Friday, November 29, 2013

NY Times discovers doctor shortage with Medicaid expansion

I believe the first time I wrote about the expansion of Medicaid exacerbating the short of doctors was in 2009. At that point, a study came out showing the US would have a 40,000 doctor shortfall by 2020. Since not all doctors will accept Medicaid patients (fewer today), the potential shortage could easily be predicted.
Unless you're the NY Times:
Dr. Ted Mazer is one of the few ear, nose and throat specialists in this region who treat low-income people on Medicaid, so many of his patients travel long distances to see him.
But now, as California's Medicaid program is preparing for a major expansion under President Obama's health care law, Dr. Mazer says he cannot accept additional patients under the government insurance program for a simple reason: It does not pay enough.
"It's a bad situation that is likely to be made worse," he said.
His view is shared by many doctors around the country. Medicaid for years has struggled with a shortage of doctors willing to accept its low reimbursement rates and red tape, forcing many patients to wait for care, particularly from specialists like Dr. Mazer.
Yet in just five weeks, millions of additional Americans will be covered by the program, many of them older people with an array of health problems. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that nine million people will gain coverage through Medicaid next year alone. In many of the 26 states expanding the program, the newly eligible have been flocking to sign up.
Via: American Thinker
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Is Health Care A Fundamental Human Right or a Service?

How many Americans believe that health care is a fundamental human right? How many Americans believe that it is just a service that must be paid for just like any other service? Good doctors and nurses who train a long time and invest a lot of money in their education expect to be paid well for their expertise and unique skills.

Respectable hospitals cannot operate on the basis of a “fundamental human right,” invented by “progressives,” somebody must pay for health care. Life-saving medical equipment and drugs are expensive.

There is a reason why the best medical care, equipment, drugs, anddoctors in the world exist in capitalism and not in socialist countries. Individual thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurship rewarded by profit have improved our lives and our health. Collectivism resulted in the death of 100 million individuals. Developing each drug cost at least $950 million and researchers and investors expect to be paid for their financial risks, research, and ideas.

Americans have always supported the development of life-saving expensive drugs which were then sold to other nations for much less than we paid at home or were given away for free. Americans have thus subsidized the medical treatment of citizens of many nations.


Dems Distancing Themselves From Obama Over ObamaCare Rollout

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WASHINGTON –  A month after emerging from a government shutdown at the top of their game, many Democrats in Congress newly worried about the party's re-election prospects are for the first time distancing themselves from President Barack Obama after the disastrous rollout of his health care overhaul.
 

At issue, said several Obama allies, is a loss of trust in the president after only 106,000 people — instead of an anticipated half million — were able to buy insurance coverage the first month of the new "Obamacare" web sites. In addition, some 4.2 million Americans received notices from insurers that policies Obama had promised they could keep were being canceled.

"Folks are now, I think in talking to members, more cautious with regard to dealing with the president," said Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and one of the first leaders in his state to endorse Obama's presidential candidacy six year ago.

Cummings, the White House's biggest defender in a Republican-controlled committee whose agenda is waging war against the administration over Benghazi, the IRS scandal, a gun-tracking operation and now health care, said he still thinks Obama is operating with integrity. But he noted that not all his Democratic colleagues agree.

"They want to make sure that everything possible is being done to, number one, be transparent, (two) fix this website situation and, three, to restore trust," Cummings said.
Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., like Cummings, a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus who personally likes Obama, struggled to describe the state of play between congressional Democrats and the president.

"I am trying to think if you can call it a relationship at this point," he said.

New York: City Council seeks ban on e-cigarettes in public places as high-tech successor to smoking ban

The City Council will hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill to prohibit the use of batty-operated, tobacco-free vaporizers in places where people can't smoke tobacco cigarettes, including restaurants, offices, parks and beaches.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ILLUSTRATION; PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The City Council may push the e-cigarettes ban through before the year's end. Mayor Bloomberg supports it.

First the city banned smoking in most public places. Now it’s moving to snuff out the use of smokeless electronic cigarettes as well.
The City Council announced Wednesday that it will hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill prohibiting the use of the battery-operated, tobacco-free vaporizers in restaurants, offices, parks, beaches and other places where smoking regular cigarettes is not allowed.
Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens) is a sponsor of the bill to ban e-cigs and calls it a "high-tech successor" to 2002 tobacco cigarette ban.

Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens) is a sponsor of the bill to ban e-cigs and calls it a "high-tech successor" to 2002 tobacco cigarette ban.

The goal is to enact the new law by the end of the year, before the Council’s current session ends.
E-cigarettes have emerged as a trendy alternative to tobacco cigarettes, their popularity fueled by a perception that they are healthier and that they can help people kick conventional cigarette habits.
Via: New York Daily News
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[CARTOON] Cheap Date

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Karl Rove: GOP in Better Position than This Point in 2010 Midterm Cycle

Former GOP strategist and Fox News Channel contributor Karl Rove joined Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday evening where he said that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has had a beneficial effect on the Republican Party’s chances of making gains in the 2014 midterms. Looking at recent polling data, Rove claimed that the GOP is in a better position at this point in the election cycle than they were in 2010. 
“As of today the Real Clear Politics average is 43 percent Republican, 42 percent Democrat,” Rove said of the average of a number of generic congressional ballot results. “One month ago, it was 40 percent Republican, 47 percent Democrat. So, it’s not just the CNN poll.”
“Let’s take a look at thought at 2010,” he continued. “A year out, the Democrats led 47 percent to 42 percent. By Election Day of 2010, it was 52% to 45%, a 7 point advantage for the Republicans.”
“At this point, one year out from the election, the Republicans were down 5,” Rove observed. “Today, they are up one in the average.”
He said that, given that the Democrats are defending Senate seats in seven states that Mitt Romney won in 2012, Republican prospects for retaking the Congress look possible if not probable.
Rove said that this reversal of political fortunes from the government shutdown is entirely due to the Affordable Care Act’s implementation and it’s only going to get worse. However, even if the ACA were unfolding well and it was a popular program, Democrats would still have obstacles to overcome ahead of the 2014 midterms.
“The economy is not particularly good,” Rove said. “The president’s ratings are low. All of these things combined to point towards a lower number for the Democrats and a higher number for the Republicans next year.”

Time's Mark Halperin Lamented Press Failure to Scrutinize Obamacare....But In 2010, Boasted About It

 Last Thursday, Time's Mark Halperin told guest host Laura Ingraham on "The O'Reilly Factor" that "There is no doubt that the press failed to scrutinize this program at the time of passage and during the context of the president's re-election. Any reporter who would argue otherwise would be putting their head in the sand." Romney's vulnerability on Romneycare meant it wasn't much of an issue.
"It's part of the flaws of the way the media works," Halperin added. "If the candidates aren't talking about it, it gets less coverage. But there's no doubt a disservice was done to the country and even to liberals who want this program to succeed, because it didn't get scrutiny on passage, and then again when the President was running for re-election." But James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal did the mean thing to Halperin. Oh, look, here's one Mark Halperin on March 22, 2010, boasting about the forthcoming press failure on Obamacare, right after it passed:
 In the 7½ months between now and November's midterm elections, millions of Americans will be whipped into a frenzy over the purported evils in the Democrats' health care bill, egged on by Fox News chatter, Rush Limbaugh's daily sermons, threats of state legislative and judicial action and the solemn pledge of Republicans in Washington to make the fall election a referendum on Obamacare. But in doing so, they may be playing right into the Democrats' hands. . . .
 Democrats will be joined in the fray by much of the press. For Republicans, this will seem like familiar ground, since generations of conservatives have complained that the so-called mainstream media have been biased against them. Well, get ready, Republicans, for déjà vu all over again. The coverage through November likely will highlight the most extreme attacks on the President and his law and spotlight stories of real Americans whose lives have been improved by access to health care (pushed, no doubt, by Democrats from every competitive congressional district and state).
 The louder Republicans yell, the more they will be characterized and caricatured as sore losers infuriated by the first major delivery of candidate Obama's promise of "change." The focus on the weekend's alleged racial and gay-bashing verbal attacks by opponents of the Democrats' plan should be a caution to Republican strategists trying to figure out how to manage the media this year.
Taranto added: "His indictment should have been framed as a confession."
Via: Newsbusters

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EPA preparing to unleash a deluge of new regulations

Happy holidays from the Obama administration. Federal agencies are currently working on rolling out hundreds of environmental regulations, including major regulations that would limit emissions from power plants and expand the agency’s authority to bodies of water on private property.
On Tuesday, the White House released its regulatory agenda for the fall of 2013. It lists hundreds of pending energy and environmental regulations being crafting by executive branch agencies, including 134 regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency alone.
The EPA is currently crafting 134 major and minor regulations, according to the White House’s regulatory agenda. Seventy-six of the EPA’s pending regulations originate from the agency’s air and radiation office, including carbon-dioxide-emission limits on power plants.
Carbon-dioxide limits are a key part of President Barack Obama’s climate agenda. The EPA is set to set emissions limits that would effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they use carbon capture and sequestration technology. Next year, the agency will move to limit emissions from existing power plants — which could put more older coal plants out of commission.
“The proposed standards, if finalized, will establish achievable limits of carbon pollution per megawatt hour for all future units, moving the nation towards a cleaner and more efficient energy future,” the agency said in its agenda. “In 2014, EPA intends to propose standards of performance for greenhouse gas emissions from existing and modified power plant sources.”
Hundreds of coal plants that have been closed or slated for early retirement due to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, according to coal industry estimates.
“Already, EPA regulations have contributed to the closure of more than 300 coal units in 33 states,” said Laura Sheehan, spokeswoman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
However, the agency isn’t just working on limiting emissions from coal plants. The EPA is also working on a rule that would expand the definition of “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act to include water on private property.
Via: Daily Caller

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Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Day After Thanksgiving - Black Friday

Black Friday Online Sales Now!
Black Friday has begun! Many stores have already gone online with their Black Friday deals, with more going live tonight all the way through Thanksgiving. Be sure to check back often so you don't miss the sales!
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Alaska Democrats Campaign to Reinstate Sarah Palin's Tax Policies

Alaska Democrats are campaigning to have former Gov. Sarah Palin's tax policy reinstated after Palin's successor, Gov. Sean Parnell, had it repealed this year, saying that it discouraged exploration. 

But Democrats liked the way it was in the Palin years and were able to gather enough signatures to make it a ballot measure for 2014, asking that Alaska voters repeal the new plan and keep Palin's, The New York Times reported.

"She was a transformational figure in Alaska politics," said Democratic State Senator Bill Wielechowski, a leader of the repeal effort. Tax policy had not caught up to the profits being made in oil in The Last Frontier. "People realized that for decades Alaska had not gotten a fair share."

Palin ran for governor as a reform candidate in 2006 after it was learned that the oil companies in the state were buying off state legislators in exchange for votes.

However, Andrew Halcro, president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, argues that while Palin's tax policies were popular at the time, they may have gone too far and have resulted in discouraging oil companies from drilling. 

"People were angry at the oil industry, angry at the Republican Party, angry at the lawmakers who got caught in the scandal, and she channeled that," Halcro said. "And so when she raised taxes, people were like, 'All right, you go get 'em.' But then the reality sunk in."

While Alaskan Democrats prefer Palin's tax policy, they are hesitant to solicit her support in repealing the new law because she has become a polarizing figure following her candidacy as vice president in 2008 and her resignation as governor. 

"She did the right thing. She put in a tax that was tough on the big guys," said Jack Roderick, age 87, former Democratic major of Anchorage Borough and leader of the repeal effort. But with her divisive image, including her in the campaign would "probably not be helpful."

Via: Newsmax


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Thanksgiving 2013: ObamaCare Talking Point Survival Guide

Friends, I know, it's Thanksgiving, and the last thing you want to hear from your tongue-pierced Anthropology major nephew is how unbelievably fantabulous ObamaCare is. Grandma's stuffing is out of this world, to be cherished -- no, worshipped; yet the White House, via Organizing For Action, is encouraging the Zombie Faithful to shanghai dinner. 
So we must respond.  How?  Well, first, you might seize Billy's plate, and every time he mounts the Obama Flag, take something off it -- redistribute! -- so that by the time he's done, the plate is empty, vacuous -- like his head.
Play on instinct -- whatever seems right.  But, of course, you may engage him intellectually.... *cough* .... and if you choose this path you are not only brave, you're in the right place!  Keep reading.  Below lies the distribution of knowledge and, with hope of redistribution, the refutation of Billy:
OFA Talking Point #1: Healthcare.gov has had difficulties but the state exchanges are working well.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Like Oregon?  They spent $45 million, give or take a million - who's counting? -- and signed up the same number of people clamoring to see Michelle on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a thong.  The states are signing up Medicaid enrollees, at a 4:1 ratio, a fiscal time-bomb that will ravage their budgets and lead to LESS care for those supposedly "covered."
OFA Talking Point #2: The website's problem is demand and once the front-end problems are fixed, it will work.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Healthcare.gov project manager, Henry Chao, told Congress last week that 40% of the website isn't even built -- there's NO payment system set up.  Are you majoring in Comedy?
OFA Talking Point #3: Only a few young and healthy people will pay more -- for most people, they will keep their plans, or have something better.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Costs are going through the roof in 41 states, and the other nine are treading water.  Five-million people have already lost their plans, with tens of millions - and next year as many as 100 million -- to lose their plan and their doctor, when both group and individual markets are forced into compliance with ObamaCare mandates.
OFA Talking Point #4: The pre-ObamaCare health insurance market was a "free market" full of junk plans, which screwed people over and dropped their insurance when they got sick.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Who feeds you this garbage?  Prior to ObamaCare, 87% of Americans reported a high level of satisfaction with their insurance, and, indeed, 85% had insurance.  These plans were not, by law, able to drop coverage for "sick" people -- and by the way, did you know that Medicare denies more coverage -- by a greater than 2:1 ratio -- than private insurers?

Via: American Thinker
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The Simple Faith of Humble Men

That God will bless America Both now and evermore, As never hath a land so much To be so thankful for


“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand. And as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many. Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.” (William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth County, 1621)

Thankful they assembled there,
A humble Pilgrim band,
To praise their God in silent prayer
That He should bless their land.

Through winter unforgiving,
Through pestilence and war,
Those grateful few yet living knew
What they were thankful for.

As they feasted on their succotash,
Maize and wild game,
Doubtless they did pause to think
On why it was they came.

Enduring death and hardship,
On this lonely, hostile shore,
To escape the persecutor’s rod
And live free evermore.

Yet well they braved the suffering
That they had come to find
And passing silent longings for
The land they left behind.

For the liberty to worship free
Was worth their pain and fear,
As gratefully they thanked Him:
“Lord, how good we have it here.”

Unceasing hath He blessed us since
That first Thanksgiving Day,
Throughout this nation’s lofty rise
His grace hath shone the way.

For this blessed land America’s
The living legacy
Of the simple faith of humble men
So thankful they were free.

And if this suff’ring Pilgrim band
Could yet see fit to give
Their grateful thanks to Him whose grace
Had simply let them live,

Then yet a thousand times more thankful
Should our people be
For this nation’s bounteous wealth,
Her strength and liberty.

So it is only fitting that
We thank Him on this day,
Reflecting on our blessings as
We bow our heads to pray….

That God will bless America
Both now and evermore,
As never hath a land so much
To be so thankful for.

© 2013 by William Kevin Stoos 

Via: Canada Free Press

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