10 Major Reforms to American Healthcare

1. Your Kids are Covered

Starting this year, if you have an adult child who cannot get health insurance from his or her employer and is to some degree dependent on you financially, your child can stay on your insurance policy until he or she is 26 years old. Currently, many insurance companies do not allow adult children to remain on their parents' plan once they reach 19 or leave school.

2. You Can't be Dropped

Starting this fall, your health insurance company will no longer be allowed to "drop" you (cancel your policy) if you get sick. In 2009, "rescission" was revealed to be a relatively common cost-cutting practice by several insurance companies. The practice proved to be common enough to spur several lawsuits; for example, in 2008 and 2009, California's largest insurers were made to pay out more than $19 million in fines for dropping policyholders who fell ill.

3. You Can't be Denied Insurance

Starting this year your child (or children) cannot be denied coverage simply because they have a pre-existing health condition. Health insurance companies will also be barred from denying adults applying for coverage if they have a pre-existing condition, but not until 2014.

4. You Can Spend What You Need to

Prior to the new law, health insurance companies set a maximum limit on the monetary amount of benefits that a policyholder could receive. This meant that those who developed expensive or long-lasting medical conditions could run out of coverage. Starting this year, companies will be barred from instituting caps on coverage.

5. You Don't Have to Wait

If you currently have pre-existing conditions that have prevented you from being able to qualify for health insurance for at least six months you will have coverage options before 2014. Starting this fall, you will be able to purchase insurance through a state-run "high-risk pool", which will cap your personal out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare. You will not be required to pay more than $5,950 of your own money for medical expenses; families will not have to pay any more than $11,900.

6. You Must be Insured

Under the new law starting in 2014, you will have to purchase health insurance or risk being fined. If your employer does not offer health insurance as a benefit or if you do not earn enough money to purchase a plan, you may get assistance from the government. The fines for not purchasing insurance will be levied according to a sliding scale based on income. Starting in 2014, the lowest fine would be $95 or 1% of a person's income (whichever is greater) and then increase to a high of $695 or 2.5% of an individual's taxable income by 2016. There will be a maximum cap on fines.

7. You'll Have More Options

Starting in 2014 (when you will be required by law to have health insurance), states will operate new insurance marketplaces - called "exchanges" - that will provide you with more options for buying an individual policy if you can't get, or afford, insurance from your workplace and you earn too much income to qualify for Medicaid. In addition, millions of low- and middle-income families (earning up to $88,200 annually) will be able to qualify for financial assistance from the federal government to purchase insurance through their state exchange.

8. Flexible Spending Accounts Will Become Less Flexible

Three years from now, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) will have lower contribution limits - meaning you won't be able to have as much money deducted from your paycheck pre-tax and deposited into an FSA for medical expenses as is currently allowed. The new maximum amount allowed will be $2,500. In addition, fewer expenses will qualify for FSA spending. For example, you will no longer be able to use your FSA to help defray the cost of over-the-counter drugs.

9. If You Earn More, You'll Pay More

Starting in 2018, if your combined family income exceeds $250,000 you are going to be taking less money home each pay period. That's because you will have more money deducted from your paycheck to go toward increased Medicare payroll taxes. In addition to higher payroll taxes you will also have to pay 3.8% tax on any unearned income, which is currently tax-exempt.

10. Medicare May Cover More or Less of Your Expenses

Starting this year, if Medicare is your primary form of health insurance you will no longer have to pay for preventive care such as an annual physical, screenings for treatable conditions or routine laboratory work. In addition, you will get a $250 check from the federal government to help pay for prescription drugs currently not covered as a result of the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole".

However, if you are a high-income individual or couple (making more than $85,000 individually or $170,000 jointly), your prescription drug subsidy will be reduced. In addition, if you are one of the more than 10 million people currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan you may be facing higher premiums because your insurance company's subsidy from the federal government is going to be dramatically reduced.

Papal Priestly Pedophilia Protection

Pope Benedict XVI has a serious problem... and it seems to be growing. Once seen as an American problem, the media has taken notice of new stories of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church in Western Europe. This isn't about randomly attacking the Catholic church, an organization I openly view with much disdain. This isn't about attacking whoever happens to be the leader of the organization at the time the story breaks.


To be clear... this is about the man, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, BEFORE HE BECAME Pope Benedict XVI... and his PERSONAL role in various cases of alleged child molestation... what he knew... when he knew it... and what he chose to do, or not do... and why. Were decisions made for the good of the rank-and-file Catholic... or for the protection of the institution that is: the Catholic Church? While Cardinal in Germany in 1980, Ratzinger was involved in the decision to send (then accused sex offender) Reverend Peter Hullermann to therapy. He was relieved of priestly duties, but immediately reinstated as he BEGAN his therapy. Pope Benedict claims he was unaware of the reinstatement. Hullermann would later be convicted of child molestation in 1986.


But the most damaging problem is Pope Benedict's time as head of the Vatican's doctrinal and disciplinary office. At the time, Pope Benedict XVI was THE guy in charge of (among other things) investigating allegations against priests and determining whether or not a priest should be "defrocked." So, this entire discussion is about HIS decisions. Not a predecessor. Not a different organization within the Catholic church. The office he led, and while he was leading it. When complaints are made against a priest, they went to his department. In many cases, priests wound up relocated. Just moved from one parish to another, with no information or warning to those new members, even though Cardinal Ratzinger was well-aware of the charges of child molestation raised against the incoming priests. In the example of some of the worst offenders, the "punishments" were leading a retired life of prayer and only being allowed to accept Mass in private. Is this how the Catholic church treats pedophilia? In the Wisconsin deaf children abuse case, the accused priest sent a plea directly to Ratzinger and the investigation was halted. His punishments were restrictions on Mass and being told to stay away from the deaf.


"Go somewhere private and pray." Is this how Catholicism views justice? Or do the rules of justice differ when pertaining to a priest. Have they been in favor or jail? Or do priests who commit the same actions as other men not deserve prison? A regular man sexually assaults one boy... one time... and he's going to do multiple years in prison. A priest... who acknowledges it... with many boys... on many occasions... over decades? The future Pope tells him to go pray?


And finally... what does this say about the position of Pope? how does it affect your view? The Vicar of Christ? He who binds and looses on Earth? He who has "the keys of Peter"? The person who controls the "treasury of the merits of the Saints"... dispensing grace on those who fulfill the Holy Sacraments? Did God appoint a man who sided with repeat sex offenders over children? A man that put the protection of the legacy of the institution of his church... over the safety of his parishioners?

79% INTEREST ?!!!

Since the early 1990's... there has been a new lending strategy adopted by some in the finance industry to target low income Americans as their business model. Where once certain types of people had been seen as unfinanceable under traditional lending, "creative financing" paved the way for poorer Americans to have the opportunity to get lines of credit... lines that proved far more lucrative for lenders than the industry had ever imagined.



There was a time when such things would have only been needed by a small invisible portion of the population. Back when people felt comfortable saying things like... "you're only poor because you want to be" or "noone looking to help themselves goes without." But who... among those who have seen economic statistical trends in America... can say that with a straight face today? Wages in America have been virtually unchanged in America for 35 years. Working people are finding it harder and harder to pay bills and relying more on credit cards and other loans to make ends meet. Ask yourself why there has not been a SIGNIFICANT increase in household income, even though SIGNIFICANTLY more women work today, compared to 1965.


This is what you get with "conservatism." Government stays out of the way, lets business do what it feels it must... and we all live with the results. My personal opinion... I think Republicans want this kind of society: that this is the natural order of economics and (idealistic) liberals should stop trying to intercede. Indeed, world history does not provide a long list of nations with large robust middle classes (usually just small upper and large lower class), so, there may be some truth to that... and I fear that truth is coming nearer to our shores.



Over the last 18 months, I've been astonished as storefront businesses have closed and been replaced by small payday and car title loan companies. Has the market boomed this much? Are there that many Americans hurting to the point of needing these high interest loans to survive day to day? Nothing... and I mean... nothing happens in the business world without reason. They wouldn't keep cropping up if they wasn't a market, and they wouldn't stay open (AND FILLED WITH PEOPLE) if they weren't turning a large profit.



Next time you're near one of these places, even if you dont need their services. Check out their interest rates. They make so much money, because people have a hard time paying off these loans. For those that finally do, the (real) interest on the principle is staggering. DID YOU KNOW PAYDAY LOANS ARE ILLEGAL IN 15 STATES... PREDATORY? USURIOUS? What is happening to America?

• Arkansas

• Connecticut

• Georgia

• Maine

• Maryland

• Massachusetts

• New Hampshire

• New Jersey

• New York

• North Carolina

• Ohio

• Oregon

• Pennsylvania

• Vermont

• West Virginia

And now reports of a credit card with a 79.9% interest rate (click here). You may be surprised (like me) to know that there are no limits on the interest rate a credit card company can charge. Though the word usury is part of the American vocabulary, powerful banking lobbyists have fought hard on Capital Hill to make sure that it never becomes part of the credit card industry's lexicon. There have been attempts to put a cap on interest rates, but they are fought hard in Congress. God bless the markets... left on their own, look how they work for the good of the American people.



The bold interest rate is in response to the new credit card law going into effect on February 22nd, limiting the amount of upfront fees that can be charged to a new card holder. In essence, a cost shift. Big business does not believe in taking on new cost... once they get use to eating, they will merely find a new way to partake. So, instead of getting the fees upfront, they will get it on the backend with higher interest rates.



Its hard for me to fathom that people out there would need a credit card with a $300 limit... which means that, for that person... there are payments that need to be made, I'm presuming... REGULARLY... and they can't make them without a loan. Not only that... but, there are ENOUGH people living this way, as to have an extremely lucrative multi-million dollar industry. The idea that there are more than just 10,000 people interested in credit cards that max out at less than $500... let alone more than a million people... what is the state of the American dream? Is that phrase antiquated?



The fact that there are states that don't allow payday loans should tell you that there is something going terribly wrong. More and more people who can't get by... saving face only by relying on credit. And people wonder why there have been so many foreclosures. Considering that the top 10% of Americans own 72% of all the wealth (not income)... consider that one fifth of Americans make 22k/yr or less. That's one in five households. What is one fifth of 300 million? And that is the rationale the credit card companies give. These people are risky. They are soooooo risky... that they need to give interest rates high enough to show they will turn a profit.


Beware that loan shark!!! Dont shake his hand! He is not your friend! He will bite you!