Healthy Eating

 Click the link below
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/MZm2x

Congresswomen Cathy McMorris tries to slam ACA and got a suprise response

Congresswomen Cathy McMorris wanted people to send in horror stories about ACA and got a real surprise. Check out some of the comments she received on Face Book.

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers posted an image on her official Facebook page, slamming the Affordable Care Act on the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing it into law. She asked constituents to share their Obamacare nightmare stories and well, the response probably wasn't what she expected. Below are a small sample of the comments constituents left on her page:


My story is that I once knew 7 people who couldn't get health insurance. Now they all have it, thanks to the ACA and President Obama, and their plans are as good as the one my employer provides--and they pay less for them. Now, that's not the kind of story you want to hear. You want to hear made-up horror stories. I don't know anyone with one of those stories.

I work for cancer care northwest. We actually have more patients with insurance and fewer having to choose treatment over bankruptcy. Cathy, I'm a die hard conservative and I'm asking you to stop just slamming Obamacare. Fix it, change it or come up with a better idea! Thanks

With Obamacare, I saved 300 bucks a month premium.. I have more coverage.. I like ObamaCare and can't wait til we go to the next step... Medicare for ALL.
Jump below the fold to continue reading these heartfelt messages.
And now my daughter, diagnosed with MS at age 22, can have insurance. What do you plan to do with her?

My daughter is fighting for her life with stage 3 breast cancer! We are about to enter a second go round of diagnostic procedures and possibly more treatment after two full years of treatment! So yah! The ACA is more than helping! I resent that our rep thinks the only problems involve her personal story!

My whole family now has coverage. The ACA is the cause for this, I work in health care, I have seen the increase in covered patients first hand. The next step is universal coverage, this will truly lower costs and provide the best care. Cathy, you barely work, spend most of your time catering to special interests so you can be re-elected.. All while receiving a large wage and the best health insurance and care. Stop telling us how it doesn't work while enjoying your tax payer funded care and life.

Instead of trying to repeal it why don't you improve it? Our local rural clinics are packed daily with people who have needed healthcare for years!! it is a godsend. It is pitiful this nation does not have healthcare for all and that doesn't mean the EMERGENCY room!!
Thanks to the ACA, my cousin was able to get affordable insurance despite her preexisting condition. So grateful.

I think we should repeal Obamacare, and replace it … with universal socialized medicine - like the rest of the industrialized nations of the world.

Hello Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers!
I work as the facilitator of a task force that is overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington State. I have learned that the ACA is helping people who did not previously have health insurance get it. It is helping bring down medical costs. It is improving the quality of care. It is improving experiences of both patients and their families.

I work with doctors, nurses, hospital and clinic managers, non-profit service providers, citizens-at-large. Each of them can site an improvement they would like to make to the Act. But whether they are Republican or Democrat, from urban or rural areas, powerful or not, they all say the ACA is working.

Can't you and your Republican colleagues stop trying to repeal this Act and work to make it even more effective? Please?
Obama Care saved us when my husband was unemployed and we couldn't afford coverage. We might have been ruined without it. My husband could not have had the eye surgery needed after an accident. So grateful.
We now have patients that can see a doctor in the clinic on time rather than waiting till they are too ill ACA is saving lives and you are too stupid to realize that. Get your political view out of the way and see what is happening in our community because you have shown again and again it is not your community. I see that your son has downs but not everyone in our community has it so get done with this supporting downs to the neglect of everything else.
My plans are intact, premiums have increased as always, but what seems to be a lesser rate, my plan was not cancelled, I did not lose my doctor, I have not experienced reduced work hours, and it's actually freed me from the chains of employer based being the ONLY path to coverage. #FEARMONGER

Duranord and Jeanne Veillard have been married for 82 years now.

Information provided by "TheGrio"
Duranord and Jeanne Veillard have been married for 82 years now.

Now that’s love.

On Saturday, Duranord will celebrate his 108th birthday, while his wife will turn 105 in May.

Duranord was born in 1907 to a fisherman in southern Haiti. He grew up in Port-au-Prince, where he studied law, and married Jeanne in November 1932, the same month Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected.

They raised five children together.

In 1968, Duranord lost his job, and he and his wife moved to the United States after being awarded a visa to visit. He began work as a lab technician at the Good Samaritan Hospital, where he worked for ten years before retiring. Over time, each of their five children came to the United States after their parents.

Now, Duranord is nearly blind and is hard of hearing, but that doesn’t stop him from loudly cracking jokes in French Creole or from sharing his birthday cake with reporters. Neither he nor Jeanne leave the house except to visit the doctor, and both need assistance to walk, but they are still enjoying life as fully as they can.

“He remembers everything,” said his son, Vely Veillard, 62. “Look at him! He don’t want to use a cane. He’s a superstar.”

Both Duranord and Jeanne are already looking forward to the next milestone in their lives. “Thank you very much,” Veillard said to well-wishers. “Merci beaucoup.”

The Uninsured rates are Dropping

Uninsured rates drop faster in states embracing Obamacare: Study

By Morgan Whitaker




The Affordable Care Act is working better in states that have worked to fully implement the law.

That’s the conclusion from a new Gallup survey that found the uninsured rate for adults dropped faster in recent months in states that implemented Medicaid expansion and set up their own exchanges in the health insurance marketplace, compared with those that didn’t.

The uninsured rate for those 18 and older dropped by 2.5% on average in the 21 states, and Washington, D.C., where governments implemented the two central Affordable Care Act provisions. The 29 the states that implemented only one or neither provision saw their uninsured rates drop by a mere 0.8%.

An earlier Gallup survey showed that states opting out of Medicaid expansion, on average, had higher uninsured rates to begin with. And the slower rate of decline in recent months means states without Medicaid expansion or its own insurance exchange (or both) now have an average uninsured rate of 17.9%, compared with states with both, which have a 13.6% uninsured rate. In the last quarter of 2013, states that had not implemented both provisions had an average uninsured rate of 18.7%, compared with 16.1% in states that had.
0% in the third quarter of 2013. According to the most recent Gallup data, it has dropped to 15.6% since the open enrollment began.

To read more: click the link below

http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/obamacare-working-states-embracing-it

OP-Ed The President’s pushes back on those trying to demonize ACA

President Obama asked the question, why don’t the Republicans and others not want the American people to have health insurance? The death panels have not occurred and the Armageddon have not arisen as some in the Republican Party promise. He stated that most of the industrial world have universal healthcare and history will not be kind on those pushing against healthcare.

The Republican congress has voted 51 times to get rid of the law and have refused to put forward a plan that would cover all Americans. Political pundits point out that it would be very difficult for them to put forward an alternative healthcare plan because those on the right want to maintain the status-quo and members of both parties are taking PAC money from the insurance industry. Data watch reported that between 1990-1992 the medical and insurance PACs gave over 16.3 million to congress. Most of 16.3 million went to senators and congressman in the Republican Party. Congressman who oppose healthcare have invested a lot of money in healthcare stocks according to Hispanicvista.

“Legislators held significant investments in pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Amgen, the Center for Responsive Politics has found. Through 2008 -- the most recent year for which lawmakers filed this information -- many congressional members' personal funds were also invested in big-time insurers Aetna, UnitedHealth Group and Metlife, among others.”


Consumers signing-up with the ACA will be able to get preventive healthcare at no additional cost, regardless of whether they have met their financial cap. Preventive care will cover such things as:
(1) alcohol counseling,
(2) blood pressure screening
(3) Cholesterol screening
(4) depression screening
(5) diabetics type 2 screening
(6) diet screening
(7) Hiv screening

These preventive services will drive down the cost of healthcare in the future because people will be spending less time in the hospital and at their Doctor’s office. Preventive health care will extend the life of low-income people and create more happy Families

The ACA benefits covers pre-existing conditions and Children can stay on their parent insurance until they turn 26 years old. The Council of Economic Advisers list six economic benefits below:


Six Economic Benefits of the Affordable Care Act

Council of Economic Advisers



• Home
• Blog
• About
• Speeches & Testimony
• Fact Sheets & Reports
• Economic Report
• Economic Indicators
• Jobs & Internships
Subscribe
Six Economic Benefits of the Affordable Care Act
Posted by Jason Furman on February 06, 2014 at 12:47 PM EDT

This week has seen the release of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis that refuted claims by opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that it is a “job killer” and demonstrated that, by giving families more options for obtaining affordable health insurance outside the workplace, the ACA will make it easier for people take a risk and start a business, take time out of the labor force to raise a family, or retire when they are ready.
As CBO made clear, however, its analysis was not a comprehensive analysis of how the ACA will affect the labor market in particular or the economy as a whole. This blog post illustrates six ways that the ACA is helping the labor market, laying the foundation for future economic growth, and improving families’ financial security and well-being.
1.Putting more money in families’ pockets, boosting demand, and bringing down unemployment today. As of January 1, more than 2 million people had selected a plan in the health insurance marketplace, and nearly 80 percent of those people will – thanks to the ACA – benefit from tax credits to help pay their premiums. All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the entirety of 2014, 5 million people will benefit from premium tax credits and help with cost-sharing averaging $4,700 per person. In 2015, 11 million people are estimated to benefit, rising to 19 million in 2016. Many millions more will gain affordable health insurance coverage through Medicaid.
These provisions of the ACA make it easier for families to access health care services and to meet other pressing needs, which will increase the demand for goods and services throughout the economy at a time when the unemployment rate is still elevated. For this reason, as CBO Director Doug Elmendorf testified, the ACA “spurs employment and would reduce unemployment over the next few years.” The ACA is thus – today – helping ensure that every American who wants a job can find one.

2. Helping slow the growth of health care costs, boosting hiring in the near term, and bolstering workers’ paychecks. The United States is currently experiencing a historic slowdown in the growth of health care costs. From 2010 to 2012 real per-capita health spending grew at an average annual rate of just 1.1 percent, and preliminary data and projections imply that this slow growth continued in 2013. The spending growth rates recorded over the last few years are the slowest on record, and less than one-third the long-term historical average of 4.6 percent that stretches back to 1960.
As documented in a report by the Council of Economic Advisers, the ACA is contributing to these trends through reforms to Medicare that reduce excessive payments to medical providers and private insurers and by deploying innovative new payment models that incentivize more efficient, higher-quality care. A growing body of evidence suggests that, in addition to reducing costs and improving quality in Medicare, these ACA reforms may be generating similar benefits system-wide.
Slower growth in health care costs reduces the growth of the health insurance premiums paid by employers, which has important benefits for workers. In the short run, lower health insurance premiums reduce the cost of hiring an additional worker, making it easier for employers to add jobs. One study co-authored by a leading health economist found that reductions in health care cost growth due to health care reform could increase job growth by 250,000 to 400,000 per year by the second half of this decade.
Economic research shows that, over time, an increasingly large fraction of the premium savings are passed on to workers in the form of higher wages. If only one-third of the recent slowdown in health care cost growth persists, the savings after a decade will amount to $1,200 per person, much of which will show up in worker’s paychecks as higher wages.

3. Reducing our long-term deficit and laying the foundation for future growth. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that over fiscal years 2013 through 2022, the ACA will reduce the deficit by $109 billion. The ACA’s deficit-reducing effects will grow over time. CBO estimates that over the decade from 2023 through 2032, the ACA will reduce the deficit by an average of 0.5 percent of GDP each year, corresponding to total deficit reduction of nearly $1.6 trillion over that ten-year period. Lower long-term deficits due to the ACA will mean higher national saving, which will increase capital accumulation and reduce foreign borrowing, thereby making workers more productive and increasing national income and living standards over time.

4. Improving health and making workers more productive. The ACA is improving health both for people who would otherwise not have had health insurance and for people who are already insured.
By expanding coverage, the ACA will expand access to needed medical care. Greater access to care as a result of being insured has been shown to reduce mortality, improve mental health, and improve self-reported health status. For Americans who had coverage before the ACA, the ACA guarantees access to preventive services recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force without cost-sharing, services that have been proven to improve health and save lives. Since 2010, more than 71 million Americans have received at least one preventive service without cost-sharing.
In addition, the ACA is helping to improve the quality and efficiency of care for all Americans, contributing to better health outcomes while reducing costs. One striking example comes from an ACA initiative that gives hospitals incentives to reduce the number of patients returning to the hospital after discharge, such as by ensuring higher-quality care during the initial hospital stay or making appropriate arrangements for where patients will receive care after discharge. Medicare has also funded community-based organizations that help patients move more smoothly from a hospital stay to care at home. Hospitals have responded to these programs, and, over the last three years, Medicare 30-day hospital readmission rates have turned sharply lower, and are now more than a percentage point below their average level from 2007 to 2011. Through August 2013, this decline corresponded to 130,000 avoided hospital readmissions.
People who live longer, healthier lives will miss fewer days of work, are less likely to become disabled, will tend to spend more years in the workforce, and will be more productive while on the job.

5. Reducing “job lock” and encouraging job mobility and entrepreneurship. Before the ACA, many Americans’ only source of secure health insurance coverage was through their jobs. For people with pre-existing medical conditions, purchasing coverage on their own was often unaffordable or even impossible since insurance companies could simply refuse to provide coverage. For others, buying coverage on their own meant living with the fear that their insurer would raise their premiums without warning or even cancel their policy altogether. This could have the effect of locking workers into jobs. As economists at the Heritage Foundation wrote before passage of the ACA: “Individuals who wish to take a better job, change careers, or leave the workforce to raise a family or to retire early take substantial risks…This health insurance obstacle to labor mobility is sometimes called ‘job lock.’”
Because of the ACA’s ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions and its other strong consumer protections, all Americans now have secure access to health insurance, whether or not they can get coverage through their workplaces.

This guarantee of access to health insurance has a variety of economic benefits. Access to health insurance outside the workplace allows people to structure their careers in ways that make sense for them, like by taking time off to raise a family or by retiring when they want to. It also allows people to take risks that further their careers and benefit the economy as a whole, like going part-time in order to go back to school, leaving a job in order to start a business, or moving to a better job, perhaps at an employer that does not offer coverage. While the empirical evidence on the magnitude of these types of responses is incomplete (and in some cases mixed), there is no doubt that job lock presents an economic challenge. By increasing workers’ mobility across jobs, secure access to health insurance helps them to find the job that is best for them—and thus increases overall wages and productivity. Moreover, reducing job lock encourages entrepreneurship, a critical ingredient for growth and job creation.

6. Improving financial security in the face of illness. By expanding access to affordable health insurance coverage, the ACA is helping to ensure that getting sick no longer means financial ruin. Recent research examining an expansion of Medicaid coverage in the State of Oregon confirmed the important role that having insurance plays in ensuring financial security. The study, which used a “gold standard” randomized research design found that gaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid “almost completely eliminated” catastrophic medical costs (defined as medical costs in excess of 30 percent of income).
In addition to expanding coverage, the ACA is improving financial security for families who have coverage today. Because of the ACA, all insurance plans sold in the United States must cap enrollees’ annual out-of-pocket spending, and insurance companies can no longer sell low-quality policies with annual or lifetime limits on coverage. The ACA is also improving financial security for seniors by phasing out the Medicare Part D “donut hole.” Since the enactment of the ACA, these provisions saved 7.3 million Medicare beneficiaries an average of about $1,200 per person on prescription drugs. Overall, better financial protection makes an essential contribution to the well-being of families and thus the overall health of the economy.



Sources:
Political Contributions from Health and insurance industry
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/11/4/119.full.pdf


How Money in Politics Makes Healthcare Unaffordable
http://unitedrepublic.org/health-care/



Congressional Lawmakers invest in their Financial health
http://www.hispanicvista.com/HVC/Opinion/Guest_Columns/072509_Congressional_Lawmakers_invest_in_health_companies.htm


Six Economic Benefits of the Affordable Care Act
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/02/06/six-economic-benefits-affordable-care-act

7.1 million sign-up for healthcare

April 1, 2014
President Obama gave a speech at the White House to report that 7.1 consumers signed-up for ACA. He urged the congress to stop trying to kill it and join him in working out any problems which might arise in the future. Anyone who was unable to complete their registration after logging in prior to midnight: March 31, can take an additional two weeks to complete their application. If you would like to read more, click the source below:

Source:
http://www.bnd.com/2014/04/01/3139483/obama-plans-statement-7-million.html?sp=/99/673/150/

ACA (Affordable Care Act) expected to reach 7 million sign-ups

ACA (Affordable Care Act) expected to reach 7 million sign-ups. I think the Republican Tea Party had better re-think their 2014 election strategy.

A Hero is Remembered

A family member posted this on facebook, so I wanted re-post it on the blog because this brother is a real hero


For those of you who are wondering who is this man in the picture.
For some of you may know about an incident occurred that a pregnant woman named Ebony Wilkerson attempted to drown her kids in a SUV in the ocean. He and another man saw and heard the kids scream for help and rescued the children. You see our hero carry the kids out of the car.
Reason why I'm showing a photo of our hero is that mainstream media isn't giving this man credit to where it's due or showing his face that much. I think you and I know the answer to that.
All I can say to our hero Stacy Robinson thank you for taking action instead of standing there doing nothing. Thank you for saving those children.
Even though those kids are going to be haunted they'll remember that hero who risked his life and carried the them to safety.
Once again Stacy Robinson thank you

Last Day to Sign-up for Healthcare

Last Day to Sign-up for Healthcare
March 31, 2014 is the last day to sign-up for Obamacare (Affordable Care Act).
Over 5 Million people have signed-up so for. I think the projected goal is around 6 or 7 million. Don't listen to all the lies coming from the "Koch Brother machine". Go to the website to get the information for your self.





If you would like to sign-up for healthcare,Click the link below:
https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/b/welcome/?gclid=CO7XsNjJuL0CFWXl7AodUh0AMQ

Log Cabin Republicans up set with Obama Care (ACA) Gay Ad

Log Cabin Republicans up set with Obama Care (ACA) Gay Ad
Log Cabin Republicans are upset with this Ad which encourage members of the gay committee to get enroll in Obama Care (ACA). I think It

might be a good idea for them to launch a campaign against the Tea party instead of leading their party like little chickens. What you see in this ad could properly be seen in any gay club.

Get Enrolled

One million sign-up for healthcare

Darrell Issa

Obamacare (ACA) has signed up more than 1 million healthcare clients according to MSNBC. December 23 is the last day for anyone who wants coverage on January 1, 2014. If you have friends who need health care please encourage them to sign-up? The Republicans are doing everything possible to keep people from signing up. In my opinion they are breaking the law because they have put up false websites in California. If government or elected official are doing this, they should go to jail. Darrell Issa (U.S. Representative for California's 49th congressional district ) is conducting hearings all over the country to find dissatisfied clients with the law. Several people who have had a positive experience are allowed to testify.

ACA: Dispelling the Myths

ACA: Dispelling the Myths
If you would like to know more or need questions answered about ACA, Don’t listen to the Republicans or Tea Party members, get the facts. Click the link below:
Obamacare Facts: Dispelling the Myths
http://obamacarefacts.com/affordablecareact-summary.php

Obama Speech: President Defends Health Care Reform 2013

Obama Speech: President Defends Health Care Reform 2013

World AIDS Day:Origin of HIV, or Where Does HIV Come From?

Where did HIV come from?
Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world.

The earliest known case of infection with HIV-1 in a human was detected in a blood sample collected in 1959 from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (How he became infected is not known.) Genetic analysis of this blood sample suggested that HIV-1 may have stemmed from a single virus in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid- to late 1970s. From 1979–1981 rare types of pneumonia, cancer, and other illnesses were being reported by doctors in Los Angeles and New York among a number of male patients who had sex with other men. These were conditions not usually found in people with healthy immune systems.

In 1982 public health officials began to use the term "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome," or AIDS, to describe the occurrences of opportunistic infections, Kaposi's sarcoma (a kind of cancer), and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in previously healthy people. Formal tracking (surveillance) of AIDS cases began that year in the United States.

In 1983, scientists discovered the virus that causes AIDS. The virus was at first named HTLV-III/LAV (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by an international scientific committee. This name was later changed to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

For many years scientists theorized as to the origins of HIV and how it appeared in the human population, most believing that HIV originated in other primates. Then in 1999, an international team of researchers reported that they had discovered the origins of HIV-1, the predominant strain of HIV in the developed world. A subspecies of chimpanzees native to west equatorial Africa had been identified as the original source of the virus. The researchers believe that HIV-1 was introduced into the human population when hunters became exposed to infected blood.

Healthcare.gov meets November 30th Deadline

Healthcare.gov meets November 30^th Deadline

The Obama Administration has fixed most of the problems with the website. According to CNN, an administration official stated that the goal was to make sure that the site could handle 50,000 users at one time and a total of 800, 000 per day.  The goal is to have 7 million clients signed up by March 31, 2014. Officials with the Federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare and HEW Secretary Sebelius reported that the Obama Administration was on track of meeting its goals by Sunday morning.

The Republicans and Tea Party officials who want to kill the bill are shifting their attention away from the website to focus on the Affordable Healthcare Act itself. Senator Minority leader Mitch McConnell stated that “Americans are far less concerned about a website than they are about the availability and affordability of their healthcare”. Since the Republicans want to use healthcare to run on in the mid-term elections, they will continue to lie and keep up the propaganda.

The Obama administration announced last Wednesday a delay for small businesses

for one year. This gave Republicans more ammunition to keep up the propaganda offensive to kill the law. Instead of offering suggestions to work out the bugs: they continued their propaganda call to kill the bill. President Obama wants to shift the focus to immigration, but that will be a major challenge.

Sources:

Meet the Press, Sunday November 30 broadcast

 Obamacare website vastly improved, bugs fixed

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h8kSA8F_3FNg2BNc6hNMH70rK2vw?docId=88353c2c-e13f-4fb8-bab1-d9c5c5eaf31e

Deadline Day: Obama Administration ‘on track’ for website goal agency says

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/politics/obamacare-website/

 

World Aid's Day

It is time to remember all those who have passed on and those still struggle with AIDS and HIV. Over 1.1 million people have the disease and over 50,000 people per year getting the disease. But there is some good news according to those working for a cure. The infection rate is down and officials say that they are hopefully optimistic about a cure in the near future.

Problems with the ACA Roll Gives Republicans a 2 point lead

Problems with the ACA Roll Out Gives Republicans a 2 point Lead

According to senior sources working with the Obama Administration the website should be ready for the November 30th deadline. If the website is not working, the Republicans and the Tea Party will certainly be able to use it in the midterm elections.  Last Month the Democrats had a 52 to 42 advantage over the Republicans. Today the CNN/ORC Poll is 49 to 47 which gives the Republicans a 2 point lead. The biggest shift came from high income Whites and people living in the rural area of the country. The Democrats have made gains among their traditional base which is non-whites and lower income Americans.  The poll was conducted from 18-20 of November for CNN by ORC international. 

For more Information click the link below:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/26/cnnorc-poll-democrats-lose-2014-edge-following-obamacare-uproar/

Obama tweaks ACA

Reprinted from the FloridA WATCHDAG.ORG

Obama tweaks ACA, but health care in FL has problems of its own

By William Patrick | Florida Watchdog

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Fixing the problem or kicking the can down the road?

INSURANCE FIX: Even with a one-year extension for previously canceled policies, many more health care fixes are likely needed.

In the face of intense political pressure, President Obama announcedThursday that Americans can indeed keep their health insurance if they want to — at least for one more year.

Florida Watchdog contacted Florida Blue, a state insurance giant that canceled 300,000 policies last month, for specifics but did not get a response.

The Jacksonville-based insurance company did, however, release a statement saying individual policyholders can extend their plans through 2014. Small group plans are still under review.

Florida Blue chairman and CEO Pat Geraghty made it clear that following the health law is what led to the cancellations.

“Florida Blue has been an advocate for our members, and we complied with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which called for the inclusion of essential health benefits in all individual plans,” he said. “We notified impacted members and offered them the option of comparable and compliant plans giving them access to a wide variety of choices to meet their individual health care needs.”

Florida Blue is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company, according to its website. It has about 4.3 million customers and is a licensee of theBlue Cross Blue Shield Association — a group with funding ties to Obamacare sign-up group Enroll America. 

Other state insurers are on board, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

“Most health insurers in Florida have already voluntarily extended coverage for affected policyholders through 2014. However, for those companies that did not, the Office pledges to work with any company that chooses to continue coverage in accordance with the President’s transitional policy, and to facilitate the continuation of coverage for Floridians,” the agency said in a statement.

But whether affected Floridians can pay the same premium rate is unclear.

Karen Ignagni, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, told the Wall Street Journal, “Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers.”

Other aspects of Florida’s health-care system appear to need fixing, too.

Only 3,751 Floridians selected an insurance plan through the state Obamacare health exchange in October, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesdata. Florida has 3.5 million uninsured people.

But even if the healthcare.gov website is fixed, adding large amounts of newly insured patients will only exacerbate an existing shortage of doctors.

In an email, the Florida Department of Health told Florida Watchdog the state lacks an estimated 890 primary care physicians. That may not sound like a lot, but each of these missing doctors would serve dozens of would-be patients, and the current shortages are concentrated in low-income and rural areas, places where people will be added to the rolls.

“The Florida Department Health is working with our partners to help make sure there are physicians to serve Floridians in every community,” spokesman Nathan Dunn said.

The doctor shortage in Florida is far more severe when adding missing dental and mental health physicians to the primary care void, according to HHS figures

For lawmakers and interested parties, the solution, not surprisingly, is more spending.

“Due to the leadership of Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature, $80 million is available for graduate medical education through the new Statewide Residency Program,” said Dunn.

The Florida Medical Association, a powerful lobbying group, wants more money for medical schools, forgiveness of medical student loans and higher Medicaidreimbursements for physicians.

Many doctors won’t treat Medicaid patients because the program pays roughly 59 cents on the dollar.

Florida Watchdog contacted the Agency for Health Care Administration for comment but was instead forwarded a list of Medicaid Provider Fee Schedules.

Health care is already the largest state budget expense, and Medicaid spending cost taxpayers $21 billion last year.

Florida taxpayers might also be on the hook for more when federal Medicaid reimbursements end, in part, at the end of 2014 — the same time hundreds of thousands of newly extended individual and small group insurance policies expire.

Scott, who supported the Obamacare Medicaid expansion — though he actively opposes the health law in general — predictably released a statement Thursday blasting the president’s “patchwork” fix.

“The patchwork changes President Obama announced to his healthcare law today amount to nothing more than kicking the can down the road for 300,000 Florida families who are losing the insurance plans the President told them they could keep. What happens to these families in a year?,” he said.

Amid the partisan retort, Scott, a former health care industry executive, may have correctly stated, “President Obama’s changes to his own law will likely be the first of many.”

If you would like to no more about Watchdog, click the URL below

Source:

http://watchdog.org/116440/obamacare-insurance-pardonhttp://watchdog.org/116440/obamacare-insurance-pardon/

The Affordable Health Care Website is Up and Working Much Better

The Affordable Health Care Website is working much better. The Obama Administration said that by November 28, the site should be able to work for the majority of people. The only problem is that nobody knows how many people will be able to complete the entire process by March 1, 2014. If the site is not processing 80 to 90% of the clients correctly, they may not be able to meet their objections by March 1, 2014. They need young people to sign-up to keep the risk pool low and affordable for the majority of people. If the site is not working, young people might give up and not register. Also, the Tea Party Republicans might be able to convince enough people not to bother signing up. There are so many lies being spread about ACA. Obama must take the big stick approach to deal with these lies. He needs to spend a lot of time on the road to convince the majority of people that ACA will eventually work ok after one or two years. We are also not hearing about the good stories concerning ACA. People who have successful signed-up and got lower premiums, parents who have been able to keep their kids on their insurance, and people not being dropped for pre-conditions need to share their stories. The Tea Party Republicans have only been willing to find people who they claim are getting their policies dropped and ending up with higher premiums. If you know people who have successful gotten through the process and are happy with their insurance, encourage them to share their stories on Facebook and Twitter.

Healthcare.gov is Fixing Many of the Bugs

President Obama's signature legislation (ACA) is getting some needed fixes. Kathleen Sibelius, HEW Secretary told senators at a hearing on Wednesday November 6, 2013 that the site is now able to successfully process 17,000 applications per hour.


GOP focuses on overall Obamacare troubles, not just website
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/kathleen-sebelius-senate-obamacare-hearing-live-video-stream-health-insurance-exchanges-discussed#ixzz2jzbC5aLT