Question about Health Care Plan

[Duer 157099]

I was just listening to Randi Rhodes and a thought came to me. She was talking to a caller who could not afford health insurance, and Randi is saying, well, this is exactly for someone like you.

And then I wondered: how many "strings" are attached to the income qualification? That is, if you earn below a certain number, are there other caveats that come into play? I know with things like welfare, that happens, so it's not as simple as it would seem.

For example, if you are under a certain income, they then look at your monthly expenses (rent/mortgage etc) and then can disqualify you if they think your housing costs are too high, so like you should move to a slum before you actually qualify.

Is there *anything* like that in the proposed health care plan? Has anyone looked?

[bobbolink]

1. TWO things.

One, NOBODY "knows" what is "in it", because it is still fluid, and there are more than one bill.

SECOND, what is in it will be determined by what WE, THE PEOPLE demand.

Asking what will happen rather than DEMANDING the results we want is passive, and self-defeating.

I've said for years, we will get good health care the moment we demand it and not one second before.

[Duer 157099]

2. Fine, then convert this from a question to a heads up

about a possible loophole that could sneak in and end up screwing a lot of people that it is supposed to help.

[bobbolink]

4. That's great.... much more activist!

Thanks for warning us....now it's time to make the phone calls to the people who are supposed to represent us!

To help in that process, here are the Toll-free numbers to Capitol Hill:

Toll-free Capitol Hill Numbers:


1-800-828-0498 1-866-388-1015 1-866-220-0044 1-877-851-6437

And, for those of us in Colorado, here are our local senate numbers:

Senator Mark Udall
999 Eighteenth Street, North Tower, Suite 1525, Denver, CO 80202 P: 303-650-7820

Sen. Michael Bennett Denver Metro Office 2300 15th St., Suite 450 Denver, Colorado 80202 Phone: [phone] Toll Free: [phone] Fax: [phone]

[lindisfarne]

3. Current bill proposals are available at house.gov & senate.gov. Go to the relevant

committee pages. Links have also been posted on DU to them & should also be fairly easy to find them on google.

[Duer 157099]

5. I guess what I'm concerned about is that it will be hidden

For example, if the language said something like "income requirements would be derived from..." (insert whatever the welfare or food stamps or whoever currently decides those things)"...department, consistent with (blah blah blah)"

You see what I mean?

If today someone told you that you would qualify for welfare if your income was below a certain number, would you in any way suspect that there are all sorts of other restrictions, including how you SPEND that income?

[lindisfarne]

6. Read the bills to see the current language. As someone has already said, the final bill has not yet

been written.

I always carefully read the details when things directly concern me so my answer to your question would be YES until I had researched the relevant documents, consulted with the relevant experts (or at least read their opinions), and assured myself the answer was no.

If you're concerned, write/fax/phone your reps & senate & house committee members on relevant committees.

[JDPriestly]

7. Ask your congressman or woman.