rushmc 23 #1 February 10, 2009 How about it privacy advocates? Quote Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey Commentary by Betsy McCaughey Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department. Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version). The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors. But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments 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’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.” Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far. New Penalties Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541) What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make. The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system. Elderly Hardest Hit Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt. Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464). The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis. In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision. Hidden Provisions If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later. The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181). Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that 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.” More Scrutiny Needed On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny. The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy. (Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.) To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@aol.com Last Updated: February 9, "America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuckakers 426 #2 February 10, 2009 Quote One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments 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’s decisions..... Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time”.... "No Dr. Camrade. Dis man ees to olt to haff a knee replacement. Zat costs 60 soussant dollars, unt dis man vill be dead in just a few years. Save zat false knee for a younger person." If you still can't see what's happening here, you deserve what you get. Heil Barrack!!Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgoose71 0 #3 February 10, 2009 Is anyone truly surprised by this? Even the great Obama himself has said that the economic effects of this stimulus bill wouldn't be felt for a couple of years, so the only point in pushing it forward is so all the Demon-crats have a platform to sneak in all of their pet projects like frisby golf courses and health care plans that tell the elderly that "nature must take it's course". But the people have spoken, Barak won, so we must all just bow our heads, not question his all-mightyness, and fall in line because that is the bi-partisan thing to do. So mote it be, praise Barak. "There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." Life, the Universe, and Everything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #4 February 10, 2009 QuoteHeil Barrack!! QuoteDemon-crats Why would you think thoughtful people would even bother responding? - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #5 February 10, 2009 Your search for demoncrats returned 11 results in 0.112s Your search for rescumlicans returned 36 results in 0.085s. (Lucky's favorite) Your search for repubicans returned 148 results in 0.095s. (Jeanne's favorite) QuoteWhy would you think thoughtful people would even bother responding? Indeed.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #6 February 10, 2009 Totally agree. It works both ways. I'm no longer responding to anyone who uses childish mispellings. I guess I'm not going to be responding much at all. Obamer, Barak, Shrub, Lush Rimjob, Blowjobavich, rePUBICans, rescum, demoncrats, Obamessiah, whatever. Grow up, people. - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 898 #7 February 10, 2009 Irony. In it's purest form. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #8 February 10, 2009 Quote Irony. In it's purest form. I'm never used a stupid name for a public figure. What is your point? Or are you not sure what irony means? - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 898 #9 February 10, 2009 QuoteI'm no longer responding to anyone who uses childish mispellings. I guess I'm not going to be responding much at all. Obamer, Barak, Shrub, Lush Rimjob, Blowjobavich, rePUBICans, rescum, demoncrats, Obamessiah, whatever. With further response containing more of the same. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanG 1 #10 February 10, 2009 Um, yeah. I was giving examples from both sides that piss me off. I'm not sure how that could have been clearer. Like I said before: whatever. - Dan G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #11 February 10, 2009 You forgot these Your search for demokkkrat returned 14 results Your search for demokkkrats returned 15 results Your search for $harpton returned 61 results And wonderful threads like this one... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1434878#1434878 There are FAR more examples of what the right deems neccessary in their posts. I dont know.. but when I see things like those.. I reply in kind..since that is what the right flingers here seem to understand... OMG I just made up a new one... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Remster 30 #12 February 10, 2009 Jeanne, you're one of the worse offenders.Remster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #13 February 10, 2009 Quote Jeanne, you're one of the worse offenders. Of course I am.... I try to be.... someone needed to balance out the crap I kept reading from the same people... Something I learned in becoming an instructor.. was to teach to the level of understanding of your slowest students. I would just HATE for them to misunderstand the tone of who I think they are and what I think of them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #14 February 10, 2009 Translation: See what you made me do. Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #15 February 10, 2009 I am a very firm believer that you get what you give. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #16 February 10, 2009 Quote I am a very firm believer that you get what you give. Slamazon Hamazon Obamazon Lamazon and my favorite Ramazon www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idrankwhat 0 #17 February 10, 2009 QuoteTotally agree. It works both ways. I'm no longer responding to anyone who uses childish mispellings. I guess I'm not going to be responding much at all. Obamer, Barak, Shrub, Lush Rimjob, Blowjobavich, rePUBICans, rescum, demoncrats, Obamessiah, whatever. Grow up, people. I concur. I think we can all make fun of Blogojevich without feeling like we have to misspell his name. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #18 February 10, 2009 So why does your screen name remind me of you giving oral to a notebookI think the thread is going in..... a...... yup you guessed it... downwardspiral. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #19 February 10, 2009 Quote So why does your screen name remind me of you giving oral to a notebook You are a sick, sick puppy. www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #20 February 10, 2009 Quote Quote So why does your screen name remind me of you giving oral to a notebook You are a sick, sick puppy. Why.... yes...yes I Am... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #21 February 10, 2009 QuoteTotally agree. It works both ways. I'm no longer responding to anyone who uses childish mispellings. I guess I'm not going to be responding much at all. Obamer, Barak, Shrub, Lush Rimjob, Blowjobavich, rePUBICans, rescum, demoncrats, Obamessiah, whatever. Grow up, people. +1"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #22 February 10, 2009 All these posts and not one cry of foul play by anybody. I guess if Obama wants to invade your privacy it is ok. I will mark this one down so I can remember"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #23 February 10, 2009 Actually I'm more an observer on this one. Of course you know how I feel about our rights.www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #24 February 11, 2009 Quote Actually I'm more an observer on this one. Of course you know how I feel about our rights. The silence here is defening"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #25 February 11, 2009 Quote Quote Quote So why does your screen name remind me of you giving oral to a notebook You are a sick, sick puppy. Why.... yes...yes I Am... +1"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
