HOW DOES THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WORK?  Click Here

AND...the misinformation continues!


Are 75 percent of small businesses firing workers or reducing hours because of Obamacare?

It’s been a long, hot summer, but the political rhetoric isn’t taking a vacation!

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio recently claimed that the majority of small businesses 

 -- 75 percent! -- "say they are going to be forced to either fire workers or cut their hours."

We dug into the survey  {Read more on survey}     and found the numbers told quite 
a different story. Pants on Fire!

Real FACTS for Small Business Owners 

and Employees.  Affordable health care is a top concern for businesses. 

 In a few quick steps, this wizard can help you understand what you 

need to know about new insurance options and other health 

care  changes as well as find health care related resources.   Click here    

Health Care Changes: 

A New Tool for Small Business Owners  Click here

        

How Does Obamacare Work?

Credits to:   By Diane Bullock Jul 26, 2013  as published by MINYANVILLE

ProCon.org does have definitive answers right now to many of our burning queries. Following are a sampling with clear-cut yes or no replies that we thought most relevant to Minyanville readers.  {This is shared because I feel it is put in simple understandable terms and answers many questions still on people's minds  Use the links at the bottom of this article for access to Minyanville.com.}


1. Can this thing still be repealed?

The big challenge to this came from the constitutional question -- which was answered 5-4 -- so it’s not going to get repealed by the Supreme Court. The other place it could’ve been axed was in Congress. The House of Representatives has voted over 30 times to get rid of Obamacare but it’ll never happen without passing the [Democrat-controlled] Senate. And even if it did pass the Senate, there’s no way Obama would sign it. So, between the Supreme Court, the legislature, and then the president all saying “no,” it looks like Obamacare is here to stay.


2. What parts of the Affordable Care Act have already taken effect?

In September of 2010 we started having coverage for young adults up to age 26 on their parents’ plan. We’ve had free preventative care for services such as mammograms and colonoscopies, being done without a deductible, copay, or coinsurance. Insurance companies can’t rescind your coverage if you make some kind of technical mistake on your form (like forgetting to put your middle initial). If your insurer says, “We don’t approve your new heart valve, our policy doesn’t cover it” you can appeal that. The lifetime limits on insurance coverage were lifted. And this is all nationwide, as federal law. In 2011 we started seeing more services for senior citizens. They can now get free wellness visits and free personalized prevention plans on Medicare.

Also, insurance premium rebates took effect if health insurers profit by more than 15%; so at least 85% of all the premium dollars they collect have to be spent on health-care services and health-care quality improvement. If they spend less than that they have to give back rebates to their members. Here at ProCon.org, we have received checks from our insurer because they were compelled to do so as a result of the Affordable Care Act.


3. So what’s left to kick in?

January 1, 2014 is when a lot of the meat of Obamacare takes effect. The big ones are the establishment of state-run health insurance exchanges and the individual insurance mandate that requires every single person in the United States to have insurance coverage. If you’re not insured, you have to pay a fine.


4. Is anyone off the hook for buying coverage?

There are literally some exceptions to the mandate. If someone already has insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, an employer, or a veterans health program, they don’t have to buy insurance because they already have it.

Prisoners, undocumented immigrants, some religious groups -- those who have been historically exempt from the Social Security system such as the Old Order Amish and religious groups whose members pay for one another’s health care. Also, if you’re an American Indian and subject to the sovereign laws of your tribal community.


5. How will the fines work for not buying coverage?

It’s a little bit complicated. First, they give you a year and they shake their finger at you. [Referencing the Cleveland Plain Dealer] in 2014, the penalty is either $95 for every adult and $47.50 for every child under the age of 18 in the household, or 1% of taxable income for the household, whichever is larger. And then it gets worse.

In 2015, they start shaking their fist. It's $325 for every adult and $162.50 for every child (up to $975 for a family), or 2% of taxable income, whichever is larger.

In 2016, that fist turns into a foot and it goes up to $695 for every adult and $347.50 for every child (up to $2,085 for a family), or 2.5% of income, whichever is higher. After 2016, the penalty increases annually by the cost-of-living adjustment.


6. How will the subsidies work for those who can’t afford coverage, and what kind of criteria need to be met to qualify?

There will be no penalty for those who can't afford insurance, including those who don't make enough to file federal taxes or whose insurance premiums will cost more than 8% of their household income. The government will help them pay for it and try to do what it can to make that insurance affordable.

The White House says broadly that there will be tax credits for middle class families, small businesses, and millions of Americans will soon be eligible for tax credits, and if you can’t afford insurance, it basically says don’t worry about it, we’ll help you.

The way Consumer Reports describes it, if you buy insurance on an exchange as an individual, you may qualify for a subsidy in the form of a tax credit if your household income is between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.

7. How does the mandate work for employers?

The way the Affordable Care Act is written, the term “applicable large employer” means a company that employed an average of at least 50 workers during the preceding calendar year. They’ll have to pay a fine of $2,000 per full-time worker if any of their employees turn around and get premium tax credits through the new health insurance exchanges. So if the small business has 51 workers and one of those workers gets a tax credit to help them buy insurance, even though they’re already getting insured through their company, then the business has to pay a $2,000 fine per employee, per year.


8. So the mandate doesn’t apply at all to companies with under 50 employees?

No, and there’s no debate.

9. Can you keep your current coverage?

The White House says yes, and the answer is technically true, but -- and this is a big but -- a lot of the insurance providers will no longer be offering the exact plan. Part of the reason is that Obamacare mandates a certain level of quality and a certain number of services to be offered in their insurance packages. So if the insurance package you currently have doesn’t perform a certain service that Obamacare requires, that insurance plan will likely become a different plan. So your exact same plan may no longer exist because now they have to comply with some of the requirements of Obamacare, which are the ones intended to increase quality coverage.

Whether the forced, low-tier plans will cost more is still subject to debate because -- and this is one of the main theories of the Affordable Care Act -- by mandating that everyone get insurance, they are creating this big carrot for the insurance company. They’re saying we’ll give you 30 million more customers and that will help your bottom line. In exchange for doing that, we’re going to ask that you provide them a little more coverage. And in effect we hope that, on net, it’s a plus for all because more people are insured, you have more customers, they are still profitable, everyone’s happy. That’s the theory.

Whether it increases premiums or not, we won’t know until the mandate has kicked in. I can tell you that [at ProCon.org] for our particular company plan, our premiums have not gone up. In fact we’ve received rebates. Other people will say the opposite, that their premiums have gone up. So the bottom line is to be determined on that one.


10. Will Obamacare raise my taxes?

There will be 19 new taxes in the form of brand new taxes, fees, and penalties that have never existed and in the elimination of tax deductions. For example, we’ll see a $50,000 tax penalty on charitable hospitals that fail to meet five new requirements, a 2.3% excise tax on medical device manufacturers, and a removal of executive salary tax deductions for health insurance companies that compensate executives over 500,000 a year.

For individuals and families, an increased penalty of 20% will apply to early withdrawals from health or medical savings accounts, and people who buy indoor tanning products will incur a 10% excise tax.


11. What if I have [insert chronic disease]? Will I get to participate in the exchange? Will there be a limit on how much carriers can increase my premium, and how can they afford to cover me anyway?

A press release from the Department of Health and Human Services said that under the Affordable Care Act , in 2014, Americans with preexisting conditions cannot be denied coverage, cannot be charged significantly higher premiums, be subject to an extended waiting period, or have their benefits curtailed by an insurance company.

There’s specific language to the effect that increases have to be reasonable. The government will help subsidize what it calls “high-risk pools” so that it is not as cost-prohibitive for the insurers to offer those types of plans. But the law is very specific in that it says they cannot be denied coverage for a preexisting condition. No debate.

Read more: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/personal-finance/articles/what-is-obamacare-obamacare-cost-affordable/7/26/2013/id/50889?page=full#ixzz2aFhomHlz

Read more: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/personal-finance/articles/what-is-obamacare-obamacare-cost-affordable/7/26/2013/id/50889?page=full#ixzz2aFhXssRB

Read more: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/personal-finance/articles/what-is-obamacare-obamacare-cost-affordable/7/26/2013/id/50889?page=full#ixzz2aFh98oG3

Walgreens and BlueCross BlueShield have teamed up across the United States and will be helping answer questions on the Affordable Care Act. Following is a lead from their website.
 How healthcare reform affects you.

Whether or not you're insured, the Affordable Care Act affects everyone in America.

What if I'm already insured?

If you're currently covered by your employer, Medicaid, Medicare or you pay for
your own coverage you may not experience many changes. You may have access
to new benefits like preventative care screenings, emergency services, prescription
drugs and more. If you pay for coverage yourself, you may qualify for new tax credits 
or financial assistance. You'll also gain the ability to insure adult children up to age 26.

What if I'm NOT insured today?

There's a lot of reasons why people in America are uninsured. Maybe your job doesn't
offer health insurance. Or maybe you had problems getting coverage because of an
existing health problem. Perhaps you are one of the millions of Americans who can't
currently afford health insurance.

The new healthcare law expands access to individuals and families who have not had
or could not afford health insurance. Starting on October 1, 2013, U.S. citizens and
legal residents can use the online marketplaces called 'exchanges' to purchase health
insurance. 

www.LearnAboutReform.com

Tear Down This Wall

This is published in regards to HB2305 recently passed and signed by the Governor in Arizona. While it applies only to Arizona other states controlled by Republican Legislatures with Republican Governors have enacted or attempting to enact laws that create roadblocks to ALL United States citizen's "RIGHT to VOTE". These tactics of "Voter Suppression" are desperate attempts by Republican politicians who are "hell-bent" to buy time to remain in POWER. The Republicans across the country have chosen between two masters, the voters who elected them or the money interests that provide the millions of dollars to help keep them in office. This outright suppression policy of keeping minority voters, young and new voters from registering to vote and blocking easy access to the ballot box can be demonstrated with this ONE of many facts from the 2012 election. Republican officials in their plush offices paid for by special interests yelling for less government, really meaning, no regulations, no consumer protection, no environmental or occupational safeguards know this ONE fact from the last election.
MAKE NO MISTAKE Keep the Power in the
!!!!!!Latino Voters, who overwhelmingly voted for President Obama's reelection and Democratic candidates are a KEY to the GOP remaining in Power and holding on to elected positions. In 2012 Latino Voters numbered 11.2 million ballots cast, however, another 12.1 million Latino United States citizens were eligible but DID NOT vote.!!!!!!

Republicans in political power in Arizona, a state with a large population of Latinos, this year passed legislation in HB2305 designed to build walls around the election process, limit the citizens use of the Constitutional guaranteed rights to INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM and RECALL.

Tucked into HB2305 provisions to destroy Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) by a process of purging voters who fail to vote by mail in four elections over two years. Voters who sign up for "Mail Ballots" RISK being "purged by postcard" if they miss just one vote by mail. {You're on the Permanent Early Voter List, unless Purged.}

HB 2305 attacks minor party candidates access to getting on the ballot, imposes almost impossible legal standards on VOTER sponsored ballot initiatives, while leaving wide open access for Legislative Ballot Measures. (Arizona voters have turned down as many or more of the Legislative Ballot Measures as they have citizens Ballot Initiatives. This is why such organizations as the Animal Defense League of Arizona are participating in the Grassroots Effort to stop HB 2305 and give the citizens of Arizona an opportunity to vote on HB 2305 next year.)

The Democratic Party is hard at work with petitions to put the question and voter roadblocks in HB 2305 on the ballot. Strict rules are in place for collecting signatures and handling petitions, almost to the point of kicking volunteers in the chin who are getting signatures and exercising their Constitutional Right of Referendum.

HB 2305 if left to become law will make Citizen's Initiatives more costly and overly complicated, just another maneuver by the Republican controlled Legislature in their efforts to discourage wide citizen involvement in the election process. You can help tear down this wall of voter suppression, volunteer to help in the petition drive to Kill HB 2305.

Your help is needed in collecting these signatures. Petition packets are available at various offices:At the  Green Valley Democratic Headquarters.  Hours are 10 AM - noon, weekdays, Monday - Friday. The Headquarters is located in the Continental Shopping Plaza in Green Valley (next to CVS).  Trained LD-2 Precinct Committee People will be available to assist with procedures for signing the petition.    

At the Pima County Democratic Headquarters, 4639 E. 1st St., Tucson (One block west of Swan, one block south of Speedway), please call Shasta McManus, Executive Director of the Pima Democratic Party, at 520-326-3716.  

In Cochise County please call Pat Fleming, Chair of the Cochise County Democratic Committee, at 520-249-5228. 

At the Arizona Democratic Party Headquarters, 2910 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix.  Please call Barbara Lubin, 602-234-6800 or Jacqueline Adams, 602-234-6803.

The Permanent Early Voting and returning of Mail Ballots will become better understood as voters use the system.  One easy effort that would not cost a penny is to print a notice of the mailed ballot instructions and notification of the enclosed material.

Print on the outside of the mailed ballot, "OFFICIAL November 4, 2014 Ballot, RETURN in enclosed prepaid envelope by US MAIL no later than October 31, 2014."   This simple statement informs the voter what they are receiving and how to cast their mail ballot.  No fuss, no cost and it will be very plain for the voter to know exactly what they have received and how to return to get their vote counted.



Worth your time!
Affordable Care Act 101 Weekly Webinar Series

The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are launching the Affordable Care Act 101 weekly webinar series.  Each week, SBA representatives will walk through the key pieces of the law so that small business owners can understand the facts and make the most informed decisions they can about providing health insurance for their employees.
This free series will focus on both federal and state provisions to help small business owners understand how the law will affect them.  More, Click here

Real Immigration Reform

Stop wasting money on fake border security, it's not the border, it's legal entry turned illegal.
It's the expired visas stupid!
The leadership of the Republican party isn't ready to give up cheap labor for their corporate contributors just yet, as long as we have a huge pool of  underground workers too many are happy to exploit the employment situation.  "Right to Work" and undocumented workers is too high a price to pay for the GOP social agenda, but that is what we have.  A sick employment picture, lack of worker protections and no government controls on excesses.
Let's get real about our immigration reform. 40% of the "illegal population" has nothing to do with our Southern border. People entered the country legally then have gone underground when their visa time was up. This country needs to revisit the "Good Neighbor Policy" as offered by President Roosevelt March of 1933. Eighty years ago FDR set down a program to improve relations with Central and South America. We need to add Mexico and totally revamp our relationship not just with the government but the Mexican people.
We need to recognize some simple facts, Mexico is part of North America just as is Canada, which is treated much differently. Mexico has the 14th largest Gross Domestic Product in the world. Mexico is the sixth largest oil producer in the world. Mexico is the ninth largest holder of United States Debt. Mexico is the largest "auto-producing" country in North America recently surpassing Canada and the United States.
Whose real interest is served by our continued bashing our fellow North Americans, certainly not those of us in Arizona? Our economy depends upon the soon to be 2 million people in the Sonora region, Tucson and Nogales.
A short twenty years from now, will folks look back and a declare how intelligent we were to pursue a new sensible immigration policy recognizing the roots put down by millions of undocumented people many too young to have made their own choices about living here. They are not people from around the world who came to this country for a limited time and purpose but stayed to enjoy what we want to deny our North American family members.
We here in Arizona should be leading the fight for Immigration reform doing otherwise just doesn't make sense. One last thought, without cheap underground labor where would our local economy be today?

Building the Arizona Democrat Party

Just in case you haven't noticed the Republican absolute control has taken Arizona to the bottom of a big dirty pit, last in almost every measure of public services including education and health care.

Every day that we let the Republicans keep a legislative majority,  we lose more teachers from Arizona schools as a result of education funding cuts.  Our children have diminished life-long opportunities as a result of greed and profits in the name of "school choice" attempting to maintain a dual system of public education. 

We can’t wait for Autumn of 2014 to begin taking Arizona back from the GOP majority in Phoenix.  Get active right now by getting involved in the Arizona Democratic Party.  Join a Democrat Club, become a volunteer in your local Democratic Legislative District organization, become a precinct committee member, make a donation and give financial support to the building of the county and state Democrat party.

Democrats across Arizona are using traditional and social media to educate their neighbors about the Republicans’ terrible record in Phoenix.  If you would like to participate in that effort, the Democrats of Oro Valley welcome you.  Sign up on their Facebook Page, follow the news on the club web site.

Through Letters to the Editor, Facebook, Twitter, and targeted direct mail, we can educate swing voters about what Republicans are doing tearing down Arizona in Phoenix—but we can’t do it without your help, so please contribute and volunteer today.

Now is the time to hold Republicans accountable for their record and walk shoulder to shoulder with others in our quest to return Arizona once again to a strong, proud, progressive Western frontier state.

Time to take back control of our and especially our children's future.  The economy and good paying jobs with safe working conditions, health care available to all, education meeting modern standards of excellence, a protected and sustained environment is the choice or more of the drift to the bottom of a deep black hole.

Simple time tested proven result methods of recruitment.

*1*  Word-of-mouth:  ask for a commitment, ask for a prospect, ask for a recommendation and best of all spread the word, Arizona Democrats are on the move!

*2*  Making individual phone calls, "walking" lists.  Precinct lists available from the party. Cold turkey calls to determine political interests, issue invitations and establish contacts.

*3*  Phone banks, joint efforts with prepared scripts and "seasoned" campaign leader.

*4*  Door-to-door canvassing using "walking" lists.  Signing candidate's petitions, advocating an issue, registering voters and signing up for permanent early voting.

*5*  House parties, candidates, issues, etc.

*6*  Recruitment tables, Democratic meetings, voter registration tables in public places, County Fair, etc. 

*7*  Print and handout cards to Democrat web sites, local club contacts, county party office phone number.

*8*  Involvement Cards, every Democrat event should have cards printed for information, volunteer options, and registration for future notifications of everyone attending the event.

That hopeless feeling. In view of the violence of the pass few months and beyond we sit back and our gut tells us something must be done. But what, how? As a progressive and a liberal we understand government is our friend, a place we should be able to expect to come provide solutions to public needs. The advancement of the common good, the protector not just of the last resort, but also the leader of necessity to provide what as individuals we cannot manage alone. A common defense of our country, a better system of welfare and social programs, enhancement of an economy to share opportunity for all of our citizens. Government to bundle the resources of our people for environmental protection, eliminate poverty, leadership to guarantee education, health and promote the general welfare of each of us. Greed that has led to anti-regulatory, misguided selfish exploitation of our natural resources with devastating effects on future generations. The attitude that 'I got mine and I am not sharing', 'I did it, now find your own way.' How do we speak out, stay in the game, renew our determination and not throw in the towel and hide from those with temporary power and financial resources to buy more power and move to limit our freedom. Where do we start? So much is spent by deep pocket special interests to promote political squabbling, public mistrust and confusion rather than work toward setting a course of providing for the general welfare of the country, we throw up our hands and never begin to solve even the smallest public policies. We find a large number of us demoralized, feeling down and sometimes even guilty that we have needs such as finding a good job, better education, training for the new world of technology, providing for our health or retirements just looking after our children. We see some receiving government subsidies, special considerations in conducting their businesses, tax benefits or even government rebates and inducements not available to many of us. What values do we as a people hold? Where are the messengers for us as a people? Is the election process rigged against us? Who are these forces cutting off our right to vote, limiting the voting process? In simple words, taking yet another right guaranteed by our Constitution away from us or at least putting it beyond our reach. Government moved us away from a system of "poor houses" for our poor and elderly, established a system of Social Security, provided a "safety net" for our disabled and temporary desperate economic conditions. Government was to be a force in time of natural disasters, government declared voters rights were to be equally shared, it was the role of government to protect and provide for a justice system to benefit each citizen. We are a challenged people and rather than "cutback and retreat" let's decide to move forward, stimulate our thinking, build for all not just a few. It is our responsibility in the progressive, liberal American movement to resist any divisive assaults coming from the extreme selfish privately financed right-wing bigots. I am proud to be called a progressive, a liberal or even a thinking political activist.

Ronald Reagan was wrong! GE Fired Him

Everywhere we turn the Republican cry is, "Government is Bad".
Get the government out of killing jobs, cut government, down with government. Less Government, we need less government, say our fellow American citizens in the Tea Party Movement. These down with government folks are in control of the Republican Party. Not one of our elected Republican officials will stand up and tell them, that Government that I am elected to serve is yours. It is there to promote the general welfare of the country, serve our people and ensure the freedom we have fought to enjoy since the founding of our United States of America.

Government furnishes strength, fairness, opportunity, and protection. A shield in a dangerous world, protection here at home, enforced rules to guide us in going about the communities in which we live. Several years ago former President Ronald Reagan turned from making movies to a regular host on a program sponsored by General Electic.

In 1962 GE fired Ronald Reagan and set him on a course to be elected President of our country. Ronald Reagan made a statement calling the Tennessee Valley Authority an example of "big government". He went on to critize the operations as wasteful and a costly government program without merit.

Ronald Reagan was right, the Tennessee Valley Authority was indeed a government program established in 1933 under the New Deal of the Roosevelt
Democratic Administration. No private business was going to provide for navigation, flood control, electricity generation, transmission lines, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development for that region of the United States. Included in receiving the benefits of that huge government undertaking were the people of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and small portions of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

The government made jobs with the building of dams providing hydroelectric power, electric power transmission lines, economic stimulus and helping farmers get their wornout land back into production of agricultual commodities. The revival of agriculture bringing profits back to the poor farmers of that area was a miracle in itself.

Low cost electricity with the power producing facilities drew industries to the region producing desperately needed jobs, payrolls, hope during the great depression all with the resources of the federal government. Government was none to soon, as the massive government projects were coming online the great war was coming on and as it turned out America needed aluminum, to build planes and instuments of war.

The electricity provided Alcoa (a private company) the huge amounts needed for aluminum enrichment. This provided the needed aluminum so our government could protect us and ensure our freedom.

How did this play into the election of Ronald Reagan President of the United States? In 1962 Reagan critized TVA as a wasteful government enterprise and as a result GE fired him from his television program GE sponsored. TVA just happened to be a big customer of expensive GE made turbines for electric power generation. Ouch, you bit the hand that fed the hand that fed you.

The same political fame that President Barack Obama enjoyed after addressing the Democrat National Convention Ronald Reagan attained when he addressed the Reublican National Convention that nominated Barry Goldwater. Ronald Reagon was a smashing hit with his convention attack on "big government", the conservative Republicans in control of that convention made a new political hero.

Two years later in 1966 Ronald Reagan the movie star, tv host, was elected Governor of California. Barry Goldwater lost the election but the Republican party had a new hero.