Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Heard on audio stream of CNN. She will announce to staff then a public Q&A with media outside her Cambridge home.
As we all feared post-Super Tuesday…
ETA: FUNYT Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-drops-out.html?action=click&module=Alert&pgtype=Homepage
Open Thread
Note for the day:
The Playing to Win Resources page has been added as a link under Calling All Jackals.
Let’s highlight part of the Playing to Win Resource page today:
Presidential Election Calendar
Check to See if You’re STILL Registered to Vote: Vote Save America
Barack Obama & Eric Holder’s Gerrymandering & GOTV Organization: All On The Line
Stacey Abrams’s Voter Protection Teams: Fair Fight 2020
Vote Save America’s Field Organizers for Battleground States: Leave It All on the Field
Beto O’Rourke’s Organizing Grassroots Volunteers: Powered by People
Black Leaders Organizing their Communities on the north side: BLOC
Ballot Box Equality at the Ballot Box across Indian Country: Four Directions
Latino Leaders Organizing the Communities on the south side of Milwaukee : Voces de la Frontera
Help Democrats Abroad contact their voting states to confirm registration or register: Democrats Abroad
The Political Home for Black Women: Higher Heights
The resource page – with all the suggestions and resources from previous threads – now has its own link under Calling All Jackals here and at Playing to Win. Additional links will be added as you provide them in ongoing threads.
What is Playing to Win?
The goal is a poll-free, spin-free, prognostication-free, media-free, what’s-wrong-with-the-other-candidate-free-zone – a political thread where the focus is on ACTION: What can be done to help our candidates, and what are we doing to help them, every day?
The hope is that this will help provide inspiration, and encourage action, as an alternative to anger, frustration and despair.
Playing to Win: Day 7 (Thursday, March 5)Post + Comments (20)
I know many of us are disappointed about two old guys (no offense to any old guys) looking to be the final two standing in the Democratic primary. I’m hoping Elizabeth stays in for as long as she can, so we can continue to hear her important plans and ideas. Stay and make sure she has a seat at the table.
In the words of the indomitable Shirley Chisholm,
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
Meanwhile, polls are giving some good news. I know in Colorado, Gardner is for sure in trouble. And I suspect Mark Kelly’s chances are pretty good.
You can donate to all four here:https://t.co/djoZYtDLVl https://t.co/1FVaf1l9nx
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 5, 2020
The Senate is in play. We need to fight like hell for that…
I will have a respite thread later today, probably ducks and kitties. Maybe handsome Bixby after his bath.
Open thread
Pence says HHS has designated coronavirus testing as an “essential health benefit,” which means the test will be covered by health insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid.
— Franco Ordoñez (@FrancoOrdonez) March 4, 2020
I don’t know what this means.
The ACA requires plans that are regulated by the ACA and some Medicaid plans to offer 10 Essential Health Benefits. These are fairly broad categories of services including inpatient hospitalization, rehab, prescription drugs and for COVID-19 purposes, lab and diagnostic services. If there is a COVID-19 test or subsequent treatment of an individual who tests positive, their testing and treatment is already covered as an EHB. An EHB is a fairly broad category and it is not a government list of codes or procedures.
However there is a difference between an allowable benefit and a no cost sharing benefit. Right now, most EHBs can and will have significant cost sharing attached to it. Using the 2020 Healthcare.gov Benefits and Cost Sharing public use file, 78% of ACA on-exchange plans charge at least deductible to the use of a lab. Roughly 93% of plans offered on Healthcare.gov for 2020 have some cost-sharing with some combination of deductible, co-pay or co-insurance.
Making COVID-19 testing an EHB does nothing different.
Now if the intent is to make COVID-19 testing a no-cost sharing service, then there is a pathway through the EHB logic but it is not simple. One of the EHBs is for preventive services and screenings. These services are no cost sharing. Preventive services include vaccines, a lot of developmental screenings for kids, colon cancer checks and now PrEP for individuals at high risk of being infected by HIV. This is a plausible pathway.
However current regulations requires the US Preventive Services Task Force to give a service an A or B rating. Furthermore, there is black letter law in the ACA that requires a one year warning period before a new service recommendation becomes zero cost sharing:
The bigger problem is that the ACA imposes a statutory one-year waiting period before new preventive tests can be mandated without cost-sharing.
— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) March 4, 2020
Now if the intent is to get COVID-19 testing to be no cost sharing and thus remove a financial barrier, this is a good goal. But the Administration needs Congress here. Congress could pass a 2 page bill that says that in the case of a declared public health emergency of new/emerging infectious diseases, these requirements can be waived for 180 days as long as the Secretary of HHS or the Surgeon General or some other executive branch official reports to Congress why the waiver is needed.
UPDATE 1: This New York State insurance circular letter is instructive on EHBs:
It is important to remove barriers to testing for COVID-19. Currently, COVID-19 tests are being conducted at New York State’s Wadsworth Center and are fully covered. However, it is anticipated that additional labs will be approved for testing. Issuers are reminded that laboratory tests are an essential health benefit (“EHB”), and as such, must be covered under individual and small group comprehensive health insurance policies and contracts….
The question is not if a COVID-19 screen is a covered benefit under current EHB regulation. The question is who pays and if there are barriers to access and care.
Essential Health Benefits and the US Preventive ServicesTask ForcePost + Comments (16)
We wanted to share a message from campaign manager @RogerLau about our path forward. https://t.co/f9bV1F4Ko1
— Team Warren (@TeamWarren) March 4, 2020
I have this consolation: Elizabeth Warren will still be my senior Senator, even if the rest of the country doesn’t appreciate what they’re missing. But I’m not giving up on her Presidential campaign until I hear it from her.
OK this is my one ride or die tweet about this:
Warren is the best candidate for President by far and it's really fucking depressing to live in a country that (for 2 elections in a row) is falling apart bc men are threatened by women who are smarter than them.
Have a nice day.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) March 4, 2020
My wife has spoken: “@ewarren should stay in, cause it’s possible that both of these dudes will have a heart attack during their next debate.”
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) March 4, 2020
Also, she really has no great exit ramp right now. Quit and endorse Bernie, who called a her a liar and has no respect for her? Don't see a Biden endorsement either. Just quit? I don't see it. Warren's brand is she persists. So keep on doing so.
— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) March 5, 2020
I also think she's a terrific symbol for winning back the Senate and then leading it into battle. Staying on this stage longer helps with that.
— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) March 5, 2020
You can tell me and you can tell me and you can tell me — but let me tell you: There's not a lie I haven't heard about what a woman can and cannot do. At my age, every act of sexism and misogyny is an encore production. https://t.co/wj23KDTPkp
— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) March 5, 2020
… I try never to lead with my injuries, but it’s one thing to work hard to get over a disloyal love. A heart can heal, after all. It’s something quite different when the betrayal never comes to an end.
Once again, it seems, we will have to wait at least another four years to see a woman sworn in as president of the United States.
“It’s not because she’s a woman,” people tell me.
“It’s because she’s that woman,” people tell me.
“It’s because of Hillary’s loss that it feels like a woman could not win,” people tell me.
You can tell me and you can tell me and you can tell me — but let me tell you: There’s not a lie I haven’t heard about what a woman can and cannot do. At my age, every act of sexism and misogyny is an encore production…
If you had told me 20 years ago that we’d still be having this conversation about the limitations of women, the only thing I would have allowed you was a running start to get out of my way…
Personally, I'd like @ewarren to stay in at least through the March 15 debate. Both those guys could use some spark. But if, as is being reported, she drops out, I hope she doesn't endorse. Let's see where this race is going.
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) March 5, 2020
And FWIW, Howard Dean thinks Warren should stick it out past the next race, noting the volatile race has been full of twists and turns and things could still change. “If I were Elizabeth, I don’t think I’d drop out until next week.”
— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) March 5, 2020
A reminder that Elizabeth Warren already had an opportunity to endorse Bernie Sanders for president. In 2016. She endorsed Hillary Clinton.
— Kimberly Atkins (@KimberlyEAtkins) March 4, 2020
IOW the people futilely plugging away in DC jobs they once loved, but now feel stuck in, feel *seen* by her. They don't think there's any way to move forward without acknowledging then breaking the "norms" that no longer work. This is a really small group, but it's real/v. online
— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner) March 2, 2020
Thursday Morning Open Thread: Nevertheless…Post + Comments (223)
Good morning everyone,
We’re back again to California today, but tomorrow we’ll be flying elsewhere ;)
Hi All – Long time Lurker; Daily Reader. Prompted to contribute by the shortage of garden pictures for the Garden Chat (One of the best parts of my Sunday) but thought I might contribute here as well. DarbyDad and I live in San Diego, but make an annual trip up the coast to spend MLK weekend in Laguna Beach, CA., every year. Consider it a wind-down from the holiday stress. Watch football; eat horrible bar food; drink beer and take long walks along the beach and through the local neighborhoods. Also – a visit to Roger’s Garden Nursery in Corona del Mar that is a MUST if you are a plant fiend. These are pictures from the local beaches.
On The Road – Darby’sMom – So. Cal in JanuaryPost + Comments (10)
China's #Covid19 death toll has topped 3,000.
It reported 139 new cases on Thursday, all but 5 of which are in Hubei province. It seems like outside Hubei, the virus may have more or less controlled.
31 new deaths.
Total of 80409 cases & 3012 deaths. pic.twitter.com/cJFPyqYDf8— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) March 5, 2020
We are working to enroll as many people with COVID19 as quickly as possible into a research study for development of vaccines and monoclonals. If you know of providers taking care of these patients, please contact us.
— Helen Chu (@HelenChuMD) March 4, 2020
Los Angeles declares state of emergency. Six new #coronavirus cases. In a statement Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reports that it is cooperating w/ the CDC https://t.co/jN1xVCpoaZ pic.twitter.com/NjOZtEEIZf
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 4, 2020
Protect yourself and your community from coronavirus with common sense precautions: wash your hands, stay home when sick and listen to the @CDCgov and local health authorities. Save the masks for health care workers. Let’s stay calm, listen to the experts, and follow the science.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 4, 2020
WHO says coronavirus death rate is 3.4% globally, higher than previously thought https://t.co/mS1DhgLGrB
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 3, 2020
Case fatality rate (CFR) is time- & population-varying. Given that mild cases of #COVID19 are generally identified at a slower pace than severe cases AND that care standards (& demographics) vary across affected countries, responsible discussions about CFR *must* include context. https://t.co/ddqFt2P6Nv
— Dr. Maia Majumder (@maiamajumder) March 4, 2020
Virus update:
—U.S. virus death toll hits 11, 10 in Wash, First in Calif.
—Outbreak delays China's Xi's state visit to Japan.
—Pets can't pass on coronavirus, but can test positive.
—Venice a shell of itself as tourists flee.
Follow all @AP coverage: https://t.co/kOcg0Kfk9i— The Associated Press (@AP) March 5, 2020
Saudi Arabia suspends pilgrimage trips to holy cities of Mecca and Medina for all citizens and residentshttps://t.co/fXWMaAYTGM
— COVID19 (@V2019N) March 4, 2020
Our own coverage at @newsfromscience is here: https://t.co/KMUd3npAml @sciencecohen, @martinenserink, @dnormile and more are working hard to screen what is going on and get the most accurate information.
— Kai Kupferschmidt (@kakape) March 4, 2020
COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – March 4 / March 5 (Global / Informational Edition)Post + Comments (15)