Health Care Reform

Giving instructions to Democratic Legislators:

Hayes sent out news releases calling on four House members to join with Republicans to join the overrride. They are Reps. Dewey Hill of Whiteville, Timothy Spear of Creswell, William Brisson of Dublin and Frank McGuirt of Wingate. Brisson and Democratic Rep. Jim Crawford were the two Democrats who had voted with the Republicans to pass the bill.

You know, I've tried to be Mr. Pragmatic, and not be so critical of Democrats who jump off the Platform from time to time. But if you choose to side with the GOP Chairman instead of your Party's Governor, that "D" after your name is a sham.

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-charlotte/how-to-get-health-care...

Until people understand the full, true and real cost of health insurance, it is going to be very difficult to get the political will ginned up in the voting population to demand change from our elected leaders.

This might be one way to do it.

Several months ago I penned - typed? - an entry entitled "Good News When It's Rare". In the news these days, particularly with election season bringing out some of the worst in various folks, good news is often overshadowed or crowded out.

Well, in case you missed it somehow, some of the best news in a long time happened last week and it involved historic insurance refunds I announced totalling $155.8 million for 215,000+ policyholders, savings of an additional $14 million on premiums, cutting of filed rates for certain health insurance policies, and a special visit I made to the White House.

And kudos as well to BCBSNC CEO Brad Wilson for his leadership and partnership, as well as to my agency technical experts, in making this success come about.

What a difference two weeks makes.

Watch Richard Burr change his position on repealing health care reform. Two days before the final House vote, Burr pledged to focus his campaign on repealing health care reform ("devastating for the American health care system"). Now Burr backpeddles and says "it may not be total repeal at the end of the day" and says a "series of fixes" will do the trick. Huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzsL7PY_Hkg

Last week I watched the president sign into law the historic health care bill, and after shedding a tear for the pundits and talking heads for the loss of their beloved controversy, I paused to consider the sweltering political climate created by the vitriolic debate leading up to the signing of this bill. Politicians from the right side of the aisle have made it clear that they are very upset with the left's handling of health care reform, and with all of their grandstanding it's easy to forget that for nearly eight months they brazenly rejected any and all efforts by the current administration to bring them into the reform process. Listening to conservative objections to the health care bill, I can scarcely recognize the Republican party that I remember from my youth.

I feel a chill running down my spine as I open yet another envelope. I know that folded within is another medical bill I won’t be able to pay. The healthcare reform bill that was signed into law this week and praised by Cal Cunningham has the potential to change my life. My story isn’t really all that different from the stories of millions of other Americans who have played battle royale with health insurance companies. But I feel like my story needs telling, if only to provide a comforting nod of solidarity to others in similar circumstances.

Woo-hoo. The healthcare bill is done. People will see many of the provisions go into place immediately and then they can decide how they feel about these reforms based on reality instead of frenzied, uninformed rhetoric. Let's just take a moment to recognize this historic occasion.

James, hope you do not get me for theft but I stole your skunk picture to make a point here.

President Obama will be signing an executive order that strengthens the law that keeps taxpayer funds from paying for abortions. Hopefully that does not mean when the mother's life is in danger.

To me, this stinks. No, I am not some rabid pro-abortion advocate. In fact, I have said many times here on BlueNC that in most cases, I would not choose abortion myself as an alternative..emphasis on "most cases"..and I have instilled that belief in my children. But, there is more to this issue than just "when a life is a life" and so forth, which is the rabid anti-abortionists' big argument. This, to me, is a matter of CHOICE. I can not make that more clear. I really feel for women that are being TOLD what CHOICE they can make in this almost exclusively because of the christian right. Galls me !!

In the face of a major home-grown disappointment on health care reform, where can North Carolina Democrats look for inspiration - for confirmation that who we elect to Congress can make a difference? How about right across the state line in Virginia's 5th Congressional District?

I've grown increasingly baffled over recent weeks by Larry Kissell's mysterious behavior on the health care reform bill.

His stubborn opposition to the pending legislation makes no policy sense, and it makes no political sense. His reported failure to even return calls of active volunteers and fundraising supporters from 2008 (both in and out of his district) who are now distressed by his intransigent opposition to reform is...politically foolish, let us say. Even if you have a well-reasoned position which you do not intend to change, you do not simply ignore your supporters. You call, you explain, you limit the political damage and try to retain their support for other issues and other days.