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The health care reform legislation that will come to a vote in the House of Representatives on Sunday will bring significant benefits to Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District. According to a new report using data from the U.S. Census, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Department of Health and Human Services, hundreds of thousands of families and individuals in Fairfield County will see improvements in their coverage or benefit from provisions in the legislation.

“With premiums skyrocketing every year and thousands of Connecticut families without health insurance, we can’t afford to wait any longer,” said Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4). “This long overdue reform will put Americans back in control of their health insurance choices and ensure that everyone has access to high-quality, affordable health care.”

In the 4th District, health care reform will:

· Improve coverage for 463,000 residents with health insurance with new protections against premium hikes, annual and lifetime coverage caps, and exclusions because of preexisting conditions.
· Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 94,000 families and 19,700 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
· Improve Medicare for 99,000 beneficiaries, including beginning to close the donut hole.
· Extend coverage to 31,000 uninsured residents.
· Guarantee that 9,300 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
· Protect 600 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
· Allow 43,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
· Provide millions of dollars in new funding for the 4th District’s community health centers.
· Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $20 million annually.

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Looking good:

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Rep. Deb Heinrich (D-Madison) in a letter to colleagues:

“My thanks to you for the opportunity to share our thoughts together last evening at caucus. I am heartened by the open and honest exchange that was shared and the willingness to work together toward a solution to closing our 2010 and 2011 deficits. Many members have expressed an interest in seeing a list of some of the ideas that were shared last night. I have attached a compilation of ideas that have been shared with me from various colleagues over the past year.”

I have summarized her list of ideas for Fiscal 2011 with an impact of $3,000,000 or more below: (links added)

Cost Savings:

Eliminate Deputy Commissioner Positions $(3,058,706) Eliminates 21 Deputy Commissioners (GF & TF); savings is net of PS & fringes offset by unemployment comp.

Hard hiring freeze Eliminate vacant positions whether or not they are authorized. $(4,700,000) Gov’s FY 11 Midterm eliminates $4.7million in GF for funded vacancies.

Delay Raise the Age (to qualify for juvenile offender status) implementation until 2012 $(6,167,086) and $(6,724,904) Law went into effect 1/1/10. Judicial has already delayed the implementation of programming associated with Raise the Age in FY 10 in order to achieve OE savings, and will likely further delay the implementation into FY 11. Would require statutory change to reverse law that went into effect 1/1/10.

Reduce independent college student grants by $6.8M. Private colleges with greater than $200M endowment would no longer get this grant. $(6,800,000) FY 11 based on estimated FY 11 enrollment.

Close one Prison $(7,670,785) Policy development & statutory changes to achieve a significant reduction in inmate population would be required. FY 11 amount reflects 1/2 year marginal cost of 965 inmates (average 3/12/10 census at 19 facilities) to DOC.

Reduce fees to Husky MCO’s by 6% annually and create an ASO model for comparison $(28,800,000) $50.1m in savings for rate reduction included in biennial budget. Gov’s FY11 revisions recommends converting to ASO model. Savings dependent on details of ASO

ARRA FMAP PartD Clawback payments $(111,400,000) Governor’s mitigation plan assumes this Federal grant will be extended through June, 2011, for an additional $12.4 million in FY11.

Send Governor back to negotiate with unions to find $100M in real, ongoing, sustainable structural cuts (not furlough days or pension delayed payments) $(100,000,000)

Revenue Gains:

Refinance CHFA loans $(3,500,000)

Retool Business Entity tax to make it progressive in a revenue neutral way and assume a 50% increase in compliance. $(15,600,000) The tax generates about $31.2 million per year from 125,000 entities. Assuming a 50% increase in compliance would result in an additional 62,500 entities paying the tax.

Delay raising the Estate Tax cap to $3.5 until certain economic goals are met (tie it to economic recovery) (for now assume 2 years) $(70,300,000) Fiscal Estimates based on language contained in HB 7101 of the December 2009 Special Session

Eliminate Sales Tax week $(5,000,000)

Restructure Tax Exemptions to find $100M $ $(100,000,000) Achievability will depend on which exemptions are eliminated.

Implement Internet Sales Tax $(8,500,000) “Based on estimate of sSB 806 (file 599) of 2009 regular session. However since that time, Amazon has terminated their marketing affiliate relationships in Rhode Island, Hawaii, and North Carolina in order to avoid collecting sales taxes in these states. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume Amazon would do the same thing in Connecticut. Since Amazon is a significant portion of the $8.5 million estimate (approximately 40%), there is some level of uncertainly as to how much revenue the state would realize if we passed this law. ”

Modify Film Tax Credit Some proposals indicated a 10M savings

My take – The $100,000,000 items are really questionable. The tax exemptions come straight off the federal tax forms – restructuring them would require extensive tax preparation work and expense for individual taxpayers. Assuming the U.S. is going to extend the Recovery Act grant is risky at best.And the chances of a $100,000,00 union give-back don’t seem too likely.

The Business entity tax is $250 – why making it more progressive will raise compliance , and the average payment of newly compliant taxpayers can be assumed to be $250 is beyond me.

Even if all these highly unlikely changes were to occur, the net effect in 2011 would be $500,00,000 in a $4 billion budget deficit, or, in other words, would get us only 1/8 of the way there!

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From Politico:

On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), perhaps the most liberal member of the Senate, argued that the measure cobbled together by Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who’s not seeking reelection this fall, doesn’t do enough to tie Wall Street’s hands.

“Unfortunately, the financial reform bill, as currently written, does not go far enough in making the kinds of changes we desperately need,” Sanders said. “We cannot wait for the next crisis to solve this problem.”

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A new CBO report issued today says that the current reconciliation bill will save $130 billion!

The Christian Science Monitor has more on the story:

The long-awaited CBO report appears to be a big boost to House Democrats in a sprint to get healthcare reform wrapped up, as soon as this week.

“It is the largest deficit reduction measure in 25 years, since Clinton’s budget in 1993, which ushered in the great economy of the 1990s,” says House majority leader Steny Hoyer.

Many Democrats – from fiscal and social conservatives on the right of the caucus to progressives on the left – have had serious concerns about the Senate version of the bill – even with a package of “fixes.”

But for many conservatives in the caucus, the biggest obstacle was the overall cost of the bill – and claims that it would significantly expand the reach of government into one-sixth of the economy. The CBO, in its forthcoming report, sets the 10-year cost of the bill at $940 billion, but with offsets and cost savings higher than expected.

“The CBO score adds to the momentum,” says Ralph Neas, CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, a pro-reform group. “A lot of people thought that the new CBO score could be a setback. They were expecting the numbers to be bad, and these are much better than expected.”

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* Read the report: Barely Hanging On: Middle-Class and Uninsured

The two recessions that Americans have weathered in the first decade of the 21st century have taken a tremendous toll on people’s ability to afford health insurance—and employers’ capacity to offer it. A new report from the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), documents that while the situation has been tough for everyone, it’s America’s middle class that has been hardest hit.

The report shows that the number of middle-income earners who obtained health insurance from their employers dropped by 3 million people from 2000 to 2008. Just 66 percent of people in families earning roughly $45,000 to $85,000 are now insured through their employer—a drop of seven percentage points from 2000 to 2008.

Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) has long been the mainstay of health coverage for middle-class families, who typically do not qualify for government insurance programs. Among middle-income Americans, only about half of the decline in employer-sponsored coverage from 2000 to 2008 was offset by government insurance programs. For people who earned less money, declines in ESI were even steeper, but those numbers were mostly offset by increases in coverage through government insurance programs like Medicaid.

The result is that America’s middle-class became uninsured at a pace faster than those with less or more income. In total, 13 million middle-income earners were uninsured in 2008—about 2 million more than in 2000.

“America’s uninsured crisis means that hard-working people with average incomes are being squeezed,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “The fallout from rising health insurance costs hits everyone. Employers must choose between either passing on costs to workers who cannot afford the increase and therefore drop coverage, or paying more for their employees’ coverage at the cost of creating and preserving jobs.”

The most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that 46.3 million people are uninsured, but these figures were compiled before the downturn in the current economy. Experts assume millions more have become uninsured since the 2008 data, due to job loss and rising costs of health insurance since that time.

The report released today—Barely Hanging On: Middle-Class and Uninsured—chronicles state-by-state health coverage trends. In the first decade of this century, nearly every state has seen increased numbers of uninsured residents, greater costs for individual and family policies for health insurance and significant erosion in private coverage. The report was prepared by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota. Researchers averaged data from the U.S. Census Bureau from 1999/2000 and 2007/2008 and data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report shows:

* More middle-class Americans are uninsured.
Nationwide, the total number of uninsured, middle-class people increased by more than 2 million since 2000, to12.9 million in 2008.
* The average employee’s costs for health insurance rose, while income fell.
Nationwide, the average cost an employee paid for a family insurance policy rose 81 percent from 2000 to 2008. During the same period, median household income fell 2.5 percent (adjusted for inflation).
* Fewer people were offered, eligible for, or accepted insurance coverage through their jobs.

As costs of health insurance premiums rose, some employers stopped offering coverage benefits to employees, or changed the criteria for employees’ eligibility. While most employers still paid the lion’s share of their employees’ insurance premiums, rising costs have been passed on to workers—with some choosing to drop insurance.

Nationwide, the percentage of people who worked for firms that did not offer insurance increased to 12 percent in 2008. The number of workers who were ineligible for ESI—even though their employer offered it—was 22 percent in 2008. That means more than one in five people who work in firms that offer health insurance weren’t eligible for the benefit. And the percentage of employees nationwide who did not accept ESI increased three percentage points since 2000; 21 percent of employees offered ESI in 2008 did not accept.

“The facts show that everyone is suffering right now, regardless of income,” said Lavizzo-Mourey. “For middle-class families, changes in the cost of insurance far outweigh changes in income. That means a bigger piece of the household budget must go to insurance, or families have to go without coverage, delay needed care and face bankruptcy if anyone in the family gets seriously ill. Business owners can’t afford to shoulder more of the burden of health care costs. And states can’t afford the influx of laid-off workers into public programs. It’s a crisis in need of solutions.”

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A new Q poll has these numbers for Governor: Among Democrats, 44 percent of voters are undecided, while businessman Ned Lamont gets 28 percent to Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy’s 18 percent. No other candidate tops 4 percent.

On the Republican side, Foley has emerged as a leader in the primary campaign with 30 percent, but 50 percent are undecided. No other candidate tops 4 percent. Like Linda McMahon, Tom Foley is the only candidate for governor who is on TV, which helps him break away from the Republican pack. Even Foley, however, is largely unknown to Republicans and the big winner is still undecided,.

Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz leads the Democratic primary for Attorney General with 54 percent, followed by former State Sen. George Jepsen at 10 percent, with no other candidate topping 2 percent and 31 percent undecided.

Undecided gets 66 percent of the Republican vote, with 13 percent for State Sen. Andrew Roraback and no other candidate above 9 percent.

Lamont gets a 43 – 13 percent favorability among Democrats, with 42 percent who don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

Bysiewicz gets a 59 – 10 percent favorability among Democrats, with 29 percent who don’t know enough.

For all other candidates for Governor or Attorney General, the “don’t know enough about them” number among voters in their own party is 55 percent or higher.

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NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, released the text of a letter to Congress supporting healthcare legislation from organizations and communities representing tens of thousands of Catholic Sisters. This letter (text below), which is being delivered to each Member of Congress, comes just days after a statement in support of passing healthcare reform by the Catholic Health Association.

This is the text of the letter sent to all Members of Congress:

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

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 Genino (RSHM)
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
Western American Province.

Nancy Conway CSJ
Congregation Leadership Team
The Congregation of St. Joseph

Debra M. Sciano, SSND
Provincial Leader
Milwaukee Province, School Sisters of Notre Dame

Josephine Gaugier, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Holy Rosary Mission Chapter Prioress
Adrian, MI

Kathleen Nolan, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Office of the General Council

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
President
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
La Crosse, WI

Corinne Weiss
Servants of Jesus Leadership Team
Saginaw MI

Adrian Dover OP
Prioress
Dominican Sisters of Houston, Texas

Rose Mary Dowling, FSM
President
Franciscan Sisters of Mary

Leadership Team
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(from Mary Martens, BVM, Administrative Assistant)

Beatrice Haines, OLVM
President, Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters
Huntington IN

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

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

Pam Chiesa, PBVM
President
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Patricia Anne Cloherty, PBVM
Leadership Team, 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

Theresa Sandok, OSM
Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters)
Ladysmith, Wisconsin

Sr Claire Graham SSS
General Director
Sisters of Social Service
Encino CA

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

Joan Mumaw, IHM – Vice President
On behalf of the Leadership Council
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Monroe, Michigan

Sister Clare of Assisi Pierre, SSF
Sisters of the Holy Family
New Orleans, LA

Sister Marla Monahan, SND
Provincial
Sisters of Notre Dame
(St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, KY
and St. Charles Care Center in Covington, KY)

Vivien Linkhauer, SC
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, United States Province
Greensburg, PA

Dolores Maguire
Sisters of the Holy Faith
Northern California LCWR Region XIV

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, OSB
Subprioress
Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, KS

Marianites of Holy Cross
Sr. Suellen Tennyson, MSC
Congregational Leader

Barbara Hagedorn, SC
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
Mt. St. Joseph, Ohio

Francine Schwarzenberger OP
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Denver, Colorado

Sister Maureen McCarthy
School Sisters of St. Francis
U.S. Provincial Team
Milwaukee, WI

Eileen C. Reid, RJM
Provincial Superior
Religious of Jesus and Mary
Washington DC

Sister Cecilia Dwyer, O.S.B.
Prioress
Benedictine Sisters of Virginia

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Sister Joann Sambs, CSA
General Superior

Sisters of St. Francis
Tiffin, Ohio
(from Sr. Mary Kuhlman)

Sr. Helen McDonald, SHCJ
Province Leader
Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Leadership Team
Sisters of the Precious Blood
Dayton, OH

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. Gladys Guenther SHF
Sisters of the Holy Family
Congregational President
Fremont, CA

Sr. Dorothy Maxwell, Councilor
Sisters of St. Dominic
Blauvelt New York

Sheral Marshall, OSF
Provincial Councilor
Sisters of St Francis

Marilyn Kerber, SNDdeN
Canonical Representative, Ohio Province

Sisters of St. Louis, California Region
(from Sr. Michele Harnett, SSL)

Ruth Goodwin, OSF
Sisters of ST. Francis of Philadelphia

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Leadership Team

Sr. Joanne Buckman, OSU
Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland