

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers
"The Republican Medicare plan, which does indeed end Medicare as we know it (just a little bit slower than the Paul Ryan budget they adopted last year) isn't finding much support outside the party"

The Savage Arithmetic of the Pre-Existing Condition

The Savage Arithmetic of the Pre-Existing Condition
"Two years ago, Republican Mike Huckabee compared people with pre-existing conditions to houses that have already burned down. Just the other day on the Leno show, likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney voiced a very similar opinion.

They both have awesome health insurance.
 

Do you? Forever?"

Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney: The Committee to End Medicare

Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney: The Committee to End Medicare
"These guys really believe that campaigning on a platform of turning Medicare into a voucher system is a stroke of political genius."

House Republicans vote to end Medicare as we know it, again

House Republicans vote to end Medicare as we know it, again
"The House Republicans made their ultimate dystopian statement today, in passing Rep. Paul Ryan's budget in a 228-191 vote. Ten Republicans voted against it, no Democrats voted for it and 13 members did not vote."

If Health Care Reform Falls, Watch Fox For Clues On Whether Social Security Will Be The Next Target

If Health Care Reform Falls, Watch Fox For Clues On Whether Social Security Will Be The Next Target
"If the Roberts Court's conservative majority strikes down the Affordable Care Act, observers seeking to learn which fundamental safety net provisions the Right will go after next would be well advised to look to Fox News for guidance. Based on the crucial role Fox News played in the rise of the Tea Party and the assault (based wholly on political arguments at first, later incorporating legal arguments as well) on the Affordable Care Act, the network likely will serve as the next campaign's chief communicator and cheerleader. A Fox Business Network host may have provided an early hint that Social Security could be next, and given a preview of what that campaign would look like"

Republican Medicare plan tanks in new poll

Republican Medicare plan tanks in new poll
"House Republicans are sure they have a new message strategy for their plan to gut Medicare that will make the plan not devastatingly unpopular."

By Ditching the Public Option, Obama Gave His Enemies a Path to the Supreme Court | The Progressive

By Ditching the Public Option, Obama Gave His Enemies a Path to the Supreme Court | The Progressive
"If you want to keep your private health insurance provider, fine. But if you want the government, in essence, to be your insurer, then join the Medicare program. This option the Supreme Court couldn’t invalidate unless it threw out the entire Medicare system, which has stood for 47 years."

Why Doctors Are Cheering Obamacare

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate Favors Privatizing Social Security, Ending Disability Payments

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate Favors Privatizing Social Security, Ending Disability Payments: HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sam Rohrer (R), an 18-year veteran of the state legislature, has already made a name for himself during this campaign as one of the GOP’s most radical candidates. He thinks federal highways are unconstitutional, doesn’t understand the budget process, and has compared driver’s license requirements to slavery. Rohrer also [...]/p

Why Seniors Could Pay $5,900 More for Health Care Under the Republican Budget

Why Seniors Could Pay $5,900 More for Health Care Under the Republican Budget: pOur guest blogger is Topher Spiro, the Managing Director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Earlier this week the Center for American Progress released an analysis of the Republican budget’s Medicare plan, which would provide vouchers to beneficiaries to purchase either a private health insurance plan or the traditional Medicare plan. We [...]/p

Romney Celebrates Health Care Reform Anniversary By Lying About It

Romney Celebrates Health Care Reform Anniversary By Lying About It: pOn the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Mitt Romney seems willing to say almost anything to distance himself from the fact that his 2006 Massachusetts health care law served as a template for the national coverage expansion — even if it includes outright lying about its provisions. During an event this morning in [...]/p

Faith leaders condemn Ryan Budget

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‘Ask Voters,’ 70 percent of them want to keep Medicare

Ryan budget would cut taxes for the rich and make seniors, the disabled, and children pay for it | Economic Policy Institute

Ryan budget would cut taxes for the rich and make seniors, the disabled, and children pay for it | Economic Policy Institute
"Reneging on commitments to seniors, the disabled, and younger generations because of an unwillingness—not an inability—to fund our social contract is a choice, not a necessity. Yet Ryan has once again unabashedly decided to aid the very fortunate at the expense of the rest of us—particularly the most vulnerable."

ESTIMATE: At Least 48 Million Could Become Uninsured Under Paul Ryan’s Budget

ESTIMATE: At Least 48 Million Could Become Uninsured Under Paul Ryan’s Budget: pSince Paul Ryan’s new budget eliminates $1.5 trillion from the Affordable Care Act, cuts $770 billion from Medicaid and reduces Medicare spending by $200 billion, Ezra Klein points out that “it would be very interesting to see an estimate of the uninsured population under Ryan’s budget.” The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of Ryan’s plan [...]/p

Fox News Lies; An Elderly Woman Dies

Fox News Lies; An Elderly Woman Dies
"it seems, she got her news from Fox. It's not hard to understand where she got the idea that "Obamacare" had death panels. Just three days before Mrs. Culpepper's death, they were still calling them death panels. Republicans have been working hard (with the cooperation of some turncoat Democrats) to repeal that board, which is really the last best hope we have for keeping Medicare out of the crosshairs of budget hawks."

The 5 Worst Things About The House GOP’s Budget

The 5 Worst Things About The House GOP’s Budget:
Ryan and the GOP have the social safety net and Medicare in their sights, and yet again, they’re attempting to pass the cost of massive tax breaks for corporations and the rich off to middle and lower-income Americans.

Three Reasons Why The Medicare Reforms In Ryan’s New ‘Path To Prosperity’ Still Set Us On The Wrong Track

Three Reasons Why The Medicare Reforms In Ryan’s New ‘Path To Prosperity’ Still Set Us On The Wrong Track: pHouse Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has released a new version of his ‘Path To Prosperity’ budget that makes significant concessions from Ryan’s original plan to privatize the Medicare program, but would still take us down a fairly bumpy road that could throw many seniors out of the car altogether. Like last year’s Ryan/Wyden reform [...]/p