Universal Health Care for America

[Guest Bluto]

Maybe we can petition a Universal Yoga bill.

[Guest LAW]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued her health care push Wednesday, touting the bill's benefits for young people and seniors. Meanwhile, the head of the House Republican Conference slammed the measure saying the American people don't want it.

[Guest Luke]

Rep. Dale Kildee said Wednesday he is convinced Senate abortion language would ensure no federal money is spent on the procedure, clearing the way for him to support the overall health care bill. May God have mercy on his soul if that is not the case.

[Guest HUMAN]

Doubtful plus the Union fix is STILL in there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rep. Dale Kildee said Wednesday he is convinced Senate abortion language would ensure no federal money is spent on the procedure, clearing the way for him to support the overall health care bill. May God have mercy on his soul if that is not the case.

[Guest HUMAN]

Once the "Bill" passes it's OVER. The Democrats will NOT take up fixing the "Bill" afterwards.

 

Anyone who thinks that the democrats are going to fix what's wrong with the "Bill"? Is just DREAMING.

[Guest USCCB]

Confusion has arisen over the question of federal abortion funding in the Senate health care reform bill (H.R. 3590). In particular: As currently written, does the legislation require large-scale funding of abortion at federally regulated Community Health Centers (CHCs)?

 

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Understanding why requires some knowledge of current federal law and past judicial history on abortion.

 

Everyone agrees on these basic facts: Sec. 10503 of the bill authorizes a new "CHC Fund" to expand funding for the CHC program (which was established by Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act). More unusually, the Senate bill also directly appropriates its own new funds for these services, instead of leaving that task to the annual Labor/HHS appropriations bill that generally funds programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. For Fiscal Years 2011 to 2015, the bill appropriates $7 billion for services (to be increased to $11 billion under the President's new proposal), $1.5 billion for construction and renovation of CHCs, and $1.5 billion for the National Health Service Corps.

 

To understand why this creates a massive problem of federal abortion funding, one must understand some facts:

 

Fact #1: A long and consistent series of federal court rulings since Roe v. Wade requires that broad statutory mandates for provision of health services must be construed to include mandated provision of abortions, unless the statute specifies otherwise.

 

Having decided in 1973 to establish a constitutional right to abortion to serve women's "health," the courts decided that legislative references to health services or "medically necessary" services (the term of art used in the Medicaid statute) encompass abortion. In the abortion context, the Supreme Court has said that "health" must be defined very broadly to include "all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the well-being of the patient." Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973). In short, if a physician decides that a woman should be able to have an abortion for her "wellbeing," a government program requiring provision of health services must provide such abortions.

 

Hence, in the years before the Hyde amendment was first enacted by Congress in 1976, Medicaid was required to pay for about 300,000 abortions a year. No regulatory or administrative leeway was allowed on this point. The Medicaid statute said that grantees must provide "medically necessary" services provided by physicians, and the federal courts

held that this category (or other broad categories for requiring health services) includes elective abortions, even though the statute never says the word "abortion." As one court has observed: "Because abortion fits within many of the mandatory care categories, including 'family planning,' 'outpatient services,' 'inpatient services,' and 'physicians' services,' Medicaid covered medically necessary abortions between 1973 and 1976." Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan v. Engler, 73 F.3d 634, 636 (6th Cir. 1996).

 

Even after the Hyde amendment to the Labor/HHS appropriations act was enacted in 1976, barring funds appropriated in this act from being used for most abortions, a legal battle ensued for years. Not until 1980 did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that the statutory language of the Hyde amendment trumps the underlying statute's presumptive mandate for abortion, and is constitutionally valid. Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980).

 

Some had even argued that the abortion mandate remained in place after the Hyde amendment was enacted – that while the amendment withheld federal funds from certain abortions, the underlying statute still required them to be provided, using state matching funds if necessary. The Supreme Court rejected this argument. 448 U.S. at 309-10.

 

However, federal courts still insist that the mandate remains in place for any abortion for which funding is not barred by a provision like the Hyde amendment. When the Hyde amendment ceased to prohibit use of federal Medicaid funds for abortions in cases of rape and incest in 1993, federal courts throughout the country ruled that states participating in the

program were now required by the underlying Medicaid statute to provide and help pay for rape/incest abortions – even if that meant overriding state constitutions that allow state funding of abortion only in cases of danger to the life of the mother. See Engler, 73 F.3d at 638, and cases cited therein.

 

Fact #2: In line with this legal precedent, the Community Health Centers program would be required to provide abortions now if not for the Hyde amendment.

 

The statute establishing the CHC program has the same kind of broad mandate for providing health services that Medicaid does. In some ways it presents an even more clear-cut case. The statute defines a "health center" in the program as an entity that provides, at a minimum, "required primary health services" to certain low-income populations. 42 USC § 254b

(a)(1)(A). "Required primary health services" are defined to include "health services related to family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, or gynecology that are furnished by physicians" (and by other medical professionals where appropriate), as well as "voluntary family planning services." 42 USC §254b ( b )(1)(A). Thus, to be considered as eligible centers at all, centers in the program must provide the same broad categories of services that triggered the abortion mandate in Medicaid, and some that are even more specific (e.g., gynecology services).

 

This statutory mandate will trump any lesser authority, such as the preferences of the centers themselves or of an HHS Secretary or other executive-branch official. These officials must obey the laws passed by Congress as interpreted by the federal courts.

 

Fact #3: The new funding appropriated for community health centers by the Senate health care bill is not covered by the Hyde amendment.

 

This should be clear from the wording of the Hyde amendment itself: "None of the funds appropriated in this Act" may be used for most abortions (referring to the annual Labor/HHS appropriations act). The Senate bill's new funds are not appropriated in the Labor/HHS appropriations act, so Hyde does not cover them.

 

A similar situation came to light in 1979, when members of Congress asked why the Indian Health Service (IHS) was continuing to provide abortions despite enactment of the Hyde amendment. The agency replied that it had no choice but to do so: The authorizing legislation for the IHS created a broad mandate for services to conserve the "health" of Indians, and the

Interior appropriations bill funding these services contained no abortion limitation like the Hyde amendment to the Labor/HHS bill. Therefore "we would have no basis for refusing to pay for abortions" (Letter from Director of the Indian Health Service to Cong. Henry Hyde, July 30, 1979). Not until 1988 did Congress finally revise the authorizing legislation for the IHS to require that program to conform to the annual Hyde amendment.

 

The problem here is exactly parallel. The new billions of dollars appropriated here for services at CHCs simply are not covered by the Hyde amendment or other similar provisions, which only govern the use of funds appropriated by the legislation that they amend.

 

It follows that these funds are also not restricted by any regulations implementing the Hyde amendment. On this point some have cited thirty-year-old regulations stating that elective abortions are not funded in programs receiving "Federal financial assistance" at the Department of Health and Human Services (42 CFR §§ 50.301 through 50.306). But for their statutory basis the regulations cite only the appropriations bills valid at that time and the

previous year, which contained the Hyde amendment (Public Laws 95-205 and 96-86). These laws expired three decades ago; but even a citation to the Hyde amendment in the current Labor/HHS appropriations bill would not help. Hyde governs only funds appropriated in the Act that it amends; and a regulation implementing Hyde can only have that same

limited scope. If such a regulation were found to be relevant to the new funds provided by the Senate health care bill, the regulation would almost certainly be challenged as contrary to the statutory mandate to provide abortions in the CHC authorizing legislation (see Fact #1 above). A regulation cannot trump a statute passed by Congress.

 

Fact #4: The Senate health care bill itself contains no relevant provision to prevent the direct use of federal funds for elective abortions.

 

To be sure, the House-passed bill does include language to ensure that "no funds authorized or appropriated by this Act (or an amendment made by this Act)" may be used to pay for most abortions. And the Nelson/Hatch/Casey amendment offered in the Senate had exactly this same language. But the Senate chose not to take up the House-passed bill, and it chose to table the Nelson amendment, 54 to 45.

 

The abortion funding language in the Senate bill relates solely to the use of tax credits and other federal funds to help pay for abortion coverage in qualified health plans. Section 1303 of the bill does reference the abortions ineligible for funding under the Hyde amendment in any given year, and those which are eligible. But this reference to eligible and ineligible abortions is used only to say the following: "If a qualified health plan provides coverage of

services described in paragraph (1)( b )(i) [i.e., abortions ineligible for federal funds under the Hyde amendment that year], the issuer of the plan shall not use any amount attributable to any of the following for purposes of paying for such services..." (Sec. 1303 ( b )(2)). This is followed by specific references solely to the tax credits and cost-sharing reductions used to

subsidize qualified health plans.

 

Thus the legislation contains no general ban on using the funds it appropriates for elective abortions. One other section of the Senate bill, establishing a program of school-based clinics for minors, does exclude abortions from the scope of services at those clinics (Sec. 4101 ( b )). But all other sections of the bill that appropriate funds, including Section 10503 on CHCs, remain unrestricted in their use of these funds for elective abortions.

 

Conclusion: In line with longstanding federal jurisprudence, the authorizing legislation for Community Health Centers creates a presumptive mandate for funding abortions without meaningful limit. Currently such funding is prevented only by the fact that funds under the Labor/HHS appropriations act are governed by the Hyde amendment. By appropriating new funds not covered by Hyde, and by failing to include any relevant abortion limitation of its own, the Senate health care bill as presently worded would disburse billions of dollars in federal funding that no one could prevent from being used for elective abortions.

[Guest Cammie Croft]

3

 

* 3 million -- that’s the decrease in the number of middle-income earners who obtained health insurance from their employers from 2000 to 2008. [source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]

* And 3 times -- is how much faster health care premiums are rising compared to wages. [source: Kaiser Family Foundation]

 

It’s no secret -- skyrocketing health care costs are crushing families and businesses, forcing small business owners to choose between health care and hiring and forcing families to make hard spending choices because of rising out-of-pocket health care costs. While our broken health care system is hurting everyone, it’s the middle class that’s being hit the hardest. Yesterday, the non-partisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report showing that the middle class became uninsured at a faster pace than those with less or more income.

 

Health insurance reform will change that by giving American families and small businesses more control over their own health care. While in Ohio earlier this week, President Obama detailed just what health insurance reform means for America’s middle class:

 

For the first time, uninsured individuals, small businesses, they’d have the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves. Understand if this reform becomes law, members of Congress, they’ll be getting their insurance from the same place that the uninsured get theirs, because if it’s good enough for the American people, it’s good enough for the people who send us to Washington.

 

So basically what would happen is, we’d set up a pool of people; millions of people across the country would all buy into these pools that give them more negotiating power. If you work for a big company, you’ve got a better insurance deal because you’ve got more bargaining power as a whole. We want you to have all the bargaining power that the federal employees have, that big companies have, so you’ll be able to buy in or a small business will be able to buy into this pool. And that will lower rates, it’s estimated, by up to 14 to 20 percent over what you’re currently getting. That’s money out of pocket.

 

And what my proposal says is if you still can’t afford the insurance in this new marketplace, then we’re going to offer you tax credits to do so. And that will add up to the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history. That’s what we’re going to do…

 

Look, I want everybody to understand -- the wealthiest among us can already buy the best insurance there is. The least well among us, the poorest among us, they get their health care through Medicaid. So it’s the middle class, it’s working people that are getting squeezed, and that’s who we have to help, and we can afford to do it.

[Guest HUMAN]

Okay, you convinced me. I just Hope that your ASSUNPTIONS are correct "

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/112xx/doc11231/03-05-apb.pdf ".

 

What the heck! Lets gamble on the future economic growth on this country.

 

I just HOPE it does not destroy us with debt that CAN'T be payed back, since we are out sourcing everything in sight "http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gD1AWhgThB8nnXM4MB_k9UX2RUiwD9EH3ME01".

[Guest Federalist]

Representative Dale Kildee, Democrat of Michigan and a strong opponent of abortion, announced on Wednesday that he was satisfied with the provisions in the Senate-passed health care bill that seek to limit the use of federal money for insurance coverage of abortion.

 

The announcement by Mr. Kildee that he would support the health care legislation and would not oppose it based on the abortion issue gave a huge lift to House Democratic leaders, who have been working to assure abortion opponents that a vote for the bill would not reflect any change in policy on abortion, including the law known as the Hyde amendment, which prohibits the use of federal money for abortion in most cases.

 

In a statement, Mr. Kildee said:

 

For those who know me, I have always respected and cherished the sanctity of human life. I spent six years studying to be a priest and was willing to devote my life to God. I came to Congress two years after the Hyde amendment became law. And I have spent the last 34 years casting votes to protect the lives of the unborn. I have stood up to many in my party to defend the right to life and have made no apologies for doing so. I now find myself disagreeing with some of the people and groups I have spent a lifetime working with. I have listened carefully to both sides, sought counsel from my priest, advice from family, friends and constituents, and I have read the Senate abortion language more than a dozen times.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Okay, you convinced me. I just Hope that your ASSUNPTIONS are correct "

http://www.cbo.gov/f...1/03-05-apb.pdf ".

 

What the heck! Lets gamble on the future economic growth on this country.

 

I just HOPE it does not destroy us with debt that CAN'T be payed back, since we are out sourcing everything in sight "http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gD1AWhgThB8nnXM4MB_k9UX2RUiwD9EH3ME01".

 

You are joking correct? I thought pretty much all Republicans are still together against this. What made you change?

[Guest SR. CAROL KEEHAN]

As I watched our president present his plan to pass the health reform legislation, it was clear this is an historic opportunity to make great improvements in the lives of so many Americans. Is it perfect? No. Does it cover everyone? No. But is it a major first step? Yes.

 

The insurance reforms will make the lives of millions more secure, and their coverage more affordable. The reforms will eventually make affordable health insurance available to 31 million of the 47 million Americans currently without coverage.

 

CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

 

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

 

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

 

We expect to see charges and counter charges about what is in the bill and how it will work. We need to carefully review its provisions, its safeguards and its implementation schedule and help everyone understand what the actual proposal is. We are especially called to share our expertise in the health care marketplace to help people understand this bill. So many people depend on our continuing to advocate for quality health reform for everyone.

[Guest KC]

There are some highly respected people on The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA)Board. I am quite sure the Senate bill was scrutinized. What is the opinion of the other members of the board?

 

2009-10 Board of Trustees

 

Chairperson

M. Colleen Scanlon, RN, JD

Senior Vice President, Advocacy

Catholic Health Initiatives

Denver

 

Speaker of Membership Assembly

Lloyd H. Dean

President/Chief Executive Officer

Catholic Healthcare West

San Francisco

 

Vice Chairperson

Anthony R. Tersigni, EdD, FACHE

President/Chief Executive Officer

Ascension Health

St. Louis

 

President and Chief Executive Officer

Sr. Carol Keehan, DC

Catholic Health Association

Washington, D.C.

 

Lindsey Artola

System Vice President, Advocacy & Development

Provena Health

Mokena, Ill.

 

Richard Blair

Board Chair

Essentia Health

Duluth, Minn.

Board Member

Bon Secours Health System, Inc.

Marriottsville, Md.

 

Roslyn M. Brock, MHSA, MBA, MDiv.

Vice President, Advocacy and Government Relations

Bon Secours Health System, Inc.

Marriottsville, Md.

 

Sr. M. Peter Lillian DiMaria, O.Carm

Director, Avila Institute of Gerontology

Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Inform

Germantown, N.Y.

 

Joyce C. Dombrouski, RN

Chief Nursing Officer

St. Patrick Hospital

Missoula, Mont.

 

Corinne Francis

Vice President, Mission Integration

St. Michael's Medical Center

Newark, N.J.

 

Sr. Jane D. Iannucelli, SC

Assistant to the President

Sisters of Charity of New York

Bronx, N.Y.

 

Robert Kuramoto, MD

Managing Partner

Quick Leonard Kieffer International

Chicago

 

Most Rev. Robert N. Lynch

Bishop of St. Petersburg

Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla.

 

Sr. Teresa A. Maltby, RSM, D.Mn

Member, Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Health Ministry Council

Corporate Member

Provena Health

Mokena, Ill.

 

Linda McClung

Sr. Vice President, Non-Acute Operations, Corporate Communications and Strategic Marketing Services

CHRISTUS Health

Irving, Texas

 

Brian O'Toole, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Mission & Ethics

Sisters of Mercy Health System

Chesterfield, Mo.

 

Sr. Constance Phelps, SCL

Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System

Leavenworth, Kan.

 

Samantha M. Platzke

Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer

Mercy Health Partners

Toledo, Ohio

 

Donald G. Seitz, MD

Board Member

Bon Secours Health System

Richmond, Va.

Member

Bon Secours Ministries

Marriottsville, Md.

 

Rev. Myles N. Sheehan, SJ, MD

Sr. Associate. Dean, Medicine/Geriatrics

Loyola University Health System

Maywood, Ill.

 

Robert V. Stanek

President/Chief Executive Officer

Catholic Health East

Newtown Square, Pa.

 

Joseph R. Swedish

President/Chief Executive Officer

Trinity Health

Novi, Mich.

 

Alan Yordy

President/Chief Mission Officer

PeaceHealth

Bellevue, Wash.

 

Episcopal Liaison

Most Rev. Kevin W. Vann

Bishop of Fort Worth

Diocese of Fort Worth

Fort Worth, TX

 

Corporate Secretary

Lisa J. Gilden

Vice President, General Counsel/Compliance Officer

Catholic Health Association of the United States

Washington, D.C.

Corporate Treasurer

Rhonda E. Mueller

Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations

Catholic Health Association of the United States

St. Louis

[Guest STEPHANIE NIEDRINGHAUS]

Dear Members of Congress:

 

We write to urge you to cast a life-affirming “yes” vote when the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3590) comes to the floor of the House for a vote as early as this week. We join the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), which represents 1,200 Catholic sponsors, systems, facilities and related organizations, in saying: the time is now for health reform AND the Senate bill is a good way forward.

 

As the heads of major Catholic women’s religious order in the United States, we represent 59,000 Catholic Sisters in the United States who respond to needs of people in many ways. Among our other ministries we are responsible for running many of our nation’s hospital systems as well as free clinics throughout the country.

 

We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

 

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women. This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

 

Congress must act. We are asking every member of our community to contact their congressional representatives this week. In this Lenten time, we have launched nationwide prayer vigils for health care reform. We are praying for those who currently lack health care. We are praying for the nearly 45,000 who will lose their lives this year if Congress fails to act. We are also praying for you and your fellow Members of Congress as you complete your work in the coming days. For us, this health care reform is a faith mandate for life and dignity of all of our people.

 

We urge you to vote “yes” for life by voting yes for health care reform in H.R. 3590.

 

Sincerely,

 

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA

LCWR President

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

 

Joan Chittister, OSB

Co-Chair Global Peace Initiative of Women

Erie, PA

 

Leadership Team

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

 

Leadership Team

Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Sr. Mary Persico, IHM

President

Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Scranton, PA

 

Sr. Susan Hadzima, IHM

Councilor for Missioning and Community Life

Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Scranton, PA

 

Mary Pelligrino, Marguerite Coyne, Rosanne Oberleitner, Carolyn Bodenshatz

Leadership team

Sisters of St. Joseph

Baden, PA

 

Sr. Helen McDonald, SHCJ

Province Leader

Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Philadelphia, PA

 

Vivien Linkhauer, SC

Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, United States Province

Greensburg, PA

 

Leadership Team

Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

 

Sister Barbara Hagedorn, SC

Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

Mt. St. Joseph, Ohio

 

Marilyn Kerber, SNDdeN

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

Canonical Representative, Ohio Province

 

Sisters of St. Francis

Tiffin, Ohio

 

Leadership Team

Sisters of the Precious Blood

Dayton, OH

 

Nancy Conway CSJ

Congregation Leadership Team

The Congregation of St. Joseph

 

Joan Saalfeld, SNJM, Provincial

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

U.S.-Ontario Province

 

Jo'Ann De Quattro, SNJM

Sisters of the Holy Names

U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team

 

Josephine Gaugier, OP

Adrian Dominican Sisters

Holy Rosary Mission Chapter Prioress

Adrian, MI

 

Kathleen Nolan, OP

Adrian Dominican Sisters

Office of the General Council

 

Joan Mumaw, IHM – Vice President

On behalf of the Leadership Council

Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Monroe, MI

 

Corinne Weiss,

Servants of Jesus Leadership Team

Saginaw MI

 

Beatrice Haines, OLVM

President, Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters

Huntington, IN

 

Eileen C. Reid, RJM

Provincial Superior

Religious of Jesus and Mary

Washington DC

 

Sister Cecilia Dwyer, O.S.B.

Prioress

Benedictine Sisters of Virginia

 

Sr. Dorothy Maxwell, Councilor

Sisters of St. Dominic

Blauvelt, New York

 

Adrian Dover OP

Prioress

Dominican Sisters of Houston, Texas

 

Francine Schwarzenberger OP

Dominican Sisters of Peace

Denver, Colorado

 

Rose Mary Dowling, FSM

President

Franciscan Sisters of Mary

 

Margaret Byrne CSJP - Congregation Leader

Teresa Donohue CSJP - Assistant Congregation Leader

Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

 

Sr. Carmelita Latiolais, S.E.C.

Sisters of the Eucharistic Covenant

 

Sheral Marshall, OSF

Provincial Councilor

Sisters of St Francis

 

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes

Sister Joann Sambs, CSA

General Superior

 

The Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis

Sister Jane Blabolil, SSJ-TOSF

Sister Michelle Wronkowski, SSJ-TOSF

Sister Dorothy Pagosa, SSJ-TOSF

Sister Linda Szocik, SSJ-TOSF

 

Sr. Mary Genino (RSHM), Provincial

Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary

Western American Province.

 

Debra M. Sciano, SSND

Provincial Leader

Milwaukee Province, School Sisters of Notre Dame

 

Sister Liz Heese

School Sisters of St. Francis

US Province, Milwaukee, WI

 

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA, President

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

La Crosse, WI

 

Sharon Simon, OP

President

Racine Dominicans

 

Maryann A. McMahon, O.P.

Vice President

Dominican Sisters of Racine, WI

 

Agnes Johnson, OP

Vice President

Racine Dominicans

 

Pat Mulcahey, OP

Prioress of Sinsinawa Dominicans

 

Theresa Sandok, OSM

Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters)

Ladysmith, Wisconsin

 

Sister Maureen McCarthy

School Sisters of St. Francis

U.S. Provincial Team

Milwaukee, WI

 

Dolores Maguire

Sisters of the Holy Faith

Northern California LCWR Region XIV

 

Patricia Anne Cloherty, PBVM

Leadership Team, Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

 

Pam Chiesa, PBVM

President

Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

 

Gloria Inés Loya

Leadership Team

Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

 

Gloria Marie Jones, OP

Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose

Congregational Prioress and Council

 

Mary Litell

Provincial Councilor

Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity St. Francis Province

 

Sr Claire Graham SSS

General Director

Sisters of Social Service

Encino CA

 

Sr. Gladys Guenther SHF

Sisters of the Holy Family

Congregational President

Fremont, CA

 

Sister Patricia Rayburn, OSF,

Provincial Minister, Sisters of St. Francis,

Redwood City, CA

 

Sisters of St. Louis, California Region

 

Marianites of Holy Cross

Sr. Suellen Tennyson, MSC

Congregational Leader

New Orleans, LA

 

Sister Clare of Assisi Pierre, SSF

Sisters of the Holy Family

New Orleans, LA

 

Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Sister Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, O.Carm.

Sister Andree Bindewald, O.Carm.

Lacombe, Louisiana

 

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, OSB

Subprioress

Mount St. Scholastica

Atchison, KS

 

Janice Cebula, OSF

President

Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa

 

Mary Rehmann, CHM

President

Congregation of the Humility of Mary

Davenport, IA

 

Sr. Joanne Buckman, OSU

Usruline Sisters of Cleveland

 

Jean Masterson, CSJ

Congregation of St. Joseph

Cincinnati, OH

[Guest CMSWR]

In a March 15th statement, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke on behalf of the United States Bishops in opposition to the Senate’s version of the health care legislation under consideration because of its expansion of abortion funding and its lack of adequate provision for conscience protection. Recent statements from groups like Network, the Catholic Health Association and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) directly oppose the Catholic Church’s position on critical issues of health care reform.

 

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the second conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious in the United States, finds the provision of the bill to include expansion of abortion funding and fails to include conscience protection. We believe the bill needs to include the Hyde Amendment as passed by the House in November.

 

Protection of life and freedom of conscience are central to morally responsible judgment. We join the bishops in seeking ethically sound legislation.

 

Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, R.S.M.

President

On behalf of the Membership of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious

[Luke_Wilbur]

I am very disappointed that our Pope has not voiced opposition to this. Powerful Catholics are obstructing the message of the clergy.

[Guest patrick finley]

I feel bad for alot of these sisters. They do wonderful work..and its spoiled by the few who are in control , and are able to write such things

[Guest Simi]

This is not different than when Baptists spoke up against racism during the Civil Rights Movement, they were also supposed to shut up and keep their religion in the closet.

[Guest LPAC]

According to the most recent report issued by the House Democratic Whip’s office, Pelosi is still at least eight votes short of the 216 votes she needs to win passage. Ultimately, though, it is hardly the issue. Passage of the bill will NOT save Obama’s presidency. In reality, passage of the hated measure may actually hasten the end of Obama’s presidency.

[Guest Luke]

Not everyone. I still support the President on other issues. I think this shows the current ethos of political americana.

[Guest HUMAN]

The democrats have taken a "Bill” and blown it apart as a grab for power beyond the Governments mandate. The democrats keep on talking about how rosy this “Bill” is, but don’t talk about the rationing that it will lead too.

 

If it were such a good BiLL then why didn't they work with the Republicans on it in the Senate? 2,700 plus pages in 72 hours???

 

The process has been corrupted by hook and crook. Barack Obama has no plan/s.

 

My God!!! He gave it to the House to without any plan of his own "That is so unbelievably clear".

 

Barack Obama is right about one thing? Come voting time the Democrats are out.

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are joking correct? I thought pretty much all Republicans are still together against this. What made you change?

[Guest HUMAN]

Se les fue La mano a los democratas, y a Barack Obama. Todo estan enojado. :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The democrats have taken a "Bill” and blown it apart as a grab for power beyond the Governments mandate. The democrats keep on talking about how rosy this “Bill” is, but don’t talk about the rationing that it will lead too.

 

If it were such a good BiLL then why didn't they work with the Republicans on it in the Senate? 2,700 plus pages in 72 hours???

 

The process has been corrupted by hook and crook. Barack Obama has no plan/s.

 

My God!!! He gave it to the House to without any plan of his own "That is so unbelievably clear".

 

Barack Obama is right about one thing? Come voting time the Democrats are out.

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Guest HUMAN]

It's Still NOT OVER.

[Guest HUMAN]

Keep on making those deals, but it still wont help. This Bill stinks to high heaven.

http://www.necn.com/03/19/10/President-continues-campaign-style-pitch/landing.html?blockID=200439&feedID=4215

 

Isn't this how we got into this recession mess to begin with? Fuzzy Math!

 

The republicans learned their lessons, When will Democrats learn their lesson?

 

If we as a Country don't clean house internally?

 

Then our future WILL BE VERY GLOOMY, and that goes for Republican, Democrat, and what ever other party a like.

 

As a Country we HAVE reached a point where it's real clean up time.

[Guest LAW]

President Barack Obama went to Capitol Hill, to rally House Democrats on Saturday for a final health care push as party leaders appeared confident they had overcome a flare-up within their ranks over abortion funding restrictions. (March 20)

[Guest The White House]

Remarks by the President on Health Insurance Reform in Fairfax, Virginia

George Mason University Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia

 

11:27 A.M. EDT

 

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, George Mason! (Applause.) How’s everybody doing today? (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

 

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

 

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. It’s good to be back with some real Patriots. (Applause.) I want to thank Dr. Alan Merten, the President of George Mason University, and his family. (Applause.) Dr. Shirley Travis, who’s here -- thank you. And Coach Larranaga, we were just talking a little bit about -- (applause) -- looking forward to picking George Mason in my bracket next year. (Applause.)

 

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!

 

THE PRESIDENT: I love you! (Applause.) I don’t know if some of you remember, but I visited this university about three years ago for the first time. (Applause.) This was at just the dawn of my presidential campaign. It was about three weeks old, I think. We didn’t have a lot of money. We didn’t have a lot of staff. Nobody could pronounce my name. (Laughter.) Our poll numbers were quite low. And a lot of people -- a lot of people in Washington, they didn’t think it was even worth us trying.

 

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes we can! (Applause.)

 

THE PRESIDENT: They had counted us out before we had even started, because the Washington conventional wisdom was that change was too hard. But what we had even then was a group of students here at George Mason -- (applause) -- who believed that if we worked hard enough and if we fought long enough, if we organized enough supporters, then we could finally bring change to that city across the river. (Applause.) We believed that despite all the resistance, we could make Washington work. Not for the lobbyists, not for the special interests, not for the politicians, but for the American people. (Applause.)

 

And now three years later, I stand before you, one year after the worst recession since the Great Depression, having to make a bunch of tough decisions, having had a tumultuous debate, having had a lot of folks who were skeptical that we could get anything done. And right now, we are at the point where we are going to do something historic this weekend. That’s what this health care vote is all about. (Applause.)

 

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

 

THE PRESIDENT: A few miles from here, Congress is in the final stages of a fateful debate about the future of health insurance in America. (Applause.) It’s a debate that’s raged not just for the past year but for the past century. One thing when you’re in the White House, you’ve got a lot of history books around you. (Laughter.) And so I’ve been reading up on the history here. Teddy Roosevelt, Republican, was the first to advocate that everybody get health care in this country. (Applause.) Every decade since, we’ve had Presidents, Republicans and Democrats, from Harry Truman to Richard Nixon to JFK to Lyndon Johnson to -- every single President has said we need to fix this system. It’s a debate that’s not only about the cost of health care, not just about what we’re doing about folks who aren’t getting a fair shake from their insurance companies. It’s a debate about the character of our country -– (applause) -- about whether we can still meet the challenges of our time; whether we still have the guts and the courage to give every citizen, not just some, the chance to reach their dreams. (Applause.)

 

At the heart of this debate is the question of whether we’re going to accept a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people -- (applause) -- because if this vote fails, the insurance industry will continue to run amok. They will continue to deny people coverage. They will continue to deny people care. They will continue to jack up premiums 40 or 50 or 60 percent as they have in the last few weeks without any accountability whatsoever. They know this. And that’s why their lobbyists are stalking the halls of Congress as we speak, and pouring millions of dollars into negative ads. And that’s why they are doing everything they can to kill this bill.

 

So the only question left is this: Are we going to let the special interests win once again?

 

AUDIENCE: No!

 

THE PRESIDENT: Or are we going to make this vote a victory for the American people? (Applause.)

 

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can!

 

THE PRESIDENT: George Mason, the time for reform is right now. (Applause.) Not a year from now, not five years from now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now -- it’s now. (Applause.) We have had -- we have had a year of hard debate. Every proposal has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. We have incorporated the best ideas from Democrats and from Republicans into a final proposal that builds on the system of private insurance that we currently have. The insurance industry and its supporters in Congress have tried to portray this as radical change. (Applause.)

 

Now, I just -- I just want to be clear, everybody. Listen up, because we have heard every crazy thing about this bill. You remember. First we heard this was a government takeover of health care. Then we heard that this was going to kill granny. Then we heard, well, illegal immigrants are going to be getting the main benefits of this bill. There has been -- they have thrown every argument at this legislative effort. But when it -- it turns out, at the end of the day, what we’re talking about is common-sense reform. That’s all we’re talking about. (Applause.)

 

If you like your doctor, you’re going to be able to keep your doctor. If you like your plan, keep your plan. I don’t believe we should give government or the insurance companies more control over health care in America. I think it’s time to give you, the American people, more control over your health. (Applause.)

 

And since you’ve been hearing a whole bunch of nonsense, let’s just be clear on what exactly the proposal that they’re going to vote on in a couple of days will do. It’s going to -- it’s going to change health care in three ways. Number one, we are going to end the worst practices of insurance companies. (Applause.) This is -- this is a patient’s bill of rights on steroids. (Laughter.) Starting this year, thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions will be able to purchase health insurance, some for the very first time. (Applause.) Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions. (Applause.) Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned from dropping your coverage when you get sick. (Applause.) And they’ve been spending a lot of time weeding out people who are sick so they don’t have to pay benefits that people have already paid for. Those practices will end.

 

If this reform becomes law, all new insurance plans will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers. (Applause.) If you buy a new plan, there won’t be lifetime or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care you receive from your insurance companies. (Applause.) And by the way, to all the young people here today, starting this year if you don’t have insurance, all new plans will allow you to stay on your parents’ plan until you are 26 years old. (Applause.)

 

So you’ll have some security when you graduate. If that first job doesn’t offer coverage, you’re going to know that you’ve got coverage. Because as you start your lives and your careers, the last thing you should be worried about is whether you’re going to go broke or make your parents broke just because you get sick. (Applause.) All right?

 

So that’s the first thing this legislation does -- the toughest insurance reforms in history. And by the way, when you talk to Republicans and you say, well, are you against this? A lot of them will say, no, no, that part’s okay. (Laughter.) All right, so let’s go to the second part.

 

The second thing that would change about the current system is that for the first time, small business owners and people who are being priced out of the insurance market will have the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress give to themselves. (Applause.)

 

So what this means is, is that small business owners and middle-class families, they’re going to be able to be part of what’s called a big pool of customers that can negotiate with the insurance companies. And that means they can purchase more affordable coverage in a competitive marketplace. (Applause.) So they’re not out there on their own just shopping. They’re part of millions of people who are shopping together. And if you still can’t afford the insurance in this new marketplace, even though it’s going to be cheaper than what you can get on your own, then we’re going to offer you tax credits to help you afford it -– tax credits that add up to the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in American history. (Applause.)

 

Now, these tax credits cost money. Helping folks who can’t afford it right now, that does cost some money. It costs about $100 billion per year. But most of the cost --

 

AUDIENCE MEMBER: That’s all right. (Laughter.)

 

THE PRESIDENT: Well, here’s the reason it’s all right. (Laughter.) Here’s the reason it’s all right. It wouldn’t be all right if we weren’t paying for it -- and by the way, that's what a previous Congress did with the prescription drug plan. All they did was they gave the benefits and they didn’t pay for it.

 

That's not what we’re doing. What we’re doing is we’re taking money that America is already spending in the health care system, but is being spent poorly, that's going to waste and fraud and unwarranted subsidies for the insurance companies, and we’re taking that money and making sure those dollars go towards making insurance more affordable. (Applause.)

 

So we’re going to eliminate wasteful taxpayer subsidies to insurance companies. (Applause.) We’re going to set a new fee on insurance companies that stand to gain millions of new customers. (Applause.) So here’s the point: This proposal is paid for. Unlike some of these previous schemes in Washington, we’re not taking out the credit card in your name, young people, and charging it to you. We’re making sure this thing is paid for. (Applause.) All right, so that's the second thing.

 

Now, the third thing that this legislation does is it brings down the cost of health care for families and businesses and the federal government. (Applause.) Americans who are buying comparable coverage in the individual market would end up seeing their premiums go down 14 to 20 percent. (Applause.) Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, cost savings could be as much as $3,000 less per employer than if we do nothing. Now, think about that. That’s $3,000 your employer doesn’t have to pay, which means maybe she can afford to give you a raise. (Applause.)

 

And by the way, if you’re curious, well, how exactly are we saving these costs? Well, part of it is, again, we’re not spending our health care money wisely. So, for example, you go to the hospital or you go to a doctor and you may take five tests, when it turns out if you just took one test, then you send an e-mail around with the test results, you wouldn’t be paying $500 per test. So we’re trying to save money across the system. (Applause.) And altogether, our cost-cutting measures would reduce most people’s premiums. And here’s the bonus: It brings down our deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next two decades. (Applause.)

 

So you’ve got -- you’ve got a whole bunch of opponents of this bill saying, well, we can’t afford this; we’re fiscal conservatives. These are the same guys who passed that prescription drug bill without paying for it, adding over $1 trillion to our deficit -- “Oh, we can’t afford this.” But this bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office -- which is the referee, the scorekeeper for how much things cost -- says we’ll save us $1 trillion. Not only can we afford to do this, we can’t afford not to do this. (Applause.)

 

So here’s the bottom line. That’s our proposal: toughest insurance reforms in history, one of the biggest deficit-reduction plans in history, and the opportunity to give millions of people -- some of them in your own family, some of the people who are in this auditorium today -- an opportunity for the first time in a very long time to get affordable health care. That’s it. That’s what we’re trying to do. (Applause.) That’s what the Congress of the United States is about to vote on this weekend.

 

Now, it would be nice if we were just kind of examining the substance, we were walking through the details of the plan, what it means for you. But that’s not what the cable stations like to talk about. (Laughter.) What they like to talk about is the politics of the vote. What does this mean in November? What does it mean to the poll numbers? Is this more of an advantage for Democrats or Republicans? What’s it going to mean for Obama? Will his presidency be crippled, or will he be the comeback kid? (Applause.) That’s what they like to talk about. That’s what they like to talk about. I understand.

 

One of the things you realize is basically that a lot of reporting in Washington, it’s just like SportsCenter. It’s considered a sport, and who’s up and who’s down, and everybody’s keeping score. And you got the teams going at it. It’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. (Laughter.)

 

Look, let me say this, George Mason: I don’t know how this plays politically. Nobody really does. I mean, there’s been so much misinformation and so much confusion and the climate at times during the course of this year has been so toxic and people are so anxious because the economy has been going through such a tough time. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the politics on this thing. I don’t know whether my poll numbers go down, they go up. I don’t know what happens in terms of Democrats versus Republicans.

 

But here’s what I do know. I do know that this bill, this legislation, is going to be enormously important for America’s future. (Applause.) I do know the impact it will have on the millions of Americans who need our help, and the millions more who may not need help right now but a year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now, if they have some bad luck; if, heaven forbid, they get sick; if they’ve got a preexisting condition; if their child has a preexisting condition; if they lose their job; if they want to start a company -- I know the impact it will have on them. (Applause.)

 

I know what this reform will mean for people like Leslie Banks, a single mom I met in Pennsylvania. She’s trying to put her daughter through college, just like probably some of your moms and dads are trying to put you through college. And her insurance company just sent her a letter saying they plan to double her premium this year -– have it go up 100 percent. And she can’t afford it. So now she’s trying to figure out, am I going to keep my insurance or am I going to keep my daughter in college? Leslie Banks needs us to pass this reform bill. (Applause.)

 

I know what reform will mean for people like Laura Klitzka. I met Laura up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, while I was campaigning. She thought she had beaten her breast cancer. Then she discovered it had spread to her bones. And she and her insurance -- she and her husband, they were lucky enough to have insurance, but their medical bills still landed them in debt. So now she’s spending time worrying about the debt when all she wants to do is think about how she can spend time with her two kids. Laura needs us to pass this reform bill. (Applause.)

 

I know what reform will mean for people like Natoma Canfield. When her insurance company raised her rates, she had to give up her coverage, even though she had been paying thousands of dollars in premiums for years, because she had beaten cancer 11 years earlier. They kept on jacking up her rates, jacking up her rates. Finally she thought she was going to lose her home. She was scared that a sudden illness would lead to financial ruin, but she had no choice. Right now she’s lying in a hospital bed, faced with paying for such an illness, after she had to give up her health insurance. She’s praying that somehow she can afford to get well. She knows that it is time for reform.

 

So George Mason, when you hear people saying, well, why don't we do this more incrementally, why don't we do this a little more piecemeal, why don't we just help the folks that are easiest to help -- my answer is the time for reform is now. We have waited long enough. (Applause.) We have waited long enough.

 

And in just a few days, a century-long struggle will culminate in a historic vote. (Applause.) We’ve had historic votes before. We had a historic vote to put Social Security in place to make sure that our elderly did not live out their golden years in poverty. We had a historic vote in civil rights to make sure that everybody was equal under the law. (Applause.) As messy as this process is, as frustrating as this process is, as ugly as this process can be, when we have faced such decisions in our past, this nation, time and time again, has chosen to extend its promise to more of its people. (Applause.)

 

You know, the naysayers said that Social Security would lead to socialism. (Laughter.) But the men and women of Congress stood fast and created that program that lifted millions out of poverty. (Applause.)

 

There were cynics that warned that Medicare would lead to a government takeover of our entire health care system, and that it didn’t have much support in the polls. But Democrats and Republicans refused to back down, and they made sure that our seniors had the health care that they needed and could have some basic peace of mind. (Applause.)

 

So previous generations, those who came before us, made the decision that our seniors and our poor, through Medicaid, should not be forced to go without health care just because they couldn’t afford it. Today it falls to this generation to decide whether we will make that same promise to hardworking middle-class families and small businesses all across America, and to young Americans like yourselves who are just starting out. (Applause.)

 

So here’s my bottom line. I know this has been a difficult journey. I know this will be a tough vote. I know that everybody is counting votes right now in Washington. But I also remember a quote I saw on a plaque in the White House the other day. It’s hanging in the same room where I demanded answers from insurance executives and just received a bunch of excuses. And it was a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, the person who first called for health care reform -- that Republican -- all those years ago. And it said, “Aggressively fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords.”

 

Now, I don’t know how passing health care will play politically -- but I know it’s right. (Applause.) Teddy Roosevelt knew it was right. Harry Truman knew that it was right. Ted Kennedy knew it was right. (Applause.) And if you believe that it’s right, then you've got to help us finish this fight. You've got to stand with me just like you did three years ago and make some phone calls and knock on some doors, talk to your parents, talk to your friends. Do not quit, do not give up, we keep on going. (Applause.) We are going to get this done. We are going to make history. We are going to fix health care in America with your help. (Applause.)

 

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

 

END

11:56 A.M. EDT