The Health Care Debate Comes to Woodstock
Editor's note: Last night's 'Town Hall' on health care at the Academy was well attended and it is good to see these informational meetings close to home. The problem is that the information is overwhelming and cannot be covered in a one or two hour meeting. While many of us know that the current system is unsustainable, including the current Medicare/Medicaid structure, we also feel it is important to fully understand the ramifications of such an undertaking; this cannot happen by listening to our representatives at such a meeting. The only way to understand it is to read the bill for yourself and follow the changes- see the link below...
Most of the following compilation was provided by the FCTO.
CONNECTICUT STATE TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING OVER $5 BILLION FOR HEALTHCARE IN 2009!
August 7, 2009, the State’s Insurance Department will rule on Anthem’s 22% to 30% Rate Request Increase!
The healthcare debate has been fueled with passion by both those who support a reformed national healthcare policy and those who are opposed.
Relevant to the debate should be what taxpayers on a local, state and national level are currently paying for government subsidized healthcare as costs continue to escalate.
In Connecticut, state taxpayers are paying over $5 billion to provide healthcare to prisoners, state employees, state retirees, Medicaid recipients, and others as the following chart illustrates.
Anthem Rate Increase:
Tomorrow, August 7, 2009, the State’s Insurance Department will rule on Anthem’s 22% to 30% Rate Request Increase!On July 8, 2009 newspapers reported that State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had joined with others to protest the request of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut to the State Insurance Department for a 22% to 30% percent rate increase which would impact 55,000 Connecticut residents. Blumenthal not only denounced the size of the increase but stated "Equally unconscionable is (the) proposed effective date of Oct. 1, giving consumers less than three months to find less expensive, viable alternatives." Newspapers also reported that "According to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, WellPoint, Anthem’s Indianapolis-based parent company, reported net income of $580.4 million in the first quarter of 2009 and recorded total assets of $49.4 billion. "The rate increase is particularly concerning given that Angela Braly, CEO of Anthem’s parent company, Wellpoint, received over $9.8 million in compensation in 2008 alone....."
|
Department |
Amount |
|
CME49500 Off of the Chief Med Examiner |
5,666,108 |
|
DDS50000 Dept Of Developmental Services |
970,321,477 |
|
DPH48500 Department of Public Health |
101,058,573 |
|
HCA49000 Office of Health Care Access |
2,154,414 |
|
MHA53000 Mental Health & Addiction Svcs |
582,994,915 |
|
PSR56000 Psych Security Review Board |
344,474 |
|
Medicaid- State Share |
1,925,845,400 |
|
HUSKY Program- State Share |
14,174,856 |
|
Pharmacy Assistance Elderly |
31,464,032 |
|
DISH Hospital Payments |
105,935,000 |
|
Hospital Medical Emergency Assistance |
53,725,000 |
|
Urban Hospitals |
31,550,000 |
|
Hospital Hardship |
7,952,900 |
|
Medicare Part D supplement |
25,264,058 |
|
State Employees Health Service |
489,278,029 |
|
Retired State Employees Health Services |
434,565,329 |
|
UCONN Health Center |
127,706,498 |
|
Retired Teachers-Medicare Supplement |
14,548,169 |
|
Retired Teachers Health Town Subsidy |
7,885,215 |
|
Prison Inmate Medical Services |
103,194,273 |
|
Psychiatric Clinics for Children |
14,127,881 |
|
Total |
5,049,756,602 |
Healthcare options for State employees and more…
http://www.osc.state.ct.us/empret/indxhlth.htm***************
On a Federal level
, in 2008, Taxpayers paid approximately $15 Billion to insure 8.5 million Federal workers and their dependents.http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-benefits2-2009aug02,0,7524121.story
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On a Local level
, taxpayers are paying approximately 80% to 85% of the healthcare premiums for Town and Board of Education employees and their families not only during their employment but upon retirement.***************
Pew Study Finds States Face $2.73 Trillion Bill for Retiree Benefits
Washington, D.C. - 12/18/2007View the
Full Report and the individual state and national fact sheets.States have promised at least $2.73 trillion in pension, health care and other retirement benefits for public employees over the next three decades, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States. Promises with a Price, the first 50-state analysis of its kind, finds that states have saved enough to cover about 85 percent of their long-term pension costs, but only 3 percent of the funds needed for promised retiree health care and other non-pension benefits. All told, states already have set aside about $2 trillion to meet their long-term obligations. But they still need to come up with about $731 billion—a conservative figure that does not include all costs for teachers and local government employees.
View the Pew report:
http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=32368Pew reports on Connecticut pensions, retiree healthcare, etc….
http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/State_policy/FINAL_Connecticut.pdf
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Want to Know? Read the Bill.
National Healthcare Bill: H.R.3200
Click to Access:
HR3200: America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Congress' Own Health Care Benefits: Membership Has Its Privileges
Mark Z. Barabak and Faye Fiore, The Los Angeles Times: "Lawmakers can choose among several plans and get special treatment at federal medical facilities. In 2008, taxpayers spent about $15 billion to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents." Continued: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-benefits
2-2009aug02,0,7524121.story
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The Associated Press: Lobbyists the silver lining in health care storm? July 25, 2009 ... Health care companies poured $484 million into lobbying efforts . …The industry groups have invested heavily to make sure their views get taken into account. The health care sector gave $167 million in campaign contributions to congressional candidates in the 2008 election cycle, according to the watchdog group OpenSecrets.org. Health care companies poured $484 million into lobbying efforts in 2008, and are on pace to exceed that this year. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5igfa8hbGjdOo8cuFoH1aPuwmHBWwD99LG6BO0
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From The National Taxpayers Union
The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) denounces Healthcare Bill-
http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=4801View NTU
YouTube video which promotes a Call to Action.House Democrats' Health Plan Contains Words of Coercion — not Choice — Text Analysis Shows
http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=1108&org_name=NTUF**************
Whistleblower tells of America's hidden nightmare for its sick poor
Wendell Potter can remember exactly when he took the first steps on his journey to becoming a whistleblower and turning against one of the most powerful industries in America. It was July 2007 and Potter, a senior executive at giant US healthcare firm Cigna, was visiting relatives in the poverty-ridden mountain districts of northeast Tennessee. He saw an advert in a local paper for a touring free medical clinic at a fairground just across the state border in Wise County, Virginia.Potter, who had worked at Cigna for 15 years, decided to check it out. What he saw appalled him. Hundreds of desperate people, most without any medical insurance, descended on the clinic from out of the hills. People queued in long lines to have the most basic medical procedures carried out free of charge. Some had driven more than 200 miles from Georgia. Many were treated in the open air. Potter took pictures of patients lying on trolleys on rain-soaked pavements. Continued at: htt
p://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/26/us-healthcare-obama-barack-changeSee him interviewed on Moyers: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07312009/watch.html
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HEALTHCARE: POINT, COUNTER POINT…..
Commentary:
Health bill could handicap small businessesStory Highlights By John Boehner, Special to CNN
John Boehner: Small businesses have provided jobs and benefits to many
Story Highlights:
He says Democratic plan for health care could eliminate jobs.
He says small companies could opt to drop coverage for employees.
Boehner: Republican plan would build on what works in health care.
Rep. John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, is the House minority leader.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Before I was elected to Congress, I ran a small plastics packaging business in Cincinnati, Ohio, providing products and services, creating jobs and meeting payroll.
Thanks to the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which shields employers who offer benefits to their employees from being pummeled by laws that vary from state to state, I was also able to offer health care and pension benefits to my employees.
As every small-business owner knows, this can be quite a balancing act, but I count it as one of the most rewarding times of my life — a time that led to my service in Congress. Continued at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/31/boehner.health.care/index.html?eref=rss_topstoriesCommentary:
Health reform too good to pass up By Steny HoyerSpecial to CNN July 30, 2009
Story Highlights
Rep. Steny Hoyer: Health reform is an opportunity too good to miss. He says Democratic plan will provide peace of mind for patients. He says it will provide affordable coverage and quality care. Hoyer: If reform fails, we'll be left with broken system we can't afford
Editor's note: Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, is the House majority leader.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — History shows that the chance to reform the American health care system is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. So reform is absolutely worth the time it takes to get it right.
That's why Democrats are subjecting their plan to bring affordable health care to all Americans to intense scrutiny, and that's why we're going home to hear from our constituents, adding to the more than 550 health care town hall meetings and public events that have already taken place this year.
But there is also a distinct urgency to our work — an urgency fired by an understanding that the most disastrous health plan is a simple extension of the status quo.
If reform splutters, we'll be left with a broken, unsustainable system, with health costs set to double over the next 10 years, and millions of more Americans projected to lose their coverage. As rising costs and rapidly-consolidating insurance giants strip coverage from more middle-class families, the costs of inaction will mount every year. Continued at: ht
tp://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/31/hoyer.health.reform/index.html?eref=rss_topstories*************************
The Hidden Truth Behind Drug Company Profits
Johann Hari, The Independent UK, August 5, 2009: "This is the story of one of the great unspoken scandals of our times. Today, the people across the world who most need life-saving medicine are being prevented from producing it. Here's the latest example: factories across the poor world are desperate to start producing their own cheaper Tamiflu
to protect their populations - but they are being sternly told not to. Why? So rich drug companies can protect their
patents - and profits. There is an alternative to this sick system, but we are choosing to ignore it."
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-hidden-truth-behind-drug-company-profits-1767257.html
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Following the Money in the Health Care Debate
, New York Times, ….. Mr. Obama’s proposal is only one of many that await Congress as it wrestles with how to rein in exploding health care costs while taking care of the country’s nearly 50 million uninsured. The size and complexity of the issue are daunting. To help understand what’s going on, you need to follow the money.Roughly $2.5 trillion is at stake, the amount the nation spends each year on health care, nearly a fifth of the American economy. How that money is divided up — or prevented from rising at its current pace — is at the center of the debate. Many doctors, insurance companies and drug companies say they fear that their revenues could shrink significantly and patient care could be threatened. Continued: ht
tp://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/weekinreview/14abelson.html?_r=1
I attended last evening's meeting. The video you show is a good example of how the evening went. Joe's body guard, the man in the black shirt, spoke to us (the crowd), yet never had a question for Mr. Courtney. Those of us who had questions which challenged the Courtney opinion on healthcare (single-payer), were rushed to finish their comment and get to their questions, yet, Joe the Bouncer, was allowed to speak with a glowing opinion of Joe C. without the same demands. He also referenced Sherri Vogt's remarks, that, after having served our country in the military, she can't understand how her handicapped child doesn't get cheaper care. Sherri asked the audience how we could be so uncaring as to not want everyone to have health insurance! She can't understand our thinking! (Of course, the floor wasn't opened so that we could have a discussion on that topic.) But it all comes down to $$$$$, and the oft-repeated comment/question as to where in the constitution does it say that all are guaranteed health insurance. Who will pay for everyone's pre-existing conditions as well as cover the 60 million uninsured as the WDTC chair claims there are? Sherri, dear, money does not just appear. As it is, our country is in huge debt, like we've never seen before. Reform is where it's at. Tort reform and free markets i.e. freedom for us to choose and shop for our own insurance, unrestricted.
Joe C. was great at dodging and not answering the difficult questions.
It was requested that each of us sign in with our name, address, etc. and then wear a name tag with our name, and town. I had read that this was part of these town hall strategies. To get people to tell who they are for intimidation and compliance purposes. There was someone video-taping from the sidelines, and also took pictures of each section of the crowd. The WDTC and others of like-mind took up the first several rows. Some rows were reserved for them. There was SRO in the back. Probably 250 people there. Although the WDTC chair said that our questions would be answered, they often were simply dodged. Joe was well protected. He didn't have to answer. I didn't feel assured that Joe 'got' it. Although he did express to us the fact that he didn't believe we were as the media presents us to be 'organized' and paid to attend these, he certainly did not do a lot to express his understanding for our true concerns on this health care bill.
They spent a lot of time with speakers who appeared to talk on and on about personal health issues, as in Woe is Me. We felt like saying ladies, we all have problems. Get on with it! Go to Canada if you don't like it here! This was clearly a strategy to waste time so that there was less time for questions, as the event was only from 630p to 8p. Questions weren't begun til 715p or so.
Thanks to Dr. Wesler and Dr. Yeager for driving home the fact that part of what is needed is tort reform. Without that, there will be no hope for true reform.
I know that Drug companies and Insurance Companies control Medicine, one needs to keep switching doctors to find the one who puts the patient first.
People, are you sure you want State and Federal Govenorment to be added to the list of controllers? We all know how the State and Federal Govenorment is run!
Is this just a joke?