ThinkProgress Logo

Health

NEWS FLASH

Obamacare Could Help Uninsured Federal Firefighters Access Health Insurance | Thousands of federal firefighters are battling massive wildfires in Colorado and Utah. But because most of these firefighters are temporary employees of the Forest Service, they do not receive health benefits under federal regulations. Bill Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said health insurance is unaffordable for many unless “they have a spouse that might be able to get coverage under an employer. In some places that’s not an option.” The Affordable Care Act, on which the Supreme Court will rule tomorrow, could help them by guaranteeing coverage if they have a pre-existing condition from smoke inhalation and by offering subsidies to help cover insurance premiums. But if the Supreme Court overturns the law, as Wonkblog’s Sarah Kliff writes, “the firefighters stay in the same situation they’ve been in all along: Working a dangerous job and unable to afford coverage.”

NEWS FLASH

New Hampshire Legislature Overrides Veto To Approve Restrictive Abortion Ban | The New Hampshire legislature today overrode Gov. John Lynch’s (D) veto on a partial birth abortion ban. The ban had been passed in April, then promptly vetoed by Gov. Lynch, but the legislature voted to override the veto today during a special session. Federal law already bans partial-birth abortions but has an exception for life-threatening conditions. Lynch criticized the bill because it requires women to see two doctors to qualify for an exception when their life is endanger, which could be unfeasible for many rural women.

NEWS FLASH

CDC Targets LGBT Community With Smoking Cessation Ads | The CDC has expanded its graphic anti-tobacco advertising campaign to specifically target LGBT audiences. The ad, which features a rainbow motif and will appear in relevant publications, notes that the LGBT community smokes at roughly double the rate of the general population. Studies have also shown that gay and trans smokers are also less inclined to quit. Minority stress is suspected to be part of the reason for the increased rates, but tobacco companies also specifically target the LGBT community. The new CDC ad premiered on Facebook last week:

Politics

Top 5 Ways Republicans Have Turned Washington DC Into Their Legislative Playground

Last night, a bill to grant Washington, DC, budget autonomy had to be pulled from the schedule after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tacked on restrictions that supported his Republican agenda.

According to The Hill, Paul said of the amendments, “I think it’s a good way to call attention to some issues that have national implications… We don’t have [control] over the states but we do for D.C.”

Of course, Paul and his colleagues do not actually represent the District of Columbia — Paul represents Kentucky, 500 miles away from DC — and it should not technically be their legislative playground. But Paul is just the last of the long line of members of Congress who mistakenly believe it is their place to tell Washington residents what they can and cannot do.

Here are the top five ways that Republicans have recently tried to legislate the District they don’t represent:

1) DC WOMEN SHOULDN’T ACCESS ABORTIONS. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) proposed a 20-week abortion ban for the District recently, and was greeted by outrage from residents who haven’t seen Congress offer its assistance on any issues with which they actually would like government assistance — including DC’s cockroach and pothole problems. Franks wouldn’t even let DC’s delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) speak at the hearing on the bill. Following on Franks’ heels was Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) who is proposing the “District of Columbia Respect for Life and Conscience Act of 2012.” One of the amendments Paul proposed last night also sought to codify into law a previous ban by Congress on using public funding in DC for abortions.

2) DC SHOULD SPEND LESS ON TRANSPORTATION. Republican Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) proposed slashing $150 million for DC public transport, and “called those funds an earmark for the Washington DC area.” To the many DC residents who take DC buses or metro every day, this is not so much an earmark as the only way of getting to work. Luckily for Garrett’s staffers who live or commute in Washington, his proposal was rejected.

3) DC SHOULD HAVE MORE GUNS. One of Paul’s proposed amendments last night was to try to allow DC residents to carry concealed weapons, and another to make it so that there would be more firearms dealers in the city. It’s understandable that Paul wouldn’t understand the risks of more guns in DC; Washington has about 13.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Kentucky, Paul’s home state, on the other hand, has 2.4

4) DC WORKERS SHOULDN’T UNIONIZE. Another amendment by Paul dictated that “membership in a labor organization may not be applied as a precondition for employment” in Washington, DC. This is an obvious anti-union move by a far-right Republican. But in this case, the rule applies as a precondition to any money that DC gets in what is supposed to be its autonomous budget.

5) DC TAXPAYERS SHOULD FUND PRIVATE SCHOOLS. Teachers, the mayor, and Holmes Norton all begged Congress not to pass a school voucher program for the Disctrict, but Congressional legislators did anyway. This forces taxpayers to spend money on DC’s private schools, instead of helping to fund the struggling public school system in the District.

And here is a bonus: DC can’t even have statues. Every state in the U.S. has two statues on display in the halls of Congress. Washington, of course, has long been denied that honor. A recent vote has moved the District closer to getting their two statues — Fredrick Douglas and Pierre L’Enfant — into Congress’s statuary hall. But, for now, the statues “have been somewhat anonymously relegated to the lobby of the District’s Judiciary Square building.”

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who is a non-voting member of Congress representing the District of Columbia, has been endlessly vocal about the injustice of other members trying to legislate over her district. But it has been to no avail.

Bachmann Says Democrats Will Be To Blame If Supreme Court’s Health Ruling Increases Costs

Michele Bachmann says Democrats will be to blame for loss of health benefits and increasing health care costs if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act on Thursday.

During an appearance on Laura Ingrahm’s radio show today, Bachmann was asked how the GOP — which is pressing the high court to strike down the law in its entirety — would respond if “all the people under 26 who [are] thrown off their parents policies” and the possibility of Americans with pre-existing conditions being denied access to health insurance. Bachmann promised that the party would lay out broad principles for reform and push through free-market health care reforms, before suggesting that Democrats would oppose their effort and would thus be responsible for families losing access to health care coverage and suffering from higher costs:

BACHMANN: I would be more than happy to push that, but again, we’re dealing with a Harry Reid, a Democratically-controlled senate. They want nothing to do with freedom. They want nothing to do with bringing down the cost. All they want is a government-directed program. We want a people and doctor protected program.

Listen:

Regardless Of Ruling, Wisconsin Governor Won’t Act On Health Care Reform Until After November Election

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has consistently refused to implement the Affordable Care Act in his state. He rejected $9 million in grants from the health reform law that would have “focused on fighting drug and alcohol abuse” while cutting state funding for health services, like drug and alcohol prevention programs in schools. And he sent back federal grants to help the state set up its health care exchange.

Walker promised in January that he would not implement a state exchange program until after the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act, but now the governor says he will not act on the law no matter what the ruling is on Thursday:

Earlier this month, the Republican governor went even further, saying that if the law is upheld he will not do anything until after the election, hoping that the next president and Congress will repeal it.

Only after those two fail would Wisconsin “figure out some alternative within the state,” Walker said in a statement released by his office this week.

The Associated Press points out that, in one of his first actions after taking office in January 2011, Walker authorized the state attorney general to join a multi-state lawsuit trying to block the law. At the same time that Walker has actively worked against a law that would expand affordable health care access to millions of Americans, Wisconsin residents face higher than average health costs, and 64,000 children in the state are uninsured.

NEWS FLASH

Poll: Most Americans Say Supreme Court Ruling On Mandate ‘Would Not Make Much Difference’ | Recent polling has suggested that 61 percent of Americans oppose the individual mandate. But according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 55 percent of survey respondents said that if the Supreme Court strikes down the mandate, it would “not make much difference either way” to them and their families. While the law as a whole is not popular, most Americans support the key elements of Obamacare. In fact, strong majorities favor most of what is actually in the health care law. For example, 82 percent of Americans favoring banning insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

Steven Perlberg

Switch to Mobile
ThinkProgress Signup Overlay Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress

Sign Up