Socialized Medicine

The following is a sequence of Tweets from a blogger for Newsweek who is reading the bill:

Seniors are especially affected by this bill, and so I am begging all you seniors and children of senior parents and those who will be seniors in the near future to take time to read this list below. It is written in Twitter language but I think all can "get" the gist."

Following the mad recommendations of Peter Singer made in NYT's Sunday magazine, it pays to take a look at what is actually in the healthcare bill.

It's worse than you can possibly imagine. Somehow, it manages to be Singer on steroids. Who wrote this bill. It has Singer's footprints all over it.

Peter Fleckstein (aka Fleckman) is reading it and has been posting on Twitter his findings. This is from his postings (Note: All comments are Fleckman's)

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

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

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

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC Benefits 4 you. U have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided 2 ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access 2 individuals' finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts 4 elect. funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs 4 priv. HC plans in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration ur Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example - Translation 4 illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members - U Health care WILL b rationed

-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will b automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monop

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

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

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay 4 HC 4 part time employees AND their families.

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

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC accrdng 2 Govt will be taxed 2.5% of inc

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

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access 2 ALL Americans finan/pers recs

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician svcs 4 Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty u have, you'll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr's time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans.

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

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

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to

rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals 4 what Govt deems preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admiss that results in a readmiss-Govt will penalize u.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own.

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

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want.

Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl! ***. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life

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

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The Govt has a say in how ur life ends

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An "adv. care planning consult" will b used frequently as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may incl an ORDER 4 end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will have at end of life

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment 2 a community-based

org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt in2 ur

marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs

-> Socialized medicine. Nuf said?

stop listening to the scare tactics, please see thread,

https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/i-really-dont-407108-new.html

we're up to 9 pages and counting.

Maybe. Maybe not. We're already seeing that trend with physicians in this country and they are the highest paid physicians in the world (with respect to per capita comparisons). I think it will likely have less of an effect on CRNA's than with MDs. Because with MD, people just won't become one...the potential MD's will just go on to become investment bankers. Nurses will always want to be CRNA's because the payscale is so dramatically different than being an RN. And realistically that would be the desired effect anyway...more CRNA's and NPs, fewer MD's overseeing them. It would save a lot of money in the system because CRNA's and NP's are cheap.

Hi, I have heard that Obama's "Universal Healthcare" or socialized medicine or whatever will cause Doctors to take paycuts because they make so much. Will this have the same effect on CRNAs and, if so, won't that cause a shortage of them in the future since the pay is reflective of what it took to get there and stay there?

The term "socialised medicine" is deliberately inflammatory (probably PR-engineered by the far right). "Universal health care" means that a society has sufficient moral compass to ensure that its unfortunate - those who have for whatever reason been unable to catch the money train - don't languish in the gutter and die young from preventable diseases etc.

Before you believe this kind of negative rhetoric check out the situation in other countries - like Australia - where publicly funded (i.e. my taxes) Medicare ensures that if you are poor and sick you will receive top quality treatment.

Our doctors are just as rich (if that's important to you) as USAmerican doctors and senior RNs - especially at the DON level and upwards in major hospitals - earn more than $100K pa. As a starting RN with a BN I will earn around $50K pa base rate.

No, we can make a good living of medicare patients. We have lower expectations then our MD counterparts.

It's not "socialized medicine." Check your facts.

I've wondered somewhat of the same thing. I'm an LPN at the moment and am RN school and graduate in 2010. Everyone is saying that nursing salaries will drop dramatically. I honestly don't think that would happen.

Any comments? Suggestions?

Dave

'

One thing's for sure: The plan is to raise taxes to pre-Regan levels, which will unfairly impact doctors and advanced-practice nurses. Congress and the president have already admitted that those levels will have to be adjusted in the future to make up for shortfalls. That translates to a pay cut for them.

If nursing salaries drop dramatically, you'll find thousands upon thousands of retirees and nurses looking to change careers!

It's not "socialized medicine." Check your facts.

I just did. And it is. That's the term for publicly-funded healthcare.

Only part of it is publicly funded. There will still be private insurance. Also, who cares if it raises taxes we still have one of the lowest tax rates in the world. American whine too much (says the American). I for one would appreciate being able to afford insurance while I'm going to school...again.

-b

This is information taken directly from the AANA website. If we go with socialized medicine CRNAs will take a pay cut. There is no way around it. Private insurance pays more for the same procedures. Government pays less hence.....we will make less.

GAO Report Confirms: Medicare Underpays for Anesthesia Services;

Nurse Anesthetists Assure Seniors Access to Safe Anesthesia Care

Park Ridge, Ill. - A new report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirms that Medicare anesthesia payments are 67 percent lower than anesthesia payments from private insurance coverage, and that America's Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are essential to ensuring that America's seniors have access to safe anesthesia care for surgery, pain management, and other needed healthcare services.

"Medicare pays about 87 percent of market rates for most services, but about 34 percent for anesthesia services--a level even lower than another government report found just five years ago," said Wanda Wilson, CRNA, PhD, president of the 36,000-member American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). "While the cost effective and high quality services of CRNAs have made it possible to meet the needs of seniors, such low reimbursements are not sustainable, nor are they good for the overall health of the Medicare program. The AANA is asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Congress to work together to reverse anesthesia payment cuts for all anesthesia providers and restore fair anesthesia payment. And we urge the public to join with us."

Despite the fact that Medicare payment for anesthesia services is far below comparable payments for other Medicare services, the GAO's August 27 report confirmed that the nation's CRNAs play a crucial role in ensuring that seniors have access to safe anesthesia services. "We generally found fewer anesthesiologists in localities with a greater concentration of Medicare beneficiaries," the GAO report stated. "In contrast, we generally found more CRNAs in localities with higher concentrations of Medicare beneficiaries."

In addition, the report shows that in localities where the gap between private anesthesia payments and Medicare payments are relatively small, anesthesia services are more likely to be provided by CRNAs. Conversely, in localities where the gap between private payments and Medicare payments is relatively wide, anesthesia services are less likely to be provided by CRNAs. These conclusions confirm the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of nurse anesthesia services.

"This report is confirmation that nurse anesthetists play a vital role in assuring that seniors have access to the surgical, pain management, and other healthcare services they need," said Wilson. "The report also demonstrates the importance of the Medicare payment policy which affords reasonable cost-based anesthesia care in select rural and critical access hospitals where CRNAs are typically the sole anesthesia providers."