With the news today coming out that the most recent gallup poll stunningly uncovered the fact that Americans want the best health care but don’t want to pay for it, came shock and disbelief albeit only from people that were stranded on a desert. 

“The poll of 3,026 adults, surveyed Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of +/—2 percentage points. Some questions, asked of half the sample, have an error margin of +/—3 points.  By 56%-33%, those surveyed endorse the idea of enacting major health care changes this year. Just one in four say it’s not important to them.   When it comes to financing the costs, six of 10 favor the idea of requiring employers to provide health insurance for their workers or pay a fee instead. Increasing income taxes on upper-income Americans, an approach backed by House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is endorsed by 58%. Just over half support taxing sugary soft drinks.  By 53%-43%, though, those surveyed oppose taxing health care benefits above a certain level — Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., had floated that idea — and even more are against cutting Medicare costs, a provision of House and Senate plans.” from the USA Today Gallup poll.

The fact that this survey was actually paid for by a public company was more shocking to me,” said Captain Obvious of Iknewit, Florida.  Perhaps the greatest idea came from the Gallup poll writers themselves when they decided to go home for the day and stop asking silly questions.

This reminded me of a terrific book I read called the “Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klien, a truly thought provoking book, quite the opposite of a Gallup poll.  Her book is based on historical facts and statistics that were used by the Chicago School of Economics to shock nations into globalization.  This allowed US companies to go into these poor, often battered companies and buy everything from the workers to their public utilities.  The reason why many of these countries were so poor was because they were often “spoiled” by social programs they couldn’t afford.  The IMF and the large corporations would then only loan money to remake the countries if the politicians would agree to open up global trade (which allowed the international companies to go in and buy everything that was attached) and repeal any and all social programs.  Largely, these countries of course suffered immensely worse then before the IMF had gone into the countries and after 5-10 years the local currency etc. would start to gain traction and the economy were modernized into a model of capitalism. 

The parallel between these countries (mostly Latin American and Middle Eastern) and our country today is that we are on the precipice of a truly awful economic decline and polls like the one by Gallup confirm that we as Americans want everything but won’t sacrifice anything to get it.    Of course the politicians will still promise and deliver these programs to us without regard to cost or anything else as long as they are elected time and again.  And the ugly truth of the book (which is pointedly liberal) is that we going to need to be shocked out of these habits in order to “reset” the economy.  All social programs and anything else that causes deficits and debt will have to be abandoned and then started all over again. 

As the most productive nation on earth, this future can certainly be avoided by making good decisions like Socialized HealthCare but cuts will have to be made elsewhere!   But just like after all the recessions that Greenspan avoided by messing with the interest rates (which is causing a larger, more impending crash which will combine all the past recessions as bills from these prior mistakes have never been absorbed, just deferred) and like we are doing again, now by avoiding the current recession and spending money that just doesn’t even exist, this final bill is going to come due.  And it is coming due. And when other countries wake up and stop financing our debts, as they wake up to the notion that is impossible for us to pay them back. When? I have no idea.  But the first part of it is happening already as the dollar continues to decline and China is slowing  its ridiculous purchase of our treasuries.   I am willing to give up my job for the good of this country and if we all do something painful it can help defray some of the pain that is coming, what are you willing to do?

Continue Reading

After goofing around at the Google knol trolling for backlinks etc. I found this article which I had seen earlier about health care costs and what in the name of the Good Lord’s favorite tv show is going on!  If you are really, really interested then I suggest you go and read this Google Knowl on Health Reform by Ezekiel Chang.

Ok I admit it is pretty boring if you are not into health insurance and health reform as it certainly statistical and I honestly made it through it myself, but it is an amazing article nonetheless as it answer some of the questions that we continually pose here on this blog.

Continue Reading

Below is a CNN article about the amount of people that are estimated to die from a lack of health insurance coverage.  Pretend for a moment, if you are against the health reform movement, that you are watching a family member die from this same situation.  If you then remark that had they been more responsible they would have had insurance, then you should not even be on this website, as it is not suitable for you.

Again, there is nobody that should be denied health insurance regardless of health or wealth.  If you cannot afford basic health insurance then you have a right as an American to receive public assistance.  My personal tax dollars should go directly to insuring these people.  Now if you have no insurance and think you don’t need it, you deserve a good smack, but even your current stupidity should not lead to your lifetime exclusion from health insurance.  No one should be penalized for bad judgement even those against health reform.

Those against the public option however are also deficient in judgement as they cannot understand the necessity of health reform.  I am a Republican (though I don’t identify with the current party which in fact by its very nature breed corruption and deregulation in the name of progress) who believes that without socializing medicine, you are in fact sentencing the United States economy to a future of poverty.  This is sure to be the most painful depression anyone has ever seen.  So to put it more plainly, I am against the public option.  The public option does not go far enough in controlling these costs from health care which seem to be escalating faster than Asian population growth.   The only answer is to socialize (this is not a bad word, certain things which effect the public health cannot be turned over to a public corporation who by its very definition will need to make a profit from your suffering) medicine period.  This is the only way to rein in spending.

45,000 American deaths associated with lack of insurance Story Highlights •Study calculated that the uninsured have a 40 percent higher risk of death

•An expecting father worried about ER cost and died from ruptured appendix

•Previous research also shows uninsured are more at risk than insured updated 10:57 a.m.

EDT, Fri September 18, 2009Next Article in Health »

By Madison Park CNN (CNN) — A freelance cameraman’s appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late. A self-employed mother of two is found dead in bed from undiagnosed heart disease. A 26-year-old aspiring fashion designer collapsed in her bathroom after feeling unusually fatigued for days. Paul Hannum’s family members say he probably would’ve gone to the hospital earlier if he had had health insurance.

What all three of these people have in common is that they experienced symptoms, but didn’t seek care because they were uninsured and they worried about the hospital expense, according to their families. All three died. Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person is uninsured, “it means you’re at mortal risk,” said one of the authors, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers examined government health surveys from more than 9,000 people aged 17 to 64, taken from 1986-1994, and then followed up through 2000. They determined that the uninsured have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those with private health insurance as a result of being unable to obtain necessary medical care. The researchers then extrapolated the results to census data from 2005 and calculated there were 44,789 deaths associated with lack of health insurance. For years, Paul Hannum didn’t have health insurance while he worked as a freelance cameraman in southern California. One Sunday, Hannum complained of a stomachache which alarmed his pregnant fiancée, Sarah Percy. “He wasn’t a complainer,” she said. “He’s the type of guy who, if he got a cold, he’ll power through it. I never had known him to complain about anything.”

Hannum thought he had a stomach flu or food poisoning from bad chicken. On Monday, his brother saw him looking ashen and urged him to go to the hospital. “He had a little girl on the way,” his older brother Curtis Hannum said. “He didn’t want the added burden of an ER visit to hang on their finances. He thought ‘I’ll just wait,’ and he got worse and worse.” Don’t Miss Health care negotiators finding common ground, Democrat says Obama: More uninsured than you think Health Care in America By the time Hannum got to the hospital and was admitted to surgery, it was too late.

Paul Hannum, 45, died on Thursday, August 3, 2006, from a ruptured appendix. His daughter, Cameron was born two months later. Other studies have indicated that the uninsured are at greater risk of mortality than the insured.

A 2007 study from The American Cancer Society found that uninsured cancer patients are 1.6 percent more likely to die within five years of their diagnosis than those with private insurance. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine estimated that lack of health insurance caused about 18,000 deaths every year. The latest findings come amid the fierce debate over health care reform in the U.S. Two authors of the Harvard study, Himmelstein and Dr. Steffie Woolhandler are co-founders of the Physicians for a National Health Program, which supports government-backed “single-payer” health coverage.

The National Center for Policy Analysis, which backs “free-market” health care reform, calls the Harvard research flawed. “The findings in this research are based on faulty methodology and the death risk is significantly overstated,” said John C. Goodman, the president of the NCPA in a statement. But Goodman did note there is “a genuine crisis of the uninsured in this country.” The lead author of the Harvard study, Dr. Andrew Wilper said he’s confident in his and his colleagues’ estimates. “It’s consistent with the vast body of literature that has found reasonably similar findings,” said Wilper, instructor in internal medicine at the University of Washington. “There’s broad agreement in the health literature regarding this point.” Wilper said there is often fear from those, including his own grandmother, who don’t feel well but avoid the hospital because it could mean financial catastrophe.

For 10 years, Sue Riek suffered from back pain, but couldn’t afford medical care. When a mid-life divorce left her single and without health insurance, Riek started a home-business selling make-up on eBay to support herself and her two daughters. Riek, who lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, didn’t qualify for Medicaid. And she couldn’t afford a $5,000 monthly insurance premium, said her eldest daughter, Kaytee Riek. “I don’t know if she felt trapped, but it was a constant in her life — struggling outside the health care system to exist,” her daughter said. Riek took comfort in her faith and regularly attended church.

Then one Sunday, she didn’t show up. The next day, September 3, 2007, her daughter received the call telling her that her 51-year-old mother died from undiagnosed heart disease — a condition treatable with lifestyle changes, medication and certain medical procedures. “I feel incredibly strongly that she would still be alive if she had been able to regularly see a doctor,” said her daughter. It has become lethal to be uninsured, said Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard.

“If you can get good primary care for your high blood pressure, your high cholesterol, diabetes — those don’t have to be lethal conditions,” she said. “If you fail to get good ongoing primary care, you may end up with complications and even death.” The ranks of the uninsured have grown, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It says the number of Americans without health insurance rose to 46.3 million last year, up from 45.7 million in 2007. The percentage of the uninsured remained at 15.4 percent. Young adults are more likely to be uninsured. Elizabeth Machol, 25, told her mother she felt tired. She had just moved into a new apartment in Santa Rosa, California, with her boyfriend and thought the fatigue was from the move and her cat Bert, who would keep her up at night. Health Library MayoClinic.com: Heart-healthy diet — 7 steps to prevent heart disease MayoClinic.com: Appendicitis Her mother, Marlena Machol told her to go to the doctor’s office, but Machol was reluctant. Machol worked at a movie theater and didn’t have health insurance. Her parents were still paying her medical bills from a previous condition and she was worried about the cost.

A few days after their phone conversation, Machol collapsed in the bathroom. She never regained consciousness. One day after her 26th birthday, Machol was declared brain dead. After signing papers to donate her organs, her parents kissed her face, held her hands and said goodbye to the daughter who had played the violin, organized her own fashion show and taught neighborhood kids how to swim. The coroner’s office could not determine the cause of death.

Six years after her death on September 22, 2003, her family wonders if things would’ve been different had she not feared the cost of going to the hospital. “Maybe they would’ve found out what’s wrong,” her mother said. “I don’t know if that would’ve saved her, but it would’ve been a chance to. There are people like Elizabeth — young people who are starting out in life and they don’t have options

Continue Reading

I Am a Hit At Parties – Or Health Reform Notes from the Dark-Side

I am Florida health insurance broker, and I am also an economic doomsday foreseer. Having a finance and accounting background, I have a very boring economic theory addiction, which means don’t invite me to your parties. I have read so many liberal and conservative books about the real estate crash lately, and one can surmise that the only concurrent conclusion is that the country is in serious economic peril in the near term. To fix the current economic problems we are spending money that hasn’t been made yet. A great deal of this money is currently budgeted on Medicare and other health programs including private and public health care. We are paying the bookie with next week’s paycheck, and perhaps this would be fine if we hadn’t been doing it for so long. With nearly all of the baby boomers getting ready to retire in the next few years health costs are set to explode!

Currently health care costs make up 14% of the economy and that number is expected to almost double within the next decade which will mean that health care and related fields will make up an estimated 1/3 of our GDP. If you include the legal profession, nearly 1/2 of our population will either be engaged in receiving or giving health and the rest will be busy suing them. The doomsday figures of course do not end there and if I wanted to give you nightmares, I would recommend Peter Schiff’s excellent books on this subject (do not read before bed).

As a online Florida health insurance broker, I am one of these guilty parties engaged in helping people get health care, and I can tell you that it is no picnic. Many of the people that call us have been laid off

and/or have some serious illness that precludes them from getting individual health insurance. This means that they either find a new job, or throw themselves onto the mercy of the government assistance programs, that are luckily more abundant than many people think. These people will need to basically be broke and have no assets to get on Medicaid, or hope that their local government provides a county health plan. In Miami, Florida they do have such a program at Jackson Health System and it is being overwhelmed right now with applicants. This program is actually amazing, and we are lucky to have it as option, though it operates at a substantial loss Miami-Dade county.

So, having bet my career on health insurance I am at a terrible crossroads. I had a choice, be like many brokers and scream bloody murder at the thought of a public health plan or try to seriously form an opinion divorcing myself from the equation. After seeing so many sad stories first hand, I am utterly convinced that Senator Ted Kennedy had it right when he said, “health insurance is a right, not a privilege.” The only way to fix the health care crises is to hand the whole mess to the government as the private companies are acting in their own best interest. Everyone, it seems act in their own best interest including health insurance brokers like me. This was the founding principle of capitalism and of our nation, so it can’t all be bad.

But there is a point when it gets bad. And I am sad to say that day has arrived, no it has come and gone. We live in a bad nightmare of capitalism in the health insurance industry. What did you expect to happen though, when you gave health insurance companies the right to deny everyone that didn’t fit their mold of healthy? I am not angry, nor am I surprised by this but I am comfortable with it, as there are people much smarter than you and I that already figured out all of this out hundreds of years ago. If the government lets powerful corporate entities set the national policy agenda they will of course act in their own best interest. If you let a Florida health insurance broker have a choice he will of course pick the status quo because it is in his interest to.

I am by no means suggesting a socialized health plan, nor am I advocating any specific health care solution. As much as I read and write about the problem, I have no earthly idea of how to fix it. Really I don’t, but it is not my job to. My job is to make sure that everyone in Florida that calls or contacts me has a chance to get either a private health insurance plan, or if that fails I want to be able to send them to a proper health care plan that will neither deny them for medical conditions, nor will it offer any less standard of medical care then the state politicians get.

Check out my recently published content on AC:

Health Reform and a Health Broker: A Love Story

Continue Reading

Meghan McCartan

It’s August, where do we stand?

We are a Florida health insurance company with an obvious vested interest in the outcome of this legislation but we want to see the right bill and not some mixed up piece of earmarked nonsense that is passed for political gain.

Originally, the August deadline was thrown around as the goal for a final health care reform bill. It’s August 21—where do we stand?

There’s no bill, at present, and Congress has left for a recess. Certainly, the summer in Washington, August in particular, is not usually a busy time for legislation, and there has been a lot more talk this August than any in recent memory. But where do we stand?

The Senate is now actually discussing trimming their original bill a great deal. They are looking to create a bill that can get bi-partisan support—which means it will not, likely, have the trillion dollar price tag of the President’s initial proposal, and would focus on providing affordable care at lower costs.

The House, chaired by Nancy Pelosi, is still advocating for the Public Option which has taken so much heat, of late—with Americans worried about footing the cost for a major spend, that will provide coverage for many currently uninsured Americans. The Public Option has also drawn a lot of criticism over worry about government takeovers; unfortunately, much of the debate has been taken over by fringe groups on both sides who aren’t necessarily focused on the issues at stake.

The President himself, who is now willing to concede the Public Option, has perhaps fared the worst in August; his stellar approval ratings are beginning to droop, a bit. Certainly, health care reform is a difficult issue—and the President’s ratings were quite high to begin with—but as the debate rages on (and “rage” is the appropriate term to use, especially in regard to some of the town hall meetings) the American public is beginning to doubt some of the President’s leadership—at least a portion of the public.

Nothing will happen over the next several weeks, as Congress recesses until after Labor Day. And leading lawmakers have refused to be pinned down to any deadlines. However, the fall will likely continue to be both busy, and contentious—with debate over mandates, the public option, and the overall costs of the reform of a broken system.

Update:  With the passing of Senator Kennedy who without doubt had the best interests of only the people in mind in his commitment to offer greater coverage to more people we seem perhaps even further than ever from either a reconciliation or even a half assed deal.  I had truly expected the latter a deal of interest groups that actually would end up hurting more Americans then it helped and choose winners and losers from the Washington lobbying groups.  Now I am unsure if even that will come true.

Again I do know one thing for certain and that is if we do not control medical costs we will bankrupt this nation faster than the original target bankruptcy date that many had predicted.  I do not know if we need reform until we can figure out why health insuance costs are rising over 12% per year.

Who is gaining from this?  I don’t even know for sure that is the health insurance companies because lets remember they work on margins and these margins are usually a few points so the only way they increase profits is to increase membership and expand into new areas of business etc.  I am not so certain about the health profession, and even less convinced that Washington and Wall Street are not complicit in this.  Wall Street can basically take any commodity and either short it excessively as to substantially change the price of it like oil going to $160 a barrel a couple of years ago.  Washington with all of its silly ear marks and useless legislation needs to pass a decent tort reform to control lawsuits not eliminate them and then put a cap on these costs and stop letting big Pharma who is certainly complicit in these costs as is the makers of surgical tools etc.

What we know for certain is that we want Floridians to get health coverage right now and you can by either going through us for a private plan or letting us help you at no charge find a free public assistance plan.

We want to help Florida and we want to become known as a true force in health reform and health legislation.  Buy Florida health insurance through us so we can help you Florida!

Continue Reading

Florida business and Group Health Insurance Premiums

Florida is already hurting from the recession like the rest of the country only worse because everyone knows that Florida is an exaggerated view of the rest of the country.  For example if you have a drug problem in Kentucky, well then in Florida you are probably already dead from an overdose.  Now with the lingering taste of businesses being mandated to offer health coverage, we are likely to see a large amount of additional out of business signs in Florida as many companies have been struggling to make their overhead.  Couple in the difficulty of obtaining business financing and you are looking at entirely unmanageable situation that could end up pushing the country headlong into a real depression, if we have of course not already been in one.
With the costs of Medicare and the more recent Medicare Drug Plan (which was really just an excuse for the President to rape America in the name of the pharmecutical industry since when do Republicans pass entitlement programs?)  getting so high in the next 5 years that the plans will literally run out of money how are we going to straddle the economy with another program which is in reality going to be bigger then the first two in scope and coverage?  We need to contain Medicare costs, get rid of the nonsensical Medicare drug plan which can be mimicked for free by ordering Canada Drugs, and then expand Medicaid with the savings to cover the uninsurable people who I meet everday in Florida with their health conditions not being manageable.  Then we need to offer coverage to those that can’t afford it as well but Medicaid is the last program that should be used for this.  Right now in Florida we have very effective county health plan that are not good enough to want to stay on but good enough to make sure everyone has a chance to have medical coverage.  Because the facts are if you make a public plan too good like when welfare paid out so much money, then people are less likely to stay on it.  The county health plans usually are amazingly good except that you have to wait to see a doctor (which is actually reminiscent of another health plan hmm which one was that again oh  yes Canada!) so if you are forced to get on this plan you will likely start your job hunt sooner then you had planned.  In the meantime lets not force our Florida business owners (me amongst them) to shut our doors because of some tax for a problem that the government created and now wants us to fix.

florida health reform

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… CY: wait… I: wait… YCat: wait… I: wait… Top: wait… I: wait… L: wait… C: wait…

Continue Reading

Follow Up To Article on Florida Health Insurance Reform

If I have to tell another 60 year old divorced female to go apply for medicaid or to try to get coverage through the county, I will go nuts. If you’ve been following the news then you know that everyday the health reform that is being discussed is seeming less and less likely. The only good news is that 30% of the uninsured Florida are probably eligible for social assistance and either don’t know how to get or or our too embarrassed to try. If you think you might be eligible for these plans then you should run to our website and call your South Florida county plan as well the medicaid and other program information that I’ve listed. Nearly every city in the South Florida tri county area has a free clinic which most of you don’t know.
Every day at http://www.ECHealthInsurance.com we get calls from people that want Florida Health Insurance coverage but can’t afford it, and more frequently cannot even get health coverage due to preexisting conditions. I want health reform alright, but I don’t want it for kids, or middle aged people, the people that need it the most are 60-65 and are middle class or are just “medically undesirable”, and can’t afford $1500 a month for a decent health insurance plan.
If you live in Florida we have compiled a list of every free and subsidized county plan so if you are don’t want to call us at 888.803.5917 you can visit our blog about Florida subsidized care @ http://www.echealthinsurance.com/blog/readthispag/
We are also promoting the new Miami Dade Blue plan and other low priced alternatives for people that want coverage but can’t afford the current policies in South Florida. We will even do a free one or two man group plan for you which pay no commissions or give you the papers to fill out for the Florida Health Insurance Company of your choice. August is open enrollment in Florida for 1 man groups, and I can tell you the individual health insurance companies hate these plans but they have to take you! So please get yourself coverage! For a free health insurance quote visit our quote page at http://www.echealthinsurance.com

Share this Post

Continue Reading

obama ramming us

In Florida where health insurance is so expensive we are literally in the trenches everyday and at least 40% of the people that call us or submit their health insurance information, for quotes are ineligible for health insurance.  Half of our business is referring people for free to the county health plans which are usually much more accessible then people think, and then pregnant women and immigrants get medicaid and then that’s called government.
www.ECHealthInsurance.com (888.803.5917) has all the latest health plans from private insurance companies in Florida and the county plans and all of their information online for free if you qualify.
Before health care reform can pass the first thing that needs to happen is to fix Medicare/Medicaid, how can you add a new government health insurance program when the first ones don’t work.  In fact, left alone according to the GAO, Medicare will bankrupt this country in the next 10 years as the baby boomers reach 65.  At the current situation plays out in Washington, should any legislation pass, all I can think is that it will be such a compromise and so watered down that it will make the current situation worse, which is very possible.  Just the way the Bush prescription plan added trillions of dollars to our future budget deficits and national debt.  If I’m a betting man, I’m betting against the US dollar and I would certainly not count on any health plan from Washington.  But at the same time if you are putting off getting health insurance waiting for Obama to give you some, you might end up qualifying for Medicare age anyways as you will be very old by the time any new health insurance plan from the government actually is available.

floridas healthy kid program

Share this Post

Continue Reading

The latest on health reform for Humana brokers

Here is the latest Humana One Health Insurance Reform Newsletter that all Brokers Received.  I post these for Florida Health Insurance clients to learn the inside information that the companies share with their agents.

July 8, 2009

No time to waste
It’s back to work for Congress. Senators and Representatives have returned to Washington after the week-long Fourth o f July recess, and health reform tops the agenda. But with just five weeks until Congress breaks again for most of August, many wonder whether lawmakers can meet their initial timetable.

That aggressive original schedule calls for the House and Senate to pass reform legislation before August 8, combine their measures in September, and deliver a health reform bill for the president’s signature by October 1. After that, many believe it will get increasingly difficult to pass health reform, as members of Congress start setting their sights on the 2010 mid-term elections.

All of which means the month of July will be critical. Three committees in the House and two in the Senate are working to advance reform as quickly as possible. Here’s what those committees have planned in the next two weeks:

• Three House committees with jurisdiction over health reform – Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means – are working together on a single bill.  The so-called Tri Committee plans to debate and amend its legislation during markup hearings scheduled for the week of July 13.
• The Senate Finance Committee hopes to release its bill sometime in the next week or two. Finance is taking longer than the other Senate committee as Democrats and Republicans continue negotiations aimed at reaching a bipartisan compromise.
• The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) last week re vised its Affordable Health Choices Act – see below – and hopes to complete markup by the end of this week.

The HELP and Finance Committees will combine their bills before bringing them to the floor of the Senate.

Senate HELP revises reform bill
Last week, the Senate HELP Committee unveiled a revised health reform bill that committee Democrats say will cost less and cover more people. But others say those cost estimates don’t tell the whole story.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the revised bill will cost roughly $611 billion over 10 years – far less than the $1 trillion pricetag CBO put on the original bill several weeks ago. CBO also says the bill would cover 21 million of the nation’s 46 million uninsured, but the bill’s sponsors say it would eventually cover 97 percent of all Americans. Download the CBO score.

The difference in cost between the original and revised bills is largely due to so-called “pay or play” penalties that employers would face for not offering health insurance to their workers. The initial payment would be $750 per year for each employee left uncovered. Employers with 25 or fewer employees would be exempt.

But, the CBO’s estimate did not=2 0include the cost of administering a government health plan to compete with private insurers, or the cost of expanding Medicaid and increasing physician reimbursements under Medicare – all of which could increase costs considerably.

Wal-Mart backs employer mandate
Meantime, Wal-Mart – the corporation that employs more workers than any other private enterprise – says the government should require employers to provide health insurance.

The retail giant announced its support for a so-called employer mandate in a letter to President Obama. It was signed jointly by the heads of Wal-Mart, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Center for American Progress.

“Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must make some contribution,” the letter reads. “We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to develop a requirement that is both sensible and equitable.”

Wal-Mart has drawn fire in recent years for restricting the coverage it provides to employees – for example, imposing waiting periods of up to two years, according to the Associated Press. Much of that criticism has come from SEIU.

The move may be an attempt by Wal-Mart to polish its image and head-off more restrictive legislation. Other business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have adamantly opposed an employer mandate, arguing it would make it harder for American companies to compete globally.

Live from Minnesota – a new Senator
Nearly eight months after Election Day, the court battle for Minnesota’s open Senate seat has come to an end. Last week, Democrat and former Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken declared victory following a state Supreme Court ruling in his favor.

“I am so excited to finally be able to get to work for the people of Minnesota,” Bloomberg News reported Franken as saying.

Franken’s opponent, incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, conceded the election after the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision. Franken won by just 312 votes.

The outcome gives Democrats an important 60-40 margin in the Senate, which could be critical as health care reform comes down to the wire. It means Democrats have the 60 votes they need to overcome a Republican filibuster – a legislative delay tactic – should bipartisan negotiations in the Senate break down.

In other words, Senate Democrats could proceed with little or no Republican support. Even if Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) or Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) can’t travel to Washington to cast votes (both are seriously ill), Democrats would only need one or two Republican votes to pass a health reform bill.

Franken told the Asso ciated Press that he expects to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would also give him a role in evaluating Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Obama goes online for town hall
Congress was on recess last week for the Fourth of July, but President Obama continued to press his case for health care reform. He held another town hall meeting last Wednesday, but with a twist: This time he appeared before a live audience in Annadale, Va., but also took questions from Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites.

He encouraged people to send questions. “Ultimately,” he said via a White House blog, “your engagement on this issue is just as important as that of our lawmakers. I’ve always believed that real change doesn’t come from Washington; it comes from the American people – and we won’t be able to reform without you.”

Continue Reading

Massachusetts passed a landmark health insurance law that they are hoping is going to be a standard that the rest of the country can follow. If you have not heard about this law then we want to help you become a bit more familiar with how it will work. Then we want to discuss some of the effects of the new health insurance law in Massachusetts. Health insurance is a big topic of discussion these days. Make sure that you know as much as possible about it so you can be prepared when this topic arises in your life. It is a very important issue.

Basics of the Mass. Heath Insurance Reform

If you live in Massachusetts then you know that you had to have to have health insurance by the end of the year (2007) or you would face a penalty when tax time came each year. Businesses that have at least 11 employees must make sure that they pay a fair share of the cost of insurance or they will face penalties. If you cannot get health insurance then there are free, subsidized programs that will help you with it.

The Results of This Law

When it was all said and one, 95% of people who filed taxes were covered by some sort of health insurance. There were around 86,000 people who paid a penalty because they did not have insurance, with about 6,000 of those people opting to appeal this penalty. The implementation of the law led to over 300,000 new people on health insurance programs that were not on anything in the previous year. The general consensus among Massachusetts officials was that the law was working and more people were being helping then ever. This information was only gathered from the first round of income tax returns filed.

How Florida is Affected

Now this may not directly affect you because you live elsewhere, but take note of it. If one method works for a particular state then other states might follow suit. The other states may adapt the Massachusetts plan to fit their state better. Just note the effects of this plan because you could see it in your state soon. If you do want this, or you do not want this, then let your officials know. Let them know what you want and how you think this can be achieved.  The long term effect on Florida is nothing because this model has worked alright for this very rich state but would flop on entry in Florida due to our unusual geographic and social makeup.  In other words we have high illegal immigration rates and a very poor population that is increasingly getting poorer by the day.  We cannot afford it.  The other main factor of course is that we are living in a state which lets anyone sell anything to anyone with no repercussions.  We need to firstly kick out the health insurance companies that do not even meet the criteria of health insurance.  In other words if there is no maximum out of pocket each year then the plan is most likely geared to enrich the health company and rip off the general public.  I’m looking at you health markets!  I am in favor in of health insurance reform as should anyone with a conscience who has seen what I have.

Continue Reading