Posted on 05/03/2010 9:02:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The new health care law established all of the things we were worried about during the reform process.
As I mentioned last week, some politicians have been using the same rhetoric to describe the financial troubles we are in with the exact same words they used for the health care industry. They neglect to discuss the primary problems that caused the recession because the Government played a primary role in that as well. They are on the attack so they can take control of Wall Street as they took over health care. Today, I read a statement by our President stating (and I paraphrase), “We are not going to let the Republicans lie during our debates on the financial industry as we allowed them to lie during the health care debates.”
Excuse me! Let’s examine this statement further. First of all, about 80% of the United States population raised concerns (not lies) about where health care reform might lead us. Over 60% were convinced that the Democrats new law was a mistake and most favored starting over and reforming the system correctly. Second, can you tell me even a single concern (or “lie”) that hasn’t been proven 100% correct since the law was passed? I can’t think of one! Here are some of them.
- People with insurance (85% of the population) were worried that they would lose their ability to keep their own insurance and keep their own physician. So, naturally the President promised all along that that wouldn’t happen. Oops, he then admitted late in 2009 that that promise had been kept out of the bills. There is absolutely no guarantee that you can keep your insurance or your physician. It is estimated that over 16 million people will lose their current insurance in 2014 alone and that figure is overly conservative. Your insurance will be decided by the Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS).
- People were worried that the reform would cause the costs of their insurance to go up. It was generally felt by most people that their health care was superb, but they felt the costs were too high. So, it was promised that we would all see our premiums go down or the Bills would be vetoed. During the process, they presented budget analysis from the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) over and over until the numbers looked good. Before the bill was signed, the CBO finally gave an analysis that the costs would go down. The public was warned by many economists that the CBO analysis were very faulty and easily manipulated by the Congressional members who submit the figures. The week after the President signed the law, he admitted that the new law did not affect costs. Many economists, including Alan Greenspan and former authorities of the CBO, admitted that the CBO was likely wrong and the costs would be much higher. They added that the consequences would be “catastrophic.” In April, it was divulged that an independent review board looked at the proposed “Medicare savings” and they unanimously agreed that the savings did not exist. They predicted far higher Medicare costs.
- People were worried that they would not be able to see their physicians in a timely manner. We were all guaranteed that everyone would have access to physicians. Since the law was passed, we have seen estimates of 125,000 physician shortages in the US by 2020. That number was estimated prior to the new law and the estimates are much higher due to physician attrition. You see, physicians don’t like being told how to take care of patients by a bureaucrat, especially when they are still held medico-legally accountable for the patient’s outcome. Therefore, many over the age of 50 will retire early and many of our best students will avoid medical school. The care in Massachusetts is Obamacare a few years in advance and we see the largest delay to see a primary care physician in the country. (Oh yeah, and the costs also went up there more than the rest of the country.)
- Many people were worried that the new health care system would equate to socialized medicine. They were worried that the Government would make all the health care decisions and would ration care. So, they took out the term “public option” and promised that this would not be the case. Section 3002 through 3007 gives the HHS the power to decide which health care services will and will not be covered. They will have the power to decide which doctors see which patients. Control is given over all services provided by any “Government approved insurance policy.” Since ALL insurance policies, public and private, will be required to be “Government approved” by 2014, the HHS will have total control over the services provided in private policies as well. If a physician deviates from the protocols of what is approved by the HHS, they run the risk of paying a financial penalty, being downgraded, or being removed from seeing patients. Don’t worry though, this “non-socialization of medicine” also adds over 150 new Boards and Commissions of unelected officials and employees. That number is sure to grow.
- Then there were those crazy Americans worried that the Government would ration care. Some even used the term “death panels” and were ridiculed for this concept by the mainstream media. Well, the Medicare Advisory Panel will have enormous power, as described by Peter Orszag, Office of Management and Budget. This panel will decide which procedures, illnesses, and treatments will NOT be provided for people. As with any socialized or Government run health care system, this will start with rationing by age. If your disease is not politically connected, you are in big trouble. When the new Independent Payment Advisory Board decides not to cover an illness, it will take a majority vote in Congress and a signature by the President to over-ride the Board. (These members are all appointed by the President, not elected like Congress who makes financial decisions right now.)
- Finally, we were worried about the rumors that the politicians themselves did not even read the bills they were voting on. This, of course, was trivialized. No one in the mainstream media questioned Nancy Pelosi when she said, “We need to pass the bill before we know what’s in it.” She was telling the truth as they really did not know what was in the bill. Since it was passed, we learn almost daily about major mistakes and implications of the wording. The geniuses in DC actually wrote their Congressional Staffs out of the ability to obtain insurance until 2014. No really; this is fact. As of the day it was signed, the politician’s staff members (not they themselves) were supposed to obtain insurance from their home “state exchanges.” Oops, the exchanges won’t exist until 2014! The law prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage based on “pre-existing conditions.” Oops, the wording left out children with pre-existing conditions. (You should have seen the face when I informed one of the Democratic Representatives from Georgia that he just signed a bill that allowed insurance companies to deny children with pre-existing conditions. It would have been priceless were it not so disgusting.)
We learn weekly that most of the “concerns” of the American people have come to fruition. The President calls these concerns “lies from the Republicans.” If only the Republicans could take credit for these lies because they have all come true. Wouldn’t that be a great election platform to run on? The Republicans certainly have been proven correct in many aspects so far, but the American people voiced most of these concerns. As I am not an investment expert, I guess I need to pay attention to any concern (be it from a Republican or any American) over Wall Street reform, especially if the concern is called a lie.
*****
Dr. Jeffrey B. English is a Board Certified Neurologist with sub-specialty training in Clinical Neurophysiology. He is in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. English is the Clinical Research Director at the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta, a non-profit organization for the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. He helped develop and helps run the Center. He is also a national speaker on multiple sclerosis and on the economics of health care delivery.
read later
Why weren’t doctors and hospitals invited to participate in drafting health care reform? There wasn’t room for them behind the locked door of Harry Reid’s office which was full of lobbyists for insurers, drug makers, the unions and trial lawyers.
There is insurance, and then there is privatized socialistic health care coverage.
If we don’t lose our doctors in this process, maybe it’s not such a completely bad thing after all.
Maybe... just maybe the cost of health care will actually go down with no deep pocket insurance companies being charged $500.00 for a band-aid and passing it off to to everyone’s premiums.
My MIL who is a nurse told me the other day that she is hearing about doctors retiring early because they don’t want to participate in Obamacare.
Very depressing.
I sincerely hope that by 2014 Obamao and his garbage will be a memory, albeit a nightmare.
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