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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (10580)	10/20/2009 1:46:25 PM
From: John Koligman	1 Recommendation Respond to of 42652

Since there was some back and forth about increasing living standards recently I thought I'd post this interesting piece I found on another thread... Regards, John PS - About one out of every nine Americans on food stamps? Pretty sobering... From: otherthan 10/20/2009 12:40:06 PM of 225562 Revised formula puts 1 in 6 Americans in poverty Revised formula puts number of poor people at 47.4 million -- 7 million more than official rate By Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer On 8:49 am EDT, Tuesday October 20, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure. The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula. That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs. Nor does it consider non-cash government aid when calculating income. As a result, official figures released last month by Census may have overlooked millions of poor people, many of them 65 and older.. (Edit:Few things measure a society's morality as as much as how well or badly it cares for the aging. We are failing,imo.Max) According to the revised NAS formula: --About 18.7 percent of Americans 65 and older, or nearly 7.1 million, are in poverty compared to 9.7 percent, or 3.7 million, under the traditional measure. That's due to out-of-pocket expenses from rising Medicare premiums, deductibles and a coverage gap in the prescription drug benefit. --About 14.3 percent of people 18 to 64, or 27 million, are in poverty, compared to 11.7 percent under the traditional measure. Many of the additional poor are low-income, working people with transportation and child-care costs. --Child poverty is lower, at about 17.9 percent, or roughly 13.3 million, compared to 19 percent under the traditional measure. That's because single mothers and their children disproportionately receive non-cash aid such as food stamps. --Poverty rates were higher for non-Hispanic whites (11 percent), Asians (17 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) when compared to the traditional measure. For blacks, poverty remained flat at 24.7 percent, due to the cushioning effect of non-cash aid. --The Northeast and West saw bigger jumps in poverty, due largely to cities with higher costs of living such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Census Bureau said it expedited release of the alternative numbers for this month because of the interest expressed by lawmakers and the Obama administration in seeing a fuller range of numbers. Legislation pending in Congress would mandate a switch to the revised formula, although the White House could choose to act on its own. Arloc Sherman, a senior researcher at the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that because the revised formula factors in non-cash government aid, the amount of increase in poverty from 2007 to 2008 was generally smaller compared to the current measure. "Food stamp participation rose during the first year of recession and appears to have softened what could have been an even greater increase in financial hardship," he said. Sherman said the revised formula could take on greater importance in measuring poverty for 2009 as more Americans take advantage of tax credits and food stamps under the federal stimulus program. Food stamp assistance currently is at an all-time high of about 36 million. Census Bureau: census.gov

To: Road Walker who wrote (10580)	10/20/2009 2:12:25 PM
From: John Koligman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

ABC poll data, healthcare is mentioned... Full article at: abcnews.go.com Regards, John PS - Only 20% of Americans 'identify' themselves as Republicans?? They must ALL be on this thread <ggg>... POLL: Obama Holds Steady on Health Reform ABC News-Washington Post Poll: 57 Percent Support Public Option ANALYSIS By GARY LANGER Oct. 19, 2009 President Obama's holding the line at an even division in public views on health care reform, boosted by support for two key elements – a personal mandate and a public option – and aided by continued weakness in the opposition party. ABC's Gary Langer breaks down the latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Americans divide about evenly on the reform plan and Obama's handling of health care alike – neither better nor worse for him since summer. But 57 percent support one of the plan's most contentious elements, a government-sponsored insurance option, and that soars to 76 percent if it's limited to those who can't get affordable private insurance. Americans by 51-37 percent in this latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they'd rather see a plan pass Congress without Republican support, if it includes a public option based on affordability, than with Republican backing but no such element. That cuts to the GOP's basic challenges finding political footing: Only 20 percent of Americans now identify themselves as Republicans, the fewest in 26 years. Just 19 percent, similarly, trust the Republicans in Congress to make the right decisions for the country's future; even among Republicans themselves just four in 10 are confident in their own party. For comparison, 49 percent overall express this confidence in Obama, steady since August albeit well below its peak. The Republican Party's difficulties are shown in another result as well; in an early assessment of preference for congressional candidates in 2010, the Democrats lead by 51-39 percent. NINE MONTHS – Nine months into his presidency Obama faces his own threats, including the economy, concerns about the war in Afghanistan, continued doubts about the deficit and a sense his pace of accomplishment has slowed. Fewer than half, 49 percent, now say he's accomplished a great deal or good amount since taking office, down from 63 percent at the 100-day mark.