Healthcare Speech: Hold Obama To His Words!!!!

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

In last nights speech Transcript: Obama's Health Care Speech - CBS News Obama stated that the public will have the same plan as the congress and president enjoy.

Lets hold him to this statement and make them put into any bill they pass that the congress and the executive both have to enroll on the public option.

 

[dilloduck]

exactly !! I'd like to see us try to pay for what they get.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

exactly !! I'd like to see us try to pay for what they get.

Personally I'd like to see us pay for medicare/medicade, social security, TARP, and the stimulus plan before we decide to start another government beurocracy with health care.

 

[Emma]

In last nights speech Transcript: Obama's Health Care Speech - CBS News Obama stated that the public will have the same plan as the congress and president enjoy.

Lets hold him to this statement and make them put into any bill they pass that the congress and the executive both have to enroll on the public option.

If he was proposing a single-payer system, you'd have a point.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Which words? They change every time he opens his mouth!

 

[Oddball]

In last nights speech Transcript: Obama's Health Care Speech - CBS News Obama stated that the public will have the same plan as the congress and president enjoy.

Lets hold him to this statement and make them put into any bill they pass that the congress and the executive both have to enroll on the public option.

If he was proposing a single-payer system, you'd have a point.

He's proposing whatever monstrosity comes out of congress.

He himself doesn't have a clue as to what is or isn't in the bill, or any idea what he's saying beyond the shiny words that pop up on TOTUS.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

It is crystal clear that there is a n agenda well beyond insuring uninsured Americans. This thing is morphing every time his poll numbers change. But it still doesn't add up... we turn 1/6th of th U.S. economy upsoide down to benefit 3% of U.S. citizens?
And did anyone notice that the 47 million uninsured is now miracuously 30 million????

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

In last nights speech Transcript: Obama's Health Care Speech - CBS News Obama stated that the public will have the same plan as the congress and president enjoy.

Lets hold him to this statement and make them put into any bill they pass that the congress and the executive both have to enroll on the public option.

If he was proposing a single-payer system, you'd have a point.

It doesn't matter if its single payer or not. As long as there is a public health option I want those in charge of writing the legilation for it and executing the plan to have to be on that same plan.

I dont trust them to do right by the poor people who would end up on the plan and this is the only way to assure that they do.

 

[veritas]

It is crystal clear that there is a n agenda well beyond insuring uninsured Americans. This thing is morphing every time his poll numbers change. But it still doesn't add up... we turn 1/6th of th U.S. economy upsoide down to benefit 3% of U.S. citizens?
And did anyone notice that the 47 million uninsured is now miracuously 30 million????

Your math is faulty. Assuming there are 300M people, 30M would be 10%, not 3%. Adding to that is the 14k people a day that are losing their insurance, which figure starting being noticed in October of '08, the 10% is looking like 12% right now. Plus all the people that are underinsured, rescisions and awaiting pre-existing conditions to expire and the figure grows to about 15%, which is comparable to the amount of people on Medicare or the VA.

 

[Emma]

In last nights speech Transcript: Obama's Health Care Speech - CBS News Obama stated that the public will have the same plan as the congress and president enjoy.

Lets hold him to this statement and make them put into any bill they pass that the congress and the executive both have to enroll on the public option.

If he was proposing a single-payer system, you'd have a point.

It doesn't matter if its single payer or not. As long as there is a public health option I want those in charge of writing the legilation for it and executing the plan to have to be on that same plan.

I dont trust them to do right by the poor people who would end up on the plan and this is the only way to assure that they do.

The public option would be part of the exchange, where people can choose from a 'menu*' of health plans to suit their needs. That's what the federal employees have now. (*for lack of a better word---sorry, half asleep lol)

 

[Polk]

If he was proposing a single-payer system, you'd have a point.

It doesn't matter if its single payer or not. As long as there is a public health option I want those in charge of writing the legilation for it and executing the plan to have to be on that same plan.

I dont trust them to do right by the poor people who would end up on the plan and this is the only way to assure that they do.

The public option would be part of the exchange, where people can choose from a 'menu*' of health plans to suit their needs. That's what the federal employees have now. (*for lack of a better word---sorry, half asleep lol)

It's fun to watch them attack the plan saying "the average people should have access to the plans members of Congress do" while attacking proposals to do just that. Sorta like how they're billing themselves as the champions of Medicare while voting earlier this year to disband the program.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

It doesn't matter if its single payer or not. As long as there is a public health option I want those in charge of writing the legilation for it and executing the plan to have to be on that same plan.

I dont trust them to do right by the poor people who would end up on the plan and this is the only way to assure that they do.

The public option would be part of the exchange, where people can choose from a 'menu*' of health plans to suit their needs. That's what the federal employees have now. (*for lack of a better word---sorry, half asleep lol)

It's fun to watch them attack the plan saying "the average people should have access to the plans members of Congress do" while attacking proposals to do just that. Sorta like how they're billing themselves as the champions of Medicare while voting earlier this year to disband the program.

Section 102 of Hr3200 reads differently. It reads that there will be a publicly funded insurance program for those who cant afford. and it also reads in such a way that if you switch insurance companies that will become you're only option. I'll try to use the language of the bill to explain myself, but i can't do it in a short post.

The party line is that if you currently have health insurance, sure, you can keep it. They call this “grandfathering” in your plan. But Section 102: PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE doesn’t protect anything except the government-run “gateways” and “exchanges” because the day you decide to give up your current plan, it’s all over but the shouting because unless you enroll in an employer-provided plan (that must provide no less than exactly the same benefits as the government’s plan), it’s straight into the machine for you.

These are the key excerpts (section 102):

(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.

(Notice that this is the sum total of verbiage in “this paragraph”. There are NO exceptions. Health insurers may no longer enroll new plan participants.)
(c) Limitation on Individual Health Insurance Coverage-

(1) IN GENERAL- Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan.

**This means that if a health insurance company wants to stay in business, it must get in bed with the government.**

(2) SEPARATE, EXCEPTED COVERAGE PERMITTED- Excepted benefits (as defined in section 2791(c) of the Public Health Service Act) are not included within the definition of health insurance coverage. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent the offering, other than through the Health Insurance Exchange, of excepted benefits so long as it is offered and priced separately from health insurance coverage.

***How very kind of them. Separate insurance policies will be “permitted” by the government. If you didn’t ask “What are excepted benefits?” then you deserve the government we’ve got today and don’t come crying to us when some government official tells people that their life isn’t worth the cost of saving it. But because I’m feeling generous today, I’ll ask the question for us all. What are these “excepted benefits”? Well, basically anything except what we all think of as common medical treatments, such as:

• Coverage only for accident, or disability income insurance, or any combination thereof.
• Coverage issued as a supplement to liability insurance.
• Liability insurance, including general liability insurance and automobile liability insurance.
• Workers’ compensation or similar insurance.
• Automobile medical payment insurance.
• Credit-only insurance.
• Coverage for on-site medical clinics
• Other similar insurance coverage, specified in regulations, under which benefits for medical care are secondary or incidental to other insurance benefits.

Not exactly the “choice” the President, Pelosi, Reid, and those in the media are leading us to believe, is it?

So just what happens to your “health care” once the government gets their guaranteed hold of it? Pull out your airsickness bag and read on.

What is covered:

From section 122 (Essential benefits)

(b) Minimum Services To Be Covered-

1. Hospitalization.
2. Outpatient hospital and outpatient clinic services, including emergency department services.
3. Professional services of physicians and other health professionals.
4. Such services, equipment, and supplies incident to the services of a physician’s or a health professional’s delivery of care in institutional settings, physician offices, patients’ homes or place of residence, or other settings, as appropriate.
5. Prescription drugs.
6. Rehabilitative and habilitative services.
7. Mental health and substance use disorder services.
8. Preventive services, including those services recommended with a grade of A or B by the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services and those vaccines recommended for use by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
9. Maternity care.
10. Well baby and well child care and oral health, vision, and hearing services, equipment, and supplies at least for children under 21 years of age.

(1)NO COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES- There shall be no cost-sharing under the essential benefits package for preventive items and services (as specified under the benefit standards), including well baby and well child care.

This is the 2008 list of those “preventative services” from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force:

Grade A:

• Cervical cancer screening for women
• Colorectal cancer screening for men and women over 50
• Discuss aspirin chemoprevention with adults who are at increased risk for coronary heart disease
• Screening for high blood pressure in adults aged 18 and older
• Screening for chlamydial infection for all sexually active non-pregnant young women aged 24 and younger and for older nonpregnant women who are at increased risk
• Prophylactic ocular topical medication for all newborns against gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum
• Screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women at their first prenatal visit
• Screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) all adolescents and adults at increased risk for HIV infection
• Screening all pregnant women for HIV
• Screening persons at increased risk for syphilis infection
• Screening all pregnant women for syphilis infection
• Screening all adults for tobacco use and provide tobacco cessation interventions for those who use tobacco
• Screening all pregnant women for tobacco use and provide augmented pregnancy-tailored counseling to those who smoke
• Rh (D) blood typing and antibody testing for all pregnant women during their first visit for pregnancy-related care
• Screening for sickle cell disease in newborns

Grade B:

• One-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) by ultrasonography in men aged 65 to 75 who have ever smoked
• Genetic counseling and evaluation for women whose family history is associated with an increased risk for deleterious mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes (breast & ovarian cancer)
• Chemoprevention for women at high risk for breast cancer and at low risk for adverse effects of chemoprevention
• Screening mammography, with or without clinical breast examination (CBE), every 1-2 years for women aged 40 and older
• Screening for chlamydial infection for all pregnant women aged 24 and younger and for older pregnant women who are at increased risk
• Screening all sexually active women, including those who are pregnant, for gonorrhea infection if they are at increased risk for infection (that is, if they are young or have other individual or population risk factors)
• Screening and behavioral counseling interventions to reduce alcohol misuse (go to Clinical Considerations) by adults, including pregnant women, in primary care settings
• Screening adults for depression in clinical practices that have systems in place to assure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and followup
• Intensive behavioral dietary counseling for adult patients with hyperlipidemia and other known risk factors for cardiovascular and diet-related chronic disease. Intensive counseling can be delivered by primary care clinicians or by referral to other specialists, such as nutritionists or dietitians
• Routine screening for iron deficiency anemia in asymptomatic pregnant women
• Routine iron supplementation for asymptomatic children aged 6 to 12 months who are at increased risk for iron deficiency anemia
• Screening all adult patients for obesity and offer intensive counseling and behavioral interventions to promote sustained weight loss for obese adults
• Screening women aged 65 and older routinely for osteoporosis. The USPSTF recommends that routine screening begin at age 60 for women at increased risk for osteoporotic fractures
• Structured breastfeeding education and behavioral counseling programs to promote breastfeeding
• Primary care clinicians prescribe oral fluoride supplementation at currently recommended doses to preschool children older than 6 months of age whose primary water source is deficient in fluoride
• Screening to detect amblyopia, strabismus, and defects in visual acuity in children younger than age 5 years

(2) ANNUAL LIMITATION-

Y1 is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. Such levels shall be increased (rounded to the nearest $100) for each subsequent year by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average) applicable to such year.

****Pay particular attention to this. It’s your annual out-of-pocket expenses for for anything not included in the Grade A or Grade B list of “preventative items and services”. So although a preventative test may be covered, you’ll still be liable for co-pay expenses to walk in the door to get it. And just like with most plans today, you’ll still be liable to share the costs of fixing anything found wrong with you by those tests.****

Of course we have to have a “Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans.” This will be chaired by the Surgeon General and will have “9 members who are not Federal employees or officers and who are appointed by the President”, “9 members who are not Federal employees or officers and who are appointed by the Comptroller General”, and an “even number of members (not to exceed 8 ) who are Federal employees and officers, as the President may appoint.” A committe with up to 27 members, 18 of whom are picked by the President. The bill says these people will “reflect providers, consumer representatives, employers, labor, health insurance issuers, experts in health care financing and delivery, experts in racial and ethnic disparities, experts in care for those with disabilities, representatives of relevant governmental agencies, and at least one practicing physician or other health professional and an expert on children’s health”. But with no checks and balances on the selection of this group, you can bet they will reflect this or any FUTURE President’s personal opinions and/or especially those to whom they may owe campaign favors.

And, of course we have to have a Health Choices Administration and a Health Choices Commissioner. At least the commissioner will be appointed by the President “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate”. This will be an independent agency that will audit and enforce compliance for all “qualified health benefit plans”, whether or not the plan participates in the government’s “exchange”. They will be able to levy financial penalties and shut down plans that fail to make their grade. The Commissioner will appoint a “Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman” to help people stuck in the maze of government’s plan find their way out.

Ok this post is way too long winded, i'll stop here.

I have more

 

[veritas]

and it also reads in such a way that if you switch insurance companies that will become you're only option.

No it doesn't.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

and it also reads in such a way that if you switch insurance companies that will become you're only option.

No it doesn't.

see above. I knew my minoring in law while majoring in business was a good idea.

I explained it for you veritas, just while you were posting that

 

[veritas]

But it doesn't say that.


Very minor in law indeed.

 

[Emma]

and it also reads in such a way that if you switch insurance companies that will become you're only option.

No it doesn't.

see above. I knew my minoring in law while majoring in business was a good idea.

I explained it for you veritas, just while you were posting that

I don't think that's how it reads. I'm too beat to get into it now. Hope your day is going well. I'm off to bed soon...

 

[veritas]

I'll explain it to you.


Whenever the law commences or actually takes effect, a limit shall be put on new enrollees to plans that do not meet the minimum criteria for a basic plan. People already enrolled get to be "grandfathered" for 5 years at which time, the insurer must meet the minimum criteria. If at any time the insurer substantially changes the policy where they provide less than originally contracted for, that policy shall be void and you will have to get different insurance. This does not automatically mean the public option. This is for the insurance exchange.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

I'll explain it to you.


Whenever the law commences or actually takes effect, a limit shall be put on new enrollees to plans that do not meet the minimum criteria for a basic plan. People already enrolled get to be "grandfathered" for 5 years at which time, the insurer must meet the minimum criteria. If at any time the insurer substantially changes the policy where they provide less than originally contracted for, that policy shall be void and you will have to get different insurance. This does not automatically mean the public option. This is for the insurance exchange.

I hope they change the main reform Bill HR3200 to state that in the final version, as it stands now however my interpretation is accurate.

I know it is as i've read it for myself and taken the notes and backtracked the other laws and studies the bill references. I dont need to keep repeating myself, the truth is there for anyone who wants to read it to see.

 

[veritas]

But you are totally incorrect. You did not read it, or cannot comprehend what is laid out in that section.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

But you are totally incorrect. You did not read it, or cannot comprehend what is laid out in that section.

show me your interpretation since you seem to have one. Please no talking points, try doing what I did and take the section of the bill and its language to prove yourself right.

I'll wait a week so you have plenty of time.