After health ruling, will US be ready for the law?

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) – Now that the Supreme Court has removed the main legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, policy experts question whether enough U.S. states will be ready to implement the law when it takes full effect in 2014.

Up to now, most states have avoided decisive action to build the private insurance exchanges that would extend health coverage to an additional 16 million Americans. Governors in largely Republican states who oppose the entire law may still refuse to act on the exchanges, requiring the federal government to step in to operate them.

“We will be ready to ensure that every American has access to affordable, high quality coverage on Jan. 1, 2014,” Mike Hash, an official overseeing the exchanges effort at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said on Friday.

HHS says that 34 states have received $850 million in grants to help plan and build the exchanges. Accepting the funds alone does not signal significant progress, however.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks healthcare issues, 17 states have made no significant progress towards establishing an exchange or rejected the idea. Most of them voted for Republican candidates during the 2008 elections that brought Obama, a Democrat, to power.

Another 18 states are studying their options, leaving only 15 that have taken concrete steps to establish an exchange, Kaiser said.

Some health experts fear that many of the states holding off now will wait until the November elections in the hope Republicans will win control of the White House or Congress and repeal the law. Wisconsin Governor Rick Scott announced on Thursday that he intended to do just that and other Republican governors, including Sam Brownback of Kansas, expressed similar views.

“If states really have the will to throw themselves into this, there is time to set up an exchange. But if states are going to wait for the election, then there isn’t time,” said health economist Jonathan Gruber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Former Obama administration officials acknowledge that two years of political battles since the healthcare law was passed in 2010 might hamper its full introduction.

“We have taken a two year diversion – which is one thing I’m worried about … Everyone knows the law is going to be implemented and the question now really is how well,” said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a former Obama healthcare adviser.

The Supreme Court ruling on Thursday upheld the core of the law, but also allowed states to opt out of a planned expansion of the Medicaid health program for the poor. That could also jeopardize the law’s aim of enrolling another 16 million of the most vulnerable Americans via Medicaid.

“Come this November, we are going to elect a new President and a new Congress who will repeal and replace Obamacare. That’s why we have refused to implement the Obamacare health exchange or the Medicaid expansion,” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said in an emailed statement.

 

TIME OF THE ESSENCE

With the exchanges, timing is key. States must build information technology systems capable of quickly evaluating individual applicants to see if they are eligible for private insurance or Medicaid, based on household income and other factors. Only Massachusetts, which overhauled its health system in 2006, has built one to date.

Gruber estimates that any given state could require a year to build an exchange’s infrastructure. Those that wait until after the November ballot could be ill-prepared by the autumn of 2013 when the federal government expects exchanges to offer open enrollment.

The administration set a Nov. 16, 2012, deadline for states to confirm they are building an exchange and maintains that will leave the federal government enough time to step in and set one up where needed.

But health experts say federal exchanges could create service gaps by overlooking unique features in state health system, while posing political risks to local officials by providing benefits they denied to their citizens.

“Our objective is that every state will operate a state-based exchange,” Hash said.

Joseph Antos, a health expert with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, believes the administration could have difficulty setting up federal exchanges because of the sheer complexity of the task.

“They won’t be ready everywhere. And even the degree of readiness – the idea that everything’s going to be smooth – smooth is not the word you attach to implementation,” he said.

via After health ruling, will US be ready for the law?.

USA’s top teachers union losing members – USATODAY.com

The USA’s largest teachers union is losing members and revenue, potentially threatening its political clout.

The National Education Association (NEA) has lost more than 100,000 members since 2010. By 2014, union projections show, it could lose a cumulative total of about 308,000 full-time teachers and other workers, a 16% drop from 2010. Lost dues will shrink NEA’s budget an estimated $65 million, or 18%.

NEA calls the membership losses “unprecedented” and predicts they may be a sign of things to come. “Things will never go back to the way they were,” reads its 2012-14 strategic plan, citing changing teacher demographics, attempts by some states to restrict public employee collective bargaining rights and an “explosion” in online learning that could sideline flesh-and-blood teachers.

“We may be a little smaller, but we won’t be weaker — we’ll be stronger,” NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said. He said teachers “have been energized” by lawmakers’ bids in some states to make it harder to join a public-sector union.

The losses hit as thousands of delegates convene this week in Washington, D.C., for NEA’s annual meeting. Democratic candidates for the White House traditionally have lined up to court the group and its 2.2 million members. This year, President Obama will skip the event. Vice President Biden is scheduled to address the teachers today.

Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, said it’s unclear whether Obama skipped the event because he can easily count on NEA’s support or because its political influence has waned, in part because of bruising battles over collective bargaining in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan. Either way, he said, proposals that NEA has long fought, such as private-school vouchers, are gaining traction.

“Obviously in Democratic politics, if they have a half-million fewer members at some point and a lot fewer dollars, there’s absolutely a point when they’re going to matter less than they do today — and that’s going to hurt them,” said Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, a non-partisan think tank.

Losing that many members is “the kind of shift in the landscape that can force union leaders to shift their stance on issues,” Hess said.

Demographic changes are shaping union membership numbers. Public schools rely more heavily than ever on young, inexperienced teachers who quit after just a few years and are less likely to join a union than in previous years. In 1988, the typical teacher had 15 years of experience, according to research by the University of Pennsylvania’s Richard Ingersoll. By 2008, it was down to one year. “An increasing number of them are not sticking around,” Ingersoll said. “There’s this constant replenishment of beginners.”

Even with the losses, teachers still value their unions, research shows. In findings due next week from Education Sector, a Washington think tank, 81% of K-12 teachers surveyed believe that without a union, teachers “would be vulnerable to school politics or administrators who abuse their power.”

via USA’s top teachers union losing members – USATODAY.com.

Editorial cartoon: “It’s not a tax” | StarTribune.com

Article by: SCOTT STANTIS , Tribune Media Services Updated: July 2, 2012 – 8:18 PM

via Editorial cartoon: “It’s not a tax” | StarTribune.com.

At first, a slew of removal requests for Anoka County judge | StarTribune.com

 

Attorneys appear to be getting used to Anoka County’s newest judge, after a statistically unusual get-acquainted period.

In 2011, John Dehen’s first year on the bench, attorneys made 127 requests to have him removed from their cases and replaced with another judge; the next highest number in the county was 13. To date this year, Dehen’s number is down to 14, still relatively high in a smaller court district but a huge drop.

Attorneys don’t have to provide a reason when they ask for removal of a judge, but they don’t take such action lightly. Several who filed removal notices for Dehen declined to comment publicly when contacted by the Star Tribune. Some who asked not to be named said they thought the former prosecutor appeared to be an “anti-defense attorney” and lacked a strong understanding of certain legal issues.

Dehen didn’t return several phone calls from a reporter. But his judicial colleagues say he isn’t afraid to ask questions and has demonstrated a sincere desire to serve the public good from the bench.

“Judge Dehen has taken great strides in his transition from the bar to the bench,” said Judge Alan Pendleton, his mentor in Anoka County. “He brings a fresh perspective on policy considerations and innovative suggestions on how to implement various judicial policies.”

Dehen, 50, stunned observers when he defeated 26-year Anoka County Judge Michael Roith in the November 2010 election. Dehen was in private practice as an attorney, was a Ramsey City Council member, and served as the city’s prosecutor.

The fact that Dehen reached the bench through election was itself unusual. The majority of judges in Minnesota are initially appointed rather than elected.

On his campaign website, Dehen wrote that “repeat offenders that hurt others should have harsh consequences by our courts. Thoughtful consideration is for those offenders who are good people but have made poor choices.” In another section, he wrote that “judicial intervention into family decisions is to be exercised with caution and only when necessary.”

Several attorneys said they took his campaign statements to heart, choosing to have Dehen removed because they perceived him to have a possible bias against their clients.

Joe Tamburino, a criminal defense attorney who has never appeared in front of Dehen, said that in general lawyers who have to campaign for judgeships may say some things “that could bite them in the end.” If a judge had made certain statements that unsettled him, “I’m running out of the courtroom,” he said.

Absence of a history

“Since attorneys do not have to list a reason when exercising their right to remove a judge, any reason for a removal is speculation unless you speak to the attorney,” said Anoka County Judge Lawrence Johnson.

“With a new judge, one of the reasons may be the judge’s lack of history on handling a specific matter,” Johnson said, emphasizing that he was speaking generally and not about Dehen. “Removals based on uncertainty would decrease over time as the attorneys develop an understanding of a judge’s approach to various issues.”

In Dehen’s case, most of the removal requests in 2011 came during the first half of the year and mostly involved criminal cases; they came from a mix of private attorneys and public defenders.

Another judge who was new to the bench in 2011, Lezlie Ott Marek in Ramsey County, had two removal notices in her first year. Marek, appointed at the end of 2010 by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is running unopposed for reelection this year.

Veteran Hennepin County Judge Patricia Kerr Karasov was another jurist with a large number of removal requests last year: 296, the most in her judicial district. Those came as she was involved in controversy over accusations that she lived outside her district for part of 2009; the state Constitution requires judges to reside in the district they serve.

The large number of removals for Dehen in 2011 didn’t created a burden for Anoka County’s 16 other judges because a computerized case assignment system equalizes the workload, said Jennifer Schlieper, the county’s court administrator. Case conflicts arise for a wide variety of reasons, “and our system and staff are set up to handle it,” she said. An attorney has 10 days to file a removal notice after the case is assigned to a judge.

In action in court

During a recent day in court, Dehen handled an expungement case and a trial involving stolen property. He asked the attorneys to give “one- or two-word” reasons if they raised objections and quickly handled several at trial. He joked with prospective jurors during jury selection.

Family law attorney Barbara Gislason said Dehen exerted more effort than other judges to find a disposition that satisfied both parties.

“If I had to give somebody an ‘A’ for effort, I would give him an ‘A’ for effort,” she said.

via At first, a slew of removal requests for Anoka County judge | StarTribune.com.

Viewpoints: State needs to enact meaningful public pension reform now – Viewpoints – The Sacramento Bee

We will know very shortly how serious the California Legislature is about pension reform.

This week, a conference committee is scheduled to release its long-awaited legislative proposal for reforming public employee pensions in California. California’s businesses are watching closely.

Our organizations – which represent hundreds of Bay Area and Silicon Valley employers, along with many other business leaders across California – embraced the 12-point pension reform plan Gov. Jerry Brown announced last October because we believe California must act to approve comprehensive and meaningful public pension reform.

Unfortunately, the governor’s plan has become the victim of political racquetball. And now, the Legislature is looking at an alternative solution that we suspect will produce watered-down results that will provide just enough reform to allow lawmakers to applaud. This is simply unacceptable and will not result in the structural public pension reform plan our state needs.

The governor and the Legislature should look carefully at the mood of voters as they stake their ground on this issue. In San Jose and San Diego, voters overwhelmingly approved reform measures on the June ballot that include many of the same provisions that appear in the governor’s 12-point plan. Other cities are now looking at similar measures, but a statewide solution would be much less disruptive and costly than piecemeal reform.

There is good reason for business to be concerned. The state’s rising pension costs are already doing significant damage to the public schools and universities that educate our children and our future workforce and to the public safety services on which we all rely. With our state in a near-constant budget tailspin, recruiting top talent for our companies is a very hard sell. Moreover, pension costs are already preventing investment in economic development initiatives that would otherwise help reduce our state’s 10.8 percent unemployment rate.

The unsustainable pension obligations grew out of a system that encouraged political leaders to commit to overly generous pensions with taxpayers bearing the lion’s share of the risk. Public officials and union leaders fell prey to unrealistic assumptions about investment returns as they looked for ways to compensate employees without taking hits to current-year budgets. There is plenty of blame to go around, but blame will not solve this problem.

Brown’s plan provides a good starting point for getting pensions back under control. It outlines some painful rollbacks, asks current and future public employees to contribute more to their pensions and eliminates abuses that have driven up costs.

We are not dealing in ideology or abstractions. Even as we face enormous unfunded pension liabilities – which even conservative estimates put at more than $100 billion – the costs of pensions are eating away at education and social service programs. Retirement costs from the general fund have more than tripled from about 1.5 percent in 2000-01 to 5.7 percent in 2011-12 – an increase that is consuming billions of dollars as funding for K-12 education, the UC and CSU systems and social services are being slashed. Pension costs have grown even faster for cities and counties, forcing layoffs of police officers and firefighters even as libraries are shuttered and critical social services wither.

Significant reform is within our reach with strong leadership. Statewide polling shows that voters want to see progress on the pension issue if the governor hopes for their support to pass his tax measure in November – another good incentive to move forward with his 12-point plan.

The eyes of California’s business leaders are now on our state legislators, who are under heavy pressure from unions to veer away from Brown’s proposal in favor of the status quo. It is our great hope that they find political strength in the votes in San Diego and San Jose. The structural issues at the heart of the pension problem, including the retirement age, the distribution of risk between employees and taxpayers, and the way public pensions systems are governed, must be addressed now.

via Viewpoints: State needs to enact meaningful public pension reform now – Viewpoints – The Sacramento Bee.

California pension reform deal elusive as lawmakers near recess – latimes.com

State lawmakers are racing to try to reach an agreement on pension reform before they leave on a monthlong summer break Friday, but one leader of the effort said Monday that sticking points remain and he is not sure a full plan will be ready for adoption this week.

“I don’t know if we’re going to do it this month,” said Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena), co-chairman of the legislative panel that is considering Gov. Jerry Brown’s 12-point pension reform plan.

The committee has given notice that it might meet Tuesday, but Furutani is doubtful a full plan will be ready by then. The Assemblyman said the committee leadership is on the same page as the governor on nine of the 12 points, including provisions to prevent pension spiking.

He said a draft proposal being considered by the committee would raise the age for full retirement benefits for new non-public-safety workers from 55 to 67. The proposal would allow someone to retire early, say at 60, but they would receive lesser benefits, he said. A sliding scale would sweeten the benefits the closer the worker gets to 67.

“We’re looking at how to stretch it so that the impact will be an incentive to go to 67, but if people want to retire early, they can retire early with a minimum of hurt,” Furutani said.

One sticking point is that the committee is looking at a hybrid plan that is different from the mix of defined benefits and 401(k)-style plan proposed by the governor. Furutani said lawmakers are trying to work out a plan that pays a defined benefit up to about $100,000, and then offers a cash-balance plan with a larger employee contribution and a lower guaranteed rate of return after that amount.

“We don’t want the $100,000 club,” he said, referring to past publicity about a large number of public employees retiring with more than $100,000 in annual pensions. But he added that the amount of the cap is  still being discussed, and the governor has not yet signed off on the alternative idea.

via California pension reform deal elusive as lawmakers near recess – latimes.com.

VA: Pressure builds for court and pension reform in Virginia « Watchdog News

FALMOUTH — Virginia’s Legislature won’t convene for six months, but House of Delegates Speaker William Howell is gearing up for the 2013 legislative session and already sees reform efforts on the horizon.

House of Delegates Speaker William Howell

In a one-on-one interview Monday with Virginia Watchdog, Howell, R-Falmouth, predicted a push for tort reform and further efforts at curbing public-employee pension costs.

The Legislature is scheduled to meet for 46 days in 2013.

The Republican-dominated House, along with Virginia’s business community, are eager to ease the rules for dismissing lawsuits as part of a tort reform package, Howell said.

Unlike other states that allow for summary dismissals by a judge before a civil trial begins, Virginia law requires that plaintiffs and defendants put on a full case first, said Howell, a lawyer.

“There hasn’t been much tort reform in the last 15 years,” said the veteran lawmaker, who was first elected in 1988.

The House Courts of Justice Committee is scheduled to debate a streamlined tort law proposal on July 18.

Howell also predicted that public-pension costs will be up for more discussion next year.

Though the state pumped millions into the pension fund this year and has developed a “hybrid” pension combining the current defined-benefit system with a defined-contribution model used in the private sector, Howell said efforts thus far have “only nibbled around the edges” of real reform.

House and Senate Republicans may have an ally in state employee unions, who, Howell said, are open to conversion. But, he added, the Virginia Education Association, the state’s teachers union, remains unalterably opposed.

While the GOP has built a working 68-32 advantage in the House of Delegates in recent years, the Senate is deadlocked at 20-20.

via VA: Pressure builds for court and pension reform in Virginia « Watchdog News.