11.07.2009
The Pelosi power-grab … I can’t reasonably call it health care reform .. is being pushed by the Democratic house leaders and the White House today. They hope to get a bill, any bill, as along as it takes over the economy, through the House this weekend.
For those in the United States, you MUST call your Congress member today and tell them this is not reform; it is a blatant power grab by Washington; tell them to vote NO.
Do you want some reasons why? How about over 1900 pages of them? Fortunately, Open Congress has summarized the bill in digestible form.
A few of the highlights:
- It requires all Americans to purchase comprehensive health insurance plans that provide more health benefits than most current health care plans.
- It requires the federal government to provide health insurance (public option) and long-term care insurance (CLASS program).
- It mandates price controls for health insurance, medical services, medical equipment, and prescription drugs.
- It provides unlimited funds to 30 grants and programs.
- It creates 74 new types grants. Each type may be granted multiple times by the Secretary of Health and Human Services at her discretion.
- It prevents states from receiving grant money if they enact tort reform.
- It creates federal insurance exchanges that are supported by national call centers to guide consumer choice, handle enrollment, process claims, and handle complaints. All communications must be supported in every language and culture in each state.
- It limits FSAs, MSAs, and HSAs only to prescription drugs and insulin. It eliminates the option to make pre-tax purchases of non-prescription drugs, eyeglasses, dental care, etc.
- It creates several new federal agencies. One is the “Health Choices Administration” (see p. 131), which oversees Health Insurance Exchanges. Another is the “Indian Health Services”, which oversees healthcare services to American Indians.
- It creates several new offices, such as the “Office of the ombudsman”, “Office on Women’s Health”, and “Office of Indian Men’s Health”.
- It creates a massive expansion of the Department of Heath and Human Services, which already runs Medicaid and Medicare. It assigns more than 1000 new responsibilities to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This includes giving away hundreds of grants worth billions of dollars, and overseeing a budget increased by hundreds of billions of dollars to support literally thousands of new regulations, penalties, sanctions, moratoriums, audits, investigations, oversights, surveillance, approvals, lawsuits, negotiations, services, awards, scholarships, loans, contracts, rebates, reimbursements, compensations, exemptions, waivers, reforms, offices, committees, task forces, centers, programs, standards, requirements, measures, methods, priorities, goals, rules, policies, processes, protocols, guidelines, plans, studies, surveys, reports, publications, web sites, call centers, data centers, facilities, training, and jobs. Almost every page in the bill gives new powers to the secretary.
- It gives the Secretary of HHS discretionary power to set prices, deny coverage, and ration health care.
- It requires the government to track personal information such as the hiring of nurses and doctors along with their wages, benefits, turnover, and tenure; the tracking of drugs prescribed by doctors, the personal financial transactions of doctors, and the personal investments made by doctors.
- It creates a new “Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research”, which is given unlimited access to all information from all federal departments and agencies.
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