Healthcare Blog

Boomer Stimulus

Hey Boomers. Kelly Sonora from Masters In Health care sent me this article regarding the most recent Stimulus bill and health care. Thank you Kelly!!!


10 Things You Need to Know About the Health care Stimulus
Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed on February 17, and is already beginning to filter out funds to hopefully stimulate the economy. One of the principal goals of the package is to reform the health care system while creating jobs and insuring more Americans. Through measures to support the unemployed, integrate cutting-edge information technology systems into medical networks, and insuring more children, the act may in some way affect how you receive health care. Find out how.
Health care industry set to go tech: One of Obama’s umbrella strategies for reforming health care and stimulating the economy involves pumping money into health care technology systems. He hopes to create a health information network for hospitals, rural and urban clinics, and other health care centers by making all medical records electronic; making existing medical technologies more accurate and effective; and reducing errors in medical care. This technology boost to the health care system will, Obama hopes, save money, create jobs, and improve the standards and delivery of health care and medical information. The Dallas Business Journal reports that the stimulus package will invest $19 billion for health information technology.
The unemployed will still receive health care benefits, at least temporarily: Obama plans to ease the burden of health care costs for the unemployed and reduce the number of uninsured Americans by extending Medicaid benefits to the unemployed, at least for a time. Individuals who get unemployment checks would also be able to receive Medicaid, as would their spouses and children who are under the age of 19, reported the New York Times in January. States will receive federal aid to help ease Medicaid costs. In late February 2009, TheState.com reported that Obama "released $15 billion in economic stimulus Medicaid funds for states" to disperse.
Children’s Health Insurance Program Re authorization Act of 2009: The Senate and House reformed the Children’s Health Insurance Program under this legislation, which extends insurance to nearly 4 million more children by reworking the Social Security Act. The program will help families of low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid pay for their health insurance, and states will still be able to set their own income eligibility requirements. The program is funded by a tax increase on cigarettes.
Governors hold power over releasing funds: While the federal government has designed and approved the health care stimulus package, governors are in charge of actually releasing funds, creating eligibility requirements when appropriate, and overseeing the implementation of the stimulus plan in their states. In late February, governors like Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal (R), opposed many parts of the economic plan and may reject at least some of the money that is coming to their state from the federal government. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports on Nola.com that Jindal will most likely accept the Medicaid supplements, but according to Medical News Today, other governors are begrudging about accepting funds that are meant to be used in a specific way. Instead, governors like New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) are arguing for more flexibility in how they disperse the federal funds.
Federal government helps states fund COBRA for unemployed: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) gives individuals who are laid off, retired, switching between jobs, or have dependents at the time they stop working the option to continue their group health benefits for a limited time. Some beneficiaries may have to pay for the group rate insurance, however, but the U.S. Department of Labor holds that "COBRA generally requires that group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage." Under Obama’s stimulus plan, the federal government will provide states with subsidies to help offset the costs of COBRA. They will pay for up to 65% of COBRA premiums "for eligible workers who are involuntarily terminated," according to the accounting firm Amper, Politziner and Mattia. Qualifying workers include those who have been involuntarily terminated on and after September 1, 2008, and qualifying employers include those who are subject to COBRA legislation, as well as small employers who are subject to State Continuation legislation.
Job training funding for those entering health care industry: In another measure to stimulate the economy while improving health care standards, Obama plans to increase job training opportunities for those entering the health care industry. The stimulus budget has allotted $750,000,000 "for a program of competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industry sectors," $500,000,000 of which will go to renewable energy programs. The rest will be distributed by the Secretary of Labor "giv[ing] priority to projects that prepare workers for careers in the health care sector."
Preventive care takes precedent: In his address to Congress in February, Barack Obama outlined the promised benefits of his economic stimulus benefits, highlighting the fact that the health care reform boasts "the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that is one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control." According to a report by NPR, this move would also create jobs, at least in the short term, even if it did not result in sustainable medical research projects, as hoped.
A contract for accountability: In order to promote accountability in health care reform and to make sure that all of this funding is actually helping the economy and the health care industry, Obama’s plan includes a contract between the federal government and the Institute of Medicine. The stimulus package outlines that the $1.5 million contract will require the Institute to "produce and submit a report to the Congress and the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] by not later than June 30, 2009, that includes recommendations on the national priorities for comparative effectiveness research" that will eventually be subjected to public commentary and review.
Health IT dominates in all areas of medical industry: The stimulus package lists several ways in which new health care information systems and technologies will help the facilitation of medical care and the industry as a whole. These include the exchange of patient medical records and a subsequent reduction in wait times at hospitals and health care facilities; the increase of telemedicine technologies for those living in rural areas and who do not have access to cutting edge medical resources; "technologies that help reduce medical errors;" and "technologies that meet the needs of diverse populations."
Total health care stimulus cost: $150 billion: The total cost of all these (and more) health care reforms under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is $150 billion, according to the Dallas Business Journal, including $17 billion for Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs, $2 billion for technology grants, and $19 billion for a health information technology movement.
Did you enjoy this article?
document.write("Bookmark it at del.icio.us »")

Bookmark it at del.icio.us »

---

Boomer Government Health Care

Hello fellow Boomers. We are getting closer each day to government run health care, and you should be VERY concerned. Next time you speak to a friend or associate from Canada, Sweden, England or any of the European counties, primary health care is functional. But if your Aunt Milly needs an operation, care is rationed and government bureaucrats make that decision for your family.

Become informed of what is happening and voice up!

For our generation, next to the economy and retirement, will be our biggest challenge. Be Well!!!

Denny Riedmiller
Cincinnati, Ohio

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press Writer – Sat Mar 7, 5:13 pm ET

AP – President Barack Obama greets lawmakers at the White House Forum on Health Reform in the East Room of …
WASHINGTON – The search for agreement on health care may be short lived.
The flash point is a proposal that would give Americans the option of buying medical coverage through a government plan. President Barack Obama and many Democrats have endorsed it, as one part of a broader health overhaul. On Saturday, Republicans laid down a challenge.
"I'm concerned that if the government steps in, it will eventually push out the private health care plans millions of Americans enjoy today," Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in the Republican weekly radio address.
Blunt, who will play a leading role in the debate, warned: "This could cause your employer to simply stop offering coverage, hoping the government will pick up the slack."
The proposal he referred to would, for the first time, offer government-sponsored coverage to middle-class families, as an alternative to private health plans. By some estimates, it could reduce premiums by 20 percent or more — making it much more affordable to cover the estimated 48 million people who don't have health coverage.
It could also be a deal breaker for broad, bipartisan agreement on health care.
Insurers fear competition from a government plan could drive them out of business, and Republicans worry it would lead to a government takeover of health care. Liberals, meanwhile, are equally adamant that Americans deserve the choice of government-sponsored health care.
"The purpose of health care reform is to make sure all Americans have health care, not to promote the insurance industry," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who serves on a House panel that will help write the legislation.
The new government coverage could be similar to what seniors have in Medicare, which is run directly from Washington. Or it might be designed like the federal employee health plan, available to members of Congress, and delivered through private insurers.
Asked at the White House health care summit this week about the brewing controversy, the president promised to address the qualms felt by some. But he did not abandon the notion of a government plan.
"I'm not going to respond definitively," Obama said, answering a question from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps ... keep the private sector honest, because there's some competition out there.
"I recognize, though, the fear that if a public option is run through Washington, and there are incentives to try to tamp down costs ... that private insurance plans might end up feeling overwhelmed."
Obama says he is committed to preserving a health care system in which government, employers and individuals share responsibility. Many Americans may not realize the government already picks up nearly half the nation's $2.4 trillion health care bill, through programs including Medicare and Medicaid.
A public plan for the middle class could give a final nudge that puts the system firmly in government hands.
Obama's campaign proposal — a foundation for Democrats in Congress — called for setting up a national insurance marketplace through which individuals and small businesses could buy coverage. People could pick private insurance or opt for a government plan that would resemble coverage for federal employees.
A recent analysis by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit group that sponsors health care research, is giving supporters of a public plan some ammunition.
The study estimated costs and coverage under a hypothetical health reform plan similar to what Obama proposed in the campaign. It found that a public plan like Medicare could reduce projected health care costs by about $2 trillion over an 11-year period. Premiums in the public plan would be at least 20 percent lower, partly because of reduced administrative costs. Within a decade or so, some 105 million people would be in the public plan, compared with about 107 million with private insurance.
Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said the administration has been very interested in the study. "Some of their top economists are on the phone, poring over it," she said in an interview.
Democrats say they will fight to ensure a public plan stays in the final bill.
___

---

Boomer Health Insurance

Hello Fellow Boomers. Several of you have contacted me about health insurance. We market with eHealth, one of the largest Internet companies to serve Boomers in acquiring health insurance. To get an idea of what is available, including cost and benefits, simply go to www.MyGeneration.biz, and key on to the eHealth picture on my front page. It's that easy.

Health care access and cost will be major issues in the next few months, as the new President has made the problem one of three major initiates. I will keep you posted of changes that affect all of us! And, good health to you!!!

Best regards,
Denny Riedmiller
Cincinnati, Ohio

---