Obama Care

It is easier to listen to the political pundits debate, breathing scary tales and spreading fear in the hearts and minds of the impressionable than to read a piece of House legislation. Who wants to read 1017 pages of anything, unless it is the latest Harry Potter adventure? Believe me HR 3200 is as full of political wizardry as any of JK Rowlings’ books.

Okay, you voted for the Big O and you are a die-hard trooper who stays loyal to your Lord. Good for you. But let’s look at Health Care Reform for the fun of it.

Obama promises you choice? Read page 16.

If you don’t have private health insurance when the bill becomes effective, you will no longer be able get it. That seems to limit some choice right out of the gate. And if you are part of a private plan, the insurer can no longer enroll any one in the plan. It’s closed. So much for free enterprise. The limits on private options soon dry up and private options will disappear. It will be impossible to get your own insurance. If you are covered by an employer plan and your employer folds, like GM as an example, you can’t get a private plan. Your only choice is to enroll in the government plan. Whew, saved by the government, unless...

You decide not to join any plan because you are young, healthy and hell, you haven’t seen a doctor since one slapped you on the ass at birth. Think twice. You’ll be taxed for not ponying up. I guess you could consider this a choice. Pay for not joining the government plan, or pay for joining. Read all about it on page 168.

Your privacy becomes yet another matter. Think everything is between you and your doctor? Nope. Everything is going to be tracked by the government. Read pages 445, 454, 479.

And who will actually make decisions about your health care? Not your doctor, but 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. Don’t believe me? Read pages 442, 446. Your choice about your care is gone.

And when you get a little older, there is something called "comparative effectiveness." Sounds great if you got a big denominator. The older you get, the smaller the denominator. Oh yeah, that is about choice. Living or ending your life choice. It’s all about going through end of life counseling (Is this something Ted Kennedy is going through? I doubt it.) As a senior you will be required to go through counseling about end of life decisions. Every couple of years, unless a huge medical issue arises and then you’ll go more frequently, you’ll be required to get counseling about “end of life”. Maybe, as an elder you should kick the bucket instead of having medical care because you have dementia. Why waste money on your medical care when a 20 year old needs a new spleen because he was in a car wreck as a result of an underage drinking binge? Check out page 425. But I suppose if you are some important law Harvard law professor you can cry a little louder and live a bit longer no matter what your crank old age might be.

The United State is the leader in health care. People come here for health care. They don’t go to Canada. Not Mexico, not Cuba (unless you are dimwitted Michael Moore) and certainly not to Europe. News bulletin: You can get some dynamite face lifts in Africa and see a safari while you recover.

But for all our country’s great research and leading technology this bill will limit future research in order to cut cost. The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research ( read pages 190-192) will have a goal to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies (because they are driving up costs). And here you were guessing lawsuits were doing this.

But, you’re so young. So free. So why worry? You shouldn’t. Take a look at social security. It won’t be around by the time you retire. Medicare will also be busted in a few more years. And this plan? It won’t be affordable for you or your government by the time you decide to have that funny little lump checked out. Like SS and Medicare it won’t exist when you need it. Hey, come to think of it, then what am I worried about?

I could be doing something else. Heck, I haven’t written a blog all month. But I thought this might be important. If you really want to be informed and quit making decisions like one of Obama’s sheep, look it up. You can find the House and the Senate bills at defend your health care.

That is what I did, because next month I won’t have health insurance and you know what? THAT’S MY CHOICE and I don’t want the government taking that choice away from me or interfering in my private relationship with my doctor. I have a doctor's appointment next month. I’ll choke on the cost, but again, it's my choice and it is one of the best.

Remember, anything the government can take away is not a right.