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Democrats and Republicans disagree as to how the stimulus package will change health care in the United States. Now each party is interpreting the package differently.
Congress passed the stimulus package on February 13, 2009, with only the support of three Republicans and a majority of Democrats. To be spent is:
- $11 billion on electronic health records
- $1.1 billion on research comparing which treatment work best for a particular disease.
- $1 billion for a "preventive and wellness fund."
- $300 million for additional immunizations.
- $17 billion in higher Medicare and Medicade payments for doctors and hospitals, beginning in 2011, when they adopt electronic health records.
- $500 million for incentives for physicians, dentists and nurses to practice in communities where there is limited access to health care.
The balance of the money will go to state and communities to help them tackle smoking, obesity and various preventable health problems.
Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department, has been quoted saying that "This represents the beginning steps of the President's reform vision...designed to get relief for people who need it most and to do everything we can to bring down the cost of health care, and improve access and quality." (AP, 02/14/2009)
Republicans have responded about the Obama health plan by focusing on a new federal council that will coordinate what is called comparative-effectiveness research--when doctors and statisticians sift medical records to determine which treatment works best for a particular disease. According to GOP lawmakers, the 15-member council will become a "government rationing board" that will make life-and-death decisions about which treatments doctors will be able to use. According to Representative Tom Price, R-GA, a doctor, "Congressional Democrats are using the cover of an economic crisis to advance an agenda that will destroy the doctor-patient relationship and set us on a course for government-administered health care."
Democrats respond that the bill states nothing in the legislation that allows the council to mandate coverage, reimbursement, or other policies for any public or private insurers. However, since neither the Democrats or Republicans were given the 1000 plus pages of the stimulus bill in time to actually know what is in it before voting, the American public may have to wait until watchdogs that are scrutinizing it can review the actual contents.
Comments
Health Bill?? They are sneeky little BAstar..s Now we the Amerian people, just get to sit back and watch everything unfold; like sitting ducks! Why is it when you try to reason with a Senator, they close their eyes and ears?? President Obama and all the Dems will have to take the lashing when this "whole bill unfolds". Albatross is a GOOD word for it! Its nuts, most Americans agree and most certainly All the other super power Countries. We just sunk the ship! We devalued our dollar to the point of no return. I can only pray now that it is not ALL doom and gloom. God help us all!
This HITECH Act -- and $17 billion down-payment – is a grand first act toward establishing pervasive electronic health records throughout the U.S. Salting the mine with incentives for Medicare and Medicaid patients surely gets providers using HIT and building an EHR infrastructure (along with streamlining care for seniors and uninsured.)
But, will that Medicare/Medicaid dose be enough to change the system for everyone else, most especially those in their teens, 20’s and 30’s who will benefit most from wellness, preventive care, and complete medical records over their lifetimes? How will such efforts expand beyond rural areas and selected populations? Are we ready to start creating portable records for uninsured children, or are we going to let them slip through the cracks in our imperfect information environment? The goal of comprehensive care first requires comprehensive records.
Learn more: www.healthcaretownhall.com
Seniors screwed:
As a concerned senior, I called each and every one of my legislators (Diane Feinnstien, Barbara Boxer, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda) and explained to them that telling fixed income seniors on MEDICARE that they may or may not have a procedure based on their age is barbaric.
Diane Feinstien's rep did not even know about it and assured me that Diane did not believe it was in the package (this from a high level Democrate who is supposed to know what her party is pushing through as legislation).
Barbara Boxer's and Anna Eshoo's phone message system did not honor me with an opinion.
Mike Honda's rep again knew nothing of this.
These folks blindly voted, in a hurry, to meet Obama's deadline without knowing what was in the package they were pushing.
Unlike Feinstien, Boxer and others in government who seem to get their health costs paid by us, even though they are wealthy in their own right, I have to pay for everything out of pocket.
So now, a panel of non doctors are going to decide my and my fellow seniors fate and life span based on statistics. If we need surgery at some point they will calculate our age and the cost to MEDICARE to determine if we should get medical intervention.
This plan was designed on the English SOCIALIZED medical plan. It was slipped into this package by Daschel - remember him - he was going to be the health czar before they found out that this rich guy cheated on his taxes (so that the ignorant American people would not have a discussion and decide if it was fair or not). He decided that it would take too long for the American people to get it into the plan and save money (another Daschel shortcut).
In England, when they started, they refused macular degeneration surgery to anyone requiring it and they let all those folks go blind in at least one eye before they allowed them to have surgery in the other eye.
So now your parents and you, eventually, will have their life span and quality of life decided by non doctors based on the bottom line of the Dashel plan.
If you need surgery or medical intervention and these non-doctors decide MEDICARE is not going to pay for it, you will have to sell everything you own, get a loan and tap your friends to get the surgery needed. You will be destitute and old.
Remember Obama saying that his mother was raising a kid and didn't have any money for health care. She never grew to old age so apparently that does not bother Obama. Unfortunately he and the "new improved Democratic party" has myopic vision.
If you are an independent thinker and understand the power of the people, remember next election to vote them all out.
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