first email in my gmail account the next day: THEY’RE SHOOTING BABIES OUT OF A LIVE CANNON AND YOU’RE JUST SITTING THERE AT YOUR COMPUTER LIKE A COMPLETE DUMB SHIT
Day: August 2, 2017
United States healthcare related updates coming soon.
(August 1st 2017)
Just because the Senate failed to pass their three healthcare bills does not mean the problems are over. Over the next couple months there will be some big choices that need to be made that could alter your coverage. Here’s what you need to know.
What Donald Trump Is Saying
“As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” – Trump tweet
There are many decisions that will need to be made by the Trump administration starting now until the end of the year. So far the administration HAS been making cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments every month despite threatening to stop every month. However, this month and September will be different because we’re reaching the time when people will start to sign up for 2018 coverage.
After failing to get a healthcare bill passed through the Senate, Trump started making threats that he will now stop the “bailouts,” for insurance companies. This isn’t an entirely accurate statement, what he’s doing isn’t a bailout – the CSR payments simply reimburse insurers for providing required financial assistance to low-income consumers which reduces their copays and deductibles. The money given by the government is to help make healthcare more affordable and accessible.
What This Means For 2018 Premiums and Subsidies
We might see Trump cut off these CSR payments or we might see him end the enforcement of the individual mandate. Both which will make enrollment harder for people and drive up the costs. Insurers are already talking about the possibility of bigger premium costs if Trump pulls out of the CSR payments which currently helps millions of people afford coverage. Others might boost premiums if the individual mandate isn’t enforced because it discourages healthy people from signing up meaning higher costs for them. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has already said they might end the enforcement of the individual mandate.
Trump will have to make the decision about August’s payments over the next couple weeks. Even if he does make the CSR payment for August there’s still September that is in jeopardy and these months could shape what the 2018 marketplace will look like. If these subsidies are cut we will likely see a 20% increase on premium rates.
What This Means For The 2018 Marketplace
The end of September is when insurers will make their final decisions about whether or not they want to sell plans in the Obamacare marketplace. Depending on what we see from the Trump administration over these next couple months, this could mean big changes.
Currently there are a few counties with no options in the marketplace and more with only one option – we might see this increase even more. Trump’s constant threats mean that the payments are uncertain. He might now pay the CSR payments in August and September which would definitely influence the insurer’s decisions but they might not want to jump in with this amount of uncertainty that these payments will continue.
By September 27th we will know what insurers will enroll in the marketplace and where, then in November open enrollment will begin for us. HOWEVER in that small timeframe between the 27th and November Trump could make decisions to pull out of the CSR payments. If he does this before open enrollment begins then insurers still have the opportunity to drop themselves from the marketplace.
Upcoming Bipartisan Senate Hearings
The health committee in the Senate is asking Trump to continue making the CSR payments and the GOP head of the committee is asking fellow Republicans to fund these subsidies. The health committee is also proposing that a one-year funding plan be enacted for 2018. This would keep premiums lower and ensure stability which, as I said above, is a big concern of insurers right now. According to the hearing announcement, these discussions should start the beginning of September.
As of right now, the administration is currently saying that some of these decisions will be coming any day now but some will be decided over the next couple months so keep an eye out.
The World with landlocked regions removed.
good post
You can only reblog this blessed post if you have access to the sea.
Given that my location was removed and I am now IN THE SEA, I reserve my right to reblog this blessed post.
The definition of “regions” here feels, to me, like it sort of makes the whole thing a bit moot. Because I’m trying to think of something that more effectively demonstrates “land-locked” than the HUGE FUCKING DESERT in the middle of Australia, and failing. And yet because the way Australia’s divided up means that every state chunk appears to have sea-access, that GIANT FUCKING DESERT has been declared to be not land-locked. Also British Columbia has like five different regions and several of them are landlocked. So I feel like “regions” should be retitled.
Bigots who are always screaming ‘BUT MUH TROOPS’ suddenly have no problem attacking high ranking military officials on Facebook when they say that they’re OK with transgender people serving in the military. Which one is it going to be assholes?
They only like the bigot troops.
CALL FOR ART & POETRY –
The submission period is now open for our first issue. Cloudthroat is a magazine dedicated to publishing poetry and artwork by queer Indigenous and queer poets/artists of color. Please email submissions to cloudthroateditor@gmail.com
Texas Republican Blocks State’s Bathroom Bill: “I Don’t Want The Suicide Of A Single Texan On My Hands”
Today in “Texas lawmakers doing something right for fucking once”
Joe Straus is a moderate Jewish Republican who has been battling against the Tea Party for a long time, and has been repeatedly targeted for defeat – as well as anti-semitic abuse – because of this. This doesn’t surprise me. I wish there were a lot more like him.
Thank you, Joe Straus.
I wish we did not live in a time where what you did required bravery. But, unfortunately, we do.
Thank you for your courage.
Hey guys, especially in Texas?
You should send this guy thank you cards and positive thank you emails and that kind of shit.
I can guarantee that his office is getting flooded with nasty bullshit over this. It gets really, REALLY bleak and lonely when that’s ALL you get. Letting him know that he did good (yes, even if JUST on this one issue, if you disagree with everything else) is actually REALLY HELPFUL for encouraging politicians to do what you want.
Damn, he’s great. This kind of thing should be incentivized as much as possible.
…I mean, “focusing on the fiscal stuff” GOP style – telling disabled people that they are unworthy of assistance and should work or die, bleeding public services white, etc, etc – might well cause more suicides still. But at least he’s trying, I guess.
At this point any indication of policy decision making that isn’t literally motivated by sheer overt conscious malevolent evil is incredibly welcome, even if I do speak as a lesser-evil libbrul-type impurist adn should not be counted.
Please don’t think this fight is over. This article was from June, and as of this past weekend, the Senate Committee passed the bill! 10 hours of testimony that were mostly against this fucking bill and they still passed it! I’m so fucking angry.
But it’s not over yet. This shit bill is not yet law. So there is still hope
(As of July 24)
Advice:
Don’t substitute a conscience with group approval, even if that group is your friends, who you think of as morally upright people
If you tell a child that a trans woman with traditionally masculine features is a woman the kid is not going to be confused about what women are, they are just going to accept that some women have those features.
Or, alternatively if they are confused you can just explain that
some women have those features.
(BTW: Some women have those features.)
Thank you, this is exactly right.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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