Cell Phones and Health Care Reform

Read Ann Coulter this morning to get a new, funny, accurate look at the Health Care Reform Bill recently passed. You'll love her comparison of a 3-foot-long, 26-pound, ugly green $4,000 cell phone to the health care insurance we will soon have to buy.

From The Trenches

I've seen this physician's letter a couple of times and now I'm posting it in case some of you have not seen it.

"I have been a doctor for 19 years. 4 years in the Army and 15 years in private practice. I belong to a doctor owned group of approx 350 doctors in a multi-specialty practice. We employ 4000 people. In addition to being touted as one of the very best clinics in the nation (Acclaim Award winners) we have donated over a million dollars to the local city in grants, scholarships and charity. Regularly voted as top places to work by our employees. US health care at its very best. I am very proud of what we do and we provide tremendous care and value to our patients.

"We seek to maintain a 3-5% profit margin annually. We operate in the very precarious business model of enormous volume, low margin. As any business owner knows, this is high-risk-low-margin of error model. Consequently any small changes to cash flow vectors, mandates widespread internal policy and practice corrections. Tiny changes = massive consequences.

"As many people may know, Medicare and Medicaid, the current government paid ‘insurer’ – pays approximately 70% of the cost of care. ie its more expensive for doctors to care for these patients than we get reimbursed for. Say you are a contractor. Imagine the government mandating a significant number of your jobs whereby your out of pocket costs are ~ 30% + greater than your income. That is Medicare and Medicaid. In perspective, our group alone, year 2008 lost ~$12 million caring for our government patients. This is despite taking over 1 1/2 years to help move our fee-for-service traditional Medicare patients over to Medicare Advantage plans, which are privatized versions of Medicare that reimburse better…still not covering costs…but lessen our losses significantly.

"Many people ask, why do private health insurance premiums continue to escalate? The liberals want you to believe its a combination of profiteering and waste. When in fact its due mainly to two other processes. The first is obvious: every year it costs more to care for patients and premiums are trying to keep up with this rising cost. But secondly, and less often discussed, is that every year private delivery systems lose more and more money caring for our government patients. Someone has to make up for these losses in order for your hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacies, group practices to remain solvent and profitable. Every year these delivery systems open their books to the private health care insurers – and the insurers must – they must in order for the entire system at large to stay functional, increase the amount they pay out to cover these losses. If they don't, both the delivery systems and the insurers die. So to keep the boat afloat, the payouts by private insurers MUST increase to subsidize the ever increasing losses doctors incur by taking care of our government patients. So, in a way, you could say that your increasing premiums are a tax that you are paying to cover the losses that are Medicare and Medicaid. It’s a clear and inarguable private subsidization of government cost. Enough said on that.

"So to really feel the consequence and full impact of Obamacare, one must simply see the economic dominoes. Most people can see how this bill will rapidly reduce private insurance plans and rapidly expand government plan patients. And take whatever number that is being reported, and multiply that by 3. That has been the experience in both Mass and Hawaii. Both government plans were overwhelmed with the enrollees as they significantly underestimated the government migration.

"OK, so now- how can anyone not see the obvious outcome? Government patients = significant loss of profitability. Initially the private insurers will do their best to continue to subsidize this loss, and there will be a huge escalation of premiums. But within a few months this will be unsustainable. Its a cycle that cannot be stopped. Higher premiums = higher recidivism to government plans = higher premiums etc. Within months, every single hospital, every single doctor office, clinic, nursing home, pharmacy – every delivery system reliant on private insurers will no longer be profitable. ie they will go bankrupt. These will most certainly be the headlines to come: Hospital XYZ shockingly announces bankruptcy; Hospitals can no longer remain open; Clinics across the country file for bankruptcy; Loss of Pharmacy access shocks the Nation; Doctors going bankrupt en masse creating health care delivery and access to care crises; Where can you go to get care?; Loss of access reported Nationwide

"Yes a crises. A crises of access due to widespread business failure. You will not be able to get care for as long as it takes for the government to devise their emergency bailout package and as long as it takes for those insufficient dollars to try and get those doors back open again. But it will be too late, and it will be too expensive. There is absolutely no way that our government can capitalize our entire health care system. Try as they might, only a percentage of what we have now will ultimately survive. And those that do survive will be a shell of what they once were. The conditions will be frightening, and the consequences will be dire. The degree of disarray will be unimaginable and the underlap in access to care will be gaping.

"I will not expand this discussion to predict what this means to our economy at large because I am not an economist. But anyone can be close to predicting what I am suggesting. Factors such as loss of work hours due to illnesses not treated, pressure on all the other private business models; let alone the out and out loss of enormous capital via the bankruptcy of this entire health care industry can clearly be the death nail to our country and imo is a clear and present threat to our very sovereignty. This can make the housing collapse look like a speed bump. This will be massive and rapid and lethal and complete.

"I am not certain why this very obvious outcome has not been openly discussed more often – ie the rapid and massive bankruptcy of all of your health care providers and their delivery systems. But this is the inevitable outcome should this bill ever become law and implemented."

It seems obvious to anyone who thinks about the current proposals and the ones the Democrats have dismissed out of hand, that this is NOT about health care. It is about control. Providing health care is both a cover for the real motivation and a means of increasing Big Brother's personal control of the population.

Deem

If the US House "deems" the Senate bill passed by having members vote on another bill (the reconciliation one), can we citizens "deem" our taxes paid by paying our credit card bills? According to the online dictionary, deem means to regard or consider in a specified way. Examples: the event was deemed a great success or the strike was deemed to be illegal. If the political class can deem, why can't the taxpaying class deem?

BTW, the House Whip (the one who keeps tallies on who is for/against/undecided on bills) just said the the vote may not be held until Easter.

Hmmmm. Those nationwide protests must finally be making an imprint. Keep praying.

Pelosi's Plans

In a memo to Democrat bloggers, Nancy Pelosi wrote:

"My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive," Pelosi said, according to an account by Washington Post reform advocate Ezra Klein. "We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there'll be more legislation to follow."

So Princess Nancy has even more "goodies" to foist off on the poor slubs who have to pay for it - American taxpayers.

In the meantime, she has warned all Democrat Congressional Clowns to be especially nice to the Tea Party activists who are storming Capitol Hill again today. She encouraged them to politely explain how wonderful the new health care reform package really is and how misguided its opponents really are.

Pray that our Constitutional Republic will be saved from enemies within and without.

The New Suicide Bomber

Hat tip to Powerline for introducing the latest suicide bomber craze, "Obama Akbar" to us.

One Eye and Half-Sense*

Every single American has complained frequently and vehemently about the lack of efficiency and the increased costs inherent in any large organization whether public or private. However, these problems metastasize in government organizations, like the Post Office, Social Security Administration, the Veterans' Administration, and the IRS.

Therefore, every single American ought to be vehemently against any proposed Health Care Bill. There is absolutely no way on God's green earth that adding bureaucrats between you and your physician is going to make it cheaper, better, or more available to more people.

No matter which sales pitch is used to favor the current proposals, it's obviously a cover-up of the real intent - taking away personal freedom and extending the power of the federal government.

If you're interested in reading more about specific proposals in the Senate bill, then please read "Guess Who's Coming to Your House?" in today's American Thinker. You'll learn new ways to be frightened about the Senate Bill which has already passed. And you should be even more inspired to call/write/email Congressional Clowns in the House protesting it.

*The title of this blog comes from my political activist grandmother who, thankfully, died before the era of politically correct speech. She used it to illustrate obvious truths that others were unwilling to understand, as in, "Well, anyone with one eye and half sense ought can see . . ." I hope that being practically one eyed myself because of ocular melanoma, you'll forgive my lapse back into the old ways of speaking.

Townhall Comes through Again

The cartoon from Townhall.com translates for all of us the meaning of Obama's speeches on his health care reform, since he is having such a hard time explaining it to us dummies. We've heard numerous talks, press conferences, and media events, but he still thinks we haven't caught on to his meaning.

Quote of the Day

From Queen Nancy comes, "Bipartisanship is a two-way street. A bill can be bipartisan without bipartisan votes. Republicans have left their imprint."

Her logic, or lack thereof, makes one wonder what alternative universe she inhabits.

How Stupid Does He Think We Are?

At yesterday's "Summit" Harry Reid assured nervous Americans that the Republicans were the only ones who had mentioned reconciliation as a method for passing Obama's health care proposal. He not only chastised Lamar Alexander for his request that Democrats take the reconciliation process off the table, he insisted that Alexander was entitled to his own beliefs, "but not his own facts."

Some of us distinctly remember that it was just last week that he chastised Republicans for opposing the possibility, by telling them to "stop crying over reconciliation."

Way back in the Bush administration, both the media and the Democrats called it the nuclear option. That was when it was to be used just to approve of judicial appointments. Now that it's a take-over of 17% of the economy, it goes by the innocent sounding term, "reconciliation."

So Much for Insurance Profits

Lamar Alexander: "Now, some say we need to rein in the insurance companies -- maybe we do -- but I think it's important to note that if we took all the profits of the insurance companies, the health insurance companies entirely away, every single penny of it, we could pay for two days of the health insurance of Americans, that would leave 363 days with costs that are too high."

It's hard to see how Obama can continue to demonize the insurance industry as a major factor in rising health care costs after yesterday's "Summit on Health Care." Of course, he and the Democrats are fast becoming experts at ignoring the obvious.

They studiously avoid mentioning the impact of trial lawyers and frivolous lawsuits on costs. Even more important, they avoid even considering the impact of the stupid laws and regulations they themselves have burdened the American people with since WWII. They even disregard common sense reality that adding layers of bureaucracy not only increases costs, it also decreases effectiveness.

Obviously, saving money on healthcare to benefit the citizens of the United States is not their goal. Like the faux concern for the environment, it's a method of gaining additional control.

Tyranny, As I've Said Before

A van signs reiterates the thoughts of voters and taxpayers all over America. I think it's time to insist that Congress can not pass any laws that treat them differently from the rest of us.

Chutzpah!

Read this article in the Weekly Standard to discover even more evil to fear in the Senate Healthcare Bill -- Harry Reid has inserted a provision that he says will prevent future Congresses from repealing it. Go here to read the details.

I wonder if any part of it is constitutional. Of course, getting a liberal court to admit that it isn't would probably require a divine miracle of the highest order. And we thought we had a government of, by, and for the people, not the political elite.

They HAVE to Go!

There are no words, not even profane ones, that adequately describe the digust and revulsion I feel about the senators who just voted to ruin our entire healthcare system and in the process to destroy many freedoms that we take for granted. In the name of "saving the economy" they have loaded the unconstitutional bill with pork (to buy the senators' votes) and mandates that the CBO estimates to cost us an additional $2,500,000,000,000. And remember that Congressional Budget Office projections ALWAYS are low; Medicare expenses quickly exceeded their original estimate by a factor of 19.

Our politicians had already put us and our children into debt, now our unborn grandchildren and great grandchildren will be born owing money to our government or to the Chinese. And the stalwart American people will suffer and die sooner because healthcare will be rationed and innovation will wither away under bureacratic control.

The following list of senators are Democrats from conservative states who voted for the bill. We must see to it through encouragement and donations to conservative candidates who can oppose them and by votes if we live in their states, that they lose their seats in the next election.

In 2010, target:
Arkansas - Senator Lincoln
North Dakota - Senator Dorgan

In 2012, target:
Missouri - Senator McCaskill
Montana - Senator Tester
Nebraska - Senator Nelson
North Dakota - Senator Conrad
West Virginia - Senator Byrd

In 2014, target:
Alaska - Senator Begich
Arkansas - Senator Pryor
Louisiana - Senator Landrieu
Montana - Senator Baucus
South Dakota - Senator Johnson
West Virginia - Senator Rockefeller

In the meantime, we must work against ACORN and all of its affiliates, or we'll never have honest elections again.

Same Song, Second Verse

Inspired by the "beloved" Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid intends to hold a rare Saturday session of the Senate and vote on his version of health care reform tomorrow night. If it worked for her, maybe it will work for him.

This vote is one of the most important ones ever held. *If it passes, the federal government will take over the health care industry whether the American people want it or not. Whatever else you have to do this week-end, please take the time to notify your Senators of your feelings in no uncertain terms. Put their name into a search engine, and you will discover their Washington address and phone numbers, their state offices and phone numbers, and their email addresses. Even if you've already mentioned it, please remind them of your distaste for this crude attempt to solve a real problem.

The proof that it is a VERY BAD bill is that the Congressional Clowns insist on exempting themselves from its provisions.

Also, try to contact the following senators who are being promised all sorts of goodies if they will just vote yes tomorrow evening. One provision of the bill has been written so that Louisiana will receive $100,000,000 if the Landrieu votes "correctly." Even if you are not from their states, you are a citizen whose life will be impacted by their vote, so don't let a snippy intern refuse to register your complaint. If you are a member of Facebook, write on their wall. If not, then phone, fax, or email. But do something to protect yourself and your family.

1. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana landrieu@landrieu.senate.gov
Washinton Voice: (202)224-5824 Fax:(202) 224-9735
New Orleans Voice: (504) 589-2427 Fax:(504) 589-4023
Baton Rouge Voice: (225) 389-0395 Fax:(225) 389-0660
Shreveport Voice: (318) 676-3085 Fax:(318) 676-3100
Lake Charles Voice: (337) 436-6650 Fax:(337) 439-3762

2. Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Washington: Tel: 1-202-224-6551 Fax: 1-202-228-0012
Omaha Tel: (402) 391-3411 Fax: (402) 391-4725
Lincoln Tel: (402) 441-4600 Fax: (402) 476-8753
Scottsbluff Tel: (308) 631-7614
Kearney Tel: (308) 293-5818
South Sioux City Tel: (402) 209-3595

3. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Washington: Phone: (202)224-4843 Fax: (202)228-1371
Little Rock Office Phone: (501) 375-2993 or toll free 1-800-352-9364
Fax: (501) 375-7064
Dumas Phone: (870)382-1023 Fax: (870)382-1026
Jonesboro Phone: (870) 910-6896 Fax: (870)910-6898
Fayetteville Phone: (479) 251-1224 Fax: (479)251-1410
Texarkana Phone: (870) 774-3106 Fax: (870) 774-7627

4. Evan Byah of Indiana
Washington: Phone (202) 224-5623 Fax (202) 228-1377
Indianapolis: Phone (317) 554-0750 Fax (317) 554-0760
Hammond: Phone (219) 852-2763 Fax (219) 852-2787
Evansville: Phone (812) 465-6500 Fax: (812) 465-6503
Ft. Wayne: Phone (260) 426-3151 Fax: (260) 420-0060

*It is true that the Senate require two votes to pass a bill. However, if this test vote passes with 60 votes, the momentum will highly favor passage of the bill with the second vote.

A Head Start on Health Care

The Progressives tipped their hand this week regarding the future quality of health care when they made the grand pronouncement that women should not have routine mammograms until after the age of fifty. Their soothing sales talk assured the public that earlier mammograms merely lead to a lot of unneccessary biopsies and anxiety. Postponing the tests will still result in discovery of 81% of the breast cancers.

Are those other 19% of women with breast cancer not worthy of treatment?

Currently one woman in eight will have breast cancer, many of them in their thirties and forties. Early detection saved my life with breast cancer, ocular melanoma, colon cancer, and breast cancer metastasis to the lung. And I personally can add innumerable cancer patients to the same list where early detection saved lives.

Postponing mammograms will save the bureaucrats some time and effort and it will surely cut health care costs, but it will kill a lot of women before their time. It has nothing to do with real reform in the area of health care.

The Hypocrisy Astounds and Abounds

Yesterday's press conference with Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer was not only an invitation only event, it required invitees to RSVP to be sure that no outsiders attended. Press conferences, by definition, are usually open to all comers. But this one, held on the steps of Congress, again by definition an area open to all citizens, was limited to those who agree with Pelosi and Hoyer.

In fact, protesters were walled off by a fence and some were arrested at "the people's House" because they begged to differ. So much for caring about the little people.

Pelosi claimed that this historic legislation, ". . .is fiscally sound, will not add one dime to the deficit, as it expands coverage, implements key insurance reforms and promotes prevention and wellness across the health system."

Even the perennially incorrect (on the low side) CBO has estimated that it will cost $1,055,000,000,000. And the key insurance reforms mean that sooner or later it will be government run health care. Promoting prevention covers up the fact that rationing is inevitable. Can she point to any government run health care or insurance system, like the Veterans' Hospitals, Medicare, or Medicaid that is not already bankrupt? How can this 1990 page monstrosity be any different?

Then to cap it all off, Steny Hoyer, said, "But befitting the importance of this legislation, the process of putting it together has been deliberative, transparent and open; the most deliberative, transparent and open process I have seen for any bill in my 29-year career."

Of course the Democrats have carefully excluded Republican suggestions and amendments. In fact, hardly anyone has even heard of the six healthcare reform bills the Republicans have offered.

Someone please remind me of how this press conference differed from one held by a totalitarian ruling elite.

Is This The Care We Want?

The Obama Administration has been quite eager to take over the Health Care System. They also jumped at the chance to declare the Swine Flu a national emergency and insist that everyone get vaccinated against it.

So, the delivery of the vaccine was promised in September, then October, and now November. HHS Secretary has been out in the media simultaneously urging compliance and explaining why compliance was impossible.

They failed their first test. Do we dare trust this system with our heart attacks, cancer treatments, premature babies, and other medical emergencies? When will the bureacrats allow the time, money, and creativity for continuing the medical innovations that now place the US at the forefront of medical care in the world?

We need to scrap all attempts to take over health care by the government and substitute no cost, free market type solutions.

Yes, Nancy, We're Serious

When Cybercast News Service asked Nancy Pelosi whether the health care bills in the House were in line with the Constitution, she was incredulous. "Are you serious? Are you serious?" she asked rhetorically before going on to the next reporter.

Her press secretary, Nadeam Elshami, later told CNS that asking the Speaker of the House where the Constitution authorized Congress to force American to buy health insurance was "not a serious question." Later she sent an email press release that argued it was part and parcel of the Commerce clause, according to Cybercast.

Many conservatives beg to differ. For example, Judge Andrew Napolitano wrote about the Constitutional questions recently in the Wall Street Journal. Others have joined in the fray, wondering how on earth the US Constitution can force any citizen to buy any thing.

So, the question remains for you, Speaker Pelosi. Where does the Constitution authorize Congress to create a health care bill? And how exactly, do you interpret the Commerce clause to create that authority out of thin air? As someone who has sworn to protect the Constitution and the country from enemies at home and abroad, surely you can give a cogent answer instead of denigrating the innocent question and hapless questioner.

Now We Know

Now we know why Charles Rangel continues to hold his position in the House of Representatives and why all the revelations of his wrong doing have produced no censure by his colleagues in Congress. As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, apparently he has certified that HR3200 has met the requirements to become part of the "budget reconciliation process." That means the House can easily pass their version of Obamacare with only 51% majority.

Will You Sell Your Vote for $250?

President Obama thinks that most Senior Citizens will happily support and vote for him now that he's rushed to give them an unexpected $250 each because they won't get a cost of living adjustment in Social Security this year or next. Apparently he also believes $250 will make them eager to give up the possibility of any serious medical care during their senior years even though Seniors have been the most forceful opponents of Obamacare in recent weeks.

Surely, no one will fall for such blatant pandering.

And speaking of cost of living adjustments, isn't it interesting that officially there has been no increase in the cost of living for Social Security recipients. Yet, there has been such an increase in the cost of living for Medicare that all users will have larger medicare payments deducted from their S.S. checks. Washington accounting procedures are so interesting, especially when they bend the law that says Social Security recipients will never receive smaller monthly allocations.

Such machinations prove that Social Security was a bad program from the beginning and it will only get worse as it gets closer to bankruptcy.