On March 22, 2010, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on the passage of healthcare reform. Although I am not a staunch Romney supporter, this statement sums up a lot of what I have been feeling about "healthcare" legislation for some time now.
"America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.
He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process — he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in either chamber, bribed reluctant members of his own party, paid-off his union backers, scapegoated insurers, and justified his act with patently fraudulent accounting. What Barack Obama has ushered into the American political landscape is not good for our country; in the words of an ancient maxim, “what starts twisted, ends twisted.”
His health-care bill is unhealthy for America. It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of health care. It will create a new entitlement even as the ones we already have are bankrupt. For these reasons and more, the act should be repealed. That campaign begins today."
I, for one, am ashamed at how this bill was passed. Whether you agree with what is in it or not, Americans MUST agree on the fact that it was a tricky, backdoor triumph. I also wonder, how are private insurance companies supposed to bear the demands placed on them with this reform? Granted reform is needed, but tell me mathematically how insurance providers are supposed to generally accept everyone and at the same time lower premiums? It's impossible. They will go bankrupt and fail, leading us into a social system run by the government (who bankrupted SS, Medicaid, and Medicare). Why should I pay the same premiums as someone who has never worked, never put money into the system through taxes, doesn't take care of their body as well as I do, and abuses our health professionals and establishments? It's like car insurance. If you are a risk, a higher liability, then your premiums will be higher. It's simple and logical and fair. Furthermore, how is it Constitutional that Americans will be forced to accept insurance whether they want it or not? If this bill is the best that lawmakers could come up with, then why are we threatened with fines and/or imprisonment if we do not conform? And why are the lawmakers not subjecting themselves to their own rules? How are they able to write themselves out of a program that they say will benefit the rest of us? Why are we not looking into tort reform? Why aren't we improving the existing state programs like Medicaid? I have used those programs! They are in desperate need of regulation! Why are we not putting time limits on how long someone can stay on those programs? Why are we letting illegal immigrants use our resources? Why should I want a third party telling me who I can see for medical treatment and how often I can see them? Why should I leave the fate of my family's health care in the hands of lawmakers who do not know or care about me? Also, in these current economic times, how are small business owners, etc. supposed to pay for mandatory health insurance for their employees? There are heavy taxes on employers for doing so! If they are struggling as is, then how can we expect people who aren't financially ready to take on such a burden? It doesn't make sense with the current economic climate. Lastly, how am I to wield my moral philosophies to accept the fact that some of my husband's paycheck may ultimately pay for abortions that I don't agree with?
If it were up to me, I would restrict the liberal suing of health care professionals. I would drastically tighten the use of our social programs by placing time limits on usage of these resources (however allowing for extenuating circumstances as they arise). I would look to immigration control thereby disallowing use of our programs by people who are not legal citizens (and thus who do not pay back in taxes what they take from the system). (Note that I am not saying I am anti immigration. Because I am NOT. I am anti illegal immigration.) I would look into insurance practices and allow for regulation that WON'T bankrupt those private entities. Above all, I would allow the freedom of choice in the matter of personal health. I believe that with those few changes, we would have the money available in programs like Medicaid and TANF to effectively aid those people who truly do need help. I am not cold hearted. I WANT to help people who struggle but can't afford their health bills. (Those people of course being tax paying people who have done what they can to provide for their families.) And we CAN do that! Just not the way our current leaders have outlined earlier this week. It won't work. We will see dire ramifications if it is not overturned.
I am grateful for leaders, family and friends who have educated themselves on this matter. The bill that was passed was not health care. It is not fiscally sound. It is not economically wise. It's not logical. We can't stay healthy if the government ties the hands of those professionals who sacrificed time, talents, money, and hard work to help us. We can do better and I pray that we do.
I SO very much agree with you! Well put! If only they pay for it by giving themselves a HUGE pay cut, I *might* be okay with a tiny portion of it.
ReplyDeleteDani, I agree a lot with what you said. However, I have not lost hope in America completely, and I believe if there is enough people unhappy with the aspects of the current bill that passed (and I believe there are), given a little time (so enough people can see it's not that great), amendments will be made. Don't forget there are some good things that have come from this: IMMEDIATE outlawing of pre-existing conditions clauses. I think it is unfair and ridiculous to assume that everyone with a pre-existing condition doesn't take care of their body. Bruno has 2 pre-existing conditions: hypothyroidism and vitiligo-- both diseases he had no way of preventing... they are genetic! Fortunately we have great insurance that doesn't have a pre-existing condition clause. But I've heard of plenty of people that don't get coverage for their conditions, and its just not right. I also know there is several great consumer-driven plans out there (Blue Cross/Blue Shield for example) that have extremely low premiums (like between $80-120 per month for the whole family) and they accepted EVERYONE (granted it WAS through Bruno's employers-- both Northrop Grumman, and Express Scripts)! This coverage paid 100% of the first $2500 and after that there was a $1600 deductible, then covered 90% of everything after that! That is just an example, of what we have seen offered by two large companies. So I KNOW it is possible for the insurance companies to make money and offer lower premiums.
ReplyDeleteAlso, believe it or not, just because you aren't a citizen, doesn't mean you don't pay taxes. Most illegals here pay taxes, unless they are paid under the table.. in cash. That is partly how they keep out of the radar for so long. And even legal immigrants (those with work visas, green cards) pay taxes! Bruno JUST became a citizen last year, and he's been paying taxes for 8 years!
On the flip-side, I totally relate to what you said about small-businesses not being able to afford health insurance. I grew up without health insurance because my dad owned a family-run business. My brother owns the business now and I answer phone for him (so I still work for that business). The options for the small businesses are ridiculously expensive and an added tax on small businesses barely making ends meet is just completely unfair.
Like I said, I agree a lot with what you said, and I think changes still can be made... hope is not lost, in my opinion.
You are right, Rachel...There are a lot of illegals who DO pay taxes. Make certain that I wasn't talking about those who are trying to go through the process of legal immigration; those who are putting in more than what they are taking out. Those who abide by laws and are trying to better themselves by working, studying, etc. in America via legal methods are quality people and are welcome to support and aid. I was talking about those who are NOT doing those things and never plan on doing so.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that people with pre-existing conditions may need support (especially if it's a costly condition and they aren't independently wealthy!). In fact, I have pre-existing conditions! I blame them on my mother's side! This is a more clear stance on what I said earlier: I think that there need to be limits set. If you have a condition that is beyond your control (like something you were born with and can't prevent), then yes, help may be needed and exclusion is unfair. It's wrong to let a child die because their parent's cant afford an operation, even with insurance. Help is needed in that case. But if you are someone who has abused your health and caused a lot of the problems you are now wanting the government (ie, me) pay for by demanding equality in premium costs, then I have a HUGE problem with that. For those people, I say, "You made your bed, you lie in it." Also, that's why we need to allocate the programs that we DO have in a better way. We are squandering so much money with Medicaid and TANF that should be used for those people who are trying but can't make ends meet. Instead, a lot of the time (not all of the time) it goes to people who will never put back into the system in ANY way. If we had better legislation on those programs, then people WOULD be able to get assistance and we wouldn't have to revamp our entire system for the few. As I said before, reform is definitely needed for measures such as pre-existing conditions, etc. but I don't like blanket statements. And yes, you CAN find affordable insurance like you say...So why the overhaul if there are options out there?? We have GREAT insurance (BCBS actually!) and I believe that some people COULD pay for insurance but dont WANT to.
Finally, I TOTALLY agree that it's not over. If I sounded otherwise, I apologize! 100% there is still hope! Reform is still going to happen. People are definitely not satisfied with the bill in its entirety and won't sit back without asking for changes to be made.
Thanks for a good discussion!
I hear you on some of your concerns. The problem is that the health care system as is is so broken...some of the things in this bill are great (not denying kids for preexisting conditions, not allowing insurance to just drop someone because they've developed a health condition WHILE COVERED by insurance, giving incentives to small businesses for providing health insurance), but there are definitely flaws.
ReplyDeleteIn reading up on this bill (a lot from the Deseret news, which is a fairly conservative paper), they're finding that most insurance companies are fairly happy with the bill.
I question the bill's ability to require and enforce the requirement to get insurance. I do, however, understand the reasoning on it. The Deseret News was doing some profile stories a few months ago about people on both sides of the debate. A couple (they are against the bill) who had no insurance but who did have a catastrophic plan and a health care account had a major illness for the husband. His care ended up costing hundreds of thousands (which a loophole in the catastrophic plan didn't cover).. While he was in the hospital, his wife injured herself. Due to the $$$ for her husband's care, she didn't get medical attention...and ended up in the ER with a far more severe injury than it would've been if she'd gotten it taken care of in the first place. And then the hospital wrote off their bills. They said they were willing to take care of the bills, but if the hospital wanted to write them off that was great with them. My problem with this story is the general problem I have with uninsured health care--people not getting early care or having a major problem and then racking up huge ER bills that we all get stuck with (the hospital forgiving their debt means someone else gets to pay for it--and that someone else is all other health care consumers). If they'd had insurance, it would've stunk but their bill would've been managable for them and we wouldn't have to eat the cost. I feel like we're eating the costs of the uninsured already (since they can still go to the ER and get care when they need it even if they can't pay for it--and hospitals pass that cost along to everyone else). Unfortunately, we never know when an accident or freak illness will take us out--we're all required to have car insurance, but not medical? It freaks me out a little to think of parents who don't insure their kids and play russian roulette with their long term health. We can be guarenteed education (even for people with mental retardation, who will never go to college, but who have the chance to reach their potential and are given chances to develop skills to live as independantly as possible) but we couldn't be assured that we'd have health insurance--I'm one that had a heart problem that was genetic, so I was totally denied any reasonable coverage through private insurance (in 2002, it would've cost me over $600 a month to self-insure through the high-risk pool--Utah is on the right track in at least having that high-rick pool))...My newborn who had jaundice would've been denied coverage by private insurance. Medicaid is an option to some people in that situation, but not to everyone.
Your point about lawsuits was spot on. There has got to be lawsuit reform, because too many people are suing their doctors for any little thing. However, the cost of doctor's insurance is ridiculous and the insurance company that insures the docs out here makes over a billion each year and paid out around 500 million for medical lawsuits/settlements. There is something wrong with all of us having to pay for those insurance companies to get rich.
Since we have several years before the objectionable parts come into law, I'm praying that they'll get modified to really work for our people! We are one of the richest nations in the country but we are paying far more than other nations for health care and we are only something like the 32nd healthiest nation. It's not right!
I hear you, Ali, about how crappy it is when people put themselves into positions that they can't financially climb out of by not getting health insurance/neglecting problems until they worsen. So yes, it's good that there is reform in the fact that they will now be able to get coverage even with pre-existing conditions. However, there definitely HAVE to be regulations set to make it fair as far as premiums go. I think you totally got my point on that and we see pretty much eye-to-eye in that case.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I totally agree with you that we are an unhealthy nation (but a lot of that is self induced I think...we eat poorly, are indulgent, etc...People need to take more responsibility for themselves and not rely as much as they do on outside sources to fix problems they created). Not only are we unhealthy, but we are "dumber" than most nations as well! It's sad! And wrong since we are also one of the wealthiest nations. That's what gets me...Where is all of our money going?
What you said about Medicaid not being available to all is a huge issue of mine. I think we could be helping SO MANY MORE deserving people than we do with that program if we weren't wasting the money on people who are "lifers" and never put back into the system. There definitely ways to reign in that money pit of a program. It could be such a WONDERFUL program! I am grateful that it was there when I needed it! Just a shame that Medicaid, Food Stamps, Housing, etc are so easily drained with little regulation.
But yes, I think we agree that there are definitely some good things that came of it. Do I think it was passed fairly? No. Do I think we could have come up with something better? DEFINITELY. Do I think changes will be made? For sure. And that's the whole point.
THANKS for commenting! See you in April!