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switch842Simply because much of it is over my head as I am just NOT politically minded. Plus, politics is generally a very personal thing and they always say to never talk politics amongst friends. LOL
But, this I just can't keep away from. It's about the new healthcare bill that's making the rounds in Washington. My husband wrote this and I must say that I 100% agree with everything he says here. I'm just going to copy what he wrote directly since he says it much better than I ever could. There are links, too, for additional information. And I'm cutting this since it is quite long. And to spare those that may not have any interest. But, even if you don't get involved much with politics, please read this since it does affect EVERY AMERICAN. And in a quite unfair way, I must say.
I send out this email to inform all who are not paying attention to what their representatives are up to in Washington D.C. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee Referred House Resolution (H.R.) 3200 to the House of Representatives for a Vote (1). The stated purpose is: "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes" (2).
Unfortunately, as is almost always the case, this bill is not what politicians claim. It is the complete socialization of the entire healthcare system. For those who claim that this is a gross exaggeration, I suggest they read the entire 470 page bill, which is posted online at www.Thomas.gov. I have provided a link to the printer friendly version below, see Reference 2.
Aware of how few people have the time to read this monster of a bill, here is a summary of the bill's lowlights.
#1 Private health insurance is outlawed. Or at least this bill causes the equivalent, though most likely over a few decades. Go to Section 102 PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE (page 13 in the printer friendly PDF format).
Once there you will find the following:
(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT-
(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance 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.
This effectively outlaws the creation of any new insurance policies after Y1, which is defined as 2013 in Part II (25). So if you have coverage, and you like it and want to keep it, you will never be able to change it. If you get insurance through your employer, then you can never leave your current job. You can never start a new business and keep your insurance. Your employer cannot shop around and get a new plan with lower costs.
Paragraph (B) provides for dependant coverage to be added to existing policies. Fortunately, the term "dependant" does not appear to be redefined. Therefore a new baby can be covered under an existing policy, but once the dependent (who is not a spouse) turns 26, the government plan will be the only option for those unfortunate children.
This is the death knell for private insurance. Within 50 years, no one will be eligible for private insurance. Do you believe in choice? I do. I'm not paying taxes to be told what I can and cannot do with regard to my health. Item 1 alone is enough to kill this bill. So what else is in this bill?
#2 The Y1 start date of 2013 is considered a "Grace Period" to allow people to set up insurance programs which you need to keep for the rest of your life. See "b) Grace Period for Current Employment-based Health Plan" on the following page (2). I don't need the coverage now that I will need in 40 years. This "Grace Period" is a joke.
#3 There are some supposed good things like:
SEC. 111. PROHIBITING PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSIONS.
SEC. 112. GUARANTEED ISSUE AND RENEWAL FOR INSURED PLANS.
SEC. 113. INSURANCE RATING RULES.
But these requirements cost money. These three sections will drive up costs in private insurance plans. This will make "SEC. 116 - ENSURING VALUE AND LOWER PREMIUMS" impossible to achieve. It will lead to private plans shutting down because they cannot meet the arbitrary standards set by this bill. Anyone who has taken an ECON 101 course understands this fact. If you have never taken ECON 101, I recommend Basic Economics By Thomas Sowell.
#4 The bill provides: SEC. 132. REQUIRING FAIR GRIEVANCE AND APPEALS MECHANISMS. The constitution provided the same requirement in the Bill of Rights. Amendment 1 provides us the ability to petition congress for a redress grievances (3). This has not been honored by congress since the Congress stopped reading citizen petitions in 1838 (4). If Congress will not respect it (4), and the Supreme Court will not address it (5), despite it being in the constitution, why should I expect a nameless bureaucrat in Washington to respect it in a 470 page congressional boondoggle?
Now I have reached page 30 in this bill, and I am already feeling sick. I can read no more. If you need more, you can keep reading. I have read enough to know that this Bill is a load of manure. I don't even want to know what they are promising in the government program, because I know it is a lie. We will be heavily taxed to get a slow-moving, underfunded, socialized system like Canada or Great Britain. Do you really want post office managers, or DMV staffers overseeing your healthcare?
Personally I don't think healthcare needs this kind of reform. I think that most of the present problems in the healthcare system is due to onerous regulations like this Bill. I have had enough and I hope that you are starting to see what I see.
So what can you do about this? How can you prevent this? Call your Representative.
Don't know who your Rep is? Follow this link: http://www.house.gov/ In the upper left corner, enter your ZIP Code and the site will tell you.
If you do not like what see in this bill, tell others, and pass on this email.
References:
1. Thomas.gov - HR3200 Congressional Actions (http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR03200:@@@X )
2 Thomas.gov - HR3200 Text of Legislation (http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c111:./temp/~c111OCdstd)
3. Archives.gov - Bill of Rights (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html)
4. Burgess, John Williams. The Middle Period, 1817-1858: the American History Series. Page 270
(Available at:http://www.kessinger.net/searchresults-orderthebook.php?Author=Burgess,+John+William#2)
5. Supreme Court Decision - Minnesota BD. For Community Colleges vs. Knight (465 U.S. 271)
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=us/465/271.html)
But, this I just can't keep away from. It's about the new healthcare bill that's making the rounds in Washington. My husband wrote this and I must say that I 100% agree with everything he says here. I'm just going to copy what he wrote directly since he says it much better than I ever could. There are links, too, for additional information. And I'm cutting this since it is quite long. And to spare those that may not have any interest. But, even if you don't get involved much with politics, please read this since it does affect EVERY AMERICAN. And in a quite unfair way, I must say.
I send out this email to inform all who are not paying attention to what their representatives are up to in Washington D.C. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee Referred House Resolution (H.R.) 3200 to the House of Representatives for a Vote (1). The stated purpose is: "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes" (2).
Unfortunately, as is almost always the case, this bill is not what politicians claim. It is the complete socialization of the entire healthcare system. For those who claim that this is a gross exaggeration, I suggest they read the entire 470 page bill, which is posted online at www.Thomas.gov. I have provided a link to the printer friendly version below, see Reference 2.
Aware of how few people have the time to read this monster of a bill, here is a summary of the bill's lowlights.
#1 Private health insurance is outlawed. Or at least this bill causes the equivalent, though most likely over a few decades. Go to Section 102 PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE (page 13 in the printer friendly PDF format).
Once there you will find the following:
(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT-
(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance 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.
This effectively outlaws the creation of any new insurance policies after Y1, which is defined as 2013 in Part II (25). So if you have coverage, and you like it and want to keep it, you will never be able to change it. If you get insurance through your employer, then you can never leave your current job. You can never start a new business and keep your insurance. Your employer cannot shop around and get a new plan with lower costs.
Paragraph (B) provides for dependant coverage to be added to existing policies. Fortunately, the term "dependant" does not appear to be redefined. Therefore a new baby can be covered under an existing policy, but once the dependent (who is not a spouse) turns 26, the government plan will be the only option for those unfortunate children.
This is the death knell for private insurance. Within 50 years, no one will be eligible for private insurance. Do you believe in choice? I do. I'm not paying taxes to be told what I can and cannot do with regard to my health. Item 1 alone is enough to kill this bill. So what else is in this bill?
#2 The Y1 start date of 2013 is considered a "Grace Period" to allow people to set up insurance programs which you need to keep for the rest of your life. See "b) Grace Period for Current Employment-based Health Plan" on the following page (2). I don't need the coverage now that I will need in 40 years. This "Grace Period" is a joke.
#3 There are some supposed good things like:
SEC. 111. PROHIBITING PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSIONS.
SEC. 112. GUARANTEED ISSUE AND RENEWAL FOR INSURED PLANS.
SEC. 113. INSURANCE RATING RULES.
But these requirements cost money. These three sections will drive up costs in private insurance plans. This will make "SEC. 116 - ENSURING VALUE AND LOWER PREMIUMS" impossible to achieve. It will lead to private plans shutting down because they cannot meet the arbitrary standards set by this bill. Anyone who has taken an ECON 101 course understands this fact. If you have never taken ECON 101, I recommend Basic Economics By Thomas Sowell.
#4 The bill provides: SEC. 132. REQUIRING FAIR GRIEVANCE AND APPEALS MECHANISMS. The constitution provided the same requirement in the Bill of Rights. Amendment 1 provides us the ability to petition congress for a redress grievances (3). This has not been honored by congress since the Congress stopped reading citizen petitions in 1838 (4). If Congress will not respect it (4), and the Supreme Court will not address it (5), despite it being in the constitution, why should I expect a nameless bureaucrat in Washington to respect it in a 470 page congressional boondoggle?
Now I have reached page 30 in this bill, and I am already feeling sick. I can read no more. If you need more, you can keep reading. I have read enough to know that this Bill is a load of manure. I don't even want to know what they are promising in the government program, because I know it is a lie. We will be heavily taxed to get a slow-moving, underfunded, socialized system like Canada or Great Britain. Do you really want post office managers, or DMV staffers overseeing your healthcare?
Personally I don't think healthcare needs this kind of reform. I think that most of the present problems in the healthcare system is due to onerous regulations like this Bill. I have had enough and I hope that you are starting to see what I see.
So what can you do about this? How can you prevent this? Call your Representative.
Don't know who your Rep is? Follow this link: http://www.house.gov/ In the upper left corner, enter your ZIP Code and the site will tell you.
If you do not like what see in this bill, tell others, and pass on this email.
References:
1. Thomas.gov - HR3200 Congressional Actions (http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR03200:@@@X )
2 Thomas.gov - HR3200 Text of Legislation (http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c111:./temp/~c111OCdstd)
3. Archives.gov - Bill of Rights (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html)
4. Burgess, John Williams. The Middle Period, 1817-1858: the American History Series. Page 270
(Available at:http://www.kessinger.net/searchresults-orderthebook.php?Author=Burgess,+John+William#2)
5. Supreme Court Decision - Minnesota BD. For Community Colleges vs. Knight (465 U.S. 271)
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=us/465/271.html)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-22 06:32 pm (UTC)