7/9 BREAKING NEWS – Dems Want To Tax “Wealthy” To Pay For Healthcare Program

Posted by Editor on July 9, 2009 · 8 Comments 

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8 Responses to “7/9 BREAKING NEWS – Dems Want To Tax “Wealthy” To Pay For Healthcare Program”
  1. Visigoth says:
    August 8, 2009 at 4:08 PM

    [Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.)] had just approved the final version of the House Ways & Means report that contains the minority’s dissenting views on the Democrat healthcare bill, HR 3200, passed through the committee. Camp shared the report with HUMAN EVENTS. It will be signed by every Republican member of the committee.

    The bill would also authorize a “Health Choices Commissioner” that would be appointed by the President and approved by the Senate to oversee this government run insurance “Exchange.”

    More from the final report:

    Aside from the will of the President, the Commissioner’s power would be unchecked. This is extremely troubling given the large scope of responsibility given to the Commissioner. In fact, the Commissioner is so powerful that the title is referenced almost 200 times in H.R. 3200. This government official would have:

    • The power to decide which treatments patients could receive and at what cost;
    • The power to decide which private plans would be allowed to participate in the Exchange;
    • The power to regulate all insurance plans, both in and out of the Exchange;
    • The power to determine which employers would be allowed to participate in the Exchange;
    • The power to determine how many Americans will be allowed to choose health coverage through the Exchange;
    • The power to form and control which physicians and hospitals participate in the government-run plan and in private plan provider networks;
    • The power to determine which states are allowed to operate their own Exchange and terminate a previously-approved State Exchange at any time;
    • The power to override state laws regarding covered health benefits;
    • The power to determine how trillions of taxpayer and employer dollars would be spent within the Exchange;
    • The power to determine who qualifies for premium assistance; and
    • The power to automatically enroll Americans into the Exchange if they don’t have coverage, including potentially forcing these individuals into the government-run plan.

    Also troubling is the fact the Secretary of Health and Human Services would decide which prescription drugs are made available in the government plan. Evidence has shown that government officials in other countries have used this power to deny access to needed treatments on the basis of cost.”

    You can read the full report here (pdf).

  2. Gone says:
    August 7, 2009 at 12:01 AM

    So is this it, is this the new GB912?

  3. Skeptic414 says:
    August 6, 2009 at 10:50 PM

    The principles listed on this website seem agreeable to most Americans. I have a hard time, though, with the statements that this is not a political movement when I look around the site — it is loaded with politics and predominantly one major point of view. Last time I checked American is a VERY diverse nation with immigrants who have built us up from all over the world, all religions, ideas, backgrounds, languages, etc. It is that very diversity that has made us strong. We have many ideas, we sift them and pick the best ones. I think we CAN all agree on some basic principles, but it is the specifics that get everyone riled up. I figured something out recently as I watched the healthcare debates going on and this seems to be a general rule across the spectrum of political issues: we want all the options, we want them for everyone, and we don’t want to pay for any of them.

    I think one of the things that all americans can agree on is that healthcare needs to be reformed. The system is a train wreck and it is getting worse. We spend more of our economy on healthcare than almost (and maybe all) other nations in the world! We like to strut and say we have the best healthcare system in the world, but look around — how many families of older americans go bankrupt having to pay for procedures and surgeries as they get older? How many doctors order more tests and procedures than are really needed for CYA because they are afraid of malpractice suits? How many americans have to choose between food and medications EVERY DAY? Is this the “best healthcare system in the world”? If so, then there is a serious problem. The healthcare costs are *escalating*, not staying steady. They will continue to eat away at the defense budget, our economic budget, at everything else unless we do something. What to do? That’s where it gets complicated.

    I will admit I haven’t read the whole healthcare package being debated in Congress, but I would say a couple of things: 1) it hasn’t been decided yet. All of the information below may be already invalidated or changed. 2) I have not seen or heard anything saying that Congress is going to mandate that everyone fall under a government-run national healthcare plan. That is certainly what opponents of the measure are saying is happening, but there is no real evidence of that. What there IS evidence of is: a)see point #1 — it has not yet been decided, and b) all of Obama’s statements have been that the government will provide a plan that will be in the market with all the other plans — not that it will take over all the plans or outlaw them or socialize the healthcare system, etc.. I have heard people foaming at the mouth saying that this will force everyone into a government plan, but I find that very hard to swallow. It seems ironic to me that die-hard conservatives who argue for the strength of the marketplace seem to think that these million/billion dollar companies will just go belly up at the thought of some competition.

    Just a few comments that I hope can spark some critical thinking here in reaction to isolated elements of the comments below:
    PAGE 29: healthcare will be rationed. Hmmmm. No duh. It has been rationed for the past two decades at least. Have any of you looked at your employee health plan descriptions? They ALL include rationing today. They will pay so much for generics, so much for custom drugs, they won’t pay for this or that, etc. They will only pay for in-network doctors, etc. The healthcare companies have been rationing healthcare for decades. This is not to mention the fact that mental health coverage (I am a mental health provider) has been a major source of discrimination for decades when providing effective mental health coverage has been shown to *reduce* healthcare costs. Look at the criteria for Medicaid and Medicare — rationing.
    PAGE 30: what is better? a national committee (not made up of government bureaucrats, but people knowledgeable about healthcare brought together by the government) decides on what benefits will be offered vs the current system where a panel of mostly lawyers, accountants and executives meet in private in the office of the healthcare company and decide what benefits you will be offered? That is what we have today. Some of these arguments act like we are still living in a healthcare system with single party payors where healthcare is between you are your doctor — we haven’t had such as system for **over 20 years**. Ever heard of managed care? That is what we are living with — again, look carefully at your CURRENT healthcare policies and coverage limits. You’ll see what I’m talking about. This is one of the major concerns of doctors, nurses, psychologists, etc. all over the country — your care and what treatments you get is NOT usually decided by you and your doctor — but by some insurance adjuster who tells the doctor what they’ll pay based on some policy decisions. At least the new system, if it includes such a committee, will be open, public, and subject to political pressure. How much political pressure do you generate now with your insurance company?
    PAGE 95: use of Americorps and ACORN to sign up people for the plan. I know that some people have a thing against ACORN. Americorps is a pretty good organization — take a look at it. The point here is that if ANY plan to improve healthcare across the country is to succeed, we have to get people signed up. There are many states all over the country where significant numbers of people (especially the poor or immigrants, etc.) don’t read the paper, are “checked out” in terms of knowing what is going on. They are so busy trying to make ends meet, they don’t have time to think about much else. I know because I was involved in efforts in Wyoming to get money from the tobacco settlements that was to be used to help get children medical care — but many of the people who needed it most didn’t even know about the program or how to get services. How are you going to tell them about it? TV ads? Doesn’t work. You need to find ways to reach out to them and teach them about the program, get them involved. It works, but it takes time and effort. So it is good that the plan has a way to do this. It is easy for people who are safe at home with their insurance coverage to get angry about money being spent to reach out to others who don’t have insurance, but all it would take is getting laid off of a job to start shifting attitudes. Being without health insurance can be a death sentence. And if we really DO want to join together like 9/12, then that means healthcare for everyone.

    I could go on, but I hope this might spark a little skepticism. Be skeptical about what the Republicans say….be skeptical about what the Democrats say. Be especially skeptical about what the mega-conglomerate healthcare companies say. The truth is in the middle. Think for yourselves — don’t let someone else feed you all your information. Listen to various sources of information. If you are liberal, listen to conservative sources from time to time; if you are conservative, listen to liberal sources from time to time — use your critical thinking skills! Don’t let the talking heads determine what you do. Now THAT is an American position to take!

  4. hatefulhouswife says:
    July 11, 2009 at 9:25 PM

    Im in Florida. the Hospitals here have solved the problem of financing Obama's healthcare. The Hospitals are now charging inpatient prices for outpatient tests. In other words…July 9th I could get a bloodtest for $35.00, on July 10th that exact same test will now cost me $350.00. The insurance companies are going to love this, and I'm sure raise their prices. If it keeps on no one will be able to afford healthcare or insurance and the Presidents plan will be our only alternative.


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