my last words on health care

It has now been a day since the 11th hour promise by President Obama to issue an executive order restricting the use of funds on abortions (an odd maneuver that both pro- and anti-abortion proponents agree will do nothing) tilted seven embattled Democratic Congressmen to vote in favor of a radical intervention of the federal government in health care. Obviously, if you read this blog at all, you know what I think about this bill and its cost/benefit ratio.

However, what’s done is done. Unless the frantic, last-ditch effort of some state’s attorney generals gain any traction, America will see what happens when you give power to people, full of promises, who believe at a fundamental level that they can care for you better that you can. I don’t mean that to sound as crass as it may sound, but that is the rub. ‘Yes, we can!’ wasn’t speaking of a ‘we’ that involved us, it was a ‘we’ that involved a particular inner circle of folks who trust their own intelligence, morality and discernment enough to believe that they are capable of decreeing what is best for America, regardless of what Americans ask of them.

So, how does one move on, after such a display of myopic disregard by our own leaders? Let me suggest a few things: read more

the Senate bill

Here are 2 important numbers from the Senate attempt at health care “reform”.

- $848 billion – price tag (estimated).  Might I remind you that our lawmakers NEVER underestimate!

- 11% – the increase in the percentage of the US population that will be insured as a result of this bill. (The CBO says 94% of Americans, not including undocumented Americans, will end up being insured. Currently, without this bill, the CBO says 83% of documented Americans are insured.)

Also to note, the Senate is touting this bill as a deficit-reducer. As Obama says, “Let me be clear”…if this bill does reduce the deficit it is obviously NOT by decreased spending. There are a handful of new taxes that fund this bill…with a little extra (again, only if the cost doesn’t rise, which it will).

things you should know…

about the health care bill the House just passed.

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a “qualified plan” covers and how much you’ll be legally required to pay for it. That’s like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.

• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.

• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients. (Scary!)

• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what’s called a “medical home.” read more

bioethics 101

(Sorry to keep harping on health care, but as I read more about this bill and the effects it will have, I want to make sure we realize some things about bioethics: namely, its connection to theology and also some of the ramifications of federally mandated decisions that are run through someone’s ‘bioethical grid’.)

Here is a New York Times article talking about the relatively new way bioethicists are being involved in ‘main stream’ America. The thing is, this article was written in 2001 (when cloning and stem cell research where the hot topics). The field of bioethics will have a whole new audience, if the government truly authorizes itself to make health care decisions for the masses.

health care reform

(excerpts of an article by Dr. David Stephens, a missionary doctor here in Kenya.)

First of all though, let me say I am for reform. Health costs are going through the roof! We are spending over 16% of the GDP so that one-in-six dollars spent goes to cover medical expenses. Annual health care inflation is up to five times the general inflation rate. We spend 50% more than the next industrialized country spends per capita and are not overall healthier. Bottom line, cost has to be controlled. We can’t sustain the present course. This is the most important issue in health care reform.

The battle cry in this war is the uninsured, but this is not the main issue that we should focus on. There are only about 13 million people in the US who are not illegal aliens and who do not have insurance for a whole year. The 40-50 million you hear bantered around includes illegal aliens and all those that do not have insurance for any part of a year. What’s more, any person can go to an emergency room to get health care in the US and they cannot be turned away for lack of payment. Not ideal and not cost effective but very few Americans die because they can’t get health care intervention. Access is important but it is not the most critical concern. read more

Fact-Checking the President on Health Insurance

Both sides in this debate are using scare tactics, preventing a productive debate. The reason I am against this bill is the same reason I was against the bailout that Bush pushed through and then Obama added more to: whenever our government tries to scare us into doing something, it is quite likely that they realize the strength of their argument on its own will not stand. This was the case with the bailouts and this is the case with health care. Is our system, in its present form, flawless? NO. Is it completely flawed and ineffective? NO. Will the government’s plan to take control make it better? No.

…If existing laws and litigation governing rescission are inadequate, there clearly are a variety of ways that the states or federal government could target abuses without adopting the president’s agenda for federal control of health insurance, or the creation of a government health insurer.

Full article: Fact-Checking the President on Health Insurance – WSJ.com