by Terri McCormick
(former State Representative
& chair of Healthcare Cost Partnerships committee)
July 24, 2009
Regardless of political party or ideological persuasion, there are limited resources and outcomes possible with H.R. 3200 America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. There is no doubt that the stakes are high for individuals and businesses. It is critical that citizens engage in the discussion and that ‘we the people’ read the bill and act accordingly.
‘Politics as Usual’ bedtime stories, when combined with chicken cordon bleu in the home of large political contributors, does not a good healthcare policy make. What it makes is a rather redundant kettle of ‘Status Quo Soup’ stirred with the spoon of insider politics.
As Dick Armey recently commented, “President Obama made the mistake of not setting a more specific direction for the democrat dominated legislature in both houses to pursue healthcare reform.”
Who will pay for the Healthcare Reform Act?
The middle class – either those small business owners who gross $250,000 a year or wealthier Americans whose household incomes are over $1,000,000 – according to the President in a press conference on July 23, 2009. The gaping taxpayer hole for the “Reform Act” appears to be 1/3 of the total cost of $1.5 trillion dollars.
Who is the Healthcare Act written for?
A July 21, 2009 headline in the Washington Post read “Industry Cash Flowed to Drafters of Reform”
As liberal protesters marched outside, Sen. Max Baucus sat down inside a San Francisco mansion for a dinner of chicken cordon bleu and a discussion of landmark health-care legislation under consideration by his Senate Finance Committee.
The July 21 story goes on to say:
” Baucus’s fundraising prowess underscores the enduring political strength of the healthcare lobby, which led all other sectors in donations to federal candidates during the last election cycle and has shifted its giving to Democrats as the party has tightened its control of Congress.”
“The sector gave nearly $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008, with 54 percent going to Democrats, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. The shift in parties was even more pronounced during the first three months of this year, when Democrats collected 60 percent of the $5.4 million donated by healthcare companies and their employees, the data show.”
Pay for Play politics does not yield solutions for Americans – it yields ‘deals’ for politicians.
What does the Healthcare Reform Act do?
On page 16 of the 1,017 page document it clearly states “In 5 years all private insurance plans must look like public plans.”
In effect it is a government takeover of the private healthcare insurance industry. The private sector industry responsible for negotiating price on behalf of the patient will then be eliminated and a government held “system” will replace it.
Does the Healthcare Reform Act lower skyrocketing costs?
It would appear that government rationing is the answer being pursued, with the following examples:
- Consider Elder Care. Instead of a goal to “age with dignity and independence” that most of us have in this country, we will be assigned consultants to review our cases every five years to determine how grave a risk we will be on the federal health insurance system. When we become too high a risk the government will pull the plug. Or we will pay for costs out of our own pocket.
- Limits will be set to control costs for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) of kidney disease, which many diabetics must face. The operative word is palliative care. It means treating the symptoms but not the underlying root cause of the disease. Give ‘em pain pills and let them go die.
- Congress has the ability to opt out of HR3200 – they maintain their AIG guaranteed pension and healthcare benefits.
- TARP was distributed along party lines – Should Americans be wary of healthcare being dispensed along party lines as well?
The notion of government politicians and bureaucrats making all decisions for the American people should have all of us concerned. But many Americans have been lulled to sleep, fat, dumb and happy that “the system is taking care of us.”
No need to read the 1,017 page document. Just trust the lobbyists and long term politicians holding fundraisers throughout the negotiation process of the bill to get it right for all Americans.
For Hospitals, Clinics and Doctors
Is there an increased medicare reimbursement rate and guaranteed payment by the feds to hospitals and doctors who practice in federally approved clinics and hospitals? If not, the question then becomes ‘What happens when government bureaucrats hold all the insurance options?’
According to former Marine Veteran Carmen Russo “The bottom line is that government will decide who lives and who dies. That’s what happens.”
Wouldn’t it be better if the Healthcare Reform Act controlled Healthcare costs?
Some suggestions:
Recommendations made on a Committee I chaired in the Wisconsin Legislature in 2002
- Create pools for prescription drugs, cooperative insurance pools, association pools nationwide and other insurance pools so that the free market has the opportunity to work. (Savings in WI first year alone was $40 million. WI ETF source)
- Hold government bureaucracies and government funded hospitals accountable by enforcing lean management controls on monies distributed on behalf of tax payers. (Ever wondered why vertical impact machines were so expensive? You should – they are hammers!)
- Get government out of the business of private business and into the role of ensuring a safety net for those Americans who need catastrophic care and government secured insurance.
- Never forget for a moment that the largest increases in health care costs are our individual choices that come with individual responsibility such as; our weight, exercise, smoking habits and life style choices.
We cannot regulate personal choices. But we can regulate government stupidity caused by incremental policy based on campaign contributions. The problem is both political parties have lost the public’s trust.
It is time to get behind candidates who we trust to change the way things are. We cannot hope and pray for change without action.
It is time to act!
© 2009 Terri McCormick
All Rights Reserved
People need to begin to pay attention to what is going on around them – locally, statewide, and nationally. Write a letter, make a phone call, send an email to your elected officials and let them know what you think of their policy, bills, or vote.
Fear…Franklin Roosevelt said that the only thing we must fear… is fear itself. We have discovered a new fear however, and millions of Americans have voiced their fears to our leaders, and as of now they have sadly been brushed aside as “AstroTurf” and “false anger.” Our representatives, whom the people have elected have called us, who argue that the government is doing TOO much in terms of cap and trade, bailing out businesses, owning car companies, and now wanting to institute a flawed government-sponsored health care program as well as talk and rumors about more gun control have incited much anger among the American public as well as instilled fear…fear of the government. The Founders of this nation understood that government could become TOO powerful and set ways to limit its scope and breath, and unfortunately we have failed to heed the advice of our forefathers and instead head down this dangerous road of “progressiveness.”
It started with Republican Teddy Roosevelt, went on through the Wilson Administration and into the 21st Century with George W. Bush bailing out businesses and Obama continuing to do more. This is backwards and not the way our nation was supposed to be. Government was supposed to be limited, and power was supposed to be given to the states. However, given certain Acts of Congress which have increased the amount of power the bureaucracy has, thus a 4th Branch of government has risen, one that has no Constitutional limitations. If Congress makes a broad health care bill, the Health and Human Services Department can make it as narrow or broad as they wish, indeed they could institute whatever change so long as the President OKs such an act. This is dangerous and scary to know that the government, in a sense, could choose who gets care, and who does not. Think about it, to the government, if someone has AIDS, an incurable disease, is it really worth it to them to treat the person or would euthanasia be a far less expensive plan? The Government, which usually goes with the cheapest option, at least in terms of military hardware and every other thing it does, would more than likely end the lives of those terminally ill instead of letting them live out their lives. This is chilling, what if a cure was found for what now might be an incurable disease? While the government now might deny this would happen, 20 years down the road something could happen where the government changes it. This is how it works; the government will institute small, incremental, seemingly negligible changes, which over the long run will destroy our freedoms not only of choice but also our freedom to live.
This is a dangerous road that this nation is traveling and we the people must stand ready to ensure that our lives are not put in jeopardy. It has been stated that we are the only industrialized nation without a national health care plan, this is true. However isn’t it also true, that before this economic recession we are facing now, we were one of the top producers in the world? That we had the lowest unemployment rates of any European nation? That we were number one in the G20? We forget these things and rush to be like the world. Why? We left Europe 200+ years ago so we would be free FROM Europe, to be different, why now do we want to be like Europe? We are America, we are America because we are not like the world, we have different values, we believe in a free market, where the government regulates monopolies and unfair practice only, not handing out money hand over fist or buying up car companies. We must demand that government stop getting involved where it does not belong. When has the government run anything well? I think the military is the only thing that can be described as being run well, but even that gets touchy.
We must demand a REAL change, but a change back to the way our Forefathers wanted our nation to be. A nation where states had a say over what happened, a nation that was a beacon of HOPE to people, not a beacon of HATE which it has become now. I’ll agree we have engaged in conflicts where we shouldn’t have, I agree with this assessment. However, we have to fix our mistakes, and learn to talk openly with those who oppose us. Just because a nation does not like us now, does not mean we cannot become allies or trading partners with them because we disagree with their mode of governance. However, if that government is stifling dissent, then I strongly believe, as the free nation we are, that we should not trade or talk with these nations, but rather, in a diplomatic way, ignore them. Do not trade with those who wish us harm or whose governments are not compatible with ours, as that would destroy what we, the United States stands for. I realize this note is long; however we are collapsing from within! We are letting people run our country into the ground and we have the power to stop them at the polls and yet we fail to do so and keep electing those who want to destroy America. We have become a society that, much like the Romans, has lost their sense of pride and social norms. Sex is everywhere these days, you turn on the TV and you see shows where one man is unfaithful to his girlfriend or wife, and yet we are not outraged. I just hope the people of America wake up from this sleep and vow to take back the nation which is rightfully ours! May God save the Republic!
May the Citizens of the United States rise to the occasion and cast our ballots against those who defy the Constitution and fail to live up to its contract with the people! Never shall our Nation fall!
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.