As if the giga-pork monstrosity Obama is pushing weren't bad enough already, the Democrats have snuck in a provision creating a giant new beauracrasy set to recieve more funding than the army, navy, and airforce combined. The purpose of this? The federal takeover of healthcare to impose a new standard whose goal is to slow down the development of new drugs and technologies because the new stuff if too expensive. It will also alter the standard used for medicare payments from safe and effective to safe and cost effective. What does this mean? If you're too old or have a rare disease, or any disease where new treatments are desperately needed: You're screwed. Not to mention the prospect of federal bureaucrats second guesing every decision your doctor makes and mandating that he choose the cheapest, rather than the most effective, medication/treatment. This is the evil face of socialism. They tempt you with the idea of "free healthcare", and once you're on the hook they show their true colors. The elderly, not worth treating. You have a rare disease? Too expensive. You want your health info kept private? Tough. Waiting for new treatments or drugs? Fuck off, that stuff is too expensive. One more reason to stop this bill from becoming law Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department. Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version). The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors. But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.” Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far. New Penalties Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541) What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make. The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system. Elderly Hardest Hit Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt. Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464). The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis. In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision. Hidden Provisions If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later. The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181). Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.” More Scrutiny Needed On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny. The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_mccaughey&sid=aLzfDxfbwhzs
I'm calling bullshit. Nothing with that many exclamation marks has much chance of checking out, and the US military spending for 2008 was more than the total of the stimulus bill.
Yes Mad's post smacks of shit from the limbaughs, hannities, and levines of the world. They take an innocent clause or statement and turn it into something draconian.
The point of the post was not to spell out how much it would cost - it was to point out the fact that Obama and the Dems are managing to slip in the first step to socialized healthcare under everyone's noses without even the slightest amount of discussion. So, care to comment on what's important instead of getting caught up on what's not and avoiding the point? I personally think this is a brilliant move by Obama from a strategic standpoint, but a horrible step for the country. As Pat Buchanan said a few days ago: "The days of saying that America is on the road to socialism have passed - we're already there."
Insurance companies already ration health care. Simply placing a dreaded label on something doesn't make it wrong.
That could have been done without the bs stats and the exclamation marks. I think health care has been pretty widely discussed, and the first step to socialized medicine would have to be Veteran's Hospitals, or maybe Medicare, or possibly emergency care at hospitals or vaccination programs,or something else everyone takes for granted that the robber barons fought tooth and nail. Nothing involving purchase of private insurance is "socialized", btw.
Yes, but nothing in this bill has been discussed at all. It's being rammed down our throats with Obama screaming that the world will end if it's not passed immediately which is complete crap. They should hold hearings and go thru this piece of shit line by line so that everyone knows what the hell they're voting on. Furthermore, any increased regulation of medicine or any other business has no business whatsoever being hidden in a "stimulus " package. You're right. He should have said fascist. We maintain the illusion of ownership but the government completely controls everything.
OK, you want to know the truth. This is the truth. Limbaugh is taking credit for this line of B.S. The bill funds effectiveness research, looking at our healthcare system to find out what works and what does not work...not the treatment of individual diseases. The bill does not provide for a regulator to approve individual treatments and does not review every decision made by the medical doctor and patient before treatment is rendered. This bill is very threatening to physicians and others in the healthcare industry who have been profiteering via government regulation over the course of the last century. It creates a body to look a new and better ways and more cost effective and better ways of delivering healthcare. I always have be be suspicious when the original text (as is often the case with limbaugh) is not provided in the post. Below is the original text of the law. SEC. 9201. FEDERAL COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH. (a) Establishment- There is hereby established a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (in this section referred to as the `Council'). (b) Purpose; Duties- The Council shall-- (1) assist the offices and agencies of the Federal Government, including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Defense, and other Federal departments or agencies, to coordinate the conduct or support of comparative effectiveness and related health services research; and (2) advise the President and Congress on-- (A) strategies with respect to the infrastructure needs of comparative effectiveness research within the Federal Government; (B) appropriate organizational expenditures for comparative effectiveness research by relevant Federal departments and agencies; and (C) opportunities to assure optimum coordination of comparative effectiveness and related health services research conducted or supported by relevant Federal departments and agencies, with the goal of reducing duplicative efforts and encouraging coordinated and complementary use of resources. (c) Membership- (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT- The Council shall be composed of not more than 15 members, all of whom are senior Federal officers or employees with responsibility for health-related programs, appointed by the President, acting through the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the `Secretary'). Members shall first be appointed to the Council not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) MEMBERS- (A) IN GENERAL- The members of the Council shall include one senior officer or employee from each of the following agencies: (i) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (ii) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (iii) The National Institutes of Health. (iv) The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (v) The Food and Drug Administration. (vi) The Veterans Health Administration within the Department of Veterans Affairs. (vii) The office within the Department of Defense responsible for management of the Department of Defense Military Health Care System. (B) QUALIFICATIONS- At least half of the members of the Council shall be physicians or other experts with clinical expertise. (3) CHAIRMAN; VICE CHAIRMAN- The Secretary shall serve as Chairman of the Council and shall designate a member to serve as Vice Chairman. There are 15 members on this commisson. Does limbaugh really believe that 15 individuals are going to review individually the treatment of every patient every day? I don't think limbaugh is that stupid. It is just more lies from limbaugh and company...trying to generate unwarrented fear.
Even if you're correct, and I hope you are, this sort of thing has no business in a "stimulus" bill. PS The article I linked to in the OP was by Betsy McCoy, not Rush Limbaugh. Unless you're saying that Betsy McCoy is Rush Limbaugh's nom de plume.
limbaugh is taking credit for "discovering" this in the bill and making it public. So is limbaugh telling a fib? http://mediamatters.org/items/200902100001
I assume his information is based upon the same Betsy McCoy article I linked to. If it's incorrect, great. I still say this has no business in a stimulus bill.
That is fine, you can disagree with it being in the stimulus bill. I think it is a good move as it starts brining our healthcare infrastructure into the 21st century. Patients will benefit with better treatement. And it will create tech jobs...good high paying jobs.
If I'm required to convert to electronic charts, it will cost me about $30,000 to purchase the software and multiple stations for each office. Not to mention time spent on training, money spent paying trainers, etc. Where will I find that extra $30,000 plus? I'll probably have to fire someone to cover the expense or cut back on everyone's hours. So much for stimulus.
You don't have computers in your office now? (are you a doctor?) It could lead to greater efficiency and the ability to reduce your work force. $30,000 is less than the salary of one person.
The fact that the Republicans did not have any ideas or solutions in the last 8 years and still do not have any real solutions....does that mean Sour Grapes because at least Democrats acted?
Yes...but this is not a good thing. Saying that Cancer treatment employs a lot of people and produces great GDP such that it should be encouraged?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Madanthonywayne, how much time does your staff spend filing papers now? How much does that cost you? How much time do you spend managing people who file your paperwork? How much time to you spend waiting on paperwork? How much time do you spend on paper and forms? How much do you spend storing all that paper and retrieving that paper? What is the risk of someone in the chain misinterpreting something you wrote and the patient receiving the wrong treatment or drug? If your operation is similar to national averages, you spend 25 percent of your revenues on filing and paper related activities. Let's keep things real simple. You said it would cost 30k for the hardware and software. If we use standard products, we can assume a 3 year life span for the hardware and software (typical warranty periods). Let's assume you spend and extra 5k per year for software support and training. Support services contract are usually about 10 percent of purchase price. So your annualized cost will be about 15k per year for a computerized office system versus 23k+ for a staffer. If this system can save you one full time staff person costing you ten dollars an hour with no benefits you are still ahead of the game by 8K per year. If I were you I would be running, not walking, to my nearest AllScripts representative. http://www.allscripts.com/
