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Health Care Reform 
Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 00:51:45 AM EDT
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(Excellent diary. - promoted by Eric B.)
Cross-posted at The Daily Kos and Eclectablog.
UPDATED below, please have a look.
Heading into last night's health care town hall meeting with U.S. Representative John Dingell, my wife and I anticipated that there would probably be a decent turnout of opposition from the tea bagger side of the tracks. I've been reading about how the Disrupticans (hat tip: Detroit Mark) have been shutting down any semblance of civil discourse at these events all around the country and there was little reason to think it would be any different here in Michigan.
And, of course, we were right.
Representative Dingell, bless his heart, did not shirk the crowd or the tough questions. There wasn't a single softball lobbed at him the entire night. Yet even when he refuted some of the most ridiculous myths and accusations of the tea baggers, he was shouted down, called a liar and treated as if he was personally responsible for the euthanasia of all senior citizens in the country.
More photos and commentary after the jump.
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Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 07:50:00 AM EDT
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From the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a breakdown of why Mike Rogers (MI-08) needs to stop obstructing health care reform:
America's Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 8th Congressional District of Michigan: up to 15,100 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 7,600 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 1,700 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $53 million in uncompensated care each year; and 49,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman Mike Rogers represents the district.
The Committee also has an analysis of every House member's district, including Pete Hoekstra, Vern Ehlers, Dave Camp, Fred Upton,Candice Miller and Thad McCotter.
Cross-posted at Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
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Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 09:00:49 AM EDT
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A very good article in Business Week on the negative effects of rising health care cost on U.S. businesses.
After adjusting for other factors, industries that provide insurance had significantly less employment growth than industries where health benefits were not common. Industries with a larger percentage of workers receiving employer-sponsored health insurance also showed lower growth in their contribution to the GDP.
Before you die-hard free marketeers start crowing, the Rand study also found this:
To rule out the possibility that the economic effects were caused by some other industry-wide factor, the researchers compared U.S. industries with their counterparts in Canada, which has publicly financed universal health care. They found no similar percent change in employment in the corresponding Canadian industries over the 19-year study period.
A very nice rebuttal to Mike Rogers and his GOP pals when they whine that health care reform is "bad for business."
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Sun Oct 12, 2008 at 19:28:42 PM EDT
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The movie Groundhog Day was a gentle comedy in which the hero finally makes the right choices and gets the girl in a crowd-pleasing happy ending. But in 2008, Groundhog Day has become a national nightmare in which we, the heroes, may have only one chance to get it right. Each day we wake up hoping to find a leader who has the intelligence to understand how best to navigate our current crises and the discipline to hold a steady course through our economic perfect storm that has wracked Michigan even more than it has the rest of the nation. But again and again, rational deliberations are drowned out by voices that tell us to fear those who are not like us, because Joe Sixpack and all those hockey moms have what it takes to preserve the freedom and greatness that we inherited from our founding fathers: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison, just your ordinary kind of guys. On November 4th, the alarm clock will awaken us for what may be our last best shot at restoring Michigan's once thriving economy and making the 21st century an American century. After eight years of shooting ourselves in the foot, how can we avoid shooting ourselves in the head?
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Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 09:29:07 AM EDT
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With all the charges and countercharges that have marked (or marred) the political landscape, it often is difficult to recall what is at stake in this Presidential election or how profound are the differences in the fundamental worldviews of the two Presidential candidates. Balanced mainstream reporting appears to demand that accusations and unsubstantiated claims be reported as facts because someone actually made them. This approach ensures that every news cycle remains untainted by every previous news cycle, leaving it to you, the voters of Michigan, to search for some consistent patterns on which to base a decision that may determine whether you, your state, and your nation will prosper or decline over the next four years and beyond.
At the center of this unfolding melodrama that fascinates press and pundits are two candidates who have great faith in different political gods. If you ignore the sound bites and instead study the careers of the two candidates, the choices they have made, and the detailed policies they advocate, these differences become quite stark. And perhaps nowhere are their differences in economic principles and practices more clearly delineated than in their proposals for health care reform.
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Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 22:46:12 PM EDT
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Let's start with a premise many political partisans may be reluctant to accept. John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Sarah Palin all are honest, concerned, capable Americans who truly want what is best for our country. But good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes, and predicting the future is fraught with difficulty. Having reached a critical fork in the road, how should voters in Michigan and elsewhere decide which guides to follow?
I certainly can't pretend to be expert in all the issues being addressed in the Presidential campaign. However, when the topic is health care reform, I have extensive education, in the trenches experience, and a track record to back up my professional and political analysis. So I will focus on health care as a window to understanding where each pair of candidates would take America if we give them the chance.
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Tue Aug 12, 2008 at 11:17:46 AM EDT
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(One of those issues that affects everyone. I'd call my Rep., Mike Rogers (MI-08), but talking to the fence behind my house would get me a more productive response. - promoted by rich)
 82% of Americans think our health care system needs a "major overhaul." On top of that, over 90% of Americans [pdf] think the next President and Congress should improve the quality and affordability of health care.
With the worsening economy continuing to be the top issue for most Americans, this hope for change isn't hard to understand. American health care spending is projected to reach a full 1/5th of our GDP by 2015, which means by then, we'll be spending twenty cents of every dollar we make on health care. Health care premiums have risen 86% between 2000 and 2006 while wages only rose 20%, putting the strain on working families. Health care costs continue to be the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America.
Americans are paying $217 million for health care per hour. Meanwhile, insurance industry profits have risen 1,000% in the past five years.
According the to Government Accountability Office, health care reform is necessary to keep our country on the right track:
"Rapidly rising health care costs are not simply a federal budget problem," the GAO report says. "Growth in health-related spending is the primary driver of the fiscal challenges facing state and local governments as well. Unsustainable growth in health care spending also threatens to erode the ability of employers to provide coverage to their workers and undercuts their ability to compete in a global marketplace."
Quite simply, with rising health care costs (including $50 billion per year to pay for insurance industry advertising) being born out by working families and American businesses, health care is a top economic concern. To keep American workers at their best, and to keep American business competitive in the world, something has to change.
Nancy Pelosi has recently declared health care expansion to be #2 on her list of legislative priorities, right after ending the Iraq war. In the past month, tens of thousands of Americans have told us they want quality, affordable health care for all. Now it's time to ask Congress.
So, Congress, which side are you on? Are you with us for quality, affordable health care for all? Or are you with the insurance companies, working to preserve our broken system?
We've set up a quick and easy way for you to contact your Members of Congress and ask them if they support our vision for health care reform. Just click here and enter in your phone number and address. Choose the elected official you want to talk to and in a few moments, we'll call your phone and connect you automatically.
Over the next few weeks, we want to make 100,000 calls to Congress, asking every Member which side they are on. We need your help to do it, so please click here to call!
Once your done with your call, tell us what happened so we can keep track of where Congress stands. As of today, we're proud to announce Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), are with us. The rest, so far, are unknown. You can see the full list here.
Health care is a priority for the American people. It's a priority for Nancy Pelosi. It's up to us to make sure it's a priority for Congress as well. Please take a moment, call your Members of Congress, and ask them which side they are on.
Oh, and if you have a blog or website, you can help spread the word about this campaign by embedding the widget you see above on your site. Just copy and paste the code here.
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Fri Nov 02, 2007 at 21:37:47 PM EDT
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Someone mentioned turning this situation around on Trent and Joe Knollenberg. The following press release went out to local and national media this afternoon.
All Americans Deserve Full Health Coverage and Mental Health Parity
Political activist Bruce Fealk hopes that the current situation of Rep. Joe Knollenberg's Chief of Staff, Trent Wisecup, taking leave from his position to address a bi-polar disorder "can be seen in a very sympathetic light by everyone in our community. Like any medical condition, your hope is for full recovery and that the financial burden of this sudden situation will be relieved."
"I offer my thoughts of support to Trent Wisecup and his family" said Fealk upon learning that Wisecup had recently been diagnosed and is being treated for bi-polar disorder. "I want to commend Congressman Knollenberg for keeping the door open for Wisecup to return to work in the Congressman's office."
Fealk is hoping the situation of Rep. Knollenberg having a health crisis strike so close to him will help him change his mind on health care coverage in this country.
"While Wisecup will receive full pay (almost $160,000 per year) and have his treatment paid for, many average, hard working Americans would not be so lucky if the same thing happened to them," Says Fealk. "This situation for others could have left them with huge medical bills for their treatment, perhaps even sending them into bankruptcy. Even those lucky enough to have medical coverage, may not be covered for mental disorders, like bi-polar disease, and would then be denied the mental health care that should be sought along with the medication."
"The majority of voters in America want universal health care. We call on Rep. Joe Knollenberg to not only change his vote on SCHIP, but to join those in Congress calling for universal coverage for all Americans, and with mental health parity. Why should members of Congress and their staffs get Cadillac coverage while 47 million Americans have no health or mental health coverage at all?"
"Congressmen and women should not be seen as better than any other American." said Bruce Fealk, the videographer in the incident in downtown Rochester, in which Wisecup spewed venomous comments into Fealk's camera, calling him an un-American, Toyota lover. "Name one person you know that doesn't deserve medical and mental health care when needed without the worry of asking how to pay for the treatment. Did you think of one yet?" "I wonder if Congressman Knollenberg thinks of Wisecup's health care coverage as socialized medicine, as he stated in a recent guest opinion in The Oakland Press?" Fealk commented
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