Michigan Republicans introduced a mandatory ultrasound bill this week with a carefully-worded clause that threatens to stir up controversy that first erupted during the height of last year’s “War on Women.” By stipulating that the ultrasounds must use the “most technologically advanced equipment on site,” Michigan lawmakers would require women seeking abortions to undergo…
Category: Law
Michigans Rick Snyder Becomes Sixth GOP Governor To Back Health Laws Medicaid Expansion
News outlets examine the political dynamics spurring some former opponents of the law to sign onto one of its most significant provisions. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Republican Gov. Rick Snyder Backs Expanding Medicaid To Michigans Uninsured In US Health PlanRepublican Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday backed the extension of Medicaid coverage to 470,000 residents…
Gerrymandering is not what’s wrong with American politics
In a recent interview in The New Republic, President Obama said this about the politics surrounding gun control: That does not mean that you don’t have some real big differences. The House Republican majority is made up mostly of members who are in sharply gerrymandered districts that are very safely Republican and may not feel…
Grand Theft Election
President Barack Obama won a commanding victory in this November’s elections, defeating Republican candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by nearly 4 percentage points in the popular vote. In doing so, President Obama became the first president to twice win more than 51 percent of the popular vote since President Dwight D. Eisenhower did so…
Legalization’s Biggest Enemies
The marijuana legalization initiatives that triumphed in Washington and Colorado this past fall faced surprisingly little organized opposition. Money tells the story: Washington’s pro-legalization initiative I-502 raised more than $6 million from supporters, while the campaign against it pulled less than $16,000. In Colorado, meanwhile, proponents of Amendment 64 raised more than $2 million, outdoing…
McDonnell Doesn’t Rule Out Signing GOP’s Secret Redistricting Plan
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) expressed displeasure Monday with the Republican Senate’s sneaky maneuver to subvert majority rule and gerrymander the Senate in such a way that could give themselves a super-majority — but has not yet said whether he would veto the bill. But to live up to his previous promises, he will have to…
Florida Gov. Rick Scott Wants A Favor—From Obama
Last June, after the Supreme Court decision making the Medicaid expansion optional for the states, Scott said he won’t take the money. But when Florida hospitals realized Scott’s decision could cost them about $650 million a year in other federal payments, they started lobbying furiously to get him to change his mind. So now,…
Florida Governor Inflates Cost Of Medicaid Expansion By 2,600% To Avoid Implementing Obamacare
Internal email messages uncovered by Health News Florida reveal that Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) is knowingly citing inaccurate cost estimates to justify his refusal to expand Florida’s Medicaid program. Though the governor’s office is fully aware that the numbers are wrong, Scott continues to use them anyway, the documents show. Florida, which has one…
Virginia Lawmaker Wants To Make Voting Even Harder With New ID Law
A Virginia General Assembly member intends to add more limits to the state’s voter ID law in time for the next election, warning of voter impersonation. Republican Delegate Mark Cole (VA) thinks the standing law is too flexible and will introduce a new voter ID bill that would prevent voters from using documentation like paycheck…
Colorado Will Expand Medicaid, Claims Cost Savings Are In Progress
The state plans to expand its Medicaid program as much as the federal health law envisions, without spending any extra money to make it happen. Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Colorado Will Expand Medicaid, Governor Announces Gov. John Hickenlooper said Colorado will expand its Medicaid program as much as the federal health care law calls for, and he said…
Obama signs bill warding off fiscal cliff
President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to avert the fiscal cliff, a day after the House and Senate approved the much-debated legislation. Obama, who returned to his family vacation in Hawaii after Tuesday’s House vote, signed the bill via autopen on Wednesday. But new battles over taxes and spending await Washington in…
Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
Breuer this week signed off on a settlement deal with the British banking giant HSBC that is the ultimate insult to every ordinary person whos ever had his life altered by a narcotics charge. Despite the fact that HSBC admitted to laundering billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels among others and violating…
Expanding Medicaid Would Save Florida $100 Million Per Year
Obama has won re-election and the health law’s implementation is marching forward, Scott has showed some signs that he may consider softening his stance. And a new report from Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute could give him even more reason to do, since it concludes that Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion would save Florida about $100 million…
Pot legalization proceeds in key states with Feds mostly silent
The Obama administration’s relative silence on moves to legalize recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington has left officials in those Western states unsure how to move forward without running afoul of the U.S. federal government. But change is already afoot when it comes to how the two states and local authorities deal with marijuana….
John Metz, Dennys Franchisee And Hurricane Grill & Wings Owner, Imposes Surcharge For Obamacare
Metz said he will hold meetings at all his restaurants starting in December to discuss the surcharge and to tell employees “that because of Obamacare, we are going to be cutting front-of-the-house employees to under 30 hours, effective immediately.” Metz said he hopes the post-election meetings will inspire employees rather than alienate them. “What…
Many states not prepared for health-care law
Participating states must set up a call center as well as a Web site that allows people to easily find and understand health plans, in much the way that Orbitz and Travelocity help people find airline flights. Moreover, many Republican-led states resisted the exchanges in the hope that the Supreme Court would strike the health…
Health Insurance To Provide Easy-To-Understand Plan Summaries
On Monday, a health law provision goes into effect that requires insurance companies to provide user-friendly guides that provide explanations of plan benefits that will be as clear and easy to understand as the nutrition facts provided on food packages. Reuters: Health Insurers Begin To Provide User-Friendly Plan Guides The Obama administration on Monday began…
Top Insurance Lobbyist: Obamacare Is Already Encouraging Greater Efficiency In Health Care
In a Medicare Advantage hearing before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on Friday, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) President Karen Ignagni confirmed that Obamacare is encouraging health care providers and private insurers to adjust their business models, just as the law was intended to do. Although Ignagni noted that some of Obamacare’s provisions…
Amid court challenges, early voting begins in U.S. election
The November 6 election is still seven weeks away, but early, in-person voting begins in two states on Friday, even as Democrats and Republicans battle in court over controversial plans to limit such voting before Election Day. Idaho and South Dakota are the first states to begin early voting on Friday, although North Carolina has…
U.S. state officials in stealth mode on health exchanges
Republicans working on exchanges have been accused of party disloyalty, and that opposition has intensified after the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in late June. In Colorado, Tea Party members tried to expunge Republican Amy Stephens for co-sponsoring exchange legislation. In Michigan, the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity circulated petitions to kill…