(I have compiled everything into one page for easier consumption. Click the link at the top right of this blog and you'll be taken to it...)
(For those of you who missed me on the radio last night, you can GO HERE and listen to me take apart the Right Wing Fart Machine on Air America's Nicole Sandler Show...)
As noted previously, lawyers are quite long winded, and the person/people who wrote this "critique"of the bill obviously stayed up all night, drinking copious amounts of coffee and laughing maniacally at their coup of finding so many things to hate about the Obama Health care plan.
This is the second installment debunking the Liberty Counsel Memo on what they claim is in the original Health Care Bill (HR 3200), and the third part overall. Seriously, this should provide a rebuttal for pretty much every BS talking point the far right has come up with. The first two parts are Here (Part I) and Here (Part II)).
To remind you, The Liberty Counsel is a lobbying group that describes itself as "a nationwide public interest religious civil liberties law firm," according to the memo, which is conveniently located on their web site. The Liberty Counsel's web site tells more...
I also urge you to read through the actual bill, so that you know what's in there. In this part, we'll start on page 734. (And do NOT be intimidated by the 1017 pages. If the margins, line spacing and text size were "normal," this would be a couple of hundred pages, at most.)
• Sec. 1651, Pg. 734, Lines 16-25 - Proposes, for law enforcement sake, that the Secretary of HHS will give Attorney General access to ALL medical data.
As usual, this is ridiculous. For one thing, this section of the bill actually extends regulations in the Social Security Act that have guided Medicare for years to the new public insurance system. Now, I'm unaware of the Department of Justice combine the files of elderly patients looking for reasons to arrest them.
The section in question is entitled:
Subtitle D—Access to Information Needed To Prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
SEC. 1651. ACCESS TO INFORMATION NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE.
The section they identify is as follows:
‘‘(d) ACCESS TO INFORMATION NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE.—For purposes of law enforcement activity, and to the extent consistent with applicable disclosure, privacy, and security laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Privacy Act of 1974, and subject to any information systems security requirements enacted by law or otherwise required by the Secretary, the Attorney General shall have access, facilitation by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, to
735
claims and payment data relating to titles XVIII and XIX, in consultation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the owner of such data.’’.
Now, there are a few things to consider with the above misinformation. There is nothing in the above that gives anyone in the government access to ALL medical data. It very clearly says any delivery of any information is subject to privacy laws.
But it gets worse. You'll note that I left the page number in there. See that? Liberty Counsel only noted lines 16-25, because they don't want you to read further. But the section they point to doesn't end at line 25. Of course, if you don't stop at line 25, you'll see that the section only deals with claims and payment data. Ouch! You know what that means? It means it has to do with providers; why would you go to patients for claims and payment data, since patients aren't paying. And note that there is nothing in this section about medical data. Patient data will not be subject to this law, only claims and payment data, and only if law enforcement has evidence of fraud, waste and abuse.
Yep, another lie...
• Sec. 1701 (beginning), Pg. 739-756 - The government sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (and you have to pay for them).
This one is absurd on many levels. For one thing, it's a lie. Here's the title of the section in question:
TITLE VII—MEDICAID AND CHIP
Subtitle A—Medicaid and Health Reform
SEC. 1701. ELIGIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH INCOME BELOW 133 1⁄3 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL
POVERTY LEVEL.
Let's start with the fact that most of the people in this category are actually already covered under Medicaid and S-CHIP programs. So technically, most of them aren't currently uninsured, so that's kind of silly. And those who are included in those programs are already being subsidized. And of COURSE the government sets guidelines for those. These people supported Bush; they know the rules. Poor folks who get subsidies from government are always subject to guidelines. Rich folks who get them are given the money free and clear.
But this is also silly for another reason…
One of the reasons why we need this reform is because those of us with insurance ALREADY SUBSIDIZE THE UNINSURED. That's why premiums have more than doubled in ten years; the uninsured end up in the ER, and they have no money and will never pay. So prices have to go up to compensate. Our insurance premiums and our tax money subsidizes the uninsured now. And if this passes, there will be many fewer uninsured, which means less subsidy.There's the disconnect in a nutshell folks.
• Sec. 1704, Pg. 756-761 - The government will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to states (your taxes).
Ok… Want to know what this section is actually about? Here's the beginning of the section:
SEC. 1704. REDUCTION IN MEDICAID DSH.
(a) REPORT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2016, the Secretary of Health and Human Services
(in this title referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit to Congress a report concerning the extent to which, based upon the impact of the health care reforms carried out under division A in reducing the number of uninsured individuals, there is a continued role for Medicaid DSH. In preparing the report, the Secretary shall consult with community-based health care networks serving low-income beneficiaries.
Then, later:
(b) MEDICAID DSH REDUCTIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reduce Medicaid DSH so as to reduce total Federal payments to all States for such purpose by $1,500,000,000 in fiscal year 2017, $2,500,000,000 in fiscal year 2018, and $6,000,000,000 in fiscal year 2019.
Yes, that's right. The section is about folding Medicaid into the public health insurance system, which only makes sense. Right now, Medicaid works through the states. The states decide who qualifies, and cover people within the state, via payments from the federal government. As Medicaid is phased out, in favor of the public insurance system, the payments to states to cover payments to hospitals with high numbers of Medicaid patients will be reduced because there will be significantly fewer Medicaid patients, not because they're putting a larger burden on the states. Right now, the DSH money goes to hospitals with large numbers of Medicaid and uninsured payments; that will be less necessary, because nearly everyone who goes to these hospitals will be paid for, and health care inflation will slow down considerably as a result.
• Sec. 1711, Pg. 764 - The government will require preventative services - including vaccinations (no choice).
Here's another outright lie, folks. The section's title tells the tale:
SEC. 1711. REQUIRED COVERAGE OF PREVENTIVE SERVICES.
The term is required COVERAGE of preventive services. It means that preventive medicine will have to be covered under the public health insurance. There is nothing in that section that requires individuals to GET preventive care; the section requires that the insurance COVER such care.
• Sec. 1713, Pg. 768 - Government-determined Nurse Home Visitation Services (Hello union paybacks).
• Sec. 1713, Pg. 768, Lines 3-5 - Nurse Home Visit Services – Service #1: “Improving maternal or child health and pregnancy outcomes or increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Compulsory ABORTIONS?
• Sec. 1713, Pg. 768, Lines 11-14 - Nurse Home Visit Services include determinations of economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement and school-readiness.
Government-determined? Check out the title:
SEC. 1713. OPTIONAL COVERAGE OF NURSE HOME VISITATION SERVICES.
Has the word "optional" taken on a new meaning in recent years? Is it now a synonym for mandatory?
The one about abortion is absolutely fascinating. I challenge anyone who has ever gotten through elementary school reading to read "compulsory abortions" into the following section, which is the one they're quoting. (Okay, to be fair, they're urging you to only read the three lines that I will put in bold type for you):
‘‘(aa) The term ‘nurse home visitation services’ means home visits by trained nurses to families with a first-time pregnant woman, or a child (under 2 years of age), who is eligible for medical assistance under this title, but only, to the extent determined by the Secretary based upon evidence, that such services are effective in one or more of the following:
‘‘(1) Improving maternal or child health and pregnancy outcomes or increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.
‘‘(2) Reducing the incidence of child abuse, neglect, and injury, improving family stability (including reduction in the incidence of intimate partner violence), or reducing maternal and child involvement in the criminal justice system.
‘‘(3) Increasing economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement, school-readiness, and educational achievement, or reducing dependence on public assistance.’’
So, (1) is about the POSSIBILITY (note the word "optional" above) that the public insurance plan might cover (not make mandatory, but COVER) the use of home visits by trained nurses in BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND TO improve the health of the child and mother, to make sure the pregnancy goes well, and seem to encourage poor women to wait a little while between pregnancies. It's actually against the law for the government to use tax money to pay for abortions and, as these fine lawyers point out later on, all fees in this plan are to be treated as taxes. In order for them to cover abortions, they would have to repeal laws that have been on the books for more than 30 years. In other words, the whole abortion thing is -- you guessed it -- a lie.
As for the last one, all I can say is, either these lawyers have a serious reading deficiency, or they're lying about what the bill says. They refer to section (3) above. What Section (3) actually says is that the Committee will consider the POSSIBILITY of COVERING "nurse home visitation services" BECAUSE such visits increase economic self-sufficiency, etc.
• Sec. 1714, Pg. 769 - Federal government mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Abortion and government control intertwined.
Seriously; what are these people reading? It sure as hell can't be the bill. The section's title:
SEC. 1714. STATE ELIGIBILITY OPTION FOR FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES.
What's covered? Everything that is currently covered under Medicaid, which does NOT include abortion. In fact, public financial assistance for abortion has been illegal for more than 30 years, and there is nothing in this bill that repeals that law. This is the coverage:
the medical assistance made available to an individual described in subsection (hh) shall be limited to family planning services and supplies described in section 1905(a)(4)(C) including medical diagnosis and treatment services that are provided pursuant to a family planning service in a family planning setting’’ after ‘‘cervical cancer’’.
Honestly, people who would actually like to see the number of abortions reduced should be all for this public option health insurance, because it takes the cost of having a healthy baby out of the decision-making for women who are considering abortion. Just saying. You allegedly "pro-life" people should be loving this bill, because it doesn't provide money for abortions, and it makes women less likely to have one, because they can be assured of having a healthy baby, and assured that their baby can go to the doctor when he or she gets sick.
• Sec. 1733, Pg. 788-798 - Government will set and mandate drug prices, therefore controlling which drugs are brought to market. (Goodbye innovation and private research.)
Here's probably one of the biggest non-abortion lies in this screed. The government would only mandate the prices they PAY, not the prices overall. And here is the formula:
‘‘(5) USE OF AMP IN UPPER PAYMENT LIMITS.—The Secretary shall calculate the Federal upper reimbursement limit established under paragraph (4) as 130 percent of the weighted average (determined on the basis of manufacturer utilization) of monthly average manufacturer prices.’’.
What does that mean? It means hospitals will not be allowed to overcharge the public insurance system. Got that? It means a pharmacy in Bugtussle won't be able to charge $200 for a 30-day supply of a drug that has an average price of $100 everywhere else. It has nothing to do with the government setting prices; it's about the government refusing to be overcharged for them.
As for the ridiculous concept that, somehow innovation and private research will be affected, there are two reasons why that's crap. First, drug companies are largely subsidized for their R&D by the federal government now; they don't use much of their own money. Also, because of patent considerations, companies have a limited amount of time to gouge the public for their drugs, before companies can come along and produce their own versions of the drug. Therefore, they have to create new drugs in order to make more money.
Not only that, but as I noted previously, in the first six months after Medicare added a prescription drug benefit, the profits of the top 10 drug companies INCREASED by $8 billion. Even WITH price controls, how STUPID would one have to be to think drug companies would LOSE money by GAINING 47 million potential customers?
In other words, any of you who believe drug companies would go broke if price controls were put in place are among the most gullible people in the known universe.
• Sec. 1744, Pg. 796-799 - Establishes PAYMENTS for graduate medical education. The government will now control your doctor’s education.
It doesn't establish anything. They already pay graduate students. If they would bother to READ the section in question, they would find that it merely extends the payments under the Medicare and Medicaid laws to this insurance plan.
In order for you to believe this puts government in control of a doctor's education, then you have to believe that anyone who receives a Pell Grant is being controlled, as well. Seriously, this is that absurd.
• Sec.1751, Pg. 800 - The government will decide which Health Care conditions will be paid. Say “RATION!”
Can you say "LIE!"???
I'll give you a hint; here's the title of the section they reference:
SEC. 1751. HEALTH-CARE ACQUIRED CONDITIONS.
(a) MEDICAID NON-PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN HEALTH CARE-ACQUIRED CONDITIONS.
Once more, this simply extends conditions that have always been in place under Medicare and Medicaid to the new public insurance system. And it refers to doctors screwing up during treatment, and then billing to fix the screw-up. In other words, imagine someone like, say, Sean Hannity, undergoes brain surgery and the doctor leaves behind a sponge in there. That would certainly explain a lot, but should Hannity's insurance company be billed the full amount for the second surgery, to take the sponge out?
Apparently, the people who wrote this thing would consider that "rationing."
Beware that word "rationing," folks. It has no meaning with regard to health care, and private insurance does that all of the time.
• Sec. 1759, Pg. 809 - Billing Agents, clearinghouses, or other alternate payees are required to register. The government takes over private payment systems too.
Again, an absolute lie.
Once again, the entire section extends existing Medicaid regulations to the new system. But beyond that, here's the title:
SEC. 1759. BILLING AGENTS, CLEARINGHOUSES, OR OTHER ALTERNATE PAYEES REQUIRED TO REGISTER UNDER MEDICAID.
So far, so good. It's responsible to know who you're paying, to know they're responsible, and to know that money that is supposed to go to a payee will actually get there. It also reduces the possibility of fraud. I always thought taxpayers appreciated it when government was responsible with their money. Here is the section that's being added by this bill:
‘‘(78) provide that any agent, clearinghouse, or other alternate payee that submits claims on behalf of a health care provider must register with the State and the Secretary in a form and manner specified by the Secretary under section 1866(j)(1)(D).’’
I don't see government taking over payment systems. In fact, just the opposite. Providers can use agents and clearinghouses to collect payments if they'd like. The only requirement is that said third parties be registered. That seems to be the opposite of that the Liberty Counsel says. How odd.
• Sec. 1801, Pg. 819-823 - The Government will identify individuals “likely to be ineligible” for subsidies. Will access all personal financial information.
Funny. The section doesn't say that. The only interest is in those who might be eligible for a prescription drug subsidy. Here's the qualifier:
‘‘(C) RESTRICTION ON INDIVIDUALS FOR WHOM DISCLOSURE MAY BE REQUESTED.—The Commissioner of Social Security shall request information under this paragraph only with respect to—
‘‘(i) individuals the Social Security Administration has identified, using all other reasonably available information, as likely to be eligible for a low-income prescription drug subsidy under section 1860D–14 of the Social Security Act and who have not applied for such subsidy, and
‘‘(ii) any individual the Social Security Administration has identified as a spouse of an individual described in clause (i).
I'm sorry, but nothing in that section includes "all personal financial information" by any stretch. And there are severe restrictions on the use of the information:
‘‘(D) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED INFORMATION.—Return information disclosed under this paragraph may be used only by officers and employees of the Social Security Administration solely for purposes of identifying individuals likely to be ineligible for a low-income prescription drug subsidy under section 1860D–14 of the Social Security Act for use in outreach efforts under section 1144 of the Social Security Act.’’
• Sec. 1802, Pg. 823-828 - Government sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another bottomless tax pit.
Discussed previously. $300 million over three years, and a few cents out of every premium in order to make health care is not bottomless, nor is it much of a pit.
• Sec. 4375, Pg. 828-832, Lines 12-16 - Government will impose a fee on ALL private health insurance plans, including self-insured, to pay for Trust Fund!
Ok, this one's true. But it's also liable to be relatively small. And since premiums have doubled in the last ten years, and are likely to double again without a public insurance plan, such a fee will likely be a major relief to everyone carrying a private insurance policy.
And frankly, since it's the private insurance companies' fault that we need this in the first place, why shouldn't they be charged a little bit, in order to pick up their slack. THEY chose to refuse insurance to many, if not most, of the uninsured. They could just choose to sell them all policies.
• Sec. 4377, Pg. 835, Lines 11-13 - Fees imposed by government for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.
So? Good.
• Sec. 440, Pg. 837-839 - The government will design and implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids and families that are expecting children.
• Sec. 1904, Pg. 843-844 - This Home Visitation Program includes the government coming into your house and teaching/telling you how to parent!
These are both lies. The government will implement a program to finance the creation of such programs. Here's a major part of that section:
‘‘Subpart 3—Support for Quality Home Visitation Programs
‘‘SEC. 440. HOME VISITATION PROGRAMS FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES EXPECTING CHILDREN.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to improve the well-being, health, and development of children by enabling the establishment and expansion of high quality programs providing voluntary home visitation for families with young children and families expecting children.
‘‘(b) GRANT APPLICATION.—A State that desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary for approval, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require, an application for the grant that includes the following:
‘‘(1) DESCRIPTION OF HOME VISITATION PROGRAMS.—A description of the high quality programs of home visitation for families with young children and families expecting children that will be supported by a grant made to the State under this section, the outcomes the programs are intended to achieve, and the evidence supporting the effectiveness of the programs.
"Enabling the establishment and expansion" of such programs is not the same as "design(ing) and implement(ing)" such programs. The fact that they provide STATES with the ability to apply for such grants if they "desire" to, would indicate something far less than a dictatorial process.
The second one above is incredibly asinine, especially from lawyers.
First of all, the government can never come into your house without your permission, a warrant or probable cause. And no one can tell you how to parent, unless you are considered a danger to your children. Let's get that out of the way first.
But here's a crucial portion of that section:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term ‘eligible expenditures’—
‘‘(A) means expenditures to provide voluntary home visitation for as many families with young children (under the age of school entry) and families expecting children as practicable, through the implementation or expansion of high quality home visitation programs…
Wow. There's that term "voluntary" again. No one storming into your house, wagging their fingers at you and telling you what a horrible parent you are here. Not in this bill.
• Sec. 2002, Pg. 858 - The government will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000 (That’s Billions).
Okay, could we please enter the modern era? This country spent $2.7 TRILLION on health care last year. (That's TRILLIONS!) Anyone who gets that excited over $88.8 billion doesn't understand the scope of the problem. But it's worse. It's not $88.8 billion in one year. It's spread out over 10 years. The first year, the amount is $4.6 billion, or 0.0017% of $2.7 trillion. By the way, while $4.6 billion SOUNDS like a lot of money, it's roughly $15 per person. We spend more than $7700 per person for health care.
Now that we have some perspective, what is this fund? Well, as you can see, they mischaracterized the title. Here is the actual title:
SEC. 2002. PUBLIC HEALTH INVESTMENT FUND.
Strange that they would leave out the word "investment," isn't it? What's wrong with investing a little bit of money in public health? Nothing, of course, which is why they left it out. And its purpose is spelled out in the title of the section, just a few pages back:
DIVISION C—PUBLIC HEALTH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Yes, that's right. The investment is in developing a public health workforce. And the appropriations are controlled by Congress.
• Sec. 2201, Pg. 864 - The government will MANDATE the establishment of a National Health Service Corps.
o Sec. 2201 - “Fulfillment of Obligated Service Requirement”
o Sec. 2201, Pg. 864-875 - The NHS Corps is a program where Doctors perform mandatory HC for 2 years for partial loan repayment.
These three are just moronic.
The National Health Service Corps has been in existence since 1972. It provides money to medical students and residents. In return for the money, they have to perform services under Medicare/Medicaid. This would extend to the new plan.
Therefore, there is no MANDATE, and nothing new will be ESTABLISHED.
Oh, and by the way, they misquoted the second line:
(a) FULFILLMENT OF OBLIGATED SERVICE REQUIREMENT THROUGH HALF-TIME SERVICE.
• Sec. 2212, Pg. 875-891 - The government takes over the education of Medical students and Doctors through education and loans.
Once again, are these lawyers ridiculous enough to believe that the receipt of grants and loans from the government means the government has taken over your education?
• Sec. 340L, Pg. 897 - The government will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps to ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals.
• Sec. 340L, Pg. 897 - The Public Health Workforce Corps shall consist of civilian employees of the United States as Secretary deems necessary.
• Sec. 340L, Pg. 897 - The Public Health Workforce Corps shall consist of officers of Regular and Reserve Corps of Service.
• Sec. 340M, Pg. 899 - The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians. Will animals have heath care too?
• Sec. 2233, Pg. 909 - The government will develop, build and run Public Health Training Centers.
Again, these are just insane. Why are they complaints? We already have a shortage of medical professionals in this country. With 47 million people previously uninsured people now able to get health care, that shortage is about to become more acute. Putting together a system to recruit and train medical professionals is common sense.
But at least they're not lies...
• Sec. 2241, Pg. 912-913 - Government starts a HC affirmative action program under the guise of diversity scholarships.
They just can't get away from the racism, can they? Here's the title of the section:
Subtitle D—Adapting Workforce to Evolving Health System Needs
PART 1—HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING FOR DIVERSITY
SEC. 2241. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS, LOAN REPAYMENTS AND FELLOWSHIPS REGARDING FACULTY POSITIONS, AND EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS REGARDING INDIVIDUALS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS.
First of all, if these people would actually read this section of the bill, they would find that these programs are already in place. So, they're not "starting" anything. But when I see the above, I see "poor," not "minority." Of course, I don't see anything wrong with affirmative action programs, anyway.
• Sec. 2251, Pg. 915 - Government MANDATES cultural and linguistic competency training for HC professionals.
It doesn't mandate a damn thing. It OFFERS grants to people who want or need cultural and linguistic competency training. In fact, nothing they have claimed has been MANDATED by this bill has actually been mandated. There is nothing in this bill that isn't voluntary on the part of medical professionals or patients.
But this is all about scaring people who are worried that "illegal aliens" might get "free" health care.
Here's the section:
‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a cultural and linguistic competency training program for
health care professionals, including nurse professionals, consisting of awarding grants and contracts under subsection (b).
‘‘(b) CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC COMPETENCY TRAINING.—The Secretary shall award grants and contracts to eligible entities—
‘‘(1) to test, develop, and evaluate models of cultural and linguistic competency training (including continuing education) for health professionals; and
‘‘(2) to implement cultural and linguistic competency training programs for health professionals
developed under paragraph (1) or otherwise.
As usual, there is nothing in the above mandating anything. It's offering the programs to people who need them. There are large sections of the country who have seen huge immigration waves, and doctors who can communicate with their patients have an easier time with treatment. Once more, this is a common sense measure the right wingers use to scare their "base" into fearing the "brown people" moving into their neighborhoods.
• Sec. 3111, Pg. 931 - The government will establish a Preventative and Wellness Trust fund, with initial cost of $30,800,000,000 (Billions more).
Do I have to do this (Billions!) thing again? This is a pittance. It's also over 10 years. Oh! And it's also a portion of the PUBLIC HEALTH INVESTMENT FUND. (see Above)
• Sec. 3121, Pg. 934, Lines 21-22 - Government will identify specific goals and objectives for prevention and wellness activities. More control of your life.
• Sec. 3121, Pg. 935, Lines 1-2 - The government will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Performance Standards.” They will tell us what to eat?
These are insane. It's like saying the President's Council on Physical Fitness forces people to exercise. Here's the section:
‘‘SEC. 3121. NATIONAL PREVENTION AND WELLNESS STRATEGY.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit to the Congress within one year after the date of the enactment of this section, and at least every 2 years thereafter, a national strategy that is designed to improve the Nation’s health through evidence-based clinical and community prevention and wellness activities (in this section referred to as ‘prevention and wellness activities’), including core public health infrastructure improvement activities.
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The strategy under subsection (a) shall include each of the following:
‘‘(1) Identification of specific national goals and objectives in prevention and wellness activities that take into account appropriate public health measures and standards, including departmental measures and standards (including Healthy People and National Public Health Performance Standards).
‘‘(2) Establishment of national priorities for prevention and wellness, taking into account unmet prevention and wellness needs.
'‘(3) Establishment of national priorities for research on prevention and wellness, taking into account unanswered research questions on prevention and wellness.
‘‘(4) Identification of health disparities in prevention and wellness.
‘‘(5) A plan for addressing and implementing paragraphs (1) through (4).
By preventing illness and promoting wellness, we reduce health care expenditures. Right now, we spend $2.7 trillion. (That's TRILLION) If we could cut 5% from that by promoting better preventive care, that's a hell of a lot more money than the $80 billion these same people have been going crazy over. But the bottom line is, it's a lie, because there is no government control here. I mean, unless you believe the government's food pyramid is somehow coercive.
• Sec. 3131, Pg. 942, Lines 22-25 - “Task Force on Community Preventive Services.” More government? Under the Offices of Surgeon General, Public Health Services, Minority Health and Women’s Health.
• Sec. 3141, Pg. 949-979 - BIG GOVERNMENT core public health infrastructure includes workforce capacity, lab systems, health information systems, etc.
• Sec. 2511, Pg. 992 - Government will establish school-based “health” clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!
• Sec. 399Z-1, Pg. 993 - School-Based Health Clinics will be integrated into the school environment. More government brainwashing in school.
These are simply government control paranoia run amok. The bill will create funds to expand prevention and wellness abilities, because they're adding 47 million people to the rolls who have never been able to go to the doctor before. The more they do to promote healthy lifestyles and educate people regarding what they eat and drink and how they take care of themselves, the more money we'll save. But to think they'll be enforcing draconian laws designed to force us to eat healthy foods with every meal and exercise is just crazy.
• Sec. 2521, Pg. 1000 - The government will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?
Not unless you have a medical device implanted, I wouldn't think. That's not too many people. And as noted previously, they still have to follow applicable privacy laws.
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Okay, that was a pretty gargantuan task, mainly because these people are gargantuan liars. But take heart; the reason they have to lie so much is because they have nothing else. There may actually be a few legitimate arguments against going with a public option national health care plan. The problem is, the potentially legitimate arguments are being drowned out by the absurd lies.
One piece of advice I have for everyone; don't use these to argue with the right wingers you run into. To do so is a waste of time and energy, to be sure. Instead, use them to rebut the lies and give people the truth. And by all means, get people to READ THE BILL!
