COVID-19 & Healthcare

The Affordable Care Act is making health insurance more affordable

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

About 6.4 million Americans will be able to purchase insurance for less than $100 each month on Obamacare’s new state-level marketplaces, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, Think Progress reports. Under Obamacare, Millions Of Americans Will Pay Less Than $100 Per Month For Health Insurance:

The Obama administration calculated the expected premiums for people
buying “silver” plans, which are the second-cheapest option on the new
insurance marketplaces. Even though not every marketplace has announced
its premium rates yet, researchers were still able to estimate those
payments based on the health law’s rule for determining subsidies.

[See Subsidy Calculator | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.]

Americans who make up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level —
which works out to be $94,200 for a family of four — are eligible for
subsidies that ensure they’ll only pay a certain percentage of their
income for a health plan. Using census data on Americans’ income levels,
researchers were able to extrapolate how many of them would be paying
less than $100 for monthly premiums for silver plans.

Countdown to the Health Insurance Marketplace

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

10-days-to-open-enrollment_originalDid you know that in just 4 easy steps you and your family could be on
your way to getting quality, affordable coverage through the Health
Insurance Marketplace? Learn all you can now so you’ll be ready to apply for health coverage, compare plans side-by-side, and enroll in a plan on October 1.

Here is the latest information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to educate the public on the Health Insurance Marketplace:

Item 1: Obama Administration announces a coordinated effort to prevent and detect consumer fraud in the Health Insurance Marketplace

On Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez met at the White House to kick off a comprehensive interagency initiative to prevent, protect against, and, where necessary, prosecute consumer fraud and privacy violations in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Representing key state partners in this critically important effort to protect consumers were Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. Senior White House officials also attended the meeting.

Ronnie & Nancy Scold Congress for ‘Bringing the Country to the Edge of Default’ (video)

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Ronald-Reagan-publicby Pamela Powers Hannley

President Ronald Reagan has been elevated to God-like status by contemporary Republicans– particularly those who still believe in trickledown economics, union-busting, Welfare Queens, the "vegetable" ketchup, and spending BIG BUCKS on the military-industrial complex, while taking food out of the mouths of children.

So, although the Gipper might agree in theory with the cannibals in the House of Representatives who are trying to destroy the social fabric of our country by denying food to the poor, he would not agree with their irresponsible tactic of repeatedly bringing the country to the brink of a shutdown just to make political points.

Check out this recording from 1987 (below) in which he scolds Congress for exactly the brinksmanship that his contemporary fans are pursuing now.

Climate Smart Southwest: Are YOU Ready for Climate Change?

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Climate-smart-southwest-logoby Pamela Powers Hannley

Is it hot enough for ya?

In the coming years, as temperatures rise, weather patterns evolve, and plant and animal species become extinct, that wry, old country greeting will lose it’s quaint humor. Thanks to global warming.

The Southwest is already the hottest and driest part of the US. And our region is already experiencing longer and more intense heat waves, a dramatic spike in forest fires and severe dust storms, and changes in rainfall and seasonal snowmelt. These changes threaten water resources, food security, and public health.  As extreme weather events continue to increase, we will see higher rates of heat stress, newly emerging infectious diseases, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.

How will the Sonoran Desert change as climate change progresses? Will we have enough water? What will our air quality be like if Arizona’s dirty coal-fired power plants continue to balk at environmental regulations?  How will Arizona cope with rolling brown outs if electrical demand spikes? How will Tucson’s vulnerable populations fare with more days over 100 degrees? What can we do NOW to lessen the impact of climate change on our fragile environment?

This coming weekend, Sept. 20-21, the Arizona Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is sponsoring an important conference for us desert dwellers:Climate Smart Southwest, Ready or Hot? Check out the details after the jump.

The GOP is on Cruz-control to a government shutdown

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, just lost control of the GOP caucus he ostensibly leads in the House to an interloper from the Senate, Texas demagogue Sen. Ted "Calgary" Cruz, who has mesmerized the Tea Party faction of the GOP caucus with his hair-brained scheme to defund "ObamaCare" by a threat to shut down the government. Ted Cruz Is Making Life Miserable For House Republicans:

Screenshot-9For the last few weeks, House Speaker John Boehner has been trying to find a way to convince his caucus to vote for a bill that keeps the
government open after Sept. 30 without picking a fight over Obamacare. But a minority of his caucus has been insisting on defunding Obamacare, egged on by outside conservative groups and a handful of far-right Republican Senators, most importantly Ted Cruz (Texas).

On Wednesday, the TanMan gave in to demands from the radical Tea Party members of his GOP caucus, and agreed to proceed with the hair-brained scheme of "Calgary" Cruz to shut down the federal government. The tail is wagging the dog. Shutdown looms as House targets health-care law:

House Republican leaders announced Wednesday morning that they would
take a risky double-barreled attack on President Obama’s health-care
law, making it the cornerstone fight over government funding due to
expire Sept. 30 and the effort to lift the Treasury’s borrowing
authority.

Speaker John A. Boehner, flanked by his leadership
team, told reporters that the stopgap government funding bill that they
will advance Friday would yield to conservative demands of including a
rider to block funding for the law commonly known as Obamacare.

In addition, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor laid out his
party’s legislative grab bag of requests that will be attached to a bill
that would lift the debt ceiling, including a delay of the health law,
an overhaul of the tax code and approval of an energy pipeline running
from Canada to the gulf coast.

Obama immediately rejected that
strategy and, in a meeting with the nation’s top executives, said he
would oppose any effort to defund the health-care law or negotiate over
the debt limit.