Tag: HHS

2 Federal Whistleblowers Say HHS Told Them to Downplay COVID-19 Outbreak Among “Migrant” Children in Fort Bliss Facility Earlier This Year

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

“Joe Biden, I have a question for you for health purposes: Why don’t you issue orders to secure the southern border so we can make sure people coming across don’t have the virus and aren’t spreading it in the United States? Why don’t you do that?”- Mark Levin

FoxNews.com reports that

Two federal whistleblowers are alleging that Department of Health and Human Services instructed them to downplay a coronavirus outbreak amongst migrant children being housed at a facility in Fort Bliss, Texas, earlier this year, according to a complaint filed Wednesday.

The complaint, which was sent to four Congressional committees and government watchdogs, was filed by the nonprofit Government Accountability Project on behalf of Arthur Pearlstein and Lauren Reinhold – who they say are “career federal civil servants” and “whistleblowers” who “served as volunteer detailees at the Fort Bliss Emergency Intake Site from April through June 2021.”

“COVID was widespread among children and eventually spread to many employees. Hundreds of children contracted COVID in the overcrowded conditions,” the complaint says. “Adequate masks were not consistently provided to children, nor was their use consistently enforced.”

The complaint added that “regularly, when detailees reached the end of their term, a sheet was passed around with detailed instructions from the HHS Public Affairs Office on how, when asked, to make everything sound positive about the Fort Bliss experience and to play down anything negative.”

The complaint also said “every effort was made to downplay the degree of COVID infection at the site, and the size of the outbreak was deliberately kept under wraps.”

“At a ‘town hall’ meeting with detailees, a senior U.S. Public Health Service manager was asked and refused to say how many were infected because “if that graph [of infections] is going to The Washington Post every day, it’s the only thing we’ll be dealing with and politics will take over, perception will take over, and we’re about reality, not perception,’” it claimed.

The manager at the Fort Bliss site reportedly “also dismissed a detailee’s concern that the children in the COVID tents were wearing basic disposable masks instead of N95 masks.

“The manager said N95 masks were unnecessary for the infected – even though uninfected detailees were working with the infected children,” the complaint said.

The Government Accountability Project says “Pearlstein was primarily assigned to work on two teams while at Fort Bliss: performing clinical assessments on the Clinical Assessment Team; and working with small groups and individual children on the Mental Health/Wellness team,” while Reinhold “worked in the girls’ tent for the first half of her detail; and, during the second half, was on the Call Center Team, and worked in all tents.”

Fox News has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

It appears that Biden and his Administration are “recharging” the pandemic.

The Biden Administration have been taking these minors to military bases, like Obama did, and then these “children” are released to “relatives”, leading to the spread of new outbreaks of COVID-19, which in turn allows the Administration to call for more lockdowns…which will fit in perfectly in the plans of the Far Left Democrats.

They have been flying illegals secretly into Chattanooga, Tennessee and other cities in the Eastern United States under the cover of darkness to be distributed to these “relatives”.

These illegals are not just new Democrat Voters.

The Democrats are using them as human contagion bearers

Just as they fenced in OUR nation’s capitol in order to intimidate and control us, they will have no hesitation to attempt to force another nationwide “Pandemic Lockdown” on American citizens, again.

In countries like Greece, which have allowed the “Democratic Socialists” to take control of their government, the same “game plan” was followed.

Open up the borders, then overwhelm “the system” while raising taxes until businesses go under, placing 40% of the country’s population “working for” the government or on government assistance”.

Think about this:

Just as the Millionaire Democrats on Capital Hill, like Pelosi, live in gated communities to separate themselves from the violence and poverty which they are responsible for, so have they been working in a “gated community” designed to keep  “Deplorables” (i.e. average American citizens) out.

Think about it.

A corrupt Democrat Administration attempting to maintain control over average Americans in order to usher in a Marxist-Style Government through the use of purposefully causing the resurgence of a pandemic among American Citizens.

It sounds like something out of a Science Fiction novel turned movie, doesn’t it?

Welcome to the USSA, Comrades.

Until He Comes,

KJ

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Trump’s HHS Will Determine Sexual Discrimination Based on “the Plain Meaning of the Word “Sex” as Male or Female and as Determined by Biology”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

equality_photo-01

When no one receives “special” treatment, then everyone is equal.

TheHill.com reports that

The Trump administration will scrap ObamaCare’s nondiscrimination protections for sex and gender identity under a final rule released Friday.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination will be based on “the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.”

According to HHS, the new policy makes clear that “the substantive protections prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, and sex remain in effect.”

The move was announced amid Pride Month but has been long-anticipated by religious providers, who argue the administration needs to reinforce their right not to provide treatment that is against their beliefs.

The administration has been working on the rule for well over a year.

Advocates and health groups said the policy will make it easier for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender and nonbinary patients, as well as women who have had abortions.

“HHS respects the dignity of every human being, and as we have shown in our response to the pandemic, we vigorously protect and enforce the civil rights of all to the fullest extent permitted by our laws as passed by Congress,” said Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

The administration has argued that removing the protections, based on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, is largely moot because a federal judge in Texas vacated much of the rule last year.

The Obama-era rule made it illegal for doctors, hospitals and other health care workers to deny care to someone whose sexual orientation or gender identity they disapproved of.

The Obama administration did this by expanding the health law’s definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity for the first time, but those expansions were blocked by a federal judge in 2016. The Trump administration has worked to weaken the rules before they could take effect.

The Trump administration’s rule is wide-ranging and goes beyond the Obama-era protections by rolling back nondiscrimination protections contained in other health provisions as well. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the rule removes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 10 existing regulations.

Advocates and Democratic lawmakers said the decision to move ahead with the rule while the country is still in the middle of a pandemic is especially cruel. The concern is that LGBTQ patients might not be able to access the care they need.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already impacted access to medical treatment, as almost all “nonessential” procedures were halted, people stopped going to the emergency room and even stopped giving their children needed vaccines.

Yet even as states begin to reopen and loosen restrictions on nonessential medical procedures, advocates worry that LGBTQ patients will be discouraged from seeking treatment, coronavirus-related or otherwise.

First off, if an individual identifies themselves as a member of the LGBTQ lifestyle and they are refused treatment by a doctor or feels uncomfortable about that doctor, they can simply find another physician who they will feel more comfortable with.

The whole issue outlined in the article above is a great example of the difference between the Obama and Trump Administration.

Obama believed that everyone was a victim who deserved help from the Federal Government because they could not make it on their own in such a narrow-minded society.

Trump believes that America is a land of opportunity for everyone, regardless of ace, “sexual identity” or color.

You just have to be willing to work for it.

And, therein lies the rub.

Too many individuals living in America right now are living off of America.

It is like the Marxist Creed:

“From each according to his own ability to each according to his need.”

Or, as my exes thought,

“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine.”

Like the President, I begrudge no American the opportunity to work for a better life.

However, to expect to receive “special protection” from the Federal Government simply because of your “alternate lifestyle” not only strains credulity…it squashes that sucker flat.

It’s kind of like the lesson that the Antifa “soldiers” and Rapping “Warlords” who have taken over the East Police Precinct in Seattle, Washington are learning:

Just because YOU think that you deserve special treatment because you’re “different”, does not mean you are going to receive it.

Sooner or later, your bad choices are going to catch up with you and you will have to put on your big boy and girl pants and get on with life.

“Life is harder. it’s harder if you’re stupid.” – John Wayne

Until He Comes,

KJ

New Obamacare Administrator Issued the Order to Block Monuments From WWII Vets. Next…Death Panels?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Sylvia Burrwell

The dots are beginning to connect as to why President Barack Obama chose Professional Bureaucrat Sylvia Burwell to be his new Health and Human Services Secretary.

Saturday, on her Facebook Page, Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, posted the following:

You just can’t make this stuff up.

President Obama just appointed Sylvia Burwell to take over Obamacare, the disastrous beast under which our entire health care system and 1/6 of our nation’s economy is forever fundamentally transformed.

Remember last year when America’s war memorials, national parks, patriotic amenities, student White House tours, etc. were shut down because the Obama administration’s spending priorities are so out of whack? Americans were told the Federal government didn’t have enough of our tax dollars to allow WWII vets to walk across a public sidewalk to visit a statue honoring these heroes. This, during the “shutdown” when crony capitalism, earmarks, and waste and fraud continued to fill the swamp. This, while the first family continued to live elaborately large and some in Congress had the gall to whine that they aren’t paid enough. This, while the people’s will continued to be arrogantly ignored.

What a cold and callous bureaucrat it was who’d direct that quite revealing fiasco, an episode over which the Obama Administration never recovered in the court of public opinion.

Who would do such a thing? Who would punish patriotic Americans? Who sent the email initiating all this?

The political operative Sylvia Burwell.

It’s Sylvia’s stain on the ash heap of history. And along with Sylvia’s stain comes her disturbing, punitive priorities as she takes over our health care coverage. Yeah, nothing can go wrong with that.

You can’t make this stuff up.

– Sarah Palin

As usual, the Arctic Fox is exactly right. And, as I reported the other day, Sylvia’s resume reads like a Who’s Who of Liberal Democrat Non-Profit Behind-The-Scenes Organizations:

According to Forbes.com,

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President, The Walmart Foundation (Jan. 2012 – April, 2013); President, Global Development Program (Apr. 2006 – Dec. 2011). Ms. Burwell joined the Foundation in 2001 as Executive Vice President and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 2002 to April 2006. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. from 1998. Ms. Burwell served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 1998, and was Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin from 1995 to 1997. She also served as Staff Director for the National Economic Council from 1993 to 1995. Ms. Burwell was Manager of President Clintons economic transition team. Prior to that, she was an Associate at McKinsey and Company from 1990 through 1992. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Trilateral Commission and the Nike Foundation Advisory Group, a member of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, an Advisory Board member for the Next Generation Initiative and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the ALS Evergreen Chapter. Ms. Burwell received a bachelors degree in government, cum laude, from Harvard University in 1987 and a bachelors degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Ms. Burwell has been a Director of MetLife and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company since 2004. On April 19, 2013, Ms. Sylvia Mathews Burwell resigned from the Board of Directors of MetLife, Inc., effective as of that date.

And, as I also previously reported, one group in Ms. Burwell’s biography jumped out at me. The Aspen Strategy Group, which is  a part of the Aspen Institute.

Who are they? I’m glad you asked.

According to discoverthenetworks.org, the main things to remember about the Aspen Institute are that the institute

  • Views the United States as a nation rife with deep-seated “structural racism”

  • Warns that “the circumpolar Arctic region is experiencing significant ecological change due to global climate change” caused by human industrial activity

  • Receives financial support from George Soros’s Open Society Institute

…AI has numerous noteworthy connections to the billionaire philanthropist George Soros. For example, in August 2004 Soros and other wealthy Democrats gathered at the Institute to brainstorm ways in which they could use their fortunes to engineer the defeat of George W. Bush in the upcoming presidential election. That same year, Soros spoke at an AI seminar (which also featured an appearance by Al Gore) titled “America’s Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty.” In 2006 Aspen sponsored a Soros talk where the billionaire promoted his book The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror. Jim Spiegelman, Aspen’s director of communications, formerly worked as a “special assistant” to Soros. And Arjun Gupta, who serves on Aspen’s board of overseers, is a vice president with the Chatterjee Group which advises Soros and the Soros Fund Management Group.

Soros’s Open Society Institute (OSI) has awarded the Aspen Institute numerous large grants over the years, including $50,000 in 2004, another $50,000 in 2005, $195,000 in 2008, and $125,000 in 2009. The latter grant was earmarked for “international human rights and international humanitarian law and their application in American jurisprudence.” In 2011, OSI funded AI’s publication of a report blaming the overrepresentation of blacks and Latinos in U.S. prison populations on “the failure of so many of our society’s institutions.”

Soon after the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, AI developed a close working relationship with the U.S. State Department. Said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that year: “We can’t imagine a better partner than the Aspen Institute.”

On July 3, 2009, Gov. Palin wrote the following on her Facebook Page:

Government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

If Ms. Burwell could so callously close down our National Parks and Monuments to our heroes, who paid for our freedom with their very blood, is it too much of a stretch to say that she will have no problem administrating who receives life-saving healthcare and who doesn’t?

..and decrease the surplus population (Ebeneezer Scrooge)

Until He Comes,

KJ

Sibelius Resigns. When the Going Gets Tough…

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

SibeliusGo on, take the money and run…

Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week, and on Friday morning, he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, officials said.

The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the law, convince a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell has been mired in fiscal fights and has also handled health policy as part of her job as budget director.

Officials said Ms. Sebelius, 65, made the decision to resign and was not forced out. But the frustration at the White House over her performance had become increasingly clear, as administration aides worried that the crippling problems at HealthCare.gov, the website set up to enroll Americans in insurance exchanges, would result in lasting damage to the president’s legacy.

Even last week, as Mr. Obama triumphantly announced that enrollments in the exchanges had exceeded seven million, she did not appear next to him for the news conference in the Rose Garden.

The president is hoping that Ms. Burwell, 48, a Harvard- and Oxford-educated West Virginia native with a background in economic policy, will bring an intense focus and management acumen to the department. The budget office, which she has overseen since April of last year, is deeply involved in developing and carrying out health care policy.

Let’s take a closer look at the next HHS Secretary, shall we? According to Forbes.com,

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President, The Walmart Foundation (Jan. 2012 – April, 2013); President, Global Development Program (Apr. 2006 – Dec. 2011). Ms. Burwell joined the Foundation in 2001 as Executive Vice President and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 2002 to April 2006. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. from 1998. Ms. Burwell served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 1998, and was Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin from 1995 to 1997. She also served as Staff Director for the National Economic Council from 1993 to 1995. Ms. Burwell was Manager of President Clintons economic transition team. Prior to that, she was an Associate at McKinsey and Company from 1990 through 1992. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Trilateral Commission and the Nike Foundation Advisory Group, a member of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, an Advisory Board member for the Next Generation Initiative and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the ALS Evergreen Chapter. Ms. Burwell received a bachelors degree in government, cum laude, from Harvard University in 1987 and a bachelors degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Ms. Burwell has been a Director of MetLife and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company since 2004. On April 19, 2013, Ms. Sylvia Mathews Burwell resigned from the Board of Directors of MetLife, Inc., effective as of that date.

One group in Ms. Burwell’s biography jumped out at me. The Aspen Strategy Group is a part of the Aspen Institute.

Who are they? I’m glad you asked.

According to discoverthenetworks.org, the main things to remember about the Aspen Institute are that the institute

  • Views the United States as a nation rife with deep-seated “structural racism”

  • Warns that “the circumpolar Arctic region is experiencing significant ecological change due to global climate change” caused by human industrial activity

  • Receives financial support from George Soros’s Open Society Institute

…AI has numerous noteworthy connections to the billionaire philanthropist George Soros. For example, in August 2004 Soros and other wealthy Democrats gathered at the Institute to brainstorm ways in which they could use their fortunes to engineer the defeat of George W. Bush in the upcoming presidential election. That same year, Soros spoke at an AI seminar (which also featured an appearance by Al Gore) titled “America’s Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty.” In 2006 Aspen sponsored a Soros talk where the billionaire promoted his book The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror. Jim Spiegelman, Aspen’s director of communications, formerly worked as a “special assistant” to Soros. And Arjun Gupta, who serves on Aspen’s board of overseers, is a vice president with the Chatterjee Group which advises Soros and the Soros Fund Management Group.

Soros’s Open Society Institute (OSI) has awarded the Aspen Institute numerous large grants over the years, including $50,000 in 2004, another $50,000 in 2005, $195,000 in 2008, and $125,000 in 2009. The latter grant was earmarked for “international human rights and international humanitarian law and their application in American jurisprudence.” In 2011, OSI funded AI’s publication of a report blaming the overrepresentation of blacks and Latinos in U.S. prison populations on “the failure of so many of our society’s institutions.”

Soon after the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, AI developed a close working relationship with the U.S. State Department. Said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that year: “We can’t imagine a better partner than the Aspen Institute.”

Indeed. 

So, the White House Door revolves again. A Hardcore Liberal leaves, replaced by another Hardcore Liberal.

Incestuous little bunch, aren’t they?

Of course, Sibelius is “getting while the getting is good”, before the rest of the you-know-what hits the rotary oscillator.

But, as long as OUR MONEY holds out, the Obama Administration will keep on spending it.

I wonder if Uncle George Soros would give us American Taxpayers a grant, too?

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Obama Told Me, “You Better Shop Around”!

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

marie-antoinette-obamaYesterday, while speaking at an event in Boston, President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) attempted to correct the lie which he has been telling the American Public over and over again, since he first campaigned for the Presidency: the lie concerning Americans with privately-held Health Insurance Polices being able to keep them with the advent of Obamacare…

Now, if you had one of these substandard plans before the Affordable Care Act became law, and you really like that plan, you were able to keep it. That’s what I said when I was running for office. That was part of the promise we made. But ever since the law was passed, if insurers decided to downgrade or cancel the substandard plans, what we said under the law is that you have got to replace them with quality, comprehensive coverage because that, too, was a central premise of the Affordable Care Act from the very beginning…

So if you’re getting one of these letters [canceling your insurance policy], just shop around in the new marketplace. That’s what it’s for…

For the fewer than 5% of Americans who buy insurance on your own, you will be getting a better deal. So anyone peddling the motion that insurers are canceling people’s plan without mentioning that almost all the insurers are encouraging people to join better plans with the same carrier and stronger benefits and stronger protections, while others will be able to get better plans with new carriers through the marketplace, and then many will get new help to pay for these better plans and make them actually cheaper–if you leave that stuff out, you’re being grossly misleading, to say the least.

Yeah…about that “new marketplace”, Scooter. It’s kind of hard to “shop around” when the cotton-pickin’ website keeps crashing.

While your hench-woman, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, was on the stand at yesterday’s Congressional Hearing, the darn thing crashed again, leading to what Sean Hannity called “an unfortunate screen shot”, with Healthcare.gov’s Technical Problems page on the left of the screen and Sibelius on the right.

“Glitch-plagued” does not even begin to describe the castastrophe-filled abyss that is healthcare.gov.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has published some horror stories that will send chills down you spine on this Halloween…

1. “Three weeks”

Jennie Johnson from Missouri City, Texas, has been trying for “three weeks” to access HealthCare.gov. She eventually decided to take President Obama’s advice and check out her insurance options by phone, but only got a few steps in before being told she had to return to the broken website.

2. “Every day for three consecutive weeks”

David Harrison from Tennessee has attempted to enroll into ObamaCare every day for three consecutive weeks. Not only is he being forced to jump through the glitches to enroll in a health care plan, but some of the plans he is eligible for are more expensive than he was hoping for.

3. “Two weeks”

Elizabeth Cohen, a reporter for CNN, writes that for two weeks straight she tried to access HealthCare.gov, only to be greeted by error messages. Cohen even tried logging on at 3 am on Sunday morning, only to be told by the site that the system was down.

4. “Three weeks”

Patricia from North Carolina has been “trying for three weeks to see what ObamaCare offers without success.” Her current health plan has been cancelled thanks to ObamaCare, and yet she has not been able to sign on to browse a potential replacement.

5. “23 days later”

Mary Noble, an editor at Politix.com, wrote that “for the last 23 days I’ve tried and abjectly failed to create an account on Healthcare.gov.”

So, with Americans suffering under under his Signature Socialist Legislation, which was rammed down our throats, an American President would be humble and apologetic about the situation, instead of attempting to pass the buck, while admonishing American Citizens to “shop around”.

But, not our Manchurian President.

Americans do not matter to him. His Marx/Alinsky – inspired Political Ideology, which, in turn, fuels his plan to “fundamentally change” the Shining City of the Hill” into just another Third-World Barrio, takes precedence over the health and well-being of American citizens, whom he has sworn to protect and defend from enemies, foreign and domestic.

In the 44th President’s case, it’s hardly a priority to protect a citizenry whom you have nothing in common with.

And, apparently, other Americans are starting to realize what Conservatives have known all along: Obama is for Obama.

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows that a mere 42 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, down five points from a poll conducted in early October. The president’s disapproval rating stands at 51 percent, tying an all-time high for Obama.

In all, 41 percent of respondents say they have a less favorable opinion of the president since the 16 day government shutdown, compared to 21 percent who say they have a more favorable view since the shutdown.

The realization of the  freedom-destroying effects of the Marxist Healthcare Law, put into place by the empty suit who occupies Our House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is definitely having an effect on “The Lightbringer’s” popularity numbers. Light bulbs are coming on in the craniums of even those Low Information Voters, who supported Obama for the last 5 years, as they begin to understand what average Americans here in the Heartland have known all along, concerning their “fallen messiah.”.

All hat. No cattle

During the Congressional hearing yesterday morning, Secretary Sibelius was overheard whining into an open mic,

Don’t do this to me.

That’s what average Americans have been saying for 5 years, Madame Secretary.

And, all we have to say to you and the Low Information Voters who are awakening to the duplicity of the Manchurian President they elected,is

Welcome to the “party”, pal!

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obamacare: Covering Some Americans, Some of the Time

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

obamadoctorOn September 9, 2009, President Barack Hussein Obama spoke before a Joint Session of Congress concerning his marvelous plan for state-run Healthcare in America. He said,

Now, if you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans who don’t currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. (Applause.) If you lose your job or you change your job, you’ll be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you’ll be able to get coverage. We’ll do this by creating a new insurance exchange — a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It’s how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it’s time to give every American the same opportunity that we give ourselves. (Applause.)

Now, for those individuals and small businesses who still can’t afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we’ll provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. And all insurance companies that want access to this new marketplace will have to abide by the consumer protections I already mentioned. This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right. In the meantime, for those Americans who can’t get insurance today because they have preexisting medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill. (Applause.) This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it’s a good idea now, and we should all embrace it. (Applause.)

Now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those — especially the young and the healthy — who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. There may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers by giving them coverage. The problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money. If there are affordable options and people still don’t sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for these people’s expensive emergency room visits. If some businesses don’t provide workers health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workers get sick, and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. And unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek — especially requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions — just can’t be achieved.

And that’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. (Applause.) Likewise — likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still can’t afford coverage, and 95 percent of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. (Applause.) But we can’t have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part.

And while there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe — (laughter) — I believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan I just outlined: consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance.

Regarding that whole promise of Universal Healthcare…Obama lied.

Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that

A new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that 56 percent, or nearly six in ten of the people who don’t have health insurance today may be able to get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace for less than $100 per month.

Beginning on October 1, individuals and families will have a new way to shop for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. They’ll be able to compare their options using side-by-side information about price, quality and benefits. With one application they’ll be able to see if they qualify for premium tax credits or Medicaid that lower the costs of coverage right away. Coverage through the Marketplace starts as early as January 1, 2014.

“The health care law is making health insurance more affordable,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “With more than half of all uninsured Americans able to get coverage at $100 or less, the health care law is delivering the quality, affordable coverage people are looking for.”

Of the 41.3 million individuals who are uninsured and eligible for coverage, 23.2 million (56 percent) may qualify for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or tax credits to purchase coverage for $100 or less per month. The amount an individual will save on premiums depends on their family income and size. Today’s report uses data about family income and size from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to estimate the number of uninsured individuals who will qualify for lower costs on monthly premiums.

Today’s report also shows that if all 50 states took advantage of new options to expand Medicaid coverage, nearly 8 out of every 10 people (78 percent) who currently do not have insurance could be paying less than $100 a month for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. While some states are expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014, other states are not doing so. Under the health care law, states can receive 100 percent federal funding in 2014 to expand their Medicaid programs to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $15,800 a year for an individual, or about $32,500 for a family of four.

With less than half a month before Obamacare officially starts making all of our lives miserable on October 1st, Obama’s unwanted socialization of the greatest Healthcare System in the World looks as confused as its creator.

Several states have refused to fund his precious Healthcare Exchanges.

Plus, the nation has found out that Sarah Palin was right all along, as a codicil was found in this monstrous law, which cuts off eligibility for Cancer Treatment at the age of 76. So, if you are an otherwise healthy 77 year old, you are S.O.L….and you know what that means.

And then, there’s the fact that your doctor will be forced to ask you about your sex life, and will record all the lurid details, for Uncle Sugar to read, like an old magazine found in a truck stop men’s room.

Finally, the majority of Americans still want no part of this stupidly conceived and written intrusion into our daily lives.

Nearly 7 out of 10 voters are concerned about their personal health care under the Affordable Care Act and a majority wants to take the health care system back to 2009, according to the latest Fox News national poll.

The poll, released Tuesday, finds that 68 percent of voters are concerned about their health care under the new system. That includes 43 percent “very” concerned and another 25 percent “somewhat” concerned.

The number feeling concerned is more than twice that of those who are unworried (31 percent).

Even a 56-percent majority of Democrats feels concerned (31 percent “very” concerned). By comparison, 72 percent of independents and 77 percent of Republicans feel that way. …

To summarize: On October 1st, Americans will be saddled with a Healthcare System nobody wants, and which is not even ready to be implemented, in the first place.

Heckuva job, Barry!

Until He Comes,

KJ

Storm Clouds Surround Sebelius

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

sebilius kissing obamaHealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finds herself at the center of two controversies today, as the truth about the Obama Administration slowly bubbles to the surface.

On May 13, 2013, wsj.com posted the following article…

Leaders in Congress are questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s solicitation of funds from private businesses and charities to help pay for public outreach on Obamacare to get prospective enrollees signed up for health exchanges.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, ranking Republican on the Senate Health committee, told the New York Times he plans to ask the Government Accountability Office to check the legality of Sebelius’s actions, done after Congress denied the administration funds for public outreach in the 2014 budget. The Washington Post also said that Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, top Republican on the Finance Committee, questioned the legality of the action.

The Times said Sebelius obtained $10 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and $500,000 from H&R Block for the effort. HHS officials said that Sebelius’s efforts would continue, after first denying they were soliciting funds for the effort. But a spokesman for Sebelius said a section of the Public Health Service Act allows her to encourage others to support those working to help carry out public health activities.

Sebelius reportedly has sought donations for Enroll America, a private non-profit group that is working to get the uninsured covered under the 2010 health-care law.

While that issue continues to percolate, Secretary Sebelius finds herself in the middle of another controversy.

Politico.com reports…

The plight of a dying 10-year-old girl in urgent need of a lung transplant has been taken up by some GOP lawmakers, and it’s shining a light on what critics say is a questionable policy that puts children further down the waiting list.

The family of the Pennsylvania girl, Sarah Murnaghan, has garnered the media spotlight, on cable news and in other outlets. And some GOP congressmen have joined the fray, quite literally “begging” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to intervene and save the girl’s life. Both Pennsylvania senators — a Democrat and a Republican — have also written on the child’s behalf.

“I’m begging you,” Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) told Sebelius at a House hearing Tuesday morning, asking her to suspend the transplant rules until they can be revisited. “Sarah has three to five weeks to live. Time is running out.” The child has cystic fibrosis.

At the hearing, Sebelius called the situation “agonizing” and said she had talked to the girl’s mother. She has ordered a review of the policy, which she acknowledged would take too long to have any impact on this girl’s situation, but said it wasn’t her place to pick and choose transplant recipients.

“I can’t imagine anything worse than one individual getting to pick who lives and who dies,” she said. Sebelius said putting Sarah next in line would disadvantage other young people who have also been waiting for transplants — including three in the same area. Helping one child could possibly hurt another.

Some experts agree that the lung allocation policy may need to be revisited; it has been for kidney and liver transplants. But they say no snap decisions should be made because of the media glare.

Remember when Sarah Palin warned Americans about the Death Panels that were coming with Obamacare?

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

That was posted on her Facebook Page on August 7, 2009. Yesterday, on her Facebook Page, Former Governor Palin wrote

The government will bend the rules left and right to harass targeted taxpayers, conservative patriots, selected journalists, etc., but it will strictly exercise inconsistent and subjective rules to deny a child a shot at life. And they called us liars when we spoke of “death panels” – faceless bureaucrats coming between you and your doctor to make life and death decisions about a loved one’s survival. It doesn’t sound so far fetched anymore, does it? – Sarah Palin

No, ma’am. It most certainly doesn’t.

Sec. Sebelius once remarked,

A healthy state encourages many voices – and lots of listening.

What she didn’t mention was the cold condescension and callous dismissal that follows “lots of listening”.

The members of this corrupt Administration have forgotten that they serve at our pleasure. It is time to remind them.

And, please…remember Sarah and her family in your prayers.

Until He Comes,

KJ