“President Obama will soon sign comprehensive health care reform into law. Supporters now have a chance to add our names as “Co-signers” of this historic legislation — adding our names next to President Obama’s to show our pride in helping bring about this great achievement. Organizing for America will establish a permanent archive with all the signatures, so that generations to come will have a record of those who stood together in this moment and won this fight for our future.”
The email was sent by “Organizing for America”, which is a project of the Democratic National Committee.
If you like, head over to http://my.barackobama.com/Cosign to sign up. The site will ask you for your first and last name, email address and zip code.
I’m waiting for the “Hey, that’s not what I wanted” site to go up!
Clicking MORE under the summary takes you down the page to a more detailed explanation of what you can expect.
If your company pays your insurance, “Insurers will have to pay a 40 percent excise tax on high-value group plans – those in which premiums for families are $27,500 or more, for instance – starting in 2014. Experts say the tax will likely be passed on to employees through higher premiums or lower benefits and wages.”
If you pay your own insurance, it’s an even a bigger barrel of fun! “Premiums for individual policies will be 10 to 13 percent higher by 2016 than the average premium that year under current law, according to Congressional estimates. But most people would qualify for subsidies, meaning they might pay less than they do now.”
So I’ve been thinking about this healthcare bill… let me rant out loud to make sure I understand some of it.
Premiums will probably rise “only” for those families making over $88k a year. (** I’ll rant more about this part at the end) Everyone making less than $88k a year will be subsidized in different increments from the government, so they won’t have to pay the full amount those making over $88k do.
People who did not have health insurance before will start paying into the system soon, since having health insurance is now mandatory.
The idea is that these new people making new payments will offset the medical costs of those older members who are currently at their insurance limits. And since the new law says there are no limits for these older people, these older people will be treated as long as necessary.
If I understand it right, this sounds like a mix of car insurance and social security. There are going to be so many new people paying into the plan that are not sick and “don’t have wrecks”, that the insurance companies can completely cover those few who are very sick and who have “totaled their cars”. This healthcare plan appears to hinge on everyone not getting catastrophically sick at once and that “new blood” keeps rolling in to pay.
Hence the “mandatory” part of the insurance reform law. Ah-hah!
That alone may explain why there’s no public option and no single payer. The system needs to be self-perpetuating in order to work.
Going over the Reuters points one by one, I thought of a few things as well…
WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF ENACTMENT
* “A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.” — So tanning is the new smoking. This initial tax shows that the federal government can (and will) tax anything it thinks is bad for you. That’s going to be a rather slippery slope.
2011
* “Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.” — That sounds like a bribe to me. Don’t pull a Walgreens on us, keep the system alive during it’s infancy, and we’ll cut you in on the action.
* “Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service.” — Those little traveling Volkswagens with doctor’s assistants labels all over them? About to become filthy rich.
* “Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees’ W-2 tax forms.” — The feds have given employers a way to count coverage participation as “bottom-line” compensation, effectively giving employers the option to reduce the overall gross wages they pay their employees.
* “An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies according to market share.” — Soooo this is going to motivate pharmaceutical companies how? By enticing them to move offshore? Or artificially keep their market share low to avoid this “fee”? And what is the “fee” exactly?
2012
* “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.” — This sounds bad. The government is going to track who keeps going back to hospitals and for what. In addition, the government is going to fine or tax (financial incentives!) whoever they need to fine or tax in order for these preventable readmissions to stop. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, acid reflux increases in 2 years. If more and more people go to the doctor to treat acid reflux, will the government tax foodstuffs that have high acid content? Maybe I’m misreading it, but that’s what it sounds like!
2013
* “The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 percent from 7.5 percent of income.” — The government expects everything to level out at this point. New payees will have offset the old payees’ claims, so the tax adjustment can kick in right around here. Again, kind of like car insurance. There will be so many people staying healthy that the insurance companies can completely cover those few who are not. And like social security, this assumes the base will continue to expand to support the costs of who came before.
* “A 2.9 percent excise tax in imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.” — Ouch! That to me means oxygen tanks, aspirators, standing (or self-propelled) wheelchairs, lifts and transfer devices, airway kits, and defibrillators off the top of my head. Walgreen’s doesn’t carry much in the specialty medical device field! Look out EMTs! So why is the government taxing necessary medical equipment here? And where is that money going to wind up? In the general US fund?
* “Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don’t.” — And here’s the line in the sand. You’re either in or you’re out at this point.
* “Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren’t counted for the fine.” — I predict mass layoffs from small businesses when this comes to pass. “Full time” workers will be dinged down to “part time” to get under this legal barrier. I also predict many small businesses that are just surviving by this point will be pushed under with this enactment. Costs will be passed down to the consumer from medium and big businesses to offset these new increases at this point as well.
* “Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.” — So the government is effectively saying “Great job having so many people guys! Now pay up!” I’m unclear on why this is good and/or necessary? Shouldn’t the government reward the strongest and most accommodating insurance company at this point?
2018
* “An excise tax on high cost employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions.” — If you have something nicer than everyone else at this point, you’re going to pay a fine. Period.
So let me summarize my feelings about all this : Barf!
Maybe Obama is banking on this healthcare plan to pull the economy out of the recession / depression (re-pression?). Money has to circulate by law now, legislated out of the hands of those who were saving it or spending it for their own purposes. Once money starts circulating again, the economy may twitch back to life.
I still think this is a crap way to do it. And mandating insurance coverage to self-propagate this system? Enforcing the collection through the IRS? Hell no.
To paraphrase a line from Dennis Miller when he was actually funny, “of course all that is just my opinion, I could be wrong.”
** On a quick side rant, the administration keeps touting that $88k is 4 times the poverty level for a family. So it’s OK to tax the middle class since they’re making 4 times more than the poverty level? Or is $88k for a family now considered upper class? Show me the yachts and two mansions a family of 4 making $88k a year has, and I’ll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn. Cheap! $88k is very middle class IMO.
Bottom line: Like it or not, you’re going to pay more, either as part of your insurance company’s plan to cover the mandatory changes as outlined by this new healthcare bill, or by way of direct government taxes.
*Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
*Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
*Young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.
*Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.
*A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
*Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the “doughnut hole” coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
*A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
*A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2011
*Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
*Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.
*A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor goes into effect in October that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
*Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels. These payments are to be gradually reduced to bring them more in line with traditional Medicare.
*Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees’ W-2 tax forms.
*An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies according to market share. The fee does not apply to companies with sales of $5 million or less.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2012
*Physician payment reforms are implemented in Medicare to enhance primary care services and encourage doctors to form “accountable care organizations” to improve quality and efficiency of care.
*An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
*The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2013
*A national pilot program is established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.
*The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 percent from 7.5 percent of income. The threshold remains at 7.5 percent for the elderly through 2016.
*The Medicare payroll tax is raised to 2.35 percent from 1.45 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples with incomes over $250,000. The tax is imposed on some investment income for that income group.
*A 2.9 percent excise tax in imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2014
*State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.
*Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don’t. Healthcare tax credits become available to help people with incomes up to 400 percent of poverty purchase coverage on the exchange.
*Health plans no longer can exclude people from coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
*Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren’t counted for the fine.
*Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2015
*Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.
WHAT HAPPENS IN 2018
*An excise tax on high cost employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions. (Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by David Alexander and Eric Beech)
And here’s a nice interactive piece to go along with the timeline above. The presentation sums it up pretty well. “All options will cost me more… All I can choose is how my money is taken from my pocket.” (slides 43-45)
“The health care overhaul will expand IRS authority by giving agents the power to verify acceptable health care coverage and fine or confiscate the tax refunds of Americans without coverage.”
Normally I only post the “News You Missed” on Saturdays and I’m done until Monday, but since I’ve been going through my stack of magazines tonight (and I have a touch of insomnia), I wanted to post something that really got my attention.
Esquire in March 2010 (yes, I’m a month behind!) had an interview with Tim Pawlenty, the current Governor of Minnesota and potential Republican candidate for 2012.
Seriously? This man gets it.
In the interview, he says…
“…the Republicans had their shot not long ago to address the real needs and concerns of everyday Americans, and they blew it. I think that’s mitigated by the fact that we had a terrorist incident, there is a war, and there was a lot of proper focus on those issues, but over the time that they were there and had the leadership opportunity, they blew it. We got fired for a reason.”
Hmm. That’s a pretty accurate analysis there. He also says…
“…there are a bunch of people who went and voted for Barack Obama who are now concerned that he’s taken the country in a direction that they don’t like. And they’re not necessarily back to supporting Republicans, but they’re available for us to persuade, and that’s a huge opportunity. Our opportunities for 2010 are tremendous.”
…and my “eyebrows over the forehead” moment came when he said…
“Medicare was started a long time ago, and medicine had changed, having gone from clinical practices and hospitalizations to treating more and more conditions with prescription medicines. So it makes sense to extend Medicare benefits to prescription medicines.”
Ho-lee crap. That’s the only health care reform we need! Brilliant!
I have a feeling this man is going to pull an “Obama” on his political party. Right now everyone is focusing on Mitt Romney like the Democrats initially focused on Hillary for 2008. But Pawlenty is the man I would vote for in 2012, especially if Obama continues to bait-and-switch on promises he made during his campaign. (IE: Authorizing ongoing illegal spying on American citizens, continuing the war(s) overseas, not implementing transparency on all government matters, pushing through a mandatory healthcare reform plan where if you don’t accept it you will get fined and possibly put in prison, etc.)
The interview also goes over Pawlenty’s upbringing in a real working class family and also some of his other beliefs on the current state of the union.
Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
* This did make the mainstream news, but it’s important to mention again… Walgreens said they are not accepting any new Medicaid patients as of April 16 because they are losing money on them. This might be important to remember later on when this national health care bill comes around. [SEATTLETIMES]
* Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain [R, AZ] and Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT] have proposed legislation… “which they are calling the Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act, would empower the U.S. military to arrest anyone, U.S. citizen or otherwise, who is suspected of terrorist associations and detain them indefinitely, without right to a trial.” I put a lot of that sentence in bold because every so often, I remember why I voted for Obama. I think if McCain made it into the White House, we would’ve all had draconian legislation like this enacted by the first month. Obama may be screwing up a lot of things, but he’s still the lesser of two evils. [OPENCONGRESS]
* Viacom is suing YouTube for $1 billion for hosting copyrighted video Viacom owns. Thing is, Viacom uploaded the videos themselves! And since YouTube is owned by Google, they have tons of proof on where the uploads came from. Hey Viacom, next time try picking on someone from your own century. [CONSUMERIST]
* WTF! Texas Stadium is set to be demolished with a giant explosive show on April 11? I’m out of Dallas for a while and everybody gets delusions of grandeur! Original story at [WFAA] and a more modern followup at [WFAA].
* An 11 year old picks 3 of the top gunlocks in a few seconds with a flathead screwdriver. Now all the hoplophobics are screaming that gun locks don’t work and are useless. Using their same argument that “since the lock didn’t hold forever it’s useless”, door locks, car locks, drawer locks, cabinet locks, and safes are useless too! [ENGADGET]
* CNN has an interview with Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist, Exorcism Department, Vatican City – Rome. Now THAT’S a business card! [CNN]
* Fortis, an insurer, had an in-house computer program to find HIV members on their policies and get rid of them so they did not have to pay their medical bills. Nice company! [REUTERS]
* What does a spacewalk feel like? As described by an astronaut? “WOW!” I knew it! My turn! My turn! [UNIVERSETODAY]
* Basic training has gone back to the basics! “The reshaped 10-week course reduces the amount of physical stress on recruits — fewer pushups and shorter foot marches — and increases marksmanship. And adds more sleep.” The sad thing is that the changes are the result of the new recruits being too tubby to do pushups and march too long! Somebody take the jelly donut away from Private Pyle! [ARMYTIMES]
* Oklahoma has a new law for those citizens who don’t use the city’s water supply but instead use their own free well water. Those citizens will now be charged $20 a month. Wait, what? [KFOR]
* Brain scans are getting closer to accessing your memories. Right now what they see is abstract and pixelated to hell and you can’t see anything in detail, but then again, so were video games 20 years ago. I think I’m going to invent “concentration aversion meditation” to my list of things to do, because that’s the only thing that’s going to keep your private thoughts your own property in 20 years or so. [SCIENCEBLOGS]
* A microphone no bigger than a match head gives the original location in 3-d of any sound in battle. The idea is to immediately locate snipers and the exact location of incoming enemy fire in seconds. This is terrifying and awesome at the same time! [DVICE]
* Octopuses like high definition television! But only the first showing. They think all the repeats suck. [BBC.UK]
* Another week, another looming financial disaster. There’s a junk bond tsunami coming in 2012. Specifically, “$700 billion in risky, high-yield corporate debt begins to come due”. Move along people. Nothing to see here. [NYTIMES]
* Dude. The Toyota acceleration thing? Totally caused by cosmic rays. F’shur. [Jalopnik]
* Newsweek has a photoessay on things that are no longer made in the USA. Chuck Taylors, Fender Stratocasters, Radio Flyer Wagons, Craftsman Tools, and Stanley Tools only make half the list. How’s this for a scavenger hunt idea… find 5 things with a “Made In the USA” label in three different stores that you actually want to own. [NEWSWEEK]
* The Japanese were working on their own “nuke” back in World War II. A series of bombs that were biological in nature. Anthrax bombs. Plague bombs. Cholera bombs. Plus they experimented with these on live prisoners of war, even dissecting them while they were still alive. The “Japanese officials were impressed that germ warfare had been banned by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. If it was so awful that it had to be banned under international law, the officers reasoned, it must make a great weapon.” WARNING: Graphic story. [ARCHIVE.ORG]
* Gustave the killer crocodile has been terrorizing the locals of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi for the last 20 years. He is over six meters long, weighs one ton and has allegedly eaten over 200 people. “Using his fearsome tail, he has been known to swipe children playing on the shore of the lake, and has been caught on camera hitting a fisherman. Now Frenchman and Burundi resident, Patrice Faye has become a local hero after devoting his life to capturing the killer.” Helloooo Hollywood?! I got your blockbuster summer movie right here people!! [BBC.UK]
* A Forest die-off is sweeping North America. And a website in England has the news about this? [GUARDIAN.UK]
* Apparently the hillbilly idiots working in the po-lice department in Medford Oregon have no concept on the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing. A man gets fired from his job and is anonymously reported as being “disgruntled” to the police, so two Medford SWAT teams show up, storm his house on a warrantless search, and throw him on the ground to cuff him after he willfully walks out of his home and surrenders. A press release from PD touts they “were able to successfully take a potentially volatile male subject into protective custody for a mental evaluation”. The community at Medford Oregon needs to fire every single badge wearing jackass in their local po-lice department that was involved in this BS. [REASON]
* A tantric guru named Pandit Surender Sharma said he had the pow-ah to kill someone with his jedi-like mind powers anytime he wanted to. Sanal Edamaruku came forward and challenged Sharma to kill him on live TV. Sharma accepted, and on live TV, in front of millions of viewers… absolutely nothing happened! Mr. Sanal Edamaruku lived, and continues to actively pursue and challenge those in his country who say they have mystical power, often confronting them on live TV. If I was a millionaire, I would fund a worldwide tour for Sanal Edamaruku and sell the series to USA or SPIKE. Instant hit! [TIMESONLINE.UK]
* And the winner of the solid gold WTF crown this week is SAUDI ARABIA! Because in this day and age, 20-freakin-10 AD, a man is going to be killed for sorcery. No kidding! The “Saudi Arabian religious police (known as the Mutawa’een)” arrested this man (Ali Hussain Sibat) in 2008 for “predict(ing) the future on his show and give(ing) out advice to his audience.” And their appeals high court upheld the death sentence! The judges said that killing Ali Hussain Sibat “would deter others from practicing sorcery”. WTF!! Shouldn’t Saudia Arabia handle “sorcery” claims by calling Sanal Edamaruku? Or at least see if Ali Hussain Sibat weighs the same as a duck first? [CNN]
* And finally, in happier news, science has discovered that babies are born to dance! Well, duuuuuh! My nephew showed me this years ago! Excuse me, but I’ve got to go and get down with him to Mickey Mouse’s “hot dog” song now! [SCIENCEDAILY]
The main character named “Royce” is played by a fairly fit Adrien Brody. I was hoping for a Vin Diesel meets Bruce Campbell type, but so far, it looks good.
Danny Trejo and Laurence Fishburne are in it too as Royce’s partners. I don’t know who the rest of the cast is, but these three should be able to kill off a planet full of Predators just fine.
And you know I’m going to be there on opening day!
If you have a twitter account that’s posting spam messages without your permission, you should follow these 7 steps to clear it up…
#1 – Log in to your Twitter account
#2 – Go to SETTINGS on the top right of the page
#3 – In the new page that appears, click on CONNECTIONS
#4 – Under the “You’ve allowed the following applications to access your account” headline is a list of every application and website that has permission to post to your twitter account. REVOKE ACCESS on everything. (You can keep “Google by Google Inc : Google/Twitter integration”, but that’s all I would recommend.)
#5 – Now click on SETTINGS on the top right menu
#6 – In the new page that appears, click on PASSWORD
#7 – Change your password to something new
That should clear out the ghost in your twitter account.
* Brain scans are getting closer to accessing your memories. Right now what they see is abstract and pixelated to hell and you can’t see anything in detail, but then again, so were video games 20 years ago. I think I’m going to invent “concentration aversion meditation” to my list of things to do, because that’s the only thing that’s going to keep your private thoughts your own property in 20 years or so. [
* Gustave the killer crocodile has been terrorizing the locals of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi for the last 20 years. He is over six meters long, weighs one ton and has allegedly eaten over 200 people. “Using his fearsome tail, he has been known to swipe children playing on the shore of the lake, and has been caught on camera hitting a fisherman. Now Frenchman and Burundi resident, Patrice Faye has become a local hero after devoting his life to capturing the killer.” Helloooo Hollywood?! I got your blockbuster summer movie right here people!! [