Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Doctor's letter to a Senator.....Scary Stuff!
Joel Mann
From Facebook
An Indianapolis doctor's letter to Sen. Bayh about the Bill (Note: Dr. Stephen E. Frazer, MD practices as an anesthesiologist in Indianapolis , IN )
Here is a letter I sent to Senator Bayh. Feel free to copy it and send it around to all other representatives. -- Stephen Fraser
July 23, 2009
Senator Bayh,
As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the government's proposed involvement in the patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a health care system that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed.
I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens.
Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!
Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!
Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!
Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances & a 'National ID Health card' will be issued!
Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.
Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).
Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.'
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans -- The Govt will ration your health care!
Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)
Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!)
Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (No choice.)
Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly.
Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.
Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!)
Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees AND their families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)
Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the last comment in parenthesis.)
Page 150 Lines 9-13: A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll..
Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income..
Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.)
Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans' finances and personal records.
Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!)
Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.)
Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in -- you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that's not Socialism!)
Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.)
Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries.
Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions).
Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -- the Govt willpenalize you.
Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.)
Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?)
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of=2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.)
Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan)
Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' Unbelievable!
Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health Advisory Committee." (Can you say HC by phone?)
Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)
Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it'smandatory!)
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; & nbsp;guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.')
Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)
Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates.
Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)
Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!)
Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!)
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)
Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.
Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating.
Furthermore, if you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor-patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election.
Respectfully,
Stephen E. Fraser, MD
Dear Reader,
I urge you to use the power that you were born with (and the power that may soon be taken away) and circulate this email to as many people as you can reach. The Power of the People can stop this from happening to us, our parents, our grandparents, our children, and to following generations.
You never hear people say, I want to clean up dog poop
But when the baby comes you never hear anyone say I can't wait to be woke up at 3:00am to change a diaper, I can wait till this little baby pukes on me,stay up late when they get sick, or talk to the neighbor when a ball goes thew a window, when he grows up I am looking forward when the principle calls me and tells me he/she is in big trouble. I looking forward to paying his/her car insurance bill and when talking to the police if he or she ever get arrested.
I want a car the teenager tells there parents , But we never hear , Oh I just can't wait to do the maintenance, change the oil learn how to change the tire or pay for the gas and insurance, I am so looking forward to that.
I want a house, but we never hear I am looking forward to fixing the hole in the roof, fixing the broken pipes when a leak burst open over the TV set and blows out the electrical. We never hear I can't wait to cut the grass shovel the snow in the drive way. I can't wait to kick the furnace when it quits and it 30 below 0.
I to be my own boss, but we never hear I can't wait to hear all the complaints from angry customers ,or fire the hired help, fill out the tax forms and deal with the IRS. I am looking forward to the audit.
I want a new puppy, but you never hear people say, I am looking forward to the vet bills paying for the food, chasing it down the street. Replacing the flowers it dug up in your lawn or your neighbors lawn, and you never hear I just can't wait to clean up the Dog Poop.
so your asking what am I getting at?
In this time of struggle for our country, more people than ever are willing to let the government think for them. People are losing basic freedoms in exchange for Government handouts. Far to often I hear the government is going to do what it wants, which may be true, But I am not hearing enough people say I want to take a stand, I want to get involved or march on Washington to protect my freedom, I want to hold a sign of protest in my hand or stand in the freezing cold to demand better leadership. make phone calls and write letters to our elected leaders. And I a sorry to say I have to look in the mirror on this one I have had it rough this past year and been more focused on job hunting which is very important also. But somehow this year I resolve to do more than I did last year to protect my freedom and my rights.
But I am asking that more of us find the time to do something to keep America great!
It is still the best nation in the world, but the hour may be later than we think!
The Dean Scream Returns!
From Politico --
POLITICO’s Ken Vogel bears witness to the “resurrection” of Howard Dean, the progressive champion who traded his establishment bona fides as chairman of the Democratic National Committee for a more comfortable role as a liberal vanguard: "After four relatively low-profile years pushing the official party line as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean is once again the tribune of frustrated liberals. … And after he called out President Barack Obama and his congressional allies over their concessions on health care, those close to him predict he’s just getting warmed up.
Dean’s health care stand has infuriated party leaders, who have alternately tried to marginalize him and to bring him on board. Yet at the same time, his provocative approach has re-energized the political group he founded and thrilled legions of progressive activists, many of whom were drawn to politics by Dean's insurgent 2004 presidential campaign, then deflated when he didn’t land an Obama Cabinet post. They have grown increasingly disenchanted with Obama’s presidency and are urging Dean to keep up the drumbeat as the health care debate heads to conference this month.”
— A sampling of liberal anger (from Vogel’s Dean piece): “After unsubscribing from OFA and pledging to turn his efforts to (Democracy for America, Dean’s old group) and another liberal PAC that supports the public option called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, former Obama volunteer and donor Michael Hermann, a Los Angeles musician, told POLITICO: ‘I find the administration's hubris in thinking they will never lose their liberal base astounding.’ Wendy Sejour, a DFA leader in Homestead, Fla., who is also active in her local Democratic Party, said ‘what the administration does not understand is that when they try to marginalized Dean and DFA, they insult us and dismiss our hard work. We are the foot soldiers.’Another DFA volunteer, Patrick Briggs of Pasadena, Calif., said he scrapped plans to become more involved in OFA over what he saw as its health care capitulation. He said Dean’s salvos ‘reminded some of us in the movement that at least there’s someone out there in the progressive community who’s looking out for our
interest.’”
Thanks Howie!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Mayo Clinic Cuts off Medicare Patients
H/T Ashland Tea Party/9.12 Group --
(Bloomberg) -- The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.
More than 3,000 patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman. The decision, which Yardley called a two-year pilot project, won’t affect other Mayo facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.
Obama in June cited the nonprofit Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for offering “the highest quality care at costs well below the national norm.” Mayo’s move to drop Medicare patients may be copied by family doctors, some of whom have stopped accepting new patients from the program, said Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, in a telephone interview yesterday.
“Many physicians have said, ‘I simply cannot afford to keep taking care of Medicare patients,’” said Heim, a family doctor who practices in Laurinburg, North Carolina. “If you truly know your business costs and you are losing money, it doesn’t make sense to do more of it.” (More...)
And I believe they want to cut the overall funding of Medicare AND decrease the amount of the payments to doctors.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
U.S. Govt. now owns Controlling Stake in GMAC with $3.8 Billion Bail Out
The US Treasury announced Wednesday a 3.8 billion dollar fresh capital injection into ailing GMAC, the former finance arm of General Motors that became a bank to access federal rescue aid.
It had previously injected 12.5 billion dollars in capital into GMAC.
The 3.8 billion dollar capital injection will be in the form of 2.54 billion dollars of trust preferred securities and 1.25 billion dollars of mandatory convertible preferred (MCP) stock.
Treasury said it would also receive warrants for both types of stocks, totaling 190 million dollars, which it would exercise immediately at the close of the transaction.
The Treasury, headed by Secretary Timothy Geithner, said it would convert 3.0 billion of its existing MCP, which was invested in May 2009, into common equity "to boost the quality of the capital supporting GMAC."
That move will raise Treasury?s equity stake in GMAC to 56 percent from 35 percent. (Google News)
Why does it always seems like "we" are the ones being injected?!?
Volunteer for the Cuyahoga County Charter Transition Advisory Group
The County Commissioners have already appointed County Administrator Jim McCafferty, Human Resources Director Joe Nanni and Justice Affairs Director Gary Holland to head this group.
The transition group will include at least eight committees, covering finance and administration; human services; human resources; justice services; infrastructure and supportive services; economic development and planning; county council planning; and boards and commissions. Specific meetings will address specific issues, such as a draft of a code of ethics for county employees, Rawson said. (Plain Dealer)
If we want to help improve this region and be part of forming the future of Cuyahoga County, it is of the utmost importance that the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots and local 9.12 Groups members get involved in this process and volunteer to serve on some of these boards.
You can click here and go to the County Charter Transition Advisory Group website and sign up for one of the committees being seated.