HEALTHCARE: SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, MEAN WHAT YOU SAY

Confusion surrounds health care reform. Is it because what is said is not what is meant?

In a nutshell: Why is health care being reformed, and what exactly does “Health Care Reform” mean? It is generally agreed that health care needs to be reformed based on the issues of capping annual out-of pocket expenses, ending practices that deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, and incentivizing preventative healthcare.

The basics: Recently, the 1,502 page Senate Finance Health Committee Bill passed with support (14-9). Next, Senate leaders will work to merge the bill with the Finance Committee’s bill, an 839 page document. Here is how the newly posted Senate bill begins: “A Bill. To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.” NOTE: “… and for other purposes.” Next, five pieces of legislation (2 from the Senate and 3 from the House) will need to be combined, and then there will be a debate between the full Senate and the House.

Is the bill clear…or is an agenda being advanced through deception?

WHAT THEY SAY: Health care will be reformed.
WHAT THEY MEAN: The bills transform and construct major policy changes.

WHAT THEY SAY: Americans want health reform.
WHAT “WE” MEAN: Although individuals support the notions of lowering expenses and covering pre-existing conditions, polls show there is not a majority support for the bill by the American citizens. According to the Pew Research Center, in October 2009, only 34% generally favor proposals in Congress, 47% oppose, and 19% don’t know. In addition, 66% of people surveyed found health care reform issues difficult to understand, while only 33% found it easy to understand.

WHAT THEY SAY: The bill has bipartisan support.
WHAT THEY MEAN: Only 1 republican supported the Senate Finance Committee bill. (If there is not enough support later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can use a legislative option, “reconciliation” which would permit Democrats to pass a bill with 50 votes, not the usual 60.) Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said, "It will be hard to stop this from happening. Democrats have decided they have to pass a bill no matter how unpopular it is." He thinks Senate Democrats will pass “Obamacare” with the smallest possible margin out of the Senate and predicts that a House-Senate Conference then will make the bill much worse.”

WHAT THEY SAY: It will be mandatory to buy insurance.
WHAT THEY MEAN: If you do not purchase insurance you will be fined. Fines for individuals will begin in 2014, and will increase through 2017.

The question: “Will fines force people to buy insurance…or will they opt to pay the fine instead?” “If your household income is $66,000 a year, slightly above the national average, Obama’s healthcare bill will require you to spend 12 percent of your income — about $8,000 a year or almost $700 a month — to buy health insurance before you get any federal subsidy.” If you were this family would you pay a fine instead, particularly if you could obtain insurance at any time? Remember, the bill will end the practice of denying insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions.

If individuals opt to pay fines instead of purchasing insurance, what are the results? Can risk be distributed among a wider group, or would premiums be raised on individuals who are carrying insurance? “A Pricewaterhouse Coopers report commissioned by AHIP calculated that if the fines remain as described in the bill, health-insurance premiums will end up higher than if no reform bill is passed, because insurer will have to raise rates to pay for all the new sicker enrollees.”

The question: Would individuals sign up for insurance when they need a costly medical procedure and later drop coverage when the procedure is completed?

WHAT THEY SAY: Insurance will be “affordable” for all Americans.
WHAT THEY MEAN: “Affordable” is a pliable word. Your definition of “affordable” and the bill’s definition of “affordable” may not be the same. Affordable in the bill means a family with an income of only $44,000 a year will have to pay 7 percent ($3,000) of their income on insurance. If you are making only $33,000, you will be responsible to pay 4.5 percent of your income ($1,500) on health insurance.

WHAT THEY SAY: The bill will cost $829 billion and will not add to the deficit.
WHAT THEY MEAN: Senator Orin Hatch said he sees the true cost at $2 trillion over 10 years if the new measure for a $247 billion dollar Medicare “doctor fix” and inflation is included. “’Look, this is just another gimmick, he said, adding that Democrats claimed health care reform would be a deficit-neutral bill.”

This bill will change repeatedly. Not just while it is being passed, but through time. There is no transparency because it is being cobbled together behind closed doors. Remember when President Obama promised to negotiate the health care bill on C-SPAN?

“I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. … what we’ll do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies… that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” --- President Obama, Town hall meeting, 8/21/2008, Chester, VA.

THERE’S MORE…going on in health care reform. Up to 13 million illegal aliens do not have coverage and use emergency rooms for anything from rashes to needing advanced medical procedures. The Subsidized Medicare Advantage program will be cut to save costs, over Medicare. The elderly must then buy a “gap insurance” policy at a higher premium, as offered by the AARP. If health reform passes there are concerns that premiums will rise drastically. If a public option is included over time, will the public option eventually replace private options? The government will be able to exert more influence over individual rights than ever before. The health care reform can be the beginning of staggering changes for America. Will the final bill include exactly how it will be paid for? What will hold costs down? Who will pay for the coverage for illegal immigrants? Is there a provision that will prevent the government from dictating lifestyle choices?

A final and disturbing reflection: Will the health care reform bill be “too big to fail”? The current bill is over 1,500 pages, and includes language of intent, “and for other purposes”. Will anyone be able to read the final bill before it is signed with “other purposes”? Will the citizens of the United States be able to read it BEFORE it is voted on? President Obama, will you honor your promise that you “will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days?”

Sources: BusinessWeek, 10/16/90, CNN.com, Mesquite News 9/3/2009, League of American Voters, DickMorris.com, prescriptions.blogs.newyorktimes.com, WSJ,10/19/09, Politico.com, Townhall meeting, Cheston VA, politifact.com, obama ethics plan.