Archive for the “Democrats” Category

sosFrom the Wall Street Journal

Democrats think they know how to run the insurance industry better than the insurance industry, and they’re getting the chance to prove it under ObamaCare. Consider the early returns on its plan to insure Americans denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

To judge by President Obama’s rhetoric, the insurance industry’s victims have been wandering the country like Okies in “The Grapes of Wrath.” Thus ObamaCare gave the Health and Human Services Department the power to design and sell its own insurance policies. The $5 billion program started in July and runs through 2014, when ObamaCare’s broader regulations kick in.

Mr. Obama declared at the time that “uninsured Americans who’ve been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care—some for the very first time in their lives.”

So far that statement accurately describes a single person in North Dakota. Literally, one person has signed up out of 647,000 state residents. Four people have enrolled in West Virginia. Things are better in Minnesota, where Mr. Obama has rescued 15 out of 5.2 million, and also in Indiana—63 people there. HHS did best among the 24.7 million Texans. Thanks to ObamaCare, 393 of them are now insured.

States had the option of designing their own pre-existing condition insurance with federal dollars in lieu of the HHS plan, and 27 chose to do so. But they haven’t had much more success. Combined federal-state enrollment is merely 8,011 nationwide as of November 1, according to HHS.

Read the rest of the column here.

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obamacareRep. Dave Camp, ranking Republican of the House Ways and Means Committee, has compiled this list of when different aspects of the recently passed healthcare legislation will go into effect.  Click here for a PDF version of the document.

2009

  • 2-year tax credit (total cap of $1 billion) for new chronic disease therapy investments
  • Medicare cuts to hospitals begin (long-term care (7/1/09) and inpatient and rehabilitation facilities (fiscal 2010)) 2009

2010

  • States and federal officials review premium increases
  • FDA authorized to approve “follow-on” biologics
  • Increase brand name pharmaceutical Medicaid rebate (from 15.1% to 23.1%)
  • Medicare payments to physicians in primarily rural areas increase (2 years)
  • Deny “black liquor” eligibility for cellulosic biofuel producers credit
  • Tax credits provided to certain small employers for health care-related expenses
  • Increase adoption tax incentives for 2 years
  • Codify economic substance doctrine and impose penalties for underpayments (transactions on/after 3/23/10)
  • Provide income exclusion for specified Indian tribe health benefits provided after 3/23/10
  • Temporary high-risk pool and high-cost union retiree reinsurance ($5 billion each for 3.5 years) (6/23/10)
  • Impose 10% tax on indoor UV tanning (7/1/10)
  • Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/10)
  • Prohibits lifetime and annual benefit spending limits (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
  • Prohibits non-group plans from canceling coverage (rescissions) (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
  • Requires plans to cover, at no charge, most preventive care (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
  • Allows dependents to stay on parents’ policies through age 26 (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
  • Provides limited protections to children with pre-existing conditions (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
  • Hospitals in “Frontier States” (N.D., Mont., Wyo., S.D., Utah) receive higher Medicare payments (fiscal 2011)
  • Hospitals in “low-cost” areas receive higher Medicare payments for 2 years ($400 million, fiscal 2011)

2011

  • Medicare Advantage cuts begin
  • No longer allowed to use FSA, HSA, HRA, Archer MSA distributions for over-the counter medicines
  • Medicare cuts to home health begin
  • Wealthier seniors ($85k/$170k) begin paying higher Part D premiums (not indexed for inflation in Parts B/D)
  • Medicare reimbursement cuts when seniors use diagnostic imaging like MRIs, CT scans, etc.
  • Medicare cuts begin to ambulance services, ASCs, diagnostic labs, and durable medical equipment
  • Impose new annual tax on brand name pharmaceutical companies
  • Americans begin paying premiums for federal long-term care insurance (CLASS Act)
  • Health plans required to spend a minimum of 80% of premiums on medical claims
  • Physicians in “Frontier States” (N.D., Mont., Wyo., S.D., Utah) receive higher Medicare payments
  • Prohibition on Medicare payments to new physician-owned hospitals
  • Penalties for non-qualified HSA and Archer MSA distributions double (to 20%)
  • Seniors prohibited from purchasing power wheelchairs unless they first rent for 13 months
  • Brand name drug companies begin providing 50% discount in the Part D “donut hole”
  • 10% Medicare bonus payment for primary care and general surgery (5 years)
  • Employers required to report value of health benefits on W-2
  • Steps towards health insurance administrative simplification (reduced paperwork, etc) begins (five year process)
  • Additional funding for community health centers (five years)
  • Seniors who hit Part D “donut hole “in 2010 receive $250 check (3/15/11)
  • New Medicare cuts to long-term care hospitals begin (7/1/11)
  • Additional Medicare cuts to hospitals and cuts to nursing homes and inpatient rehab facilities begin (fiscal 2012)
  • New tax on all private health insurance policies to pay for comp. eff. research (plan years beginning fiscal 2012)

2012

  • Medicare cuts to dialysis treatment begins
  • Require information reporting on payments to corporations
  • Medicare to reduce spending by using an HMO-like coordinated care model (Accountable Care Organizations)
  • Medicare Advantage plans with a 4 or 5 star rating receive a quality bonus payment
  • New Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/12)
  • Hospital pay-for-quality program begins (fiscal 2013)
  • Medicare cuts to hospitals with high readmission rates begin (fiscal 2013)
  • Medicare cuts to hospice begin (fiscal 2013)

2013

  • Impose $2,500 annual cap on FSA contributions (indexed to CPI)
  • Increase Medicare wage tax by 0.9% and impose a new 3.8% tax on unearned, nonactive business income for those earning over $200,000 or $250,000 for families (not indexed to inflation)
  • Generally increases (7.5% to 10%) threshold at which medical expenses, as a percentage of income, can be deductible
  • Eliminate deduction for Part D retiree drug subsidy employers receive
  • Impose 2.3% excise tax on medical devices
  • Medicare cuts to hospitals which treat low-income seniors begin
  • Post-acute pay for quality reporting begins
  • CO-OP Program: Secretary of Health and Human Services awards loans and grants for establishing nonprofit health insurers
  • $500,000 deduction cap on compensation paid to insurance company employees and officers
  • Part D “donut hole” reduction begins, reaching a 25% reduction by 2020

2014

  • Individuals without government-approved coverage are subject to a tax of the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income
  • Employers who fail to offer “affordable” coverage would pay a $3,000 penalty for every employee that receives a subsidy through the Exchange
  • Employers who do not offer insurance must pay a tax penalty of $2,000 for every full-time employee
  • More Medicare cuts to home health begin
  • States must have established Exchanges
  • Employers with more than 200 employees can auto-enroll employees in health coverage, with opt-out
  • All non-grandfathered and Exchange health plans required to meet federally mandated levels of coverage
  • States must cover parents /childless adults up to 138% of poverty on Medicaid, receive increased FMAP
  • Tax credits available for Exchange-based coverage, amount varies by income up to 400% of poverty
  • Insurers cannot impose any coverage restrictions on pre-existing conditions (guaranteed issue/renewability)
  • Modified community rating: individual or family coverage; geography; 3:1 ratio for age; 1.5:1 for smoking
  • Insurers must offer coverage to anyone wanting a policy and every policy has to be renewed
  • Limits out-of-pocket cost-sharing (tied to limits in HSAs, currently $5,950/$11,900 indexed to COLA)
  • Insurance plans must include government-defined “essential benefits ” and coverage levels
  • OPM must offer at least two multi-state plans in every state
  • Employers can offer some employees free choice vouchers for health insurance in the Exchange
  • Government board (IPAB) begins submitting proposals to cut Medicare
  • Impose tax on nearly all private health insurance plans
  • Medicare payment cuts for hospital-acquired infections begin (fiscal 2015)

2015

  • More Medicare cuts to home health begin

2016

  • States can form interstate insurance compacts if the coverage with HHS approval (2016)

2017

  • Physician pay-for-quality program begins for all physicians
  • States may allow large employers and multi-employer health plans to purchase coverage in the Exchange.
  • States may apply to the HHS secretary for a limited waiver from certain federal requirements

2018

  • Impose “Cadillac tax on “high cost” plans, 40% tax on the benefit value above a certain threshold: ($10,200 individual coverage, $27,500 family or self-only union multi-employer coverage)

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From the Washington Examiner

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From Washington Examiner

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From Gary Bauer

bauer_garyLast night, Democrats passed ObamaCare by a vote of 219-to-212. The most bi-partisan aspect of the bill was the opposition to it. Republicans voted unanimously against it and they were joined by 34 Democrats. This bill raises taxes by more than $500 billion. It imposes new taxes on investments and new fines on businesses. It imposes unconstitutional mandates on Americans and funds abortion. And the Democrats own it entirely. This is what happens when liberals get power.

In a weekend of outrageous statements, the worst was to hear Obama and Pelosi describing their takeover of nearly 20% of our economy in the language of liberty. They cloaked one of the biggest expansions of government and retractions of liberty in our nation’s history in conservative rhetoric. For example, Nancy Pelosi hailed the vote as “great act of patriotism.”

After the House vote, President Obama said, “We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.” But the American people didn’t want this bill. The latest Rasmussen poll found that likely voters opposed it 41%-to-54%. In fact, there is not a single poll the president or congressional Democrats can point to in the past 60 days that shows public support for the legislation that passed last night.

Republicans did everything in their power to stop socialized medicine. The reconciliation process that Democrats used to circumvent Republican efforts is proof of that. And while Democrats are celebrating today, they have damaged our democratic republic in the process. The bill was written behind closed doors. Committee hearings were a charade. It passed the Senate not because of the legislation’s merits, but because of special deals and kickbacks. Until the national uproar, Democrats had planned on passing it without even voting on it.

When a Republican doesn’t vote consistently for conservative principles, we call him a RINO – a Republican In Name Only. I don’t know what you call a Democrat who betrays his core principles, but this bill should be called the “Stupak Abortion Subsidy Act.”

Rep. Bart Stupak has been elected to Congress as a Democrat since 1992 in a relatively conservative district. But he was always pro-life. Yesterday, Stupak sold out his pro-life values for an executive order from the most pro-abortion president in history. An executive order cannot override legislation. That’s why the Hyde Amendment was so important and has been reaffirmed by every Congress for more than 30 years. The Senate bill funds abortion, which is why Stupak consistently said he was a “No” vote until the very end.

My friends, there’s no way to sugar coat this. Last night’s vote was a major set back – just one of many negative consequences of recent elections. Obama said recently that he was going to wear us down. The Democrats aren’t done. Immigration “reform” is next. This is gut check time for conservatives.

What is the solution? There is only one: We must win elections. But please do not email me asking about impeachment. Impeachment is a political process conducted by Congress, and liberal Democrats – Obama’s allies – dominate Congress. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are not going impeach Barack Obama.

If you don’t like the policies coming out of Washington today, the solution is to change the politicians making them. That means contributing to conservative groups and supporting conservative candidates, staying united against the Left, outworking the liberals and outvoting them on Election Day.

Now if your reaction is to throw your hands up in despair, give up and walk away, then Obama has worn you down. But if your reaction is to recommit to the values we cherish and fight even harder in the political arena, then it’s not too late to take back our country and make America the “shining city upon a hill” our Founding Fathers envisioned. I’m not giving up and I pray you will continue to stand with me!

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From the Washington Examiner

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From OneNewsNow

iStock_000004812893XSmallSome House Democrats are apparently selling their vote on healthcare reform for jobs at places like NASA — but they’re receiving a stern warning from one conservative senator about the ramifications of such behavior.

Human Events reports that retiring Congressman Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee) has been promised the job of NASA administrator in exchange for his vote — and that Representative John Tanner, another retiring Democrat, has been promised an appointment as a U.S. ambassador to NATO in exchange for his vote.
 
When at the White House recently, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (D-Florida) also reportedly was seeking a special NASA deal in exchange for a “yes” vote on healthcare.
 
On Thursday, Senator Tom Coburn (R- Oklahoma) told House Democrats who voted against the legislation the first time that they had better “be prepared” to defend selling their vote in the House.
 
Tom Coburn (R-OK)“If you voted no and you vote yes, and you lose your election, and you think [your] nomination to a federal position isn’t going to be held in the Senate, I’ve got news for you — it’s going to be held,” Coburn vowed.
 
“Number two is, if you get a deal, a parochial deal for you or your district, I’ve already instructed my staff and the staff of seven other senators that we will look at every appropriations bill at every level, at every instance, and we will outline it by district — and we will associate that with the buying of your vote.
 
“So if you think you can cut a deal now and it not come out until after the election,” he concluded, “I want to tell you that isn’t going to happen — and be prepared to defend selling your vote in the House.”
 
Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) has asked the House to remove a provision from the health bill allowing the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to continue receiving federal student loan subsidies, even though the program would be eliminated for other banks. Conrad asked for the special deal to be dumped after Republicans called the provision the “Bismarck Bank Job.”

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From Bloomberg

USA/Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are “nuts” to think tomorrow’s vote on health-care legislation will resolve the issue.

If the measure passes, Senate Republicans have enough votes on at least two points of order to alter the measure and send it back to the House for a second round of votes, Hatch said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend.

“If those people think they’re only going to vote on this once, they’re nuts,” Hatch said as House Democratic leaders rounded up support before the scheduled vote on President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

The senator from Utah also said the approach Democrats are using to pass the legislation in the House may be unconstitutional because the House and Senate aren’t voting on “exactly the same language.”

Read the rest of the column.

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Rep. Paul Ryan (R, Wisconsin) offers his opening comments in the Reconciliation Markup House Budget Committee on March 15, 2010.  He exposes the mockery that the Democrats are making of our legislative process in order to ram a government takeover of health care through Congress.

TAKE ACTION: A vote on this health care bill is expected to occur on Sunday.  Call your Representative NOW and tell them to vote “NO” on this sham of a bill.

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marklevinMark R. Levin, president of Landmark Legal Foundation, today issued a warning to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives about the possible use of the so-called “deem and pass,” “self-executing,” or “Slaughter Rule” to enact H.R. 3590, the legislative version of President Obama’s healthcare proposal that has been previously approved by the Senate. If this tactic is employed, Landmark will immediately sue the President, Attorney General Eric Holder and other relevant cabinet members to prevent them from instituting this unconstitutional contrivance.  A copy of the complaint can be found here: Landmark’s Draft “Slaughter Rule” Complaint. 

By a vote of 222 to 203, House Democrats voted today to uphold the usage of the “self-executing rule,” also known as the Slaughter Solution.  This further validates that Obama, Pelosi and the Democrats will to anything to pass this health care bill, even if it is unconstitutional and just plain shady.  The undocumented President Obama has made it clear time and again that he doesn’t care about the process – he just wants it passed, no matter the consequences.  And there will be consequences.

The Slaughter Solution “deems” the Senate bill passed without the House ever having cast a vote, while they vote separately on a reconciliation measure.  Pelosi wants this done so the American people wont’ be able to see who actually voted for the bill – she wants to shield her Congressional allies from their constituents who are mad as hell about their representatives not listening to the people.

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From the Boston Herald

LynchEven one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s floor whips, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, says a proposed parliamentary move to pass health-care reform would be “disingenuous” and harm the credibility of Congress.

In a sign of how tough it’s been for Pelosi to round up votes for the massive bill, Lynch – a South Boston Democrat who supported a House reform package last year – said he’ll probably vote against a key Senate version of the legislation, unless unexpected major changes are made soon.

Lynch, who serves as one of Pelosi’s key vote counters, said he also can’t support a proposed “deem and pass” procedure that would allow Democrats to vote to strip out controversial portions of the Senate bill and then “deem” that the entire package has passed without a second, direct vote.

“It’s disingenuous,” said Lynch, who considers unfair a Senate provision to tack a surcharge on higher-end health plans. “It would really call into question the credibility of the House.”

Read the rest of the story.

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From the Wall Street Journal

By Fred Barnes: 

BarnesOn Dec. 7, 1941, an announcement was made during the football game between the hometown Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles. All the generals and admirals at Griffith Stadium were instructed to report to their duty stations. Little did they know their lives would be changed forever and America would be at war, or on war footing, for the next half-century. Pearl Harbor had been attacked.

America will be in a constant health-care war if ObamaCare is enacted. Passage wouldn’t end the health-care debate. Rather, it would perpetuate ObamaCare as the dominant issue for decades to come, reshape politics, create an annual funding crisis in Congress, and generate a spate of angry lawsuits. Yet few in Washington seem aware of what lies ahead.

We only have to look at Great Britain to get a glimpse of the future. The National Health Service—socialized medicine—was created in 1946 and touted as the envy of the world. It’s been a contentious issue ever since. Its cost and coverage are perennial subjects of debate. The press, especially England’s most popular newspaper, The Daily Mail, feasts on reports of long waiting periods, dirty hospitals, botched care and denied access to treatments.

A Conservative member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, last year in an interview on Fox News denounced the NHS as a “60-year mistake,” declaring he “wouldn’t wish it on anybody.” As prime minister, Margaret Thatcher bravely cut NHS spending in the 1980s, but current Tory leaders regard criticism of the NHS as too risky. “The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS,” its leader, David Cameron, said in response to Mr. Hannan.

Read the rest of the column.

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From the Washington Post

missingWE UNDERSTAND the administration’s sense of urgency on health-care reform. But what is intended as a final sprint threatens to turn into something unseemly and, more important, contrary to Democrats’ promises of transparency and time for deliberation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday that she is leaning toward a parliamentary maneuver under which the House would vote on a package of changes to the Senate-approved reform bill, and the underlying Senate bill would then be “deemed” to have passed, even though the House had never voted on it. That may help some House members dodge a politically difficult decision, but it strikes us as a dodgy way to reform the health-care system. Democrats who vote for the package will be tagged with supporting the Senate bill in any event. Why not be straightforward about it?

More worrying is that Congress and the country have yet to see the changes, for which Democrats hope to win quick House approval and which they then hope to speed through the Senate under a procedure that would bar filibusters. These changes — the so-called reconciliation bill — are not all minor “fixes”; some could have far-reaching consequences. Such changes deserve to be fully understood and debated before they are voted on. The speaker’s office says the week-long “conversation” that Nancy Pelosi promised to have with members is taking place and that they are waiting for the final word from the Congressional Budget Office before releasing the package; in any event, they say, lawmakers and the public will have 72 hours to consider the changes. But why be so secretive about it? Any number of measures — including versions of the health-care bill itself — have been unveiled without CBO scores.

The health-care debate has been going on longer than a year, and House members want to get it over with. They don’t want it hanging over them during the Easter recess. President Obama wants progress to have been made before he leaves for Indonesia on Sunday. These are understandable desires, but they don’t outweigh the need for a reasonable process on a matter of such importance.

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From Washington Examiner

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