Thursday, January 15, 2009

SCHIP Action Moves To Senate

Maybe it 's just me looking at this as crazy, or maybe the U. S. Public went back to sleep.

from the following article:

"SCHIP now covers about 7 million children and is set to expire March 31".

"Analysts say H.R. 2 would add about 4.1 million children to SCHIP, at a cost of about $32 billion."

"The Senate SCHIP bill would add 3.9 million children to SCHIP at a cost of $31.5 billion, analysts say"

for this math - call it 7 million plus an even 4 million children

that's 11,000,000 children insured for $ 31,500,000,000 - that's $ 3,000 per child, per year, of Federal dollars.

That cost does not include the matching state dollars, plus the co-pay schedule at the Dr.'s office.

Yet I can do children's policies all day long for $ 1,500 per child, per year, and be profitable.

Now does anyone wonder why Universal Healthcare is going to break the Federal Bank, when we, the taxpayer will pay twice as much for the service?


SCHIP Action Moves To Senate

House members today voted 289-139 to pass H.R. 2, a bill that would extend and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The Senate Finance Committee will vote on a similar bill Thursday morning, according to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chairman of the committee.

SCHIP now covers about 7 million children and is set to expire March 31.

Analysts say H.R. 2 would add about 4.1 million children to SCHIP, at a cost of about $32 billion.

The Senate SCHIP bill would add 3.9 million children to SCHIP at a cost of $31.5 billion, analysts say.

Both bills would extend SCHIP for 4.5 years.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, has issued a statement praising the House vote.

“Today, the House voted to ensure children in working families have comprehensive coverage for essential health care services, including primary care, preventive care, and immunizations,” AHIP President Karen Ignagni.

SCHIP expansion is “an important building block for comprehensive health care reform,” Ignagni says.

Ignagni notes that AHIP has worked with a broad coalition of groups in support of SCHIP reauthorization.

“We expect minimal hiccups on the path to passage and enactment” of an SCHIP extension bill, Beth Mantz Steindecker and Ira Loss, health care experts at Washington Analysis, Washington, write in a commentary.

House Republicans have been trying to draw attention to provisions in the House bill that relate to children who are legal immigrants.

The House bill would let states waive a federally mandated 5-year waiting period for public benefits for children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants.

Provision supporters say it would help states add 400,000 to 600,000 children to SCHIP.

But more than 100 House Republicans have signed a letter opposing the bill because the bill does not specifically outlaw coverage of the children of illegal immigrants.

“Without strict limits on who is eligible for the program, the ability of disadvantaged children to access this program will be jeopardized,” according to a spokesman for Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Government Bailouts Could Backfire - no kidding

it looks like someone is finally saying what many are thinking - and if this does happen, once again, Congress got it wrong.

Government Bailouts Could Backfire

Massive efforts to support troubled financial institutions might end up increasing instability, by affecting the “precarious fiscal positions” of the United States and other countries.

The World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland, presents that prediction in the 2009 Global Risks Report, a world risk assessment conducted by forum staffers with help from experts at Swiss Reinsurance Company, Zurich; Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., New York; Zurich Financial Services Group, Zurich; and the Wharton School Risk Center, Philadelphia.

The authors of the report note that the United States is currently running a deficit equivalent to 4.6% of the country’s gross domestic product.

But the warning against excessive spending applies to Australia, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom as well as to the United States, the authors of the report write.

Trying to address immediate economic concerns without remedying the root causes could sow the seeds of new problems that may have a strong impact at a later date, the report authors warn.

Global equity values already have fallen an average of 50%, and there continues to be vicious circle involving declining asset values, write-downs and pressure on financial institution capital positions, the report authors write.

Sellers have flooded the markets with more assets than they can absorb, triggering further price drops and further financial institution capital charges, the authors write.

Meanwhile, chronic diseases, wars and terrorism continue to mar the lives of many, and the threat of a major influenza pandemic continues to loom in the background, the authors write.

The authors acknowledge the need for better governance globally but warn against a knee-jerk overreaction that could increase transaction and compliance costs and ultimately prove ineffective in the face of the next crisis.

But this year could prove to be an opportune moment to strengthen global governance and build the political will to restore global financial stability and focus on the longer-term challenges of managing scarce resources and climate change, the report authors write.

“If business leaders and decision-makers can overcome the behavioral biases toward immediate, short-term solutions and switch to longer-term thinking, then they will have made significant progress in adopting an attitude suited to the mitigation of increasingly complex and interlinked global risks,” says Howard Kunreuther, co-chair of the forum's Global Agenda Council on Mitigation of Natural Disasters.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Happy New Year 2009

from a friend


Happy New Year 2009


As I reflect on 2008, I can say we had a great year:

Blacks are happy; Obama was elected.

Whites are happy, OJ is in jail.

Democrats are happy; George Bush is leaving office.

Republicans are happy: Democrats will finally quit saying George Bush stole the election.

And all of us are so happy; The election is finally over!

I think 2009 will be even better:

Immediately after his inauguration, Obama will:

balance the budget,

revive the economy,

solve the real estate problem,

solve the auto industry problem,

solve our gas/alternative energy problem,

stop the fires and mudslides in California,

ban hurricanes and tornadoes,

stop identity theft,

reverse global warming,

find Osama,

solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,

get rid of corruption in government

and achieve world peace .


Then on the 7th day, He will rest.



My best wishes for 2009.............and remember:

"The government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else."