Let's look at what is being said -- and, more importantly -- isn't:
End Of Life Counseling
Obama says there will be no "death panels". He denies that euthanasia is on the table in the health care bill. He's right -- technically. The health care bill calls for "advance care planning consultation" (1). It allows your physician to explain living wills and durable powers of attorney -- legal concepts, not medical. The bill later says it will "reward physician practices and other physician organizational models for the provision of high quality and efficient health care services." (2) Incentives are given to physicians and organizations if expenses are kept down (3).
Couple this with a Harvard study released earlier this year that links end of life counseling with lower costs (4). What happens when people are paid a commission and given financial incentives to achieve goals? High pressure sales. Think time share salesmen.
If the government is funding health care, it will be in the government's best interests to get rid of seniors, critically ill and handicapped folks sooner rather than later. They aren't holding down jobs and therefore aren't bringing in the tax money that pays for the programs and services they are using. It's Grandma's patriotic duty to leave this world quickly.
Is the government something that is really good at running medical programs? Medicare will be broke by 2017 (5).
Private Insurance Or, You Can Keep Your Own Plan
Obama says private insurance will not be outlawed. The health care bill does not specifically outlaw health insurance. However, the public option will be subsidized. Many people point out this is not fair competition. Representative Tom Price (R-GA), an orthopedic surgeon, says, "I don't see how it can go longer than somewhere between three and five years. The phase-in makes it so that we'll see tens of millions go from private plans to the government-run plan within a year or two. And then five years is the drop dead date where everybody is forced off." (6)
Obama says you can keep your private insurance. You will not be forced by the legislation to switch to the public option. True...sort of. You won't be forced by the legislation, but you could be by your employer (7). Although the politicians are quick to point out any company that switches to the public option from private faces up to 8% tax on wages, this does not really deter businesses from switching if they save more (30-40% by some estimates) than that by switching to the subsidized plan (8). In addition, if your company has private insurance but you leave for any reason, the public option is what you get by default (9). As people leave the private plans for the public option, what is going to happen to the premiums with fewer people to pay?
I Am Not For a Single Payer Plan
This one is a downright lie. Obama said to the AFL-CIO in June 2003, “I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program.” (applause) “I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.” (10)
It Will Give You More Choices
Obama says, "It will mean lower costs and more choices and coverage you can count on". You won't have the choice to choose what is included in your plan, the freedom to be rewarded for a health lifestyle or pay the extra costs, the freedom to choose high-deductible coverage, the freedom to keep your plan or the freedom to choose your doctors (11).
This Will Cost Less Than the War in Iraq
Obama claims, "Making health care affordable for all Americans will cost somewhere on the order of $1 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s real money, even in Washington. But remember, that’s less than we are projected to have spent on the war in Iraq." However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates we have spent $864 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan (12). Besides being lower, the money for those two countries are real money, while Obama is talking an estimate for the health care reform. The costs he is quoting can't be proven by any of the health care plans being floated (13).
This Will Be Revenue Neutral
Obama tells us this will be revenue neutral, which means each dollar spent will be offset by a dollar earned or a dollar saved. But not all dollars spent are created equal. The Associated Press reports, "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag told reporters this week that the promise does not apply to proposed spending of about $245 billion over the next decade to increase fees for doctors serving Medicare patients." (14)
Remember, this is politicians that are making these claims. They have little regard for total honesty and truth. Don't just listen to what is being said. Pay close attention to what is not being said.
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1. Congress (2009). "AAHCA Bill Text". Congress.
Retrieved August 11, 2009, from Health Care Reform Bill, page 425.
2. Congress (2009). "AAHCA Bill Text". Congress.
Retrieved August 11, 2009, from Health Care Reform Bill, page 444.
3. Congress (2009). "AAHCA Bill Text". Congress.
Retrieved August 11, 2009, from Health Care Reform Bill, page 447.
4. Goler, Wendell and Stephen Clark (2009, August 8). "'End-of-Life' Counseling Intensifies Health Care Debate", FoxNews.com.
Retrieved August 11, 2009, from FoxNews.com
5. Goler, Wendell and Stephen Clark (2009, August 8). "'End-of-Life' Counseling Intensifies Health Care Debate", FoxNews.com.
Retrieved August 11, 2009, from FoxNews.com
6. Patten, David (2009, July 21). "Experts: Obama's 'Public Option' Insurance Will Abandon 100 Million Citizens". Newsmax.com.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from Newsmax.com
7. "Critics Question Obama's Assertion No One Would Be Forced to Change Health Plans", Fox News (2009, July 23).
Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www.foxnews.com/
8. "It's Not an Option". The Investor's Business Daily (2009, July 15)
Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www.ibdeditorials.com/
9. "The End of Private Health Insurance" (2009, April 13). The Wall Street Journal.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from The Wall Street Journal
10. "Barack Obama on Single Payer in 2003" (2008, June 4). Physicians For a National Health Program.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from Physicians for a National Health Program
11. Tully, Shawn (2009, July 24). "You'll Lose 5 Key Freedoms In Health Care Reform". CNN.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from CNN.Com
12. "Obama's Health Care Claims" (2009, June 18). FactCheck.org.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from FactCheck.org
13. Andrews, Wyatt (2009, July 22). "Do Obama's Health Care Claims Hold Up?" CBS.
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from CBS.Com
14. "Fact Check: Obama's Health Care Claims Adrift?" (2009, July 22). Associated Press
Retrieved August 12, 2009, from MSNBC
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