Posts Tagged ‘HR 3962’

The Hell of HR3962

The below is from Betsy McCaughey’s column in the November 7 online edition of the Wall Street Journal.  My comments are in (green):

What the government will require you to do:

• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there’s no grace period. You’ll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit. (So much for keeping your current health insurance as promised by President Obama.)

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you’ll be legally required to pay for it. That’s like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.

On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.

(Who can afford up to 20% of their income taken away before taxes?  I sure as hell can’t!  I have things to pay for – like food, a mortgage, utilities, and other insurance for the car and house.  President Obama did promise that this health care plan would be deficit neutral – it will be – the government will not be taking out loans to cover the costs of the program, they’ll be taking them out of your pocket!) 

• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.  (Choice?  What choice?)

• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.  (Well, duh!!  Illegal immigrants usually don’t file income taxes!!)

• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.  (Nothing like not knowing what your costs are going to be.  Job killer for sure!)

Eviscerating Medicare:

In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.

• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what’s called a "medical home."  (Is that the old folks home on the edge of town?)

The medical home is this decade’s version of HMO-restrictions on care. A primary-care provider manages access to costly specialists and diagnostic tests for a flat monthly fee. The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider. Medical homes begin with demonstration projects, but the HHS secretary is authorized to "disseminate this approach rapidly on a national basis."  (Bureaucratic control of shoving the level of care down your throat – another promise by President Obama that falls by the wayside!)

A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that "medical homes" were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.  (Government controlled gatekeepers, ready to deny you coverage at the earliest opportunity.)

• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.  (Cost savings at the expense of potentially inferior care.)

• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida. (The doctors will get shortchanged here – the standard of living is not the same in all regions of the country.)

• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.  (Reduced care for our senior citizens.)

• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of "medical items and services."  (Government telling doctors how to practice medicine.)

Questionable Priorities:

While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.

• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications except having "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. "Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program."  (No required qualifications?  No accountability!!  With your healthcare dollars!!  Can you say ACORN?  I knew you could…)

These programs will "enhance the capacity of individuals to utilize health services and health related social services under Federal, State and local programs by assisting individuals in establishing eligibility . . . and in receiving services and other benefits" including transportation and translation services. (Let’s make sure that “qualified people” are served by the program…  How many times has fraud been uncovered in Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security that relates to unqualified people receiving benefits?)

• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their "right" to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.  (So you can land in this country, legally or illegally, presumably (hopefully!) pay into the system, not learn the language of the country, and still have a translator at no charge.  Something is not right here.)

• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population." And secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities."  (If this isn’t a form of reverse discrimination, I don’t know what else could be.)

• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.  (Starting the cradle to the grave cycle.)

This is only the beginning of the findings of what the House passed Saturday night.  I believe it was rushed through to prevent the critics of the Bill from dissecting it like its predecessor HR3200.  And even then, it was a very close vote.

And then there is this little jewel that asks a very good question:

I can only hope that our Senators will see that this legislation does not offer choice to the American people, but instead takes away choice and replaces it with shackles.

Are They Fricking Insane?

Last night, the House narrowly passed the 1,990 page monstrosity targeted to reform the health care system in the United States.  From an email from my Representative Mike Rogers (MI – R):

Tonight’s Democrat health care bill will force American families to trade their doctor for a bureaucrat. It will force you off the health care plan you like for a plan that Washington D.C. likes – and if you do not comply, you could go to jail for up to five years. The bill raises premiums, increases health care costs, kills jobs by raising $150 billion in taxes on small businesses, hurts seniors by cutting $400 billion from Medicare, and ends the popular Medicare Advantage program for 11 million seniors.

Punishing seniors, middle-income families, and small businesses is not a solution for America’s health care needs. Adding 118 new boards, commissions and agencies overseeing various aspects of health care will not improve access or affordability of health care. In fact, this plan rewards government bureaucrats by giving them unprecedented power over our health care from picking our plan to telling us how much we should pay and punishing us if we think differently.

Congress has no business taking action on legislation that will cut deeply into the health care of our senior citizens. These are the people who helped build this nation into an economic powerhouse and a beacon for the free world.

Unfortunately, the Democrat health care bill considered by the House today cuts more than $400 billion from critical Medicare services, including home health care, hospice, nursing facilities, and Medicare Advantage. More than 2 million seniors will lose their current Medicare Advantage plans under the bill, and Medicare Part B premiums will climb by $70 billion.

Listening to the news this morning, one of the provisions of this bill is to levy a 5.4% surcharge on businesses to help pay for the healthcare.  Considering that the unemployment of the country now stands at 10.3%, this will do absolutely nothing for the economic recovery of the country.

To burden the economy even more with legislation that expands government, increases taxes (direct and indirect), and removes the choices available in a capitalistic system will not lend itself to the economic recovery of the country.  The notion that government can stimulate the country’s economy by spending taxpayer money has been disproved when the “stimulus bill” was passed to keep the economy from tanking and the unemployment rate from skyrocketing.  Look how well that turned out.  Now government via the Congress is going to go the other route?

Are they fricking insane?

I cannot see how increasing the number of pages in the legislation from 1,350 to 1,990 (without amendments) is going to make my life and the lives of my fellow Americans any better when the economic burdens and expansion of government are going to affect many of us in adverse ways that we are only beginning to understand.  And the politicians seem to constantly wonder why we, the voters, are not happy with them.  Perhaps if they listened, really listened, to the people at the Tea Parties without wearing the political party colored glasses, they would begin to understand what the American People really want.

Yeah, right…

What many of these politicians are going to find out in the 2010 and 2012 elections is that just because your Party won in the 2008 election did not give them a mandate to do whatever the Hell they wanted.  It’s not unrestricted carte blanche with the taxpayer money nor with your Party’s agenda.  The politicians were elected to represent us, the Citizens of the United States, and they have been remarkably deficient in this position.  They did get a preview with this year’s elections taking place in New York and New Jersey, but have chosen to ignore it.  I think they will lose a bunch of seats in the next couple of election cycles

But in the meantime, if the Bill passes the Senate and is signed by the President, we will be required to purchase health insurance, no matter the cost, or face fines and imprisonment.  And pay additional taxes besides.  This makes as much sense as having nutritional information posted on the outsides of vending machines…and yes, that’s in the bill…

Yep…it’s Government Gone Wild…and our credit card is going to be charged whether we want it to or not.

God Help Us.

While watching TV last night, I saw for the umpteenth time this Apple commercial:

Does this sound familiar?

If it doesn’t, then let me remind you – this is exactly what our Congress is asking us to do – “Trust us with your health care, but don’t pay attention to our abysmal record of failing.”

The short list of failures of government programs include:

• The War on Poverty (trillions spent with no effect)
• The War on Drugs (still a problem and spreading)
• Amtrak (hasn’t turned a profit & exists on subsidies)
• Medicare (broke except for renewed funding)
• Medicaid (ditto)
• Social Security (ditto 2)
• Fannie Mae & Freddie Mack (mismanaged with massive fraud)
• Energy Independence (via the Department of Energy, which has done nothing but expand the department)
• Post Office (broke and inefficient despite millions of dollars of upgrades, outclassed by Fed-Ex and UPS)

And we really want to trust the Government (aka Congress) with more of our lives and tax dollars?  With this track record?  Are you totally out of your tree?

If you do not agree with the current direction of Government, then get out and vote for the most Conservative candidate you can find on the ballot.

HR 3962 – The Insanity is Here

Just heard on news this morning that the House is combining three health-care bills into one.  Highlights of HR 3962 as reported by Fox News are:

• 1990 pages, 400,000 words
• Cost is $894 Billion over the next ten years
• Public option
• Insurance enrollment is mandatory
• End of Life planning is still in bill
• To be paid for by new taxes and Medicare cuts  (tax list is here)

Speaker Pelosi wants to have this bill voted on by November 11.  At least she isn’t wanting to vote on it today or tomorrow, so at least we do have a chance to read the damn thing…

I haven’t read the text of the Bill, and probably won’t – I still have an exam on November 16 to study for.  For those of you who do want to read the bill and have your eyes bleed & raise your blood pressure, the full text (in .pdf format) is here.

As Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard points out, “The taxes will have a severe negative effect on jobs. Bet on it. And they kick in immediately while “benefits” from the “reform” don’t start for years.”

A friend of Z found this jewel on Page 25:

(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If the Secretary estimates for any fiscal year that the aggregate amounts available for payment of expenses of the high-risk pool will be less than the amount of the expenses, the Secretary shall make such adjustments as are necessary to eliminate such deficit, including reducing benefits, increasing premiums, or establishing waiting lists.

Hmmm….sounds suspiciously like what is currently in place in Great Britain, which is exactly what our Congress and President have stated that this health care reform would not resemble!!

Just what we all need…More taxes & fees, more government bloating, mismanagement & interference in our lives, and less services.  Peachy…just peachy…