Vanessa R. Williams, Author at NCBM

December 18, 2018 By Vanessa R. Williams Leave a Comment

Debunking Common Myths About Health Care Reform (Washington Post 1/19/11)

House Republicans plan to press forward Wednesday with their effort to repeal the health-care law enacted last year. They have the votes, so the bill’s passage is not in doubt. But the Democrats who control the Senate have no interest in following suit, and President Obama has pledged a veto. So this is mostly a symbolic act. But it’s an issue that comes with a number of popular myths that persist and are worth revisiting.

“This is a ‘government takeover’ of the health-care system.”

Republicans repeatedly use this snappy talking point to bash Obama’s crowning legislative achievement – but it is simply not true.

In many ways, the health-care law resembles the reform legislation that Massachusetts enacted in 2006 under then-Gov. Mitt Romney (a Republican and potential presidential rival of Obama in 2012). It builds on the existing private insurance system, adding requirements and incentives to ensure that most people have some form of health insurance.

Under the nation’s new law, the private system has no government alternative – this was a potential provision that was dropped during the congressional tussle.

The number of people who qualify for the existing federal-state Medicaid program for the poor will be expanded. States (or the federal government) will run “exchanges,” or marketplaces, in which private insurers will sell coverage to individuals and small businesses. But this should mean that more, not fewer, people will get private insurance. Tax credits will also be offered to people who have trouble buying private insurance.

Certainly, the law bolsters government regulation of the health-care system, such as forcing insurance companies to no longer deny coverage to people who have existing medical conditions. People who do not have insurance will be required to buy it. But the core of the health-care system in the United States will remain the private insurance market.

“Medicare benefits will be cut – and payments will be cut to Medicare doctors.”

This was another GOP attack line during the 2010 midterm campaign, though in many ways it was payback for the Democrats’ effective use of the same charge against Republicans in 1994, when they sought to restrain growth in Medicare spending.

The politically radioactive word “cut” is a misnomer. Under the health-care law, Medicare spending will continue to increase year after year, but at a slower pace than anticipated. Both parties, in theory, agree that this is a good thing. Medicare, the venerable government-run health-care plan for Americans older than 65, is one of the fastest-growing parts of the federal budget.

The health-care bill will cut projected Medicare spending by $575 billion over 10 years, primarily by lowering projected fees paid to hospitals and other providers and by reducing payments to private Medicare Advantage insurance plans. Benefits have also been added, eating into the overall projected savings, but the effect on the Medicare Advantage plans is unclear.

“A secretive government committee [‘death panels’] will be created to make end-of-life decisions about people on Medicare.”

This claim, first made by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, has been thoroughly debunked. Yet it persists. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in September found that 30 percent of seniors still believed this to be the case and that 22 percent were not sure – meaning that fewer than half knew the claim was false.

The charge stemmed from a proposed amendment to the bill that would have covered the cost of end-of-life planning discussions. Democrats quickly dropped the provision after the firestorm created by Palin’s assertion, even after it was proved incorrect.…

October 28, 2018 By Vanessa R. Williams Leave a Comment

WSJ Op-Ed by President Obama (1/18/11): Toward A 21st Century Regulatory System

For two centuries, America’s free market has not only been the source of dazzling ideas and path-breaking products, it has also been the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known. That vibrant entrepreneurialism is the key to our continued global leadership and the success of our people.

But throughout our history, one of the reasons the free market has worked is that we have sought the proper balance. We have preserved freedom of commerce while applying those rules and regulations necessary to protect the public against threats to our health and safety and to safeguard people and businesses from abuse.

From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy.

Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business-burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs. At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering. There, a lack of proper oversight and transparency nearly led to the collapse of the financial markets and a full-scale Depression.

Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance. And today, I am signing an executive order that makes clear that this is the operating principle of our government.

This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth. And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It’s a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades.

Where necessary, we won’t shy away from addressing obvious gaps: new safety rules for infant formula; procedures to stop preventable infections in hospitals; efforts to target chronic violators of workplace safety laws. But we are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb.

For instance, the FDA has long considered saccharin, the artificial sweetener, safe for people to consume. Yet for years, the EPA made companies treat saccharin like other dangerous chemicals. Well, if it goes in your coffee, it is not hazardous waste. The EPA wisely eliminated this rule last month.

But creating a 21st-century regulatory system is about more than which rules to add and which rules to subtract. As the executive order I am signing makes clear, we are seeking more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends-giving careful consideration to benefits and costs. This means writing rules with more input from experts, businesses and ordinary citizens. It means using disclosure as a tool to inform consumers of their choices, rather than restricting those choices. And it means making sure the government does more of its work online, just like companies are doing.

We’re also getting rid of absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money. We’re looking at the system as a whole to make sure we avoid excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation. And finally, today I am directing federal agencies to do more to account for-and reduce-the burdens regulations may place on small businesses. Small firms drive growth and create most new jobs in this country. We need to make sure nothing stands in their way.

One important example of this overall approach is the fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks. When I took office, the country faced years of litigation and confusion because of conflicting rules set by Congress, federal regulators and states.

The EPA and the Department of Transportation worked with auto makers, labor unions, states like California, and environmental advocates this past spring to turn a tangle of rules into one aggressive new standard. It was a victory for car companies that wanted regulatory certainty; for consumers who will pay less at the pump; for our security, as we save 1.8 billion barrels of oil; and for the environment as we reduce pollution. Another example: Tomorrow the FDA will lay out a new effort to improve the process for approving medical devices, to keep patients safer while getting innovative and life-saving products to market faster.

Despite a lot of heated rhetoric, our efforts over the past two years to modernize our regulations have led to smarter-and in some cases tougher-rules to protect our health, safety and environment. Yet according to current estimates of their economic impact, the benefits of these regulations exceed their costs by billions of dollars.

This is the lesson of our history: Our economy is not a zero-sum game. Regulations do have costs; often, as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary. But what is clear is that we can strike the right balance. We can make our economy stronger and more competitive, while meeting our fundamental responsibilities to one another.…

June 28, 2018 By Vanessa R. Williams Leave a Comment

NCBM Leadership Attends Vice President Biden’s Black History Month Reception

Vice President Joseph Biden and Dr. Jill Biden welcomed over 120 elected African American officials and their guests to their official residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory February 15 in honor of Black History Month.

The Vice President who had just returned from a trip to Ft. Campbell Kentucky was in a very reflective mood, as his wife Dr. Jill Biden welcomed several distinguished members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mayors, State Legislators, County Officials, and former elected leaders. Dr. Biden welcomed the guests, introduced her husband and excused herself as she had to attend a special event for community colleges.

Vice President Biden talked about the importance of Black History Month as he reflected on everything from his recent meeting with young pre-teen African American football players at Ft. Campbell (who are the offspring of deployed Afghanistan and Iraq military warriors), to his becoming an attorney in 1968 just after the death of Dr. King (and the subsequent riots), and finally to his train ride with President-elect Barack Obama in January 2009 as the newly elected Vice President-elect to the nation’s first ever Black President.

In prepared remarks that lasted approximately eight minutes, Vice President Biden stayed mostly clear of the politics of the day, except for noting at the outset that many of his friends in the Congressional Black Caucus could not attend because they were preparing for votes on the Continuing Resolution to keep the government from shutting down, and that “they were fighting for some key things important to the Black community.”

He alluded to the fact that if the Republican controlled House of Representatives has its way, the next 18 months will be a “rough ride” and that they seek to cut many programs that are critical to Mayors, state and county officials nationwide who represent struggling communities, which are mostly of color. He joked, “My Recovery Act doesn’t look so bad now, does it?” Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.

The Vice President opened his substantive remarks for the evening by talking about the importance of community colleges, particularly to the sustainability of upwardly mobile, educated Blacks in America. He pointed out that his longtime friend from Wilmington, Delaware, Mayor James Baker (who was in attendance at the reception) stood side by side with him on the train platform at Wilmington station in 1968 as they watched the City of Wilmington lay in ruins from the riots in the aftermath of Dr. King’s death.

He movingly reflected on how some 40 years later, he stood on that same platform waiting to board a train that carried in its cars the newly elected Black President of the United States, Barack Obama. Biden said that he had a moment standing at that station where he remembered the riots and said to himself, “We may have a lot more to do, but damn, we’ve come a long way.” He closed his remarks by saying that “the best way to celebrate history is to make it.”

He offered pointed tribute to the strength of the Black men and women who were standing in the room, and who work tirelessly for their communities. And he also remembered those who had come before. He talked about Frederick Douglass and the freed slaves who in 1862 became Union soldiers, and how out of 35,000 who died during the Civil War, 16 of that number were honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor. He talked about how his first case as public defender was representing two Black Panther Party members accused of causing the riots in 1968.

The most poignant and moving line of the night was offered by the Vice President as he was talking about the sacrifices of all of those who had come before this present generation of accomplished African Americans. The Vice President spoke of the sacrifice, the struggle (quoting Fredrick Douglass-”no struggle, no progress”), he spoke about the “halting” but continuous struggle for equality in America, and he called on us all to remember that “Sometimes the people most burdened in life have to add more burdens upon themselves so that others can have their burdens lifted from them.”

Very fitting words on a day where we all witnessed Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his dedication and sacrifice in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, some 40 years later at the hands of the nation’s first Black President of the United States.

Pool Report by Sophia A. Nelson, JET Magazine/MSNBC…