Republicans to Officially Present Alternative to Obamacare

Changing Winds?

By Katie Pavlich – TownHall:  Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal or alter Obamacare as the popularity of the legislation continues to be nearly non-existent. In the process, Republicans have been criticized for failing to present an alternative piece of legislation to replace Obamacare. More than a dozen alternative plans have been crafted on the Hill, but Republicans haven't been able to rally around a single plan. Now, that's changing as Republican prepare to present Americans with an official alternative to the Affordable Care Act:

The plan includes an expansion of high-risk insurance pools, promotion of health savings accounts and inducements for small businesses to purchase coverage together. The tenets of the plan — which could expand to include the ability to buy insurance across state lines, guaranteed renewability of policies and changes to medical-malpractice regulations — are ideas that various conservatives have for a long time backed as part of broader bills.

But this is the first time this year that House leaders will put their full force behind a single set of principles from those bills and present it as their vision. This month, House leaders will begin to share a memo with lawmakers outlining the plan, called “A Stronger Health Care System: The GOP Plan for Freedom, Flexibility, & Peace of Mind,” with suggestions on how Republicans should talk about it to their constituents.

The timing for this legislation is great for Republicans who just came off of a special election win in Florida where Democrat Alex Sink lost by running on a fix, don't repeal platform. Not only can Republicans running for election in the fall run against Obamacare, a law that will only continue to make the lives of Americans worse and more expensive, they can run on a new alternative.

Technorati Tags: GOP,ObamaCare,Change,Hope,Healthcare,Republicans Unite,ACA,Affordable Care Act,PPACA,Alternatives,ObamaCare Alternatives,Election 2014,2014 Elections

The GOP’s Grandfather Weapon

Daily Caller: ‘If You Like Your Obamacare, You Can Keep Your Obamacare’: I don’t quite understand the new, near-unanimous Dem line on Obamacare – which is that because it has signed up a few million people, many previously uninsured, it is now somehow invulnerable to repeal. From WaPo:

“A fundamental political shift happened on January 1 because millions of Americans now have health insurance,” said Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama senior adviser. “The Republican strategy now means taking that insurance away. It was all theoretical until now, and the Republican repeal plan is no longer politically viable.” [E.A.]

It may be true, as the New York Times hopefully declared, that “[o]nce a benefit has been bestowed, it is nearly impossible to take it away” (though there are a million or so Americans who’ve been receiving long-term unemployment benefits who might want to argue the point). But there’s a traditional political solution to this Take Away Problem, namely the “grandfather clause.”

It wouldn’t be hard for Republican repealers to write a law that got rid of Obamacare while somehow keeping those few million who’ve signed up on some form of similar insurance. “If you like your Obamacare you can keep your Obamacare.” Exchange policies could be converted to non-exchange policies in a special, no-new-enrollments program, for example. Over time, attrition would whittle this grandfathered class down to trivial size–a process with which you’d think Obamacare’s architects would be familiar.

I don’t know if Obamacare will survive or not. Even its cockiest defenders, now whistling past the graveyard of missed deadlines, concede** that (as one of them, Josh Marshall, puts it) if “the mix of young and old people, healthy and sick” is “significantly out of whack you’ll have problems.”*** Problems that include, in Greg Sargent’s words, the possibility that “insurers pull out, and the exchanges collapse.”

But I do know that if Obamacare isn’t repealed it won’t be because two (or ten) million people in a country of 300 million have already signed up.

P.S.: Its also possible that Obamacare, instead of collapsing, will become a long term, slow-bleeding, painfully unpopular policy wound, as millions more middle class Americans who don’t qualify for subsidies get shunted into the individual market where they have to buy policies that offer them less for more. It’s not clear that this outcome is better, politically, for the Democrats.

P.P.S.: You want a health care benefit that would be nearly impossible to take away, or to grandfather? Extending Medicare to age 55 would have been more or less impossible to take away, even by grandfathering (i.e. by continuing Medicare for existing 55 year olds but denying it to new 55 year olds). Just sayin’.

_____

**– Marshall also downplays the non-payment problem –i.e. the possibility that many of the 2 million who’ve signed up on the exchanges “won’t end up paying their premiums.” He says GOPs who make this argument are “dead-enders” in an “intense form of denial.” But the non-payment threat seems like a reasonable worry for supporters of the law as well as a source of hope for opponents.

***– I favor a more panicked, pro-active approach that accepts the need for reasonably big fixes (e.g. fewer mandatory benefits). Letting Americans know improvements (if necessary) are planned might in turn help build confidence and boost enrollment.

Technorati Tags: ObamaCare,Grandfather Clause,GOP,ObamaCare Alternatives,Stand-Up,Exchanges

New House GOP Bill Delays ObamaCare By 1 Year–Updated

Video:  New House GOP Bill Delays ObamaCare By 1 Year

House Passes GOP Plan to Delay ObamaCare

The Blaze: Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

UPDATE 12:44 a.m. Sunday: The Republican-run House has voted to delay President Barack Obama’s health care law. The House also lifted a tax on medical devices as another condition for averting a federal government shutdown, CNN reports.

Since the White House has promised the overall legislation will be vetoed, that means the two sides are edging closer to a shutdown of many federal services Tuesday morning, with no obvious solution in sight.

The House sent the legislation to the Democratic-run Senate early Sunday by 231-192.

The bill would delay much of the 2010 health care overhaul for a year. It would also repeal a tax on medical devices that helps finance the health care law.

The shutdown bill may never reach Obama because the Senate’s majority leader, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, says his chamber will reject the measure first.

Original story below:

The House Saturday night began debating Republican-backed amendments to delay ObamaCare for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices, continuing a standoff that threatens to force a government shutdown, CNN reports.

Locked in a deepening struggle with President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled House pushed legislation toward passage Saturday night requiring a one-year delay in parts of the nation’s new health care law and repeal of a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown in a few days’ time.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., arrives for a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans as the House of Representatives works into the night to pass a bill to fund the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. (Credit: AP)

Senate Democrats pledged to reject the measure even before the House began debating it, and the White House issued a statement vowing a veto in any event. Republicans are pursuing “a narrow ideological agenda” that threatens the nation’s economy, it said.

Undeterred, House Republicans pressed ahead with their latest attempt to squeeze a concession from the White House in exchange for letting the government open for business normally on Tuesday.

“I think we have a winning program here,” said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, after days of discord that pitted Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and his leadership against tea party-backed conservatives.

Another Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, reacted angrily when asked whether he would eventually support a standalone spending bill if needed to prevent a shutdown. “How dare you presume a failure? How dare you? How dare you?” he said.

Apart from its impact on the health care law, the legislation that House Republicans decided to back would assure routine funding for government agencies through Dec. 15. A companion measure headed for approval assures U.S. troops are paid in the event of a shutdown.

The government spending measure marked something of a reduction in demands by House Republicans, who passed legislation several days ago that would permanently strip the health care law of money while providing funding for the government.

It also contained significant concessions from a party that long has criticized the health care law for imposing numerous government mandates on industry, in some cases far exceeding what Republicans have been willing to support in the past.

GOP aides said that under the legislation headed toward a vote, portions of the health law that already have gone into effect would remain unchanged. That includes requirements for insurance companies to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and to require children to be covered on their parents’ plans until age 26. It would not change a part of the law that reduces costs for seniors with high prescription drug expenses.

Instead, the measure would delay implementation of a requirement for all individuals to purchase coverage or face a penalty, and of a separate feature of the law that will create marketplaces where individuals can shop for coverage from private insurers.

By repealing the medical device tax, the GOP measure also would raise deficits — an irony for a party that won the House majority in 2010 by pledging to get the nation’s finances under control.

The Senate rejected the most recent House-passed anti-shutdown bill on a party-line vote of 54-44 Friday, insisting on a straightforward continuation in government funding without health care-related add-ons.

That left the next step up to the House — with time to avert a partial shutdown growing ever shorter.

For a moment at least, the revised House proposal papered over a simmering dispute between the leadership and tea party conservatives who have been more militant about abolishing the health law that all Republicans oppose.

It was unclear whether members of the rank and file had consulted with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has become the face of the “Defund ObamaCare” campaign that tea party organizations are promoting and using as a fundraising tool.

In debate on the House floor, Republicans adamantly rejected charges that they seek a government shutdown, and said their goal is to spare the nation from the effects of a law they said would cost jobs and reduce the quality of care. The law is an “attack and an assault on the free enterprise and the free economy,” said Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.

Democrats disagreed vociferously. “House Republicans are shutting down the government. They’re doing it intentionally. They’re doing it on purpose,” said Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland, as Republican lawmakers booed from their seats on the floor.

In the Senate, there was little doubt that Reid had the votes to block a one-year delay in the health care program widely known as “ObamaCare.” He said the same was true for the repeal of the medical device tax, even though 33 Democrats joined all Senate Republicans in supporting repeal on a nonbinding vote earlier in the year.

The 2.3 percent tax, which took effect in January, is imposed on items such as pacemakers and CT scan machines; eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids and other items are exempt. Repealing it would cost the government an estimated $29 billion over the coming decade.

If lawmakers miss the approaching deadline, a wide range of federal programs would be affected, from the national parks to the Pentagon.

Some critical services such patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

The new health insurance exchanges would open Tuesday, a development that’s lent urgency to the drive to use a normally routine stopgap spending bill to gut implementation of the law.

This is a developing story; updates will be added.

Technorati Tags: ObamaCare,Delay ObamaCare,Darrell Issa,GOP,standing up,stand up and fight,government shutdown,Defund ObamaCare,TheBlaze,Congress,solutions

Tea Party vs. Progressives on ObamaCare

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton - Cross-Posted at Right Wing News, Gateway Pundit and Ask Marion 

You can blend in or blend out — the Tea Party chooses to take a stand and blend out. Leading the fray is Ted Cruz. Sarah Palin has written a kick butt article on Cruz Control. Take a moment and smell the tea:

More and more Americans are waking up to the nightmare of ObamaCare as its rollout continues.

Hardworking families are losing their employer-provided health care coverage. Businesses are cutting back their employees’ hours to skirt ObamaCare's mandates. Americans barely scrapping by are discovering that ObamaCare has made health care completely unaffordable. Those who aren’t part of a protected special interest group have been left in the cold.

When you’re living on a fixed income, having to pay hundreds of dollars more each month for health care will cut into your ability to pay for basic necessities like food, electricity, or gas (which has increased 90% under Obama). Open your eyes, America. When the full reality of ObamaCare strikes home, we’ll thank God that principled leaders like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee took a stand to stop it in its tracks.

But the permanent political class is handwringing and howling that if there’s a government shutdown the media will blame Republicans for it. Here’s a little newsflash, GOP establishment: Whenever anything bad happens, the media blames Republicans for it. That’s not an excuse to roll over and play dead. It’s a call to follow the advice I give my daughters: Woman up, stand your ground, and fight like a girl!

While Democratic Senate Minority Leader and major weasel, Harry Reid, is calling the Tea Party anarchists and telling the Republicans to sit down, shut up and take ObamaCare like good little Marxists, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are moving forward fighting all the way and threatening a filibuster:

“The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land for three years,” Reid said. “Democrats stand ready to work with reasonable people who want to improve it, but Republican attempts to take an entire law hostage simply to appease the Tea Party anarchists are outrageous, irresponsible and futile.”

Wait… did he just say resistance is futile? So the Dems are admitting they’re the Borg? Reid can go back to whatever alien planet or hole he calls home and stuff it.

He’s not alone though - witness the Progressive Republicans on the right who are attacking Cruz at every opportunity:

Fox News host Chris Wallace said on Sunday that top Republicans had sent him opposition research throughout the week on Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Many top Republicans are upset that Cruz is threatening to filibuster if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reinserts funding for ObamaCare, after the House stripped the money from a recently passed continuing resolution bill, Wallace said.

“This has been one of the strangest weeks I’ve ever had in Washington,” Wallace said. “As soon as we listed Ted Cruz as our featured guest this week, I got unsolicited research and questions, not from Democrats but from top Republicans, to hammer Cruz.”

Fox's Wallace Stunned: GOP Establishment Leaders Sent Me Opposition Research on Ted Cruz

Palin Fires at Fox News: 'Keep It TRULY Fair & Balanced,' Name Cruz Critics

We the people are standing with Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and we will remember those who betray us on both sides of the aisle. In closing, take to heart Sarah Palin’s words:

The message only grows stronger. The grassroots is bigger than any one person. We the People will rise up, and we will make our voices heard. Right now, Ted Cruz is speaking for us in this ObamaCare fight. God bless him for it.

Hang in there, Ted and Mike. You have millions of supporters among ordinary hardworking Americans. We support you because you don’t shy away from the fray. May your colleagues in the Senate gain the wisdom to support your excellent efforts so that you can see that the view is better from inside the bus than under it.

Video:  Palin on Cruz Control…

The only ones that should be viewing the underside of the bus are the Progressive Left. Death to ObamaCare.

Video:  Ted Cruz, Mark Levin explain process of defunding ObamaCare - 9/20/13

House votes 230-189 to Fund Government, Defund ObamaCare

Senator Jim DeMint Heritage Action Keynote Address – Defund ObamaCare Rally

Americans petition Congress to Defund ObamaCare

House Speaker John Boehner has a message for President Barack Obama: You’ll negotiate with Russia and not Republicans? [video] – Updated

Truckers Threatening to ‘Shut Down Washington, D.C.’ for Three Days Straight

Technorati Tags: Progressives,Progressivism,Tea Party,Constitution,Freedom,Defund ObamaCare,ObamaCare,Affordable Care Act,ACA,GOP,Budget,saving America,standing-up,Ted Cruz,Sarah Palin,Mike Lee,Cruz,Mark Levin,Palin,Levin,Chris Wallace,Fox,GOP Establishment

RPV Chairman Pat Mullins Responds to ‘ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion in Virginia’ – A Susan Stimpson Email

Virginia Right: There is an email from Susan Stimpson the former Republican Candidate for Lt. Governor in Virginia circulating concerning the Republican’s plan to expand the ObamaCare Medicaid program in the Commonwealth. My fellow blogger Sandy Sanders covered this story today here.

We all remember the deal the Republicans made in the last session to get Democrats to go along with the Transportation Tax increase pushed by Governor McDonnell and the Republicans. At the time, it was reported that Republicans agreed to set up a commission on the Medicaid expansion that would actually be empowered to expand Medicaid under the ObamaCare program. Many believed that this was a first move towards that goal.

Susan Stimpson believes that agreement is about to come to fruition despite many Republicans words to the contrary and she sent out an email this morning urging citizens to call the Republican Party of Virginia and express their concerns to Chairman Pat Mullins.

Apparently, the calls are coming in as requested by Stimpson, however, Mullins says that he and Speaker Howell are against the expansion.

According to Chairman Mullins:

“ObamaCare is an expensive, unaffordable train wreck that threatens to bring everything that’s wrong with the federal government into our health care system. I have said repeatedly that expanding Medicaid in Virginia is a terrible idea. It threatens to create a massive new unfunded liability for the Commonwealth that would at the same time put hundreds of thousands of Virginians into a system that people in both parties know is badly broken. Speaker Howell has been rock solid on this issue, and I commend him for his leadership. Just this weekend he told our state central committee that Medicaid expansion in Virginia is not going to happen. I stand with Speaker Howell in opposition to the expansion of Medicaid under ObamaCare and I call on all members of the General Assembly to do likewise.”

The letter below from Stimpson enumerates the names and numbers of State Legislators that Stimpson asked Virginian’s to contact that are involved with this “super committee”. While I understand Speaker Howell and Pat Mullins claim that they don’t want to expand Medicaid, it is hard to deny the record of various government “super-committees” – remember sequestration?

Republicans have a trust issue in Virginia – especially with the Conservative wing of the party. Denials of intent are well and good but the creation of this committee in and of itself should give Virginians cause for concern. The Republicans controlled the House, Senate and Governor’s Office and we still got a huge tax increase and a super committee that places the pockets of Virginians in even deeper jeopardy.

And despite the denials of impending Medicaid expansion, most of us are still not reassured that ObamaCare will not be coming to a Medicaid Expansion Center near you.

The full letter from Susan Stimpson is published below for reference.

Fellow Virginia Republican,

Remember earlier this year when Governor McDonnell and the Republican leadership in the General Assembly cut a deal with Senate Democrats — leaving Obamacare expansion on the table in return for the votes Republicans needed to pass the largest tax increase in Virginia history?

Republican leaders told us it was just a good will gesture necessary to broker a compromise (massive tax increase) and that expanding Medicaid, a key component of Obamacare, would never happen. Governor McDonnell claimed the budget language was a “firewall” to expansion. The commission isn’t a firewall, it’s a torch.

Instead of keeping their constitutional responsibility to ensure Obamacare expansion would never become reality, legislators abdicated to a super committee of five senators, five delegates and two “experts”. The decision rests with these 10 legislators. Republican leaders claim this will save money in future years and lessen the devastating fiscal impact of such an expansion.

While conservatives in Washington are attempting to draw a line in the sand by trying to defund Obamacare, and the full effects of this disastrous law begin to become clear, what are Virginia Republicans doing?

This week Governor McDonnell said “If they say ‘done,’ Medicaid expansion goes into place.”

And listen to Republican Senator Emmett Hanger, a member of the commission and proponent of Medicaid/Obamacare expansion, bragging about the Obama administration being close to accepting proposed reforms: “I’d say we are a little more than halfway there.”

Of course what our Republican leaders don’t seem to recognize is that once any entitlement is created or expanded, it is almost impossible to reverse. If they don’t have the guts to fight expanding its implementation, do you really believe they would ever end it? And the Obama administration will make whatever concessions necessary in the short term to achieve their goal; Obamacare in every state. Liberals never give up, and they will see the erosion and elimination of reforms. Obamacare expansion will be a budget buster for Virginia leading to more massive tax increases.

But if recent history is any indication, they don’t care. Didn’t they take note of the last election where two longtime incumbents were ousted because of their vote to raise taxes on a transportation bill that doesn’t even address roads?

When I ran for Lieutenant Governor I spoke out when no one else would against the GOP-led tax increase. And I am warning you now that Republican leaders are on the precipice of expanding Medicaid and Obamacare in Virginia. It’s happening right before our eyes. For more detail, read this blog post by RPV State Central member Steve Albertson.

I urge you to call Pat Mullins and demand he denounce this move towards Obamacare expansion. And call the individual members of the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission and urge them not to expand Obamacare. Call your own delegate and senator.

The majority of Americans and Virginians disapprove Obamacare. They know it is already wreaking havoc on our own healthcare, on our small businesses and our families. If you agree with me, please contact our GOP leaders and the members of the commission. Let’s fight this together.

Sincerely,

P.S.: It’s time for our Republican leaders in Virginia to stand for the principles of our creed. If we can’t trust them to fight Obamacare expansion in Virginia, can we trust anything they say?

Chairman Pat Mullins – (804) 780-0111

Speaker Bill Howell – Capitol: (804) 698-1028 District: (540) 371-1612

Senator Tommy Norment – Capitol: (804) 698-7503 District: (757) 259-7810

Senator Walter A. Stosch – Capitol: (804) 698-7512 District: (804) 527-7780

Senator Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. – Capitol: (804) 698-7524 District: (540) 885-6898

Senator John C. Watkins – Capitol: (804) 698-7510 District: (804) 379-2063

Delegate R. Steven Landes – Capitol: (804) 698-1025 District: (540) 255-5335

Delegate Beverly J. Sherwood – Capitol: (804) 698-1029  District: (540) 667-8947

Delegate John M. O’Bannon, III – Capitol: (804) 698-1073 District: (804) 282-8640

Delegate James P. Massie, III – Capitol: (804) 698-1072 District: (804) 377-0100

Technorati Tags: First Move,Fruition,General Assembly,Health Care System,Last Session,Lt Governor,Medicaid,Medicaid Expansion,Medicaid Program,Move Towards,Republican Candidate,Republican Party Of Virginia,Republicans,Rpv,Sandy Sanders,State Central Committee,Stimpson,Train Wreck,Unfunded Liability,Virginians

Cruz To Conservatives: “Don’t Blink” – Urges GOP To Fight Obamacare Rollout – On The Record

Video:  Cruz To Conservatives: “Don’t Blink” – Urges GOP To Fight Obamacare Rollout – On The Record

Technorati Tags: History,Military,Politics,Religion,Survival,Terrorism,ObamaCare,Defund ObamaCare,GOP,stand-up America,get-involved,Ted Cruz,standing-up,repeal and replace ObamaCare,ACA,Affordable Care Act,socialized medicine

ObamaCare… This Will Knock Your Socks Off!!

THIS VIDEO IS A GUIDE TO THE ORIGINAL HEALTHCARE BILL H.R. 3200.  H.R. 3962 is the actual bill that passed, but virtually everything the public and the GOP fought against was just moved, buried and hidden somewhere else in the new bill or is a contingency to be added later.  Just like the circus created over not funding abortions with taxpayer money quickly proved to be all smoke and mirrors, after being one of the pivotal points of compromise to get the bill past… at any cost. It was all a game of smoke and mirrors. Remember Nancy Pelosi’s famous statement: “You have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”, and we certainly are… virtually everything that was in H.R. 3200!

Recently we are finally reading news report and article after article about things that someone has finally found and verified that is hidden in the ObamaCare Bill.  You can bet that all the negative things in this video and more are part of the revised bill H.R. 3962.  It really is the gift from Hell that just keeps on giving…

Please watch this video:

Video:  Know the TRUTH about the Government Health Care Bill H.R.3200 - Key Points

Update With Video: THIS IS A GUIDE TO THE ORIGINAL HEALTHCARE BILL H.R. 3200. Yes the healthcare bill HR3962 passed. Now it's up to us to do all we can to repeal it!! This video is based on HR3200 but it is very closely related to HR3962 with the exception that HR3962 is deemed to be worse! If we don't get this bill thrown in the trash where it belongs we can expect to see much if not all of what this video shows us. THE PDF.OF THE BILL HR3200 NOTED AT THE END OF THE VIDEO IS NO LONGER VALID. HERE IS THE UPDATED LINK TO THE PDF. http://candicemiller.house.gov/pdf/hr3200.pdf

I am well aware of the typo in this video, I apologize but It's too late to fix it now.

Healthcare is only a powerful stepping stone to their government takeover plan. Open your eyes America, they don't care what "we the people" want or need, they simply want control.
Aug. 2009

Original Bill (Video): This is a point by point description (A guide not the actual reading of the bill!) of the Government Healthcare plan taken from the ACTUAL proposed bill H.R.3200 http://candicemiller.house.gov/pdf/hr3200.pdf

Though not opposed to healthcare reform most Americans do not want this KIND of reform which is a dangerous UN-AMERICAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL We want reform that makes sense and that is helpful for all not a destructive death warrant for the unborn and the elderly. We want government to stay out of our personal life decisions period. This is America !!

Here is the link to H.R. 3590: http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/PDF/hr3590.pdf

Docs 4 Patient Founder and president Hal Scherz, M.D., released the following statement today regarding the US Preventative Services Task Force recommendation to stop the routine PSA screening of men:

"On Thursday, the US Preventative Services Task Force issued their recommendation that routine PSA screening of men looking for prostate cancer was no longer indicated. So said the chairperson of this group, pediatrician Virginia Moyer, of Baylor School of Medicine. There were no urologists on this committee- the universally recognized experts on the treatment of prostate cancer.

"This is the same body that issued the controversial recommendations to stop routine mammography.

"It is unlikely that this task force took into account that in the years that PSA screening has been routinely done, that mortality from prostate cancer has dropped significantly. Over 32,000 men die BECAUSE of their prostate cancer every year, and it is the second most common cancer in men, with a particular predilection for African Americans. It is important to note that the death rate from prostate cancer in England, where routine screening is not performed in order to save money, is dramatically higher than in the US.

"It can only be concluded that this task force is doing the bidding of the federal government, under the guise of science and evidentiary medicine, to justify the intent to covertly ration care. This attempt to put bureaucrats between patients and doctors is precisely why groups like the Preventative Task Force needs to be exposed for what it is and marginalized. Patients make the best decisions about their care along with the good counsel from their own personal doctors- in this case urologists, not pediatricians."

This is just one example of many of the beginning of the cutting back process of services and procedures.

The Supreme Court will hear the case against ObamaCare in the upcoming session and each of the GOP candidates has sworn to overturn this bill by Executive Order and whatever means necessary to undo it  if they are elected in 2012, and then put forth a  real healthcare reform bill or program. If one of those two things does not happen and ObamaCare is allowed to go into affect, it will destroy our Republic!  This was never about healthcare for the poor or better health care for all, it was about the Progressive Movement getting control of one-sixth of the U.S. economy and ‘control’… over you!

GOP Three-Part Strategy to Dismantle Obamacare

AP Graphics

House GOP begins long drive to dismantle Obamacare

By: Byron York 01/20/11 8:05 PM
Chief Political Correspondent

Everyone knows House Republicans (along with three Democrats) voted Wednesday to repeal Obamacare. But fewer people know what those same House Republicans -- this time, with 14 Democrats -- did Thursday.

By a vote of 253 to 175, the GOP directed key House committees to report on ways to lower health care premiums, allow patients to keep their current health plans, increase access to coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, and decrease the price of medical liability lawsuits. In other words, the committees are beginning work on replacing the House-repealed Obamacare with Republican health policies.

Repeal got a lot of press coverage. Replacement got far less. If they needed any reminding, GOP lawmakers are learning that controlling the levers of power in the House doesn't mean controlling the media narrative on health care. "Democrats wanted to characterize repeal as draconian, ignoring the fact that we do have very, very positive alternatives," says Rep. David Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee. "It's been difficult for us to get that [message] out there. We said repeal and replace, and we're in the process of replacing."

House Republicans are pursuing a three-part strategy. Part One was repeal; they promised to do it, and they did it. Part Two is replace, which in coming months will involve House votes on a series of GOP health care measures. And Part Three -- since full repeal can't win in the Senate -- is another series of votes on measures to repeal individual parts of Obamacare. The net result will be that Republicans gradually push more and more House Democrats -- and perhaps some in the Senate -- away from an all-or-nothing defense of Obamacare.

When Democrats passed the national health care bill, many admitted that they didn't like this or that part, or that the bill as a whole wasn't "perfect." But after Obamacare became law, they balked at changing even the smallest part. For example, there is widespread agreement that the so-called 1099 provision -- the requirement that requires businesses to file zillions of new Internal Revenue Service forms -- is extremely burdensome. But when Republicans tried to kill the provision last year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made sure it didn't happen.

Now, after voters gave the GOP control of the House and a stronger voice in the Senate, things are different. Democrats are talking openly about changing Obamacare -- just as long as the changes stop short of full repeal. "Let us modify the health care law in a bipartisan way," House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn told Fox News this week. "But this whole stuff of repeal and throwing it out and starting all over -- that's not going to happen."

Obamacare is filled with vulnerable provisions. In addition to the 1099, there's the individual mandate (which is also being challenged in court), cuts to Medicare, and the long-term care measure called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, better known as the CLASS Act. During the Senate's Obamacare debate in December 2009, some Democrats voiced reservations about each of those provisions.

"Just look at the ones who made noise during the original debate," says a well-connected GOP Senate source. "Claire McCaskill, Ben Nelson, Kent Conrad -- Conrad called the CLASS Act a Ponzi scheme, but he voted for the whole bill that included it. How would he vote on a separate bill to repeal it?"

We'll probably find out. In the next year and a half, Senate Democrats, including some who are facing tough re-election fights in 2012, could have a chance to vote again on the most troublesome parts of Obamacare. With 47 Republican senators, the GOP would need just four Democrats to reach majority support for repealing significant chunks of the health care law.

If that happens, Senate Democrats, who at this very moment are railing against Republican filibusters, would have to resort to -- you guessed it -- a filibuster to stop repeal of any part of Obamacare. Even if they do, Republicans believe they might muster 60 votes to win the day. And if key parts of Obamacare fall, it's not clear whether the whole structure can remain standing.

As those fights go on, House Republicans, with some Democratic help, will pass new measures to address the health care problem piece-by-piece. Some will be attractive to Senate Democrats facing re-election. "A lot of them come from states that are sympathetic to the message we heard last November 2," says David Dreier. "So in light of that, we're not going to give up on this."

Byron York, The Examiner's chief political correspondent, can be contacted at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears on Tuesday and Friday, and his stories and blogposts appear on ExaminerPolitics.com.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, speaks about the upcoming vote to repeal the health care bill, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Boehner, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling R-Texas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Source: Washington Examiner

A Better Way to Reform Health Care

The critical problem is rising costs. The solution is more competition and greater individual control over health spending. Here's how.

By JOHN F. COGAN, GLENN HUBBARD, AND DANIEL KESSLER

Today, President Obama will host members of Congress from both political parties at the White House to discuss health reform. He has already put on the table an ambitious plan that takes elements from the bills already passed by the House and Senate and adds others, such as an agency to control health-insurance premiums.

The fundamental question participants must address is whether to use the president's plan as a starting point for negotiations, or to scrap it and start over.

Our recommendation: scrap it and start over. Its key elements—mandates, heavy-handed insurance regulation, and entitlement-based, middle-income subsidies—must go. None of them address health care's fundamental problem: high and rising costs. Instead, the various versions of health reform put forth by the president and his party are based on expanding health-insurance coverage. The inevitable consequence will be to exacerbate the cost problem. And the American public knows it.

To bring down costs, we need to change the incentives that govern spending. Right now, $5 out of every $6 of health-care spending is paid for by someone other than the person receiving care—insurance companies, employers, or the government. Individuals are insulated from the reality of what their decisions cost. This breeds overutilization of low-value health care and runaway spending.

View Full Image

To reduce the growth of costs, individuals must take greater responsibility for their health care, and health insurers and health-care providers must face the competitive forces of the market. Three policy changes will go a long way to achieving these objectives: (1) eliminate the tax code's bias that favors health insurance over out-of-pocket spending; (2) remove state-government barriers to purchasing and providing health services; and (3) reform medical malpractice laws.

We estimate these three changes will reduce health-care costs by over $100 billion per year and permanently reduce the number of uninsured by up to 13 million.

The tax code's favorable treatment of employer-sponsored health insurance over out-of-pocket health-care payments means that, for most families, buying health care through an employer is 30%-40% cheaper than buying it directly. The best way to address this clear bias is by making all health spending—including out-of-pocket payments, purchases of individual insurance, and purchases of COBRA coverage—tax-deductible.

Such a policy would be especially helpful to individuals facing the high cost of chronic illness and the unemployed who have lost their employer coverage. It could be accomplished with a single, sweeping policy change. It could also be achieved by expanding Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts, which also level the tax playing field between insured and out-of-pocket spending. That is, they make the tax treatment of insured and out-of-pocket spending more similar.

Many health-policy analysts have argued that counting employer-sponsored insurance premiums as taxable income would be a more effective way to undo the current tax code's bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance. In theory, we agree.

But the fate of the so-called tax on Cadillac insurance plans only serves to underscore the wisdom of leveling the playing field by making all health-care spending tax deductible. The beneficiaries of these high-priced plans, such as labor unions and public-sector employees, lobbied intensely and largely against the tax, and the president's plan defers the tax until 2018. The end result is the essential elimination of the plan's only tangible improvement to incentives.

There are two additional steps to reforming private insurance markets. First, individuals must be allowed to buy health insurance offered in states other than those in which they live. The current approach of state-by-state regulation has raised costs by reducing competition among insurance companies. It has also allowed state legislatures to impose insurance mandates that raise prices, while preventing residents from getting policies more suitable for their needs.

Second, reasonable caps on damages for pain and suffering need to be established in medical malpractice cases. Caps on these kind of damages reduce costs and decrease unnecessary, defensive medicine.

These three policies offer advantages over the president's plan. Instead of raising health-care costs, they fundamentally change incentives among individuals, insurers, and providers to gradually slow the growth in costs by reducing inefficient demand without sacrificing quality and innovation. Instead of radically changing health care overnight, they take an incremental approach, respecting the tremendous uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of different approaches to rein in costs.

And instead of massively increasing government spending, our policies have only a negligible federal budget impact. We estimate that the three policies will reduce federal revenues by approximately $3 billion per year; a small amount of the government's $2.2 trillion revenue intake.

Why is the budget impact so small? Taken together, the policy changes outlined here will produce a substantial decline in health-insurance premiums. Premiums will fall as workers opt for health plans with higher copayments. Insurance companies will lower premiums in the face of stiffer competition. And doctors will practice less defensive medicine.

As tax-deductible, employer-sponsored health-insurance costs decline, workers' taxable wages will rise so as to leave total labor compensation unchanged. The increased tax revenue collected on higher wages nearly offsets the revenue loss from the new health care tax deduction.

It is also important to increase access to health care—but this should not be confused with increasing access to health insurance, and it cannot be achieved without getting costs under control. There are several ideas for improving access worth considering: removing artificial barriers to entry for physicians and within specialty groups, allowing states greater flexibility with Medicaid, providing tax credits for health spending, and expanding programs that provide services directly, such as Community Health Centers. The city of San Francisco has a promising alternative along these lines called Healthy San Francisco. It restructures the existing health-care safety net system (both public and nonprofit) into a coordinated, integrated system.

Despite the claims of some partisans to the contrary, the president's plan is failing because it does not speak to the concerns of the majority of Americans. Instead of addressing the high and rising costs of care, it proposes mandates, invasive regulation, and unaffordable new entitlements. This will not bring health-care costs down—it will only make this problem worse.

Mr. Cogan, a senior fellow at Sanford University's Hoover Institution, was deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. Mr. Kessler is a professor of business and law at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

February 17, 2010

Petitions to Stop ObamaCare Delivered to Congressman Phil Gingrey: Second copy of petitions headed for Washington D.C. this week!

From Left to Right: Mark Turner, Congressman Phil Gingrey, and Brandon Vallorani. Mark and Brandon are holding nearly 150,000 names and addresses of Americans who want to stop the government takeover of our health care.

54% of the people want the ObamaCare Bill(s) scraped. 67% are tired of this entire one-sided charade. And only 43% want any form of HC (starting over from scratch) to be anywhere on the table this year.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement...

...in response to the partisan health care proposal posted online by the White House for discussion at the upcoming bipartisan health care summit:

“The President has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected. This new Democrats-only backroom deal doubles down on the same failed approach that will drive up premiums, destroy jobs, raise taxes, and slash Medicare benefits.

“This week’s summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.

“The best way to protect families and small businesses in this time of economic uncertainty is to start over with a step-by-step approach to health care reform focused on lowering costs, and that’s exactly what Republicans are fighting for. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Republican bill reduces premiums for families and small businesses by up to 10 percent. The Republican bill reduces premiums by implementing common-sense reforms such as allowing Americans to purchase insurance across state lines. Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, none of the Democrats’ proposals – including the President’s – provides this much-needed reform in a manner that can actually be effective.

“Republicans are also standing with the American people by calling for health care reform to protect human life and not use taxpayer money to fund abortion. The Republican bill would codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit all authorized and appropriated federal funds from being used to pay for abortion, which the President’s proposal would allow. Pro-life Democrats in the House have already pledged to vote against this provision. Health care reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it – and the American people agree.”

Related:

Bottomline – The New ObamaCare Bill and the Plan Behind It – Please Read

What MSM Won’t Tell You: Doctors Are Challenging Government Healthcare – and the AMA

Obama Writing Health Bill to Skirt GOP Filibuster

Michelle Bachman – Dems Will Implement TRICK to pass HC Reform!