Obama budget adds domestic same-sex partners to Obamacare

[ProSense]

Obama budget adds domestic same-sex partners to Obamacare

Posted by
CNN White House Producer Adam Aigner-Treworgy

Washington (CNN) – Buried deep inside President Obama's 2014 budget released on Wednesday is a new proposal to expand federal health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners.

Framed as a measure to reduce the deficit, the proposal would amend the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program beginning in 2015 to add a "self plus one" enrollment option in addition to the "self" and "family" options. Like the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act that the administration has endorsed in prior budgets, this new FEHB formulation would work within the current legal constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act by adding a new classification for additional enrollees beyond family.

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According to language in the budget, the proposed changes would allow the OPM to contract with "modern types of health plans rather than being limited to the current four statutorily-defined plans reflective of the 1950s insurance market."

"The health insurance marketplace has changed significantly since the FEHBP was enacted in 1959, and the current governing statute leaves little flexibility for the program to evolve with the changing market," the budget reads.

- more -

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/10/obama-budget-adds-domestic-same-sex-partners-to-obamacare/

Support Federal Employee Domestic Partner Benefits. The Budget proposes a change to the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program that would create a new “self plus one” option for FEHB coverage for Federal employees. Same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees would be among those eligible to receive coverage under this new option. This proposal would align the FEHB program with best practices in the private sector as larger employers competing for talent are increasingly offering domestic partner benefits. The Administration also continues to support the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which provides the same benefits to same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees as those provided to married heterosexual partners of Federal employees, including not only health insurance, but also survivor annuities, compensation for work-related injuries, travel and relocation benefits, life insurance, and vision and dental benefits. In addition, the Administration has also, to the extent permissible by current law, expanded benefits for same-sex partners of Federal employees.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/factsheet/strengthening-the-economy-for-the-lgbt-community

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[ProSense]

2. Another.

This is hard on the legs.

[arely staircase]

3. K&R eom

[treestar]

4. I thought this budget contained absolutely nothing

other than eliminating social security.

Some spending on education:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2014/assets/education.pdf

[ProSense]

7. Negative sells. n/t

[Cha]

5. And, that would be bright spot in the budget that

seems destined to fail.

Thanks ProSense

[ProSense]

6. These too:

A Budget Focus on Inequality

By ANNIE LOWREY

The great economic focus of the White House, the financial crisis and recession aside, has been inequality.

The hollowing out of the middle class, the yawning gap between rich and poor, and the problem of economic mobility were preoccupations of President Obama long before he set foot in the White House. His 2006 book, “The Audacity of Hope,” for instance, contains a whole chapter dedicated to wage polarization, globalization and the plight of blue-collar workers.

The Obama budget proposal released Wednesday, like other White House budgets before it, also emphasizes the problem of inequality and the failure of the American economy to promote a thriving middle class.

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The budget includes several proposals to tackle inequality and wage stagnation.

• Increasing the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour from its current rate of $7.25, and indexing it to inflation. The White House asserts that this would lift the wages of about 15 million low-wage workers.
  
  
• Creating a “Preschool for All” initiative to provide early childhood education to 4-year-olds from low- and middle-income families. The big idea is that this might improve economic mobility in the future.
  
  
• Increased taxes on wealthy Americans, including taxing carried interest as ordinary income. Hedge-fund managers and the like use the carried interest loophole to pay preferential rates on their earnings.
  
  
• Increased support for manufacturing, which the White House argues might be an important source of middle-class jobs.
  
  
• Making permanent the expansion of the earned income tax credit and child credit, which were due to expire in 2017. The proposal also makes permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps families with students pay for college.

So far, the Obama administration has tackled the issue of inequality in two major ways. It has raised taxes on the wealthy, and it has expanded programs to aid lower-income Americans.

You might not think that the Affordable Care Act had much to do with inequality – it is a health care bill, after all – but it did. Rising insurance costs have eaten away at workers’ wages; the law has a number of provisions to try to bend the cost curve. Medical bills are a primary driver of bankruptcy for middle-class families; the law removes the lifetime benefit limit, ends denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and contains other rules that might help reduce the number of bankruptcies.

Moreover, the law provides free or low-cost access to health coverage to tens of millions of Americans, financed by the government. That might not address the problem of income inequality. But it does address the problem of consumption inequality and perhaps even economic mobility.

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http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/a-budget-focus-on-inequality/

Giving a Hand Up to Low-Income Families

We now face a make-or-break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it. After decades of eroding middle-class security as those at the very top saw their incomes rise as never before and after a historic recession that plunged our economy into a crisis from which we are still fighting to recover, it is time to construct an economy that is built to last. The President’s 2013 Budget is built around the idea that our country does best when everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules. We must transform our economy from one focused on speculating, spending, and borrowing to one constructed on the solid foundation of educating, innovating, and building. That begins with putting the Nation on a path to living within our means – by cutting wasteful spending, asking all Americans to shoulder their fair share, and making tough choices on some things we cannot afford, while keeping the investments we need to grow the economy and create jobs. The Budget targets scarce federal resources to the areas critical to growing the economy and restoring middle-class security: education and skills for American workers, innovation and manufacturing, clean energy, and infrastructure. The Budget is a blueprint for how we can rebuild an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded.

To give a hand up to low-income families, the 2013 Budget will:

Extend Expanded Tax Cuts for Lower-Income Families. The Budget permanently extends expansions of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit that were passed in the Recovery Act and continued as part of the bipartisan Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act that the President negotiated and signed into law in December of 2010. The expanded refundability of the Child Tax Credit provides a larger credit to 11.8 million families with 21.3 million children. The expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit is worth up to $655 for families with three or more children, benefitting 5.8 million families with 12.5 million children.

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Help States Provide Paid Family Leave to Workers. Too many families must make the painful choice between the care of their families and a paycheck they desperately need. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows workers to take job-protected unpaid time off, but millions of families can’t afford to use unpaid leave. A handful of States have enacted policies to offer paid family leave, but more States should have the chance. The Budget supports a $5 million State Paid Leave Fund within the Department of Labor that will provide technical assistance and support to States that want to establish paid-leave programs.

Reform Child Welfare. The Budget includes $2.5 billion over 10 years in new mandatory funding for incentive payments to States that demonstrate real, meaningful improvements on measures of child outcomes such as child abuse and neglect and service quality. These incentives would help States finance innovative services and encourage continuous improvement in the child welfare system.

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Continue Critical Funding for Health Centers. Health centers are a key component of the Nation’s health care safety net. These sites offer comprehensive, high quality, primary and preventive health care services to all Americans regardless of ability to pay. To ensure that health centers continue to provide critical access and services to millions of Americans in 2013 and for many years to come, the Budget promotes a policy of steady and sustainable health center growth by distributing Affordable Care Act resources over the long-term, including in years after 2015. In addition, the Budget provides sufficient funding to open new health centers in areas in the country where they do not currently exist, through 2015 and beyond. The Budget invests $3.1 billion for health center services in 2013 to support the creation of new health center sites across the country. The Budget will also continue support for the over 200 new health center sites created in 2012. In 2013, health centers are estimated to serve nearly 21 million patients.

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Expand Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. The Budget would make the child and dependent care tax credit more generous to middle class families. Eligible families may claim the credit for up to 35 percent of up to $3,000 in eligible expenses for one child and up to $6,000 for two or more children. The percentage of expenses for which a credit may be taken decreases by one percentage point for every $2,000 of adjusted gross income over $15,000 until the percentage of expenses reaches 20 percent at incomes above $43,000. There are no further income limits. The proposals would increase the beginning of the phasedown to $75,000 (and thus, the end of the phasedown range would be $103,000).

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Expand Low income Legal Assistance. The 2013 Budget provides $402 million for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), an increase of $54 million, or 16 percent, above the FY 2012 enacted level. LSC is the largest single funder of civil legal aid to low-income Americans, supporting 135 local legal aid programs across the country. These programs are helping low-income citizens avoid foreclosures, escape domestic violence, deal with consumer fraud and veterans’ benefits, as well as other critical civil matters. The drop in LSC funding in FY 2012 and decline in other important funding sources have led to significant reductions in attorneys, paralegals, and support staff at LSC-funded programs across the country. At the same time, legal aid organizations are seeing an increasing demand for their services.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet/giving-a-hand-up-to-low-income-families

[Cha]

8. Yes, there's some really excellent things in there that

are being lost in the avalanche.

Early Education.. Pre School for all kids..

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0410/Obama-budget-s-big-education-items-Preschool-for-All-college-Race-to-the-Top-video

[ProSense]

9. Yup!

Like I said, Congress should ditch the chained CPI and pass the rest of the budget.

Thanks for the link.