A Message from Earl

This e-mail from Congressman Earl Blumenauer landed in my inbox about two hours ago, and I’m taking the liberty of sharing it with you by reprinting* it here. In it, Rep. Blumenauer tears down the web of lies surrounding proposed health care reform. If you have any concerns about the issue of health care reform, here’s yet another chance for you to learn the truth.

September 1, 2009

Dear Mr. Hanson,

Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts about health care reform. In the past few months, I have received thousands of letters and emails and have had hundreds of conversations with people about the state of America's health care system.

Just the other day, I ran into the owner of a small business who I have known for years. She told me that her employees' health insurance rates were going up 32.7 % next year - on top of the double digit increases of the last few years! As a result, she was confronted with a terrible dilemma: Should she stop providing health insurance to her employees? Dramatically cut the benefits the insurance provides? Or make her employees pay more for their insurance? Employers across the country are grappling with the same issue, which is why we need health insurance reform sooner rather than later.

The debate over health insurance is not just about people currently without coverage. It's about small business owners and their employees. It's about the individuals who are losing their jobs (and health insurance) due to the ongoing recession and also about people approaching the age for Medicare eligibility who want to make sure that this popular, government run health insurance program is still around when they retire.

Health care costs are spiraling out of control. This year, every insured American family will pay $1,017 in insurance premiums just to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. Single people who are insured pay $368 per year. All total, that's $42.7 billion a year, or $1,354 per second! This "hidden health care tax" subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of the uninsured.

Without reform, the cost of health care for the average family of four is projected to rise $1,800 every year for years to come. Worse still, without reform insurance companies will be increasingly responsible for health care decisions, taking away individuals' ability to make decisions about what care they receive.

America's middle class deserves better. America's families need affordable, stable health care coverage that can't be taken away from them. Reining in health care costs is critical in light of our pressing economic challenges and growing social needs which is why I support health care reform.

Here's what the House legislation HR 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act, means to you:

LOWER COSTS

* No more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care

* No more rate increases for pre-existing conditions, gender, or occupation

* An annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses

* Group rates of a national plan if you buy your own insurance

* Guaranteed and affordable dental, hearing, and vision care for your children

GREATER CHOICE

* Keep your doctor and your current plan, if you like them

* More choice, with a high quality public health insurance option competing with private insurers

HIGHER QUALITY

* You and your doctors make health care decisions - not insurance companies

* More family doctors and nurses entering the workforce, helping guarantee access

* Mental health care must be covered

STABILITY & PEACE OF MIND

* No more coverage denials for pre-existing conditions

* No more lifetime limits on how much insurance companies will pay

* No reason to ever again make a job or life decision based on the fear of losing health care coverage

You can read the entire bill and summaries of each of the sections on my website at http://www.blumenauer.house.gov.

As you may have noticed, a lot of myths and outright lies about health care reform are being spread by people who want to maintain the status quo. While it's important to have fair and honest debate about how much government should be involved, how we get the best value for our dollar, and what regulations are put in place to make sure the insurance companies don't end up gouging the American taxpayer, we need to reject the divisive tactics and rhetoric from those who have no interest in making our country healthier.

On that note, I want to take this opportunity to address some concerns I've heard and clear up some misconceptions regarding HR 3200:

* This bill will NOT raise taxes on low and middle-class families. A small surtax on the richest 1.4% of Americans will cover most of the cost of health insurance reform. Furthermore, this increase will not occur during a recession, but is set to be implemented in 2011, long after economists predict the recession will end.

* This bill will NOT cover anyone who resides in this country illegally. Section 246 of H.R. 3200 specifically forbids federal dollars from going towards health insurance for undocumented workers.

* This bill will NOT create "death panels" or euthanize our senior citizens. Section 1233 of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act simply allows Medicare to reimburse health professionals for a voluntary conversation about end-of-life decisions between a patient and a doctor, at the patient's behest. Like all Medicare benefits, this is a voluntary benefit! If patients don't want to discuss their care wishes, they don't have to.

* This bill will NOT exempt Members of Congress and other government employees from following the same guidelines as everybody else. Any health care plan used by a federal employee or elected official will be subject to the same reforms as all other private plans.

* This bill will NOT cut Medicare coverage. This bill does include Medicare reforms designed to lower costs and increase efficiency, but NOT at the expense of caring for enrollees.

* This bill will NOT abolish the private health insurance system in this country. Under the bill, patients would be able to keep their private insurance, and there would be no mandate to switch plans or join the public insurance option. This bill is all about giving people options and letting them choose the type of care that best works for them.

Thank you again for your interest and involvement. I hope you will continue to be engaged in this debate in the coming months, and I encourage you to visit my website (http://www.blumenauer.house.gov) for more information about America's Affordable Health Choices Act and health insurance reform in general.

Sincerely,

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

* Formatting edited to fit this blog, original wording retained.

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Hard-core Progressives Digging In

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Subject: Health Care for All Americans

If you think Americans—all Americans—should have access to affordable health care, you can show your support by signing Firedoglake’s petition to the House of Representatives before September 15^th.

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Pols Suffer the Slings and Arrows of Justifiable Outrage

Keith Olbermann Comments on Health Care Reform

Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck could benefit by taking anger management lessons from Mr. Olbermann, who expresses his outrage in no uncertain terms without running off the rails. But then, when you have logic and facts on your side and the self-assurance that comes with knowing what you’re talking about, you don’t need sudden outbursts of uncontrolled rage to make your point.

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Jackal Alert

Fake Grassroots Exposé

Should phone and cable companies control the Internet?

(Pause for laughter)

No!

Whenever corporations are allowed to regulate themselves, consumers and taxpayers end up as losers. It’s happened in the banking industry, the mortgage finance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the healthcare industry. Don’t let the same sad, sorry situation consume the Internet.

Leaving the jackals to safeguard the livestock has never been a successful long-term strategy for preserving the safety of the herd.

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Today Started at Midnight

When I started writing this, the day was 13 hours and 20 minutes old.

In 13 hours and 20 minutes the global population increased by more than 117,000 people. More than 82,000 people became malnourished. 41 species became extinct.

During those 13 hours and 20 minutes more than 41,800,000 tons of CO² were spewed into the atmosphere, the U.S. produced more than 335,000 tons of garbage, 41 tons of oil spilled into the oceans, and some 19,800 hectares of the planet’s forests were razed to the ground. In that 13 hours and 20 minutes more than 46,500,000 barrels of oil were pumped out of the ground.

What time is it?

Doesn’t matter.

It’s later than you think.

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The Truth is Out There

“The truth is out there.” —Fox Mulder

For Barking Moonbats, courtesy of MoveOn.org:

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!

The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."⁴ What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.⁵

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!

The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.⁶ Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.⁷

If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.⁸ But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!

The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.⁹ And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!

The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.¹⁰ Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.¹¹

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!

The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.¹² The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade¹³—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.¹⁴ Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.¹⁵

We're closer to real health care reform than we've ever been—and the next few weeks will decide whether it happens. We need to make sure the truth about health care reform is spread far and wide to combat right wing lies.

Sources:

1. "More 'Town Halls Gone Wild': Angry Far Right Protesters Disrupt Events With 'Incomprehensible' Yelling," Think Progress, August 4, 2009.

2. "Fight the smears," Health Care for America NOW, accessed August 10, 2009.

3. "Palin Paints Picture of 'Obama Death Panel' Giving Thumbs Down to Trig," ABC News, August 7, 2009.

4. "No 'death panel' in health care bill," The Associated Press, August 10, 2009.

5. "Stop Distorting the Truth about End of Life Care," The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.

6. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 11, 2009.

7. "Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.

8. "Obama: 'If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,'" The Wall Street Journal, 15, 2009.

9. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

10. "Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform," CNN, July 28, 2009.

11. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

12. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

13. "Premiums Run Amok," Center for American Progress, July 24, 2009.

14. "Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies," CNN, June 5, 2009.

15. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.

Sources for the Five Lies:

#1: "A euthanasia mandate," The Washington Times, July 29, 2009.

#2: "It's Not An Option," Investor's Business Daily, July 15, 2009.

#3: "Rationing Health Care," The Washington Times, April 21, 2009.

#4: "60 Plus Ad Is Chock Full Of Misinformation," Media Matters for America, August 8, 2009.

#5: "Obama's 'Public' Health Plan Will Bankrupt the Nation," The National Review, May 13, 2009.

Thanks to Nita Chaudhary and others at MoveOn.org for providing the contents of this post.

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Food for Thought

Here’s a little something for President Obama, drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, and other members of the anti-marijuana crowd to “chew” on:

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HorseCents or Horseshit?

Either this guy is a fucking moron or he’s a brilliant satirist. I haven’t decided which. Maybe you can tell:

Overpopulation crisis debunked in 5 minutes, by HorseCents


The only thing HorseCents debunks is the notion that giving a moron who had an excess of beer on Saturday night access to a video cam on Sunday morning is a good one. Another perfect example of a person who failed to ask the next question.

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The Three Most Addictive Drugs

Many drugs are addictive to one degree or another, legal status notwithstanding. The reality is that legal prescription drugs can be just as dangerous and addictive as their illegal counterparts.

Of the illicit street drugs, methamphetamine is the most addictive, the most dangerous, the most destructive. Watch the video and you’ll understand why I don’t do meth.

Always found in combination, the remaining two of the three most addictive drugs aren’t really drugs at all. But they behave very much like other highly addictive drugs in that anyone who gets so much as a taste of either of them becomes immediately addicted; the more of them people get, the more of them people want. Enough is never enough.

Once hooked on these “drugs,” addicts quickly learn to lie with conviction, to manipulate events with impunity, and to exploit their fellows without guilt or remorse. Prolonged abuse often strips addicts of their humanity, inhibits sociability, triggers paranoia and fear, fosters delusions of grandeur and feelings of superiority, increases arrogance, selfishness and greed, diminishes compassion, and floods the brain with endorphins.

Although these “drugs” are legal, a double standard regarding their usage seems to apply. Some people are encouraged—even aided and abetted—to help themselves to generous quantities, while most others face numerous obstacles that prevent them from getting anywhere near the supply.

Perhaps you’re among the elite group of people who have privileged access to these highly addictive narcotics, but chances are you’re not.

After all, wealth and power aren’t for everyone.

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Nicola Tesla Never Envisioned This

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