House Passes Student Success Act | Indiana Says Obamacare Forcing Increases In Health Insurance Rates

Today In Washington, D.C. - July 19, 2013:
The Senate reconvened at 12:15 PM today for a pro forma session and will return for legislative business on Tuesday. Yesterday, every Republican voted against confirming Thomas Perez to be Secretary of Labor, but majority Democrats confirmed him. Also yesterday, the Senate voted 69-31 to invoke cloture (cut off debate) on the nomination of Gina McCarthy to be EPA director. The Senate later voted 59-40 to confirm the McCarthy nomination.

The House convened at 9 AM. They took up amendments and at 11:20 AM voted on and passed H.R. 5 (221-207), Student Success Act — "To support State and local accountability for public education, protect State and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children's schools, and for other purposes." All Democrats apposed State and local accountability for public education and protecting the State and local authority and informing parents of the performance of their children schools.
Some of the Amendments approved to this bill were as follows - all were by voice votes except where the vote is indicated:
Kline (R-MN), Rokita (R-IN) – Amendment No. 1 (Managers Amendment) – Clarifies that a state opting not to receive funds for a program under the Act shall not be required to carry out any of the requirements of such program and that states and school districts can support civics education efforts, and makes other technical improvements.
Jackson Lee (D-TX) – Amendment No. 5 – States that if funding for awards to states is not sufficient then funding will be targeted to schools serving neglected, delinquent, migrant students, English learners, at-risk-students, and Native Americans, to increase academic achievements of such students.
Reed (R-NY), McKinley (R-WV), Owens (D-NY) – Amendment No. 8 – Clarifies that LEA’s and SEA’s are able to use multiple measures when identifying academic performance measurements instead of the current one-size-fits-all testing assessments.
Benishek (R-MI) – Amendment No. 9 – Encourages states to include the number of students attaining career and technical education proficiencies enrolled in public secondary schools, in its annual State report card. This information is already required to be collected by the Perkins Act, and would simply streamline access to information to the public.
Heck (R-NV) – Amendment No. 10 – Provides LEAs with the option of entering into partnerships or contracts with other entities to implement programs that serve youth in, or transitioning out of, institutions and correctional facilities, and youth at-risk of dropping out of school. This would provide LEAs with the option to partner with organizations that have the existing experience and resources to enhance the effectiveness of services provided by school districts to vulnerable populations through the Neglected/Delinquent program in an integrated fashion.
Scalise (R-LA), Bishop (R-UT) – Amendment No. 12 – States that under Title II in H.R. 5, there would be no federal mandate for States to conduct teacher evaluations.
Moore (D-WI), Wilson (D-FL) – Amendment No 13 – Delays implementation of new Title II formula until the Secretary of Education determines that the implementation will not reduce funding for schools serving high percentages of students in poverty.
Bishop (R-UT) – Amendment No. 14 – Eliminates Subsection C of Section 2111, which allows grant money to bypass states and go directly from the Department of Education to local districts.
Young (R-AK), Gabbard (D-HI), Hanabusa (D-HI), McCollum (D-MN) – Amendment No. 2 – Restores, and make policy improvements to, educational support programs for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students which are currently authorized under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and would be diminished by HR 5, the Student Success Act. Passed 263 – 161
Luetkemeyer (R-MO) – Amendment No 4 – Expresses the sense of the Congress that States and local education agencies should maintain the rights and responsibilities of determining curriculum and assessments for elementary and secondary education. Passed 241 – 182
Schock (R-IL), Meehan (R-PA) – Amendment No. 11 – Ensures that greater authority and governance are restored to local educational agencies as delegated by their States. It also ensures that the Secretary of Education does not impose any additional requirements or burdens on local educational agencies unless explicitly authorized by federal law. Passed 239 – 187
Brooks (R-IN), Polis (D-CO) – Amendment No. 16 – Clarifies that federal funds may be used for computer science education.
Polis (D-CO), Petri (R-WI) – Amendment No. 17 – Allows charter schools to use grant funds for teacher preparation, professional development, and improving school conditions; ensures that charter schools expand outreach to low-income and underserved populations.
Velázquez (D-NY) – Amendment No. 18 – Requires that applicants consider how to target their services to low-income students and parents, including low-income students and parents who are not proficient in English.
Broun (R-GA) – Amendment No. 21 – Requires the Secretary of Education to include in their report to Congress the average salary of employees who were determined to be associated with eliminated or consolidated programs or projects by the underlying legislation and a report on the average salaries of the employees of the Department according to their job function.
Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Meehan (R-PA) – Amendment No. 23 - Provides a funding condition for state or local educational agency to be eligible for funds, agency personnel cannot facilitate the transfer of an employee if they know, or have probable cause to believe, that the employee has engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor. Agencies must also require employees be subjected to background checks in compliance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
Cantor (R-VA), Bishop (R-UT) – Amendment No. 25 – Allows Title I funds to follow students to other public schools or charter schools, upon the state opting to allow it.
Culberson (R-TX) – Amendment No. 22 – Empowers States by giving them the opportunity to accept or reject federal grant money. Grant money rejected by State legislatures would be dedicated to paying off our outstanding national debt. Passed 227 - 196

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) stated after the House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5):“When parents have a choice and great teachers have more flexibility, students have a better shot at an education that will help them succeed and pursue their dreams. The Student Success Act provides both. I thank Chairman Kline, Chairman Rokita and all of the Members of the Education and the Workforce Committee for their work, and urge the Senate to take up the bill as soon as possible.

“I remain proud of what we accomplished more than a decade ago, but the simple fact is that our nation’s education policies are long overdue for an update. The No Child Left Behind Act was intended to empower parents with information about their children’s education and weaken the grip of lobbying groups and special-interests on struggling local schools. More than 10 years later, the Student Success Act builds on and adapts some of the things that worked, and changes some of the things that didn’t. Like the original No Child Left Behind Act, which actually reduced the number of federal K-12 education programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Student Success Act eliminates ineffective and duplicative federal programs, consolidating many of the programs that have grown and multiplied in the decade since NCLB was enacted. It protects local schools from new requirements and red tape, and lets school districts identify, recruit, and keep the best teachers possible.

“I’m also pleased the House today adopted Leader Cantor’s school choice amendment to allow states to have Title I funds follow students to the public school of their choice, including charter schools. As the author in 1994 of the first school choice language ever to pass the House and become law, I’m proud that the Leader offered this amendment, and very pleased it was adopted by the House. All children in America deserve the opportunity to attend the best schools possible, and giving parents and students as many options as possible through education reform is an important step in strengthening our economy and making life work for more Americans.”McClatchy reports today, “President Barack Obama assailed Republicans on Thursday for trying to dismantle his signature health care law, saying it’s already providing a benefit of one kind or another to millions of Americans, including a drop in projected premium costs in nearly a dozen states. But experts predict that premiums on individual plans will increase in most states because of the new consumer protections the sweeping legislation requires.”

Indeed, the day after Obama again claimed, “what we've seen is that health care costs have slowed drastically in a lot of areas since we've passed the Affordable Care Act,” another state announced that premiums will go up because of Obamacare.

According to the Indianapolis Star, “Insurance rates in Indiana will increase 72 percent for those with individual plans and 8 percent for small group plans under President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, according to the state’s insurance department. The spike in costs is due primarily to new mandates under the law, which requires insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions and to offer a minimum level of benefits, said Logan Harrison, chief deputy commissioner with the Indiana Department of Insurance under Republican Gov. Mike Pence. New taxes and fees under the law also contributed, Harrison said. ‘This new data regrettably confirms the negative impact of the Affordable Care Act on the insurance market in Indiana,’ he said. ‘The Affordable Care Act requires many Hoosiers to purchase more comprehensive and more expensive health insurance than they may want or need. These rates call into question just how affordable health insurance will really be for many Hoosiers.’ Costs for individual plans is expected to increase from an average of $255 per member per month in 2012 to $570 in 2014, when the most aspects of the law go into effect.”

Previously, we’ve seen reports of Obamacare causing higher health insurance premiums in Ohio and Maryland and studies showing rates are likely to go up in Kentucky, Idaho, Missouri, and other states. As McClatchy writes, “[W]hile Obama pointed to a reduction in premiums in New York state, state officials in Ohio say the average premium proposal for individual coverage next year is up 88 percent from this year’s average price as reported by the Society of Actuaries. In Maryland, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield proposed a 25 percent increase in premiums next year, after first seeking a 50 percent increase.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel points out the overall mess the unpopular health care law has become: “Democrats for three years have comforted themselves with the thought that 2014 would be the year they broke free of the ObamaCare night sweats. Their political washout in 2010, their failure to take back the House last year, all was the result of their having to defend a law that had yet to take effect. Once the law was up and running, Americans would wake up to its benefits. Or so they believed. Instead, it is Democrats who are waking up—to a horror film. Every morning brings fresh news of terror: missing deadlines, programs running of money, premiums set to soar, flailing technical implementation. And this week Republicans nimbly forced them to choose between abandoning core provisions of the bill or renewing ownership of what may prove to be one of the biggest political liabilities in decades.”

As Leader McConnell said yesterday, “[I]f the Administration is concerned with saving people money on their health care, I have some advice for them. Work with us to repeal Obamacare and start over – work with us to implement common-sense, step-by-step reforms that can actually lower costs for Kentuckians. Because jacking up our constituents’ health care costs is bad enough, but to try to then convince them the opposite is happening – that they’ve actually won some Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes, well, it’s just as absurd as it sounds. It’s an insult, really. And I know Kentuckians aren’t going to buy it.”

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