Health Care In America

[Ray Beaufait]

Republicans in Congress are supporting partisan politics over the American people.  They continue to support big money and corporations with little regard for the rights and benefit of the average American.  Being a Independent, it is beyond my comprehension how any American could support their ideology.  
 
They are trying to eliminate your health care benefits, social security and medicare for seniors.  A clear example is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  They tried to repeal the following benefits for Americans again supporting  big business and insurance companies over you.
 
•Insurers are prohibited from taking away your coverage based on an unintentional mistake on an application
 
•Families are protected from having their coverage capped by lifetime dollar limits on benefits if someone is in an accident or becomes sick
 
•Insurers are required to spend at least 80% of your premium dollars on health care and quality improvement, instead of insurance company administrative costs, big salaries, or marketing
 
•Insurers must submit premium rate increases of 10% or higher to states (and in some cases the federal government) to determine whether they are reasonable
 
•Insurers can no longer deny coverage to children who have pre-existing conditions ranging from cancer to asthma
 
•Parents can keep children under the age of 26 as dependents on their plan, if they do not have coverage of their own
 
•Small business owners can better compete by providing tax credits and by increasing their purchasing power through competitive private health insurance Exchanges
 
•The life of the Medicare Trust fund will be extended to at least 2029, a 12-year extension as a result of reducing waste, fraud and abuse, and slowing cost growth in Medicare. This will provide you with future cost savings on your premiums and coinsurance.
 
•Medicare will take strong action to reduce payment errors, waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. The President has made a commitment to reduce Medicare fraud 50 percent by 2012. The Affordable Care Act makes an historic, ten-year, $350 million investment to prevent, detect and fight fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program—including criminal efforts to exploit the new law. Visit Stop Medicare Fraud for more information.
 
•In 2011, if you hit the prescription drug donut hole, you will get a 50% discount on brand-name drugs. Every year after, you will pay less for your prescription drugs in the donut hole until there’s complete coverage of the donut hole in 2020. Between now and then, you will get continuous Medicare coverage for your prescription drugs.
 
•The coordination of care between doctors and the overall quality of care will improve so that you will be less likely to experience preventable and harmful re-admissions to the hospital for the same condition.
 
•Hospitals will have new, strong incentives to improve your quality of care.
 
•Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act offers additional protections for Medicare Advantage Plan members by taking strong steps that limit the amount these plans spend on administrative costs, insurance company profits, and things other than health care.
 
•Starting in 2014 if your employer doesn’t offer insurance, you will be able to buy insurance directly in an Exchange -- a new transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans.  Exchanges will offer you a choice of health plans that meet certain benefits and cost standards.  Starting in 2014, Members of Congress will be getting their health care insurance through Exchanges, and you will be able buy your insurance through Exchanges too.
 
•Reduction of $138 billion in the federal deficit over a 10 year period, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  It will cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the second ten year period.
 
Repealing the act will increase the federal deficit by $230 billion over 10 years. Americans should be outraged with the agenda set by the Republican Party.  

Ray Beaufait

[Butch Ragland]

Hospitals will have new, strong incentives to improve your quality of care.
 

I had puzzled my mind with why the Republiguns were fighting the “death panels” knowing that the lie had something to do with money for large corporations.

Quick definition; “death panels” are just a visit with your doctor to discuss options so a person could make informed choices about living wills. Actually a personal decision, not a right that Republiguns need to take away from us

Why would Republiguns make such a big deal, well hospitals want patients in the hospital when they are actually dying to run up bills paid to the medical industry mostly hospitals. As much as 80% of all medical expenses occur in the last 6 months of a persons life, a lot of money that does not extend life or improve quality of life such as breathing tubes keeping a persons heart pumping and lungs functioning long alter the brain is dead, we all remember Shivo.

Many of these end of life expenses are borne by Medicare or Medicaid when we should be reducing cost not increasing them against a persons right to choose, get out your Constitution Republiguns.