The Smoke Break

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Scrambling To A Weekend Vote On HR 3962

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Have YOU read all 1,900-plus pages of HR 3962 yet?  Introduced not quite one week ago, it’s doubtful that all of the unrepresenting representatives in the House have, either.  But nonetheless, debate and a vote is being scheduled for Saturday.

I’ve been reading the bill and analyses of it, and as stated earlier, it’s a disaster.  And I’m being very, very kind.  The devil is, of course, in the details, and common sense tells us that when key details remain unresolved it’s pure insanity to force a vote.  But Washington today is purely contrived insanity, designed to baffle Americans into submission so, personally, I’m not the least bit surprised.

But let’s consider a couple of those critical details; the ones the Democrats want to gloss over since they are well aware the majority of tax-paying Americans want nothing to do with them.

Abortion funding:  there is still no language specifically excluding federal funding for abortions.  There is talk about denying it but including language saying women could pay for an abortion themselves, but that doesn’t exclude the woman’s insurance plan from receiving federal funds.  Adding a “third party” to handle the financial transactions is just needlesslly padding someone’s wallet without addressing the issue.  Bottom line:  a gimmick does not an exclusion make and tax-payer money may be sent around twisting corners to pay for abortions.

Illegal immigrants:  House leaders with an eye on 2010 elections desperately want illegal immigrants to be able to buy health insurance from their government option.  Bottom line:  what part of “illegal” do they still not understand?  Enforce the immigrations laws on the books; don’t force American taxpayers to subsidize the health care of criminals.  To even suggest that criminals paying their own premiums is somehow ok is a most blatant blowing of smoke in the faces of real Americans.  It proves only that those in Washington, Democrats espcially, really and truly believe the American people are stupid.  Health insurance premiums do not now and will never cover the entire cost of anyone’s medical care.  No matter how you try to spin it, this leaves the rest of us picking up the tab to give criminals a benefit of citizenship.

Bottom line of the bottom line:  exactly where in the United States Constitution does it mandate this kind of legislation anyway?  That this isn’t even being question or debated is a sign that everyone in Washington needs to go.  Now.

The Big HR 3200 Lie: Coverage Of Pre-Existing Conditions

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One of the biggest complaints about health insurance is that many companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.  If you think about it, this is like asking someone to insure that your car can get you from point A to point B when it doesn’t have an engine.  Doesn’t make much sense, does it?  Certainly, you can see it’s a losing proposition for the insurer, who knows full-well they’ve given you the right to demand they drop in an engine for you.

But coverage for pre-existing conditions is one of the rallying points being used by the administration to sell health care reform, and it’s a rallying point to which the remaining Kool-Aid drinkers cling like conservatives cling to their guns and religion.  President Obama is now saying it like it’s a magic mantra, and the Congress critters are repeating it like proper little parrots.  Just the other day, in New Hampshire, Obama opined,

“This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health insurance decisions except you and your doctor.

“I don’t think government bureaucrats should be meddling but I don’t think insurance company bureaucrats should be meddling.”

And right on the administration’s own website, they state their plans for health care reform will:

Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.

Sweet!  No idea how we’ll pay for it but the problem’s solved, right?

Not so fast, Weedhopper.  They are all lying.

HR 3200 contains the following:

Section 111.  PROHIBITING PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSIONS. 

A qualified health benefits plan may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion (as defined in section 2701(b)(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act) or otherwise impose any limit or condition on the coverage under the plan with respect to an individual or dependent based on any health status-related factors (as defined in section 2791(d)(9) of the Public Health Service Act) in relation to the individual or dependent.

In order to understand what this really means, it’s necessary to go look up the dependencies.  This is a very important point because those dependencies are being included, not specifically excluded.

PHSA section 2701(b)(1)(A):

IN GENERAL.-The term “preexisting condition exclusion” means, with respect to coverage, a limitation or exclusion of benefits relating to a condition based on the fact that the condition was present before the date of enrollment for such coverage, whether or not any medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received before such date.

PHSA Section 2701(d)(9):  The term “health status-related factor” means any of the factors described in section 2702(a)(1).

Section 2702 (a)(1) of the PHSA says:

(a) INELIGIBILITY TO ENROLL.-

(1) IN GENERAL.-Subject to paragraph (2), …a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan, may not establish rules for eligibility (including continued eligibility) of any individual to enroll under the terms of the plan based on any of the following health status-related factors in relation to the individual or a dependent of the individual:

(A) Health status.
(B) Medical condition (including both physical and mental illnesses).
(C) Claims experience.
(D) Receipt of health care.
(E) Medical history.
(F) Genetic information.
(G) Evidence of insurability (including conditions arising out of acts of domestic violence).
(H) Disability.

(2) NO APPLICATION TO BENEFITS OR EXCLUSIONS.-To the extent consistent with section 701,…paragraph (1) shall not be construed–

(A) to require a group health plan, or group health insurance coverage, to provide particular benefits other than those provided under the terms of such plan or coverage, or

(B) to prevent such a plan or coverage from establishing limitations or restrictions on the amount, level, extent, or nature of the benefits or overage for similarly situated individuals enrolled in the plan or coverage.

SEC. 701. INCREASED <<NOTE: 29 USC 1181.>> PORTABILITY THROUGH LIMITATION ON PREEXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSIONS.

(a) Limitation on Preexisting Condition Exclusion Period; Crediting for Periods of Previous Coverage.–Subject to subsection (d), a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, may, with respect to a participant or beneficiary, impose a preexisting condition exclusion only if– (1) such exclusion relates to a condition (whether physical or mental), regardless of the cause of the condition, for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received within the 6-month period ending on the enrollment date; (2) such exclusion extends for a period of not more than 12 months (or 18 months in the case of a late enrollee) after the enrollment date; and (3) the period of any such preexisting condition exclusion is reduced by the aggregate of the periods of creditable coverage (if any, as defined in subsection (c)(1)) applicable to the participant or beneficiary as of the enrollment date.

Not a whole lot of change when all is said and done, is there?  This is what will give the federal government, through its numerous “advisory” committees, the right to decide when and what kinds of care will be provided.  In exactly the same way that insurance companies today decide the risks they will take when insuring someone’s health.

Which makes the federal government no better than the “evil” insurance companies they are subtly and not-so-subtly villifying to get you to buy their snake oil.

Men Of America – Canada Needs YOU!

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As Mark Steyn so aptly put it at The Corner:   “The ultimate outsourcing” is occurring here in the United States.   That model of socialized medicine perfection, Canada, made it illegal to pay men for their sperm back in 2004, so today there are all of 33 legal (and, need we add, extremely busy) donors available for the whole country.  (The situation is similar in Great Britain, too.)

But wait!  Even if you are a minority couple looking for help, there is still choice.  One is South Asian!

Instead of the Mounties, following that most proper course of political hypocrisies, Canadians have called upon the American free-market economy to come to their rescue:

Doctors and patients have had little choice but to use sperm and eggs from south of the border.

One of the biggest suppliers of donor sperm is Outreach Health Services which imports and distributes semen for assisted reproduction clinics across Canada. The company imports sperm from an agency that collects primarily from men in Georgia and northern Florida, where donors are paid about $100 per visit.

With so much sperm coming from the States, some estimate that up to 80 per cent of babies conceived in Canada through donor sperm have American DNA.

This gives a whole ‘nother meaning to the term, “neighbor”.  Not to mention the potential DNA problems as cousins grow up and start marrying their cousins.  But then, that assures more patients needing government-provided medical care, doesn’t it?

Any wonder President Obama reassured Canadians that while their system works for them, it’s not necessarily what Americans want?

Quote Of The Day

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“While discussing the upcoming Universal Health Care Program with my friend the other day, I think we have found the solution.  I am sure you have heard the ideas that if you’re a senior you need to suck it up and give up the idea that you need any health care.  A new hip?  Unheard of.  We simply can’t afford to take care of you anymore.  You don’t need any medications for your high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, etc.

“So here is the solution.  When you turn 70, you get a gun and 4 bullets.  You are allowed to shoot 2 senators and 2 representatives.  Of course, you will be sent to prison where you will get 3 meals a day, a roof over your head and all the health care you need.  New teeth, great!!!  Need glasses, no problem.  New hip, knee, kidney, lung, heart?  Well bring it on.
 
“Who will be paying for all of this?  The same government that just told you that you are too old for health care.
 
“And, since you are a prisoner, you don’t have to pay any income tax.”

GE Sells Out Shareholders To Obama Administration

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Did anyone wonder why GE Capital received $140 billion from the government in order to stay in business even though they are NOT a bank?  Their latest business initiative, “Healthymagination”, is the reason.  With Tom Daschle on board, and working with Intel to ready various “tools”, GE is smugly and firmly positioning itself to help President Obama nationalize health care to the tune of some $75 – $100 billion in contracts to computerize the nation’s health care records.  Among other things.  Because, according to GE CEO Jeff Immelt, we aren’t just experiencing an economic cycle, we’re deliberately doing a “reset”. “People who understand that will prosper in the future, and people who don’t understand that will get left behind.”

Left behind like the old people in England and other countries who can’t afford their country’s nationalized health care.  Left behind like those with certain diseases that just aren’t “cost effective” to treat promptly in England.

From the healthyimaging.com website:

GE also is engaging experts and leaders on policy and programs to create a GE Health Advisory Board, which will include former U.S. Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle, as well as Andrew von Escenbach, MD, former commissioner of the FDA.

To increase its focus on consumer-driven healthcare, Immelt mentioned the recent GE partnership with Intel to provide products to remotely monitor the health of seniors and those with chronic conditions. Now, through GE’s media network, the company said it also will focus on healthcare broadcasting, namely:

  • NBC Universal and NBC News will make a commitment to bring health and wellness content to consumers in the form of more than 5,000 televised reports annually on health and wellness and companion online tools.
  • MSNBC will launch a new, daily program dedicated solely to health information, beginning in June. The program will be anchored by NBC News Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman, MD, who will tackle everything from health and wellness tips and medical breakthroughs to examining health policy.
  • The Cleveland Clinic will join with GE and NBC to conduct research that seeks to better understand important factors that move consumers from being aware of a health condition via the media to actually changing their behaviors.

GE will partner with governments and other companies to build a “healthy work site” certification program. Immelt said GE will turn its 175 health centers into wellness clinics and increase the use of employee incentives and decision support for health and prevention, providing personal health records to employees to identify health risks and track behaviors.

Obama validates it in this email sent to his supporters:

 
The White House, Washington
   Good afternoon, You are receiving this email because you signed up at WhiteHouse.gov. My staff and I plan to use these messages as a way to directly communicate about important issues and opportunities, and today I have some encouraging updates about health care reform. The Vice President and I just met with leaders from the House of Representatives and received their commitment to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31. We also have an unprecedented commitment from health care industry leaders, many of whom opposed health reform in the past. Monday, I met with some of these health care stakeholders, and they pledged to do their part to reduce the health care spending growth rate, saving more than two trillion dollars over the next ten years – around $2,500 for each American family. Then on Tuesday, leaders from some of America’s top companies came to the White House to showcase innovative ways to reduce health care costs by improving the health of their workers. Now the House and Senate are beginning a critical debate that will determine the health of our nation’s economy and its families. This process should be transparent and inclusive and its product must drive down costs, assure quality and affordable health care for everyone, and guarantee all of us a choice of doctors and plans. 

Reforming health care should also involve you. Think of other people who may want to stay up to date on health care reform and other national issues and tell them to join us here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/EmailUpdates 

Health care reform can’t come soon enough. We spend more on health care than any country, but families continue to struggle with skyrocketing premiums and nearly 46 million are without insurance entirely. It is a priority for the American people and a pillar of the new foundation we are seeking to build for our economy.

P.S. If you’d like to get more in-depth information about health reform and how you can participate, be sure to visit http://www.HealthReform.gov.  

We’ll continue to keep you posted about this and other important issues. 

Thank you, 
Barack Obama  

 

  
 
This email was sent to  
Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy The White House · 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW · Washington, DC 20500 · 202-456-1111

With its initiatives targeted for completion in 2015, you can bet that GE is putting everything they have to insure a 2nd term for President Obama or another progressive, liberal Democrat in his place, and based on these tactics is going to use every one of its business holdings – including its media arm – to insure their bed-partner…errrr….business partner stays in office and to be the propaganda machine for his fascist wares.

I wonder what the shareholders are going to think when Obama decides they are no longer entitled to their profits?