Mr. President, What Is the Rush???

Obama Could Learn a Thing or Two About Health Care Reform from Massachusetts.  One, time is not the enemy.  Two, neither are the Republicans

 

Because of President Obama's frantic approach, health care has run off the rails. For the sake of 47 million uninsured Americans, we need to get it back on track.

(Now insured: Francisco Diaz of Boston consults with nurse practitioner Anna Hackett Peterson./Josh T. Reynolds for USA TODAY; Mitt Romney./AP)

Health care cannot be handled the same way as the stimulus and cap-and-trade bills. With those, the president stuck to the old style of lawmaking: He threw in every special favor imaginable, ground it up and crammed it through a partisan Democratic Congress. Health care is simply too important to the economy, to employment and to America's families to be larded up and rushed through on an artificial deadline. There's a better way. And the lessons we learned in Massachusetts could help Washington find it.

No other state has made as much progress in covering their uninsured as Massachusetts. The bill that made it happen wasn't a rush job. Shortly after becoming governor, I worked in a bipartisan fashion with Democrats to insure all our citizens. It took almost two years to find a solution. When we did, it passed the 200-member legislature with only two dissenting votes. It had the support of the business community, the hospital sector and insurers. For health care reform to succeed in Washington, the president must finally do what he promised during the campaign: Work with Republicans as well as Democrats.

Massachusetts also proved that you don't need government insurance. Our citizens purchase private, free-market medical insurance. There is no "public option." With more than 1,300 health insurance companies, a federal government insurance company isn't necessary. It would inevitably lead to massive taxpayer subsidies, to lobbyist-inspired coverage mandates and to the liberals' dream: a European-style single-payer system. To find common ground with skeptical Republicans and conservative Democrats, the president will have to jettison left-wing ideology for practicality and dump the public option.

The cost issue

Our experience also demonstrates that getting every citizen insured doesn't have to break the bank. First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. This doesn't cost the government a single dollar. Second, we helped pay for our new program by ending an old one — something government should do more often. The federal government sends an estimated $42 billion to hospitals that care for the poor: Use those funds instead to help the poor buy private insurance, as we did.

When our bill passed three years ago, the legislature projected that our program would cost $725 million in 2009. At $723 million, next year's forecast is pretty much on target. When you calculate all the savings, including that from the free hospital care we eliminated, the net cost to the state is approximately $350 million. The watchdog Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation concluded that our program's cost is "relatively modest" and "well within initial projections."

And if subsidies and coverages are reined in, as I've suggested, the Massachusetts program could actually break even. One thing is certain: The president must insist on a program that doesn't add to our spending burden. We simply cannot afford another trillion-dollar mistake.

The Massachusetts reform aimed at getting virtually all our citizens insured. In that, it worked: 98% of our citizens are insured, 440,000 previously uninsured are covered and almost half of those purchased insurance on their own, with no subsidy. But overall, health care inflation has continued its relentless rise. Here is where the federal government can do something we could not: Take steps to stop or slow medical inflation.

At the core of our health cost problem is an incentive problem. Patients don't care what treatments cost once they pass the deductible. And providers are paid more when they do more; they are paid for quantity, not quality. We will tame runaway costs only when we change incentives. We might do what some countries have done: Require patients to pay a portion of their bill, except for certain conditions. And providers could be paid an annual fixed fee for the primary care of an individual and a separate fixed fee for the treatment of a specific condition. These approaches have far more promise than the usual bromides of electronic medical records, transparency and pay-for-performance, helpful though they will be.

Try a business-like analysis

I spent most of my career in the private sector. When well-managed businesses considered a major change of some kind, they engaged in extensive analysis, brought in outside experts, exhaustively evaluated every alternative, built consensus among those who would be affected and then moved ahead. Health care is many times bigger than all the companies in the Dow Jones combined. And the president is rushing changes that dwarf what any business I know has faced.

Republicans are not the party of "no" when it comes to health care reform. This Republican is proud to be the first governor to insure all his state's citizens. Other Republicans such as Rep. Paul Ryan and Sens. Bob Bennett and John McCain, among others, have proposed their own plans. Republicans will join with the Democrats if the president abandons his government insurance plan, if he endeavors to craft a plan that does not burden the nation with greater debt, if he broadens his scope to reduce health costs for all Americans, and if he is willing to devote the rigorous effort, requisite time and bipartisan process that health care reform deserves.

By Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.

 

The Massachusetts plan

• Everyone must buy health insurance or face tax penalties.

• Hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on free hospital care were converted into subsidies to help the needy buy insurance.

• A health insurance "exchange" was established to help connect the uninsured with private health plans at more affordable rates.

• Health plans can offer consumers higher deductibles and more restrictive physician and hospital networks in order to lower costs.

• Businesses with 11 or more workers that do not offer insurance must pay a $295 per employee fee.

Source: Massachusetts Health Connector Authority

No rationing

No public option

No cuts to seniors or duty to die lectures

Posted at 12:16 AM/ET, July 30, 2009 – True Health is True Wealth

Government’s Big Behavioral Science Experiment

Government's Big Behavioral Science Experiment - Glenn Beck -

FNC - Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," July 30, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Hey, for all you lab geeks out there, you're going to be excited to know that the government is gearing up to conduct one of the biggest scientific experiments ever and you get to be a part of it.

It's called H.R. 3247. It's a bill proposed by Congressman Brian Baird.

It seeks to, and I quote: "Establish social and behavioral science research programs. They would seek to identify and understand social and behavioral factors that influence energy consumption, to promote the utilization of the results of social and behavioral research to improve the design, development and demonstration and application of energy technologies policies and programs."

Oh, this is fantastic. Remember the book "1984"? Sure. It's nothing like that. Really, this is completely different.

There'll also be a director of social and behavioral research. Oh man, I doubt if it will be, you know, like anybody with crazy beliefs, you know, like every other "czar." This one is going to be totally just like you.

• Video: Watch Beck's interview

They're going to study us and find ways to essentially trick us into driving crappy hybrids and I bet that's just the beginning. As Time magazine summarized on April 2: "The president — President Obama is still relying on behavioral science. But now, his administration is using it to try to transform the country" — they didn't say this like it was a bad thing, either — "because when you know what makes people tick, it's a lot easier to help them change."

Well, that doesn't sound creepy at all. It doesn't.

And interestingly enough, it doesn't sound very American, either. But what is that now that we're in a global community? When has that ever stopped Barack Obama before? I mean, hey, if it's for the betterment of the collective — you know what I'm saying?

Joining me now is Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California.

Congressman, you were one of the guys that were actually, really fighting against this bill yesterday. What — what in Crazy Town — AKA Washington — is going on?

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF.: Well, this exemplifies something that has been happening underneath the surface. Rarely do you get someone as honest as Brian Baird and as sincere as he is, explaining the real purpose behind his bill, which is behavior modification.

So, he wants to set up a behavior modification "czar" at the Department of Energy. You know, we Republicans feel government is supposed to be controlled by the people, and obviously, the frame of mind that comes from this bill is: The government should control the people.

BECK: Well, I'm just thinking, gosh, Congressman, some might say this sounds like — oh, I don't know — propaganda.

ROHRABACHER: Well, that is exactly what they intend and, actually, I think the word was used in the debate. They believe that people just aren't doing the right things, because they're not making choices that these liberal leftists want them to make, and thus, there must be something wrong with them.

BECK: Sure.

ROHRABACHER: Let's psychoanalyze them.

BECK: They're insane.

ROHRABACHER: And, this is — this is as arrogant as it comes. And I will tell you, and Brian is a very nice guy, he is well intended, but you know what the people who put us on the road with all good intentions, they can put us on the road to you know where.

BECK: I'm going to say it — hell or Moscow.

ROHRABACHER: That's right.

BECK: One of the two.

Help me out with this one. This is what Representative Baird said —
he said: "We are not only going to unleash psychiatrists on you, it's going to be anthropologists and economists and psychologists. This is vicious, freedom-grabbing mind control at its most pernicious. And I think we should desperately hide in fear, because without a doubt, the Martians and the communists are right behind."

He was mocking anyone who had a problem with a behavioral research czar and propaganda — mocking.

ROHRABACHER: That's right. Well, the trouble with this debate was
— and by the way, it was passed by party-line vote: All of the Democrats voted for it; all the Republicans voted against it. But you can't tell when they're being facetious or not.

You heard some people there making arguments that, "We have to tell our children whether or not to turn the lights on and off." Well, you know, we — our retort was, you don't treat the American people like children. Children shouldn't have all the rights and make independent decisions. But adults in this country don't deserve to be sent to a psychiatrist if they disagree with some little liberal guru.

BECK: OK. Thank you very much, Congressman. You keep up the good fight.

Content and Programming Copyright 2009 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and CQ Transcriptions, LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.

POSTED BY ASK MARION – True Health Is True Wealth

How video games can combat Alzheimer's

Video games have long been one of my pet peeves. I think they've made a generation of our kids fat, dumb, and lazy at best -- and violent and suicidal at worse. But while raising kids on video games is likely a road to ruin, there are some researchers who believe that these games could help the elderly stave off some of the degenerative effects of aging on the brain.

I'm not about to advise senior citizens to run out and buy an Xbox. However, I like to keep an open mind about these things. After all, my problems with video games stem from the fact that they turn teens into zombies. But North Carolina State psychologists Jason Allaire and Anne McLaughlin are investigating the idea that many of the brain skills used in video games, such as memory and problem solving, can help slow cognitive decline.

The video games we're talking about here are not the gory, blood-spattered kill fests that I've bashed in the past. Some games are specifically designed as workouts for the brain, such as the "Brain Age" series for the handheld Nintendo DS. This game puts players through a series of brainteasers, math problems, and fast-decision games like rock, paper, scissors.

The primary purpose of games like Brain Age, though, is entertainment (and sales). There's little scientific or clinical evidence that the games have a positive impact on the health of a player's mind. McLaughlin and Allaire have just received a $1.2 million grant to conduct a four-year study to find out more.

The researchers' plan is to get nearly 300 seniors to play the Nintendo Wii game "Boom Blox," the goal of which is to smash video targets like castles with a series of weapons, including cannons and slingshots. This game was chosen because it makes players use "real world" skills like memory, multitasking, and reason.

McLaughlin says that her research aims "to produce guidelines for producing games for older adults... Part of it is making it fun so it does not feel like work."

I'm sure that the National Science Foundation, which funded McLaughlin and Allaire's four-year study, will be happy to hear that the team is spending their grant money to do product research for Nintendo!

There's certainly merit to giving your brain a workout in order to keep it sharp. But it's hard not to be skeptical about some of the amazingly far-reaching goals and theories of some of this research. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has given $8.5 million to examine how video games can help sharpen seniors' driving skills -- and to see if they can help to ward off Alzheimer's disease.
Seems like a stretch to me.

While these studies are just starting to become popular and the results are years off, Stern says that he thinks "it's silly for someone run out, buy a game with the hope that it is going to help them age better... there is no proof that it is going to be effective."

I tend to agree. But while researchers grasp at straws for scientific proof of the benefits of video games, there's one completely unscientific upside that has come to light -- they can be a great social activity. Nintendo Wii bowling leagues have popped up in senior homes all over the country. The game controller is motion sensitive, and many seniors have come to enjoy the light exercise and camaraderie that comes with playing the game.

As a tool for smashing the loneliness that sometimes accompanies aging, it's hard not to give video games a nod of approval.

Source:  Daily Dose

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

Senate Conservatives Update

Co-ops = Public Option = Single Payer

Knowing that Americans would reject the idea of a "single payer" government health care system, Democrats began calling their plan a "public option." Now that Americans have rejected that idea too, Democrats are peddling another proposal called health care "cooperatives."

Unfortunately, these federally-backed co-ops are nothing more than a public option by another name. Washington will set up and subsidize them so private health plans are squeezed out of the marketplace. Then, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the costs will catch up with these government-sponsored entities and Congress will tell us they are "too big to fail" and must be nationalized.

Some Democrats are willing to admit that co-ops are the same as a public option. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said earlier this month that, "We're going to have some type of public option, call it 'co-op,' call it what you want."

Some Democrats are also willing to admit that the public option is the same as a single payer system. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA)

said this week that, "I think if we get a good public option it could lead to single payer, and that's the best way to reach single payer."
It's becoming clear that no matter what name Democrats put on it, all of their ideas lead to a government takeover of our health care.

Join the Recess Rally

At noon on Saturday, August 22, 2009, citizen rallies will take place outside congressional offices across the country. If you would like to participate, click

here to find your Congressman's local office and get more information.

The latest government bailout

This week, the Senate moved beyond bailing out industries that it has driven into the ground to bailing out its own programs that it has failed to manage.

Proving once again that the federal government is incapable of managing the federal highway system, the Senate passed $7 billion to shore up the failing program. The bill also provides $7.5 billion to bail out the failing unemployment insurance program and $185 billion to bail out several government-managed home-ownership programs.

Only 17 Republicans had the courage to vote against this rip-off. Click

here to see how your Senators voted.

Question: If the government cannot manage these programs, what makes anyone think it can manage our health care?

Who Will Tell Michael J. Fox He Needs to Die?

"If they would rather die they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." -- Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol

Should Michael J. Fox be put to death?

Celebrities and death. Now there's a potent cocktail.

Several parts fame, a few jiggers of Hollywood and a splash each for sports, business and journalism. Did I mention politics and government bureaucracy? Sorry. Without that essential element the mixture has no wallop. And a wallop this concoction surely will have, particularly if you believe actor Michael J. Fox has overstayed his welcome on the planet.

Let's pour the dry ingredients of politics and government bureaucracy into the pitcher first, beginning with the politics of death and dying.

Laws in America come into being because someone somewhere saw a problem, devised a would-be answer and then persuaded politicians to pass the law based on the philosophy and politics one group or another saw as underlying that answer. Need revenue? Raise taxes. Global warming? Shut down the coal plants. Dopey kids? Pay more to teachers. Everyone knows how this works.

So what is the driving philosophy underpinning the Obama health care plans for all of us? Let's begin with a few short quotes and one definition that outlines the idea succinctly.

• President Obama; "There is a whole bunch of care that's being provided that every study, every bit of evidence that we have indicates may not be making us healthier."

• Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University: "Life as a whole has no meaning. Life began, as the best available theories tell us, in a chance combination of gasses; it then evolved through random mutation and natural selection. All this just happened; it did not happen to any overall purpose."

• America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 as introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.3200) by Congressmen Dingell, Waxman, Rangel, Stark and others: "The Secretary shall establish within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research…with respect to the outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of health care services and procedures."

• QALY: Quality-Adjusted Life Year. A formula devised by left-wing policy wonks that purports, as David Catron has so ably illuminated on these pages, to measure the worth of your life by assigning a numerical value to each year of your existence. In Catron's words: "A year of perfect health, for example, is given a value of 1.0 while a year of sub-optimum health is rated between 0 and 1. If you are confined to a wheelchair, a year of your life might be valued at half that of your ambulatory neighbor. If you are blind or deaf, you also score low. All that remains is to assign a specific dollar value to the QALY and, voilà, your life has a price tag."

This is all a bit dry to the taste, isn't it? QALY, Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research, HR 3200. Blah blah blah. Let's add the fizz to this baby.

So. Who will tell Michael J. Fox he needs to die?

Which health care mouse out there will have the guts to bell the cat who is one of the most famous Parkinson's Disease sufferers in America? Who is going to tell him that the treatments that are associated with Parkinson's -- drugs like Sinemet, Symmetrel, Eldepryl, Parlodel, Permax, Mirapex, Requip, and surgery with the quaint name "deep brain stimulation" -- are just no longer possible for Fox because, well, Mike, your QALY just isn't up to snuff, babe. You have Parkinson's. You boozed (according to you). As a result, the government has decided treatment for you, Mike, lacks "appropriateness." The "outcome and effectiveness" of treating you -- which is to say the worth of your 47-year old life -- just isn't worth it for the rest of us.

Sorry Mike. Say Goodbye to Hollywood. Close your Parkinson's Foundation (waste of scarce resources, to wax Singeresque). Just go home to the wife and kids, cut off these expensive meds and please die. Quietly. And for heaven's sake, get yourself buried in private. We don't want any of this Michael Jackson type-hoopla disrupting our favorite programs. We have lives to get on with.

A bit harsh?

Heck, we haven't begun to shake this cocktail. There's more to mix.

You see, the philosophy behind ObamaCare, as promoted just a week ago in the New York Times Sunday Magazine by Professor Singer, is the hard cold necessity Obama sees for government to ration health care for people like, well, Michael J. Fox. As Mr. Singer says: "Health care is a scarce resource, and all scarce resources are rationed in one way or another." And quite obviously, with Mike Fox's QALY being what it is (and Singer is a big proponent of using QALY to judge the worth of a life), the time to cut his treatment off was... yesterday. Actually, a lot of yesterdays ago.

This is what President Obama believes when he says "there's a whole bunch of care" that someone -- this would be the government -- will have to decide not to employ in treating someone like Mike Fox. What about the idea that Michael J. Fox -- not to mention his wife and children, extended family and friends who might actually love the little lug -- think Mike's spirit should count for something here? After all, he did an entire documentary on The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. In the President's words: "I don't think that we can make judgments based on peoples' spirit. That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules...."

Right. Rules. Got it. Government rules. Which is another way of saying decisions on Mike Fox's life will, if Obama and company get their way, be resting in the hands of this whiz bang group of policy wonks and bureaucrats called the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Located, but of course, within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Where the Rule of QALY will reign. Did I leave out that this will all be established by The Secretary?

Let's get rid of the bureaucratese here and just call this agency what it really is: The U.S. Bureau of Death (or "BOD" in the acronym form loved by bureaucrats everywhere).

Now let's toss in all the rest of this cocktail's ingredients and give it a shake. Take a real, deep drink.

So. Whose bod in Hollywood will BOD be coming for? Who in celebrity land -- and here we can add in journalism, sports and business -- will be on the BOD Squad's hit list when the information is received that well, sadly, like poor old Michael J. Fox, their QALY just doesn't make the grade? Let's take a look into this perilously close future for all of us as the BOD Squad makes its rounds.

Elizabeth Taylor. La Liz. Born in 1932, her age alone raises the appropriateness question She's had more health problems than husbands, as one BOD Squad staffer apparently scribbled on a report. Are you kidding? The Secretary of the Department (known internally as the SOD BOD) was furious to see what the American people had been putting up with from this woman: Congestive heart failure, a benign brain tumor, skin cancer, a back five-times broken, both hips replaced, bouts with pneumonia, osteoporosis and scoliosis. In the succinct observation on her leaked file: "Toast." Say hello to Jacko.

David Letterman: A quintuple bypass was given to Dave. That was under the old pre-Obama system and it won't be allowed again. Dave's QALY is nowhere near that of a healthy teenager who might have a case of pneumonia that is cheaper to treat and not likely to recur. Former Governor Palin's last official act as Governor of Alaska was to file an addendum to Dave's file at BOD Squad HQ. To be officially classified a "dirty old man" takes 10 points off anyone's QALY.

Patrick Swayze: As this is written, the National Enquirer is on the stands proclaiming this famous cancer victim has had a heart attack. According to news accounts, Swayze has been undergoing "pioneering Cyberknife radiotherapy at California's Stanford University Medical Centre." Cool. But alas this kind of thing doesn't meet the BOD Squad standards for appropriate or effective treatment. Loved you, Patrick, but the government says you have to go. Worse, you wasted a lot of people's resources with all this dancing around that you were going to fight on. Shameful.

Magic Johnson: Eighteen years ago, the legendary Los Angeles Lakers star had to quit because he contracted the AIDS virus. He is still here, healthy and active at 50. The problem: every day Magic has to swill a "multidrug cocktail" of GlaxoSmithKline's Trizivir and Abbott's Kaletra to keep himself healthy. Let's face it, if you're a BOD Squad staffer eighteen years ago looking at the paperwork from Mr. Johnson, you will believe that if his primary activity in life was professional basketball -- and he has had to quit because he has AIDS -- well, no more magic for Magic. The Glaxo cocktail will go elsewhere.

Larry King: CNN's talk star suffered a heart attack in 1987 and had quintuple bypass surgery. In signs of just what a racket this Hollywood-Big Surgery connection is, Larry and Dave Letterman had the same surgeon. I guess that's one Doc who can retire, huh? Sounds like one of those thieving tonsil doctors the President gripes about. Larry's father had died at 44 of a heart attack, and Larry was a smoker. Gee, you think this QALY is gonna be wearing brassy suspenders? Ole Lar was supposedly so shocked by his experience that he has written not one but two books on the subject. Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life and Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too. As with Michael J. Fox, King too set up a foundation based on his illness, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Alas, this kind of thing can now easily be deemed irrelevant if not a stealer-of-resources by the BOD Squad. Who cares if Larry has a Foundation? Do we really need more heart attack books? Sorry Larry, if the BOD Squad had been here in 1987, you wouldn't be. Memo to Mrs. King: Stop sending Larry's daily QALY updates to the SODBOD.

Regis Philbin: Regis had a triple-bypass at 75 years of age, after having an angioplasty fourteen years earlier. Seventy-five? Whoa! There's no QALY statistic in the world that will say these resources were better used on Regis than on some 21-year-old. Regis, buddy. What were you trying to pull? The BOD Squad almost had a coronary when they saw this. Sorry. But if ObamaCare were here, you'd be chatting with your friends Dave and Larry somewhere not on the planet. Or maybe nowhere at all, as Professor Singer says life is meaningless anyway.

David Hasselhoff: News reports out there say the ex-Baywatch star and current judge on America's Got Talent was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center back in May, yet again undone by a battle with the bottle. The Hoff's alcohol level registered at .39, more than four times the legal limit in California. Alcohol poisoning, yet again, came close to doing him in, say the stories, this one in Radar Online.com. This, says the always juicy quote from a Hollywood source, "is about the 7th time he's been taken to a hospital over the last few years with alcohol poisoning. How many visits will it take before he dies?" Well, considering the BOD Squad has that video of a while back taken by the Hoff's daughter, which displayed the star's agonizing battle in disturbing detail, the answer is: not long. Sadly, the Hoff just drank himself into a seriously bad QALY. Sorry to say, the bottom of the bottle has at last been reached. America will be one talent less.

Joan Rivers: Can we talk? A dozen plastic surgeries? A dozen…meaning twelve? Joan, sweetheart, America can't grow plastic fast enough to do this. You're surely in violation of a good dozen environmental laws before we even get to the health care issues. Multiple facelifts? OMG! That's before or after the "brow lift, botox, soft tissue fillers, jaw implants, multiple nose jobs, veneers, blepharoplasty (eye work), liposuction, cheek implants, breast implants" catalogued on FamousPlastic? Honey, the BOD Squad has a memorandum from the EPA and determined that you can't be buried, burned or dumped with all this stuff inside you. Please have your lawyer file an "Extinction and Burial Application Form 1A." Immediately.

And now, one last report. Perhaps the most interesting in the celebrity death struggle with ObamaCare.

Steve Jobs: A liver transplant for the creator of Apple? Well, well, well. Now this celebrity death struggle is particularly interesting. Why? Because Mr. Jobs had his transplant only three months ago, just as the ObamaCare toxin was seeping into the political atmosphere. This has already resulted in news stories speculating that the secrecy of the operation, the fact that Jobs traveled unannounced and unknown to Tennessee to have it, means that Jobs was, in the words of an actual news report, "gaming the system." How? The wait-time for a liver in Tennessee is about 48 days, on average. The United Network for Organ Sharing says the national wait time is 306 days. In other words, before the BOD Squad legislation has even passed Congress, one prominent American celebrity is under fire for "gaming the system" when it comes to transplants. Another couple of months and Mr. Jobs would have been either dead because of instructions on his QALY or brought up on charges for getting around "the rules." There will be penalties for trying to save your life, right?

Gaming the system. An interesting concept. You mean government rules can be manipulated? Nooooooo! Really?

Perhaps you've heard of a federal agency called the IRS? Like the soon-to-be bureaucrats at the BOD Squad, the Internal Revenue Service is in theory designed to be a "just-the-facts" kind of agency. And yet….hmmm.

In 1952, a controversial Senator from California named Richard Nixon found his tax returns leaked from the Truman-run IRS to a virulently anti-Nixon columnist named Drew Pearson. (In those days, candidates did not release their tax returns as they frequently do today.) In 1963, a few months after Nixon lost a humiliating race for governor of California, his political life was presumed by all seers of the day as dead. Yet low and behold, private citizen Nixon found himself subject to a lengthy and exhaustive audit by the IRS. Years later, the IRS supervisor of the case admitted that, well, his Washington superiors in the Kennedy administration had ordered him three times to re-open the original audit and try and get Nixon for tax evasion.

Thus, when Nixon became president at last, he tells us he was so furious at his treatment by the IRS when in the hands of Democrats that he personally and repeatedly "urged Haldeman and Ehrlichman [the Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod of the day] to have IRS checks made on [1972 Democratic nominee] McGovern's key staff and contributors."

In other words, power can be abused. In a blink. You think David Letterman is sorry now for the things he said about Sarah Palin's daughter? Wait 'til ole Dave discovers he has a recurrence of heart problems down the road and appeals for a little Obama-esque empathy from the BOD Squad -- and the response he receives telling him to go pound sand and die is coming from an appointed bureaucrat of President Palin's. FYI to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright: Watch your QALY, brother.

Or imagine the current kerfuffle with Harvard's Professor Henry Gates and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley. Let's change the story a bit. Instead of Crowley being a policeman, let's make him Dr. James Crowley, a member of the BOD Squad. He and his fellow bureaucrats have told the sick Professor Gates that, gee, sorry. Your QALY just isn't that good. Please file an Extinction Application. To which Professor Gates snaps off from his hospital bed exactly the same reply he gave to Sergeant Crowley in his house: "Why…because I'm a black man in America?"

What's the racial composition of the BOD Squad? How many Wise Latinas are there to decide on the worth of a brown-skinned life over the worth of a white-skinned life? Have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson gotten wind of this yet? If civil rights activists believe there are too many blacks in American prisons, what will they say if the number of blacks being sent off by the BOD Squad is, percentage wise, higher than the number of whites? Whose life has more -- or less -- value? A white? Or a black, brown, yellow or red life? Does the black guy live or the Latina? The American Vietnamese or the Native American? Just what Washington, D.C. needs -- more lobbyists. Not to mention the QALY law practices that will quadruple the size of the trial bar.

You think the gay community is upset over same-sex marriage prohibitions? This is as nothing compared to the fuse that will be lit when gays come to believe the BOD Squad is filled with homophobics intent on claiming AIDS is such a disqualifying QALY feature that simply being gay means a death sentence ASAP.

We haven't even gotten to Senator Kennedy's brain surgery, the latest hospitalization for West Virginia's 91-year old Senator Robert Byrd, Lance Armstrong's testicular cancer or Tiger Woods's knee operation. Needless to say, the agonized Farrah Fawcett would never have been allowed to struggle on as she did from the moment of her cancer diagnosis, Ed McMahon's QALY, with a broken neck and two neck surgeries in his eighties on file, would have had him announcing himself to God long before the other week. And Michael Jackson? Maybe the Bod Squad already made their first call.

Which returns us to Michael J. Fox. Remember the dust-up a while back when Mr. Fox was appearing in political ads supporting stem-cell research? One can agree with Mr. Fox, or not. But without doubt his opponents on the issue believed the importance underlying the issue was the larger point of respect for human life. The issue was at play in Missouri, where state funding was under discussion, and it elicited this fairly standard response from a Missouri State Senator: "I believe that a human embryo is worthy of legal protection," said state Sen. Matt Bartle (R), who vows to press the fight. "Western medicine has been founded on a principle: First, do no harm."

For Fox, this issue now falls precariously close to the old caution about being careful what you wish for. Once upon a time in America the issue of "life" was about the death penalty for murderers. Then it was abortion. Next it was about stem cell research. Now, it's about whether Michael J. Fox's life has sufficient QALY points to justify letting him live.

Does Michael J. Fox's life deserve respect? Of course.

But if they can come for Michael J. Fox, they can come for you.

And they will.

By Jeffrey Lord on 7.28.09 @ 6:08AM - Jeffrey Lord worked on five Supreme Court nominations as a Reagan White House political director, including that of Robert Bork. He is the author of a book on the Senate's judicial confirmation process and writes from Pennsylvania at jlpa1@aol.com

Source:  American Spectator

 

First They Came

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
I did not protest;
I was a Protestant.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

 

If you think this article is way out there… you aren’t paying attention!!

Our country has always valued life and individual rights above all else.  And there are more Centurions in good health alive and contributing than ever before.  Wasn’t that the goal… living longer healthy lives.  We’ve spent millions and millions on the research.  And in most cultures, the elderly are revered for their knowledge and connections with the past, a source of living history.  But now all of a sudden people in their 70’s+ are taking up too much room… not worth the investment of surgeries, life extending procedures or newly developed medicines?  What happened to living to 110 or 120?

As far as costs go… the government has been borrowing from social security and Medicare for years instead of investing and building up the coffers in the anticipation of the baby-boomers, who paid into the system all their lives, retiring. 

Also, it has been pointed out by the experts that if we initiated serious tort reform; stopped insurance, social security and Medicare fraud; stopped paying for “un-needed” elective plastic surgeries and other unnecessary elective procedures; focused on prevention; included holistic and natural remedies, procedures and supplements in the system; did away with pre-existing condition exclusion for insurance, stopped gauging by big Pharma; allowed competition of insurance companies across state lines; allowed test sharing instead of duplication of tests, set-up co-ops for small business owners and the self-employed, excluded illegal aliens from any type of free medical coverage, and made medical coverage portable (that you can take from job to job) etc, we would be well on our way to paying for covering everybody. Additional options could be to reduce coverage for the wealthy and minimal tax increases.

There is no country in the world where nationalized, government-run or socialized medicine has worked well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  America has the best medical system and coverage in the world and just needs common sense overhauls including cutting fraud and waste.  The government needs to regulate the insurance industry, the AMA and Big Phama… but not run or pay for any additional programs.  Just look at Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Healthcare and Indian Reservation Healthcare and any doubt that you might have that government is the answer will melt away instantly.

Read HR-3200 - full report for yourself or checkout the *overviews below, if you haven’t.  The nightmare speaks for itself!

The experts are saying: 

• Scrap all 5-bills that are being debated in both Houses of Congress
• No public option – it will eventually lead to single payer totally government controlled healthcare program
• No central government electronic medical record system – the possibilities for its us are too scary!
• Overall our private system and existing government programs using the above means, etc.
• No rationing

Be Sure to Watch 20/20 Segment on Nationalized Healthcare tomorrow night with Jon Stossell – 7-31-09

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

Related Resources:

• ObamaCare for Seniors:  Sorry, You’re Just Not Worth It
• Letter to Your Congress Person on Health Care (Obamacare) HR3200
• A Look at What is Really in the Health Care Bill (HR 3200): Chilling!
• Useless Eaters
• O’s Broken Healthcare Promises
• Food Safety Bill Quietly Scheduled for a Vote on House Floor Call Your Representative(s) Now!
• The Food Safety Bill Failed Today, but we need you to continue with your efforts—call your representative AGAIN to voice your opposition over the Food Safety  Bill and to attempts to bring it to the floor under a process that prohibits amendments.
  • Stop New Bill (HR2749) Gives FDA Unheard-of Power over Small Farmers, Food and Supplement Producers
• Obamacare for Illegal Aliens – While Granny Gets Duty to Die Lecture
• Kennedy: Let’s Ration Healthcare
• GovernmentCare’s Assault on Seniors
• Kristol: Kill It, And Start Over
• Dems Ensure Illegal Aliens Included In Obamacare and Other Atrocities
• Unease in Britain Following Assisted Suicides
• Meet Your Science Czar – A Must Read
• Help Us Stop This Evil Law!
• Republicans Unveil Chart Depicting Bureacratic Nightmare of Democratic Government Run Healthcare
• What Obama Fails To Understand About America
• Medical Care Confusion
• Ghoulish Science Plus Obamacare Equals Health Hazard
• A Right To Health Care?
• The Truth About Obamacare Is Starting to Surface
• Welcome to Obama Theatre
• Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alernative Medicine
• What You Don't Know Can Hurt You - Knowledge Is Power When It Comes To Healthcare
• The Drug Story
• American Progressivism
• Catastrophe
• Glenn Beck's Common Sense
• Culture of Corruption

The Blue Dye in M&Ms Cures Spinal Injuries

I will choose to believe that they are working with mice who already are injured?!?  And let us hope that pet stores realize that cats and rats are not stuffed animals or toys!

Thanks to miracle compound BBG, mice turn blue, regain ability to walk

Awwwww:  University of Rochester

The next time someone tries to argue that all M&Ms are the same, no matter the color, you can tell them about the blue M&M. The candy (like Gatorade and other products) gets its color from a food dye similar to Brilliant Blue G (BBG) -- a compound that, as it turns out, is medically useful. Building on earlier research, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found that injections of BBG can relieve mice of secondary spinal cord injuries. In September, they will start conducting human clinical trials.

BBG works by inhibiting the function of P2X7, a molecule that pervades the spinal cord and assists another molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in killing off healthy motor neurons. Because quantities of ATP flow to the spinal cord post-injury, significant secondary injuries occur, which is why thwarting ATP's activity is absolutely vital. 

The U of R researchers were able to do just that, via injections of BBG. While rodents that hadn't received the dose were never able to scurry around again following their injury, the mice that received the BBG regained their ability to walk (albeit with a limp).

The mice also turned temporarily blue, as a side-effect (the only one). The verdict here at Popsci.com is that it's only a matter of time before pet stores start selling a rainbow of rats. 

(And let us hope that pet stores realize that cats and rats are not stuffed animals or toys!)

By Anna Maria JakubekPosted 07.28.2009 at 3:01 pm

[Via CNN.com]

ObamaCare for Seniors: Sorry, You're Just Not Worth It

The debate over Barack Obama's health care plan continues. Senators are trying to cut deals and members of the House of Representatives are doing the same. Democrats are trying to push through a massive government plan that will cost Americans billions and billions of dollars all because Obama wants to take power away from the people and put it in the hands of government.

Throughout this debate, the voices of seniors have been strangely and disturbingly silent. Do they not know the details of ObamaCare? Are they so enamored with this "nice, young man" that they don't even look at what the plan has to offer? ObamaCare has a strong message for seniors, and it is one they shouldn't ignore: If you are old in America, then don't get sick... you're not worth the cost.

In a recent update by The Heritage Foundation, seniors can read for themselves some of the results of ObamaCare on their daily lives.

First, seniors would face an increasing risk of losing their doctor. With cuts to Medicare reimbursements, more and more physicians are no longer taking Medicare patients. ObamaCare makes it worse: "Obama plans to pay for up to a third of his plan by cutting $313 billion in Medicare reimbursements to health care providers over the next 10 years. This will only force more doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients."

Obama's plan also places a disincentive on people to become physicians as his "public" option "could decrease the annual net income of hospitals by $36 billion, while the annual net income of physicians could drop by $33.1 billion."

Then there is the worry that seniors will lose their coverage. As noted in The Heritage Foundation's report, "22% of all Medicare patients, which translates to 10.5 million seniors, are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. These health plans cover all of the traditional Medicare benefits and much more, including coor dinated care and care-management programs for enrollees with chronic conditions as well as additional hospitalization and skilled nursing facility stays. President Obama has proposed killing this program entirely."

And, of course, there is the issue that Obama and the liberal Democrats want seniors and all Americans to ignore: the rationing of health care. Under Obama's plan, there will be a new government bureaucracy known as a "federal health board." The purpose of this board is to determine whether various procedures and tests are deemed necessary in the eyes of the federal government. That notion is truly scary.

Obama supporter and infanticide advocate Peter Singer made the case for rationing health care recently in the New York Times, writing: "The task of health care bureaucrats is then to get the best value for the resources they have been allocated." Conservatives in Congress have given Obamacare supporters every opportunity to disavow government-rationed health care, but Obamacare supporters have voted down every anti-rationing amendment proposed. Make no mistake, Obama plans to pay for expanded coverage for the young and healthy by denying treatments to the old and sick.

As noted in a story by the Associated Press, a group of senators is actually working to squeeze more money out of Medicare. "Under the plan, an independent commission would be empowered to recommend changes in Medicare annually, to take effect automatically unless Congress enacted an alternative."

Cantor on Obama’s Healhcare Reform 

As noted in a new Rasmussen Reports poll, only 23% of Americans believe that health care costs will go down under ObamaCare.

Most Americans are happy with their coverage. Most have coverage. Yet in order to cover the ten percent or so of Americans who don't have it and are having trouble getting it, he wants to impose a new government plan on the other 90% of the country. This is just crazy. ObamaCare is bad news for seniors and bad news for the entire population.

Source/Posted by Bobby Eberle – The Loft - July 29, 2009 at 7:32 am

-----------

++ Contact Congress Today! Hands Off My Health Care Decisions!

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

Related Resources:

• Letter to Your Congress Person on Health Care (Obamacare) HR3200
• A Look at What is Really in the Health Care Bill (HR 3200): Chilling!
• Useless Eaters
• O’s Broken Healthcare Promises 
• Food Safety Bill Quietly Scheduled for a Vote on House Floor Call Your Representative(s) Now!
• The Food Safety Bill Failed Today, but we need you to continue with your efforts—call your representative AGAIN to voice your opposition over the Food Safety  Bill and to attempts to bring it to the floor under a process that prohibits amendments.
• Stop New Bill (HR2749) Gives FDA Unheard-of Power over Small Farmers, Food and Supplement Producers
• Obamacare for Illegal Aliens – While Granny Gets Duty to Die Lecture
• Kennedy: Let’s Ration Healthcare
• GovernmentCare’s Assault on Seniors
• Kristol: Kill It, And Start Over
• Dems Ensure Illegal Aliens Included In Obamacare and Other Atrocities
• Unease in Britain Following Assisted Suicides
• Meet Your Science Czar – A Must Read
• Help Us Stop This Evil Law!
• Republicans Unveil Chart Depicting Bureacratic Nightmare of Democratic Government Run Healthcare
• What Obama Fails To Understand About America
• Medical Care Confusion
• Ghoulish Science Plus Obamacare Equals Health Hazard
• A Right To Health Care?
• The Truth About Obamacare Is Starting to Surface
• Welcome to Obama Theatre
• Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alernative Medicine
• What You Don't Know Can Hurt You - Knowledge Is Power When It Comes To Healthcare
• The Drug Story
• American Progressivism
• Catastrophe
• Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Stop the Obama Experiment

Dear Fellow Conservative,

Barack Obama has proven with his words and actions that he knows no other strategy for addressing America's challenges but massive taxation and limitless government growth.

The Democrats in Washington have taken last year's election as a sign that voters want them to impose a liberal agenda on our society while we struggle with the present recession.

Billions of dollars are being wasted on pet liberal spending projects, but there is little evidence that the so-called Stimulus, government takeovers of banks and auto companies, and crushing deficit spending are having any positive effect.

Americans are starting to wake up to the radical nature of Barack Obama's agenda.

And now, as his popularity and influence start to slip away, he is trying to ram through Congress an unprecedented new government health care takeover.

Barack Obama's risky experiments must be stopped.

Right now the RNC is running this ad in an effort to counter the misleading claims of the Obama Democrats, and to keep the pressure on Democrats in battleground states like Arkansas, Nevada and North Dakota who may be pressured to vote for Obama's health care boondoggle.

But the RNC is running up against tens of millions of dollars in ads from liberal special interests who see the debate on health care as yet another way to get a government payout.

Help us keep our message on the air and prevent Barack Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Democrats in Congress from ending individual health care choice and using your tax dollars to treat only the patients they deem deserving.

After you watch our ad, please make a contribution to support our media effort to get our message past the liberal media filter and directly to the voters. If we do not stop the Obama Democrats' risky schemes for our health care system, we will face the end of health care choice in America and new burdensome taxes.

Now is your chance to defend health care freedom. We must hammer home the unacceptable costs and risks of the Obama Democrats' government imposed health care scheme now! End Barack Obama's experiments today.

Sincerely,

Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee

P.S. We can stop the Obama Democrats' assault on our hard earned incomes and health care freedoms. Now is the time to push back and dispel the Obama mystique! Please help us win this fight by making an additional online contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500, or $1,000 to the RNC today. Thank you.

Letter To Your Congress Person on Healthcare (Obamacare) HR 3200

As always… in the end the Blue Dogs caved to Team Obama pressure.  The House is now moving something through… just to meet President Obama’s deadline, at least partially, without reading the bill or addressing the bulk of the problems.  Copy, paste and send the letter below to you Congress Person “Now” and to as many others who are pro this horrible legislation “ASAP”!!! (Contact Info Below). And remember the people who voted for this bill, who didn’t read the bill, and who swing back and forth just to please “the powers that be” and vote them out in 2010 and 2012. Stand-up America!!

CONGRESSMAN ____________________________________

If you aren’t going to read the entire HealthCare bill, here is a summary:

PG 22 MANDATES the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

PG 24 Line 116 Government effectively sets prices for ALL private health plans.

PG 30 Line 123 THERE WILL BE A Government COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

PG 37 Line 132 The Government will be reviewing grievances about themselves and will decide on appeals for rejected claims.

PG 29 Line 4-16 YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!! Additionally you can reference PG 15 Line 19-25.

PG 42 The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HealthCare Benefits for you. You have no choice!

PG 50 Line 152 HealthCare will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise. (‘Legal’ residents are granted the same rights as American Citizens… like all our forefathers. Now they are being lumped into a category with illegals and forced into inferior healthcare. Is that the American Dream they and are forefathers were promised?)

PG 58 Government will have real-time access to individuals’ finances & a National ID HealthCare Card will be issued!

PG 59 Line 21-24 Government will have direct access to your banks accounts for electronic funds transfer!

PG 61 Line 22-24 Congress has no clue what Electronic Medical Records will cost. Asks for estimate. (And then the question is what else will government use these records for?)

PG 62 Protection of Data, Government shows they will have database of your personal & financial info.

PG 64 L 21-25, pg65 L 1-5 which refers to processing payment transactions by financial institutions

PG 65 Line 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community organizations (ACORN).

PG 72 Line 8-14 Government is creating an HealthCare Exchange to bring private HealthCare plans under Government control.

PG 84 Line 203 Government mandates ALL benefit packages for private. HealthCare plans in the Exchange.

PG 85 Line 7 Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Government will ration your HealthCare! #AARP members your Health care Will be rationed.

PG 89 Line 6-10 The FAR is not applicable. Government can write contracts any way they want.

PG 95 Line 8-18 The Gov. will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Government HealthCare plan.

PG 98 Line 8 Americans - You will be paying for others HealthCare while paying for your own.

PG 100 Line 15-19 The Government Will be using ACORN and other community groups to promote & enroll.

PG 102 Line 12-18 Medicaid Eligible Individual will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

PG 109 Line 207 Health Trust Fund. The Government will raise taxes on EVERYONE to fund HealthCare as they see fit.

PG 110 Line 7-12 Employment taxes on ALL employers NOT offering Government HealthCare. No choice.

PG 110 Line 13-18 An excise tax on ALL goods from companies not offering Government HealthCare. ALL Americans pay.

PG 110 Line 19-24 the Treasury can take $$ from Soc Line to pay HealthCare.

PG 111 Line 208 The Federal Government will usurp all State powers in State Based HealthCare Exchange. Violation of 10th Amendment.

PG 119 Line 1-3 establish geographically-adjusted premium rates for public option Can you say ACORN census?

PG 121 Line 223 PAYMENT RATES FOR ITEMS AND SERVICES. Can you say Government price fixing & monopoly?

PG 124 Line 24-25 No company can sue Government on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Government Monopoly.

PG 126 Line 10-15 The Government can make up prices for anything at anytime for any reason.

PG 126 Line 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HealthCare for part time employees AND their families.

PG 127 Line 1-16 Doctors: The Government will tell YOU what you can make.

PG 129 The public option will be subsidized. Credits = your tax dollars. Redistribution of wealth.

PG 130 Line 10-23 Federal Government will subsidize State Medicaid = Even Higher State & Federal taxes for ALL.

PG 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE.

PG 149 Line 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.

PG 150 Line 9-13 Biz with payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesn’t provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.

PG 151 Line 1-3 Aggregate Rules-tax on employers’ payroll not on public option include payroll of other biz.

PG 167 Line 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HealthCare according to Government will be taxed 2.5% of inc.

G 170 Line 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)

PG 195 officers & employees of HealthCare Administration (Government) will have access to ALL Americans financial/personal records.

PG 198 Line 1-3 1.5% ADDITIONAL TAX on peeps who have income of 500k to 1mil. Redistribution of Wealth.

PG 198 Line 4-6 5.4% ADDITIONAL TAX on peeps who have income of 1mil+. Redistribution of Wealth

PG 199 Line 1-4 Surtax rates on raised AGAIN on Americans in 2012; they see fit to show savings. (Cooking the books)

PG 203 Line 14-15 “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that.

PG 202-215 is a Government rewrite of the tax code ensuring more taxes for EVERYONE, Everywhere.

PG 239 Line 14-24 Government will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected.

PG 241 Line 6-8 Doctors, doesn’t matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.

PG 236 L22-25, 237 L1-3 National rate of uninsured defined by Census. Can you say ACORN corruption?

PG 239 Line 10-12 Medicare DSH payments will be increased. Can you say even higher taxes for all?

PG 238-249 Line 1121 Doctors-Government mandates your growth, costs, value, services, & income. Welcome to rationing

PG 253 Line 10-18 Government sets value of Doctor’s time, professional judgment, etc. Literally value of humans. We’re next!!!

PG 260 Line 1125 Fed Government will adjust Medicare Payment Localities for California based on Census. ACORN? = Corrupt Data

PG 265 Line 1131 Government mandates & controls productivity for private HealthCare industries.

PG 268 Line 1141 Fed Government regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

PG 270 Line 1144 Government Mandates that all private ambulatory surgical centers submit cost data & other data

PG 272 Line 1145 TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer patients – welcome to rationing!

PG 276 Line 3-20 Oxygen Equipment & Supply Companies - Government MANDATES you will provide supplies NO MATTER where individual is.

PG 287 Line 14-25 PROOF that Government will ration HealthCare by mandating waiting periods for readmission.

PG 298 Line 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission - Government will penalize you.

PG 303 Line 12-25 Post Acute Care Services Data – Government will collect data including personal information as they see fit.

PG 304 Line 17-19 BIG ONE HERE: Expedited Data Collection –

PG 304 Line 17-19 Government does NOT have to protect your private information, share with anyone, & is not resp Expedited Data Collection - Chapter 35 of Title 44 of USC SHALL NOT APPLY. Folks this gives the govt the right to access ur data any way the see fit. Here is link to the chapter: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode44/usc_sec_44_00003501---- 000-.html Look at number 8 THE GOVT IS SAYING THAT THEY DONT HAVE TO DO THIS!!! (8) ensure that the creation, collection, maintenance, use, dissemination, and disposition of information by or for the Federal Government is consistent with applicable laws, including laws relating to— (A) privacy and confidentiality, including section 552a of title 5; (B) security of information, including section 11332 of title 40 [1] ; and (C) access to information, including section 552 of title 5;

PG 306 Line 3-6 The Government can expand the scope & size of Post Acute Program Services anytime & as they see fit.

PG 313 Line 9-14 Government MANDATES Health Services providers will state ownership, invest, & compensation arrangements.

PG 317 Line 13-20 PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Government tells Drs. what/how much they can own.

PG 317-318 L 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Government is mandating hospitals cannot expand. PG 318-319 Government is mandating how hospitals & physicians conduct business & investments. We’re next! PG 321 2-13 Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

PG 328 Line 1157 Government study disguised. Its a HealthCare workforce study mandated by law for unionization.

Pg335 L16-25,PG 336-339 Government mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HealthCare the way they want. Rationing.

PG 341 Line 3-9 Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing into Government plan.

PG 354 Line 1177 Government will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!

PG 355-369 Line 1181 Government disguises tax on Drug Companies as rebate to Government to subsidize Drugs. We pay in the end.

PG 379 Line 1191 Government creates more bureaucracy – Telehealth Advisory Committee. Can you say HealthCare by phone?

PG 399 If your a subsidy eligible individual under Medicare part D and you don’t enroll, the Government will auto enroll you.

PG 401 Section 1221 Americans will fund Medicare Language & Translation Services Program. Can you say MORE taxes?

PG 404 Lines 12-16 Government exempts itself again from - Chap 35 of title 44, USC including privacy of Americans. PG 404 Lines 17-19 Government doesn’t know the cost of Language services but states that money is there. PG 425 Lines 4-12 Government mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life. PG 425 Lines 17-19 Government will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG425 L22-25, 426 L1-3 Government provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Government mandates program for orders for end of life. The Government has a say in how your life ends.

PG 429 Lines 1-9 An “advance care planning consultant” will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.

PG 429 Lines 10-12 “advance care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from Government.

PG 429 Lines 13-25 The Government will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order. Logan’s Run anyone?

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Government will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.

PG 432 Lines 18-21 The Government will publish “quality measures” for individual’s end of life in Federal Register.

PG 434 Section 1234 Military Active, Reservists, Families - If you’re not enrolled in Tricare it is mandated.

PG 434 Section 1234 Military Active, Reservists, Families - Once HealthCare bill is passed your premiums will go up.

PG 438 Section 1236 The Government will develop a patient decision making aid program that you & Dr. WILL use.

PG 443 Lines 7-24 Government at taxpayers expense test out an “Accountable Care Org” program (Government doesn’t have plan.)

PG 444 Lines 1-6 Government’s Accountable Care Program will mandate services & infrastructure thru reward/penalty system.

PG 448 Lines 4-17 Government will set performance targets for ALL Accountable Care Organizations including private.

PG 455 Lines 3-4 Government exempts itself from Chapter 35, Title 44 Paperwork Reduction & Citizens Privacy Protection Act

PG 460 Section 1302 Knock Knock - It’s the Government and I’m here with the Medical Home Program - YOUR home.

PG 460 Section 1302 The Government WILL provide medical services in your home. Paging Nurse Pelosi!!

PG 464 Lines 17-22 Independent Patient Center Home Medical Services - Drs. don’t have to be at your home just some directed by D

PG 469 Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?

PG 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED Organization - 1 monthly payment to a community-based organization Like ACORN?

PG 476 19-20 Chapter 35/ title 44, (Privacy of personal records) shall not apply Home Medical Services. ACORN ACCESS

PG 489 Section 1308 Government will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage.

PG 494-498 Government will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.

PG 502 Section 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. - Hello Big Brother - Literally.

PG 502 Line 5-18 Government builds the “Center” to conduct, support, & synthesize research to define our HealthCare Services.

PG 503 Line 13-19 Government will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic medical records.

PG 503 Line 21-25 Government may secure data directly from any department or agency of the US including your data.

PG 504 Line 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)

PG 506 Line 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data

PG 518 Line 21-25 The Commission will have input from HealthCare consumer reps - Can you say unions & ACORN?

PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.

PG 525-620 deals with the Government basically taking over nursing homes, PGs 525-620 deals with the Gov’t basically taking over nursing homes, long-term care facilities (think assisted living) through regulations of the facilities, the owners of said facilities, the employees of said facilities and even the land owners of that said facilities reside on. Additionally as you read these 90+ pages you can come to the conclusion that any Health related services will be determined and rationed by the Gov’t for our senior citizens and others in nursing homes. This one post should do enough to raise awareness of the control the Gov’t is exerting over the older population of American citizens.

PG 620 Line 1-9 The Government will define, prioritize, and nationalize your Health Care Services.

PG 621 Lines 20-25 Government will define what Quality means in HealthCare. Since when does Government know about quality?

PG 622 Lines 2-9 To pay for the quality Standards Government will transfer $$ from to other Government Trust Funds. More Taxes.

PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to assess outcomes & functional status of patients.

PG 628 Section 1443 Government will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures.

PG 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups including Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HealthCare quality.

PG 632 Lines 14-25 The Government may implement any “Quality measure” of HealthCare Services as they see fit.

PG 633 14-25/ 634 1-9 The Secretary may issue non-endorsed “Quality Measures” for Physician Services & Dialysis Services.

PG 635 - 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision - Government wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Government.

PG 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections - Looks okay.

PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency - Government will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.

PG 676-686 Government will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, including teaching hospitals.

PG 686-700 Increased Funding to Fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. You mean the Government with an $18 mil website?

PGs 701-704 Section 1619 If your part of HealthCare plan that isn’t in Government HealthCare Exchange but you qualify for Federal aid, no payment.

PG 705-709 SEC. 1128 If Secretary gets complaints (ACORN) on HealthCare provider or supplier, Government can do background check.

PG 711 Lines 8-14 The Secretary has broad powers to deny HealthCare providers/suppliers admittance into HealthCare Exchange.

PG 719-720 Section 1637 ANY Doctor who orders durable medical equipment or home medical services MUST be enrolled in Medicare.

PG 722 Section 1639 Government Mandates Doctors must have face-to-face with patient to certify patient for Home Health Services.

PG 724 Lines 16-22 Government reserves right to apply face-to-face certification for patient to ANY other HealthCare service.

PG 724 23-25 PG 725 1-5 The same Government certifications will apply to medicaid & CHIP (your kids) Pg 735 lines 16-25 For law enforcement purposes, the Secretary of Health & Human Services will give Attorney General access to ALL data.

PG 740-757 Government sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (That’s your tax dollars peeps) Pg 757-762 Fed Government will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to States. (Taxes)

PG 763 1-8 No DS/EA hospitals will be paid unless they provide services without regard to national origin Pg 765 Section 1711 Government will require Preventative Services including vaccines. (Choice?)

PG 768 Section 1713 Government - Nurse Home Visitation Services (Hello union paybacks)

PG 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government Abortions anyone?

PG 769 11-14 Nurse Home Visit Services include-economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement, school-readiness.

PG 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government ABORTIONS anyone?

PG 770 SEC 1714 Federal Government mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Say abortion & State Sovereign.

PG 789-797 Government will set & mandate drug prices, controlling which drugs will brought to market. Bye innovation

PGs 797-800 SEC. 1744 PAYMENTS for grad medical education. The government will now control Doctors’ education.

PG 801 Sec 1751 The Government will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!

PG 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc. required to register. Government takes over private payment system.

PG 820-824 Sec 1801 Government will identify individuals ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal finances.

PG 824-829 SEC. 1802. Government Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.

PG 829-833 Government will impose a fee on ALL private health insurance plans including self insured to pay for Trust Fund!

PG 835 11-13 fees imposed by Government for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.

PG 838-840 Government will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families expecting kids.

PG 844-845 This Home Visitation Program includes Government coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!

PG 859 Government will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes thats Billion.

PG 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Drs. perform mandatory HealthCare for 2 years for part loan repayment.

PG 876-892 The Government takes over the education of our Medical students and Drs.

PG 898 The Government will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps. to ensure supply of public health professionals.

PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.

PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.

PG 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians.

PG 901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HealthCare Draft?

PG 910 The Government will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.

PG 913-914 Government starts a HealthCare affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.

PG 915 SEC. 2251. Government MANDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HealthCare professionals.

PG 932 The Government will establish Preventative & Wellness Trust fund - initial cost of $30,800,000,000-Billion.

PG 935 21-22 Government will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities. Control You!!

PG 936 Government will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Performance Standards” Tell me what to eat?

PG 942 Lines 22-25 More Government? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Services, Minority Health, Women’s Health

PG 950- 980 BIG Government core public health infrastructure includes workforce capacity, lab systems; health information systems, etc

PG 993 Government will establish school based health clinics. Your kids won’t have a chance.

PG 994 School Based Health Clinic will be integrated into the school environment. Say Government Brainwash!

PG 1001 The Government will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?

PG 1003 9-11 National Medical Dev Reg ‘‘(iii) other postmarket device surveillance activities” you WILL be tracked.

PG 1018 States give up some of their State Sovereignty.

Should you choose to the read the whole bill here it is online: full report My understanding is that there is a grassroots movement of people who are keeping track of which Congress people (and Senators) have read the bill and any other version will and will take that as well as their voting record into account in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Most of the people I know feel that this entire bill and all the others that are being considered and massaged in both Houses should be scraped and if not then defeated.

We have the greatest health care in the world. 91% of all Americans and legal residents (or legal aliens) have health insurance or are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or Veterans Benefits. 85% of all Americans and ‘legal residents” are happy with their health care. The uninsured are primarily illegal aliens, people who qualify for programs but have chosen not to sign up (young people and wealthy people). If you subtract those from the 50 million uninsured, the number the Dems and Team Obama keep throwing around, the uninsured number about 27 million and many are temporarily uninsured because of job losses under the present economy. All these people could be covered for about $27 to $48 Billion Dollars instead of 1 to 1.6 Trillion, without rationing, without giving up our freedoms, without giving up our choice and probably bettering our healthcare instead of diminishing it with increasing costs!

The government’s job is to regulate not run or pay for healthcare beyond what they do now… and that needs to be cleaned up!!

These bills and nationalization of healthcare is a power grab!

What needs to be done is:

· Junk everyone of the present bills – all 5

· Overhaul Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran’s Health Benefits

1. Tort Reform

2. Investigate and clean-up fraud in all 3 programs

3. Stop the duplication of tests

4. Focus on Prevention

5. Allow and cover alternative medicine and holistic programs and supplements

· Better regulation of insurance companies

1. Control Price Gauging

2. Allow Insurance Companies to Sell Insurance across State lines

3. Create Co-ops for Small Businesses to increase their buying power and control prices

4. All small businesses to pool

5. Do away with exclusions for pre-existing conditions

6. Regulate insurance fraud

7. Portable insurance – allowing you to take your insurance from job to job

8. Consortiums and co-ops for the self-employed and agricultural workers to increase their buying power

· Better Regulation of Big Pharma and the AMA

1. Initiate same cost structure now agreed to by Obama Team and Big Pharma

· Extend coverage under a subsidiary of the overhauled Medicare and Medicaid to the truly indigent and temporarily to the people who have lost their jobs due to the economy.

· Read the Bills – People understand that Congress-people and Senators cannot read every single bill, word for word… but bills that will change our lives and life in the United States, as we know it, like the Stimulus Bills, Cap and Tax, Food Safety and Healthcare Reform need to be read (word for word by everyone who votes)… and then vote “NO” on all the aforementioned!

· Work with Republicans in both houses as well as outside ideas. Just to name a few:

1. Senator John Kyl of Arizona

2. Governor Tim Pawlenty

3. Bill Kristal of the Daily Standard

4. Former Lt Governor and Patient Advocate Betsy McCaughy

5. And the list goes on…

· Absolutely:

1. “No” rationing

2. *** ”No” public option - (Government should regulate, but not run or pay for care) – immediate or as a later byproduct***

3. Absolutely “NO” single-payer program!!!!!!

4. “No” forced mandate for doctors to perform abortions

5. “No” eugenic programs or reduction in elder care and services… including ‘Duty to Die’ Lectures

6. “No” central electronic medical database – the possible negative uses of a central government managed database of everyone’s medical history are far too dangerous, especially with this administration! (What should happen is centralized databases with medical history and shared tests within systems like Kaiser, Blue Cross, etc… which is now not the case in many systems, that could be sent to another group in or all, but only with the patients permission).

7. “Yes” coverage for legal residents/aliens, “No” to coverage for illegal aliens

8. “No” affirmative action in the operating room! Medical students need to be accepted and train in accordance with ability, not affirmative action quotas.

9. “Yes” to inclusion of alternative and holistic options and supplements

10. “No” to anymore votes on any bills that have not been read

11. Every Congress person and Senator needs to read the ‘Let Freedom Ring Pledge’… agreeing to read the medical bills.

Contact Info for Your Elected Officials

Call, email, fax, or write your congressperson, your Senator and Nancy Pelosi “daily” and say “no” to Nationalized Healthcare!

1-202-224-3121- Congress Switchboard

1-202-225-3121- Congress Switchboard

(202) 225-0100 - Speaker of the House Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
http://speaker.house.gov/contact or http://www.speaker.gov/contact

Senators from your State.

Source: Free Republic/Knowledge Creates Power

Candy with a Jolt

A friend of mine named Amy has uncovered a new trend: candy, all hopped up on caffeine.

In an e-mail, she wrote: "Butterfinger Buzz...all the caffeine of leading energy drinks. I kid you not..."

Amy provided a link that took me to a candy review on a website called Candyblog. According to candy-lover Cybele May, Butterfinger Buzz doesn't have quite the same flaky peanut center as a normal Butterfinger, but it does deliver what the wrapper promises: the same amount of caffeine as the leading energy drink. That's 80 mg of caffeine – same as an 8-ounce Red Bull.

Other caffeinated candies reviewed on Candyblog include Snickers Charged and Twix Java. And if you're willing to venture away from familiar brand names, there are plenty of juiced up confections:

• Coffeebeat
• Pocket Coffee
• Trader Joe's Espresso Chocolate
• Caffe Acapella
• Theo 3400 Phinney Bars
• Green & Black's Espresso Chocolate
• Black Black gum

The caffeine candy I find most intriguing is Loud Truck Energy Gummies. The packaging carries a photo of a truck decked out with giant loudspeakers. Inside, honey-colored gummy bears pack 32 mg of caffeine, along with vitamins C, B, and taurine (an amino acid found in many energy drinks).

Loud Truck just might take you where you want to go.

To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson – HSI

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth