Now that I have a fully text-searchable version of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, my first search was on the word “repeal” (any-part-of-word, any case). I figured this search would identify statutes the bill’s authors viewed as barriers to their new health care vision. This search produced five hits:
- Section 4505(d) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997—Establishes “resource-based relative value units” and obligates the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use “generally accepted cost accounting principles.”
- Section 1868(a) of the Social Security Act—Establishes a “Practicing Physicians Advisory Council.”
- Section 204 of division B of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006—Mandates health care delivery system to provide “targeted, accessible, continuous and coordinated, family-centered care to high-need populations.”
- Subtitle A of title VIII of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003—This part of the Act mandates cost containment measures in the form of “medicare funding warning,” protocols that the executive and legislative branches must observe when funding the Medicare Trust. Not only is this subtitle repealed, “the provisions of law amended by such subtitle are restored as if such subtitle had never been enacted.”
- Section 1860C “1 of the Social Security Act—Establishes the Comparative Cost Adjustment (CCA) Program.
Three of the repealed statutes pertain to cost control and accounting methods. Another eliminates an advisory council designed to evaluate the efficiency of governmental health services in low income areas.
But what interests me is the revocation of a statute that mandates health care for “high-need” populations. What are “high-need populations?” According to the statute, these are people with multiple chronic illnesses that require regular medical monitoring, advising, or treatment.
On the one hand, you have the elimination of four measures to control costs and ensure efficiency. On the other, there’s an elimination of a mandate to provide health care services to people with “multiple chronic illnesses.”
How does the removal of health care cost controls and accounting practices comport with the revocation of a mandate to extend health care to “high-need” people? After all, a central theme in President Obama’s recent rhetoric is the need to control health care costs. Is this evidence that the bill embraces former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm’s Duty to Die philosophy? Thought of in these terms, the bill isn’t repealing cost controls, it’s just changing how government will control costs.
As the father of a child with special needs, I find this troubling.
I glad somebody is doing the leg-work. Thanks.
They use cost control to sell the plan, but then they try and sneak in personal agendas. They want to help out the poor and sick, but they are instead trying to sell us affordable healthcare. Why not just set up a charitable donation for the sick/ poor? If people want to help them out they will.
A free real free market would lower health cost and serve us better. Hospitals shouldn’t be forced to take rip-off paying customers to pay for thieves. Thieves are the ones not paying too. Anyone can at least make payments and appeal to the good will of others.
Nathan,
What I’m doing is nothing any U.S. citizen couldn’t do, especially with the internet.
As your comment intimates, this bill is not about extending coverage to the uninsured. It’s a shift of power that is unprecedented since FDR’s New Deal. The sadness that is the uninsured will soon enough fall back into unremarkable oblivion when this bill passes, and in time, the pendulum will swing back, and there will be massive de-regulation. And the Alligator will continue to consume its own tail…
Cheers,
sent to me
Peter Fleckenstein, a blogger and former Marine from Phoenix, Arizona, is going through the ObamaCare bill page by page and highlighting the provisions he finds there.
Clearly, Fleckenstein has struck a nerve. His list, originally published as a series of Twitter posts, has gone viral via email. Within days, the liberal fascists published his personal information on Twitter as a means to silence him. Fleckenstein promises legal action.
It’s easy to see why the liberals are tripping over themselves to suppress the information Fleckenstein unearthed. At its best, the information Fleckenstein culled from the bowels of the ObamaCare bill are absurd. When you really understand what the ObamaCare bill is and what Congress and Obama are trying to do with it, however, it turns from absurd to nearly terrifying.
Information has been taken from different sources for formatting purposes but verified back to Fleckenstein’s original work. Fleckenstein’s blog is here: http://blog.flecksoflife.com/
• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No “judicial review” is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll
• Page 167: Any individual who doesn’t’ have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
• Page 203: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it really says that.
• Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected.”
• Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
• Page 253: Government sets value of doctors’ time, their professional judgment, etc.
• Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
• Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
• Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
• Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
• Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
• Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
• Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
• Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on “community” input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
• Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
• Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
• Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
• Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).
• Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
• Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
• Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
• Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.
• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.
* PG 502 Line 5-18 Government builds the “Center” to conduct, support, & synthesize research to define our HealthCare Services.
* PG 502 Section 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. – Hello Big Brother – Literally.
* PG 503 Line 13-19 Government will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic medical records.
* PG 503 Line 21-25 Government may secure data directly from any department or agency of the US including your data.
* PG 504 Line 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)
* PG 506 Line 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data.
* PG 518 Line 21-25 The Commission will have input from HealthCare consumer reps – Can you say unions & ACORN?
* PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.
* PGs 525-620 deals with the Govt basically taking over nursing homes, long-term care facilities (think assisted living) through regulations of the facilities, the owners of sd facilities, the employees of sd facilities and even the land owners of that sd facilities reside on. Additionally as you read these 90+ pages you can come to the conclusion that any Health related services will be determined and rationed by the Govt for our senior citizens and others in nursing homes. This one post should do enough to raise awareness of the control the Govt is exerting over the older population of American citizens.
* PG 620 Line 1-9 The Government will define, prioritize, and nationalize your Health Care Services.
* PG 621 Lines 20-25 Government will define what Quality means in HealthCare. Since when does Government know about quality?
* PG 622 Lines 2-9 To pay for the quality Standards Government will transfer $$ from to other Government Trust Funds. More Taxes.
* PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to assess outcomes & functional status of patients.
* PG 628 Section 1443 Government will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures.
* PG 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups including Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HealthCare quality.
* PG 632 Lines 14-25 The Government may implement any “Quality measure” of HealthCare Services as they see fit.
* PG 633 14-25/ 634 1-9 The Secretary may issue non-endorsed “Quality Measures” for Physician Services & Dialysis Services.
* PG 635 – 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision – Government wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Government.
* PG 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections – Looks okay.
* PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency – Government will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.
* PG 676-686 Government will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, including teaching hospitals.
* PG 686-700 Increased Funding to Fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. You mean the Government with an $18 mil website?
* PGs 701-704 Section 1619 If your part of HealthCare plan that isn’t in Government HealthCare Exchange but you qualify for Federal aid, no payment.
* PG 705-709 SEC. 1128 If Secretary gets complaints (ACORN) on HealthCare provider or supplier, Government can do background check.
* PG 711 Lines 8-14 The Secretary has broad powers to deny HealthCare providers/suppliers admittance into HealthCare Exchange.
* Pg 719-720 Section 1637 ANY Doctor who orders durable medical equipment or home medical services MUST be enrolled in Medicare.
* PG 722 Section 1639 Government Mandates Doctors must have face-to-face with patient to certify patient for Home Health Services.
* PG 724 23-25 PG 725 1-5 The same Government certifications will apply to medicaid & CHIP (your kids) Pg 735 lines 16-25 For law enforcement purposes, the Secretary of Health & Human Services will give Attorney General access to ALL data.
* PG 724 Lines 16-22 Government reserves right to apply face-to-face certification for patient to ANY other HealthCare service.
* PG 740-757 Government sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (That’s your tax dollars peeps)
Pg 757-762 Fed Government will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to States. (Taxes)
* PG 763 1-8 No DS/EA hospitals will be paid unless they provide services without regard to national origin
* Pg 765 Section 1711 Government will require Preventative Services including vaccines. (Choice?)
* Pg 768 Section 1713 Government – Nursing Home Visitation Services (Hello union paybacks)
* Pg 769 11-14 Nurseing Home Visit Services include-economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement, school-readiness.
* Pg 769 3-5 Nursing Home Visit Services – “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government Abortions anyone?
* Pg 770 SEC 1714 Federal Government mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Say abortion & State Sovereign.
* Pg 789-797 Government will set & mandate drug prices, controlling which drugs will brought to market. Goodbye innovation.
* Pgs 797-800 SEC. 1744 PAYMENTS for grad medical education. The government will now control Drs education.
* PG 801 Sec 1751 The Government will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!
* Pg 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc. required to register. Government takes over private payment system.
* PG 820-824 Sec 1801 Government will identify individuals ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal finances.
* Pg 824-829 SEC. 1802. Government Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.
* PG 829-833 Government will impose a fee on ALL private health insurance plans including self insured to pay for Trust Fund!
* PG 835 11-13 fees imposed by Government for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.
* Pg 838-840 Government will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families expecting kids.
* PG 844-845 This Home Visitation Program includes Government coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!
* Pg 859 Government will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes thats Billion.
* PG 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Drs. perform mandatory HealthCare for 2 years for part loan repayment.
* PG 876-892 The Government takes over the education of our Medical students and Drs.
* PG 898 The Government will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps. to ensure supply of public health professionals.
* PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.
* PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.
* PG 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians.
* PG 901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HealthCare Draft?
* PG 910 The Government will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.
* PG 913-914 Government starts a HealthCare affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.
* PG 915 SEC. 2251. Government MANDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HealthCare professionals.
* Pg 932 The Government will establish Preventative & Wellness Trust fund – initial cost of $30,800,000,000-Billion.
* PG 935 21-22 Government will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities. Control You!!
* PG 936 Government will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Performance Standards” Tell me what to eat?
* PG 942 Lines 22-25 More Government? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Services, Minority Health, Women’s Health.
* PG 950- 980 BIG Government core public health infrastructure includes workforce capacity, lab systems; health information systems, etc
* PG 993 Government will establish school based health clinics. Your kids won’t have a chance.
* PG 994 School Based Health Clinics will be integrated into the school environment. Say Government Brainwash!
* PG 1001 The Government will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?
* PG 1003 9-11 National Medical Dev Reg ‘‘(iii) other postmarket device surveillance activities” you WILL be tracked.
* PG 1018 States give up some of their State Sovereignty.
Infowars-thanks for posting that. Here’s a link to Fleckenstein’s actual post on this subject:
Common Sense from a Common Man
From my friend who is a Doctor
I have major problems with the plan myself, though I share practically none of Fleckenstein’s concerns.
The part about Preventive Services, however, is worth noting. It’s an example of typical government idiotocracy.
The single best “preventive care” measure possible is the elimination of deductibles. Don’t discourage patients from seeing their physician for their very 1st visit. That’s when the most prevention can occur–finding or treating an illness early, rather than later.
This is a surprisingly simple concept, yet none of the astrophysicists in Congress seem to grasp it.
—————–
My biggest issue, however, is the alleged “enhanced” measures to “fight waste, fraud, & abuse,” that starts on page 686, and continues for the next 120+ pages. They’ve literally added new CHARGES to prosecute doctors for fraud. This allows the Federal Gestapo (the FBI) to pursue investigations of doctors in an even more egregious and un-Constitutional manner than they already do now.
Though some might consider this a good thing, it is not. It causes doctors to be more worried about false criminal prosecution by the in-Justice Dept. than they already are. As it stands now, physicians can be successfully prosecuted for honest billing errors made by their billers, and sent to prison.
In order to guard against criminal prosecution, doctors will need to spend even more time doing payer work to prevent prosecution, reducing time for patient care. And doctors will also reduce care provided, if such care has a significant chance of provoking a criminal investigation.
The Obamatocracy’s inference that costs can be reduced by reducing physician fraud is insane. (And the AMA’s support of this bill is even more insane.)
There are already enough avenues for the US Justice Dept. (and its minions in the FBI) to prosecute fraud. They’re already allowed to completely ignore the 4th amendment, as well as being allowed to legally perjure themselves in court, and encourage perjury from witnesses.
The US in-Justice Dept. does not need any more “tools” to prosecute physician fraud. They can already obtain a Grand Jury Indictment on any physician they please, thanks to the incomprehensibility of health care laws, and even the near incomprehensibility of Medicaid & Medicare applications themselves.
I realize the scope of Federal criminal prosecution of doctors is not well known by the general public. That’s why it’s necessary to make the point here.
White House Deal With Big Pharma
August 13, 2009
Ryan Grim ryan@huffingtonpost.com
Huffpost – Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma
A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.
The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.
It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government’s leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada — and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.
In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: “Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion.”
Representatives from both the White House and PhRMA, shown the outline, adamantly denied that it reflected reality. PhRMA senior vice president Ken Johnson said that the outline “is simply not accurate.” “This memo isn’t accurate and does not reflect the agreement with the drug companies,” said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin.
Stories in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times last week indicated that the administration was confirming that such a deal had been made.
Critics on Capitol Hill and online responded with outrage at the reports that Obama had gone behind their backs and sold the reform movement short. Furthermore, the deal seemed to be a betrayal of several promises made by then-Sen. Obama during the presidential campaign, among them that he would use the power of government to drive down the costs of drugs to Medicare and that negotiations would be conducted in the open.
Story continues below And over the past several days, both the White House and PhRMA have offered a series of sometimes conflicting accounts of what happened in an attempt to walk back the story.
The White House meeting took place on July 7th, as first reported that evening in the Wall Street Journal. Also on the same day, a health care lobbyist following the talks was provided the outline of the deal by a person inside the negotiations. That outline had been floating around K Street before being obtained by the Huffington Post. In order to learn more about its origin, HuffPost agreed not to reveal the name of the lobbyist who originally received it.
“That is the PhRMA deal,” said the lobbyist of the outline. He then clarified, “It was the PhRMA deal.”
The deal, as outlined in the memo:
Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion.
1. Agree to increase of Medicaid rebate from 15.1 – 23.1% ($34 billion)
2. Agree to get FOBs done (but no agreement on details — express disagreement on data exclusivity which both sides say does not affect the score of the legislation.) ($9 billion)
3. Sell drugs to patients in the donut hole at 50% discount ($25 billion)
This totals $68 billion
4. Companies will be assessed a tax or fee that will score at $12 billion. There was no agreement as to how or on what this tax/fee will be based.
Total: $80 billion
In exchange for these items, the White House agreed to:
1. Oppose importation
2. Oppose rebates in Medicare Part D
3. Oppose repeal of non-interference
4. Oppose opening Medicare Part B
“Non-interference” is the industry term for the status quo, in which government-driven price negotiations are barred. In other words, the government is “interfering” in the market if it negotiates lower prices. The ban on negotiating was led through Congress in 2003 by then-Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), who is now the head of PhRMA.
The rebates reference is to Medicare overpayments Big Pharma managed to wrangle from the Republican Congress that Democrats are trying to recoup. The House bill would require Big Pharma to return some of that money. The rebate proposal would save $63 billion over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The White House, given the chance, declined to tell the Wall Street Journal for a July 17th article that it supported the effort to pursue the rebates.
The Medicare Part B item refers to “infusion drugs,” which can be administered at home. If they fall under Part B, Big Pharma gets paid more than under Part D. The agreement would leave infusion drugs in Part B.
In the section on Big Pharma’s concessions, “FOBs” refers to follow-on biological drugs. Democrats have pushed to make it easier to allow generic drug makers to produce cheaper versions of such drugs, an effort Big Pharma has resisted. The Senate health committee bill gives drug makers 12 years of market exclusivity, five more than the White House proposed.
PhRMA’s Johnson cast doubts on the provenance of the outline. “The memo, as described, is simply not accurate,” he said in a statement. “Anyone could have written it. Unless it comes from our board of directors, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on. Clearly, someone is trying to short circuit our efforts to try and make health care reform a reality this year. That’s not going to happen. Too much is at stake for both patients and the U.S. economy. Our new ads supporting health care reform are starting this week, and we are redoubling our efforts to drive awareness of why this issue is so important to America’s future.”
Johnson added that “no outside lobbyists — not a single one — were ever involved in our discussions with the Senate Finance Committee or the White House so someone is blowing smoke.”
But the lobbyist who was given the outline defended its authenticity. And although the White House now says that drug price negotiations and reimportation were not actually discussed in the talks with PhRMA, the lobbyist said: “Well, that’s bull — that’s baloney. That was part of the deal, for them not to push that.”
The new uncertainty surrounding the deal comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly said that her chamber is not bound by any agreement it is not a party to. On July 8th, the day after the Journal reported some elements of the deal, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said in a public speech that his committee would not be tied down by the agreement.
Before recess, he followed through. His committee passed a bill that allowed for re-importation and drug-price negotiations.
In the Senate, Democrats Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Byron Dorgan (N.D.) pressed White House officials at a closed-door meeting last week, asking whether the White House had tied the Senate’s hands.
The health care lobbyist said that what deal still exists is uncertain, as a result of House pressure. “Now the White House is backing away from it, as you know, because of pressure from the House, because the House was not a party to the deal,” he said. “The Speaker put enormous pressure on the White House, [saying], ‘We weren’t a party to it and we reserve the right to do whatever we want.’ And which they did in the House Energy and Commerce Committee bill, which led the White House to say, ‘Well, maybe it’s not cast in concrete.’”
Obama is walking a tightrope here. He wants to keep PhRMA from opposing the bill, and benefits by having its support, which now includes a $150 million advertising campaign. That’s a fortune in politics — more than Republican presidential candidate John McCain spent on advertising during his entire campaign — but it’s loose change in the pharmaceutical business.
Opponents of the deal with PhRMA hope that Obama is playing a multilayered game, making a deal in order to keep the drug makers in his camp for now, but planning to double-cross them in the end if he needs to in order to pass his signature initiative.
Big Pharma, however, is still comfortable. “As far as the pharmaceutical industry, PhRMA and its member companies, yes, they say a deal is a deal. We’ll see what happens,” said the health care lobbyist.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/…i_n_258285.html
Liberatarian Insider at the Obama Town Hall Meeting in Grand Junction
From: Debbie Schum
Subject: here’s what happened
To: “‘LIBERTARIAN PARTY OPINIONS’”
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 2:27 AM
I’ve had lots of questions about what happened inside the “town hall” meeting. Here you go…
I was inside the school. Approximately 95% of the others there were adoring, genuflecting liberals. From a “random lottery” of tickets (wink, wink). I only got in because a friend gave me a ticket. And both of us were told we couldn’t bring in:
Cameras
Water bottles or cups
Pens or pencils
Purses or bags
Signs
But when we got in, the obvious liberals were taking pictures of everything, writing notes and small signs with their pens that they got out of their purses, and swigging water or soda out of bottles and cups. My friend Denise (who gave me the ticket) is on chemotherapy and has dry mouth problems from it. But if she needed a sip of water, she had to go all the way around the room and out into the hall to the water cooler…EACH time. We were ushered to seats in the very back. Once inside, we were not allowed to leave and then return (to the car in the parking lot).
Since I was in the very back, up against the rope cordoning off the press from the rest of us, several reporters approached me to ask questions. Some volunteer person from Paonia (she told me she was from Paonia) would fly over there and snarl at them and say they weren’t allowed to talk to any one in the audience (even hours before the president showed up). This caused many arguments between her and me. It also made journalists angry and determined, and I of course agreed to every interview. Some were conducted over her yelling, and some immediately following the event.
Hundreds of people who had tickets were not allowed in. Once Denise and I were in, we noticed all the front row chairs were empty and no one was allowed to sit there. Also, there were seats up on the stage that were empty. Just before the event, they filled. We later learned that the Salazar brothers, Udall, Bennet, and Ritter were given tickets to pass out (oh, probably randomly, right?) and those seats were reserved for those people. Pre-empting the other ticket holders who were left standing outside.
When the dog and pony show finally began, it seemed like a game show. Obama came out almost twirling, with his arms out for applause (which he certainly got…it almost reminded me of those old film clips of Beatles concerts). Then he talked, and talked, and talked….and talked. Finally he took 6 questions which he didn’t really answer. The answers had the quality of being rehearsed. They kind of went with the questions, as if the same questions basically are being asked all around the country, so he has these pat answers. Only one was even remotely “tough”, and it was actually more humorous (as well as unexpected). The young man was from the Boulder college (CU), so we all expected it to be liberal fawning. But he challenged the president to “an Oxford style debate”, and then asked him how private insurance could possibly compete against government insurance, since government insurance clearly would have several unfair advantages. Obama laughed and joked about the “chutzpah” of someone who would challenge him to an Oxford style debate, and then slid around the question by talking about UPS and FedEx.
Then it was over, but we had to wait for a half hour after Elvis left the building before we were allowed to leave. During that time, I was the most accessible person for the press, simply because of where I was. This landed me the interview on CNN, and with several other news outlets.
In a few instances, Obama was actually honest about a few things. He said that Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare account for 70% of the federal budget (think about that when you’re outraged about the billions in pork that account for ONLY around 1% of the money flying around!). He also admitted there isn’t enough money to pay for Medicaid/Medicare, and that some of the subsidies (yes, he used that word) for that would have to be cut no matter what. Meaning those of you on M/M that are paying $100 per month out of your social security or whatever, and perhaps another $150 for supplemental (and still doing co-pay, of course) will be paying a lot more. He also admitted that the “public option” in the proposal is NOT “free”. That the government will be selling insurance (with some unfair advantages, of course. Beyond no need to make profit or regulatory costs—but also a nice little caveat that if for any reason you wind up on the “public option”—and there are several instances where they can sign you up without your consent—you are no longer allowed to EVER switch to private insurance. He didn’t talk about this, of course, but it’s in there).
No one questioned the “mandate” part of it, or raised the issue of why we can’t just look at why health care costs so much (a big part of why is because of insurance practices) and focus on that, narrowing the insurance part of it down considerably. The questions were not should we have government health care or not, but what KIND of government health care. I felt immensely frustrated that while so many realize insurance has made a real mess of health care, no one seemed to realize how much of that insurance mess is government mandated (like all those stupid things about what insurance has to cover—and you have to pay for—like birth control pills, pregnancy check-ups, breast reduction surgery…when you’re a man. Or prostate check ups, etc, when you’re a woman. The kind of crap the government will be cutting out of their own plan).
There was also no mention that, as usual, the federal employees are exempt from their own impractical crappiness.
Debbie Schum
Debbie on CNN
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=DyHYVizifhA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyHYVizifhA&feature=player_embedded
Well it seems we have a consensus. Lets keep what we have so we can keep including insurance companies, their accountants and lawyers and the mal-practice specialists as a part of healthcare or even a substitute for healthcare. What the heck it’s the best in the world ain’t it. Damned liberal fascists and communist conservatives!
Excellent piece Mitch,
I’ve been reading through the bill and doing the same thing, searching keywords. Try searching for “Budgetary Implications”. If I read this correctly, it is saying that these funds are exempt from being included as part of the Balanced Budget amendment.
The two areas affected are 10 billion to go towards Union Retirees and 88 billion, half of which goes to improve Community Health Centers.
Almost 100 billion dollars that doesn’t have to be accounted for in the budget.
See if you agree.
One more section to read. Section 124
This states very clearly that no one has even begun to set the standards for what will or will not be covered under any plan! The standards for even the basic plan have to be recommended by the Health Benefits Advisory Committee which has yet to be formed.
Those recommendations then have to be approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This is also where the regulations will be made for insurance companies to be considered a Qualified Health Benefit Provider.
So who are the members of this Health Benefits Advisory Committee?
According to the bill, 17 members are appointed by the President and 9 are appointed by the Comptroller General.