Below is some excellent data on US healthcare spending and relevant facts re: current bill.? Yes, we have to keep the pressure on - this is not over.

Healthcare Myths and Facts:

Mr. Obama has gone back on the campaign trail to try to sell his health care reform to the nation. Mostly hand-picked, sympathetic attendees have been showing up to his town hall meetings. He continues to make the same points regarding health care reform, which need to be addressed specifically. I hope to address more in future articles.

* 1. We need health care reform.

We do not need health care reform. We have the best health care system in the world. We need health insurance reform.

* 2. Free market health insurance has caused our current problem.

It is the government that has caused the current problem. We have not had free market health insurance in this country since 1965. It is not possible to consider our system of medical payment free market when the government controls $.60 of every dollar spent on health care.

* 3. The evil and greedy health insurance companies have caused prices to skyrocket.

Again, it's the government that has caused prices to skyrocket. Medicare and Medicaid are the 800 pound gorilla and insurance companies are the fleas on the gorilla. Nothing can be done by the private insurance companies that has not been done by Medicare and Medicaid. The federal government opens the door and the private insurance companies follow. It is the government manipulation of the free market that has caused our current health insurance problem. The out of control medical costs in Britain and Canada, as well as in Massachusetts and other states that have tried government health care prove this point.

* 4. Nearly 50 million Americans are without health care.

Nearly 13 million Americans are without health insurance. No one in the United States is without health care. Government regulations prohibit patients from being turned away from hospitals, which must provide medical care to anyone. The huge number that the Obama administration has used is highly inflated.

* 5. A government option will lower costs and improve quality of care.

A government option will increase costs and reduce quality of care. In every instance so far government involvement in medical services has caused prices to increase. Medicare spending has increased at a rate greater than 10 times that which was projected. Medicare and Medicaid will be broke in less than nine years. Adding another entitlement program will cause economic disaster. The Congressional Office of Management and Budget has stated that the president's plan is unaffordable. Further, the necessary rationing in order to even begin the program will reduce quality of care.

* 6. If you like your insurance and your doctor you can keep them.

The same things were said at the inception of Medicare. Medicare was supposed to be a supplemental insurance plan for retired people. It now covers the disabled as well and those over the age of 65, who are now ineligible for any other type of primary medical insurance. The government option will become the only option. Therefore, it's not an option and in the end hospitals, doctors, and all health care companies will be working directly and only for the government.

* 7. Government medical insurance is more cost efficient.

Government medical insurance is less efficient. The government, by force of law, transfers administrative costs to the private sector. Hospitals and doctors' offices must assume the burden of administration under threat of criminal penalty. This unfunded administrative burden transferred to private individuals and private insurance is then added to the cost of the supposedly free-market healthcare system.

* 8. The government option is necessary in order to prevent loss of insurance by individuals with medical problems.

Government regulations make it mandatory for hospitals to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. The government can certainly pass a simple regulation making it illegal for medical insurance plans to be canceled due to illness on the part of the insured. This would be a simple solution but of course would not increase government control over our lives.

* 9. The government option would ensure treatment for sick individuals who would otherwise have lost health care insurance. It would prevent lifetime limits on medical care.

This is blatantly untrue. There are definitive limits to Medicare that are not being publicized. For example, a review of Medicare regulations shows it will pay up to a maximum of 90 days in the hospital for each medical incident. After that, a patient must be in a rehabilitation facility for 60 days in a row in order for Medicare to begin another cycle of payment. Similarly, there are limits on most other Medicare services. While private medical insurance may have a total lifetime limit on the amount that can be spent, there is almost never a limit on the number of days in the hospital.

* 10. A government option will not result in rationing.

The major government options already in existence employ rationing every day. Prohibitively difficult preauthorization, statements of medical necessity, convoluted and complicated paperwork, and often impossible to meet requirements result in rationing on a huge scale. Furthermore, delay in payment, denial of payment for services already rendered and other tactics reduce access to medical care on a widespread basis. The government may not call this rationing but it is an insidious form of rationing that will be an integral part of any government plan. Medicare misuses and abuses its funding and is guilty of literally stealing from hospitals and physicians.

As an example of this thievery, due to a change in the corporate status of my practice I was required to apply for a new national provider identification number (NPI) in March of this year. Within several weeks, without exception, all of the private insurance companies had registered the number and were paying on claims. After five months and exhaustive work of over 140 hours by my office staff Medicare and Medicaid had still not paid on a single claim. Finally, on August 14, Medicare made their first payment on claims that were five months old. Yet, if we do not bill Medicare within three months of the date of service, Medicare will not pay us at all. Government regulation and control permeates the entire medical system.

* 11. A government option will simplify the payment for medical services.

The government has always made things more complicated and expensive. This is part of their rationing system. The government has a habit of requiring new provider numbers every couple of years that must be used for all claims, including private insurance claims. When these are instituted, payment can be delayed for as long as six months. To see how "simple" the federal government makes medical claims, what follows are my required identification numbers.

UPIN #G16766

OMAP#079496

Medicare#R0000BLCGY (PTAN) OLD

Medicare # R147304

(PTAN) **NEW** R147303

Railroad Medicare#[masked]

NEW Tax ID #[masked]

OLD Tax ID#[masked]

DEA # BRxxxxxxx (Hidden to prevent use)

Clia# 38D[masked]

NPI#[masked] (individual)

NPI Group #[masked]

Every point the president has made regarding his health plan is either a gross misrepresentation or an outright lie. The purpose of this plan is to ensure dependence on government and a financial windfall for his cronies, including trial lawyers, and has nothing to do with concern about the cost of medical care or about the health or lives of American citizens.

Healthcare Myths and Facts - Part 2


* 1. ObamaCare will prevent insurance company denials.

Sorry, Mr. President. As can be seen from the data below, Medicare is the greatest offender in this regard. ObamaCare will be even worse.

* 2. The cost of medications is out of control in the United States.

Well, not exactly. Canadians pay more for medicine as a percentage of after tax dollars than we do. Additionally, our costs are reasonable compared to other OECD nations.

* 3. The rate of rise in healthcare costs is higher in the U.S. than anywhere else.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The rate of rise in healthcare costs in Canada has actually been greater than in the United States since 2007 and in the United Kingdom has been greater all along. Additionally, our healthcare cost increase has remained around the mean for OECD counties since 1990.

* 4. Our healthcare costs have been rising faster and need to be controlled.

Mr. Obama is not being completely truthful. The cost of healthcare has been rising, as it has in all developed countries. But, the rate of rise has stabilized as can be seen by the data below. Since the facts would get in the way of his agenda, Mr. Obama meticulously avoids facts.

By comparison, let's look at a graph showing Medicare spending, actual and projected.

* 5. The U.S. spends more than other countries but has a lower life expectancy.

This is a misrepresentation. Life expectancy depends on too many variables. It is not exclusively related to the healthcare system. I reviewed data showing raw life expectancy data from OECD countries with corrections made for accidental deaths and murders, both of which are unfortunately higher in the U.S. The newer data for the years[masked] will not be available until 2010, but are expected to show similar results.

* 6. The healthcare process will be transparent.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a "gag order" prohibiting insurance companies from informing Medicare-plus enrollees that the health plan would result in a discontinuation of their private secondary insurance. Additionally, the leadership in Congress has refused to post the working bill online. What are they hiding?

ObamaCare will result in higher cost, lower quality medical care. However, it will result in the greatest transfer of dependence to the federal government since the start of Medicare in 1965. Essentially every person in the United States will be dependent on the government for their very lives. Other countries, such as Switzerland and The Netherlands, have reformed their healthcare systems in the direction of greater privatization. The healthcare systems of Canada and the United Kingdom are failing. Every state healthcare system attempted in the United States has resulted in higher cost, poorer medical care and financial disaster.

Yet, in the face of these real facts, Mr. Obama and the leaders in Congress press forward. Any sane person must question their motives given the overwhelming evidence that this plan will be a disastrous failure medically and financially.

Healthcare Myths and Facts - Part 3:

* ObamaCare will not promote abortions.

It is true that there are no provisions in the current plan specifically providing for abortions. However, there are provisions in the plan for "family planning." Given his record, many conservatives rightly suspect that to Mr. Obama family-planning means a lot of planning, and fewer people in order to reduce the amount of carbon producing biological units. This health care plan gives the Commissioner of Health Choices the power to determine future benefits within the plan. The promotion of abortion can be easily added once the bill is passed. This is another example of liberal incrementalism at its finest.

* ObamaCare will not lead to less care for the elderly.

Mr. Obama's plan depends upon a $500 billion cut from Medicare. At the same time, he promises that the elderly will not realize reduced benefits. If this is the case, what is now being done with that $500 billion? It is obvious that this brings up a very important conundrum for Mr. Obama. If the government is able to run medical care so efficiently then how would it be possible for $500 billion in reductions in Medicare to result in no substantial reduction in benefits? However, if a substantial reduction in funding for Medicare is possible, it is further proof that the government does not run medical care efficiently?

There are other interesting aspects of medical care for the elderly. Medical care for non-therapy ancillary services will be increased by 10%. On page 215 we find that payment for therapy will be decreased by 5.5%. In other words, payment will be increased for the provision of comfort care (think: end of life). Payment will be decreased for the provision of curative care or care that prolongs life.

* ObamaCare will not result in the exclusion of private medical insurance.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Private medical insurance must be provided in plans that are approved by the new Commissioner for Health Choices. If these plans are not approved, they will not exist. Furthermore, these plans are only given grandfather status. Over time, private medical insurance will be squeezed out as the government medical plan increases its hold on everyone.

Additionally, the small business employee health coverage credit will phase out over the next several years. There will be no tax credit for employers ensuring those earning over $80,000 per year. This provision starts immediately. And, Mr. Obama's health care plan will pit the government plan against private health plans with a distinct legal advantage given to the government plan.

* ObamaCare will be paid for by increased taxes and savings from cutting Medicare.

The Office of Management and Budget projects that ObamaCare will cost at least double and perhaps triple the amount that Mr. Obama has projected. We have a history of government subsidized medical care in this country that shows the folly of Mr. Obama's promises. Medicare has never been able to pay for itself out of payroll taxes. Medicare required the infusion of general funds from the very beginning, and that infusion from the general fund has increased in proportion ever since the legislation became law. Medicare receives a larger amount from the general funds than it does from payroll taxes and will be bankrupt by 2018. Similarly, Obama's plan will never be funded by his proposed tax increases. Within a very short time, taxes will increase through all strata of income levels and as medical care costs increase the system will implode. Every bit of available evidence shows us that medical care costs will rise more rapidly under a government system.

* ObamaCare will help small businesses.

Mr. Obama's health care plan will destroy small businesses. There will be surcharges, otherwise known as taxes, on the private health plans of all employees. Additionally, businesses with payrolls greater than $250,000 but less than $300,000 yearly will have to pay 2% of that payroll toward the funding of the "Health Insurance Exchange." Employers with larger payrolls would have to pay more and the percentage increases according to the number of employees in the business. This will cause employers to reduce the number of employees in order to reduce the amount of money they owe to the government.

* The plan will not result in reduced benefits.

The plan is replete with rationing that is called everything but rationing. For example, in order to reduce the amount of money spent on readmissions to hospitals, punitive actions will be taken in order to refuse payment to hospitals if patients are readmitted. It's not the fault of hospitals or physicians when patients are readmitted and often this is necessary because of the severity of the initial illness. However, Mr. Obama's plan relies on punitive measures in order to prevent readmission.

"In order to account for excess readmissions in the hospital, the Secretary shall reduce the payments that would otherwise be made to such hospital under subsection 19 (d) (or section 1814(b)(3)"


These punitive measures are familiar to all of us who have had to work with the constraints of Medicare and Medicaid. Patients who take a turn for the worse will likely not be readmitted because of these penalties. Basically, the government would rather have the patient dead than readmitted. One must understand that the wording of these provisions is extremely important and will lead to terrible injustices being perpetrated against patients under this plan.

This readmission clause is just one example of the punitive nature of Mr. Obama's health care plan. I have read every one of the 1017 pages of the legislation and a large number of these pages are devoted to explaining the penalties that will be meted out to those who do not follow the rules of this complex legislation.

* The government health plan will not cover illegal aliens.

At first glance this seems to be the case. On page 142 the plan states:

"Nothing in the subtitle shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."


However, it does not state specifically that federal payments for affordability credits will not be allowed and the Health Choices Commissioner has the power to change these regulations at any time without Congressional approval.

The plan also states that persons eligible to receive credits in order to help pay for medical insurance, otherwise known as credit eligible individuals, are defined as those who are lawfully present in the United States (other than as a non-immigrant). Notice the wording here. The corollary of this would be that if persons are unlawfully within the United States but are non-immigrants they would be eligible for coverage. Individuals who fit this description are otherwise known as illegal aliens.

The very wording of Mr. Obama's health care plan is meant to be confusing. It is complex, nearly incomprehensible, expands the power of the federal government and the Internal Revenue Service, even making tax preparation more complex. I have spent weeks reading and studying this plan and I am still confused. I am not, however, confused about the intent of this plan: the complete subjugation of the American people. In my opinion, ObamaCare would be the final nail in the coffin of this republic.