"Far out!"
Posted on 08/16/2009 11:38:22 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
(I received this in my inbox.)
To provide you with a clear understanding ... PLEASE PASS IT ON.
TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLANS BEING PROPOSED:
Healthcare: Questions and Answers (regarding: H.R. 3200, Americas Affordable Health Choices Act):
1-QUESTION: Will health reform force all Americans out of their private insurance plans and into a government-run plan?
Answer: No. You will always have a choice. If you like your insurance, you can keep it. H.R. 3200 builds on the employer-based coverage we have today. If your employer offers health insurance, you will continue to get your coverage through them.
If your employer does not offer insurance, you will be able to purchase health coverage through an insurance Exchange, i.e., online clearinghouse, which will offer a variety of private insurance plans as well as a Public Option. This mirrors what federal employees and Members of Congress have.
2- QUESTION: What is a Public Option?
Answer: The Public Option is a government-run, Not-For-Profit Healthcare Plan. Similar to Medicare, it will NOT be funded by government subsidies, but solely by the premiums it collects (just like Private Plans.)
The Public Option will be required to follow the same regulations placed on private insurance companies, including staying financially solvent.
3- QUESTION: What is the Exchange?
Answer: The Exchange is an online clearinghouse for all insurance plans. To be part of it and compete for customers, an insurance plan must contain a basic minimum of benefits as determined by the Health Choices Commission, established in the legislation. Information on coverage and benefits must be clearly listed beside each plan in easy-to-understand language.
The Exchange will bring together information that is currently scattered, giving consumers the opportunity to make informed decisions about what plan works best for them.
4- QUESTION: Will the legislation require me to join the public plan if I lose my private coverage?
Answer: No one will be required to join the public plan. If you lose your insurance, you will be able to shop for a new plan in the Exchange and determine which plan best suits you and your familys needs.
5- QUESTION: Are Members of Congress exempt from changes that are being proposed for the rest of the country?
Answer: No. Members of Congress will receive the same healthcare options as will all federal employees, with a choice of Private Plans that vary by benefits and cost, as well as the Public Option.
6- QUESTION: What if I cant afford to purchase health insurance? Wont it be mandatory under H.R. 3200?
Answer: Every American will be required to have health coverage. Medicare recipients will continue to receive Medicare benefits, as will those receiving TRICARE and VA benefits. The lowest income Americans will continue to receive Medicaid benefits.
Those Americans who earn up to 400% of the poverty level ($88,200 for a family of 4) will receive affordability credits to help them purchase insurance on a sliding scale. Those closest to the poverty level will earn the most credits, while those closest to 400% will earn the least. The goal is to provide a good coverage and make it affordable to all Americans.
7- QUESTION: Will the proposed legislation provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants?
Answer: No. Section 246 of H.R. 3200 explicitly prohibits the payment of affordability credits to anyone who is not lawfully in the United States.
8- QUESTION: Will abortion be covered in the new insurance plans?
Answer: The Health Choices Commission legislation language explicitly states that abortions will not be included in a Public health plan. However, consumers will be able to choose from the Exchange, a Private plan that offers this service, if they wish to, at a different price.
9- QUESTION: Will all small businesses be forced to provide coverage to their employees?
Answer: The bill exempts small businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000 from the requirement to provide health insurance for their workers. Businesses with payrolls above $250,000 that do not provide coverage will be charged a payroll tax that will gradually increase with the size of their payroll.
The tax will start at a low 2% for payrolls above $250,000 and increase to a maximum cap of 8% for payrolls above $400,000. However, there are currently discussions to raise this exemption to $500,000. Proceeds from this tax will go to offset the cost of affordability credits for use in the Exchange. Small businesses that choose to offer insurance will receive tax credits to offset the cost of insurance.
10- QUESTION: What does this bill do to stop fraud and abuse in Medicare?
Answer: The legislation strengthens existing compliance and enforcement tools for Medicare, increases funding to support these efforts and creates new, tougher penalties for individuals who abuse the system by submitting false claims to Medicare.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that for every $1 we invest in fighting waste, fraud, and abuse we will produce $1.75 in savings.
11- QUESTION: Can our country afford health insurance reform?
Answer: The cost of healthcare is rising exponentially, far outpacing that of inflation. This year only the projected increase in premium cost, will range between 35% and 42%. We simply cannot afford to maintain the status quo. If we do nothing to curb healthcare costs, by 2019 we will be spending one out of every $5 dollars on healthcare. We have no choice. The longer we wait, the more it will cost to fix our broken healthcare system.
12- QUESTION: How much will this bill cost?
Answer: The CBOs latest estimates the cost to be $1.042 trillion over ten years. Two third (2/3) of the cost will be duly funded by addressing inefficiencies in Medicare and Medicaid, by cracking down hard on fraud, and by eliminating waste and abuse in these programs, which will save $465 billion over the next ten years. $583 billion will still have to be raised to cover the rest of the cost by a proposed small 1.2% tax on the wealthiest income earners, to help pay this cost.
The Senate is considering other ways to raise funds and is reviewing a number of proposals prior to voting on the final bill in September. In addition to the above, implementation of health information technology for electronic records will save billions of dollars, and moving to generic forms of biologics is projected to save $10 billion over ten years.
13- QUESTION: Will this plan lead to rationing of care?
Answer: No. Healthcare decisions should always be made only between a doctor and their patient with no governmental involvement. The legislation specifically forbids any studies or research from being used to either mandate or deny care to a patient.
The legislation significantly increases research funding to gather data about what procedures are the most effective in order to give doctors the best possible information when treating their patients. By reducing waste and the procedures that have proven to be ineffective in treatment, the quality of services and benefits will increase substantially, with no rationing of care.
14- QUESTION: Why is this legislation being rushed through Congress?
Answer: The bill is not being rushed. It is long o-v-e-r-d-u-e. Teddy Roosevelt first proposed universal healthcare in 1912. President Harry Truman called for it in 1945. Former Representative John Dingell Sr. introduced a bill to provide universal healthcare in 1947 and his son, Representative John Dingell Jr., has reintroduced a bill at every Congress since 1955, and it was in fact supported by both President Obama and Senator McCain in the presidential campaign of 2008.
This particular legislation has been crafted, reviewed and revised repeatedly since the 111th Congress began, and it continues to be changed to reflect the considerable input from those in the healthcare community and all its constituents. In deed this bill is long o-v-e-r-d-u-e.
15- QUESTION: Will the government be forcing me into end-of-life euthanasia counseling?
Answer: No. For those who receive Medicare benefits and want to receive professional end-of-life counseling from their doctor, in preparation to writing a living will, or for a compassionate approach to end-of-life issues, to provide comfort and prevent suffering with medical care, they can. The legislation allows doctors to receive Medicare reimbursements for this counseling.
16- QUESTION: Will insurance companies be able to drop patients who have pre-existing conditions or must undergo an extended costly treatment?
Answer: No. Insurance companies will be prohibited to pick-and-choose and from discriminating based on pre-existing conditions. The practice of rescission (which insurance companies have often used to drop a patient once they become ill) will also be banned.
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450,000 US Doctors Support President Obama Health Care reform.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkGGDOp4uUg
(This is where the message ended)
“450,000 US Doctors Support President Obama Health Care reform.”
Yeah but, 200,000,000 Americans don’t. You do the math.
That wasn’t directed at you.
Pretty good propaganda until this part:
12- QUESTION: How much will this bill cost?
Answer: The CBOs latest estimates the cost to be $1.042 trillion over ten years. Two third (2/3) of the cost will be duly funded by addressing inefficiencies in Medicare and Medicaid, by cracking down hard on fraud, and by eliminating waste and abuse in these programs blah blah blah...
How stupid do you have to be to believe this?
No prob; given that I’m the thread starter and all...
Reminder:
YES WE CAN read the bill online.
About the bill here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3200
Suggested links to read the bill here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-3200
Believe NOTHING! They keep suckering people in w/decept. Why do they need 1,000 pages+ written by attorneys if it were all so cut and dry.
I thought this part was hilarious, too:
__________________________________________
9- QUESTION: Will all small businesses be forced to provide coverage to their employees?
Answer: The bill exempts small businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000 from the requirement to provide health insurance for their workers. Businesses with payrolls above $250,000 that do not provide coverage will be charged a payroll tax that will gradually increase with the size of their payroll.
The tax will start at a low 2% for payrolls above $250,000 and increase to a maximum cap of 8% for payrolls above $400,000.
__________________________________________
The difference between a $250,000 payroll and a $400,000 payroll is 3 employees making less than $50,000/yr. each. So basically, the tax is 8% on most small businesses that do not pay for their employees’ health insurance.
Question 4 - No, you won’t have to be on the public option if you lose your employer provided coverage...sure you can shop around. However, the bill explicitly states that insurance companies won’t be able to write new policies. Isn’t that correct?
Question 8 - Abortion is specifically not mentioned in the Health Commission Choices legislation...hey, wait a minute. Weren’t we just talking about HR 3200? Nice little sleight of hand there, sneaky snakes.
That wasn’t directed to anybody who has even skimmed over the bill.
Aren’t tuition costs also going up much more than inflation too? Are we going to be forced to “fix” that problem? I mean, you can’t DENY someone a college education....or how about food costs....or cell phone bills? It’s never-ending.
“CASH FOR CODGERS!”
DemocRats, realizing the success of the President’s “Cash For Clunkers” rebate program, have revamped a major portion of their National Health Care Plan.
President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Sen. Reed are expected to make this major announcement at a joint news conference later this week. I have obtained an advanced copy of the proposal which is named....
“CASH FOR CODGERS” and it works like this... Couples wishing to access health care funds in order to pay for the delivery of a child or any woman looking to secure a government paid abortion, will be required to turn in one old person. The amount the government grants them will be fixed according to a sliding scale. Older and more prescription dependent codgers will garner the highest amounts.
Special “Bonuses” will be paid for those submitting codgers in targeted groups, such as smokers, alcohol drinkers, persons 10 pounds over their government prescribed weight, and any member of the Republican Party.
“The bill is not being rushed. It is long o-v-e-r-d-u-e.”
Such BS! Oh, Teddy Roosevelt was working on this so it should be done by now...that is they dumbest statement I’ve ever read. As far as this whole issue goes, it’s new to this presidency and ought to be reviewed for 1-2 years and then voted on. Now that would be reasonable and atleast semi-justifiable. Even if I didn’t agree with the bill that would be passed, I would admit it was more throrough and debated.
Did you notice that “if things are not i m m e d i a t e l y broken (er, fixed) then in ten years “If we do nothing to curb healthcare costs, by 2019 we will be spending one out of every $5 dollars on healthcare.”
$1.00 in $5.00?
Oh. Well, healthcare is now 18% of the US economy, and by 2019 it will “rise” to 20% of the nation’s economy.
And the problem with that is ......
Answer: No. You will always have a choice. If you like your insurance, you can keep it. H.R. 3200 builds on the employer-based coverage we have today. If your employer offers health insurance, you will continue to get your coverage through them.
You will not be able to keep your existing coverage, except in the most limited sense:
(a) Grandfathered Health Insurance Coverage Defined- Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term `grandfathered health insurance coverage’ means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT-
(A) IN GENERAL- 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 Y1. [Y1 = first year of ObamaCare]
(2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR CONDITIONS- Subject to paragraph (3) and except as required by law, the issuer does not change any of its terms or conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day before the first day of Y1.
All existing plans will banned from accepting new members. They will be completely frozen. The plans will become unsustainable after a few years and fail. This is by design.
Obama is using a technicality to evade the truth. When he says you can 'keep your existing coverage' he being as truthful as Clinton saying 'I did not have sex with that woman.' (A blow-job isn't intercourse.)
Don't believe DNC talking points. Go to www.thomas.gov and click on “HR 3200” at top of the page in red letters. Click on the link “Text of Legislation”. Read the bill for yourself.
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