COVID-19 & Healthcare

‘ObamaCare’ arrives this New Year’s Day

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Unless there was a late order entered by Judge Kathleen Cooper in Biggs, et al. vs. Brewer, et al. (CV2013-011699) that did not get recorded on the docket, Arizona's expanded Medicaid (AHCCCS) program under "ObamaCare" is effective today.

If you have been approved for Medicaid (AHCCCS) health care coverage, you are among the millions of Americans who now have health care coverage that you did not have before thanks to "ObamaCare." With new year, Medicaid takes on broader role:

Medicaid embarks on a massive transformation Wednesday — from a safety-net program for the most vulnerable to a broad-based one that finds itself at the front lines of the continuing political and ideological battle over the Affordable Care Act.

Already the nation’s largest health-care program, Medicaid is being expanded and reshaped by the law to cover a wider array of people.

* * *

On Wednesday, people who have signed up for coverage under the new law will become eligible to receive it, in what supporters have hailed as a historic moment for health care in the United States.

So far, more than 2 million Americans, many previously uninsured, have enrolled in private health plans, thanks in large part to new federal subsidies for low- and middle-income people to buy coverage.

* * *

A far greater number — about 3.9 million — took steps in October and November to sign up for Medicaid, according to federal figures. That includes people who became eligible for the state-federal program under the expansion as well as those who could have enrolled previously, but for one reason or another did not sign up until now.

Advanced directive? Maybe not, if you’re a lady with a Holy Fetus inside her

by

I had not planned to do any blogging over the holidays but then there was this whitehot-rage-inducing item in the news today:

Marlise Munoz, 33, is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, hospital officials said. She is unconscious and on a ventilator, her husband told CNN affiliate WFAA, but she wouldn't have wanted her life sustained by a machine.

"We talked about it. We're both paramedics," he told WFAA. "We've seen things out in the field. We both knew that we both didn't want to be on life support."

Complicating an already difficult situation is that Munoz is also pregnant, about 18 weeks along, WFAA reported. Texas state law prohibits withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient, regardless of her wishes.

Could it possibly be? Positive reporting on ‘ObamaCare’ from the media villagers

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Could it possibly be? Do my eyes deceive me? Are the Beltway media villagers actually writing positive stories about "ObamaCare" now? Well, at least the Washington Post is.

On Sunday the Post reported America’s newly insured laud health-care law:

Adam Peterson’s life is about to change. For the first time in years, he is planning to do things he could not have imagined. He intends to have surgery to remove his gallbladder, an operation he needs to avoid another trip to the emergency room. And he’s looking forward to running a marathon in mid-January along the California coast without constant anxiety about what might happen if he gets injured.

These plans are possible, says Peterson, who turned 50 this year and co-manages a financial services firm in Champaign, Ill., because of a piece of plastic the size of a credit card that arrived in the mail the other day: a health insurance card.

Peterson is among the millions of uninsured Americans who are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that launched far-reaching changes to the U.S. health-care system and is President Obama’s premier domestic achievement.

Court cases to watch in the coming weeks

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Our lawless legislature has several cases in court to keep an eye out for a decision in the coming weeks.

The first case of importance is Biggs, et al. vs. Brewer, et al. (CV2013-011699), the Tea-Publican legislature's challenge to Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) expansion plan heard in Maricopa County Superior Court by Judge Kathleen Cooper on December 13, 2013. A Minute Entry dated December 18 says the matter is "under advisement." Judge Cooper did not indicate at the December 13 hearing when she would rule on pending motions, but there is a deadline of sorts — the "ObamaCare" Medicaid expansion provisions become effective on January 1, 2014.

Harris, et al. v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (CV-12-0894-PHX-ROS-NVW-RRC), the Tea-Publican legislature's challenge to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission's (AIRC) state legislative districts map, was heard by a three judge panel of federal judges on March 22 and concluded on March 30, 2013. Supplemental briefs addressing the effect, if any, of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder on this case wrapped up by August 9. A decision has been pending for more than 120 days.

We are already well into the 2014 election cycle with the primary filing deadline in May. I would argue that time has already expired on the game clock — there needs to be certainty in legislative district lines, and the 2012 legislative district lines should remain in place for 2014. I anticipate a decision in this case shortly.

Arizona needs a ‘Moral Mondays’ movement

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The most fascinating political development of 2013 to observe was the rise of the progressive "Moral Mondays" movement in North Carolina in response to the radicalized extremist Tea-Publican controlled state legislature.

"Moral Mondays" engages in civil disobedience protests, organized in part by local religious leaders including William Barber, head of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP. Members of the protest movement meet every Monday to protest an action by the North Carolina legislature and then enter the legislature building. Once they enter, a number are peacefully arrested each Monday.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently reported that a Moral Mondays organization was being established in Georgia. Your daily jolt: Moral Monday protests coming to state Capitol:

The Moral Monday protests that rocked North Carolina (and led to hundreds of arrests each Monday) last year may be coming to Georgia.

A group called Moral Monday Georgia (moralmondayga.org) has quietly begun gathering supporters and planning organizing meetings this month. They plan one of the first actions on the Jan. 13, the first Monday of the session, and the platform focuses on a call to expand Medicaid, restore funding to public schools and raising the minimum wage.

On Christmas Day, the AP reported that the "Moral Mondays" movement will spread to other Southern States (i.e., Red States). Moral Mondays to continue, spread to other states:

The Moral Monday movement to protest changes in North Carolina public policy that organizers believe are extreme and hurt the state won’t abate in 2014 and will spread to other states, its leader said.

Activists from a dozen states attended a meeting in Raleigh earlier this month to learn how to hold similar protests in their states.