Health: Is there anything more important? In this episode, we examine three bills that moved through Congress in 2016 which would have a direct effect on the health of American citizens. Would the changes benefit you?
This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of Nathan Brightbill. He will be forever loved and missed.
Please support Congressional Dish:
Thank you for supporting truly independent media!
Bills Highlighted in this Episode H.R.3762:Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 Bill Highlights
Rescinds money for States operating their own health insurance exchanges
Eliminates the last year of a temporary fee to be paid by health insurance companies to fund care for “high risk individuals”
Repeals limits on out of pocket health expenses for low income families
Repeals the eligibility requirements for getting health care as individuals
Repeals the advance payment of tax credits to help low income people pay for their individual premiums
Eliminates the small business tax credit for companies with less than 25 employees and provide health insurance for their employees
Eliminates the tax penalty for people who don’t get their own health insurance
Eliminates the tax penalty for large employers who don’t provide their employees health insurance and backdates it to protect large companies who didn’t provide health insurance in 2015
Cut off money to States that give Money to any organization that provides abortions (Planned Parenthood)
Greatly reduces the amount of money for Medicaid, which is health care for poor people
Repeals the 2.3% Medical Device Tax on the manufactures of large medical equipment, even though it was suspended for two years by the omnibus
Transfers over $379 billion from the Treasury to the Federal Hospital Insurance Fund, which is where our payroll taxes go and is used to fund Medicare.
Congressional Budget Office Report
Vote
Author
Organizations Lobbying For H.R. 3762
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America: 15 times
Organizations Lobbying Against H.R. 3762
H.R. 1927: Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2016 (FACT Act) Bill Highlights
Federal courts would be prohibited from certifying any class action lawsuit unless every person in the lawsuit has suffered “the same type and scope of injury” as the named class representative
A trust set up for a company that has gone bankrupt but still owes money to claimants has to publicly report the name and exposure history of each person and the basis of the payments to that person
The trust would have to provide payment information or information about payment demands from the trust if the request is about liability of asbestos exposure
These disclosure requirements would be valid for all Chapter 11 cases.
Vote
Passed the House of Representatives: 211-188
President Obama issued a Veto threat
Author
Bob Goodlatte of Virginia’s 6th District
Organizations Lobbying For H.R. 1927:
Organizations Lobbying Against H.R. 1927:
H.R. 2017: Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 Bill Highlights
Amends disclosure requirements for chain restaurants with more than 20 locations
Instead of requiring the restaurants to display “the number of calories in the standard menu item, as usually prepared and offered for sale”, the restaurant would be given the choice to display:
Restaurants where “the majority” of orders are placed by off-premises customers, the restaurant may choose to only provide nutrition information by “a remote-access menu” (such as a menu available on the Internet) as the sole method of disclosure instead of on-premises writings”
Allows buffet and self-serve restaurants to publish nutrition information on the Internet instead of on a sign adjacent to each food, if they choose to.
Nutrition information “shall be treated as having a reasonable basis even if such disclosures vary from actual nutrient content”
Regulations for enforcing this bill will have to be created within a year. The bill then prohibits any regulations regarding nutritional information at restaurants, including regulations that have already taken affect, from taking effect until 2 years after the new regulations are done, killing all nutritional information requirement for three years.
Restaurants will not have to have their nutritional information certified for accuracy.
Restaurants “shall not be liable in any civil action in Federal or State court” for violating nutritional information laws.
Vote
Author
Organizations Lobbying For This Bill
Sound Clip Sources
Hearing: Rules Committee Hearing H.R. 712, 1155, SA to H.R. 3762, Rules Committee January 5th, 2016
Hearing: H.R. 1927, the “Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2015, April 29, 2015
Commercial (YouTube): Domino’s Pizza Turnaround
Additional Reading
Article: Ford spent $40 million to reshape asbestos science by Jim Morris, Center for Public Integrity, February 16, 2016.
Article: Absestos class action bill faces hurdles by Mark Hofmann, Business Insurance, January 17, 2016.
Article: Domino’s Just Unveiled a Radical Pizza Delivery Car That Took 4 Years to Build by David Gianatasio, October 22, 2015.
Article: Honeywell agrees to settle Jersey City chromium lawsuit for $10 million by Michelangelo Conte, The Jersey Journal, June 9, 2015.
Article: Honeywell Hit With $10.9M Verdict in Asbestos Suit by Igor Kossov, Law360, June 2, 2014.
Article: The Asbestos Scam, Part 2 by Joe Nocera, New York Times, January 12, 2014.
United States Government Accountability Office Report: Asbestos Injury Compensation: The Role and Administration of Asbestos Trusts , September, 2011.
Article: Virginia jury hands down $25M verdict in asbestos case, by Jason L. Kennedy, March 20, 2011.
Article: Honeywell Says Asbestos Verdict Was More Thank It Had Disclosed by Alex Berenson, New York Times, April 18, 2002.
Article: Health Industry Sees Wish List Made Into Law, Robert Pear, NYT, Dec 6, 1999.
Music Presented in This Episode
Cover Art
Design by Only Child Imaginations
