Health insurance reform: debunking myths and other thoughts

aurora.

aurora.

Active member
After the palin fiasco i swore i would never respond to or create anything political on ns ever again, however, i've been so appalled by this health care reform debate that I feel it neccessary to rant a bit and clear a few things up. I can't stand the myths I keep hearing about health care reform and some of them are so extreme that I can't even comprehend that people actually beleive them.

This thread is in response to the fringe fear mongering. If you are informed and against health care reform, I would love to hear why (YACHT I appreciate your response in the other thread). I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, just debunk some myths and rant a bit. This proposed bill does not have all the answers, but I believe it is a step in the right direction that would be very wise to take. Unfortunately a bill required us to take sides, either for or against, regarding issues that are rarely ever black and white.

THE ACTUAL BILL THAT IS BEING DEBATED CAN BE FOUND HERE IN PDF FORMAT:

docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

I realize legal lingo is rediculous to wade through, but before you think you're informed because you can repeat any pundits talking point, I encourage you to actually look up the legislation and read parts that are important to you.

Read this article for a quick overview of why the system as it is, is not working:

http://allcountries.org/health/usa_health_care_2008_nyt.html

STATEMENT:: "I don't want government run health care, I don't want socialized medicine, stay away from my insurance plan and medicare!"



REALITY: The government is not taking over health care. They are providing an alternate plan for the millions of people who are unable to afford health insurance as it is now or who are unhappy with the plan they are recieving with their insurer. After reading the bill, as I understand it, If you want to, you can keep your insurance plan as it is now, you can keep the doctor you have. No one is trying to take those away from you. If you like what you have, you can keep it. The government will not interfere with that.

MEDICAID and MEDICARE are forms of SOCIALIZED MEDECINE by the way.

MYTH: "This alternate plan will cost more than the country can afford and more than how health care is now. It will make the economy even worse!"

REALITY: This is completely false. As health care is now we cannot afford it. Health insurance and health care reform is crucial to strengthening to economy. Rising health care costs are threatening basic industries, and now consume over 16% of the national economic output which is the highest it's ever been.

Spending_Main.jpg


If we continue on this path we are doomed for an even worse economy than what we see now. The reform is meant to cut costs and elimate waste in an effort to reduce the nations health care bill.

MYTH: "The government is trying to kill my grandmother! they want to take away her medicare!"

REALITY: No one is even discussing about elimating or reducing medicare benefits. It's not mentioned anywhere in the bill. People seem to like the benefits as it is now and the only change in medicare will be to eliminate some of the waste that is being paid for out of the medicare trust fund which can be used more effectively to cover more people. Quality of care will not be diminished and it is the goal of health care reform to improve the medicare benefits by paying less for drugs and giving them a wider range of doctors to choose from.

MYTH: "there will be rationing of care with this new plan"

REALITY: RATIONING OCCURES NOW. Insurance companies choose what services you can

and can't get, not based on what treatment you need, but based on what you can pay. They have "denial quotas" in which they must deny people coverage no matter how sick or near death they may be. Insurance companies discrimate people with pre-existing conditions,

charger higher copays, and can opt to not cover a specific medical

condition. With the reform, people who have pre-existing medical conditions will not be denied coverage and will have more options. Insurance companies are making huge amounts of money and that is their focus when it should be helping people pay for their neccessary treatment in a resonable fashion.

MYTH: "The reform will hurt small businesses"



REALITY: The current health care system does not work well for small businesses. A small business pays 18% more for similar coverage for its workers than a larger firm. This puts them at a competitive disadvantage. They either have to have lower profits, or their workers get lower take home wages. This means that currently small businesses are providing health insurance less often than larger businesses. Health care reformed is aimed at relieving these burdens. The alternate plans will have a tax credit for small businesses if they provide health coverage. A business with fewer than 25 employess will be exempt from employer responsibililty requirements (if they dont provide health insurance there is a penality). Small businesses are a crucial sector of our economy and the health reform is designed to help them thrive.

MYTH: "This bill will force euthanansia on seniors!"

REALITY: I can't beleive people actually think this is true. The section of the bill that is being misinterpreted is section 1233. It has been misinterpreted as "mandatory end of life care and every 5 years you will be told how you will die." The actual text in the bill is

"‘‘Advance Care Planning Consultation

‘‘(hhh)(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the

term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a con-

sultation between the individual and a practitioner de-

scribed in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning,

if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has

not had such a consultation within the last 5 years."

Medicare, for the first time, will now cover consultation about end of life care, but they will not pay for it more than once every five years. It is not mandatory. People can now access information about a living will and be able to have a conversation with their doctors. Medicare will also reimberse doctors if they have these discussions. This isnt about killing old people. Its about giving them the power to create and informed and smart will so their wishes may be respected.

IN CONCLUSION....(not exactly cliffnotes, but read this if nothing else)

The media frenzy surrounding this is absolutely absurd. The story is no longer about the actual reforms that are proposed, the story is about what peoples opinions about the reforms are. Opinions are not fact, opinions are based on fact. Before you can form an opinion about whether you support the proposed health insurance bill or not, you should have some actual facts to support it, not pundits opinions.

This issue doesn't need to be reduced down into another democrat vs republican or liberal vs conservative debate. The health care reform issue is about improving our nations health care system for everyone. We have the worst quality of health care of any developed nations. America should be embarassed by this and demanding change, but instead all I seem to hear is pundit fueled distortions and fear.

 
followed you the whole way through without a hitch. well written bro, you seem pretty versed on the healthcare debate.
 
THANK YOU. If you haven't heard of or seen the documentary "OutFoxed" PLEASE watch it. They have a series of frightening statistics at the end regarding how people who watch Fox News are perversely misinformed about indisputable facts. They blatently lie, mislead, and create insane viewpoints to push Rupert Merdock's insane agenda. With the clips i've seen from the town hall meetings the most outrageous people I hear are the people who represent this point best. "Hannity says..." It's infurating to see how people dont want to think for themselves at all and just want to quote the ramblings of reckless people on tv.

Im gonna go listen to some Immortal Technique to get the anger out.
 
Thanks, I am getting so pissed at these people going to health care town hall meetings and yelling at the speaker with outrageous lies and then saying they are real Americans for protesting when just years ago they were the same people that were saying anti war protests are un-American.

Fox news sucks a hard dick and is really fucking up this country.

Did anyone see that clip of Bill Oriley saying that people protesting now are great honorable people. And then it flashes back to the Iraq war debate where he calls war protesters Nazi's?

daily show clip. I still do not know how to embed...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-10-2009/healther-skelter

do you just put img tags? lets try

healther-skelter
 
this kind of thinking scares me. There are a growing number of well-armed militias forming in the southern states too...

how long until these "true americans" start backing their words with actions?

When the civil war starts, you are all welcome in Canada, let the inbred, ignorant southerners have their own country.
 
Clear and concise. I hate it when people use opinion (whether grounded in reality or not) to back up a point. You actually used sections of the bill, I like that.

If this bill does get passed I wonder what bugs will have to be worked out. Also I wonder what the approval rating of this system will be 10 years down the road as apposed to now.
 
I'm pretty sure congress and the president will be exempt from this if it happens.... makes me wonder if it's such a great idea then why isn't it good enough for them?
 
this is another one of those misinformed arguments...
they are doing it to help people who have little or no access to healthcare. if you have healthcare already, u dont need to opt in to this, for instance, my healthcare right now at my job is pretty darn good, are u gonna say that i must not think this is a great idea because its not good enough for me? no, because thats not the case at all. i actually think this is a great idea because its going to give everyone else a fair shot at getting help, not just people like me who have jobs that can afford to pay it out or people like my father who work for the federal gov (irs) for 30+ years who earn the right to healthcare...its a non issue.
 
I enjoyed this. I was uniformed. I am a conservative, but I understand a lot of what you are saying and it makes a lot of sense. I will be thinking about this when I hear my conservative community making a bitch fit. I HATE POLITICS
 
There were some good arguments on NPR this morning. For example procedures that are competitively and have a consumer relationship like lasic and cosmetic procedures have dropped huge in price while other procedures have not. This is because there is no competition. The consumer is the insurance companies and they are not looking for the best deal. A public option would force insurance companies and heal car providers to compete and lower cost for everyone.
 
i agree the myths are retarded and mostly untrue.

The country should not be debating over whats in the 4 or 5 bills out there. they will all change or be amended anyways. If this was such a great bill why is the administration trying to force it on us. why are the politicians not wanting to hold town hall meetings (some of them anyways).

This is an extraordinarily time for this country, people are not going to change from the norm without alot of confusion going on. You cannot just expect the country to roll over and change overnight. this is not another stimulus package where we can vote on it without reading the bill. This will fundamentally change our country. we need to get it right. what im concerned about is the cost to the system.

the question is how do we want to pay for it as a country? If this administration thinks we can tax the rich and the businesses more to subsidize the system, they are grossly miss-informed. why i say subsidize is because this is not a true "social program." If this administration wants true universal healthcare it should come directly from the beneficiaries that receive it. It should be a direct deduction out of our payroll taxes just like social security and medicare, not out of the rich and our business industry.

We would just be transferring expense from the private insurance companies to the government. we need to fix the cost to the system, not the system overall. that, i think, we can all agree on.
 
Very well written you informed me a lot on that one.My only question, which is pose to everything that the government decides that they are going to doIf for whatever reason this fucks up hard, is there a way to reverse it? Like social security, not a bad idea at first but now that it's not working there really isn't a way to get rid of it without screwing millions of people over.
 
Obama is trying to help his own kind and is a socialist. FOLLOW THE CONSTITUTION OBAMA NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. THE CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN FOR A REASON.

and for those of you who think the health care reform won't hurt you if you already have good health insurance, think it over. HOW IS THE US GOVERNMENT GOING TO PAY FOR THE REFORM?

...TAXES... let's have the government make us pay more
 
INSTEAD of paying for health care privately (like u do now), you'd be paying for it thru taxes.... whats the difference? some may pay a little more, some may pay a little less (depending on ur tax bracket, I assume)
 
the majority of the funding is coming through existing programs. In the long run it will lower taxes.

And I think your caps lock key is broken.. fag.
 
while you wrote this well, and i believe you believe what you're saying.
you're wrong IMO.
but i don't wanna get into this oncoming shitstorm.

 
Why would I want to pay for a health care system that won't give me nearly the amount of benefits as my current health care plan does?

Many people who don't have health insurance are not able to get a job that can provide good benefits. OBAMA is making the united states such a socialist country that eventually what will be the point of working. We have so many bailout plans that whats going to be the price of a job in the future. Everything is becoming free. I'll be able to get free health care due to other people paying the taxes on it. If my job allows me to have great health care options and now the government is going to take them away from me, why should I even work. Cash for clunkers? sweet, im getting 4500 for my beat up old truck that is not worth nearly as much, I can now get a brand new car for almost free fifty.

• Page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the government option!

• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!

• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!

• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)

• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.

• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.

• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.

• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.

• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)

• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.

• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)

• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens

• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.

• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.

• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.

• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.

• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.

• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.

• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll

• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll
 
I am pretty sure you don't understand the basics of economics if you think funding is coming through existing programs and in the long run it will lower taxes. Funding comes from taxes and the more funding needed for programs essentially works its way from our taxes that we pay.

 
I'm guessing the problem he has is the "some pay a little more" part. The biggest fear is that if I work hard to pay for my own (and family's) healthcare, why would I want to pay more in taxes so that I can help pay for the lazy slobs who live down the street?
I'm not saying we don't need reform, but placing the burden squarely on the rich and businesses isn't going to magically solve our problems.
I'm not sure where I saw this, but somewhere I heard that if the top 10% of Americans were taxed at 100%, we could pay for the entire country's health care with a little money left over. The problem with that is after the first year, the top 10% have left the country, can't support themselves anymore, etc. and we're just as/more fucked than before. Obviously that is an extreme example.
 
"Socialized" systems in Europe spend half as much per capita and have better health care. The funding would come from medicare and Medicaid. In the long run a public option would drive down prices and lower taxes.

Stop watching Glen Beck.

 
The problem is with the reform there may not be an option. The government would tell you what your able to have as far as benefits go so there is no point to have a job with great benefits. Businesses spend close to 40% of your salary on providing great benefits such as health care options. With the reform, the government is going to give you healthcare that won't be nearly as close to what you may be paying for.

You also can't compare countries economic systems to make a point. It just can't happen. There are so many different extremes and differences between the countries that it's almost impossible to say that "Oh, since europe does this, we will be exactly like that or have the same outcome." It doesn't happen that way.

Yes a reform is needed but the way obama is going at this will not help the cause AT ALL.
 
ok. newsflash, the nowhere in the constitution does it say that we must have a 100% free market economy. it doesnt, please stop saying it does.
 
what part of the constitution DOESNT authorize the national healthcare system (that isnt even happening?)

its not, "the constitution doesnt say you CAN do it, so you cant" its if it VIOLATES something the constitution says you can do, then you cant.
 
wow. all your posts thus far = major fail. congrats on looking like a jackass. on the internet. jackass.
as for a post above somewhere i read, "i dont wanna pay for the lazy slobs down the road", ok i understand your reasoning, but if your better off than most, and i consider myself in that situation, whats the problem with paying a little more to help the people that genuinely need help? sure its easy to get away with calling EVERYONE without health insurance 'lazy slobs' or 'stupid illegals' or whatever, my uber rich conservative uncle tried to convince me on this and i dont buy it
sure, illegals are a problem, and sure, people are going to scam the system, but im more than happy to pay the taxes necessary in my bracket (and when i move up in bracket) to make sure that every true american gets the safety and security that they deserve, not just the people with the means and the way.
 
MYTH: "The government is trying to kill my grandmother! they want to take away her medicare!"

NOT TRUE!!!!! THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL JON STEWARTS GRANDMOTHER!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness. This plan doesn't sound too bad, but i'm still freaked out.

 
false. What about a guy starting up a new company who cant afford health care. What about a guy who gets laid off, what about someone with cancer and no insurance. If you are trying to make money why would you insure this guy. There are 40 million You are tool and it is pointless to debate you because you don't know the issues and you think everyone is lower than you.
 
that cover basically nothing and cost outrageous amounts. I know I have been there I worked for a company that did not offer health insurance and I had to cobra pay until that ran out then buy my own plan which was more than my rent each month so fuck off you stupid bastard. You are probably 15 and have never even paid for heal insurance much less been in a situation where the bills could bankrupt you. I have a good health care plan now and would not switch to the government plan however my health care costs would be much lower with competition. You suck at life kid.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/13/uk-hits-health-reform-critics/
 
facepalm

healthcare still will be an industry... not to mention that healthcare being a right does not suddenly cause all drive for medical breakthroughs to cease. i dont quite understand your logic there.

taxing the rich... oh christ not again. first of all, its been said several times that a large portion of this healtcare will basically pay for itself, by making it far less inefficient.

then you go on the socialized medicine thing again. we arent talking about a single payer canadian style system here. were talking about a public option. just like you have USPS versus Fed Ex and UPS
 
I'm going to shift a few things over to this thread from some others. This article has 5 real reasons that were not made up by fox news to oppose this reform.

http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107408/5-freedoms-you-would-lose-in-health-care-reform.html?mod=insurance-health

After reading that (please do) I want t o ask you all this question. As young people how do you feel about being forced to buy overpriced insurance whose plans are pre approved by the government which makes them include many many things that you do not need? You have no choice to not buy these pre approved plans, they will be the only plans in the "exchanges" and you will be required by law to be covered.

 
I also have another question for everyone, do you agree with A. or B.

A. The federal governments main purpose is to uphold and defend private property rights (that is the rights of individuals).

B. The federal governments main purpose is to provide for and protect the common good through the redistribution of wealth.
 
If half of those things are true, that is very very troublesome especially the National ID Healthcard because that sounds like the backdoor issuing of the Real ID which I'm sure all of us on NS would be opposed to.
 
haha this is good stuff here my friend. im going to have to look into this more. one of the qualms i still have is that i am not sure how this is going to affect doctors. yes, many make a very large sum of money, but think of how much med school costs. i think doctors and other white-collar professions should be payed more, simply due to the fact that their education costs so much money and the skill set the posess is a necessary one in the world now. that said, you can still make a lot of money doing construction and the likes, and many lawyers and doctors are an embarrasment to their profession. if that made no sense, i apoligize. just got my wisdom teeth out and am feeling odd...
 
The reforms proposed won't necessarily make things more efficient. Like the idea that the Government will mandate what the private plans must cover, this can include things you will never ever need and may not even want, like hair replacement. This isn't a new idea, it has happened already in some states like Maryland and it has increased health care costs there.

Read this editorial from their former governor on the subject.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204886304574308543197186898.html

Also Fed Ex and UPS cannot deliver first class mail, the USPS has a government monopoly on it, that's the reason that stamp prices keep going up every year, because their is no competition in the market for first class mail. They do directly compete in the package delivery market, and trust me they do much much much better jobs delivering packages than USPS does. Maybe these are a few reasons that USPS is 10.6 Billion in debt and the GAO has labeled them as high risk.

For a good article on the USPS and Obama's gaff concerning it and healthcare look at one of my posts above.
 
Someone already debunked the chain e-mails, unfortunately. So, so much for all this nonsense. The strategy seems to be, "Stupid people don't read, so if we just tell them what's in it, it doesn't matter if it's true because they won't actually check." Well, thankfully, some people DO read things. The email you posted is actually shorter than the complete wingnut propaganda piece, which is responded to in full, below.

"...

Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!

First of all, it starts on page 21, not 22, and it simply mandates a study of risk on the part of all companies that choose to provide self-insurance, to make sure they are capitalized properly. This is something that private insurance companies are required to do; it's to protect the consumer. Say you work at a company with their own health insurance system; how would you like to find out after you've received a $100,000 bill for a hospital stay, that the insurance pool can't pay the bill?

This is also important because when they can't pay the bills, then everyone else with insurance ends up picking up the slack. Got that? That's the reason health insurance premiums have more than doubled in the last ten years, and are scheduled to double again in the next ten, if nothing changes.

Anyway, why should companies acting as health insurance companies be allowed to operate under different rules than insurance companies? Isn't that unfair competition?

• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!

The section actually starts on page 26, and it's entitled:

SEC. 122. ESSENTIAL BENEFITS PACKAGE DEFINED.

There is absolutely NO section in there, from page 26 through page 30, that indicates rationing of any kind. Looking at Page 29 specifically, it contains a section called "Annual Limitation." A-HA! See? It's a LIMITATION! That's the same as rationing, right? Didn't they admit rationing?

Well, no. Because the limit is on the amount that people will have to pay out in cost-sharing, should the agency implementing the bill decide to use a version of cost-sharing. The limit is on how much a patient will have to pay, not a limit on the health care the patient receives.Watch how many times these tools bring up the "rationing" canard. It's almost as often as they mention ACORN. (I kid you not. Just wait.)

See what I mean when I say we have to watch these people, and check their "facts?"

• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)

The section on Page 30 establishes an advisory committee, and yes; they will decide which treatments and benefits you get. I'm unsure as to why this is a bad thing. I don't want my health insurance premiums going to Britney's boob job, even if I have private insurance. Which reminds me; does this bozo actually think private insurance companies don't have a list of acceptable treatments and benefits?

There is one difference here, though. The committee's recommendations will be published and the public will have access to them. Which means they will be able to offer input to the process.

Oh, and there is nothing here about "no appeals process." The Committee will simply recommend processes for implementation. Not only that, but varying appeals processes are laid out in detail throughout the bill. So, he lied about that...

• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.

See above. The Commissioner will simply oversee implementation of the rules that are decided upon by the Commission. He or she will be responsible for making sure that everyone is held accountable up and down the line. Nothing in the bill gives power to a "czar," who will make health benefits decisions. The commission and the Secretary will make decisions on benefits as changes become necessary. Again; I'm not sure why this is a bad thing, except that right wingers don't seem fond of accountability.Well, unless we're talking about unskilled poor people who get welfare money.

• Page 50: All non-U.S. citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.

Now, when you read something like this, you half expect to see something mandating that non-US citizens be given "free health care."

The funny thing is, the word FREE only appears one time in the entire bill, and it is not coupled with the term "health care." People will be provided with a new health care choice, based on their income, to a certain extent. So we can toss that little red herring off the boat right away. NO ONE will receive free health care. I mean, unless they win some sort of sweepstakes or something.I guess that's possible.

No, the section the wingnut refers to is entitled:

SEC. 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE.

What is says is:

"… [A]ll health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services."

The word "free" isn't in there. It just means that no one can be denied insurance coverage or health care because of their looks, or because they're wearing robes or a burqa. But nothing in there says undocumented immigrants will be able to scam "free" health care. In other words, you can only call that a lie.

• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.

No, it says everyone who opts into the public insurance system MAY be issued a health identification card, if the commission thinks that's a good idea. But the bill doesn't mandate it. It's quite possible the insurance commission will recommend that states implement the public health insurance option, and some states may put the information on your driver's license or state ID card. And again; the only people who will need a card are those with public insurance.

And what's wrong with this idea, anyway? I've never had health insurance from a private company from which I didn’t receive an identification card.

• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.

Wow. Is that scary, or what? Only one problem; it's a lie. And I don't mean he's mistaken; I mean, he's lying. Here's what it says:

‘‘The standards under this section shall be developed, adopted and enforced so as to… (C) enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice;"

It clearly refers to payment for the health care, not payment of the premium. Most health care companies love this, and will adopt it. But it is still their choice, just as it could be your choice to pay your health insurance premiums by direct transfer, check or payroll deduction. As is the case now.

• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)

Once more, it doesn't say that. What it does say is:

SEC. 164. REINSURANCE PROGRAM FOR RETIREES.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish a temporary reinsurance program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘reinsurance program’’) to provide reimbursement to assist participating employment-based plans with the cost of providing health benefits to retirees and to eligible spouses, surviving spouses and dependents of such retirees.

Okay, you'll note the word PARTICIPATING in the above. To anyone who would bother to slide down a couple of paragraphs, past the definitions, all of which define the terms in the above, and do not include the word "mandatory" anywhere, to Page 67, we find:

(b) PARTICIPATION.—To be eligible to participate in the reinsurance program, an eligible employment-based plan shall submit to the Secretary an application for participation in the program, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary shall require.

So, it's all voluntary. Not only that, but it's REINSURANCE, which means the participating plan will be providing their capital to the federal government to fund the plan. I would also point out that members of unions such as SEIU and UAW are also taxpayers, and they currently purchase private insurance for retired members. And if ACORN isn't a red herring, I don't know what is. I'm not aware that ACORN provides health insurance to anyone. But hey; it's not true racist wingnuttery until you invoke ACORN, eh? This isn't the last time you'll see it.



• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.

This is a phenomenally stupid complaint from a right wing ideological perspective, and it lays bare the moral bankruptcy in their arguments against universal health care. These are the same people who are always touting competition and choice as the most important aspects of capitalism. The point of the insurance exchange is to give people an obvious and transparent choice of health insurance options. A private insurance company can participate and offer their wares alongside the public option, if they so choose. If they don't want to participate, they're free to conduct business as usual, and they won't have to conform to any government rules. Well, except for the ones they must already conform with, whenever the Bush Administration's not in office. They've always had to conform to government rules to participate in Medicare, and I don't see any of them dropping out of business for that.



• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)

Again, this is a lie. There are requirements for those choosing to participating in the Health Exchange, but there is absolutely no mandate to join. And if there is going to be competition, it should be on a level playing field, which is what the Exchange creates. It creates an easy-to-read set of options, which insurance companies are free to enhance, and all companies who participate are instructed to offer several levels of plans. If you really think about it rationally, and not the right wing way, the Exchange actually enhances the private insurance companies' chances of survival. But these idiots want to kill it. If there's a public option available at a competitive price per month, insurance companies can offer two other tiers of service, with whatever enhancements they want to include, for a higher price. So, rather than offering "total government control," it actually allows insurance companies an opportunity to offer several tiers of "enhanced" service, to enhance their profitability.

• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens

There's that perpetual racist component again. My great-grandmother couldn't read English well enough to follow medical instructions when I was a kid in the 1960s, and she had been in this country since she fled the Nazis in the 1930s. I know this, because she used to have me read stuff to her when I was 6. By the way, she was from Poland, and she was very, very white. Hundreds of thousands of people come here legally from all over the world, without knowing English sufficiently, and they occasionally get sick. Hell, half the right wingers in this country legally can't speak English well enough to read a Congressional bill, let alone a doctor's instructions. Obviously.



• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.



Once more, they invoke ACORN. The above is too silly to even bother with, except to say that informing people of their options and helping them sign up seems remarkably similar to the teams of people the private insurance companies send out to workplaces during "open enrollment." Just saying...

• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.

Those eligible for Medicaid already have public health insurance. The reason they qualify for Medicaid is because they are poor and have no choices. What sense does it make to have two separate public health plans; Medicaid and this new plan. I mean, this is purely stupid, folks. Page 102 makes clear that Medicaid will be folded into this new plan when it passes. It's a no-brainer.

But I will say this; people on Medicaid will actually have just as much choice as they've always had; probably more.

• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No “judicial review” is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.

This is also extremely inaccurate, if not an outright lie. There is no "price-fixing." First of all, the bill refers to the same rate-setting statutes the government has always followed with Medicare and Medicaid. It has to do with the rates they pay for procedures, and the process includes medical providers and follows them very closely. The doctors and medical corporations still set the prices in that system, and private insurers will be free to negotiate higher or lower payment prices if they wish. They don't pay the same as Medicare and Medicaid for procedures now, and no one's complaining about "price fixing."

You know what? This isn't just inaccurate, it's dishonest.

• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.

Once again, the bill doesn't say that. In fact, the language is almost exactly the same as the language in Medicare, and it says absolutely nothing about anyone's "wages." The entire section is about rates for procedures and treatment, and physicians are free to apply in any category they choose, just as they are now with Medicare.

The level of dishonesty in this one is astounding. Every single private health insurance company in the market negotiates rates for procedures with participating physicians, and physicians are not allowed to charge any more than that amount. In other words, they do the same thing Medicare does. The only difference is, Medicare pays every claim short of fraud, while insurance companies routinely deny claims, and try every trick they can think of to not pay at all. And they wonder why we're gunning for them...

• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.

This one is pure crap. There's no other way to put it. Here's what it actually says:

SEC. 312. EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS EMPLOYEE AND DEPENDENT COVERAGE.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—An employer meets the requirements of this section with respect to an employee if the following requirements are met:

(1) OFFERING OF COVERAGE.—The employer offers the coverage described in section 311(1) either

through an Exchange-participating health benefits plan or other than through such a plan.

(2) EMPLOYER REQUIRED CONTRIBUTION.— The employer timely pays to the issuer of such coverage an amount not less than the employer required contribution specified in subsection (b) for such coverage.8 (3) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The employer provides the Health Choices Commissioner, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of the Treasury, as applicable, with such information as the Commissioner may require to ascertain compliance with the requirements of this section.

(4) AUTOENROLLMENT OF EMPLOYEES.—The employer provides for autoenrollment of the employee in accordance with subsection (c).

In other words, IF the employer opts into the public insurance system, THEN he must provide for the autoenrollment of employees… again a choice. But here's the really dishonest part. Just a few paragraphs later, there is this little section (Page 148):

(2) OPT-OUT.—In no case may an employer automatically enroll an employee in a plan under paragraph (1) if such employee makes an affirmative election to opt out of such plan or to elect coverage under an employment-based health benefits plan offered by such employer. An employer shall provide an employee with a 30-day period to make such an affirmative election before the employer may automatically enroll the employee in such a plan.

Remember; this lying wingnut said "no alternatives." Strange, but I see an employer being able to choose not to participate in the public insurance system. And every employee has the choice to opt-out; it says so right in the bill. Those seem like alternatives. Even if you're not the best at math, you have to know that two is greater than zero, right?

• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.

Again, an absolute lie. The page number is 146, not 126, which is a quibble. But employers are not required to pay healthcare bills for anyone. IF they CHOOSE to participate in the public insurance system, they are required to autoenroll employees in the insurance, unless the employee chooses to opt out. But the INSURANCE pays the bills, not the employers. Employers will not be required to pay for the procedures themselves, unless they opt to self-insure. But that's hardly a mandate, is it?

• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll.

• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll.

More lies. The section ONLY refers to any employer who doesn't offer ANY insurance to his employees. If they offer either private insurance or the public insurance, they do not have to pay the 8%, regardless of the size of their payroll. The purpose of the public insurance system is to cover as many people as possible. An employee of such an employer who wants to buy the public insurance will have to pay an amount indexed to the probably meager pay the cheapskate employer is paying. (Think fast food franchise where everyone works for $8 an hour or less.) The fund created by this tax will subsidize the purchase of health insurance for these people.

An employer with a tiny payroll will pay considerably less, but again; ONLY if he doesn't participate in the public insurance system. Here's the table.

If the annual payroll of such employer for the preceding calendar year:

The applicable percentage is:

Does not exceed $250,000 ..................................... 0 percent

Exceeds $250,000, but does not exceed $300,000 2 percent

Exceeds $300,000, but does not exceed $350,000 4 percent

Exceeds $350,000, but does not exceed $400,000 6 percent

So, if they have a really small business, say 10 employees making $24,000 each, and don't offer insurance, they get off scot-free. In fact, if they have 20 employees making $15,000 per year, they only pay $6,000 into the fund.

If you ask me, there's a gap here. Really small cheapskate business owners are going to get off light, and all other taxpayers will have to foot more of the bill as a result.

• Page 167: Any individual who doesn't have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Yay! Finally, they got one right. Well, partially right, anyway.

Anyone without health insurance -- specifically those who choose to run around without health insurance because they're too cheap and stupid -- will now have to pay something into a system that is required to take care of them when they contract a serious illness or get hit by a bus. Let's see… if the guy makes $100,000 per year, the total tax is $2,500, which is far less than he would pay for health insurance now. And for those who think this is especially unfair to rich people who choose not to carry insurance because of their immense wealth, don't worry; the amount is capped at the size of the average health insurance premium. In return, the rest of us won't have to pick up the tab when the uninsured numb nuts is wheeled into the emergency room for a trauma because he was riding his dirt bike and slammed into a tree while not wearing a helmet. .

In other words, this is something to applaud, not to hate. It should encourage people to opt into the insurance system, which saves everyone money.

• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).

This wingnut sure does have an obsession with immigrants. By the way, NON-RESIDENT ALIEN means someone who doesn't LIVE here. In almost all other countries, there is a national health insurance system, and their government will pay for their health care. Why would we tax them for something they won’t use in most cases?

• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.

And we get back to the lies.

The agency will have extremely limited access to SOME information contained in IRS TAX records for those individuals choosing to participate in the public health insurance system, in order to determine eligibility for certain premium discounts. There are strict limits on the info they will have access to, and there is a strict prohibition on passing the information anywhere else.It is most certainly NOT "ALL American financial and personal records."

• Page 203: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax.” Yes, it really says that.

No, actually, it doesn't. What is it about wingnuts that makes them think they can put a period anywhere they want, and change the meaning of something, and no one will notice? Here's what it REALLY says:

‘‘(4) NOT TREATED AS TAX IMPOSED BY THIS CHAPTER FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.’’'

I can't explain what this means. I'm simply pointing out that it doesn't "really say" what they say it says...

•Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected.”

This is also a lie. The entire section has to do with reducing the number of physician services used to compute health care growth rates from 2011 on. There is absolutely no provision to reduce services for Medicaid. In fact, Medicaid will be folded into the public insurance system, which makes the above assertion just insane.

• Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you’ll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)

See above. Another lie. It's another part of the section dealing with predicting costs. Specifically, it deals with "conversion factors. There is nothing in there mandating what anyone gets paid for anything.



• Page 253: Government sets value of doctors’ time, their professional judgment, etc.

• Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.

• Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.

These are just insane. The first one doesn't set values for anything. It simply adjusts the method for coming up with values later on. Which makes sense, because covering everyone will drop the health care inflation rate tremendously, especially after the first few years. The second evaluates productivity and offer incentives to increase efficiency and productivity. As for the last one, why wouldn't the government regulate the rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs they intend to buy? You think private insurance companies just go to Wal-Mart? And read it carefully; all it does is extend Medicare regulations to the public insurance system. Why is it suddenly not good enough?

• Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!

They love that word "rationing." If only they knew what it meant.

Essentially, there is no rationing anywhere in this bill. And anyone who doesn't think private insurance rations health care has never encountered a denied claim. But not only does the section they point to NOT impose anything close to "rationing," it promises to pay EXTRA to hospitals that specialize in cancer treatment. EXTRA!

Since when does "rationing" constitute EXTRA anything? Bet our grandparents are pissed to know that gas rationing during World War II meant they could get extra.



• Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.

• Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.

Okay, the first one's not entirely a lie, although it doesn’t say "preventable readmissions;" it says "EXCESSIVE readmissions," and there is a significant difference. It merely extends a policy that's been standard under Medicare for years. It encourages doctors to make sure they aren't treating the hospital as an assembly line and making sure people are treated properly the first time. It also goes a long way to keeping hypochondriacs out of the hospital to a significant degree, and keeping costs down.

The second one, on the other hand, is completely made up. First of all, the page number is wrong. But it rewards efficiency. Think about it this way. Suppose you take your car in to have the air conditioning repaired, and the shop charges you $200. If you have to take it in two more times for the same problem, are you going to accept them charging you $200 more each time? Of course not. Well, why shouldn't doctors be encouraged to do everything possible to fix a problem the first time? Not only that, but imagine a medical office scamming the insurance company/government by purposely not treating everything the first time, so that they can get more money for more readmissions? This measure actually increases efficiency.

Imagine that; these wingnuts actually have a problem with the government encouraging efficiency and waste, and keeping the cost of health care down.



• Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!

• Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.

• Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on “community” input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.

Surprise; more lies The bill prohibits doctors from referring patients to hospitals in which they have a significant ownership interest in, without disclosing to the patient that he indeed has an ownership stake in the hospital. The government also prohibits "self-referral" under most circumstances. That's actually fair to all of the other hospitals. There is absolutely zero prohibition on doctors having ownership of hospitals. What this tool is citing has to do with rural areas. It's to prevent one physician from effectively controlling all aspects of health care in a region, where possible.

But once more; doctors are not prohibited from doing anything, except creating a monopoly and locking others out of a market. And the "community input" provision is just common sense. Note, another ACORN reference, and there is no way it applies here at all. I'm not aware of ACORN being involved in hospital expansion in rural areas.

• Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.

I don't even have to look this one up, but I did anyway. Another joke/lie.

Outcome-based healthcare is common sense. And it has nothing to do with "rationing." In fact, rationing is the exact OPPOSITE of "outcome-based" care. By emphasizing quality care, you reduce the number of ER and urgent care admissions, and you reduce the number of readmissions, as well. Again; it's the opposite of rationing. Rationing is what private insurance companies do. I'm reminded of that guy at the beginning of Michael Moore's film, "Sicko," in which some poor guy had a choice of which finger he would like to have reattached. "Outcome based" care would have repaired both fingers and made the guy a productive citizen again. Health care "rationing" forced him to choose the cheapest finger to reattach.

• Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.

They already have the ability to regulate and disqualify Medicare Advantage plans.. In other words, this maintains the status quo . Oh, and it says absolutely nothing about "HMOS, etc."

• Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.

No. That's not what it says. What it says is, it will begin to phase such special needs individuals into the public health insurance system. IOW, those people who qualify for Medicaid and people under 65 who qualify for Medicare will be eligible for this system instead. Seriously, can wingnuts read at all?

• Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).

• Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?

• Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.



• Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.

• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.

• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.

• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.

More bureaucracy than the private insurer's tendency to automatically deny claims over $1500, and force you to call them in order to get the bill paid? Have you ever been to a hospital's administrative offices? There is no more bureaucracy than in the private health insurance industry.

That said, Telehealth has been around for years, and has saved Medicare countless dollars by directing seniors to services. This merely expands the concept to people covered under the public insurance system. Imagine; more service; what a concept, right?

The rest are pure paranoia. The Advance Care Planning Consultation system has also been around for years, and I'm unaware of a spate of senior suicides or euthanasia as a result. It simply encourages people to consult with their doctors, and get all of the options available for either planning for the end, or working to create a higher quality of life. I'm sure almost everyone knows someone with a debilitating disease, such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes; advance care planning reduces the likelihood that these people will constantly show up at urgent care or the ER for minor problems that they themselves can take care of.

• Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.

• Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.



Two more gratuitous mentions of ACORN. And what's wrong with either of the above?

• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.

This one is silly, of course. Unless the government starts mandating marriage and family therapy, and then conducts the therapy themselves, the "intervention" isn't happening. I mean, many health insurance plans cover psychiatric services under some conditions, but no one is suggesting that Blue Cross or CIGNA is trying to control your mind.

• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

Of course, it merely adds them to the Medicare mix. There is nothing to define, create or ration them in this bill.

I guess they became tired, because they got tired of lying about halfway through the bill. There are over 500 more pages to this thing.

A tip of my hat to my friend, Ben Cerruti, for providing this look at the Obamanation called ObamaCare.

Yes, thank him for lying his ass off, and giving me a chance to cut the crap, big time. I'd been working on a piece about right wing health care lies, and this gave me a chance to dispel most of them in one fell swoop. I mean, all of these lies in one piece. How do these people sleep at night?

Write, e-mail, fax, or call your senators and your representative and tell them to vote NO!

If you tell them that, you're a fool. The CBO estimates that, with no changes to the health care system, premiums will increase by $1800 per year for the next ten years. That means an family will pay an average annual premium of more than $32,000 by then. And that's assuming that the 47 million people without insurance doesn't increase tremendously. This offers everyone a chance at affordable health insurance, and stops the health care inflation that has crippled our economy for decades. But more than that, it will make us a proud nation, that cares about its people once again.

Stop letting these wingnut idiots lie their asses off. Read what I wrote above, and compare it to what's actually in the bill. It's really not as long as it sounds, by the way; if the bill was written single spaced, with normal margins, it would probably be a couple of hundred pages at best. But look through it, and what you'll find is a plan that is very thoughtful and measured, and provides access to everyone.

Call your Congressperson and Senators, and ask them one simple question;

Do you REALLY want to be on record as having voted against health insurance for all this year?

This is going to happen. If not this year, then we throw out the assholes who vote against it, and put in someone who will. Our country is becoming second-rate right before our eyes, and one reason is the money we're flushing away on health care for no one, while thousands of people die and thousands of others are pushed to financial ruin.

The fact that the opposition can do nothing but lie to get their point across means that even they believe universal health insurance is necessary. Either that, or they like seeing their rates double every decade..."
 
Since it seems like you know so much. What are the specifics of the Exchange? Will insurance companies not be forced to participate in it? Will I still be able to choose a non regulated plan?
 
I don't know as much as that dude. I only formatted that. I didn't write it. However I do know the answers to most of your questions, as they were contained in what I posted.

1. Insurance companies don't have to participate in the exchange, they can keep doing what they're doing, but if they want to participate they will be bound by certain rules.

2. There's no such thing as a non-regulated plan. All plans are regulated to some extent and always have been. Same goes with every other industry. If you mean, "will you be able to use a plan that doesn't participate in the legislation", then yes. Insurance companies don't have to participate in anything in the legislation if they don't want to, and assumedly a bunch of them won't want to.

They're going to great lengths to make it clear that everything is opt-in or opt-out.
 
More than half of those things are blatant lies. Stop copy pasting from someone that obviously just wants you to be afraid instead of being informed. Read the actual legislation and I GUARANTEE that you will not find half of those things in there, and the other half have been distorted. In fact because I'm such a nice person, I will go and debunk every single one of those statements.



"page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the government option"

SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT

COVERAGE.

(a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COV-

ERAGE DEFINED.—Subject to the succeeding provisions of

this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable cov-

erage under this division, the term ‘‘grandfathered health

insurance coverage’’ means individual health insurance

coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the

first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:

This isn't refering to YOUR insurance. this is refering to the policies that insurance companies are providing. then is goes on to list conditions, which are reasonable, of the policies that insurance companies must provide if they wish continue as now.

"grandfathered" means that if the rules change, you are allowed to carry on as you have been.



"Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!"

This part of the bill is refering to a proposed study in regards to section 113: insurance rating rules. There is nothing that refers to mandating audits for employers that choose to self insure. There is a proposed tax for larger employers who choose to NOT PROVIDE ANY converage, but if a business as 25 employess or less they will be exempt.

1) STUDY.—The Commissioner, in coordina-

tion with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-

ices and the Secretary of Labor, shall conduct a

study of the large group insured and self-insured

employer health care markets. Such study shall ex-

amine the following:

(A) The types of employers by key charac-

teristics, including size, that purchase insured

products versus those that self-insure.

(B) The similarities and differences be-

tween typical insured and self-insured health

plans.

employer health care markets. Such study shall ex-

amine the following:

(A) The types of employers by key charac-

teristics, including size, that purchase insured

products versus those that self-insure.

(B) The similarities and differences be-

tween typical insured and self-insured health

plans.

(C) The financial solvency and capital re-

serve levels of employers that self-insure by em-

ployer size.

(D) The risk of self-insured employers not

being able to pay obligations or otherwise be-

coming financially insolvent.

(E) The extent to which rating rules are

likely to cause adverse selection in the large

group market or to encourage small and mid

size employers to self-insure



"Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!"

FALSE. This section of the bill is refering to limiting cost sharing incurred under the essential benefits package. I will post all of page 29, no where does it mention rationing of health care. that is absurd.

page29.jpg


"Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)

Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. "

This is in regards to section 123: the establishment of a healtch advisory commitee. Read it yourself:

SEC. 123. HEALTH BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

(1) INGENERAL.—There is established a pri-

vate-public advisory committee which shall be a

panel of medical and other experts to be known as

the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to rec-

ommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced,

and premium plans.

(2) CHAIR.—The Surgeon General shall be a

member and the chair of the Health Benefits Advi-

sory Committee.

(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Health Benefits Advi-

sory Committee shall be composed of the following

members, in addition to the Surgeon General:

(A) 9 members who are not Federal em-

ployees or officers and who are appointed by

the President.

(B) 9 members who are not Federal em-

ployees or officers and who are appointed by

the Comptroller General of the United States in

a manner similar to the manner in which the

Comptroller General appoints members to the

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission under

section 1805(c) of the Social Security Act. 8

This seems like a really good any right? Having informed and intelligent people advice law makers on what policy might be best. Nothing to afraid of. It is an integral part of our democratic system.

In terms of a health choices comissioner. That part of the bill is about how the new health insurance plan will be governed. Read it:

SEC. 141. HEALTH CHOICES ADMINISTRATION; HEALTH

CHOICES COMMISSIONER.

(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established, as an

independent agency in the executive branch of the Govern-

ment, a Health Choices Administration (in this division

referred to as the ‘‘Administration’’).

(b) COMMISSIONER.—

(1) INGENERAL.—The Administration shall be

headed by a Health Choices Commissioner (in this

division referred to as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) who

shall be appointed by the President, by and with the

advice and consent of the Senate.

SEC. 142. DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF COMMISSIONER.

(a) DUTIES.—The Commissioner is responsible for

carrying out the following functions under this division:

(1) QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS.—The estab-

lishment of qualified health benefits plan standards

under this title, including the enforcement of such

standards in coordination with State insurance regu-

lators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treas-

ury.

(2) HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE.—The es-

tablishment and operation of a Health Insurance

Exchange under subtitle A of title II.

(3) INDIVIDUAL AFFORDABILITY CREDITS.—

The administration of individual affordability credits

under subtitle C of title II, including determination

of eligibility for such credits.

(4) ADDITIONALFUNCTIONS.—Such additional

functions as may be specified in this division.

In terms of (1) that is refering to cracking down on insurance companies and creating standards that hold them accountable.

"Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services."

This language in any form does not exist anywhere. Here is an excerpt from page 50 which deals with discrimination in health care which is a major problem now.

SEC. 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE.

(a) INGENERAL.—Except as otherwise explicitly per-

mitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations con-

sistent with this Act, all health care and related services

(including insurance coverage and public health activities)

covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to

personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of

high quality health care or related services.



"Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard. "

This is a complete falsehood. This part of the bill deals with standardizing electronic administrative transactions. Standards such as "provide for timely acknowledgment, response, and status reporting applicable to any electronic transaction"

"Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer."

Again, a complete misinterpretation of the facts. This section is still about standardizing electronic admisitrative transactions so that the system my run as smoothly as possible. Never does it mention to government having access to all individual bank accounts. That is absurd. It is trying to protect individuals right to privacy.

Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)

The text from the bill:

SEC. 164. REINSURANCE PROGRAM FOR RETIREES.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after

the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

of Health and Human Services shall establish a tem-

porary reinsurance program (in this section referred

to as the ‘‘reinsurance program’’) to provide reim-

bursement to assist participating employment-based

plans with the cost of providing health benefits to

retirees and to eligible spouses, surviving spouses

and dependents of such retirees.

This is not all union retiree health plans. And this makes perfect sense. No where does it say it will be the taxpayers that pay for it. A specific plan for paying for it is not mentioned.

Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.

Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)

The Health care exchange is entirely voluntary. This section of the bill deals with the establishment of said exchange. No where does it say that all private healthcare plans must participate. This is absurd. There will still be private health care, and the exchange is being created "in order to facilitate access of individuals and employers, through a transparent process, to a variety of choices of affordable, quality health insurance coverage, including a public health insurance option." That quote is directly form the bill.

Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens

first off, illegal aliens is your point? That is a noun..not a coherent point. Here is the bills language of the point that it will be necessary to offer culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Im sorry that America is no longer completely made up of white english speaking people.

(7) CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY APPRO-

PRIATE SERVICES AND COMMUNICATIONS.—The en-

tity shall provide for culturally and linguistically ap-

propriate communication and health services.

Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.

again completely false. This section of the bill deals with outreach and how the government plans to make information about eligability and enrollment to the public. ACORN and Americorps are never mentioned.

Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.

Alright, this is not true. You have a choice. This section of the bill is talking about newborns and the coverage received. It won't even apply to 99% of anyone reading this. People who are not able to pay for any form of coverage will now be allowed to enroll their newborn in medicaid. This is part of the idea of making health insurance affordable for more people. Think about this: you are poor and just had a baby, how the hell are you suppose to pay for all those doctors visits that are neccessary to make sure your baby is in good health?? Well now you can.



So I just proved all of your first 14 points COMPLETELY FALSE AND DISTORTED. They are misinterpretations of the bill and some are even complete lies. Are you less frightened of health insurance reform now? because you should be. I will do the other six when i have time later today.



 
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