Cool!
July 21, 2005
Too juicy to resist. Posterous brings us yet again, an excellent mockery of the current state of White House policy and protocol.
Tongue in cheek, First Pacific President Takes a Dive. The bowing President Barack Obama encounters a Gadsden flag.
“Obama. Go ahead and Don’t tread on me.”
Image courtesy of http://blackerton.posterous.com/first-pacific-president-takes-a-dive.
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Note the following letter was written by a physician. Doctors have a vested interest in being a patient’s best advocate. They will wager a battle on a patient’s behalf, not their own. The Hippocratic Oath they take at graduation from medical school means a life long advocacy for their patients. The initial part of that oath, “First, do no harm,” lays the foundation for which a physician acts on any patient’s behalf forever. It means they take a stand when they believe there is something at stake that could harm their patients or their care. Interference by anyone into the doctor patient relationship means potential harm and questionable motives of gain directly or indirectly by person(s) outside of that relationship, where a patient’s life and care is at the center. That patient can be your spouse, mother, father, daughters, sons, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, significant other, and other close relatives and friends. Careful attention to the points raised shows the Pandora’s box that will be opened with health care reform. The doctor has minimal to lose if at all, whereas patient’s everywhere in America have everything to lose despite the facade that portrays otherwise.
Not satisfied with the comprehension his local Congressional representatives were using while they were debating passage of the H.R. 3200, Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, anesthesiologist in Indianapolis wrote to his Senator, Evan Bayh of Indiana. Despite the problems, H.R. 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act 2009 House Bill passed.
The following is the real letter. Some versions with alterations and additions have passed through the email, but the following original letter was provided by Dr. Fraser to Medicareproblems. Hat tip to Dakota Voice.
The points raised are salient. The Senate, in its desire to ram a health care bill to crow about later, would be wise to pay heed. A physician’s work is based upon being a patient’s best advocate, after all. The letter raises some very serious concerns about just how well legislators comprehend the bills up for passage. Reading is nothing without comprehension. Dr. Fraser highlights the some of the problems.
Unfortunately, the House passed that bill anyway, flaws and all. Will the Senate pass their flawed version as well? H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2009 Senate Bill pending. PDF.
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Dear Senator Bayh,
As a practicing physician, I have major concerns with the health care bill (HR 3200) before Congress. I spent the last week reading this bill, which at over 1000 pages is quite difficult to get through. Have you read it? I’m shocked by the brazenness of the government’s intrusion into the patient-physician relationship. I’m especially concerned about the creation of a central committee to decide medical coverage decisions.
Every physician and nurse I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system. Our President’s statement last week in his health care press conference that physicians are likely to make a patient care decision based on reimbursement rather than a patient’s best interest is not helpful in moving this discussion forward.
As an anesthesiologist I’m responsible for life and death decisions on a daily basis. I always have my patient’s best interests at heart and I’m sure my physician colleagues around the country do as well.
I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling sections I’ve read in the bill. How can the following be in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens? Capitalized words within quoted text are my emphasis.
SECTION 123 HEALTH CARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
“A committee composed of 18 President-appointed individuals and 8 Federal employees (26 non-elected citizens) to consist of providers, consumer representatives, employers, labor, health insurance issuers, experts in health care financing and delivery, experts in racial and ethnic disparities, experts in care for those with disabilities, representatives of relevant governmental agencies and AT LEAST ONE practicing physician OR other health professional and an expert on children’s health.”
SECTION 141 HEALTH CARE COMMISSIONER
The health care advisory committee will report to the Health Care Commissioner, another non-elected Presidential appointee who will make the final decisions for the nation’s healthcare benefits.
SECTION 246 SUBSIDIES FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS
“Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
SECTION 204
Language translation and linguistic appropriate services is mandated.
SECTION 205
The government will use community organizations to sign up eligible citizens for health plans.
SECTION 225 PROVIDER PARTICIPATION
This section states that Physician salaries will be dictated on an annual basis.
SECTION 131 REQUIRING FAIR MARKETING PRACTICES BY HEALTH INSURERS
This section gives the government veto power over advertising by private companies.
SECTION 312. EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS EMPLOYEE AND DEPENDENT COVERAGE.
This Bill mandates employer-paid coverage for part-time employees and families which will be a huge burden for small businesses.
SECTION 431 DISCLOSURES TO CARRY OUT SUBSIDIES
The Health care commissioner and others in government will have full access to your tax returns. On Pages 58 and 195 Government will have real-time access to individuals finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued. Officers & employees of HC Administration will have access to ALL Americans finances /personal returns.
SECTION 1128H
Under Medicare, every prescribed drug, device or medical supply has to be disclosed to the government or a penalty of $10,000 to $100,000 applies.
SECTION 1501
The health commissioner will approve expansion of physician residency training positions with preference being given to primary care and disadvantaged applicants.
SECTION 155 SEVERABILITY.
“If any provision of this Act, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this Act and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.”
SECTION 1233 ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION (pages 424-431)
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Government provides approved list of end of life resources. Government MANDATES program for orders for end of life every 5 years. The Government decides it should be involved in end of life care.
Page 428 Lines 17-25: Additional advanced care planning consultations will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.
Page 429 Lines 1-3: “advanced care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans.
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The Government will specify which Doctors or other individuals can write an end of life order.
Page 431-2 The Government mandates that “quality measures on end of life care” be measured and reported.
Other troubling sections I discovered:
Pages 65-66 Section 164: Describes a subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations. Why the special treatment?
Page 84 Section 203 HC bill: Government mandates ALL benefit packages for private care plans in the Exchange.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Government will ration your Healthcare!
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. AARP members – Will your Health care be rationed?
Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.
Page 121 lines 11-17: Doctor or provider payment will be at medicare rates under the public option. Medicare pays well under market rates and many physicians currently subsidize or cost-shift from private patients to provide care to seniors. If medicare rates are mandated, access to care will suffer. Do you support paying physicians at medicare rates under the public option Senator?
Page 124 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue the government on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt Monopoly.
Page 203 Line 13-15 HC: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Why the deception?
Page 265 Section 1131: Government mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.
Page 268 Section 1141: Government regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 Section 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS
Cancer treatments are expensive and represent the latest in research, technology and understandably cost a lot of money.
Page 280 Section 1151: The Government will penalize hospitals for whatever Government deems preventable re-admissions.
Page 316-317: PROHIBITION on doctor ownership/investment. Failure to disclose ownership is a 10,000 dollar fine for each occurrence.
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion Government is mandating hospitals or surgery centers cannot expand.
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: Government mandates establishment of outcome based measures.
Page 354-355 Sec 1177: Government may RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people to certain times and will review special needs plans and make recommendations “as the secretary of HHS deems appropriate.”
Page 379 Sec 1191: Govt creates more bureaucracy -
Page 469: Community Based Home Medical Services = Non profit organizations.
Page 472 Lines 14-17: PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORIGINATION.
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Government will cover Marriage & Family therapy.
Page 494-498: Government will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.
It is also apparent that the Congress will not require themselves to use the public plan as required for most Americans. Why the double standard?
Will abortion services be covered with taxpayer money?
Why is there no mention in HR3200 of malpractice reform? Many studies show that defensive medicine is a major contributor to the cost of medical care in our country.
Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of this legislation. Our country was not founded on the socialist principles that make up this bill. There are many other ideas and policies that could be adopted that will not destroy the good aspects of our current health system and cover those who currently are without coverage.
I implore you to use a nonpartisan mind to consider these other options. If you vote for a bill that destroys private medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you and other supporters of this flawed bill lose your job in the next election.
Respectfully,
Stephen E Fraser MD
See:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Attitude, Comprehension, Democrat, GOP, Government, Hypocrisy, Judgment, Politics, Republican
And the fork ran away with the spoon.
Literally.
“A fork and a spoon.”
Image courtesy of http://www.greatfunnypictures.com/index.asp?image=239.
Cosmetic procedures anyone? Get yours now BEFORE the extra 5 per cent tax on cosmetic surgery or medical procedure kicks in New Years Day January 1, 2010. ‘Bo-Tax’ for Health-Care Reform?. Business Week.
It is considered cosmetic as long as it is not being done for any trauma, accident, disfiguring disease, personal injury, or congenital anomaly.
“Please have your money ready.”
Image courtesy of http://blogs.rep-am.com/worth_reading/?p=2069
Come on America. Open up those purse strings a little bit more. Collagen, Botox, breast implants, liposuction, facelifts, eyelid lifts, and laser treatments are worth it, right?
Spare a dime. Help raise some cash to get all of America health insurance. That is exactly the reasoning Senate Leader Harry Reid and fellow Senators used to pay for their health care bill
So what are women to do, who comprise a sizeable amount (91%) of the cosmetic-paying population?
“It’s just unfair—I don’t think the people who wrote this understand who they are really taxing,” says Dr. Phil Haeck, a plastic surgeon in Seattle and president-elect of the ASPS. “This is truly a women’s tax, not a man’s tax,” Haeck says, likening it to taxing women’s perfume but not men’s cologne.
And what about your plastic surgeon who will have to collect a big Chunk O’Cash when you plop down several thousand dollars for that procedure you have been dreaming about and saving for years? CNN Money.
Phil Haeck, a plastic surgeon in Seattle and incoming president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, said his top tax-related concern is discrimination against women. But another worry is how the tax will be collected, he said, because some procedures fall under a gray area.
A person may get nose surgery to free up an airway, for example, but also for cosmetic reasons. So should doctors collect a tax on the entire procedure to pay to the government? Among members in Haeck’s association, 85% do cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.
The wise government wants its cash to be collected up front and sent to the tax coffers for redistribution.
Socialism. Redistribution of wealth.
Image courtesy of http://www.webloggin.com/go-redistribute-your-own-wealth/.
President Barack Obama wants to pass health care reform by the end of this year, and wants you to pay for it. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made sure a bill from the House was passed. Senate Leader Harry Reid is determined to have his Senate do likewise. Recall, it was a mandate from the voters who supported Democrats, including Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and all the others in the House and Senate who have thus far supported such legislation.
Read the Senate language yourself.
Page 2045 of the H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2009 Senate Bill currently pending. PDF. Via Politico.
SEC. 9017. EXCISE TAX ON ELECTIVE COSMETIC MEDICAL PROCEDURES.
(a) IN GENERAL.-Subtitle D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
”CHAPTER 49-ELECTIVE COSMETIC MEDICAL PROCEDURES ”Sec. 5000B. Imposition of tax on elective cosmetic medical procedures.
”SEC. 5000B. IMPOSITION OF TAX ON ELECTIVE COSMETIC MEDICAL PROCEDURES.
”(a) IN GENERAL.-There is hereby imposed on any cosmetic surgery and medical procedure a tax equal to 5 percent of the amount paid for such procedure (determined without regard to this section), whether paid by insurance or otherwise.
”(b) COSMETIC SURGERY AND MEDICAL PROCEDURE.-For purposes of this section, the term ‘cosmetic surgery and medical procedure’ means any cosmetic surgery (as defined in section 213(d)(9)(B)) or other similar procedure which-
”(1) is performed by a licensed medical professional, and
”(2) is not necessary to ameliorate a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or disfiguring disease.
”(c) PAYMENT OF TAX.-
”(1) IN GENERAL.-The tax imposed by this section shall be paid by the individual on whom the procedure is performed.
”(2) COLLECTION.-Every person receiving a payment for procedures on which a tax is imposed under subsection (a) shall collect the amount of the tax from the individual on whom the procedure is performed and remit such tax quarterly to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as provided by the Secretary.
”(3) SECONDARY LIABILITY.-Where any tax imposed by subsection (a) is not paid at the time payments for cosmetic surgery and medical procedures are made, then to the extent that such tax is not collected, such tax shall be paid by the person who performs the procedure.”.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.-The table of chapters for subtitle D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 48 the following new item: ”CHAPTER 49-ELECTIVE COSMETIC MEDICAL PROCEDURES”.
( c) EFFECTIVE DATE.-The amendments made by this section shall apply to procedures performed on or after January 1, 2010.
“Obama. Wrapping Socialism In A Smile.”
Image courtesy of http://www.neoconnews.com/2008/02/18/obama-still-lacks-substance-but-what-he-does-offer-whew/.
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Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Arrogance, Attitude, Democrat, Government, Judgment, Lifestyle, Politics, Taxes
A Breast Cancer Preview – The mammogram decision is a sign of cost control to come. WSJ.
A rational review of the basic ways Obamacare is already changing the way doctors will care for you.
It therefore concludes that the tests for the first group [women in their 40's] aren’t valuable, while also noting that screening younger women results in more false positives that lead to unnecessary (but only in retrospect) follow-up tests or biopsies.
Try telling that to a woman whose breast cancer was found incidentally by routine screening mammogram. She might not be alive if her cancer had gone undetected for much longer.
But just to be sure this is all about money, and who is paying and who is deciding on how that money will be spent on care, understand the following clearly.
The effects of this new breast cancer cost-consciousness are likely to be large. Medicare generally adopts the panel’s recommendations when it makes coverage decisions for seniors, and its judgments also play a large role in the private insurance markets. Yes, people could pay for mammography out of pocket. This is fine with us, but it is also emphatically not the world of first-dollar insurance coverage we live in, in which reimbursement decisions deeply influence the practice of medicine.
Worse yet, federal advisory groups with very clear cost control mindsets, like the one that came up with the current short-sighted mammography guidelines, will ultimately be deciding you or your loved one’s care. They will make the recommendations that ultimately become the rules on how health care will be paid for. You can pay for the rest out of your pocket, or all of it if it is determined it is not a covered benefit. That is, if you can afford it.
More important for the future, every Democratic version of ObamaCare makes this task force an arbiter of the benefits that private insurers will be required to cover as they are converted into government contractors. What are now merely recommendations will become de facto rules, and under national health care these kinds of cost analyses will inevitably become more common as government decides where finite tax dollars are allowed to go.
Have these people lost their bearings? Far be it for anyone but the most incongruous thinker, but most people expect their doctor to be their greatest advocate and take care of them as best as possible. Rudimentary costs, particularly at the screening level, that may translate into a life long lived versus a death sentence, should not hinge on the statistics-driven rationale by appointed bureaucrats and academics that do not deal with patients, human beings, on the front line.
In a rational system, the responsibility for health care ought to reside with patients and their doctors. James Thrall, a Harvard medical professor and chairman of the American College of Radiology, tells us that the breast cancer decision shows the dangers of medicine being reduced to “accounting exercises subject to interpretations and underlying assumptions,” and based on costs and large group averages, not individuals.
Do you want you, your mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, grandmother, great grandmother, etc. to be subjected to their care being dictated by “Panels” designed to decide their care? Do you want you, your father, husband, son, brother, uncle, cousin, grandfather, great grandfather, likewise subject to the same? Breast cancer happens in men too. And so do other diseases that “Panels” will be culled to make the decisions for how Obamacare will take care of you.
Check out the bills to see for yourself. Do not skip pages. Read every line. Comprehension is critical. It is you and your loved ones’ health care at stake after all. It is all there. Your representatives claim they read it. But do they understand it?
H.R. 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act 2009 House Bill passed. (BIG bill, LONG load)
H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2009 Senate Bill pending. PDF.
Should this be insufficient to drive the point home, consider the following illuminating posts. Clear in point. Like no other, Uppity Woman serves up the harsh reality. Comments slam it down like a chaser.
For those who have forgotten their history and are doomed to repeat it, a little condensed version to put all of the above into proper perspective. Uppity Woman and the the commentary round out the explosive discussion. No holds barred begets brutal truth. No Quarter cross posted.
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Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alarm, Attitude, Government, Hypocrisy, Judgment, Politics, Values
Homeless Men Kill Their Friend, Eat Him and Sell the Rest to Kebab House. Pravda.
Kebabs, anyone?
Image courtesy of http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/crimes/17-11-2009/110544-cannibals-0.
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Gee, what is a U.S. President to do when there are no adoring and fawning masses to greet and adulate you? Especially when your whole mantra has been built upon a Hollywood/Chicago conceived theme of a Manchurian Candidate of sorts? Blame someone else.
China stifles Obama charisma. AFP. When in China, do as the Chinese.
A couple of quotes to drive the hammer to the nail.
…in China, Obama’s hosts successfully stifled those prodigious public talents, keeping his message from the people with media censorship and smothering it in staid diplo-speak.
…in China, it has been tougher to reach out to ordinary citizens. His best attempt, a town hall meeting streamed on the White House website, suffered from what was largely a nationwide media blackout.
The US president shuffled his papers on the lectern, scratched an eyebrow and looked across at Hu, as his host read out a long speech. The arid diplomatic translations made the occasion seem even more sterile.
Reporter’s questions were banned.
There was no chance for Obama to deploy his persuasive political personality.
At least two of the four youths Obama picked to ask their own questions were later identified as Communist Youth League members.
The event did air on local television, but appears not to have had national exposure. Hopes that the official Xinhua news agency would stream it live did not materialise.
Lost in translation.
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Found over at Lucianne.
Because it’s harder to look them in the eye.
Now for the laugh.
I Own The World has the canine with Akihito at Pacific Rimjob.
“Uncle Sam – You should never greet foreign leaders that way. Obama bowing to Uncle Sam while bowing to Japanese Prince- I was greeting you. Akihito extending a handshake”
Image courtesy of Michael Ramirez November 16, 2009 via http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/PhotoPopup.aspx?id=512640.
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Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Attitude, Barack Hussein Obama, Character, Humor, Laughter, Patriotism, Politics, Respect
FUNNY QUOTES OF THE DAY This Day in History
Applause! Applause!
Tricorn hats are the rage
Click Horsey for William Tell Overture
Stress Reduction Kit. Bang Head Here.
