March 20, 2010 - Special Saturday Edition on the Latest on Healthcare
Saturday, 20 March 2010 16:22
Quote of the day: “Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” - Ronald Reagan, October 27, 1964.
The Latest: I just finished walking through a noisy and energized tumult of
about 20,000 people outside the Capitol cheering “Kill the Bill”, who are obviously opposed to the health care bill. At the time I am writing this, the President is speaking to the Democrat Caucus to make one last pitch before tomorrow’s expected vote on this disaster. Democrats announced just a few moments ago that they will no longer employ the “deem and pass” method and will have a vote on the Senate passed Healthcare bill. Here are just a few things you may not yet know about this piece of ……well…I don’t think I can use any of those words on a government computer. But you know what I mean. And after you read this, you will agree:
- Under this bill, about 9.5 million veterans who get their health insurance from the vets TriCare system, will be fined annually because that coverage does not meet the standards set out in the bill. Great, we’re going to fine veterans for having veteran’s coverage….How does that make sense?
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The bill will require the hiring of 16,500 more IRS agents to enforce all the taxes, fees, fines, and penalties in the bill. To determine whether you have to pay any of this, they will need to know exactly what medical insurance you have, how much it costs, what it covers, and any medical plans or payments you have made outside of insurance. And you thought the Census was intrusive.
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There continues to be lots of bipartisanship here….in opposition to the bill! This includes conservatives and moderates of both parties fighting against the very liberal of the Democratic Party.
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The Democrats in favor of the bill often talk about the 30 million they say will be insured by this bill. Fine. Let’s assume for the moment that they are correct. There are over 300 million people in this country now. What about the other 270 million? ALL of them will suffer. According to CBO, some will lose the insurance that they now have, because they are priced out and their employer can’t afford the fines. Some will lose their jobs as the taxes and mandates set in. Some will lose good medical care as doctors will quit practicing and hospitals will close. Everyone will pay the taxes or fines either directly or indirectly. And everyone who does not get their insurance for free will have to pay more; this is all according to the President’s own actuary.
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The President’s actuary said today that they did not have enough time to score the bill. So, if we vote on it, this will break another of the President’s promises. But of course if I had a nickel for every promise this President has broken……..
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But the President’s actuary did say that the bill will raise total health care costs in the U.S. by $222 billion. The actuary went on to say that they estimate that 20% of all health care providers who accept Medicare will become unprofitable and likely go out of business within 10 years.
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One of the arguments of the proponents of this bill is that those opposed to it want to help the insurance companies. This is garbage. 25 years ago California had among the lowest health care costs in the country. Now we are near the top. Why? Because, since that time the state legislature has mandated so much coverage that it has driven up costs. But they also drove out many companies who no longer found it profitable to do business in California. So, there are now really only about 4 insurance companies left in California, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield has the dominant market share. Like any company with a huge share and little competition, they have raised their prices. So, as usual, government will not save us from high prices. Government is why we have high prices. If we were allowed to buy insurance across state lines, as every Republican proposal has suggested, you would have over 1,000 new competitors and I bet Blue Cross would lose share and have to drop prices. But instead this bill will create less competition and, according to the President’s own actuary, raise prices.
- On top of it all, there are 27 national medical associations and 12 state medical associations, representing nearly 500,000 physicians, who oppose this bill. To view them all, click here.
I was in the elevator on my way to a vote today with a few other Democrat and Republican Members of Congress. In talking about the protestors outside, one of the Democrats remarked “did you see all those nutcases outside?” The blood was rising up my cheeks. But before I had time to explode, one of my Republican colleagues remarked “You have it wrong. The nutcases are here in Congress and at the White House. That’s America outside.”
Truer words were never spoken. Don’t give up America. The battle is still engaged.
Until tomorrow, I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Member of Congress
