Posted on 10/8/2007, 4:03:32 PM by Invisigoth
On Wednesday, President Bush vetoed an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that was so riddled with nonsensical illogic and outright fraud – not that you'd ever know it from the usual left-tilted media coverage – that in an earlier and more honorable age, the bill would have been dead from the outset, if even offered in the first place. But Democrats being the "socialist end justifies any dishonest means" types they are, and Republicans being the gutless cowards they are, this bill is frighteningly close to becoming law via an override of Bush's veto.
The Democrats have delayed the override vote for two weeks in an attempt to both bribe and intimidate 25 House members into changing sides from the 265-159 original vote, to provide the 290 needed. (The Senate is already a lost cause, so spineless is the GOP caucus in that chamber.) A couple weak-kneed GOP representatives have already bailed, anticipating the usual hate-mongering, all-emotional-manipulation-and-no-facts Democrat propaganda assault, with innocent unaware children used as political pawns. If only they had some guts, they could easily shoot this down with the facts:
(Excerpt) Read more at northstarwriters.com ...
INTREP
“socialist end justifies any dishonest means” types they are, and Republicans being the gutless cowards they are, this bill is frighteningly close to becoming law via an override of Bush’s veto.”
Awful thought that this could happen. Our government stinks.
Yes, our government does stink, but the reason it does is because the American people are ignorant and believe government is the answer to all their problems. Until that changes, look for the US to follow Europe on the path to becoming a socialist welfare state.
“State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)”
Since it’s a state plan, the Feds need to stay out of it.
And the funny thing is, is that the Dem candidates are still going to criticize the Republican for voting against it initially anyway. Even if the Republican heads off a strong conservative challenger in the primary over this issue, they're still toast because liberals aren't going to vote for them.
What a bunch of dupes.
Yep. That old line of least resistance is what people think is the easy way. Right. It’s an uphill climb all the way. People have been lulled into for many reasons to let the government take over. Also, our government is so large; it runs by itself.
If people would just take their lives back; it wouldn’t be so easy for our politicians(snakes that they are)to do anything they please.
We all know sleazy lawyers know more about healthcare and medicine than doctors, so hey, makes sense for them to be running the show.
It can only help to call your Republican Reps and Senators. The for-the-children-useful-idiots have been calling for weeks. Your Congress Critter needs to know that his district hasn’t gone commie.
I was appalled by the details that leaked about the SCHIP poster child whose parents “could not afford” health insurance but could send both their kids to a posh private school. Even under the current SHIP plan virtually every employee of our state government with kids is eligible for these benefits. The proposed expansion was ridiculous and good for Bush in vetoing it.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
At first blush, it would seem to be a grand and noble idea to require health insurance for all the children. You can hear the left wing outcries, can’t ya? “But, but...it’s for our babies! We are the wealthiest nation in the world...and we can’t provide healthcare for our children?”
Problem is, it’s a gargantuanly expensive endeavour that does not provide the biggest bang for the bucks. Fact is, most kids do not get sick and have no need for expansive health insurance coverage. Sure they’ll get the routine common colds, snotty nose, cough, sore throat and the sniffles. But for the most part, the majority of kids are healthy and not afflicted with serious illnesses. Therefore, mandating health insurance across the board for every kid in America serves the health insurance industry more than it does the kids. It’s a wasteful drain on our wallets.
Instead, for kids and healthy young adults, a catastrophic insurance policy makes more sense and is more cost effective, because these policies are much cheaper and are applicable in instances of unexpected calamity such as injuries after a motor vehicle accident, sudden illnesses requiring extensive/prolonged healthcare (meninigitis, appendicitis, new onset diabetes, ect...).
The current healthcare crisis in our country is so much more complex than requiring health insurance coverage across the board for everyone. Yes, there’s a whole lot of truth to the statement that for the average American, we’re all just one medical catastrophe away from bankruptcy. Imagine if all of the sudden, out of the blue, you have a massive heart attack, a ruptured cerebral aneurysm or get diagnosed with a rare cancer requiring extensive medical care, or became a victim of a major car accident with serious injuries...even if you did have health insurance, the majority of us still can’t afford it. You’re literally looking at a single medical bill that’s going to top $60,000 easy, if not more, for these mentioned unfortunate incidents. Spend a single day in the intensive care unit, you’re looking at close to $5k/day. If you think that your HMO is going to pay for a huge chunk of it, you’re naive and need to wake up and smell the stench.
Our national health care problem is much more complex and multifactorial. Bottom line though, the cost of health care needs to go down and be reigned in. So what drives health care costs up so high? It’s a darn vicious cycle! And frivolous malpractice suit only plays a small part of it. No doubt, we are in desperate need of tort reforms to end frivolous lawsuits and empower our doctors to not be so fearful of litigation so as to practice good sense medicine and not defensive CYA medicine, ordering more unnecessary diagnostic tests, thereby driving up our medical bills to the roof! There are over 47+ million Americans who have no health insurance, and that number is expected to rise as the cost of modern medicine soar. So where do these “unfortunate souls” go for their health care? Why, we already have universal health care in America! Yes we do!! It may not be effective universal health care. In fact it’s pretty damn perversed, but it is a form of universal health care nonetheless. It’s called the Emergency Room. Federal EMTALA laws (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) requires that all patients/comers to the Emergency Rooms across the nation receive medical screening and stabilization. Those words, “medical screening and stabilization” of course are subject to interpretation, especially by the plaintiff attorneys. But as noble Americans, we always strive to do everything we can and deliver state of the art care to everyone despite affordability. It is the American way! Nothing but the best! As it should be. And also, physicians are too fearful of lawsuits anyway not to deliver the standard of care, which just happens to be “nothing but the best.” Sure it’s expensive, but hey, spend a couple thousand dollars now and prevent a million dollar lawsuit headache later, right?
So, these 47+ million of of uninsured patients floods our local Emergency Rooms because they have no where else to go. The local clinics are not required by EMTALA to see them and they are routinely turned away after a negative wallet biopsy. Here’s the kicker, EMTALA is an unfunded mandate! Hospitals are forced to care for every patients who comes to their front door regardless of ability to pay. For the 47+ millions of our citizens, the cost is way too high so they must default on their medical bills and not pay. Naturally, the hospital sends the collection agency after them but the majority of time, bupkes. So how does the hospital make up for the loss revenues? Why they pass the bucks onto those of us who have health insurance and can pay, of course. That’s why a Tylenol pill or a band-aid in the hospital costs ya ~$8-$10 bucks a piece. There’s a roughly 1000% mark-up for every item used in the hospital. Even something as quick, simple and nonivasive as sticking your finger into the pulse oximeter to check for your oxygenation status, the hospital will charge you for that too.
What’s more, for these 47+ million uninsured patients, since they have no insurance, they have no primary care. They’ve received no preventative health screening nor routine maintenance care (blood pressure check, diabetic screening, cholesterol screening, colonoscopy, smoking cessation assistance, etc...). They’ll go on for years without any basic routine care and when they become ill, they visit the ER’s. For many of these folks, when the get sick, they get very sick as their hospital workup turn up more and more undiagnosed diseases/problems. They have more complex problems, higher comorbidities, higher mortality and...higher liability as well...and they do not pay. They are also precisely the patient demographics that sues frivolously more often than anyone else. The plaintiff attorneys? Why they can careless on the merits of any case. They’ll take on anything in hopes of a fat settlement. Plus, expert witnesses are a dime a dozen, another huge flaw in the system. Liability insurance companies? They can care less about the merits of the case as well, if it’s cheaper for them to settle, they’ll settle. The physician? We’re the lowest on the malpractice totem pole. We can’t even buy a liability insurance policy that allows us the power to decide to fight the case or settle it out. So we go on to practice CYA medicine and orders more tests in hopes of not ever getting sue. Diagnosis? The business of medicine is sick and needs a cure. It is a festering butt pus that needs to be cut, drained and packed!
Oh this rant has gone on too long already. I apologize for my vanity and promise never to do it again. However, fear not, there is a solution! There is an immense difference between socialized healthcare and universal healthcare. People often mistake the two. Universal healthcare can be affordable and can coexist with American capitalism. Sure, foreign policy is important, but the presidential candidate with the best domestic agenda for our healthcare crisis will win the election, IMHO. Hillary care scares the bejjeeebeees out of me!
That would be truly funny, if it weren’t our future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.