tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post228995173207307704..comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Comments on Avedon's Sideshow: A better world is neededAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-40916381613648781482019-03-13T08:40:21.058+00:002019-03-13T08:40:21.058+00:00Graduate school
LINKGraduate school<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq090mROg_I" rel="nofollow"><b>LINK</b></a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-75972946377777025862019-03-09T04:35:14.941+00:002019-03-09T04:35:14.941+00:00Old School vs New School
LINK LINKOld School vs New School<br /><a href="https://twitter.com/ProudResister/status/1103925426441707522" rel="nofollow"><b>LINK</b></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sunnydaejones/status/1104088634116984834" rel="nofollow"><b>LINK</b></a>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-72341965955360001612019-03-04T23:00:19.788+00:002019-03-04T23:00:19.788+00:00Bernie can't run as the alternative to Clinton...Bernie can't run as the alternative to Clinton this time. He has to win on his own merits.<br />If he does so I'll vote for him as will every democratic voter I know.<br /><br />It's sad that Sanders supporters are already looking for someone to blame for his possible loss to Trump.Buzzcookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466134753394910191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-59064877730263689462019-03-02T11:11:58.012+00:002019-03-02T11:11:58.012+00:00Net Neutrality at the Energy and Commerce 2-07-19 ...Net Neutrality at the Energy and Commerce 2-07-19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGlYQreIazM Carla Augustadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01875294909784732276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-86494000312733207252019-02-28T06:29:39.632+00:002019-02-28T06:29:39.632+00:00Then perhaps it would be fair to say that Medicare...Then perhaps it would be fair to say that Medicare, the current version, not the single-payer proposal, has not been expanded yet. Because there's a lot it doesn't cover. There's no cap on out-of-pocket expenses unless you purchase supplemental coverage. Medicare part B itself is expensive. And the whole thing, on average, only covers about 84% of expenses, even when one has part B. (I have heard, but cannot confirm, that without part B, that is 70%.) So Medicare, without part B, is more-or-less equivalent to an Exchange Silver plan, and with part B, an Exchange Gold plan. (But note that there is no cap on out-of-pocket expenses, which is for some people a disaster.)<br /><br />The last two expansions of Medicare were the creation of a drug benefit, Medical part D, back in the W. Bush days, and the improvement of that benefit, which is on-going, as part of the ACA.Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-41264920485395513802019-02-27T08:04:43.940+00:002019-02-27T08:04:43.940+00:00...Part B came as a surprise and Administration of......Part B came as a surprise and Administration officials had only a weekend to work with Committee staff to flesh out the details. The compromise bill, which also included Social Security benefit increases, was reported to the House on March 29, 1965. After two days of debate (under a closed rule, which precluded any amendments) the House passed the bill 313 to 115.<br /><br />The Senate Finance Committee held 15 days of public hearings on the House-passed bill. Testimony focused on the health insurance programs. Opposition came largely from the AMA, although some medical groups spoke in favor of the bill. During executive session the Finance Committee adopted several changes in the health and Social Security provisions of the bill and reported it out on June 30. On July 9 the Senate passed its version of the bill 68-21.<br /><br />The House and Senate conferees met to settle differences between the two bills and reported their agreement on July 26; the House passed it 307-166 on July 27; the Senate passed it 70-24 on July 29; and President Johnson signed it into law on July 30 <b><i>[1965- fifty-four years ago]</i>.</b><br /><b>[END QUOTE]</b>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-29965096828882589162019-02-27T08:00:27.731+00:002019-02-27T08:00:27.731+00:00The Kennedy Johnson Years – 1961-1968.
With the e...<b>The Kennedy Johnson Years – 1961-1968.</b><br /><br />With the election of President Kennedy in 1960, extending health coverage to the aged through Social Security became part of the Administration’s agenda. In his February 1961 message on the Nation’s health, President Kennedy elaborated on his plan for hospital insurance and limited post hospital nursing care. The Kennedy proposal was introduced in the House and Senate in 1961, but it was not taken up by either the Ways and Means Committee or the Finance Committee.<br /><br />When the 88th Congress took office in January 1963, President Kennedy again urged enactment of a program of hospital insurance as part of Social Security. The details followed the general blueprint laid out in 1961. Kennedy also called for an increase in Social Security cash benefits and improvements in medical assistance programs for the needy.<br /><br />After President Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, President Johnson continued the Administration’s three-pronged agenda for a Social Security cash benefit increase, hospital insurance for the aged through Social Security, and improvements in medical assistance for the needy.<br /><br />In July 1964, the Ways and Means Committee reported out a bill to increase Social Security cash benefits, but did not include either of the President’s health proposals. The Social Security provisions passed the House 388-8. In considering that bill, the Finance Committee also rejected amendments to add hospital insurance for the aged.<br /><br />On the Senate floor, however, an amendment to add hospital insurance was adopted by a vote of 49-44. The House and Senate conference committee failed to reach agreement on the controversial hospital insurance provisions and the entire bill died when Congress adjourned in October 1964.<br /><br />After his landslide election victory in 1964, President Johnson reiterated his agenda for hospital insurance for the aged, a Social Security benefit increase and improvements in medical assistance in his 1965 State of the Union address. Johnson’s three-part proposal was introduced on January 4 as HR-1 in the House and as S-1 in the Senate.<br /><br />In January, the Ways and Means Committee began deliberations in executive session on HR-1. The Committee also considered two competing approaches: a state-administered means-tested approach advocated by the AMA; and a voluntary plan advocated by ranking minority member Rep. John Byrnes (R, WI) and most of the other Republicans on the Committee. The latter plan was more comprehensive than President Johnson’s proposal in that it covered physicians services as well as in-patient hospital care.<br /><br />After two months of deliberations within the Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Mills struck a compromise that combined all three approaches: Part A of Medicare was a hospital insurance program similar to President Johnson’s plan; Part B covered outpatient physician services through a supplementary program that embodied the principle of voluntary participation by doctors and patients that was advocated by Committee Republicans; the third approach, for means tested assistance, that had been advocated by the AMA became the blueprint for the Medicaid program for low-income families with children as well as the aged, blind and disabled.<br /><br /><i>[continued]</i>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-52202448864143379252019-02-27T07:58:26.163+00:002019-02-27T07:58:26.163+00:00Every major social insurance program started small...<i>Every major social insurance program started small?</i><br /><br /><a href="https://www.nasi.org/usr_doc/med_report_reflections.pdf" rel="nofollow"><b>LINK</b></a> (72 page pdf)<br /><br /><b>[QUOTE]</b><br /><br /><b>ENACTING MEDICARE</b><br /><br />The story of enacting Medicare is one of persistent political struggle and eleventh hour compromise. There was growing recognition in the late 1950s and early 1960s of the need for federal action to help meet the high cost of health care for the Nation’s elderly. But there were sharply different views about how to do it.<br /><br />One camp, which was led by organized labor and senior citizen groups... favored a social insurance approach that would build on the existing Social Security program. Proponents of this vision focused on covering hospital care, post hospital nursing home care, and home health services. They did not seek to include outpatient medical care in their plans, due in large part to the powerful opposition of the AMA.<br /><br />In the social insurance approach, almost all elderly would become immediately entitled to health insurance coverage through their past contributions to Social Security. The costs would be met through new payroll contributions paid by workers and matched by employers. In turn, the future elderly would gain entitlement to this coverage through their past contributions to the program.<br /><br />One competing approach to health coverage for the aged called for a system financed by general revenues and premiums paid directly by beneficiaries. In contrast with the social insurance approach, this plan called for voluntary participation. It was advocated by Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee.<br /><br />Another competing approach to health coverage for the aged favored means-tested assistance that would be administered through the states. In this model, federal matching funds would be granted to states that put up some of their own money for this purpose and states would retain discretion about who would be eligible for the benefits and how doctors, hospitals and other providers would be paid. This model was advocated by the AMA.<br /><br /><i>[continued...]</i><br /><br />CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-66461523589804953972019-02-27T04:14:36.088+00:002019-02-27T04:14:36.088+00:00Hey! Don't go dissing our lifeline! My family...Hey! Don't go dissing our lifeline! My family's in the ACA – my wife and I are in an Exchange plan, and my step-daughter is in Medicaid. It's expensive but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing. It really is an improvement over what went before, however costly.<br /><br />Originally I was opposed, I wanted to shoot the moon. I wish at least we'd gotten the public option. But the reality is that ever major social insurance program we have started small and was expanded.Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-70308217357509083862019-02-26T22:11:01.377+00:002019-02-26T22:11:01.377+00:00Gosh, I think you're right, my mind must have ...Gosh, I think you're right, my mind must have filled things in.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-29654477169166751462019-02-26T11:25:09.054+00:002019-02-26T11:25:09.054+00:00Avedon writes:
I know I once saw a clip of Colber...Avedon writes:<br /><br /><i>I know I once saw a clip of Colbert looking genuinely shocked when he interviewed Austan Goolsbee and heard him claim that government doesn't create jobs....</i><br /><br />Actually, Avedon was never able to watch this clip <a href="http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bdi4g4/the-colbert-report-exclusive---austan-goolsbee-extended-interview-pt--3" rel="nofollow"><b>[LINK]</b></a> from the May 18, 2011 <i>The Colbert Report</i>. What she did see is reproduced here <a href="https://avedoncarol.blogspot.com/2019/02/ive-been-looking-high-and-low.html?showComment=1551179997714#c7209739668134215678" rel="nofollow"><b>[LINK]</b></a><b>.</b>CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.com