Obamacare stands in the way of actual health reform.
Real Health Care reforms that fix problems in contrast to the reforms that make everything worse. A Comprehensive Resource.
Articles/Videos Updated 4/5/2016
Freedom and Health Care Reform (Previous Post)
The Obama Administration and the Left Demonstrate Why Obamacare Must Be Repealed (Previous Post)
ACA: Helped or Hurt? Americans have much to say about SCOTUS decision
A Patient-Centered Alternative to Obamacare
After Repeal of Obamacare: Moving to Patient-Centered, Market-Based Health Care
ObamaCare Causes A Descent Into Madness Familiar To Many
You Also Can't Keep Your Doctor
Gut Check: The Pro-Choice Revolution
Think ObamaCare Is Bad Now? It Gets Worse Next Year
Do You Believe Obama This Time? How About Now? …Now?
HealthCare.gov Users Warn of Security Risk, Breach of Privacy
Students say President Obama's handling of scandals and Obamacare rollout 'deceitful,' 'incompetent'
Elderly patients sick over losing doctors under ObamaCare
Study: Average Premiums for Young Women to Increase 193%
The Studies Are In, and Obamacare is Failing Miserably
Top Democrat: Obamacare 'Huge Train Wreck Coming Down'
Lousy Tactics, Dishonesty, Deceit - Misc Unethical Advisors, Attack on the Hippocratic Oath? Public Option, Co-ops & The Exchange Medicare, Medicaid & Other Govt Problems | What Physicians, Practitioners Say Fact Checks, Myths, Negatives, Contradictions, Broken Promises Costs, Irresponsible Spending, Mandates |
ObamaCare Causes A Descent Into Madness Familiar To Many (3-29-2015) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) ObamaCare's Flawed Economic Foundations The insurance mandate has almost nothing to do with remedying costs imposed on the system by those without coverage. (3-22-12) The Obamacare Two-Year Checkup: More Reasons for Repeal (3-22-12) At two-year mark, health law’s legacy is confusion HHS Targets Health Savings Accounts Proponents of government-run health care view Health Savings Accounts as the bane of their existence. They provide a health care based on individual responsibility with market-based accountability that drives down the price of health care services. Nearly 14 million Americans enjoy HSAs and they are growing at an exponential rate. That appears to be a problem for HHS and the regime. (7-7-12) Congress's Monstrous Legal Legacy Put together like Frankenstein, ObamaCare risks coming apart at the seams. (12-27-10) A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve. (12-21-09) Reid 2.0: It’s Still a Budget Buster It is now plain as day that the Reid plan has evolved into nothing more than a massive entitlement expansion, which subsidizes more people into an unreformed system with soaring costs. (12-21-09) The Five Flaws of the Reid Health Bill (11-20-09) Harry Reid wants to kill consumer-driven health care. (11-20-09) ObamaCare Is The Public Option 5 reasons why you can't take the public option out of ObamaCare. (12-16-09) What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation. (11-07-09) Reading Guide to the Pelosi Health Care Reform Bill This reading guide includes what we have uncovered in our initial reading of the Pelosi health “reform” legislation (H.R. 3962) introduced by House Democrats. (10-30-09) 111 New Federal Bureaucracies Created in Democrats’ Health Care Bill (12-11-09) Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. (11-2-09) The Pelosi Blueprint for Government Run Health Care The scariest thing about the bill is the solid foundation it lays for a complete government take over of the health care sector of our economy. Less choice, lower quality health care, and trillion dollar deficits for years to come: that is the House’s prescription for health reform. (10-30-09) What The Health Care Bill Actually Says Helpful Analysis of HR 3200 by Professor Lewis of Duke University. Questions about major health care issues with evaluations. Classical Ideals: What HR 3200 Says- John David Lewis What's in the House HR 3200 Bill A line by line list of what's in the bill and a link to the bill. Country Doctor: ObamaCare In Great Detail ObamaCare is hazardous to your health. All this reflects Congress's simple objective: government rather than individual control of our health care. The government-operated Baucus plan would impose big costs on Americans, in terms of both money and freedom.. The Baucus plan would make insurance even more expensive. More government-run health care, but on the installment plan. Congress—and therefore politics—will dictate the decisions of insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and others, while also increasing the government's share of the nation's medical spending as it adds hundreds of billions in new health-care liabilities to the federal balance sheet. Insurers will become government contractors, essentially in the business of carrying out political demands. So instead of tailoring reform to encourage more cost-conscious individual choices, Mr. Baucus instead imposes an across-the-board tax that will be passed down to all consumers and thus drive insurance costs higher for everyone. The Baucus Plan: The Status Quo on Steroids Many of the same fundamental problems plague this proposal as the other proposals in Congress. Health-Care Reform: How the Bills Stack Up A look at the costs, impacts on insurance coverage & key provisions of the three health-care measures winding their way through Congress. The bills spend trillions & raise taxes, yet still leave 17-34 million uninsured. Not a good investment, especially considering it will slow the economy & lower the quality of health care. A Federal Health Insurance Exchange Combined with a Public Plan: The House & Senate Bills Democrat Health Plan Organizational Chart Only A Bureaucrat Could Love Health Care Practitioners, imagine the overhead, red tape & paperwork. Even more, not less. Dissecting the Kennedy Health Bill No, you won't be able to keep your insurance if you like it. Lousy Tactics, Dishonesty, Deceit - Misc Watch: Five Big Lies of ObamaCare 1: You can keep your doctor 2: You can keep your plan 3: Will lower health insurance premiums 4: Won't add a dime to the deficit 5: Will insure 30 million more people (12-7-13) Think ObamaCare Is Bad Now? It Gets Worse Next Year On the exchanges, you may no longer be able to use the doctors and hospitals you prefer. Many exchange plans exclude the top-drawer academic hospitals like Cedars Sinai, the Mayo Clinic... Do You Believe Obama This Time? How About Now? …Now? "Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of [Obamacare] could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers," said Karen Ignagni, CEO of insurance trade association America's Health Insurance Plans. (11-16-13) HealthCare.gov Users Warn of Security Risk, Breach of Privacy (11-3-13) Students say President Obama's handling of scandals and Obamacare rollout 'deceitful,' 'incompetent' Obama's healthcare promises were 'deceitful' according to students. (11-2-13) Remember that health insurance you could keep? Obamacare is not a left–right issue; it's a fraud issue. (11-2-13) Big surprise: Sebelius not exactly pro-'Bamacare (10-26-13) Four hard truths of health care reform Politico notices how bad Obamacare’s been. Too Many Broken Promises in Obamacare Taxed enough already? Just wait until Obamacare kicks in. (7-25-12) If the mandate is a tax, Obama lied his way into office Shattered: Obama's 'firm pledge' against 'any form of tax increase' on Americans making less than $250k (6-30-12) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) Obamacare's Preemptive Regulatory Strike An administration that equates its taste for coercion and tyranny with benevolence. (4-7-12) HHS Targets Health Savings Accounts Proponents of government-run health care view Health Savings Accounts as the bane of their existence. They provide a health care based on individual responsibility with market-based accountability that drives down the price of health care services. Nearly 14 million Americans enjoy HSAs and they are growing at an exponential rate. That appears to be a problem for HHS and the regime. (7-7-12) Obama's Health Care Duplicity No Longer Debatable (3-17-12) As he runs for re-election, Mr. Obama's inner community organizer seems to be winning out over the law professor. (4-7-12) A supreme shock for 'La-La' libs (Excellent!) The panicked reception in the mainstream media of the three-day Supreme Court health-care marathon is a delightful reminder of the nearly impenetrable parochialism of American liberals. (3-31-12) Will the Real Judicial Activists Please Stand Up? (3-31-12) Obama's Broken Promise to Wounded Warriors Our veterans are now being condemned to the worst of Obamacare coverage. (3-31-12) Why the Obama legal team struggled at the Supreme Court. (4-7-12) Shock: Obamacare Pricier Than Advertised (3-15-12) The left's birth-control fixation is about more than sexual freedom. (3-3-12) Obama's lies on Obamacare catching up to him Obamacare to cost twice what the president said. (3-16-12) Obama Slashes Soldiers' Benefits to Pay Back Healthcare Industry Donors (3-6-12) the Democrats' radical health bill contains unprecedented language that could wreck the U.S. health system permanently. (1-20-10) A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve. (12-21-09) How the Dems hide the cost of the health care bill If someone sold you a house, or a car, or a mutual fund this way, we would put them in jail. (12-16-09) Harry Reid delivers a bundle of special-interest favors. (12-23-09) Passing health reform could be a nightmare for Obama The various health-care proposals represent atrocious legislation. As for cost control, even generous estimates have health spending growing faster than the economy. (12-21-09) Confessions of an ObamaCare Backer A liberal explains the political calculus. No wonder many Americans are upset. They know they are being lied to about ObamaCare, and they know they are going to be stuck with the bill. (11-10-09) ObamaCare's LongShoremen Rules Cost-control and taxes for some, but not for others. (12-22-09) ObamaCare Keeps Falling in the Polls A business ad campaign could turn the tide even in the House. (12-11-09) Democrats on the Health-Care Precipice Enacting health-care legislation in the face of overwhelming public disapproval may cost the party its chance of forging a sustainable majority. (12-18-09) The health-care contradictions multiply. (12-18-09) The Selling of Health Care Reform Harry Reid will likely surrender to the demands of Senator Joe Lieberman. (12-15-09) Some "progressives" say never. For once, they're right. (12-15-09) Durable social reform in the U.S. has always been bipartisan. (12-10-09) Harry Reid compares the fight for health-care reform to the emancipation and women's suffrage movements. However, the BOCare bills are not about expanding freedom, but rather taking away freedom. (12-8-09) Why Dems Are Obsessed by Health Reform They believe the liberal base expects them to deliver and will punish them if they don't. (12-5-09) We Pay Them to Lie to Us - Stossel When you knowingly pay someone to lie to you, we call the deceiver an illusionist or a magician. When you unwittingly pay someone to do the same thing, I call him a politician. (11-25-09) Reform For You, But Not Congress ...what Democrats are set to enact will spend trillions dramatically increasing insurance premiums, and leave millions still without insurance. (12-06-09) For Democratic 'moderates,' the political play is the thing. (11-23-09) It's one thing to be serene under fire, it's another to be delusional. (11-06-09) Contrary to the President, most doctors oppose his reforms. 20 other physician groups came out against his health-care takeover yesterday, which they wrote "will threaten patient access and harm quality." (11-06-09) Condition Serious but Not Hopeless Where to go from here on health care? An NRO Symposium (11-25-09) Government of, by and for the people has apparently become a quaint concept to the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Ramming socialized medicine through now comes down ... (11-21-09) The $100 Million Health Care Vote? (11-21-09) The Democrats' 'doc fix' for Medicare payments would shock Madoff. (11-18-09) Every medical insurance decision will be subject to rationing by politics. Pelosi's Health Care Means Rationing Politics (11-09-09) Democrats' Pearl Harbor Attack on Health Care Democracy is about participation, consultation, and deliberation...not exclusion, heedlessness, and haste. Violating the fundamental tenets of democracy may generate a backlash that smug Democrats can't even begin to imagine. (11-13-09) ObamaCare: Show Me the SEIU Money! (11-18-09) Harry Reid Wants to Vote on a Phantom Bill (Dem Dirty Tricks Edition) (11-19-09) Major Congressional Reforms Demand Bipartisan Support ObamaCare would be an exception to the historical rule of large social legislation. (11-3-09) Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. (11-2-09) A 1,990-Page Medical Monstrosity Both the House and the Senate are set to wreck the greatest health care system in the world — unless those now taking it for granted raise a ruckus, and fast. (10-30-09) The Obama presidency was always a race against time. (11-06-09) Even a five-point shift would mean big Democratic losses in 2010. (11-05-09) The public option diverts attention from the legislation's real faults. (10-30-09) Private insurance premiums could triple under ObamaCare. (10-28-09) Opposing Reid's public option gambit. (10-28-09) The doctor fix blows up in the Senate, no thanks to the AMA. (10-22-09) Adding lots of 'dimes' to the deficit. Democrats Plan to Strip Sustainable Growth Rate Formula from Health-Care Reform, they'll instead make this a separate contribution to the deficit. (10-21-09) Exposing the Obamacare Shell Game But it is hard work adding $1 trillion in government spending while claiming with a straight face that you are not adding to the deficit. (11-01-09) Competition & Health Insurance Contrary to Democratic rhetoric, repealing the insurance industry's antitrust exemption won't reduce prices or profits. (10-21-09) Humana gets a slap on the wrist for disseminating true information. (10-19-09) We are a nation fully settled by government. The terrain ahead is both crowded and costly. (10-17-09) Senators aren't counting on reform savings when it comes to their constituents. So, health-care "reform" is good, smart and necessary, so long as it isn't fully applied to the states of the senators who are pushing it. (10-9-09) The health-care industry learns the price of appeasing Congress. (10-13-09) A $250 bribe to help the ObamaCare medicine go down. (10-16-09) Obama Hasn't Closed the Health-Care Sale Wait until the voters figure out how Congress is proposing to pay for reform. (10-15-09) Congress’s Secret Plan to Pass ObamaCare Adopting this secret plan will not strike most Americans as a transparent, bipartisan, effective way to change how millions of Americans get their health care. (10-1-09) Government-Run Health Care by Next Thursday? (10-1-09) ObamaCare Puts Transparency and Accountability on Death Bed Since proponents of Obamacare have shown themselves to be completely indifferent to what their legislation will actually do to the American people, conservatives have offered other amendments that would hold President Obama accountable for his promise that Obamacare would not cause Americans to lose their current doctor or health care coverage. The majority in the Senate has completely gutted any semblance of transparency or accountability in the health care debate. A lawsuit challenges federal coercion in your choice of health care. Seniors should be allowed to opt out of Medicare.(10-5-09) The Democrats' New Bob Casey Problem Will ObamaCare fund abortions? (10-6-09) Another day, another White House health-care deadline. Humana gets whacked for telling the truth, AARP gets a pass for spreading falsehoods. Baucus cuts will hurt medicare. A preview of coming political health-care attractions. A Tackle Box Full of Race Bait Hearing racism whether or not it’s warranted is called prejudice. It’s been said that a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich. Well, these people can indict a ham sandwich for being racist. So one cheer for those who objected to this idiocy too little and far too late. Nancy Pelosi worries about incitement. But she probably couldn't be convicted. Pig Oil Salesman (6th Heading) ObamaCare is producing yet more fuzzy math. Obama votes “present” in health care debate. Rev. Jackson to the rescue of Obamacare Every day, the administration’s promotional campaign becomes more politicized, more strident, more arrogant, and less aimed at a discussion of the real concerns arising from the desire to hastily revamp one-sixth of the nation’s economy. The people have a right and a duty to question government, the administration has the obligation to respond with respect and candor. Congress Veers Left on Health Care The Baucus bill has been rejected by Democrats. Where Is Obama's 'Center'? - Steyn Look at his Rolodex and then figure out just where such a man would estimate it to be. Obama's 'Gift' Has Stopped Giving But the gift has stopped giving, because people have started listening. He accused opponents of using "scare tactics." This came after he'd piled scare tactic upon scare tactic himself to illustrate the problem. The President Risks Getting Stale Continuous TV appearances can't rescue a bad argument. Neither the government-heavy substance nor the dishonest and demagogic tactics have changed. The president denounced “scare tactics” — in a speech that warned that failure to go along with his plans would cause people to die. Many of them can, in fact, expect to lose their coverage while paying higher premiums and taxes. Many other Americans can expect to lose their jobs thanks to Obama’s “employer mandate.” All of them would be better served by a gradual transition toward a system in which people buy insurance for themselves rather than relying on their employers or governments, and in which neither the tax code nor regulations impede them from so doing. At the Danger Point in the Obamacare Debate Now that many Americans realize the Obamacare bills in Congress herald a government takeover of U.S. health care, they can't afford to relax. The Community Is Restless - Steyn The firm hand of greater organization is needed. Obama looses labor thugs on tea party town hall protesters Kill Grandma or Terrorists Win The latest argument for ObamaCare. Americans have enjoyed the world's best health care by resisting temptations of government management. Senators prefer the insurance they have. Congress's Health Care Double Standard A Bipartisan Plan to Wreck the System The health-care address President Obama should really give to Congress. Boehner: GOP Leaders Haven't Met Obama for Health Talks Since April But the administration responded with a tersely worded letter indicating that they had healthcare reform under control. Common-sense Americans hit the brakes. Your leaders did not want you to scrutinize the profound changes they were proposing, and the best excuse they offered was that you, the American people, were too stupid to understand it. ObamaCare: The Only Exit Strategy - Krauthammer Isn't there a catch? Of course there is. This scheme is the ultimate bait-and-switch. The pleasure comes now, the pain later. Government-subsidized universal and virtually unlimited coverage will vastly compound already out-of-control government spending on health care. The financial and budgetary consequences will be catastrophic. Ten Questions Politicians Won't Answer Evasive politicians, not concerned citizens, are dividing America over health-care reform. The left boycotts a progressive retailer. Those who actually read Mr. Mackey's piece may find the racket puzzling. The CEO suggests ways to reform health care without a new deficit-busting entitlement. He'd equalize tax laws between individual and employer-provided health insurance, make health costs more transparent. Mr. Mackey wrote his op-ed to join a national debate on a subject that will affect his company and employees. He deserves credit for exercising his right to free speech, no matter the risk this currently entails in our politics. Georgia Democrat yells at local doctor over health care, w/video Explaining the Town-Hall Protest The new tactics it is employing show the White House is completely out of touch with the American people. And when the administration attacks their character and their motives and intentionally distorts the truth, it only adds to the anger people already feel. Yes, They Really Are Mad As Hell Getting In Their Faces For A Change "Community organizing" comes back to bite President Obama. Obama, the Mortal - Krauthammer The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. Sorry, Snobs: Town-Hall Rage Is Real Democracy Wrong Turns: How Obama's Health-Care Push Went Astray How Obama Blew Health Care Reform On A Bet The Republicans Were Hollow Men Obama's Dog of a Health Care Message Obama's Tone-Deaf Health Campaign The president shouldn't worry about the protestors disrupting town hall meetings. He should worry about the Americans who have been sitting at home listening to him. De Tocqueville's Paean To Townhalls You just have to wonder what Mr. De Tocqueville would think to see our elected representatives and their media handmaidens calling the attendees of townhalls — "angry mobs" and "political terrorists." '06 Flashback: Pelosi Tells Anti-War Protesters "I'm a Fan of Disruptors" Pelosi in '08: Protests are Patriotic Pelosi Now: Protests are "Un-American" A public policy debate takes on religious overtones. Protest for Me, But Not for Thee Union workers would be exempt from Dem Health care tax Why ObamaCare Is Sinking - Krauthammer You can’t fake health-care nirvana in legislation. Democrats' Fear Is Showing on Health Care This administration feels it is the only legitimate beneficiary of "people power." Get out of the way, punch back twice as hard, and report anything fishy. Congressman Admits: Congress Stupid The ObamaCare Strategy: Rush, Muddle & Malign Obama & the Permanent Campaign Turning critics into enemies isn't presidential. Democrats & the Health Tax Taboo The president attacked McCain for proposing a benefits tax. Back to ACORN General Hospital Guess who's going to be much better off thanks President Obama's health care scheme? Obama Tries to Skip the Details ObamaCare and Red State Democrats The president is changing the political landscape, but not in the way he intends. Obama's Health Care Promises Ring Hollow Qualms & questions about Obama's health plan Chris Dodd keeps his Senate bill under wraps. How Obama Stumbled on Health Care Democrats Hoodwink the Health Lobby Obama Can't Be Trusted With Numbers So why should we trust him with health care? Government Health Care & Voters Americans worry about losing coverage they have now. Unethical Advisors, Attack on the Hippocratic Oath "Savings, Dr. Ezekial Emanuel writes, will require changing how doctors think about their patients: Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously, "as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others" (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 18, 2008). Yes, that's what patients want their doctors to do. But Emanuel wants doctors to look beyond the needs of their patients and consider social justice, such as whether the money could be better spent on somebody else. Many doctors are horrified by this notion; they'll tell you that a doctor's job is to achieve social justice one patient at a time." NYP "Dr. David Blumenthal, another key Obama adviser, agrees. He recommends slowing medical innovation to control health spending. Blumenthal has long advocated government health-spending controls, though he concedes they're "associated with longer waits" and "reduced availability of new and expensive treatments and devices" (New England Journal of Medicine, March 8, 2001). But he calls it "debatable" whether the timely care Americans get is worth the cost. (Ask a cancer patient, and you'll get a different answer. Delay lowers your chances of survival.)" NYP Doctors Despair Over Obamacare (7-7-12) Farewell, Personal and Medical Privacy; ObamaTax Is Here (7-7-12 Sebelius: Decrease in Human Beings Will Cover Cost of Contraception Mandate “The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception,” (3-3-12) Robert Reich Reveals Brutal Health Care Truths; MSM Snores "We're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs... It's too expensive...so we're going to let you die." (10-14-09) Obama's Health Rationer-in-Chief White House health-care adviser Ezekiel Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the 'overuse' of medical care. In numerous writings, Dr. Emanuel chastises physicians for thinking only about their own patient's needs. Dr. Emanuel says the U.S. should erect a decision-making body similar to the UK’s rationing body, NICE, to slow the adoption of new medications and set limits on how much will be paid to lengthen a life. The World Health Organization also rates the U.S. No. 1 out of 191 countries for responsiveness to the needs and choices of the individual patient. That attention to the individual is imperiled by Dr. Emanuel's views. Is this what Americans want? ObamaCare Vs. The Hippocratic Oath I cannot condone this legislation, which promises to HARM every person, family and business in our country. We need to reject rationing, and fight the loss of control of our health care lives. (11-01-09) BO Advisors Want To Ration Care. Government rationing is not needed. The Attack On Doctor's Hippocratic Oath The President's plan is frightening enough on its own. Obama's health care advisers, Dr's Imanuel & Blumenthal, are advising Obama on his heath care takeover. These advisors may be reason enough to oppose ObamaCare. A virulent moral blindness has seized hold of a substantial slice of America's educated elite. Convinced they know better, they argue for a shallow, illogical, and horrifying vision of people as disposable. It's a sucker's deal. The quality of care for everyone will deteriorate for a long list of behavioral and economic reasons. (9-30-09) Seniors, End-of-Life, Rationing, Price Controls & Cutting Payments to Drs./Hospitals, Medical Innovations/Treatments Stifled "It is very difficult to imagine the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels. And that's part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance." President Obama in a New York Times interview on how costly medical decisions should be made. "Responding to a woman whose spry 100-year-old mother was given a needed pacemaker despite her age, the president said a few weeks earlier (at an ABC News town-hall event at the White House) that doctors should let patients know that sometimes "you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller." WSJ You Also Can't Keep Your Doctor I had great cancer doctors and health insurance. My plan was cancelled. Now I worry how long I'll live. A Stage-4 Gallbladder Cancer Survivor Says: I Am One of Obamacare's Losers (11-3-13) Elderly patients sick over losing doctors under ObamaCare (10-26-13) Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients (8-18-12) Amid the debate over mandates, more fundamental medical problems are overlooked. (7-9-12) Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. (7-14-12) ObamaCare's Lost Tribe: Doctors The practice of medicine is the Obama health-care law's biggest loser. (7-7-12) The Death Panel's Loving Embrace Here is an object lesson in how death panels - also known more kindly as 'palliative care' - work in countries with socialized medicine. (4-28-12) Prostate Testing and the Death Panel A free economy leads to life-saving innovations. A highly taxed and overregulated economy leads to government agencies that discourage their use. (5-26-12) Repeal of the Medical-Device Tax Is Life-Saving Legislation (6-16-12) Obamacare's Medical-Device Tax Kills Patients, Not Just Jobs (6-16-12) Democrats join the effort to repeal the tax on medical devices. (6-16-12) The Medical Device Tax: Killing Jobs and Raising Premiums (6-16-12) The famous hospital will no longer take some senior patients. (1-15-10) What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare Changes to Medicare will give the feds control of surgical decisions. (1-15-10) the Democrats' radical health bill contains unprecedented language that could wreck the U.S. health system permanently. (1-20-10) The Danger of a New Medical Care 'Bioethics' Obamacare will create an incentive and penalty regime for health care Institutions and professionals that will compromise traditional professional medical ethics. (3-6-12) The current health-care bills do nothing to help doctors, and much to hurt them. (12-11-09) HHS Actuary Finds Senate Bill More Expensive Than "Unsustainable" Status Quo Specifically, it said that 20 percent of providers to Medicare's hospital insurance program "would become unprofitable within the 10-year projection period." (12-11-09) Government guidelines would likely have forbidden the test I used to discover Sheila's cancer. (12-17-09) Report: Bill would reduce senior care Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers (11-15-09) Report: ObamaCare would reduce care for seniors Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers (11-15-09) Meet the unelected body that will dictate future medical decisions. (11-16-09) Rationing? What rationing? (11-24-09) The mammogram decision is a sign of cost control to come. (11-19-09) Health-care Policy, Social Justice & Thugs - John Dale Dunn MD JD The danger is that ObamaCare will stifle medical innovations that could save patients like me. What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation. (11-07-09) The Coming Shortage of Doctors Our aging population is challenge enough. Try to get an appointment after health-care reform. (11-05-09) All of the president's "fixes" will just create new problems. (10-23-09) Washington's Gift to European Biotech With a little help from Congress, Europe may take the lead in biologic drugs. (11-14-09) A business ad campaign could defeat ObamaCare, which is falling in polls. (11-27-09) The FDA Rejects Another Good Cancer Drug No wonder people are worried about bureaucrats controlling health care. The AMA signs its members up to be civil servants. We need to shield scientific innovation from the budget ravages of government control. (10-6-09) ObamaCare punishes cardiology and oncology to finance GPs. (10-6-09) The Senate Finance Committee approves its version of ObamaCare. (10-14-09) Can't Find A Doctor? ObamaCare Will Only Make It Worse Obama & the Practice of Medicine Why is the president convinced so many doctors and patients are making irrational decisions? He has revealed his lack of understanding about aspects of medical practice and the reasons for rising health-care costs. Do Americans want a federal board deciding if their kids need surgery? But his implication is that doctors aren’t acting in the best interests of their patients in order, basically, to rob them. Every medical insurance decision will be subject to rationing by politics. Pelosi's Health Care Means Rationing Politics (11-09-09) The Economics of Medical Care - Thomas Sowell Parts 1-9 (11-06-09) A recent IBD/TIPP Poll showed two-thirds of physicians opposing Congress' proposed reforms, and warning of dire consequences. Now, a forum of prominent doctors has amplified those concerns. Dr. Richard Amerling, a kidney specialist at Beth Israel Medical Center, cautioned that giving "some kind of central committee" license to make doctor-patient decisions "from on-high can harm thousands of people." (10-21-09) Adding Insult to Injury: The Baucus Health Plan Imposes New Taxes on the Sick In short, the Baucus plan would harm those it should help and help those who need help the least. (10-31-09) The 'Costs' of Medical Care - Sowell (11-08-09) The 'Costs' of Medical Care: Part II - Sowell (11-08-09) The 'Costs' of Medical Care: Part III - Sowell (11-08-09) Medicare Part D 'Reforms' Will Harm Seniors An ObamaCare change will cost taxpayers a bundle and lead to poorer drug coverage. (12-4-09) Adding lots of 'dimes' to the deficit. Democrats Plan to Strip Sustainable Growth Rate Formula from Health-Care Reform, they'll instead make this a separate contribution to the deficit. (10-21-09) The secret to its budget 'savings'? Medicare price controls. "A concern is whether hospitals can constrain costs and still deliver high-quality care." (10-22-09) 'Expert Panels' Won't Improve Health Care Government reliance on medical studies will make it harder to discard false prophecies and dogmas. These panels would interrupt a well working free market of ideas in health care, where effective therapies can rise to the surface and win out. (10-19-09) Treating seniors as 'clunkers' (10-27-09) How the U.S. Government Rations Health Care The agency that would likely run the 'public option' was slow to pay for implantable cardiac defibrillators. People can also switch insurers, and in many cases patients chose a policy because it matched their preferences in the first place. These options don't exist in a government health program. (10-1-09) Obama’s Two-Part Health Care Plan is Hazardous to Your Health - Dr. David Janda The health care plan advocated by President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid and The Democratic Majority is hazardous to the health of every American. A Growth Vision for Health Reform Why limit an innovative industry to a certain percent of GDP? This story would seem to be an example of our health-care system at its best. But it is incompatible with the left's vision for overhauling the health-care industry. A $250 bribe to help the ObamaCare medicine go down. (10-16-09) Who said it? Hint: It wasn't Sarah Palin. (10-14-09) Robert Reich Reveals Brutal Health Care Truths; MSM Snores "We're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs... It's too expensive...so we're going to let you die." (10-14-09) Baucus knifed the medical devices industry. The vaudeville logic of the plan is that Congress will tax health care to subsidize people to buy health care that new taxes and regulation make more expensive. This new tax will eventually be passed through to patients, increasing health-care costs. It will also harm innovation, taking a big bite out of the research and development that leads to medical advancements. In the case of devices, patients will be left with higher costs for fewer life-saving technologies. AP: Budget Chief Contradicts Obama On Medicare Costs Congress' Budget Chief Contradicts Obama, Says Medicare Benefits Would Be Cut Under Plan. (10-1-09) AMA Endorses Largest Denier of Health Care Claims Of the eight insurers listed, Medicare is most likely to reject a claim, sending away 6.85% of requests. This is more than any private insurer and double that of the private insurers’ average! In short, the AMA is endorsing a plan whose closest existing example is the most frequent denier of claims. How the public option exemplifies “delivering care to patients” is unclear. (10-6-09) Government Medicine vs. the Elderly In Britain in 2007-08, 16.5% of deaths came after 'terminal sedation.' It provided details of what it described as "appalling treatment," which could be found across the NHS. The U.K.'s pattern of health-care spending by age had more in common with the former Soviet bloc. The fallacies Obama gives for passing ObamaCare are exactly the problems it will cause. The Wanless report found that of the five countries it looked at, the U.S. was the only one to be both an early adopter and rapid diffuser of new medical techniques. It is the world's principal engine driving medical advance. If the U.S. gets health-care reform wrong, the rest of the world will suffer too. Senior Care To Suffer Under Gov't Plan,Two-Thirds Of Practicing Physicians Say Rationing, and not only withholding care from the elderly. Humana gets whacked for telling the truth, AARP gets a pass for spreading falsehoods. Baucus cuts will hurt medicare. A preview of coming political health-care attractions. Health Bills v. Prez’s Words. One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration." This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. Do we really want government involved in such deeply personal issues?” ObamaCare Is All About Rationing Overspending is far preferable to artificially limiting the availability of new procedures & technologies. The existence of such a program in the United States would not only deny lifesaving care but would also cast a pall over medical researchers who would fear that government experts might reject their discoveries as "too expensive." Health Reform Puts Innovation At Risk In order to fund reform and reduce costs, lawmakers will be leaning heavily on hospitals, doctors, insurers and drug companies. By targeting drug firms, lawmakers risk crippling research into future cures and raising long-term health costs. Under Government Health Care Medical Treatment R&D too costly Big Pharma's lobbyist has sold his CEOs on a political fantasy. Under more stringent price controls the pharmaceutical industry will come to resemble Europe's, where the companies that have not fled to the U.S. or merged have stagnated or collapsed. Big Pharma Gets Played, So Does America Congress repays business silence with price controls. Whose Medical Decisions? (Part 1) - Sowell Concerns about bureaucrats deciding who get to receive medical care didn’t “arise from nowhere.” But when you select people like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel to give "independent" guidance, you have already chosen a policy through your choice of advisers, who simply provide political cover. The net result can be exactly the same as if those providing that guidance were openly called "death panels." Obama & the Practice of Medicine Why is the president convinced so many doctors and patients are making irrational decisions? He has revealed his lack of understanding about aspects of medical practice and the reasons for rising health-care costs. A virulent moral blindness has seized hold of a substantial slice of America's educated elite. Convinced they know better, they argue for a shallow, illogical, and horrifying vision of people as disposable. It's a sucker's deal. The quality of care for everyone will deteriorate for a long list of behavioral and economic reasons. (9-30-2009) Death Panels & Decision Makers Since a government must spend tax dollars based on a bureaucrat's statistical formulas, it will never be equipped to handle a matter as personal or as "subjective" as medical care. Ex-soldiers don't need to be told they're a burden to society. When the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel? If President Obama is sincere in stating that he is not trying to cut costs by pressuring the disabled to forgo critical care, one good way to show that commitment is to walk two blocks from the Oval Office and pull the plug on "Your Life, Your Choices." He should make sure in the future that VA decisions are guided by values that treat the lives of our veterans as gifts, not burdens. If Our System Becomes Like Canada's, Where Will We Turn For Serious Care? - Sowell Care vs. Control: If this new medical scheme is so wonderful, why can’t it stand the light of day? Downgrading American Medical Care What death by bureaucratic fiat might look like. Why the elderly are right to worry when the government rations medical care. Insights On Government Health-care Rationing vs. the Free Market Freedom is about self-determination. Obama's health care scheme would undermine both. If government pays for more people's health care and wants to control costs, it must limit what we buy. So much for Obama's promise not to interfere with our freedom of choice. This brings us back to end-of-life consultation. As the government's health care budget becomes strained, as it must - and, as Obama admits, already is under Medicare - the government will have to cut back on what it lets people have. Health Reform's Hidden Victims Young people & seniors would pay a high price for ObamaCare. Small business, HSA/high deductible & Medicare Advantage plan holders would pay as well. Democrat Markey: Medicare will take hit GovernmentCare's Assault on Seniors The House Bill Skews End-of-Life Counsel An Honest Look At The House Dems' End-Of-Life Counseling Regime The federal government should not be in the business of skewing end-of-life counsel, and thus end-of-life decisions. Letter to Congressman Waxman re Section 1233 of HR 3200, NY Democrat Senator Reverend Diaz Obama ought to read section 1233 of HR 3200 The following people, some of them liberals, have studied or at least read the provisions and are unable to dismiss them in the manner of Obama and company. And their concerns are based on what is written in HR 3200. Government 'counselors' on end of life treatment Journalist Nat Hentoff on health-care rationing The members of that ultimate federal board will themselves not have examined or seen the patient in question. Obama Targets Medicare Advantage According to a White House fact sheet titled "Paying for Health Care Reform," Mr. Axelrod was misleading his readers. It notes the administration would cut $622 billion from Medicare and Medicaid, with a big chunk coming from Medicare Advantage, to pay for overhauling health care. Mr. Obama heralded these cuts as "common sense" in his June 13 radio address. With Medicare Advantage they get better care and better value for their money. The president goes from glibness to grandiosity on "matters of life and death." "The reference to the 'who shall live and who shall die' prayer was strange... Is this really the context in which he wishes to discuss health reform - a powerful and unseen being making determinations of life and death? One would think that he would want to avoid anything that could raise the specter of rationing, death panels, or the like." "We are God's partners in matters of life and death" is not part of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy. Those words are Obama's. Granted he is in a higher pay grade than he was a year ago--but not nearly as high as he seems to think. "The president urged the rabbis "to address the health care controversy in their upcoming High Holiday sermons"-an idea, rabbi Yuter finds troubling." So Sarah Palin's "death panels" aren't as quite off the mark as those afflicted by Palin Derangement Syndrome and mocking her seem to think. Apparently they're called Centers for Bioethics and people are sincerely grappling with these issues. The issues are deep, the problems are complex. And alas there are no easy answers. But let's keep the Barbara Wagners in mind. For one day, a loved one may be in the same predicament. Or you. Would 'The Golden Girls' Survive ObamaCare? What about hospital dramas like "E.R."? Would they focus less upon "can we save this man's life" and more upon "is this life-saving procedure allowed?" ‘Death panels’ cuts to the chase. They have the votes to Rahm this thing through. Geezers With Pitchforks Vs. The AARP The Great Irony Of Health Reform: Middle Class, Not Rich, Get Shaft And every April 15, they would get a higher tax bill for their troubles, which just might make them feel sick enough to get back in line. Why isn't what's good for their constituents good for them? Another false ObamaCare ‘saving’ is exposed. A medical payment advisory panel has flaws & corruption built-in & would always be politicized. "They’re going to have to give up paying for things that don’t make them healthier. And I — speaking as an American, I think that’s the kind of change you want." President Obama Americans should understand how NICE works because under ObamaCare it will eventually be coming to a hospital near you. Mr. Obama and Democrats claim they can expand subsidies for tens of millions of Americans, while saving money and improving the quality of care. It can't possibly be done. The inevitable result of their plan will be some version of a NICE board that will tell millions of Americans that they are too young, or too old, or too sick to be worth paying to care for. A society of children cannot survive, no matter how all-embracing the government nanny. Obama’s cost-savings gestures always reek of bad faith. Hospitals oppose Obama's Medicare, Medicaid cuts The President's main case for reform is rooted in false claims and little evidence. It's now or never, President Obama warned last week, for nationalizing health care. For the sake of all Americans, let's hope it's never. Anyone who believes a government-run system open to all won't have rationing is naive, ignorant or dishonest. Public Option, Co-ops &The Exchange Obama in '03 "I'd Like to See a 'Single Payer Health Care Plan"-Uncut Video Obama's Plans for Health Care in '07 -Uncut Video Video: President Obama Contradicts Senator Obama Barney Frank: Public Option is Best Way to Single Payer-Video 'Public Option' Will Lead to Government-Run Single-Payer Health Care-Video Senators prefer the insurance they have. ObamaCare Is The Public Option 5 reasons why ou can't take the public option out of ObamaCare. (12-16-09) Worse Than the Public Option-AmSpec The so-called "compromise" would actually move the nation much closer to a government-run health care system than the public option itself. (12-11-09) Worse Than the Public Option-WSJ Harry Reid's Medicare gambit. (12-11-09) 78% of Physicians Say Public Option Would Negatively Impact Health Care (10-1-09) No Way, No How, to the Public Option The Connecticut senator, free of partisan loyalties, has a pivotal role in the health-care debate. (12-05-09) The Price of the Public Option Government created the insurance monopolies in the states, thus destroying competition. Government is therefore responsible for the "dishonesty" that Obama decries. (11-13-09) The House's Expensive Medicine And that, ultimately, is the problem: These guys are haggling over details when their fundamental approach is flawed. (11-13-09) Congress' planned health care revolution will be bad enough without a government-run option. With it, Euro-style socialism becomes inevitable. (10-24-09) Opposing Reid's public option gambit. (10-28-09) The Senate’s Public Plan “Opt Out” – More Optics than Option for the States This latest Senate ploy creates the illusion of an “option” rather than making any fundamental changes to the controversial proposal. (10-27-09) If Public Option is Really Back, Why Such a Heavy Lift? Whatever its final form, it will raise taxes, cut Medicare and - in all likelihood - increase insurance premiums. Its benefits, such as they are, won't kick in until 2013, while the taxes will start immediately. (10-27-09) No Matter What You Call It, It’s Still Just Government-Run Health Care (10-27-09) Nancy Pelosi & the Public Option 10-23-09) The secret to its budget 'savings'? Medicare price controls. "A concern is whether hospitals can constrain costs and still deliver high-quality care." (10-22-09) Promise Of The Public Plan Is A Mirage In reality, the public plan is mostly an exercise in political avoidance: It pretends to control costs and improve access to quality care, when it doesn't. Would genuine competition among health plans over price and quality work better? That's the debate we need, but in truth, doctors, hospitals and patients don't want to be limited, whether by government or markets. (10-24-09) Health Co-Ops Aren't the Answer Insurance competition across state lines is a better idea. (9-30-09) Why Obama Bombed on Health Care The public wasn't dumb enough to believe the public option would save money. (9-30-09) Canadians seek a private option. (9-30-09) Government-Run Health Care by Next Thursday? (10-1-09) AMA Endorses Largest Denier of Health Care Claims Of the eight insurers listed, Medicare is most likely to reject a claim, sending away 6.85% of requests. This is more than any private insurer and double that of the private insurers’ average! In short, the AMA is endorsing a plan whose closest existing example is the most frequent denier of claims. How the public option exemplifies “delivering care to patients” is unclear. (10-6-09) The Baucus plan would make insurance even more expensive. His plan remains a public option by other means, imposing vast new national insurance regulation, huge new subsidies to pay for the higher insurance costs this regulation will require and all financed by new taxes and penalties on businesses, individuals and health-care providers. The latest gimmick to disguise a health-care 'public option.' Democrats will goose the tests so that private insurers can't possibly meet them, mainly by imposing new regulations and other costly burdens. Keep in mind that every version of ObamaCare now under consideration essentially turns all private insurers into subsidiaries of Congress. All coverage will be strictly regulated down to the fine print, and politics will dictate the level of benefits as well as premiums, deductibles and copays. Under the House bill, a "health choices commissioner" will have the final say, no doubt with Democrats Henry Waxman and Pete Stark at his elbow, if not another part of his anatomy. That's another reason insurers wouldn't meet a trigger's thresholds, given that providers shift costs onto private under-65 patients to make up government shortfalls. ObamaCare doesn't bother with incentives, instead merely increasing government command and control of private insurance while making it more expensive in the process. That's why a trigger will inevitably lead to the public option, and also why ObamaCare will make all of our current health problems worse. OK, President Obama has had his say on health care. Now let's look at some inconvenient truths. Debate Shows How Little Obama Understands - Stossel Choice and competition would be good. They would indeed reduce costs. If only the president meant it. Or understood it. The market - actually, the consumer - holds businesses accountable and keeps them honest. No "public option" is needed. So the hope for reducing medical costs indeed lies in competition and choice. Today competition is squelched by government regulation and privilege. But Obama's so-called reforms would not create real competition and choice. They would prohibit it. If competition is a discovery process, the congressional bills would impose the opposite of competition. They would forbid real choice. What Obama says in favor of a public option - as of today, at least - tells us how little he understands competition. The public option's virtue, he told Smerconish, is that "there wouldn't be a profit motive involved." But as St. Lawrence University economist Steven Horwitz writes in The Freeman magazine, profit is not just a motive. Profit (along with loss) is what enables competition to perform its discovery role: Profit is the key to competition. Anyone who claims to favor competition but looks down at profit has no idea what he is talking about. The Public Health Insurance Option: Unfair Competition on a Tilting Field In reality, the "competition" would be rigged, with the government plan enjoying a number of advantages. In short, the federal insurance plan is a giant step toward the single-payer system that the President has admitted that he prefers. The single payer would be the federal government. This would create a nationalized health care system much like those in Europe and Canada. Happy talk of creating a level playing field between the government insurance plan and private plans should be viewed with strong skepticism and even disbelief. The government plan would be heavily favored, leading to the marginalization of the private insurance market and the creation of a de facto single-payer system--a nationalized health system. Government Health Care in Stealth Mode A Federal Health Insurance Exchange Combined with a Public Plan: The House & Senate Bills The big fight over ObamaCare is far from finished. If Democrats decide to centrally plan the insurance market, in what sense is that different from a public option? A new government-run program would crowd out private insurers by undercutting them on consumer prices, courtesy of an intravenous drip of taxpayer dollars and its monopsony power to force doctors and hospitals to accept sub-market rates. As millions of people gravitated toward "free" coverage, the public option would also vastly expand federal management of the practice of medicine, shaping the treatments and care patients can receive to save on costs. If, as Sebelius insists, the White House wants health reform to increase "choice & competition" than there are a number of conservative alternatives in the House & Senate that do just that by pursuing health reform through a "patient-centered" approach. A public option would decrease "choice & competition." Health 'Co-ops' Are Government Care Health Co-ops: Slow Road to Government Care The potential benefits are nil; the potential costs are large. How The Public Option Became The Core Of ObamaCare The Great Irony Of Health Reform: Middle Class, Not Rich, Get Shaft Medicare may not pay much to doctors, but taxpayers pay plenty to Medicare. It comes down to a simple comparison and an obvious verdict: Privately run care offers choice and is cheaper. Government-run care denies choice and is more expensive. Why isn't what's good for their constituents good for them? Death Panels & Decision Makers Since a government must spend tax dollars based on a bureaucrat's statistical formulas, it will never be equipped to handle a matter as personal or as "subjective" as medical care. Public Health Plan: Your Only "Option"? Why a public option would be the only option. Another Study Shows ObamaCare Would Dump Americans Into Government-Run Health Care Democrats' $540-Billion Tax Hike Will Force People into Government-Run Health Care CBO's Gift to Dems: A Closer Look It's waiting for an opening, and the public option would give it one. Don’t be fooled, even without the 'public option' it is still intrusive government control. The bipartisan Senate negotiators are leaning toward proposing a health-care Fannie Mae. What about the senate’s health co-op? A me too government public option? If getting coverage from the exchange is the same as buying insurance in the private market, then why do we need it? Obama in 2008: ObamaCare Will Eliminate Private Coverage Over Time The People Spreading "Disinformation" About ObamaCare President Obama, Barney Frank, and Jan Schakowsky cannot all be right. Either the President is wrong when he says his plan will not lead to government-run health care, or Frank and Schakowsky are spreading disinformation when they tell their single payer advocate base that it will. Who's Telling the Truth about Health Care? Would ObamaCare Lead to an Obamonopoly? (2nd Heading) Why Obama won't acknowledge the 'Trojan Horse' in the room. The Dangers of Fannie Mae Health Care A public plan would have certain advantages. That's precisely the problem. 'Public Option': Son of Medicaid Lard atop lard that only a politician or bureaucrat could love. How ObamaCare Threatens Your Health Plan The 'Public Plan' Would Be the Only Plan It's impossible for private insurers to 'compete' with government. George Will Tells Dirty Little Secrets of Universal Healthcare Medicare, Medicaid & Other Govt Problems Medicare is bankrupting the U.S., Medicaid is bankrupting the states. Health care reform should not be built on these crumbling foundations. 47 Years Later, Medicare and Medicaid Are Financial Disasters (7-28-12) Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients (8-18-12) Personal medicine or population medicine: which will it be for you? (5-12-12) Nobody thought about taking away your Big Gulp until the government began to pay for everyone's health care. (6-2-12) You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare How to reform pre-Obamacare health care. (4-14-12) Doctors Feeling Obama's Crushing Health Care Policies 112 medical associations and agencies predict an 'imminent storm' if physicians are forced to participate in multiple programs under the threat of fines and deadlines (4-21-12) Obamacare: Obama Ends Medicare As We Know It (3-21-12) The famous hospital will no longer take some senior patients. (1-15-10) What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare Changes to Medicare will give the feds control of surgical decisions. (1-15-10) Health Reform Could Harm Medicaid Patients - Dr. Miller, dean & CEO of Johns Hopkins A vast expansion of the program will impose unsustainable costs on treatment centers. (12-5-09) Government guidelines would likely have forbidden the test I used to discover Sheila's cancer. (12-17-09) Medicare Part D 'Reforms' Will Harm Seniors An ObamaCare change will cost taxpayers a bundle and lead to poorer drug coverage. (12-4-09) Worse Than the Public Option-AmSpec The so-called "compromise" would actually move the nation much closer to a government-run health care system than the public option itself. (12-11-09) Worse Than the Public Option-WSJ Harry Reid's Medicare gambit. (12-11-09) Medicare Paid $47 Billion in Suspect Claims Last Year (11-15-09) 111 New Federal Bureaucracies Created in Democrats' Health Care Bill (12-11-09) Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. (11-2-09) Meet the unelected body that will dictate future medical decisions. (11-16-09) The House's Expensive Medicine And that, ultimately, is the problem: These guys are haggling over details when their fundamental approach is flawed. (11-13-09) The End of Federalism: How Obamacare Will Impact States (10-31-09) Government programs always exceed their spending estimates. (10-20-09) The Democrats' 'doc fix' for Medicare payments would shock Madoff. (11-18-09) ... and the Swine Flu Democrats. This is the Pelosi Plan to wreck our health care system. (11-01-09) ObamaCare punishes cardiology and oncology to finance GPs. (10-6-09) Making Health Care Worse - Sowell (11-08-09) We are a nation fully settled by government. The terrain ahead is both crowded and costly. (10-17-09) The Baucus health bill will break 50 state budgets via Medicaid. (9-29-09) Medicare Is No Model for Health Reform Many doctors refuse Medicare patients because payments are so low. Here are the top 10 reasons this program should not be a model for reform, and why it would be dangerous for the federal government to be put in charge of any more of our health sector. A lawsuit challenges federal coercion in your choice of health care. Seniors should be allowed to opt out of Medicare.(10-5-09) Humana gets whacked for telling the truth, AARP gets a pass for spreading falsehoods. Baucus cuts will hurt medicare. A preview of coming political health-care attractions. Rev. Jackson to the rescue of ObamaCare Native Americans & the Public Option After decades of government-run care, some Indians are finally saying enough. Unfortunately, Indians are not getting healthier under the federal system. Such horror stories [rationing] are common on reservations, where the common wisdom is "don't get sick after June"—the month when the federal dollars usually run out. Yet even with limited funds, the Native Nations Institute reported..that tribal management leads to better access and better quality care than relying on the government IHS-run system. At a time when Americans are debating whether to give the government in Washington more control over their health care, some of the nation's first inhabitants are moving in the opposite direction. Contradictions worthy of the Marx Brothers. Medicare's unfunded liability—the gap between revenues and promised benefits—is currently some $37 trillion over the next 75 years. Yet the President uses this insolvency as an argument to justify the creation of another health-care entitlement, this time for most everyone under age 65. So no cuts, for anyone—except, that is, for the 24% of senior beneficiaries who are enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program. But Advantage's private insurers today provide the kind of care that Mr. Obama said he would mandate that private insurers provide for the nonelderly—"to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventative care." Obama & the Practice of Medicine Why is the president convinced so many doctors and patients are making irrational decisions? He has revealed his lack of understanding about aspects of medical practice and the reasons for rising health-care costs. Medicare For All Isn't The Answer In effect, everyone with insurance is subsidizing the Medicare shortfall, which is growing larger every year. Without that revenue, hospitals could not afford to care for those covered by Medicare. If hospitals had to rely solely on Medicare reimbursements for operating revenue, as would occur under a single-payer system, many hospitals would be forced to eliminate services, cut investments in advanced medical technology, reduce the number of nurses and other employees, and provide less care for the patients they serve. And with the government in control, Americans eventually will see rationing, the denial of high-priced drugs and sophisticated procedures, and long waits for care. Government health care is a target for massive fraud. The bottom line is that the enormous size and complexity of federal health programs results in a huge waste of taxpayer funds. All in all, the cost to taxpayers is well over $100 billion a year, which translates into a theft of $1,000 or more from every household in America every year. The bigger the government the more fraud, corruption & taxpayer waste. I wish President Obama would say this to Congress tomorrow night. Obama's Speech Tonight - Stossel I apologize for defending the absurd health care bills that have emerged from your committees -- proposals that would add trillions of dollars of additional debt to an already unsustainable system. Health Reform's Hidden Victims Young people & seniors would pay a high price for ObamaCare. Small business, HSA/high deductible & Medicare Advantage plan holders would pay as well. Medicare raises the cost of health care & insurance for everyone. Real reform would lower the cost of care & insurance for everyone. President Obama says a new public insurance plan is needed to keep private companies "honest." Well, to be honest, there's already a public plan, and it's hurtling toward insolvency. 'Public Option': Son of Medicaid Lard atop lard that only a politician or bureaucrat could love. Obama & the Bureaucratization of Health Care The president's proposals would give unelected officials life-and-death rationing powers. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care. Real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. Only in Washington could a plan that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit be hailed as a cost-cutting measure. Democrats' proposals..will increase our deficit, decrease our paychecks, and increase the power of unaccountable government technocrats. They will not improve our health care. They will not save us money. And, despite what the president says, they will not "provide more stability and security to every American." GovernmentCare's Assault on Seniors History Of Gov't-Run Health Care Is A Study In Skyrocketing Costs Obama Goes Postal, Lands in Dead-Letter Office ObamaCare: The 'Post Office' of Health Care Plans Would You Buy a Used Kidney From This Man? They botched clunkfare. Hey, let's let'em run health care! Even after the financial meltdown, history is still running against collectivism. Gov't Care: A Victory For Special Interests Politics, not patient needs or the need for increased access to care, will determine which procedures are covered. Costs of Medicare/Medicaid Have Outpaced Other Health Costs In short, government-run health care is the ticket to higher costs, less choice, & worse care. Medicaid’s Costs, Like Medicare’s, Have Risen Far More Than the Costs of Private Health Care The verdict could hardly be plainer: Government-run health care limits choice & is more expensive. Privately purchased care offers choice & is more affordable. Only the government could have a hard time choosing between these two alternatives. To wit, the feds can't even give away money very well. The program has proven to be an administrative fiasco, as the central planners at Transportation vastly underestimated how many people would apply. The idea that a temporary subsidy program will launch the auto industry onto some new, higher sales and production plane defies logic. The program is another bow to the now-reigning Washington policy illusion that the key to prosperity is force-feeding consumer spending, rather than creating incentives for Americans to invest and take risks. We keep hearing this is a brave new era of public confidence in the virtues of government planning. But the lesson of cash for clunkers is that if this government can't manage a free lunch, it can hardly be trusted to decide whether you can have a hip replacement, and how much it will pay for it. Why It's Easy to Steal From Medicare Arrests in Detroit and Miami are another argument against importing to the rest of the health economy the model that enabled these scams. Obama Eyes The Purse Strings for Medicare Lawmakers Now Win Friends at Home by Setting Payout Rates. Which is why government involvment in health care is a bad idea because it always politicizes everything. ObamaCare builds on all these failures. Government Health Care Won't Fly Individual Freedom, Liberty & Rights If health care was a right, then government health care would infringe on that right by rationing & providing sub-standard care. Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine Gut Check: The Pro-Choice Revolution (12-7-13) Congressman Mike Rogers' opening statement on Health Care reform in D.C.: Video Farewell, Personal and Medical Privacy; ObamaTax Is Here (7-7-12) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) What's disturbing about some is that they don't understand that a government of unlimited power is a government that has no room for freedom. (4-28-12) Nobody thought about taking away your Big Gulp until the government began to pay for everyone's health care. (6-2-12) Prostate Testing and the Death Panel A free economy leads to life-saving innovations. A highly taxed and overregulated economy leads to government agencies that discourage their use. (5-26-12) Obamacare's Preemptive Regulatory Strike An administration that equates its taste for coercion and tyranny with benevolence. (4-7-12) ObamaCare and the Supreme Court ObamaCare was passed as a vast, ugly pile of glop, and now this notional "reform" may be struck down by a 5-to-4 Supreme Court opinion. But how much confidence can we have in SCOTUS? (4-7-12) ObamaCare at the Court: Will We Be Citizens or Subjects? (3-31-12) The ObamaCare Reckoning (3-31-12) Why the Obama legal team struggled at the Supreme Court. (4-7-12) Obama's Broken Promise to Wounded Warriors Our veterans are now being condemned to the worst of Obamacare coverage. (3-31-12) Obamacare and Religious Freedom Obamacare and Religious Freedom - The Foundry: Heritage (An Excellent Resource!) (2-25-12) Religious Liberty: Obamacare's Unconscionable Casualty (3-21-12) ObamaCare Subjects Nearly Every Phone and Computer to Government Control (3-24-12) The ObamaCare Mandates Have Only Just Begun (3-6-12) Overreach: Obamacare vs. the Constitution - Charles Krauthammer “Consider the constitutional wreckage left by Obamacare...” (3-3-12) VIDEO: Religious Freedom Only the First Casualty of Obamacare “Obamacare is on a collision course with our liberty generally,” explains Heritage’s Jen Marshall in our latest video, “and the first casualty is religious freedom.” (2-25-12) The NYT's Idea Of A "Centrist Woman" (3-24-12) Would You Give Up Health Insurance All Together to Uphold Your Religious Beliefs? (3-24-12) Obamacare 'Void' of Law and Sense ...an unprecedented expansion of federal power based on a concept of rights that is inconsistent with our founding principles. (2-14-11) Congress's Monstrous Legal Legacy Put together like Frankenstein, ObamaCare risks coming apart at the seams. (12-27-10) Healthcare Bill and what it really means to help people - Tifftwin (11-08-09) Confessions of an ObamaCare Backer A liberal explains the political calculus. No wonder many Americans are upset. They know they are being lied to about ObamaCare, and they know they are going to be stuck with the bill. (11-10-09) Criminalizing Health-Care Freedom Obamacare supporters would use the brute force of criminal law for social engineering. (11-19-09) Forcing Us to Buy Health Insurance Is Not the Same as Mandatory Car Insurance (11-12-09) Pelosi: Jail For No Insurance Is “Fair” (11-14-09) The End of Federalism: How Obamacare Will Impact States (10-31-09) Why Government Health Care Keeps Falling in the Polls The health-care debate is part of a larger moral struggle over the free-enterprise system. Will we strengthen freedom, individual opportunity and enterprise? Or will we expand the role of the state and its power? (10-26-09) What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation. (11-07-09) A lawsuit challenges federal coercion in your choice of health care. Seniors should be allowed to opt out of Medicare. (10-5-09) Mandatory Insurance Is Unconstitutional Why an individual mandate could be struck down by the courts. A "tax" that falls exclusively on anyone who is uninsured is a penalty beyond Congress's authority. If the rule were otherwise, Congress could evade all constitutional limits by "taxing" anyone who doesn't follow an order of any kind—whether to obtain health-care insurance, or to join a health club, or exercise regularly, or even eat your vegetables. This type of congressional trickery is bad for our democracy and has implications far beyond the health-care debate. Health-Care Reform & the Constitution Why hasn't the Commerce Clause been read to allow interstate insurance sales? [Politicians] seem to have conveniently forgotten that the federal government has only specific enumerated powers. He also seems to have overlooked the Ninth and 10th Amendments, which limit Congress's powers only to those granted in the Constitution. Applying these principles to President Barack Obama's health-care proposal, it's clear that his plan is unconstitutional at its core. The same Congress that wants to tell family farmers what to grow in their backyards has declined "to keep regular" the commercial sale of insurance policies. That's right: Congress refuses to keep commerce regular when the commercial activity is the sale of insurance, but claims it can regulate the removal of a person's appendix because that constitutes interstate commerce. What we have here is raw abuse of power by the federal government for political purposes. The president and his colleagues want to reward their supporters with "free" health care that the rest of us will end up paying for. Their only restraint on their exercise of Commerce Clause power is whatever they can get away with. They aren't upholding the Constitution—they are evading it. Is Health Care Reform Constitutional? Where in the U.S. Constitution does it say the government can force people to buy health insurance? And by what authority does it prohibit the purchasing of insurance across state lines? One Step Closer to Losing Your Right to Health Care What makes something a right is not whether the government can force somebody else to pay for it. What defines something as a right is whether the government can or cannot prohibit you from doing it. Government Isn't The Only Answer To Helping Needy Get Health Care Assisting the needy in health care is a "moral imperative" — not a constitutional right. The two are as different as a squirt gun and an Uzi. If something is not permitted under our Constitution, the federal government simply cannot do it. Period. Absent (unconstitutional) government programs, individuals and charitable organizations can, will and — in many cases — already do provide services to the needy. A limited government — one that taxes only to fulfill its permissible duties — would allow even more disposable time and money. People-to-people charity is more efficient, less costly, more humane and compassionate, and more likely to inspire change and self-sufficiency in the beneficiary. People can and would readily satisfy society's "moral imperative." The Conscience of a Capitalist The Whole Foods founder talks about his Journal health-care op-ed that spawned a boycott, how he deals with unions, and why he thinks CEOs are overpaid. (10-3-09) I wish President Obama would say this to Congress tomorrow night. Obama's Speech Tonight - Stossel Only the vitality of the private sector—a truly free one, unencumbered by the crippling stranglehold of burdensome government regulation—can lift America out of the unsustainable mess. Whose Medical Decisions? (Part 2) - Sowell So long as my insurance company and I are paying for it, it is nobody else's business what my medical expenses are. But once the government is involved, everything is their business. But a world in which individuals make their own trade-offs with their own money is fundamentally different from a world where third parties take those decisions out of their hands and impose their own notions of what is best for "society." Behind Agenda Lies Mind-Set That Is Chilling (Part 4) - Sowell Obama even gets away with saying things like having a system to "keep insurance companies honest" - and many people may not see the painful irony in politicians trying to keep other people honest. Certainly most of the media are unlikely to point out this irony. Those Forever Seeking Utopia Lose Freedom - Sowell Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is so expensive. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye. If Our System Becomes Like Canada's, Where Will We Turn For Serious Care? - Sowell Care vs. Control: If this new medical scheme is so wonderful, why can’t it stand the light of day? Is There a 'Right' to Health Care? In Britain, its recognition has led to substandard care. The government-run health-care system—which in the U.K. is believed to be the necessary institutional corollary to an inalienable right to health care—has pauperized the entire population. After 60 years of universal health care, free at the point of usage and funded by taxation, inequalities between the richest and poorest sections of the population have not been reduced. But Britain does have the dirtiest, most broken-down hospitals in Europe. Universal Health Care Isn't Worth Our Freedom What would Thoreau have made of the current debate? The first requirement for better health care for all is not equal health care for everyone but educational and economic advancement for everyone. No government can provide the same high quality body repair services to everyone. Not all doctors are equally good physicians, and not all sick persons are equally good patients. If we persevere in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality we will sacrifice personal freedom as its price. We will become the voluntary slaves of a "compassionate" government that will provide the same low quality health care to everyone. "If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life." Thoreau. Too many people now embrace the coercive apparatus of the modern state professing the same design. Democrat Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data "How many thousands of federal employees will have access to your records? The privacy of your health records will be only as good as the most nosy, most dishonest and most malcontented federal employee.. So say good-bye to privacy from the federal government. It was fun while it lasted for 233 years." Freedom is about self-determination. Obama's health care scheme would undermine both. If government pays for more people's health care and wants to control costs, it must limit what we buy. So much for Obama's promise not to interfere with our freedom of choice. Government health care would be wrong even if it “controlled costs.” The critical information needed to run an economy...doesn't exist in any one place where it is accessible to central planners. Instead, it is scattered piecemeal among millions of people. All those people put together are far wiser and better informed than Congress could ever be. Death Panels & Decision Makers The issue of who makes decisions is at the heart of a society. A society in which the people retain maximum decision-making power is free. A society in which the central government assumes maximum decision-making power (especially regarding something as fundamental as medical care) is tyrannical. The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant The descendants of those immigrants are now supporting policies that move America away from the values that gave so many immigrants the chance of a better life. MEP Daniel Hannan on Health Care in Great Britain & US: Video Dirty Secret No.1 in ObamaCare Is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development. sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838). Reparations By Way Of Health Care Reform Why public health care is philosophically wrong What we desire is liberty. The freedom to choose. Domain over our own bodies. Our selves. Is Government Health Care Constitutional? The right to privacy conflicts with rationing and regulation. Is ObamaCare Consistent With Our First Principles? Obama's Super-MedPAC, "Sec. 142 of H.R. 3200 grants the new Orwellian-titled “Health Choices Commissioner” broad lawmaking authority. Health Care Reform & the American Character Obama's Health Care Reform: The Demise of Federalism Government Health Care Won't Fly Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare No Compromise on Health 'Reform' Iowa bishop on the government's role in health care Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect. 5 freedoms you'd lose in health care reform If you read the fine print in the Congressional plans, you'll find that a lot of cherished aspects of the current system would disappear. Even after the financial meltdown, history is still running against collectivism. ‘Death panels’ cuts to the chase. They have the votes to Rahm this thing through. Nationalized health care is key for him. If he gets it, sovereignty shifts from the citizen to the state. By law, government will be empowered to manage minute details of our lives. The ardor of public opposition will determine whether this battle is won or lost. Obama, of course, wanted health-care “reform” done — all 1,000-plus pages of it — before the summer recess. In essence, Democrats want to repeal individual liberty; move one-sixth of the private sector into the same government-controlled model that has produced bankruptcy in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; add additional trillions to the already exploded national debt; and they want to do it all right now — no discovery, no settlement negotiations, no five-week trial, no delays. Just American Patriots, That's All Do Angry Mobs Bake and Bring Brownies? Common-sense Americans hit the brakes. Their worst nightmares were realized - Americans examined the bills being proposed and turned out in great numbers to voice their opposition. The people have understood. As Ronald Reagan frequently reminded us: Trust the people. A Town-Hall Protest in Maryland The audience was loud but civil—and their anxiety over health reform was very real. Explaining the Town-Hall Protest Our 1.1 million signers include cancer survivors, seniors, and others who are very well informed. The People's Genie Is out of the Bottle De Tocqueville's Paean To Townhalls You just have to wonder what Mr. De Tocqueville would think to see our elected representatives and their media handmaidens calling the attendees of townhalls — "angry mobs" and "political terrorists." Yes, They Really Are Mad As Hell Sorry, Snobs: Town-Hall Rage Is Real Democracy | Reform not regression. A Patient-Centered Alternative to Obamacare The truth is, we've always had alternatives, but our critics weren't ready to listen. (11-2-13) After Repeal of Obamacare: Moving to Patient-Centered, Market-Based Health Care True health care reform would empower individuals, with their doctors, to make their own health care decisions free from government interference. (11-2-13) The unasked question is 'why replace it at all?' (6-2-12) You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare How to reform pre-Obamacare health care. (4-14-12) How to Replace ObamaCare (4-14-12) The No-Cost Path to Cheaper Health Care Republicans are offering common-sense reforms that would lower costs. (11-06-09) Health Care's 'Radical Improver' How medicine's digital revolution can empower doctors and patients, with or without ObamaCare. (12-12-09) Bringing physicians, patients & the business community together to rebuild America’s failing healthcare system. Advocates for Patient-Centered Health-Care Sermo - Know More. Know Earlier. Sermo is where over 110,000 physicians work together to drive better patient care. And as the healthcare debate intensifies, thousands of MDs and DOs are turning to Sermo to get directly involved in the reform effort. Physicians, sign the appeal and join the movement to address the problems at the root of spiraling healthcare costs. Though we weren't invited to the White House, here are better ideas to increase coverage for the uninsured. (10-5-09) Health Reform Doesn't Have To Be So Hard - Krauthammer The bill is irredeemable. The better choice is targeted measures that attack the inefficiencies of the current system one by one — tort reform, interstate purchasing.. (11-29-09) How to Fix the Health-Care 'Wedge' There is an alternative to ObamaCare. By empowering patients and doctors to manage health-care decisions, a patient-centered health-care reform will control costs, improve health outcomes, and improve the overall efficiency of the health-care system. Congress needs to focus on reform that promotes what Americans want most: immediate, measurable ways to make health care more accessible and affordable without jeopardizing quality, individual choice, or personalized care. Key Facts from The Prognosis for National Health Insurance, Dr. Laffer A patient-centered health-care reform begins with individual ownership of insurance policies and leverages Health Savings Accounts, a low-premium, high-deductible alternative to traditional insurance that includes a tax-advantaged savings account. It allows people to purchase insurance policies across state lines and reduces the number of mandated benefits insurers are required to cover. It reallocates the majority of Medicaid spending into a simple voucher for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance. And it reduces the cost of medical procedures by reforming tort liability laws. Press Release from The Prognosis for National Health Insurance, Dr. Laffer What's the Prognosis for Obama's Health Care Plan?, Dr. Laffer Includes real solutions. The Prognosis for National Health Insurance, Dr. Laffer - Full Report The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit. The Conscience of a Capitalist The Whole Foods founder talks about his Journal health-care op-ed that spawned a boycott, how he deals with unions, and why he thinks CEOs are overpaid. (10-3-09) A better idea to make health insurance affordable everywhere. If you really want competition, "Let insurance companies sell health-care policies across state lines." This excellent idea has been before Congress since at least 2005, Affordability would improve if consumers could escape states where each policy is loaded with mandates. High-mandate states are in what experts call an "adverse selection death spiral." Interstate competition made the U.S. one of the world's most efficient, consumer driven markets. But health insurance is a glaring exception. Harry Reid wants to kill consumer-driven health care. (11-20-09) ObamaCare would almost surely kill off consumer-driven plans that reward patients for smart shopping. That's a pity, because there are signs that the plans may actually be starting to cut costs. But health savings accounts — remember them? — are still alive and growing. Not only that, they seem to be working as planned. This should be big news, but it's something you'll probably read only here. Letting HSAs die would preclude real reform — by which we mean reform that actually cuts costs without rationing by government or corporate bureaucrats. What passes for "reform" these days is just the extension of a health care model built for inflation and headed for insolvency. A Growth Vision for Health Reform Why limit an innovative industry to a certain percent of GDP? This story would seem to be an example of our health-care system at its best. But it is incompatible with the left's vision for overhauling the health-care industry. ObamaCare is hazardous to your health. All this reflects Congress's simple objective: government rather than individual control of our health care. The government-operated Baucus plan would impose big costs on Americans, in terms of both money and freedom.. Health Co-Ops Aren't the Answer Insurance competition across state lines is a better idea. (9-30-09) Why Health Care Is So Expensive in New York Mario Cuomo and Blue Cross destroyed the individual insurance market in the state. Now Congress wants to impose the same rules on 50 states. Market-based reforms could make insurance much more affordable, especially if the CR and GI mandates were repealed. (10-17-09) At the Danger Point in the Obamacare Debate Now that many Americans realize the Obamacare bills in Congress herald a government takeover of U.S. health care, they can't afford to relax. Health-Care Reform: A Better Plan - Krauthammer Government Isn't The Only Answer To Helping Needy Get Health Care Assisting the needy in health care is a "moral imperative" — not a constitutional right. The two are as different as a squirt gun and an Uzi. Government "charity" is simply less efficient than private charity. Every dollar extracted from taxpayers, sent to Washington and then routed to the beneficiary loses about 70 cents in transfer costs — salaries, rent and other expenses. Absent (unconstitutional) government programs, individuals and charitable organizations can, will and — in many cases — already do provide services to the needy. A limited government — one that taxes only to fulfill its permissible duties — would allow even more disposable time and money. People-to-people charity is more efficient, less costly, more humane and compassionate, and more likely to inspire change and self-sufficiency in the beneficiary. People can and would readily satisfy society's "moral imperative." How To Stop This Rush To Failure & Fix What Really Needs Fixing There's another way. Don't increase government spending and taxes in the midst of a recession and further strangle productivity and kill jobs. Instead, develop incremental, patient-centered reforms that address fundamental problems. Help the low-income uninsured, eliminate fraud and waste in federal health programs, and empower small businesses to expand coverage. What to Do About Pre-existing Conditions Most Americans worry about health coverage if they lose their job and get sick. There is a market solution. The idea that the federal government can reduce costs by negotiating harder or telling businesses what to do is a triumph of hope over centuries of experience. Why Medical Malpractice Is Off Limits A few thousand trial lawyers have a lock on Democrats, who refuse to consider any legal reform. Health Reform Requires Lawsuit Reform How Missouri Cut Junk Lawsuits We showed how to do malpractice reform, if Congress wants a model. Tort Reform Is Key To Health Reform Get yours while the getting is still good. Tort Reform In Oklahoma. A Doctor's Reflections on Health-Care Reform Physician payments can't be cut further. Ending frivolous lawsuits is a must. Obama's Speech Tonight - Stossel Only the vitality of the private sector—a truly free one, unencumbered by the crippling stranglehold of burdensome government regulation—can lift America out of the unsustainable mess. Health-Care Reform: Why Not Try Ownership? Ownership, choice, and patient freedom. Medicare raises the cost of health care & insurance for everyone. Real reform would lower the cost of care & insurance for everyone. President Obama says a new public insurance plan is needed to keep private companies "honest." Well, to be honest, there's already a public plan, and it's hurtling toward insolvency. The Truth About Health Insurance Only nine states have the costly rules that Obama wants to impose nationwide. But what the President and Democrats won't tell you is that these problems are the result mainly of government intervention. ObamaCare would impose on all 50 states rules that have already proven to be failures in numerous states. Because these mandates would raise the cost of insurance, ObamaCare would then turn around and subsidize individuals to buy the insurance that the politicians made more expensive. Only in government could such irrationality be sold as "reform." How Safeway Is Cutting Health-Care Costs Market-based solutions can reduce the national health-care bill by 40%. Mr. Burd, Safeway CEO, is eager to debate anyone who thinks he will escape costs by dumping health care on the government. Business will still be taxed to pay for the program, making the U.S. less competitive. Far better, says Mr. Burd, for companies to control their destiny, and prove markets can also work for health care. Reform Needs Healthy Life Incentives The Death & Life of Health 'Reform' A glimpse of a future without nationalized health care. So it came to pass in the waning days of the health-care wars that Democrats learned the American people really didn't want a nationalized health-care industry... We don't need radical change. Subsidies and high risk pools can get the job done. If we give citizens the ability to control their own care, cover pre-existing conditions, and provide resources to the uninsured, we will have fixed health care in America. No bureaucrats. No new czars. No mandates. Just choice and coverage for every American. The Patients’ Choice Act of 2009 The entire bill, summaries & comparisons to HR 3200. There are alternate plans in Congress. Big Bang approach all wrong for health reform If the U.S. health care sector were a separate national economy, it would be the sixth largest in the world - bigger that Britain's entire economy. Imagine five bickering congressional committees trying to redesign the British economy successfully in just a few weeks. Second, the congressional majority wants to revamp the huge health care economy using the doctrine of central planning. It is inconceivable that this could work successfully. How to Make Health-Care Reform Bipartisan As In The Case Of Supply-Side Economics, Real Health Reform Happens At Margins What Physicians, Practitioners Say The Mayo Clinic says, While noting "some positive provisions," it "misses the opportunity to help create higher-quality, more affordable health care for patients. In fact, it will do the opposite," the clinic's policy shop wrote in a statement. "In general, the proposals under discussion are not patient focused or results oriented. . . . The real losers will be the citizens of the United States." WT Amid the debate over mandates, more fundamental medical problems are overlooked. (7-9-12) Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. (7-14-12) Doctors Despair Over Obamacare (7-7-12) More Money to be Made On Sickness than Health: Why Reform Isn't Working (6-30-12) Nine out of 10 doctors say medicine is on the wrong track, most think about quitting and find it hard to practice ethical medicine. (6-16-12) What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare Changes to Medicare will give the feds control of surgical decisions. (1-15-10) Obamacare in Action? Private Practice Shuts Down Citing 'New Regulations' (4-21-12) Doctors Feeling Obama's Crushing Health Care Policies 112 medical associations and agencies predict an 'imminent storm' if physicians are forced to participate in multiple programs under the threat of fines and deadlines (4-21-12) Obamacare Is a Trojan Horse for Socialized Medicine Obamacare has become one of the most polarizing pieces of legislation ever passed. (4-21-12) Government guidelines would likely have forbidden the test I used to discover Sheila's cancer. (12-17-09) The current health-care bills do nothing to help doctors, and much to hurt them. (12-11-09) 'Government is in the process of duplicating everything that managed care did for the last 15 years that was reviled by everybody.' (10-29-09) Health 'Reform' Gets a Failing Grade Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the Harvard Medical School. The changes proposed by Congress will require more draconian measures down the road. Just look at Massachusetts. (11-18-09) Health Reform Could Harm Medicaid Patients - Dr. Miller, dean & CEO of Johns Hopkins A vast expansion of the program will impose unsustainable costs on treatment centers. (12-5-09) Though we weren't invited to the White House, here are better ideas to increase coverage for the uninsured. (10-5-09) Contrary to the President, most doctors oppose his reforms. 20 other physician groups came out against his health-care takeover yesterday, which they wrote "will threaten patient access and harm quality." (11-06-09) The House's Expensive Medicine And that, ultimately, is the problem: These guys are haggling over details when their fundamental approach is flawed. (11-13-09) ObamaCare & Me: Zane Pollard, MD Case after case of government rationing. Medicaid, Sweden. Within 48 hours the form came back to me which was sent in immediately via fax, and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of course by then each child would have been blind in the eye. Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally provided the antibiotic for each patient which was not on the Medicaid approved list. Get the point - rationing of care. It takes Medicaid over one year to approve a contact lens post cataract surgery. By that time a successful anatomical operation is wasted as the child will be close to blind from a lack of focusing for so long a period of time. Again, extreme rationing. I am not entitled to make what a neurosurgeon makes, but the new plan calls for all physicians to make the same amount of payment. I assure you that medical students will not go into neurosurgery and we will have a tremendous shortage of neurosurgeons. Already, the top neurosurgeon at my hospital who is in good health and only 52 years old has just quit because he can't stand working with the government anymore. The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your congresswomen and congressmen and senators to defeat this bill. I promise you that you will not like rationing of your own health. The Coming Shortage of Doctors Our aging population is challenge enough. Try to get an appointment after health-care reform. (11-05-09) A recent IBD/TIPP Poll showed two-thirds of physicians opposing Congress' proposed reforms, and warning of dire consequences. Now, a forum of prominent doctors has amplified those concerns. When hundreds of thousands of Americans see some of the most celebrated physicians and surgeons expressing vehement opposition to the health care revolution Democrats envision, it may put a crimp in the politicians' plans. Let's hope so! (10-21-09) ObamaCare Vs. The Hippocratic Oath I cannot condone this legislation, which promises to HARM every person, family and business in our country. We need to reject rationing, and fight the loss of control of our health care lives. (11-01-09) 58% said they thought doctors would oppose health care reforms such as the Senate's $829 billion Baucus plan. (10-24-09) Grim Prognosis From Doctors Opposed To Health Care Plan Doctor opposition to health care overhaul proposals is broad and deep, revealing concerns not just about soaring costs, declining care, possible rationing and a lack of limits on malpractice suits, but also about government competence and motives. 45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul 72% of the doctors polled disagree with the administration's claim that the government can cover 47 million more people with better-quality care at lower cost. Two-thirds, or 65%, of doctors say they oppose the proposed government expansion plan. 78% of Physicians Say Public Option Would Negatively Impact Health Care (10-1-09) How the U.S. Government Rations Health Care The agency that would likely run the 'public option' was slow to pay for implantable cardiac defibrillators. People can also switch insurers, and in many cases patients chose a policy because it matched their preferences in the first place. These options don't exist in a government health program. (10-1-09) Obama’s Two-Part Health Care Plan is Hazardous to Your Health - Dr. David Janda The health care plan advocated by President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid and The Democratic Majority is hazardous to the health of every American. Condition Critical: What Doctors Think About Health Reform, IBD Series Lost in all the debate about health care reform is a key question: What do doctors think? To find out, IBD/TIPP — America's most accurate pollster — conducted a nationwide survey of physicians. As this exclusive series shows, doctors have serious reservations about the reforms being proposed. (10-3-09) Abuse Of Subsidized Health Care: The View From One Exam Room If individuals prefer to buy luxury items rather than pay for their health needs, that preference should not be rewarded while taxpayers struggle to pay their own bills. (ObamaCare will make this disgustng situation worse.) (10-3-09) Senior Care To Suffer Under Gov't Plan,Two-Thirds Of Practicing Physicians Say Health-care Policy, Social Justice & Thugs - John Dale Dunn MD JD Sorting Fact From Fiction on Health Care As Congress works to extend coverage and contain costs, any legislation must clearly codify the promise to preserve for Americans the principle of control over their health-care decisions. A Doctor's Plan for Legal Industry Reform My modest proposal to rearrange how lawyers do business. Last month, our uninformed lawyer in chief suggested that we physicians would rather chop off a foot than manage diabetes since we would make more money doing surgery. Then President Obama compounded his attack by claiming a doctor's reimbursement is between "$30,000" and "$50,000" for such amputations! (Actually, such surgery costs only about $1,500.) Physicians have never been so insulted. We physicians know much more about legal practice than lawyers do about medicine. Enthusiastically embracing the above legal changes can serve as a "teachable moment" and will go a long way toward giving the lawyers who run Congress a taste of their own medicine. An Anesthesiologist's Take on Health-Care Reform Expect a two-tier medical system and needless ER deaths if Congress and the White House have their way."in obstetrics and anesthesiology, people die in minutes and seconds." Incredibly, Congress's proposed health-care reform plan risks skimping on anesthesia. According to one of the health-care bills in Congress, H.R. 3200, the public option would reduce reimbursement for anesthesia by over 50%. Mayo Clinic calls House plan bad medicine Is There a 'Right' to Health Care? In Britain, its recognition has led to substandard care. The government-run health-care system—which in the U.K. is believed to be the necessary institutional corollary to an inalienable right to health care—has pauperized the entire population. After 60 years of universal health care, free at the point of usage and funded by taxation, inequalities between the richest and poorest sections of the population have not been reduced. But Britain does have the dirtiest, most broken-down hospitals in Europe. A Doctor's Reflections on Health-Care Reform Physician payments can't be cut further. Ending frivolous lawsuits is a must. 10,000 US Physicians Appeal Directly to Their Senators Sermo - Know More. Know Earlier. Sermo is where over 110,000 physicians work together to drive better patient care. And as the healthcare debate intensifies, thousands of MDs and DOs are turning to Sermo to get directly involved in the reform effort. Physicians speak out on health care bill Many say the costly plan won't fix problems. Government Health Care Won't Fly Back to ACORN General Hospital Guess who's going to be much better off thanks President Obama's health care scheme? Fact Checks, Myths, Negatives, Contradictions, Broken Promises The American College of Surgeons released another statement to President Obama “statements that are incorrect or not based in fact.” “We assume that the Prez made these mistakes unintentionally, but we would urge him to have his facts correct before making another inflammatory & incorrect statement about surgeons & surgical care.” H You Also Can't Keep Your Doctor I had great cancer doctors and health insurance. My plan was cancelled. Now I worry how long I'll live. A Stage-4 Gallbladder Cancer Survivor Says: I Am One of Obamacare's Losers (11-3-13) Watch: Five Big Lies of ObamaCare 1: You can keep your doctor 2: You can keep your plan 3: Will lower health insurance premiums 4: Won't add a dime to the deficit 5: Will insure 30 million more people (12-7-13) Think ObamaCare Is Bad Now? It Gets Worse Next Year On the exchanges, you may no longer be able to use the doctors and hospitals you prefer. Many exchange plans exclude the top-drawer academic hospitals like Cedars Sinai, the Mayo Clinic... Do You Believe Obama This Time? How About Now? …Now? "Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of [Obamacare] could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers," said Karen Ignagni, CEO of insurance trade association America's Health Insurance Plans. (11-16-13) Remember that health insurance you could keep? Obamacare is not a left–right issue; it's a fraud issue. (11-2-13) ObamaCare will become 'voyage of the damned' (10-26-13) CBO: Obamacare Will Leave 30 Million Uninsured (8-11-12) Too Many Broken Promises in Obamacare Taxed enough already? Just wait until Obamacare kicks in. (7-25-12) Obamacare Falls Short of Promises to Uninsured (7-25-12) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) The Obamacare Two-Year Checkup: More Reasons for Repeal (3-22-12) Obamacare: Corporate Driven Medical Serfdom - Dr. Elaina George (3-22-12) ObamaCare Success: Astronomical Costs, 4 Million Lose Coverage Two different stories that came out today highlight the real consequences of the destructive and misguided ObamaCare regulations. (3-16-12) Study: Obama healthcare reform raising costs, forcing workers out of existing plans (3-18-12) Four hard truths of health care reform Politico notices how bad Obamacare’s been. The Myth of Runaway Health Spending J.D. Kleinke: The growth rate of national health expenditures has been declining for a decade, driven by better medical care and consumer choice. (2-17-12) The Democrats' radical health bill contains unprecedented language that could wreck the U.S. health system permanently. (1-20-10) Passing health reform could be a nightmare for Obama The various health-care proposals represent atrocious legislation. As for cost control, even generous estimates have health spending growing faster than the economy. (12-21-09) Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility The health bill creates a massive cash crunch and then bankruptcies for many insurers. (12-23-09) The health-care bills are loaded with taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year. (12-17-09) You Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance The Sheer Arrogance of ObamaCare (12-11-09) The health-care contradictions multiply. (12-18-09) What Health Reform Will Do to My Insurance Congress wants the nation to adopt the same rules that have made coverage expensive in New York. (11-13-09) Health Reform Doesn't Have To Be So Hard - Krauthammer The bill is irredeemable. The better choice is targeted measures that attack the inefficiencies of the current system one by one — tort reform, interstate purchasing.. (11-29-09) Harry Reid wants to kill consumer-driven health care. (11-20-09) The closer the Democratic Congress' radical health package gets to enactment, the less popular it becomes. The American people smell a rat. (11-24-09) The obesity bubble is in no danger of bursting. (11-21-09) The Five Flaws of the Reid Health Bill (11-20-09) A stealth provision that would undermine state damage caps. (11-12-09) FACT CHECK: Health insurer profits not so fat: AP (10-27-09) What Women Want on Health Care Two-thirds are less likely to back candidates who support government care. (11-4-09) ObamaCare: Show Me the SEIU Money! (11-18-09) Washington's one-size-fits-all reform won't work. (11-06-09) Pelosi Bill Slips In $6 Billion Slush Fund (11-04-09) Five Major Faults with the Health Care Bills (10-30-09) A 1,990-Page Medical Monstrosity Both the House and the Senate are set to wreck the greatest health care system in the world — unless those now taking it for granted raise a ruckus, and fast. (10-30-09) First, it transforms insurance into a product that few rational people would buy. Second, it forces them to buy it. (10-30-09) ... and the Swine Flu Democrats. This is the Pelosi Plan to wreck our health care system. (11-01-09) "Reform" Means You Pay More for Health Care President Obama’s claims that he makes care more affordable are exposed as a myth by the new study. Lawmakers claim the bill would “save” money, but that’s not true for those who have insurance. (10-13-09) We are a nation fully settled by government. The terrain ahead is both crowded and costly. The plan would create new weak points and widen old ones. They think this because they have brains. (10-17-09) Senate Bill Taxes Your Current Health Plan The Obama-Baucus bill wants to tax it at a 40% rate. How on earth would it remain unchanged, as the president has claimed? Make no mistake about it — Obama-Baucus will use the tax code to take away your current health insurance plan. (10-17-09) Competition & Health Insurance Contrary to Democratic rhetoric, repealing the insurance industry's antitrust exemption won't reduce prices or profits. (10-21-09) Senators aren't counting on reform savings when it comes to their constituents. So, health-care "reform" is good, smart and necessary, so long as it isn't fully applied to the states of the senators who are pushing it. (10-9-09) Step right up: A new entitlement that cuts the deficit! The irony is that the CBO's guesstimate exposes the fraudulence and fiscal sleight-of-hand underlying this whole exercise. (10-9-09) The health-care industry learns the price of appeasing Congress. (10-13-09) Doubling Down on a Flawed Insurance Model Obama's plan takes the problems of the current system—mandates, runaway spending and more—and makes them worse. The ABC Dilemma of Health Reform Third-party payment creates a big incentive problem. (10-17-09) Fact-Checking the President on Health Insurance His tales of abuse don't stand scrutiny. AP: Budget Chief Contradicts Obama On Medicare Costs Congress' Budget Chief Contradicts Obama, Says Medicare Benefits Would Be Cut Under Plan. (10-1-09) Is ObamaCare Pro-Life? (10-27-09) Obama and the cost of individual insurance. President Obama is Wrong About Insurance Costs. Contrary to President Obama's claims, individual insurance plans are less expensive than employer-sponsored plans. Why Obama Bombed on Health Care The public wasn't dumb enough to believe the public option would save money. (9-30-09) Humana gets whacked for telling the truth, AARP gets a pass for spreading falsehoods. Baucus cuts will hurt medicare. A preview of coming political health-care attractions. Why Medical Malpractice Is Off Limits A few thousand trial lawyers have a lock on Democrats, who refuse to consider any legal reform. James Freeman on President Obama's conflicting plans for college and health insurance savings. Sorting Fact From Fiction on Health Care As Congress works to extend coverage and contain costs, any legislation must clearly codify the promise to preserve for Americans the principle of control over their health-care decisions. An economist explains health spending The emphasis in America is on saving lives, not money. In every socialist country, the opposite is true. The only way to save money on health care is to ration it. First, Americans have had more money to spend. The second reason we spend more is because spending more money on health care works. The United States, overall, has both the most expensive and the best health care in the world. The socialist argument that somehow spending more on health care makes our health system inferior is absurd. This argument is based on life expectancy tables. But life expectancy has many factors, including average weight, homicide rates, suicide rates, genetics and traffic fatalities. On a Sunday show, the President offers a revealing definition. Obama Denies that Individual Mandate is a Tax Increase. Health Problems Health Care Can't Fix President Obama and Michael Moore's inconvenient truth. Ten reasons why America’s health care system is in better condition than you might suppose. Before we turn to government as the solution, however, we should consider some unheralded facts about America’s health care system. Tax Dollars Shouldn't Fund Abortion very Democratic health bill so far on offer would change 30 years of federal practice. (10-15-09) The Democrats' New Bob Casey Problem Will ObamaCare fund abortions? (10-6-09) Rev. Jackson to the rescue of Obamacare Fighting false health care claims, Obama repeats one of his own "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan," he said, repeating one of his stock lines. That's not true, however, according to FactCheck.org, an independent truth squad run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Read the Union Health-Care Label Get ready for Detroit-style labor relations in our hospitals. In the heated debates on health-care reform, not enough attention is being paid to the huge financial windfalls ObamaCare will dole out to unions—or to the provisions in the various bills in Congress that will help bring about the forced unionization of the health-care industry. Tucked away in thousands of pages of complex new rules, regulations and mandates are special privileges and giveaways that could have devastating consequences for the health-care sector and the American economy at large. Labor Unions on Health Care: Their True Motives The union movement will gain billions of dollars if Obamacare passes. The higher costs that unions bring put the companies they organize at a competitive disadvantage. The airlines. The steel industry. General Motors. Unionized companies shed jobs whenever they face competition. Contradictions worthy of the Marx Brothers. Medicare's unfunded liability—the gap between revenues and promised benefits—is currently some $37 trillion over the next 75 years. Yet the President uses this insolvency as an argument to justify the creation of another health-care entitlement, this time for most everyone under age 65. Mr. Obama also called for "civility" in debate even as he calls the arguments of his critics "lies." So in the spirit of civility, we won't accuse the President of lying about Medicare. We'll just say his claims bear little relation to anything true. Special-interests and the health-care status quo. In fact, the administration is standing by to allow its most special, special interest to drive this debate. What the tort bar wants, the tort bar gets. The only folks not on board are a handful of powerful trial lawyers, and a handful of politicians who receive a generous cut of those lawyers' contingency fees. The legal industry was the top contributor to the Democratic Party in the 2008 cycle, stumping up $47 million. The bill is now due, and Democrats are dutifully making a health-care down payment. During the markup of a bill in the Senate Health Committee, Republicans offered 11 tort amendments. On a party line vote, Democrats killed every one. The tort-reform issue has instead clarified this presidency. Namely, that the bipartisan president is in fact very partisan, that the new-politics president still takes orders from the old Democratic lobby. FACT CHECK: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge Obama's savings' won't pay for health plan, experts say OK, President Obama has had his say on health care. Now let's look at some inconvenient truths. BO's promises still don't match his proposal. But we've heard that before: Spend more money now and someday, way, way, down the road, we'll change our ways. Somehow tomorrow, and the promised cuts, never comes. Where Is Obama's 'Center'? - Steyn Look at his Rolodex and then figure out just where such a man would estimate it to be. Obama's 'Gift' Has Stopped Giving But the gift has stopped giving, because people have started listening. His description of limited reform doesn't match the bill. Then came that surreal moment when he said that spending cuts in a healthcare program - one that the government already badly manages - would cover additional costs to a even wider system. Neither the government-heavy substance nor the dishonest and demagogic tactics have changed. The president denounced “scare tactics” — in a speech that warned that failure to go along with his plans would cause people to die. Many of them can, in fact, expect to lose their coverage while paying higher premiums and taxes. Many other Americans can expect to lose their jobs thanks to Obama’s “employer mandate.” All of them would be better served by a gradual transition toward a system in which people buy insurance for themselves rather than relying on their employers or governments, and in which neither the tax code nor regulations impede them from so doing. The president pushes back against health care misinformation, then spreads a bunch of his own. Unfortunately, the president evinces zero understanding of how increased regulation can reduce consumer choice, even or especially when the government joins the competition. And even if he did see the connection, we'd have good reason to suspect that he wouldn't talk about it openly with the American people. That, ultimately, worries me more than a senior citizen who wants to keep the government out of Medicare. Palin Hit the Facebook Horn Late Last Night Health Bills v. Prez’s Words. If you're diagnosed with cancer, you have a better chance of surviving it in the United States than anywhere else, according to the Concord Five Continent Study. And the World Health Organization ranked the United States No. 1 out of 191 countries for being responsive to patients' needs, including providing timely treatments and a choice of doctors. At the Danger Point in the Obamacare Debate Now that many Americans realize the Obamacare bills in Congress herald a government takeover of U.S. health care, they can't afford to relax. Ten Questions Politicians Won't Answer Evasive politicians, not concerned citizens, are dividing America over health-care reform. A top administration official has resorted to telling desperate lies. "Frankly," HHS Secretary Sebelius told a recent meeting of AFL-CIO leaders, "the health delivery system is under-delivering in terms of quality of care. We spend over twice as much as any nation on earth, and our health results look like we're a developing country." This article debunks that myth. America decidedly does not have a Third World health care system. But it will if Washington takes control of it. They worry about redundant care, frivolous procedures, and lawsuits, but sense that all in all it can be improved rather than scrapped. They know that Americans with cancer and heart disease survive longer than anywhere else due to superior American care. And they know that longevity is influenced by factors well beyond medical care. And what looms over the entire debate? Debt, debt, debt — both the recognition that one cannot expand those covered and save money at the same time without rationing or higher taxes; and the notion that all Obama’s new entitlements essentially involve borrowing money, much of it from Asia, as our indebtedness soars. Deception is at the Heart of Dems' Plans (Part 3) - Sowell There will be many more decisions taken out of our hands if Obamacare passes. Whose Medical Decisions? (Part 2) - Sowell In the things that medical care can do something about — like cancer survival rates — the United States ranks at or near the top in the world. But that can change if we give up the real benefits of a top medical system for the visions and rhetoric of politicians. I wish President Obama would say this to Congress tomorrow night. Obama's Speech Tonight - Stossel I apologize for defending the absurd health care bills that have emerged from your committees -- proposals that would add trillions of dollars of additional debt to an already unsustainable system. Only the vitality of the private sector—a truly free one, unencumbered by the crippling stranglehold of burdensome government regulation—can lift America out of the unsustainable mess. We Don't Spend Enough on Health Care It's crazy to adopt a bean-counting mentality amid revolutionary, albeit expensive, advances in medicine. Obama said, "Make no mistake: The cost of our health care is a threat to our economy." But the president is mistaken. The U.S. health-care economy should be viewed not as a burden but as an engine of growth. Congress would do well to stop "thinking it over" and to commit themselves to action that will preserve the ability of Americans to choose life over money. The President does both sides now on his health insurance plan. Voters aren't stupid. The true reason ObamaCare is in trouble isn't because "folks aren't listening," but because they are. But his implication is that doctors aren’t acting in the best interests of their patients in order, basically, to rob them. Obama's Promises Could Use a Good-Faith Deposit He could start by explaining the seeming inconsistency in his plan to save money by spending money. One of capitalism’s underlying premises is that incentives - specifically the profit motive - encourage companies to compete with one another to produce the goods and services consumers want at prices they’re willing to pay. If not, the business is history. Not so with government. Obama & the Bureaucratization of Health Care Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care. Real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. Only in Washington could a plan that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit be hailed as a cost-cutting measure. Democrats' proposals..will increase our deficit, decrease our paychecks, and increase the power of unaccountable government technocrats. They will not improve our health care. They will not save us money. And, despite what the president says, they will not "provide more stability and security to every American." We often hear such overblown promises from Washington. With first principles in mind and with the facts in hand, tell them that this time we're not buying it. ObamaCare Pep Rally Fact Check Missing the Facts on Townhall Concerns Common-sense Americans hit the brakes. They realized that the overhaul the left proposes threatens the good quality care that most receive. They sensed, moreover, that their leaders were trying to rush through complex and far-reaching changes that would have unforeseen cultural and economic consequences. Reformers' Claims Just Don't Add Up Many extravagant claims have been made on behalf of the various health care "reforms" now emerging from Congress and the White House. But on closer inspection, virtually all prove to be false. Parsing the Health Reform Arguments Some of the shibboleths we've heard in recent weeks don't make much sense. If you like public housing you will love public health care. Health care reform means more power for the IRS Should the IRS be involved in health care enforcement in the first place? This is not new, just read the bills. ObamaCare will just add more fraud, more fraud & more fraud to the system. Did I forget to mention the massive corruption ObamaCare will add as well? The Great Irony Of Health Reform: Middle Class, Not Rich, Get Shaft And every April 15, they would get a higher tax bill for their troubles, which just might make them feel sick enough to get back in line. Medicare may not pay much to doctors, but taxpayers pay plenty to Medicare. It comes down to a simple comparison and an obvious verdict: Privately run care offers choice and is cheaper. Government-run care denies choice and is more expensive. Another false ObamaCare ‘saving’ is exposed. This is why free market reforms are needed instead. Would avoid this problem & the additional massive fraud & corruption government would add. A nationalized, government, single-payer or public option is an obviously flawed "solution". Make the case for conservative health-care reform. In short, the “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009” would not be affordable and would deny choice. Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare A soda pop tax and government health care won’t cure obesity. Video: President Obama Contradicts Senator Obama FACT CHECK: Obama's health care claims adrift? -AP Obama's Choreographed Town Hall Cato Experts Dissect Obama's Health Care Town Hall Meeting: Video Obama in 2008: ObamaCare Will Eliminate Private Coverage Over Time The People Spreading "Disinformation" About ObamaCare Would ObamaCare Lead to an Obamonopoly? (2nd Heading) 5 freedoms you'd lose in health care reform If you read the fine print in the Congressional plans, you'll find that a lot of cherished aspects of the current system would disappear. Don’t be fooled, even without the 'public option' it is still intrusive government control. Gov't Care: A Victory For Special Interests Politics, not patient needs or the need for increased access to care, will determine which procedures are covered. These Plans Will Reduce Your Choice Health-Care Policy in Wonderland - Sowell Yes, medical care costs more in the U.S. — and we get what we pay for. Obama's Voodoo Health Economics Cutting our medical care is bad science. Even the 'uninsured' like their coverage The CBO says a government-run health care system would cause 23 million Americans to lose private coverage, cost $1 trillion dollars and still leave 30 million uninsured. Illegal Immigrants Account for $10.7 Billion of Nation's Health Care Costs, Data Show Did President Obama Make His Case on Health Care? The President's main case for reform is rooted in false claims and little evidence. Obama Targets Medicare Advantage According to a White House fact sheet titled "Paying for Health Care Reform," Mr. Axelrod was misleading his readers. It notes the administration would cut $622 billion from Medicare and Medicaid, with a big chunk coming from Medicare Advantage, to pay for overhauling health care. Mr. Obama heralded these cuts as "common sense" in his June 13 radio address. How Obamacare Will Change Your Life Meanwhile, in addition to being saddled with those old, familiar health insurance premiums, you will be paying higher taxes and have considerably less access to care. Many 'savings' will boost spending At a time of such economic uncertainly, it would probably be wise for the administration and Congress to take a lesson from family financing - by saving the money before spending it. Obama Rhetoric vs Health Care Reality Health reform is all downside for most Americans So, in exchange for vast new spending, an exponential increase in government involvement in health care decisions, additional taxes that will slow recovery, new burdens on small businesses that create jobs, and a stifling of innovations, most American families get bupkis. Democrats & the Health Tax Taboo The president attacked McCain for proposing a benefits tax. Why the Kennedy Health Bill Would Wreck Bipartisan Reform The House bill would harm businesses’ ability to offer insurance. The American public is right. ObamaCare is wrong. It should and can be defeated. Obamacare Falls Short of Promises to Uninsured (7-25-12) Deception is at the Heart of Dems' Plans (Part 3) - Sowell There will be many more decisions taken out of our hands if Obamacare passes. Even the 'uninsured' like their coverage CBO Expert Says Preventive Care Will Raise - Not Cut - Costs The Great 'Prevention' Myth - Krauthammer Obama insisted on the dire need for restructuring the health-care system because out-of-control costs were bankrupting the Treasury and wrecking the U.S. economy - yet the Democrats' plans would make the problem worse. You will hear some variation of that claim a hundred times in the coming health-care debate. Whenever you do, remember: It's nonsense. Britain's NHS: No Fun and Games Most Brits who can afford private health insurance buy that instead. (8-25-12) Report: Thousands fled Canada for health care in 2011 (7-14-12) The Movie on Health Care That Obama Doesn't Want You to See It's not a documentary, and it's not by a conservative. (Must See!) (7-4-12) Personal medicine or population medicine: which will it be for you? (5-12-12) Doctor Claims Euthanasia Significant Part of British Health System (6-23-12) Top doctor's chilling claim: The NHS kills off 130,000 elderly patients every year Professor says doctors use 'death pathway' to euthenasia of the elderly (6-23-12) The Death Panel's Loving Embrace Here is an object lesson in how death panels - also known more kindly as 'palliative care' - work in countries with socialized medicine. (4-28-12) Hospital closures inevitable and NHS operation rationing will continue, warns think-tank NHS patients should expect continued rationing of common operations for years to come, while hospital closures are “inevitable”, according to an influential think-tank. (6-30-12) Obamacare Is a Trojan Horse for Socialized Medicine Obamacare has become one of the most polarizing pieces of legislation ever passed. (4-21-12) Health Care Reform: Don’t Copy Europe’s Mistake (11-08-09) What Singapore Can Teach the White House Its health care is first class, cheap and market-driven. (10-22-09) Canadian Patients Feel Wait Of The World Canadians have a health care system that should be the envy of no one. It's not free, it's funded by taxpayers, and it isn't truly universal. Delayed treatment in an overused system has been the root of much unnecessary suffering. (10-24-09) Canadians seek a private option. (9-30-09) In Canada, a move toward a private healthcare option In British Columbia, private clinics and surgical centers are capitalizing on patients who might otherwise pay for faster treatment in the U.S. The courts will consider their legality next month. (9-30-09) It took the Germans 125 years to figure out that their health-care system doesn't work. (10-11-09) Great Moments in Socialized Medicine (3rd Heading) (10-8-09) Government Medicine vs. the Elderly In Britain in 2007-08, 16.5% of deaths came after 'terminal sedation.' It provided details of what it described as "appalling treatment," which could be found across the NHS. The U.K.'s pattern of health-care spending by age had more in common with the former Soviet bloc. The fallacies Obama gives for passing ObamaCare are exactly the problems it will cause. The Wanless report found that of the five countries it looked at, the U.S. was the only one to be both an early adopter and rapid diffuser of new medical techniques. It is the world's principal engine driving medical advance. If the U.S. gets health-care reform wrong, the rest of the world will suffer too. Government Doc Goes for Jugular (4th Heading) More tales of British socialized medicine. Europe's free, state-run health care has drawbacks As US tackles health care reform, some Europeans warn against too much government control. Medicare For All Isn't The Answer My company ran a hospital in London. We don't want to go the government route. And with the government in control, Americans eventually will see rationing, the denial of high-priced drugs and sophisticated procedures, and long waits for care. A leaked report shows that Vancouver's health authority is considering cutting thousands of surgeries to balance the budget. However organized, government-run health care inevitably leads to rationing. We needn't be forced to sacrifice quality for cost. Nor do we need to look to the French for a better solution. They don't have one. Americans should understand how NICE works because under ObamaCare it will eventually be coming to a hospital near you. Mr. Obama and Democrats claim they can expand subsidies for tens of millions of Americans, while saving money and improving the quality of care. It can't possibly be done. The inevitable result of their plan will be some version of a NICE board that will tell millions of Americans that they are too young, or too old, or too sick to be worth paying to care for. A study by the British Patients Association tells the true story about socialized medicine in Britain. Is There a 'Right' to Health Care? In Britain, its recognition has led to substandard care. But Britain does have the dirtiest, most broken-down hospitals in Europe. Pathway for the elderly that leads to legal execution Being "made comfortable" is no longer the reassuring euphemism it once was, says Liz Hunt. (10-14-09) Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors warn today. 'Cruel & neglectful' care of one million NHS patients exposed One million NHS patients have been the victims of appalling care in hospitals across Britain, according to a major report released today. Standard of care in some wards 'would shame a third world country' 'This hospital is supposed to be the cornerstone of the NHS in Manchester, but they couldn't get any blood for two hours.' Prisoners have a better diet than UK Health Service hospital patients, scientists warn MEP Daniel Hannan on Health Care in Great Britain & US: Video "I find it incredible that a free people living in a country dedicated and founded in the cause of independence and freedom can seriously be thinking about adopting such a system." Britain's Socialists Nothing to Admire But socialism was always so. It coerces others and then consumes its own. It thus entails cumulative and ultimately catastrophic failure across the board. Their American admirers should, though, be persuaded to sample Britain's socialized healthcare before - if they survive the experience - being permitted to recreate it back home. "Better" Health Care? - Stossel Obama insists he is not "trying to bring about government-run healthcare". But government management does the same thing. Animal care is the one area of medicine that hasn't been taken over by the government. Dogs can get a CT scan in one day. For people, the waiting list is a month. I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One on the Wires-CanadaCare So Holmes probably could have survived the Canadian wait and been none the worse for wear - well, except for the minor inconvenience of being blind! America's health-care system saved a Canadian woman's vision. A Canadian-style system south of the border could turn all of North America into the land of the blind. The 'Real' Cost of Canadian Health Care Man goes to Buffalo for life-saving treatment Canadians visit U.S. to get health care Deal lets many go to Michigan hospitals Governments always ration care by making you wait. That can be deadly. If Our System Becomes Like Canada's, Where Will We Turn For Serious Care? - Sowell Care vs. Control: If this new medical scheme is so wonderful, why can’t it stand the light of day? Government Health Plans Always Ration Care Europe offers a glimpse of the future if President Obama and congressional Democrats have their way. How Other Countries Judge Malpractice The health-care systems Democrats want to emulate don't allow contingency fees or large jury awards. A society of children cannot survive, no matter how all-embracing the government nanny. The gatekeeper for Great Britain's national health care system is denying cancer patients drugs that would extend their lives. Why? Because the medication is considered too expensive. It's now or never, President Obama warned last week, for nationalizing health care. For the sake of all Americans, let's hope it's never. When elected officials and bureaucrats give themselves the power to take over private activities, the results tend to be disastrous. Golden State officials misrepresent their Obamacare exchanges and the press parrots the lies. (7-27-13) The truth about those rate increases in Oregon and California. (6-8-13) Maine deregulates the insurance market. Premiums fall. (6-2-12) What Health Reform Will Do to My Insurance Congress wants the nation to adopt the same rules that have made coverage expensive in New York. (11-13-09) Health 'Reform' Gets a Failing Grade Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the Harvard Medical School. The changes proposed by Congress will require more draconian measures down the road. Just look at Massachusetts. (11-18-09) All of the president's "fixes" will just create new problems. (10-23-09) Why Health Care Is So Expensive in New York Mario Cuomo and Blue Cross destroyed the individual insurance market in the state. Now Congress wants to impose the same rules on 50 states. (10-17-09) Meet the unelected body that will dictate future medical decisions. (11-16-09) The Senate Finance Committee approves its version of ObamaCare. (10-14-09) Mammograms and the New Jersey Governor's Race Because of regulations, state insurance costs are among the highest in the nation. (10-14-09) The Lesson of State Health-Care Reforms The major provisions of ObamaCare already have been tried. They've led to increased costs and reduced access to care. Despite these state-level failures, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing forward a slate of similar reforms. (10-7-09) Paying the Health Tax in Massachusetts Be warned: Even people with good insurance will risk fines if mandatory insurance becomes the national law. (10-11-09) 45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul In MA, doctor shortages remain a growing problem. Costs are higher, with insurance premiums rising 22% faster than in the U.S. as a whole. Other states with government-run or mandated health insurance systems, including Maine, Tennessee and Hawaii, have been forced to cut back services and coverage. How Missouri Cut Junk Lawsuits We showed how to do malpractice reform, if Congress wants a model. Get yours while the getting is still good. Tort Reform In Oklahoma. Another state 'public option' that failed. The Truth About Health Insurance Only nine states have the costly rules that Obama wants to impose nationwide. But what the President and Democrats won't tell you is that these problems are the result mainly of government intervention. ObamaCare would impose on all 50 states rules that have already proven to be failures in numerous states. Because these mandates would raise the cost of insurance, ObamaCare would then turn around and subsidize individuals to buy the insurance that the politicians made more expensive. Only in government could such irrationality be sold as "reform." So Sarah Palin's "death panels" aren't as quite off the mark as those afflicted by Palin Derangement Syndrome and mocking her seem to think. Apparently they're called Centers for Bioethics and people are sincerely grappling with these issues. The issues are deep, the problems are complex. And alas there are no easy answers. But let's keep the Barbara Wagners in mind. For one day, a loved one may be in the same predicament. Or you. Gov't Care: A Victory For Special Interests Politics, not patient needs or the need for increased access to care, will determine which procedures are covered. Remember Hawaii's Health Care Lessons Just 16 years ago Hawaii was held up as a model for national universal health-care. Now it is broke and even its vaunted employer mandated coverage is not guaranteeing everyone is getting coverage. Isn’t it odd how we no longer hear about Hawaii being the model for a US system of healthcare? Probably because it turned out to show us all too clearly where we will be headed under its favorite son’s 'Obama-Care,' after all. Do not put faith in promises of care for everyone at lower costs. They are false. Universal care will always increase costs and lead to rationing because it invites system overload. This is the message, and it must be spread before lawmakers do something foolish. Would that Congress had learned from the MA Universal Health failure - wishful thinking. MA Universal Health Care Fuzzy Math It's now or never, President Obama warned last week, for nationalizing health care. For the sake of all Americans, let's hope it's never. When elected officials and bureaucrats give themselves the power to take over private activities, the results tend to be disastrous. Costs, Irresponsible Spending, Mandates Study: Average Premiums for Young Women to Increase 193% ...analysis finds huge rate hikes coming (10-26-13) ObamaCare will become 'voyage of the damned' (10-26-13) The Studies Are In, and Obamacare is Failing Miserably (6-8-2013) Top Democrat: Obamacare 'Huge Train Wreck Coming Down' (4-20-2013) Obamacare architect Rockefeller: It's 'beyond comprehension' (4-20-2013) Study: 30% of Health Care Costs Unnecessary (9-15-12) Analysis: Obamacare to cost $2.6 trillion over first full decade (7-14-12) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) ObamaCare Is Bending The Cost Curve Upward ObamaCare Will Add $17 Trillion To The Enourmous Debt That Washington Already Can't Pay (4-7-12) ObamaCare's Flawed Economic Foundations The insurance mandate has almost nothing to do with remedying costs imposed on the system by those without coverage. (3-22-12) Study: Obama healthcare reform raising costs, forcing workers out of existing plans (3-18-12) Obama's Health Care Duplicity No Longer Debatable (3-17-12) Sen. Sessions Reveals 'Obamacare' Creates $17 Trillion in Unfunded Financial Obligations (3-31-12) CBO: Obamacare to cost $1.76 trillion over 10 yrs (3-15-12) New Study Shows Obamacare’s Huge Additions to Federal Deficit (4-15-12) CBO boosts its Obamacare Medicaid cost estimate (3-15-12) Shock: Obamacare Pricier Than Advertised (3-15-12) ObamaCare Success: Astronomical Costs, 4 Million Lose Coverage Two different stories that came out today highlight the real consequences of the destructive and misguided ObamaCare regulations. (3-16-12) ObamaCare's Bogus Cost Savings The evidence mounts that the health law won't make care more efficient or more affordable. (3-15-12) ObamaCare's $4 Trillion Tax Increase (4-21-12) Obamacare Is a Trojan Horse for Socialized Medicine Obamacare has become one of the most polarizing pieces of legislation ever passed. (4-21-12) Another warning that reform 'bends the cost curve'—up. (1-20-10) Reid 2.0: It’s Still a Budget Buster It is now plain as day that the Reid plan has evolved into nothing more than a massive entitlement expansion, which subsidizes more people into an unreformed system with soaring costs. (12-21-09) The 'Cost Control' Bill of Goods The 'Cost-Control' Health Care Illusion. How Peter Orszag and the White House sold a health-care illusion. The cost control mantra of ObamaCare was always a political bill of goods, and its result will be the opposite of its claims: poorer quality care at higher costs. (12-14-09) HHS Actuary Finds Senate Bill More Expensive Than "Unsustainable" Status Quo CMS found that if the Senate health care bill passed, America would spend $234 billion more on health care over the next 10 years than if we did nothing. Specifically, it said that 20 percent of providers to Medicare's hospital insurance program "would become unprofitable within the 10-year projection period." (12-11-09) You Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance The Sheer Arrogance of ObamaCare (12-11-09) Congress's Long-Term Care Bomb Another new entitlement that will make future costs explode. (12-14-09) A bill that raises prices but lowers costs, and other miracles. (12-2-09) Health Reform Will Raise Insurance Prices, another study predicts.. (12-5-09) CMS: House bill increases health care costs Legislation the House passed last week would increase costs over the next decade by $289 billion. (11-17-09) Reform For You, But Not Congress ...what Democrats are set to enact will spend trillions dramatically increasing insurance premiums, and leave millions still without insurance. (12-06-09) By a 16-point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose the [BOCare] legislation moving through Congress. (11-21-09) China questions costs of U.S. healthcare reform (11-18-09) The Democrats' 'doc fix' for Medicare payments would shock Madoff. (11-18-09) The House's Expensive Medicine And that, ultimately, is the problem: These guys are haggling over details when their fundamental approach is flawed. (11-13-09) Every medical insurance decision will be subject to rationing by politics. Pelosi's Health Care Means Rationing Politics (11-09-09) Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. (11-2-09) Health 'Reform' Gets a Failing Grade Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, dean of the Harvard Medical School. The changes proposed by Congress will require more draconian measures down the road. Just look at Massachusetts. (11-18-09) What Health Reform Will Do to My Insurance Congress wants the nation to adopt the same rules that have made coverage expensive in New York. (11-13-09) Pelosi: Jail For No Insurance Is “Fair” (11-14-09) Forcing Us to Buy Health Insurance Is Not the Same as Mandatory Car Insurance (11-12-09) The True Cost of the House Health Bill: $1.5 Trillion (11-4-09) Making Health Care Worse - Sowell (11-08-09) The "Costs' of Medical Care - Sowell (11-08-09) The "Costs' of Medical Care: Part II - Sowell (11-08-09) The "Costs' of Medical Care: Part III - Sowell (11-08-09) Deficit-Neutral Health Proposals May Make Fiscal Fixes Trickier Fiscal watchdogs are warning that Democrats' health care plans — notably the bigger House bill — would make America's unsustainable budget problems even harder to solve. (11-4-09) Even a five-point shift would mean big Democratic losses in 2010. (11-05-09) Government programs always exceed their spending estimates. (10-20-09) ObamaCare: Insurance Premiums Soaring Up, Up, and Away “Our Judgment Is That That Piece Of The Legislation Would Raise Insurance Premiums.” CBO's Elmendorf (11-01-09) Exposing the Obamacare Shell Game But it is hard work adding $1 trillion in government spending while claiming with a straight face that you are not adding to the deficit. (11-01-09) HHS Chief Actuary on ObamaCare: Total Health Care Spending Will Go Up, Not Down (11-01-09) US health care tab would grow under overhaul: AP (11-01-09) ... and the Swine Flu Democrats. This is the Pelosi Plan to wreck our health care system. (11-01-09) The doctor fix blows up in the Senate, no thanks to the AMA. (10-22-09) Why Health Care Is So Expensive in New York Mario Cuomo and Blue Cross destroyed the individual insurance market in the state. Now Congress wants to impose the same rules on 50 states. (10-17-09) Adding lots of 'dimes' to the deficit. Democrats Plan to Strip Sustainable Growth Rate Formula from Health-Care Reform, they'll instead make this a separate contribution to the deficit. (10-21-09) Health Spending Condemns Youth To Future Of Downward Mobility The chance to reorder the medical-industrial complex to restrain costs and improve care has been mostly squandered. Some call this "reform"; no one should call it progress. (10-16-09) The ABC Dilemma of Health Reform Third-party payment creates a big incentive problem. (10-17-09) We are a nation fully settled by government. The terrain ahead is both crowded and costly. "The shame of it all is we could actually fix what's broken in health care without breaking what's working, and without creating a huge new entitlement program that will accelerate the bankruptcy of this country." (10-17-09) Step right up: A new entitlement that cuts the deficit! The irony is that the CBO's guesstimate exposes the fraudulence and fiscal sleight-of-hand underlying this whole exercise. (10-9-09) Mammograms and the New Jersey Governor's Race Because of regulations, state insurance costs are among the highest in the nation. (10-14-09) Obama Hasn't Closed the Health-Care Sale Wait until the voters figure out how Congress is proposing to pay for reform. (10-15-09) Want to cut the deficit? Just spend $829 billion! (10-8-09) Congress's Health Care Bills Would Increase Spending & Federal Budget Deficits America already faces soaring government spending, permanent trillion-dollar budget deficits, and the Social Security and Medicare costs of 77 million retiring baby boomers. Adding trillions of dollars in additional government spending and budget deficits is not responsible. It would expand already massive budget deficits, which would add more pressure towards higher interest rates, and would lead to slower economic growth, and eventually steep tax increases. The current health plans do not meet the President's goals of slowing health care spending and not increasing the budget deficit. Congress should scrap the current plans and seek a new approach that improves the health care system based on real choice, competition, and transparency, while addressing the unsustainable spending trend. Paying the Health Tax in Massachusetts Be warned: Even people with good insurance will risk fines if mandatory insurance becomes the national law. (10-11-09) The Lesson of State Health-Care Reforms The major provisions of ObamaCare already have been tried. They've led to increased costs and reduced access to care. Despite these state-level failures, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing forward a slate of similar reforms. (10-7-09) The IRS says it will fine or jail you for not paying Obama's mandate levy. (9-30-09) The Baucus health bill will break 50 state budgets via Medicaid. (9-29-09) New Study Puts ObamaCare Deficits over $1 Trillion Not only is the House bill not deficit-neutral, the vast majority of its savings are from tax increases. In fact, the bill increases federal health spending by $2.4 trillion over twenty years (and would also likely raise private health spending). Given the President’s budget proposal of trillion-dollar deficits, as well as the $43 trillion unfunded obligation in Social Security and Medicare, adding another expensive new health care entitlement is completely irresponsible. Any savings in Medicare and Medicaid should go towards reducing these staggering long-term obligations. And the tax increases in this legislation would be in addition to the massive tax increases that many liberals already advocate to close long-term deficits. Lawmakers should go back to the drawing board and produce health care reforms that actually reduce costs based on real choice, competition and transparency. Health 'Reform' Is Income Redistribution Let's have an honest debate before we transfer more money from young to old. If you think people are dissatisfied with health care now, wait until they understand that Congress voted to mandate hidden premium increases and lower wages. (9-30-09) Doubling Down on a Flawed Insurance Model Obama's plan takes the problems of the current system—mandates, runaway spending and more—and makes them worse. Obama's savings' won't pay for health plan, experts say OK, President Obama has had his say on health care. Now let's look at some inconvenient truths. The funding gap is a canyon by year 10. The True Cost of the House Health Plan in Pictures Raising The Health Cost Curve-Graph House Democrat Health Bill Adds to Budget Deficit, CBO Says ObamaCare's Crippling Deficits The higher taxes, debt payments and interest rates needed to pay for health reform mean lower living standards. Dropping the Obama health plan would significantly reduce fiscal deficits over the next decade and help restore public confidence in the ability of Congress to control spending. The administration's claim that the health-care plan would be "self-financing" is both false and irrelevant. While abandoning health reform would be an important step, it would not be enough to limit the exploding level of future deficits and debt. That requires substantial reductions in existing spending programs, if large tax increases are to be avoided. Restructuring Medicare and reforming tax rules would be politically difficult. But a failure by Congress to address the exploding path of fiscal deficits would be morally irresponsible. On a Sunday show, the President offers a revealing definition. Obama Denies that Individual Mandate is a Tax Increase. The House's Hidden Health Care Train Wreck The CBO released a separate study Monday showing that this provision would kill jobs. Why Waste $1.5 Trillion Only to Get Worse Health Care? How will spending what amounts to a football field filled with our tax dollars actually lower our health care costs? Health care plus entitlements plus higher taxes only on the “rich” equals disaster. Even a deficit neutral ObamaCare plan would cost more than it does now. Higher taxes would only pay for part of the trillions in cost. Costs would skyrocket year after year, like Medicare/Medicaid & other government entitlements, because the plan does not address the high costs, just builds on the problems. Those Forever Seeking Utopia Lose Freedom - Sowell Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is so expensive. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye. The Truth About Health Insurance Only nine states have the costly rules that Obama wants to impose nationwide. But what the President and Democrats won't tell you is that these problems are the result mainly of government intervention. ObamaCare would impose on all 50 states rules that have already proven to be failures in numerous states. Because these mandates would raise the cost of insurance, ObamaCare would then turn around and subsidize individuals to buy the insurance that the politicians made more expensive. Only in government could such irrationality be sold as "reform." As In The Case Of Supply-Side Economics, Real Health Reform Happens At Margins Health Mandate Could Impose Costly Burden On Middle Class One of many reasons why ObamaCare reforms will make things worse. Mandates, no-mandates, either way you'll have to pay. CBO’s Health Estimates: The High Cost of Spending Other People’s Money Obama's Health Care Reform: The Demise of Federalism A $1.6 trillion deficit boost, and the uninsured will still be with us. The CBO says a government-run health care system would cause 23 million Americans to lose private coverage, cost $1 trillion dollars and still leave 30 million uninsured. Reality Begins Bursting Health Care Hype Many 'savings' will boost spending At a time of such economic uncertainly, it would probably be wise for the administration and Congress to take a lesson from family financing - by saving the money before spending it. Obama's cost-savings gestures always reek of bad faith. Stop the Health Care Bailout Before it Starts Assault On Individuals & Business, Massive Tax Increases ACA: Helped or Hurt? Americans have much to say about SCOTUS decision It seems neither politicians nor the Courts hear or, perhaps, even care what the people are saying about this law as they push to say how well it is working. The actual stories of real Americans seems to tell a very different story. (6-27-15) Health Care Shocker For N.J. Students Looking For Low-Cost Insurance Some Students Have Been Left Without Insurance (11-2-13) The Studies Are In, and Obamacare is Failing Miserably (6-8-2013) Too Many Broken Promises in Obamacare Taxed enough already? Just wait until Obamacare kicks in. (7-25-12) NYT: Obamacare 'Ambiguity' Could Make Health Care Too Costly for Millions (8-25-12) Report: Obamacare penalty regressive, will cost most uninsured at least $1,000 (7-28-12) CBO to employers: Obamacare has $4B more in taxes than expected ...and $1 billion to $1.5 billion for individual workers. (7-25-12) Taxpayers as cash cows. (7-7-12) To Stop Taxmageddon, Repeal Obamacare (7-7-12) Majority of American Employers Consider ObamaCare 'Step in the Wrong Direction' (7-28-12) ObamaCare's 21 New Taxes Are 21 More Reasons To Repeal The Onerous Law (6-30-12) Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses (6-30-12) Obamacare: Seven New Taxes on Citizens Earning Less than $250,000 (6-30-12) ObamaCare's 7 Tax Hikes On Under $250,000-A-Year Earners (6-30-12) If the mandate is a tax, Obama lied his way into office Shattered: Obama's 'firm pledge' against 'any form of tax increase' on Americans making less than $250k (6-30-12) I thought it would be instructive to give a quick quiz on one very current topic - one that will have an enormous impact on your future. Topic: Obamacare (6-18-12) Poll: Half Of Democrats Want To Get Rid of Individual Mandate (6-18-12) Majority of Dems want part or all of Obamacare tossed (6-18-12) The Medical Device Tax: Killing Jobs and Raising Premiums (6-16-12) Repeal of the Medical-Device Tax Is Life-Saving Legislation (6-16-12) Obamacare's Medical-Device Tax Kills Patients, Not Just Jobs (6-16-12) Prostate Testing and the Death Panel A free economy leads to life-saving innovations. A highly taxed and overregulated economy leads to government agencies that discourage their use. (5-26-12) Obamacare in Action? Private Practice Shuts Down Citing 'New Regulations' (4-21-12) ObamaCare's $4 Trillion Tax Increase (4-21-12) Doctors Feeling Obama's Crushing Health Care Policies 112 medical associations and agencies predict an 'imminent storm' if physicians are forced to participate in multiple programs under the threat of fines and deadlines (4-21-12) Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility The health bill creates a massive cash crunch and then bankruptcies for many insurers. (12-23-09) The health-care bills are loaded with taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year. (12-17-09) A bill that raises prices but lowers costs, and other miracles. (12-2-09) Health Reform Will Raise Insurance Prices, another study predicts.. (12-5-09) An internal revolt at the Business Roundtable over support for ObamaCare. (12-07-09) Reform For You, But Not Congress ...what Democrats are set to enact will spend trillions dramatically increasing insurance premiums, and leave millions still without insurance. (12-06-09) Higher Medicare Tax Latest Proposal to Fund Health Care Takeover Nevertheless, those earning much less than $250,000 a year will feel the negative impact of the tax. (11-19-09) Turning Medicare into an income redistribution program. (11-16-09) The Return of the Inflation Tax The Pelosi tax surcharge applies to capital gains and dividends. Health-Care Bill Doesn't Index for Inflation; Hits Young and Rising Middle Class Hard (11-06-09) Health Reform Would Bury Small Business (11-08-09) A 69% Capital Gains Tax Hike . . . Pelosi's 5.4% income surtax would hit capital gains and dividends. (11-12-09) Senate Health Care Bill: $370+ Billion Tax Hike (11-19-09) What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation. (11-07-09) Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. (11-2-09) A comprehensive list of new taxes in health care bill Generally speaking, it appears that the burden will fall primarily on businesses. So instead of hiring someone to be productive, that money will go to the government instead. (10-30-09) Comprehensive List of Tax Hikes in House Democrat Health Bill Uses the word "tax" 87 times. (10-30-09) A 1,990-Page Medical Monstrosity Both the House and the Senate are set to wreck the greatest health care system in the world — unless those now taking it for granted raise a ruckus, and fast. (10-30-09) Even a five-point shift would mean big Democratic losses in 2010. (11-05-09) First, it transforms insurance into a product that few rational people would buy. Second, it forces them to buy it. (10-30-09) ObamaCare: Insurance Premiums Soaring Up, Up, and Away “Our Judgment Is That That Piece Of The Legislation Would Raise Insurance Premiums.” CBO's Elmendorf (11-01-09) ... and the Swine Flu Democrats. This is the Pelosi Plan to wreck our health care system. (11-01-09) Private insurance premiums could triple under ObamaCare. (10-28-09) Middle-income families will face a big marginal rate increase. Incredibly, for those with lower incomes, ObamaCare will impose a penalty as high as 34% on . . . work. The incentives for low-wage workers are especially perverse. (10-19-09) US health care tab would grow under overhaul: AP (11-01-09) An industry-commissioned study finds that premiums would rise faster under the Senate Finance Committee legislation than under current law. (11-01-09) The Middle-Class Health Tax Heist Of 2009 But by the time one gets to the end of the bill...clarity emerges — the Democrats plan to finance their expanded government care on the backs of America's middle-class taxpayers. The most damage is done by Baucus' attack on Flexible Spending Accounts.. (10-24-09) Health Spending Condemns Youth To Future Of Downward Mobility The chance to reorder the medical-industrial complex to restrain costs and improve care has been mostly squandered. Some call this "reform"; no one should call it progress. (10-16-09) Senate Bill Taxes Your Current Health Plan The Obama-Baucus bill wants to tax it at a 40% rate. How on earth would it remain unchanged, as the president has claimed? Make no mistake about it — Obama-Baucus will use the tax code to take away your current health insurance plan. (10-17-09) Congress' planned health care revolution will be bad enough without a government-run option. With it, Euro-style socialism becomes inevitable. (10-24-09) Why Health Care Is So Expensive in New York Mario Cuomo and Blue Cross destroyed the individual insurance market in the state. Now Congress wants to impose the same rules on 50 states. (10-17-09) Middle-class families would get hit with a double-digit increase in their marginal tax rate. (10-14-09) Mammograms and the New Jersey Governor's Race Because of regulations, state insurance costs are among the highest in the nation. (10-14-09) “Reform” Means You Pay More for Health Care President Obama’s claims that he makes care more affordable are exposed as a myth by the new study. Lawmakers claim the bill would “save” money, but that’s not true for those who have insurance. (10-13-09) Obama Hasn't Closed the Health-Care Sale Wait until the voters figure out how Congress is proposing to pay for reform. (10-15-09) The health-care industry learns the price of appeasing Congress. (10-13-09) Senators aren't counting on reform savings when it comes to their constituents. So, health-care "reform" is good, smart and necessary, so long as it isn't fully applied to the states of the senators who are pushing it. (10-9-09) Step right up: A new entitlement that cuts the deficit! The irony is that the CBO's guesstimate exposes the fraudulence and fiscal sleight-of-hand underlying this whole exercise. (10-9-09) ObamaCare's Crippling Deficits The higher taxes, debt payments and interest rates needed to pay for health reform mean lower living standards. The administration's claim that the health-care plan would be "self-financing" is both false and irrelevant. Paying the Health Tax in Massachusetts Be warned: Even people with good insurance will risk fines if mandatory insurance becomes the national law. (10-11-09) Health 'Reform' Is Income Redistribution Let's have an honest debate before we transfer more money from young to old. If you think people are dissatisfied with health care now, wait until they understand that Congress voted to mandate hidden premium increases and lower wages. (9-30-09) The IRS says it will fine or jail you for not paying Obama's mandate levy. (9-30-09) ObamaCare is hazardous to your health. All this reflects Congress's simple objective: government rather than individual control of our health care. The government-operated Baucus plan would impose big costs on Americans, in terms of both money and freedom.. Doubling Down on a Flawed Insurance Model Obama's plan takes the problems of the current system—mandates, runaway spending and more—and makes them worse. Baucus knifed the medical devices industry. The vaudeville logic of the plan is that Congress will tax health care to subsidize people to buy health care that new taxes and regulation make more expensive. This new tax will eventually be passed through to patients, increasing health-care costs. It will also harm innovation, taking a big bite out of the research and development that leads to medical advancements. In the case of devices, patients will be left with higher costs for fewer life-saving technologies. On a Sunday show, the President offers a revealing definition. Obama Denies that Individual Mandate is a Tax Increase. “Fees” Are Taxes & New Taxes Are Not the Answer The idea of hiding a tax on families as a penalty on greedy insurers is not new. Rather than adding trillions more to the national debt and hiring an army of czars and commissions, let’s take incremental steps that are achievable and can provide immediate relief to all working families. New taxes – explicit or hidden as “insurance fees” – are not the solution. Health care plus entitlements plus higher taxes only on the “rich” equals disaster. Democrats want to ram through one of the greatest raids on private income and business in American history. Workers will pay for the new health-care payroll levy. Runaway Train To Less Freedom, Higher Taxes & Rationed Care The House bill would increase federal spending, increase taxes, increase debt, increase health costs, increase unemployment, reduce wages, reduce American competitiveness.. Baucus Healthcare Revenue Options Mind you, this is supposed to be a healthcare reform bill, and not a tax bill. Do Blue Dogs Want Lower Incomes, Fewer Jobs, and Bad Health Care? Health Reform's Hidden Victims Young people & seniors would pay a high price for ObamaCare. Small business, HSA/high deduct able & Medicare Advantage plan holders would pay as well. Amazingly, even if a small business provides adequate insurance but its employees choose coverage in another plan offered through the government, the employer still must pay. Health Reform & the Tax Pledge Families & Small Businesses to be Taxed to Pay for Health Reform The Obama Democrats pick income redistribution over job creation and economic growth. The plans proposed by the White House and Congress will lead to economically ruinous tax hikes. Two million jobs have been lost this year. If you think that, and 9.5% unemployment, is bad, wait till health reform passes. Proposed Health Insurance Fine Puts Small Businesses In A Fix Another Study Shows ObamaCare Would Dump Americans Into Government-Run Health Care Don't Kill Business To Pay For Health Care Health Mandate Could Impose Costly Burden On Middle Class One of many reasons why ObamaCare reforms will make things worse. Mandates, no-mandates, either way you'll have to pay. Health Mandate Will Kill Jobs, Most Small Businesses Argue Firms that offer insurance would have to pay the payroll tax on any employee who declined coverage, even if the employee got insurance elsewhere. The tax would be based on the business' average salary, not the employee's wage. Congress Raises Taxes on Poor to Pay for Health Care...Again Tax Penalties & the Health-Care Bill Under the House legislation, taxpayers will be fined for honest mistakes. The ability of even the IRS to waive penalties in sympathetic cases would be sharply curtailed. If Health Surtax Is 5.4%, Taxpayers in 39 States Would Pay a Top Tax Rate Over 50% Health Care Funding Plan Would Push Top Tax Rates Over 50% in 33 States What Obama's health-care plan means to New Yorkers Dem Health RX A Poi$on Pill In NY Terrifying 57% Tax Looms For Biggest Earners Sledgehammer Hit To Crumbling Empire State Who pays? You. In cash, for sure -- and maybe with your job, too. These Plans Will Reduce Your Choice The House's Hidden Health Care Train Wreck The CBO released a separate study Monday showing that this provision would kill jobs. Elmendorf explained, the left’s health care plan only “puts an additional long-term burden on top of an already unsustainable path.” Elmendorf then suggested that if Congress really wanted to control costs, they would have to reform Medicare. CBO’s Health Estimates: The High Cost of Spending Other People’s Money Health Reform & Competitiveness Consider the European welfare states, where costly entitlements and regulations make it extremely expensive to hire new workers. This is why Europe has tended to have higher unemployment and slower economic growth over the past 30 years. How Obamacare Will Change Your Life Meanwhile, in addition to being saddled with those old, familiar health insurance premiums, you will be paying higher taxes and have considerably less access to care. Dems May Fall Into VAT To Pay For Health Plan Such a political cure could be worse than the disease. Reality Begins Bursting Health Care Hype Health reform is all downside for most Americans So, in exchange for vast new spending, an exponential increase in government involvement in health care decisions, additional taxes that will slow recovery, new burdens on small businesses that create jobs, and a stifling of innovations, most American families get bupkis. If Obama can’t sell more government, no one can. AAPS - Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Join, Events, Myths, etc. (10-3-09) Doctor Patient Medical Association Freedom in medicine for doctors and patients. (6-16-12) Events, Sign Petition, Take Action, List of Other Petitions, Handouts & Fact Sheets, Etc. Physician Action Steps. (10-3-09) Health Care Reform Action Items (8-10-09) Sign Petition (10-3-09) Heritage - An Excellent Comprehensive Resource (2-25-12) Obamacare and Religious Freedom - The Foundry Heritage - An Excellent Comprehensive Resource (2-25-12) Engage. Educate. Empower. SGP is a grassroots activist organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering conservative women. Men are welcome to join. (10-3-09) Become Involved, Etc. (10-3-09) NCPA National Center for Policy Analysis Become Involved! (10-3-09) The Economics of Medical Care - Thomas Sowell Parts 1-9 (11-06-09) Fix Health Care Policy Project Condition Critical: What Doctors Think About Health Reform, IBD Series Lost in all the debate about health care reform is a key question: What do doctors think? To find out, IBD/TIPP — America's most accurate pollster — conducted a nationwide survey of physicians. As this exclusive series shows, doctors have serious reservations about the reforms being proposed. (10-3-09) A comprehensive collection of our editorials and op-eds. (9-30-09) Health Care - Heritage (Comprehensive Research) Defend Your Health Care - Betsy McCaughey, PhD The Right Prescription, The American Spectator Series Sermo - Know More. Know Earlier. Sermo is where over 110,000 physicians work together to drive better patient care. And as the healthcare debate intensifies, thousands of MDs and DOs are turning to Sermo to get directly involved in the reform effort. Physicians, sign the appeal and join the movement to address the problems at the root of spiraling healthcare costs. Bringing physicians, patients & the business community together to rebuild America’s failing healthcare system. Advocates for Patient-Centered Health-Care |