Author: hearseeno

The GOP Has Officially Engineered a Children’s Health-Care Crisis

workfornow:

seandotpolitics:

On September 30, federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired. Congressional Republicans claimed that they didn’t want this to happen — they just got so caught up with trying to repeal Obamacare (a.k.a. trying to take health care away from millions of adults) that they forgot to preserve access to basic medical care for 9 million low-income children. Regardless, the public had no need to worry: States had enough money to keep CHIP running for the rest of the year, and Republicans would reauthorize the program with all due haste.

Nearly two months later, congressional Republicans are so caught up with trying to cut taxes on corporations (while taking health care away from millions of adults), they haven’t quite found time to renew CHIP.

In at least 11 states, funds allocated for CHIP will run out by January’s end. A majority of states will be bereft of funds for the program by April. But throughout the country, the program is already in a state of crisis.

On Monday, working-class families in Colorado received lettersencouraging them to look into private insurance options, as their children could soon be tossed off government health care. Several other states will send out similar letters this week.

These missives won’t just be a short-term worry for working families who already have more than enough worries — they also threaten to undermine CHIP in the long-term…

Meanwhile, states are already wasting money and personnel hours on contingency plans for CHIP’s demise. Some have stopped pushing eligible families to sign up for the program, a development that could lead to many more low-income children going without coverage, even if the program gets reauthorized in December: If states don’t spend time and money spreading awareness of the program, many parents will fail to take advantage of it.

And it’s far from certain that CHIP will get funded…

In Texas it’s estimated the 30 days notice that your kids’ coverage will disappear will go out Dec. 22. Merry fucking Christmas.

btw, in case you didn’t know this:

CHIP is a BLOCK GRANT health insurance program.  

That means, unlike Medicaid/Medicare which is funded through an “ongoing funding stream,” CHIP’s block grant has to be re-authorized by Congress every few years.  Every few years, it runs the risk of becoming a casualty of political wrangling like you see now.  

CHIP provides insurance for about 9 million people.  

Now, remember the abomination that was Trumpcare and the Republican’s proposal to make Medicaid a block grant program?  

Medicaid serves 70 million people.  Imagine THAT being in the same situation as CHIP is in right now.  The consequences are potentially catastrophic for insurees, state governments, health care systems, etc.  Medicaid becomes “too big to fail” as a block grant, making it a huge chip in the Republican bank the next time the want to play chicken with the Democrats around funding social programs.

The GOP Has Officially Engineered a Children’s Health-Care Crisis

Feathered dinosaurs were even fluffier than we thought

porcupine-girl:

jabberwockypie:

maureenlycaon:

dinofloof:

YES GOOD

It looks like some strange chick crossed with a sheep. 🙂

@deadcatwithaflamethrower

“"Most provocatively, Anchiornis
is presented in this artwork climbing in the manner of hoatzin chicks,
the only living bird whose juveniles retain a relic of their dinosaurian
past, a functional claw.“

…what? A functional claw?? *googles* holy crap

Video of hoatzin chicks, which are literally just tiny dinosaurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87_shPJxdns

Feathered dinosaurs were even fluffier than we thought

This App Lets You Bail Out Black Prison Inmates with Your Spare Change

smitethepatriarchy:

trisockatops:

thetwistedrope:

pavel-shrekov:

thetwistedrope:

The function of the app is simple: In less than 60 seconds, connect the
account you use to make everyday purchases. Here, your purchases will be
rounded up to the nearest dollar to automatically donate each time you
reach at least $2 in spare change. Users can pause and resume their
contributions at any time. On the topic of his goals with the project,
Ziegler explains:

“Our short term goals are to get as many folks
home for the holidays as possible so we hope many folks join the
platform for Giving Tuesday and contribute their holiday spending change
to those in need.

Long term, we see the platform being used in a variety of
ways to bolster the voices of those in need beyond just a financial
contribution.”

This now exists. Today I’m linking my bank account to become the first customer. https://t.co/h2IcVlKoY5

Why though? They are prisoners because they broke the law and they deserve to pay the price of their actions. Not just to be set free because they are black.

It’s pretty obvious you didn’t read the article where they brought up all of the stats that show why the school-to-prison pipeline unfairly targets the black (and in some states, latino) population.

People can be held for months without due trial or even a reason, all because they can’t make bail. Some people get stuck in jail for weeks, and sometimes months, over basic traffic violations.

Not to mention that breaking the law can be done for good reasons, for just reasons (look at how many protesters have been arrested even tho they were peacefully protesting, which is supposed to be covered and acceptable by our laws), and that “breaking the law” can sorta kinda mean whatever tf a cop wants it to mean. Quite literally. They can apprehend people simply because they can. Slap them with “resisting arrest” and call it a day. And then the person can rot in jail for who knows how long.

There are lots of resources to learn about this online. Please go educate yourself.

https://appolition.us/

You can’t get out on bail if you’ve already been convicted of a crime. Being arrested and jailed doesn’t mean you’re automatically guilty for the sake of fuck come on.

This App Lets You Bail Out Black Prison Inmates with Your Spare Change

npr:

When ‘Miss’ Meant So Much More: How One Woman Fought Alabama, And Won

June 1963. Gadsden, Ala. Mary Hamilton, 28, stood in a courtroom before a judge.

She was a black civil rights activist, arrested for nonviolent protest. And the judge was losing his patience.

The atmosphere in Gadsden that summer “was truly frightening and terrifying,” says Colin Morris, a history professor at Manhattanville College. “The Klan was highly active. On more than one occasion there had been attacks in Gadsden.”

But Hamilton wasn’t frightened. She was furious. She refused to answer the prosecutor’s questions.

“I won’t respond,” she said, “until you call me Miss Hamilton.”

It wasn’t just about an honorific. It was about respect and racial equality. Her demand was an act of defiance that would eventually bring her name before the U.S. Supreme Court and set a precedent for how witnesses are addressed in courtrooms today — with equal courtesy.

Continue reading

Photo: Duane Howell/Denver Post/Getty Images

Source: NPR

tsume817:

vaspider:

someone please caption this, I am too tired.

There’s nothing hypothetical about what ISPs will do when net neutrality is eliminated. I’m going to steal a comment previously posted by /u/Skrattybones and repost here:

2005 – Madison River Communications was blocking VOIP services. The FCC put a stop to it.

2005 – Comcast was denying access to p2p services without notifying customers.

2007 – 2009 – AT&T was having Skype and other VOIPs blocked because they didn’t like there was competition for their cellphones.

2011 – MetroPCS tried to block all streaming except youtube. (edit: they actually sued the FCC over this)

2011 – 2013 AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon were blocking access to Google Wallet because it competed with their bullshit. edit: this one happened literally months after the trio were busted collaborating with Google to block apps from the android marketplace

2012 – Verizon was demanding google block tethering apps on Android because it let owners avoid their $20 tethering fee. This was despite guaranteeing they wouldn’t do that as part of a winning bid on an airwaves auction. (edit: they were fined $1.24 million over this)

2012 – At&T tried to block access to FaceTime unless customers paid more money.

2013 – Verizon literally stated that the only thing stopping them from favoring some content providers over other providers were the net neutrality rules in place.

The foundation of Reason’s argument is that Net Neutrality is unnecessary because we’ve never had issues without it. I think this timeline shows just how crucial it really is to a free and open internet. 

Source: vaspider

States prepare to shut down children’s health programs if Congress doesn’t act

Officials in nearly a dozen states are preparing to notify families that a crucial health insurance program for low-income children is running out of money for the first time since its creation two decades ago, putting coverage for many at risk by the end of the year.

Congress missed a Sept. 30 deadline to extend funding for CHIP, as the Children’s Health Insurance Program is known. Nearly 9 million youngsters and 370,000 pregnant women nationwide receive care because of it.

Many states have enough money to keep their individual programs afloat for at least a few months, but five could run out in late December if lawmakers do not act. Others will start to exhaust resources the following month.

…

Most CHIP families, who earn too much for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance, are not aware lawmakers’ inaction is endangering coverage. They’re about to find out, though. Virginia and several other states are preparing letters to go out as early as Monday warning families their children’s insurance may be taken away.

…

Longtime physician William Rees remembers the years before CHIP’s safety net, when families without coverage would put off bringing a sick child to the doctor until symptoms were so severe they would end up in a hospital emergency room.

“Pediatrics is mostly preventive medicine, it’s so important what we do,” said Rees, who has practiced in Northern Virginia since 1975. “It’s about trying to keep up with routine visits. If (children) don’t have insurance, that often doesn’t happen, so CHIP keeps them in the system and they get their vaccines when they’re due.”

States prepare to shut down children’s health programs if Congress doesn’t act