It’s Tuesday.
Dear Blenders,
Day 3 of Jacked-up back continues,
signed,
Standing up is harder today than yesterday, means tomorrow will be better, right?
When Biden Bits was posted for Monday, President Biden had tweeted 1 time. He added 3 tweets giving him a Monday Tweeting Total of 4 tweets and 0 retweets.
President Biden: You know, it’s Social Security’s birthday and I think we should celebrate. Look, if you know me, you know I think that rebuilding the middle-class is the moral obligation of our time. Social Security allows for our seniors to retire with dignity. And me and my Democratic friends on the Hill are trying to protect it and expand it. In fact, our strong employment recovery from the American Rescue Plan means Social Security is going to pay for benefits for even longer than it was originally projected. There’s more we want to do. But here’s what’s crazy.
President Biden con’t: Republicans on the Hill, they want to put it on the chopping block every five years it would come up to reconsideration, whether it continues or not. Think about that. Let me ask you, have you ever seen the Republicans on Capitol Hill do anything to protect or increase or to benefit Social Security? So here’s the deal with Democrats in Congress, you get stronger Social Security because you paid for it and you deserve it. With Republicans in Congress, it’s probably going to get sliced.
President Biden con’t: So happy birthday, Social Security. Here’s to keeping you healthy.
See yesterday’s Biden Bits for a summary of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care
Reproductive health care, including access to birth control and safe and legal abortion care, is an essential part of your health and well-being. While Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion remains legal in many states, and other reproductive health care services remain protected by law. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is committed to providing you with accurate and up-to-date information about access to and coverage of reproductive health care and resources. Our goal is to make sure you have appropriate information and support.
Reproductive Rights.gov.
Your Reproductive Rights
Below you will find information on your right to access care and have it covered by your insurance or other health care coverage if you have it, where to go if you don’t have coverage, and how to get information if you don’t know.
Most health insurance plans – whether you have public (e.g., Medicaid) or private health coverage (e.g., coverage through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace or through your employer) – cover family planning counseling, birth control, and other preventive services at no cost to you.
Reproductive Rights.gov.
Your Right to Emergency Care
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires that, for any individual showing up to a hospital emergency room with an emergency medical condition, the hospital is required to provide you with the stabilizing medical care necessary to save your health or life, including abortion care. To learn more click here.
Your Right to Birth Control
Under the Affordable Care Act, most health plans are required to provide you with birth control and family planning counseling with no out-of-pocket costs. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Hormonal methods, like birth control pills and vaginal rings
- Implanted devices, like intrauterine devices (IUDs)
- Emergency contraception, like Plan B® and ella®
- Barrier methods, like diaphragms and sponges
- Patient education and counseling
- Sterilization procedures
- And any additional contraceptives approved, granted, or cleared by the FDA
To learn more about birth control coverage requirements for different types of health insurance plans, visit here. To learn more about FDA approved contraceptive methods, visit here.
Your Right to Medication
Under guidance issued by HHS, roughly 60,000 U.S. retail pharmacies were reminded of the unique role they play in ensuring access to reproductive health care services under federal civil rights laws. This action is one of many taken by HHS to support President Biden’s directive to ensure access to reproductive health care, including abortion care.
Read the guidance sent to the nation’s retail pharmacies
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, access to abortion will depend on the state you live in even more than before.
- Medication abortion has been approved by the FDA since 2000 as a safe and effective option. Federal regulation permits medication abortion to be dispensed by telehealth and sent by mail via certified prescribers and pharmacies, in addition to in-person dispensing in clinics, medical offices, and hospitals.
- Under federal law, federal Medicaid funds can cover abortion services only in the circumstances of rape, incest or if the patient’s life is in danger. However, there are over a dozen states that provide coverage for abortion services using state Medicaid funds. To find out more on state funding of abortions under Medicaid visit this website.
- If you need help paying for an abortion, abortion funds may be able to provide financial assistance. Information about abortion funds and resources to help are available at AbortionFinder.org
- If you need information on your state’s laws or legal help, you may consider this website: AbortionFinder.org
Your Right to Access Other Preventive Health Services
Under law, you have the right to access other preventive health services with no out-of-pocket costs under most health insurance plans. Most health insurance plans are required to cover women’s preventive health services, including:
- Well-woman visits to screen your health at any time, including a pap smear, breast exam and regular checkup
- Counseling and screening services
- Breast and cervical cancer screenings
- Prenatal care, which is care you would receive while pregnant
- Breastfeeding services and supplies
- Interpersonal violence screening and counseling (e.g., sexual assault evidence collection exams)
- HIV screening and STI counseling
If You Do Not Have Health Insurance Coverage
- Go to healthcare.gov and see if you qualify for coverage.
- Title X Family Planning Clinics provide a broad range of family planning services and provide preventive health services that benefit reproductive health, such as STI and HIV testing, HIV counseling, and HPV vaccines. Find a Title X Family Planning Clinic near you.
- Health centers are community-based organizations that deliver comprehensive, culturally competent, high-quality primary health care services, regardless of patients’ ability to pay, and charge for services on a sliding fee scale. Find a health center near you.
- The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program helps low-income people with HIV receive medical care, medications, and essential support services to help them stay in care. Find how to get HIV care and services through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program near you.
HHS Complaints
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discriminatory restrictions on access to health care. If you believe that your or another person’s civil rights or health information privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with HHS here.
Patient Privacy
Understand your rights to protect your private medical information under federal law. If you think your privacy has been violated, please visit: How to File a HIPAA Complaint to file a complaint.
The guidance on Protecting the Privacy and Security of Your Health Information When Using Your Personal Cell Phone or Tablet may be found here.
Reproductive Rights.gov.
President Biden’s Public Schedule for Tuesday, August 16th 2022:
| 9:15 AM | Out-of-Town Pool Call Time Out-of-Town Pool |
| 11:40 AM | The President and The First Lady depart Charleston Executive Airport Out-of-Town Pool |
| 12:05 PM | The President and The First Lady depart Charleston, South Carolina en route Washington, DC Out-of-Town Pool |
| 1:20 PM | The President and The First Lady arrive in Washington, DC Joint Base AndrewsIn-Town Travel Pool |
| 1:50 PM | The President and The First Lady arrive at the White House South GroundsIn-Town Travel Pool |
| 3:30 PM | The President delivers remarks and signs into law H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 by 9:00 am] State Dining RoomPre-Credentialed Media and Pooled for TV [RSVP here by 9:00 AM] |
| 5:35 PM | Supplemental Pool Call Time Stakeout Location |
| 7:00 PM | The President departs the White House en route Fort Lesley J. McNair South GroundsIn-Town Travel Pool |
| 7:20 PM | The President departs Washington, DC en route New Castle, Delaware In-Town Travel Pool |
| 8:15 PM | The President arrives in New Castle, Delaware |
President Biden has tweeted…
He has 2 tweets so far for Tuesday.
The White House posted the following; BY THE NUMBERS: The Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for families, combat the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and finally ask the largest corporations to pay their fair share. President Biden and Congressional Democrats have worked together to deliver a historic legislative achievement that defeats special interests, delivers for American families, and grows the economy from the bottom up and middle out.
Here’s how the Inflation Reduction Act impacts Americans by the numbers:
White House.gov. 08/15/2022.
HEALTH CARE
Cutting Prescription Drug Cost
- Today, Americans pay two to three times what citizens of other countries pay for prescription drugs
- 5-7 million Medicare beneficiaries could see their prescription drug costs go down because of the provision allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs.
- 50 million Americans with Medicare Part D will have the peace of mind knowing their costs at the pharmacy are capped at $2,000 per year, directly benefiting about 1.4 million beneficiaries each year.
- 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes will benefit from a guarantee that their insulin costs are capped at $35 for a month’s supply.
Lowering Health Care Costs
- 13 million Americans will continue to save an average of $800 per year on health insurance premiums
- 3 million more Americans will have health insurance than without the law.
- The uninsured rate is at an all-time low of 8%, which the historic law will build on.
Defeating Special Interests
- $187 million: The amount the Pharmaceutical industry has spent on lobbying in 2022.
- 1,600: number of lobbyists the pharmaceutical companies had in 2021 – three times the number of Members of Congress
- 33 years: the amount of time Congressional Democrats have been trying to lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
- 19 years: number of years Medicare has been blocked from negotiating prescription drug costs
CLEAN ENERGY
- Families that take advantage of clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits will save more than $1,000 per year.
- $14,000 in direct consumer rebates for families to buy heat pumps or other energy efficient home appliances, saving families at least $350 per year.
- 7.5 million more families will be able install solar on their roofs with a 30% tax credit, saving families $9,000 over the life of the system or at least $300 per year.
- Up to $7,500 in tax credits for new electric vehicles and $4,000 for used electric vehicles, helping families save $950 per year.
- Putting America on track to meet President Biden’s climate goals, which will save every family an average of $500 per year on their energy costs.
Building a Clean Energy Economy
- Power homes, businesses, and communities with much more clean energy by 2030, including:
- 950 million solar panels
- 120,000 wind turbines
- 2,300 grid-scale battery plants
- Advance cost-saving clean energy projects at rural electric cooperatives serving 42 million people.
- Strengthen climate resilience and protect nearly 2 million acres of national forests.
- Creating millions of good-paying jobs making clean energy in America.
Reducing Harmful Pollution
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 1 gigaton in 2030, or a billion metric tons – 10 times more climate impact than any other single piece of legislation ever enacted.
- Deploy clean energy and reduce particle pollution from fossil fuels to avoid up to 3,900 premature deaths and up to 100,000 asthma attacks annually by 2030.
TAXES
Making the Tax Code Fairer
- $0: how much some of largest, profitable corporations pay in federal income tax.
- 55: the number of America’s largest, wealthiest corporations that got away without paying a cent in federal income taxes in 2020.
- $160 billon: how much the top 1 percent of earners is estimated to evade each year in taxes.
- 15%: the minimum tax on corporate profits the Inflation Reduction Act imposes on the largest, most profitable corporations.
- $124 billion: savings over 10 years the Inflation Reduction Act will generate from collecting taxes already owed by wealthy people and large corporations, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
- And no family making less than $400,000 will see their taxes go up a penny.
Reducing the Deficit
- The Inflation Act will achieve hundreds of billions in deficit reduction.
- The deficit is projected to fall by more than $1.5 trillion this year after falling by more than $350 billion last year.
- 126 leading economists – including 7 Nobel Laureates, 2 former Treasury Secretaries, 2 former Fed Vice Chairs and 2 former CEA Chairs – have said reducing the deficit will help fight inflation and support strong, stable economic growth.
While he is signing the bill today, the celebration of the bill will take place on September 6th 2022.
President Biden’s remarks are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. D.C., time.
This is an open thread
P.S.
I’m calling it early, it’s 7:40 a.m. my time and I’m unable to continue to sit longer. I might update it later…might being the key word there. LOL.
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