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Title: Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan
Source:
bloomberg
URL Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? ... ist_mccaughey&sid=aLzfDxfbwhzs
Published: Feb 10, 2009
Author: Commentary by Betsy McCaughey
Post Date: 2009-02-10 07:25:39 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 755
Comments: 39
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.
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Explain yourself. You voted for this guy and now he has gone and done this.
Given their stewardship, seems to me that their "questions" are a little late. They had their chance to question what it was that they themsleves were doing. They failed...
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
In other words, "Hey sicko, just go ahead and die already!!" Sheeesh...putting the RATS in charge of your health care is a nightmare...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, The GOP wants to altogether eliminate Medicare. Obama proposes some cuts to coverage and he's the evil one?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Daschle is another Heinrich Himmler and should be treated accordingly.
Patriot City, home of Coral Snake's Bites of the Week
You and I both know Medicare ain't going anywhere, but putting the Federal Leviathan even more in charge of our medical system in America is most definitely a nightmare. As more and more folks are exposed to the KRAP they'll be dealing with regarding Socialized Medicine, it's gonna cost RATS at the ballot box, imho...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, Actually, it sounds as if it going to be less involved...i.e. going from "Give the 99 year old guy a new heart valve" versus..."wait a minute here..."
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Heh heh heh...if that we true, I'd be supporting it. But it ain't (and you know it, too), so I'll continue to stand up against it...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, So you support bureaucrats deciding your health care. Are you a commie by any chance?
They already do...does it matter if it's public or private?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Do they still exist?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
China, Cuba, Venezuela. Others go by the socialist label now.
I have strong ties to Canada and know literally dozens of people who have vacationed there. They all claim that the only repression there is political. Free enterprise is found everywhere.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
I am sure it is a lovely place to visit. I wouldn't mind sitting on their beaches chilling in the sun. But Obamas plan still sucks.
Also know people from The Street who Summer ski there...love it... China? Chinese corporations are are biggest competitors. What gets missed in this dynamic is a) that the US has the largest publically finded health care system in the world and b) it ain't going away.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
If it gets us closer to means testing SS I am all for it... No lie...I know of more than 1 senior couple who bank their SS under trust accounts for their grandchildren. They don't even need it.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
So what. They paid into it. They should get rid of socialist security. It is a ponzi scheme. Makes Maddock look like someone who stole someones reces cup.
"They already do...does it matter if it's public or private?" Of course it does...with a private health care system, you always have the choice of changing your coverage and buying from another company. Once the Feds take over, it's one-size-fits-all and if you don't like it, you gotta lump it and/or just die!! I thought you Lefties favored "choice"...but not if you can get the bureaucRATS in charge of everything, right? Sheeesh...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, And are being paid out at what rate of return?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Ha... HA Ha... HA HA Ha...
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Sorry, I forgot you were already on Medicaid...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, We all are. If you had a paycheck I'd tell you to look at it. What makes you believe that once you've been turned down for a treatment by a private provider that another private provider is going to GRANT you that treatment?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
I do agree that people shouldn't be excluded for pre existing conditions. Except maybe if you are a fag and you got yourself aids. No sense to stick the tax payers with that bill because you stuck something where you ought not to have.
Your "great messiah" Barack Obama is a DUFFLE-HEAD. In case you dont know what that means it means a WICKED person of limited intellegence but who puts on intellectual pretentions but whose only successes in life consist of inventing self punishment machines.
I'm agnostic so I don't have a messiah or a Messiah for that matter and anyone is a 100 step up in IQ points over the combined scores of Bobo and The Evil Dick.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
That's laughable, dude, you are such an Obamabot I'll bet you even support this obamanation of a Porkulus Bill, don't you? Anybody who works for a living oughtta be hunting down their RAT Senators for a good tar-and-feathering...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, The time to be hunting for a new health insurance provider is NOT once you've got a pre-existing condition. If that were so, why would ANYBODY carry health insurance? Just wait until you are sick, then sign up for coverage!! Sheeesh...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, war: "I have strong ties to Canada and know literally dozens of people who have vacationed there. They all claim that the only repression there is political. Free enterprise is found everywhere." AKA Stone: "I am sure it is a lovely place to visit. I wouldn't mind sitting on their beaches chilling in the sun. But Obamas plan still sucks." Hello stone, war, hope the both of you are doing ok. I posted this (below) at LP after doing some research on the Health Care provision was slipped into the Stimulus Bill, thought I'd share it, hope you don't mind. Obama's Dangerous Healthcare Stimulus Plan Explained (my title) (Arlen Specter;Traitor Video) Betsy McCaughey; former lieutenant governor of New York (emphasis mine) Senators should (have) read these provisions and voted 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 (Tom) 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 (Tom) 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 (was) 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.)
What's laughable is you having the nerve to cast aspersions at anyone given how publically you licked that stinky Boosh for all those years...
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
I am 5x5 hope you are as well.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Then why did you suggest that someone turned down from medicaid should seek such coversage?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Because what we are talking about is not simply Medicade. It is a sneaked in NATIONAL HEALTH CARE RATION SCHEME and probable GENOCIDE you duffle-head!!!
And rationing how much the government spends and on what is bad..........why?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
Because they will let people die to save a buck.
And that separates them from private insurance how?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need... The private companies can be sued. The private companies aren't stealing money like the government does. What problem do you have with people keeping the money the earn?
I have no problem with it. How do you propsoe to pay for roads, national defense, our trade structure etc etc etc?
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
How do you propsoe to pay for roads, national defense, our trade structure etc etc etc? Excise taxes. Gas tax for the roads. Trade should be private. The people are the national defense. Afghanistan proved that. We are fighting a losing battle there against innocent peasants.
We've got the geographic location correct but not the targets.
No Stems No Seeds That You Don't Need...
#2. To: A K A Stone (#0)
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.
#3. To: A K A Stone (#1)
"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."
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#4. To: Mudboy Slim (#3)
#5. To: A K A Stone (#0)
#6. To: war (#4)
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#7. To: Mudboy Slim (#6)
#8. To: war (#7)
"Actually, it sounds as if it going to be less involved..."
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#9. To: war (#7)
Actually, it sounds as if it going to be less involved...i.e. going from "Give the 99 year old guy a new heart valve" versus..."wait a minute here..."
#10. To: A K A Stone (#9)
So you support bureaucrats deciding your health care.
#11. To: A K A Stone (#9)
Are you a commie by any chance?
#12. To: war (#11)
Do they still exist?
#13. To: A K A Stone (#12)
Cuba
#14. To: war (#13)
I have strong ties to Canada and know literally dozens of people who have vacationed there. They all claim that the only repression there is political. Free enterprise is found everywhere.
#15. To: A K A Stone (#12)
Venezuela
#16. To: A K A Stone (#14)
#17. To: war (#16)
No lie...I know of more than 1 senior couple who bank their SS under trust accounts for their grandchildren. They don't even need it.
#18. To: war (#10)
"So you support bureaucrats deciding your health care."
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#19. To: A K A Stone (#17)
So what. They paid into it.
#20. To: Mudboy Slim (#18)
Of course it does...with a private health care system, you always have the choice of changing your coverage and buying from another company
#21. To: war (#20)
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#22. To: Mudboy Slim (#21)
Sorry, I forgot you were already on Medicaid...MUD
#23. To: war (#22)
What makes you believe that once you've been turned down for a treatment by a private provider that another private provider is going to GRANT you that treatment?
#24. To: war (#4)
Oh what a DUFFLE-HEAD that Barack Obama is !!! Duffle-Head (As used in a Felix the Cat cartoon) A wicked person of limited intelegence but with pretenses of intelectual grandeur. Their only successful endevors are usually the invention of self punishment machines.
#25. To: Coral Snake (#24)
#26. To: war (#25)
"I'm agnostic so I don't have a messiah..."
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#27. To: war, A K A Stone (#22)
"What makes you believe that once you've been turned down for a treatment by a private provider that another private provider is going to GRANT you that treatment?"
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#28. To: A K A Stone, war (#14)
#29. To: Mudboy Slim (#26)
That's laughable
#30. To: Murron (#28)
Hello stone, war, hope the both of you are doing ok.
#31. To: Mudboy Slim (#27)
The time to be hunting for a new health insurance provider is NOT once you've got a pre-existing condition.
#32. To: war (#31)
(Edited)
Oh what a DUFFLE-HEAD that Barack Obama is !!! Duffle-Head (As used in a Felix the Cat cartoon) A wicked person of limited intelegence but with pretenses of intelectual grandeur. Their only successful endevors are usually the invention of self punishment machines.
#33. To: Coral Snake (#32)
Because what we are talking about is not simply Medicade. It is a sneaked in NATIONAL HEALTH CARE RATION SCHEME
#34. To: war (#33)
And rationing how much the government spends and on what is bad..........why?
#35. To: A K A Stone (#34)
#36. To: war (#35)
And that separates them from private insurance how?
#37. To: A K A Stone (#36)
What problem do you have with people keeping the money the earn?
#38. To: war (#37)
I have no problem with it.
#39. To: A K A Stone (#38)
We are fighting a losing battle there against innocent peasants.
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