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What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Dr. Sawbones ()
Date: February 10, 2009 10:53AM

Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey
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Commentary by Betsy McCaughey

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

New Penalties

Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

Elderly Hardest Hit

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

Hidden Provisions

If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.

The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”

More Scrutiny Needed

On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.

The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.

(Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@aol.com
Last Updated: February 9, 2009 00:01 EST

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: TheMeeper ()
Date: February 10, 2009 10:55AM

lol, the author has an AOL address

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: truant ()
Date: February 10, 2009 11:05AM

Yes, let's plan to do nothing in the areas of health and social security because every decision is so polarizing. Thus we'll wait til it gets to critical mass before we pass any legislation so as to not have sufficient time to work out the kinks.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: SneakyPete ()
Date: February 10, 2009 11:12AM

truant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, let's plan to do nothing in the areas of
> health and social security because every decision
> is so polarizing. Thus we'll wait til it gets to
> critical mass before we pass any legislation so as
> to not have sufficient time to work out the kinks.

Just hide it in the Stimulus bill at the last minute and hope nobody
will notice. Debate is such a bore.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: truant ()
Date: February 10, 2009 11:20AM

SneakyPete Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> truant Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes, let's plan to do nothing in the areas of
> > health and social security because every
> decision
> > is so polarizing. Thus we'll wait til it gets
> to
> > critical mass before we pass any legislation so
> as
> > to not have sufficient time to work out the
> kinks.
>
> Just hide it in the Stimulus bill at the last
> minute and hope nobody
> will notice. Debate is such a bore.

Yes, debate works so well for these hot topics.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Vince(1) ()
Date: February 10, 2009 02:18PM

You know who drives most of the decisions impacting your health care today? Insurance companies. If you think you and your doctor consult with each other without the insurance companies approving the procedures you are sadly mistaken.

So..who do you want making these decisons...a for profit organization like an insurance company or the governemnt? Actually I dont even eleive Obama or Daschle really have the US Government as the decision makers...it's a stupid idea and a much better poster for the religious right and fox news then any health care system Im aware of.

I do just love the way the cut and paste article turns cost efficiencies like a computeirzed health care system ensuring all patients no matter whether they are in Beverly Hills or harlem get access to the same treatments. It is portrayed as some great evil...yet works so well for other industries. Pure hog wash.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Salt Peter ()
Date: February 10, 2009 02:41PM

SneakyPete Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> truant Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes, let's plan to do nothing in the areas of
> > health and social security because every
> decision
> > is so polarizing. Thus we'll wait til it gets
> to
> > critical mass before we pass any legislation so
> as
> > to not have sufficient time to work out the
> kinks.
>
> Just hide it in the Stimulus bill at the last
> minute and hope nobody
> will notice. Debate is such a bore.

Debate is such a bore; yet time is of the essence.

Would you rather we go through February with another 600k jobs lost? We don't have time for this piddly stuff. Our country needs assistance NOW.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Date: February 10, 2009 03:11PM

How come the Republicans scream about fraud and then scream when there is an effort to stem Medicare fraud? That's what is going on here.

My wife works in health care. You would be stunned at how many respectable health care institutions and doctors game Medicare. It's a big game. Time to put an end to the wasteful spending.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: FUNdamental ()
Date: February 11, 2009 12:42PM

Media matters has already debunked this commentary as spreading falsehood. Form media matters

Echo chamber: Bloomberg "commentary" health IT falsehood goes from Limbaugh to WSJ's Moore and Fox, back to Limbaugh
Summary: The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore and Fox News anchors Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly promoted the falsehood -- which first appeared in a Bloomberg "commentary" by Betsy McCaughey and was subsequently promoted by Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge -- that the economic recovery bill includes a provision that would, in Moore's words, "hav[e] the government essentially dictate treatments." Limbaugh later took credit for spreading this story.

Wall Street Journal senior economic writer Stephen Moore and Fox News anchors Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly promoted on February 10 the falsehood that the economic recovery bill includes a provision that would, in Moore's words, "hav[e] the government essentially dictate treatments." Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey apparently originated the false claim in a February 9 Bloomberg "commentary," which Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge touted that day. Indeed, Moore credited Limbaugh, saying of the provision, "I just learned of this myself yesterday. In fact, Rush Limbaugh made a big deal out of it on his radio show and it just -- it caused all sorts of calls into congressional offices." Limbaugh later took credit for spreading this story, saying during the February 10 edition of his radio show: "Betsy McCaughey writing at Bloomberg, I found it. I detailed it for you, and now it's all over mainstream media. Well, it's -- it headlined Drudge for a while last night and today. Fox News is talking about it."

As Media Matters for America documented, in the "commentary" Moore, Hemmer, and Kelly cited, McCaughey distorted a section of H.R. 1 to claim that "[o]ne new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions." In fact, the language in the House bill that McCaughey referenced does not establish authority to "monitor treatments" or restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care but, rather, addresses establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."

During the February 10 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, Moore said: "[T]his news story really has exploded on the public scene in just the last 24 hours, Bill. We've been just inundated with complaints from people about the implications of having the government essentially dictate treatments." He later claimed that the bill "especially will affect elderly people, because one of the ways, if we move more towards a nationalized health care system, as this bill would move us one step towards that, what you have to do to restrain costs -- what many other countries do, like Canada and Britain, is they essentially, Bill, ration care. And they tell patients you are eligible for this kind of care, but this is too expensive. And so what this bill would essentially do is set up a kind of pricing mechanism to tell people, yes, we can afford to treat you for this, but not that." Moore later claimed:

Well, that's why it's important for people to express their outrage over this, Bill, because, you know, starting tomorrow they are going to have this conference between the House and Senate, iron out the differences. And if there is enough outrage, I think a lot of this will be taken -- taken out. As I said, just in the last 24 hours of people have been aware of this, there have been howls of complaint all over the country. Another example, by the way, is Oregon has a system very much like this, where you basically have a system where some types of treatments are covered by the Oregon health care system, others aren't. And they just have a sys -- a pecking order. And if your treatment is too expensive, they won't allow insurance for it.

Additionally, during America's Newsroom, Kelly falsely claimed that the bill includes a provision that "promises to reduce costs and to help 'guide your doctor's decisions' so that he operates less like than a -- less like a solo practitioner and more in the spirit of uniform health care." Kelly added: "That sounds dangerously like socialized medicine," and asked Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA): "What's it doing in this bill?" Kelly also asserted that "this coordinator [the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology] is supposed to monitor your health treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the feds deem appropriate and cost effective." Similarly, Hemmer falsely said the bill contains "rules [that] appear to set the stage for health care rationing for seniors, new limits on medical research, and new rules guiding decisions your doctor can make about your health care." While Hemmer spoke, Fox News aired a graphic echoing these falsehoods:

Several hours after American Newsroom aired, Limbaugh took credit for spreading the false story, noting on his radio show that Specter was asked about it on Fox: "Even Senator Specter didn't know that it was in there, and he was questioned vigorously this morning about it on the Fox News Channel." Later Limbaugh said:

Now this health care thing -- back to this. Now, I still haven't gotten to the -- to the -- well, what's the word for this? This is -- this is major. I haven't gotten to it yet. You could say that I am teasing you. Yes, I'm going continue to tease because I gotta, you know, I've got to point out the reason [President] Obama does not want you listening to me is this health care thing that we uncovered yesterday. Betsy McCaughey writing at Bloomberg, I found it. I detailed it for you, and now it's all over mainstream media. Well, it's -- it headlined Drudge for a while last night and today. Fox News is talking about it. Some of the senators are being asked about it. They didn't know that it was in there. We will get to the details of that again shortly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2009 12:43PM by FUNdamental.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Def Leper ()
Date: February 11, 2009 12:55PM

FUNdamental Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Media matters has already debunked this commentary
> as spreading falsehood. Form media matters
> -----cut--------

Media Matters as a reference? Here's a description of Media Matters.

"Media Matters has not always been forthcoming about its high-profile backers. In particular, the group has long labored to obscure any financial ties to George Soros. But in March 2003, the Cybercast News Service (CNS) detailed the copious links between Media Matters and several Soros "affiliates"—among them MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress, and Peter Lewis. Confronted with this story, a spokesman for the organization explained that "Media Matters for America has never received funding directly from George Soros" (emphasis added), a transparent evasion."

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: FUNdamental ()
Date: February 11, 2009 02:28PM

Def Leper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FUNdamental Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Media matters has already debunked this
> commentary
> > as spreading falsehood. Form media matters
> > -----cut--------
>
> Media Matters as a reference? Here's a description
> of Media Matters.
>
> "Media Matters has not always been forthcoming
> about its high-profile backers. In particular, the
> group has long labored to obscure any financial
> ties to George Soros. But in March 2003, the
> Cybercast News Service (CNS) detailed the copious
> links between Media Matters and several Soros
> "affiliates"—among them MoveOn.org, the Center for
> American Progress, and Peter Lewis. Confronted
> with this story, a spokesman for the organization
> explained that "Media Matters for America has
> never received funding directly from George Soros"
> (emphasis added), a transparent evasion."

Cybercast News Service???? Next you will be quoting Newsmax. Media matters is a research company that researches and debunks crap like the one listed above. Moveon.org is not the communist boogie man that Sean hannity leads people to believe.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Baby Boomer ()
Date: February 11, 2009 10:41PM

We're screwed. Obama and his thugs are gonna finish what FDR started. Kiss your ass goodbye.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Def Leper ()
Date: February 12, 2009 09:03AM

FUNdamental Wrote:

>
> Cybercast News Service???? Next you will be
> quoting Newsmax. Media matters is a research
> company that researches and debunks crap like the
> one listed above. Moveon.org is not the
> communist boogie man that Sean hannity leads
> people to believe.


FUNbutMental,
Get a credible source (not media matters) instead of spouting biased lies.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Future Panhandler ()
Date: February 12, 2009 09:39PM

Is this going to be a blast or what

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Vince(1) ()
Date: February 13, 2009 09:05AM

What FDR started is the golden years of democracy..you can live your nice middle class life because of him.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: newlypoor ()
Date: February 13, 2009 10:19AM

oh well i guess no one gets to review final bill as promised just rush the shit through before we can possibly see what the result is
Attachments:
crimulus.jpg

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Vince(1) ()
Date: February 13, 2009 10:34AM

Thnaks to G. W. Bush...you may be right. The fact is that the US standard of living is most likely at its peek..at least comparitively to other countries who feel they deserve a middle class existence also...that is...China...India.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Gravis ()
Date: February 13, 2009 12:34PM

Vince(1) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thnaks to G. W. Bush...you may be right.


of course it's bush because he's the one who is trying to get this bill pushed through as fast as possible without having people read the bill. oh wait... that's obama. :)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."095042938540

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Vince(1) ()
Date: February 13, 2009 03:01PM

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Vince(1) Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thnaks to G. W. Bush...you may be right.
>
> of course it's bush because he's the one who is
> trying to get this bill pushed through as fast as
> possible without having people read the bill. oh
> wait... that's obama. :)


And whose mess is Obama trying to clean up? Republikans had plenty of time to read it to have their input...to add billions in spending...reduce tax reductions...and then vote against it.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Baby Boomer ()
Date: February 14, 2009 12:11AM

Isn't it fun to pretend that all fiscal conservatives were born with silver spoons? Forget all that silly business about work ethic. Who needs hard working innovators - after you've stolen their hard earned money to give "rebates" to people who don't even pay taxes.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: oaktonmom ()
Date: February 14, 2009 07:47AM

Baby Boomer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Isn't it fun to pretend that all fiscal
> conservatives were born with silver spoons?
> Forget all that silly business about work ethic.
> Who needs hard working innovators - after you've
> stolen their hard earned money to give "rebates"
> to people who don't even pay taxes.


+1

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: qwerty ()
Date: February 14, 2009 08:12AM

Baby Boomer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Isn't it fun to pretend that all fiscal
> conservatives were born with silver spoons?
> Forget all that silly business about work ethic.
> Who needs hard working innovators - after you've
> stolen their hard earned money to give "rebates"
> to people who don't even pay taxes.

+1

I run a small service business - normally working seven days a week. This bill won't cause me to buy equipment or hire a new employee. The party line on this bill is that it will "create or save" 3 million jobs. Obama and friends will take credit for "saving" the jobs of the 3 employees I currently have. What a farce - it's my hard work over the last two years that produced these jobs. How do you measure "saving" jobs?

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Wowe ()
Date: February 14, 2009 12:31PM

It's the financial services and automotive industry, you idiot. Not some Mom and Pops strip-mall cleaning service.

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Re: What else is "buried" in the "Stimulus/Spending bill?
Posted by: Baby Boomer ()
Date: February 14, 2009 03:45PM

Thank you for disproving the theory that only conservatives are capable of xenophobia. So much for dialog. Idiot.

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