Free Republic

Find below a state government request for you to provide public comments on the Obamacare "essential health benefits" requirement for individual and small group insurance policies. Note that this list of benefits (health care services), whether you agree or find them objectionable, will be imposed by the State....as allowed by the federal government.  The Feds are being gentle now, allowing "flexibility" for States to do as they wish, but that is likely temporary. Once the State has acquiesced to the presumption of federal control, expect the Feds to mandate the health care services they want included, and exclude the services they...

The number of people visiting hospital emergency rooms has climbed in Massachusetts, despite the enactment of nearly universal health insurance that some hoped would reduce expensive emergency department use. ....according to a report from the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, expanded coverage may have contributed to the rise in emergency room visits,.....

The governor's program is hardly a model for the nation--it's a mess. Mitt Romney appears to have changed his mind once again about the statewide health care program he enacted as governor of Massachusetts. Obviously running for president in the next election, Romney is a brilliant man and an impressive candidate. But he has some explaining to do. At first Romney boasted about the program. Signing the legislation in 2006, he claimed he had been able to "steal" the health care issue from the Democrats. This was understandable. Polls showed that Massachusetts health care reform proved popular among Massachusetts voters....

Glenn Beck took aim yesterday at the Massachusetts universal healthcare system, which liberals and many Democrats have touted for years as a model for the purported glories of socialized medicine. (Snip) Beck noted that Massachusetts is now spending 42% more ($595 million) on health insurance than it did in 2006, and asked rhetorically how the state will pay for an estimated $1.3 billion in healthcare this year?

For folks increasingly leery of President Obama’s plan to radically overhaul America’s health-care system, or 17 percent of the nation’s economy, all this could hardly have come at a better time — that is, fiscal troubles aplenty within Repubican Mitt Romney’s brainchild, Massachusetts’ “grand experiment” in “universal” health care. Initiated on Mr. Romney’s gubernatorial watch in 2006, this “experiment” has fallen on hard times, and predictably so. Even though the Bay State commenced its program with a far smaller percentage of uninsured residents than exists nationwide, “RomneyCare” is threatening to bankrupt the state. Budgeted for Fiscal Year 2010 at $880...

Former GOP Governor Helped Make 2006 Reform Reality. BOSTON -- Three years after the inception of Massachusetts’ landmark health reform legislation, which required every citizen to buy insurance, NewsCenter 5’s Ed Harding wondered what former Gov. Mitt Romney, a key political architect of the plan, thought of its progress. Call it protecting his legacy, well-earned pride, or seeing the glass as half-full, but Romney says Massachusetts deserves an ‘A.’ “It’s working like we had hoped it would work,” the one-time republic presidential candidate said. “We got nearly everybody in Massachusetts health insurance, which really, something people didn't think was possible.”...

How much does the House Democrats’ health care overhaul cost? Is it $1 trillion or $1.6 trillion? Democrats argue the number should be $1 trillion, a number provided by the Congressional Budget Office for the net cost of the portion of the bill affecting health insurance, and they boasted in press releases that the bill actually creates a $6 billion surplus over the coming decade. But the gross cost of the bill is much higher, more than $1.6 trillion, according to a Roll Call analysis of the CBO data. And despite more than $800 billion in tax and fee hikes,...

The Congressional Budget Office delivered a couple of blows to President Obama's health care proposals last week. Fear of the trillion dollar costs and at least $240 billion in increased deficits are chasing away even Democrats. And that's not the worst of it. The price tag is actually much higher than reported because many of the real costs are paid for by others. The $219 billion of "savings" touted by House Democrats refers to hospital and doctors getting less for their services. This is what the government already does with Medicaid and Medicare, which on average pay 30 percent less...

Saw this discussed on Hannity. Actual Undercover (camera) investigation of Canadian health care--Wow! Two to 10-Hour wait for doctor for a skateboard accident wrist injury. A clinic with no doctors--unless you have cash. Hmmm? Three years to get a family Doctor. Suggested to go get private care & Pay more?! Five to Seven month wait for dermatologist? Out of tetnus shots? This was Tres Tragic! This is the future of American Health Care, what HAS BEEN BEST HEALTH CARE IN WORLD. One pic worth a thousand words--to see what actually happens up there! Watch & send to your uninformed friends...

Has the national anti-tax “tea party” movement had an effect on American politics? More specifically, have the “tea party patriots” slowed down or derailed the aggressive big-government agenda of the Barack Obama administration?

As he promised he would, President Obama “really is remaking America — he’s just making it a whole lot crappier — kind of a hybrid between France and Venezuela,” Glenn Beck said on the “Glenn Beck Program” Monday. “He’s taking GM and turning it into Fiat,” Beck said. “He’s taking the beacon of freedom and turning it into an apologetic, ‘what-can-you-do-for-me’ wannabe European, spread the wealth, socialist wonderland.”

... I think, given that the member of Congress who drafted H.R. 3200 read and take seriously people like Klien, Yglesias, and Singer, we should be very troubled by Section 1233 of H.R. 3200. The section, titled “Advanced Care Planning Consultation” requires senior citizens to meet at least every 5 years with a doctor or nurse practitioner to discuss dying with dignity. The section requires that they talk to their doctor, not a lawyer, about living wills, durable healthcare powers of attorney, hospice, etc. Given the progressive intelligentsia already being on the record in favor of euthanizing the elderly, it...

Medicare took one year; reform to take decade Even if bill is signed this fall, uninsured won't get coverage until 2013 July 20, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare law on July 30, 1965, and 11 months later seniors were receiving coverage. But if President Barack Obama gets to sign a health care overhaul this fall, the uninsured won't be covered until 2013 — after the next presidential election. In fact, a timeline of the 1,000-page health care bill crafted by House Democrats shows it would take the better part of a decade — from 2010-2018 —...

President Barack Obama dove into the political street-fight threatening his signature issue Monday — taking aim at a first-term Republican senator in hopes of rallying Democrats increasingly nervous about Obama-style reform. The White House opened an aggressive three-week push for health care legislation before the August recess with Obama attacking Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) for saying health care might be Obama’s “Waterloo.” Obama’s press secretary and national party chairman picked up on the line of attack as well. Republicans responded in kind Monday — with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele describing Obama’s health care plan as a “multitrillion-dollar experiment”...

Here is a video report from ABC and Jake Tapper which says President Obama is losing ground on both the economy and health care. The report shows a new Washington Post/ABC News poll that has Obama's approval dropping dramatically on his handling of the economy, the deficit, and health care. Jake Tapper reports that is why Obama will talk health care all five days this week, including a prime time Press Conference on Wednesday night, and a visit to the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday. Tapper also reports that Obama is counting on an essay by ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy to...

It’s been reported in the news, that the last committee needed to pass the health care bill before it can go to the floor for a vote is the Energy and Commerce committee. It only takes 7 Democrats to kill the health care bill in committee. The other day, Mike Ross claimed to have ten votes. GOP voters must support the Democrats that are standing up to the pressure tactics of Pelosi and Obama. We need to call the more conservative members on this committee and give them moral support and pledge to help them financially in their re-election if...

NBC's Chuck Todd on Obama's struggle to get health care reform passed: "I sometimes think we are getting played here a little bit, we've created this drama that he's struggling to get this done. There is no doubt this is a tough road ahead for members of Congress and they are struggling and they don't want to vote for this thing and they are nervous about it and they don't know what it's going to look like a year from now."

The Grassroots Rally Team of Ohio Northeast Ohio FIRE Team Northeast Ohio Alliance of Conservative Organizations Greetings, Group leaders please feel free to forward this important broadcast on to your entire distribution. Our apologies if you have already received this important information. We have confirmed that President Obama will be conducting a "Town Hall" meeting on "Healthcare Reform" at Shaker Heights High School, 15911 Aldersyde Dr. in Cleveland on Thursday, July 23 at 2 PM. The doors open at 12:15. While demonstrations have not traditionally been a thing conservatives do, this event provides a significant opportunity to voice our concerns...

It's no wonder the White House is delaying release of the latest dismal budget figures. It's not just that they are grossly more dismal than the projections. It's that they will undercut already-waning public support for Obama's socialized medicine scheme. The White House was supposed to release the budget numbers this month but has delayed their release until mid-August, which even has The Associated Press raising questions about its motives. But you don't have to be in journalism to realize that Obama is playing hide the ball with the facts in his desperate rush to ramrod this disaster through Congress...

The last few days conservatives have begun to demonize the health care system in Massachusetts. That's because, in the view of many conservatives, Massachusetts' health care system is congruent to the health care system that President Obama is attempting to construct. That's simplified. Here's how it's similar. It requires every citizen to have health insurance. It requires all employers, but the smallest, to provide health insurance to their employees. Finally, those that don't make enough money have their insurance subsidized. Here's how it's different. It has no public option.