Republican Hypocrisy

From here

The House approved a measure Friday that would put new constraints on executive pay, capitalizing on outrage over multimillion-dollar bonuses to Wall Street executives whose firms were bailed out by taxpayers.

and

The bill, introduced by Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, would let regulators ban risky incentive-based pay that could have an adverse effect on the financial system.

This is the galling part:

Republicans slammed the measure as yet another example of needless government intervention into private business practices, similar to arguments that Republicans have been making in the debate over health care overhaul.

“The Democratic majority has a great desire to have the government everywhere in our lives,” said Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia. “It cuts at the very core of our free market system.”

What a steaming pile of bullshit!

When you and your corporate masters come, hat in hand, asking the government to bail out your "free market" business, you have no right to bitch about "needless government intervention". By the real principles of the "free market", if it isn't profitable, it should fail! No bailouts, no tax breaks, no favors.

So, Mr. Price, if you and the rest of the Republican vultures want a free market, your corporate cronies can give back the bailout money right now.

If they don't, then they, and you, can just shut the fuck up about government "interference" - that eeeevil "government interference" is why a lot of your corporate buddies still have jobs, houses, cars, yachts, and all of that. They could be like the rest of us, one unemployment check away from homelessness or no health insurance.

So STFU, Representative price, your "Fuck you, I've got mine!" hypocrisy is showing.

Single Payer and HC Links

These are not generally left-wing sites.

For-profit medicine is a national sickness

Health insurance for the 21st Century

Single-Payer Myths; Single-Payer Facts

Paying More, Getting Less

Research Firm Cited by GOP Is Owned by Health Insurer - can you say astroturf?

Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies

Health Insurance Coverage

A Healthy Bottom Line: Profits or People? - Santa Clara University Ethics discussion

Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Health Care - if not SP, then make health insurance non-profit

What the For-Profit Trend In Health Care Really Means - interesting 1996 article, and seeing where we are now (Hint: Some of the previous non-profit are for-profit now [eg BC-BS], and the major for-profits now dominate and rule the industry.)

These are generally considered progressive:

Crazy Wingnut Healthcare Attacks Exposed

Mythbusting Canadian Health Care -- Part I

Mythbusting Canadian Health Care, Part II: Debunking the Free Marketeers

The Health Care Debate: Another Country Heard From

Healthcare Now main page - lots of stuff

The White House Health Reform site - more focused on the wimp-out "public option" to appease the insurance lobby.

Massive takedown of for-profit "health" "care" - "You Can't Buff a Turd"

Single Payer Myths Disproved By Canadian Research!

When Wealthy Isn't Healthy - for-profit health care industry makes more profit while offering fewer services - Brief Article - 1999 article, again it's worse now.

Healthcare vs. the Profit Principle - 1997 article (it's only gotten worse).

More later...

Oh, about rationing and elderly (from Mythbusting Canadian Health Care Part II):

Another persistent (and ridiculously mendacious) rationing myth about the Canadian system is that old people are cut off from treatment and left to die. I've never heard about a single case of this in Canada; but it happens routinely to Americans on Medicare and many private policies, which have strict limits on how long you can stay in the hospital with an acute illness. When the benefits run out, ready or not, they send you home. If you die, you die. The Canadian plan has no such limits: you stay for as long as you need to. But in the US, these limits fit the very definition of "rationed care."

Who does euthanasia, but without anesthetic? Not Canada...

Debunking Wing Nut Baloney About AAHCA

The wingnut post that I am responding to is here. Beware the slime.

My comments are in italics

COMPARE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO ACTUAL BILL:

BILL: http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

This is my analysis and debunking of the fearmongering and either deliberate or illiterate misreading of the bill. Anything the moron puts in ALL CAPS is distortion or hysteria.

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit the books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

The IRS does already. Not an issue.

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get

Instead of health insurance bean counters. Government committee is accountable to the public, transparent, instead of insurance company beancounter voodoo.

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Wrong. Says nothing about rationing - just sets up group of real experts to determine plan, not beancounters. Original wingnut doesn't know what rationing is.

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your benefits for you. You have no choice!

Now all you get is what your employer can afford (if anything) and the insurance company can't avoid paying for. You already have no choice.

Pg 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL NON US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Already is, via ERs can't refuse to treat sick. Not a change. Also, untreated foreigners with diseases can spread to citizens.

Pg 58 HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access to individual’s finances & a National ID Health care card will be issued!

Health insurers already have this, and sell it to drug companies to sell you stuff. Universal ID already here via REAL ID and corruption of social security number.

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access to your banks accts for electronic funds transfer.

"Enable" =/= "require". The government already has this option for tax refunds and collection.

Pg 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs. (ACORN).

Horseshit. Retirees need coverage too - subsidizing them is the right thing to do. Not a "payoff", just making sure that everyone is covered. Non-profits are not evil, and "ACORN" is dog whistle nonsense.

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.

Private HC should be regulated, so people don't get repeatedly screwed.

Pg 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private Health Care plans in the Exchange

No, they mandate the minimums to be eligible to sell through the exchange. No more insurance bait and switch.

Pg 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Health care!

That's stupid. Government specifies *minimum* coverage, not maximum. Not rationing, it's a floor that you can't get less than. Again, this moron doesn't know what rationing really is. Hint; the insurance companies ration your care based on how much profit they can make on you over your lifetime.

Pg 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. Example - Translation for illegal aliens.

Wow, lots of racism here! You can't tell where someone got an infectious disease if you can't communicate with them.

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan

Non-profits are not evil. They can often reach underserved individuals, and get them covered and healthy. Dog whistle racism at its finest.

Pg 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Benefit Levels 4 Plans. AARP members - Your Health Care WILL be rationed

Again, minimums are NOT "rationing".

Pg 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Individual will be automatically.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

This is a problem why? You don't have to use it - you can roy in your own filth if you choose.

Pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue Govt on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt Monopoly.

No one can afford to sue the health insurance companies, on their cheese paring and price fixing, so no change there.

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.

Good. Then they don't end up in expensive ER because their employers are too cheap to make them full time and eligible for benefits (like WalMart does).

Pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.

Instead of the insurance companies that tell you what you can make? Not a change, except a more transparent process.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE

Universal coverage. You don't have to use the insurance, you can go see a faith healer and die if you like.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer w payroll 400k & above who does not prov. pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

If they don't insure you, they have to pay a tax that is still less than private insurance.

Pg 150 Lines 9-13 B w payroll between 251k & 400k who doesn't provide public opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

If they don't insure you, they have to pay a tax that is still less than private insurance.

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Much, much, much cheaper than COBRA or individual plans.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay).

Visitors don't pay. That's fair.

Pg 195 Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans financial and personal records.

Now, health insurance claims processors in foreign countries hae access to your records.

Pg 203 Line 14-15 HC - “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that.

Incomplete quote, out of context. The rest is "... imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55." This crap is really reaching.

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected.

Read the whole section. Not a reduction, just recalculation.

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.

Refers to service categories (type of service performed) without regard to specialty. Says nothing about different services being paid the same. Again, misreading, fearmongering.

Pg 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr’s time, prof judgment, etc. Literally value of humans.

More fearmongering crap. "Relative value units" are to try to make fair payment for equal effort.

Pg 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.

Hahahaha! That way they can't suck us dry and waste our premiums anymore. This is a good thing.

Pg 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

No. It expands the definition to cover other adaptive devices like power chairs that weren't previously eligible. Increase of choices is a good thing.

Pg 272 SEC. 1145. Treatment of certain cancer hospitals – Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

More illiterate fearmongering crap and distortion. This section actually requires cancer hospitals to be paid more if their costs are higher.

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable readmissions. (Incentives for hospital to not treat and release.)

Good. Hospitals now release people with open wounds and no home care because insurance companies won't pay. This will stop this dumping practice.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Dr's, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission-Govt will penalize you.

Again, if the doctor doesn't effectively treat things, just prescribes a band-aid and aspirin, they should be penalized.

Pg 317 L 13-20 PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Dr's. what/how much they can own.

Prevents sweatheart deals where doctors can refer for expensive surgery at expensive hospital that they own. Not a prohibition, a limitation. See this article for why this is needed. The idiot who wrote this doesn't know the difference, or deliberately distorted it.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand.

Only if they are owned by a single doctor. Again, distortion.

Pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

More dogwhistle. Community input is required for malls, housing, and other structures. Community is taxpayers, citizens, people, not corporations. This is a good thing, except to corporatists.

Pg 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates established of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.

Outcome based measures means that the treatment has to work, not be witch doctor snake oil. I fail to see how you can equate outcome based measures with "rationing".

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans (Part B), HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan.

This means that plans which take seniors money and don't provide a real benefit can get shut down. No more scams = a good thing. Not forcing people into anything, but protecting vulnerable seniors.

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Committee. HC by phone/Internet?

Not bureaucracy. Many insurers already have this, and can save the time, wait and expense of a office doctor's visit.

Pg 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance [Death] Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life.

This is a good thing. In our society, many people avoid planning for their inevitable demise. Advance care planning makes sure that they get their wishes for nursing homes, extreme measures, hospice, funeral, wills and all that written down, rather than putting their families through it at the last minute.

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

Good. Then the living wills (patients wishes) are more likely to be obeyed, rather than a more dead than alive husk stuck with tubes and in pain.

Pg 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.

Good. Government helps avoid bogus funeral scams and other schemes to fleece the old and ill.

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!

No, the government prevents their coverage and care from being changed often, and people scamming their way in.

Pg 801 Sec 1751 The Govt will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!

Say bullshit. This regards medicaid only, and says that diseases that a hospital gave you aren't covered by the government - they should be paid by the hospital.

Pg 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc required. to register. Gov’t takes over private payment sys.

I wish it said that the government was taking over private payments systems. It would reduce paperwork and cost. But this only applies to medicaid, and if they want to get paid by the government (Medicaid) they must register with the government and meet their standards. Not unreasonable, not a bad thing.

Pg 820-824 Sec 1801 Govt will identify individuals ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal financial information.

Fearmongering crap. This section is designed to prevent "welfare queens" from scamming the system at our (taxpayer) expense.

Pg 824-829 SEC. 1802. Govt Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.

Not a black hole at all. Effectiveness research is esential to stop the quackery and scams that are prevalent in many areas of our health care system. Federally funded means that the pharmaceutical companies can't use bogus research to pimp out killer drugs.

Pg 829-833 Govt will impose a fee on ALL private health ins. plans incl. self insured to pay for Trust Fund!

This will replace the huge markups and profits that pharma companies put on all their drugs.

Pg 835 11-13 fees imposed by Govt for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.

So? Earlier this twit was screaming (erroneously) about something not being treated as a tax. Make up your mind, idiot.

Pg 838-840 Govt will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families expect kids.

The actual words are "voluntary home visitation". This is not a bad thing, especially for new parents who might be overwhelmed with new kids.

Pg 844-845 This Home Visitation Program. includes Govt coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!

Only if you voluntarily invite them in, and a lot of people need all the help they can get, especially during the early years. Parenting is not instict, it's a learned skill.

Pg 859 Govt will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes that’s Billion.

* F-22 that the silly GOP wants: $361 million per aircraft, plus $44000 per hour of flight each! 600 of these is $216 Billion.
* The AIG and bank bailouts: up to $23 Trillion! $40 Billion for AIG, $20 Billion for BofA, $20 Billion for Citigroup (TARP corporate beneficiaries).

$88 billion to get everyone health care? A bargain, and an investment in our citizens.

Pg 865 The Govt will MANDATE the establishment of a National Health Service Corps.

What's the problem with that? You don't have to join, but if you do you will get *training* in health care professions.

Pg 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Dr's. perform mandatory HC for 2yrs for part loan repayment.

Not required for all doctors, and a good way to help pay the high costs of med school. A good thing for the medical profession.

Pg 876-892 The Govt takes over the education of our Med students and Dr's.

No, again a distortion. The government helps pay for training of doctors, thus helping people who aren't rich already become doctors. This is a good thing.

Pg 898 The Govt will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps to ensure supply of public health prof.

So? It will help to get more primary care doctors, nurses, etc. Then we won't have to import doctors and nurses from third world countries like we do now.

Pg 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.

Someone has to pay them during their training, and the insurance companies won't.

Pg 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.

So? Structure, not some dastardly conspiracy.

Pg 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians. WHAT???

Who else will help control stray animal populations, treat service dogs and see to it that our livestock is healthy?

Pg 901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HC Draft?

No, that's fearmongering. This just defines structure.

Pg 910 The Govt will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.

Good. Teaching hospitals are in short supply.

Pg 913-914 Govt starts a HC affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.

Aww, poor little white guy, no more priviledge in attending med school. Again, not a bad thing - now med school wants lots of money (rich white make privilege)

Pg 915 SEC. 2251. Govt MANDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HC professionals.

Good. Weeds out the bigots.

Pg 932 The Govt will establish Preventative & Wellness Trust fund- initial cost of $30,800,000,000- almost 31Billion $.

Less than AIG sucked out of us. Potentially a bigger payoff in healthcare savings.

Pg 935 21-22 Govt will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities.

They already do this - Surgeon General

Pg 936 Govt will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Perform. Standards” Tell me what to eat?

They already do. Along with every asinine diet and celebrity shill.

Pg 942 Lines 22-25 More Govt? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Svc, Minority Health, Women’s Health

Specialties are good. Wasn't this guy whining about specialists being underpaid/

Pg 950 - 980 BIG GOVT core pub health infrastructure including workforce capacity, lab systems; health info sys, etc

This whining doesn't make sense. The insurance companies already have this, at our expense, and use it to deny us coverage.

Pg 993 Govt will establish school based health clinics. Your kids won’t have a chance, they will be indoctrinated into the government system.

Oh, another dog whistle - "indoctrinated" - the legislation says nothing about indoctrination. School based clinics are essential to being sure that kids get access to healthcare, even if their parents work and can't take them to appointments.

Pg 994 School Based Health Clinic will be integrated into the school environment.

This basically reestablishes school nurses that have been cheese-pared. Not a bad thing.

Pg 1001 The Govt will establish a National Medical Device Registry.

Less opportunity for snake oil, bogus devices and fraud. Another good thing.

---

All in all, while the bill falls woefully short of taking the profit motive out of health care, it provides much better regulation of the health insurance industry, and even helps poor people get training in health care! And it's far, far cheaper than Bush's wars and TARP.