Posted on the Health
Care Professionals for Romney page:
http://www.facebook.com/HealthCareProfessionalsForRomneyRyan2012?ref=hl
Hi, folks, Donna Rovito here.
I know you’re probably expecting the administrators to post something positive or uplifting today, but I have to admit that I’ve got nothing.
Well, nothing other than “elections have consequences” – and I borrowed that from a talk show host.
You heard what Dr. Madianos, radiologist, objectivist and noisemaker extraordinaire, had to say a little earlier. I’d like to say I disagree with him – but I think he’s nailed it.
Just to clarify, though, WE KNOW that most of the readers on this site were on the intelligent side of these issues, and we’re not really “yelling” at you. You’re just lucky enough to be in the audience.
First, let me thank ALL of you for the time, effort, and resources that you devoted to trying to save America’s health. MANY thanks to Dr. Evan Madianos, MD (who coordinated MUCH of the Inquirer ad), and Dr. Christine Bongiorno, DVM, (Chair of the Lehigh Valley Coalition for Health Care Reform and a pretty good noisemaker herself) for joining me as administrators on this page.
Sadly, we weren’t successful, but the level of commitment and dedication to our cause demonstrated by health care professionals from all specialties and all geographic regions was unprecedented, and I can’t begin to express how much it meant to all of us. Please don’t feel that it was entirely wasted, because we’ve forged networks here that will be useful to us in the future (that was a little positive and uplifting, wasn’t it?)
Yesterday was our last chance to eliminate ObamaCare, and since the majority of Americans decided to believe the sound bytes and outright falsehoods perpetuated by the media, ObamaCare (and a whole host of other things that will ultimately harm our nation) will stand. Our only hope is that the House of Representatives will find ways to block some of the most egregious provisions of the law, but with the weight of everything else on them, I wonder whether ObamaCare will fall through the cracks – especially since so many of its longterm effects will be dictated by the rules and regulations which have been – and are still being – written by Kathleen Sibelius and her minions at HHS.
The vast majority of the American public don’t know what’s in the law like we do – other than the warm and fuzzy stuff which has been packaged and sold to them by its supporters (with our tax dollars). They know they’ll get free contraceptives (which is GREAT, right? I mean, diabetics can’t get free insulin to keep them alive, and cancer patients can’t get free chemotherapy, but, hey, holding down the population and having women accept that they are NOT worth more than the sum of their girl parts is far more important than those things. Plus, not providing life-saving medications will help to reduce the population too, right?)
They know about “guaranteed issue” for pre-existing conditions, but they don’t know that an added bonus absolutely guaranteed by that provision is that it will put commercial insurance companies out of business – thereby allowing the government to swoop in and save the day with a “government option.” They know that their “children” can stay on their policies until they’re 26, which is good, since their children won’t be able to find jobs. I think many people believe that’s free, but it isn’t.
They don’t know that their employers will likely stop offering health insurance altogether and possibly even reduce their hours to 30-or-less so that they’re no longer fulltime employees, so they don’t have to pay the $2,000-$3,000 penalty for not offering insurance. Or that they’ll lay off people to make sure they don’t exceed 50 employees, the limit at which they’re mandated to either offer coverage or pay the penalty.
They don’t know that cost of their privately owned insurance policies will skyrocket because of government mandated “essential benefits” which must be offered by ALL insurers (even if subscribers don’t want to pay for in vitro fertilization or other services), or that those who are lucky enough to have comprehensive coverage from their employers will be socked with a 40% “Cadillac” insurance fee (union members, beware) – which has to be paid by the insurance company, but which will be passed down to the purchaser.
They don’t know that huge health conglomerates will be incentivized to NOT provide care, in order to make sure they make money, since care will be paid for by “incidents” rather than by services offered, and the less care they provide, the more money they’ll make. Oh, and independent doctors who might want to make medical decisions based on their patients’ best interests need not apply.
They don’t know that a panel of unelected bureaucrats will decide what services Medicare will pay for (and it will naturally follow that commercial insurers won’t pay for either) and that this panel has more power than Congress to enforce its decisions. And if the panel decides that the procedure Grandma needs isn’t cost effective, they can, in effect, force Grandma’s doctor or hospital to “give her the pain pill instead,” just as our President recommends, by refusing to PAY for Grandma’s procedure.
They don’t know that doctors will no longer be able to use their own judgement to help them make medical choices, because the government will produce detailed plans for “evidence based medicine” and federally dictated “best practices” that will require doctors and hospitals to utilize what works best for the general population, even if that isn’t the best choice for THEM. In effect, a computer will select treatment options, not a trained and compassionate physician. They don’t know that a massive shortage of physicians will force them to obtain care from health care providers with far less training and education – but that’s OK, because those folks are cheaper, right?
They don’t know that the IRS will track their family income from all sources in order to determine how much of a subsidy they will receive to buy the personal insurance that the government will now “tax” them for if they don’t purchase. And, if they get a promotion or a better job, they might lose their subsidy, get a lower subsidy OR be forced to pay a higher penalty if they choose to “break the law” and not buy insurance. They don’t know that the money to “pay” for those subsidies will be taken from Medicare, which is perilously close to going belly up. They don’t know that even though 16-18 million of them will be forced – forced – to enroll in the worst health “insurance” in the nation, Medicaid, that more than 20 million Americans will STILL BE UNINSURED in 2019, once ObamaCare is fully implemented.
And that’s just what WE know they don’t know, because so much more is still to be promulgated by our friends at HHS, particularly now that they have a “mandate” to forge ahead, to make sure that America’s health descends to the same level of innovation and customer service “enjoyed” by those in England and Canada.
They don’t know any of this because all of the provisions which will destroy America’s health care freedom were delayed, by design, until 2014 – two years after the presidential election. The law’s supporters knew these provisions would be expensive, unpopular, and would jeopardize the president’s reelection chances – so they made sure that the only provisions that went into effect before the election, the only provisions people knew about, were the warm and fuzzy ones.
There will be efforts at the state level in many states to reduce the damage – we invite you to seek out like-minded medical professionals in your state and work with them to minimize whatever damage you can. For ourselves, we’re going to rename this group, maybe something like “Health Care Professionals for Freedom,” (suggestions welcome) and continue to provide information and action items.
But not until NEXT week, OK? Busy right now licking wounds and duct taping head back together.
Sadly, saying “We told you so” won’t be satisfying at all when America’s health care system deteriorates to reach the same level of mediocrity as the rest of the world. “Equality” sucks when everyone’s equally miserable.
Please, stay engaged. We’re going to need you more than ever.
Because elections have consequences. And I’m afraid we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
Hi, folks, Donna Rovito here.
I know you’re probably expecting the administrators to post something positive or uplifting today, but I have to admit that I’ve got nothing.
Well, nothing other than “elections have consequences” – and I borrowed that from a talk show host.
You heard what Dr. Madianos, radiologist, objectivist and noisemaker extraordinaire, had to say a little earlier. I’d like to say I disagree with him – but I think he’s nailed it.
Just to clarify, though, WE KNOW that most of the readers on this site were on the intelligent side of these issues, and we’re not really “yelling” at you. You’re just lucky enough to be in the audience.
First, let me thank ALL of you for the time, effort, and resources that you devoted to trying to save America’s health. MANY thanks to Dr. Evan Madianos, MD (who coordinated MUCH of the Inquirer ad), and Dr. Christine Bongiorno, DVM, (Chair of the Lehigh Valley Coalition for Health Care Reform and a pretty good noisemaker herself) for joining me as administrators on this page.
Sadly, we weren’t successful, but the level of commitment and dedication to our cause demonstrated by health care professionals from all specialties and all geographic regions was unprecedented, and I can’t begin to express how much it meant to all of us. Please don’t feel that it was entirely wasted, because we’ve forged networks here that will be useful to us in the future (that was a little positive and uplifting, wasn’t it?)
Yesterday was our last chance to eliminate ObamaCare, and since the majority of Americans decided to believe the sound bytes and outright falsehoods perpetuated by the media, ObamaCare (and a whole host of other things that will ultimately harm our nation) will stand. Our only hope is that the House of Representatives will find ways to block some of the most egregious provisions of the law, but with the weight of everything else on them, I wonder whether ObamaCare will fall through the cracks – especially since so many of its longterm effects will be dictated by the rules and regulations which have been – and are still being – written by Kathleen Sibelius and her minions at HHS.
The vast majority of the American public don’t know what’s in the law like we do – other than the warm and fuzzy stuff which has been packaged and sold to them by its supporters (with our tax dollars). They know they’ll get free contraceptives (which is GREAT, right? I mean, diabetics can’t get free insulin to keep them alive, and cancer patients can’t get free chemotherapy, but, hey, holding down the population and having women accept that they are NOT worth more than the sum of their girl parts is far more important than those things. Plus, not providing life-saving medications will help to reduce the population too, right?)
They know about “guaranteed issue” for pre-existing conditions, but they don’t know that an added bonus absolutely guaranteed by that provision is that it will put commercial insurance companies out of business – thereby allowing the government to swoop in and save the day with a “government option.” They know that their “children” can stay on their policies until they’re 26, which is good, since their children won’t be able to find jobs. I think many people believe that’s free, but it isn’t.
They don’t know that their employers will likely stop offering health insurance altogether and possibly even reduce their hours to 30-or-less so that they’re no longer fulltime employees, so they don’t have to pay the $2,000-$3,000 penalty for not offering insurance. Or that they’ll lay off people to make sure they don’t exceed 50 employees, the limit at which they’re mandated to either offer coverage or pay the penalty.
They don’t know that cost of their privately owned insurance policies will skyrocket because of government mandated “essential benefits” which must be offered by ALL insurers (even if subscribers don’t want to pay for in vitro fertilization or other services), or that those who are lucky enough to have comprehensive coverage from their employers will be socked with a 40% “Cadillac” insurance fee (union members, beware) – which has to be paid by the insurance company, but which will be passed down to the purchaser.
They don’t know that huge health conglomerates will be incentivized to NOT provide care, in order to make sure they make money, since care will be paid for by “incidents” rather than by services offered, and the less care they provide, the more money they’ll make. Oh, and independent doctors who might want to make medical decisions based on their patients’ best interests need not apply.
They don’t know that a panel of unelected bureaucrats will decide what services Medicare will pay for (and it will naturally follow that commercial insurers won’t pay for either) and that this panel has more power than Congress to enforce its decisions. And if the panel decides that the procedure Grandma needs isn’t cost effective, they can, in effect, force Grandma’s doctor or hospital to “give her the pain pill instead,” just as our President recommends, by refusing to PAY for Grandma’s procedure.
They don’t know that doctors will no longer be able to use their own judgement to help them make medical choices, because the government will produce detailed plans for “evidence based medicine” and federally dictated “best practices” that will require doctors and hospitals to utilize what works best for the general population, even if that isn’t the best choice for THEM. In effect, a computer will select treatment options, not a trained and compassionate physician. They don’t know that a massive shortage of physicians will force them to obtain care from health care providers with far less training and education – but that’s OK, because those folks are cheaper, right?
They don’t know that the IRS will track their family income from all sources in order to determine how much of a subsidy they will receive to buy the personal insurance that the government will now “tax” them for if they don’t purchase. And, if they get a promotion or a better job, they might lose their subsidy, get a lower subsidy OR be forced to pay a higher penalty if they choose to “break the law” and not buy insurance. They don’t know that the money to “pay” for those subsidies will be taken from Medicare, which is perilously close to going belly up. They don’t know that even though 16-18 million of them will be forced – forced – to enroll in the worst health “insurance” in the nation, Medicaid, that more than 20 million Americans will STILL BE UNINSURED in 2019, once ObamaCare is fully implemented.
And that’s just what WE know they don’t know, because so much more is still to be promulgated by our friends at HHS, particularly now that they have a “mandate” to forge ahead, to make sure that America’s health descends to the same level of innovation and customer service “enjoyed” by those in England and Canada.
They don’t know any of this because all of the provisions which will destroy America’s health care freedom were delayed, by design, until 2014 – two years after the presidential election. The law’s supporters knew these provisions would be expensive, unpopular, and would jeopardize the president’s reelection chances – so they made sure that the only provisions that went into effect before the election, the only provisions people knew about, were the warm and fuzzy ones.
There will be efforts at the state level in many states to reduce the damage – we invite you to seek out like-minded medical professionals in your state and work with them to minimize whatever damage you can. For ourselves, we’re going to rename this group, maybe something like “Health Care Professionals for Freedom,” (suggestions welcome) and continue to provide information and action items.
But not until NEXT week, OK? Busy right now licking wounds and duct taping head back together.
Sadly, saying “We told you so” won’t be satisfying at all when America’s health care system deteriorates to reach the same level of mediocrity as the rest of the world. “Equality” sucks when everyone’s equally miserable.
Please, stay engaged. We’re going to need you more than ever.
Because elections have consequences. And I’m afraid we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
Posts
