The Health Care Bill Fiasco
By Joni Douglas
The old axiom, the devil is in the details, is the perfect description of the health care bill that sets poised for a vote this weekend. Even the president feels that this is the weekend for his dream to come true. His dream may turn out to be our nightmare. Congress has posted the bill online giving the American people at least 48 hours to read the bill. The posted bill has 2,074 pages and is very difficult to understand. It is a joke to think that one could read and comprehend the entire bill in two days. War and Peace is only 1,475 pages and only a speed reader would be able to read it in such a short time. Suffice it to say, that no one is going to be able to understand every aspect of this bill before the vote. So it is hard to say how exactly this bill will affect me and my family at this point, except to talk about it in general terms.
Although the president has said, the public option is not in the bill; language is in there that supports future applications moving toward the public option. We must remember that Obama campaigned with the theme of universal health care for all. No matter what you call it, universal heath care is just another name for socialized medicine. Such plans like Medicaid and Medicare are certainly necessary to care for the poor, elderly and disabled. That doesn’t mean that they are best solution everybody in the entire country. Anyone who has ever had to deal with these programs will certainly agree that there has to be a better way. They are, after all, going broke. What about those Cadillac plans that Congress had? If this bill is so good, good enough for you and me, why is Congress exempt from it? Maybe they should try Medicaid for a while so they would know exactly how good the coverage really is?
Supporters of this bill argue that those opposed to it are against any type of reform. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all recognize the need for reform in the health care field. Not just with insurance and coverage issues but with tort reform and interstate regulations. This bill isn’t about covering 30 million people who do not have health care insurance. There are a multitude of other options available for getting them insured, ideas that do not cost near the 900 billion dollars of this plan. This bill also mandates covering every person residing in the country regardless of their citizenship status. This massive health care bill is about taking over an industry that has had a free hand for far too long. Sure reform is needed, so let’s reform it - not destroy it. Let’s fix what is wrong, build on what is good and then perhaps we could accomplish some real reform and not a government takeover.
Current polls show that most Americans oppose this bill. Funding for abortions is not mandated yet family planning organizations that promote abortions are set to receive massive amounts of money. Obama tries to hold true to his campaign promise of not raising income taxes on the Middle Class, and is now looking at raising taxes or fees on goods and services which will hurt American families across the entire nation. Taxes on top wage earners will sky rocket which may cause many to seek safer havens for their money. The redistribution of wages scam just doesn’t work in real life. We are a country that works hard and for that hard work we are entitled to our rewards.
A major issue not covered in the bill is chronic disease. According to health care studies, 80% of all health care costs are due to chronic disease, which include heart disease, cancer and diabetes and are the leading causes of death and disability. Other terminology hinted at by Tom Daschle and apparently hidden within the jumbled bill is the concept of “complete lives system .” This lays out the argument that only the most productive deserve the best health care. The ideas set forth in the bill seem to favor the youngest and the most useful in society. Sen. Harry Reid said, "Elderly Americans must learn to accept the inconveniences of old age." Now how do you explain that to Grandma?
America’s free enterprise system of health care is the greatest in the world with the highest rate of customer satisfaction. According to the United Nations International Health Organization survey, Americans received better and much faster care than either England or Canada, by huge percentages. The results of this survey may surprise you.
Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%
Canada 42%
Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:
U.S. 93%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage referred to a medical specialist, who sees one within one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%
Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:
U.S. 71
England 14
Canada 18
Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":
U.S. 12%
England 2%
Canada 6%
In each category the U.S. clearly out performs the socialized medicine programs of England and Canada. So why would our government want to pattern our health care after theirs? When you already have the best health care plan out there, why would anyone want to change it to such a second rate plan. Certainly, we can do better than this. Surely we deserve better.
