by David Safier Bill Buckmaster and I had an interesting discussion on the second half of his Wednesday radio show. (You can listen to it here.) Bill was as concerned as I am about the inBloom project, which was our first topic. The Bill Gates Foundation has plowed $100 million into a data bank which … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: From the Department of Economic Security (DES) standardized AHCCCS eligibility letter: For a person over the age of 18 to be elibible for AHCCCS Health Insurance they must be in one of the groups listed below — A parent or relative living with a child under the age of 18, or age … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
When I opened the Arizona Daily Star this morning, I was treated to a Howard Fischer report on how former state legislators Frank Antenori and Ron Gould are planning a referendum drive should the Arizona legislature enact Governor Jan Brewer's Medicaid (AHCCCS) restoration plan. 2 want Medicaid issue up to voters:
Frank Antenori, who represented Tucson, said Tuesday he already has written commitments from 500 GOP precinct committeemen to gather signatures this summer to refer the issue to the ballot if the proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer is approved by the Legislature. He and Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City need just 86,405 valid signatures within 90 days of the end of the session — whenever that happens — to force the issue to a public vote.
* * *
House Speaker Andy Tobin said Tuesday he has given up on his own bid to make approval of Brewer's plan contingent on voter approval at a special election. Tobin said he cannot line up support in his chamber.
* * *
Antenori said, though, it should be no problem finding enough Arizonans to sign referendum petitions — especially if the measure is sold as a way to kill "Obamacare.''
Just getting the signatures would be a setback for Brewer. The Arizona Constitution says any measure referred to the ballot cannot take effect until voters get a chance to either ratify or reject what lawmakers have approved.
The earliest that could happen is the 2014 general election. Antenori said that delay works in his favor.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from Indiana in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals involving that state's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood from use of federal Medicaid funds on the theory of "indirectly subsidizing" abortions (state and federal law bans use of these funds for abortions).
The Indiana law is nearly identical to the Arizona law that seeks to defund Planned Parenthood on the same specious grounds, which is on appeal before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Arizona Republic reports today, Supreme Court declines to hear abortion case:
In a decision that may have implications for Arizona, the
Supreme Court refused to consider Indiana’s appeal of a lower-court decision
striking down its denial of Medicaid funds to health-care providers that
perform abortions. The law was challenged by Planned Parenthood.
A similar Arizona abortion law is on hold pending appeal
to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A hearing in that case is
scheduled for June 12.
* * *
The Indiana law aimed to deny Planned Parenthood funds
from the joint federal-state Medicaid health program for the poor that
are used for general health services, including cancer screening.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Paul Krugman has more on the good news for the implementation of "ObamaCare" today. The
Obamacare Shock:
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, goes fully into effect at the
beginning of next year, and predictions of disaster are being heard far
and wide. There will be an administrative “train wreck,” we’re told;
consumers will face a terrible shock. Republicans, one hears, are
already counting on the law’s troubles to give them a big electoral
advantage.
[See this AP report GOP to frame 'debacle' of Obama health law as 2014 campaign issue in today's Arizona Daily Star.]
No doubt there will be problems, as there are with any large new
government initiative, and in this case, we have the added complication
that many Republican governors and legislators are doing all they can to
sabotage reform. Yet important new evidence — especially from
California, the law’s most important test case — suggests that the real
Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success.
Before I can explain what the news means, I need to make a crucial
point: Obamacare is a deeply conservative reform, not in a political
sense (although it was originally a Republican proposal) but in terms of
leaving most people’s health care unaffected. Americans who receive
health insurance from their employers, Medicare or Medicaid — which is
to say, the vast majority of those who have any kind of health insurance
at all — will see almost no changes when the law goes into effect.