----- Original Message -----
From: Anthony Saidy
To: Ann Marie Saidy
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 7:22 PM
Subject: Healthcare on CONNECT THE DOTS, MON. 7AM, big show....
Monday 7 to 8AM on CONNECT THE DOTS (kpfk 90.7 FM) the subject is Healthcare. President Obama now supports a plan to mandate every American to buy "affordable" health insurance. He admits this a reversal of his campaign policy which opposed such a mandate. All three of our guests support Single Payer Healthcare which does away with the insurance companies serving as middlemen. But each has a different way to get there:
Former Sec. of Labor, Professor ROBERT REICH supports the President's original plan of the Public Option, and thinks the president should stay with it.
Congressman DENNIS KUCINICH just got an amendment passed in Committee to give each State their right to choose its own healthcare system. Will it now pass the full Congress? Will Obama support it?
San Francisco Mayor GAVIN NEWSOM has developed a plan for his city which covers 72% of its people so far. He thinks it will lead to100% coverage. How does it work? Would it be a solution for the country? Also Newsome talks about his run for Ca. Governor in 2010.
Lila Garrett (Host of CONNECT THE DOTS)
KPFK 90.7 FM in LA; 98.7 Santa Barbara
Airs Mondays from 7AM to 8AM.
To pod cast or download the broadcast use this link:
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/index.php?shokey=ctd
Each show is on line for three months.
***
Former Sec. of Labor, Professor ROBERT REICH supports the President's original plan of the Public Option, and thinks the president should stay with it.
Congressman DENNIS KUCINICH just got an amendment passed in Committee to give each State their right to choose its own healthcare system. Will it now pass the full Congress? Will Obama support it?
San Francisco Mayor GAVIN NEWSOM has developed a plan for his city which covers 72% of its people so far. He thinks it will lead to100% coverage. How does it work? Would it be a solution for the country? Also Newsome talks about his run for Ca. Governor in 2010.
Lila Garrett (Host of CONNECT THE DOTS)
KPFK 90.7 FM in LA; 98.7 Santa Barbara
Airs Mondays from 7AM to 8AM.
To pod cast or download the broadcast use this link:
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/index.php?shokey=ctd
Each show is on line for three months.
***
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/us/19chip.html?pagewanted=1&ref=us
Defying Slump, 13 States Insure More Children
By KEVIN SACK
NY Times: July 18, 2009
Despite budgets ravaged by the recession, at least 13 states have invested
millions of dollars this year to cover 250,000 more children with subsidized
government health insurance.
The expansions have come in the five months since Congress and President
Obama used the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program to
vastly increase its funding and encourage states to increase enrollment.
Although the federal government covers the vast majority of the cost, states
set their own eligibility levels and must decide whether to spend state
money in order to draw even more from Washington.
In addition to increasing income eligibility levels, three states are
dropping requirements that legal immigrants wait five years before joining
the program, a step newly permitted by the federal legislation. Others have
extended coverage to pregnant women or streamlined enrollment and
eligibility procedures.
The states' willingness to spend, even under excruciating budget pressures,
is a measure of the support for expanding health care coverage to the
uninsured as Congress and the administration intensify their negotiations
over a new federal health care bill.
But a number of states decided that their depleted coffers did not allow
them to insure additional children, even as a minority partner. Several
either deferred previously scheduled eligibility expansions or saw their
legislatures defeat efforts to broaden coverage.
In Arizona, only opposition from Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, prevented
lawmakers in her own party from narrowing eligibility. And in California,
where Democratic legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican,
are struggling to close the country's largest budget gap, the state on
Friday imposed a freeze on new enrollments.
California officials estimate that up to 350,000 eligible children may be
relegated to a waiting list, and that attrition could lower enrollment by
250,000 by June. If money is not found, the losses there might overwhelm the
cumulative gains in other states.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the potential for
major reductions in California was "a huge concern." But over all, she said,
the Obama administration was "very pleased that even in what are some of the
worst budget times in a very long time, children's health insurance
continues to be an absolute top priority."
The Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, has been politically
popular since its enactment in 1997 because it primarily benefits working
families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford
private insurance.
In many states, eligibility expansions have passed with solid bipartisan
support. In one of her final acts as governor of Kansas in April, Ms.
Sebelius, a Democrat, signed a two-year expansion worth $4.4 million that
had been approved by her overwhelmingly Republican Legislature.
The broadening of eligibility has made a profound difference for parents
like Vicky and Dewayne McIntyre of Yakima, Wash. When their state lifted the
income cutoff for its program to 300 percent of the federal poverty level
(or $54,930 for their family of three) from 250 percent (or $45,775), the
McIntyres learned that their 8-year-old daughter, Sarah, had become eligible
for the first time.
Sarah, who endured lung surgery at 3 and heart surgery at 6 and now has
asthma, had been uninsured for a year. "We were into credit card debt and
payday loans," said Ms. McIntyre, 41, who works part time in a store to
supplement her husband's income as a welder. "Her medicine at one point was
$880 a month, and we had to pay cash, so we were struggling. It is such a
relief now that I can just take her to the doctor if I need to and get her
medicine."
The federal legislation, which extended the program through 2013, provided
$32.8 billion in new financing over that period, paid with an increase in
tobacco taxes. On the day Mr. Obama signed the bill, calling it a "down
payment" on universal coverage, he also rescinded a Bush administration
directive that effectively made it impossible for states to raise their
eligibility limits above 250 percent of the poverty level.
The new law allows states to provide coverage to children from families
living at up to three times the poverty level. States can set thresholds
higher if they wish, but will be reimbursed by the federal government at a
lower rate - the same paid for Medicaid recipients. A primary incentive for
states to expand coverage is that Washington, on average, pays 70 percent of
the cost of CHIP, compared with only 57 percent for Medicaid.
Some states, including New York and New Jersey, were already enrolling
children above three times the poverty level, but the federal legislation
and the rescinding of the Bush directive made it possible for about 40
states to broaden eligibility.
The reauthorization of CHIP concluded a bruising two-year political battle.
President George W. Bush twice vetoed Democratic measures to expand the
program in 2007, depicting the legislation as a stalking horse for
government-run health care. Congressional Democrats sustained it through
temporary extensions and took full political advantage of Mr. Bush's stance
during the 2008 campaign.
CHIP, which served about 7.4 million people in 2008, is credited with
helping reduce the number of uninsured children by 2.5 million over its
first decade. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the revitalized
program would eventually reduce the number of uninsured youths by an
additional 4.1 million.
Of the 8.2 million children who remain uninsured, about two-thirds are
eligible for either CHIP or the much larger Medicaid program but have not
been enrolled, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. This year's
reauthorization includes $100 million in grants to help states find and sign
up eligible children.
Forty-eight states faced budget shortfalls this year, totaling $121.2
billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But in
those that have managed to expand eligibility, governors and legislators
said they viewed CHIP as a cost-effective investment.
"In a downturn, the number of people who need the safety net increases,"
said Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, a Democrat, whose state levied $600
million in fees on hospitals, some of which will be used to cover an
additional 21,000 children.
In Alabama, Democratic legislators overrode the veto of Gov. Bob Riley, a
Republican, to extend coverage to 14,000 children at an additional cost to
the state of $8 million.
"Our economy is tough here," said State Senator Roger H. Bedford Jr., a
Democrat. "But our decision was to fund the health care needs of our
children because a healthy child learns better and they don't show up at the
emergency room needing acute care."
Other states expanding eligibility include Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Montana,
Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and West Virginia. Ohio passed a
budget last week that includes an expansion, but its financing depends on
the resolution of a court case.
Illinois, New York and Wisconsin, which had been paying for expansions with
state money, are now applying for federal matching funds. And many states
are enacting measures to make it easier for children to enroll and stay
enrolled, steps encouraged by the federal legislation.
But Louisiana and North Carolina chose not to proceed with previously
authorized expansions this year, citing a lack of revenue. And bills to
either raise eligibility levels or lower premiums failed in Alaska,
Delaware, Georgia, Missouri, Rhode Island and Texas. The governor of Wyoming
has imposed a cap on enrollment, and New Hampshire may follow.
Officials in those states and others said they had little choice but to
leave federal money on the table.
"Michigan's hard-pressed to come up with a quarter to support a dollar's
worth of expenditure," said Stephen W. Fitton, that state's acting Medicaid
director.
In California, the Legislature beat back Mr. Schwarzenegger's proposal to
eliminate CHIP altogether but seems to have accepted the enrollment freeze.
"It is heartbreaking," said Ginny S. Puddefoot, deputy director of the
agency that administers the program there. "For those of us involved with
children's health care, this is just something we never imagined we would
see."
Defying Slump, 13 States Insure More Children
By KEVIN SACK
NY Times: July 18, 2009
Despite budgets ravaged by the recession, at least 13 states have invested
millions of dollars this year to cover 250,000 more children with subsidized
government health insurance.
The expansions have come in the five months since Congress and President
Obama used the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program to
vastly increase its funding and encourage states to increase enrollment.
Although the federal government covers the vast majority of the cost, states
set their own eligibility levels and must decide whether to spend state
money in order to draw even more from Washington.
In addition to increasing income eligibility levels, three states are
dropping requirements that legal immigrants wait five years before joining
the program, a step newly permitted by the federal legislation. Others have
extended coverage to pregnant women or streamlined enrollment and
eligibility procedures.
The states' willingness to spend, even under excruciating budget pressures,
is a measure of the support for expanding health care coverage to the
uninsured as Congress and the administration intensify their negotiations
over a new federal health care bill.
But a number of states decided that their depleted coffers did not allow
them to insure additional children, even as a minority partner. Several
either deferred previously scheduled eligibility expansions or saw their
legislatures defeat efforts to broaden coverage.
In Arizona, only opposition from Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, prevented
lawmakers in her own party from narrowing eligibility. And in California,
where Democratic legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican,
are struggling to close the country's largest budget gap, the state on
Friday imposed a freeze on new enrollments.
California officials estimate that up to 350,000 eligible children may be
relegated to a waiting list, and that attrition could lower enrollment by
250,000 by June. If money is not found, the losses there might overwhelm the
cumulative gains in other states.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the potential for
major reductions in California was "a huge concern." But over all, she said,
the Obama administration was "very pleased that even in what are some of the
worst budget times in a very long time, children's health insurance
continues to be an absolute top priority."
The Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, has been politically
popular since its enactment in 1997 because it primarily benefits working
families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford
private insurance.
In many states, eligibility expansions have passed with solid bipartisan
support. In one of her final acts as governor of Kansas in April, Ms.
Sebelius, a Democrat, signed a two-year expansion worth $4.4 million that
had been approved by her overwhelmingly Republican Legislature.
The broadening of eligibility has made a profound difference for parents
like Vicky and Dewayne McIntyre of Yakima, Wash. When their state lifted the
income cutoff for its program to 300 percent of the federal poverty level
(or $54,930 for their family of three) from 250 percent (or $45,775), the
McIntyres learned that their 8-year-old daughter, Sarah, had become eligible
for the first time.
Sarah, who endured lung surgery at 3 and heart surgery at 6 and now has
asthma, had been uninsured for a year. "We were into credit card debt and
payday loans," said Ms. McIntyre, 41, who works part time in a store to
supplement her husband's income as a welder. "Her medicine at one point was
$880 a month, and we had to pay cash, so we were struggling. It is such a
relief now that I can just take her to the doctor if I need to and get her
medicine."
The federal legislation, which extended the program through 2013, provided
$32.8 billion in new financing over that period, paid with an increase in
tobacco taxes. On the day Mr. Obama signed the bill, calling it a "down
payment" on universal coverage, he also rescinded a Bush administration
directive that effectively made it impossible for states to raise their
eligibility limits above 250 percent of the poverty level.
The new law allows states to provide coverage to children from families
living at up to three times the poverty level. States can set thresholds
higher if they wish, but will be reimbursed by the federal government at a
lower rate - the same paid for Medicaid recipients. A primary incentive for
states to expand coverage is that Washington, on average, pays 70 percent of
the cost of CHIP, compared with only 57 percent for Medicaid.
Some states, including New York and New Jersey, were already enrolling
children above three times the poverty level, but the federal legislation
and the rescinding of the Bush directive made it possible for about 40
states to broaden eligibility.
The reauthorization of CHIP concluded a bruising two-year political battle.
President George W. Bush twice vetoed Democratic measures to expand the
program in 2007, depicting the legislation as a stalking horse for
government-run health care. Congressional Democrats sustained it through
temporary extensions and took full political advantage of Mr. Bush's stance
during the 2008 campaign.
CHIP, which served about 7.4 million people in 2008, is credited with
helping reduce the number of uninsured children by 2.5 million over its
first decade. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the revitalized
program would eventually reduce the number of uninsured youths by an
additional 4.1 million.
Of the 8.2 million children who remain uninsured, about two-thirds are
eligible for either CHIP or the much larger Medicaid program but have not
been enrolled, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. This year's
reauthorization includes $100 million in grants to help states find and sign
up eligible children.
Forty-eight states faced budget shortfalls this year, totaling $121.2
billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But in
those that have managed to expand eligibility, governors and legislators
said they viewed CHIP as a cost-effective investment.
"In a downturn, the number of people who need the safety net increases,"
said Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, a Democrat, whose state levied $600
million in fees on hospitals, some of which will be used to cover an
additional 21,000 children.
In Alabama, Democratic legislators overrode the veto of Gov. Bob Riley, a
Republican, to extend coverage to 14,000 children at an additional cost to
the state of $8 million.
"Our economy is tough here," said State Senator Roger H. Bedford Jr., a
Democrat. "But our decision was to fund the health care needs of our
children because a healthy child learns better and they don't show up at the
emergency room needing acute care."
Other states expanding eligibility include Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Montana,
Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and West Virginia. Ohio passed a
budget last week that includes an expansion, but its financing depends on
the resolution of a court case.
Illinois, New York and Wisconsin, which had been paying for expansions with
state money, are now applying for federal matching funds. And many states
are enacting measures to make it easier for children to enroll and stay
enrolled, steps encouraged by the federal legislation.
But Louisiana and North Carolina chose not to proceed with previously
authorized expansions this year, citing a lack of revenue. And bills to
either raise eligibility levels or lower premiums failed in Alaska,
Delaware, Georgia, Missouri, Rhode Island and Texas. The governor of Wyoming
has imposed a cap on enrollment, and New Hampshire may follow.
Officials in those states and others said they had little choice but to
leave federal money on the table.
"Michigan's hard-pressed to come up with a quarter to support a dollar's
worth of expenditure," said Stephen W. Fitton, that state's acting Medicaid
director.
In California, the Legislature beat back Mr. Schwarzenegger's proposal to
eliminate CHIP altogether but seems to have accepted the enrollment freeze.
"It is heartbreaking," said Ginny S. Puddefoot, deputy director of the
agency that administers the program there. "For those of us involved with
children's health care, this is just something we never imagined we would
see."
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