AP Sources: Obama Backs High-End Health Plan Tax
President Barack Obama signaled to House Democratic leaders Wednesday that they’ll have to drop their opposition to taxing high-end health insurance plans to pay for health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans
Obama-TIME Interview: On One-Year Anniversary, Politics
President Obama talks with TIME’s Joe Klein, in an interview conducted on Jan. 15, 2010
Medicare Online Search and Information Resource Medicare Apply For Medicare
AdminaStar Federal — Home Page Approved durable medical equipment regional carrier. Date : Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:01:46 GMT AARP Cites Racial Disparities in medicare Immunization Rates – Earthtimes. The exam includes a review of your health, counseling about preventive services you may need, and referrals for other care if you need it. Go Home [...]
By: octothorpe
Oh but Peggy Noonan says that “emergency rooms that provide excellent service for the uninsured”, so we shouldn’t worry about those poor unfortunates.
By: MattD
The House approach to the health care bill is a fabulous piece of fail. * Does not actually cover everyone (assuming that is a proper objective). * Does not do anything serious to control costs (which is regarded as a proper objective, in general, by most). * Not only does not create, but in fact reduces, systemic incentives for healthy behavior. * Re-engineers >10% of the GDP by reference to the policies and practices of economies which are fading in competitive consequence (Europe, Canada) and not by reference to the true competition of the 21st century in Asia — soft of like it would be if Microsoft benchmarked itself to GM and not to Google. * Funds itself in the most disastrous way imaginable: tax-attacks upon high income professionals (who provide the creative and analytical services which are the only thing in which America enjoys comparative advantage) and tax- and regulation-attacks on small business proprietors (who create virtually all the economic growth which isn’t attributable to high income professionals). A great strategy if we want to transform the whole country into Detroit, but dubious otherwise. A serious and fair bill would provide for basic health care services to be paid out of pocket and the government to pay for care above that, and fund itself from a VAT or payroll tax that retained a cap at a level such that no one’s individual tax burden was more than some reasonable multiple (3x or so) over the average payroll tax burden. A serious bill would not treat the entrenched interests (pharma, health care systems, or health care workers unions) as in any way sacred, but on the most capitalist of grounds: if they want the tax payers’ dollars, they need to accept the tax payers’ conditions.
By: pyramid termite
Conservatives don’t want to see this system destroyed by a Democrat patronage system on the order of the Postal Service or DMV. do you even know anyone who works for either? have you ever taken the test to get in the postal service? are you aware that in some states the dmv is ran by republicans? do you realize that this system is well on its way to destroying itself without a democrat patronage system? that’s why millions of people aren’t in it, the premiums keep going up and the benefits keep going down? talking points don’t get it anymore – lose the propaganda and the cant and take a look at what’s going on you’re not a troll – you just don’t have clue one as to what you’re talking about
By: Justinian
nax: single payer isn’t even on the table right now. At this point we just need to hope for a public option; we’re not supposed to say so but the Republicans are correct that a robust public option is a stalking horse for single payer. Yeah, yeah the Democrats will deny that until their last breath. They have to for political reasons. We know it is. The Republicans know it is. They know that we know. It’s a necessary bit of kabuki theater. But Baucus is going to gut the public option and replace it with some bullshit “co-op” system which won’t do squat. And the Democrats will declare victory and pass it with a bunch of fanfare. And Obama will declare victory and sign it with a bunch of fanfare. Did I mention it will include an individual mandate to buy insurance? So the Democrats and Obama will screw us all over just so they can pass something and declare victory even if it makes everything even worse. Which it will. An individual mandate with no public option is a complete and total betrayal of the people that voted the administration into office. Don’t let them fool you into believing otherwise. But the truth is that health care reform has been doomed from the start given that Max Baucus is chairman of the Finance Committee. No decent legislation of any sort (and I’m not limiting this to health care reform) will ever pass the Senate as long as we have that tin pot bastard in charge. Baucus is bought and paid for.
Scott Brown in Massachusetts: How He Shook Up Politics
Scott Brown’s surprise Massachusetts Senate win may have derailed President Obama’s health care reform
