Wyoming Tribune Eagle- opinions and letters for Tom Brokaw to read

Even Wyoming has letters in my "echo" series of randomly slected "letters to the editor", consistent with my blog. 

In other words, these comments are re-posted in my blog, if I happen agree with the authors' points of view.

There are plenty of Wyoming people who continue to oppose Donald Trump and who have strongly advocated for the Affordable Care Act, including expansion of Medicaid. 

As much as I typically agree with the journalist Tom Brokaw, the fact is, he did a "person on the Wyoming range" interview among Wyoming people to ask their opinion about Donald Trump?  

Obviously, I can't travel to Wyoming to randomly interview people, but I can cruise the state's newspapers and read what people think about issues.

Wyoming has a health care access problem just read letters to the editors before doing "persons on the street" interviews.  Interviewing the writers of a series of newspaper opinions and letters would give journalists an accurate picture to report.

I found several letters about protecting Medicaid, hardly a conservative issue being debated in what is considered a "sacred 'Red'" state. 

Nevertheless, I can't understand how, or why, anybody wants to dismantle Medicaid; but, thankfully caring and sensible people who want to protect this safety net program for people who need this level of support for reasons they simply cannot control.  

When NBC news sends respected journalists like Tom Brokaw and, before him, Peter Alexander, out to do "persons on the street" interviews, they should also be assigned to report on local "letters to the editor".  In my opinion, when people know they're about to be on television, they vet their remarks.  

On the other hand, letters to the editor are source material, written by people who represent a point of view that's shared by many others. 

Although the Wyoming Tribune Eagle newspapers wants subscriber fees to access the complete content of these letters, I believe the publicly available headlines speak for themselves.  

State and federal lawmakers must protect Medicaid funding

CHEYENNE – Funding troubles are leading to a variety of difficulties when it comes to caring for the intellectually and developmentally disabled in Wyoming.

Here's another one:

Why not provide Naxolone (anecdote to a drug overdose) when inmates are released? by Maeke Ermarth of Cheyenne

Should inmates be provided with Naxolone when released from prison? I understand policymakers being wary of doing something that, on the surface, appears to be a “pass” for addicts to return to their addictions. But after reviewing and witnessing results of various perceptions, tactics and programs surrounding recovery, I believe providing inmates with Naxolone upon release is worth a five-year trial.

Yes, and here's another one: 

Americans rose up to stop Trumpcare, GOP sabotage by Richard Medlock in Cheyenne

Again, Republicans couldn’t pass Trumpcare because millions of Americans rose up and stopped them.  By just one vote, the Senate rejected the latest version of Trumpcare, which would’ve stripped health care (17, 686 Wyoming people would have lost coverage).

There are too many letters to the Wyoming newspapers to post in this blog. Believe me, there are more than plenty of Wyoming people who are opposed to Donald Trump and his administration's regressive policies on a range of issues, not the least of them being the LGTB "tweet".  

Just to summarize for Mr. Brokaw- with all due respect, you didn't ask the right Wyoming people the right questions. 

Pittsburgh Post Gazette - echo: improving health insurance

Take these steps toward viable health care solutions

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 2, 2017

Letter to the editor:

How can we secure a viable plan to address health care needs in the United States?

Step 1 — Eliminate these words from the vocabulary:

Obamacare, Trumpcare and repeal. The first two are polarizing misnomers. The third is a useless strategy with no avenue to effect workable solutions.

Step 2 — Begin a constructive, bipartisan national conversation (Congress and citizens) on the current law (legally known as the Affordable Care Act) to identify what needs to be improved or fixed. Build on elements that people agree have had some success.

Americans want access to affordable health care for all. 

Can we put aside the political posturing and address that concern? Collaboration and compromise are essential to the task.

SISTER PATRICIA McCANN
Oakland

Wall Street Journal Obamacare graph - worth 1000 words

http://www.wsj.com/graphics/compare-aca-vs-gop-healthcare/

House GOP Health Plan - AHCA- negatively compares to the Affordable Care Act - ACA

Estimating the cost and coverage of the proposed legislation

Secretary Tom Price is totally wrong to say these analyses are undependable. (Graph below)

In fact, Dr. Price knows TrumpCare reduces benefits while driving up the costs of benefits and co-pays. 

Congress led by Speaker Paul Ryan  is rushing to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Those at risk of losing coverage are the people who need it most – 82 percent come from working families, and 4 million additional children would be left uninsured.

Rather than admit the obvious, Secretary Price, instead, used classic "doublespeak". He told Savannah Guthrie of "NBCToday" that all Americans will have access to health insurance coverage.  HELLO? In fact, we all have access to coverage today; but many people can't afford to but the access they're entitled to receive.  What Guthrie said to Price in a Today interview was, although we might have access to the ability to purchase an expensive automobile like a BMW or a Lexis, it's not the same as being able to afford to buy a luxury car.  Secretary Price was caught off guard because he didn't memorize an answer to that comparisom so he called what Savannah said "a Bernie Sanders question". Soooo, hmmm? It worked for me.  

The Red Line explains the problem. Under the Obamacare coverage, the uninsured population was declining as more people were signing up for the Affordable Care Act. Under TrumpCare aka "AHCA" the uninsured numbers skyrocket.  Even if the uninsured rate went up only half what the projected numbers report, the overall impact would be devastating to the health care of millions who won't be able to afford the coverage because the premiums will be adjusted upward by advancing age. By the way, the cost of this terrible legislation will be paid for by cutting Medicaid, the largest payer for long term care in nursing homes. 

Moreover, the TrumpCare bill will cut health benefits to coal miners who suffer from "black lung disease".  

(Pneumoconiosis)

Americans must stand up against the unnecessary repeal of the working Affordable Care Act. Instead of repeal, Congress has the power to just improve it.

In the Wall Street Journal, the graph is a picture worth 1000's of patients words.

Senator Angus King says Republican health plan will "sift and shaft" the poor

Senator King has also expressed deep concern about the effects of repeal on hospitals in rural Maine. 

Maine's Senator Angus King has a gift for putting complex concepts into easily understood words while, at the same time, delivering them with extraordinary credibility. In his description of the Republican "TrumpCare" proposal to replace the already working Affordable Care Act, he educates the Senate about the dangers of the bill in a "shift and shaft" speech analogy.

TrumpCare will "hammer" Maine people, especially those who are poor living in the state's Second District

Senator King on Senate Floor: 

ACA Replacement Plan Will Hammer Maine
“The pattern is shift and shaft,” King said. 

“Shift the cost and shaft the people who need coverage.”
Wednesday, March 8, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) took to the Senate floor today to speak out against the recently released proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which he said will hurt Maine seniors, give tax breaks to the wealthy at the expense of middle class Mainers, and end up costing people across the state more money while delivering less. In his remarks, Senator King also called on the U.S. House of Representatives to put a halt to the repeal effort and, instead, work to make meaningful improvements to the ACA so that Maine people don’t lose their health insurance.

King on Senate Floor: ACA Replacement Plan Will Hammer Maine

“The pattern is shift and shaft,” King said. “Shift the cost and shaft the people who need coverage.”

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) took to the Senate floor today to speak out against the recently released proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which he said will hurt Maine seniors, give tax breaks to the wealthy at the expense of middle class Mainers, and end up costing people across the state more money while delivering less. In his remarks, Senator King also called on the U.S. House of Representatives to put a halt to the repeal effort and, instead, work to make meaningful improvements to the ACA so that Maine people don’t lose their health insurance.

“I don’t think there is much question that this proposal will hammer Maine and my people, and I can’t stand for that,” Senator King said. “I hope that the House will have a more vigorous process, that they’ll understand what the implications are, and take a more vigorous approach so that we’re not tearing insurance out from under people, we’re not going to make the costs be driven up, we’re not giving a tax break to people that make over $250,000 a year, and, at the same time, taking coverage away from people who make $30,000 a year. That’s wrong.”

Citing estimates provided through Kaiser Family Foundation, Senator King noted that, under this replacement proposal, a sixty year old in Aroostook County with an income of $30,000 a year would lose approximately 70 percent of the federal support for their health insurance plan provided by the Affordable Care Act, sharply increasing the costs that person pays out of their pocket for health insurance. Kaiser estimates that that support would fall by nearly 50 percent across the rest of the state.

“The pattern is shift and shaft: shift the cost and shaft the people who need coverage,” Senator King said.

To emphasize the importance of the Affordable Care Act and how it has helped people in Maine, Senator King also read a letter from constituent Jim Tibbits of Old Town, a former employee in Maine’s pulp and paper industry, who wrote in to convey how the ACA allowed him to purchase health insurance for his family when he was laid off from his job:

“Hi Angus, I have worked in the pulp and paper industry for close to 30 years. It was a good industry up here and supported middle class families in northern Maine. […] Unfortunately they are all gone,” Jim wrote in his letter to Senator King. “After every closure, I had to obtain health insurance for my family on my own. Before Obama Care this was a disaster - I could only obtain catastrophic insurance from only one of two providers. There was no way I could pay $1500+++ for a decent plan while after Obama Care, I could obtain decent insurance at a decent price. While Obama Care may have been problematic for some, it was a God send for my family. Please help ensure we don't go back to the old days, We are self employed by our small business and would not be able to pay more for less!!!!”

“We should be repairing, not repealing – and I think this bill is not the right place to start,” Senator King continued. “I stand for the people of Maine. I stand for the people who are going to be harmed by this – whether they are seniors or working people or self-employed people who have been able to start businesses because they could get, for the first time, insurance under the Affordable Care Act. I believe that’s our obligation here.”

Senator King opposes the repeal of the ACA, which would strip health care away from tens of millions of Americans, including more than 75,000 in Maine. In January, Senator King offered five amendments to legislation that was under consideration by the Senate that would preserve critical facets of the ACA. He has also cosponsored an amendment that would stop efforts to dismantle the law, and he joined with several of his centrist colleagues in urging Senate leadership to discuss improvements to the law before rushing to fast-track a repeal of it.

Senator King has also expressed deep concern about the effects of repeal on hospitals in rural Maine. 

In January, he visited Penobscot Valley Hospital and Bridgton Hospital where he was told that a repeal of the landmark health care law would leave a substantial amount of their patients without health insurance, which would have serious, and in some cases, catastrophic, financial ramifications for hospitals. If the hospitals closed, then not only would countless people in Maine go without vital health care services, but hospital employees would also be laid off, which would detrimentally affect their livelihoods and hurt the local economy.

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