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Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee flies back to Washington.

From the Senator’s Desk

On Twitter

SenMikeLee

Here is my May schedule for my Mobile Office: http://ow.ly/aHZo7 #utpol

SenLeeComs

Peter Berkowitz: Why Colleges Don't Teach the Federalist Papers http://on.wsj.com/ICQ7wY | ...but they should!

SenLeePressSec

The @utahvalleyuniv Chamber Choir came by for a tour of @SenMikeLee's office. What a great group! #Utah #utpol http://pic.twitter.com/agJxs7X

SenLeeResearch

Growth and growth expectations both racing downward: http://bit.ly/ICICZE #tcot #tlot #economy #GDP #jobs

Around the Water Cooler

US: CIA thwarts new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot

The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned.

State’s junk food ban could take bite out of school fundraisers

Bake sales, the calorie-laden standby cash-strapped classrooms, PTAs and booster clubs rely on, will be outlawed from Massachusetts public schools as of Aug. 1 as part of new no-nonsense nutrition standards, forcing fundraisers back to the blackboard to cook up alternative ways to raise money for kids.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the Utah Association of Charter School Advocates, the BYU Nursing Group, the Prudential Spirit of Community Honorees, and the Japanese delegation to the United States. He will also be a guest on KLO Radio at 9:20 AM EST (7:20 MST), answer questions from Springville Junior High School students via streaming video at 3:15 PM EST (1:15 MST), and host a Utah tele-press conference at 6:15 PM EST (4:15 MST).

Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee is in Utah to meet with constituents.

From the Senator’s Desk

The Huffington Post reported late Friday that, effective today, the Administration is ending a program giving $100 fees to insurance agents and brokers that refer customers to Obamacare’s new high-risk pool for individuals with pre-existing conditions.  Last May, the Administration instituted a $100 broker referral fee in an attempt to increase otherwise underwhelming enrollment in the high-risk pool program.  One individual active among insurance brokers provided an interesting explanation as to why the Administration discontinued the referral fee program: “They [i.e., the Administration] said enrollment’s up to where we want it to be, basically, and we don’t need your [i.e., brokers’] services anymore.” 

According to the most recent data released by the Administration, 56,257 individuals with pre-existing conditions are enrolled in the federal high-risk pool program established under Obamacare.  Six states have enrollment of fewer than 100 individuals – the District of Columbia’s pool, for instance, has but 44 enrollees.  The current enrollment data do not come anywhere close to earlier projections – the Medicare actuary originally projected enrollment at 375,000 individuals in 2010, and Congressional Budget Office estimated up to 700,000 individuals would attempt to enroll in the program by next year.

Two key points follow from the underwhelming enrollment in the pre-existing condition coverage, and the Administration’s claims enrollment is satisfactory:

1. It’s difficult for the Administration to argue that 129 million individuals have pre-existing conditions and “could be denied affordable coverage.”  The 56,257 individuals enrolled in the new federal high-risk pool as of February 29 represent only .04% of the total number of Americans the Administration claimed suffer from pre-existing conditions. 

2. Obamacare spends $2.6 trillion in its first decade of full implementation, largely to ensure that those with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage.  At this rate and based on these metrics – $2.6 trillion in spending, and 56,257 participants – the federal government will spend $4,621,647.08 per year for every person with pre-existing conditions newly enrolled in coverage.  That’s not just enough money to buy each person with pre-existing conditions a platinum-plated insurance policy – that’s enough to buy each one a small hospital.

That the Administration is content with high-risk pool enrollment of just over 50,000 persons with pre-existing conditions shows that the problem of individuals with pre-existing conditions is real, but not insurmountable.  More to the point, it doesn’t take a 2700-page, $2.6 trillion law the American people didn’t need or want – taking away the health coverage of millions in the process – to provide access to about 56,000 individuals with chronic or pre-existing conditions.

On Twitter

SenMikeLee

Senator Mike Lee TV is my Ustream Channel. I will stream town hall events here May 1 and May 2 @ 7 p.m. MST: http://ustre.am/ESPP #utpol

SenLeeComs

Finally! A win for common sense: Obama DOL Withdraws Radical Farm Labor Rule http://1.usa.gov/JMfD60 @SenJohnThune

SenLeePressSec

Flat Stanley came to visit all the way from Sunrise Elementary in Smithfield, #Utah! #flatstanley http://pic.twitter.com/XU2IYvej

SenLeeResearch

Growth and growth expectations both racing downward: http://bit.ly/ICICZE #tcot #tlot #economy #GDP #jobs

Around the Water Cooler

With an asterisk, WTC is back as tallest skyscraper in New York City

One World Trade Center, the giant monolith being built to replace the twin towers destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, will lay claim to the title of New York City’s tallest skyscraper on Monday. Workers will erect steel columns that will make its unfinished skeleton a little over 1,250 feet high, just enough to peak over the roof of the observation deck on the Empire State Building.

Wind farms are warming the earth, researchers say

New research finds that wind farms actually warm up the surface of the land underneath them during the night, a phenomena that could put a damper on efforts to expand wind energy as a green energy solution.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, Senator Lee will be meeting with local officials and constituents in Morgan, Brigham City, and Layton. He will also be holding a town hall meeting at Bridgerland Applied Technology College in Brigham City, and the meeting will be streamed online via Senator Lee’s Ustream feed, which can be watched directly on the senator’s Facebook page here.