Single Payer - What You Were Not Permitted to Hear Discussed:

Bolding and italicizing done by editor.

by Judy Moriarity

http://www.hr676.org/

The simplistic bill not written by lobbyists or awash with cross references. A mere 27 pages.

http://www.pnhp.org/nhibill/nhi_bill_final.pdf

This was a major reason why many voted for him. The promise of affordable health care. Finally, the insurance companies would be out of the picture. Insurance companies who are responsible for many a families financial ruination. Why, as far back as the President's days as state senator, he was championing 'Single Payer', as the only way to go. Things 'change' when you enter Foggy Bottom. The real world of corporate occupied territory - hits you upside the head. The President, while still feebly wishing for Single Payer now sees it as an impossibility.

Instead the White House health team has had innumerable meetings, with insurance/drug/hospital lobbyists and their CEOs. Why, as the President stated,' you'd have to start from scratch' with Single Payer. In reality - Single Payer, would merely consist of expanding Medicare. Everybody in - Nobody out. While these bills (Senate - House) are thousands of pages long (written by industry lobbyists) with numerous cross-references, the Single Payer Bill, with many co-sponsors is a mere 27 pages of easily understood language for the work a day citizen.

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Single Payer - would end the monopoly of insurance along with the greed of Big Pharma. Recall, that the President promised, during the campaign, that we would have transparency in Washington. Everyone (health bill) would have a seat at the table. Why the entire discussion would be shown on C-Span. It didn't quite turn out that way. To date everything has been down in secret - in the shadows.

The fact is, hundreds of doctors and nurses, showed up at the supposed 'open' meetings in March -'09, to discuss all options for true health reform. All options, except 'Single Payer' that is. The only people at the Baucus Finance Committee hearing were industry hacks. Nobody representing 'Single Payer' was permitted at the table. Doctors and nurses were scattered throughout the audience. As one by one the doctors & nurses stood and attempted to champion Single Payer - the 'reform', most desired by the medical profession (not small % of AMA who don't represent mainline physicians/surgeons) Senator Baucus called police to arrest them.

Thus, they were jailed! Our nation's doctors and nurses. This is the 'freedom' that our military is fighting for? Now common sense might dictate, that who would know better about medical care, than those who have spent years becoming educated - and working in the field? Dedicated people, who have tens of thousands in loans to repay, and thanks to the insurance industry - some are paying upwards of $80,000 for malpractice insurance. With cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments to physicians; why they'll have to refuse these patients, or close up shop? Out here in the real world, taxes are rising by the day, along with electric ( thank you Congress) food, rents, and of course, prescriptions. Not for the Washington gang - they've seen to feathering their health care nests/ for life. Hmm - maybe we should import some witch doctors eh?

Our illustrious leaders aren't subjected to the same rigors/ training for their field. Their corporate masters see to this expense (campaign donations/ cocktail fund raisers etc). They should carry malpractice insurance, which would go a long way in covering the damage they've done to citizens (nation) due to their ineptness - incompetence - negligence in reading bills. The town hall meetings showed citizens just what their elected officials really thought of them - nothing! Somewhere along the line - they lost sight of just whom it is they are employed by?

Somewhere along the line ,they determined, that upon being elected, the job, was to feather their own nests, and see to lobbying/ board appointments for family members?

Single Payer: Automatic enrollment for everyone. Complete service covering all necessary medical care and drugs. Free choice of doctor and hospitals who remain independent and negotiate their fees. Public non-profit processes and pays the bills. The entire system is financed through progressive taxes (not high cost premiums - high cost drugs. Once upon a time our family doctor spent all the time in the world with us. He didn't have to spend HOURS, dealing with some GED dropout in a distant cubicle, leafing through a volume of TESTS not eligible for payment, drugs too expensive. In the real world this is called 'rationing'.

Medical care for all was a non- starter. from the git go. Big Pharma & Private Insurers wouldn't hear of it. Republicans scream - Canada, we can't become a Canadian system. A buy into Medicare, for those age 55 to 65? It might result in the possibility of this large group negotiating lower drug prices and better service at a lower cost? Oops! Private Insurers - Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it. Republicans again warned of Canada! How about a Public Option - only to Americans who wouldn't be covered by employers or by Medicaid? Coverage would be pegged to Medicare rates. But - darn it, private insurers and Big Pharma said 'No'. Compromised Public Option - open to approximately 6 million Americans, not otherwise covered?

The Congressional Budget Office - says this shrunken public option, has no bargaining power, and would attract those needing lots of medical care. But even the House's shrunken public option, is too much for private insurers and Big Pharma. - even as small as 4 million! It still contains the word 'public'! Not acceptable to industry. In rides Lieberman. The paltry public option was not allowed a vote to debate. Good ole Joe - from Insurance Capital -Connecticut, he didn't disappoint his corporate puppet masters. It's hard to remember just what party Joe belongs to - not that it matters. Hey, look at our circumstances. Everyone always thought that the Democratic Party was the Party of the working man - the disenfranchised, the voiceless and powerless. Well this theater of the bizarre has sure disproved that MYTH.

All this supposed wrangling for citizens is bad burlesque. Our private for profit health system, designed to fatten profits of private health/Big Pharma, is turned over to our private for profit health care system -except now, these private health insurance companies and Big Pharma will be getting 30 million added customers - PAID for by the rest of us. Other Secret Dealings: The White House aided by Senator Harper (D-Del) worked hard to crush an amendment pushed by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to allow for the reimportation of pharmaceutical drugs from Canada.

The White House persuaded Democrats to oppose this! Huffington Post reported memo/ that the White House and Pharmaceutical lobby 'secretly' agreed (July) to a deal they'd been denying. It said that the White House agreed to oppose any Congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for 'lower' drug prices or importing drugs from Canada. They also agreed not to shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare D- which would have cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements. And they say this isn't about money! All 300+ American will be forced to sign on to one option or the other. The insurance companies will be handling the large spillover (some 30 million) of new customers.

It's a government/corporate partnership from top to bottom. Always was. Insurance companies decided to call in their markers (thus the avoidance of citizen's numerous faxes - phone calls - protests) to get the necessary votes. Industry (insurance - Big Phama) will still be exempt from both tort reform and antitrust laws. This permits price fixing, collusion, market allocation. This is illegal in every other industry under antitrust laws.

Truth be told - private insurance companies, don't give a rat's azz about the poor, the jobless, the hungry, the hurting;and will charge them the highest premiums they can. Loan sharks in $4000 suits and $200 silk ties. The President keeps saying that the average family will 'save $2,500 a year - and will not have to change health insurance plans. Meantime the Congressional Budget Office reports that user fee taxes passed through to customers will result in appreciably higher premium costs. They also report that millions will lose their current plans.

The Real Wheeling & Dealing: As Dr (Senator) Colburn said, "There is no bill - all of this is a decoy. The real 'bill' is being worked on in secret behind closed doors. We have no idea of the details. I suspect that the bill, was hammered out in the White House. The AP asked for records of health interests who had met with Health Advisers (staff) at the White House. They found that there were hundreds of meeting with Big Pharma - Drug companies - Hospital CEOs and Medical Device honcho. Only the Big guys attended these high powered meetings with Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarett (top adviser) - Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel (Rahm's brother) Axelrod and 18 others. Congress/ Pelosi / Reid and Baucus with his new 'squeeze' were all merely for our entertainment. That's my opinion on this mess. The White House sure as heck wasn't going to trust the buffoons in the House and Senate to handle this DEAL - are you kidding! We're talking real money here, billions in profits and oh, future campaign donations..

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR DOCTORS

BLOOMBERG NEWS - FEB 9-2009 -- Few paid attention to this gem/ in reference to the STIMULUS BILL - "Right mix of tax breaks and cash infusion to jump start the economy. NO ONE from either party is objecting to health provisions slipped in without discussion. These reflect the work of Tom Daschle." What health provisions?

It appears that this $800 billion dollar stimulus bill that was 'hurried' through Congress in record time, contains some striking 'Big Brother' health care language. This jobs bill requires electronic tracking of the medical records of ALL Americans. All your private data will be stored on a government data base - including a history of your diseases, pharmaceuticals, treatments, surgeries, mental health and ER visits.

Under the NEW provisions found in this (jobs) bill, all US doctors will now be stripped of autonomy and forced to follow the medical guidelines. It means that doctors can NO longer make their own decisions about patient needs or treatment protocols. From now on ALL health care decision will be controlled by a "HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY" of the Federal Government.

The Bill goes further. A new bureaucracy - the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology will monitor treatment to make sure your doctor is doing what the Federal Government deems appropriate and COST effective.

The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor (pg 442-46). These provisions in the Stimulus Bill are virtually identical to what Daschel presented in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About Health Care Crisis". According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and 'learn to operated less like a solo practioner'. Hospitals and doctors who are not "meaningful users' of the new system wil face penalties. 'Meaningful User' isn' described in the bill?

This will be left to the Health and Human Services Secretary (pg 518-540-541). Seniors (over 65) should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age. The Stimulus Bill will apply a cost-effective standard set by the Council (464). This board approves or rejects treatment using a FORMULA that divides the cost of treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit (except if you're an aging Senator - President - or Supreme Court Justice -jm) Stimulus Billl will affect every part relating to health care from medical and nursing education to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid.

Hiding Health Care Legislation in a Stimulus Bill is intentional. Daschle (who has advised White House team - jm) attributed the failure of the Clinton Health Care Overhall to DEBATE and DELAY. Daschle wrote (2008) that the next president should ACT QUICKLY - before CRITICS have time to mount an opposition.

"If it means attaching a HEALTH CARE PLAN to the Federal Budget - so be it", he said. "The issue is too important to be STALLED by SENATE PROTOCOL"

We can now understand the RUSH to get the Stimulus Bill passed in record time. God help us, if someone ( Legislators) took the time to read it! It's evident that no great deluge of JOBS has been realized. And as Daschle advised - Sneak it in anywhere - before there can be any debate or discussion. So much eh for Representative Democracy. This explains the Christmas rush - and lack of debate on the most important legislation since the NEW DEAL. Keep the people in the dark like mushroom and feed them manure! "We're late we're late no time to wait........."

Profits take precedence. RATIONING - With an unelected board deciding from some FORMULA (this is what we've been brought to ) the message appears to be/ Since you are no longer usual as worker bees / accept the decisions of the BOARD that expensive surgeries, treatments, and medications are a waste of time (MONEY). I'm surprised they haven't labeled this supposed health reform (really insurance lottery win) ICE FLOE INC.

As Ricky said to Lucy 'you've got some 'splaining to do".

LASTLY - We are being told that this health reform is a 'work in progress'. That there are GOOD parts which should excuse any qualms we might have. This would be the announcement that this BILL covers pre-existing conditions. The President has stated that "Everyone would be covered - all those with pre-existing conditions or medical problems. We will end the practice of denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions.. The days of cherry picking who to care for and who to deny are over". June 15-2009

To understand this you have to check out the cross references given in the Obama bill. This means you have to find out (as referenced) the meaning of 'pre-existent condition exclusion" as defined in Section 2701(b)(1)(A) of the Pubic Health Services Act. The section numbers referenced in Obama's bill for Public Service Act are the old numbers. The Public Service Act has been amended with new numbers. The full text is 1,476 pages long.

Not to bore you with the maze of bureaucratic cross references of terms in the bill - suffice to say: Paragraph 2 in Part A does several things/ Section 2702. First paragraph two in Part A says that the prohibition against pre-existing condition exclusions DOES NOT APPLY to benefits offered in the policy in the "COVERAGES" Section, which means when the policy is written PRE-EXISTENT CONDITION EXCLUSIONS will be allowed to be written into the sections defining coverage. In short, insurers will STILL BE ALLOWED TO EXCLUDE PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS FROM COVERAGE.

The Devil's in the details!Paragraph two also says in Part A that policy writers for the government will be allowed to make the insurance you buy cover CERTAIN ailments, and not cover others/ one of which just may be a condition you happen to have - which is PRE-EXISTING.

What paragraph two says in Part B is that policy writers for the government will be allowed to LIMIT the amount - level - extent - or nature of the treatment you get for certain ailments.

So, who will be writing your insurance policy? According to the President's Plan, a NEW bureaucracy ( recall health plan language buried in the Stimulus Bill) known as the "Health Benefits Advisory Committee. These folks will be 'appointed' (27).

How many have to be a treating doctor: ONE. So we'll have this gaggle of people with NO medical backgrounds - or intimate knowledge of the various treatments - or medicines, which besides prolonging life (we're not talking of 90 yr old patients in a coma), will greatly relieve needless suffering/pain. It is simply inhumane, to determine the quality of a person's life, by some abstract formula most likely drawn up by those who will profit.

In this the 21st century no person should suffer intolerable pain due to cost or the insanity of being thought a drug addict, due to a Drug War, that is safest targeting the sick - dying rather than Drug Warlords.I note that they wheeled Senator Byrd into the late night Senate mayhem to vote. What is he - 100? Nobody is denying him the best of care. A number of the Senators are well beyond 65 - ah but then they are excluded from the nonsensical care they are voting for the nation. So much for "I was SICK, I was HUNGRY, I was a STRANGER.........begone from Me I know you not".

JM jdthmoriarty@yahoo.com