COVID-19 & Healthcare

UPDATED: Monthly Progressive Roundtables Give PDA Members a ‘Seat at the Table’ (video)

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Group-47-sig-sm300by Pamela Powers Hannley

UPDATE: This article was picked up by the national publication In These Times and by the Daily Kos Progressive Blog Round-up. Check out the In These Times version for more details: Knights of the Progressive Roundtable.

Deals are made, and bills are negotiated not only in the halls of Congress but in offices and meeting rooms around DC. Since December 2012, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has been conducting monthly, Educate Congress roundtable meetings with Congressional representatives and key staff.

With a give-and-take format, these meetings allow PDA representatives and allies to discuss proposed legislation and related progressive ideas and allow Congressional representatives and staffers to offer updates, insights, and strategies.

The Progressive Roundtables provide a forum to address a broad range of issues– from Wall Street gambling and hunger in America to voting rights, immigration, fracking, universal healthcare, the living wage, austerity, tax reform, mass incarceration, and more.

“One of the things I love about PDA is you stand up for ‘the little guy,’ and that’s what government’s all about,” Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern told the roundtable audience in July 2013. “Donald Trump doesn’t need us [Congress], but somebody who is unemployed or somebody who is working and making so little that they still qualify for SNAP [food stamps], they need us!” More roundtable details and videos after the jump.)

Estimates for use of Health Insurance Exchanges higher than expected

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Estimates from 19 states operating health insurance exchanges to help
the uninsured find coverage show that at least 8.5 million will use the
exchanges to buy insurance, a USA TODAY survey shows. States Predict More Insurance Customers:

That number would far outstrip the federal government's estimate of 7 million
new customers for all 50 states under the 2010 health care law.

USA TODAY contacted the 50 states, and 19 had estimates for how many
of their uninsured residents they expect will buy through the exchanges.
About 48 million Americans were uninsured in 2011, according to the
Kaiser Family Foundation.

"For the most part, that's a very good
thing," said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health
System Change. "First, these are people who need health insurance. And
second, the scenario that only sick people will enroll is less likely."

* * *

To stay financially viable, insurers need healthy people to help
round out the costs of those with chronic conditions. The non-partisan
Congressional Budget Office did its own research to determine 7 million
people would enroll for the 2014 exchanges.

California alone said it expected to sign up 5.3 million people.

‘Young Invincibles’ contest to inform young Americans about ‘ObamaCare’

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona university students are moving back into their dorms on campus this week. Classes begin Thursday, August 22 at ASU, Monday, August 26 at the U of A, and Wednesday, August 28 at NAU. This would be a good time for the Young Democrats of America (YDA) university chapters to ramp up their involvement in the new initiatives to encourage youth enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (aka "ObamaCare") being announced today. White House Unveils Latest Attempt To Get People To Enroll In Obamacare:

The latest initiatves are set to be unveiled on Monday, when the
Department of Health and Human Services will debut a video contest —
complete with cash prizes — designed to persuade younger consumers to
get insurance.

The administration will partner with Young Invincibles, a non-profit youth issues organization, to run the contest, with the goal of reaching those younger Americans who are skeptical of the need for health
coverage.

Participants will be encouraged to submit three different types of
videos advertising the benefits of the exchanges: a song, an animated
short, or a video designed to convince viewers that they aren't
invincible. Using funds from the Affordable Care Act's education and
outreach budget, HHS will award $3,000 each to the creators of the three
most popular and persuasive videos, while second and third place
winners will get $2,500 each.

Show up and demand answers from your Tea-Publican Congressmen

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Today the "Kochtopus" funded Heritage Action for America is launching
a nine-city tour designed to drum up support among tea-Publican Congress critters for the push to
defund "ObamaCare." The White House-allied Americans United for Change is vowing to match Heritage’s events with its own ("Accountable Congress"), which asks the pro-ObamaCare side to "show up and demand answers" from their Tea-Publican Congress critters.

This is what happened to Florida Republican Rep. Daniel Webster during a town hall held in Winterhaven last Thursday. Diane Sweet at crooksandliars.com reports, Crowd Calls 'Bullsh*t!' On GOP Congressman's Obamacare Lies:

It's going to be a very long, and painful election season for the
Republicans this year. All those millions of people who now have health
care insurance, thanks to Obamacare, are quite happy about it. What
they're not happy about is their GOP lawmakers continuous efforts to repeal it.

During a town hall held by Florida Republican Rep. Daniel Webster in
Winterhaven on Thursday, voters were well informed on the fine points of
the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare." When Webster began
to recite misleading claims that the law’s consumer protections are
being dismantled by the Obama administration, his informed constituents
called him out.

Webster was also criticized for being part of the 40 repeal votes by
the Republican-heavy House of Representatives against the mandate by one
resident who said he was waiting for the state healthcare exchange to
open, in spite of state GOP resistance.

‘In the United States of America, health insurance isn’t a privilege – it is your right’

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

President Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to call out the Grand Obstructionist Party (GOP) for its economic terrorist threats to either shut down the government or to default on the national debt and cause an economic calamity unless Democrats agree to their extortionary hostage demands to defund "ObamaCare" or to repeal it. From the Transcript of prepared remarks:

Right now, we’re well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable
Care Act.  And in the next few months, we’ll reach a couple milestones
with real meaning for millions of Americans.

If you’re one of the 85% of Americans who already have insurance,
you’ve already got new benefits and protections under this law that you
didn’t before.  Free checkups, mammograms, and contraceptive care. 
Discounted prescription medicine on Medicare.  The fact you can stay on
your parents’ plan until you turn 26.  And much, much more.  And it’s
okay if you’re not a fan of the Affordable Care Act – you can take
advantage of these things anyway.

If you don’t have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans
will actually compete for your business.  You can comparison shop in an
online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane
tickets.  You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the
plan that’s right for you.  And if you’re in the up to half of all
Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law
means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you –
and they can’t use your medical history to charge you more than anybody
else.