Did Howard Dean get healthcare to 90% of the people?

[KelleyKramer]

Someone told me that over 90% of the people living in Howard Deans state have affordable healthcare.

Is that true?

If so, I would like to get me some of that healthcare.

Today, if possible!

Even if it’s the same or less than the 87 billion dollars I am already paying for Iraq.

More than freeing Iraq, I would love to get me some of that medical attention for my family right here at home in America.

Is George Bush more concerned with Iraq or America?


Is it true that Dean got 90% of the people healthcare?


Kelley

[alexwcovington]

1. Pretty much, yeah...

Through a combination of employer incentives and an expansion of medicaid to everyone under 18.... Dean successfully insured most of the state.

Now... It's not single-payer healthcare... but it's a start...

[KelleyKramer]

4. Can we start today?

You said it was a start.

Can we start today?

[MercutioATC]

5. Help get him elected...you'll get the healthcare and much more..

I'm a member of FEHBP (one of the programs Dean wants to expand to include all Americans) and I can tell you that it has MAJOR benefits over many other programs (pre-existing condition? No problem, they're not allowed to deny coverage or charge more.) Overall, it's a decent white-collar plan that's available to everybody.

Just look at Dean. You won't be diappointed.

[Demobrat]

6. Well no, we can't.

We have to get rid of Bush first.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

2. No the correct figure is 98%

The guy is a miracle worker.

[Cleita]

3. This is why I became interested in Howard Dean when he was

governor of Vermont. He was interviewed on 60 Minutes because of his health plan. He said though that no state could really afford a truly efficient health plan without federal help. Clinton was President at that time. I remember thinking to myself, that this is the guy we need as President, a physician who understands the real problems and a politician who knows how to get them implemented. I never thought then that it could have been a possibility.

[ClintonTyree]

7. No he didn't...............

he killed most of them and made them into Soylent Green. He hates old people, young people, and especially sick people. Thank you.

<Brought to you by people for John Kerry> (John Kerry has not endorsed this message)

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[ClintonTyree]

10. Superior care...............

for those who can afford it. Sub-standard care for those who can't. All of these poor people should have chosen their parents more wisely.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[dmartin29]

13. Returning to the world of facts

Medicare is a program, administered by Social Security for medical insurance for retired people and people on disability. It is not "free", requires specific qualification, co-pay and enrolment fees.
Medicaid is a program funded by States with substantial support of Federal funds for people primarily in subsidized income programs. States set the standards, with some Federal guidelines, as to who and how eligible. Funded mostly through block grants and with widely different benefits State by State with most States also requiring administration and contribution by individual counties. Little is more "locally" controlled, political a saddled with admisistrative overhead.
Rx proposal has been estimated in terms of X 100's of MILLION Dollars not Billion Dollars; ie., figures ranging from 300 million to even grossly overestimated 800 million.

[JNelson6563]

16. Whaaa???

BTW, any person in this country can go to college with the aid of federally subsidized student loans, and most schools provide a health care plan for students. Upon graduation, he/she will undoubtedly receive healthcare from their employer, regardless of whether or not he/she is rich. And let's not forget the almost $13,000 PER YEAR spent per student for public education, which is provided to every single child in America to prepare them for that college.

Toss in your nonsense about a dental appointment (my family in Canada has no such problems) and I just gotta ask....

How's the fiction-writer career going?

Julie

[Kolesar]

20. 17% of Americans have NO health coverage

If they were not already poor and eligible for Medicaid, then they would be financially wiped out if they had an expensive hospitalization. The hospital would foreclose on your house and take your equity, they would encumber your bank accounts, your 401k, your IRAs, etc. Then you would be on the street, still trying to recover from your illness or injury.

Nightmare!

[Armstead]

19. Um I think you mean MEDICAID

Medicare is for everyone who is elderly, or has a disability.

Medicaid is for poor people, and is administered by the states. Amnd if you look at what is happening, medicaid is being choked to death by Federal policies.

You are spouting off a mantra that doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

[Ardee]

23. Judgmental much?

I do not believe that the citizens of either Great Britain or Canada share your specious argument re the quality of their health care......

[TLM]

9. Here you go....

• Health Care — 96% of Vermont’s children have health care coverage thanks in part to Governor Dean’s Dr. Dynasaur program, and an additional 3% are eligible for coverage.
• Access — Governor Dean expanded health care for children in low to middle income families. Children 18 or under, whose families are at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Line, are eligible for insurance at virtually no cost.
• MentalHealth — In 1997, Howard Dean signed the what was then and still is the most comprehensive behavioral health care parity legislation in the United States. Comprehensive parity simply means that health insurance companies must provide the same degrees and types of coverage for mental illness and substance-abuse treatment that they provide for physical conditions.
• Women’s Health — During Governor Dean’s tenure, the breast and cervical cancer rate went from slightly above average to below the US average, thanks to Vermont’s comprehensive screening system. Vermont’s Medicaid program was also expanded to cover treatment for women diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer.
• Teen Pregnancy — Under Governor Dean, teen pregnancy rates dropped 49%, to the lowest rate in the country.
• “Healthy Families Visionary Leadership Award” — Presented by Prevent Child Abuse America.

• Success By Six — As a doctor, Governor Dean has placed a strong emphasis on early childhood prevention and health care, which is why 89% of pregnant Vermont women enter prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy. In Vermont, 91% of families with a birth received a community visit, and those parents who wanted assistance and support received it.
• Dr. Dynasaur — Governor Dean has expanded children and pregnant women’s access to health care. Currently 58,903 children are covered under the program. Dr. Dynasaur covers children up to the age of 18 within families up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Line.
• Child Abuse — During Governor Dean’s tenure, Vermont was the first state to institute a statewide protocol for abuse investigations. In return, Vermont saw a 45% decline in physical and sexual abuse of children. This included a 64% decline in physical abuse victims ages 0-3 and a 43% decline in physical abuse victims ages 0-6.
• Child Sexual Abuse — 84% decline in sexual abuse victims ages 0-3 and 70% decline in sexual abuse victims ages 0-6.
• Immunization — 81.1% of children are fully immunized by age 2 and 97% by the time they start kindergarten, which makes Vermont second in the nation in child immunizations.

“We can provide higher quality of life by avoiding institutional services whenever possible.”
• Prescription Drugs — Governor Dean understands the importance of access to prescription drugs in preserving the health and avoiding unnecessary institutional care of our seniors and people with disabilities. While in office Governor Dean expanded pharmaceutical assistance to these Vermonters. Vermont has three pharmacy assistance programs with the level of benefits for each program indexed to household income. Seniors and people with disabilities can have incomes up to 225% of the federal poverty line and receive assistance with their prescriptions.
• Nursing Homes — Governor Dean decreased the state’s reliance on nursing homes by mandating that funds be shifted from nursing homes to other services, such as home health care where people can live with independence and dignity. Over $30 million dollars has been shifted from paying for nursing homes to paying for in-home and community based services.
• Home Health Care — Between 1996 and 2000, there was a 161.3% increase in individuals receiving a home based waiver and services, while there was a decrease of 13.5% of individuals living in nursing homes.

[sandnsea]

12. Actually, the Cockroach Congress did

Every single thing listed in TLM's post was directly related to a federal program. Damn those do-nothing D.C. insiders.

[blm]

14. Plus...91% HAD healthcare when Dean took office.

And the CHIPS program, crafted by Kennedy and Kerry, EXPANDED healthcare to ALL children in EVERY state, including Vermont.

[RetroLounge]

15. You got a link

???

[JNelson6563]

18. 91%? Healthcare for ALL chiildren

in every state???

Your getting as bold with your statements as Team Bush is with their fake numbers! Rove would be proud.

Julie

[farmbo]

17. You say states can't affect health care & medicaid... One word:" Texas"

Those fine, Christian Texas Republican legislators have just cut 250,000 children from CHIP coverage, and over 400,000 seniors from certain medicare coverage.

http://www.txretailers.org/Texas%20Updates/2003~Week%209.htm

State leadership DOES matter.

[Hep]

21. Why would you call congress cockroaches?

Dean didn't.

[KaraokeKarlton]

22. Yes, it is...I live in Vermont

99% of Vermont's kids are eligible for coverage. 96% are covered. 92% of adults are covered, and more than that are elgible. The state programs are good, too. The seniors who need it the most already have a drug benefit, too. Dean can get his plan passed and he'll actually do something to get things done. The others have had their chance for many years and haven't accomplished anywhere near what Dean has. If healthcare is your issue, Dean is your man.