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 | Healthy Americans Act would ensure coverage for all |
Wyden’s vision for health care reform begins with making sure everyone is covered
SEATTLE—If the U.S. wants real health care reform, it needs to make sure everyone is covered. The way to pay for that coverage? Limiting the tax-exempt status of health insurance premiums, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said yesterday at the annual meeting of the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Wyden’s Healthy Americans Act—co-sponsored with Republican Robert Bennett of Utah—would require all Americans except those covered by Medicare or in the military to buy a health insurance policy. (The Wall Street Journal‘s Gerald Seib has an excellent summary of the bill here; you can see Wyden discuss the plan here and read the full text here.)
Here are the basics: The government would pay the costs for those at or below the poverty line, and that subsidy would decrease as a family’s income increased. Employers would still be welcome to provide coverage, but if they didn’t, each employee would get a check for the amount that coverage his or her coverage would cost. But as the WSJ’s Seib points out, employers "would pay a fee—a tax, really—for each employee to help fund those federal subsidies to help families buy their policies."
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Wyden Ready To Listen on Torture Prosecutions - LoadedOrygun.net - May 28 -
Wyden pleased with Obama’s court pick - Associated Press - May 27 -
Wyden holds town hall in Vernonia with flood victims - Randy Neves, KGW - May 24
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Wyden introduces bill for La Pine land deal - The Bend Bulletin - May 22
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Senate approves bill revamping credit card fees - The Bend Bulletin - May 20
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Wyden is winning over the GOP on healthcare - Alexander Bolton and Jeffrey Young, The Hill - May 18
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Wyden: “Kept In the Dark” on Torture, Calls Cheney’s Bluff - Torridjoe, Loaded Orygun - May 18
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Wyden agrees - now is the time to reform health care - Keith Chu, The Bend Bulletin - May 14
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Guest opinion: Thanks to Wyden for his support - Michael H. Pieti, Carpenters Industrial Council United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America - May 13
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A triple bottom line in Oregon’s forests - John Shelk, president of Ochoco Lumber Company and Russell Hoeflich, vice president/Oregon director of The Nature Conservancy - May 11
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FEMA trailers: Vernonia needs just a little more time, and shelter - Rick Attig, The Oregonian - May 11
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Wyden asks FEMA to allow more time for Vernonia residents - Charles Pope, The Oregonian - May 7
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Senator Calls for New Net Neutrality Rules - Grant Gross, PC World - May 6
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Answering the call - Chandra LeGue, Oregon Wild, Guest Opinion in the Oregonian - May 5
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Feds approve $75 million for streetcar expansion - Charles Pope and Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian - April 30
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Wyden’s health bill will be essential - Editorial, The East Oregonian - April 25
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Ron Wyden calls Dick Cheney’s bluff - Kari Chisholm, Blue Oregon - April 24
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Wyden’s vision for health care reform begins with making sure everyone is covered - Healthy Americans Act would ensure coverage for all - April 24 -
Wyden calls for a thorough investigation - Keith Chu, The Bend Bulletin - April 24
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Stimulus funds target forests - Coos Bay World - April 23
The Healthy Americans Act would guarantee every American universal, affordable, comprehensive, portable, high-quality, private health coverage that is as good or better than Members of Congress have today.
All 46 million uninsured Americans would be covered, for the same funds currently spent by Americans on health care. The Act includes tough cost containment measures that will save Americans $1.45 trillion over the next decade.
And every American will feel secure, knowing that your health care won't ever go away.
Powerful interests who own the pipes and access to the Internet are trying to break the Net. These special interests want to expand their control over Internet access to the limitless world of content, and discriminate among providers of online games, tv, music, and high-bandwidth applications.
This isn't how the Internet should work. The network should be neutral. Royalties should be equal. And there shouldn't be special taxes targeting the Internet.
Net Freedom will help the Internet thrive, enables small businesses to thrive on the Internet, and allows anyone to start small and dream big.
The Internet is a force for economic growth, access to information, and a better democracy. We will stand tall to protect the Internet from those powerful forces who would seek to limit access, build barriers, and turn back the clock.
Read More: Net Freedom
Our tax laws have been hijacked - and common sense has been left behind.
Our tax code is complex and mind-boggling, and it hammers hard-working, middle-class Americans. And every year, it gets worse.
Instead, let's get rid of the special interest tax breaks, let everybody file their taxes on a one-page form, and make sure that a dollar earned through work is taxed the same as a dollar earned through investment.
That's Senator Wyden's "Fair Flat Tax" idea.
Read More: Tax Reform
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Reducing Benzene in our Air
Benzene causes leukemia. And for years, some residents of the Pacific Northwest have suffered from dangerously high benzene levels in our air - primarily from high-benzene gasoline.
When the oil companies won the right from the Bush Administration to continue producing high-benzene gasoline for the Pacific Northwest, Senator Wyden stood tall for Oregon and asked the EPA to implement rules that will reduce benzene in our gasoline and in our air. Recently, the EPA came around to Senator Wyden's point of view.
Here's what happened...
Read More: Reducing Benzene in our Air -
Protecting County Payments
Unless Congress acts, local governments in Oregon will lose massive amounts of funding. Over $149 million for schools, crime prevention, libraries, and more -- funds that are part of a 100-year old promise.
At issue is a program called the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. The Act guarantees federal funds to rural counties that used to benefit from timber sales from logging on federal lands. The law expired at the end of 2006, and unless Congress acts, the funds will dry up in the summer of 2007.
How did this happen?
Read More: Protecting County Payments
