The Blue State

Bush to prevent states from expanding child health care coverage

With just more than one year left in his presidency, Mr. Bush is rewarding the health care companies that donated more than $10 million to his '04 campaign.  The Administration is setting new rules that would keep states from significantly expanding the number of children that are covered under public-funded health care, so that private insurance companies are guaranteed more customers.

How does this one-time proponent of states rights plan to control money at the local level?  It's actually quite creative.  Instead of telling state legislatures, "You can't fund that," which would be unconstitutional, the President is just changing the federal rules that make it more difficult for states to fund health care for children in families over the poverty line:

The administration’s new policy is explained in a letter that wassent about 7:30 p.m. on Friday to state health officials from Dennis G.Smith, the director of the federal Center for Medicaid and StateOperations. The policy would continue indefinitely, though Democrats inCongress could try to override it.

...Inhis letter, Mr. Smith set a high standard for states that want to raiseeligibility for the child health program above 250 percent of thepoverty level.

Before making such a change, Mr. Smith wrote,states must demonstrate that they have “enrolled at least 95 percent ofchildren in the state below 200 percent of the federal poverty level”who are eligible for either Medicaid or the child health program.

DeborahS. Bachrach, a deputy commissioner in the New York State HealthDepartment, said, “No state in the nation has a participation rate of95 percent.”

In other words, Bush is telling states that the only way to expand health care for children is if the states meet certain enrollment requirements -- even though the requirements are impossible to attain.

The only way for Democrats to do something about it is to vote to override the Bush plan by the end of September.  They must pass it by a two-thirds margin to fend off a Bush veto.  Otherwise, if Congress does nothing, the Bush rules will come into effect.

The White House Attacks Hillary **VIDEO ADDED**

This post is a follow up to a story in today's 'BlueRadar' regarding the White House's attack on Hillary Clinton:

In response to her campaign ad that was released yesterday, the White House attackedHillary Clinton's claim that Americans are not well-represented by thisadministration.  WH Depouty Press Secretary: "As to the merits of it,I think it's outrageous. This is a president who, first and foremost, has helpedmillions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at amuch lower cost." ("Have access to?"  But at whatcost?)

More Specifically the line:

"As to the merits of it,I think it's outrageous. This is a president who, first and foremost, has helpedmillions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at amuch lower cost."

The audacity of that statement made my skin crawl, so I figuredI would post a reminder about the republicans wonderful victory of Medicare PartD. Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes did a segment on Part D back on April 1, 2007, andit is more than worthy to get it back out there.

The unorthodox roll call onone of the most expensive bills ever placed before the House of Representativesbegan in the middle of the night, long after most people in Washington hadswitched off C-SPAN and gone to sleep.

The only witnesses were congressional staffers, hundreds of lobbyists, andU.S. representatives, like Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Walter Jones, R-N.C.

"The pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill," says Jones."The bill was over 1,000 pages. And it got to the members of the House thatmorning, and we voted for it at about 3 a.m. in the morning," remembersJones.

Why did the vote finally take place at 3 a.m.?

"Well, I think a lot of the shenanigans that were going on that night,they didn't want on national television in primetime," according to Burton.

"I've been in politics for 22 years," says Jones, "and it wasthe ugliest night I have ever seen in 22 years."

The voting which is supposed to remain open for 15 minutes remained open foralmost 3 hours! Read the transcript HERE.

A brief 2 minute video which outlines the story can be viewed HERE.

Here is the complete '60 Minutes' segment 'Under The Influence'

And let's hope Romney isn't elected. Last night on Hannity & ColmesRomney talked about his idea of healthcare.

Well actually, the plan I put forward said no one gotfree insurance. Everybody could pay what they could afford. And so we had asliding scale and still do, based on your income. And the state will help paythe portion of your premium you can't afford for the poor.The good news is it costs us less to help people buy their own private insurancethan it was costing us giving out free care at hospitals. So I do talk aboutthat. And I'll be giving a speech to the Florida Medical Association describingto them our plan in some detail.But I insisted that everyone pays something. I didn't want to have anythingfree. Our legislature overrode that idea and so the people at the very low gotit free. I think that's a mistake. I think everyone should pay something.Read the complete transcript HERE

Great plan Mitt, the poor can pay something for healthcare and eat cardboardboxes.

Being insured doesn't mean you're covered

This isn't news to most people, though it is a very underreported issue.  A new Consumer Reports study finds that 16% of Americans, 40% of the population between ages 18 and 64, have "inadequate access to health care."  Remember, many of these people have insurance.  The report will be published in the magazine's September issue:

People falling into the “underinsured” category have two or more ofthe following complaints about their health plans: It does notadequately cover costs of prescription drugs; doctor visits; medicaltests; surgery or other medical procedures; catastrophic medicalconditions; or the deductible is too high.

In the survey, the median household income of respondents who were“underinsured” was $58,950, well above the U.S. median. Twenty-twopercent live in households making more than $100,000. Still, many ofthe “underinsured” don’t have the resources to keep up with the risingcosts of deductibles and co-pays, so much so that 43% reported thatthey postponed going to the doctor because they couldn’t afford it.

In other words, this is not just a problem for poor Americans.  Average middle class households are getting the wrong end of the bargain on health care, which significantly impacts their finances.

Keep in mind that the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in 2006.

Bush to veto 6 million children out of health coverage

The House of Representatives voted along partisan lines to pass a health care bill that would cover 6 million more children.  That would mean six million more kids getting regular physicals, immunizations and other preventative care so that down the road many of them won't require pricey emergency procedures that taxpayers usually end up paying for.

To President Bush and most Republicans, this is a horrible idea.  Since the measure passed the House, it heads to the Senate for debate.  In a statement, the White House issued a veto threat, saying the plan "clearly favors government-run health care over private health insurance."

This bill will likely not make it through the Senate.  Instead, a bipartisan group of Senators support a more scaled back proposal, which increases funding for the program by $35 billion.  It doesn't beat the $47 billion in the House bill -- but it's still not bad.  Bush says he would veto either bill.

What the President wants instead is a bill that only increases federal funding for the program by $5 billion.  But according to columnist Art Levine, Bush's plan guts states of resources:

Bush’s proposed $5 billion increase in funding to the program would still leave nearly 20 stateswithout sufficient funds to cover all those now enrolled. Bush opposesmajor expanded funding for SCHIP because he’d like to link the programwith his dead-in-the-water proposals to offer tax credits or deductionsto help people pay for high-cost, often exclusionary private insuranceon their own.

It is interesting how the Republican Party brags about being for states rights, yet their policies of unfunded mandates actually hurt states and empower the federal government.  No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act are two perfect examples.

Michael Moore Subpoenaed by Bush Administration

The Justice Department has issued a federal subpoena to Michael Moore for filming part of his health care movie "SICKO" on Cuban soil.  Moore revealed this during his Thursday appearance on the Tonight Show:

  Michael Thursday said the Bush administration  has served him with a subpoena regarding his trip to Cuba during the making of his new film, "Sicko."

The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who appeared Thursday on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ," said he was notified about the subpoena at the network's studios in Burbank, Calif.

"I haven't even told my own family yet," Moore said. "I wasjust informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bushadministration has now issued a subpoena for me."

The letter to Moore claims he was in violation of the embargo:

In a letter to Moore from a seniorofficial, apparently one of the famed “loyal Bushies,” the TreasuryDepartment’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) informed Moorethat it was investigating him for possible violation of the embargo.“This office has no record that a specific license was issuedauthorizing you to engage in travel-relatedtransactions involving Cuba,” wrote Dale Thompson, the office’s chiefof general investigations. “Ofac enforcement is conducting a civilinvestigation for possible unlicensed transactions under theregulations surrounding your trip to Cuba.”

Honestly, are they really going to subpoena all those 9/11 rescue workers?  Or are they just going to target Moore, a White House political opponent?

On health care, Bush puts Iraq before US

Both chambers of Congress passed a bill that would increase spending on children's health coverage by $35 billion over the next five years.  President Bush is planning to veto the bill, claiming that health care should be a luxury and not a right:

At the same time that they try to expand S-CHIP to older citizens, theyare trying to expand Medicare to younger citizens.  Their goal is totake incremental steps down the path to government-run health care forevery American.  It's the wrong path for our nation.

Now for the flip-flop.  While the President opposes universal health care here in the United States, he supported the idea of free, not-for-profit health care in Iraq.  In 2003 the Administration awarded a health care contract to Abt Associates to supply universal health care to the Iraqi people.

Tobacco bill destined to pass Senate

With the Democrats wrapping up debate on the Iraq legislation, one of its committees will hold a vote on a bill aimed at giving the FDA authority to regulating tobacco.  The ultimate goal of some Democrats is to institute a new tobacco tax, and use the money to pay for children's health care:

The long-debated bill to give the Food and Drug Administration thepower to regulate tobacco begins to move forward today, when the Senatehealth committee is expected to pass it — after a bruising fight.

Republicans, including ranking member Michael Enzi of Wyoming, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Orrin Hatch ofUtah, are expected to offer more than 30 amendments. They are alllikely to be voted down by the Democratic majority led by the bill’slead sponsor, committee Chairman Edward Kennedy ofMassachusetts. Public-health group lobbyists who support Kennedy’s billsay that most of the amendments would either weaken the legislation orchange it in ways that would hurt its chances of clearing the fullSenate.

The bill's chances of clearing committee are great.  It is also likely that the Senate will conduct a full vote on this issue before the August recess.

Dr. Clinton?

This is just a small piece coming out of Sweden. Last week, Hilary Clinton was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine from Gothenburg University in Western Sweden.

"Hillary Clinton's involvement in issues around medical research andhealth problems are well known," said Professor Olle Larkö, dean at theSahlgrenska Academy.

"She is also a strong advocate for increased investment in medical research."

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but having lived in a nation with Universal Healthcare for the past five years, I can say that the spirit in which this honor was granted upon Clinton was one of the greatest respect.
The link is to a Swedish website (written in english of course,) because I had some trouble finding anything about it in the headlines of the US news or even on Hillary's website. If you know what you're looking for, you can dig deep and find it though. (Damn Liberal Media!)
I just figured that for all the heat Hillary took in the 90's for her proposals on Health Care Reform, and all of the heat she's going to be taking over the upcoming months over the same issue, its comforting to know that there are some countries that view her attempts as noble and progressive. Now if only Swedes could vote in the 08 election!

Moore useful infomation: Reviewing Sicko

(warning: don't read the whole thing if plan to see Sicko!  You can read the beginning though...and the end...)

I work full time in a high tech job. I have insurance through my employer and I pay 15% of my health insurance costs.  I have a chipped tooth – I have had it for years but I do need it capped to prevent long term problems. Next week it will cost me $430.50 for a dental procedure that will last less than one hour.  Last month I had a small growth on my face. I went to the dermatologist just to be sure that it wasn’t dangerous. After less than 30 seconds the doctor said that it was just a cist.  That cost me $50.00. So I ask you, do I really have health insurance?  Should I care if my taxes increase if our government takes control of our healthcare system?

Since we so rarely get the chance to take in a mainstream documentary that exposes little known truths about very serious problems, I was excited to see Michael Moore’s latest work: Sicko.

Of course, Moore turned the healthcare industry (by the way, don’t you hate that our healthcare is actually a commercial industry from which many people extrude large profits) upside down and embarrassed them left and right. Not very difficult - but that wasn’t the only significance of the film. 

Moore stormed through foreign countries: Canada, France and Cuba and exposed the myths and the lies perpetrated by our government and our media. In these countries we saw conservative citizens explaining how socialized healthcare is not only morally necessary but it is efficient and effective – if you want it to be so.  Moore, the consummate cynic, asked one man why he would pay for someone else’s healthcare. The man responded by saying that he would want the same if it were him in need of medical attention.  Sicko points out that our library system is socialized. As is our postal system and our fire departments - all run by the government. Do they work?  If we want them to work they do work. 

If we permit our politicians and our corporate leaders to label socialized healthcare as “big government out of control”, and we let our friends and our families repeat after them, then we let them and the corporations they represent win big.  Big government is not inherently bad. Ineffective government is inherently bad.  Today, we are run by a very ineffective federal government that seems to be going out of its way to prove by example that anything run by the government is bad.  That’s what you get you when you give control of the government to a group of people who don’t believe in government.

So do other people want universal healthcare, or is this just that crazy liberal, Michael Moore out on an island?  Let's look at a CBS News/NY Times poll from earlier this year:

The US Healthcare system needs:
Minor changes: 8%
Fundamental changes: 54%
To be completely rebuilt: 36%

Not to Worry, It's Only 42 Thousand Gallons of Crude Oil

In my opinion here is another fine example of government officials BS'ing thepublic. Forty Two thousand gallons of crude oil is happily cruising down a rivertowards a lake that supplies drinking water. The officials say "they're notsure of the extent of contamination" and a spokeswoman for the Dept. of EnvironmentalQuality says "the spill isn't expected tohave an impact on the water-supply intakes located below the surface at thesouth end of the lake. She says oil tends to float on the surface of the water,so the quality of water taken from below the surface of the lake should not beaffected." Personally I don't think you can put forty two thousand gallonsOF water in a river and it not have an impact of some sort.

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) - Forty-two thousandsgallons of thick crude oil are nearing an Oklahoma lake that supplies water fordrinking and recreation.

The oil spilled from the Coffeyville Resourcesrefinery in Kansas on Sunday into the Verdigris River. It has been floatingdownstream toward Oologah (OO'-luh-gah) Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa

Officials say a lot of the oil slick remainson the surface and is visible. They're not sure of the extent of contamination.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department ofEnvironmental Quality says the spill isn't expected to have an impact on thewater-supply intakes located below the surface at the south end of the lake. Shesays oil tends to float on the surface of the water, so the quality of watertaken from below the surface of the lake should not be affected. Thestory is here... (but this is all there is at this link.)

Then we can go down the list of all the things NOT to worry about:

 
• None of the oil reached Oklahoma's Lake Oologah, a source of drinking    water for Tulsa and other communities, Oklahoma environmental officials said    Wednesday.
 
• Some workers at the refinery and the fertilizer facility already are    returning to work. Others have been told to remain at home until contacted    by their supervisors to return.
 
• Lipinski says the company is working closely with city, state and federal    agencies engaged in mitigating the environmental impact of the loss and is    actively reaching out to those people affected.
 
• On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, was helping the    Coffeyville Police Department to conduct air quality tests for potential    hazards
 
• At least 1,000 people have been displaced from their homes throughout    southeast Kansas, says the Kansas adjutant general's department
 
• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, KDHE, is distributing    tetanus vaccine to prevent the illness in people who have come in contact    with the floodwaters
 
• Health officials are warning residents to stay out of the flood waters due    to sewage, hazardous materials, and other contaminants. Individuals should    contact their nearest health department for a tetanus vaccine if they have    had a recent, significant injury or if they have entered the water and have    not had a tetanus vaccination in the past 10 years.
 
• The EPA advises people returning to property that may be contaminated with    oil and other contaminants to wear work boots, open doors and windows for    ventilation, and avoid taking oil-contaminated items to non-contaminated    locations. Read    this complete article here...

We all know accidents can happen, but when you look at the list of all the"agencies" working on this one, it is similar to Katrina's crack teamsof crack heads. And when fish, birds and other wildlife start popping up dead,or with more eyes and legs then they really need, then they will create afew more committees to investigate the new situation.

A few more emergencies like this and "we're in big troublemister"...ya see, all our federal funds are a little tied up right nowhelping democratize the world.

And besides, what's the worse that could happen? I ain't no tree hugger!