There are tons of rumors and misinterpretations of the Health Care Reform Bill floating around. This article address some of the rumors about the text in the 300 Section of the Bill HR3200, or pages 143 - 1017.

Rumor:
The health care reform bill will lower the cost of health care.
Fact:
The health care reform bill, Section 312, requires employers to provide and pay toward the health care of their employees.
Opinion:
If they are not already doing so, or if they are currently paying less then they will pay under the bill, you can rest assured that these companies will pass along those additional costs in the form of lower salaries and higher cost of goods. If millions of uninsured Americans will now have coverage, no matter whose pocket the initial cost of health care comes out of - government coffers, business taxes, or business profit margins, in the end - the tax payers, the consumers, the American citizens will pay. You can not insure the previously uninsured without someone footing the bill. You can not create the administrative infrastructure to manage this program without someone footing the bill. Money doesn't grow on trees it is torn from the pockets of the working class.

Rumor:
Every American will have health insurance.
Fact:
Section 312(c) outlines the requirements for employers to automatically enroll employees into a health care plan if they do not opt out.
Section 313 outlines a penalty tax for businesses who do not provide health care.
Section 205(b)(3) provides for a government based system of automatic enrollment for Subsidized Individuals.
Section 401 outlines a tax penalty for any individual who does not have acceptable health insurance coverage and does not qualify for an exemption. This penalty could cost as much as the annual minimum insurance premium, so there is every incentive for every person to be covered.

Rumor:
Employers must pay for health care for not only their full time employees but also part time.
Fact:
Section 312(c)(3) does, in fact, specify that employers will have to pay a prorated contribution toward the health care of part time employees.

Rumor:
Additional taxes on the rich will help to pay for the health care reform.
Fact:
Section 441 - Sub-part B- Section 59C imposes an additional income tax of 1-5.4% on individuals earning in excess of $350,000.00

Rumor:
The government will prohibit hospitals from expanding.
Fact:
Section 1156 addresses the fact some doctors have an ownership or investment interest in the hospitals to which they refer their patients. It requires disclosure to the government, patients and the public at large when a hospital is owned or funded by physicians.
Opinion:
This is a good thing. As a patient, I would like to know if there might be a conflict of interest between my doctor providing me with adequate care and my doctor being compensated for sending me to a specific facility.
Fact:
That same section allows for an exception to the prohibition of self-referral in some rural areas, but in order to get that exception the hospital will never be allowed to expand their facilities. No new operating rooms, procedure rooms or beds, ever. The bill does provide for a process by which the hospital may petition the Secretary for an exception and obtain permission to expand. The community will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed expansion.

Rumor:
The Health Care Reform bill allows the government to come into our homes and tell us how to raise our children.
Fact:
Section 440 and 1904 under the heading "Home Visitation Programs for Families with Young Children and Families Expecting Children" outlines programs would government employees would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills inside the parent's home.
Opinion:
I support the idea of offering parenting classes. Some people really need them. But wouldn't it be cheaper and less intrusive to offer them in a group, classroom setting? The in home setting screams to me of an ulterior motive.
Fact:
This section goes on to say "the State shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families or a high incidence of child maltreatment."
Opinion:
I can agree with the idea of targeting areas with a high incidence of child maltreatment with the opportunity of preventative education. I abhor child abuse as much as the next person. The presumption that a low income is equal to poor parenting while may statistically be true, I feel, is discriminatory and insulting to those low income individuals who work very hard to provide for their children and raise them right.
Fact:
This section seeks assurances from the state that it will coordinate and collaborate with other child and family services"
Opinion:
As, here is that ulterior motive I mentioned. They want to come into your home and pre-screen you for the Child Services programs. Put you on a watch list before your child is even born and be ready to snatch your child at the slights justification. I do not mean to disparage the hard work done by our social workers. I know some personally. It is a hard and thankless job to protect our country's children from abuse and neglect which I fully support. However, there are those stories of people whose children have been unjustly taken away from them, and this program could lead to more of that. Who is to say that the over zealous educator who comes into your home will not judge you too harshly because you live in a rural area and provide meat for your family by hunting rabbits, or misunderstand your religious or cultural practices?
Fact:
The stated purpose of this section is to provide "voluntary home visitation."
Fact:
The program is to provide parents with "knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains...realistic expectations of age-appropriate child behaviors..modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices..skills to recognize and seek help for issues related to health, developmental delays, and social, emotional and behavioral skills..."
Opinion:
Most of the educational directives are scientifically based issues. I still think they all can be taught in a classroom setting and provide more than adequate education that is cost effective and not intrusive. After all, isn't this bill supposed to lower the cost of health care? However, the part about modeling, consulting and coaching on parenting practices is a bit disturbing. As the thousands of child care books in print testify, there is no one right answer in the proper method of child rearing and I do not think the government has a right to pick a method and brainwash our young parents into believing that this is the only right method. What about religious, cultural and family beliefs and traditions? Who is to say that this program would or could take those into consideration along with presenting a variety of parenting models and theories?

Do not, I implore you, take my interpretation of the bill, or anyone else's for that matter, as gospel!  Read the text of HR3200 at:

http://thomas.loc.gov

I believe we need health care reform.  The cost of obtaining health insurance, especially if your employer is not subsidizing that expense is too high for a very large portion of our population to afford.  The system is broken.  As Americans, we are some of the most industrious, inventive and successful people the world has ever seen.  There is absolutely no reason why we can not provide for the health and wellness of our population as well as or better than any other nation on this planet.  To do so, we must work together.  Your health has nothing to do with your political views or the political views of anyone else. 

I believe that HR3200 is not the best that we can do.  It is vague, confusing, and limits our rights as Americans rather than protecting and enhancing them.

I ask you to contact your representatives and make yourself heard.  Tell them not just to vote for or against this bill.  Tell them what is broken with this system and share your ideas on how to make it better.  If you are against this bill, make sure you express to them why and tell them how they can do better.

The only way to improve the quality of our lives is to take action.

 "There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy

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Our elected representatives do not think that the protestors at the town hall meetings are representative of the majority of America.  Make sure your opinion, for or against, is heard.

You can locate the contact information for your representatives here:
House of Representatives:
http://www.house.gov/

Sentate:
http://www.senate.gov/

White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact