US Rep. Adam Schiff letter to Acting DNI Joseph Maguire – Re: Whistleblower Subpoena (13.09.2019)
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MinBane
I write what I like.
Archive for the tag “US Congress”
Senate Republican Health Care Bill – Devastating effect for millions of Americans!
Who? Who elected this men in shiny suits and grins in the Capitol and who walk around like gentleman and ladies in Washington D.C. That is the question I ask today, since first the House of Representative under the key leader Paul Ryan passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This was done on the 4th May 2017 and they had such a wonderful victory speech by President Donald Trump in the rose garden. Than, after the vote, the CBO score came in and it showed no mercy to the ones who needs medical care or health care, neither was the legislation made for safety of the American people, more a tax-relief for the wealthy who pays for poor. So they can get health-care under current legislation. That is something sinister in the eyes of Republican Party in the United States. Therefore, they have behind closed doors in the Capitol or the Congress, worked to make a new Health Care Bill based on the House of Representative vote in May 2017. And by June the legislation made in the dark, has come to light. Yesterday, the leak of the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” was also broke down by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), BCRA are the still an ugly duck compared to the ACA or Obama-Care. Just take look at important quotes from their report and it proves the devastating acts of the Senate and House of Representatives,
The quotes I have taken, is just like last go-around on the members of society who will be cut off from Health-Care by new legislation. How much monies the 1% saves and how much the wealthy get tax-relief is benign since it is so many lives at stake and so many more people who will not be covered or can afford a Health Care Plan or Health Insurance under the new legislation. That is more dire, than if the state saves a few billion dollars, because the rich cannot afford to have some solidarity because their need for golden showers and Bentley’s. Take a look!
“The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation. By 2026, an estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law” (CBO, P: 1, 2017).
“CBO and JCT estimate that, in 2018, 15 million more people would be uninsured under this legislation than under current law—primarily because the penalty for not having insurance would be eliminated. The increase in the number of uninsured people relative to the number projected under current law would reach 19 million in 2020 and 22 million in 2026. In later years, other changes in the legislation—lower spending on Medicaid and substantially smaller average subsidies for coverage in the nongroup market—would also lead to increases in the number of people without health insurance. By 2026, among people under age 65, enrollment in Medicaid would fall by about 16 percent and an estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law” (CBO, P: 4, 2017)
“Medicaid. Enrollment in Medicaid would be lower throughout the coming decade, with 15 million fewer Medicaid enrollees by 2026 than projected under current law in CBO’s March 2016 baseline (see Figure 4). Some of that decline would be among people who are currently eligible for Medicaid benefits, and some would be among people who CBO projects would, under current law, become eligible in the future as additional states adopted the ACA’s option to expand eligibility” (CBO, P: 16, 2017).
Just think about it, 49 Million uninsured compared to 28 million. The 28 millions uninsured under current legislation should be the worry today, not make sure there are another 21 millions who joins the club of ill-health and possible side-effects of not affording to pay for their health care bills. The Republican party and the Senate, as the House of Representatives are morally bankrupt. They don’t care or have no issues making provisions for a possible 21 million citizens without health-care. That means, they can easily do so, since the donors and rich-backers needs a Tax-Holiday. That is the seriousness and the bottom-line. Nothing beautiful about this. Just hardcore tax-relief so fewer people can afford to treatment and get people healed through Health-Insurance. Seriously, who votes this gang of brothers in and who would accept this sort of treatment? Can someone please explain to me what this dude Mitch McConnell still doing in the Capitol when he can serve this sort of legislation?
The numbers themselves are insane and the other aspects of the law is bad. There aren’t any good news in this one, unless your wealthy and don’t care about the society you sponge of in general. That is what this bill does, it isn’t “Better Care Reconciliation of 2017”, so to translate to a proper name of the bill it should be named: “We don’t Care Act of 2017”. Sponsored by the honorable men and woman of the Republican Party, with they new slogan to the public: “because we don’t care! We don’t care if you cannot afford to go to the hospital, have a per-existing condition, planned parenthood or any sort of benefits because of your low-pay-grade, you are just a Smuck-On-Wheels for voting for us and we are making sure that you cannot be covered in the future”. Why you say? We the Republican’s Just don’t Care! Peace.
Reference:
Congressional Budget Office – ‘H.R. 1628 Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017’ (26.06.2017)
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Trump’s Draft Executive Order on Big Pharma isn’t the remedy the Public needs!
There has been a draft release Executive Order without a date, but planned for June 2017 by the Trump Administration. The United States Government and soon the American Health Care Act (AHCA) or the Trump Care is run through the Senate after the amendments for the law after the vote in the Representatives House. So it seems like the Trump Administration trying to patch the ill-will and the gained reputation for draconian laws with a medicine and a remedy. Still, if people cannot afford health care plans or afford health-care insurance, what help is in making medicine and pills cheaper. When you cannot afford to get to the doctor, what help is that the pills and medicine cost less. Needs help from the doctor to find the needed treatment. That is simple, but forgotten math by the Republicans and the Congress these days. Not like President Trump understands that, unless tanning became more expensive for him.
While we’re at it, let’s look into major quotes from the Draft Executive Order:
“Section 1 Policy:
b) Reduce burdens caused by regulatory and administrative actions that inflate or distort prices for beneficiaries of Federal health programs or that provide more favorable pricing for intermediate actors in the medical product supply chain than the prices available to beneficiaries” (Executive Order, 2017).
So the Trump Administration plans to put down the prices and control the prices of medicine. It is special that the Administration cares about the Federal Health Programs, when the new TrumpCare laws want to relief the state of Medicaid and other supplementary subsidized programs through the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) or ObamaCare. Health Care News Emily Kopp: “This probably refers to the 340B program, which provides hospitals that serve low-income patients with a discount on intravenous drugs, anti-nausea drugs for cancer patients and some other outpatient drugs. Donald Trump’s interagency working group on drug prices has weighed scaling back the 340B program, KHN reported earlier this month. Critics say the discounts don’t truly benefit patients, including PhRMA, the influential pharmaceutical lobby” (Kopp, 2017). Certainly, the repeal will make sure these sort of programs get phased out as well as the pricing on the Health Care plans that the citizens has to get through insurance companies. But this draft plans to take it further do.
“c) Facilitate, where appropriate, the ability of Federal health programs to enter into reimbursement arrangements for medical products that are based on the value of such products to patients rather than the volume of such products purchased” (Executive Order, 2017).
That the State will have value-based pricing, which means that the States and Federal Government have decided prices depending on the needs and than that the patients has to cover the cost of the medicine. Which is a nice idea, but I am skeptical as before, since the reality doesn’t change, even if the State and Federal Government can control the buying-in and the prices of it. The rising prices of insurance under new law will not be helped by this remedy. Neither is this too.
“d) Ensure that the laws intended to help lower-income or vulnerable Americans and strengthen the safety net healthcare providers that serve them are carried out in such a way, that the benefits of such programs accrue primarily to the intended populations, including by the rescinding or revising of regulatory or administrative actions” (Executive Order, 2017).
This here is main reason for it in a way, if the Trump Administration did care, but if they though the world works like that and these provisions would change the ways of buying-in and research of medicine would change. Still, Health Care News Emily Kopp says this: “This probably refers to the 340B program, which provides hospitals that serve low-income patients with a discount on intravenous drugs, anti-nausea drugs for cancer patients and some other outpatient drugs. Donald Trump’s interagency working group on drug prices has weighed scaling back the 340B program, KHN reported earlier this month. Critics say the discounts don’t truly benefit patients, including PhRMA, the influential pharmaceutical lobby” (Kopp, 2017).
Again, Trump Presidency has to be self involved and not understanding the world order, therefore, this had to be inside the EO: “e) Ensure that American citizens do not disproportionately subsidize medical product innovation for the rest of the world, or allow foreign governments to unfairly devalue American innovation” (Executive Order, 2017). Again, let me quote Emily Kopp: “The Trump administration is making the implicit argument that longer monopoly rights for drugs and higher drug costs in foreign markets will lead to lower prices in the U.S. Not so, according to James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International” (Kopp, 2017). So, in Alice in Wonderland, this sort of provision might work, even in Narnia, but I am sure it has the same effect as Wall towards Mexico or the sudden love for Solar Panel on the wall, which is insane in it self. That Trump Administration believes in this wouldn’t surprise anyone and that Sean Spicer would defend it would be field day for journalists.
Las piece of the Executive Order, that I will put forward is this one: “f) Rescind, revise or simplify regulations and other administrative actions that inappropriately or unfairly contribute to higher prices or cost-sharing for medical products for American patients” (Executive Order, 2017). Just as before, kind of hard to get lower prices if the repealing of Obama-Care law gets into effect. It like thinking you get lower cost, when the insurance sky-rockets and the 1 percent of American citizens get a giant tax-break. The relief again would only suit the ones without already hard-earned pockets, the rich would earn more and the R&D of medical suppliers would secure more funding. This would not earn the citizens in the United States.
This is maybe why this law hasn’t been signed and hasn’t been enacted, as the Senate are working on their bill and this would counter it. Secondly, the lesser prices for medicines wouldn’t help the provisions in the new Health Care law. United States would really be a place for the wealthy and the poor would suffer more. That is reality of the Health Care bill that the Senate are putting forward. This Executive Order wouldn’t help, but be a field day for the Big Pharma to get new system for subsidized medicine, so the people wouldn’t feel this. Unless, the Health Care plans inside the Senate bill would actually serve the public and not just the wealthy. Peace.
Reference:
Donald J. Trump – ‘Executive Order – REDUCING THE COST OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS AND ENHANCING AMERICAN BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION’ (Draft Paper for June 2017).
