TightyRighty.net

It appears that the administration is backing down on the requirement for a “public option” in the Health Care legislation being debated in Congress and townhalls around the country.  It would seem that our representatives (and I use that term very loosely) are hearing the will of the American people loud and clear.

Great!  However, now is not the time to declare victory and move on to living our normal lives.

The left wing of the  Democratic party is not happy and will do whatever they can to make sure the public option is included.  This morning, former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said that “You can’t really do health care reform without it.”.

He also discussed an insidious means by which the public option might be incorporated into law – the “reconciliation process”.  Under this process, the House and Senate would pass bills (with great fanfare undoubtedly) which do not include the public option.  However, since the House and Senate never pass identical bills, they must be “reconciled” at which point the public option would be re-inserted into the bill and then only a majority of House and Senate votes would be required for passage.

I would not put it past the Dems to stoop to this level.  They have shown they will use any means possible to achieve their goals, because they believe their goals are so noble that the ends justify the means.

Additionally, the public option was a critical component and much of the legislation played off the public option – insurance company and employer mandates, etc.  What would happen to these if the public option is scrapped?  How will these be rewritten?  Who knows?

We must be VIGILANT!

Bill Clinton popularized the term “Politics of Personal Destruction” during his impeachment process.  He was obviously feeling somewhat persecuted (and would soon feel very prosecuted.)

We don’t really have that going on in connection with the Health Care legislation debate.  We have more of the Politics of Industry Destruction.

It started with Nancy Pelosi claiming the insurance companies make “immoral” profits and calling them “villains“.  How is it that 80% of the American people are happy with their insurance coverage, yet these companies are immoral and villains?

Last night our President took it to a new level, implying that since doctors don’t make enough providing on-going care to Diabetics (“a pittance”), their patients undergo amputation procedures where the reimbursement $ are significantly more.  This is ludicrous and if I were a doctor, I would be pissed!!  I am not a doctor and I am upset that he would demonize the profession like that.

Let me share with you from my experience.  There is a well known Lasik doctor in town (Dallas) who advertises that he has done 110K procedures.  Jenny and I went in to see him, and it was clearly an assembly line process to get tested, measured, financial counseled, etc.  An assemply line – no question about it.  However, when it was my turn to see the doctor, he looked at my test results and recommended that I not have the surgery.  He explained the upside and downside to having the procedure, and let me decide.  I decided not to have the Lasik done.  This is a guy who runs a high volume medical process, who could have done my surgery, knowing that I might be inconvenienced 10 years down the line.  But he recognized that I did not have all the facts and provided these to me so I could make and informed decision, even though it cost him $2,000 in revenue.  He even gave me an updated eyeglass and contact prescription based on my tests, without charging me!

This doesn’t sound like a doctor who is going the surgery route because there is a lot more money than on-going care.

p.s.    Jenny had both of her eyes done and it worked out great for her.

Whenever we face major legislation, such as Health Care Reform, there is always a lot of misinformation in the air.  Usually, the proponents and opponents of the legislation double their efforts to refute this information, such as conducting advertising campaigns, going before the voters, etc.  The Obama team has taken a fresh approach – creating an enemies list.  (I guess Nixon did this also, but that was almost 40 years ago).

Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, has posted a blog on the White House website, in she comments on the misinformation and spreads a little more of her own.  In underlined text, she states:

“the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them“

As I have addressed previously, this statement, with no qualifiers, is patently untrue.

However, that is not my biggest grievance with this blog.  In order to combat misinformation regarding the Health Care legislation (presumably only misinformation opposed to the legislation and not the misinformation President Obama is spreading himself), the White House has established an email address, flag@whitehouse.gov, which is collecting this “misinformation” and the sources thereof.

What would be the purpose of collecting this information?  Is the White House intending to send rebuttal emails to all the folks who rec’d the prior “misinformed” email?  Is the White House intending to go to each blog identified as spreading misinformation about the Health Care legislation and post a comment refuting the blog?  Are they planning to call in to every misinformed talk radio show and refute the misinformation?  I think not.

My guess is the White House is compiling as list of offending sources of misinformation (e.g. “enemies”).  Do you want your name on that list?  Perhaps that list will be released to the Administrations blogger cronies for a frontal assault on your blog.  Perhaps the list could be released to the IRS where you become a victim of a gang audit.

Perhaps nothing happens.  Perhaps this is just an attempt to chill opposition to this legislation.  Whatever happened to “the most transparent Administration ever” and “let’s have a full and open debate”?  Perhaps that is only the campaign rhetoric.  What we are seeing now is full-on Chicago-style politics with a good measure of Saul Alinsky principles thrown in.

Bummer – I was really “Hoping” for “Change”, and not politics at its lowest level.

Today’s headline from the WSJ:

Congress Gets an Upgrade
$500 Million Slated for Purchase of Eight More Planes as Lawmakers’ Travel Soars

Is the same gang who publicly humiliated and castigated the auto execs for flying to hearings in corporate jets?  Is the same bunch who has killed the corporate aircraft industry?

Why do these folks, our elected officials, think that somehow their time is more precious than the CEO of a major company (too big to fail)?  What an elitist attitude.  This congress is totally out of touch with reality and their constituents.

Pitiful!

My mother was born and grew up in Canada.  All her family still lives there (except my cousin David and his lovely wife Shelley who live in Birmingham, AL and are about to become my son Josh’s “parents away from home”).

So my mom gets a phone call a couple of weeks ago from her sister Margo (Mugs).  Mugs tells her she just rec’d a call from some Canadian medical board and her MRI has been approved and scheduled.  Mugs indicated she didn’t need an MRI and asked when it had been requested.  She was told it had been requested 11 months previously, when she was dealing with some medical issues since resolved.

She told the caller she did not need the MRI and to take her off the schedule.  She was then told if she did not have the MRI she no longer requires, she would not be able to obtain an MRI the next time the doctor prescribed this test.  So I guess she is going to have the MRI she no longer needs.

Is this really the kind of medical care we want?  I think not.

Why is it that 85% of Americans are satisfied with their health insurance and the President and Congress feel the need to remake the entire system, yet 99% of Americans are fed up with the added cost burden on our health care system resulting from the threat of litigation and the President took meaningful malpractice reform off the table immediately?

Can you say “payback“?  What happened to the guy who said:

“One year from now, we have the chance to tell all those corporate lobbyists that the days of them setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race – and I’ve won. I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.” — Barack Obama, November 3, 2007

No, I am not referring to the “Beer Summit.”

Today’s Wall Street Journal headline reads “Cash for Clunkers” Runs Out of Gas.  The article describes how the $1 billion program under which people can trade in old used cars and receive $4,500 for the purchase of a more fuel efficient new car is running out of cash, has experienced significant processing delays and has car dealers hesitating to take new deals for fear of not being paid under the program.

Let’s do the math.  $1 billion divided by $4,500 equals 222,222 potential transactions under this program.

If the government can not properly project the demand and administer a program for $1 billion and 222,222 transactions, how can we possibly expect the government to manage the country’s $2.2 trillion health care costs for 300 million people?

Definitely a Teachable Moment.

At his press conference last night, President Obama stated:

“So let me be clear: This isn’t about me. I have great health insurance, and so does every member of Congress. This debate is about the letters I read when I sit in the Oval Office every day and the stories I hear at town hall meetings….”

Why does the President and Congress have great health insurance and they are trying to cram down a government managed plan on the rest of us? Have you seen how well the Medicare and Medicaid plans work? Why don’t the President and Congress have to live under the laws they pass? Perhaps if they did, they would actually read them first and after they did, they would never vote to subject themselves to the same things they are willing to force upon the proletariat.

So why say anything, particularly something as incendiary as the Cambridge police department “acted stupidly”?

… As long as you keep your current job. Since most of us have employer provided insurance, we have health insurance as long as we have a job, plus some period of COBRA coverage.  If you leave your job, you typically get new insurance coverage from your next employer. Under the provisions of H.B. 3200,  America`s Affordable Health Choices Act, your choice to keep existing insurance coverage is as follows (see page 16):

SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE. (a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE DEFINED.—Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term ‘‘grandfathered health insurance coverage’’ means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:

(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1.

What this legal mumbo-jumbo states is that you can keep your current insurance coverage as long as your current employer continues to offer it.  Once you change jobs, you are on the government plan because your new employer’s insurance carrier can not accept new people into their plan.

Additionally, Section 313 of this bill permits the employers to make a contribution of 8% of wages in lieu of providing “qualifying” coverage.  The government will then provide the coverage.  If you do the math, this will be the optimal solution for many companies.  In 2007, the median American household earned $50,233.  Let’s assume that amount is now $55,000 for inflation the last 2 years.  8% of this amount totals $4,400, or $367 per month.  My COBRA coverage from imc2 was approximately $1,150 per month, and while imc2 provides nice coverage, it is by no means a “gold plated” plan.  I would estimate that single coverage runs somewhere in the $500-700 per month range.

If it were you, would you choose $367 per month for the government plan or somewhere far north of that amount to provide private insurance?  I think most companies will do the math and Voila! – you will not be able to keep your current health insurance and your own doctor, etc.

Why would we want this?