eCapitol.net

Good news: The House and Senate are in recess which means they can’t do any immediate damage. In fact, they’re attempting to perform personal damage control to save themselves with their constituents because of the health care debacle. And it didn't take long for them to run headlong into their voters who are miffed to the max about the House's "Health Care for all Americans" legislation, a conglomeration of multiple committees that simply guts health care for most Americans.

They’ve been attempting to peddle the bill like it was a bottle of 1800’s miracle medicine. But in keeping with their current mindset of get-it-done-quickly, not a single one of them has read the 1,018 page document that was hackneyed together the night before they left Washington even though they’re all experts on its contents.

Much to the representatives’ surprise and dismay, the taxpayers have awakened to the fact that the bill is potential disaster and have turned out in droves to the town hall meetings and spoken their minds. The politicians were so taken aback by the questions and comments that many of them have abruptly cancelled all of their planned town hall meetings and opted for phone and online offerings which are nothing more than safe havens for the interim until they can return to their private sanctuaries in Washington.

It became quickly obvious these legislators weren’t particularly adept at fielding legitimate questions and selling something they knew almost nothing about. One of the most popular and valid queries being heard is whether or not the taxpayers will have access to the same health care coverage as their elected representatives. As you might imagine the bureaucrats can’t offer an acceptable response and are often and rightfully “booed.” It’s obvious that none of them are fully knowledgeable of the contents of the rough draft and are attempting to spew rhetoric rather than information actually contained in the current bill. I’d like to make it even easier for the politicians, so here’s my proposal. All they have to do is promise us, the voters, they will totally dismantle their current executive insurance program and, once a bill is passed, select an option from those that will be offered to you and me. 

Regarding the current bill, if any of them had skimmed it they’d have seen early on that page 16 contained a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal. That’s right—against the law. The provision would prohibit individual private coverage. Listed under the heading "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states: "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 the year the legislation becomes law.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise since the naysayers have been warning us for months that the moment the Feds get into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage the private insurance market will be smothered. And why wouldn’t the government want that to happen? With the Feds offering a public option that could be 30% to 40% less costly than today’s typical annual premiums, who wouldn’t want to buy in. Of course, you know there’s a catch; we, the taxpayers, will be funding it, so employers will have no incentive to keep their private plans and will sign up for the government’s version of health coverage.

Various estimates have concluded that private carriers could end up with an estimated 50 million fewer customers. Many won’t go out of business, but their coverage costs will skyrocket. But keep your eye on the prize, the actual coverage, because that will shrink over time leaving many people virtually uncovered due to medical conditions deemed exclusionary and outside the cost effectiveness range for coverage.

While I’m still wading through the mishmash, I’ve already uncovered many hidden flaws in the bill, but another noteworthy one is found on page 425: Everyone currently receiving Social Security benefits regardless of age or circumstances (e.g., disability) will be required to attend mandatory counseling every five years to learn how to select from a list of options available/approved for eliminating your end of life suffering. In effect, you’ll be required to choose your form of death. Another little caveat is that the government can deny health care based on age, and $500 billion will be systematically cut from this senior-related health care plan. What that means is a radical reduction in health care offerings and the oldest and most ill citizens will become expendable or non-cost effective.

There’s also some ambiguous language that implies even those who can afford to pay for private health care may be prohibited by law to purchase and partake of it if their combination of age and health diagnosis doesn’t fit the approved government template, one that was created by bureaucrats rather than medical professionals. The government intends to manage our lives from cradle to grave, and they’ll begin by controlling the end—the forced termination of our life. If this frightens you as much as it does me, then I’ve accomplished my task of making you aware of the potential lethality of the current health care bill. Don’t buy into the notion that those seen speaking up at town hall meetings have been hand-picked shills by a right wing conspiracy.

I’ll close with another unmentioned pitfall in the health care legislation, one that’s going to wipe out health savings accounts. The government now has to demolish that choice to ensure that individuals have virtually zero control over their personal medical care. By now you may be getting the picture that we’re heading for a true welfare state with the majority of Americans dependent upon the government for nearly everything from jobs to life itself. A logical and “free” person would assume that Washington couldn’t muster the constitutional authority to outlaw private health care markets in which the citizens could choose to voluntarily participate. With a little luck the politicians, those people who are supposed to be working for rather than against us, won’t be able to pull it off, but only if voters continue voicing their vehement objections to this gigantic step toward a societal takeover.

Keep in mind this is only the draft legislation, not the final version that will likely emerge if we, the taxpayers, voters and health care recipients continue to oppose and don’t allow the Feds to have their way. It's frightening to consider how many additional personal liberty infringements will emerge in the final bill, but for the moment assume the worst.

Maybe we should push for legislation that would require our elected officials to extend their summer vacations to 11 months per year. That way they could spend a reasonable amount of quality time dodging their constituents and only enough time in Washington to do minimal damage.