Ken Santema is one of the more rational voices of the conservative South Dakota blogosphere. But his wishlist for the 2014 Legislative session only affirms my concerns that we can't count on the harder right to focus on practical legislative priorities.
Of the six items Santema puts atop his Pierre prospects, I can agree only with the two related to economic development. Santema, like a whole lot of other South Dakotans, wants an external forensic audit of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Hear hear! Santema also wants to reallocate Governor Dennis Daugaard's planned $30-million bonus to the GOED. Santema shares my concern that Pierre improperly intrudes in the marketplace in picking winners and losers with GOED help.
Beyond those two points, Santema drifts away from practical problem-solving to the la-la-land that leaves most voters wondering whether politicians are worth having around.
Stop a Constitutional convention, says Santema. True, a Constitutional convention is a dangerous smokescreen blown by inconsistent Republicans who themselves don't want us focusing on real issues. But wasting any breath on the topic should not be a priority for anyone in Pierre this year.
Stop Common Core, says Santema. He at least acknowledges that Common Core continues decades of bad education policy. But while Santema mentions spending more money to end Common Core, he drifts to ideological justifications of local control and less federal spending. He doesn't focus on what should be the number-one issue for any serious advocate of education: giving South Dakota teachers more professional liberty to practice their art and more pay for that practice.
Stop ObamaCare, Santema recites. To quote the conservative Jim Bolin, "Nullification? Never! No! We will not have nullification!" The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. It is doing concrete good for millions of Americans, and could do concrete good for thousands more South Dakotans if Governor Daugaard and other conservatives would accept the fact that Barack Obama won two Presidential elections and move on.
Trying to end on a positive note, I share Santema's sixth wish, to create more balance of power in Pierre. But as so often happens, this liberal has to play the conservative. Santema says he wants the Legislature to pass new laws to balance that power. Baloney! Balancing power in Pierre doesn't require new laws. It requires that Santema and other South Dakotans of good conscience look past ideological labels and help elect candidates who don't carry the banner of the mainstream GOP monolith that rules Pierre for power and privilege, not principle. If you conservatives can put a raft of rational Libertarians and other third-party entrants on the Legislative ballot, great! But barring that unlikely possibility, the best prospect for restoring the balance of power in Pierre is to vote for Democrats.
I'm one of the millions who've signed up for insurance through the ACA. Without this I'd be without insurance. When I was laid off I was turned down for insurance twice because of a preexsisting condition. I ended up on Cobra but the tax credit I received from the IRS to help pay my premium ended on Jan. 1. By going with the ACA I'm saving $70 per month.
My question to Ken, which is the same question I have for Kristie NOem and John Thune, is why do you want to take this away from me and what do you propose to replace the ACA with, if anything?
Well, most of my priorities for Pierre are to get them to STOP doing things. One I forgot to add to the list was bring forth more transparency bills.
The Con-Con stance is a direct response to the Mt Vernon trip many legislators took. I fear too much time and energy will be wasted there. And if a Con-Con every happens I fear its results.
There is one part of Common Core I do like. Fighting for or against Common Core has gotten more parents involved in what happens at their local schools. A few (including Cory) have rightly pointed out any education solution should include teachers; but it also requires parents to become involved. Even if Common Core is here to stay I hope parent involvement will increase. (Yet, I doubt it will, still a nice thought though).
@Owen I think that is great you have been able to get insurance. The intent of ACA is good, but the mechanism is flawed. Personally I would have rather gone with much smaller targeted bills to fix the health insurance problems. First I would have allowed health insurance to be sold across state borders. That move alone would have done more to bring insurance costs down than ACA could ever hope to. There are already insurance exchanges out there for other industries. ACA doubles-down on restrictive policies that hurt low-population states such as South Dakota.
South Dakota: Land of Infinite Teabagging.
Owen, republicans had decades to get something done on health care costs in this country. They didn't care enough or were too lazy to try fixing it. Now that ACA is here, they're obssessed with tearing it down instead of making it better.
That's just the problem, Ken, it is NOT a free market if insurance companies can't go across lines. It never has been a free market when a handful of big insurance run the game and run Congress and the President.
@Jenny, I agree with what you are saying by the few big corps owning the industry and stifling free market. But how is putting the health insurance market in direct control of politicians that have been bought by insurance industry lobby monies any better? ACA puts more control over the whole health insurance industry in the hands of lobbyists. I never understood how that is a good idea.
The good news is that nobody listens to the Santemas in South Dakota.
My healthcare premiums are very reasonable (under 100/mo for my family). I will gladly pay higher premiums or higher taxes so people like Owen can have affordable healthcare.
Ken I agree that the ACA is not perfect. I feel we should offer Medicare for all. Everything is in place and ready to go.
As far as being able to buy insurance across state lines I talked to a insurance friend of mine and he's a big time Republican and he said that won't work and it might cost South Dakotan's more because a the cost of a certain procedure might be more in a different state and the insurance company would average it out. Might be higher or might be lower. Futhermore how would that help people with prexsisting conditions? They'd still be turned down.
By the way Ken I agree with Cory and you are one of the more rational Republicans. I can have a good conversation with you without the name calling. Refreshing.
@Ken Santema, here is a graph that was recently compiled on what the republican sabatoge is doing to our working poor. If you do not like the republican idea that we are now forced to work with, what would you do to change it to make it better and to take the control from the lobbyists? The problem that we all can see is that the only thing you all want to do is to bring it back to the way it was before the ACA went into effect. As that is not going to happen, will your party work with making this more accessible to all and expand Medicaid? I read in the paper that republicans are perplexed on what to do with the windfall you have found. Here is a thought, take a small fraction of that windfall and put the Medicaid expansion into reality. Here is the graph http://a5.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/w_652/ebjttwjuf0zjsvv0f0oq.jpg You all should be proud of the work you have done to hurt our working poor and hard hit areas of rural South Dakota, this is a damn shame and you all have the power to change it, do it.
Under a100/month Jenny.? You are not paying a premium.
Les, some folks may not be as well heeled as yourself and they qualify for a subsidy as well as cost sharing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVDBrTFyRcU#t=32
Why do you and Grudz always have to be so full of it, Les? I know what I pay in premiums, and I'm very fortunate to have some of the best insurance around, ONLY b/c I work for a large, reputable, company where there are enough employees to ease the cost burden.
Good for you Jenny! You sound like someone who has an appreciation for good health coverage and its importance.
Yeah, that company is going to drop your coverage right after next year's election Jenny and you'll have to get a health policy on the exchange with a $5000 deductible just like everyone else.
Find the Moyer's and Company program on North Carolina to get a vision of rightwing money and state politics twisted to influence national elections.
then its the insurance companies fault and not the ACA Bree
Here's a good story Ken on the myth of healthcares free-market.
http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/01/03/myth-health-cares-free-market.html
Insurance companies helped write the ACA, Owen.
@Owen even thought I don't like the idea of Medicare for ideological reasons, it would have been much preferable over ACA. ACA takes the bad policies that were in place for the health insurance industry before 2010 and multiplied them. I have looked at the potential downsides to cross-border insurance plans and acknowledge they may become a reality. But I would rather take a chance on that than continue down a path that appears to be filled with more economic bad impacts than good social impacts.
I very much agree with one thing said in the article you posted: There was no free-market for health insurance before ACA. Very true. In fact there hasn't be in my lifetime. So, when I talk about any ideas I have, I will admit they are theory. Nothing I can do about that except try to get different ideas heard and hope it at least gets people to consider the current path maybe isn't so good.
@Jerry NO! I definitely don't want to bring it back to pre-ACA. That was also bad. Yes I want ACA nullified, but in place we can enact smaller more tactical pieces of legislation to ensure the market plays fair. Right now the government is acting both as a referee and a player in the healthcare industry. I would rather make the government become a referee in the healthcare industry so it can truly be fair and impartial with smaller and more meaningful regulations.
Tricare for all: it provides free birth control and abortions for public employees.
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/communities/ellsworth/tricare-prime-service-area-changes/article_d2ade8f5-f140-504d-af6c-b59f6323e889.html
@Ken Santema, you do not offer solutions only the same old regulatory two step. This does not solve the problem that our working poor face here in South Dakota without the Medicaid Expansion. As you attest, the government must be the referee in this and for that the only way possible to correct this for right now would be to expand Medicaid. Would you agree with that?
As most that are commenting seem to have a grasp on health insurance standards here in South Dakota, what do you have for your deductibles? Do you know that even with a 5,000.00 deductible, your maximum out of pocket is 6,350.00 for a single or 12,000.00 for an entire family? No more 45,000.00 out of pocket that could seriously damage you and your family. Did you know that Bree S?
The main thing I don't believe it is the governments job to provide solutions. Governments never have been good at helping the poor. Only people can do that. It would require more people in our society to actually care about personally helping their neighbor in order to help the poor.
Medicaid expansion would provide a short-term bandaid and help some out; that I can agree with. But long-term it would not fix the healthcare industry or help anyone stop being poor.
I'm afraid I can't take a chance on the cross-border insurance plans Ken. Because me and people like me will be left without insurance. Again the ACA is far from perfect but its a way I can get affordable insurance.
Yes Jenny! as I stated, you do not pay your premium. As for well healed, I am part of the small percent who pay 100% of my own health care and I am being told how good I have it by the 90% with subsidized health care. Owen is happy for ACA and I'm glad it is working for him. I hope Owen is working as hard at getting retrained and employed as I work to keep my business afloat to pay my 100%.
The insurance companies y'all love to hate wrote the dang thing. The ACA planners, had a long term goal and it wasn't health care.
so what's your solution Les?
And I am working Les hard to be retrained and employed and hopefully a better insurance plan. If I don't get a better insurance plan through my new employer then at least I have something to fall back on.
So if the governments job is not to provide solutions, what is the governments job then? That just does not make sense. The government has a clear job, very clear and that is to provide answers to problems that exist from border to border from coast to coast. We pay our taxes for government to protect us and for government to provide solutions to things like clean water and clean air and the list goes on.
Medicaid expansion is not a band-aid, it is a hospital. Without it, it is a death panel for our working poor. You know who I mean too, the families that bust their humps each and every day at the only kinds of jobs that are available for them to do. They get busted up and yet their lives go on to do the best they can. Their kids are covered under Medicaid, but not them. That is wrong. In our Declaration of Independence, We are supposed to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as our founders had the vision to write about. That means all of us, not just certain ones, but all as we are all created equal in the mind of our Constitution. In fact, here is what it says "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquiity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States Of America". Those there are powerful words and they certainly mean that the government has the duty to be involved with solving our problems.
What was the long term plan that Mitt Romney had in Massachusetts Les? Or the long term plan that the Hertitage Foundation had? Hell, what plan did your boy, the Egg Roll have in all of this? You tea party dudes and dudettes remember this, your conservatives had a hand in this law big time, so they should be available to help sort out the problems like the dems did in 2003 for President Bush and the debacle that happened when Part D was rolled out.
@Jerry, that is the big divide right now in the US (outside of DC, that is a different divide). There is a large of Americans that want to return the government to small limited functions and a large surge of Americans that want the government to provide solutions for everything. I happen to fall on the side that believes government should be small and basically be limited to national defense and making sure intra-state trade is fair. It is the long debate over whether government should be protecting rights or enforcing rights.
I'm not Tea Party myself, but I don't think Romney or Bush can be thrown in the Tea Party realm. Big government Republicans such as Bush and Romney are the true reason the Tea Party rose up, to stop big government operatives within the Republican party from selling out their core conservative values. Actually I know some self-identified Tea Party members that hate Bush more than any Democrat.
Jenny - where do you get your family insurance for < $100/month? That is phenomenal. And what are your deductibles?
Careful on how you define that word "Tea", Jer. There are harsher words than that to describe the Dems and Repubs, who've not just allowed, but perpetuated the state our country is in. These problems did not evolve since the word "Tea" came into your vocab.
.
The condescending attitudes of whatever you consider your party to be or Maddville to be won't get you to first base. I've been working to help and feed the poor since I rode with my father in 1958 delivering to the poor and single parent families.. They came to the door with their heads hung down. Dad said, we need to help them to understand, it could be us tomorrow. If I understand the original Tea definition, I would fit it.
.
You all speak of the better jobs than you have or had. I've had a little and I've had plenty, and I've never found many who would work with me the highest and lowest paid in my own business cleaning the crap from the stools. Nope, they wanted my desk job they would see me at, they'd leave at 5:30 and never see the real details of the highest paid person on premise. I still can't find help to do those menial tasks at wages less than skilled trades, thankfully menial is relaxing for me.
.
Owen, Jer and the rest say well what's your solution, over and over but never take any context of what is given and work with it or give it thought. When a baby is sick, you don't kill it and make a new one.
.
Our old system was broken and all parties involved in every systemic change in health care involved the insurance companies before common sense. It is similar to my bitch on Gant, Novstrup and others voting against an override on Rounds veto of a bill which would have forced the carriers to make you the constituent whole before subrogation. It would have cost insured more they still say. I don't give a damn what it would do, it was the only equitable way to view it for the insured.
.
The fact that many see the ACA as an easier way out than some other method leads me to believe we are so hooked on the gov teat we are done. I don't understand how so many wish for this life to be so easy without effort. That ended with an apple.
"Owen, Jer and the rest say well what's your solution, over and over but never take any context of what is given and work with it or give it thought."
We keep asking Les because nobody can give us an answer. Ken did a pretty good job but buying across state borders, I don't believe, is the answer. It may well be part of a larger solution. As I've said before the ACA is not perfect, but its better then the system we had before and it's a step in the right direction.
You may be correct on that Les, and I thank your father for his work to at least show you compassion which is sadly lacking in the way we now do things regarding our working poor. I too share your frustrations about who has had the heavy hand in making this great country so feeble right now. I say tea party because that is who is doing the bidding of the real culprits in America, the super wealthy elitists that take that teat you speak of and make it a nipple that we are all supposed to grasp for a safety net. No one wants to set on their butt and collect a check, not around here anyway. The mentally disabled either through adiction or other means, maybe. But the real working people of this state do not want a handout, they only want to survive as best they can. You know first hand these folks and you know their pride and how much of an effort it is for them to do anything in the conditions some of them are in. These conditions could be fixed with the Medicaid Expansion and by fixing them, they could be productive again instead of just dying on the vine. The ACA is not an easy way out, hell it is not even a healthplan. The same companies that are through the marketplace are the same ones we have been purchasing through for decades. The only difference is a subsidy that some qualify for and the only reason they do qualify is because of their incomes. They still pay, just like you do. It is not free.
@Ken Santema, when did we ever have small government? When were we ever not involved in some undertaking that is different than where we are right now? So if the government is small, who runs things? You want a strong defence, who keeps that strong? Certainly not the military, they are a part of it. We still need the roads the bridges the factories and all of the rest of the support to make that function. That takes public money for public education. Grunts need education more than they did when I was in. This military is more than just getting dirty, it involves intelligence and how you gonna get that? Sure as hell ain't gonna get it from the elites, there too busy spending our money. Your part about intra-state trade being fair, is a big question for me. I see the fairness each and every day right now with not being able to know exactly where the meat comes from as an example. In your world, how would you know that the beef in question did not come from China? You speak of intra-state insurance as well, explain how that would work. South Dakota has different laws than Nebraska or North Dakota or Connecticut, how would that work? Where would the insurance be overseen from, Washington? The money generated from insurance business in this state would now go to where? There is a tax on each and every policy that is sold here that goes into the state's pockets.
So what would change then with smaller government. When we yell fire, who would come and fight it in the Black Hills or the Badlands? How about a flood, blizzard or drought? We need big government because we would not function without it. We already tried to have a government without Social Security and our old and infirm and poor were left to die of starvation. We already tried to have a government without Medicare and much the same. If you have any years at all on you, you remember seeing families having to burden their whole being on taking care of a sick or old family member as best they could with limited resources. If you try to have a government so small you can drown it in a bathtub, then you have a country that looks much like Afghanistan with much the same appeal. This old soldier will take government over that any day.
TG, I have an 80/20 plan with a $250 deductible. I work for a very large healthcare organization with over 30,000 employees. Bree, I'm not worried at all that my insurance is going to be dropped. I expect it to go up reasonably(that's to be expected), but as a citizen I want my fellow citizens to be able to afford basic insurance. The company I work for has been very good about keeping healthcare costs down, and for three years in a row our premiums did not increase. This past year, my premiums only only went up a few dollars more per month (still under 100/mo!). I have a sense of security knowing that I can do what Owen did and buy halfway affordable insurance through an exchange if I ever have the bad fortune of losing my job. Before the ACA there was NOTHING, you had to be in poverty to qualify for Medicaid. It just irks conservatives to hear people like Owen saying the ACA has helped him buy affordable health insurance.
Well as long as you get to keep your health insurance "Big HealthCare Organization" Jenny who cares about the rest of us. The fact that your health insurance costs will go up "reasonably" will satisfy the rest of us who lose our insurance and have to get a new policy that costs 2-3 times as much with a deductible 2-3 times higher so that we can pay for other people's abortifacients.
Ms. Jenny, are you the Jenny that the people on the Argus TV show were calling a rapist?
Do you like ham with your gravy taters, Grudz?
I enjoy all of the breakfast meats, Mrs. S.
You should have breakfast with the Mickelson boys sometime. I bet they like ham with their taters too.
I'll have breakfast with most anybody who will buy me a solid square breakfast.
You should go have breakfast with Mr. PP. Poor man is jumping at shadows thinking everyone is me on his blog. Someone needs to talk to him in a gentle voice and soothe him before his paranoid psychosis develops any further.
Mrs. S. I think PP would out eat me and want me to pay the bill. This puts him lower on my breakfast card than these ham-eating Mickelson boys you speak of.
On a more serious note, and little is more serious than breakfast until you throw Mr. PP into it and make it plain silly, Mr. H: You should do a poll on what all the big pile of found money should be used for! I just read an article on the Rapid City paper that talked about this. There is a huge pile of money that people are looking to find ways to figure spending it on.
I'm considering voting on things right now. That should have been your bill MB105.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y136zBVjBg
Bree S, when you are speaking of deductibles are you also speaking of total out of pocket expenses? If you are saying that those are any more than 6350 for an individual and 12700 for a family maximum out of pocket per year, you are not correct. I hate to rain on your parade, but a feller must do what a feller must do.
Jerry, I've had HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan) health insurance with an HSA (Health Savings Account) account for the majority of the time since HSA insurance was passed by Congress (Dec 2003 I think). I have a $3100 family deductible with a $3100 family maximum out of pocket in network ($7100 out of network) with 100% paid by insurance after deductible, no copays. As a trade off for having a higher deductible I get to contribute $6550 in 2014 to a 100% tax deductible (and tax-free for medical expenses, and tax-deferred for retirement) savings account. I also have a much lower out of pocket maximum than a similarly priced traditional insurance plan.
Now people are having to buy insurance with a very high deductible with no beneficial trade off. They get a high deductible, and still have to pay coinsurance and copays, and they still have a higher out of pocket maximum... and they don't get a tax-advantaged savings account. Thanks Obama. Hopefully I will still be able to keep my HSA Insurance when the crud hits the fan after next election.
Bree S. After the 1st of January 2014, you can purchase a 500 deductible with a maximum out of pocket for a single of 3750.00 for a single and 7,000.00 for a family. Please tell me how this is such a high deductible. Regarding HSA plans after the 1st of January 2014, they start at 2,000.00 deductible with a maximum out of pocket of 2,000.00 for a single, 4,000.00 for a family. Again, please tell me how this is so bad? I think you should really get a grip on yourself before you pull the lever to vote democratic in the next election. The good news is that the above plans are ACA compliant so yes, you can still keep and HSA you lucky duck. Oh, and preventive care costs you nothing!
80/20, $250 deduct, under $100/month cost. Jenny
.
80/20, $7500 deduct, just under $850/ month. Les
.
Like I said Jenny, you aren't paying a premium. Don't worry though, you will.
.
Very comforting on the 12,700 annual max, Jer. I anticipated well over 20k if Dr Nielsen eventually finds me mature enough for a Viagra scrip.
Here is what happens when we get so carried away with the hate over this ACA and the fact that powerful forces are out there with an agenda that is so Un-American it is sick. From 2010 and now we have another one in Indiana that got caught with 48 bombs and guns and ammo and hate.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2010/10/11/progressive-hunter/171471
Um Jerry - how much is the $500 deductible with $7,000 out of pocket max for a family and why would I want that instead of my $3100 out of pocket max for a family with a tax-free savings account?
I already had preventive for free before Obama mandated it. I didn't use it because I don't go to the doctor unless I have to. I typically spend $200 or less a year on medical care. The health insurance company makes money off of me, lol.
Why would you want to get out of an HSA? These were designed for people like yourself and they work nicely to put investment money away for J.P. Morgan and hope for the best. Now, I find it ironic that you already have a wellness benefit in your existing plan, guess who provided that for you? Yep, the ACA. Along with having your little muffins covered until they are 26! Speaking of the little tykes, on the new ACA plans, pediatric dental is included, even on the HSA, Saints Alive!
You're silly, Jerry. The bigger problem is I probably won't be able to keep my insurance after this year (my plan was extended) because I'll have to go on Medicaid or drop health insurance LOL. From what I've read you aren't allowed to buy health insurance on the Obamacare exchange if your AGI is low - bringing me to the moral conundrum of either going without health insurance for my children or soaking my less-well-off neighbors for inferior government health care.
Your children will be taken care of through the Medicaid. The real problem is for the working poor parents who do not qualify for a subsidy because they do not make enough income. You may have to buck up and ask your employer for some extra walking around moolah so you and your sweety will qualify for a subsidy. You probably should have done this during the festive holiday season and you could have put on the Tiny Tim act for effect. But as your plan will continue until next year, I would try to get into character to get the thing down pat. It is kind of like planting corn, you spread enough fertilizer around and voila, you get a crop.
Just so you are clear. There is no such connection between a government run healthcare and the ACA. What the ACA really is would be a platform that can help the consumer offset the cost of mandatory health coverage with a subsidy. Dakotacare, Avera and Sanford are not government healthplans, rather they are the same plans your well heeled neighbors or not so well heeled ones would buy if they so desired, just like past years.
My husband farms, Jerry - he is the employer.
Hmmmm, that will be a little dicey then Bree S...I would suggest charm... a lot of charm...
Mrs. Bree, is your husband the employer or is his grand pappy the employer?
His grandpappy is dead.