Tech guy on House Committee Hearing on Healthcare.gov: “it’s like watching my 1-year-old argue with my cat”

Two Deeper Issues to Consider So, I’m a little behind the curve on this one, as it happened in the late morning of October 24th and has been blogged and tumbl’d and tweeted about a bajillion times and now is a week old and largely forgotten… but that’s all right, since my blogging is all … Continue reading “Tech guy on House Committee Hearing on Healthcare.gov: “it’s like watching my 1-year-old argue with my cat””

Insightful Blogging in the Wake of the Gov’t Shutdown

October 2013 Roundup: Acts of Bloggery in the Shutdown’s Wake My picks for the blogosphere’s most valuable insights into the shutdown insanity: Moral lens: The 8 immoral ways the government shutdown is hurting the needy | On Faith – the shutdown inflicted pain on people already struggling and making due on government aid amidst the post-2008 “economic realignment,” … Continue reading “Insightful Blogging in the Wake of the Gov’t Shutdown”

How ACA “ObamaCare” Exchanges Work: A Nick Animation

I made the above animated vignette to explain how the health insurance exchanges being established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), online marketplaces for “shopping” for health insurance, roughly, will work. People will begin signing up for health insurance plans on the exchanges October 1st, and those plans will go into effect Jan 1st, 2014. … Continue reading “How ACA “ObamaCare” Exchanges Work: A Nick Animation”

What Is ObamaCare? 2013-2014: Overview Part 2—Medicaid expansion

An ObamaCare Overview 2013-2014 Part 2: Medicaid Expansion This is the second part of a two-part blog post: click here for Part 1 In the 2013-2014 period, states must decide whether to opt-in or opt-out of the “Medicaid expansion.” Though it pains me deeply that the Affordable Care Act doesn’t fix any of the problems … Continue reading “What Is ObamaCare? 2013-2014: Overview Part 2—Medicaid expansion”

What Is ObamaCare? 2013-2014: Overview Part 1 (Insurance Subsidies)

An ObamaCare Overview 2013-2014: Part 1 Oh man, I am so frustrated that people misunderstand ObamaCare—the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—and continually frame it as something it’s not. They frame it as some sort of universal health care coverage, or as some vague new program that replaces Medicare and Medicaid, or at least fixes their most … Continue reading “What Is ObamaCare? 2013-2014: Overview Part 1 (Insurance Subsidies)”

Living in Zomerica

How I’ve Changed Since Moving to New York City or… Living in Zomerica I started out and made my name as an activist in Alabama, where the left is deeply influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. I always spoke in the language of Biblical and , sometimes overtly, very much in the tradition of the … Continue reading “Living in Zomerica”

The Cost of Denial For People with Disabilities

To respond to the comments made during WBAI radio’s roundtable discussion about my latest blog essay “Why It’s Time For Survival Politics For People with Disabilities…” The last statement in the radio segment about my blog was Josie Byzek saying that (my paraphrasing) the Tea Party may win big in the midterm elections, but then … Continue reading “The Cost of Denial For People with Disabilities”

Feds Fiddling While State Medicaid Programs BURN

Question: In light of Obama’s plan to expand Medicaid eligibility, is anyone in Congress noticing the MASSIVE state budget cuts to Medicaid across the country and ruminating about how that jives with this impending expansion? I fear that if states have to raise income eligibility and bring millions of uninsured onto the Medicaid rolls, that … Continue reading “Feds Fiddling While State Medicaid Programs BURN”

Fix The Broken Foundation Before Building A Skyscraper On Top Of It

My biggest beef with Health Care Reform right now is that we’re building a new tower on top of a broken foundation. Medicare and Medicaid are badly broken, and we’re building more programs on top of that. Bad idea. Insurance company bureaucracy is even worse, but federal programs have to be significantly better in the … Continue reading “Fix The Broken Foundation Before Building A Skyscraper On Top Of It”

The Latest Leaked Info on Obama Administration’s Views About The Community Choice Act

Jeff Crowley from the president’s Domestic Policy Council met with the board of the NDRN (National Disability Rights Network, formerly NAPAS1) this week and a summary of how Crowley conveyed the administration’s views on the Community Choice Act was leaked to several listserves online. The disability community deserves to know what the thinking inside their … Continue reading “The Latest Leaked Info on Obama Administration’s Views About The Community Choice Act”

Fifth Nick’s Crusade Video Blog: “A Seat At The Table” Determining Health Reform, Doesn’t Include People With Disabilities

Fifth Nick’s Crusade Video Blog: “A Seat At The Table” Determining Health Reform, Doesn’t Include People With Disabilities from Alejandra Ospina on Vimeo. In my fifth video blog, I go after the administration’s health reform deliberations for their lack of inclusiveness. Full transcript of the video, with supporting links and footnotes Hello, this is Nick … Continue reading “Fifth Nick’s Crusade Video Blog: “A Seat At The Table” Determining Health Reform, Doesn’t Include People With Disabilities”

Fourth “Nick’s Crusade” Video Blog: ObamaFail! Administration Refuses To Lead On Disability Desegregation

 Transcription (as captioned in the video): Hello, this is Nick Dupree for the for the Nick’s Crusade blog. This is my fourth video blog, and today is the 252nd day that I’ve been in an institution because I can’t get access to community services. And it seems that the Obama administration is not going … Continue reading “Fourth “Nick’s Crusade” Video Blog: ObamaFail! Administration Refuses To Lead On Disability Desegregation”

Nothing About Long-Term Care In HHS Progress Report

In recent days, I’ve been scouring the HHS email updates for anything of relevance to people with disabilities and our struggle for freedom. Yesterday, HHS put out its Progress Report, “a comprehensive report on the Department’s progress over the first 100 days of the Obama Administration.” (PDF file) It contains NOTHING about long term care, … Continue reading “Nothing About Long-Term Care In HHS Progress Report”