Citizens' Daily Lobby

Business headlines this week gave health reform opponents, and other proponents of trickle-down economics,  something to smile about.  “AT&T Profits Down 21% Due to Health Care Charges” or some permutation of this announcement hit newspapers and blogs, and almost all focused blame on the recently passed health care reform legislation.   “I told you so,” say the Repealers, ” Governmnent intervenes and health care costs go up.”    But that position is misleading.   What’s missing from their equation is the real reason AT&T is losing this money.  You see, AT&T was actually making money through its provision of some prescription drug benefits for retirees.   It’s a complicated story, according to fastcompany.com, and the problem dates from the administration of GW Bush.

The 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, still in effect, gives a tax deduction to companies that provide prescription drug benefits for retirees. In fact, these companies, including AT&T, can deduct 100%–every single penny–of the money they spend on prescription drug benefits from their taxable income. Thus, AT&T gets to keep a whole chunk of money from being taxed, which basically means they get to pocket more of it. The government even goes one step further and subsidizes (read: pays for) a whopping 28% of those prescription drug benefits in the first place, to make prescription drug benefits as affordable as possible for the companies. The companies get both a 28% discount and a nice tax break, all to encourage them to provide prescription drug coverage.

But there’s a loophole in the law big enough to drive a Chevy Suburban through. These companies get to write off the entirety of their prescription medication plan, even though they’re actually only paying for 72% of it. The new health-care bill simply closes that loophole, and says that companies can still deduct every penny they pay on prescription drug benefits from their taxes–but only the money they’ve paid, not the 28% that the government hands them. That’s where the billion dollars comes from: AT&T is no longer allowed to deduct things they didn’t pay for in the first place.

AT&T (and other companies are almost certain to follow suit) has announced that it is considering reducing benefits as a result of this policy.     The employee, not the shareholder, will once again be left holding the bag.  Perhaps if a public option had been included in the package, these retirees would have a safety net.  As this particular case demonstrates, in many ways a public option would have entailed shifting money from corporate welfare directly to the public.  Don’t let Big Business snow you on this issue.

There is always much offensive material in the John Boozman newsletters, little substance, and even less documentation to back up his regurgitated right-wing talking points. And of course, there are no novel ideas, absolutely none.  On tax day, he outdid himself in a rush to take advantage of the Tea Party anti-tax mentality.  The old boy managed to hit  the Scary Conservative Hot Buttons of the Hour,  health care reform and abortion, especially hard.  What do  these issues have in common?  Taxes, of course.  High taxes for the average American.  High taxes going to questionable (providing health care for the less fortunate) and even downright evil (the feds are gonna pay for abortions!!!) uses.   The Arkansas taxpayer deserves to know the many ways the truth is distorted in this newsletter.

“Federal, state, and local taxes claim almost 27 percent of the average American’s income.”

True.  But Boozman neglects to mention what percent of income the average American Corporation spends on taxes.  Would you believe 2/3 of US corporations paid no income taxes at all between 1998-2005 according to the Government Accountability Office?  Think that rate’s higher now?  Check out the Forbes report on taxes paid (or not owed) by the largest US corporations.  Exxon Mobile reportedly got a tax credit last year.  Tax shelters and business practices of these corporations shift an estimated $100 billion dollars  of tax burden onto the backs of the average American.  Boozman conveniently leaves corporations out of the equation, preferring to place the blame on health care and the government services.

“President Obama and the Majority party are spending the federal government into a record deficit of $1.5 trillion dollars this year alone.”

Really, John?  President Obama is spending all our money?  The truth is the largest consumer of your tax dollar is the military at 26%.  And interest on loans due to national defense is also a big share (full story here).

Finally, in the most despicable and manipulative of the statements in the newsletter

“For a vast majority of Americans, the cost of the health care bill is especially painful. The new law means their tax dollars will now be used to fund abortion services.”

How many times does the truth need to be told in order for people to understand it?   Bans on federal funding for abortion were not only upheld in the new legislation, they were restated, and some believe even strengthened.    Maybe Mr. Boozman is only familiar with the bill passed in the House last year, which did have some loopholes for abortion.  The truth is that the Senate went out of its way to reinstate the barriers.  Mr. Boozman may have fogotten the executive order signed by Barack Obama himself.  That order expressly forbids the use of federal money to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.  Conservatives should not let their strong convictions about abortion make them susceptible to this sort of manipulation.  Get the facts.

Your tax money can’t pay for abortions, but it can go to “Faith-Based” organizations that pressure and manipulate women to forgo abortion.   Physicians and pharmacists educated in the public university system, subsidized by your tax dollars, may refuse to perform abortions or even to prescribe or administer the morning after birth control.   That’s what your tax dollars can do.

I keep looking, but the group, famously supporting repeal of health care reform, isn’t telling.   Their website perpetually promises sponsor information “coming soon.”  They also keep gathering signatures for their ballot initiative that they can’t seem to get certified.

I wonder if Gunner DeLay (could there be any better name for a Republican than Gunner?) is on the rolls?  He’s not only a Repealer, he’s also encouraging those who can’t afford health insurance to just go without, in the name of the Constitution, and personal liberty, and all that.  I wonder if he’s promising to pay health care bills for those who buck the law?   Will he still support “civil disobedience” if he doesn’t get elected?   DeLay’s campaign website  proudly proclaims “government takeover of health care will be the new civil rights movement.”   Good thing our boy Gunner doesn’t have to campaign to many people of color.  Minorities in this country know that the injustice of the current health care system is a true Civil Rights issue.    It’s disingenuous for conservatives to invoke the Civil Rights Movement.  They were on the wrong side of history that time, and they’re on the wrong side this time, too.

It’s great fun watching the conservatives on the 2010 ticket race to see who can go the farthest to the Right without actually endorsing fascism.  (Yes, Tea Baggers,  fascism falls right off the right-hand side of the political chart).   Not to be outdone by the local crazies dying in over health care reform and protesting outside the AGs office, he goes all out for the xenophobe and Repealer voting demographic.

While I agree we must work to reform our entire immigration process, it must be in a manner that does not include any form of amnesty. It’s unfair to provide a shortcut towards legalization for illegal workers. I won’t support a guest worker program that rewards illegal aliens with blanket amnesty while ignoring the needs of American workers.

This “shortcut” to legalization he opposes includes fines and payment of back taxes, no small matter for those here illegally working minimum-wage jobs.   It doesn’t fine the companies who continue to employ cheap immigrant labor (can Boozman say “Wal-mart”?) over American workers who demand better pay and benefits.  No amnesty for the hired help in this country, no Sir.

The legal poor in America won’t get much help from him, either.   He’ll work to repeal health care reform.  That’s right.  No expansion of Medicaid, no guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions, no tax breaks for small businesses to pay for health care, and no coops to help individuals afford coverage.  You’re on your own with Boozman and his ilk.

Congressman Boozman voted against the Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care legislation. Since then he’s cosponsored H.R. 4903 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and he also signed The Club for Growth pledge to repeal the legislation. He understands that Americans want commonsense reforms that don’t cost $1 trillion dollars, raise taxes or cut Medicare programs. Congressman Boozman also sent a letter to Attorney General Dustin McDaniel urging Arkansas to join lawsuits against the federal government over the constitutionality of the health care overhaul legislation. Read the letter by clicking here.

It’s going to be hard to get the base fired up about “Patient Protection and Affordable Care.”   He should have stuck with “Obamacare.”

Tim Griffin and his fellow Repealers would have us believe the recently passed health care reform measures are America’s Armageddon, but they are long on rhetoric and short on details.  Once past the word “socialism,” they run out of ammunition.  The truth is that the health care reform bill is a lot less socialistic than even Medicare, and certainly less so than Social Security.

Groups like the newly-formed Arkansas Community Organizations and the National Women’s Law Center are helping get the word out about benefits of health care reform.   Women in Arkansas stand to benefit substantially when reforms are enacted, according to a report by the Women’s Law Center (full text and references here).

• Health reform will impose strict regulations on insurance carriers, including the elimination of gender rating for individuals and small businesses with up to 100 employees; a requirement that health insurers accept all applicants for coverage regardless of their medical history; and a prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions.

• Health reform extends Medicaid eligibility to people with incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL), providing more low-income women and their families with access to this essential program. Under this expansion, up to 75,200 uninsured women in Arkansas will be newly eligible for Medicaid coverage.

• Health reform will make coverage more affordable for low and middle-income families by providing health insurance subsidies to those with family incomes between 133 and 400% of the FPL. Approximately 142,000 women in Arkansas will be eligible for a health insurance subsidy to help with premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

• Health reform will require all new health insurance plans sold to individuals and small businesses—both in and outside of the Health Insurance Exchange—to cover a broad range of medical services—including maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health services. In addition, all new health plans will be required to cover preventive care (including women’s health services, such as mammograms) without cost-sharing.

Sometimes you just have to love Mike Beebe.  This week he has been under a lot of pressure from some quarters to join the legal fight against health care reform (some people just can’t stand to see more sick children get insurance coverage).  In response, he told the Washington Post this:  “I think you got to tell people the truth. And if I understand the law, the truth is the federal government can’t just be defied by the state governments.”

He can certainly say that again.

The Civil War and Civil Rights battles back him up on this one, States’ Rights Guys.  Go home and enjoy your Golden Years (and your Social Security checks and your Medicare).  You’ll live longer if you stop getting overheated by every bit of propaganda that comes your way.  Socialism is not coming to get you.  Heart failure and prostate cancer are the things you should be worrying about at this stage in your life.

Is it any wonder that Arkansas voters largely believe the health care reform legislation passed this weekend in the House is literally a “government takeover of health care?”  Probably not, given what passes for journalism in these parts.  I’ll call out Ken  McLemore, of the Hope Star, for illustrative purposes.   In yesterday’s edition, Mr. McLemore wrote this opener for a story entitled “Arkansas Dems Want Party to Own Bill”

The two members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation being challenged for re-election this year were united this weekend on the need to have their party claim ownership of the passage of the federal takeover of individual health care; but, they remain divided on the substance of the legislation.

Bad journalism on a number of levels, but the most egregious is the description of the legislation as “the federal takeover of individual health care.”  That sort of extremely loose (and insidious, and unsupported) interpretation belongs in an editorial, not a news feature.   Perhaps Mr. McLemore actually believes that’s what the bill says, but that’s no excuse for not doing the legwork to read it (or at least its title or summary) and report the facts.   At best, it’s mental laziness or even stupidity.  At worst, it’s a blatant attempt to manipulate his readers.

The problem for folks like Mr. McLemore is that health care reform is a positive thing, and people  instinctively know it.   Honest explanation of the bill would only serve to strengthen support for it, and the idealogues on the Right can’t allow that to happen.  The only logical thing to do, if you’re a Rightward leaner, is to misrepresent the reform effort and mislead voters.  This they have done, and right well, especially here in Arkansas, where local members of the press are still highly trusted authority figures.

If you haven’t done so already, please join the virtual march on Washington today.  MoveOn and a coalition of other groups are sponsoring the event.  The goal is to have $1 million faxes sent to Congress today.  You may also call your Senators, especially if the thought of all that paper use gets you down.

Blue Cross  is raising individual insurance premiums in California by up to 39% effective immediately, even though its parent company boasted profits of  $4.7 billion last year.   Health Secretary Sebelius is publicly calling for an explanation, and Congress has announced plans to investigate the matter.

MoveOn has created a petition to bring public attention to this issue and demand corporate accountability.

The petition says: “Anthem Blue Cross must provide a detailed explanation for their exorbitant rate increases, or else roll them back immediately.”

These latest rate increases in California—reportedly the largest ever by Blue Cross for individual policyholders in the state—are yet another powerful example of how badly broken our health care system is and how desperately we need to hold Big Insurance accountable for exploiting their customers.

Anthem Blue Cross’s parent company made record profits last year despite losing 1.4 million customers—increasing their profit margins by cherrypicking the healthiest people to insure.³

Then they can turn around and dramatically increase the rates they charge to the customers they’ve kept, because there’s almost no rules governing rate increases. In fact, the company doesn’t even have to publicly reveal how many customers’ rates they’ve increased, or by how much.

The good news is that Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, is already publicly demanding answers from the company. And the House Energy and Commerce Committee has announced plans to hold hearings to investigate.

But to get Anthem to clean up their act—and show politicians and the media that we can’t afford any more abuses by Big Insurance—we all need to lend our voices. Clicking here will your name to the petition:

http://pol.moveon.org/bluecross/o.pl?id=18911-17217716-fS_Edmx&t=4

UPDATE: Public attention and outcry is already getting results.  Blue Cross has announced that it will delay the rate increases for two months.  That’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough.  The company still needs to justify the rate increases.

Unlike its counterpart in the House, the bill currently being debated in the Senate will provide incentive for large companies to hire lower wage and part-time workers.  There will be no employer responsibility for providing insurance to those who make less than 133% of the poverty level.  Ditto for part-time workers.   It is easy to see how a corporation like Wal-Mart, already famous for using part-time workers to avoid providing health insurance, will take advantage of these provisions.   The median wage in retail sales in 2008 was $9.86/hr.  For an employee working 34 hours per week (full-time at Wal-Mart) that’s only $17, 298 per year. These workers will be eligible for Medicaid.  Thus, large corporations hiring low-wage workers will shift even more of the health care burden to the taxpayers.  -data from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Could we please just pass a public option already?