Senator Joe Lieberman Holds Deciding Health Care Vote

Hard to believe, but Joe Lieberman of our wonderful state holds the deciding vote on the health care bill before the U.S. Senate. Lieberman vowed a filibuster some time ago, and now has "flip flopped" the other way to join the 59 other Democratic senators in what is anything but a bi-partisan vote.

Whether you are for or against the current health care bill is irrelevant at this point. What is relevant is setting Joe straight on your personal sentiments on a government run health care system. Lieberman has become the target of just about every blog, national radio show and every health care corporation in the nation.

There will be no shortage of calls, mail, and concerns from all people in America. What Joe has not disclosed yet, is the price Congress payed for his vote. Certainly the entire first year of the Obama legacy rests in his hands. He can make Obama victorious or an abject failure.

The citizens of Connecticut have been very concerned over health care costs, just last week State Rep. Denise Merril said that Hartford's employee health care costs are driving taxes ever higher. She said it has become difficult for states to keep up and is hoping something will be done soon to grant relief to our state that is now deep in the red.

Some have objected to the present bill and question the constitutionality of it with concern over the extreme punitive measures aimed at those who cannot afford health care. These extreme measures include harsh prison sentences and heavy financial penalties against offenders. The bill could make going to the hospital a criminal offence if you lack insurance.

Religious sects, have also challenged any and all provisions that do not expressly prohibit abortion services as a public option. They believe it is not the taxpayers responsibility to fund abortions, especially when those abortions are objectionable to their personal beliefs.

The bill is certainly not perfect, but if we take heed to the words of David walker, the former Comptroller General of the U.S., "Congress must face some hard choices if the nation is to avert a medical bankrupcty." Walker points to the baby boomer generation who are now retiring en-masse with Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare benefits kicking in. Walker said the "United States has ZERO saved for a population that has been promised these entitlements, and is also on average living longer and maximizing our governments liability."

The health care bill has become a humanitarian, and constitutional crisis. Humanitarian because over 57 million Americans have no health insurance and each year over 100,000 Americans die from preventable diseases, misdiagnoses, or medical neglect. For many poor Americans the emergency room is their only health care option and this needs to change.

How it changes is certainly the challenge, because we are a nation who has emerged under a rule of law established by the U.S. Constitution. Certainly putting people in jail for not having health insurance is extreme and unconstitutional. The very notion of Congress taking part in our doctor patient relationship is also unconstitutional.

The present health care bill is riddled with mistakes, unlawful acts, new taxes, over-regulation and "heart stopping pork barrel" payouts to Senators for their votes. Senator Dodd once said that the public should never see two things, "making sausages and watching Congress make new laws." Now is your time to speak your mind, as all it will take is for Joe Lieberman to withdraw his vote and the entire bill fails in the U.S. Senate.

Lieberman's response to my letter is highlighted below

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Mr. Rocco Frank
374 NEW HAVEN AVE
Milford, CT 06460-6664

Dear Mr. Frank:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opinion regarding health care reform efforts. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me, and I want you to know that I hear and understand your concerns.

Americans today are faced with great uncertainty about their health care coverage and insurance. These concerns focus on rising medical costs, access to coverage, and quality of care. With more than 45 million uninsured Americans and health care spending levels that exceed any in the world, our current health care system is unsustainable. Too often, we reward quantity over quality. The need for health care reform is clear. We must begin to provide Americans with the high-quality, affordable health care they need.

As you may know, over the last several weeks, I and several of my colleagues have worked together with Senate leaders to reach an agreement on a health care reform plan that addresses three critical goals: curbing the enormous increases in health care costs that burden almost every American family and detract from economic growth; regulating insurance companies to better protect patients and consumers; and making it easier for millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance to buy it.

In my view, the resulting legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), would make significant progress toward reaching all three of these goals, and does so in a fiscally responsible way. It is estimated that, under this bill, 31 million previously uninsured Americans will be able to purchase health insurance, resulting in 94 percent of Americans being covered. This represents a historic achievement that will move us closer to fulfilling the goal of universal coverage. In addition, this measure contains a number of strong provisions designed to ensure that insurance companies treat their customers fairly. Specifically, insurers would be prohibited from denying Americans coverage because of a pre-existing condition and from rescinding an individual's coverage if they become sick.

H.R. 3950 also takes a number of substantial steps to reduce health care costs in the long-term. I am particularly pleased that this final package includes elements of several amendments I cosponsored to contain costs, provide patients with more information so that they can make better decisions about their care, and create incentives for physicians to deliver high-quality, efficient care.

According to the Congressional Budget office (CBO), this legislation would reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion over the next ten years, and will continue to reduce costs in the following decade. This bill will also extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund for an additional nine years. Because of my serious concerns about our nation's long-term fiscal imbalances at this time, I opposed the inclusion of a non-essential government-run insurance program, including expanding Medicare to those 55 years of age and older. I felt any such new program was duplicative of other provisions in the underlying bill and could easily saddle the federal government with billions of dollars in additional debt and exacerbate Medicare's already perilous financial condition. Consequently, I supported Senate leaders' decision to remove such a plan from the final agreement.

On December 22, 2009, the Senate, with my support, approved a comprehensive amendment that contains key provisions of the final compromise package by a vote of 60-39. The Senate is expected to pass H.R. 3590 on December 24, after which it will have to reach a compromise agreement with the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed separate health care reform legislation (the Affordable Health Care for American Act; H.R. 3962) earlier this year. To keep track of further developments on this legislation, you can click on the "Track a Bill" button at http://lieberman.senate.gov/.

I am hopeful that leaders from both chambers will come together in the spirit of compromise to achieve meaningful health care reform that expands coverage, reduces costs, and improves the quality of care for everyone. Looking forward, I will not be able to support any compromise agreement that either includes a public option or does not contain provisions designed to lower health care costs and reduce the national debt over the long term. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as this debate continues to move forward.

Thank you again for sharing your views and concerns with me. I hope you will continue to visit my website at http://lieberman.senate.gov for updated news about my work on behalf of Connecticut and the nation. Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress.

Sincerely,

Joseph I. Lieberman
UNITED STATES SENATOR


JIL:vdh

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Rell Offers Hope To Those Without Insurance, And With Pre-Existing Conditions

It’s been a year since Gov. M. Jodi Rell initiated enrollment in the Charter Oak Health Plan, a state-subsidized health insurance program for the uninsured.

For $75 to 259 per month, the plan will accept any individual, including those with pre-existing medical conditions, as long as the individual has been without insurance for six-months or more.

In press release last week Rell hailed the one-year anniversary by touting its enrollment.

“Today that program is covering 10,257 individuals and another 5,884 applicants are eligible for coverage as soon as they select from one of three contracted health plans and begin paying monthly premiums,” she said in a press release. “That means more than 10,000 people who - a year ago - had no health coverage or could not afford the coverage they had now have affordable health care.”

The Department of Social Services which helps administer the program says that over the past year it has approved 19,943 applications and has denied 24,452 applications—mostly because those applicants hadn’t been without insurance for six months.

Another 4,457 individuals have dropped out of the program due to changing health benefit situations such as employment, moving out of state, not paying premiums, and various other factors, David Dearborn, a spokesman for the Department of Social Services, said.

But even with more than 10,000 individuals enrolled in the plan, some lawmakers still wonder what kind of coverage and medical care those residents are receiving.

“The jury is still out on what kind of health care is being provided,” Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, said Monday.

As co-chairman of the legislature’s Public Health Committee Harris said based on enrollment numbers alone he’s not sure he can judge the success of the program. He said he wants to know how many of these enrollees were able to schedule doctors visits and get the medical attention they need.

Public Health Committee Co-Chairwoman, Rep. Besty Ritter, D-Montville, said she was also concerned about “what kind of health care they’re getting or not getting as part of the Charter Oak Plan.” She said getting the number up to 10,000 is impressive, but it doesn’t give you the entire picture.

As of last August only two of the hospitals, St. Raphael’s in New Haven and St. Mary’s in Waterbury, had signed up to participate in the plan. And as few as four or five family doctors had signed up to participate in the Charter Oak Health Plan in all of Hartford County, during its first week last August.

Since last year the insurance companies that administer the Charter Oak Health Plan for the state have made progress in increasing the number of doctors and hospitals that participate in the plan.

According to Dearborn participation by primary care physicians as grown from 3,039 to 6,322 and the number of specialists participating has grown from 4,949 to 8,465. Also the number of hospitals accepting Charter Oak enrollees has increased from two to 16.

“The bottom line is that Charter Oak enrollees are getting access to health care,” Dearborn said Monday. He said it’s even helped individuals with cancer get coverage that they couldn’t get anywhere else.

Here are a few statistics from the Charter Oak program and the three insurance carriers Community Health Network, AmeriChoice, and Aetna:

·Community Health Network of CT (CHNCT) reports paying claims for 3,707 inpatient services, 16,392 outpatient services, 15,318 medical/office services and 28,921 other (lab, durable medical equipment, home care, etc.) over the past year.

·CHNCT reports that it has been case-managing for cancers of all types, heart disease, liver disease, respiratory conditions, diabetes, high-risk pregnancies, etc. Four members have over $50,000 in claims. The health plan reports that it has paid medical claims for about 88% of its members so far.

· Aetna Better Health reports a medical expenses breakdown of about 31% for hospital outpatient; 27% for hospital inpatient; including chemotherapy and dialysis; 27% for physician services; and 15% for other practitioner. The plan reports that about 67% of its members have already accessed health care services.

·AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare, as an example of access to services, reports paying 182 claims so far for dialysis treatment and other services for one enrollee’s care since January.

·In any health coverage program or product, not everyone accesses services immediately, as membership grows and new people come on. However, the above information affirms that Charter Oak enrollees do have access to health care services paid for by the program, and are using the services as needed.

READ FULL STORY BY CHRISTINE STUART

Flu Concern Curtails Foran Schedule

MILFORD - Joseph A. Foran High School will begin operating on a half-day schedule Wednesday until further notice as health officials try to minimize the threat of the H1N1 virus.

Officials said the school will start closing at noon to minimize time students spend togehter, after 12 youths in the past three days exhibited flu-like symptoms, which the Milford Health Department is referring to as influenza-like illness.

Affected students have been tested for swine flu, though results take a few days to confirm, said city Health Director Dr. A. Dennis McBride.

If more students become ill, it is possible the school could be shut down for a period of time, officials said, but that decision will be made on a day-by-day basis. Foran parents were notified Tuesday evening about the precautions through the city’s Connect-Ed telephone notification system, Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said.

"Though we do not have a confirmed case of H1N1 Influenza A virus at this time, we are implementing these measures proactively to decrease contact among children and to limit the spread of infection. This strategy provides a way to protect the health of the students & staff while minimizing the impact on their education," McBride said.

Foran students will arrive at school Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. and be sent home at noon with no lunch period in an effort to keep large groups of students from congregating and lower the risk of transmitting the flu. The Health Department is not otherwise prohibiting use of the school building, McBride said.

Richetelli said officials hope the school will return to the normal full-day schedule next week, though it could happen as early as this week.

Richetelli said parents should visit Milford’s public school Web site, www.milforded.org for more information and another automated phone call regarding the schedule might go out.

Richetelli and McBride said there haven’t been reports at any other Milford schools of students with flu-like symptoms to cause concern or increased numbers of student absences.

School officials will ramp up cleaning the school."The mitigation strategy recommended by Dr. McBride is based on sound public health practice without hindering our education mission," said Superintendent of Schools

Harvey B. Polansky, in a prepared statement "The implementation of this strategy is necessary to decrease contact among our children thereby limiting the spread of infection."

Officials also advise parents to assume that the virus is present in the community and said anyone with underlying health conditions such as asthma or diabetes should take extra precaution and be monitored by a doctor.

Foran’s senior awards ceremony that had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday also is postponed.

By Susan Misur