The Affordable Care Act has saved nearly 3.6 million people enrolled in Medicare $2.1 billion on their prescription drugs in 2011, finds a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the health care reform law signed by President Obama in 2010:
is already saving money for millions of Americans with Medicare. As we move forward, we will close the donut hole completely and save even more money for everyone with Medicare.
The Affordable Care Act—which Republican lawmakers are fighting to repeal—provides a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs and, beginning this year, a 14 percent discount on generics. Last year, it provided a 7 percent discount on covered generic medications for people who hit the prescription drug coverage gap known as the donut hole, with more than 2.8 million beneficiaries receiving $32.1 million in savings on generics.
Overall, the 3.6 million Americans who hit the donut hole saved an average of $604 on the cost of their prescription drugs. The Affordable Care Act closes the donut hole completely by 2020.
Click here for a state-by-state look at donut hole savings figures for today’s donut and herefor a fact sheet.
Republican presidential campaign pyrotechnics can’t hide the record of a party that has turned its back on ordinary Americans. It’s worth remembering how, a year ago, the Republican-majority House of Representatives tried to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
What would have happened if they had succeeded?
2.5 million young adults would have no health insurance.
2.65 million seniors would have paid $1.5 billion more for prescription drugs.
24.2 million seniors would pay for preventative services they are getting for free.
And that’s just the beginning. A short report from the White House highlights how the Affordable Care Act is making insurance more available and affordable for millions of Americans.
It’s good reading at a time when the Affordable Care Act repeal is still a GOP battle cry, with all the presidential hopefuls and most Republicans in Congress vowing to overthrow the law—and trying to scare voters in the process.
Check out the Center for American Progress’ animated video (above) explaining the benefits of reform. The video was developed by MIT economist Jon Gruber, an adviser on both the Affordable Care Act and the Massachusetts health care reform program.
The Obama Administration has proposed some new regulations to protect home care workers. From the New York Times:
Labor unions and advocates for low-wage workers have pushed for the changes, contending that the 37-year-old exemption improperly swept these workers, who care for many elderly and disabled Americans, into the same “companion” category as baby sitters. The administration’s move calls for home care aides to be protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the nation’s main wage and hour law.
and
These workers, according to industry figures, generally earn $8.50 to $12 an hour, compared with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The White House said 92 percent of these workers were women, nearly 30 percent were African-American and 12 percent Hispanic. Nearly 40 percent rely on public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps.
While industry experts say an overwhelming majority are paid at least the minimum wage, many do not receive a time-and-a-half premium when they work more than 40 hours a week. Twenty-two states do not include home health care workers under their wage and hour laws.
Home care workers assist elderly people with all aspects of their lives, including bathing, exercise, and remembering to take medications. They may also prepare meals, and do housework. They may be dealing with clients in varying stages of dementia. There’s a great deal of skill required to do this kind of work.
These are also workers who don’t get sick days, any sort of benefits, and if their client dies – well, that’s just too bad. No more paychecks for them.
Predictably, the opposition is gearing up:
“The president’s goal is commendable, but the likely result of this new rule is reduced hours for home care workers and higher costs for taxpayers,” said John Kline, a Minnesota Republican who is chairman of the House Education and the Work Force Committee, and Tim Walberg, a Minnesota Republican who heads the panel’s subcommittee on work force protections. “Moreover, our nation’s elderly may pay the greatest price in the form of more costly services and fewer opportunities to obtain the care they need in the comfort of their own homes.”
In other words: Caregivers are good enough to take care of the elderly, but what they do isn’t real work, therefore they don’t deserve the sort of protections that other workers are entitled to.
This week Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan is at it again, once more offering a proposal that would replace Medicare. This time he’s joined by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. To say this proposal is better than the initial Ryancare plan—which would have totally privatized Medicare—is something akin to saying replacing your birthday cake with dirt is better than replacing your birthday cake with rocks.
Even policy observers inclined to be sympathetic to Wyden’s intentions are critical of this new plan. Ezra Klein says it’s “not a compromise proposal” and doesn’t advance cost control or coverage. Jonathan Cohn says that the Ryan-Wyden plan doesn’t actually improve upon Medicare at all and indeed could jeopardize the guarantee of health care coverage for future retirees. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the plan would shift more costs to seniors and potentially undermine Medicare in the long term.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was blunter, calling Ryan-Wyden “a fundamental misdiagnosis” and a proposal that would “cripple Medicare.”
Just as we shouldn’t privatize Social Security and push our seniors’ retirement security into the stock market, we shouldn’t privatize Medicare and push seniors’ health security into the hands of the insurance industry. In fact, Medicare already has some features of an exchange, through the Medicare Advantage program. And the evidence shows that traditional Medicare saves money compared to Medicare Advantage and to the private insurance market in general. Ryan-Wyden is a fictional solution.
What’s grating is not that Ryan is looking for another way to dismantle Medicare—after all, he’s repeatedly shown that it’s his top priority. No, the trouble is that Sen. Wyden—who represents more than 150,000 Working America members in Oregon—is so enthusiastically signing on.
Wyden usually votes the right way on issues that matter to working families, but being an elected leader is about more than votes. It’s about actual leadership. By legitimizing Ryan’s crusade to undermine the guarantee of Medicare, Wyden is doing damage to the priorities he ostensibly votes for.
Wyden should take a tip from his home-state colleague Jeff Merkley, a Working America member and a consistent leader on the issues that matter to his fellow members. Instead of pursuing attention by allying with right-wing politicians like Ryan, Merkley has chosen to stand out by acting as a voice for his working-class and middle class constituents: demanding real solutions to the housing crisis, insisting on accounting for the jobs impact of “Super Committee” proposals and trying to strengthen financial reform. His leadership may not get the kind of breathless praise from self-styled “centrist” pundits like Wyden does, but he’s clearly more interested in having a positive impact on working people’s lives.
If Wyden wants to boost our health care system in a way that cuts costs and actually increases access to care, how about adding a public option to health care reform?
Today at noon, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate announced the latest totals for the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Only 30 days after the effort formally kicked off, 507,533 signatures have been collected to trigger a recall election.
Quick review of the numbers: Under Wisconsin law, organizers need signatures equaling 25 percent of those who voted for governor in 2010. In this case, that’s 540,258. They have 60 days to gather this many signatures, which puts the deadline at January 17, 2012. The Government Accountability Board (GAB), which oversees elections in the state, then determines a date for the recall election.
Just like the summer recalls and the Ohio referendum, the GAB has to determine if enough of the signatures are valid. With this expectation, organizers from United Wisconsin have 720,000 as a rough signature goal by the January deadline. By comparison, the intrepid Buckeyes in next door Ohio gathered 1.3 million signatures to repeal Senate Bill 5, which was about six times the needed amount.
Here are some more highlights from Mike Tate’s presser:
Over 25,000 Wisconsinites have volunteered in the recall effort.
42 recall field offices have been set up throughout the state.
People aren’t just giving their time, they are giving their money: 27,000 donors have given an average of $27 toward the recall effort.
The recall petitions have gone viral: 37,000 people have downloaded recall petitions from the Wisconsin Democratic Party website.
Needless to say, Walker and his friends are spooked. You know how you can tell? The Fox News Channel is rushing to his aid, doing what they do best – straight up lying:
Fox News reporter Eric Shawn told viewers on Thursday that signatures from “Mickey Mouse” and “Adolf Hitler” were “allegedly on petitions in Wisconsin in the recall for Governor Scott Walker.” Fun little story with the potential to go viral? Absolutely. True? Not so much.
In fact, the original story that Shawn evidently built his report off of is about a strictly hypothetical situation discussed by members of the Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board who were asked what would happen if someone signed the petition as Mickey Mouse. There’s been no actual allegation that anyone actually signed the petition against Walker that way.
Notice the message. The point isn’t to dispute the number, because they can’t. The point of the story is to make viewers doubt the process in its entirety.
Again, no one should be looking at Wisconsin 2012 expecting a clean fight. As we’ve written, Walker and the Koch Brothers are going to drag this as far into the gutter as possible, because they know the Governor can’t run on any accomplishments. This election, once triggered, will be about dirty tricks, personal attacks, culture warrior tactics, and instilling distrust of the democratic process underway. The Fox salvo is a perfect example. So is this. And this.
What choice do Walker and his corporate friends have? Half a million Badgers want to oust him from his spot in Madison, and they aren’t messing around.
Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on working families may have divided Wisconsin and polarized the two sides, but it also motivated us to not only speak out, but to take action. Working America members feel pretty strongly about what Walker is doing to our state, and most of our members agree that the Governor is hurting working families.
Our members from all stages of life, have been putting in the effort to recall Governor Walker. Lois from Oshkosh is a retiree whose family members are now struggling to make ends meet because of his cuts. Lois is not only collecting signatures in her free time, but also regularly calls the local recall office to asking what food and supplies are needed.
Scott from Bay View is a contractor who has been out of work for about a year. He is using his free time to collect signatures and has personally collected more than four hundred. Julia from Milwaukee owns a local daycare center; she has noticed a drop in attendance since Walker took office as parents lose their jobs or state assistance for child care. Julia has been circulating petitions amongst the parents at her daycare to help with the recall effort.
Ron from Milwaukee, also retired has also been collecting signatures in his spare time. He told us that despite living on a limited income, “I’m down to eating peanut butter sandwiches right now, but I want to get this guy out and that’s more important than me going out to some restaurant for a fancy dinner.” Ron understands that the recall is about more than just collective bargaining rights; he thinks that access to education and health care are top issues, and Walker’s treatment of teachers, cuts to education, and restrictions on BadgerCare don’t sit well with him.
Mary from Racine displays the kind of selflessness and generosity Wisconsin is known for; she is living on disability payments to make ends meet, but does what she can to give back to the community. Mary regularly donates clothing and food to those in need, she had this question for politicians like Scott Walker, “if I can give back while my Medicare gets cut then why can’t the wealthiest 1 percent share in the sacrifice as well?” She has been helping in whatever way she can with the recall to show Scott Walker that all people, regardless of wealth, matter to Wisconsin communities.
Political hands on both sides concede that removing Governor Walker is a tall order. Even before an election is scheduled, organizers must gather over 540,000 signatures before January 17, and the Wisconsin winter doesn’t make the collection process any easier. Walker and his wealthy allies are already bombarding the airwaves with pro-Walker TV ads. But this recall effort has been held together by the optimism of those who are out there pounding the pavement for signatures, donating to their local recall offices, and the thousands of citizens who are signing the petition. The tenacious recall volunteers have already proved their dedication and effectiveness, collecting 300,000 signatures in just 12 days.
Clearly, the people of this state believe that by working together we can help move Wisconsin Forward again.
1.) While campaigning, make sure to promise to take action on the most pressing issue on the minds of Americans: jobs. Declare unequivocally and repeatedly that you will create 700,000 jobs in 7 years, and make “Let’s get to work” your campaign slogan. That way, voters can feel a sense of betrayal and disappointment when you do nothing to follow through.
2.) Start breaking promises right off the bat – voters love initiative! Despite a historic high level of unemployment in construction, reject federal money for a high speed rail project that would employ thousands of construction workers and engineers. Don’t give a good reason for your actions. That way, voters can assume you’re killing jobs for political reasons.
3.) Has your state experienced a huge economic hit because of a man-made, preventable disaster recently, perhaps an oil spill? By all means, do not make any effort to hold the corporations behind that disaster accountable. Even if other governors of your own party are making such an effort, continue to have more sympathy for those corporations then your constituents.
4.) One of the keys to being an unpopular governor is to demonize huge segments of your state’s population, and then watch it backfire. Here’s a good list to start from:
12.) At all times, lack compassion and understanding about the basic needs and priorities of your state. The majority of your constituents just want to find a decent job, put food on the table, afford health care when they get sick, pay bills on time, vote on Election Day, and make sure their children get an adequate education. Your job is to wake up every morning in your mansion, drive to work, and make sure all those things are as difficult as possible.
Got more to add to Rick Scott’s Guide to Popularity? Leave your suggestions in the comments, or tweet at us with the hashtag #RickScottFail.
Florida’s Rick Scott has retaken the title of least popular governor in the country among the 36 on which PPP has polled this year. His job performance mark has tanked from 36% approving and 52% disapproving when PPP last polled the state in September to 26-58 now, a decline of 16 points on the margin. His greatest fall has been with his own party, which stands at 46-31, down 22 points. Independents disapprove by a 30-55 margin.
More key numbers:
66 percent of those who identify as political “moderates” disapprove of Scott. 34 percent of those who identify as “somewhat conservative” also disapprove.
55 percent of Independents disapprove, and so do 31 percent of Republicans.
African-Americans, a sizable population in Florida, have truly soured on Rick Scott – only 5 percent approve versus 80 percent disapproving. 66 percent of Hispanics also disapprove.
In a hypothetical rematch with 2010 Democratic opponent Alex Sink, Scott would only receive 37 percent of the vote. Sink would net 48 percent of the crucial Independent vote, and 21 percent of Republicanswould cross party lines instead of voting for Scott.
This level of poor job performance is even more impressive when you consider Scott’s competition:
Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder, who despite calling himself in favor of “small government” is wresting away local the power of local governments in his state;
Maine’s Gov. Paul LePage, who indicated he would punish certain cities for not agreeing with him politically;
So how did Scott do it? How did he manage to get nearly 3 out of every 4 Floridians to think he is bad at his job? We’ve prepared a little cheat sheet, in case you want to be a terrible governor at home. Stay tuned for Rick Scott’s Guide to Unpopularity!
This week in the House, we get to see it in all its disingenuous glory. Here’s how congressional Republicans plan to create jobs—by attacking workers’ rights and gutting workplace and environmental safety and health laws. They really claim this is their jobs package.
The first bill (H.R. 3094) is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow. It would deny workers the right to fair union elections by blocking the modest changes proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) earlier this year in the way union elections are conducted.
It gives employers new tools to block workplace elections by establishing several new waiting periods before an election can go forward and giving employers more grounds to appeal pre-election decisions by the NLRB. It also allows employers—not workers and the union they wish to join—a larger role in determining who is part of a bargaining unit.
On Thursday and Friday, House Republicans will set their sights on crippling the government’s ability to enforce current rules and develop new health, safety and environmental laws. The two main bills are the so-called Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) and the REINS Act (H.R. 10).
In a letter to House lawmakers, AFL-CIO Government Affairs Director William Samuel says the RAA would “upend more than 40 years of labor, health, safety and environmental laws and threaten new needed protections.”
In effect, the bill acts as “a super mandate” overriding requirements of current safety health and environmental laws by making costs to businesses, not protection of workers or the public, the primary concern. Click here for the full letter and here for more from the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards.
The REINS Act would basically take away the right of federal safety and health agencies to implement new rules by requiring Congress to approve all individual major rules, without Congressional approval the new rule would die.
Knowing just how well Congress currently works, imagine what would happen when it becomes the gatekeeper on the regulatory process. Politics, not scientific judgments or expertise of the agencies, would dictate action while corporate opposition and influence would swamp the public’s interest and block needed protections.
There are also Republicans bills that would put a moratorium on any new safety, health, environmental and other rules and even rollback current major safety laws that have been in place since 1991.
BTW, Republicans say all these attacks on workers’ rights and safety and health and environmental rules would free up businesses, especially small businesses from a supposed onerous burden and send them into a frenzy of hiring. Wrong.
As we noted last month, a survey of small business owners shows that only 13.9 percent say the reason they are not hiring workers is because of government regulations. Why aren’t businesses hiring? To dust off an old chestnut— “It’s the Economy stupid!”
