posted April 14, 2010 12:47 PM         

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was in New Orleans on April 9, where she delivered a fiery speech to the delegates gathered for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC). However, she came short as a potential 2012 presidential nominee in a straw poll held in conjunction with the event.

During the conference, Palin first sought to defend the GOP from the allegations that it has evolved into the "party of no," saying that "there is no shame in being the ‘party of no’ if the other side is proposing an idea that violates our values, violates our conscience, violates the Constitution," quoted by CNN.

She also blasted the administration for its handling of national security—especially the recently signed nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia—as well as government spending and energy policy. With respect to the latter, she said Obama’s plan for additional offshore oil and gas drilling is insufficient to address America’s energy needs.

However, in a straw poll taken at the end of the conference, it was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney who won with 24 percent of the vote to Palin’s 18 percent, despite not having attended the SRLC.

posted April 14, 2010 04:43 PM         

Why did insurance premiums go up in Massachusetts after their "Universal Health Care Plan" went into effect?

If Romney is the republican establishment nominee, conservatives will not support him.

Charlie Crist is the republican establishment choice for a Senate seat in Florida. He's currently behind in the polls about 30 points to conservative Marco Rubio.

posted April 14, 2010 06:14 PM         

The state’s major health insurers plan to raise premiums by about 10 percent next year, prompting many employers to reduce benefits and shift additional costs to workers.

Increases will range from 7 to 12 percent, capping a decade of consecutive double-digit premium increases, according to a Globe survey of the state’s top health insurers. Actual rates for 2010 will depend on the size of the employer and the type of coverage, with small businesses and individuals expected to be hit hardest. Overall, premiums are more than twice as high as they were 10 years ago.
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/09/16/health_insurers_plan_10_rise_in_rates/

Now katatonic:

posted April 14, 2010 08:33 PM         

how much have premiums and medical prices gone up in other states? blue cross (or shield, one of the blues) has announced a hike of 39% this year alone!

and if mass is worse than elsewhere why haven't the voters who are going to thrash the dems in '10 done so to their healthcare plan???????? the beauty of public anything is that whether they exercise the right or not, it can be fixed with a vote. of the people BY the people, remember?

posted April 15, 2010 12:04 AM         

Red flag for a sinking Obama: Americans now prefer Hillary Clinton
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/04/barack-obama-hillary-clinto n-sarah-palin.html

That moaning you think you hear katatonic is most likely the wind blowing through your ears.

Gee, didn't O'Bomber and his Socialist buds in Congress promise O'BomberCare would lower medical costs and medical insurance costs? Yes They Did, Yes They Did

The Massachusetts universal plan is very similar...and...there have been annual double digit increases in insurance premiums in Massachusetts since their plan was passed.

Yep, there are no premium caps in the Massachusetts plan.

posted April 15, 2010 01:25 AM         

Date: August 18, 2009
Contact: Dave Lemmon, Director of Communications
Geraldine Henrich-Koenis, Deputy Director of Communications
Robert Meissner, Press Secretary
202-628-3030

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Release

Health Care Premiums Rose 5.3 Times Faster than Earnings in North Carolina from 2000 through 2009

North Carolina-Specific Report Finds that Premiums Rose by 96.8 Percent, while Earnings Rose by Only 18.4 Percent

Washington, D.C.—Family health care premiums rose an estimated 5.3 times faster than earnings for North Carolina’s workers from 2000 through 2009, according to a report issued today by the consumer health organization Families USA. In that 10-year period, family health insurance premiums rose by 96.8 percent, while median earnings rose by only 18.4 percent.

The Families USA report for North Carolina is an update of its original groundbreaking 2006 report, which was the first of its kind to document these changes on a state-specific basis. Among the new report’s key findings are:

For family health coverage provided through the workplace in North Carolina, the average annual health insurance premium (employer and worker share of premiums combined) in the 2000-2009 period rose from $6,649 to $13,083—an increase of $6,434, or 96.8 percent.
Between 2000 and 2009, the median earnings of North Carolina’s workers rose from $23,080 to $27,330—an increase of $4,250, or 18.4 percent.
As the report notes, the disproportionately high increases in insurance premiums have continued despite employees receiving “thinner coverage”—coverage that offers fewer benefits and/or that comes with higher deductibles, copayments, and co-insurance. Other employers have cut costs by placing limits on which employees are eligible for coverage or by eliminating coverage for spouses and children of employees. As a result, North Carolina families are paying more but receiving less in health coverage.

“Rising health care costs threaten the financial well-being of families in North Carolina and across the nation,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “If health care reform does not happen soon, more and more families will be priced out of the health coverage they used to take for granted.”

An even worse downside of rising costs is the loss of health coverage altogether. Between 2000 and 2008, the total percentage of U.S. firms offering health coverage declined by 6 percentage points—from 69 percent of firms to 63 percent—with small businesses being the most likely to drop coverage.

Another potential catastrophe for families is the possibility that they will join the growing ranks of families filing for bankruptcy because of their medical debts. Prior to filing for bankruptcy, families attempt to balance budgets by dropping phone service, trimming food costs, and going without needed medical or dental care. Despite these desperate measures, however, more than half of all bankruptcies are related to medical costs.

Key findings in the report make clear how the burden of rising health care costs is being shared by employers and employees for both family health coverage and individual coverage. Among those findings:

For family health coverage in North Carolina, the employer’s portion of annual premiums in the 2000-2009 period rose from $4,867 to $8,714—an increase of $3,846, or 79.0 percent.
For family health coverage, the worker’s portion of annual premiums rose from $1,782 to $4,370—an increase of $2,588, or 145.2 percent.
For individual health coverage, the employer’s portion of annual premiums rose from $2,195 to $3,864—an increase of $1,669, or 76.1 percent.
For individual health coverage, the worker’s portion of annual premiums rose from $475 to $877—an increase of $402, or 84.5 percent.
“For America’s businesses and families, the absence of health care reform is unaffordable and unacceptable,” said Pollack. “It will mean that businesses have a harder time staying competitive, and more and more families have to cope with stagnant wages and the loss of affordable health coverage.”

Pollack cited four of the many causes of skyrocketing health care premiums: wasteful health care spending; an almost unregulated insurance market; a dramatic drop in competition in the insurance market; and costs shifted from the uninsured to insured, termed a “hidden health tax.”

“All of these issues can be addressed in a comprehensive reform of our health care system that will allow businesses and families to afford quality health coverage,” Pollack said.

“This report highlights the fact that North Carolinians are paying more money for less coverage,” said North Carolina Congressman David Price. “The need to stop this disturbing trend is clear, and the bill before the House would respond to this need. No longer would insurance companies be allowed to drop coverage for the seriously ill, refuse to renew existing coverage, or discriminate on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions or gender. After health insurance reform is adopted, North Carolinians will finally get what they pay for.”

posted April 15, 2010 09:01 AM         

Since statistics on insurance premium rates in Massachusetts are NO secret, O'Bomber knew he was lying through his teeth to America. Further, I told you long ago that you cannot insure an additional 32,000,000 people and expect the cost of medical insurance TO GO DOWN. Neither can you insure those with pre existing medical conditions under the same plan and expect the cost of medical insurance TO GO DOWN.

O'Bomber and his Socialist chair warmers in Congress are liars, plain and simple.

As for Romney, he and Ron Paul both stacked the audience at that event with supporters...some of whom were given free tickets to the event if they would promise to vote for them.

I don't dislike Romney or Paul but I would expect someone with Romney's business experience to know in advance that a universal health care plan is certain to raise insurance premiums.

Romney is tied to the issue of universal health care and it's no secret Romney signed a Universal Health Care bill into law.

58% of Americans want O'BomberCare REPEALED, not amended but REPEALED outright.

posted April 15, 2010 10:30 AM         

the purpose of bringing up north carolina was to show that massachussetts is nowhere near unique in the rising costs of its healthcare. but we wouldn't want to regulate how much the carriers can charge, would we? wasn't the spectre of caps on charges one of the things you were fretting about?

healthcare has gone up astronomically everywhere there is insurance of any kind. and benefits have slipped away quietly into the night.

posted April 15, 2010 12:09 PM         

It's the lying O'Bomber rhetoric he spewed on America that "insurance premiums and the cost of medical services would go down under O'BomberCare" which is being highlighted here.

You see??

That's the reason O'Bomber said he could take half a trillion dollars out of Medicare without reducing services for seniors or causing medical services "rationing" for seniors.

posted April 15, 2010 11:28 PM         

Further, the government has plenty of lawyers already on the public payroll to defend.

State Attorneys General will handle the filings and write the briefs...and they too are already on the public payroll.

posted April 16, 2010 02:01 PM         

This is not a trial which requires expert witnesses, evidence gathering, depositions, interrogatories, admissions or any of the other usual trial expenses to prosecute or defend a lawsuit.

This is a trial based squarely on the law..Constitution and the O'BomberCare legislation which violates that Constitution.

This is a trial prosecuted and defended upon the filing of legal briefs to the Court...and a Court's review of the Constitutional limitations of federal authority vs the O'BomberCare legislation.

If Congress and the President can mandate..compel citizens of the various states to purchase health insurance from third party providers..THEN, there is nothing which citizens cannot be compelled to purchase at the direction of the federal government. Obviously, the reverse is also true. The federal government can also forbid the purchase by citizens of anything they wish.

posted April 16, 2010 05:17 PM         

Sarah will forever lament like Stanley Kowalski: I coulda been a contender!

Or -Pisces Willard 'Mitt' Romney. [did you know he spent time in Fr as a Mormon missionary? Family tradition] interesting factoid. His signature is interesting too. If your into graphology.

posted April 16, 2010 06:23 PM         

back stabber myth

I sought to find biblical and mythological figures that are associated.

and found some familiar phrases- socialism and back stabbers for one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_legend