Garbanzo Toons

More on Obamacare

I get my share of political emails. Some I subscribe to, others are sent to me by friends who subscribe to other political sites. Yesterday I received one with a link to Patriots and Liberty. The subject is, of all things, Obamacare.

I read it and studied the claims. And when you get down to it, Obama and Congress are telling us one thing, while people that are probably more trustworthy are telling us something else. One of the points made at the link is that Section 102 (beginning of page 16) of this bill forbids people from buying private insurance if they don't already have it.

Section 102 has the Orwellian title, “Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage.” What this section really mandates is that it is illegal to keep your private insurance if your status changes - e.g., if you lose or change your job, retire from your job and become a senior, graduate from college and get your first job. Yes, illegal.

When Mr. Obama hosted a conference call with bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible, a blogger from Maine referenced an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance.

He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” Mr. Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.”

Even more troubling,

Then there is Section 1233 of The ObamaCare Plan, devoted to “Advanced Care Planning.” After each American turns 65 years of age they have to go to a mandated counseling program that is designed to end life sooner.

Those are some pretty incendiary claims. Since there is a link to the bill, I decided to go and read the sections in question. Well, let me tell you, reading a bill is no easy task. It is not written to be read. I'm not even sure it's read to be understood. But reading section 102, after a lengthy search, it seems like the only way to have private insurance is if you already have it.

More troubling is the afore mentioned section 1233. On pages 432 and 433, we have the following legalese gobbldygook,

(1) PHYSICIAN’S QUALITY REPORTING INITIA-
TIVE.—Section 1848(k)(2) of the Social Security Act
2
(42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(k)(2)) is amended by adding at
3
the end the following new paragraphs:
4
‘‘(3) PHYSICIAN’SQUALITYREPORTINGINITIA-
5
TIVE.—
6
‘‘(A) INGENERAL.—For purposes of re-
7
porting data on quality measures for covered
8
professional services furnished during 2011 and
9
any subsequent year, to the extent that meas-
10
ures are available, the Secretary shall include
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quality measures on end of life care and ad-
12
vanced care planning that have been adopted or
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endorsed by a consensus-based organization, if
14
appropriate. Such measures shall measure both
15
the creation of and adherence to orders for life-
16

sustaining treatment.
‘‘(B) PROPOSEDSETOFMEASURES.— The
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Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register
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proposed quality measures on end of life care
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and advanced care planning that the Secretary
21
determines are described in subparagraph (A)
22
and would be appropriate for eligible profes-
23
sionals to use to submit data to the Secretary.
24
The Secretary shall provide for a period of pub-
25
nalizing such proposed measures.’’.

Yes, it's extremely awkward reading, but in this cold, non-emotional bureaucratic language, it sure sounds like there will have to be some kind of consensus as to what kind of care, if any, we are to receive at the end of our lives.

I may or may not try to read more. I am grateful to the people who are wading through this mess to warn the rest of us of what Obama and his Democrat lackeys have in store for us.

Be afraid?

UPDATE - 8/8/09: I forgot the link to the bill. That's getting to be a bad habit. Read it here.

Labels: Obamacare

posted by Harry @ 11:26 AM