The government's role in healthcare.

President Obama wants to "blow" an estimated $1 Trillion (I bet it costs $2 Trillion) on a "makeover" (really a takeover) of health care. We saw what happened to the GM and Chrysler shareholders and bondholders, and I expect that's what will happen to us (unless we are members of a group the President "favors").

All hail The Great Obama!

After this inexperienced community organizer from the corrupt Windy City gets through wasting $2 Trillion during a recession (on top of the Trillions he has already wasted), our country and our kids and grandkids are in for years of hard times.

Lincoln my a... foot!

I listened to that speach.  He wants cuts where there is nothing to cut, he wants to cut Medicare benefits.  It is hard enough to find a doctor who will accept Medicare now.  He would make it impossable.  A trillion for what? a makeover with no stated plan.  His flowery speach promised a lot but said nothing.   he would have some beaurocrat deciding what tests a doctor can perform.  Sure some of the test they give are not all that necessary to the illness they are treating but they do give the doctor a good idea of the overall health of his patient.

 I just don't think a Government program is what we need. But I will have to check in to it.

Government run Health Care by any other name is still Socialized Medicine.  I don't care what kind of decoration they put on it.  Frost a donut and it is still a donut.

Glad to hear input from Dr. Paul.  Too bad people aren't intelligent enough to listen to him.

Dr. Paul,

I'm with you on the idea that the government shouldn't have to regulate health care.  Professional organizations should regulate themselves.  I'm one of those well-employed and insured people who has to choose between health care and groceries, while juggling all the other bills.  Those who are no in poor health may be outraged, but those of us on the brink of bankruptcy just because we happen to have weak enough genes to have very poor health are just plaing terrified!

Here is the rest of the letter which was not included on this post BUT VERY IMPORTANT!

Dear Friend of Liberty:
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
If these words send a shiver up your spine now... just wait.
What if the next time you hear that, it’s your doctor?
What if it’s the person who decides if you get a life-saving procedure?
If that scares you as much as it scares me, I hope you’ll sumbit the petition below to Congress IMMEDIATELY.
And I hope you’ll join Campaign for Liberty’s fight against this government takeover of our healthcare system by making a generous donation as well.
I'll give you the link for petition in just a moment, but first let me explain how urgent this effort is.
As you’ll see, there’s no time to waste.
You and I must DEMAND President Obama and Congress back off their healthcare rationing Scheme and other plans for government intervention.
There’s no telling when Congress may act to implement their European-style takeover of medicine, so there’s absolutely NO time to waste.
If passed, not only could the $1.5 TRILLION federal government takeover of healthcare be the last straw to bankrupt our country, but it would also:

*** Hand control of our healthcare industry to an unelected federal board who will take charge of deciding who gets medical care -- and who doesn’t;
*** End medical privacy by establishing a nationwide Medical Record Database, allowing virtually anyone in the medical-industrial complex -- even those in foreign countries -- to access your personal medical records WITHOUT your consent;
*** End private health insurance by herding hardworking Americans into a government-sanctioned health insurance boondoggle;
*** Dramatically raise taxes by counting health benefits as “income,” or by forcing businesses and uninsured workers to pay for officially sanctioned insurance.
*** Allow for even more government intrusion into our personal lives by paving the way for bureaucrats to tell us what we can and can’t eat, drink and smoke, like New York City’s ban on smoking and “unapproved” fats in food.

I can tell you my friend; there has never in our history been a more imminent danger of government-run healthcare becoming the law of the land.
That’s why it’s vital you act TODAY!
You see -- two major events have come together to assist their diabolical plans to take over our healthcare.
First, as you know, international banksters and their allies in our federal government raided our Treasury, stole our tax dollars, and nearly sank our economy.
This job-destroying recession - largely caused by an out of control Federal Reserve, Congress and Wall Street - has caused far too many families to have to worry about their jobs – and their healthcare.
And then, just as millions of Americans were feeling the effects of this troubled economy, large-scale fear was foisted upon us by government agencies thirsty for more power and control over our lives.
You see, after radically overhyping the threat to U.S. citizens from the swine flu, the government now believes you are ready to be led to “safety.”
They believe all they have to do is constantly harp about the “high cost of healthcare” and American citizens will instantly fall in line behind their scheme to “take care of us.”
But of course, you and I both know we didn’t get here by accident and we didn’t get here in only the last few months.
The truth is, the answer to our problems is NOT more government involvement in healthcare.
The answer is LESS -- so the free market can inexpensively and efficiently distribute much-needed healthcare services to ALL American citizens.
But, of course, that’s not what those in power in Washington D.C. really want.
After all, that would mean they’d have less POWER and less CONTROL over our lives -- and power and control are EXACTLY what this fight is all about.
You see, this Government Healthcare Takeover and Rationing Scheme strikes at the heart of EVERYTHING you and I hold dear.
You and I believe American citizens ARE NOT cattle to be poked, prodded and herded like livestock by government bureaucrats who “know what’s best for us.”
But under their Big Government Healthcare power grab, you’ll be nothing more than a dehumanized statistic -- a number on a piece of paper.
The Federal Healthcare Rationing Board will make THEIR decisions on what healthcare you and your family receive based not on what YOU or your doctor decide is best . . .
. . . But on what THEY decide is best.
Isn’t your life really worth saving? What about your family’s?
Well, the Obama Administration and their Big Government allies in both parties think you’re too “personally invested” to answer those questions “objectively.”
So they want their own handpicked, Washington, D.C. bureaucrats to answer them for you.
And if you don’t like their decisions?
Well, hopefully you can live with them -- literally.
If that scares you as much as it scares me, I hope you’ll submit the Petition to Congress opposing any Government takeover of healthcare.
Campaign for Liberty will gather these Petitions from hundreds of thousands of supporters nationwide, and use them as part of a huge grassroots blitz on Washington in opposition to government-run healthcare.
You and I must lead this fight to stop the government from taking over yet another area of our lives.
You see, Campaign for Liberty supporters know first-hand what happens when out of control bureaucrats are left to make decisions that impact our freedom.
Think about what that means for your healthcare.
What do you think will happen under a government run healthcare system if your political or religious views happen to be “undesirable?”
What about if you own a gun?
You know, after seeing all those government memos accusing freedom-loving, law-abiding citizens of being “terrorists,” do you really want to find out?
Just like in that case, while we may wonder about the full extent of their schemes, we need only look at what they’re willing to say publicly for clues as to their intentions.
You see, the advocates for government-run healthcare are not at all afraid to say they want a socialized healthcare system like Canada’s.
And you and I know what the government takeover of healthcare in other countries has brought them.
There, folks have to wait over four months just to see a specialist -- and over SIX MONTHS for simple surgical procedures!
Can you imagine that? Is that really what we want for ourselves and our families?
Well, Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty strongly say “NO!”
But as it stands now, not enough Americans understand what’s at stake for them and their families.
That means our backs are TRULY against the wall.
The good news in this fight is that IF you and I show Americans what Government Health Care is really all about, we CAN defeat it.
But to succeed, it’s up to you and me to flood the White House and Congress with a TIDAL WAVE of public opposition.
That’s why Campaign for Liberty is pulling out all the stops to inform folks about the facts -- and urge them to express their outrage to Washington, D.C.
We’ll start with these Petitions, which we’ll gather and deliver in the coming weeks. But of course, that won’t be all.
E-mail blasts. Blogs. Direct mail. Phone banking.
Town halls, meet-ups, leaflet drops.
Newspaper, radio and television ads.
Media and PR blitzes from Campaign for Liberty staff and supporters.
But such an extensive program isn’t cheap.
And it’s the ONLY way we’re going to defeat further erosions of our freedoms and the government’s takeover of our healthcare.

The truth is, without your IMMEDIATE action, I’m afraid there just won’t be enough time or money to do everything that needs to be done.
And I’m sure you’ll agree, this is not a fight you and I can afford to lose. And that no one can bring the heat quite like you and your fellow Patriots. Just look at how much progress we are making toward Auditing the Fed!
So please click here to submit your petition along with a contribution of $250, $100 or $50 TODAY!
Power-hungry politicians in Washington, D.C. are intent on ramming this bill into law before the American people realize what’s at stake.
That’s why we may not have much time.
So please click here to submit your Petition and generous contribution of $250, $100 or $50 IMMEDIATELY!
Sincerely,
John F. Tate
President
P.S. The Federal Government is poised to hand over your healthcare, your medical records, and decisions over even life and death to unelected bureaucrats.
There’s not a moment to waste if you want to keep your freedom, your doctor, even the power to decide whether you receive life-saving medical care.
Please join Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty today in our fight to stop a Big Government takeover of Healthcare, before it’s too late!

Very good, Thank you Linda

http://www.gooznews.com/node/2957

Co-ops as an Alternative to the Public Plan

by GoozNews ~ 12 Jun 2009 08:43am

To counter overwhelming Republican and conservative Democrat opposition to making a public plan part of health care reform, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) is proposing co-operative insurance plans as an alternative. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post yesterday conducted an important interview with the plains state senator where he rooted his proposal in traditional progressivism (think rural and municipally-owned electric co-ops, which consistently have lower rates than surrounding private utilities).

The American Medical Association, in backtracking slightly from its opposition to the public plan, said that co-operatives or a public plan that operated like any other insurance company (rather than piggybacking on Medicare's administrative efficiencies and pricing power) would be acceptable.

Liberals  who've been pushing the public plan proposal should explore the co-operative idea. It holds promise, and could serve as an important wedge into delivery system reforms that will be crucial to holding down health care costs in the long run.

The core of the Senate legislative draft released earlier this week followed the Massachusetts universal insurance experiment. It would require everyone to buy insurance; it would force employers to make a small payment to a universal insurance fund if they didn't cover their employees; it would set up an exchange (called gateways in the bill) in every state to assure that every insurance plan meets minimum coverage criteria and there's no price discrimination based on pre-existing conditions (community rating) or outright rejection of costly patients (adverse selection).

A national public plan, endorsed by a majority of Democrats, and endorsed by President Obama, would ensure that there was a government-run option in every market in the country under the exchange/gateway model. If an employer didn't offer insurance or a person or family lost insurance through unemployment, that person/family could always turn to the public plan for coverage if they didn't like or couldn't find an acceptable private plan. The not-so-hidden agenda behind a national public plan (and the reason why the AMA and the insurance industry are so vehemently opposed to it) is that it could use its Medicare-like administrative efficiencies and purchasing clout to lower costs.

However, as anyone who has looked at the data knows, Medicare in the past several decades has been no more successful at holding down costs than private insurers, largely because it operates within the traditional fee-for-service model. A public plan might provide a one-time savings in its start-up phase through lower administrative fees. But if its administrators used the same fee-for-service payment system as Medicare, its costs would resume their upward march almost immediately.

That's why the co-operative idea is so intriguing. The legislation that establishes the 50 state-based gateway/exchanges could require that each state set up one or more non-profit cooperatives to serve as the default option for the uninsured, for small employers, or for anyone who wanted to be insured by that publicly-licensed entity. States could be given leeway in how to it could be structured.

Some states might opt for a traditional cooperative owned by its policy holders. That probably wouldn't do much to change the practice of medicine (it would all depend on how the managers of the co-op decided to set up its delivery system; if they simply replicated the insurance industry's health maintenance organization and preferred provider organization models, which use the fee-for-service paradigm, its unlikely they would be any more successful than the insurance industry is holding down costs or providing higher quality care).

But states could also be encouraged to set up non-profit group practices with salaried physicians working in teams under one roof. These co-ops could replicate the accountable care organizations like the Mayo Clinic and Seattle's Group Health that provide a proven model for delivering high quality, affordable care in a non-profit, group practice setting.

Public plan advocates have for the most part ignored the delivery system side of the health care reform debate. Though their slogans insist on "quality" as well as "access" and "affordability," the liberal groups and labor organizations who've pushed the public plan option have largely ignored the poor quality of so much of U.S. care that needlessly drives up costs.

The co-operative compromise offered by Sen. Conrad offers them and their allies in Congress an opportunity to get out front on the quality issue. As the price for their votes, they should insist that the newly-authorized co-operatives become vehicles for implementing significant health care delivery system reforms. High on that list should be replacing volume-driven, fee-for-service medicine with cooperatives organized as prepaid group practices working in teams in a salaried, non-profit setting.