Pi Day + attacks on health care coverage = emotional eating, anyone?

Wealth Care vs. Health Care

Days after Republican leaders released their proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and radically change the Medicaid program, a nonpartisan review by the Congressional Budget Office confirmed our worst fears: their bill would prove disastrous, stripping health insurance from 24 million people while radically increasing health care costs for seniors and low-income women and families. Apparently, the majority party would rather give a massive tax cut to people who don’t need it than ensure the rest of us can afford the care we need to stay alive and be healthy.

Take action to protect our health care
Learn more about the many ways the attacks on health care by the Trump administration and Members of Congress will hurt women and families:
- Why You Should #StayWoke About The Bill That Could Take Away Your Health Coverage
- #WorstTBTEver: When Women Weren’t Separate Persons From Their Husbands
- Watch this explainer about the ACA repeal bill.

#HandsOffMyBC

Remember that time HHS Secretary Tom Price said there wasn’t a single woman who couldn’t afford birth control?

gif WTR.gif

We haven’t forgotten, and we won’t let him forget either. We’re flooding his office with calls letting him know that we won’t tolerate attacks on affordable birth control.

Watch our video showing how it’s done.
Call him up yourself, and tell him to keep his hands off your birth control.

Resistance Must-Dos:

WATCH & SHARE: You can’t sit with (SCOT)US if you won’t protect the rights of everyone in the United States. Check out our quick video about the stakes of this Supreme Court appointment.
TWEET: What do taxes have to do with preschool? Everything. Join @nwlc & @MomsRising this Thursday at 2PM for an #EarlyEdChat about early education, tax credits for early learning expenses, and how we can advocate for our youngest learners through the tax code.

Resistance Must-Reads

We the Resistance is our fight to protect our rights and freedoms and to defend the most vulnerable among us through powerful collective action. Every conversation you have with a loved one about the issues important to you, every call you make to Congress, every rally you attend is a part of that resistance. Join us—sign on to the We The Resistance manifesto.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FACTS: Medicare Beneficiary Costs Will Rise if ACA … a repost from 2016

03/27/2017 Nativegrl77

Medicare Has Already Been Privatized. And That’s Not Good News.

As Drew Altman of Kaiser Family Foundation wrote in the Wall Street Journal (4/15/2016):
“To some degree many changes long sought by conservatives are already happening incrementally: More than half of Medicaid beneficiaries are in private managed-care plans. Almost one-third of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in private Medicare Advantage Plans this year, rather than the traditional program, and the share is projected to grow to more than 40% by 2026. The same is true of private health insurance. Conservatives complain about the ACA, but their preferred vision of health insurance–with high deductibles and lots of “skin in the game” plans–is dominating in the marketplace. The trend is reinforced by many of the policies being sold in the ACA’s insurance marketplaces.”

And Private Medicare plans will be paid more

With all the talk about repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare), many people miss the impact repeal would have on Medicare, older and disabled adults, and their families. ACA added preventive benefits to Medicare, decreased Part D cost-sharing for prescription drugs, and increased the long-term solvency of Medicare by about 11 years.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:

” Full repeal would increase spending primarily by restoring higher payments to health care providers and Medicare Advantage plans. The increase in Medicare spending would likely lead to higher Medicare premiums, deductibles, and cost sharing for beneficiaries, and accelerate the insolvency of the Medicare Part A trust fund. Policymakers will confront decisions about the Medicare provisions in the ACA in their efforts to repeal and replace the law.”

http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/what-are-the-implications-of-repealing-the-affordable-care-act-for-medicare-spending-and-beneficiaries/

Policy-makers and people who rely on Medicare should think twice before supporting legislation that will give windfalls to private insurance companies, while reducing coverage and increasing costs for older and disabled people.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Medicare is NOT “Going Broke” – Center Medicare for Advocacy

03/27/2017 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Medicare is not in crisis. It is on solid financial footing, and, in fact, is stronger than was predicted before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

Medicare Part A is mostly paid for with payroll taxes which go into a trust fund. Prior to the enactment of the ACA, the Part A trust fund was expected to be insolvent in 2017. As a result of the ACA and the recession, the trust fund is not expected to be insolvent until 2028.[1] However, even if Medicare Part A were to become insolvent by spending more than it is taking in, the program will still be able to pay out 87 percent of its benefits.[2] While not ideal, this is a far cry from “bankruptcy.” Further, the date of projected insolvency is not set in stone, and could easily change. The trust fund largely reflects the health of the economy. At various times since 1970, the trustees have projected Trust Fund insolvency in as few as 4 years or as many as 28 years.[3]

Importantly, funding for Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D comes from beneficiary premiums and the government’s “General Fund” – they are a federal budget item, just like, for example, the Defense Department. Whether to, and how much to, fund these items is a purely political decision.

Let’s not let our elected officials make the wrong decisions about Medicare.

_________________________

[1] Board of Trustees, Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Health Insurance Trust Funds. “2016 Annual Report.” 22 June 2016. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2016.pdf (site visited November 15, 2016). P.5.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Phil Galewitz and Marilyn Werber Sarafini. “Trustees Issue Warnings on Medicare But Make No Changes to Solvency Projections.” Kansas Health Institute. 24 April 2012. http://www.khi.org/news/article/trustees-issue-warnings-medicare-make-no-changes-s (site visited November 16, 2016).

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FEMA – What it does … why it shouldn’t be cut slashed or burned

03/27/2017 Nativegrl77

FEMA’s…

Mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

A Nor’easter in March

Winter isn’t over yet. A look at the term nor’easter and what you should do to be safe.

Southeast Severe Storms and Tornadoes

Find up-to-date resources and information on the federal response to the severe storms in Louisiana, Georgia (DR-4297, DR-4294) and Mississippi.

Youth Preparedness Council

The application period for our Youth Preparedness Council is now open. Learn more and apply today. Deadline: March 31, 2017.

National Advisory Council Membership Applications

We’re accepting applications for 13 open positions on the National Advisory Council. Learn more about the open positions and how to apply. Deadline: March 15, 2017.