Yeah Donna! We're just gonna LUV government run health care, in the same fashion as the recent H1N1 Vaccine program (72 MILLION SHORT, to date) and let's not forget Cash for Clunkers. We're also going to be so enamored with higher taxes and penalties for small businesses and investors--you know, the JOB CREATORS in America. I guess we haven't yet seen enough of job killing yet in America? Oh, I almost forgot--We're going to LUV the rationing of care that will follow once we add 36 million more patients to the dole, and doctors bailout in droves. Then, the FEDERAL MEDICAL BOARD who will gallantly step in to decide who will and won't receive care. Then, it's back to Alan Grayson's "Die Quickly"--with the shoe on his foot! And, one last thing--who needs medical innovation? We certainly won't see anymore of that as we struggle to pay for this monster program as all of the little federal piglets suck the system dry. Yeah, Donna--we're gonna LUV IT! BRING IT ON!!!!! The Senate will stop this, where cooler heads prevail.

If this bill passes the Senate, it will be too late for our children's children. So we need to send a clear message to Capital Hill that enought is enough. We need to get back to the basics of what this nation was founded on, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. We need to look closely at every representative that voted for this bill and make sure they are not re-elected. We need to make sure our voices our heard from coast to coast that America is the land of opportunity, a land of freedom, not a land of socialism. Collectively, we can make a difference, collectively, we WILL make a difference. Call your Senators today and let them know you are watching how they vote. We need to make sure this bill does not pass the Senate.

http://teadshirts.com

President Obama has already redefined the meanings of truth, democracy, constitutionality, freedom of the press, fiscal responsibility and government of the people. Now he's misrepresenting the word courage:

"The president, acknowledging that many moderate and conservative Democrats had been wary of supporting legislation that isn't universally popular in their home districts, thanked the bill's supporters for their "courageous" vote." (Quote from the Washington Times.)

Is rejecting the will of your constituents courage or treachery? Members of the House are supposed to stand up for what is right for America, not socialistic programs which will burden generations of citizens with massive federal debt and undermine the healthcare available to taxpayers and seniors.

I agree with you fully!!! I'm a college student right now and I'm dreading this health care bill...Let's hope the senate votes it down

'Our current health care system discriminated against the middle class and the middle aged. Reform addresses that discrimination. About time.'

So Donna's solution to kill off Granny with 'Death Panels', Take away Medicare Advantage adn $400 Billion from Granny's Medicare and forcing her great, great, great, great grandchildren to die in poverty after she molests them all from the grave?

What a sicko.

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Tracking Your Taxes: Medicare Waste Goes Unchecked
As the single largest buyer of medical products, you'd think Medicare would at least get a volume discount. But it doesn't even get the best price.
By William LaJeunesse

FOXNews.com

Monday, October 05, 2009

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From wheelchairs and walkers to orthopedic shoes and needles, Medicare buys tens of thousands of products every day for elderly Americans. And as the single largest buyer of medical products, you'd think it would at leastget a volume discount.

But it doesn't. In fact, Medicare doesn't even get the best price.

According to their own auditors, Medicare knowingly overpays for almost everything it buys. Examples include:

-- $7,215 to rent an oxygen concentrator, when the purchase price is $600.

-- $4,018 for a standard wheelchair, while the private sector pays $1,048.

-- $1,825 for a hospital bed, compared to an Internet price of $1,071.

-- $3,335 for a respiratory pump, versus an advertised price of $1,987.

-- $82 for a diabetic supply kit, instead of a $47 price on the Web.

Last year, the Health and Human Services Department tried to replace its archaic fixed-price fee schedule for 10 commonly purchased products with a competitive bidding program in 10 cities. The department said the program could save Medicare $125 million in a single year, or $1 billion if adopted nationwide. But Congress stepped in to stop it.

"There were products that we had as much as 75 percent savings. The average was 29 percent," said Mike Leavitt, the former HHS secretary who oversaw the program.

"It would have saved billions if we could've actually implemented it, but Congress deferred it. In Washington speak, that means we put it off forever," he said.

Leavitt blames Congressmen Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.) for introducing legislation that terminated the contracts and postponed the program for 18 months. Leavitt says the congressional intervention helps explain why many are suspicious of claims that Washington can cut enough waste to actually pay for health care reform, as President Obama told a joint session of Congress last month.

"Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan," Leavitt said.

"The problem here is one man's waste is another man's living, and whenever there is an effort put forward to actually make an efficiency, someone goes on the offensive and hires lobbyists and does what they can to constrain Congress from doing it," Leavitt said.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the health care industry is currently spending $2 million a day lobbying Congress. Leavitt's pilot program died after small business suppliers claimed it would have put them out of business. Eventually, industry agreed to help pay the cost of terminated contracts that Medicare had already negotiated.

Industry officials argued the new system would unfairly disqualify some suppliers, and others with little experience would get the business, causing a decline in quality and service.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House bill appears even more expensive. It would impose $150 billion in Medicare cuts on the pharmaceutical industry, and a 2.5 percent tax on companies that manufacture medical devices.

"Most of astounding of all," Holtz-Eakin wrote, "is what this Congress is willing to do to struggling middle-class families. The bill would impose nearly $400 billion in new taxes and fees. Nearly 90 percent of that burden will be shouldered by those making $200,000 or less."

Just how much will insurance premiums jump once the Democratic reforms kick in? The figures vary from state to state.

According to a recent study by Wellpoint, the massive Blue Cross/Blue Shield licensee that provides insurance coverage to one in nine Americans, some older and less healthy consumers could actually see rate reductions. But those cuts would be more than offset by the spiraling premium increases hitting other insurance customers.

Based on provisions in the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee, which is more conservative than the broad proposals put forth by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi, Wellpoint projects that healthy people in their mid-20s could see their annual premiums increase by more than 150 percent in at least seven states: Indiana (199 percent); Kentucky (199 percent); Maine (172 percent); Missouri (199 percent); Ohio (199 percent); Virginia (175 percent); and Wisconsin (199 percent).

For individuals of average age and health, and the small businesses employing them, the estimated rate hikes in the 14 states where Wellpoint does business would be:


California

Individual – 53 percent

Small Employer – 22 percent

Colorado

Individual – 52 percent

Small Employer – 9 percent


Connecticut

Individual – 64 percent

Small Employer – 8 percent


Georgia

Individual – 85 percent

Small Employer – 16 percent


Indiana

Individual – 122 percent

Small Employer – 20 percent


Kentucky

Individual – 122 percent

Small Employer – 22 percent


Maine

Individual – 172 percent

Small Employer - 18 percent


Missouri

Individual – 122 percent

Small Employer – 18 percent


Nevada

Individual – 61 percent

Small Employer – 16 percent


New Hampshire

Individual – 19 percent

Small Employer – 15 percent


New York

Individual – 82 percent

Small Employer – 6 percent


Ohio

Individual – 122 percent

Small Employer – 16 percent


Virginia

Individual – 96 percent

Small Employer – 25 percent


Wisconsin

Individual – 122 percent

Small Employer -17 percent


It's important to note, however, that Wellpoint's projected rate increases do not account for the increase in medical-service costs over time. Nor do they account for other, less obvious costs likely to accompany reform. So the actual premium increases might be higher.

Assuming voters aren't happy with skyrocketing premiums, the political pressure to limit the cost-shifting could be tremendous. Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon and staunch opponent of the reform proposals, who authors the Blaylock Wellness Report for Newsmax Media, predicts that politicians would attempt to block the cost-shifting to consumers.

Doing so, he warns, would seriously impact the quality of U.S. healthcare.

"Of course, the government will anticipate this and prevent the doctors and hospitals from passing these costs to their patients," Blaylock tells Newsmax. "And this leaves one option: Severe rationing of care, which the government has wanted all along."

The spiraling costs contained in the Affordable Health Care for America Act that Pelosi unveiled Thursday drew heavy fire:


Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow Gregory Conko called the bill "a recipe for exploding costs," adding: "The Affordable Health Care for America Act is anything but affordable. It will force millions of Americans to pay higher health insurance premiums, it taxes individuals who would like to purchase insurance options that don’t meet standards set by Washington bureaucrats, and it forces businesses and individuals to pay for insurance benefits they don’t want and don’t need."


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers, and seven other major associations sent a letter to Pelosi warning the legislation "falls short of the bipartisan goal of controlling costs."


Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the chairman of the House Republican Conference, told CNN the Pelosi plan "looks like another freight train of big government with more taxes, more mandate and more spending – and that's not what the American people want in healthcare reform." He added that a search showed the nearly 2,000-page bill contains the directive "shall" 3,425 times.


Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., remarked: "The people of this country want reforms that provide them with more choices, more competition, more innovation, higher quality, and lower costs. Instead, Democrat leaders have worked in secret to write a bill that does exactly the opposite."


Karen Ignagni, the president of the America's Health Insurance Plans trade group that lobbies Congress on behalf of insurance companies, called the proposal "a missed opportunity." Ignagni predicted "families and employers will not be able to afford coverage and healthcare costs will rise at a rate much faster than the overall economy is able to sustain." In addition to the Wellpoint study, AHIP says three other reports, including one by PricewaterhouseCoopers, project that the legislative proposals will cause premiums to increase "far faster and higher" than they would under the present system.

Voters probably won't like getting socked with higher premiums if the reforms pass. But most of them won't be that surprised.

A recent Rasmussen Reports poll showed 57 percent of voters nationwide expect the reforms that were supposed to reduce costs actually will make them go up. Also, 53 percent of voters expect the quality of healthcare in the post-reform era will get worse.











© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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Donna,

With all due respect, which may not be much, I have never wished I was 65, and I doubt any sane person has wished to be older than they are,with the exception of little children.

You out yourself, and other liberals by projecting your motivation to always get a freebie from the government, even it it means passing up years of life. Will liberals do anything to get nanny care from the government?

Your argument assumes that there are no other ways to get health care costs under control than this absurdity that the Marxist Democrats are pushing. That is ridiculous.

You don't seem to have the slightest clue as to the economic consequences of this bloated excuse to grab power. We can't afford this idiotic plan, even if we did want it.

This bill would send people to jail for non-compliance. Is that your idea of some sort of big government utopia?

Medicare is Going Broke, Even as it
Sucks up 20% of the U.S. Budget

In 1966, Medicare and Medicaid made up 1% of total government spending. Today, that figure is 20% and rising fast.

At this rate, Medicare will be broke by 2017, and any expansion of government-run healthcare will bring about the bankruptcy sooner. Unless of course . . .

Taxes are raised much higher
Healthcare is rationed
Quality of healthcare is lowered
Get ready for all of the above. Because that's exactly what they have in Canada, Britain, France, and every other country with a government-run healthcare system.

Medicare doesn't pay the doctors squat, but it's better than nothing. Your right we (aged) have paid into this system for a long time and now they are going to eventually cut it out, plus I believe they are going to give illegals medical coverage (more than what illegals get now). Obama and his administration are hell bent on destroying everything the American tax payers have worked for all their lives. Are the president and congress going to have the same insurance as the rest of us, I think not, that would be a backward move on their part.

great post! so true. Love the idea of Congressmen in NASCAR suits.

I'm with you on that 100%. I too would be willing to pay higher taxes to have these neo-cons and Obama haters educated. Their arguments are always without logic and aways based on politics and hate rather that looking at the merits of the article. As a matter fact, I would say that 95% of those neo-cons who post comments on these sites never read the article. They just read the comments and look for those that do not promote their ignorance and tear into them with their diatribe.