Re: Affordable Care Act

[Guest guest]

Yes! This news has made my week. Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula www.second9months.comwww.facebook.com/thesecond9months To: wicbfnet <wicbfnet >; LACTNET ; Birth-Support-Network ; ibclc-pp Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:11 AM Subject: Affordable Care Act

Woo hoo! The US Supreme Court has upheld the Entire Affordable Care Act! (Including its breastfeeding support sections!) Fay Bosman, IBCLCLactation Consultant, www.nwmothernurture.comPresident, County Breastfeeding Coalition, www.facebook.com\TheCCBC

[Guest guest]

Is there a downside as far as breastfeeding support goes? Dana Schmidt, BS, RN, IBCLCCradlehold Breastfeeding Education & Supportwww.cradlehold.netPlease follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CradleholdBreastfeedingEducationSupport No information submitted electronically through the Website or email to us will be treated as privileged, confidential, sensitive or personal health information unless we have previously entered into a written agreement with you to protect such information. Any person submitting confidential or sensitive information to us without first entering a prior written agreement with us to protect such information waives all rights to confidential protection or doctor-patient privilege. We assume no responsibility for the loss or disclosure of any information that you transmit to us via the Internet. Please call or visit www.cradlehold.net for an evaluation. To: " " < > Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 12:22 PM Subject: Re: Affordable Care Act

Yes! This news has made my week. Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula www.second9months.comwww.facebook.com/thesecond9months

To: wicbfnet <wicbfnet >; LACTNET ; Birth-Support-Network ; ibclc-pp Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:11 AM Subject: Affordable Care Act

Woo hoo! The US Supreme Court has upheld the Entire Affordable Care Act! (Including its breastfeeding support sections!) Fay Bosman, IBCLCLactation Consultant, www.nwmothernurture.comPresident, County Breastfeeding Coalition, www.facebook.com\TheCCBC

[Guest guest]

We were definitely due for some GOOD news!normaNorma Ritter, IBCLC, RLCBreastfeeding Matters in the Capital Regionwww.NormaRitter.com

Join us on Facebook for the latest birthing and breastfeeding news and views:http://tinyurl.com/BMCRonFB

 

Yes!  This news has made my week.  Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula

 www.second9months.com

www.facebook.com/thesecond9months

To: wicbfnet <wicbfnet >; LACTNET ; Birth-Support-Network ; ibclc-pp

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:11 AM Subject: Affordable Care Act

 

Woo hoo! The US Supreme Court has upheld the Entire Affordable Care Act! (Including its breastfeeding support sections!)  Fay Bosman, IBCLC

Lactation Consultant, www.nwmothernurture.comPresident, County Breastfeeding Coalition, www.facebook.com\TheCCBC

[Guest guest]

What does that mean for non RN IBCLCs? Are those included in the good news part

or does this ACA still not make a difference in where they will be employed and

whether they will be reimbursed by insurances? Who can shed some light on this?

Nanny Gortzak, MSc, IBCLC

California

>

> Woo hoo! The US Supreme Court has upheld the Entire Affordable Care Act!

> (Including its breastfeeding support sections!)

>

>

>

> Fay Bosman, IBCLC

>

> Lactation Consultant, www.nwmothernurture.com

> <http://www.nwmothernurture.com/>

>

> President, County Breastfeeding Coalition, www.facebook.com\TheCCBC

> <http://www.facebook.com/TheCCBC>

>

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, this law is full of problems. Insurance companies may have to accept those with pre-existing conditions but they can price the policies so high that they are unaffordable. Prescription formularies will shrink to cover the costs of no more donut hole. States don't have the money to accept more into Medicaid/MediCal. More doctors and clinics will turn away MediCaid patients due to lowered reimbursements, etc., etc.

Gail

[Guest guest]

Does anyone know if the insurance companies will cover CLCs as well as IBCLCs with this insurance bill?Dana Schmidt, BS, RN, IBCLCCradlehold Breastfeeding Education & Supportwww.cradlehold.netPlease follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CradleholdBreastfeedingEducationSupport No information submitted electronically through the Website or email to us will be treated as privileged, confidential, sensitive or personal health information unless we have previously entered into a written agreement with you to protect such information. Any person submitting confidential or sensitive information to us without first entering a prior written agreement with us to protect such information waives all rights to confidential protection or doctor-patient privilege. We assume no responsibility for the loss or disclosure of any information that you transmit to us via the Internet. Please call or visit www.cradlehold.net for an evaluation. To: Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 4:54 AM Subject: re: Affordable Care Act

Unfortunately, this law is full of problems. Insurance companies may have to accept those with pre-existing conditions but they can price the policies so high that they are unaffordable. Prescription formularies will shrink to cover the costs of no more donut hole. States don't have the money to accept more into Medicaid/MediCal. More doctors and clinics will turn away MediCaid patients due to lowered reimbursements, etc., etc.

Gail

[Guest guest]

that's your opinion, Gail. there are a whole lot of people who think otherwise. Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula www.second9months.comwww.facebook.com/thesecond9months To: Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 1:54 AM Subject: re: Affordable Care Act

Unfortunately, this law is full of problems. Insurance companies may have to accept those with pre-existing conditions but they can price the policies so high that they are unaffordable. Prescription formularies will shrink to cover the costs of no more donut hole. States don't have the money to accept more into Medicaid/MediCal. More doctors and clinics will turn away MediCaid patients due to lowered reimbursements, etc., etc.

Gail

[Guest guest]

True, , but Gail is not the only person who feels the way she feels either. If those who like the Affordable Care Act and are happy it passed are free to post their opinions here, then those who disagree should also be free to post their opinion.

Dee Kassing

that's your opinion, Gail. there are a whole lot of people who think otherwise.

Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula

www.second9months.com

www.facebook.com/thesecond9months

To: Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 1:54 AMSubject: re: Affordable Care Act

Unfortunately, this law is full of problems. Insurance companies may have to accept those with pre-existing conditions but they can price the policies so high that they are unaffordable. Prescription formularies will shrink to cover the costs of no more donut hole. States don't have the money to accept more into Medicaid/MediCal. More doctors and clinics will turn away MediCaid patients due to lowered reimbursements, etc., etc.

Gail

[Guest guest]

She said it like it was a fact. Everyone can have their opinions, but I don't want people to be misled. Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula www.second9months.comwww.facebook.com/thesecond9months To: Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 8:36 AM Subject: Re: re: Affordable Care Act

True, , but Gail is not the only person who feels the way she feels either. If those who like the Affordable Care Act and are happy it passed are free to post their opinions here, then those who disagree should also be free to post their opinion.

Dee Kassing

that's your opinion, Gail. there are a whole lot of people who think otherwise.

Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant/Postpartum Doula

www.second9months.com

www.facebook.com/thesecond9months

To: Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 1:54 AMSubject: re: Affordable Care Act

Unfortunately, this law is full of problems. Insurance companies may have to accept those with pre-existing conditions but they can price the policies so high that they are unaffordable. Prescription formularies will shrink to cover the costs of no more donut hole. States don't have the money to accept more into Medicaid/MediCal. More doctors and clinics will turn away MediCaid patients due to lowered reimbursements, etc., etc.

Gail

[Guest guest]

Here is the press release regarding the

Affordable Care Act as it relates to breastfeeding. In my role for USLCA we are

working with Medicaid and major insurers to put procedures in place for

provision of these services. It is legally possible form any private insurer or

Medicaid exchange insurer to “credential†an IBCLC based solely on that

qualification to provide these services. For Medicaid itself, all providers

must be licensed. That is why we are working toward licensure in many states. If

you want to help make this happen email me and I will make use of your skills

and time.  

Judy

Judith L. Gutowski, BA, IBCLC, RLC

From: U.S.

Breastfeeding Committee

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 7:47

PM

To: jlgutowski@...

Subject: Supreme Court Upholds

Health Care Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Renner, , mrenner@...

Supreme

Court Upholds Health Care Law:

Implementation of Breastfeeding Provisions Continues

View web version of this release

Washington, DC—Earlier today, the U.S.

Supreme Court issued its ruling to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

(health care reform). The law includes several provisions that support

women and their families to reach their personal breastfeeding goals, and

this ruling ensures that these (and others) will continue to be fully

implemented:

Break

Time for Nursing Mothers: Section 4207 of the

Act amends the Fair Labor Standards Act, requiring employers to

provide reasonable break time in a private, non-bathroom place for

breastfeeding mothers to express breast milk during the workday, for

one year after the child's birth.

Women's Preventive

Services Required Health Plan Coverage Guidelines: The Act requires

health plans to cover preventive services for women with no cost

sharing, including breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling.

Non-grandfathered plans and issuers are required to provide coverage

without cost sharing consistent with these guidelines in the first

plan/policy year that begins on or after August 1, 2012.

Community

Transformation Grants: The CDC's Community

Transformation Grant program funds community-level efforts to

improve health, reduce health disparities, and control health care

spending. Under Strategic Direction 2: Active Living and Healthy

Eating, many communities are implementing Recommended Evidence and

Practice-Based Strategies to 1) increase the number of designated

Baby-Friendly hospitals; and 2) increase policies and practices to

support breastfeeding in health care, community, workplaces, and

learning and childcare settings.

" Our Nation's public health leaders have come together to

call for real changes in the policies, systems, and environments that

impact breastfeeding families, " said USBC Chair Jeanne Blankenship.

" The Surgeon General's Call to Action to

Support Breastfeeding, National Prevention Council Action Plan, and the Institute of

Medicine's report, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention, all identify the

important role of breastfeeding in prevention and reducing health care

spending. The Affordable

Care Act helps to ensure that the United States

continues to improve the landscape of breastfeeding support so that all

mothers have the opportunity to reach their personal breastfeeding

goals. "

The United States Breastfeeding Committee will continue will

continue to work with Congress, the Administration and state governments

during the law's implementation. For additional details on the law, visit

www.healthcare.gov.

USBC is

an organization of organizations. Opinions expressed by USBC are not

necessarily the position of all member organizations and opinions

expressed by USBC member organization representatives are not necessarily

the position of USBC.

The United States Breastfeeding

Committee (USBC) is an independent

nonprofit coalition of more than 40 nationally influential professional,

educational, and governmental organizations. Representing over one

million concerned professionals and the families they serve, USBC and its

member organizations share a common mission to improve the Nation's

health by working collaboratively to protect, promote, and support

breastfeeding. For more information about USBC, visit www.usbreastfeeding.org.

United States Breastfeeding Committee:

Advancing breastfeeding on our Nation's agenda.

Collaboration

Leadership

Advocacy

United States Breastfeeding Committee

2025 M Street, NW, Suite

800 ♦ Washington, DC

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Phone: 202/367-1132 ♦ Fax:

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[Guest guest]

Judy what is a Medicaid exchange insurer? And what is the difference between

that and Medicaid?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

So if BF help is provided without a copay, how much reimbursement would an IBCLC actually get?This could be tough, if a mom wouldn't want to pay out of pocket, but the reimbursement was not a living wage.Lynn in MO

[Guest guest]

, I have read everything and more. Yes, I did post Carl Rove's article, mostly filled with fact. The government (Medicare and Medicaid/MediCal) and HMOs have been denying care for years, as have private insurance companies, ending many's lives. It's totally true and have seen it happen.

Of course the states will have to come up with money to add millions to the Medicaid/MediCal roles. Most states will probably have to opt out, especially my state of Calif. because of financial problems for many years. Have you thought about how the exchanges will be funded? TAXES! I don't know about you, but I can't afford more taxes.

Protection for preexisting conditions sounds nice on paper but insurance companies are private enterprises and they can charge insanely high prices for those policies that no one can afford. The government can't really restrict rate raises because they are privately owned companies. Just like the government can't stop a grocery chain from charging $10 for a gallon of milk if they wanted to.

More than 50-52% of Americans are against most of the Affordable Care Act. Go to yahoo and do a search for the percentage of Americans against the Affordable Care Act. This is fact and has been in the newspapers and on the internet.

Kelli, I'm very sorry your son has chronic illnesses and I hope you will be able to find him affordable insurance but unfortunately, economists say that isn't going to be the case for most. Medical care is expensive so policies can't be inexpensive. And as I said before, the insurance companies can charge $2,000 a month for a plan with preexisting conditions. I'm a nurse and know what 'the other side' is.

Lynn, I'm glad to hear that your doctor cuts his rates for those un and underinsured. More should be like him. My Anthem Blue Cross policy premiums dramatically went up also and I expect it to continue to rise due to this act.

Gail

[Guest guest]

It seems my post was censored or perhaps I never got the digest. One of 's

own link to a fact checking website debunks the very " opinions " she states as

facts. There is simply no proof whatsoever to show that this will increase

costs, there is merely speculation and most of the reputable sources suggest it

will be neutral or decline. As I stated in the post that doesn't seem to have

been put up -- all of this is speculation.

I asked a series of questions in the post that didn't seem to have

appeared. I'll just ask one of them.

-- how would you solve the extremely costly use of ambulances, such as my

brother the firefighter paramedic has reported by people who would cost far less

to treat in clinics? If they had access to preventive health care, the

extremely expensive use of ambulances. THIS misuse of health care, rather than

less costly preventive health services is what drives up health care costs. The

profit motive of the health insurance industry, which we wouldn't need if there

was a public option is what drives up health insurance costs.

In New York State, they actually are starting to keep health insurance companies

in check -- so I have hope that this last round of proposed increases is going

to be stopped dead in its tracks.

Among that 52% are MANY people who wanted a single payer plan. So there are

those who are on the exact opposite end of the political spectrum from .

I do not cite " opinion " -based news -- not " lobbyists " . You won't see

Maddow cited in any of my posts.

Best regards,

E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

[Guest guest]

Kelli:

As an epidemiologist, what I see in the statistics is that most Americans are

completely on your side. First, as an epidemiologist, the percentage of 52% from

a poll actually means a statistical tie. The margins of error on polls are

always at least 3% or higher. So HALF the American population IS in favor of

the Affordable Health Care Act; half is not. The half of the population that has

problems with one or more aspects of the Act -- includes both those who want a

public option and those who think that everything should be privatized. In

fact, polls show that more than 50% of the public wanted a public option, a

smaller proportion want everything privatized. More importantly, most Americans

WANT to have pre-existing conditions covered. So, if you really look at the

situation, those who are in the middle who are looking for what might be useful

in the Affordable Health Care Act and who may want to lobby for IMPROVING the

Act are really in the majority -- since the other half of the population is

split ideologically. Furthermore, many medical associations also support both

the Affordable Health Care Act and public options.

As a single proprietor business here is what I want:

1) Protections for preexisting conditions (including pregnancy - which affects

my clients!)

2) Ability to retain health insurance for our son until he turns 26

3) Ability to shop from health exchanges

4) Restrictions on health insurance companies from raising their rates without

cause which is now happening in New York State

5) Protection from gender discrimination.

All of these will LOWER health care costs because timely care will be provided,

rather than the very expensive emergency care such as the overuse of ambulances

that my firefighter paramedic brother has to contend with now. The costs of

emergency care are astronomical and debilitating in California. Preventive care

would go a long way towards lowering those unnecessary costs and lower taxes in

the where I was born and where my family goes back five generations.

The supreme court itself declared that states do not have to opt for increases

in Medicare and that is a fact.

Best regards,

E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

[Guest guest]

I do not have an opinion on this one way or the other at the moment...still trying to absorb all that is being presented. I just read that one of the ways we will be paying for affordable care is to pay a Real Estate Sales Tax of 3.8% on the sale of your home. I know the Association of Realtors is all over that.

Lou Moramarco IBCLC

Holmdel, NJ (732)239-7771

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of BurgerSent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 8:24 AMTo: Subject: Re: Affordable Care Act

Gail:

You did not present us with facts, you presented us with opinion-based pieces by pundits including Carl Rove who is highly skewed to one side of the issue. All of the information you sent is merely "opinion" at this point.

The facts are that the States would not be required to put more money into Medicaid and the facts are that the Supreme Court made it possible for States to completely opt out. They are not obligated to participate in a program that would start off with 100% coverage by the Federal Government. So in fact these pundits are completely wrong on that point at this moment in time.

Just because many people have listened to pundits on one side or the other who do not fully investigate the complexity of our health care system doesn't mean that they actually don't value parts of the Affordable Health Care Act. The same polls actually show that if people are polled about specific aspects, they are in FAVOR of many parts of the act. So citing a single poll without looking at the deeper meaning of the polls is a superficial analysis

First, I totally object to the notion that it is the government that has restricted my care. It is out of control health insurance companies and I have plenty of horrific examples among family and friends where they PAID FOR THEIR INSURANCE and the insurance companies refused to cover legitimate conditions. People ARE dying because of large corporate interests in making a profit from disease and disability and my cousin happens to have died of cancer prematurely because of this.

As a single proprietor business owner (many so called small businesses are not -- they are shells for larger corporations so surveys of small business are really a fiction) here are the parts that I don't want eliminated:

1) Protections for preexisting conditions (including pregnancy - which doesn't affect me but does my clients!)

2) Ability to retain health insurance for our son until he turns 26

3) Ability to shop from health exchanges -- I can't think of anything worse than being stuck with health insurance companies that have no incentives to and as a sole proprietor I want leverage to be able to seek out more competitive plans

4) Restrictions on health insurance companies from raising their rates without cause -- twice now we've had insurance companies raise their rates by $10,000 for no good reason than they wanted to make as much profit as possible.

5) Protection from gender discrimination.

I did go through your list and here is what I found. I think you should read your own links.

"This is a 'government takeover' of the health care system"

This snappy talking point is used by Republicans repeatedly to bash Obama's crowing legislative achievement, but it is simply not true. In fact, PolitiFact.com labeled this claim the 2010 "lie of the year," but that has not stopped lawmakers from making this claim. It will surely be heard again on the House floor during the repeal debate."

Medicare benefits will be cut--and payments will be cut to Medicare doctors".

This was another GOP attack line during the campaign, though in many ways this was payback for the Democrats' very effective use of the same charge against Republicans after the GOP took control of Congress in 1994 and attempted to pass a balanced-budget plan that sought to restrain growth in Medicare spending.

"A secretive government committee ('death panels') will be created to make end-of-life decisions about people on Medicare"

This claim, first made by former Alaska Gov. Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate, has been thoroughly debunked and was labeled "lie of the year" in 2009 by PolitiFact.com. Yet it persists in the popular imagination. The September Kaiser poll found that 30 percent of seniors still believed this to be the case--and 22 percent were not sure, meaning fewer than half knew the claim was false.

The one problem that is left is that no one really knows about whether costs well increase with the bill.

Sincerely Burger