Facts Are Stubborn Things [flag@whitehouse.gov]

http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/cerannualrpt.pdf

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Note: The following text SNIPPET is a quote:

http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/execsummary.html

Friday Aug 14, 2009

Home
Overview
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HHS Home > Recovery > Programs
Report to the President and the Congress on Comparative Effectiveness Research

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SNIPPET: “Across the United States, clinicians and patients confront important health care decisions without adequate information. What is the best pain management regimen for disabling arthritis in an elderly African-American woman with heart disease? For neurologically impaired children with special health care needs, what care coordination approach is most effective at preventing hospital readmissions? What treatments are most beneficial for patients with depression who have other medical illnesses? Can physicians tailor therapy to specific groups of patients using their history or special diagnostic tests? What interventions work best to prevent obesity or tobacco use? Unfortunately, the answer to these types of comparative, patient-centered questions in health care is often, “We don’t really know.””

ON THE INTERNET:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Jp0-S__d4
“Tea Party Protest Against Govt Health Care Eureka Ca”
(Added August 14, 2009)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_hvNk99cCs
“Raleigh Hagan ObamaCare Tea Party August 14 2009”
(Added August 14, 2009)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pQNZ9yFCjw
“TEA PARTY SAN FRANCISCO 09”
(Added August 14, 2009)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWBj1xfNRiM
“Tea party 0001”
(Added August 14, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YVQQ3ARkzM

“TV AD: Oppose ObamaCare”

Video Description - Quote:

OurCountryPAC
July 22, 2009

From: http://www.OurCountryPAC.org

Television ad citing the dangers of Barack Obama’s socialized health care plan. We must defeat this big-government montrosity that would bring havoc to our health care system in America. Join our fight against ObamaCare at: http://www.OurCountryPAC.org

Category: News & Politics
Tags: Barack Obama health care healthcare Obamacare OurCountryPAC Our Country Deserves Better Committee

Off [Thread] Topic, but FYI:

Thanks to fanfan for pointing to the dotmet link:

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http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18327

August 14, 2009
“ISOTOPE SHORTAGE MEANS A HEALTH CARE CRISIS”

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http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9900/

“Canadian Isotope Reactor to Be Shuttered Until Next Year”
August 14, 2009
by Lynn Shapiro, Writer

SNIPPET: “Dealing a blow to downstream suppliers and to the medical community alike, the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) said it will not reopen its National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Chalk River, Ontario until the first quarter of 2010, as a result of repairs that forced the 52-year-old plant to shut down in May.

Since AECL produces approximately 40 to 50 percent of medical isotopes used in North America, the extended shutdown has suppliers scrambling for new sources.

In July, AECL said that the generator would be back online by late 2009. AECL shuttered the 52-year-old reactor in May, after a leak was found in the reactor’s vessel.

The plant is the only one in North America, and one of five in the world, that makes molybdenum-99, which decays to become technetium-99m, an isotope used in an increasing number of medical imaging tests.

Michael Graham, PhD, SNM’s President, and director of nuclear medicine at the University of Iowa, commenting on the shortage, told DOTmed News in June that “the bottom line is that patients needing nuclear medicine tests may not get them, and may even have to undergo exploratory surgery in some cases.”

He noted radioisotopes are used for such tests as: looking at blood flow in the heart; for bone scans, and for many other studies, like lung scans and uptake of excretion in the kidneys.

Nine Sites Need Repair”

sp=dotmed link

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2316796/posts

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Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4y1w94Pc0

“Townhall Protest Liberal Left Lies & Assault A Disabled Women”
(Added August 14, 2009)

Bump!

Thank you for the bump, fanfan.

You go, Cindy!

Well thank you Arthur.
I appreciate your enthusiasm.

No permanent url -located here at the front page of this url:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

SUN, AUGUST 16, 9:30 AM EST
La Realidad: The truth about health insurance reform is now available in Spanish.

It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t heard the scary and outlandish rumors circulating about health insurance reform, including wild claims about death panels and government interference between patients and doctors. To combat this misinformation the White House launched WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck, and we are excited to announce a Spanish language version: WhiteHouse.gov/LaRealidad.

Includes video.
READ THIS POST

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/La-Realidad-The-truth-about-health-insurance-reform-is-now-available-in-Spanish/

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG

“SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH, 2009 AT 9:30 AM
La Realidad: The truth about health insurance reform is now available in Spanish.”
Posted by Luis Miranda

SNIPPET: “La Realidad: La verdad sobre la reforma del seguro de salud ahora está disponible en Español.

No nos podemos dar el lujo de ignorar la reforma del sistema de seguro de salud. Cada día, 14,000 personas pierden su cobertura de seguro de salud, y los costos del seguro de salud en los últimos nueve años se han doblado. Además, un reporte reciente encontró que en solo los últimos tres años las compañías de seguro le han negado cobertura a mas de 12 millones de personas simplemente por que alguien decidió que la persona tenía una condición preexistente.

WhiteHouse.gov/LaRealidad incluye los hechos sobre lo que verdaderamente haría la reforma del seguro de salud para enfrentar los retos del sistema actual, y por supuesto, lo que no haría. Ya tenemos también un video en español:”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXrGkRlh9w0

“La Realidad: Dejando claro que hace y no hace la reforma del”

Video Description - Quote:

Subscribe
whitehouse
August 14, 2009
(less info)
Hay muchos rumores circulando sobre que haría la reforma del sistema de seguro de salud que se está considerando en el Congreso. Este video presenta un nuevo sitio de internet, http://www.whitehouse.gov/LaRealidad, diseñado para aclarar que hace y no hace la reforma, y refutar los rumores descabellados de quienes se oponen a una reforma. Agosto 14, 2007 (Domínio Público)

English closed-captions available.
Category: News & Politics

Tags: La Realidad LaRealidad seguro de salud seguro médico reforma de salud reforma médica mitos hechos realidades

http://www.hhs.gov
http://www.HealthReform.gov/

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On the front page of HealthReform.gov now:

Quote:

Health Reform and the Budget

The President’s 2010 Budget lays the groundwork for reform of the American health care system, most notably by setting aside a deficit-neutral reserve fund of $635 billion over 10 years to help finance reform of our health care system to bring down costs, expand coverage, and improve quality.
Read more about the President’s 2010 Budget and health reform

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...which leads us to this link and this text which is a quote at this moment in time:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fy2010_key_healthcare/

OMB HOME • PRESIDENT’S BUDGET • FACT SHEETS
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FISCAL 2010 BUDGET
Transforming and Modernizing America’s Health Care System

One of the biggest drains on American pocketbooks is the high cost of health care. Many families are one illness or accident away from financial ruin. Health insurance costs reduce workers’ take-home pay to a degree that is both underappreciated and unnecessarily large. At the same time, health care costs are consuming a growing share of federal and state government budgets. The United States spends over $2.2 trillion on health care each year—almost $8,000 per person. That number represents approximately 16 percent of the total economy and is growing rapidly. If we do not act soon, by 2017, almost 20 percent of the economy—more than $4 trillion—will be spent on health care.

At the same time that we strive to contain costs, we cannot stand by as tens of millions of Americans lack health care coverage. An unhealthy workforce leads to an unhealthy economy, and moving to provide all Americans with health insurance is not only a moral imperative, but it is also essential to a more effective and efficient health care system.

For too long, we have recognized the problems with health care, but have not taken responsibility for them. We can no longer afford to wait. That is why the President has already begun the process of reforming health care by:

Instituting Temporary Provisions to Make Health Care Coverage More Affordable for Americans Who Have Lost Their Jobs. As part of the Recovery Act of 2009, the Administration will provide Americans who lose their jobs or have recently lost their jobs a tax credit to keep their health insurance through COBRA. These steps are estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation to help provide coverage for approximately seven million Americans.
Increasing Health Care Coverage for Children. In one of his first official acts, the President signed into law the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)— bipartisan legislation vetoed twice by the previous President. It provides the support, options, and incentives for States to provide coverage for an additional four million children on average in CHIP and Medicaid who are now uninsured by FY 2013. The President is committed to implementing this law quickly and aggressively to help families whose children are at risk of losing coverage in this weak economy.
Computerizing America’s Health Records in Five Years. The current, paper-based medical records system that relies on patients’ memory and reporting of their medical history is prone to error, time-consuming, costly, and wasteful. With rigorous privacy standards in place to protect sensitive medical record, we will embark on an effort to computerize all Americans’ health records in five years. This effort will help prevent medical errors, and improve health care quality, and is a necessary step in starting to modernize the American health care system and reduce health care costs.
Developing and Disseminating Information on Effective Medical Interventions. Medicine is changing so rapidly it is almost impossible for any individual physician to keep abreast of all the latest research studies. Without the most recent information on effective treatments, it is increasingly more difficult for a doctor to give a patient the type of individualized treatment he or she deserves. To help physicians get the information they need to provide the highest quality care for patients, the Recovery Act of 2009 devotes $1.1 billion to comparative effectiveness research—the reviews of evidence on competing medical interventions and new head-to-head trials. The information from this research will improve the performance of the U.S. health care system.
Investing in Prevention and Wellness. Over a third of all illness is the result of poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. Indeed, obesity alone leads to many expensive, chronic conditions including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. Furthermore, there are important vaccines that can prevent diseases, and screening tests that can detect cancer and other diseases at an early stage when they are more curable. Yet many Americans are not getting these effective treatments. The President has devoted in the Recovery Act an unprecedented $1 billion for prevention and wellness interventions. This will dramatically expand community-based interventions proven to reduce chronic diseases.
Transforming and Modernizing America’s Health Care System
To build on these steps, the Budget sets aside a reserve fund of more than $630 billion over 10 years that will be dedicated towards financing reforms to our health care system. The President recognizes that while a very large amount of money and a major commitment, $630 billion is not sufficient to fully fund comprehensive reform. But this is a first crucial step in that effort, and he is committed to working with the Congress to find additional resources to devote to health care reform. The Administration will explore all serious ideas that, in a fiscally responsible manner, achieve the common goals of constraining costs, expanding access, and improving quality.

To achieve these goals and finance reform, the President looks forward to working with the Congress over the coming year, and as he does, the President will adhere to the following set of eight principles:

Guarantee Choice. The plan should provide Americans a choice of health plans and physicians. People will be allowed to keep their own doctor and their employer-based health plan.
Make Health Coverage Affordable. The plan must reduce waste and fraud, high administrative costs, unnecessary tests and services, and other inefficiencies that drive up costs with no added health benefits.
Protect Families’ Financial Health. The plan must reduce the growing premiums and other costs American citizens and businesses pay for health care. People must be protected from bankruptcy due to catastrophic illness.
Invest in Prevention and Wellness. The plan must invest in public health measures proven to reduce cost drivers in our system—such as obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking—as well as guarantee access to proven preventive treatments.
Provide Portability of Coverage. People should not be locked into their job just to secure health coverage, and no American should be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions.
Aim for Universality. The plan must put the United States on a clear path to cover all Americans.
Improve Patient Safety and Quality Care. The plan must ensure the implementation of proven patient safety measures and provide incentives for changes in the delivery system to reduce unnecessary variability in patient care. It must support the widespread use of health information technology with rigorous privacy protections and the development of data on the effectiveness of medical interventions to improve the quality of care delivered.
Maintain Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability. The plan must pay for itself by reducing the level of cost growth, improving productivity, and dedicating additional sources of revenue.
Financing Health Care Reform. The reserve fund is financed by a combination of rebalancing the tax code so that the wealthiest pay more as well as specific health care savings in three areas: promoting efficiency and accountability, aligning incentives towards quality and better care, and encouraging shared responsibility. Taken together, the health care savings would total $316 billion over 10 years while improving the quality and efficiency of health care, without negatively affecting the care Americans receive. These savings include:

Reducing Medicare Overpayments to Private Insurers Through Competitive Payments.
Under current law, Medicare overpays Medicare Advantage plans by 14 percent more on average than what Medicare spends for beneficiaries enrolled in the traditional fee-for-service program. The Administration believes it’s time to stop this waste and will replace the current mechanism to establish payments with a competitive system in which payments would be based upon an average of plans’ bids submitted to Medicare. This would allow the market, not Medicare, to set the reimbursement limits, and save taxpayers more than $175 billion over 10 years, as well as reduce Part B premiums. These overpayments threaten Medicare’s finances and increase the premiums paid by participants in traditional Medicare.

Reducing Drug Prices. Prescription drug costs are high and rising, causing too many Americans to skip doses, split pills, or not take needed medication altogether. The Administration will prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs from consumers by prohibiting anticompetitive agreements and collusion between brand name and generic drug manufacturers intended to keep generic drugs off the market.
The Administration will accelerate access to make affordable generic biologic drugs available through the establishment of a workable regulatory, scientific, and legal pathway for generic versions of biologic drugs. In order to retain incentives for research and development for the innovation of breakthrough products, a period of exclusivity would be guaranteed for the original innovator product, which is generally consistent with the principles in the Hatch-Waxman law for traditional products.

Additionally, brand biologic manufacturers would be prohibited from reformulating existing products into new products to restart the exclusivity process, a process known as ever-greening.

Finally, the Budget will bring down the drug costs of Medicaid by increasing the Medicaid drug rebate for brand-name drugs from 15.1 percent to 22.1 percent of the Average Manufacturer Price, apply the additional rebate to new drug formulations, and allow States to collect rebates on drugs provided through Medicaid managed care organizations. All the savings would be devoted to the health care reserve fund.

Improving Medicare and Medicaid Payment Accuracy. The Government Accountability
Office (GAO) has labeled Medicare as “high risk” due to billions of dollars lost to overpayments and fraud each year. To save Medicare and Medicaid, increase quality, and make sure Medicare and Medicaid patients get the care they deserve, we need to rein in these abuses and use this money for reform. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will address vulnerabilities presented by Medicare and Medicaid, including Medicare Advantage and the prescription drug benefit (Part D). CMS will be able to respond more rapidly to emerging program integrity vulnerabilities across these programs through an increased capacity to identify excessive payments and new processes for identifying and correcting problems.

Improving Care after Hospitalizations and Reduce Hospital Readmission Rates. Nearly
18 percent of hospitalization of Medicare beneficiaries resulted in the readmission of patients who had been discharged in the hospital within the last 30 days. Sometimes the readmission could not have been prevented, but many of these readmissions are avoidable. To improve this situation, hospitals will receive bundled payments that cover not just the hospitalization, but care for certain post-acute providers the 30 days of care after the hospitalization, and hospitals with high rates of readmission will be paid less if patients are re-admitted to the hospital within the same 30-day period. This combination of incentives and penalties should lead to better care after a hospital stay and result in fewer readmissions—saving roughly $26 billion of wasted money over 10 years. The money saved will also be contributed to the reserve fund for health care reform.

Expanding the Hospital Quality Improvement Program. The health care system tends to pay for quantity of services not quality. Experts have recommended that hospitals and doctors be paid based on delivering high quality care, or what is called “pay for performance.” The President’s Budget will link a portion of Medicare payments for acute in-patient hospital services to hospitals’ performance on specific quality measures. This program will improve the quality of care delivered to Medicare beneficiaries, and the higher quality will save over $12 billion over 10 years. Again, the money saved will be contributed to the Reserve Fund for health care reform.
Reforming the Physician Payment System to Improve Quality and Efficiency. The Administration believes that the current physician payment system, while it has served to limit spending to a degree, needs to be reformed so that physicians are paid for providing high-quality care rather than simply for more procedures and exams. Thus, while the baseline reflects our best estimate of what the Congress has done in recent years, we are not suggesting that should be the future policy.
As part of health care reform, the Administration would support comprehensive, but fiscally responsible, reforms to the payment formula. The Administration believes Medicare and the country need to move toward a system in which doctors are paid for high-quality care rather than simply more care.

Reducing Itemized Deduction Rate for Families With Incomes Over $250,000. Lowering health care costs and expanding health insurance coverage will require additional revenue. In the health reform policy discussions that have taken place over the past few years, a wide range of revenue options have been discussed—and these options are all worthy of serious discussion as the Administration works with the Congress to enact health care reform. The Administration’s Budget includes a proposal to limit the tax rate at which high-income taxpayers can take itemized deductions to 28 percent— and the initial reserve fund would be funded in part through this provision. This provision would raise $318 billion over 10 years.

Linda Douglass seems to be pure evil.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/16/town-halls-having-impact-white-house-bends-health-care-provision-face/

“Town Halls Having an Impact? White House Bends on Health Care Provision in Face of Discontent

SNIPPET: “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the so-called public option — a government-run health care plan that would be just one component of a broader health care overhaul — is “not the essential element.””

FOXNews.com
Sunday, August 16, 2009

0 219 Comments | Add Comment

SNIPPET: “Speaking on “FOX News Sunday,” Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., confirmed that the provision had been stripped.

In the face of growing discontent, Obama also recently adopted a new rhetorical tactic as he tailored his message more toward those who have insurance than those who don’t.

He hammered that message Sunday in an op-ed in The New York Times, arguing that those who have health insurance are being short-changed by their insurance providers.

He wrote that he’s confident health care reform can pass and said it must happen this year.

But yet another timetable could be in trouble, as Conrad on Sunday said Senate negotiators would not be held to a Sept. 15 deadline to finalize their work on a compromise measure.”

Oh, yes, here’s a bit of a trivia:

Blog:

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/16/pretty-sneaky-congresswoman-bean/

“Pretty sneaky, Congresswoman Bean”
By Michelle Malkin
August 16, 2009 09:58 AM

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Previously...

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/14/obamacareofa-stage-props-in-houston-one-is-a-che-guevara-fan-and-the-other-lies-about-being-a-doctor/

“Obamacare/OFA stage props in Houston: “One is a Che Guevara fan and the other lies about being a doctor.””
By Michelle Malkin
August 14, 2009 01:30 PM

Note: Video included.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Health-Insurance-Reform-and-Disability/

THE BLOG

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13TH, 2009 AT 2:02 PM
Health Insurance Reform and Disability
Posted by Katherine Brandon

Recently, you may have heard one misunderstanding that the President’s plan will mean children with disabilities will not receive the care they need. On the contrary, reform will eliminate health insurance discrimination against people with disabilities. Under the President’s plan, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition, which will allow those with disabilities to receive the quality, affordable care they deserve.

We asked Mike Strautmanis, Chief of Staff for Valerie Jarrett and the father of a child with a disability, to set the record straight. In this “Reality Check” video, he explains more about how the President’s plan will help, not hurt, those with disabilities:

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbewHTRcPVg

“Reality Check: Reform will eliminate insurance discrimination against the disabled”

Video Description - Quote:

August 12, 2009

ike Strautmanis, Chief of Staff for Valerie Jarrett and father of a child with a disability, addresses the myth that health insurance reform will mean children with disabilities will not get the care they need. To, the contrary, reform will make insurance more affordable, provide more options, and eliminate discrimination in purchasing health insurance so families wont be turned down if a parent or child has a pre-existing disability or other health condition.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: White House Health Insurance Reform Reality Check Michael Mike Strautmanis Valerie Jarrett Disabilities Disability Disabled

http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/08/16/white-house-responds-to-major-garretts-questions-about-unsolicited-emails/

August 16, 2009
“White House responds to Major Garrett’s questions about unsolicited emails”

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/16/white-house-e-mail/

“White House Passes Blame on Unsolicited Health Care E-Mails
The White House suggests third-party groups are to blame for unsolicited health care e-mails.”

FOXNews.com
Sunday, August 16, 2009

SNIPPET: “The White House for the first time Sunday seemed to acknowledge that people across the country received unsolicited e-mails from the administration last week about health care reform, suggesting the problem is with third-party groups that placed the recipients’ names on the distribution list.

In a written statement released exclusively to FOX News, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the White House hopes those who received the e-mails without signing up for them were not “inconvenienced” by the messages.”

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434

Sarah Palin: Concerning the “Death Panels”

Sarah Palin’s Notes
Concerning the “Death Panels”
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 8:55pm
Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these “unproductive” members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care.

The President made light of these concerns. He said:

“Let me just be specific about some things that I’ve been hearing lately that we just need to dispose of here. The rumor that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we’ve decided that we don’t, it’s too expensive to let her live anymore....It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, etc. So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready on their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything.” [1]

The provision that President Obama refers to is Section 1233 of HR 3200, entitled “Advance Care Planning Consultation.” [2] With all due respect, it’s misleading for the President to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients. The issue is the context in which that information is provided and the coercive effect these consultations will have in that context.

Section 1233 authorizes advanced care planning consultations for senior citizens on Medicare every five years, and more often “if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual ... or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility... or a hospice program.” [3] During those consultations, practitioners must explain “the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice,” and the government benefits available to pay for such services. [4]

Now put this in context. These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient’s health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is “to reduce the growth in health care spending.” [5] Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care? As Charles Lane notes in the Washington Post, Section 1233 “addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones.... If it’s all about obviating suffering, emotional or physical, what’s it doing in a measure to “bend the curve” on health-care costs?” [6]

As Lane also points out:

Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren’t quite “purely voluntary,” as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, “purely voluntary” means “not unless the patient requests one.” Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive — money — to do so. Indeed, that’s an incentive to insist.

Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they’re in the meeting, the bill does permit “formulation” of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would “place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign,” I don’t think he’s being realistic. [7]

Even columnist Eugene Robinson, a self-described “true believer” who “will almost certainly support” “whatever reform package finally emerges”, agrees that “If the government says it has to control health-care costs and then offers to pay doctors to give advice about hospice care, citizens are not delusional to conclude that the goal is to reduce end-of-life spending.” [8]

So are these usually friendly pundits wrong? Is this all just a “rumor” to be “disposed of”, as President Obama says? Not according to Democratic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Chairman of the New York State Senate Aging Committee, who writes:

Section 1233 of House Resolution 3200 puts our senior citizens on a slippery slope and may diminish respect for the inherent dignity of each of their lives.... It is egregious to consider that any senior citizen ... should be placed in a situation where he or she would feel pressured to save the government money by dying a little sooner than he or she otherwise would, be required to be counseled about the supposed benefits of killing oneself, or be encouraged to sign any end of life directives that they would not otherwise sign. [9]

Of course, it’s not just this one provision that presents a problem. My original comments concerned statements made by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy advisor to President Obama and the brother of the President’s chief of staff. Dr. Emanuel has written that some medical services should not be guaranteed to those “who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens....An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” [10] Dr. Emanuel has also advocated basing medical decisions on a system which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.” [11]

President Obama can try to gloss over the effects of government authorized end-of-life consultations, but the views of one of his top health care advisors are clear enough. It’s all just more evidence that the Democratic legislative proposals will lead to health care rationing, and more evidence that the top-down plans of government bureaucrats will never result in real health care reform.

- Sarah Palin

[1] See http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/president-obama-addresses-sarah-palin-death-panels-wild-representations.html.
[2] See http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf
[3] See HR 3200 sec. 1233 (hhh)(1); Sec. 1233 (hhh)(3)(B)(1), above.
[4] See HR 3200 sec. 1233 (hhh)(1)(E), above.
[5] See http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf
[6] See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703043.html].
[7] Id.
[8] See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002455.html].
[9] See http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/letter-congressman-henry-waxman-re-section-1233-hr-3200.
[10] See http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/Where_Civic_Republicanism_and_Deliberative_Democracy_Meet.pdf
[11] See http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280675/Principles-for-Allocation-of-Scarce-Medical-Interventions.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434

Sarah Palin: Troubling Questions Remain About Obama’s Health Care Plan

Sarah Palin’s Notes
Troubling Questions Remain About Obama’s Health Care Plan
Thu at 10:11pm
I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200). It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.

As I noted in my statement last week, nationalized health care inevitably leads to rationing. There is simply no way to cover everyone and hold down the costs at the same time. The rationing system proposed by one of President Obama’s key health care advisors is particularly disturbing. I’m speaking of the “Complete Lives System” advocated by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the president’s chief of staff. President Obama has not yet stated any opposition to the “Complete Lives System,” a system which, if enacted, would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential. [1] Why the silence from the president on this aspect of his nationalization of health care? Does he agree with the “Complete Lives System”? If not, then why is Dr. Emanuel his policy advisor? What is he advising the president on? I just learned that Dr. Emanuel is now distancing himself from his own work and claiming that his “thinking has evolved” on the question of rationing care to benefit the strong and deny the weak. [2] How convenient that he disavowed his own work only after the nature of his scholarship was revealed to the public at large.

The president is busy assuring us that we can keep our private insurance plans, but common sense (and basic economics) tells us otherwise. The public option in the Democratic health care plan will crowd out private insurers, and that’s what it’s intended to do. A single payer health care plan has been President Obama’s agenda all along, though he is now claiming otherwise. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what he said back in 2003:

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan.... A single payer health care plan – universal health care plan – that’s what I would like to see.” [3]

A single-payer health care plan might be what Obama would like to see, but is it what the rest of us would like to see? What does a single payer health care plan look like? We need look no further than other countries who have adopted such a plan. The picture isn’t pretty. [4] The only way they can control costs is to ration care. As I noted in my earlier statement quoting Thomas Sowell, government run health care won’t reduce the price of medical care; it will simply refuse to pay the price. The expensive innovative procedures that people from all over the world come to the United States for will not be available under a government plan that seeks to cover everyone by capping costs.

Our senior citizens are right to be wary of this health care bill. Medical care at the end of life accounts for 80 percent of all health care. When care is rationed, that is naturally where the cuts will be felt first. The “end-of-life” consultations authorized in Section 1233 of HR 3200 were an obvious and heavy handed attempt at pressuring people to reduce the financial burden on the system by minimizing their own care. Worst still, it actually provided a financial incentive to doctors to initiate these consultations. People are right to point out that such a provision doesn’t sound “purely voluntary.”

In an article I noted yesterday, Charles Lane wrote:

“Ideally, the delicate decisions about how to manage life’s end would be made in a setting that is neutral in both appearance and fact. Yes, it’s good to have a doctor’s perspective. But Section 1233 goes beyond facilitating doctor input to preferring it. Indeed, the measure would have an interested party — the government — recruit doctors to sell the elderly on living wills, hospice care and their associated providers, professions and organizations. You don’t have to be a right-wing wacko to question that approach.” [5]

I agree. Last year, I issued a proclamation for “Healthcare Decisions Day.” [6] The proclamation sought to increase the public’s knowledge about creating living wills and establishing powers of attorney. There was no incentive to choose one option over another. There was certainly no financial incentive for physicians to push anything. In fact, the proclamation explicitly called on medical professionals and lawyers “to volunteer their time and efforts” to provide information to the public.

Comparing the “Healthcare Decisions Day” proclamation to Section 1233 of HR 3200 is ridiculous. The two are like apples and oranges. The attempt to link the two shows how desperate the proponents of nationalized health care are to shift the debate away from the disturbing details of their bill.

There is one aspect of this bill which I have not addressed yet, but it’s a very obvious one. It’s the simple fact that we can’t afford it. But don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Doug Elmendorf, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. He told the Senate Budget Committee last month:

“In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount. And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.” [7]

Dr. Elmendorf went on to note that this health care legislation would increase spending at an unsustainable rate.

Our nation is already $11.5 trillion in debt. Where will the money come from? Taxes, of course. And will a burdensome new tax help our economy recover? Of course not. The best way to encourage more health care coverage is to foster a strong economy where people can afford to purchase their own coverage if they choose to do so. The current administration’s economic policies have done nothing to help in this regard.

Health care is without a doubt a complex and contentious issue, but health care reform should be a market oriented solution. There are many ways we can reform the system and lower costs without nationalizing it.

The economist Arthur Laffer has taken the lead in pushing for a patient-center health care reform policy. He noted in a Wall Street Journal article earlier this month:

“A patient-centered health-care reform begins with individual ownership of insurance policies and leverages Health Savings Accounts, a low-premium, high-deductible alternative to traditional insurance that includes a tax-advantaged savings account. It allows people to purchase insurance policies across state lines and reduces the number of mandated benefits insurers are required to cover. It reallocates the majority of Medicaid spending into a simple voucher for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance. And it reduces the cost of medical procedures by reforming tort liability laws.” [8]

Those are real reforms that we can live with and afford. Once again, I warn my fellow Americans that if we go down the path of nationalized health care, there will be no turning back. We must stop and think or we may find ourselves losing even more of our freedoms.

- Sarah Palin

[1] See http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280675/Principles-for-Allocation-of-Scarce-Medical-Interventions
[2] See http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/14/white-house-adviser-backs-off-rationing/
[3]See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hsqzSKuC44
[4] See http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2M0ODk0OTNkZjkwNGM4OGMyYTEwYWY3ODUzMzFiOTc=
[5] See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703043.html
[6] See http://www.gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=1094&type=6
[7] See http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/07/cbo-sees-no-federal-cost-savings-in-dem-health-plans.html
[8] See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574324361508092006.html