Health-care lies proliferate
By Tom Maertens
The Mankato Free Press
Sat Jan 15, 2011, 11:24 PM CST
PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning independent fact-checking website, chose “Government Takeover of Health Care” as the 2010 Lie of the Year.
In reality, as Politfact noted, under the Affordable Care Act employers will continue to rely on the free market to provide health insurance to workers through private companies. The government will not nationalize health care or hospitals, nor is there a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.
There is a pattern with right-wing lies about health care though: Sarah Palin’s “death panel” story was voted Politfact’s biggest lie of 2009.
FactCheck.org, the other leading fact-checking project, from the University of Pennsylvania, shredded another Republican fabrication about health care reform, the latest one about the “budget-busting, job-killing” program.
According to FactCheck, those claims badly misrepresent what the CBO concluded about the law, pointing out that Republicans’ job-loss claims were based on a hypothetical employer mandate that doesn’t exist. They made it up.
As for budget-busting, the Congressional Budget Office officially scored the new law as self-financing, saying it would actually reduce the deficit over the first 10 years by a total of $230 billion and by a trillion dollars in the second decade.
If the law is repealed, 32 million fewer people will have health insurance in 2019, resulting in a total of 54 million uninsured Americans by then. But when have Republicans ever done anything to benefit average Americans? Do they even know that 44 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009, a jump of 4 million from 2008?
The new law guarantees that people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law requires insurance companies to cover adult children up to age 26 on their parents’ policy. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law provides for free annual wellness exams for Medicare enrollees. The Republicans want to repeal that.
Insurers can no longer cancel coverage when people get sick. Republicans want to repeal that.
The law limits insurance company premium hikes and requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care rather than on CEO perks. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law allows Medicare enrollees to get many preventive health services, such as vaccinations and cancer screening for free. Republicans want to repeal that.
The law begins to close the “doughnut hole” for prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries in 2011, a benefit The National Council on Aging estimates could save some people up to $1,800. Republicans want to repeal that.
Cost savings, such as reducing the corporate subsidies under Medicare Advantage, along with anti-fraud provisions and other requirements will keep Medicare financially solvent. Republicans want to repeal that.
Tax credits and other cost-sharing devices will be phased in to make health coverage more affordable for as many as 28.6 million low- and moderate-income workers who will be able to buy through insurance exchanges where private insurers will compete to provide coverage. Republicans want to repeal that.
Polls have shown that only 15 percent of Americans know that that CBO believes the bill will reduce the deficit. If this were widely understood the bill would become more popular, which is part of the reason Republicans continue to spread lies about the health care bill.
Their calculated distortion of the facts brings to mind Jacques LeGoff’s (Medieval Civilization) comment in another context: “They chose to grow stupid in order to conquer.” Republicans took over the House with a massive disinformation campaign; why change tactics now?
As was apparent to anyone watching during the last election, the Republican Party has completely sold out to big money and corporate lobbyists, including the health insurance industry, which contributed three times as much money to Republicans as to Democrats last year.
Now the bought-off congressmen will use the legislative process to provide handouts to their campaign contributors, as Republicans did for Big Pharma with the sweetheart anti-competitive Prescription Drug bill that costs taxpayers billions every year.
Their poster-boy is John Boehner, a corporate shill who went on 180 junkets in six years (most of them golf trips), flew on corporate jets 45 times between 2000 and 2007, took at least 41 other corporate-sponsored trips in the past decade, and collected $44 million in “campaign funds” from favored industries, according to several sources, but most recently by an article by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone magazine.
Boehner and the Republicans want you to think their opposition to health care is a blow for Adam Smith and the free market, but it is really paying off the people who pay them off.
The Mankato Free Press
Sat Jan 15, 2011, 11:24 PM CST
PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning independent fact-checking website, chose “Government Takeover of Health Care” as the 2010 Lie of the Year.
In reality, as Politfact noted, under the Affordable Care Act employers will continue to rely on the free market to provide health insurance to workers through private companies. The government will not nationalize health care or hospitals, nor is there a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.
There is a pattern with right-wing lies about health care though: Sarah Palin’s “death panel” story was voted Politfact’s biggest lie of 2009.
FactCheck.org, the other leading fact-checking project, from the University of Pennsylvania, shredded another Republican fabrication about health care reform, the latest one about the “budget-busting, job-killing” program.
According to FactCheck, those claims badly misrepresent what the CBO concluded about the law, pointing out that Republicans’ job-loss claims were based on a hypothetical employer mandate that doesn’t exist. They made it up.
As for budget-busting, the Congressional Budget Office officially scored the new law as self-financing, saying it would actually reduce the deficit over the first 10 years by a total of $230 billion and by a trillion dollars in the second decade.
If the law is repealed, 32 million fewer people will have health insurance in 2019, resulting in a total of 54 million uninsured Americans by then. But when have Republicans ever done anything to benefit average Americans? Do they even know that 44 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009, a jump of 4 million from 2008?
The new law guarantees that people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law requires insurance companies to cover adult children up to age 26 on their parents’ policy. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law provides for free annual wellness exams for Medicare enrollees. The Republicans want to repeal that.
Insurers can no longer cancel coverage when people get sick. Republicans want to repeal that.
The law limits insurance company premium hikes and requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care rather than on CEO perks. The Republicans want to repeal that.
The law allows Medicare enrollees to get many preventive health services, such as vaccinations and cancer screening for free. Republicans want to repeal that.
The law begins to close the “doughnut hole” for prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries in 2011, a benefit The National Council on Aging estimates could save some people up to $1,800. Republicans want to repeal that.
Cost savings, such as reducing the corporate subsidies under Medicare Advantage, along with anti-fraud provisions and other requirements will keep Medicare financially solvent. Republicans want to repeal that.
Tax credits and other cost-sharing devices will be phased in to make health coverage more affordable for as many as 28.6 million low- and moderate-income workers who will be able to buy through insurance exchanges where private insurers will compete to provide coverage. Republicans want to repeal that.
Polls have shown that only 15 percent of Americans know that that CBO believes the bill will reduce the deficit. If this were widely understood the bill would become more popular, which is part of the reason Republicans continue to spread lies about the health care bill.
Their calculated distortion of the facts brings to mind Jacques LeGoff’s (Medieval Civilization) comment in another context: “They chose to grow stupid in order to conquer.” Republicans took over the House with a massive disinformation campaign; why change tactics now?
As was apparent to anyone watching during the last election, the Republican Party has completely sold out to big money and corporate lobbyists, including the health insurance industry, which contributed three times as much money to Republicans as to Democrats last year.
Now the bought-off congressmen will use the legislative process to provide handouts to their campaign contributors, as Republicans did for Big Pharma with the sweetheart anti-competitive Prescription Drug bill that costs taxpayers billions every year.
Their poster-boy is John Boehner, a corporate shill who went on 180 junkets in six years (most of them golf trips), flew on corporate jets 45 times between 2000 and 2007, took at least 41 other corporate-sponsored trips in the past decade, and collected $44 million in “campaign funds” from favored industries, according to several sources, but most recently by an article by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone magazine.
Boehner and the Republicans want you to think their opposition to health care is a blow for Adam Smith and the free market, but it is really paying off the people who pay them off.
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3 Comments:
More 'truths' from our 'self-described centrist' Tom Maertens.
Yes, Tom, let us indeed look at the facts:
1) Fact: The CBO estimate before the 2010 Health Care legislation was passed was $900 billion. After the legislation passed, the CBO corrected its estimate which added another $105 billion. Future estimates are expected to increase as the costs are fully realized. So, ObamaCare is expected to cost $1.05 trillion at LEAST...and counting. The CBO recently said that repealing ObamaCare will add $230 billion to the deficit. That's much better than the expected trillions that will be added due to ObamaCare.
2) Fact: Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) struck a backroom deal with Senator Reid that exempted Nebraskans from their portion of Medicare payments under the bill. The deal came to be known as the 'Cornhusker Kickback' and provides that Nebraskans pay 15% less than every other state which means every other state gets to fund Nebraska's 'kickback'.
3) Fact: Senator Landrieu (D-LA) struck another backroom deal with Senator Reid that provides $300 million in Medicare aid for Louisiana because Louisiana's 'wealth' was shown to be inflated due to assitance received during Hurricane Katrina, Rita, Ike, and Gustav. This deal came to be known as the Louisiana Purchase because Landrieu's vote was bought by Reid for $300 million.
4) Fact: Under the legislation, your employer can't charge insurers without losing your health plan's exemptions -
UNLESS your coverage was negotiated by a UNION! These types of plans are considered 'grandfathered' in to ObamaCare. For the rest of us whose coverage wasn't negotiated by a union - well, tough cookies. So, we non-union saps who switch
jobs or switch insurers would then be required to fulfill the mandates of ObamaCare and would likely be dropped from the employer plan forcing us in to the government mandate plans. That Obama said I can keep my own doctor becomes a moot point if I switch employers or switch plans because my doctor may not meet ObamaCare mandates. On this, the President told a flat-out lie...and he knows it.
5) Fact: Price Waterhouse Coopers study conducted in 2009 concluded that Obamacare will cost the average family an additional $1700 per year in insurance premiums - at LEAST. Oh, I know the critics will say that PWC is a schill for the insurance industry, but at least the people at PWC ACTUALLY READ THE LEGISLATION. Did you read the legislation, Tom? I doubt it. I am more apt to believe a reputable accounting firm than I am to believe a politcal party that has given us mutil-trillion dollar unfunded liabilities, unsustainable public pension plans, and a recklessness with borrowed money unlike in the history of the world - which is to say a political party with absolutely no record on financial
credibility of any kind on any legislation.
6) Fact: Community Rating and Guaranteed Issue will raise rates. These two provisions prevent insurers from charging more
for higher risk policies and if you don't have an IRS 'approved' policy, the IRS will 'tax' you (i.e. fine you) for not having a
policy. For many, it will be cheaper to pay the 'tax' than to buy a policy because Community Rating and Guaranteed Issue
will force insurers to charge more for everyone. So, if you have cancer, but don't have a policy, the government says the insurer
can't charge this person any more for a policy than they charge someone who has had a policy for 20 years. Because insurance
companies are no longer allowed to based rates on risk, they will have no choice but to raise everyone's rates.
If you need more 'facts', just let me know. There are hundreds more 'facts' just like what I mention here that prove OBamaCare
will result in massively higher costs.
Worried about money Patrick?
One of the key economic provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the requirement that insurance companies pay out 80% of premiums in claims. In some instances, 85% of the premiums collected will be required to be returned as claims.
The increased business to the insurance companies from the requirement that patients HAVE insurance is the incentive to those insurance companies. The actuarial problem is solved by increasing the risk pool. There is no more efficient or effective way to bring down the cost of insurance than to get the healthy insured in the same pool as the sick.
ACR changes, in medical records and delivery of services, for example, will improve everyone's care. Patient-centered care will assist the caregivers as they are better informed by access to a complete medical history. When patient records are made available online it makes medical records more portable and the doctor "smarter" both in terms of best practices, and assistance in quickly testing for drug interactions, allergies. Medical errors can be cut dramatically, and immunization records are kept up to date.
The VA model of medical records demonstrates the capability of serving any patient anywhere, while also providing the medical information and results for similar diagnoses that demonstrate effectiveness and guidance to the practitioner.
It should not escape ANYONE who sees the cost of U.S. goods and services allocated to this skyrocketing cost of worker health care, that this is a national security issue. If we continue to spend more on our cost-of-goods in health care than anyone else we are competing with, the USA products will continue to be overpriced in the global market.
I guess Patrick is sold on the idea that it will cost more money. If no one opposed to the ACR will accept CBO numbers, maybe they should try logic and actuarial science.
No matter how you slice it, America can't continue to have health care that costs many times more than other industrialized nations and still is not accessible by millions of its citizens.
The path of increase in these costs is eating everyones budget, having taken most of middle class wage increases for 8 years running while breaking the budgets of state, federal and household budgets.
Why should health care cost 2 times as much in New York or Miami as it does in Minnesota and have much WORSE outcomes? Because it is an inefficient and expensive fee-for-service model void of outcome-based practices.
There is lots of room for improvement and that is just what we will do as the ACR unfolds.
If America can't afford to make health care available to all, it will become so expensive the risk pool will be too small to avoid the increases Patrick Dempsey predicts.
Worried about money Patrick?
One of the key economic provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the requirement that insurance companies pay out 80% of premiums in claims. In some instances, 85% of the premiums collected will be required to be returned as claims.
The increased business to the insurance companies from the requirement that patients HAVE insurance is the incentive to those insurance companies. The actuarial problem is solved by increasing the risk pool. There is no more efficient or effective way to bring down the cost of insurance than to get the healthy insured in the same pool as the sick.
ACR changes, in medical records and delivery of services, for example, will improve everyone's care. Patient-centered care will assist the caregivers as they are better informed by access to a complete medical history. When patient records are made available online it makes medical records more portable and the doctor "smarter" both in terms of best practices, and assistance in quickly testing for drug interactions, allergies. Medical errors can be cut dramatically, and immunization records are kept up to date.
The VA model of medical records demonstrates the capability of serving any patient anywhere, while also providing the medical information and results for similar diagnoses that demonstrate effectiveness and guidance to the practitioner.
It should not escape ANYONE who sees the cost of U.S. goods and services allocated to this skyrocketing cost of worker health care, that this is a national security issue. If we continue to spend more on our cost-of-goods in health care than anyone else we are competing with, the USA products will continue to be overpriced in the global market.
I guess Patrick is sold on the idea that it will cost more money. If no one opposed to the ACR will accept CBO numbers, maybe they should try logic and actuarial science.
No matter how you slice it, America can't continue to have health care that costs many times more than other industrialized nations and still is not accessible by millions of its citizens.
The path of increase in these costs is eating everyones budget, having taken most of middle class wage increases for 8 years running while breaking the budgets of state, federal and household budgets.
Why should health care cost 2 times as much in New York or Miami as it does in Minnesota and have much WORSE outcomes? Because it is an inefficient and expensive fee-for-service model void of outcome-based practices.
There is lots of room for improvement and that is just what we will do as the ACR unfolds.
If America can't afford to make health care available to all, it will become so expensive the risk pool will be too small to avoid the increases Patrick Dempsey predicts.
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