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8/7/2009
Got to read the bill
Objections to and misinformation about HR 3200 are being tossed around by all sides in this debate – and yeah, it’s hard to get to the bottom of it.
So, ok, a little homework. Bookmark your own copy of HR 3200, then get to work. And hard work it is. I’ve not yet slogged through the whole thing, but here’s just a sprinkling on this misinformation business, using claims being passed around by some. Have you seen the big list?
Claim: Page 16, Sec. 102, lines 3-26, outlaws private insurance by forbidding enrollment after HR 3022 [sic] is passed into law.
Actual: The whole section refers to plans in existence prior to 2013 that don’t meet the outline of an “Essential Benefits Package.” In order for the market to work effectively for consumers, indeed, it will be important to define one or more standard benefit plans. The devil is and will most certainly be in the details of those standard plans. The public plan poses a whole separate challenge, but the stipulation on page 16 does not outlaw private plans after 2013. So… no need to worry about being bumped by your current health insurance provider.
Claim: Page 30, Sec. 123 re: Health Benefits Advisory Committee – There will be a government committee that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Actual: “There is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced and premium plans.”
This again refers to development of one or more standard benefit plans - needed regulation – and it’s standardization that I think the insurance lobby has bought into. It’s hard for politicians to say no, and the tendency of “experts” may still be to require coverage of everything but the kitchen sink. So again, the devil will most certainly be in those details, but standardization will be important.
Claim: Page 50 – 51, Sec. 152. Prohibiting Discrimination in Health Care – Health Care will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, ILLEGAL or otherwise.
Actual: “…all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.”
Does that mean health care is provided to all? Well, yes, I would think so. Does “public health activities” mean Medicaid is provided to all? This is a question to specifically ask your Congressman!
Another different “Actual:: Page 143, lines 5 – 7. “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
So, when it comes to paying “affordability credits” to offset health insurance premiums for those who can’t afford part or all of their health insurance premiums, the bill is pretty clear. No illegal immigrants paid for by federal dollars.
Claim: Page 58, Sec. 163, Administrative Simplification – Government will have real-time access to individual’s finances and a National ID Healthcard will be issued.
Actual: Standards for financial and administrative transactions for a Qualified Health Benefit Plan will include “enab[ing] the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individuals’ financial responsibility at the point of service …, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card.”
This ID card is actually the same card that even now I must present every time I see a health provider or a dentist or buy prescription drugs.
Let’s all settle down. Let’s get to the nub of this stuff. Government health insurance exchanges, the public plan and the huge bureaucracies that result are the problems. Lack of incentives for controlling costs is another. Yes, let’s continue to object, frequently and forthrightly. But let’s do it with the hard-to-get-to facts. (Boy, I’d surely love to be represented by someone I trusted to ask the right questions,. Someone who believes strongly in smaller government and individual responsibility would surely be great. Grrrr.)
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Go to mercola.com and watch/read what Ron Paul had to say on the subject. The site has its own search tool to help you find stuff.
emily matthews (Fri Aug 07 16:06:09 2009)
"Preferred physician accepts assignment as payment in full". Kagen doesn't accept assignment. So much for keep your physician. LIES
Steve Wells (Sun Aug 09 14:30:36 2009)
Your read is a bit tame. Comparative effectiveness is all about rationing. The problem is that making the government the final payor makes them the arbitrator.
You also miss the nuianced details of the bill that set requirements for private health insurance policies that will make them utterly unaffordable.
Keep doing your homework, because thus far you are missing the point.
Sam (Sun Aug 09 19:32:08 2009)
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