AHCA – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

10 REASONS WOMEN MUST #FlipThe1st!

David Posnett — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 14:25:08 +0000

Issue #2: August, 2018 by Jacquelyn Gavron and Amy Turner

Lee Zeldin repeatedly votes for laws that jeopardize the health and financial wellbeing of 55% of his constituents: the 310,000 females in New York’s 1st Congressional District. Women in NY01 deserve a representative who understands that when women succeed, families and communities do too. Here’s Zeldin’s voting record, which speaks for itself.

#1 “FEMALE” IS NOT A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION

Zeldin and the GOP-controlled house voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Had it passed, 61,951 people in NY01 would have lost their health care (ACASignups.net). And insurance companies would be allowed to charge women more than men and refuse to cover:

Essential services—pregnancy, maternity and newborn care
Pre-existing conditions —pregnancy, C-sections, celiac disease, hysterectomies, eating disorders, and treatment for domestic violence and sexual assault
Preventive services—mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, osteoporosis, anemia, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia; and breastfeeding support and supplies.

Did you know. . . Zeldin has received a whopping $267,975 in contributions from insurance companies since 2014. (OpenSecrets.org).

#2 WOMEN DESERVE EQUAL PAY

In Suffolk County, women earn $51,014 for a job that pays men $65,326—$14,312 less. (labor.ny.gov). Don’t expect Zeldin to help. He’s repeatedly undermined equal pay protection by:

Voting to block Congress from considering the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill to end the pay gap and protect workers from retaliation for sharing info on their wages. (H.R. 1619, 2015)
Voting to make it extremely difficult for women seeking equal pay to bring a class action lawsuit against their employers. (HR 1927, 2016).

#3 LET WOMEN CONTROL THEIR OWN BODIES

Zeldin voted for a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks (directly challenging Roe v. Wade), which was opposed by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as a serious threat to women’s health and not based on sound science. Zeldin has supported:

Amending the constitution to ban abortion except to save life of mother
A nationwide ban on private insurance coverage of abortion
Federal legislation allowing parents to prevent their daughters from receiving abortions
Requiring rape victims to wait 48 hours before obtaining an abortion
Barring the government from distributing emergency contraceptives

#4 GUN VIOLENCE IS A WOMAN’S ISSUE

Zeldin co-sponsored the federally mandated concealed carry bill, which would override New York’s strict gun laws and let gun owners with a history of violence against women roam our neighborhoods with a hidden, loaded gun. Most people don’t know the hidden toll guns take on women:

50 women a month are shot to death by a current or former partner
4.5 million American women have been threatened with guns, often by intimate partners, so they live in fear for themselves and their children for days, months and even years.
U.S. women are 16x more likely to be killed with a gun than in other high-income countries.

#5 WE NEED PAID FAMILY LEAVE

Most workers are covered by the Family Medical Leave Act, which lets you take up to 12 weeks of leave a year to care for family members. But for most people, that leave is unpaid. The GOP solution? Take a “loan” from Social Security and delay receipt of your retirement income.

#6 SOCIAL SECURITY: ON THE CUTTING BLOCK

The GOP tax scam gives huge tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporations that add $2 trillion to the national debt. They’re using this as an excuse to slash Social Security—it’s especially important to women as they earn less, take more time out of the workforce, live longer, save less and get smaller pensions.

In NY01, 150,262 people receive Social Security. Zeldin said he’d “continue to support legislation that protects and supports Social Security and Medicare” (letter, 6/2017) but he:

Voted YES to a constitutional amendment that would allow Social Security to pay beneficiaries only if a federal budget surplus could offset them. (HJ Res.2, 4/12/18)
Voted to block the transfer of tax revenue to keep the Disability Insurance afloat—unless it was part of a larger plan to cut benefits or tax increases. (HRes 5, 1/6/15; Politico).

#7 GOP GUNNING FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID

In New York, nearly 2 million women rely on Medicare for their health insurance. Zeldin voted for a budget resolution (H.Con.Res 71, 10-15-17) that would pay for Trump’s huge tax cuts by:

Slashing Medicare by $487 billion
Increasing the age at which you can apply for Medicare from 65 to 67 nscpssm.org

More women than men are covered by Medicaid as they often work in lower paying jobs, and many work for small businesses that don’t offer health insurance. But Zeldin voted to take way the Medicaid option. And Trump recently gave the go-ahead for states to take away Medicaid from people who aren’t working a minimum number of hours a month. This disproportionally hurts women because they:

Often work in low-wage jobs with inconsistent hours that may not meet the requirements.
Typically care for children or other family members and aren’t in the paid workforce

#8 UN-AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE

Trump’s tax scam doubled the maximum child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000—“but the parents of about 29 million kids won’t get the credit because their families earn too little.” (TPC.org).

#9 PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Zeldin has repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Perhaps he doesn’t understand that Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of health care services to 2.4 million clients, including, prenatal care, breast exams, PAP smears, vasectomies, HIV and STD testing and treatment, and sex education.

#10 WOMEN DESERVE A REP WHO VALUES WOMEN

In January 2017, thousands of Zeldin’s constituents showed up at women’s marches in D.C., NYC, Port Jeff, Sag Harbor and other places to advocate for women’s rights. But rather than acknowledge their concerns, Zeldin questioned their sanity, suggesting that some of his constituents might hold views that are “off the reservation” and using his 37th birthday two weeks later as an occasion to express his “love” for “even those Hillary supporters who have lost [their] beautiful minds since the election.”

Don’t Make Me Laugh

David Posnett — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 14:41:01 +0000

By Perry Gershon:

Lee Zeldin wants you to think he’s an environmentalist. He’s spending big bucks blasting that absurd idea across Long Island television.

Don’t make me laugh.

In his four years in Congress, Lee has voted against the environment over and over again. He’s taken tens of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry to prop up his campaign.

It’s no wonder Lee opposed protecting the environment on 21 out of 22 votes.

Lee opposed seven bills on air quality protections.

He opposed protections for clean water 19 different times.

He opposed protecting wildlife eight times.

And he continues to stand by a president who insists climate change is a Chinese hoax.

Get the idea? Lee Zeldin is no friend of the environment, of clear air and water, or protecting our planet for future generations.

Long Island voters have a clear choice in November.

I promise to work tirelessly to protect the environment – whether that be our clear air, clean water, clean energy production, or protecting wildlife.

Lee’s record is clear, and that’s just another reason why he has to go.

Donate $5 right now. Let’s show Zeldin we won’t stand for his hypocrisy on the environment.

Posts on R&R (since July 2018) related to Zeldin’s environmental record:

Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse

Posted on August 28, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

Lee Zeldin wants to Drill in the Ironwood Forest National Monument By Marc Rauch: Latest update: Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse in 2018 In the first 3 years of Lee Zeldin’s congressional term (2015-2017), he earned … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Executive Order, GOP, National Parks & Monuments, Trump, Uncategorized, water quality, Zeldin | Tagged Environment, lee zeldin, voting record | 2 Comments | Edit

Zeldin’s War on the Environment

Posted on August 20, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

By Perry Gershon: (Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/perry4congress/posts/?ref=page_internal) Lee Zeldin continues to support the Trump Administration’s destruction of our environmental protections. The new “plan” for coal represents one more example of the total disregard for the serious health effects of air pollution. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, Environment, Trump, Uncategorized, water quality, Zeldin | Tagged car emission, clean air, clean water, pollution | 2 Comments | Edit

Is Lee Zeldin Really “Good On The Environment”?

Posted on January 19, 2018 by francescarh

A slickly produced mailer from Lee Zeldin appeared in my mailbox this week. It touted our Congressman’s supposed record in “safeguarding our environment.” Mr. Zeldin has been very adept in pulling the wool over voters’ eyes about his actual environmental … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit

Zeldin Boasting about Environment Record?

Posted on January 2, 2018 by maidstonejewelry

Recently Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus and founding member of the “Congressional Estuary Caucus”, was joined by EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Carrie Meek … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Paris Climate Accord, Uncategorized, Zeldin | 4 Comments | Edit

More Bad Zeldin Environmental Votes

Posted on October 12, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

By Marc Rauch and Chelsea Estevez Since our last update in late August, fourteen bills impacting the environment have come before the House of Representatives. Lee Zeldin took the anti-environment position on 12 out of 14 of these recent bills. … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Paris Climate Accord, Trump, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged environmental justice, EPA, fracking, methane, ocean, public land | Leave a comment | Edit

Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record

Posted on July 2, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

A great resource! D Posnett Marc Rauch·Friday, June 23, 2017 Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record (Last Updated 6/29/17) Introduction Linked here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing is an easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet summarizing Lee Zeldin’s complete environmental voting record in Congress. Purpose This spreadsheet … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, climate change, Environment, EPA, National Parks & Monuments, Offshore Drilling, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged energy, Environment, record, wind, Zeldin | 2 Comments | Edit

Lee Zeldin’s Duplicity on Environmental Issues

Posted on March 7, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

Marc Rauch, from Bellport, New York. had the following letter in the March 2, 2017 edition of the Long Island Advance: I was taken aback by Rep. Lee Zeldin’s “official positions” on protection of the environment, as reported last week … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged duplicity, Environment, pollution, Zeldin | 1 Comment | Edit

Zeldin & Environment?

Posted on February 19, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

My letter to editor of LI Advance was published this week- 2/16/2017 Voting to loosen standards on oil and gas industries Where is Congressman Zeldin on the environment? Two weeks ago I visited Congressman Zeldin’s office to talk with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged Environment, Zeldin | 5 Comments | Edit

Flip the House — Defeat Zeldin!

Posted on August 4, 2018 by amyturner2000

By Jacquelyn Gavron & Amy Turner, July 19, 2018 New York’s First Congressional District (NY-1), historically a swing district, is represented by Lee Zeldin (R). He was initially elected with Tea Party support and is an unwavering Trump loyalist with … Continue reading →

Posted in ACA, AHCA, economy, Environment, Guns, Health Care, Politics, Tax Reform, Uncategorized, Women, Zeldin | 3 Comments | Edit

Moral Obligation to send Zeldin packing

Posted on July 19, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

Published in the East Hampton Star – the July 10, 2018 To the Editor: Offered less than 10 days into our district’s 133-day congressional race, The Star’s advice to local Democrats (“First District Dilemma”) is not only premature, but also … Continue reading →

Posted in perry gershon, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged David Rattray, democratic, gershon, Star, turnout | Leave a comment | Edit

Flip the House — Defeat Zeldin!

David Posnett — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 20:55:14 +0000

By Jacquelyn Gavron & Amy Turner, July 19, 2018

New York’s First Congressional District (NY-1), historically a swing district, is represented by Lee Zeldin (R). He was initially elected with Tea Party support and is an unwavering Trump loyalist with extremist views. Here’s a sampling of how he’s voted.

HEALTH CARE

Zeldin voted for the American Health Care Act—the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare—which would have resulted in:

14 million people losing health care coverage in 2018 (51 million by 2026)
Huge Medicaid cuts ($834 billion)
Loss of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, which includes pregnancy.

ENVIRONMENT

Don’t be misled into thinking that Zeldin’s an environmentalist due to his votes on LOCAL issues such as offshore drilling and the “Save Don’t Sell Plum Island” bill (introduced by Bishop, 2013). On NATIONAL issues, he’s consistently opposed regulation and was rated among the worst environmental regulators 3 years running by the League of Conservation Voters. Zeldin’s voted to:

Slash EPA funding by $500M
Permit coal companies to dump mining toxic waste in streams
Prohibit the EPA from requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane pollution—a key contributor to global warming.

GOP TAX BILL

Zeldin boasts that he voted against the tax bill because it eliminated SALT deductions. But months earlier he had refused to sign a bi-partisan letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin protesting its elimination. He voted against it because Ryan didn’t need his vote to pass the bill and has said little about its other damaging provisions such as:

Huge tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans
Repeal of the estate tax
Eliminating deductions for vets, teachers, and those with student loans
Increased taxes on many middle-class families.

GUN SAFETY

Zeldin has received $56,281 in NRA donations, more than any sitting NY representative. He co-sponsored the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would override New York’s strong gun laws and let gun owners from states with weaker laws carry hidden, loaded weapons in public places in New York and is opposed by law enforcement across the country, including AGs from 17 states, local police commissioners (including NYPD and SCPD) and the Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence (comprised of 12 associations including the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association and the National Sheriffs Association). Zeldin has also voted against bills to:

Ban firearms in airports
Deny guns to people on the terrorist no-fly list
Prevent mentally ill veterans from buying guns
Fund CDC research on gun violence
Restrict the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from regulating ammunition for semi-automatic weapons.

IMMIGRATION

Zeldin has been in lock-step with Trump’s immigration policies since his post-inaugural travel ban against Muslims and defended Trump’s comment about immigrants from “shithole countries.” He has also voted to:

Rescind DACA
Require state and local governments to comply with ICE requests to detain undocumented immigrants
Block funding for states and localities that have “sanctuary” laws on immigration.

LGBTQ RIGHTS

Zeldin has said he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman and has voted against the Marriage Equality Act of New York 2011 and legislation preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Zeldin has:

Supported Trump’s rescinding of Obama’s rule on transgender bathroom use
All but said he supported Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Defunding Planned Parenthood
Federal legislation allowing parents to prevent their daughters from receiving abortions.

Out-of-pocket healthcare spending could rise thanks to Lee Zeldin

David Posnett — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 18:02:17 +0000

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, Obamacare) was associated with reduced out-of-pocket spending for US medical care, particularly among those with lower incomes, but not with reduced premiums.

That is the conclusion of a new study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

As summed up by Les Masterson on the HealthCare Dive

the ACA led to reduced out-of-pocket spending, especially for low-income Americans. That said, many people still feel the burden of high out-of-pocket costs and premium spending.
medical expenses continue to “consume a large share of many families’ incomes and compound income inequities.”
repealing or reversing gains made by the ACA will “especially harm poor and low-income Americans.” Premiums will likely increase for people in the exchanges if healthier people leave the exchanges.

This affects residents in our Congressional district: NY-01. Rep. Lee Zeldin has consistently voted to undermine the ACA and has supported very unpopular Trumpcare. Republicans also putting Medicare and Medicaid in jeopardy via the recently passed tax bill. Thanks for stealing our money!

Read more about the LZ track record on healthcare:

https://resistancesuffolk.blog/2017/03/18/zeldins-deception-on-health-care/

https://resistancesuffolk.blog/2017/06/30/zeldins-approval-of-senate-healthcare-bill-reveals-his-lack-of-concern-for-veterans/

http://www.1clickdaily.com/1429473

https://resistancesuffolk.blog/2017/09/25/zeldin-must-stand-up-and-protect-long-islands-health-care/

https://resistancesuffolk.blog/2017/05/21/is-zeldin-untruthful-about-healthcare/

and Zeldin complicit in CHIP used as bargaining chip:

Zombie Health Care Repeal Part 5: What the GOP’s Sneaky Health Repeal Means for You

David Posnett — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 17:07:02 +0000

Yet another attempt to sabotage healthcare! They just don’t get it. David

View at Medium.com

The GOP is sneaking in a partisan health care repeal to pay for their tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. Here’s what you need to know:

GOP is sneaking in health repeal after failing four times. The American people rejected Republican repeal efforts four times over the course of the year. Now, they’re sneaking health repeal into their big tax cut bill for the wealthy and big corporations.
Sneaky repeal would rip coverage away from 13 million people and raise premiums by double digits. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that 13 million people would lose health coverage and premiums would increase double digits as a result of the health repeal provision Republicans are sneaking into their tax bill.
Key patient groups oppose sneaky repeal. Sixteen patient groups have announced their opposition: March of Dimes; the American Heart Association; the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; the Multiple Sclerosis Society; Lutheran Services in America; the American Lung Association; the American Diabetes Association; the National Health Council; the Epilepsy Foundation; the National Organization for Rare Disorders; the American Liver Foundation; Family Voices; Consumers Union; Little Mended Hearts; and Futures Without Violence.
Key industry stakeholders oppose sneaky repeal. Six health care industry groups have announced their opposition: America’s Health Insurance Plans; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; and the Federation of American Hospitals. In the words of CNBC: “Insurers, doctors and hospitals oppose repeal.”
The tax bill would trigger $25 billion in Medicare cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations would trigger $25 billion in cuts to Medicare.
The tax bill raises health costs for middle class families and seniors with high medical expenses. The House Republican tax plan eliminates the medical expense deduction, which helps nearly 9 million people with high medical expenses, such seniors with long-term care, people with chronic health conditions and parents of children with disabilities. Nearly 70 percent of people who claimed this deduction earned $75,000 or less.
All of this is to pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. Let’s be clear: Republicans are sneaking health repeal into their tax bill so they can pay for their huge tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations. The Tax Policy Center found nearly half of the tax cuts would benefit the top 1 percent.
Republicans are not listening to the American people. Time and time again the American people have rejected health repeal. First, the GOP health care repeal is the most unpopular legislation in three decades. In last week’s elections, health care was the dominant issue. In the Virginia gubernatorial race, health care was the #1 issue to 39% of voters – more than double any other issue, and among those voters, Ralph Northam beat Ed Gillespie by 54 points (77-23). In New Jersey, 19% of voters ranked health care their top issue, and chose Phil Murphy over Kim Guadagno, who opposed the ACA, by 74 points (86–12). In Maine, voters “easily approved” an expansion of Medicaid by a nearly 60-40 margin. And in the Virginia House of Delegates races, Democrats ran on health care and achieved a historic victory, flipping fifteen seats.

Individual Mandate Repeal in Latest Tax Bill Draft

David Posnett — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 16:30:36 +0000

Author Shannon Muchmore @stmuchmore

Published Nov. 15, 2017

Dive Brief:

Republican leaders said Tuesday the latest version of their bill to overhaul the tax system would repeal the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said he estimates the repeal would save $338 billion that could be used to offset tax cuts elsewhere in the legislation, Politico reported.
The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Taxation Committee earlier issued an analysis that concluded eliminating the individual mandate would result in 14 million people losing coverage by 2025 and premium increases of about 20%.

Dive Insight:

As anyone who has watched Congress debate ACA legislation this year knows, a proposed bill can change frequently during negotiations. The individual mandate repeal could still be tossed before a vote, but several Republicans are still looking for any way to deal a blow to the ACA.

The mandate is an essential part of the law, although it’s an unpopular one. Requiring most people to have insurance helps more young and healthy people to enter the risk pool. This helps payers offset the costs of covering people with pre-existing conditions. A repeal of the mandate would likely lead to more insurance companies choosing to pull out of the ACA exchanges.

Repealing the mandate would add to a string of actions weakening the law. President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a number of steps to undermine the ACA, including putting an end to cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers and paving the way for more catastrophic health plans. HHS has also drastically scaled back efforts to promote the open enrollment period.

Call Lee Zeldin to voice your opinion! (202) 225-3826

There is a Phone-in “townhall” tonight on the topic of taxes!

https://zeldin.house.gov/contact/opt-request-telephone-town-halls

Shame on Zeldin–Again!

David Posnett — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 21:27:46 +0000

Representative Lee Zeldin should be ashamed of himself. That’s what his constituents declared back in May at their “Shame on Zeldin” protest on his AHCA vote.

And now, in the aftermath of the Las Vegas shootings, others have joined that chorus.

A recent editorial in The Forward shames Lee Zeldin—one of two Jewish Republican members of Congress—for accepting money from the NRA and voting so consistently with gun interests to have earned an A rating from the NRA. (In fact, Zeldin has accepted more money from the NRA than any other New York representative).

The massacre in Las Vegas has apparently prompted no soul searching on Zeldin’s part. Instead, he has issued his version of a “thoughts and prayers” statement, and chastised gun control advocates for making arguments he considers ineffective.

The editorial’s author, Jane Eisen, urges us not to let Zeldin off the hook:

“Don’t be distracted. My calls and emails to Zeldin’s and Kustoff’s congressional offices were not returned as of this writing. Contact them yourself. Let them know that they should be ashamed of accepting even a dime of this bloodied money.” (Emphasis added).

http://forward.com/opinion/editorial/384237/for-shame-these-jewish-lawmakers-take-money-from-the-nra/

Tom Price Must Go

David Posnett — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 20:24:19 +0000

Posted on their website where you can also sign up in support. Here is the message from the National Physician’s Alliance:

We’ve been here before. Almost a year ago, we opposed the nomination of Dr. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services. As clinicians who put our patients first, today we call for Tom Price to resign.

A year ago, we were concerned that Dr. Price did not have a record of promoting policies that prioritized Americans’ health. As a legislator in the House of Representatives, he supported dismantling Medicaid, reducing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and removing essential health benefits that would provide access to treatment for opioid use disorders, prenatal care, and contraception.

Prior to his confirmation, we learned that Dr. Price had traded stocks that stood to profit from his direct actions in the legislature, raising serious questions around his ethical conduct.

Regrettably, his tenure has only confirmed our fears.

In his confirmation hearings, Secretary Price recalled the lessons he learned as a practicing physician. One lesson he highlighted was that “many patients [he] knew or treated were never more angry and frustrated than when they realized that there was someone other than themselves and/or their physician making medical decisions on their behalf – when there was someone not involved in the actual delivery of care that was standing between them and their doctor or treatment.”

However, as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) – that is precisely where Dr. Price has found himself: directly impeding patients’ ability to access treatment.

Worse, he has shirked his duties in office and wasted taxpayer dollars in the process.

His brazen decision to misspend over $400,000 by traveling needlessly on private jets is only the most recent offense to come to light. Records indicate that he used public funding to travel to luxury resorts, areas where he owned property, speaking events for friends, and lunch with his son. New reporting2 puts his travel costs at over $1 million in just 8 months; his recent decision to pay back only $52,000 of these costs only highlights his lack of accountability.

Beyond these questionable ethics, Dr. Price has eagerly advocated for legislation that would increase cost of health insurance and reduce access to care. These policies, according to multiple Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, would create anywhere from 20 to 32 million additional uninsured and were universally opposed by patient groups, doctors, nurses, hospitals, health systems, and insurers.

During this process, he provided at best, misinformation, and at worst, outright lies about the impact of the legislation he was promoting.

Most egregiously, Dr. Price has demonstrated dereliction of his duties at HHS, which has been used as a political tool for sabotage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), rather than as an institution for policy implementation. Under his leadership, HHS has used funding that was earmarked to increase enrollment to run ads against the ACA. The ACA enrollment period has been reduced by 45 days; television advertising and patient navigators have been cut; and access to the health insurance portal has been reduced with unnecessary periods of website shutdown.

The uncertainty he has created over continuing the cost-sharing reduction payments mandated under law has only served to destabilize the insurance markets and increase premiums for patients.

Tom Price should never have been confirmed. His conduct prioritizes self-enrichment, and raises critical questions about his commitment to “improve the lives of the American people, to help heal individuals and whole communities.” He has advocated cuts to programs impacting the most vulnerable Americans, while simultaneously wasting taxpayer resources. Now almost one year later, we believe that his actions in office warrant resignation.

It’s time for Tom Price to go.

Zeldin Must Stand Up And Protect Long Island’s Health Care

David Posnett — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 17:27:26 +0000

Letter To Editor: Zeldin Must Stand Up And Protect Long Island’s Health Care

Published in “Smithtown Matters”, Friday, September 22, 2017 at 6:08PM

Dear Editor,

Next week, Senate Republicans will debate a cruel plan to take away health care from millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Long Islanders. Under the Graham-Cassidy bill, there would be a massive shift of federal support from “blue” states to “red” – especially from New York to Texas. In fact, New York could lose more than $45 billion dollars in federal funding. This would create enormous market uncertainty and devastate thousands of Long Islanders, particularly working families, the elderly, and the disabled.

Where is Rep. Lee Zeldin on the bill? Does he realize how much funding would be stripped from New York? Does he care? Even some New York Republicans, like Rep. Tom Reed and Rep. Peter King, have come out against Graham-Cassidy. I urge Rep. Zeldin – who voted to strip health care from millions of Americans earlier this summer – to stop playing politics with the lives of Long Islanders and oppose this bill for the good of his constituents.

Perry Gershon

Democratic candidate for New York’s 1^st congressional district

Also, check this out:

http://www.businessinsider.com/graham-cassidy-healthcare-bill-obamacare-insurance-2017-9

David Posnett MD

An Act of Mass Suicide

David Posnett — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 17:06:28 +0000

If the U.S. Adopts the G.O.P.’s Health-Care Bill, It Would Be an Act of Mass Suicide

By Atul Gawande

September 22, 2017

There is not a single metric of health or health care that the Graham-Cassidy plan—co-sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina—makes better.

Photograph by Mark Peterson / Redux

The fundamental thing to understand about Senate Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal Obamacare is that the bill under consideration would not just undo the Affordable Care Act—it would also end Medicaid as we know it and our federal government’s half-century commitment to closing the country’s yawning gaps in health coverage. And it would do so without putting in place any credible resources or policies to replace the system it is overturning. If our country enacts this bill, it would be an act of mass suicide.

In my surgery practice in Boston, I see primarily cancer patients. When I started out, in 2003, at least one in ten of my patients was uninsured. Others, who had insurance, would discover in the course of their treatment that their policies had annual or lifetime caps that wouldn’t cover their costs, or that they would face unaffordable premiums going forward because they now had a preëxisting condition. When he was governor of Massachusetts, it was Mitt Romney, a conservative, who brought Republicans and Democrats together to make a viable state system of near-universal coverage. That system then served as a model for the A.C.A. The results have been clear: increases in coverage have markedly improved people’s access to care and their health. For the last four years, health-care costs in Massachusetts have risen more slowly than the national average—while the national numbers themselves have been at historic lows. I have not seen a single uninsured patient—zero—in a decade. And now comes an utterly reckless piece of legislation that would destroy these gains.

To review how we got to this point: last spring, the House passed a health-care-reform bill that proposed to hollow out the A.C.A.’s funding, insurance mandates, and protections for people with preëxisting conditions. It was immensely unpopular with the public. The problem was not just that twenty-three million Americans would lose their health insurance if the bill becomes law but also the Republicans’ vision of a health system where insurance with deductibles of five thousand dollars and more, and little or no primary-care coverage, would become the norm. This summer, Senate Republicans failed to secure enough votes to pass a modified version of the House bill. Later, in a dramatic late-night session, the Senate also rejected, by a single vote, a “skinny” repeal bill. That bill would have repealed only the parts of the A.C.A. that required large businesses to insure their workers and all Americans to carry coverage. It would have resulted in a mere sixteen million more uninsured people, according to estimates.

The Republican bill currently being rushed to a vote was put forward by a group of senators led by Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana. As has become the apparent rule for Republican health-care bills, there have been no hearings or committee reviews of the Graham-Cassidy bill. And, this time, lawmakers and the public do not even have a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the effects the bill would have on the budget, insurance costs, or the uninsured rate.

This is unprecedented: senators are moving ahead with a vote on a bill that would alter the health care of every American family and the condition of a sixth of our entire economy, without waiting to hear any official, independent estimates of the consequences. The irresponsibility is as blithe as it is breathtaking. Before becoming a senator, Cassidy spent twenty-five years working as a physician in hospitals devoted to the uninsured. I find it baffling that a person with his experience would not recognize the danger of this bill. But here we are.

The Graham-Cassidy bill goes even further than the bill passed by the House. It would bring to a virtually immediate end not only the individual and employer mandates but also the whole edifice of the Medicaid expansion, insurance exchanges, and income-based coverage subsidies set up under the A.C.A. Graham-Cassidy expects all fifty states to then pass, and implement, alternative health systems for tens of millions of people within two years—with drastically less money, in most states, than the current law provides. This is not just impossible. It is delusional.

Like the House bill, Graham-Cassidy would cut Medicaid payments for traditional enrollees—the elderly in nursing homes, pregnant women in poverty, disabled children, etc.—by a third by 2026. A portion of the money saved would go into a short-term fund for states to use for health-care costs. The rationale is that this would give states “flexibility” to design coverage for their residents as they see fit. But the amount of funding provided is, by multiple estimates, hundreds of billions of dollars below what the A.C.A. provides. The bill also nakedly shifts funds from Democratic-leaning states that expanded Medicaid under the A.C.A. to Republican-leaning states that didn’t. Analyses indicate that states like California, Massachusetts, and New York will receive block-grant funding anywhere from thirty-five to almost sixty per cent below the health-care funding their residents would receive under current law. Much of those missing funds would be transferred to states like Texas, Mississippi, and Wisconsin. And special deals to make further shifts from blue states to red states such as Alaska are being negotiated to win votes.

As for what states can do with the funds they do receive, they would not be allowed to use them to enroll people in Medicaid, or able to establish a single-payer system. And states would not be receiving enough to continue Obamacare on their own. The only options for spending are for commercial coverage. States will be permitted to let insurers bring back higher costs for people with preëxisting conditions and to reinstate annual and lifetime limits on coverage. And then, starting in 2026, the funding turns out to only be temporary. Under the bill’s provisions, unless further action is taken then, four trillion dollars will be removed from health-care systems over twenty years.

With these massive sums being flung around, it is easy to forget that this is about our health as human beings. The evidence is that health-care programs like the A.C.A. save lives. The way they do so is by increasing the number of people who have affordable access to a regular source of care and needed medications. Such coverage has been shown to produce a substantial and increasing reduction in mortality—especially among those with chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer, or H.I.V.—in as little as five years.

Virtually all of us, as we age, will develop serious health conditions. A critical test of any health reform, therefore, is whether it improves or reduces our prospects of having the continuous care and medicines we need when we come to have a chronic illness. The Graham-Cassidy bill fails this test. It will terminate Medicaid coverage and insurance subsidies for some twenty million people. The entire individual-insurance market will be thrown into a tailspin. Federal protections for insurance coverage will be gone.

Every major group representing patients, health-care professionals, health-care institutions, and insurers has come out vociferously against this plan. Governors from Alaska to Ohio to Virginia have opposed the bill. In a highly unusual, bipartisan statement, the national association representing the Medicaid directors of all fifty states has also opposed the bill. The top health official in Louisiana, Cassidy’s home state, has opposed the new plan. There is not a single metric of health or health care that the Graham-Cassidy plan makes better. This bill is a national calamity. It should not even come to a vote.

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