Page 1 of 5 12345 Last
  1. #1
    atprm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    a dwelling that closely resembles an igloo
    Posts
    7,371
    Thanks
    829
    Thanked 2,904 Times in 1,592 Posts

    Thumbs down Welcome to SOCIALIST Healthcare

    before I even post this article from Bloomberg this morning -- advising to pay attention to the bolded sections... The government or someone with "the button" will determine what you need as far as medical treatment...and Daschle's comment (also in bold and RED) just pisses me off.

    ~*~
    Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey

    Commentary by Betsy McCaughey

    Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

    Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

    Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

    The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

    But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

    Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

    New Penalties

    Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

    What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.

    The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

    Elderly Hardest Hit

    Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

    Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

    The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

    In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

    Hidden Provisions

    If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.

    The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

    Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”

    More Scrutiny Needed

    On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.

    The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.

    (Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.)

    To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@aol.com
    Last Updated: February 9, 2009 00:01 EST
    2 days from now, tomorrow will be yesterday.

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to atprm For This Useful Post:

    pepperpot (02-10-2009), poggles3 (02-10-2009), SurferGirl (02-10-2009)

  3. # ADS
    Circuit advertisement Welcome to SOCIALIST Healthcare
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many
     

  4. #2
    pepperpot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    exactly where I should be...
    Posts
    8,566
    Thanks
    4,402
    Thanked 3,793 Times in 2,027 Posts
    Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them.


    I guess if you get cancer, you should be more accepting of it too? or any other illness? WTF?

    Government does not belong in the doctor's office....

    Streamline the paperwork, okay....but government should not be practicing medicine and that is what they are going to do! :
    Mrs Pepperpot is a lady who always copes with the tricky situations that she finds herself in....

  5. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to pepperpot For This Useful Post:

    jeanea33 (02-10-2009), stresseater (02-10-2009), SurferGirl (02-10-2009), whatever (02-10-2009)

  6. #3
    whatever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    I can't stop the ignorance, I can only laugh at it.
    Posts
    6,726
    Thanks
    2,021
    Thanked 2,045 Times in 1,023 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by pepperpot View Post


    I guess if you get cancer, you should be more accepting of it too? or any other illness? WTF?

    Government does not belong in the doctor's office....

    Streamline the paperwork, okay....but government should not be practicing medicine and that is what they are going to do! :
    Well I recall someone saying they liked the idea of a socalist goverment. And now they are getting it.
    My "adopted" brother. Gone but not forgotten. 8/23/09

  7. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to whatever For This Useful Post:

    anothersta (02-10-2009), stresseater (02-10-2009), SurferGirl (02-10-2009)

  8. #4
    pepperpot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    exactly where I should be...
    Posts
    8,566
    Thanks
    4,402
    Thanked 3,793 Times in 2,027 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by whatever View Post
    Well I recall someone saying they liked the idea of a socalist goverment. And now they are getting it.
    Unfortunately....so are we.....
    Mrs Pepperpot is a lady who always copes with the tricky situations that she finds herself in....

  9. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to pepperpot For This Useful Post:

    anothersta (02-10-2009), stresseater (02-10-2009), SurferGirl (02-10-2009)

  10. #5
    pepperpot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    exactly where I should be...
    Posts
    8,566
    Thanks
    4,402
    Thanked 3,793 Times in 2,027 Posts
    Since he's s hell bent on centralizing our medical records......how about producing his own birth certificate for all to see?!
    Mrs Pepperpot is a lady who always copes with the tricky situations that she finds herself in....

  11. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to pepperpot For This Useful Post:

    anothersta (02-10-2009), galeane29 (02-10-2009), kelblend (02-10-2009), nightrider127 (02-10-2009), poggles3 (02-10-2009), stresseater (02-10-2009), SurferGirl (02-10-2009)

  12. #6

    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,088
    Thanks
    3,243
    Thanked 1,097 Times in 643 Posts
    I heard he hasn't produced his own tax documents either.

  13. #7
    IthinkNOT!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Nowheresville, NC
    Posts
    2,342
    Thanks
    1,361
    Thanked 982 Times in 411 Posts
    Ummm, in a way, if this bill passes, the insured will have a chance to see what the uninsured people go through everyday. Not saying that I think it's right, just saying that it will not change anything for me either way.
    Gene Police: You!! Out Of The Pool!

  14. #8
    pepperpot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    exactly where I should be...
    Posts
    8,566
    Thanks
    4,402
    Thanked 3,793 Times in 2,027 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by IthinkNOT! View Post
    Ummm, in a way, if this bill passes, the insured will have a chance to see what the uninsured people go through everyday. Not saying that I think it's right, just saying that it will not change anything for me either way.
    So anyone who has insurance doesn't know what's it's like? For some it may be cheaper to pay directly for care than to pay insurance plans/copays/etc......but we make sure we pay our insurance "just in case"....it's not "free" for anyone....just some sacrifice more than others to make sure they have it.....
    Mrs Pepperpot is a lady who always copes with the tricky situations that she finds herself in....

  15. The Following User Says Thank You to pepperpot For This Useful Post:

    anothersta (02-10-2009)

  16. #9
    poggles3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    672
    Thanks
    658
    Thanked 236 Times in 129 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by IthinkNOT! View Post
    Ummm, in a way, if this bill passes, the insured will have a chance to see what the uninsured people go through everyday. Not saying that I think it's right, just saying that it will not change anything for me either way.
    I have been on both sides of that comment, I went years with no coverage, but with children its a must. It's virtually impossible for your regular joe to pay for all the shots and regular checkups let alone if your child gets sick. So it may not change anything for you but I like my freedom to choose my doctors and knowing that any treatment they deem neccessary for my child will be done.

    I dont think the government has the right to play God on this one. How many of those voting have a medical degree?? Therefore how do they know what is above and beyond or what is standard practice? Oh right someone typed them up a cheat sheet and thats as much as they know about it.
    RACING: Because football, basketball, soccer & golf only require ONE BALL

  17. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to poggles3 For This Useful Post:

    pepperpot (02-10-2009), whatever (02-10-2009)

  18. #10

    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    8,600
    Thanks
    1,135
    Thanked 3,514 Times in 1,965 Posts
    I can understand the government having a say if you're using medicare or medicaid but not if you have private insurance. It sounds like the insurance companies have done some major lobbying to get that put in there. I don't like the idea of some person that doesn't know my health situation making the decisions for me.

  19. The Following User Says Thank You to gmyers For This Useful Post:

    whatever (02-10-2009)

  20. #11
    Mary Jo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    552
    Thanks
    92
    Thanked 178 Times in 133 Posts
    Insurance companies have practiced medicine for years.
    A couple years ago I went to get a prescription filled at the drugstore. When I got it it was not for what was written. The pharmacist said that my insurance said that I had to get something else. WTF?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Log in

Log in