My Healthcare Plan

Let me come clean and tell you which plan was written by whom:
Plan A is the House Democratic Bill. Plan B is the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's Bill. Plan C is a plan under discussion by a bipartisan group of six senators on the Finance Committee. Plan D is the House Republican proposal. All of these can be found here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090813/NEWS/90813006/-1/NEWS04 It is the news site where I found them.
Now, I try to stay positive about all of the plans, but I have to say I'm highly disappointed in Plan D – the House Republican proposal. It pretty much leaves things as they are and that bothers me. I know Republicans don't want a government run plan. I know Republicans think that government interference is a bad thing and I can understand that. But, what I can't understand is how they can just continue to ignore the fact that the system is broken. 47 million American citizens have no health insurance. That is 13% of the population. It is a high enough number to swing an election. On top of that, those 47 million Americans leave the rest of us paying a much higher price. Hospitals, when they provide care and aren't reimbursed, have to make up the money loss somewhere and that means charging more for the care those of us who are insured receive. Which means the insurance companies pay more and the premiums go up and so on and so on. We all suffer.
Now, I'm not saying I'm extremely happy with any one of the four plans, but I think combining them might not be a bad idea.
First, the who is covered: the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill aims to cover 97% of Americans, as does the bipartisan, Finance Committee's plan. This is very important. The whole point is to get as many people covered as possible.
Second, the cost: I think the Senate plan at being only $650 million over ten years and covering 97% of the people is a little unrealistic. I think the $1 trillion mark sounds about right. This doesn't mean I think we should spend that much, but that it is a reasonable to believe the healthcare plan will cost that much over ten years.
Third, how's it paid for: Let's face it, a plan with this much coverage is going to cost us some dough. The Republican plan, which didn't even offer a proposed cost, states no new taxes. Boy, that sounds good. The plan implies that by reducing Medicare and Medicaid fraud, the plan would be paid for. Unfortunately, I don't have the numbers for the amount of money lost due to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, but I'm thinking it probably isn't enough to pay for any plan. Now, I would be interested in hearing or reading someone's idea on how it could. I wrote Paul Ryan regarding his plan and I still don't have an answer. (Which I'm very disappointed, he is usually right on the ball.)
I think a combination of all four plans might be the answer to how to pay for this. Raising taxes on singles who earn more than $280,000 a year seems reasonable to me. Most of the people I know don't come anywhere near that figure. Raising taxes on families that earn more than $350,000 isn't a bad idea either. The highest tax bracket in this country is 33%. We jump from 15% to 25%, but after 25%, the jumps are much smaller. Trust me, a single person earning $280,000 a year will be able to afford a two percent tax raise. I'm also for raising the taxes on other items, such as cigarettes or liquor, but I think I'm alone in that regard.
I'm not for cutting Medicare nor am I for cutting Medicaid. No cuts. The elderly have enough problems. No cuts, but rooting out fraud -- that's a good idea.
Further – charging companies a portion of the insurance costs the government pays is a terrific idea. I think that it is only fair. Companies benefit from their workers' hard work. More and more companies are expecting more from their employees – especially salary employees – without offering raises. Being penalize if they allow employees and employees' children to be on a government program is a good thing. Penalizing companies such as, oh, I don't know, Wal-Mart, could help pay a great deal toward the program.
I think the combination of rooting out Medicare and Medicaid fraud, a small tax raise on the wealthy and penalizing large companies for not providing affordable health insurance should be able to pay for the plan. I think not purchasing the F-22 from Lockheed, which has cost us the taxpayers over $351 million in overruns is an example of government waste we could cut and use to help pay for the plan.i
Fourth, the mandates: I know the government mandates a lot of different things and that's not always a good thing, but the only way any healthcare plan will work is if we all have insurance. The healthcare costs of those people who are uninsured are staggering. This is not to say that we all have to have fancy group coverage. The bare minimum should be catastrophe insurance, along with a pre-taxed Health Savings Plan. I know that some people say, well, rich people don't need health insurance, so they shouldn't be forced to carry it, but even a rich person could have their entire wealth wiped out by the cost of cancer treatments.
To support my argument further, let's consider this: everyone of us who has care insurance has coverage that includes uninsured and under-insured motorists. And, why do we do that? So, we can still be protected if someone that doesn't have insurance slams into our car. Hospitals will need the same protection. There are some people out there who can cover $3200 out of pocket expense for a cardio-test, but I'm not one of them. Had I had to pay for the test myself, I'd still be making payments. And, the hospital would still be waiting for their money, which is one of the reasons hospitals have to charge so much. If everyone is covered by health insurance, hospitals wouldn't to write off unpaid bills, thus reducing their overhead. Of course, I'm notoriously cheap and I probably wouldn't get the test. I would be the type of person who would take chances with her healthcare. In interest of full disclosure, in this case, I would be okay without the test. My heart is strong, like bull.
Fifth, how to choose the health insurance plan. I like the exchange idea, but I was just reading an articleii that in Massachusetts the exchange isn't working. That being noted, I think if the Massachusetts plan isn't working, we use it to take what does work and throw away what doesn't. I, also, like the idea that the exchange is state run, with Federal standards. Each state should know what its citizens need and is better prepared to make changes for what doesn't work more quickly than the Feds.
Sixth, for the benefits, I like the Democratic plan, so I just copied it verbatim: “A committee would recommend an "essential benefits package" including preventive services, mental health services, oral heath and vision for children; out-of pocket costs would be capped. The new benefit package would be the basic benefit package offered in the exchange and over time would become the minimum quality standard for employer plans. Insurers wouldn't be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.”iii
Finally, the government run plan, I like the idea of a government run plan to a point that competes with private insurers. I think private insurers deserve a little unfair competition. However; I think it should be limited to cover those who don't qualify for any other plan or subsidy. Let's not create a huge fiasco here. Also, I like the part in the Senate where the plan would “would pay doctors and hospitals based on what private insurers now pay.”iv
Okay, that's it. That's my plan in a nutshell. I think it works better and is better for all of us than the four plans.
This is a pretty long blog post, but I wanted to include as much as I could. I'm posting this as a PDF, as well, so you can print it out and share it. If you like my idea, please feel free to post it on your own blog – as long as you link back to mine. Further, send it to your representative and say you support it. I'm sending it to mine. We need to improve healthcare in this country, but none of those four plans mentioned are going to cut it. If you don't like what I've outlined, I'd love to hear why and I encourage you to come up with your own plan. I, also, encourage you to make sure you write your representative. Healthcare is too important to leave up to the politicians and lobbyists.
God Bless
iMother Jones September / October 2009, page 41
iihttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/08/obamas-insurance-plan-comes-right-wing-think-tank
iiihttp://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090813/NEWS/90813006/-1/NEWS04
ivibid

Corporate Taxes And Healthcare

Have you read this week's Business Week? On page 20, the Mandel on Economics article is about slashing Corporate taxes from 35% to 25%. That's a pretty big slash and it would mean that Corporations would pay a smaller percent than the highest taxed individual. On top of that, Corporations all ready only account for 10% of the Federal Government's revenue. Slashing their taxes would only bring that figure down AND it wouldn't guarantee that they would create jobs here at home.
In an article just a couple of pages along, Catherine Arnst writes that some CEOs are behind the "new, federally funded insurer" plan "that would expand coverage by competing with private health insurers." For once, I agree with the Republicans that this is a bad idea, but not for the same reasons.
I realize that we have to get the healthcare costs in hand and that premiums have risen faster than anything else, but if we let our corporations pay less in taxes and not have to be responsible for the people they hire, we're not helping anyone. We're moving more costs to the government and less on the backs of the companies who helped incur them.
Why can't we throw out the tax code all together and create a new one that gives companies incentives to create American jobs and cover benefits by paying lower taxes? Why should we just lower the taxes across the board and give them government benefits that allow them to put out even less for their employees? Won't this just tax the American worker that much more?

God Bless

Quick Thoughts

Since the site is called Top of My Head, I thought I'd post some items truly off the Top of My Head.

1. The Governor of Texas thinks that Texas should be its own country. Well, I agree. Think about it -- nothing good has ever come out of Texas. Let's all get together, take a vote and vote Texas off this island called the United States of America. But, don't let Texans come and try to invade the rest of us. Make them get Visas before they're allowed to cross the border. And, instead of building a huge fence across the Mexican border, let's build it at the Texas state line. Besides, they only joined up with us in the first place because Texas couldn't live peacefully with Native Americans. Texas being annexed into the United States was one of the causes of the Mexican American War. Let them go and this time, don't let them come back.
2. Any television station that actually gives the octomom her own reality show should never be watched by anyone ever again. The show should tank and we should all refuse to watch any show on that network, until it's network president agrees to be spanked on national TV because of his or her bad decision.
3. Friends shouldn't let friends sing Karaoke if the friend truly can't sing. I don't care how much you like the song. Also, friends should not put in songs under other people's names. It isn't funny. It rarely goes well -- unless said friend truly can sing and is just shy. And, it annoys those of us who can sing and are waiting our turn to watch some drunk man or woman screech through a song they don't know. Knock it off, people. Karaoke is serious business.
4. Lewis Black is a comedic genius and we should all listen to him.
5. Cheryl should allow me to get a new kitten and, if you know her, please tell her so. I miss Mr. Mann more than I thought I would and we need to have three cats in our house. I know the new kitten could never take his place or even act like him, but she has taken over the other two cats in our lives and now, I feel as if I'm catless.
6. I just lost yet another diamond out of my grandmother's rings. Does anyone know a really, really good and rebutable jeweler?
7. Does anyone know if you have to be a Veteran or a government employee in order to get a job with the government? There's openings everywhere, but I can't understand all that job rating stuff.

God Bless

Pay Your Damn Taxes!!!!

What the hell, man?!?
It's coming out that more and more elected officials apparently can't figure out how to pay their damn taxes. I wasn't going to say anything, but now Palin is in trouble, too. It's becoming apparent that no one in politics can figure out how to pay their damn taxes.
Get it together, people!
No wonder our country is in such a mess!

God Bless

Celebrity and Campaigning

I haven't seen many campaign ads this year. Come to think of it, I've only seen one campaign ad - McCain's Celebrity ad. Have you seen this ad? He compares Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, claiming that like Spears and Hilton, Obama has no substance.
Let the negative campaigning begin.
You know what ad I'd like to see? I'd like to see an ad where McCain blows smoke up my skirt to tell me how he's going to make my life better. I'd like to see the samething from Obama. I don't want to see negative ads.
But, as Bush proved in 2004, you don't win an election without negative ads. They resonate. Do you know there are still people in this country who believed the pack of lies sold by the Swift Boat attack ads on Kerry?
Couldn't we try something different? Couldn't we get a real understanding of our candidates?
Because based on this one ad, my understanding of McCain is that he has nothing to offer, so he's going on the attack.
God Bless

Questions...

I took a survey this morning and I thought some of the questions were quite strange. For example, Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree that people who miss three straight elections should be prohibited from voting? I mean, is some legal body actually considering banning people from voting because they miss three straight elections?

Or, how about this one: Do you believe certain words that denigrate a person's race, gender, or sexual orientation should be banned in America? I don't think people should say the words, but are we really going to take political correctness so far that we ban them? Doesn't that go against free speech?

There's more... Do you believe the U.S. Government should regulate content on the Internet? Please, again, against free speech and what a crazy idea! I can't imagine anyone on either side of the aisle agreeing to that one.

There was also a question about changing the Constitution in regards to natural citizenship. If you are born here, you're an American no matter what the legal status of your parents. Legal status of your parents wasn't a consideration when our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and it shouldn't be now. Can you imagine the mess of having to prove you're a citizen, so your child will be one too?

If these questions are being asked in a survey by a well known company, that means someone is actually thinking we should change our country in these ways. I really hope these things do not get discussed on a national level. It would be a waste of time.

God Bless

Home Sale Fee...

On my way to work, I'm listening to 95.7 and I hear this ad from the Wisconsin Homeowners Alliance. (I didn't even know there was such a group.) Apparently in the new budget, they want to raise the home sale transfer fee -- something else I didn't know existed.

Currently, the home sale transfer fee is 3%. That comes to 3.00 for every $1,000. Governor Doyle wants to double it to 6% or $6.00 for every $1,000.

What's the big deal?

First, only 7% of homes sell in Wisconsin every year (According to the JSOnline.) So, we're discussing something that only affects 7% of the people and I don't think the home sale transfer fee is stopping anyone from selling their home.

Second, the home sale transfer fee hasn't been raised since 1982. Raising it now, when the money will be used for things like police officers is not a bad thing.

Third, has anyone noticed that our state is in financial trouble? (Along with almost every other state in the union.) The Republicans (according to the JSOnline article) are against this. Really? They had control of both the senate and the assembly for years, I didn't see them come up with any great ideas to help fund the state. (But, they did bring us the anti-gay amendment and concealed carry, so let's all applaud their efforts.)

Finally, the average person is not going to even notice this. The homeowners alliance group's ad on the radio sounds like we're all doomed if this passes. But, in reality, on a home that sells for $95,000, the fee is only $570.00. Since the last time I checked my house was valued at $95,000, I don't think I'll even notice the $570.00 fee. We're not talking about a huge amount of money. I pay half of that every year in state taxes on the gas I buy.

I read one blog entry that liken this rise in a state fee to the same tax raise that caused the Boston Tea Party. Things were a lot different 200 years ago. We didn't need as many police officers and fire fighters. We didn't have teachers. (Women couldn't vote.) I don't like paying taxes anymore than the next guy, but I like knowing that underprivileged children have access to Badger Care. I like knowing that we don't have to cut state funding to police offices and fire fighters. If that means I have to pay a little more when I sell my home, well that's just the way it goes.

God Bless

White House Visitor Logs -- Can't see them!

Well, excuse me, but if the President thinks it is okay to spy on American citizens by tapping their phones and reading their mail, why can't I -- as a citizen view the Visitor log for the White House (read story here).  How can this be possible?

And, since when are Presidential records off limits?  Didn't see to be that way during Clinton -- when the court ordered him to give up some documents.

And, those records really belong to the secret service -- NOT THE PRESIDENT.

Now, I want him impeached.  This is bullshit.  I want to know just who visited the White House, who did they see and anything else I can find out.  I PAY THAT MAN'S SALARY and just like my employer has the RIGHT to view a list of visitors visiting me, I as the EMPLOYER (as we all are) should have the right to know who is visiting the PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT and ANYONE ELSE WHO'S SALARIES COME FROM OUT TAXES.

If you think I'm mad -- you're right.

God Bless.

Get Your Poll Widget

Hello, it's the Government, we're reading your mail...

When I was a kid, my father had a rule that no one in the house was allowed to open anyone else's mail.  I couldn't open his and my mom's and they couldn't open mine and my brothers'.  Dad always said that opening another person's mail was a federal offense.  I don't think he made that big of a deal out of it, but enough of a big deal that it stuck with me.

Now, the President of the United States (see article here) has decided that yes, Virginia, there is a spy reading your mail.

And, that's just wrong.

Period.

Somehow, President Bush seems to think that he is a King and can order just any damn thing he wants.  If the line item veto was considered unconstitutional, just how are Bush's signing statements legal?

He is circumventing the justice system and is spitting on the very consitution thousands of Americans have died to protect.

And, this is okay?

We're not at war -- only Congress can declare a war and they haven't.  So, why is Bush allowed to do these things?

Our founding fathers put together three branches of government to make sure that there were checks and balances.  However; we've lost our way in this country and we're letting the King get his way.

We need to put a stop to Bush's power grab now -- not later -- before unrepairable damage is done to our rights.

Finally, if you disagree, stop and think a moment -- would you want a democrat president reading your mail?

God Bless

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Soldier's Remains...

Did you know this, because I didn't. If a soldier -- who served their country with honor -- is "convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole from being interred at military cemeteries" (Read CNN article here). after being discharged, they cannot be buried in the national cemeteries.

I don't really think that's fair, do you?

Being buried in a national cemetery is a honor because you served your country, not for anything you did prior to serving your country or after. Apparently, the original bill was signed into law by President Clinton in 1997. However; due to the loophole that stated sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole, Russell Wayne Wagner's remains were allowed to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

He was convicted of murdering two elderly people whether he was appealing this, I don't know. He would've been eligible for parole in 2017, but he died in prison of a heroin overdose. Back in January, President Bush removed the loophole that allowed Wagner to be buried in Arlington. Now, the law reads any capital crime. On Friday, President Bush signed the "veterans' health care and benefits bill" and attached to that bill was the order to remove Wagner's remains from Arlington. (I should note that Wagner did appeal his conviction -- Read that story here.)

Why?

Did the man serve his country well? Yes, he did. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1969 after serving in Vietnam.

Did he have troubles after Vietnam? Yeah, apparently, he did.

Should we make his family remove his cremated remains because of those problems? No, we shouldn't.

I feel sorry for Vernon G. Davis (the son of the couple Wagner murdered). I can't imagine what kind of Hell he must be going through. But, I feel sorry for Wagner as well. A lot of Vietnam Vets fell through the cracks and ended up on the wrong side of the law. It doesn't negate the good they did while in the military.

But, I guess in today's world, it does and that's a shame.

God Bless

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