One of the crutches that the Republican Governors have been leaning on in their quest to deny poor people access to quality healthcare was kicked out from under them yesterday.
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that President Obama’s health care law allows the federal government to provide nationwide tax subsidies to help poor and middle-class people buy health insurance, a sweeping vindication that endorsed the larger purpose of Mr. Obama’s signature legislative achievement.
Yes, The Affordable Care Act is here to stay! Yay! Yay!! Yay!!!
The ruling saved some 6.4 million insured from a whopping 43% increase in premiums.
Removal of the subsidies would have created an insurance “death spiral,” driving healthy consumers out of the marketplace and leaving only sick patients who require expensive care.
But it would have also done something else. You know that dishonorable Governors like Sam Brownback of Kansas, Rick Scott of Florida, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, and all the others were just eagerly awaiting this ruling from the Supreme Court. A ruling against Obamacare would have given them hope and a powerful argument that the program would be repealed. Now, thanks to the Brave 6, these governors will come under renewed pressure to do the right thing for their constituents.
It’s also past time for Republicans in state legislatures to make the Affordable Care Act work for their citizens. Thousands of low- and-middle-income residents in Missouri and Kansas continue to be priced out of health insurance because their GOP-controlled legislatures (and in Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback) refuse to expand Medicaid eligibility
They will also be sued by Members of the Support the Dream Defenders group. But wait, there's more. Our National Shaming Project is about set to kick off. We do all of this for one reason and one reason only:
#LetOurPoorPeopleLive!
Help Wanted
We need help to get moving on our #NationalShamingProject. We will need to send letters to the editor in many states, and we need someone to coordinate that. We need to send out press releases regarding our Kansas lawsuit (see last week's diary) and our forthcoming North Carolina lawsuit. In addition, it would be great if someone would make early contact with Rachel Maddow's staff, the AP, etc.
Whoever accepts this position can name the position themselves: Publicity Manager? Director of Marketing? Whatever. Except we do not care for the word "czar."
Whoever accepts this position can also rest happy that we have a socialist organization in which remuneration for the Admins is exactly the same as for Editors and Press Backscratchers. ;o)
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#LetOurPoorPeopleLive
Update on Our FOIA Progress
Three left!
Charting Our FOIA Progress: #LetOurPoorPeopleLive #STDDs
(Dark green indicates we have heard back.)
|
State |
Sent |
Heard Back |
Recipient |
Deaths |
Alabama |
|
|
Gov R.J. Bentley-R |
215-562 |
Alaska |
|
|
Gov Bill Warner-I |
32-91 |
Florida |
|
|
Gov Rick Scott-R |
1158-2221 |
Georgia |
|
|
Gov Nathan Deal-R |
561-1176 |
Idaho |
|
|
Gov Butch Otter-R |
76-179 |
Kansas |
|
|
Gov Sam Brownback-R |
113-330 |
Louisiana |
|
|
Gov Bobby Jindal-R |
249-542 |
Maine |
|
|
Gov Paul LePage-R |
31-157 |
Mississippi |
|
|
Gov Phil Bryant-R |
141-343 |
Missouri |
|
|
Sen Kurt Schaefer-R |
218-700 |
Montana |
|
|
Sen Art Wittich-R |
50-117 |
Nebraska |
|
|
Gov Pete Ricketts-R |
67-212 |
North Carolina |
|
|
Gov Pat McCrory-R |
455-1145 |
Oklahoma |
|
|
Gov Mary Fallin-R |
174-439 |
South Carolina |
|
|
Gov Nikki Haley-R |
209-551 |
South Dakota |
|
|
Gov Dennis Daugaard-R |
36-95 |
Tennessee |
|
|
Gov Bill Haslam-R |
284-759 |
Texas |
|
|
Gov Greg Abbott-R |
8000-9000 |
Utah |
|
|
Rep Gregory Hughes-R |
? |
Virginia |
|
|
Sen Kathy J. Byron-R |
266-987 |
Wisconsin |
|
|
Gov Scott Walker-R |
139-671 |
Wyoming |
|
|
Gov Matt Mead-R |
22-69 |
|
|
|
Total per Year
(Lowest Estimate) |
23,000 |
Notes:
Abbreviations R Republican. D Democratic. I Independent. Gov Governor. Sen State Senator. Rep State Representative.
Alaska: The newly elected governor supports Medicaid expansion; however, Alaska's legislature opposes it. We sent a supportive FOIA request to the Alaska Governor. Indiana: The Governor now supports the Medicaid expansion. Montana: Montana is waiting for federal approval of their version of Medicaid expansion. Utah: Gregory H. Hughes is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Wisconsin: STDDs continue to support Citizen Action of Wisconsin; however, we filed our own FOIA request for Wisconsin.
Source: Health Affairs Blog: Opting Out Of Medicaid Expansion: The Health And Financial Impacts.
Next Action Steps:
1. Letters to the editor by readers, Kossacks, and followers and members of Support the Dream Defenders.
2. Press releases by readers, Kossacks, and followers and members of Support the Dream Defenders. |
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About Support the Dream Defenders
Members of the Daily Kos group Support the Dream Defenders invigorate three ongoing projects:
1. We coalesced to support the Dream Defenders in Florida and their mission, our first project and the origin of our name. The Dream Defenders defend the Dream of Martin Luther King Jr. by "develop(ing) the next generation of radical leaders to realize and exercise our independent collective power; building alternative systems and organizing to disrupt the structures that oppress our communities." Please donate here.
2. Our Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act, crowd-sourced at Daily Kos in the fall of 2014. This bill quickly gained the support of the NAACP and the ACLU. The NAACP forwarded our bill to members of Congress, and we distributed it to members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other progressive members of Congress. President Obama signed into a law a small piece of our bill in December 2014. Our state version of the MBOPRA is currently in committee in the Kansas legislature.
3. Our Freedom of Information Act project. Nineteen Republican governors chose to kill poor people by not expanding Medicaid. Ebola has killed about 9000 people in total; Republican governors kill 23,000 people PER YEAR by refusing federal support for Medicaid, a story ignored by traditional media. Our project forces those governors to out themselves, clapping them in a Catch 22. We will publicize our results through letters to the editor and via press releases. We no longer need volunteers to file FOIA requests, since we have already mailed all such requests.
More information about STTDs here.
You can receive all future stories of Support the Dream Defenders by clicking here. Then click "Follow," which will make all STDD stories show up in "My Stream" of your Daily Kos page.
This is a community diary.
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