I have one word for this, *BASTARDS* inthane----- Original Message ----- From: "Nimer" <nimerjaber1@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind_html@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 9:57 PM Subject: blind_html [Fwd: Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan]
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:55:30 -0500 From: Ray T. Mahorney <coffee-craver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Blind-chit-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_mccaughey&sid=aLzfDxfbwhzs# Commentary by Betsy McCaugheyFeb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether PresidentBarack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion.These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health.(Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH , pdf version).The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medicaltreatments will be tracked electronically by afederal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, isbeneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology,will monitor treatments to make sure your doctoris doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and“guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). Theseprovisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solopractitioners.”Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes toofar. New PenaltiesHospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningfuluser” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHSsecretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511,518, 540-541)What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when yourcondition is atypical or you need an experimentaltreatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powersto make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative EffectivenessResearch (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, isto slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. Hepraises Europeans for being more willing to accept“hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting toomuch from the health-care system. Elderly Hardest HitDaschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of theconditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt. Medicarenow pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost-effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves orrejects treatments using a formula that divides thecost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for youngerpatients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait untilthey went blind in one eye before they could geta costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the boardreversed its decision. Hidden Provisions If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senatein its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say thatindividuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to howpatients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. Thebill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined(90-92, 174-177, 181).Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’shealth-care overhaul in 1994, and attributedits failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quicklybefore critics mount an opposition. “If that meansattaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to bestalled by Senate protocol.” More Scrutiny NeededOn Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing thestimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’sgross domestic product. Yet the bill treats healthcare the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limitinggrowth and innovation in the electronics or autoindustry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.(Betsy McCaugheyis former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Theopinions expressed are her own.) To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@xxxxxxx Last Updated: February 9, 2009 00:01 EST Ray T. Mahorney WA4WGA UK call sign M0WGA ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:Blind-chit-chat-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:Blind-chit-chat-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Blind-chit-chat-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ blind_html To unsubscribe, please send a blank email to blind_html-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in the subject line. To access the archives, please visit: //www.freelists.org/archive/blind_html Thanks
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