H.R.3200 - America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

StatBlues · Aug 1, 2009

http://www.rallycongress.com/the-national-912-petition/

The above link takes you to a site that contains many petitions to sign. The one that I am focusing on today is the one that is the first one on the list "Please Vote No On Universal Health Care". I urge you to sign the petition and then click the link to send it to your Representative and Senators. Do it even if you think it will do no good. The more they hear from us, the more they will have to listen.

For those of you who are not aware of what is contained in the present health care bill as it has been presented in the House of Representatives, please let me give you some of the highlights, things that the Obama administration and the Pelosi majority do not want we the people to know:

Page 22 - mandates the government will audit the books of all employers that self-insure

Page 29 - rations your healthcare; essential benefits are defined and there is an annual limitation of $5,000/individual and $10,000/family

Page 30 – the "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide what treatment/benefits you receive

Page 317 – government can prohibit a hospital from expanding

Page 341 – gives government the authority to disqualify certain plans, i.e. Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part B)

Page 353 – sets limitations on enrollment of special needs individuals

Pages 769-770 – Family Planning Services (code phrase for government funded abortion)

And from the text of the bill itself:

SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE.

(a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE DEFINED.-Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term ''grandfathered health insurance coverage'' means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:

(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.-

(A) IN GENERAL.-Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance

13 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.

(B) DEPENDENT COVERAGE PERMITTED.-Subparagraph (A) shall not affect the subsequent enrollment of a dependent of an individual who is covered as of such first day.

What the above essentially says is that you can keep your present coverage until something happens that you no longer have it. Once that happens, you are out of luck. Look at the sentence under (A) and beginning with 13 it says that there will be no new enrollees allowed in any existing programs. Also there is a provision that 5 years post it becoming law, every insurance program must undergo a government review so the government can determine whether or not it is providing the coverage that the government thinks it should be providing. How is that any different than having the government plan?

The following is an overview of the present House bill:

http://www.liberty.edu/media/9980/attachments/healthcare_overview_obama_072909.pdf

Or if you are really brave and have a lot of reading time available here is the link to the entire bill:

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Here is a link to the Republican alternative:

http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf

Here is a link to a site that is trying to not only get the word out, but also propose alternatives:

http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/

If this was not such an important issue, if it did not affect us all so very much, I would not be appealing to you. Please prayerfully consider signing the petition. There is a better way of addressing the difficulties in health care that exist. We need to fight against the lies that are being told about how the Republicans do not have an alternative plan, about how there are 47 million Americans without sufficient health care when the actual number is closer to 10 million (many in the most quoted number are illegal aliens, those who are eligible for Medicaid and just haven't signed up or those who choose not to purchase health insurance for whatever reasons they might have.)

StatBlues · Aug 1, 2009

Poll question....

For

Against

this bill?

lamazeteacher · Aug 1, 2009

http://www.rallycongress.com/the-national-912-petition/
the above link takes you to a site that contains many petitions to sign. the one that i am focusing on today is the one that is the first one on the list "please vote no on universal health care". i urge you to sign the petition and then click the link to send it to your representative and senators. do it even if you think it will do no good. the more they hear from us, the more they will have to listen.
i will not lie to my representative, about claims you say come from the health care bill! unless there is an official heading, and the information is from a government official link, it is suspect!
for those of you who are not aware of what is contained in the present health care bill as it has been presented in the house of representatives, please let me give you some of the highlights, things that the obama administration and the pelosi majority do not want we the people to know:
page 22 - mandates the government will audit the books of all employers that self-insure the government has the right to audit any books they feel might reveal fraud.
page 29 - rations your healthcare; essential benefits are defined and there is an annual limitation of $5,000/individual and $10,000/family that is a bold faced lie!
page 30 - the "health choices commissioner" will decide what treatment/benefits you receive and private insurance companies do that, often refusing to cover medications such as the prevacid i take for gerd, requiring that i "try" drugs that i did try before, that don't adequately relieve my s/s.
when i've been told that, i say, "why do you want me to be miserable?"
page 317 - government can prohibit a hospital from expanding that is highly unlikely, unless occupancy is very low, and they're pleading for financial assistance
page 341 - gives government the authority to disqualify certain plans, i.e. medicare advantage (medicare part b)
the plans wouldn't be disqualified if coverage for medicare recipients in the new system duplicate the awards in medicare b has been in place now, as it is already for people receiving social security payments. the cost is subtracted from the payment and can be applied to the cost of a voluntarily chosen hmo. i seriously doubt the veracity of this claim.
disabled patients on medicare don't have that language (medicare b) in their coverage, only seniors on it do.
page 353 - sets limitations on enrollment of special needs individuals you don't think allnurses.com members would believe that government would leave "special needs" individuals uncovered, do you? i've worked as the pediatric consultant for a regional center (a government agency), and assessed admitted patients for their nursing care needs. their social worker case managers obtained appropriate health care coverage. there are excellent programs in place for these people - and it's government run.......
pages 769-770 - family planning services (code phrase for government funded abortion) oh, now i see where bthis is coming from...... family planning has never been "abortion". shame on you for presenting that malarky!
and from the text of the bill itself:
sec. 102. protecting the choice to keep current coverage.
(a) grandfathered health insurance coverage defined.-subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term ''grandfathered health insurance coverage'' means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of y1 if the following conditions are met:
(1) limitation on new enrollment.-
(a) in general.-except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance
13 what's that? 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. that is not what the bill says! i will get the correct wording and post it here (although that may not be possible come to think of it), as we can't post copies of articles/published laws without the permission of authors.....
(b) dependent coverage permitted.-subparagraph (a) shall not affect the subsequent enrollment of a dependent of an individual who is covered as of such first day. this could be a newborn, or family acquired through adoption or marriage to a covered individual.
your interpretation below is squewed, as the intention of any protective clause which might be in line with the below statements below (but since this post has so many untruths, i doubt it) means that if a private insurance company stops covering a person, due to non payment (presumably because its cost is too dear) or written statemenbt that other coverage is desired.
what the above (b) essentially says is that you can keep your present coverage until something happens that you no longer have it. once that happens, you are out of luck. no, the public coverage takes over! look at the sentence under (a) and beginning with 13 it says that there will be no new enrollees allowed in any existing programs. that's not true! also there is a provision that 5 years post it becoming law, every insurance program must undergo a government review so the government can determine whether or not it is providing the coverage that the government thinks it should be providing. how is that any different than having the government plan?
it isn't the government plan, but as with anything else that affects consumers in thie country, government approval is necessary to protect people from being scammed, just as building plans must demonstrate a viable structure, and drugs otc or prescribed must follow certain manufacturing guidelines. government inspectors must approve buildings at different stages of building, and factories manufacturing drugs can expect a government inspector's visit any time, to make sure the guidelines are followed, for the safety of all residents in this country. the same is true of many businesses, such as child care. this is certainly not a concern!
the following is an overview of the present house bill: by whom? i am unable to access this link, as presented.
http://www.liberty.edu/media/9980/attachments/healthcare_overview_obama_072909.pdf
or if you are really brave and have a lot of reading time available here is the link to the entire bill:
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/aahca-billtext-071409.pdf also unattainable
here is a link to the republican alternative: unattainable
http://help.senate.gov/bai09a84_xml.pdf
here is a link to a site that is trying to not only get the word out, but also propose alternatives:
http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/ unattainable
if this was not such an important issue, if it did not affect us all so very much, i would not be appealing to you.
or if you didn't have an unstated agenda which requires that the health care bill go unpassed.......
please prayerfully consider signing the petition. there is a better way of addressing the difficulties in health care that exist. we need to fight against the lies that are being told about how the republicans do not have an alternative plan, (if there was a republican plan, don't you think there would be evidence of it, by now?)
about how there are 47 million americans without sufficient health care when the actual number is closer to 10 million (many in the most quoted number are illegal aliens, the figure is clearly stated as not including persons who are here illegally, as it is taken from legitimate sources of legal residents!
those who are eligible for medicaid and just haven't signed up or those who choose not to purchase health insurance for whatever reasons they might have.)

i know people who, for various reasons wish to be anonymous (like a stalker would find them if their names were on public lists), so they do without programs such as medicaid.

lamazeteacher · Aug 1, 2009

Poll question....
Against
this bill?

For: LAMAZETEACHER :yeah:

heathert_kc · Aug 3, 2009

I love how you post pages with supposed fact, but in actuality u are post either ur opinion or own interptation of what it says. It's not exactly black and white. Though overall I do not agree with all of what I have read from unbiased sources (not those with an agenda). I do agree that things are totally and completely out of control and there absolutely needs to be healthcare reform. I mean if u go to the dr or work in any type of facility you have seen the totally disgusting waste that occurs, unnecessary procedures and tests, things repeated that don't need to b& unneeded Rx...and the pay for play system that we have encourages greed. We reward the physicians that do the most tests and procedures not the ones who preform there jobs the best, who r the most efficient.

lamazeteacher · Aug 4, 2009

look here to see what's in the health care bill: chilling!
take a look at what actually is in the health care bill. obama makes disingenuous comments like "you'll still keep your doctor" or "you'll keep your existing health care." he is either lying to us or he has no idea what is in it. take a peek at the full report , or look at some of the highlights here:
why just peek at it, it won't bite, but reading it thoroughly isn't difficult and might reveal that your remarks are disingenuous (dictionary states that is "frank, open; naive; simple", so disingenuous, the criticism you made about our president, means the opposite of that. you do realize that you have maligned the person in the highest position of the land, without giving a single evidence based reason for it, don't you? i wonder what the real reason you state that, is?
pg 22 of the hc bill mandates the government will audit books of all employers that self insure. can you imagine what that will do to small businesses? every one will abandon "self insurance " and go on government insurance. again, you haven't said why "self insurance would be abandoned. since small businesses haven't the enormous financial resources necessary to "self insure", it's unlikely that they would do that. only big businesses can afford that! so when obama says that there will still be private health care, it's simply a lie: this mandate will force employers to abandon their private plans. no, it means that, as all businesses must do, it is occasionally necessary to check their credibility, as the irs does with some regularity, especially if a small business was to raise a "red flag" by "self insuring" their employees, without the backing to do that.
on page 21, it describes "insurance rating rules" as "sec. 113: (a) in general- the premium rate charged for an insured qualified health benefits plan may not vary except as follows:............" and then lists age variations, area, family enrollment and "(b) study and reports. (1) study - the commissioner, in coordination with the secretary of health and human services and the secretary of labor, shall conduct a study of the large group insured and self-insured (page 23 line 1) employer health care markets. such study shall examine the following..........."
the bill goes on to describe, on page 22 "(a)........types of employers by key characteristics, including size" ............" (b) "similarities and differences between typical insured and self insured health plans." ©"the financial solvency and capital reserve levels of employers that self insure........."(d) "the risk of self insured employers not being able to pay obligations or otherwise becoming financially insolvent."
now how does that substantiate your claim, statblues, that our president was lying. he never said that the bill wouldn't have such safeguards. it would be foolish and allow fraud, not to do that
pg 30 sec 123 of hc bill - a government committee it states there, that "there is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the health benefits advisory committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans" it goes on to state that the surgeon general will head that committee, and on page 31 states that it will include 9 members "who are not federal employees or officers and who are appointed by the president ............" (good luck with that!) why are you sceptical that about that? ridicule is the fodder of those who beat the drum to get their country to go in a different direction than that ordered by its chief commander. will decide what treatments /benefits a person may receive. there is nothing there about treatments or benefits!
pg 29 lines 4-16 in the hc bill - starting on line 4 through : "(a) annual limitation.-the cost sharing incurred under the essential benefits package with respect to an individual (or family) for a year does not exceed the applical level specified in subparagraph (b) applicable level.- the applicable level specified in this subparagraph for y1 is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. such levels will 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 each year." your healthcare will be rationed! (we all knew this, because health care is rationed in canada and britain, but obama kept saying it would not be)this is the public plan only!
now i'm 70 years old and have recurrent gi bleeding, and this year i have been seen (after a 2 hour wait) in an er and admitted for 3 days to a telemetry unit for transfusions, ivs, endoscopy, etc. and i have daily medications that cost me $1500/month before being put on medicaid which pays for them (at a lower, negotiated rate). in a year, medicare has paid about $1,000 less than $5,000 for frequent lab tests, doctors' appointments, and routine endoscopy and colonoscopy; and i'll be eligible for "catastrophic coverage" after $1200.more is incurred for my health care. what has been rationed, is the amount of money paid the pharmacies, labs, doctors, etc. who of course billed for more. my health care has not been rationed at all!
pg 42 of hc bill - actually, this is on page 41, the health choices administration: health choices commissioner ".......there is hereby established, as an independent agency in the executive branch of the government, a health choices administration......." the commissioner is "......appointed by the president, by and with the consent of the senbate."will choose your hc benefits for you. you will have no choice! page 42 states that the commissioner's duties include responsibility for maintainance of "(1) qualified plan standards.- the establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with state insurance regulators and secretaries of labor and the treasury." the adherence to standards is essential in preventing fraud, and punishing those perpetrators of it.
pg 50 section 152 in hc bill - hc will be provided to all non us citizens, illegal or otherwise.on this page there is no reference to legality or "non us citizens". sec.152 prohibiting discrimination in health care states, ......"except as otherwise explicitly permitted by this act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities)" page 51 line 1 "covered by this act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services" and on that page, in sec. 153 whistleblower protection is described .
pg 58 hc bill - government will have real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual's financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine readable health plan beneficiary identification card;......."access to individual's finances and a national id healthcard will be issued! nothing there refers to individual's finances!!
pg 59 hc bill lines 21-24 government will have direct access to your bank accts for election funds transfer no!!
you know that you must sign something to allow anything to be added or taken from your banked funds!
those lines state, "© enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice;"
about 6 months ago, i decided not to have any bank accounts, so no "automated" withdrawals can be made. i was sick and tired of having withdrawals made by the bank, to pay penalties that went up considerably and arbitrarily; and usually weren't substantiated. there is no law saying you have to have a bank account, and i'm quite happy using cash, travellors' checks and money orders to pay for what i need.
i'm not going to continue to refute the rest of this diatribe against the bill that we can choose to use, or not. it is insulting to our intelligence to have anyone put unlikely and untrue translations regarding this long awaited plan for the availability of health care insurance for everyone, regardless of "characteristics". you have seen that the quoted post is biased to mislead readers for the purpose of dissing the health care revisions, and persuading them to believe republican rhetoric abusing this administration. this is the not very hidden agenda of its perpetrator(s).
please read the bill in increments and digest the content, making your own conclusions. don't let anyone mislead the meaning of it for you!
thank you!

StatBlues · Aug 8, 2009

Everyone has an opinion.

But, seems the Gov does not like that.

It is getting scary out there

Talk about scary !!!

Are we now like in the old days cking for communist? Now ....emailers? What happen to freedom of speech???

======

White House steps up health care offensive with a blog that asks supporters to turn in 'fishy' information, sparking Big Brother fears - and outrage.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/06/evolution-obama/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/06/conservatives-vow-letup-health-protests/

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/08/06/andrea-tantaros-obama-community-organizer/

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamas-dissident-database-could-be-secret----and-permanent-52571822.html

http://www.foxnews.com/

I heard one of the Democratic Senators talking about how the people demonstrating against the health care plan were resorting to brown shirt tactics -- and yet they are the ones making enemy lists and asking people to turn in their neighbors. I really do find this very disturbing. I never would have thought ten or fifteen years ago that this would be happening here in America. It does scare me. We have always had the right to disagree with those in authority - no matter who they are.

I wonder now just how far they plan on taking this.

ShayRN · Aug 8, 2009

What scares me is people who are against an administration just because he is of the opposite party. No matter what Pres. Obama does the right votes against it. What scares me is that you would post half truths and bold face lies and expect me to believe it all. Must be because the previous administration spent so much time lying it is hard to tell what is fact or fiction anymore.

BTW, using Fox news as your source does NOT help your cause. Show me something from CNN.

UKRNinUSA, RN · Aug 8, 2009

If Republicans do not unite 100 percent –and soon – behind the idea that the unholy trinity must be stopped dead or we will not have the American Republic that we have all known all our lives, it may soon be too late. Maybe it's time all of you got just a little mad.

I really do hope that you are not calling for the assassination of President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

Your rhetoric is alarming. I would caution you to choose your words carefully or they may be misconstrued.

UKRNinUSA, RN · Aug 8, 2009

Former Right-To-Lifer Frank Schaeffer blasts the extremists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC0qHnWsP5k

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Aug 8, 2009

I've edited initial post to comporm with copyright laws as it's an article posted @ another site..

RE hysteria over some of this legislation: Much of it is already current practice/health care policy and regulations in place... will most more later after family time.