Pingree Applauds Fed Health Care Tax/Penalties on People/Businesses

As government insurance pays to medicare rates as proposed on this bill she loves, watch how many hospitals close or make drastic cuts in manpower. They won't be able to make their payrolls at medicare rates only.

Also, steep cuts in medicare and medicaid also pay for this in houses bill. With Maine's aging population, this will hurt.

Chellie is living up to my expectations.... She can't think for herself

If this bill passes there will be no jobs in rural America.

This is just another example of how completely out of touch with small business owners Chellie Pinhead is . Employers are already struggling with foriegn imports,gov regulaation, increasing liabilty costs,an economic downturn, high taxes and now .... penalize them if they don't provide health care?? I predict that many small employers , contractors in particular will reduce the number of employees because of this .The end result? Less jobs . If they don't have the financial resources to provide health insurance now does C Pinhead think that by making it law that employers must provide health insurance that the money will magically appear?
Who knows? Maybe C Pinhead will let business owners come to Washington and pick some money of the same magic money tree she does.
Maybe our "leaders" ought to get the horse in front of the wagon, create an environment where business can flourish , grow and create jobs and financial security for a larger segment of the population ,then worry about affordable Obama care .

I just want to thank Rep. Pingree for taking a stand for working men and women of Maine., I was at a press conference with Senator Dodd this morning on Capitol Hill and their plan will make a big difference for all people. Everyday 14,000 people lose their heath insuance in America.This plan will lower health care costs and provide better care for patients. It will also create fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry.

No longer will insurance companies be able to deny coverage based on pre existing conditions. No longer will Americans have to worry about their health insurance if they lose their jobs or open a new business.The proposal will bring down costs, Expand coverage and increase choice. buisinesses will be able to compare prices and quality so that they can choose the healthcare plan that suits their needs.

Among the choices that would be available in the exchange would be a public health insurance option that would make health care affordable by increasing competition. Providing more choice and keeping the insurance companies honest. The proposal also would also control rising costs by investing in preventive care and wellness programs, rooting out waste and fraud in the systemand changing the incentive that automaticaly equates the most expensive care with the best care.

When this proposal is combined with other proposals that the Senate Finance Committee is working on , It is estimated that this reform will cover 97 per cent of the people. For the first time ever insurance companies will be required to take everyone regardless of pre existing conditions.. health care status or medical conditions.

All annual lifetime caps on isurance coverage will also be eliminated

How different is her position from Dennis Kucinich's?
From an email I received:
Healthcare: Change the Debate
Support a Real Public Option

Dear Friends,

In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President Obama secured a deal with the health insurance companies to trim 1.5% of their costs each year for ten years saving a total of $2 trillion dollars, which would be reprogrammed into healthcare. Just two days after the announcement at the White House the insurance companies reneged on the deal which was designed to protect and increase their revenue at least 35%

The insurance companies reneged on the deal because they refuse any restraint on increasing premiums, copays and deductibles - core to their profits. No wonder a recent USA Today poll found that only four percent of Americans trust insurance companies. This is within the margin of error, which means it is possible that NO ONE TRUSTS insurance companies.

Then why does Congress trust the insurance companies? Yesterday HR 3200 "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," a 1000 page bill was delivered to members. The title of the bill raises a question: "Affordable" for whom?.

Of $2.4 trillion spent annually for health care in America, fully $800 billion goes for the activities of the for-profit insurer-based system. This means one of every three health care dollars is siphoned off for corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, marketing and the cost of paper work, (which can be anywhere between 15 - 35% in the private sector as compared to Medicare, the single payer plan which has only 3% administrative costs).

50 million Americans are uninsured and another 50 million are under insured while for-profit insurance companies divert precious health care dollars to non-health care purposes. Eliminate the for-profit health care system and its extraordinary overhead, put the money into healthcare and everyone will be covered, everyone will be able to afford health care.

Today three committees will begin marking up and amending HR3200. In this, one of the most momentous public policy debates in the past 70 years, single payer, the only viable "public option," the one that makes sound business sense, controls costs and covers everyone was taken off the table.

In contrast to HR3200 ... HR676 calls for a universal single-payer health care system in the United States, Medicare for All. It has over 85 co-sponsors in Congress with the support of millions of Americans and countless physicians and nurses. How does HR-676 control costs and cover everyone? It cuts out the for-profit middle men and delivers care directly to consumers and Medicare acts as the single payer of bills. It also recognizes that under the current system for-profit insurance companies make money NOT providing health care.

This week is the time to break the hold which the insurance companies have on our political process. Tell Congress to stand up to the insurance companies. Ask members to sign on to the only real public option, HR 676, a single-payer healthcare system.

Hundreds of local labor unions, thousands of physicians and millions of Americans are standing behind us. With a draft of HR3200 now circulating, It is up to each and every one of us to organize and rally for the cause of single-payer healthcare. Change the debate. Now is the time.

The time to act is now!

Sincerely Yours,

PS - Over the next several months, I will be engaging all of you with frequent updates and will ask you to continue a movement to fight for what needs to be done now; ending this war in Iraq and stopping the escalation in Afghanistan, attaining true single-payer healthcare for all Americans, standing up for my brothers and sisters of organized labor.

After you have contacted your member of Congress, please tell us your thoughts and ideas on how you are organizing your friends and neighbors towards a single-payer movement and all of the other issues that are important to us.

unionman
In Maine insurance companies have to accept you regardless of any preexisting conditions.......that's why we have one of the highest insurance rates as well as the least choices of insurance providers in the country...... tell me how it going to be better if the "Maine model " becomes the law of the land???Is Dirigo working?????

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree meets with Obama to discuss health care
Pingree joins freshman House members at White House meeting

For immediate release
July 17, 2009

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree joined her freshmen Democratic colleagues from the U.S. House today at a White House meeting with President Obama to discuss health care reform.

“We talked about the importance of acting quickly on health care reform and not delaying,” Pingree said. “The President reminded us all we have to fulfill our promise to the American people to pass significant health care reform.”

Pingree said much of the meeting focused on the importance of reducing and containing costs in the health care system in order to help revitalize the economy.

“My message to the President was clear,” Pingree said. “It’s important that we vote on health care reform before the August recess. If we don’t, it will give the entrenched special interests too much time to kill any chance we have of meaningful health care reform.”

####

I know that voices like mine don't count with the group thinkers in Washington and the koolaid drinkers
But outside of my health care coverage being a little too exspensive , I like what my employer and I share the costs on. I like my physician and the decisions we can make about the direction any needed care takes.
I am disturbed that my choices will be dictated by the gov "for the greater good" . I am angry that myself and other middle income people like me will be required to once again shoulder a bigger share of the costs.
I am embarassed for those who actually believe the pap that our regional overlords Pinhead, Michaud, Snowejob and Collins spew that the gov is actually capable of reducing costs of anything they touch. Please show me one example .
But what bothers me the most is that the Obamalord and followers refuse to recognize the validity of any of the opposing points of view........ I guess that it was summed up when Pelosi said "we won the election you know"
I still believe that America is the greatest country in the world ...... but I don't believe one word that comes out of our overlords mouths as it pertains to taking care of working people.

Any one who has any background in research will tell you that everything done should be "evidenced based". This bill, and frankly most that go into law are based on a guess, because for as many that say it will work there are just as many that say it won't. Sort of like the expert witness in Court. The defense puts on theirs and then the prosecution puts on theirs. Of course they are both right even if the testimony is 180 degrees apart. It just depends which books and theories they were trained in. So who does the Jury go with? Well the best actor of course.

So what I am trying to say is that with the health care reform we need an extensive study done. The people in the study should be our elected state and federal legislators and executive branch and there families. If after three years, this is working for them, then make it the law of the land.

When punk or rage rock stars tell kids to rage against the machine, they do not want them to revolt - they want the kids to buy their records so that they can become wealthy. When politicians are quick to pass really serious legislation like the Health Care Reform, they want everyone to have it but them. If they are not willing to be a part of something in all its detail, then why would I as their employer want to be a part of it.

If they won't do it - then they have no right to expect the public to do it.

I truely hope that this is the last term for all our federal legislators, and I hope they are enjoying the ride.

Baggins wouldn't it be a great thing if the it happened as you said that the government and it's employess where the first to have "a national health care plan..
I'm sure that when it is all said and done that the old " all of the animals are equal but some are more equal than others" measure will apply.
The ruling class will have theirs and we serfs will have ours.

Good 7/18 interview of Rep. Pingree on this issue by John McDonald on WGAN.

John asks why the hurry on passing ObamaCare? Why not postpone the vote? Rep. Pingree says because Congress's recess after August 1 gives those opposing ObamaCare five-weeks to speak with Members of Congress in their home districts.

Pingree also says citizens don't need to read the bill. The only people who need to read the bill are politicians and people in the health industry.

skf

How could the average person possibly understand the intricacies of a piece of legislation?And why should they question something that will affect them for generations? Good God most of the great unwashed don't even understand pictures to say nothing of the written word!!!! Just stand back and let The Gang of Four ,Pinhead, Munchkin,Snowejob and Colons lead the way, stop questioning your betters you silly serfs and get back to work.

www.seacoastonline.com
Status report on health care reform
'If it was easy, it would have been done already'
By Michael Mccord
news@seacoastonline.com
August 02, 2009 6:00 AM

"Honestly, I think...we will get a bill. With something this important, it takes a lot of hard work and longer than we hoped," said Rep. Pingree, [admitting] to frustration about...the "stalemate" spurred by well-funded special interests/misinformation about...goals of reform.

"This is number one on the president's agenda and for most...in Congress," said Pingree... "This isn't something you can walk away from because it's getting more expensive and complicated every day."

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090802/NEWS/9...

It has always been this complicated and expensive, but the ruling elite like Pinhead and most of the voters are just beginning to realize this. Hence the rush to pass it before the people realize what is happening. It will be just like Dirigo health. It will achieve about 5% of its goals and have cost overruns by a factor of at least 50. Heck Dirigo was supposed to be "self funding" and $150 million in taxpayer dollars later we have a tax on health insurance to TRY to keep it afloat.

I think that most people believe that some sort of 'reform" needs to be applied to health care.The cost for many procedures,and drugs are too high but nothing the government touches ever gets cheaper or less complicated. The proposed government run health care program is a disaster in the making , reference Dirigo.
Any process and legislation should take years to accomplish exactly because it is so complicated,to create something that services the needs of the patient , their ability to pay , rewards medical professionals for their years of study and dedication, allows American medical research to continue to be the finest in the world and the list goes on. To not address as many facets a proposed health care plan and articulating the solutions to each before creating a program is a disservice to the people the congress is supposed to represent.
The rush to legislation by those who''s only desire appears to be politcal expediency such as Pinhead and the rest of the gang of four shows either a total indifference for the complexity of the issue or a complete ignorance of it.

...and the knwoledge that whatever they pass will in no way effect the level of health care they themselves now and forever into the future will enjoy.