The Friday Funny: The Healthcare Reform Mess
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Will Healthcare Reform Mandates Punish The Poor?
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*
Hidden Costs In The Healthcare Reform Bills: How To Fake Budget Neutrality
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*
ABC News Covers Better Health’s “Putting Patients First” Event At The National Press Club
I had the chance to discuss the event with local ABC anchor, Dave Lucas. We talked about the folly of rushing through a healthcare bill without reading it first… among other things.
Health Care Reform: Decisions Made Behind Closed Doors
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*
