Who Will Make Your Health Care “Choices”?
Posted July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am in Health Care 
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The House health care reform bill would establish a new entity called the Health Choices Administration, headed by a presidential appointee to be called the Health Choices Commissioner. Sounds wonderful, right? A government official whose only job is to make sure you have health care choices, right?
No. If you read the bill – Title I, Subtitle E, Sections 141-143, on pages 41-48 – it turns out that the Health Choices Commissioner’s job is, essentially, to make your health choices for you.
The Health Choices Commissioner will decide what services health insurance must cover, and under what conditions. These choice (“standards”) will apply to both employer-sponsored insurance and insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Exchange, which will be operated by the Health Choices Administration. There will be no other legal way to buy health insurance. There will, however, be a “Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman” to provide you with “assistance” in “choosing a qualified health benefits plan in which to enroll” – from among the plan or plans the Commissioner has already chosen, of course.
In choosing what services your health plan will cover, the Health Choices Commissioner will be required to consult with various entities, such as State attorneys general, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, “other appropriate federal agencies,” and Indian tribes. However, Commissioner will not be required to consult with patients (except for Indian tribes), doctors, or other health care providers.
The Health Choices Commissioner will naturally have the right to audit anyone offering a health plan – even employers – and will be required to perform “random compliance audits” as well as “targeted audits in response to complaints or suspected non-compliance.” Furthermore, “The Commissioner is authorized to recoup from qualified health benefits plans reimbursement for the costs of such examinations and audit.” In other words, if your health plan gets audited, your health plan or your employer has to pay whatever the government claims is the cost of the audit – even if your health plan or employer did nothing wrong, and was not even suspected of doing anything wrong. Those costs will have to be passed along to in the form of higher premiums or lower pay for you.
In fact, your employer’s competitors could run your employer out of business – and you out of a job – by filing bogus complaints about your health plan, which will then be investigated at your employer’s expense!
The Health Choices Commissioner is authorized to impose penalties on any private health plan or employer, including civil monetary penalties and suspension of enrollment. No trial, hearing, or even evidence will be required to impose these penalties – the only requirement is that the Commissioner “determines” that a violation has occurred.
And when Commissioner imposes a penalty, there is no procedure for an appeal of the Commissioner’s decision, nor any requirement that the Commissioner present any evidence of the violation. In short, none of the normal constitutional protections will apply.
The so-called “Health Choices Commissioner” will be the closest the United States has come to having an absolute ruler since King George III.
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19 Responses to “Who Will Make Your Health Care “Choices”?”
Ozzy6900, CT on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
If this bill passes, We as a People need to rise up once and for all! Our Representatives are not listening to us and the President is deaf to us also. We must not allow this to go on any further – even if it means Lexington & Concord all over again.
Woman! Keep loading the muskets and watch the back door!
Reality – Everywhere USA on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
The “choice” that remains if this measure doesn’t pass it that we will be at the whim of self-serving private insurance companies who’s sole motivation is to deny coverage to anyone that is not profitable.
A government plan is at least accountable to the the voters and not the CEOs and shareholders. To deny this fact is to deny the basic right to health care to your fellow citizen.
Perry on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
choices made by a “Health Choices Commissioner” would not be any worse than the private insurance companies telling you what doctor you can use, what testing will be covered, what medications will be covered. As it is now, those decisions are not made in our best interest, but in the interest of the financial bottom line for the insurance company. In other words, Wall Street dictates our coverage now and you have seen where their interests lay.
Concerned citizen & nana on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
As a retired R.N. I’m afraid Universal (socialized,govt.controlled)Healthcare
is a pending nightmare waiting to traumatize us all!
Spiritof76 on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
I attended a protest rally organized by the local Tea Party people at the local library where the Democrats were having a seminar on Health Care. There were about 35 of us standing outsdie with our signs while about half that number went in for the seminar.
A lot of patrons of the library walked past us to go into the library. Many of them were older people. They were generally in disbelief about what we were protesting about. It is amazing to me that many Americans are oblivious to what is happening and what is going to happen to them individually. One commented that “they should take away our Medicare so that others such as herself can afford health insurance”. I thought to myself that the fight to restore liberty is going to be a hard struggle.
P.J., Ohio on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
If you don’t like an Insurance company’s decision, you can sue, take it to an arbitrator, or complain to insurance watchdogs. You have absolutely NO protection of this sort under the Obama plan. How can you possibly think this would be better?
Dianne Chadwick, Indiahoma, OK on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
I’d be willing to bet the farm on the who this healthcare “czar will be:” Rahm Emmanuel’s brother.
Delilah, New Jersey on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
Why can’t these politicians listen to us, when we tell them we don’t want Goverment run health care, I’ve made many phone calls , to my senators , congressman and now I’m going to start going to the town hall meetings, and raise hell! People wake up and fight this, this is pure communist oppresion.. I think this is is going to be a big fight,..
Brian Harvill, NE Tennessee on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
It never ceases to amaze me who ignorant these tea-party people are about the cost of insurance.
P.J. Think you can sue- only if you are made of money and can afford to spend a decade out of your life. Insurance holds a legal monopoly over healthcare and over jobs, housing, and almostr every aspect of our lives. They tell you what doctor you see, what tests and procedures you may or may not have, they can (and do) tell you what treatments you MUST have or lose your coverage, they tell you what medications to take, (the higher the price the better). Insurance IS your healthcare.
Government certainly could not do a worse job than what we have now.
Medicare has lower costs, higher quality, and a higher approval rating than does private insurance. Costs are as high as they are BECAUSE of insurance.
What really needs to happen is to break-up the monopoly and force some competition. Someone should sue the insurance companies for breech of contract when they are dropped because they got sick. After all health-insurance is specifically for times when you get sick. I don’t need to pay someone to screw me over.
TR – Maryland on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
“Department of Health Choices” – it’s so Orwellian!
Robert Davis, Bear River, wy on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
This health care reform is nothing but solocalism,communisum,dictatorship, world order control and tyranny,.. Citizens should rise up and seek states soverighty and states rights to fight against this type of government. Obama and senators, congressman, that are committing treason against the nation. Don’t let them tell you what, how, where and how they may. This is against the 1st amendment of speach and expression for justice of the law. They all need to be impeached from office. We need to Stand up for america soverighty and defend it at all cost. Contact your congressman and senators to fight for our rights. If you are american than be an american to defend the constitution and bill of rights. They are cowards and a disgraceful law makers. The day will come for justice for there crimes. The above comments has a lot of truth and I agree with them and concerns for there family, and the future of america.
Edith Ring, Mt. Arlington, NJ on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
Speaking from experience, Obamacare will mean rationing for older people. My Mom died prematurely at age 79 in Social Democratic Scandinavia. She was medicated to “ease her passing” due to poor coloring – no other symptoms. They didn’t even call her family in US so we could be with her in the end, because that would have meant another day in the hospital. (She was only there 4 hours.) The death certificate said she died of a stroke; her friend and neighbor told us otherwise.
Mike on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
My goodness people. Government run healthcare has never been about stepping closer towards communism. What, do you want privatized police and firefighters too? You’ve been watching too many political scare tactic shows from the 60s. The only closed minded individuals are those who have never lived anywhere outside the US. But somehow they know it all! Have any of you ever experienced socialized healthcare?
Janet Groneman, Utah on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
I am absolutely aghast and appalled that people can be so uneducated and naive as to think that this so-called “healthcare” bill will give you better health care than the private sector insurance. Don’t you all know that the plan of the one-worlders is to do away with 300 billion people on earth within the next few years, in order that the population can be “sustainable?
This plan is a replay of the Clinton healthcare plan, wherein all who could not be restored to “normal health” would be denied care — period. That means anyone with a deformity, a chronic illness, or a terminal illness, or just too old to count. Such people are considered “Useless eaters”, and not worth wasting the government’s (our) money on. That could be you, your precious children, your parents, your spouse — anyone the govt. doesn’t deem worth saving. That, my dear fellow citizens, it what this healthcare bill is all about. Take it seriously.
Deborah, Alaska on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
I had endometrial cancer last year and two surgeries which without insurance I wouldn’t have been able to afford. The surgeries alone cost over on $100,000. I am on disability now and qualify for medicare/medicaid and someone asked “Who paid for my surgeries?” She meant the taxpayer’s. So under this new plan if you are too poor, disabled, or elderly does that mean you will be denied life saving health care such as surgery if you need it and have to wait in line to die?
Danielle, Wisconsin on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
If you have any questions as to whether or not there will be “death panels”, you all need to read the article written by Ezekiel Emmanuel (et al.), Rahm’s brother and health care advisor to Obama. Titled “Principles for allocation of scarce medical interventions, it was published on January 31, 2009 and submitted to the Department of Ethics! You can find it on http://www.thelancet.com. If you are between the ages of “roughly 15 and 40 years” and are “socially useful”, I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.
john doe on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
Get a life people and quit listening to Glenn Beck. Jesus would want us all to take care of each other, that includes medicaly
Dave, Japan on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
Sorry Republicans but Japan has been doing fine since WWII with a universal healthcare plan in place. It’s shameful that we as Americans are so greedy and not pushing this plan forward so our uninsured brothers and sisters can be taken care of too if the need arises. I’m ashamed to be associated with any American citizen who doesn’t care about his neighbor.
Dave, Japan on July 29th, 2009 at 11:04am said:
I would also like to add that I cannot stand the crooks in the current American insurance industry. I’ve had insurance for years and for a trip to the emergency room with my sick baby I was denied because I didn’t call the insurance company in advance…can I say, “HELLO! Emergency buddy!” Not to mention, it was after the company’s business hours too so even if I had called nobody would have been there to pick up anyway. The cost for insurance that “really” covers your family in America is also down right prohibitive and basically thievery.
I’ve never had a problem like that in Japan…NEVER. Plus, there’s no such things as “pre-existing conditions rules” in Japanese national insurance. Should I mention that children’s insurance is completely free until they enter elementary school in Japan and insurance rates are scaled to your family’s income. Japan even pays you money to have a child here so there’s basically no financial burden when you have a baby and then they give you money for child support every month until your child finishes junior high school too.
I have no intention of ever moving my family back to America until this insurance nightmare is over…and if that means never, so be it. What Obama is proposing should have been taken care of as the second order of business right after our founding father’s signed the Declaration of Independence.