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Posted by : Monday, February 24, 2014 4 Comments In Uncategorized

There have been a lot of interesting — even amusing — reactions over on Right-Wing Avenue to last Friday’s judicial order halting the state’s unconstitutional school voucher program. House Majority Leader Paul Stam, for instance, wishfully and inaccurately dismissed the court’s action as a trifling matter that can easily be evaded with just a tiny tweak during the upcoming short session.  Meanwhile, the chief voice of the Koch Brothers in North Carolina, Americans for Prosperity, laughably termed the lawsuits brought by an array of concerned citizens and local Boards of Education as “demagoguery from a special interest group.”

But perhaps the most amazing response (and best example of unintended irony) thus far comes from the Pope-Civitas Institute, where a staffer wrote the following in response to the lawsuits and the Judge Hobgood’s preliminary injunction:

“When you can’t win at the ballot box,  enforce your will through the courts.  That’a (sic) well-known tactic of the left and that’s exactly the strategy on display in North Carolina.” Read More

Posted by : Tuesday, February 11, 2014 3 Comments In Uncategorized

Medicaid gap2In case you missed it yesterday, the Wall Street Journal featured a powerful article on the terrible toll that is resulting from the failure of 25 states (including North Carolina) to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The article – “Millions trapped in health-law coverage gap” tells the story of low-income workers like Ernest Maiden of Birmingham, Alabama who make too much to qualify for their own state’s Scrooge-like Medicaid programs, but not enough to qualify for federal subsidies under the ACA. (There are as many as 500,000 Ernest Maiden’s in North Carolina):

“Ernest Maiden was dumbfounded to learn that he falls through the cracks of the health-care law because in a typical week he earns about $200 from the Happiness and Hair Beauty and Barber Salon.

Like millions of other Americans caught in a mismatch of state and federal rules, the 57-year-old hair stylist doesn’t make enough money to qualify for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. If he earned another $1,300 a year, the government would pay the full cost. Instead, coverage would cost about what he earns.

‘It’s a Catch-22,’ said Mr. Maiden, an uninsured diabetic. Read More

Posted by : Wednesday, February 5, 2014In Uncategorized

Dean BakerIf you don’t follow economist Dean Baker on Twitter or the blogosphere, you should. This week, Baker has, among other things, dissected the bombs being lobbed at the Affordable Care Act because of the finding that it might lead to lowering of employment numbers.

As Baker notes here:

“Apparently a lot of media folks have made such a habit of repeating Republican talking points that they can’t see what is right in front of their eyes. The Republicans are touting the fact that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to reduce the number of people working.

Guess what? This was one of the motivations for the ACA. It is a feature, not a bug. Read More

Posted by : Wednesday, February 5, 2014 2 Comments In Uncategorized

Medicaid expansionThe drumbeat calling on state leaders to reverse course and accept federal Medicaid dollars in order to provide health insurance to hundreds of thousands of poor North Carolinians continues to grow louder and louder.

As this morning’s Greensboro News & Record editorial argues (after citing a new report by the accounting firm Jackson-Hewitt that the failure to expand will lead to tens of millions of dollars in tax penalties for North Carolina businesses):

“A society and an economy are stronger when people are healthier. Expanding Medicaid coverage could help North Carolina achieve that goal. If that could spare employers tens of millions of dollars in tax penalties at the same time, our pro-business governor should explore that opportunity.”

Meanwhile, be sure to check out this essay by Duke writer and doctor Laura Musselwhite in  Raleigh’s News & Observer in which she points out: Read More

Posted by : Tuesday, February 4, 2014 1 Comment In Uncategorized

Sen. Richard Burr has an idea: maybe it’s time to reform our health insurance system. We could set up state-based marketplaces, give tax credits to purchase private insurance, and create some new protections for people with pre-existing conditions. But first we need to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it sets up state-based marketplaces, gives tax credits to purchase private insurance, and creates some new protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

The fact that Sen. Burr’s proposal is a watered down version of Obamacare is not its most entertaining feature. Partisan opponents of the Affordable Care Act have spent several years introducing alternatives to health reform that are just less workable variations of the law the nation has spent the past three years implementing.

What is most entertaining about Sen. Burr’s new proposal is what it says about prevention. Although the Affordable Care Act is one of the largest, most comprehensive investments ever made in prevention, it was not enough for Sen. Burr. In debates and news interviews he constantly harped on the lack of investment in prevention as the primary driver of his opposition to the ACA. In fact, he introduced an ACA alternative in 2009 called the Patients’ Choice Act. Title I of that act is “Investing in Prevention”. Prevention, after all, is the key.

What, then, does this new proposal, called “The Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment Act,” have to say about prevention? Nothing, nothing at all. In the detailed summary of the bill there is no mention of prevention. So, Sen. Burr is now proposing that we throw away a unprecedented, large-scale prevention effort currently underway and replace it with nothing.

It’s easy enough to laugh off these public relations stunts. Even Sen. Burr has admitted that repeal is unlikely. It’s even less likely now that millions of people are enrolled in ACA plans and are receiving tax credits. But it’s sad that this is what passes for legislating nowadays. There are things that need fixing in health reform. Legislators should get to work and stop trying to strip away protections for American consumers.

 

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