Health Insurance Bribes

Mary Landrieu is a senator from Louisiana and has been suggesting she will not vote for the health care bill. Here is a provision that ABC News says is going to secure her vote. The provision was added by Senator Harry Reid. The language only applies to the state of Louisiana.

SEC. 2006. SPECIAL ADJUSTMENT TO FMAP DETERMINATION FOR CERTAIN STATES RECOVERING FROM A MAJOR DISASTER.

Section 1905 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d), as amended by sections 2001(a)(3) and
2001(b)(2), is amended— (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (y)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (y) and (aa)’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

‘‘(aa)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), beginning January 1, 2011, the Federal medical assistance percentage for a fiscal year for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State shall be equal to the following:
‘(A) In the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), increased by 50 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5.

‘‘(B) In the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection for the State, increased by 25 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection.

‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State’ means a State that is one of
the 50 States or the District of Columbia, for which, at any time during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and determined as a result of such disaster that every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government under such Act and for which— ‘‘(A) in the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5, by at least 3 percentage points; and ‘‘(B) in the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection by at least 3 percentage points.

‘‘(3) The Federal medical assistance percentage determined for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State under paragraph (1) shall apply for purposes of this title (other than with respect to disproportionate share hospital payments described in section 1923 and payments under this title that are based on the enhanced FMAP described in 2105(b)) and shall not apply with respect to payments under title IV (other than under part E of title IV) or payments under title XXI.’’.

The cost of this bribe is $100 million - but who cares it is not Harry Reid's money - it's yours. The WP suggests that the net cost of the health care bill will actually reduce the deficit - based on the combination of program cuts and tax increases less the $800 million+ in new spending. Don't believe it. This may buy her vote but it may not buy Senator Landrieu's re-election.

Ecumenical Glasses

Rowan WIlliams the Archbishop of the Anglican Communion is in Rome and was quoted in the NYT as saying “The ecumenical glass is genuinely half full.” One could argue that the Pope's recent invitation to dissident Anglicans came in part because the Rev. Williams and the leadership of the American Anglicans have been busy draining the glass as fast as they can.

The Episcopal tradition includes something called discernment - that allows change but is inclusive of a variety of points of view. But the denomination has been less willing to think in this truly ecumenical way for quite a long time. A good deal of doctrine has been made up by majority rule and a good portion of Anglicans are chafing under that new regime.

The Anglicans, after a long discussion, decided that it was appropriate to ordain women to the priesthood. For most American Anglicans that was a reasonable decision. But then the leaders of the denomination moved toward the ordination of homosexuals and sanctioning gay marriage. I suspect that had the American communion had some patience with their fellow parishioners who were opposed that they could have thought the issues out through the process of discernment. But the majority wanted to push the issue through.

Now the denomination is trying to repair the breech by demanding that all churches affirm that the ECUSA (national church) owns their facilities. The same thing is happening in other protestant denominations. Ultimately, that will not be good for congregation building.

From the Social Security Trustees Report – with no editorial comment but one….

Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years with changes equivalent to an immediate 16 percent increase in the payroll tax (from a rate of 12.4 percent to 14.4 percent) or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13 percent or some combination of the two. Ensuring that the system remains solvent on a sustainable basis beyond the next 75 years would require larger changes because increasing longevity will result in people receiving benefits for ever longer periods of retirement.

The Medicare Report shows that the HI Trust Fund could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years by changes equivalent to an immediate 134 percent increase in the payroll tax (from a rate of 2.9 percent to 6.78 percent), or an immediate 53 percent reduction in program outlays, or some combination of the two. Larger changes would be required to make the program solvent beyond the 75-year horizon.

Editorial Comment – Is it really time to authorize a new trillion dollar entitlement in a period where the trustees of the Social Security System tell us that they will again have to either significantly increase taxes or decrease benefits or both to keep the two current systems solvent?

The New California Motto - Amitto

I am a native Californian. My state has always been a place where risk taking and discovery are an essential part of our psyche. But I look at the superlatives of the state and believe that Eureka no longer fits the state. Instead of Eureka, we should change it to Amitto - I've lost it.

Witness the following:

#1 - California has a number of superlatives about it now - the worst credit rating among the states; the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country; at the beginning of the year the third highest level of deficit (as a percentage of total spending) and a continuing inability to balance our budget; the second highest foreclosure rate and the highest rates for sales and income taxes in the country.
#2 - Even though our ports contribute significantly to our economic prosperity and our position in global markets, the state's leadership seems to treat them as almost toxic assets. Members of the legislature, including most recently Dean Florez, have used the ports as a PR device to show their political sensitivity.
#3 - We've let a three inch, inconsequential fish (the delta smelt) paralyze us into creating a new dust bowl in the central valley of the state. Water shipments to farmers in one of the richest agricultural regions in the world have been curtailed by as much as 90% based on shoddy environmental evidence.
#4 - Our state budget priorities are out of whack - we now spend more on prisons than higher education. We face yet another significant budget deficit. That goes along with a bizarre tax system which is driving high income tax payers out of the state.
#5 - A distinguished panel of Californians studied the tax system and came up with a good report on how to reduce the revenue volatility in the system. The report was not perfect but it was a great start. But it seems to be dead on arrival - no intention to move the discussion forward. The business community, which pays heavily under the current system, dismissed the ideas without any serious consideration.
#6 - We've furloughed state employees to save money making state services less available and making the job of public service even less desirable. At the same time we have allowed a couple of public employee unions and sometimes the trial lawyers to have an absolute veto on key items in the legislature.

The list could go on - but that gives you an idea of why the motto change is appropriate. My other question would be when can we recover, as a 1970s writer once called it "The Last Days of the Late Great State?" As a native Californian I wish I could say.

Yo la tengo - Funny

A techie friend sent me the link to this video which I thought was very well done - and funny.

The Reality Sinks in....

Recent polling by Gallup suggests that a majority of Americans now think healthcare is NOT a federal responsibility. As the details of the Pelosi and Reid plans leak out, that is not surprising.

Therapeutic Terrorism

The stories about accused mass murdered Nidal Malik Hasan vary. He seems to have studied under a radical muslim cleric when he was at Walter Reed. There are other indicators that Major Hasan was trying to carry out a radical act. According to some press reports he gave away his belongings before entering the readiness center at Ft. Hood. He seems to have dressed in the traditional white. He seems to have bought the two handguns he used outside of the base. But in an effort to almost overbalance the coverage here against his growing faith in Islam - we seem to be wanting to construct a psychological profile of this guy. Anyone who commits an act like the one Hasan did has some screws loose. But without a detailed evaluation all of the "expert" commentary about who Major Hasan was at the time of the shootings is nonsense.

I would prefer for the news to be just that - here is what happened. GIve the the details that you know. But we consistently prattle on about this or that psychological theory. How about Joe Friday news? - nothing but the facts. His inevitable trial will allow the exposition of all the other stuff. For now we should be concentrating on the losses for the families at Ft. Hood (first) and trying to discover(second), if indeed this was an act of domestic terrorism, how to prevent a future one.

Pew (both center and condition)

"Decisions these states make as they try to navigate the recession will play a role in how quickly the entire nation recovers." So says Susan Urahn of the Pew Center. The Pew Center issued a report on the finances of all 50 state but concentrated on nine including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. They including California are about a third of the total US population

California's problems come from a variety of problems including poor money management and the economic downturn and foreclosures. But according to Pew they are not solved. California's foreclosure rate is lower than Florida, Arizona and Arizona. Our revenue drop is more than the US but less than Oregon, Michigan and New Jersey. Gee that really gives me comfort.