See How Well That Healthcare Reform Worked Out? Mass. Health Plan Cuts Subsidies for Needy
By Susie Madrak Thursday Jun 25, 2009 4:30am
This is pretty big news, guys. Remember, the Massachusetts plan is the model they want to use for national reform - and already it's beginning to crack under the economic strain.
This is what happens with "bipartisan," market-friendly compromise: Band-aid solutions that can't handle a massive load. And it's exactly why we need single-payer universal healthcare: because it's the only plan cheap enough to stay solvent through tough times.
Overseers of Massachusetts’ trailblazing healthcare program made their first cuts yesterday, trimming $115 million, or 12 percent, from Commonwealth Care, which subsidizes premiums for needy residents and is the centerpiece of the 2006 law.
The board of the Connector Authority made the cuts as officials confronted two side effects of the recession: the state budget crisis and a surge in enrollment by the recently unemployed.
The largest share of the savings will come from slowing enrollment. An estimated 18,000 poor residents who qualify for full subsidies, but who forget to designate a health plan, will no longer be automatically assigned a plan and enrolled and thus could face delays in getting care.
The board also eliminated dental coverage for the poorest residents enrolled in Commonwealth Care, roughly 92,000 people who currently are the only ones in the program who receive that care. Regulators said that would save $10 million. Dental coverage was retained in the budget approved by lawmakers last week, and now it falls to the governor to decide its fate.
Also hanging in the balance is the health insurance status of 28,000 legal immigrants whose Commonwealth Care coverage was dropped in the budget lawmakers approved for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Governor Deval Patrick has until Monday to decide whether to veto any of that budget, which set aside $116 million less for Commonwealth Care than he proposed.
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Because the repub position is NO reform at all. Any compromise is going to deliver something crippled.
crooked pols that do not want single payer are the same ones that let all of the good paying manufacturing jobs go ala NAFTA, CAFTA & GATT
Time for a clean up across the board.
Isn't this plan the great Mitt Romney's legacy in MA when he was governor for half a term?
Who scattered his type with a bop on the beanie?
Single payer off the table? Most countries use a social health insurance model (i.e., we're all in, nobody out) model based upon Germany's system.
Read this about Germany and then tell me this isn't what we should be working for:
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2008/11/germany-oec...
More about Germany:
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/search/label/Germany
Cheers,
fuck bipartisanship, and fuck the GOP and the DINO's.
Ram single payer health care down their fat fuckin throats.
...you trying to say here LNM? Don't be so ambiguous. Let it all out.
May those who oppose us, go fornicate themselves with an unfinished broomstick.
Make it the handle of a toilet plunger, and you'd qualify to be a New York cop.
but the unfinished broom handle would be much more unpleasant.
"Ram single payer health care down their fat fuckin' throats!"
A hearty SECOND!!!
And as someone whose state rep crafted the plan, I have to say, it could be far, far worse. GW stiffed the state in healthcare funds and we've been trying to catch up ever since.
It could have been far, far worse. The state is trying to cut a massive deficient, and there are draconian cuts everywhere in the budget.
The health care plan has been a huge success; it really has been great.
Mitt didn't propose this plan, nor did he have much say in the matter. He vetoed it originally and the legislature overrode his veto,
Neil Cavuto discusses Mass. Health Care Law with Mitt Romney
►[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h__s18YXcMs ]
I live in Cambridge. We all knew their would be problems in funding the program. The State did not do a good enough job of negotiating the rates for all the plans. Looking on the Mass Health Connector site it still is expensive for a person to insure themselves and that portion is what the individual pays, the State picks up the rest. I would expect that the State would get better rates since there are nearly 6 million people who live here. I am not sure if they even negotiated the rates.
As an example, I compared my insurance my employer offers and what I pay and what my Employer pays. My employers, who is much smaller than the number of people in the State, pays a quarter of what the State is offering. It is the exact same insurance from the exact same company. The insurance companies are not to be trusted.
I live in Mass. and recieve free health care, however I often feel it doesn't go far enough for many people. Why can't we stop half-assing UHC and just do a full-blown government plan? Oh yeah because the gov't has the insurance corps' hands in their pockets
I have a funny feeling the insurance corporations hands are a little bit more than just in the Congresspersons "pockets"......
I think their hands are firmly grasping their.....
Nevermind.
I like your politics LibNmod - but your tone sure didn't strike me as 'moderate' ;)
Thanks...all things in moderation, including moderation.
mass protests outside the Capitol Building or something...has anyone heard anything?
I would like to be there to protest this BS that our weak politicians and their overlords in insurance and big pharma are trying to sell us on...
Large HCAN Rally in DC: http://healthcare09.org/
I fuckin HATE being poor, I hate being so far away from the action.
I hate feeling so goddamn helpless and useless...
Sometimes I wish I was still in NC...then I wouldn't be so fuckin far away from DC...
FUCK!
Let's see how the media covers this if they cover it at all.
they will cover it.
If we could only get a critical mass of fed up sheep in these here United Oligarchies of Mehrka to "Ram" up and look beyond the border and realize what opportunities have been shunned here for so long now, in comparison to other more 'enlightened' societies showing far more positive results for all- (We presently stand at 36th or something)- How do you ignite the outrage? Isn't enough already enough?!
Does anyone really think a half-million furious health-care protestors around the Capitol wouldn't draw cops and agents provocateurs by the hundreds?
Unfortunately the only chance we have to "win" on this IS if the "establishment" starts shooting at the citizenry...
I think if it's a non-violent protest...and the damn anarchist assholes are weeded out before they start ruining it for everyone...then maybe it would get some positive attention.
I think that's the key...gotta keep the anarchists out.
That said...we CAN still make a ruckus...just don't destroy anything.
Protests do not work.
We need to become sophisticated citizen lobbyists and ORGANIZE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
We need to make appointments with ALL the Congresspersons, regardless of their positions.
We need to do this in a Nationally organized fashion where it becomes an international media event.
They all need to receive copies of "Sicko" and our positions need to be very clear:
We support Conyers H.R. 676, "Medicare for All".
I've tried to get various organizations to help me make this happen, but to no avail.
I'm in the middle of the freakin' Berkshires and I'm about to make a sign and go stand at the Rotary to see if I can attract a few people to get this thing off the ground.
The clock is ticking folks.
We need to do WHAT THEY DO NOT WANT US TO DO!!!!
Another useless "protest" in D.C. where no one shows up and a few signs are left strewn all over is what they WANT us to do!!!
Hello??!
...idea but the real issue is that the MSM is controlled by monied interests who don't want universal health care and whether we believe it or not, "who controls media, controls the people". That, combined with those who are fat, dumb and happy (way too many) and just don't give a shit as long as they're getting theirs will be too much to overcome I'm afraid.
But we can find ways to circumvent those obstacles can't we?
Come on now...we're goddamn AMERICANS for fucks sake...that used to mean something good didn't it?
We HAVE to fix our country.
...for YSB to post this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCHTzumpk4Q&fe...
Couldn't resist, but you're absolutely right LNM.
The ghoulish party is over in America. How clearly can we tell them that? The American people have been tapped out after 25 years of rabid Neoconservative theft. There was a class war and the trans-national corporations got everything. So what happens to people who don't pay? Do I understand they try to get it out of income tax? WHEN THERE JUST ISN'T ANY MORE MONEY, WHAT THEN? Debtor prison? We get a sickly class working in the newly lucrative prison industry businesses for pennies/day?
I think Congress, and obviously some state legislatures, need to get slapped up 'long side the head and told _really_ seriously that THE PARTY'S OVER. Health care funding means some other corrupt contractors' profits (war industry anyone?) get bitten into to pay for it. This can NOT be yet another scheme to bleed the people.
A lot of the changes are temporary fixes in an economic crisis that will correct themselves - in 2 years, many of the people that came on the rolls will have jobs again and be off. Also, people aren't being denied enrollment, just not automatically being enrolled. As for dental, that got cut for lots of people years ago and it's not as if they could afford it without the state help.
Also, they do have the option to raise Commonwealth Care payments - MassHealth is the free healthcare, CC is subsidized. So I pay $39 a month, raise it to $49 if it keeps the program intact. It's still cheap at that price.
So, what a shocker, the system isn't perfect and Republicans try their best to hijack it. It's still there, this is not such a big deal in context of living in the state and the way the program was run prior to this economy and as long as it continues to exist, it will weather the storm and people will continue to be provided for. Could it be better? Yeah, of course. But as near as I can tell, it's a hell of a lot better than what any other state has - and on a federal level, this is tons better than what we currently have ... which would be nothing.
Single Payer. All the successful countries have some form of single payer.
will fail to do what it is supposed to do?
Why should we invest our pitifully tiny stash of political capital on a program that, even under the OPTIMUM conditions, cannot do what needs to be done?
And why has that shit-stick Obama stuck us with it?
As long as insurance companies are involved it will cost 35% more then it would other wise.
And that doesn't count the bribe money it takes to get the senators and congress critters to keep things just the way they are right now.
Here is a list of elected people taking payoffs to cheat the American people and the amounts of bribes being taken. This is just from health care and insurance.
It is mind boggling to think how much these people are taking from others!
Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $4,026,933)
Max Baucus (DLC- MT- $2,833,731)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $2,758,468)
And when you just go right to Big Insurance, the non-presidential candidates who got the biggest legalized bribes were the 7 senators who have been tasked with the job of killing single-payer:
Ben Nelson (DLC-NE- $1,196,799)
Max Baucus (DLC- MT- $1,184,113)
Joe Lieberman (DLC- CT- $1,036,302)
Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $1,035,530)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY- $981,400)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $929,207)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA- $884,724)
We need to investigate and prosecute these criminals now. Severe jail terms are in order for these criminals!
republicanism is a mental illness!
almost $3 MILLION in bribes from Health Insurance Parasites?
I'd say his objectivity was compromised.
No nation deserves to call itself "humane" in which the health of its citizens is subordinated to the wealth of its elites.
Man he looks like he needs either some serious medicating or therapy.
He still looks like the type that would rip your throat out if you offended his little big ego. (Or tossed a wrench into his personal agenda)
.
I just don't understand why anyone gives a shit about what the republicans have to say about anything.
This is what happens with "bipartisan," market-friendly compromise: Band-aid solutions that can't handle a massive load.
-------------------
A massive load cannot be handled during an economic depression. It is called math. Deflation is the destruction of money and credit. Every inflation results in a deflation. A government solution can no more handle a massive load, than a market friendly compromise. 1+1 always = 2. the government cannnot force it to = 3.
... that is a specious argument fueled by intellectual dishonesty. Nothing mathematical about it...
Single Payer. All the successful countries have some form of single payer.
--------------
How successful will they be in an economic depression, or even more so, in a Great Depression?
Kind of like asking, "What kind of mileage will my car get when it's going over a cliff?"
But when the straw man argument is all you have..
RonJ, nothing really works at its best efficiency in a Great Depression. Not even the simple corner grocery store is successful in a Great Depression. Should we therefore not have grocery stores because the worst case scenario just might happen someday if a lot of fail-safes fail all at once?
... so what were you saying?
MA's solution was a public mandate with NO public option. Yes, there are subsidies, but they are subsidies to help buy private insurance which is intrinsically flawed. Private insurance was created to produce profits, not health care. If health care is the goal, profits HAVE to stop being the motivator.
Only a public plan can run without the need to build profits at the expense of paying for needed care. A public option with a risk pool made up of mainly those who can't afford private insurance is not necessarily going to work. Though the public option will likely attract a wide swath of purchasers from various income groups and health levels.
However the ONLY real way to structure insurance to produce health care payments and not profits efficiently and effectively is a Single Payer system where the risk pool is THE ENTIRE POPULATION spreading the risk so wide as to make it possible to pay for ALL needed care while costing us all less.
The ONLY obligation legal or otherwise that a corporation has is to maximize profits for its shareholders. Nothing else matters to them. And they are legally responsible for only making profits. Don't expect anything from them unless you own stock in them.
Where's the talking point to refute this evidence of how insurers screw their own customers?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
Lots of talk here and now time for action. There's a strong and united and uncompromising coalition of groups centered around passing HR 676, the single payer bill already in Congress with 83 signers. Show up in DC or even closer to home on July 30. Find and follow the details at Healthcare-NOW. With enough noise, pressure, and persistence we can get this done, but we have to leave the comfort of our computer screens. Ready?
Nothing less. Demand it, over and over again. Keep writing to your representatives and the White House. Sign Bernie Sanders's petition. Support H.R. 676. Keep up the pressure. Write to these bozos every single day. Be a thorn in their sides until they listen.
We must get in their faces at the local level.
I know, I did it in L.A. back in 1991 with the Persian Gulf War.
We were so frustrated with Rep. Mel Levine's upcoming vote for a use of force (against the entire left-wing "People's Republic of Santa Monica" district), that we got a group of activists together and walked into his local office out by LAX.
He wasn't "available" to talk to us so you know what we all did? WE SAT DOWN.
And we stayed for 4 days and 3 nights. He was planning on running for the Senate so he wasn't in the mood to have us all arrested, so he had his staff play nice with us. We had pizza's delivered, did all night talk radio on KABC with Ray Briehm fielding calls from Angelenos. People gradually got wind of where we were and a vigil started outside his office.
Supporters of the sit-in delivered food and blankets to us.
Sadly, when we left he still voted FOR a use of force against the whole district. But happily he ended up losing in his Senate race and hasn't run for anything since.
...just a regular 'ol rabble rouser. Good for you. If we could get enough people to go to DC and do something similar, maybe we could open some eyes (and minds).
It just boggles my mind when I see all of the crack-brained, convoluted, and uneccessarily complex schemes the White House and the legislature keep cooking up in the name of "Reform". These are supposed to be smart people, yet they can't seem to settle on anything that isn't destined to fall apart years after it's implemented. Do they honestly think all of us are that stupid?
Single-payer is the simplest, most logical choice, but it's not up for consideration because the insurance industry, which espouses the virtues of the so-called free market, knows damned good and well that they'll lose their advantage in a real healthcare system.
.
I can say Deval Patrick is useless as a governer of my state- Mittens was actually preferable...
Patrick has ZERO chance of being re-elected. His solution to everything is more tolls on the highway
►[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW0JtPsAsXc ] √
The reason single payer is no longer on the table is not because our representatives are greedy, its because they understand universal healthcare cannot work in this country for a number of reasons;
1. We are much less healthy than other countries making UHC much more expensive
2. We have many fewer doctors relative to the number of patients in the US, meaning greater wait times than in Canada France etc
3. Medical school is not free in the US, meaning we must pay doctors more than in Canada, France, etc
4. We cannot afford it...other countries aren't 10 trillion in debt and managing two wars
5. Why would we extend medicare to everyone when medicare itself is doomed to failure within the next 10-20 years
Never mind then. But we cannot just leave things the way the are. We must compensate the health insurance industry for our audacity, as well as Big Pharma, the advertising industry, and the lobbying groups, especially the AMA. What were we clothy-headed idiots thinking? How selfish we all are. How about giving the corporations the entire country and all of our money. Maybe we should all just kill ourselves and save you the trouble. How does that work for you?
but universal option is not the solution. Instead we should work to lower costs...tort reform, greater regulation of insurance/pharma industry, loan forgiveness to primary care physicians, and AMERICANS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR PERSONAL LIFESTYLES...who wants to pay higher taxes for all the obese lazy people in this country? Really have you looked at elementary kids lately? Its embarrassing and only getting worse. Statistically %40 of you reading this are obese let alone just unhealthy, so do us all a favor and take responsibility for yourself!
And your sarcasm does not offer any solutions to the above problems with universal health care.
Obama says the cost of inaction will be too great, where have we heard this before? The stimulus bill that was supposed to keep unemployment under 8%, doesn't look like that worked. And you guys accuse repubs of scare tactics. Take a second to think about the consequences of what is being discussed. Why do you think he is trying to force this through so quickly? Healthcare is not going to implode by October, its clear that the more people learn about what's being discussed the more they question whats on the table...what do you think happened to universal healthcare? Obama doesn't even support it anymore. I'm not saying we should do nothing, I'm just asking that those demanding single payer right now need to take more time to consider the complexity of the issue and not just demand free healthcare, which btw is not free...
Sorry to disappoint you, but you are not the first troll to come here and spout the exact same trash. Don't you people coordinate your efforts? And you can post your canned rant here 45 times under 45 different topics, and no one will believe or agree with you. Single-payer. You don't define it. No one wants anything for free, except the insurance industry. All you gravy train passengers, here comes the conductor looking for paid tickets.
I didn't know offering an opposing view was trolling and telling someone they're wrong without any reasons isn't...
(see your first two posts, and do the research yourself) goes beyond "offering an opposing view," you know that and your representing yourself as doing only that is very disingenuous on your part.
Kinda trolly IMHO
I posted this on another link at C&L; please share this with as many people as you can. Funny how now we have everything Obama said we needed to have in place for Single Payer... so, why can't we have it? (rhetorical question; I know why.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAyan1fXCE
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