Raising Medicare Age of Eligibility

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-medicare-qa-20121207,0,5946305.story

this gives a fairly good overview


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtzIcX1ShjCgocK2J3-AjpqdbOGQ?docId=c39d6b640cbd414589744774ba7b98fd

this is another good article

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3564

this should be a particularly good discussion of the issue

Medicare facts

Jama has some useful facts on Medicare.

see http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1456081 for source

Marylanders strongly support Affordable Care Act, poll shows

http://healthcareforall.com/2012/11/marylanders-strongly-support-affordable-care-act-poll-shows-2

This confirms that most people, particularly those that would most benefit from Obamacare, are not aware of all the law’s benefits. Consistent with other studies. Wish we could do more to educate. Hope that in 2014, we can make folks aware of their benefits both in maryland and other states.

Cheer up, Papa John’s. Obamacare gave you a good deal. Posted by Ezra Klein on November 19, 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cheer-up-papa-johns-obamacare-gave-you-a-good-deal/2012/11/19/641f3732-327f-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23_blog.html


This column makes an excellent case that Obamacare is a good deal for many of the chain restaurants, etc that have been cutting employee hours. There is no good justification for these chains for doing so. They are only using the law as an excuse to cut pay. They are only hurting themselves.

As indicated in other articles, many chains like papa john, McDonald's, Applebee's, etc. have cut hours arguing that Obamacare is too expensive. This article indicates the costs are very small and probably save much in the long term.

Kaiser Materials on Deficit Reduction Talks

http://www.kff.org/medicare/Medicare-Medicaid-Deficit-Resources.cfm

Kaiser Family Foundation has put together a series of materials that discusses the impact of various deficit reduction proposals for the Medicare and medicaid programs. 

Articles from Today's News about Obamacare

1)

Very useful comments from Ron Pollock of Families USA.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_FKn4C4H40&feature=youtu.be

 

2) Politico: Exit polls 2012: Split on Obamacare

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83427.html?hp=l4_b4

3) Politico: Obamacare survives -- now what?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83473.html# 

  4) CNN: 

Exit polls: Obamacare remains a hot-button issue

  5) Sorry to see that Pete Stark lost in California.  He made many important contributions to health care over the years, primarily as Chair of House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee on Health.  The committee that had jurisdiction over the Medicare program.  I worked on one of his bills, physician incentive plan regulations for Medicare HMOs (Known today as medicare advantage plans) 

 

 

 

How sweet it is. Obamacare moves forward

Naturally very thrilled that Obama was reelected.  At least, that which is in his control on Obamacare can move forward.  Very glad that the Senate will be as strong as before if not slightly stronger in the Democrats hands.  Not clear on House results. It looks like the Democrats have the potential to gain a couple of seats compared to where they are now. But unclear as there are 12 seats that are considered undecided as of 7:30 a.m.   Right now the NYTimes says 191 dems, 232 Republicans and they had 242 in the current House.

Very glad that Marriage Equality and the DREAM Act passed in Maryland.  

Watch the video and read the transcript of President Obama's speech: http://nyti.ms/REUcJ0
this was a great speech.

Watch Kaiser Health News  for reaction on health care issues.  I will try to include those items in a new post. 

Recent postings on Facebook

here are some recent items that I posted on the National Health Reform Team for Obama facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/NationalHealthReformTeamForObama?ref=ts

1) 

http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/2877429-74/obamacare-health-care-government-romney-democrats-ann-coulter-crisis-federal#axzz2B260uR3F

I share this to indicate what some of the opposition has to say. I disagree with most of the points being made in this column.

2) 
 

http://quiz.preview.kff.org/medicaid/medicaid-quiz.aspx

Kaiser's Medicaid Quiz

quiz.preview.kff.org

How much do you know about Medicaid, the role it plays in the lives of many Americans, how program dollars are spent and how Medicaid eligibility will change under health reform? Take this inter

3)

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2012/Nov/Jobs-Without-Benefits.aspx

 The polls show that even on Medicare, Obama has only a slight lead over Romney. Hard to understand why there is such a small gap. Are they not aware of Romney's plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program.


 4)

Women in the United States—both with and without health insurance—are more likely to go without needed health care because of cost and have greater difficulty paying their medical bills than women in the 10 other countries. In 2014, the Affordable Care Act will substantially reduce health care cost exposure for all U.S. women by significantly expanding and improving health insurance coverage.

5)

http://www.kff.org/medicare/8373.cfm

This study shows seniors would have higher costs under premium support.

Transforming Medicare into a Premium Support System: Implications for Beneficiary Premiums

www.kff.org

The study examines why geography would matter for Medicare beneficiaries under a premium support system that relies on a competitive bidding process envisioned under several key Medicare reform proposals.

6) 

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/10/20121012a.html

this is quite a step forward and Obamacare has played a role in this

People With Medicare Have More High Quality Choices

www.hhs.gov

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that people with Medicare have more high quality choices and the performance of Medicare Advantage plans is improving. HHS also released the 2013 quality ratings for Medicare health and drug

7)

What does the Romney-Ryan Medicare plan cost you??
How much does it cost you? Flyer and sources here http://bit.ly/PqhPGp

8) 

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/65-older/index.html

this provides a good overview of the benefits of Obamacare for seniors. There are many preventive services covered.

65 or Older | HealthCare.gov

www.healthcare.gov

Know what health insurance rights and protections are available to people ages 65 or older through the Affordable Care Act. Learn more at HealthCare.gov.

Consumer Reports: Health Reform: Seven Things You Need to Know Now

http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/pdf/healthcare2012.pdf

From Consumer Reports

Health Reform: Seven Things You Need to Know Now

This is a well done summary of the key provisions of the law that effect consumers.  It does not include the more technical aspects of the law that could lead to improvements in the quality and cost-effectiveness of the health care system.  For those details, see some of the other documents referenced in earlier posts on this blog. For instance, see

http://tinyurl.com/yj7pp82

and

http://healthreformaction.blogspot.com/2010/04/revised-list-of-reform-summaries.html

Medicaid managed care and Dual Eligibles

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3848

Moving “Dual Eligibles” Into Mandatory Managed Care and Capping Their Federal Funding Would Risk Significant Harm to Poor Seniors and People With Disabilities 

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which I highly respect, argues that managed care for dual eligibles is premature.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commonwealth Study: Health Care in the 2012 Presidential Election: How the Obama and Romney Plans Stack Up

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2012/Oct/Health-Care-in-the-2012-Presidential-Election.aspx

A very thorough comparison of these two plans.

Their analysis shows that by 2022 the uninsured would soar to 72 million under Romney's plan

Americans Rank Medicare Near the Top of Their Priorities in the Presidential Election, and Ahead of the Affordable Care Act; For Seniors Medicare Is Nearly As Important As the Economy, Poll Finds

http://smtp01.kff.org/t/33427/433146/36390/0/

Some important findings in this survey especially re Medicare

Increased Costs of Romney/Ryan Plan to Current Medicare beneficiaries

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RomneyUHealthPlan2.pdf

Increased Costs During Retirement
Under the Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan

These costs will be to current Medicare beneficiaries if Romney/Ryan plan is enacted.  Two important factors are the 1) the prescription drug donut hole is restored to full impact and 2) for those who also receive Medicaid, those costs will increase such as for nursing homes. 

The Contrast Between Obama and Romney/Ryan

The first three articles/posts point out a clear contrast between Obama and Romney/Ryan 

One of the issues that greatly concerns me is that polls show that many seniors are not aware that Obamacare provides many new preventive services (see http://www.medicare.gov/coverage/preventive-and-screening-services.html  ) 
and closes the donut hole.  Further these seniors believe that the cuts to Medicare reduce services when in fact the cuts are reductions in excess payments to the insurance companies and providers and are not a reduction in benefits.  


1) President's remarks to AARP Re Health Reform whihc point out the major differences with Romney on Medicare.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/21/remarks-president-aarp-convention-satellite

2) From Huffington Post, excerpt from 60 minutes interview in which Romney says uninsured can always go to ER for care.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/mitt-romney-60-minutes-health-care_n_1908129.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=092412&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeaturePhoto&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

3) Ryan booed at AARP conference

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/September/21/aarp-speeches.aspx 

4)   Health Care Law’s Impact On Businesses Varies USA TODAY by Kelly Kennedy

 

New Study Highlights Potential Benefits of Accountable Care

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2012/Sep/Spending-Differences-Associated-with-the-Medicare.aspx?omnicid=20

According to this study by the Commonwealth Fund, the Physician Group Practice Demonstration, achieved particularly large savings in the care of "dual eligibles," who are enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.  This demonstration is one of the models being considered under Obamacare. 

Health Reform Team Canvassing and other ways to help

Join our National Health Reform Team for Obama as we canvass for votes in Virginia, or see other ways to help the campaign.  See below for details  Other things you can do, make calls from your local office or from home, join us for canvassing on 9/8 in Montgomery County, MD to Virginia.  See me for a yard sign if you live in Montgomery County, MD or contact me for other options at thausner@gmail.com See http://dashboard.barackobama.com  for other ways to help.   If you canvass, please rsvp as indicated below and let me know via email at thausner@gmail.com and I will try to pair you up with health reform team members.   GSS Canvassing in VA https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gsg4ws Saturday, September 8,  09:00 AM – 2 p.m. Eastern Middle School (MCPS) (Silver Spring, MD) Join us to carpool to VA to go door to door to talk with VA voters. Share your enthusiasm and commitment with others. Canvass RSVP   https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gsg4ws#rsvp MBC Canvassing in Virginia https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gs4mgc Saturday, September 8, 09:00 AM – 2:00 p.m. Bethesda Chevy Chase High School (Chelton Rd. parking lot) (Bethesda, MD) Meet up with fellow volunteers so we can carpool to canvass in Virginia. Canvass RSVP https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gs4mgc#rsvp

https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gsjkhy  Rockville to Virginia

https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/canvass/gs4zk3 Potomac to Virginia

Ryan's positions on health care and other itmes - 82912

Kaiser has a comprehensive summary of Ryan's various positions on health care issues.  

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/August/11/paul-ryan-republican-vice-president-candidate-medicare.aspx

“Obamacare”? President Obama Suggests “Romney-Doesn’t-Care” As a New Name

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/obamacare-president-obama-suggests-romney-doesnt-care-as-a-new-name/ 

 

Five myths about Ryan's Medicare Budget

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-paul-ryans-budget/2012/08/23/757b3718-eba0-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

well written column.

Poll results and other items - 82312

1) 

NYT: In Poll, Obama Is Given Trust Over Handling of Medicare

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/us/politics/polls-say-medicare-is-key-issue-in-3-swing-states.html?hp

2)

 The Definitive Guide to the Medicare Debate New Republic by Jonathan Cohn

http://www.tnr.com/print/blog/plank/106298/guide-to-medicare-debate-romney-ryan-obama-voucher-premium-support

3) Medicare voucher remains unpopular

http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/21/medicare-voucher-plan-remains-unpopular/

Various views on republicans health plans and related items - 082212

1) 

Restoring Medicare Savings May Raise Patients’ Costs

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/us/politics/costs-seen-in-romneys-medicare-savings-plan.html?hp

2)

DK/SEIU State of the Nation poll: Ryan plan unpopular, but vouchers are hated

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/21/1122274/-Daily-Kos-SEIU-State-of-the-Nation-poll-Ryan-plan-unpopular-but-vouchers-are-hated 

3) 

Pew Research Center poll shows that the Medicare voucher plan remains unpopular.     http://bit.ly/OS97tN

4) 

CBO Says Medicare Spending Growth Slower Than Expected

 http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/08/cbo-says-medicare-spending-growth-slower-than-expected/

Medicaid: Its Role Today and Under the Affordable Care Act and Great Musical Video on Obama

1) Medicaid: Its Role Today and Under the Affordable Care Act

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1352118

this is a good summary of the impact of obamacare on medicaid. 

2) Musical Video to the music of Les miserables supporting obama.  Very effective.

http://www.onetermmore.com/video_subtitles.html

3) Consumer Union Testimony in april on medicare premium support proposal

http://www.consumersunion.org/pdf/Medicare_Premium_Support_Proposals_Testimony.pdf

4) from herndon alliance

  How bad is the Ryan-Akin anti-abortion bill? Washington Post by Greg Sargent

  Peter Orszag: Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan 'Flawed,' Relies On The 'Competition Tooth Fairy' Huffington Post by Bonnie Kavoussi

 

articles for 082012

1) from herndon alliance newsletter

o   Ryan Plan Would Crush Seniors Beneath Mounting Medical Costs U.S. News by Ethan Rome

2) From Kaiser health news

CNN Money: How Romney-Ryan Could Weaken Traditional Medicare

The New York Times: An Unserious Man 

This editorial describes all the drastic cuts ryan proposes for medicaid and other safety net programs.

3)  here is an effective ad from national Cmte to preserve social security and medicare

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151024999076704&set=a.139309061703.110064.64206021703&type=1&relevant_count=1
 

Articles, etc for 081912

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/truth-and-lies-about-medicare.html?_r=1&hp

well written editorial in NYTimes, please share widely. this is posted on our facebook page: National health Reform Team for Obama

• Paul Ryan’s Radical Budget Vision
  U.S. News and World Report
  August 16, 2012
  
  
• Plan’s Costs Far Outweigh Its Benefits
  New York Times - Room for Debate
  August 16, 2012

---------------------------------
the Silver Spring team needs a leader, one of you please step up.

OFA is looking for a low or no cost office space thru Election Day. Any leads, call 301-946-1000 or contact me at thausner@gmail.com
------------------
there are three items previously posted.

1) Ways to help National health reform team
please read the following blog posting, share widely and respond to the posting
http://tinyurl.com/c93zoat

2) For phonebank night on 8/28, see
http://tinyurl.com/chmef2n

3) For 9/22 Picnic
http://tinyurl.com/bwpp578

Article of interest - 8/17/12

"We Haven't Run The Numbers": The Startling Paul Ryan Admission Getting Little Attention

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/we-havent-run-numbers-startling-paul-ryan-admission-getting-little-attention 

President Obama releases his first Medicare-themed attack ad of the Romney-Ryan era.

a good ad, but could go further, such as obamacare closes donut hole, adds preventive services.  the cuts are to health insurance companies, hospitals, not to benefits. A much better ad is posted on the National Health Reform Team for Obama facebook page

 https://www.facebook.com/NationalHealthReformTeamForObama

see   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QQxGEQm6Qo
this video is excellent, please share widely. It contrasts obama vs romney on medicare

Republican Budget Quiz - very useful

Republican Budget Quiz

http://bit.ly/OkHrQS

Articles of interest - 8/16/12

David Axelrod: Mitt Romney would bankrupt Medicare

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79707.html

Whose Plan Destroys Medicare -- Obama's or Romney-Ryan's? 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/ryan-medicare_b_1775958.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Undoing Obama Medicare cuts may backfire on Romney

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ROMNEY_MEDICARE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
  

Hedge funds bet on Obamacare

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/08/15/hedge-funds-obamacare/ 
 

Health Reform Strengthens Medicare, Doesn’t “Rob” It

http://www.offthechartsblog.org/health-reform-strengthens-medicare-doesnt-rob-it/

this is an excellent article by robert greenstein of cbpp, one of the best policy analysts in the field. 

Phonebank night - 8/28 for National Health Reform Team for Obama

The National Health Reform Team for Obama is sponsoring a phonebank night on Tuesday, August 28, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. EDT.  For those in different time zones, we suggest you call from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. according to your timezone. 

Calls will be made for those in Montgomery County, Maryland from the Obama for America Maryland Office in Kensington office,  3750 University Blvd. West, Suite 303, Kensington, MD 2089, phone  240-242-575.   If you live elsewhere, I suggest you see if there is any office or event near you by going to
https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple

You can also make calls from home by http://call.barackobama.com

The best states to call are VA, PA, WI, OH, FL, NH, OR, and MT.

For those not into phonecalls, see the office, event, or activity nearest you which can be found at barackobama.com site.  See the take action section.

Please let me know the results of your calls via email to thausner@gmail.com

For those in Maryland, you are invited to the Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club's Annual Picnic on 9/22, See http://tinyurl.com/bwpp578   for details or contact me.  Lots of elected officials will be attending.

The Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club is a cosponsor of the phonebank night. Additional organizations are invited to cosponsor.

If anyone in montgomery county wants a yard sign, please let me know as soon as possible as we will have to order them.  It will cost about $3. 


Thanks.

Tony Hausner
thausner@gmail.com
301-5876943

Deceleration in Health Spending - full article

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Newsletters/Washington-Health-Policy-in-Review/2012/Aug/August-13-2012/Deceleration-in-Health-Spending.aspx?omnicid=16

here is the full article that I posted last week. 

Ways to support our National Health Reform Team for Obama

Ways to support our National Health Reform Team for Obama 

·         Please  share material posted on this page with facebook friends and/or  email contacts

·   For those not on our facebook page and on facebook, please join at  https://www.facebook.com/NationalHealthReformTeamForObama  and send emails to your contacts to join this page.

·         Put up a yard sign, bumper sticker, and/or button. See https://barackobama.com  to order. Share yard signs, etc. with friends and neighbors, etc.

·         Join our dashboard teams to support our efforts https://dashboard.barackobama.com/groups/1298-national-health-reformteam-for-o

·         Please send me an email to volunteer, thausner@gmail.com

·         Please let me know if you are willing to make phone calls, either from home or your local office.

·         Volunteer to help organize events, or help in other ways.  Please let me know.

·         Volunteer to be a co-adminstrator of the facebook page, which will allow you to add content to our facebook page.

Here are additional thoughts

please join our National and Maryland Health Care Reform Teams for Obama on the Obama dashboard. These groups will share information on health reform, organize events, convince voters of the need to re-elect President Obama, and related activities.  Please spread the word. 

here is a link to the National Health Reform Team.

 Click here to accept the invite and meet the group.

here is link to Maryland Health Reform Team 

 Click here to accept the invite and meet the group.

here is a message I sent to the national team and a similar one to the Maryland team.  Please let me know of any comments on this message. 


National Health Reform Team for Obama

Welcome to all those who have joined this team.  So far 26 of us have joined which is a good start.  I hope you can get others to join.   

   1) Next Steps

There are several steps that I think can be taken to support Obama because of his work on Obamacare [the Affordable Care Act (ACA)]  My understanding is that Obama has embraced the term Obamacare.

·         Encourage folks who support Obamacare to actively volunteer to support Obama and/or Obamacare, by making phonecalls, canvassing, making contributions, posting signs, etc.
·         Convince folks who might be reachable of the advantages of Obamacare.  I have thoughts on this, but welcome suggestions on how to do this. 

Here are a few steps that are more specific along these lines.

·         Send messages to all the folks we know that we think might be interested, encourage them to support health reform and/or Obama.

·         Share key literature with these folks and/or the information sources mentioned below..

·         I have a list of 900 folks in Montgomery County that support Obamacare. We could call that list and encourage them to volunteer to support Obama.  Calls can be made at the Obama office in Kensington or from home. 

·         Identify other organizations and individuals that we could work with

I welcome other suggestions

·         on things we can do,
·         on ways to implement these actions

Please indicate which of the above activities you are willing to be involved   .

 2)      Information Sources

Here are few ideas on sources of information that you can use to support the above.  I have a blog in which I post a few times per week.  I will send you a few of the most important in the future as we proceed.  These posts are brief and cover some of the most important articles, etc that I have seen lately. 

  a)      For a recent Celebration of the Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare, I prepared a summary of the law and list of key reference materials which can be found at the following:

http://healthreformaction.blogspot.com/2012/07/obamacare-party-handout-with-revised.html

At the celebration on 7/17, we first called folks in Montgomery County who were known supporters of Obamacare and asked them to be volunteers for the campaign.  We had almost 30 folks at the party, and made over 200 phone calls in 90 minutes. 

Please let me know your comments on the materials on this blog post, on how to use them, etc.

  b)      For those who want to keep up with health care news, I highly recommend

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/

it  is a daily newsletter

Another daily newsletter that is quite useful is provided by

http://herndonalliance.org/

write to Pete Van Vranken pvan@gmavt.net   and ask to be placed on his health care media emailing list. One of the articles I found as a result of the Herndon news is the following http://tinyurl.com/cjd927j   Obama embraces health care law after court ruling           3)  Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club Annual Picnic For those of you who live in or near Montgomery County,MD  I invite you to this event which will be held on 9/22.  For more details, see http://tinyurl.com/bwpp578  4)      Contact Please feel free to contact me at thausner@gmail.com  301-587-6943.

Ryan’s Budget Attempts to End Medicare and Shift Costs to Seniors; and other health related articles on Ryan

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/04/ryan_medicare.html/

I am very pleased that Romney has selected Ryan as Ryan's proposals for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Budget are so disastrous.  Hopefully, the public will see this very clearly and move to support Obama.



Kaiser Health News provides more details on Ryan's plan.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/August/11/paul-ryan-republican-vice-president-candidate-medicare.aspx



http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/August/11/ryan-chosen-by-romney.aspx

 Here is what Robert Greenstein of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities had to say today about Ryan's ideas.  I have a great deal of respect for Greenstein and for his organization. 

http://www.offthechartsblog.org/ryan-2/

Huffington Post article 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/terry-oneill/the-romneyryan-budget-tak_b_1748671.html

Obama's campaign ad

http://tinyurl.com/cz9n272

Today's news

Some articles of interest today from Kaiser health News

 

Survey: Boomers Worry About Medicare’s Future, Want More Details From Candidates

http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/08/survey-boomers-worry-about-medicares-future-want-more-details-from-candidates/ 

 

AdWatch: Latest Romney TV ad accuses Obama using health care law to ‘declare war’ on religion

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/adwatch-romney-ad-hits-obama-on-religious-freedom/2012/08/09/6415ac38-e254-11e1-89f7-76e23a982d06_story.html 

Survey: 61 Percent Of Employers Expect Health Law To Drive Up Health Plan Costs

see 

http://smtp01.kaiserhealthnews.org/t/32688/430110/34942/0/

does this make sense given the information previously posted about the deceleration in health care spending. 

Realigning Health with Care

http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/realigning_health_with_care?goback=.gde_966657_member_141520415
interesting article, discusses a very broad view of health, that looks at social services, basic nutrition  approaches, etc. 

Obamacare may be causing a slowdown in health spending

There is clearly a reduction in the rate of increase in health care spending. This trend has been going on for the past decade or so, but appears to have increased in the past two years. It is possible that Obamacare has contributed to this increase. How important is this trend?  Does Obama need to make more of a point of this, even if he can't attribute it to Obamacare? What is the best way to get this message out.

Here is the latest article on this.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.ordownturng/Daily-Reports/2012/August/08/sequestration-and-health-spending-news.aspx

See the article on: Decleration of Health Spending. See me at Thausner@gmail.com for full article. This is an important article.

Here are some of other articles that I have identified of significance on this topic.

NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/health/policy/in-hopeful-sign-health-spending-is-flattening-out.html?pagewanted=print

Karen Davis’s blog

http://www.commonwealthfund.

org/Blog/2012/Jun/Whats-



Working-Control-Costs.aspx  

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Blog/2012/Jan/Bending-the-Health-Care-Cost-Curve.aspx.

Peter Orszag

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/smart-ways-to-keep-the-brake-on-health-care-costs.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-24/medicare-spending-slows-as-hospitals-improve-care-peter-orszag.html

Altarum Institue

http://www.altarum.org/files/imce/CSHS-Spending-Brief_July%202012.pdf

McKinsey Center for U.S. Health Systems Reform

http://healthreform.mckinsey.com/Home/Insights/Latest_thinking/Accounting_for_the_cost_of_US_health_care.aspx

Other articles

http://www.benefitspro.com/2012/08/01/health-spending-growth-at-historic-low


http://pwchealth.com/cgi-local/hregister.cgi/reg/medical-cost-trend-behind-the-numbers-2013.pdf

thausner@gmail.comthausner@gmail.com

Message to our National and Maryland Health Reform Teams for Obama

please join our National and Maryland Health Care Reform Teams for Obama. These groups will share information on health reform, organize events, convince voters of the need to re-elect President Obama, and related activities.  Please spread the word. 

here is a link to the National Health Reform Team.

 Click here to accept the invite and meet the group.

here is link to Maryland Health Reform Team 

 Click here to accept the invite and meet the group.

here is a message I sent to the national team and a similar one to the Maryland team.  Please let me know of any comments on this message. 


National Health Reform Team for Obama

Welcome to all those who have joined this team.  So far 21 of us have joined which is a good start.  I hope you can get others to join.   

   1) Next Steps

There are several steps that I think can be taken to support Obama because of his work on Obamacare [the Affordable Care Act (ACA)]  My understanding is that Obama has embraced the term Obamacare.

·         Encourage folks who support Obamacare to actively volunteer to support Obama and/or Obamacare, by making phonecalls, canvassing, making contributions, posting signs, etc.
·         Convince folks who might be reachable of the advantages of Obamacare.  I have thoughts on this, but welcome suggestions on how to do this. 

Here are a few steps that are more specific along these lines.

·         Send messages to all the folks we know that we think might be interested, encourage them to support health reform and/or Obama.

·         Share key literature with these folks and/or the information sources mentioned below..

·         I have a list of 900 folks in Montgomery County that support Obamacare. We could call that list and encourage them to volunteer to support Obama.  Calls can be made at the Obama office in Kensington or from home. 

·         Identify other organizations and individuals that we could work with

I welcome other suggestions

·         on things we can do,
·         on ways to implement these actions

Please indicate which of the above activities you are willing to be involved   .

2   2)      Information Sources

Here are few ideas on sources of information that you can use to support the above.  I have a blog in which I post a few times per week.  I will send you a few of the most important in the future as we proceed.  These posts are brief and cover some of the most important articles, etc that I have seen lately. 

a  a)      For a recent Celebration of the Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare, I prepared a summary of the law and list of key reference materials which can be found at the following:

http://healthreformaction.blogspot.com/2012/07/obamacare-party-handout-with-revised.html

At the celebration on 7/17, we first called folks in Montgomery County who were known supporters of Obamacare and asked them to be volunteers for the campaign.  We had almost 30 folks at the party, and made over 200 phone calls in 90 minutes. 

Please let me know your comments on the materials on this blog post, on how to use them, etc.

b  b)      For those who want to keep up with health care news, I highly recommend

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/

it  is a daily newsletter

Another daily newsletter that is quite useful is provided by

http://herndonalliance.org/

write to Pete Van Vranken pvan@gmavt.net   and ask to be placed on his health care media emailing list. One of the articles I found as a result of the Herndon news is the following http://tinyurl.com/cjd927j   Obama embraces health care law after court ruling           3)  Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club Annual Picnic For those of you who live in or near Montgomery County, I invite you to this event which will be held on 9/22.  For more details, see http://tinyurl.com/bwpp578 4  4)      Contact Please feel free to contact me at thausner@gmail.com  301-587-6943.