January 4th, 2010 by DrRich in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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One would think American health insurance companies would be caterwauling about the provisions laid out for them in the healthcare reform legislation which Harry Reid (and a few of his elves) assembled for us Americans in their secret workshop just before Christmas.
On their face, those provisions do not appear to allow insurance companies a viable business model. Insurers under Reid’s bill would be required to accept all comers, regardless of age or underlying medical conditions. They would be required to cover all manner of healthcare services, including outpatient and inpatient services, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, rehabilitative services, lab services, preventive and wellness services, chronic disease management, prescription drugs, dental care, and eye care. They would be limited in what they can charge in the way of insurance premiums, and their profits (if by some miracle there were any), would be strictly capped. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
December 18th, 2009 by drval in Humor
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December 14th, 2009 by DrStanleyFeld in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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A reader wrote;” I am getting tired of you telling me how bad the healthcare reform bill is.”
I am tired of writing about the bill. I feel compelled to try to clearly explain the harmful potential of the bill to an unsuspecting public.
Most Americans agree the country needs healthcare reform.
Many intelligent people believe President Obama is on the right track. They believe he is going to provide universal healthcare coverage, affordable healthcare cost, and improve the quality of medical care.
Few in the mainstream media are discussing the real impact of President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Plan.
President Obama cannot accomplish his goals with this bill. He is going to increase federal spending and taxes for every American’s not just the wealthy. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
December 5th, 2009 by DrStanleyFeld in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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President Obama said he will not sign a healthcare reform bill that was not budget neutral. You can view this statement at 3.50 minutes into this video clip.
The only way that can happen is if the healthcare expenses in both bills are hidden, unrealistic expense estimates are or expenses deflected to other areas in the budget. The Senate and House bill do both. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
November 19th, 2009 by drval in Announcements, Health Policy, Quackery Exposed
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For those of you following the surprising healthcare reform bill mandate of Christian Science prayer as a medical treatment to be payed for by your taxes… I have good news. That was stricken from the merged legislation.
The bad news is that there is currently even more worrisome language in the S.3950 bill. Senator Tom Harkin has introduced language that would essentially require ineffective medical treatment systems like homeopathy to be paid for by government programs, and give people without legitimate medical training the right to become primary care physicians who would establish a “medical home” for patients. Read more »
July 28th, 2009 by drval in Health Policy, Quackery Exposed
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With healthcare costs spiraling out of control, and major rationing efforts under consideration - can we really afford to allow purveyors of pseudoscience to use up scarce Medicare/Medicaid resources? It’s hard to imagine that Obama’s administration would approve of extending “health professional” status to people with an online degree and a belief in magic - but a new amendment would allow just that. What happened to our “restoring science to its rightful place” and why are we emphasizing comparative effectiveness research if we will use tax dollars to pay for things that are known to be ineffective?
I hope someone reads and removes this amendment pronto (h/t to David Gorski at Science Based Medicine):
Here’s the language that Sen. Harkin has slipped into the 615 page Senate version of the health care reform bill:
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.—The term “health professionals” includes—
(A) dentists, dental hygienists, primary 25 care providers, specialty physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists and other behavioral and mental health professionals, social workers, physical therapists, public health professionals, clinical pharmacists, allied health professionals, chiropractors, community health workers, school nurses, certified nurse midwives, podiatrists, licensed complementary and alternative medicine providers, and integrative health practitioners;
Background Reading:
What Do Chiropractors Believe?
Acupuncture Doesn’t Work
Should Naturopaths Be Allowed To Prescribe Medication?
Homeopathy ER
July 18th, 2009 by DrMichaelSevilla in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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Well, you knew it was only a matter of time until the press started covering the court of public opinion - meaning polls. This story came out last night from the Houston Chronicle entitled, “Poll shows falling support for health care reform.” It seems as if the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Zogby International - have found that public support for congress and health care reform seem to be declining.
The authors conducted an online poll that found 50 percent of respondents oppose a bill introduced by U.S. House Democratic leaders this week that would overhaul the system and pay for it by raising the taxes of the wealthiest Americans. Forty-two percent said they support the bill.
Now, I know what people say at this point - it’s bad data - who was the polling sample of - blah, blah, blah. One poll says this and another poll says that - who do you believe? It doesn’t matter who you believe. It matters who the people inside the beltway believe as they start to see these numbers come out.
The poll shows there is strong support for providing insurance for all Americans, but little for increasing taxes to pay for it. Increasing cigarette taxes was favored by 50 percent of respondents, the only tax option favored by at least half of respondents. Less than 20 percent favored increased co-pays and deductibles, rationing care, eliminating Medicare Advantage plans and decreasing home care reimbursement.
Does anyone really think that this will all be done by the August recess? As usual, the strategy is to push something through the House, something through the Senate, and the real bill be decided behind closed doors in conference committee. It worked with the so-called “stimulus” bill. But reading the quotes coming out of the Senate, a lot of people, on both sides of the isle are uneasy with this time frame. Each day gets more interesting, and not in a good way.
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
