The Democrat Party--always looking out for numero uno. Oh yeah, they are quick to saddle us normal people with nonsense like the following, via Dick Morris:
CANADIAN HEALTH CARE: COMING SOON TO THE USA
* A 16% higher cancer death rate in Canada
* An eight week wait for radiation therapy for cancer patients
* 42% of Canadians die of colon cancer vs. 31% in the US
* Cutbacks in diagnostic testing
* The best meds for chemo therapy are not available
* No way out of the system; you can't even pay for services yourself
Why is health care so bad north of the border? Because there are too few doctors to treat everybody and cost savings -- which slice medical incomes -- drive doctors out of the profession. When Obama calls for a 21% cut in Medicare fees to physicians and a $2500 cut in health costs per capita, that is exactly the kind of downward spiral in medical care quality he will bring to the United States. By making too few doctors cover too many patients, he will cut the quality of care to everybody.
As Obama's proposals make their way through Congress, it is vital that we all get up to speed on what is happening in Canada, so we can stop it from happening here. It is through word of mouth that we need to spread the information to undermine public support for the changes Obama would bring.”
Now, if ObamaCare is such a great idea, it really should be implemented for the members of Congress. But, not so fast; they’ve already made an exception for themselves.
Read from Joshua Pundit:
ObamaCare For You - but Not For Congress
“President Obama's new health care debacle has an interesting little glitch...while ordinary citizens will have to put up with rationing, taxes on employer-provided benefits and long waits for care, Congress, Federal employees and their families are going to be exempted and keep the sweet deal they have now! Pam at Atlas has the story..
‘ObamaCare specifically exempts members of Congress along with federal employees; the exemptions are in section 3116. If nationalized medicine is good enough for us then they have to suffer as well.
What makes this scam on the American people all the more Obama-disgusting? Who could forget when Obama was telling everyone he wanted the people to have a health care program just like Congress has? Remember that? But Congress knows it's crap: it exempts itself and federal employees from it.
The US is becoming more like the old USSR, where the only good jobs are government jobs and the only way to get something done is to have a "friend" in the government. The USSR or Chicagoland gangsta politics.’
ObamaCare? It's for the little people. Our Democrat overlords wouldn't be caught dead with it - literally.”
Then there is this little gem from the Washington Examiner:
Union workers would be exempt from Dem health care tax
By: Susan Ferrechio
“The best chance for compromise legislation on health care may be a plan under construction in the Senate Finance Committee that would pay for a public plan in part by taxing some worker health benefits.
But the union workers who helped Democrats win Congress and the White House and whose support will be key in getting a health bill signed into law would not pay the tax. With cost estimates already as high as $1.6 trillion, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed paying for the bill in part by taxing health care benefits for workers who earn more than $100,000, or $200,000 for married couples, according to those familiar with the discussions.
Baucus is also weighing a tax based on the value of health care benefits that exceed a yet-to-be determined cap. A tax on benefits that exceed the cap by a mere $3,000 could amount to $750 in taxes annually for a worker who earns as little as $34,000, say experts. But those union members serving under collective bargaining agreements would not be subjected to the tax, according to proposals under discussion.
Union workers enjoy some of the most extensive and costliest health benefits, and union officials complained their members would be unfairly burdened by a health care tax because their contracts cannot be changed quickly enough to avoid it.
Union members also represent one of the biggest and most powerful Democratic constituencies and their support of any health care reform proposal is viewed as essential to getting a bill passed in Congress.
Baucus has proposed the tax threshold on health care benefits be set higher than the cost of policies available to federal employees and he has proposed exempting until 2013 those plans negotiated as part of union contracts.
‘It’s a means of making sure that unions are foursquare behind any reform bill that comes out,’ said Henry Aaron, a health care policy expert at Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
Critics of the Baucus proposal to exempt unions from a health care benefits tax said the exclusion could be used to lure into unions employees who are anxious to avoid the benefits tax.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Anytime you quote Dick Morris as an "expert" in anything, you're straining credibility... unless it's a question of how to best self-promote on Faux News.
Let's look at his scare tactics:
"A 16% higher cancer death rate in Canada" First off, I never believe any statistics Morris ever cites without attribution. But let's assume for the sake of argument, he's right on this one. But he never makes a connection between the higher cancer death rate and the way medical care is dispensed in Canada. Why should we automatically assume it's a cause-and-effect relationship?
"An eight week wait for radiation therapy for cancer patients" What's the wait in America? I don't have any idea, do you? For all we know, it could be more than eight weeks.
"42% of Canadians die of colon cancer vs. 31% in the US" And that's because of who insures Canadian patients vs. who insures American patients?
"Cutbacks in diagnostic testing" Lots of diagnostic testing done in the US is unnecessary, which is a large part of what drives up costs. Without explaining what sorts of cutbacks occur, this statement is meaningless UNESS the intent is simply to scare people!
"The best meds for chemo therapy are not available" Again, why is that a function of who insures the patient? Could it be because Canada has stricter scrutiny of meds before letting them be used on patients? There's any number of plausible answers that aren't necessarily gloom-and-doom... and the fact that Morris doesn't explain any of his comments leads one to believe that he might very well be throwing around semi-irrelevant statistics.
"No way out of the system; you can't even pay for services yourself" If "the system" includes all alternatives, there is no "out" of the system. And, if you're talking about experimental treatements, guess what? You won't get them covered in the U.S. either. It wasn't that long ago when American insurers had the gall to label organ transplants as "experimental" and refused to pay for them. Why? Because they're expensive, and the insurance companies didn't want to pay!
"Why is health care so bad north of the border? Because there are too few doctors to treat everybody and cost savings -- which slice medical incomes -- drive doctors out of the profession." Hogwash! Doctors are always going to be fairly compensated. It may be in Canada that some Canadian practitioners move into the States to increase their income. But if Canada AND America have similar systems, where are the doctors going to go??? You think doctors are going to quit being doctors and become insurance salesmen instead????
Figures lie, and liars figure. There may be some legitimate concerns in all that hodgepodge, but all Morris is trying to do is scare people. And guess one possible explanation for this: who originally tried to overhaul the system in the 1990s? And who does Morris hate more than any other persons in America. You got it: the Clintons, specifically Hillary Clinton.
Senate Panel Hears of Health Insurers' Wrongs
Ex-Insider Testifies to 'Fear Tactics'
By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 25, 2009
"Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid, according to a report released yesterday by the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee.
The report was part of a multi-pronged assault on the credibility of private insurers by Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). It came at a time when Rockefeller, President Obama and others are seeking to offer a public alternative to private health plans as part of broad health-care reform legislation. Health insurers are doing everything they can to block the public option...."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/24/AR2009062401636.html?hpid=topnews
the wait in america is about a week for proper cancer treatment (i've had 2 family members within a year die of cancer and another currently receiving treatment).
the 42% thing... obviously there is something america has canadians don't. we have more people in our country with a lower colon cancer death rate... i dont know what it is, but canada is doing it wrong there, it almost doesnt even matter what it is.
blah blah, diagnostics, 16%? thats interesting though... assuming that stat is true (like you said), "why should we automatically assume cause and effect". last time i checked its how this plane of existence operates. plus something in canada has to cause the death rate to be higher. it certainly isnt cold air. probably isnt in the diet or the water. could it be lack of proper cancer treatment? i dont know but dont double back on what your saying.
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE IS GARBAGE!! its another attempt at "spreading the wealth" which again, is ridiculous.
here's what we do, ready? we put a check box on everyone's W2 forms in april... you can check it off if you would like to donate a percentage of your income to someone elses health care. if more than 50% of americans check it off then federal spending can be justified in universal healthcare. would you check off that box? HELL NO! thats why health care providers take money out of your paycheck.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PAYCHECK TO TAKE THESE FUNDS OUT OF, YOU DONT DESERVE A HEALTH CARE PLAN! IT'S SIMPLE. there are harsh realities about life, one of them is not everyone SHOULD care about you, and not everyone DOES care about you. you are on your own in this world, which is what we all fought for, if you dont like it, move yourself to canada.
your beef sounds like its with the insurance companies by the way. and yes they do overcharge, again tho, this is capitalism, supply and demand drive prices.
Post a Comment