Left In Lowell

It came up in comments to a previous post on the health care reform bill - the concept that bringing more people into the system, giving them health care access, would cause a shortage of doctors, particularly primary care physicians.

Well, gee, someone thought that through, and worked very hard to mitigate that. One of the most liberal members (OK, THE most liberal) of the Senate. The only one elected as an actual socialist, in fact.

The historic bill signed today by President Obama includes provisions Senator Sanders long advocated for, including $10 billion over five years to expand, construct and operate community health centers. It also increases the investment in the National Health Service Corps to train more primary care doctors and other health care professionals. Another $2.5 billion for health centers operations is in the reconciliation package.

All told, the legislation will double the number of health center sites nationally over the next five years from 7,500 to 15,000. The number of patients served by these facilities will rise from 20 million today to about 40 million by 2015. That means most Americans will have access to primary care, dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost prescription drugs on a sliding-fee scale so that no one is turned away.

So much for the socialists = bad policy meme. On the contrary, the more progressive members are the ones who think ahead, plan for the inevitable outcomes, all on the side of the least among us. Wonder who’s the more Christian? Way to go, Bernie Sanders!

I didn’t think of it this way…but David is so right. Brown’s win for the Senate race is exactly the reason we have health care on the verge of passing (well, the Senate bill passed and signed, and the reconciliation to come to fix the Senate bill so the House would vote for it).

No, the biggest irony is that, had Martha Coakley won, we most likely would not yet have a health care bill, and we might never have gotten one. As long as Democrats controlled 60 votes in the Senate, they (including the President) seemed hell-bent on getting all 60 to vote in favor of it rather than simply end-running the filibuster rule and passing a bill via — *gasp* — majority vote. That gave us painful negotiations with Joe Lieberman; it lost us the public option; it gave us the “Cornhusker kickback” and other atrocities. And, had the Senate and House bills gone to a conference committee, we would have seen the same endless drama play out again on the conference report, with the end result far from certain.

But all of that changed when Scott Brown won. With his win, the possibility of getting 60 votes vanished — and with it, the need to do so.

So on top of my post thanking Rep. Tsongas for her vote for health care reform…I want to thank Scott Brown for winning the Senate seat and getting us have health reform, as well.

I guess who’d a thunk the Dems would get some balls after the loss? But they did, and it’s thanks to the Brown win and the loss of 60 Senate votes. In fact, I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll hear about the “upperdown vote” that Republicans were so loudly crying for under Bush and are now crying because Dems have the gall to ask for one…

This is just a brief thank you to Representative Tsongas for her vote to extend health care to those who cannot afford it.

As someone who went without health care insurance for a very scary six years, who narrowly escaped a “preexisting condition” diagnosis (a genetic disorder in my kidneys), while the Mr. was an independent contractor and I was self employed, I can’t tell you what it means to know that young people, and anyone else, who are in the position we were in won’t have to go through what we did. Afraid to go to the doctors even for regular checkups, our health deteriorated until perfectly preventable problems became a lot more serious. Along with the ticking timebomb that was my PKD; which had it sent me to the ER a mere two months earlier, would have made me uninsurable.

The bans on kicking sick people off of their health insurance, and the destruction of the very concept of “preexisting condition” alone made this health care reform worth something. That it will help subsidize small businesses and independents, in the working and middle class, to get health care is good as well. It’s not single payer, which means it’ll cost more than it needs to, until we put in stringent cost controls, but it’s a start.

As for “socialism,” first, let me point out that all the measures of health in every other industrialized (and many emerging) countries outrank ours by far, with their universal, socialist health care systems. Second, let me point you to a dictionary with the term socialism in it and rub your nose in it. Socialism THIS health care reform is NOT. Stop lying and actually read the damn provisions in the bill. It makes me so angry that the simple concept that to ask a family of four, whose ONLY sin is to have self-employed working parents, to shell out ten thousand dollars a year and eat up 12-30% annual increases…or to cap a sick cancer patient at $100K lifetime cap and let them go bankrupt paying out the rest (or die)…is a crime, or should be. Thanks to this health care bill, it will be.

What the hell kind of person has any sympathy for the HMOs, after what they have done to you, your friends, and family? Republicans, apparently.

Is there no untruth the Republicans will pull out to attack with? I swear, with each passing year they get more hysterical and unhinged. The latest lie from the Right is about the Dem House leadership’s decision to use this “deem and pass” procedure, which will pass the Senate’s version of the health care bill, plus all the “reconciliation” amendments all at once.

But, as David has explained before, the final vote in the House won’t be a simple vote on the Senate health care bill. Instead, it will be a vote on a resolution which effectively passes and amends the Senate health care bill at the same time.

So why don’t Democrats do it the FNC/RNC way and have the final vote be on the Senate bill?

Simple: because the Senate bill is not the final health care reform measure. And the House is working to structure its final vote to ensure that the Senate bill does not become law without being amended.

In so doing, the House is trying to do the responsible thing, eliminating any chance of the Senate bill passing without reconciliation fixes, thereby making sure that we end up with the best possible policy.

Sure, the House could trust the Senate to do the right thing. But if they can structure things to make sure the Senate does the right thing, why shouldn’t they?

So please, shut up, you are giving me a headache. Also, if I hear the words “This is a government takeover of our health care!” ONE MORE TIME I will hurt someone. TRUST me, if it were a government takeover of health care, I’d be running out in the streets whooping with joy. I’m not, it’s not, so… Shut. Up.

The two-part series in yesterday’s and today’s Boston Globe on municipal budget and “runaway health care costs” is a must read for everyone who is concerned about the future of our City in particular and the State’s in general.

I was aware of some of the issues but when you read the Sean P. Murphy article, which the Globe took six months to research, the doomsday scenario is not an exaggeration but a reality. It is depressing; and I do not know how we are going to come out of this without some major changes in the relationship between municipal unions and local government.

As medical costs across the board rose over the past decade, municipal health care expenses exploded, draining local budgets and forcing major cuts in services, higher property tax bills, and billions in new debt…the cost of municipal health care as doubled from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2008.

If you look at this graph, the line for Lowell is the fourth one from the top. The total amount in the municipal budget spent on healthcare in 1999 was 9.7%; ten years later in 2009, it is 17.6%. And that is after CM Bernie Lynch, as one of his first moves when he came in to the job, eliminated healthcare benefits for members who sit voluntary on city boards.

The Globe incorrectly states that Lowell has not adopted the law allowing municipalities to make its employees participate in contributing to Medicare. But as we know, the City Council adopted this measure last week, after it was introduced by CM Lynch. The law does not apply to current retirees.

It may have made sense once upon a time to give these types of benefit but the financial and healthcare worlds have turned upside down. What was negotiated years ago, does not make sense for today, never mind for the future.

According to the Globe municipal employees, elected officials and government retirees have a better deal than the private sector. They pay less in their premiums, less in co-pay and here is the killer, anyone who has worked for 10 years is eligible not only for a pension but healthcare when they retire. Ouch!! More from the Globe articles:

The Legislature decades ago also linked health care and pension benefits. Anyone who qualifies for a pension qualifies for health care coverage. But there is one key difference: With pensions, employees have to work decades to earn full retirement benefits; with health care, municipal employees, the moment they reach 10 years of service, are entitled under state law to full benefits when they retire, from age 55. This has made even relatively low-paying jobs, such as teacher’s aides and school cafeteria workers, highly coveted.

And why have don’t we have a system in place to prevent this potential catastrophe? The Globe reporter writes, “So far, with powerful labor unions resistant to giving away hard-won benefits and a lack of political will in the state Legislature to force changes, effort to overhaul the system have fallen short. “

The Legislature did pass a law allowing the cities and towns to “shift their employees and retirees from locally managed health care plans to the state’s much larger, more flexible one,” GIC. According to estimates this shift would save the municipalities over $1 billion. Sounds good, right? However, the Massachusetts Legislature decided that 70% of the City’s union representative would have to agree. As the Globe states, “effectively giving teachers union, typically the largest, a veto.” The cities and towns should have said to the Legislature, thanks but no thanks. It is like giving someone a car but no wheels.

So now I know, Paul Georges (President of the LTO) runs this City. Nothing against teachers or other municipal employees but there has to be a major shift in the paradigm. We all need to work together to figure out what we can do. There really is no other option. Our collective future is bleak if nothing changes.

By the way, today’s Lowell Sun editorial is also on this subject: It asks the Legislature to remove the handcuffs it has put on the municipalities.

And as far as the Lowell City Council is concerned, tomorrow they will discuss the City Stat and at a future date debate the pros and cons of the local meals’ tax. Taking a stand against these items may be politically beneficial with some in this City but real leadership will come when this body addresses how we are going to pay pension and healthcare costs, which in FY 2010 are $16M and $22M respectively.

In a budget of $300M, it may not seem like much but the portion of the budget that is funded directly by City taxpayers is about $100M; and Healthcare and Pension funds come from that amount. So in effect for every $100 you pay in real estate taxes, $38 goes towards paying pension and healthcare costs. And the City Council wants to do me a favor by saving me $0.75 on every $100 I spent when I go out to eat. Thank-you, but can you do something about the $38 which next year will turn into $40-42?

A very prescient Move On polled people yesterday on why the Obama-Brown voter voted (or didn’t vote) the way they did. The polling outfit they used, Research 2000, is a reputable firm, before you get your whine on. The poll points out that this loss by the Democrats isn’t a message of “whoa, slow down Democrats! You’re too liberal!” It was more of a “hey!! Where’d that public option go? Idiots!” message.

HEALTH CARE BILL OPPONENTS THINK IT “DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH”

* by 3 to 2 among Obama voters who voted for Brown
* by 6 to 1 among Obama voters who stayed home

(18% of Obama supporters who voted supported Brown.)

VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT THE PUBLIC OPTION

* 82% of Obama voters who voted for Brown
* 86% of Obama voters who stayed home

OBAMA VOTERS WANT DEMOCRATS TO BE BOLDER

* 57% of Brown voters say Obama “not delivering enough” on change he promised
* 49% to 37% among voters who stayed home

PLUS: Obama voters overwhelming want bold economic populism from Democrats in 2010.

So, before the storyline becomes about how Dems need to moderate and govern from the center, let’s makes sure we take into account the reality, okay?

I hate shots but I might take advantage of this…seeing as I really can’t afford another week sick like in November, and I am pretty sure I have not gotten N1H1 yet. Posted from Kristin’s MVRN blog:

FREE ADULT H1N1 Flu Clinic (ages 18 and up)
Middlesex Community College Cafeteria
33 Kearney Square
Lowell, MA
DATE: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
TIME: 10AM to 2PM
No residency requirement. No pre-registration or appointment necessary. Parking in Lower Locks Garage will be validated upon leaving the flu clinic (bring your garage ticket with you for validation).

The Saints clinic December 19th from 9A to 12Noon is still going on as well, but the one for December 22 is new!
FREE Pedi and ADULT H1N1 Flu Clinic (ages 6 months and up)
Saints Medical Center
1 Hospital Drive
Lowell, MA
DATE: Saturday, December 19, 2009
TIME: 9AM to 12noon

No residency requirement. No pre-registration or appointment necessary. As you face the Main Entrance, enter the door to the right.

I missed this piece of news, but H1N1 is mutating, with devastating results. The mutated strain was found in Norway, but has turned up in France as well, and China reports a mutation problem though details are sketchy.

This is why people made such a huge deal of this back when it jumped to humans, and are still making it a big deal. This is a pandemic, unlike the seasonal flu. With so few people immune, and the flu so easily mutated into more dangerous forms, what seemed like overblown media hype can quickly turn pretty deadly. So far, it appears contained, but this is the sort of thing that the cautionary coverage is trying to prevent.

Like the Y2K problem, which cautioned that such important devices as medical and air traffic control could be affected, we’ll never know if we prevented unmitigated disaster if nothing happens. Everyone said Y2K was over-hyped too - no planes fell out of the sky when the clock turned, after all. But people forget that for two years or more, programmers across the globe worked overtime to fix code, and businesses discarded countless devices that couldn’t be updated. If nothing had been done, would we have been so “lucky”?

So it is with the H1N1. Unfortunately, some side effects of this are such things as waiting lines full of panicked parents with their children vying for a flu shot, but all the awareness on trying to prevent infection - whether by vaccine, by staying home if you are sick, or by using common sense measures such as hand sanitizer and coughing into your inner elbow - are only serving to prevent disaster which may, or may not, come, but which would be devastating to our world if it did.

I advise patience, and above all, respect for the germ world, which has been propagating open warfare on us since before we were human, and which is very good at what it does. A turn for the worse in the effectiveness of this little new germ could play havoc with our delicate world economy right now, so listen to the experts, take the advice, and try to do your part as best you can.

Update: Dick Howe has an interesting post on the current situation and how it relates to the 1976 flu shot given to many Americans.

Organizing to get the health care reform we really deserve in this country starts with us. On September 7th (Labor Day), at the Boston Common, people are gathering to rally for progressive health care reform at 11am. This’ll probably make Mr. Lynne groan that I’ve booked myself on his day off, but I told Charley I’d make it.

And I know that it’s the most appropriate reaction I could ever have to the loss of Senator Kennedy.

My tribute to Senator Kennedy is to get back to talking about the issue he held dearest - and did not live to see fulfilled. That of quality, universally available, affordable health care.

We’ve been so focused here on the very real and very important issues in our local race, that we’ve neglected the current contentious fight on health care. But like Senator Kennedy, health care reform is near and dear to my heart as well. Not only do I see my friends, neighbors, and family struggle with the cost of insurance or the lack of care, but Mr. Lynne and I have been victims of our current system too.

I’ll let him tell his story if he wants to, but I can say this: we went without health insurance for six years while I was beginning my business and he was a “contractor” with no benefits from his employer whatsoever. In fear of the always-looming “preexisting condition,” we avoided doctors and checkups and even dental and vision care. We simply couldn’t afford it out of pocket, and were afraid to be penalized if something were to be “found” and we ever wanted to be insurable again. We couldn’t afford the most basic of insurance, but didn’t qualify for any sort of help, either.

In those six years, medical conditions that were mitigable, even totally preventable, worsened, and both of us now have to live with the result. This despite the fact that we were really increasing our healthy lifestyles during that period. Those conditions are now permanent, potentially life-threatening and very costly over the long run.

I’ll give my own example of a very close call. A few months after we were able to secure health insurance benefits from his being permanently hired, I was diagnosed with a genetic disorder, polycystic kidney disease. PKD is caused by a blurring of a specific gene/genes (inherited, or spontaneous genetic mutation) and is often not detected until late in life when the loss of kidney function sends doctors scurrying to find the cause. In my case, it was diagnosed early due to unusual circumstances.

In our fair state of Massachusetts, we have some laws to protect us against being discriminated against by your new insurance company. Massachusetts goes much further in its protections than most states do, and if you are already covered and switch coverage, you also cannot be refused. Many of these protections and more are being worked out in the bill in Congress so that they are universal. I cannot help having a genetic defect. I shouldn’t be refused medical treatment because I found out about it before I got the right coverage to pay for any treatment.

But not everyone lives in Massachusetts. In fact, most of my life, I lived in New Hampshire, which does not have these protections.

This aspect of the bill is very important, if we are to continue to have any sort of market based care at all.

The other aspect of the bill that is equally important is to have some sort of public option.

If you have ever priced out individual plans for health insurance, you know that it’s cheaper to buy a car and take on a loan for it, than pay your own premiums. There is a large segment of the population, the working poor and middle class, who certainly don’t qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford hundreds of dollars a month for a family health care plan.

The health care industry only has itself to blame for the need to create a public system. They have failed us, and failed miserably. Unfortunately the misery is all placed on individuals who are either uninsured, or have insurance and find out something vitally important is not covered, or has a lifetime cap.

So besides telling my own story, I would like you to take a moment, if you haven’t already, and listen to this woman, asking her Republican Senator who is fighting against health care reform…why, when she is insured, does her husband’s traumatic brain coverage not include the coverage to keep him alive? Why, and what will he do to help? And listen to his answer. It is atrocious.

If you are not for helping women like this, or people like my husband, then get out of the way of the people who are willing. Health care is not a privilege, but a right. If you must think selfishly, think of this: my family’s cost to the health care system went up exponentially because we were not able to take advantage of preventative care. That’s not just our cost, friends. That’s your cost. Our health care system is THE most expensive per person in the world. And the results are pretty poor, for all of that. (We rank last in industrial countries in many measures of quality of health.)

Fix it. Because Kennedy has been right his entire career. Fairness is not an option. We’ll keep hammering at this until it sinks in.