Monday, November 8, 2010

Achievements of Liberalism in the U.S.

Achievements of Liberalism in the U.S.

All or most were strenuously resisted by conservatives and many Republicans.

  1. Interstate Highway System
    It wasn't Ike's idea. It was a liberal initiative begun in the '30s. Ike was a liberal.
  2. Almost all of our Labor Laws (and All Child Labor laws)
  3. The Marshall Plan
  4. Environmental Laws
  5. Freedom of Information Act
  6. Workplace safety laws
  7. Social Security
  8. The Space Program
  9. Securities Act of 1933 & Most banking Regulations
  10. The Peace Corps
  11. Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)
  12. The Civil rights movement
  13. Fight against Nazis, Fascism and Totalitarianism
    Wilson, FDR ,Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy. All liberals
  14. The Development and Deployment for the Internet (DARPA/HPCA)
  15. The Tennessee Valley project
  16. Women's right to vote
  17. Universal Public Education
  18. National Weather Service
  19. National Science Foundation/Basic Scientific Research
  20. Product Labeling/Truth in Advertising Laws
  21. Public Health Service and CDC
  22. Morrill Land Grant Act (land for State public Universities)
  23. Rural Electrification
  24. Public Universities
  25. Bank Deposit Insurance
  26. Earned Income Tax Credit
  27. Family and Medical Leave Act
  28. Consumer Product Safety Commission
  29. Public Broadcasting
  30. Hoover Dam
  31. Pell Grants
  32. Americans With Disabilities Act
  33. State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  34. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 – New (March 25th, 2010)

So before you knock liberalism, remember it's given you MOST of what Americans take for granted–and so many have died for.

Please take a moment to Retweet this list below. It's far past time that America once again learned to respect, admire, and celebrate it's liberal nature, traditions and achievements.



Read more: http://shoqvalue.com/liberal-achievements#ixzz14iPClAmx

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Obama's Accomplishements

9/1

Michigan pilot program will go national | detnews.com | The Detroit News http://bit.ly/9fDVTl

8/13

Comparing Democratic and Republican tax plans http://bit.ly/cdoCf5 Great chart!


Keith,


Got this email. Apparently it is being circulated on twitter and facebook. I know it's not true and I think it needs to be stopped.


Linda Dapper

@lmdapper

Linda Romaine Dapper (Faceook)

650-996-7053




Very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization.

Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%
Canada 42%

Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:
U.S. 93%
England 15%
Canada 43%

Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%

Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%

Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:
U.S. 71
England 14
Canada 18

Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":
U.S. 12%
England 2%
Canada 6%

I don't know about you, but I don't want "Universal Healthcare" comparable to England or Canada .

VERY INTERESTING! The percentage of each past president's cabinet who had worked in the private business sector prior to their appointment to the cabinet. You know what the private business sector is... a real life business, not a government job. Here are the percentages.

T. Roosevelt........ 38%
Taft..................... 40%
Wilson ................. 52%
Harding.................49%
Coolidge.............. 48%
Hoover................. 42%
F. Roosevelt......... 50%
Truman................. 50%
Eisenhower........... 57%
Kennedy............... 30%
Johnson................ 47%
Nixon.................... 53%
Ford..................... 42%
Carter................... 32%
Reagan................. 56%
GH Bush.............. 51%
Clinton ................. 39%
GW Bush............. 55%

And the winner of the Chicken Dinner is..............Obama.................8% !!!

Yep! That's right! Only Eight Percent!!!..the least by far of the last 19 presidents!! And these people are trying to tell our big corporations how to run their business? They know what's best for GM...Chrysler... Wall Street... and you and me?

How can the president of a major nation and society...the one with the most successful economic system in world history... stand and talk about business when he's never worked for one?.. or about jobs when he has never really had one?? And neither has 92% of his senior staff and closest advisers..! They've spent most of their time in academia, government and/or non-profit jobs....or as "community organizers" ..when they should have been in an employment line.

MAY GOD HELP US!



Thanks,

Gary Mills
Mills Construction Services
Phone:
336-782-5312
Fax:
336-998-4489
email: jgmillsco@gmail.com



I wrote to Linda Wakins

Linda,

Where did you get this information? There is no such organization U .N. International Health Organization. Many people have tried to verify this information and can't find it. Please try and check your facts before passing things along. In this case just put U .N. International Health Organization into Google or Yahoo etc and see what you get.

There are people out there trying to scare people. This is unacceptable. Information is one thing lies are another.

Linda

8/9/10

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/Content/PDF/oecd_historical_toprate.pdf

Tax rates from around the world.


http://owiki.shoq.us/the-achievements-list NEED THIS



On Friday 6th August 2010, said:


reply

All this was done accomplished yesterday (8-4-10)

Senate passes child nutrition bill http://bit.ly/9BMBv7--Senate passes bill to save teacher, police jobs http://bit.ly/d55pwH -- Elena Kagan confirmed to Supreme Court http://bit.ly/bRr25K -- Senate approves Clapper nomination as intel chief http://bit.ly/cn15hZ -- Senate Passed $600 Million Border Security Bill http://bit.ly/9J6L8l

The Senate the way it should look



8/4

Obama’s Legislative Accomplishments Fail to Bolster Popularity http://bit.ly/augw1W people remember how cloudy the process was (not good)

Accomplishments, setbacks and stalemates: Obama’s first year in review http://bit.ly/cZsFkG || old, but worth rereading so we don't forge

@karoli how about honesty? Refreshing if not accomplishment. (AP) Obama says he deserves a grade of 'incomplete' http://bit.ly/dc9EOX

@karoli Can we use this as an accomplishment? Great real people- Dr. Daisy Brooks, Winner of the Presidential Medal http://exm.nr/aWiFkp

Big win for Reid on teacher money | Senator Harry Reid, Nevada - HarryReid.com http://bit.ly/alEXKr || keep going lots of work to do!

7/28

Protection for US writers abroad goes to Obama http://bit.ly/d4IzQU

7/26

POTUS signs legislation to help stop paying dead people Medicare, other federal benefits http://bit.ly/9WLy8K || accomplishment?

Obama's First 100 Days: 10 Achievements You Didn't Know About

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/obamas-first-100-days-10_n_192603.html

President Obama’s accomplishments

http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/2010/03/president-obamas-accomplishments/



Obama
has made quite a few accomplishments,

http://bit.ly/daS68P Rachel Maddow lists exceptional number significant accomplishments of the Obama Administration, even though half a term.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2009/04/29/4426425-obamas-day-100-at-mo-town-hall
Obama's Day 100 at MO town hall From NBC's Athena Jones


equal pay for women
hate crimes against gays

stabilizing the economy
withdrawing troops from Iraq
settling on the “best possible plan” in Afghanistan
improving America’s image around the world
finding international consensus on disabling nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.
Appointed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
tapped at least 48 other Hispanics to positions senior enough to require Senate confirmation

There are more I know. Let me know you favorites and I'll add them.

Rachael Maddow 6/25/10 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#37937282

MADDOW: He signed a bill that gave amnesty to undocumented immigrants. He grew the size of the federal government and the budget, added a whole new cabinet level agency and added tens of thousands of government workers to the federal payroll.

He tripled the deficit. He bailed out and expanded social security with a big fat tax increase. He raised corporate taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars. He raised taxes on gasoline.
He, in fact, signed into law the largest tax increase in history. He supported federal handgun controls. He called for a world without nuclear weapons. He was Ronald Reagan.

As a conservative saint, as the right-wing rock star, as king of the Republican prom in perpetuity, as a transformative figure for people who call themselves conservative, the facts of Ronald Reagan‘s legislative record are awkward.

Ronald Reagan‘s record has in it a lot of things that would get him kicked out of today‘s Republican Party, which is not to say that President Reagan was a secret liberal. He was not. What he was, was complex, but accomplished in his own way.

With the passage of financial regulation in Washington today, President Obama took to the very un-momentous setting of “Twitters,” as he called it yesterday, to say this, quote, “Last night‘s House Senate agreement on Wall Street reform represents the toughest financial reform since the Great Depression.”

It turns out that a lot of things that have happened in the less than two years of this administration are the biggest or first or most important in generations. On the occasion of the Wall Street reform announcement today, Taegan Goddard at “CQ Politics” wrote, “Not since FDR has a president done so much to transform this country.”

Even before today‘s historic Wall Street reform agreement, President Obama, of course, did what politicians have been trying to do for more than 60 years. He passed health reform, which, for the first time, establishes government responsibility for the health care of American citizens.
Consider also the stimulus bill. It didn‘t just throw a lasso around our entire economy and yank and yank it back from the brink. It also pumped about $100 billion into the crumbling embarrassment of our national infrastructure and transportation system.

It was the largest investment in infrastructure since Ike. For solving our country‘s energy problems, something Obama has compared to man walking on the moon, it contained about $60 billion in spending and tax incentives for renewable and clean energy, also a historic investment.
It also included an unheralded but giant investment in science and tech, amping up the budgets at NASA, the National Science Foundation, and an experimental energy research agency that was created under President George W. Bush, but never funded until now.

President Obama also expanded state kids‘ health insurance to cover another four million kids. He signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act amending the 1964 civil rights act for equal pay for equal work. He signed a nuclear arms deal with Russia that would reduce both countries‘ arsenals by a third. He created a new global nonproliferation initiative to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists.

He set forth an international way forward on that radical left-wing proposition of Ronald Reagan, a world without nuclear weapons. Then there are the legislative and policy achievements that don‘t just build on previously-set precedents, but set new ones.

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. It had languished in Congress for years. The Food and Drug Administration permitted for the first time to regulate tobacco.

Better late than never, he dismantled the scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service, broke it into three parts so that the folks who collect money from oil leases aren‘t the same ones regulating the industry. And now, it will actually investigate the industry that it was busy schtupping and doing drugs with during the last administration.

Obama fired two wartime commanding generals in little over a year. He overhauled the astonishing stupidity of the student loan system in which banks were being subsidized to give loans that were guaranteed by the government anyway, a license to print money.

That was ended in the savings put toward actual aid to students. He canceled a weapons program that was bloated, unnecessary and totally irrelevant to either of our current wars, the F-22. Why even mention the cancellation of a single weapons system? Because that never happens. Weapons systems never get canceled. The F-22 did, which is itself a miracle.

In each of these achievements and in the list of things he has yet to do - “Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell,” closing Guantanamo - in each of these things, there is room for liberal disappointment. I sing a bittersweet lullaby to the lost public option when I go to sleep at night.

But presidential legacies are complex. Not even the Reagan administration‘s legacy is pure as the conservative-driven snow. But Taegan Goddard at “CQ Politics” was right today about nothing this big happening since FDR.

The list of legislative accomplishments of this president in half a term even before energy reform which he‘s probably going to get to is, to quote the vice president, “a big freaking deal.” Love this administration or hate it, this president is getting a lot done.

The last time any president did this much in office, booze was illegal. If you believe in policy, if you believe in government that addresses problems, cheers to that. Good night.
END


http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/C045295CED7DCF6885257758005B74BB

EPA Proposal Cuts Pollution from Power Plants in 31 States and D.C. / Rule would reduce smog- and soot-forming emissions contributing to unhealthy air

Release date: 07/06/2010

Contact Information: Cathy Milbourn, milbourn.cathy@epa.gov, 202-564-7849, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing regulations to cut air pollution that impairs air quality and harms the health of people living downwind. The regulation will target power plant pollution that drifts across the borders of 31 eastern states and the District of Columbia. Air pollution is linked to thousands of asthma cases and heart attacks, and almost 2 million lost school or work days. Along with local and state air pollution controls, the new proposal, called the transport rule, is designed to help areas in the eastern United States meet existing national air quality health standards.

“This rule is designed to cut pollution that spreads hundreds of miles and has enormous negative impacts on millions of Americans,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re working to limit pollution at its source, rather than waiting for it to move across the country. The reductions we’re proposing will save billions in health costs, help increase American educational and economic productivity, and -- most importantly -- save lives.”

The transport rule would reduce power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) to meet state-by-state emission reductions. By 2014, the rule and other state and EPA actions would reduce SO2 emissions by 71 percent over 2005 levels. NOx emissions would drop by 52 percent.

EPA is using the “good neighbor” provision of the Clean Air Act to reduce interstate transport, which is the upwind state emissions that contribute to air quality problems in downwind states. The proposed rule sets in place a new approach that can and will be applied again as further pollution reductions are needed to help areas meet air quality health standards.

SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere to form fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone (smog), which are linked to widespread illnesses and premature deaths. These pollutants are carried on the wind to other states, contributing to health problems for their residents and interfering with states’ ability to meet air quality standards.

Today’s action would yield more than $120 billion in annual health benefits in 2014, including avoiding an estimated 14,000 to 36,000 premature deaths, 23,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 21,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 240,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 1.9 million days when people miss school or work due to ozone- and particle pollution-related symptoms. These benefits would far outweigh the annual cost of compliance with the proposed rule, which EPA estimates at $2.8 billion in 2014.

EPA expects that the emission reductions will be accomplished by proven and readily available pollution control technologies already in place at many power plants across the country.

The transport rule also would help improve visibility in state and national parks and would increase protection for ecosystems that are sensitive to pollution, including streams in the Appalachians, lakes in the Adirondacks, estuaries and coastal waters, and red maple forests.

The proposal would replace and improve upon the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered EPA to revise in 2008. The court allowed CAIR to remain in place temporarily while EPA works to finalize the replacement rule proposed today.

EPA will take public comment on the proposal for 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. The agency also will hold public hearings. Dates and locations for the hearings will be announced shortly.

7/06/10

I am in the camp of hunting down all possible candidates and adding
them to the list.

BTW the revised titles to date are mine and therefore the blame for
poor formatting... Is it a problem that each time I enter a bullet sub-
list the number structure of the list gets broken?

R. Paine (ArrghPaine)

On Jul 6, 7:13 am, jemi...@aol.com wrote:
Never hurts to mine for new information.

E. Joyce Moore
Moorham Enterprises
From the Stoop Productions
AAAA (Alliance of
African American Artists)
Writer,Producer, Poet, Author of Ramblings Through the Attic of Thought,
Gettin' to the Good Wood, I Like Brown, Princess Jahzzara
Visit me on
Facebook, Twitter
Book and Blog Website
Baltimore Examiner column

General oWiki Project Update

Roy has been busy cleaning up formats of achievements, etc. Thanks!
Aviva has been adding "Alternative texts" for some items. As an exampleof how to rewrite an achievement, search for her rewrite that begins thus:

"Began the process of restructuring the military"

It was exactly the right idea.

This is just what we should be doing. Replacing long and awkward titleswith shorter, cohesive statements. It's not vital to tell the entire story in each bullet. Just to make it distinct enough from.

Aviva, note that I pressed TAB to indent your bullet. This makes iteasier to see. After they have been there a few days, if no one has comments, we can swap it with the old heading and normalize the text.

NOTE. Creating a sub bullet is the best way to comment on any item. Make your text red. Example

This is the achievement...
Press enter on the end of line, and presstab to indent. Then make comment RED
This is a rewrite of the achievement...
This is the comment on the rewrite

2) Poll -- Do we review a new source collection?

Pash discovered this monster, ad-hoc list, which looks like it was cobbled together from the Watson list, and others around the web.

http://democraticchangeupdate.p2blogs.com/

Would you all take a cursory look at it, and tell us if you think we should formally parse this document for achievements?

If so, I will make a new source collection document for it. I personally feel we should. We have a LOT of people now, and if everyone just did a few, we'd be done fast. But it may be mostly junk or stuff we have already, and not worth the effort. Let's decide by committee.

I HAVE PRODUCED A POLL to help us decide. Please VOTE hereafter you study the collection.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDJ5RmY1aDBQSllvT21TW...


http://www.irontontribune.com/news/2010/jul/08/health-care-fix-help-seniors/

Health care fix to help seniors

Published Thursday, July 8, 2010

Don't be fooled by political rhetoric and those with agendas. The agencies on the frontlines helping senior citizens say the health care reform will benefit millions on Medicare.

A variety of organizations -- including the Area Agency on Aging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and AARP -- are working to dispel myths and educate senior citizens about the immediate and longterm changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act that was adopted by Congress earlier this year.

The health care reform bill was far from perfect, containing a number of changes that will have dramatic impact on the industry as a whole.

But, for many senior citizens, this reform bill will significantly improve coverage and preventative care opportunities.

At the top of the list, it will remove the infamous "donut hole" gap in prescription drug coverage, a flaw that was almost universally pointed to as a major detriment to care for seniors.

Secondly, the reform will greatly increase access to tests and screenings, allowing senior citizens to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to their health.

Some of the free preventative screenings that will be available for free are for bone density, cholesterol, prostate cancer, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer.

Seniors need to arm themselves with perhaps the most vital medicine in the fight for good health: information.

Don't take anyone at his word. Ask a lot of questions and make sure those who are providing answers really have your health at heart.

Tracking Barack Obama's Campaign Promises - The Obama Watchers Wiki http://bit.ly/nNfa0C

Some thoughts on NOT getting involved.



Are we really ready to have the Republicans run this great country of ours again? We are on our way to that. According to a June 2010 NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll only 29% of the people polled think this country is going in the right direction. Did you know that our President is at an all time low in approval ratings? Only 45 percent approve of the job Obama is doing in the White House, compared with 48 percent who disapprove. Sixty-two percent of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track.

What are you going to do to help turn theses numbers around?

Democrats are sitting back listening to the fabrications, misrepresentations, exaggerations and down right lies being spread by elected officials and the right wing talking heads.

What are you going to doing, sitting back or getting involved?

Democrats complain that that the Gulf of Mexico is filling up with oil & that the beaches in Fl are covered with tar balls & that BP is taking us for a ride. We talk about the need for legislation crafted in response the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. We know we need aggressive regulations for oil and natural gas companies operating in federal waters, but there is none.

What are going to do to encourage your legislators make it happen?

Then there is the legislation that has failed to pass. The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, has been voted down four times. We can't ignore the Americans that are out of work and without Health Care Insurance

Have you sent an email, made a phone call or even sent a tweet on this issue?

There are nomination of political appointees needed to run the government that have not been confirmed. This includes appellate judicial nominations ( 25 to 50 per Congress) and the 200 or so Senate-confirmed senior positions in cabinet departments and executive agencies who serve at the pleasure of the president.

Have you spoken up out about the lack of action in the Senate?

Then there is important legislation languishing in the Senate that hasn't been taken up because of lack of support by even one Republican due to the negative impact of the use of Filibusters and Holds.

Have you told them that this is unacceptable?

Some Senators believe that it is impossible to pass comprehensive clean energy and global warming legislation this year, and won't try for fear that it might hurt their chance to be reelected. So they settle for a lesser bill just to say they have done "something." Another item to add to the dustbin of missed opportunities.

Did you remind your Representatives that they were elected to do the business of the people as well as run for reelection?

It is our job as concerned Citizens, Voters and Democrats to get involved on every level in this election year. We can not, no must not allow the Republicans to take one more seat. With everything they have done in the last year to protect Wall Street and big business there should be no question who should win the seats. We can't depend on the media. Between the major amount of misinformation and out right lies being spread from every corner of the right wing media and the lack of credible information due to a lack of left wing media, voters are not hearing the truth. We must help the candidates get their message out.

Stand up and scream about what is going on. And while your screaming, join a campaign committee, put a sign on your lawn. Volunteer your time, make calls stuff envelopes and go door to door. And, if you can donate to YOUR candidates the DCNC, DCCC or DSCC. Even $5 can make a difference. Don't wait until tomorrow due it TODAY.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Write to the Senators on Twitter TODAY

Senator Barbara Boxer (@barbara_boxer
Senator Sam Brownback(@sensambrownback)
Senator Mark Begich (@MarkBegich)
Senator Eric Cantor (@EricCantor)
Senator Tom Coburn (@tomcoburn)
Senator Susan Collins (@senatorcollins)
Senator Bob Corker (@senbobcorker)
Senator John Cornyn (@johncornyn)
Senator Jim DeMint (@jimdement)
Senator Chris Dodd (@SenChrisDodd)
Senator Dick Durbin(@dickdurbin)
Senator John Ensign (@johnensign)
Senator Russ Feingold (@russfeingold)
SenatorChuck Grassley (@chuckgrassley)
Senator Orrin Hatch (@orrinhatch)
Senator Jim Inhofe (@jminhofe)
Senator John Kerry(@johnkerry)
Senator Blanche Lincoln (@blanche4senate)
Senator Richard Lugar (@senatorlugar)
Senator John McCain (@senjohnmccain)
Senator Claire McCaskill (@clairemc)
Senator Bob Menendez(@senatormenendez)
Senator Jeff Merkley (@senjeffmerkley)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski)
Senator Ben Nelson (@senbennelson)
Senator Bill Nelson (@senbillnelson)
Senator Bernie Sanders (@senatorsanders)
Senator Jeff Sessions (@SenatorSessions)
Senator Richard Shelby (@RichardShelby)
Senator Arlen Specter(@senarlenspecter)
Senator John Thune (@johnthune)
Senator Harry Reid (@senatorreid)
Senator Mark Udall(@markudall)
Senator Tom Udall (@tomudall)
Senator David Vitter (@davidvitter)
Senator Mark Warner (@markwarner)
Senator Roger Wicker(@rogerwicker)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Senator Mark Warner Value and Innovation Amendment Package

Value and Innovation Amendment Package
Improving Quality and Value through Delivery System Reform
 Sec. 3601. Quality Reporting for Psychiatric Hospitals. The section would create a pay-for-reporting program for Medicare inpatient psychiatric hospitals beginning 2014. A percentage of payment for these facilities would be tied to successful reporting of quality data, which would be available to the public after opportunity for a hospital or unit to review their performance.
 Sec. 3602. Pilot Testing Pay-for-Performance Program for Certain Medicare Providers. This section would direct the Secretary to begin pilot testing of value-based purchasing (pay-for-performance) programs for certain types of Medicare providers no later than January 1, 2016. These provider types include: inpatient psychiatric hospitals, long-term care hospitals, inpatient rehab facilities, acute prospective payment system-exempt cancer hospitals, and hospices. The Secretary would have authority, after 2018, to expand these pilots if the CMS Chief Actuary determines it would reduce Medicare program spending while maintaining or improving the quality of care.
 Sec. 3603. Plans for a Value-Based Purchasing Program for Ambulatory Surgical Centers. This section would direct the Secretary to develop a plan to create a value-based purchasing program for ambulatory surgical centers. The plan would be submitted to Congress no later than January 1, 2011.
 Sec. 3604. Revisions to National Pilot Program on Payment Bundling. This section would modify the new CMS pilot on Medicare bundled payments created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It would expand the number of health conditions tested under the pilot and give the Secretary authority to expand the duration or scope of the pilot after January 1, 2016 if the CMS Chief Actuary determines it would reduce Medicare program spending while maintaining or improving the quality of care.
 Sec. 3605. Improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. This section would give the Secretary greater flexibility in administering the Medicare Shared Savings Program. This program is created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to reward Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) that successfully coordinate care to lower costs and improve the quality of care.
 Sec. 3606. Incentives to Implement Activities to Reduce Disparities. This section would ensure that qualified health plans offered through new American Health Benefit
Exchanges include programs to reduce health disparities as part of required quality improvement activities.
 Sec. 3607. National Diabetes Prevention Program. This section would direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a national diabetes prevention program that targets individuals at high risk of developing diabetes. It authorizes federal grants to entities developing community-based diabetes prevention models and other training and outreach activities.
 Sec. 3608. Selection of Efficiency Measures. This section would ensure that measures of efficiency are included under new quality measure development activities supported by this Act.
 Sec. 3609. Regional Testing of Payment and Service Delivery Models Under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. This section would gives the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMI) established under this Act explicit authority to target the testing of new payment and delivery models to more regions.
 Sec. 3610. Additional Improvements Under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. This section gives CMI additional flexibility in selecting models to be tested and permits the Secretary to give preference to models that would align Medicare and Medicaid spending with other public sector or private sector payer quality improvement efforts.
 Sec. 3611. Improvements to the Physician Quality Reporting System. This section would modify the current Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) to permit physicians who report quality data through a qualifying Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program to be eligible for an incentive payment for years 2011-2014. The Secretary also is permitted, starting in 2014, to include MOC participation as a component of the PQRI composite measure.
 Sec. 3612. Improvement in Part D Medication Therapy Management (MTM Programs).This section would require Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) to offer a minimum set of medication therapy management services to certain targeted beneficiaries. It also would require PDPs to routinely assess at-risk individuals who are not enrolled in MTM services and automatically enroll them (permitting beneficiaries to opt-out if they choose).
 Sec. 3613. Evaluation of Telehealth Under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. This section would permit CMI to evaluate, analyze and make recommendations about the effectiveness of telehealth behavioral health issues (such as post-traumatic stress disorder) and telestroke services in medically underserved areas and Indian Health Service facilities.
 Sec. 3614. Revisions to the Extension for the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program. This section would extend the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program for an additional five years, instead of one year as originally proposed by this Act. It would expand the number of hospitals eligible for the project from 15 to 30 and make 20 rural states eligible to participate, instead of the current 10. Another provision allows already participating hospitals to rebase Medicare reimbursements according to current health delivery costs.
Promoting Transparency and Competition
 Sec. 3621. Developing Methodology to Assess Health Plan Value. This section would require the Secretary to consult with relevant stakeholders to develop a methodology for measuring health plan value, which would include the cost, quality of care, efficiency, actuarial value of plans. The Secretary would submit a report to Congress concerning the proposed methodology within 18 months of enactment of this Act.
 Sec. 3622. Data Collection; Public Reporting. This section would modify the new data collection and reporting efforts created by this Act by requiring the Secretary to establish and implement an overall strategic framework for the public reporting of provider performance on reported quality measures.
 Sec. 3623. Modernizing Computer and Data Systems of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to Support Improvements in Care Delivery. This section would require the Secretary to develop a plan, within 9 months of enactment of this Act, to modernize the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) computer and data systems.
 Sec. 3624. Expansion of the Scope of the Independent Medicare Advisory Board. This section would require the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (IMAB) created under this Act to produce an annual report starting in 2014 that includes national and regional information on the cost, utilization, quality, and other features of health care paid for by private payers and Medicare. IMAB also would be required to take the findings of these annual reports into account when preparing proposals to improve Medicare. IMAB also would, starting in 2015 and at least every two years after, submit recommendations to Congress and others on how to slow the growth in national health expenditures.
 Sec. 3625. Additional Priority for the National Health Care Workforce Commission. This section would require the National Health Care Workforce Commission created under this Act to also make recommendations to remove the barriers that health providers encounter to beginning or maintaining professional practice in primary care.
Promoting Accountability and Responsibility
 Sec. 3631. Health Care Fraud Enforcement. This section increases federal sentencing guidelines for all federal health care offenses that involve a loss greater than $1,000,000. This section amends the definition of “health care fraud offense” to include health care crimes that are codified outside of Title 18. This section clarifies the definition of “willfully” to prevent defendants from escaping punishment for violation of a federal health care fraud offense by arguing that they were not aware of the specific criminal provision that they are accused of violating. This section also provides that obstruction of criminal investigations involving administrative subpoenas under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is treated in the same manner as obstruction of criminal investigations involving grand jury subpoenas. Finally, this section permits the Department of Justice to issue subpoenas in investigations pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
 Sec. 3632. Development of Standards for Health Care Financial and Administrative Transactions. This section would require the Secretary, beginning no later than January 1, 2012, and every three years thereafter, to convene stakeholders to identify opportunities to create uniform standards for financial and administrative health care transactions, not already named under HIPAA, that would improve the operation of the health system and decrease administrative costs. Initially, this would include areas such as health claim edits, provider enrollment, and audits. Once the panel identifies new health care transactions that should be made uniform, the Secretary can develop standards for them. Health plans will need to comply with these new standards and associated business rules or face a financial penalty. In addition, this section convenes health information technology stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition takes place for providers as they move from one coding software to the next.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Harry Reid on Health Care

Dear Linda,

This evening at the UNLV campus, I addressed hundreds of Nevadans about our progress passing historic health insurance reform that will benefit Nevada's patients, seniors and small businesses.

I wanted to share my remarks with you.

Sincerely,

Harry
Harry Reid

Remarks at the Judy Bayley Theatre, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Thursday, 5pm, January 7, 2010

After decades of waiting and years of suffering, in just a matter of weeks this health insurance reform bill will become law. We are closer than ever to making this dream a reality.

We've come this far and stand this close because of you. Don't let the political rhetoric and Washington photo-ops fool you - it's you who've made this possible.

Every day the people of Nevada have spoken to me in person, visited my office, written me letters, and called me on the phone - all to share their stories and help explain to America why doing nothing is not an option.

I've listened carefully to your stories - I've even shared many of them on the floor of the United States Senate - and I've thought about each and every one of them as we wrote this good bill.

Too many hardworking Nevadans don't need statistics to tell them that our state suffers more than almost any other from a broken health insurance system. And I'm here to tell you that when President Obama signs this bill into law, Nevada will benefit more than almost any other.

Nevada has the second highest rate of uninsured citizens in the nation. That often leads to bankruptcy and foreclosure, and as you know Nevada has the highest rate of foreclosures in the country. And in far too many cases, lack of health insurance leads to more sickness and even death - in fact, America is the only developed country in the world where dying for lack of health care is even possible.

That's what I mean when I say that doing nothing is not an option. And that's why I am proud of what this bill will do.

It will make health care affordable for half a million Nevadans who today have none, and lower premiums by as much as $1,600 for those who do.

It will stop greedy insurance companies from denying health care to the sick. That happens to thousands every day in Nevada and across the nation - but when this bill becomes law, that number will drop to zero.

It will ensure consumers like you have more choices, and ensure insurance companies face more competition.

For seniors, it will mean free annual check-ups. And it will close that loophole known as the "doughnut hole" so seniors can finally afford all of their prescription drugs - instead of having to decide which pills to split and which to skip.

This bill will also add years to the life of Medicare, which will add years to the life of our seniors. Let me be clear, if you're on Medicare, you won't see a single cut to the benefits you receive. In fact, our bill gives you more. I would never push a bill that would do anything less than strengthening this vital program.

It will make more Nevadans eligible for Medicaid, and I made sure it will do that in a way that protects our state's economy. It will give 24,000 small businesses in Nevada a tax credit to help them cover their employees and their families. And because more people will be able to go to the doctor, this bill will help bring more doctors to our state, and will support community health centers. As we do all this, we will slash our children's deficit in dramatic measure.

We may not completely cure this crisis today or tomorrow, but we must get started toward that end. That's what this bill does - it starts to trade a system that demands you pay more and get less for one in which you will pay less and get more.

You've no doubt heard a lot of myths and rumors about this bill. Some people say that we should solve the health care crisis by eliminating mandates and allowing insurance companies to get away with providing less care than they already are. Let me tell you, they are dead wrong.

I think it's too bad that some care more about politics or partisanship or polling than they do about the health of their neighbors. Because affording to live a healthy life isn't about politics, or partisanship, or polling.

It is about people.

It's about making sure no Nevadan has to choose between taking their mother to the doctor or sending their daughter to college.

It's about making sure no Nevadan has to hear a health insurance company tell them they are too risky to help.

It's about helping all Nevadans and all Americans - those fortunate enough to have health care, and those who do not.

It's about making the ability to afford a healthy life in America a right and not merely a privilege for the wealthy.

When health insurance reform becomes a reality - and we're closer than ever to that day: the uninsured will benefit - and so will the insured; seniors will benefit - and so will children; small business owners will benefit - and so will their employees; the healthy will benefit - and so will the sick.

And more than almost every other state in America, Nevada will benefit.

We're doing this because it is not a question of politics - it is a question of morality. It isn't about left and right - it's about right and wrong.

Health insurance reform is about saving lives, saving you money and saving Medicare. It's about human suffering. And given the chance to relieve this suffering, we must take it.