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One Woman’s Story: Why I Will be Enrolling in the ACA (Obamacare) Marketplace

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By Lauree Benton

This 2013 article is a reminder of what is at stake in the efforts to repeal the ACA (Obamacare). The current GOP plan (AHCA) would let employers deny coverage for maternity and other care. Pregnancy would become a preexisting condition–again.

I didn’t know pregnancy was a preexisting condition until I was 8.5 months pregnant.

“You are uninsurable,” says the sales representative from Blue Cross of California. “Pregnancy is considered a preexisting condition.”

“You mean the preexisting condition that allows humanity to survive?” I snapped. I was furious.

To the sales rep’s credit, he thought it was ridiculous too.   [Read more…]

The Inevitability of Universal Health Care

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By Bill Adams

Universal health care in the U.S. is inevitable. It’s inevitable as long as this country remains among the league of economically developed countries.  This inevitability stems from the answer to the fundamental moral question: Do all persons, regardless of wealth, deserve medical treatment? This question is essentially a rhetorical question.

The only acceptable answer in a modern civilized country is “yes.”  Yet, the barbaric U.S. health care system tolerates the death of thousands of people per year attributable to lack of health coverage.  Even after the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA” aka “ObamaCare”) in 2010, millions remain uninsured or under-insured leading to fatal delay or avoidance in obtaining treatment for treatable and curable illnesses.

The U.S. lags all countries that provide universal health care in every major measurement of health and curing illnesses.  Ironically, the U.S. consumer who can afford health insurance receives no benefit for this bloodletting.  U.S. health care is the World’s most costly but provides only average medical results – even for those who can afford it.   [Read more…]

Attention, Please: We Can Guarantee Healthcare for All Californians

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By Deborah Burger / Common Dreams

With continued uncertainty in Washington over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, California has a unique role to play in charting a new path on health care reform – legislation that would guarantee coverage for all Californians, at much lower cost.

SB 562, the Healthy California Act, introduced by state Senators Ricardo Lara and Toni Atkins, with the California Nurses Association as lead proponent, will receive its first legislative hearing Wednesday, April 26 before the Senate Health Committee.

Excitement over the proposed law is already escalating around the state. Scores of nurses and healthcare activists have held multiple town halls, rallies, marches, and engaged in conventional lobbying including neighborhood canvassing and calls to legislators.   [Read more…]

With Epic GOP Failure, Dems Urged to Go Bold with Medicare-for-All

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Americans rallied against the GOP to defend their right to healthcare, Democrats are being urged to seize on the moment

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

With the Republican attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) going down in flames Friday as Americans rallied to defend their right to healthcare, Democrats are being urged, both by experts and constituents, to seize on the moment and counter with a plan that will truly provide coverage for all.

Uproar over the GOP’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), which was estimated to strip 24 million people of their healthcare by 2026, prompted a political firestorm as it drove voters across the nation to town halls and local legislative offices to demand that House Republicans vote against the bill.

After the White House called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) to withdraw Friday’s scheduled vote (after an aggressive lobby effort on the part of both President Donald Trump and Ryan), many are looking to what happens next.   [Read more…]

Internal White House Analysis of Trumpcare: Even Worse Than CBO Predicted

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70% of those who gained insurance through the ACA will lose their insurance in the first year….

By Mark Sumner / Daily Kos

The Trump White House, in an effort to double-check the ugly numbers coming from the Congressional Budget Office, ran their own analysis to determine the results of the new healthcare bill. And just as they suspected, the CBO is wrong … because it’s worse.

The executive branch analysis forecast that 26 million people would lose coverage over the next decade, versus the 24 million CBO estimates. The White House has made efforts to discredit the forecasts from the nonpartisan CBO.   [Read more…]

Wanna Resist Trump? Defeat Trumpcare.

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By Ian Reifowitz / Daily Kos

This is it. The battle over Trumpcare (and the fact that the White House doesn’t want you to call it that is all the more reason to do so) is the mother of all battles. If you want to resist Donald Trump, now is the time and this is the place. Progressives need to harness the energy demonstrated by the people who took to the streets—not to mention airports—to express their opposition to Trump’s agenda.

There are a lot of us. The Women’s March drew at least three times more people to Washington, DC—even though they were also held all over the country on the same day—than did the inauguration of popular vote loser Donald Trump. Counting all locations, the Women’s March appears to have been our country’s largest single-day protest ever. The long-term success of those marches will be measured in terms of increased engagement with the political process, because it is through politics—i.e., pressuring elected officials and, ultimately, winning elections—that progressives can stop Donald Trump right now.   [Read more…]

Darrell & Duncan Staging Saturday Town Halls in Oceanside & Ramona

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Persistence pays, I think the woman said. Two previously shy Congressmen have now scheduled forums where constituents will (maybe) have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the destruction of guardrails along the road towards Making America Great Again.

GOP Representative Darrell Issa made it official yesterday, pulling permits for a Saturday morning forum at Junior Seau Recreation Center in Oceanside. One hour sessions are scheduled for 8:30 & 10am, with reservations for residents of District 49 being accepted at Issa’s website starting at noon on Thursday.

Rep. Duncan Hunter’s town hall, announced on February 24, is also scheduled for Saturday, March 11. It is being held at the Ramona Mainstage, a venue best known as home for the local Tea Party affiliate. Doors are scheduled to open at 9:15; the Congressman will answer question cards collected from the audience in advance starting at 10am.   [Read more…]

Planned Parenthood Says No to Trump; Women’s Right to Choose is “Non-Negotiable”

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Trumpcare effectively destroys access to affordable women’s healthcare services

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

Women’s healthcare providers are readying for a fight. Refusing to back down from its commitment to women’s choice, Planned Parenthood is now at risk of losing nearly 40 percent of its funding—and is calling for a massive mobilization to resist the attack on women’s health.

Ahead of the official release of House Republicans’ the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on Monday evening—which guts funding for any healthcare organization that “provides for abortions”—Planned Parenthood reportedly rejected an offer from the White House to stop terminating pregnancies in exchange for the group to continue receiving federal funds for other essential services.

“Offering money to Planned Parenthood to abandon our patients and our values is not a deal that we will ever accept,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to the New York Times. “Providing critical health care services for millions of American women is non-negotiable.”   [Read more…]

Republicans Big Hurry to Ruin Healthcare for Millions

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Like a dog finally catching up with the car it’s been chasing, the Republicans are now faced with the question of “what do we do now?” when it comes to Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act.

Each of San Diego’s Congressional districts has roughly 30,000 people covered, thanks to the provisions of the law. There are 121,500 people employed in the healthcare industry locally, contributing $17.2 billion annually to the area’s economy. So any changes to the way the system currently functions are bound to have a broad social and economic impact.

The text of the GOP’s replacement health care plan was reportedly finalized over the weekend, with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, HHS Secretary Tom Price, among others, hashing out details via a conference call on Saturday.   [Read more…]

GOP So Worried Public Will See Healthcare Bill They Hid From Lawmakers, Too

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A ‘bipartisan wild goose chase’ on Capitol Hill made for great comedy on Thursday, except that it seems to be part of a House leadership plan to keep their Obamacare repeal in the shadows

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

Amid reports that House Republicans are keeping their draft healthcare legislation in a secret location, Congressional lawmakers on Thursday convened an actual search party to find the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replacement bill.   [Read more…]

Repeal and (Don’t) Replace

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“Repeal and Replace” Just a Slogan

Republicans were fine with the way it was for the health care system before Obamacare went into effect. So why not just go back to the good old days when a pre-existing condition was enough to let an insurance company reject you from coverage? The good old days when price gouging by insurance companies was the order of the day. The good old days when pharmaceutical corporations could charge whatever they want for life saving drugs. Oh, that part is still true under Obamacare.

The “Repeal and Replace” mantra was always nothing more than a slogan. Republicans have had 8 years to suggest a different system or enhancements to the one currently in effect.   [Read more…]

A Deplorable Deplorable: Rep. Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services

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Hillary Clinton jumped the gun when she called out Donald Trump’s more extreme supporters as ‘deplorables.’ Now I am having trouble finding a better word to describe the new President’s cabinet choices.

As I’m writing this, Georgia Congressman Tom Price is appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, which in theory is vetting him over whether he’s qualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Despite criticism from Democrats based on a bipartisan memo to lawmakers by Senate Finance Committee staff disclosing even more red flags concerning the congressman’s tax returns and financial disclosure statements, Price will ultimately be confirmed.   [Read more…]

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