Devastating Report out today on Enzi Bill(s1955)Senator Dodd .......

Senator Dodd spoke to the press about this report, link at bottom, this afternoon at 3:15pm today.

Washington, D.C. – The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA), introduced by Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY) and scheduled for a vote by the Senate this week, would harm 85 million people who currently have health coverage. That is the conclusion of a report released today by the national consumer health organization Families USA.

The Enzi bill would preempt state regulations that currently protect insured people so that they receive adequate coverage. According to the Families USA report, key medical treatment protections that would be lost in at least 20 states include: cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancer screenings; mammograms; mental health care; well-child care; emergency services; alcoholism treatment; dental anesthesia; diabetic supplies and education; drug abuse treatment; metabolic disorders; and home health care.

The Families USA report also concludes that the Enzi bill would result in higher, discriminatory health insurance premiums for people with health problems and disabilities because it would override state laws that protect people from significant premium differences based on health status, age, gender, and other factors.

“The Enzi bill is one of the most harmful anti-consumer health bills in recent memory,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “This bill leaves millions of people at the mercy of health insurance companies by eliminating a range of state laws that protect the consumer and regulate insurance company behavior.”

The Families USA report also shows that the Enzi bill would increase the cost of insurance for small businesses with older and sicker workers when they first buy insurance. If the Enzi bill passes, insurers will be allowed to charge small businesses as much as 67 percent more for premiums if some of their workers are in less-than-perfect health.

Copies of the report can be found on the Families USA Web site: The Enzi Bill: Bad Medicine for America http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/enzi-bill/Enzi-Bill-Effect-on-States.pdf


Another press conference to be held May 9 at 10 am on this bill with Kennedy and Durbin and health advocacy groups.

45 million and counting without insurance, and they fuck the people that do have insurance.

I think we need to dismantle the insurance industry. Singler payer, administered by the gov't. Expand Medicare to cover everybody and put the bean counters out of business.

can't seem to get this simple solution.

I just wanna retch sometimes.

these guys.

just isn't hard enough for these effrats--they have to pull stuff like this on it to remind us how tenuous our lives really are.

Bastards.

and ON....and ON.... I worry there will be nothing left by 2008. Who the hell would want to preside over a bankrupt country will sick, ailing citizens who have no job and no way of surviing.

need to wake up and see how this all points to the one thing they won't do, National single payer. No money in it for Enzi and Nelson, tsk tsk.

Can anyone confirm this?

name attached to this POS apparently.

He's liebier than Lieberman and smellier than Zell.

Today medical malpractice relief went down, failing to get enough cloture votes. Let's hope the same thing happens tomorrow with this bill--another giveaway to BIG INSURANCE.

And let's not forget their so-called "religious base."

Yeah. This is real Christ-like :sarcasm:

from our insurance comapny assuring me that it meant the end of the world were it not passed


needless to say I immediately called our congresscritters and called for it to be stopped...

that plenty will suffer.

:kick:

This is it.....

Call Your Senators, Toll-Free

:dem: :kick:

"The goal of S1955 proponents will be to carry all or nearly all Republican votes, and attract enough Democratic votes from pro-business Democrats to meet the super-majority threshold of 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture and stop an expected filibuster on the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill."



The opposition goal: In order to prevent the measure from advancing to the floor of the Senate, opponents of the measure (Senate Democrats) must agree to filibuster the bill and maintain a solid block of 41 votes against it, in order to prevent its consideration.

Immediately contact your two U.S. Senators and voice your strong opposition to S.1955

S22 not voting 10
Biden (D-DE)
Brownback (R-KS)
Burns (R-MT)
Coburn (R-OK)
Conrad (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Jeffords (I-VT)
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)
Rockefeller (D-WV)


S23
Not Voting - 7
Biden (D-DE)
Brownback (R-KS)
Burns (R-MT)
Conrad (D-ND)
Jeffords (I-VT)
McCain (R-AZ)
Rockefeller (D-WV)

JUst wondering if there is anything significant about these no votes as a predictor of tomorrows outcome.

and my other Senator is Liddy Dole......

Senate Democrats have said that they might consider a floor vote on the AHP bill, provided that they can hold an up-or-down vote on substitute legislation. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) criticized Health Week as a "public relations gimmick" (Angle, CQ Today, 5/5). Reid added, "This is really a mini-debate. A real health care week would fix Medicare problems and extend the May 15 deadline" to enroll in the drug benefit without incurring a financial penalty. Senate Democrats also recommended consideration of legislation on stem cell research and the issue of the uninsured (CongressDaily, 5/5).

Support, Opposition for AHP Bill
In related news, the board of America's Health Insurance Plans remains divided over whether to support the AHP bill, CQ HealthBeat reports. Although AHIP has taken no official position on the legislation, group president Karen Ignagni "has been pushing members who oppose the measure to find a way to support it in order to curry favor" with Enzi, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to CQ HealthBeat. An AHIP board member said, "Their logic is that Enzi is chairman of the committee and AHIP and its membership will have more issues before his committee, so we must accommodate Enzi" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 5/5). The legislation has received "some of the most intense lobbying by health groups in years," CQ Today reports. Opponents include a coalition of disease advocacy groups and AARP, and supporters include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (Schuler, CQ Today, 5/5).
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=37084

would extend Medicare to EVERYONE!

Single payer is the ONLY way to cure the health care ills!

Remove the leeches in the insurance companies!

:kick:

eom

F*ckin Bastards! :grr:

if you ask me.
Those riots will then be their plausible cause for 'increased security measures' or some such.

there are a limited number of resources, and rather than share...

alert on this:

http://www.acscan.org/site/pp.asp?c=cnJHJIPuB&b=83243 (ACS Cancer Action Network)

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp Main site, then click on "Talk to your Legislator", then go to American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Either way, but the first link takes you directly to a page where you can email your senators and add whatever comments you want to the form letter.

Enough is enough. How much more does corp* need and want?

GOP & *: And they ran their campaigns on "MORALS" and "VALUES!?!" Pleeeeaaassssseee........

sounds remarkably like a newer modern-day version of a fictitious program containing a substance called "Soylent Green". Bastards

http://stopenzi.org/
Enzi Bill Resources

* Enzi Bill Zogby Poll http://stopenzi.org/pdf/HIMMAZogby.pdf
HIMMA Survery of Consumers - Summary Report of Zogby Poll

Key Findings:

* Two thirds of small business employees are opposed to the bill's passage.
* Fewer than a third of those surveyed said they would buy health insurance that did not cover basic benefits (i.e. cancer screenings, diabetes monitoring and maternal care).
* 70 percent of survey participants believe that health care costs should be equally dispersed amongst workers, regardless of their age, occupation or medical history.





* Lewin Group Impact Study http://stopenzi.org/pdf/LewinStudy.pdf

The Impact of Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, S.1955 on the Small Group Insurance Markets in Community Rated States - Prepared by The Lewin Group

Key Findings:

* The number of uninsured in in New York, Conneticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington would increase by 193,400.
* in New York, Conneticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington) , Medicaid spending would increase by $45.5 million


S.1955 won’t provide good options for small businesses.

* The Enzi bill removes state-based protections for the smallest businesses that need relief the most.
* It will subject small businesses to unaffordable rates if their work force is older, sicker or very small.
* Ultimately, many of these employers - mostly small businesses - would find the coverage unaffordable and be forced to no longer offer health benefits.
* According to independent research, the Enzi bill will likely result in increased costs, rather than reduced premiums for most small businesses, further jeopardizing access to health insurance coverage for most citizens.

S.1955 will increase health care costs of the government and other providers.

* It will increase the number of uninsured as more employers decline to offer health coverage to their employees.
* It will also increase the amount of hospital charity care and bad debt cases, adding further financial pressures on the Medicaid program, hospitals and other providers.



* The Enzi Bill: Bad Medicine for America - Families USA Fact Sheet Linked in original post at end of paragraphs.

:wow:

supposed to be a big battle.

:hi:

They've GOT to stop this one!

News: The Congressional Budget Office has issued a new report on Enzi: CBO concludes that this terrible bill would raise premiums for one-fourth of businesses in the small group market, and some individuals will find it harder to get coverage for conditions or services that are now mandated under state laws. This wholesale elimination of consumer protections will, at best, trim only 2-3 percent from the premiums of some businesses with young, healthy workers.

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/private-insurance/enzi/

We gotta stop this crapass bill.

Everybody needs to:

A. Get on the horn call-email- and fax your Senators (as well as your own call and fax the Maine Senators, Snowe and Collins, as they will be our biggest allies on the other side of the aisle.

B. Tell as many people as possible to do "A".

C. Lather rinse repeat

Find a senator link:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm


Now get off your rumps and do this thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vote Number: 117 Vote Date: May 9, 2006, 10:02 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Agreed to
Measure Number: S. 1955 (Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2005 )
Measure Title: A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to expand health care access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and through modernization of the health insurance marketplace.
Vote Counts: YEAs 96
NAYs 2
Not Voting 2

I've just calmed down enough, after Sununu spoke about how well New Hampshire's small business insurance works, to be able to type a coherant sentence. Just sent another email, for what it's worth. I don't dare call, I'd scream and swear. Here's the email:
"Dear Senator Sununu: I am furious. I just heard you speak on the Senate floor about how wonderfully New Hampshire's small business insurance coverage is working and how wrong Senator Kennedy was to criticize it. I am a small business person in New Hampshire and insurance for my husband and I is - at the very cheapest - $1,000 a month with a $5,000 deductible. That's $17,000 a year. Our mortgage, taxes and insurance do not come to that amount. Needless to say, we can't afford it. I'm doubly mad because I'm in chronic, severe pain from an injury I sustained while exercising in an effort to stay well. I can't afford an orthopedic surgeon and will continue to hobble about, swallowing Aleve throughout the day, until you people come to your senses and institute universal health care. Canada does it - they live longer and are healthier. Great Britain, France, Germany and dozens of other countries do it - they live longer and they're healthier. Will politicians ever forego campaign donations in favor of doing what's right? Sincerely, " I'm now hobbling out to the garden. Serenity now!

part D and not talking about the Enzi bill or if the oppose it.

a nasty gram to Sen. Saxby Chambliss last night!

F*ck over 85 million Americans who do.

from him unfortunately.

I called his office and told them he is using the dumbest logic, the bill offers nothing and the people still have to pay for it, all so the repugs can say they did something for health care, when they are really doing nothing.

Applies fed health suystem to the small business needs. Its not government run.


Okay I think I like Blanche Lincoln enough to vote for her if she would move to the bay area. DiFi should be replaced with someone like Lincoln, but thats just based on what she has said on the Senate floor today. Its really good. She really accomplishes the goal of offering solid health care to small business employees, and her comments really cut into the Enzi crowds alterior motive for the POS they want(s1955).

businesses. The GOPs were trying to snow small biz - as usual.

bill. Harkin and Boxer talk about arbitrary cut off for embryonic stem cell research for people suffering. Boxer says they have the votes to override a veto. She asks the President how many have been touched by diabetes, children etc. We have the votes to help people, but the SEnate won't bring that bill to the floor. Instead they bring a bill like Enzi that takes health care away.

This little discussion is a gem. They just embarrassed and called out the GOP for not being at all interested in real help to Americans who need it. Very nice back and forth between the two on the failure of Repug senators to offer real hope to Americans.

Boxer asks for a quorum call now 1:28pm. Senate President questions it.

Boxer notes the absence of a quorum. Then asks for the floor for ten minutes. Now Enzi is speaking. Not sure what happened to Boxer.

is speaking about the motion agreed to to proceed. Boxer calling for a quorum call apparently has gotten Enzi's attention.

Boxer to follow.

Unless some unexpected maneuver changes this.