Hypothetical Dystopia

Why Am I So Dead-Set Against Paul Ryan?

Because he wants to dismantle Medicare and toss senior citizens back into the private health insurance market — with coupons.

My grandmother is 78 years old. In the last four years, she has been diagnosed with lymphoma and colon cancer. She’s had surgery, two bouts of chemotherapy, and radiation. While undergoing treatment for her lymphoma, she developed congestive heart failure.

But today, she is cancer-free and her heart failure is under control via medication. Throughout her entire ordeal, my grandmother has paid nothing for her treatment. She has not received one bill. Not once have doctors told her something can’t be done because it won’t be covered.

With that peace of mind, my grandmother was able to just focus on getting better.

I want senior citizens to continue having that peace of mind that Medicare promises them. In fact, I hope one day this country will be able to extend that promise to everyone.

If Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan move into the White House in January, that promise is in serious, serious jeopardy. And I will be damned if I’m going to let that happen.

# politics health care Medicare Paul Ryan Mitt Romney election 2012 budget

Reblogged 9 months ago from liberalbutnotpartisan 56 notes

Federal health-care programs and those funded with federal dollars are barred from discriminating against transgender people, a senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services told LGBT advocacy groups in July — a sweeping decision that will impact most health-care services across the country.

—

This is huge. I cannot stress the importance of knowing your rights. ObamaCare (I personally hate that term because I feel like it takes away the validity and importance of our Health Care as if saying….”this is just one person’s opinion and doesn’t really count…Why can’t they continue to say Affordable Care Act?…but I digress)….mandates that ANY healthcare agency receiving FEDERAL funding is not allowed to discriminate against transgender folk.

However, there is still a question mark when it comes to transition related care. In the article it said, “Although the decision does not specifically address transition-related care — surgery and other medical procedures that some transgender people undergo in the course of moving to their self-identified gender — a leading transgender advocate says the decision is a “tool” to get protections that would cover transition-related care.”

I am curious to know what is meant by “tool”…what does that look like and what does that exactly entail? While we are still figuring out what exactly is defined as discrimination under the Affordable Care Act, here is the exact place within the document to point people to if you feel you have been discriminated against: “Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act — the 2010 health care overhaul known as ObamaCare — forbids discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, national origin, disability or age in health programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance or by programs administered by an Executive Agency or any entity established under Title I of the ACA, as the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights described the provision.”

-Ryan

Memo: ObamaCare Will Bar Discrimination Against Transgender People

(via ryansallans)

# obama aca obamacare health care public health

Reblogged 9 months ago from becauseiamawoman (Originally from ryansallans) 226 notes

journalofajournalist:

felixsalmon:

THESIS:

The difference between Europe and the US is this. Let’s say that you’re paying $1,000 per month for private health insurance. The government comes to you with a bargain: we’ll tax you an extra $600 per month, but in return you’ll get better health insurance than you’ve got right now, so you end up ahead by $400 per month. Europeans look at that bargain and think it seems like a very good deal. Americans look at that bargain with great suspicion.

Very well said.

# health insurance health health care obama insurance obamacare aca scotus europe america government politics current events

Reblogged 10 months ago from journalofajournalist (Originally from felixsalmon) 181 notes

In Rwanda, Health Care Coverage That Eludes the U.S.

“One key reason that Rwandans are so much healthier today is the spread of health insurance. In 1999, Rwanda’s health facilities sat unused, as the vast majority of people couldn’t afford them. In response, the Health Ministry began a pilot project of health insurance in three districts. In 2004, the program began to spread across the nation. Now health insurance — called Mutuelle de Santé — is nearly universal. Andrew Makaka, who manages the health financing unit at the Ministry of Health, said that only 4 percent of Rwandans are uninsured.

Mutuelle is a community system — premiums go into a local risk pool and are administered by communities. Until last year, Mutuelle’s premiums were about two dollars a year. This system turned out to be untenable — even two dollars a year was too much for a lot of people. (If you are a rural farmer with an income of some $150 a year, you have to spend every penny on food.)

Last year Mutuelle adopted a sliding scale. For the wealthiest, premiums essentially quadrupled, to about $8 a year. Each visit to a clinic has a co-pay of about 33 cents. If you need to go to the hospital, you pay a tenth of your hospital bill.”

A medical technician took a blood sample from a patient at a hospital outside of Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2010.

(Source: The New York Times)

# rwanda healthcare health care health insurance insurance community health sliding scale universal obamacare activism social activism

Posted 10 months ago

“Arizona’s Jan Brewer, the scowling force behind SB1070, or the “show me your papers, Mexicans” law. Bored with working to be a dick to immigrants (or people whose darker than white skin makes them appear to be in this country illegally), Brewer has set her sights on a new disenfranchised group to bully: same-sex domestic partners…

She attempted to revoke same-sex partner benefits in 2009, but that move was blocked when a court ruled that rescinding benefits from domestic partners would cause state employees financial hardship and emotional trauma. Bickering over the ruling continued until September of last year, when the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the state of Arizona didn’t have a right to take health care away from gay couples. Now, Brewer wants the Supreme Court to get involved, three years after she first signed a law eliminating same sex partner benefits and after a handful of increasingly high court rulings siding against the state of Arizona. Taking health care away from gay couples is just that important to her.” - Erin Gloria Ryan

— http://jezebel.com/5924508/americas-most-evil-governor-asks-supreme-court-to-take-health-care-away-from-gays

# feminism SB1070 racism sexuality gay gay marriage jan brewer same-sex arizona supreme court obama 2012 health care healthcare partnership activism social activism

Posted 10 months ago 1 note