Genesis 2 "7": And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Ezekiel Ch. 37 "5": Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
Job Ch. 33 "4": The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Psalms 33 "6": By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Psalms 150 "6": Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Isaiah Ch. 42 "5": Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Any of you reading here know that i'm in favor of a single payer health delivery system. The landmark legislation that was signed into law this week is a baby step towards that eventual goal, even baby steps are something we can all rejoice over.
So in the spirit of rejoicing the next six months should see these ten things becoming part and parcel of our health care delivery system.
1. No more rescission--You can't lose your insurance because you get sick.
2. Children under 19 can not be excluded for pre-existing conditions
3. Lifetime or annual caps on coverage are banned
4. Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents' policy until their 27th birthday
5. Small businesses are entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, of up to 50% of what they pay for employees' health insurance.
6. Adults with pre-existing conditions can buy into a national high-risk pool until the Health insurance exchanges are running. While probably not cheap, they are an improvement over no access and create a bit of a pool of insureds for cost savings.
7. Free preventative care --new private plans must cover preventive care services without co-payments and with those services being exempt from deductibles. Free preventive care rules apply to all existing plans by 2018.
8. The "donut hole" is smaller but not completely gone yet for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable.
9. All insurers are required to publicly post balance sheets and disclose all administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
10. Accelerated funding of community health centers in all 50 states to provide primary care as well as, dental and vision services to people based on a sliding scale based on ability to pay.
And by next January 80 to 85 percent of the money the plans get Must be spent for Health care, not on excessive compensation or operating costs.
Alan Grayson a Democratic Congressman with b**ls who represents Florida already has 80 signed on to a three and a half page bill that allows anyone to buy into Medicare. Grayson, along with loads of us believe that a public option offers not just another choice but a new kind of choice.
If you are interested in reading the bill you can find it here http://grayson.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Public_Option_Act.pdf
Republicans are already talking about repealing the law. They are gearing up for a fight that is pea-brained on the face of it. How in the world is a minority in Congress going to get enough legislators to repeal a piece of legislation that the President in office signed? Did they forget that he must sign their repeal too? These legislators are promising to waste your taxpayer money and their time in Washington to do the most ineffectual, impotent, symbolic "work" imaginable. But I guess their base likes pandering too. Please, please, pretty please... end the 35% tax credit for small business to ... help...buy...health insurance.
Really makes you wonder doesn't it.
As more and more of the population wake up to the advantages of this legislation those fighting against it are going to appear more and more ridiculous.
There used to be a bumper sticker that i'll close with.
It will be a good day when sick people get all the care they need, and the government has to hold a bake sale to buy bombs.
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