Time and time again, congressional leaders have denied that the proposed health care legislation would result in a federal takeover of health care. Proponents of Obamacare claim that consumers would retain personal choice in selecting health plans and physicians. For example, consider President Obama’s comments at a Raleigh, NC town-hall meeting on July 29, 2009: “Nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. I’m tired of hearing that…Under the plan I’ve proposed…if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan.”
The President and Congressional leaders fail to mention that, under the House and Senate bills, the federal government would determine the kind of health plans Americans get— the kinds of insurance Americans would get, the level of coverage they can receive, and the premiums, co-payments and taxes they would pay. It even mandates that all individuals purchase a government-defined level of health insurance coverage, regardless of their personal wants or needs.
The sheer quantity of new bureaucracy created by the legislation underscores the fact that this is nothing less than a federal takeover of health care. According to a preliminary analysis by the Heritage Foundation, the House bill (HR 3962) would results in 105 new federal programs, boards, councils, commissions, panels, or agencies. The Senate bill (HR 3590) would create even more at 117. Talk about red tape!
The statutory language, though is only the beginning. Both bills establish a framework for even more massive and detailed federal regulation. Plus, the possibilities for frenzied special interest lobbying are endless. There are grants for medical home pilot programs, grants for comparative effectiveness research, grants for quality assurance programs, just to name a few.
The new federal agencies and bureaus are charged with designing, evaluating, implementing, and coordinating some new program. The details are largely left up to their Director and, of course, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is empowered with unprecedented control over health care decisions. And if you’re looking for a specific price tag for the new agencies or bureaus, you’re out of luck; many are appropriated “such sums as may be necessary.”
For those who want to cede a huge amount of control over their personal lives to Washington, the health care legislation is made to order. For Americans who value their personal liberty, all they have to do is to read the fine print. Through the wonders of the Internet, it is all readily available on fixhealthcarepolicy.com.
The ONE thing I wish President Obama had said in response to a Healthcare Reform Bill was tat he would VETO ANY BILL THAT COMES ACROSS HIS DSK THAT CONTAINS SPECAL INCENTIVES AND “SWEET” OR PORK BARREL DEALS IN ORDER TO SECURE VOTES.
Presient Obama should agree to VETO ANY BILL that comes acoss his desk that contains ANY PORK BARREL moves or that promises give one state better benfits under the bill than any other. If the politicians continue to send such bilsl to him to sign, he sould promise (and then DO IT) to VETO them and aggressively campaign for the defeat of that legislator in the next election! THAT’S HOW YOU BRING ABOUT TRUE AND REAL REFORM IN WASHINGTON!!!
Where government is, corruption lives. Looks pretty healthy in over 2000 pages of a bill intentionally created to confuse the public.
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This legislation is NOT "Health Care Reform"; it IS "Health Insurance Regulation" that will give the Administration the control over insurance companies that the Administration now has over the financial industry, and the auto industry. This whole sham, conducted in back rooms, using strong-arm tactics, and thinly veiled bribery of other legislators (Nelson, Landrieu, Dodd, etc) from both parties. I happen to live in Nevada and anxiously await my opportunity to turn "Dirty Harry" Reid out of office. I just hope public opinion can hold off the legislation that will at last give the Bleeding Left what they have always wanted: "Cradle to Grave" federal control of our own bodies.
Please check out the bureaucracies of health insurance companies. They can rival any governmental bureaucracy in size, inefficiencies, costs, etc. And please keep in mind they already stand between patients, hospitals and doctors. Any real conservatives would also want to get rid of Medicaid, and Medicare and Social Security. What would happen to hospitals, health insurance companies and patients if we dropped those programs?