[Peace-discuss] [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

Ricky Baldwin rbaldwin at seiu73.org
Mon Jul 30 17:53:34 UTC 2012 

Sorry, but I have to say, with respect to my friend David who is a very passionate and dedicated ad a tireless advocate, and I am glad we have him around to speak up when he sees a wrong being committed, that these things below are not mutually exclusive, and there is value to making the most of the current situation - even though it is not what we wanted or what we need.

Medicare for All, single-payer, or a British-style National Health, or something else national and universal and free, is clearly the solution to the problem of healthcare for the poor and working classes in this very rich and very unequal country.  Obviously we do not have that.  Clearly we should work for it.  It should be our stated and our actual goal.  We should never let the rich or their media or their politicians forget it.  We should never say to Rush and others who accuse of that goal, no, we just want some incremental change right now, it's not a step toward 'socialized medicine.' We should say "It wish it were all the things you say, because that's what we need in this country.'

We have devoted considerable effort to pushing for it already, but we have not gotten it, not even close.  (I say 'we', because I have always been fully supportive and have done what I could, but many many others have given much more time and money than I have to this cause.  Some have dedicated their lives to it, and among those are people who say this is the best we could get right now.)  That is largely because many of the people who supported these lesser plans to not actually support what we are thinking of.  Those people are not our friends.  But to refuse to work with them towards a winnable compromise when we have seen how hard it is to get to our ultimate goal is to shoot ourselves - and the working people who benefit from this law - in the foot, and in some cases in a lot of other places, too.

It's foolhardy to pretend this law will fix all our problems.  But it is way off-base to say that the effort to make the most of the current laws/ options is a distraction or a waste of time, any more than helping someone understand how to fill out the forms to get health benefits at work - or ensuring that anyone who is eligible for any benefit does get it - is a waste of time.  It isn't.  It helps people.  Obamacare helps people.  Just not enough people.  And not enough help.

Is it a waste of time to fight for raises for one group of workers even though a lot of others need a raise?  Or because the wage system should be abolished?  Some have made that argument.  Unfortunately, the just society we deserve doesn't seem to be just around the corner.  And in the meantime, I think if we can get raises or health insurance for some people who need them, we take it and move on, hopefully to more.  Like a ratchet.  Would it be better to approach wages differently, too?  In Sweden, for example, they negotiate on a national level for the lowest wages in the country, and that way nobody drops below that.  I would like to see that here.  It just doesn't seem in the offing.

Hopefully we will be able to eventually build a national movement, and international movement even, that can accomplish these things.  But we have no such movement now.

I can understand criticizing Gingrich-care or Clinton-care or Romney-care in Massachusetts or Obamacare when they were proposed, saying what we need is single-payer, etc.  I did that, too.  Trumka and others did, too.  When the window is open, we try for everything we can get, right?  I can understand pointing out the shortcomings of Obamacare now.  CCHCC and others have done so.  We need to get people thinking about what we still need to do.  But it is not "a waste of time" to ensure that people get the most out of it, especially people who have very little alternative.

I don't expect everyone to agree, but I think CCHCC's work on this is very important and we should all support it in any way we can.

Solidarity,
Ricky
________________________________________
From: CentralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com [CentralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of David Johnson [dlj725 at hughes.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 7:24 PM
To: sf-core; Peace-discuss List; C-U Citzens for Peace and Justice; Astrid Berkson; JWJ C-U
Subject: Fw: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange



Correction !

EVERYBODY IN, NOBODY OUT !

Healthcare for all NOW !

No Phoney corporate propoganda substitutes that distract and divide us and strengthen the private health insurance corporate special interests.

The ONLY sollution is Medicare for all,
like EVERY industrialized country in the world EXCEPT the U.S., and even some third world countries have the equivalent of Medicare for all.

WE need to focus on how we begin to force the corporate powers that be, republican and DEMOCRAT, to begin implementing the ONLY SOLLUTION to our healthcare crisis, that is, single payer ( Medicare for ALL ) healthcare.

David J.

----- Original Message -----
From: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
To: sf-core<mailto:sf-core at yahoogroups.com> ; Peace-discuss List<mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> ; C-U Citzens for Peace and Justice<mailto:discuss-communitycourtwatch at lists.chambana.net> ; astridjb at comcast.net<mailto:astridjb at comcast.net> ; JWJ C-U<mailto:centralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

Sure Astrid,

Let me rephrase this.

Do WE want REAL results, that is, health care for ALL, nobody in and nobody out ?

OR

Will we allow ourselves to be distracted and divided by the corporate interests to accept their corporate sollution via the Democratic National Committee ( DNC ) ?

David J.

----- Original Message -----
From: Astrid Berkson<mailto:astridjb at comcast.net>
To: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 6:25 PM
Subject: Re: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

it is nice to demand, but not often effective. we need to get as much as we can because the more we get now the more we can get later
On 7/29/2012 4:23 PM, David Johnson wrote:





----- Original Message -----
From: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
To: occupycu at lists.chambana.net<mailto:occupycu at lists.chambana.net> ; s.hansen at comcast.net<mailto:s.hansen at comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 4:18 PM
Subject: Re: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

This is a Waste of time and a distraction of what needs to be done !

WE Need to demand a single payer healthcare system in the state of Illinois like Vermont has done !

David Johnson
----- Original Message -----
From: s.hansen at comcast.net<mailto:s.hansen at comcast.net>
To: occupyCU at lists.chambana.net<mailto:occupyCU at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 11:51 AM
Subject: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange



________________________________
From: "Champaign County Health Care Consumers" <cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org<mailto:cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org>>
To: cchcc-l at lists.shout.net<mailto:cchcc-l at lists.shout.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 8:59:39 AM
Subject: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health        Exchange


Dear Friends,

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), we would like
thank everyone who signed the petition calling on Illinois' Governor Quinn
to establish the Health Exchange, whether online, in our office, at the
Urbana Farmer's Market, or at one of our Task Force meetings.

Last week Governor Quinn announced that Illinois would move forward to
establish a state-federal partnership Health Exchange. CCHCC and other
health care advocates had been organizing to pressure the Illinois General
Assembly and Governor Quinn to instead establish a state-operated Health
Exchange that would have allowed for an insurance marketplace that was
customized to meet the specific needs of Illinoisans and would have been
governed by Illinoisans.

Frankly, we are disappointed that our state leadership did not rise to the
challenge and take advantage of the opportunity to have a locally governed,
pro-consumer Health Benefits Exchange that would have best met the needs of
the residents of Illinois. Despite the claim by state officials that there
was not enough time remaining to establish a state-operated exchange, we do
believe that Illinois had sufficient time if the elected leadership had the
political will.

HOWEVER, having a state-federal partnership Exchange up and running in
Illinois in 2014 is indeed a VICTORY for the residents of Illinois.

Through the Exchange in 2014 alone:
 * 486,000 residents will enroll in private health insurance plans;
 * 500,000 residents will join the expanded Medicaid program (which the
state would receive 100% federal matching reimbursement for those costs the
first three years of the Exchange); And
 * 247,000 residents would qualify for federal subsidies for premiums and
co-payments to help with insurance costs.

(Source: Wakely Consulting Group, Health Management Association, Illinois
Department of Healthcare and Family Services)

Please read on for more information about State-Federal Partnership Health
Exchanges. Also, please check out this article from The State-Journal
Register regarding Governor Quinn's decision:

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1798690424/State-to-work-with-feds-on-health-insurance-exchange

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WHAT IS A STATE-FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP?

In May 2012, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
announced a third Exchange model. States could apply for a state-operated
Health Exchange, have a federally-facilitated Exchange, or now enter into a
state-federal partnership for 2014 - the first year that the Exchange would
be operational.

The state-federal partnership Exchange is a mix of the first two options,
where the responsibilities, control, and decision-making would be split
between the state and federal government. In this model, HHS would be
responsible for ensuring the Exchange meets all of the standards. HHS would
run the online marketplace website. Illinois can decide to operate some of
the plan management functions (health insurance plan selection and other
details) and consumer assistance (in-person assistance and outreach).

This state-federal partnership will give Illinois legislators an
additional year to finalize a state-run Health Exchange to start in 2015.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At this point in time, we are still gathering information on the final
details of how state-federal Health Exchanges will operate and which
components of the Exchange Illinois may seek to operate. We must remain
vigilant as decisions may be made for the state-federal partnership that
will lay the groundwork for the state-operated Exchange in 2015. We must
continue to fight for a pro-consumer exchange that has consumer
representation on the operating Board and prevents any sway from the
insurance industries.

Again, we want to thank all of you for taking action and fighting for the
creation of the Illinois Health Benefits Exchange. CCHCC remains committed
to a pro-consumer Exchange and we will be calling on you to help shape what
our Exchange looks like in 2014 under the state-federal partnership and
what it looks like in 2015 as a standalone Exchange.

Sincerely,

Champaign County Health Care Consumers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Champaign County Health Care Consumers
44 E. Main Street  Suite 208
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: (217) 352-6533
Fax:   (217) 352-9745
E-mail: cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org<mailto:cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org>
Web:    www.healthcareconsumers.org<http://www.healthcareconsumers.org>

Check out CCHCC on Facebook at www.facebook.com/healthcareconsumers<http://www.facebook.com/healthcareconsumers>!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Support health care justice - donate to CCHCC today! Visit our website to make a tax-deductible contribution today.
http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/index.php?action=Donation
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