Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 7-15-16 Online Edition

White House and Government News
President Obama Calls For ‘Public Opinion’ On Obamacare
Bernie Sanders Finally Endorses Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders formally declared an end to his cam- paign and endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, finally joining forces to take on Don- ald Trump.
"I have come here to make it as clear as possible why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president," Sanders said at a joint rally in New Hampshire. "Secretary Clinton has won the Demo- cratic nomination and I con- gratulate her for that."
Sanders, 74, pledged to support his former opponent through Election Day: "I in- tend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States."
While his endorsement earned major applause at the New Hampshire venue, there was a group of Sanders sup- porters who walked out in
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders
protest, one of whom was holding a sign that read "Nope."
The former secretary of state became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee last month, and while Sanders previously said he would vote her in November,
he had withheld his formal en- dorsement.
It was their first joint gen- eral election campaign event, and they walked out together to Bruce Springsteen's song "We Take Care of Our Own," which Sanders used regularly during his campaign.
President Obama joined the chorus of Democrats calling for the creation of a government run health insurance program as Obamacare is facing growing problems.
In an article published Mon- day in the Journal of the Amer- ican Medical Association, the president called for Congress to revisit the "public option" for Obamacare in areas where few insurers offer coverage.
"Some parts of the country have struggled with limited in- surance market competition for many years, which is one reason that, in the original debate over health reform, Congress consid- ered and I supported including a Medicare-like public plan," President Obama wrote in the piece.
A public option would mean a government run health insur- ance plan.
"Adding a public plan in such areas would strengthen the marketplace approach, giving consumers more affordable op- tions while also creating savings for the federal government," the president wrote.
President Obama's call comes days after presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton voiced support for a public option, in a nod to sup- porters of Bernie Sanders, who wanted the federal govern- ment to take over providing health care coverage for all Americans.
Some Democrats have long wanted to develop a govern- ment-sponsored health plan that would insure Americans under the age of 65, but they have never succeeded.
Instead, Obamacare funded the creation of non-profit co-op insurers to provide consumers with alternatives. But more than half of them have failed since their debut in 2014, un- done mainly by enrollees' unex- pectedly high medical use. Other insurers -- particularly United Healthcare (UNH) --- have announced they are pulling out of Obamacare, further restricting consumers' choices.
Residents in 664 counties, most of them rural, may only have one insurer to choose from in 2017, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation review.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
That's up from 225 counties this year. President Obama notes that 12% of enrollees live in areas with only one or two in- surers.
Three years after Oba- macare's exchanges opened for business, the program is facing challenges.
Many insurers found en- rollees have higher health care needs than expected, forcing them to hike rates. A recent Kaiser study found the bench- mark silver plan premiums are projected to rise 10% for 2017, on average, for a 40-year-old consumer in 14 major cities. That's double the 5% increase for 2016 policies, but it could change since state regulators often reduce insurers' rate re- quests.
In the JAMA article, Presi- dent Obama made several other recommendations for im- proving Obamacare. He called on the 19 states who have not expanded Medicaid to do so and on Congress to increase finan- cial assistance to make Oba- macare coverage more affordable. And he said Con- gress should help reduce the cost of prescription drugs by re- quiring drug makers to disclose their production and develop- ment costs, increasing the re- bates manufacturers must give for drugs prescribed to certain Medicare and Medicaid benefi- ciaries, and allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for certain high-cost medica- tions.
The President hailed Oba- macare for reducing the unin- sured rate from 16% in 2010 to 9.1% in 2015 and providing more comprehensive coverage for millions of Americans. He also credited health reform for helping slow the growth rate of health care costs in recent years.
North Carolina Gov. At It Again: Signs Bill That Says Police Footage Cannot Be Obtained
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed contro- versial legislation into law on Monday surrounding footage captured by police body cam- eras and dash cams.
According to ABC News, people who appear in the po- lice videos can ask to view, but cannot physically obtain a copy of the recordings.
The new law says the video footage is not public or per- sonnel record, The Charlotte Observer reports.
However, if access is denied, the viewer can seek a court
PAT MCCRORY
order.
McCrory’s approval comes
a week after the nation suf- fered three tragedies involving police: the shooting death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Philando Castile in St. Paul, and the killing of five Dallas officers at a protest honoring Sterling and Castile.
Activists and civil liberty ad- vocates are outraged, saying the law will make it harder to hold officers accountable. More than 3,000 people signed a petition to veto the bill last Friday, ABC News re- ports.
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