Category: Health Care - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

ACA Deadline for Laid-Off Workers

6/2/2020

ACA Deadlines Near For Laid-Off Workers

Health Care Reform Forum

Workers who were laid off due to the coronavirus shutdown, and who lost their employer health insurance, have a 60-day window of opportunity to seek replacement insurance on the Affordable Care Marketplace.

Low-income or unemployed workers may be eligible for subsidized insurance on the ACA. If you know anyone who might qualify for this benefit, encourage them to go to www.healthcare.gov/ to see if they qualify. They must apply within 60 days of becoming unemployed.

Frank Samuelson

What You Can Do Now - ACA Enrollment After Job Loss Due to the Pandemic

4/16/2020

Letter to the Editor - Important Update
Regarding ACA Enrollment After Job Loss

Health Care Reform Forum

On behalf of, and with the approval of, the PACG Health Care Reform Forum, I submitted the letter that follows to the local QC newspapers, and it was published on Saturday, April 11. My involvement with PACG was duly noted. If you know of anyone who has lost his/her job and associated health insurance, please bring the potential assistance that might be available at healthcare.gov to his/her attention.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are losing their jobs. Those with employer-provided health insurance may also be losing that coverage at the worst possible time: leaving them with potentially no income and, if they become ill, no insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) offers them valuable resources.

Iowa and Illinois residents in that situation may be able to get insurance on the federal ACA Marketplace. They may also qualify for a premium subsidy or for coverage under Medicaid. The website healthcare.gov allows them to explore their options. It is important to note that they have a 60-day window after losing their employment in which to apply.

Although some insurers have waived some consumer costs of coronavirus treatment, such costs can still be very high, especially if hospitalization is required; moreover, other health care issues (broken leg, appendicitis) may still arise. Having good health insurance is essential.

The coronavirus pandemic has made us acutely aware of how important it is for all Americans to have access to good health care. The Affordable Care Act has already provided health insurance for millions of uninsured families, and it is there for many of us who need the coverage now. Our people need our government to uphold that law, not seek its overthrow in the courts.

One of the lessons we must learn from this terrible time is that good health care coverage needs to be strengthened and expanded to cover everyone, in good times as well as bad.

Karen Metcalf, Co-facilitator
Health Care Reform Forum
Progressive Action for the Common Good

After Action Report - PPE Donation by Health Care Reform Forum

4/2/2020

Lending a Hand - After Action Report

Davenport Salvation Army

Health Care Reform

Some of you will remember that way back before the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the PACG Health Care Reform Forum had a project to collect hand prints from individuals in our community as part of our advocacy for national health care legislation. Participants used latex gloves to protect their hands from the paint that was used. When the ACA was passed, the project was discontinued, but we still had many gloves.

This week, as the call went out in our community for personal protective equipment (PPE)—including latex gloves—the Forum was able to donate our surplus of gloves for the use of firefighters and EMTs (for whom protection, but not sterility, is critical). And just how many gloves did we provide? Between 5000 and 6000! It felt good to help our community, even in this small way. Truly, this is the core mission of Progressive ACTION for the COMMON Good.

Health Care Reform Forum - 2020 Platform Resolutions

1/27/2020

2020 Platform Resolutions - Health Care Reform Forum

Here are the Health Care Reform Forum party platform resolutions. Print the ones you support and bring them with you when you caucus on Monday, February 3rd.

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Issue: the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Iowans

Whereas Americans of all walks of life are feeling the pressures of the high price of prescription drugs;

Whereas several states, including some bordering Iowa, have discussed banding together in a consortium to address the price of prescription drugs;

Whereas studies have shown that the larger the purchase of a particular drug, the lower the price; and

Whereas a consortium of like-minded states could enable a smaller state like Iowa to participate in the cost savings of large purchases that Iowa alone would not be able to realize; now, be it

Resolved that the state of Iowa shall willingly and with all possible speed agree to join such a consortium if one is discussed with like-minded states, in order to realize the largest possible savings on prescriptions for the citizens of the state.

Health Insurance Sign Up Help Is Available!

10/22/2019

Help Get The Word Out About Health Insurance Sign Up!

Health Care Reform Forum

Help Get The Word Out On Health Insurance!

Flyers are available to help uninsured people access health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

ObamaCare - Enroll

Open enrollment is from November 1st to December 15th.

Our flyer is also available as a download below. If you know someone who may be uninsured, give them a flyer. If you can post flyers on public bulletin boards, in stores, or restaurants, please do so. If you need a quantity of flyers to post or hand out, contact Frank Samuelson at cfsam22@gmail.com.

Note: See our Health Care Reform Forum Statement on Health Insurance Choices.

Frank Samuelson

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What You Can Do Now - Educate Yourself About Health Care Choices

10/21/2019

Health Care Reform in 2019 and 2020

A Statement by the Health Care Reform Forum
(Note: This statement is downloadable at the link below. Also, see our Blog about signing up for Health Care Insurance.)

Summary of Points

These points are the consensus position of the active members of the Health Care Reform Forum, not the official position of Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) or its membership.
We advocate retaining and building on the foundation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
We support eliminating efforts that have been made to weaken the ACA.
We support fixing the areas where the ACA has fallen short of its goals.
“Medicare for All” and “Single Payer” are confusing terms, and they are not necessarily synonymous. We summarize some of the ways in which they can differ.
Some understanding of health care systems in other countries is helpful in evaluating proposals for health system reform in this country.
We support the following three next steps to strengthen the ACA:
1. Adopt a publicly administered insurance plan to be offered on the marketplace.
2. Require negotiated drug prices in publicly administered plans, including Medicare.
3. Create a system for transparency in the pricing of provider services as well as of administrative costs in the private sector.
In any health care reform proposal, address the projected shortfall in the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund; this is especially important for advocates of expanding Medicare with some form of “Medicare for All.”
We believe that health care is a moral issue: its resources are finite, and health system reform entails all of us recognizing not only our rights, but also our responsibilities, individual and collective.

Disclaimer for Health Care Reform Forum Statement - August 3, 2019
The Health Care Reform Forum of PACG does not, and will not, endorse the proposal of any candidate, at either the federal or state level, for health care reform.  As we have done since our inception in 2005, we continue to advocate for the basic goal of access to quality, affordable, sustainable health care for everyone in this country.  Political proposals are the means to reach that goal.  That distinction having been made, our forum members have, after much discussion, reached our own conclusions about certain key issues in current health care reform discussions.  What follows is the consensus position of the active members of the Health Care Reform Forum, not an official position of Progressive Action for the Common Good as an organization or its broader membership.

PACG Health Care Reform Statement 2019-2020

Our forum has been discussing and advocating for health care reform for nearly 15 years.  We supported the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as an important step forward toward the goal of quality, sustainable, accessible, and affordable health care for all Americans. We believe that the best and most doable option, in the current political environment, is to retain and build on the foundation of the ACA, eliminate the efforts to weaken it by the current administration, and fix the areas where it has fallen short of its goals.

Evaluating Health Care Reform Proposals of Congressional and Presidential Candidates
in the 2020 Election

“Medicare for all” has become a popular rallying call for health care reform.  But the concept has many different variations and definitions.

A “single payer” system is proposed by some candidates.  It would create a new health care insurance system run completely by federal government agencies and paid for by the government (i.e., by taxpayers). Everyone in America would be covered.  Standards of care and payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers, as well as drug pricing, would be negotiated and regulated by the government.  Private insurance would be eliminated over a brief transition period of 2-3 years.  No one has yet come up with a credible, non-partisan estimate of the cost of, or implementation plan for, such a system, or proposed exactly how it would be paid for.

We fully acknowledge the appeal of a “single payer” approach to U.S. health care reform since it would quickly achieve universal coverage.  But to call it “Medicare for All” is misleading.

There are many flaws and injustices in the current U.S. “system,” even since the passage of the ACA.  Medical debt is still a major cause of personal bankruptcies, even for those with insurance.  Insurance and pharmaceutical companies, as well as some providers, make exorbitant profits, the costs of which are borne by customers and taxpayers.   Millions of people still lack coverage.  The list is long.  But a “single payer” plan is not the only option, and we have tried to give fair consideration to all proposals to improve the American health care system.

At least six other proposals have been made by legislators or candidates for president.  They all build on the basic foundation of the Affordable Care Act, and the existing programs of Medicare and Medicaid.  They would not eliminate private insurance companies.  Three proposals would create a new public option plan, based on Medicare, which would be offered to individuals and some (or all) employers through the ACA marketplace.  It would compete with the existing private insurance plans on the marketplace.  (A public option plan was to have been included in the ACA, butwas dropped due to resistance from insurance companies.)

Two other proposals would allow some people to buy into the current Medicare or Medicaid plans.  All of these plans would expand insurance coverage for many more families, but not everyone.  Government subsidies would continue to help make insurance affordable for low income families.

It is unclear whether a single payer plan is practical and doable at the present time.  To rapidly eliminate all private insurance and build a new system, even though it would be based on Medicare, could lead to unimaginable chaos.  One simple question it raises:  how many insurance jobs would be lost?  Also, how would eliminating that sector of the economy affect the overall U.S. economy?  We have not seen any reliable estimates of such data.  Additionally, many patients and their families would lose their current good employer or union insurance.  Also, there needs to be a credible estimate of the costs and revenues needed to make it work before such a comprehensive program is adopted.  The respected Congressional Budget Office has yet to venture a cost estimate, but other experts predict it will be very expensive.  If so, a single payer plan is likely to be opposed by many Democrats as well as by Republicans.

We believe that the ACA has accomplished important improvements in our health care system, and note that public support has grown steadily since it was adopted.  Even those who want to repeal it have so far been unable to do so, and they have resorted to tactics to sabotage and weaken it.  Yet it is still supported by half (50%) of American adults, with a considerably smaller portion (38%) opposed (Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, April 2019)[1].  We think the best way forward is to build on the foundation of the ACA, fix its flaws, and improve its coverage of more and more families.

We also think that the term “Medicare for All” is misleading when equated with a single payer system.  At present, Medicare is available for most people over age 65.  But almost everyone pays a modest premium for hospital, doctor, and drug coverage. Also, patients covered by Medicare often pay deductibles and co-payments when they use the coverage. The government sets standards of care and payment to the providers, who are often chosen by the patients.  Medicare is forbidden to negotiate drug prices.  Many people choose to supplement their Medicare coverage with private insurance or to purchase private Medicare Advantage plans. Many of the aspects of Medicare listed in this paragraph are not included in single payer proposals, and thus using “single payer” and “Medicare for All” as synonyms is misleading and can be confusing.
Most developed countries have health insurance programs that cover everyone, with a large portion of that cost paid through taxation. We acknowledge that there are some similarities between systems elsewhere and the current U.S. Medicare system for most Americans over 65. But as Americans evaluate the various health care reforms being proposed, we believe it is important for them to know, for example, that systems in other countries also have various forms of complementary private health insurance, similar in some ways to the current Medicare supplement and Medicare Advantage private plans.  Evaluating proposals for U.S. health care system reform entails a certain amount of knowledge about such facts.

Looking Ahead
We believe that the next step for reform should be the adoption of a publicly administered insurance plan to be offered on the ACA marketplace.  This would retain employer and union insurance and still
bring real competition to the insurance market.  A second reform should be negotiated drug prices in publicly administered plans, including Medicare.  A third reform should be the creation of a system for transparency in the pricing of provider services as well as of administrative costs in the private sector.  Besides directly benefitting consumers of health care resources, such transparency is essential for cost control:  there are too many hidden costs and loopholes that do little to improve the quality of care but that contribute significantly to making our health care twice as expensive as it is in other developed countries.

One health care coverage issue that must be addressed in any reform proposal is the projection by the Medicare trustees that the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund (although not all of Medicare) will begin to run a shortfall in 2026.  A stable Medicare program is vital to all current and future seniors, yet too often discussions of health care reform ignore this looming instability in the program. All health care reform proposals must address this situation, but doing so is especially critical for advocates of expanding that very program, i.e., “Medicare for All.”

We believe that health care is a moral issue.  Every human being deserves care when an accident or disease strikes; moreover, broad preventative health care measures underscore the positive value of mutual support within the human community. But health care resources are also finite, and we need to set some personal and societal limits on our health care expectations.  Setting those limits will entail some hard moral choices, but we can’t all have it all.  Health resources need to be shared among all members of our national community -- and the costs need to be shared by that community.  Insurance, carried by all, is one means of cost sharing, and government subsidies for insurance premiums for lower income families are essential to enable all to be insured.  We each have a responsibility to care for our own health, a right to receive care when we need it, and a responsibility to help care for others in their time of need.

Finally, we need to be prepared for a worst-case scenario:  if the courts rule the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, we and all those who support the ACA will need to take action.  People’s lives will depend on it.

Good health care for everyone - It’s something we all want, but how do we get there?

[1] Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, April 2019:  www.kff.org/interactive/kff-health-tracking-poll-the-publics-views-on-the-aca/#?response=Favorable--Unfavorable&aRange=twoYear

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What You Can Do Now - Drug Price Control Action Alert

7/29/2019

Action Alert - Drug Price Control
Quad Cities Area

Health Care Reform

Action Alert - Drug Price Control

The Senate Finance committee chaired by Sen. Grassley, approved by a vote of 19-9, a bi-partisan bill to limit prescription drug prices to the inflation index, but drug company lobbyists are mounting forces to oppose the bill. Many Republican senators seem ready to oppose it or amend it to death during floor debate.

Now is the time for us to act. If you live in Iowa, call Sen. Grassley 515-288-1145 and thank him for his leadership on this bill, and urge him to keep fighting for its passage without crippling amendments. Then contact Sen. Joni Ernst 515-284-4574 and urge her to ignore industry lobbyists and support passage of this bi-partisan bill that will help protect all Americans from huge prescription drug price increases.

If you live in Illinois, you can also thank Sen. Grassley for his leadership on this issue and contact Sen. Durbin 202-224-2152 and Sen. Duckworth 202-224-2854 and thank them for their continuing support on this and other health care reform issues.

Frank Samuelson

Candidate Questions - Health Care Reform

4/22/2019

Candidate Questions - Health Care Reform

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that we have created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.

If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you have an opportunity to ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below.

These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.

1. How will you protect the progress made thanks to the Affordable Care Act? (more people insured, children insured on parent’s programs until age 26, protection for pre-existing conditions, etc)

2. The Medicare program is vital to the health of millions of people. Will you protect Medicare for cuts planned by some members of Congress?

3. There are efforts underway to cut Medicaid funding and turn it into individual state grants. How will you fight to keep Medicaid strong and protect it from future cuts?

4. If you favor health care expansion, could you describe your vision? What would be the key points? (Single payer? Incremental stages of expansion?)

5. How will you provide healthcare to low-income people in states that did not expand Medicaid?

6. How will you push pharmaceutical companies to reduce Hight prescription drug prices?

a. Do you support letting Medicare negotiate with prescription drug companies? If so, why?

b. Would you support a bill to allow lower priced generic drugs to access the market more quickly?

c. What efforts will you take to require drug companies to explain large price increases?

d. Would you require drug companies to give a two-month notice when they plan to significantly increase prices?

e. Should Americans be allowed to buy lower priced drugs from other countries or should the U.S. government regulate drug prices?

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Health Care Reform Forum Meetings

4/8/2019

Health Care Reform Forum Meeting - Tuesday, April 16th at 6:00 pm

St. John's Lutheran Church
45070 7th AV, Rock Island, IL (map)

Our Forum is now meeting twice a month.

At our April 2nd meeting we decided to first focus our efforts on "Health Care 101," a program to educate (especially) people who are uninsured on the basic concepts and terminology of health insurance, and to encourage them to check out how they may get insurance through Government programs and the ACA. This will be a primary focus of our next meeting.

The second focus will be on planning an event celebrating the (almost) 10th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. This event will be in late October to help jump start the ACA open enrollment period which begins November 1st.

Other priorities will be to refine "Health Care 201" which we "premiered" at St John's congregation last month, to get the results of the ACA petitions used with students at Augustana and to consider other venues to collect signatures.

We have ambitious goals. Please join us in planning and accomplishing these goals.

Health Care Reform Upcoming Meetings - March 11, 2049

3/11/2019

Health Care Reform Forum - Additional Meetings through June

Health Care Reform

At our March 5th meeting we laid out some ambitious plans for the coming year.

We also decided to meet twice a month on Tuesdays, at least through June. The first Tuesday meeting will be for regular business. And the third Tuesday meeting will focus on event planning.

So put the following on your calendars now!

March 19th - Event Planning
April 2nd - Monthly Meeting
April 16th - Event Planning
May 7th - Monthly Meeting
May 21st - Event Planning
June 4th - Monthly Meeting
June 18th - Event Planing

Debra Sperry