A broad based group of concerned Milwaukeans rallied yesterday at the Federal Building and US Courthouse on Wisconsin Ave expressing their outrage over the layoff of over 700 Milwaukee Public School educators. Hundreds of pairs of empty shoes covered the steps of Milwaukee's finest example of Richardsonian architecture as a symbol of the empty spaces in MPS in the coming years.
Speakers were encouraged to act on a national, state and local level to fight this short-sighted and not inevitable cut in funding for the children of Milwaukee.
How?
Nationally: call Senators Kohl and Feingold and demand they support the Keep Our Educators Working Act which addresses the loss of over 300,000 educators across the nation during the latest financial crisis.
Statewide: support the "A Penny for Kids" campaign, led by the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools.
Locally: call the Mayor, County Executive, School Board and any other local leader you can think of and tell them to fully fund education in Milwaukee.
Last Friday the House of Representatives stripped nearly $80 billion from a jobs bill, including COBRA health benefits for the unemployed and Medicaid assistance to states, despite written support for the Medicaid extension from 219 House members.
The failure to pass the extension of Medicaid spending (called FMAP) is terrible news for state budgets and the people who need these vital health care services. To placate conservative Democrats, House leaders jettisoned a provision that would extend by six months a temporary increase in Medicaid funding. Many states already have factored the six-month extension into next year's budgets.
The best hope now is to get FMAP included in the Senate version of the jobs bill, which will come up when Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess. But doing so requires 60 votes. In addition, we need to persuade members of the House to put FMAP funding back in the jobs bill. We cannot expect that things will just turn out OK. We need Wisconsin residents to contact their House members this week urging that they fix this.
In the health care field, experts have talked for years about the savings that electronic medical records could produce – if only there was the money to create a shared integrated system. Guy Boulton reported in Tuesday's MJS that 9.4 million dollars in stimulus money will help build such a system in Wisconsin. The increased efficiencies and savings will mean lower health care costs for everyone.
Many people don't believe they personally benefited from the stimulus, but everyone who pays taxes received at least a few hundred dollars reduction when filing their 2009 federal income tax. Wisconsin families received an average tax cut of $506 dollars, for a total of $2.3 billion in tax cuts state wide. That's money that working people put right back into the local economy.
Wisconsin received almost $1.25 billion for education, which saved thousands of jobs for teachers, teachers aids, service workers, and head start. Keeping teachers on the job means quality education for Wisconsin students, who would have seen their class sizes increase dramatically, hurting the ability of teacher to give every student the attention they deserve.
Wisconsin's politicos and its pundits were stunned by David Obey's announcement that he would not seek re-election after over 40 years in Congress. I was too, but thinking back, I think Obey actually sent us strong signals he would retire once one of his most cherished goals was achieved. In the last couple of years I heard him say in several speeches that he would not retire until he achieved national health care reform. I heard him say it as early as August 2007 in Shell Lake, the one time I have had the honor of sharing a stage with the legendary Congressman. (Obey also played his harmonica that afternoon with a local bluegrass band).
I did not take his statements seriously at the time, but thinking back it makes a great deal of sense. Every bit as much as Ted Kennedy in the Senate, David Obey experienced first-hand our nation's stunning inability to guarantee quality affordable health care. No matter how hard he fought session after session, and how much premiums skyrocketed and the ranks of the uninsured swelled, the goal seemed more and more remote and unattainable.
No one more than David Obey can appreciate the historic significance of the passage of health care reform this year. In addition to his contributions as one of the most powerful leaders in Congress, Obey even got to chair the House debate leading up to the final vote. It seems fitting and proper that Obey chose to end his historic career following the passage of the most sweeping economic and social legislation to be achieved in America since the 1960s. Now that Obey is passing on the baton, we all have an obligation to carry on his work by making health care reform a success.
It was announced last week that Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) will cut 682 more educators and support staff next year . These cuts will devastate an already besieged school district. Unfortunately, MPS is not alone. Local communities across the United States are facing dire economic conditions. Revenues are declining as sales, income and property tax collections are all down - resulting in the elimination of services and laying off of employees. This is occurring at a time of increased need for local public services as communities face high unemployment. Many of the jobs being lost are essential like education, health care, fire and police, transportation, and childcare services. Many layoff and cuts in services were reduced or avoided last year thanks to federal stimulus dollars that flowed into state and municipal governments. Unless similar federal investments are made soon critical local services will be cut deeply which will have a ripple effect in every community.
Fortunately, there is a bill in Congress to help funding for education jobs and other important workers in our community. The Local Jobs for America Act (HR 4812) will invest $100 billion over 2 years to protect 1 million jobs in local communities. The bill provides local governments and nonprofits with funding to hire more fire, police, teachers and others that will directly impact the day to day operation of our local communities. By restoring and saving these services, we can put a million people back to work and spur additional job creation by local businesses.
Despite what opponents have said, health care reform will bring relief for many Wisconsinites. Because health care reform has passed, 332,000 Wisconsinites will be able to afford quality coverage. Federal health reform will also lead to improvements in Wisconsin's BadgerCare Plus program and the state's Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP). For instance, Wisconsin officials say, they will likely switch some BadgerCare Plus recipients with higher incomes to one of two new plans that have yet to be created - a state plan that would be similar to BadgerCare or a system offering private plans and subsidies to make them affordable. The BadgerCare eligibility of 200% of the federal poverty level for adults is higher than 133% threshold established by the new legislation, which could mean more federal money for BadgerCare.
Another benefit is expanded options for people with health problems who are unable to buy insurance on their own because no insurance company will sell them a policy. The federal health reform law allocates $5 billion to ensure every state has access to a high-risk pool. The federal money would enable HIRSP, Wisconsin's existing high risk pool, to offer more affordable health care plans, cover pre-existing conditions immediately, and expand coverage. The subsidized coverage for the people now in the HIRSP would continue, while the new federal funds would be used to subsidize coverage for new applicants who are uninsured.
One of the more controversial topics of reform is enhanced shared responsibility to have insurance coverage. Shared responsibility is essential because, starting in 2014, insurance companies can no longer refuse to sell someone a policy and are required to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Requiring everyone to get insurance will ensure that people do not "game the system" by waiting until they get sick to buy insurance. Shared responsibility encourages healthy people to buy coverage, which spreads risk and reduces costs for insurers by helping to offset the cost of insuring people with existing health problems and those who become sick or injured. The majority of people who do not have health insurance are uninsured because they cannot afford it, not because they do not want coverage. The health reform legislation signed by President Obama makes federal subsidies available to help off-set premium costs, which will make insurance affordable for everybody in Wisconsin. Subsidies are available to individuals and families who make up to 400% of the federal poverty level, which is $43,320 for an individual, and $88,200 for a family of four. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a subsidy calculator you can use to see if you are eligible.
It is difficult for me to comprehend that anyone, let alone an Attorney General, would want to spend our money repeal a law that beginning September 23, 2010 will outlaw the worst insurance company abuses. • Insurance companies will no longer be able to cancel your plan because you get sick or put a lifetime benefit limit on your coverage. • Annual benefit limits on coverage will be tightly regulated as well. • Insurance companies will have to pay for preventive care even if you haven’t paid your full deductible. • Your children won’t be denied coverage because pre-existing conditions. \
As No Sacred Cows pointed out in a previous post , many of the key decisions involved in implementing historic federal legislation will actually be made by the states over the next year and a half. However, the persistent threat to reform is the alliance of big health insurance and conservative politicians. These forces aligned with the tea party movement will tirelessly work to undermine and compromise state-level implementation in an effort to block and ultimately repeal reform.
On January 2013 Wisconsin will submit its comprehensive plan for how the state will implement the new health insurance exchanges in 2014 and beyond. The next legislature and governor will significantly determine what is in that 2013 plan. The lawsuit by Van Hollen is a shoot across the bow to all progressives and supporters of health care reform that conservatives will fight implementation at every step of the way in Wisconsin. Last night the Assembly successfully deflected the first shot. The November election is the next major battleground. The heavy lifting of implementation awaits the next Legislature.
The Conspiracy to Reverse Health Care Reform Begins and Ends in the States
By Robert Kraig
It is becoming clear that the opposition to health care reform from the unholy alliance of right wing politicians and big health insurance is so pathologically intense that they will not give up the fight. Usually after a major legislative battle in Washington, the losing side expresses disappointment but admits the result, just as candidates for office concede defeat after a hard fought election. But the fanatical opposition to historic health care reform is of a different order.
First there were the 16 state attorneys general who used scarce public dollars to file a frivolous law suit based on a pre-Civil War reading of the Constitution. 6 more AGs are now poised to join the original 16 in this windmill tilting exercise. Then came reports of a "two term" strategy to repeal reform, championed by the darling of the right Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and others--it would take two elections to possibly pick up enough seats in Congress. Another stated strategy is to starve reform from Congressional appropriations to block implementation.
Despite all the noise about these tactics, the greatest threat to health care reform is not frivolous law suits or the usual shift in Congressional seats to the minority party during midterm elections but the potential sabotage of implementation in the states. To a degree that is not yet fully recognized, the states are responsible for implementing the critical pieces of health care reform. The insurance regulations that outlaw the worst industry practices are largely to be implemented and enforced in the states. The health insurance exchanges, the centerpiece of the whole reform package, are to be planned and run by the states.
The greatest threat is that the unholy alliance between big health insurance and conservative politicians will undermine and compromise state-level implementation so much that the reforms are discredited. Think a health care Katrina-effect, where the willful undermining of federal emergency management capacity which made a natural disaster much worse was then used by the very same politicians responsible for the fiasco to discredit government. An early example is Georgia's decision to refuse to implement the high risk pool mandated by the reform law. In this case, the federal government will simply perform the task for Georgia of offering coverage to people with preexisting conditions who can't find coverage anywhere else, but what other essential tasks such as enforcing the prohibitions against preexisting condition discrimination and creating an effective health insurance exchange with high quality and affordable health insurance options will be deliberately sabotaged?
The only way to counter such looming health care treason against the economic well being and health of the people is strong state-based health care coalitions that monitor implementation very closely and hold state officials accountable for doing their part to guarantee affordable health care for everyone in America.
Wednesday Governor Jim Doyle announced the creation of a new Office of National Health Care Reform to spearhead implementation of the historic health care reforms that were recently approved in Washington. The office will be co-chaired by Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake and Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg.
Governor Doyle set a goal of Wisconsin leading the nation in implementing the new national health care reform laws, and implementing some of its key provisions early. This includes Wisconsin beginning new health insurance exchange ahead of the 2014 timeline required by the new federal law. The exchange will offer a market place where people can buy subsidized insurance and where the worst health insurance industry abuses are outlawed. This is a crucial step for Wisconsin residents to realize the concrete improvements in health care cost, accessibility, and quality that are promised by national reform.
The success of national health care reform is critically dependent on implementation in the states. Governor Doyle has given the effort a real boost by setting the challenging goal of leading the nation in implementing the historic reforms. It is also crucial that the Governor has placed the new office spearheading implementation under the strong leadership of Secretary Timberlake and Commissioner Dilweg. This is a real opportunity to create a framework for national health care reform implementation in Wisconsin before the Governor leaves office.
The sweeping health care reforms that President Obama signed into law last month leave many crucial decisions to the states. With its history of state-level health care reform, Wisconsin has the opportunity to lead other states in how to expand affordable access to health coverage as quickly and effectively as possible. The Governor's stated goal of establishing Wisconsin's health insurance exchange early is a crucial step.
This is not an April fools day joke. Really it's not. In a speech in Oklahoma of all places last week, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan claimed that the great leaders of progressive reform, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Wisconsin's own "Fighting Bob LaFollette" (sic) "would have scorned the self-proclaimed progressives of our day." This is because, Ryan tells us, the progressives supported empowering the people and expanding democracy. The claim in the speech, which you can read on Ryan's Facebook account, is that health care reform has pushed America to the brink of a tipping point where so many will be benefited by the action of the government that the individual freedom created by the Founding Fathers will be destroyed and replaced by European socialism.
As someone who has written an academic book and peer reviewed articles on progressivism, I can't resist refuting Ryan's absurd distortion of progressivism. If you think Ryan's history contradicts everything you learned in school about early 20th Century progressives, you are right. There were several strands of progressive thought, but they all shared the belief that in a modern industrial era American governmental institutions needed to be adapted to new economic and social conditions in order to maintain traditional American values of freedom and economic opportunity. Heeding a traditional view of limited government, as the conservatives of the day demanded, would lead to a profoundly unequal and undemocratic society in which large corporations would destroy individual freedom and participatory democracy.
In this light, the new health care law is very much within the proud lineage of progressive reform. It is a use of our democratic institutions, and yes the instrument of government, to help improve a major social and economic problem that will not get better on their own. It is also a use of democratic power to check unfettered corporate power, especially that exercised by big health insurance.
We do not have to guess how the early 20th Century progressives would have reacted. The Progressive Party, which nominated Theodore Roosevelt for President in 1912, was the first major party to have a health care reform plank. In addition, progressive era reformers were the first in America to advocate for compulsory health insurance.
This brings us back to Congressman Ryan. At one level, Ryan's Oklahoma speech articulates a bizarre right-wing revision of American history that has been developed over the last couple of decades in right wing think tanks. The new right history dumbs down the Founding Fathers (progressives of their era in point of fact) claiming they created eternal religiously based governing doctrines which can never by adapted to new conditions and happen to parallel modern ultra-conservative ideology (Perhaps the best known purveyor of this right wing history of America is the Fox News talk jock Glenn Beck).
We should give Ryan credit--despite his horrendous misreading of American history and his defamation of "Fighting Bob" La Follette--for recognizing that something big is at stake in the health care reform debate. In fact, Ryan seems to recognize that more than many mainline Democratic politicians. What is at stake, as I discuss in the blog post below this one, is the faith that American democracy can solve our most pressing problems, and continue the social and economic progress of the past two centuries.
