|
|||||
|
Tag Archives: United States Congress
Hard to Resist
More GOP-Led States Are Moving To Expand Medicaid
A successful first open enrollment period with 8 million enrollees. The uninsured rate at a record low 13.4 percent. Insurers clamoring to join state exchanges for next year. Health insurance premiums for 2015 beating expectations. The successes of the Affordable Care Act are clear.
Supporters of the law in competitive races have taken notice, and are increasingly running on, not from, the ACA. But they are not the only ones acknowledging the changing political landscape; the ACA’s opponents have also seen it, and are taking action. In particular, some GOP-led states who have been putting politics over people by opposing Medicaid expansion are now taking steps to accept it. Here are some of the latest to change their tune:
Pennsylvania: The Keystone State will become the 27th state, and the 12th Republican-led state, to expand its Medicaid program in accordance with the Affordable Care Act. The Obama Administration announced last Thursday that it had granted a waiver and reached agreement with the state to provide health care coverage to 500,000 low-income residents through private insurance. Gov. Tom Corbett (R), the deeply unpopular Pennsylvania governor, has previously fought against expansion but trails in his re-election bid by 25 points while 59 percent of voters support expanding Medicaid.
Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslem indicated late last week that the state will likely submit a Medicaid expansion plan this soon. “I think we’ll probably go to [the Obama Administration] sometime this fall with a plan … that we think makes sense for Tennessee,” Haslem said. While he did not comment on any further details, the move could mean health coverage for 162,000 Tennesseans.
Wyoming: After initially rejecting Medicaid expansion that would provide health insurance to 17,600 low-income Wyoming residents, Gov. Matt Mead has now said he is now in negotiations with the Obama Administration to find a way to expand the program next year. The LA Times reports that “the reason for Wyoming’s wavering is clear: It’s money.” The state stands to save $50 million per year by expanding. Meanwhile, Wyoming hospitals are losing $200 million per year by treating people who lack insurance.
Another thing for these states, and all other conservative-led states who continue to deny health care to their low-income residents, to consider: they are sending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to other states who are expanding Medicaid, and receiving nothing in return.
BOTTOM LINE: As candidates who support the ACA increasingly embrace it on the campaign trail, conservatives nationwide are downplaying their opposition to the law. In the latest sign, more conservative states are finally changing course by pushing forward with Medicaid expansion to provide health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income working people and save billions of dollars.
Like CAP Action on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Share this:
Blair Mountain …
 |
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Blair Mountain used to be an idyllic place in southwestern West Virginia where the hills rolled for miles. Blair is also a historical treasure—the mountain is the site of arguably the most important post-Civil War battlefield in the US. Now, Arch Coal is planning to decimate this historical treasure for the tiny seams of coal that lie beneath the mountain. This is mountaintop removal coal mining at its worst. These devastating coal mining practices could not happen without nine big banks (Bank of Montreal, BBVA, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, Royal Bank of Scotland, Union Bank, and Bank of America as a lead lender) pumping $250 million dollars into keeping Arch coal afloat last November. Protect Blair Mountain and tell these 9 big bank CEOs to STOP funding Arch Coal. Blair used to be a thriving community of 700 people—and now has merely 50 residents because of the extreme dangers posed by existing mountaintop removal mines near the town. And the people who stayed behind live with constant dynamite blasts behind their town, carcinogenic dust rolling off the mine sites, and heavy metal contamination. Enough is enough. When bank financing enables Arch Coal to displace an entire community and wreack havoc on mother nature we cannot remain silent. If we want to protect the future of these communities and our climate we need to cut funding for coal.
|
||||
Share this:
#Infrastructure
Why We Need to Invest in Infrastructure
The United States was once a leader in infrastructure, but we’re slipping. Repairing our crumbling roads and bridges will help position our economy for long-term growth.
“Every time we’ve invested in infrastructure, as Democrats, as Republicans — every time we’ve done it, the economy grows,” said Vice President Biden. “And it grows good, decent-paying jobs.”
Listen to the Vice President explain why we need to invest in our infrastructure:
President Obama and Vice President Biden Honor America’s TOP COPS
The President and Vice President welcomed some of the country’s best law enforcement officials to the White House, honoring their remarkable service and sacrifice.
A Numbers-Based Case for Why It’s Time to Act on Infrastructure
President Obama is calling on Congress to pass a bill to put Americans to work repairing our crumbling roads and bridges — avoiding a crisis in the short term, and helping to position our economy for long-term growth.
Share this:
This Thing is Working
Like CAP Action on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
A Slew Of Good Health Care News Has Conservatives On Their Heels
The evidence continues to pile up that the Affordable Care Act is doing exactly what progressives said it would: providing the peace of mind of high-quality and affordable health coverage to millions of Americans. Despite the initial bumps, the law is actually exceeding expectations when it comes to enrollment. What’s more, Americans are sick of Republicans who have voted over 50 times to repeal the law without even offering an alternative — the law is working better than expected and it is here to stay.
19 Million Americans Covered
With President Obama’s final announcement of enrollment numbers on Thursday, the tally for the total number of Americans getting coverage (so far!) thanks to the Affordable Care Act is in:
- 8 million people have signed up for health coverage through the state and federal marketplaces.
- 3 million more have signed up for coverage through Medicaid.
- 3 million now have coverage by staying on their parents’ plan.
- 5 million people have signed up for ACA-compliant plans outside the marketplace.
Altogether, a new Gallup survey reveals that 4 percent of all Americans are newly ensured this year.
Exchanges Working And Costs Down
Opponents of the law claimed that insufficient numbers of young and healthy people would enroll in the exchanges, causing premiums to skyrocket next year. These fears also aren’t panning out; in fact, just the opposite is happening.
For one, young people are signing up for health coverage under the law in droves. The White House reported that 28% of enrollees are between the ages of 18 and 35. That’s the same percentage as in Massachusetts, which has run a successful healthcare marketplace since 2007. Gallup echoes this point, writing that “the newly insured are, on average, much younger than the overall population.”
Additionally, worries about dramatic cost increases have also proven to be overblown. New Congressional Budget Office projections for 2016 insurance premiums are 15 percent lower than previous estimates, a reduction that they estimate to save $186 billion (not to say we called it, but…we called it).
The mix of massive enrollment and a young, healthy enrollment pool has insurers who “got their first taste of Obamacare this year [wanting] seconds,” according to Politico. In at least ten states, insurers that didn’t offer coverage through the exchanges this year have said they plan to in 2015. This creates more options for consumers, and signals the strength of the ACA marketplaces.
Conservatives On Defense
As millions of people experience real, and not just theoretical, benefits of the law, Americans are getting more and more tired of the political battles to repeal it. A recent Kaiser survey found that 59 percent of Americans want keep the law in place or improve it, while only 29 percent want get rid of it. Pew reports that even a “majority of ACA opponents – representing 30% of the public overall – want politicians to do what they can to make the law work as well as possible, compared with 19% of the public that wants elected officials to do what they can to make it fail.”
And constituents are showing their frustration with their conservative elected officials’ fixation on repeal. Without any alternative to point to, and an increasingly frustrated public, these politicians have nobody to blame but themselves.
Think Progress videotaped on one such interaction at a town hall for GOP Rep. Dennis Ross (FL):
Constituent: Why do you think it is so good to deny seniors on Part D to make them pay more, about $4,000 more for medicine, and people with pre-existing conditions get denied insurance, have 26-year-olds have a harder time getting insurance because they can’t get on their parents’? Why do you think those are good ideas?
ROSS: I don’t. I think one of the most unfortunate things my party did the last three years was not offer an alternative to health care.
Ross isn’t the only Republican to face criticism recently. Paul Ryan, Scott Brown, and Chris Christie have also had constituents tell them to end their focus on repeal. Meanwhile, states that have refused to expand health care to low-income residents are also starting to face the music: the uninsured rate is dropping three times faster in states that have expanded Medicaid compared to those that have not.
BOTTOM LINE: We think just a look at a few of this week’s health-care related headlines provides the best summary: the ACA is working.
New York Times: Enrollments Exceed Obama’s Target for Health Care Act
New Republic: Obamacare Signups Hit 8 Million And both Young And Old Are On Board
National Journal: Obamacare Is On A Winning Streak
Politico: Insurers see brighter Obamacare skies
Washington Post: States embracing Obamacare are doing a better job of covering the uninsured, surveys show
Gallup: Uninsured Rate Drops More in States Embracing Health Law
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.