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“Without the Affordable Care Act, I simply could not have retired at 62.”

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Donald L., Palm Coast, FL

Health Care Blog

  • Talking Health Reform with Loralee

    Posted by Valerie Jarrett on August 20, 2009 at 7:45 PM EDT

    One of the greatest honors I've had working with the President here has been being able to travel and be his ears and eyes, to listen to the stories of people from every kind of background, and have them tell me what they want out of their government.  One of my favorite people that I’ve met was Loralee - a mother, a blogger, a self-described moderate Republican, and somebody who has lived courageously through some of the most tragic elements of what's wrong with our health care system.
    I just wanted to write my post here to encourage you to go read her post, and see a real example of how we can all benefit from real conversations where we try to see eye-to-eye rather than just trying to win an argument (you can also see my response to her here.)
    Valerie Jarrett is Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement
     

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  • Recovery in Action: Investing in Health Care

    Posted by Nathan Sterken on August 20, 2009 at 2:46 PM EDT

    While discussion about needed reforms to the health care system continues across the country, the Recovery Act made an investment today that will help hospitals provide more efficient care. Specifically, Vice President Biden announced the availability of $1.2 billion in grants to help health care providers implement and use electronic health records:
     
    With electronic health records, we are making health care safer; we’re making it more efficient; we’re making you healthier; and we’re saving money along the way. These are four necessities we need for healthcare in the 21st-century.
     
    As HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, these investments are a much-needed step towards modernizing the country’s health care system:
     
    Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, make health care more efficient and improve the quality of medical care for all Americans. These grants will help ensure more doctors and hospitals have the tools they need to use this critical technology.
     
    The Recovery Act is also funding projects outside of health care, creating jobs and stimulating the economy by financing public improvement projects across the country: 
     
    Limestone, Alabama Plans to Use Stimulus Funds To Pay Workers to Perform Plumbing, Construction, and Bridge Repairs, And To Purchase Law Enforcement Technology.  "Limestone County will spend its share by improving a bridge, helping create an events center, improving energy efficiency in county buildings, linking county computers via fiber-optic cable and buying video equipment for use by law-enforcement officials. The money …comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009… Limestone County Commission Chairman David Seibert said he is not sure how much the county will receive until it receives the checks, however, he does have some estimates: $300,000 in road money to improve a county bridge; $250,000 to build a new senior center at Tanner; $100,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission to create a faster and more reliable connection between telephones and computers between county buildings; this improvement also allows judges to arraign jail prisoners via videoconference, which saves time and prevents having to transport prisoners to the courthouse. Within the next year to 18 months, the videoconference equipment will be used for industrial recruitment, said Revenue Enhancement Director Rodney Jackson who worked with Grant Coordinator Sonya Anthony to obtain the stimulus money. $100,000 for heating, cooling and plumbing for the event center to be constructed just west of the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives. That work should be under way within 90 days, Jackson said. $59,400 from a juvenile accountability grant to pay for ankle bracelets with global positioning units that are used to monitor some offenders and for outpatient drug program; $17,884… for video equipment, which county commissioners accepted Monday. Jackson said the county would have been eligible for the Justice Department grant and other grants in previous years but this year it was paid with stimulus funds.  Money for the Rails-to-Trails project… City and county residents did benefit from stimulus money the state received because it was spent to improve U.S. 31."
     
    Jasper County’s Highway 16 Is Be Resurfaced Thanks To Stimulus Funds.  "Traffic has been disrupted near Monticello and will continue to be for the next 90 days or so while Hwy. 16 is being reseurfaced [sic] in Jasper County from the Butts County line to Forsyth Street at the Square. The work is a $1.4 million Jasper County resurfacing project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The project includes almost nine miles of resurfacing and shoulder reconstruction." 
    Nebraska Will Use Stimulus Funds to Pay for Repairs, Site Upgrades In State Forests. "Nebraska will be getting $644,000 from the federal stimulus package for deferred maintenance projects at recreation sites in the state. The office of U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday announced awards to Nebraska and 35 other states. More than 100 projects were funded at a total of nearly $95 million. The USDA has been authorized to spend $1.15 billion nationally for forest projects on federal, state and private land.  In Nebraska, the money will be used to repair and update sites on the grasslands and in the state's national forest land. The projects will bring the facilities up to current standards and improve accessibility. And new drinking water wells will be installed in some areas."
     

    Ground Broken On Stimulus Funded Interstate Highway 81 Project To Improve Efficiency; "Will Create Dozens Of Jobs."      "Transportation, border security and elected officials gathered Wednesday morning to break ground on a $1.3 million highway project to improve efficiency at the Interstate 81 border crossing station on Wellesley Island.  Funding for the project will come from the $1.1 billion New York state received for highway and bridge projects through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act…The project itself aims to alleviate congestion at the border by expanding from two lanes to four the roadway that funnels traffic into eight manned U.S. Customs and Border Protection check-in stations. Construction will begin immediately and should be complete by the end of the year, said Michael R. Flick, state Department of Transportation Region 7 spokesman…The economic benefits of the project are twofold, Sen. Aubertine said after the ceremony. In addition to the immediate job creation, ‘the smoother we can make the transition going from Canada to the U.S., the more people are going to take advantage of it.’ Ms. McNeely, representing the contractors' union, said the project will create about a dozen jobs. Luck Brothers Inc., Plattsburgh, will do the work."
     
    Rhinelander Received Stimulus Funds For A New Wastewater Treatment Center And An Addition At The Rhinelander Fire Department.  "Funds will be used to build new wastewater treatment facility and fire department addition.   Governor Jim Doyle was in Rhinelander Wednesday afternoon presenting checks totaling over $33 million to the city…He presented two checks, one for construction of the new wastewater treatment facility and force main and the other for the addition at the Rhinelander Fire Department.  ‘I am happy to be here in Rhinelander to announce major investments in the water system that will create local jobs and benefit local water infrastructure needs," Governor Doyle said. "I’m also pleased to announce that with the help of the Recovery Act, the Rhinelander fire station will be constructing a new addition that will allow them to provide ambulance services to people in need in this community. These important projects made possible through the Recovery Act will help revitalize the local economy and benefit future generations.’   The wastewater check, for $32,912,640, represents $16.4 million in grant money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with the rest coming in the form of a low interest loan from the state. Doyle said the allocation is one of the largest in the state." 

     

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  • Why We Need a Reality Check

    Posted by Jesse Lee on August 19, 2009 at 3:33 PM EDT

    White House Health Care Reality Check
    There are a couple stories out today which, when put in contrast, highlight why we need the Health Insurance Reform Reality Check site, and why we need you to help get the word out about it. (Get the site badge on the right here, by the way.)
    The first is a post at the New York Times’ health blog from Oncology nurse Theresa Brown entitled "A Nurse’s View of Health Reform. "
    "I could offer a tableau of stories, but instead I will tell just one," she says, relaying the story of a patient she once got to know well during his three-month stay in the hospital with leukemia. His good spirits and determination were under a constant weight even beyond his illness:
    This patient’s six weeks turned into two months, and then three months, as one chemo regimen after another made no headway against his disease.
    During periods when he was feeling sort of O.K., he was constantly on the phone and the Internet trying to find a way to pay his mounting hospital bills. He told me, "I know there’s money out there; I just have to find it." He was confident that he could locate money for his care and that he would "beat" the cancer.
    And then I came to work one day, and he was dead as a result of pneumonia. During the fraught and too quick final three months of his life, the cost of his care weighed on him as heavily as his possible death. His wife lost her husband. In addition to mourning him, is she also saddled with a medical debt that will burden her for years to come?
    Can we all agree that the worry provoked by any kind of serious illness should not be compounded with the concern that we cannot afford the treatment we need?
    She brings her point home by discussing one of the eight consumer protections the President has been highlighting, ending the lifetime cap on benefits, and making clear how real these issues are:
    So I ask the people who oppose health care reform to consider what they would do if they found themselves in my patient’s situation — because they very well could, sooner than they know. Any of us could wake up sick, without the coverage we need, in danger of losing the very job that gives us health insurance. Our lifetime cap on insurance, which we never thought we would approach, can be brought so near that the question of costs cannot be separated from the treatment needed to stay alive.
    The second story out today stands as a disturbing contrast, a demonstration of the efforts opponents of reform have gone to in order to derail help for working Americans in situations like the one Theresa Brown recalls. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, the headline "NBC Poll: Myths Endure on Health Care, Highlighting Doubts on Overhaul":
    Nearly half of Americans believe that a proposed overhaul of the health care system means the government will decide when to stop providing medical treatment to senior citizens, according to the latest polling by NBC News released this evening. Some 45% said they believe the plan is likely to include such a provision that has become known as "death panels" despite bipartisan efforts by President Barack Obama and the provision’s author, Republican Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson to dispel the idea. (Isakson, in a recent interview with the Washington Post called the confusion "nuts.")
    This is an astounding number, and other polls have shown smaller but still alarming percentages --nonetheless it shows just how necessary your efforts are to ensure there is an honest conversation and debate on health insurance reform. So far we have done two Reality Check videos touching on this issue alone, one from Melody Barnes taking on Republican claims, and one out today from Linda Douglass answering a question from outside the President’s New Hampshire town hall.  Help get the word out about those videos and others debunking myths you may have heard, this is our best chance for reform in decades and we need to do everything we can to ensure those protecting the status quo don’t win based on dishonest claims as they always have in the past.

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  • Reality Checks: Face to Face

    Posted by Jesse Lee on August 19, 2009 at 12:41 PM EDT

    During last week's town hall on health insurance reform in New Hampshire, we wanted to make sure as many people as possible had a chance to ask their questions. So in addition to all the questions the President took inside Portsmouth High School, we also took several questions from people hanging out outside the school. What we heard was somewhat surprising, and a lesson in how far some of the misinformation spread by those invested in the status quo has spread. Those asking the questions were clearly sincere though, and deserve an answer to their concerns, so Linda Douglass of the White House Office of Health Reform took some time to sit down and address them. 
    We're releasing the videos through our Reality Check page as "Face to Face Reality Checks" – go have a look, and if you've heard any of these myths from friends, relatives, or associates help us spread the word via email, twitter, Facebook or whatever avenue you choose.  As the President wrote, "We are bound to disagree, but let's disagree over issues that are real."

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  • An Update on Reality Check

    Posted by Macon Phillips on August 17, 2009 at 7:10 PM EDT

    Since the White House’s Reality Check site launched, we’ve seen incredible response from individuals eager to get the facts about health insurance reform and pass them along to family and friends.
    An ironic development is that the launch of an online program meant to provide facts about health insurance reform has itself become the target of fear-mongering and online rumors that are the tactics of choice for the defenders of the status quo.
    So let’s clear up two issues that have come to our attention.
    White House Email Updates
    Email updates from the White House have played a central role in our effort to push back on misinformation and get the facts out about health insurance reform.  These updates will continue to be an important source of information about the President, his priorities and opportunities for public participation. 
    It has come to our attention that some people may have been subscribed to our email lists without their knowledge –- likely as a result of efforts by outside groups of all political stripes -– and we regret any inconvenience caused by receiving an unexpected message.  We’re certainly not interested in anyone receiving emails from the White House who don’t want them.  That’s one reason why we have never -- and will never -- add names from a commercial or political list to the White House list.
    At the bottom of every message is a link to unsubscribe from emails that anyone can use to avoid this in the future.  We have also implemented measures on WhiteHouse.gov to boost the security of the mailing list and we will carefully evaluate signups already received to work toward preventing this problem in the future.
    However, it's clear that a lot of Americans appreciate getting updates from the White House and that number continues to grow.  Despite reports by some bloggers and others in the media that have invoked a variety of sinister conspiracy theories, more people signed up for updates last week than during the entire month of July.   If you haven’t joined already, you can easily sign up here.
    Suggesting New Topics for Us to Address Through the Reality Check Site
    The Reality Check website exists to inform public debate about health insurance reform – not stifle it.  As the President said, "We are bound to disagree, but let’s disagree over issues that are real."  To that end, we’ve seen incredible response from website visitors who are using the tools provided on the site to share videos and other content with friends and family.
    To better understand what new misinformation is bubbling up online or in other venues, we want your suggestions about topics to address through the Reality Check site.  To consolidate the process, the email address set up last week for this same purpose is now closed and all feedback should be sent through: /realitycheck/contact
    The White House takes online privacy very seriously.  As our published privacy policy makes clear, we will not share personal information submitted through the site with anyone. We also ask that you always refrain from submitting others’ information without permission.

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  • La Realidad: The truth about health insurance reform is now available in Spanish.

    Posted by Luis Miranda on August 16, 2009 at 9:30 AM EDT

    La Realidad: La verdad sobre la reforma del seguro de salud ahora está disponible en Español.
    No nos podemos dar el lujo de ignorar la reforma del sistema de seguro de salud. Cada día, 14,000 personas pierden su cobertura de seguro de salud, y los costos del seguro de salud en los últimos nueve años se han doblado. Además, un reporte reciente encontró que en solo los últimos tres años las compañías de seguro le han negado cobertura a mas de 12 millones de personas simplemente por que alguien decidió que la persona tenía una condición preexistente.
    WhiteHouse.gov/LaRealidad incluye los hechos sobre lo que verdaderamente haría la reforma del seguro de salud para enfrentar los retos del sistema actual, y por supuesto, lo que no haría. Ya tenemos también un video en español:
     
    Ver este video requiere Adobe Flash Player. Descargue el programa gratis.
    Y el sitio ofrece subtítulos en español para todos los excelentes videos que ya están destacados en el sitio Reality Check. Para dejar claro que la reforma del seguro de salud ofrece mayor seguridad para ustedes, hemos incluído respuestas a preguntas que nos han hecho con frecuencia, y las ocho protecciones que se establecerían para los consumidores de seguro de salud.
    Esta página también le permite acceso a herramientas fáciles de usar para compartir esta información con sus colegas, sus amigos, y su familia, para que los estadounidenses puedan tener un debate completo y sustantivo, basado en los hechos. Esperamos que les sea útil, y les agradecemos el haber tomado el tiempo para visitar el sitio.
    La Realidad: The truth about health insurance reform is now available in Spanish.
    Health Insurance Reform is an issue we cannot afford to ignore. Every day, 14,000 people lose health insurance coverage, and costs of health insurance have doubled in the last nine years. At the same time, a recent report found that in just the last three years insurance companies have denied coverage to more than 12 million people simply because someone decided the person had a preexisting condition.
    WhiteHouse.gov/LaRealidad includes facts about what health insurance reform would actually do to tackle the challenges in our current system, and of course, what it won’t do. We already have one video in Spanish.
    The site also offers captioning in Spanish for all the great video content the Reality Check website already features. We have also posted answers to frequently asked questions as well as eight health insurance consumer protections that detail the security you get with reform.
    The website also offers tools anyone can use to share this information with their colleagues, friends, and family so that Americans can have a full and substantive debate - one based on the facts. We hope you find it useful and thanks for taking the time to check it out. 

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