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.”
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!
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.
* I would like to start off with a news story that I bet will never, ever re-appear in the mainstream media again. Regular use of pain-relief medicine appears to increase men’s risk of hearing loss, especially among middle-aged men, according to an American Journal of Medicine study. I can hear the deafening silence from CNN, MSNBC and FOX now! [WSJ]
* Euro1 and Euro2 are on the way. “”Euro 1” [would be] for mercantilist Germany, France, the Netherlands, and so on and “euro 2″ [would be] for the highly indebted, debt-and-asset-bubble-dependent consumer nations: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, and so on.” Some currencies are more equal than others, bro! And why does Euro1 and Euro2 sound like something from The Cat In The Hat? [MORNINGSTAR]
* Speaking of the Euro and the overseas money situation… “European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso claimed that financial stability was so critical that sweeping new powers were needed for Eurocrats in Brussels to meddle in the economies of all EU members.” A giant overreaching European power grab by the financial elite? Now what can possibly go wrong with that? Was? Hat jemand etwas sagen? [EXPRESS.UK]
* A doctor develops a test with COMIC BOOK INK that accurately diagnoses HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria among many others. The cost is about 2 cents each. Give this man some money and a printing press right now! Sheets of these should be free and available at all grocery and drug stores! [GIZMODO]
* In 2008 there were 1,125 billionaires. In 2009 there were just 793. Now there are 1,011. Oh my breaking heart! So many poor souls had to suffer with being just multi-millionaires, and only a precious few struggled back from that abyss to be billionaires again? Sorry. No sympathy from me. For 2009 there’s an article at [FORBES] and for 2010 there’s an article at [CBC]
* The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) will be down until 2012 for repairs. But in 2012, it will reboot to full power! 2012… why does that year sound so familiar? [BBC]
* Speaking of scientific stuff, an official scientific study has laboratory evidence that cooperative behavior is contagious and spreads from person to person. I don’t think these scientists have been Christmas shopping on December 22nd and 23rd at a major mall lately. [SCIENCEDAILY]
* So aside from figuring out kindness is contagious, scientists also figured out this week that launching into warp speed would instantly create a black hole, and stray hydrogen atoms would shred us to pieces along the way. I still say it’s progress! At least they’re thinking of what happens after we pass warp speed instead of not even considering it at all! [GEARLOG]
* Speaking of black holes, a giant mega black hole has been discovered in a nearby galaxy. It’s stupid big. Scientists are calling it a… “destroyer of stars, ripping the center of the galaxy to shreds.” OK. Revised To Do List: #1 Laundry. #2 Hack nanomachines to gene-splice humanity into perpetual immortality. #3 Design FTL warp drive that doesn’t generate remnant black holes (Note to self: Gravity-Well Catalytic Converter?) #4 Stop pesky galaxy-sized “destroyer of stars”. Right. Lemme go get the soap. [DISCOVERY]
* Real working jetpacks for $75,000? 30 minutes of flight on a 5 gallon tank of gas? Dammit! I need to win that lottery now! [PHYSORG]
* 1024 bit RSA encryption was hacked by choking the electric supply to the computer! The article is moderately heavy in geektech, but very good to know in case you ever have to… uh… recover some passwords you forgot. Yeah. That’s the ticket. [ENGADGET]
* The headline says it all… A French village went insane after the CIA spiked all of its’ bread with LSD. Who needs movies when you’ve got things like this happening in real life? [BOING BOING]
*People Who Donate a Kidney Live Just as Long as Those Who Don’t! That’s great news! Science (and modern medicine) rocks! [SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN]
* OK, dammit. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… if I wanted a Republican to implement BS totalitarian laws, I would have voted for one. But Obama seems hell bent on continuing the things I didn’t vote for him to continue. “The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.” Wow. Convictions be damned, huh? If the government even suspects you’re guilty, they get your DNA for all time. I am very quickly turning back to the dark side with all these missteps and broken promises. [WIRED] Oh, and in related news, Obama’s ex-advisor says the democrats will get “slaughtered” in the fall if they don’t start making those changes they promised. [CNN]
* Another week, another wave of financial shockwaves coming our way. Nothing to see here. Move along, people. [BLOOMBERG]
* The underwear bomber’s underwear bomb would not have done enough damage to the plane to bring it down. Despite this, I bet the asshats at the TSA won’t take this into consideration at all. The article is at the [HUFFINGTON POST] and the official video of the recreation of the explosion is below…
Have a great weekend everyone! And don’t forget to push those clocks forward an hour!
There’s a free iPhone app called “Hello Washington” that lets you look up who your representative is, write them directly from your iPhone (or iPodTouch), call their office, read current bills, and much more.
When you install the application on your iPhone, you will need to provide a valid email address. Once you do, a activation code will be sent to that email account. Once you type in that activation code on the iPhone, “Hello Washington” will be unlocked. From there, you can write everyone! The President, Vice President, Representatives, or Senators. Not bad!
The only thing I would add is a county lookup for the representatives in the main listing. But aside from that, I think it’s a great application as is!
As a side effect of getting older, I’ve become a big fan of writing my representative on matters that concern me. This app should help speed things along quite a bit!
Betty White is going to host Saturday Night Live May 8!
So now I’m actually going to watch SNL for the first time in… 8 years? 10? Do I need to go to confession for this before or after the show airs?
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch are also going to be on the show, but I bet Betty’s 10 minute skit will kick everyone else’s butts.
“A Mexican Navy helicopter was seen doing surveillance in Starr County. Residents of Falcon Heights… noticed a Mexican helicopter hovering over a home shortly after six o’clock last night. Witnesses say the helicopter hovered for about 15 minutes over a house where a known criminal used to live. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. says, “They had armored individuals in the chopper, open ramp, very military looking, in style and preparation.””
Um… and this was OK? The Mexican Navy is free and clear to send a heavily armed excursion into the United States?
* 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!! [