Do you remember last August 7th when Sarah Palin posted the following on her Facebook page?

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

Of course, the Liberal Obama sycophantic media and all his brainless minions immediately responded thusly:

ABC’s Rick Klein on August 13 wrote: 

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

  Sarah Palin is standing by her discredited charge that House Democrats are proposing to create “death panels”. The former Alaska governor’s statement, which she posted to Facebook on Wednesday evening, came one day after President Obama implicitly took issue with her stance during a Tuesday town-hall meeting in New Hampshire.

Referring to Section 1233 of the House Democratic health care bill, Palin writes: “With all due respect, it’s misleading for the president to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients.”

The truth, however, is that the end of life counseling contained in the House Democratic bill would be voluntary.

As the Associated Press has reported, the House bill would permit Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions that address end-of-life issues. The doctor-patient discussions would cover living wills, making a close relative or a trusted friend your health care proxy, learning about hospice as an option for the terminally ill, and information about pain medications for people suffering chronic discomfort.

And even idiot Liberal Bloggers got into the act:

The reigning queen of Death Panel lies, Sarah “Sees Russia From Her House” Palin has taken a job as an idiotic commentator on Rupert Murdoch’s infamous propaganda arm of the Party of Jesus, originally the Republican Party.

False News knows a consistent liar with low IQ when they see one, sand Sarah should be a natural fit with racists pigs like Mor[m]on Beck and boisterous fools like Bill O’Lielly.

Mmmm, Death Panels!

Nice spelling and sentence structure there, Walt Whitman.

And, of course the completely unbiased (just ask George Soros) Media Matters: 

Numerous media outlets have now debunked right-wing claims that the House health care reform bill would encourage euthanasia of the elderly, including Sarah Palin’s claim — forwarded by the conservative media — that the bill would create a “death panel” and the related claim — initiated by Betsy McCaughey — that the bill would “absolutely require” that seniors on Medicare undergo end-of-life counseling “that will tell them how to end their life sooner.” Indeed, Media Matters for America has identified more than 40 instances of media reporting that these claims are false.

40 sources, huh?  Like MSNBC, CNN, NY Times, LA Times, thinkprogress.com, factcheck.com, etc, I bet.

So, the healthcare Reform, err, Health Insurance Reform, err, Healthcare Reform Bill, finally got passed, by hook or crook…mostly crook.   And then, as Nancy Pelosi said we would, we found out what was in this Obamanation.  For instance,some lovely little Bureaucratic Bonanzas called Exchanges and Co-ops.  Here is a summary explanation of their purposes from a legal paper prepared for Insurance Brokers:

 A state‐based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchanges would be created for individuals and small businesses with up to 100 employees can purchase qualified coverage. The program would be administered by a governmental agency or non‐profit organization, through which Permit states to allow businesses with more than 100 employees to purchase coverage in the SHOP Exchange beginning in 2017. States may form regional Exchanges or allow more than one Exchange to operate in a state as long as each Exchange serves a distinct geographic area. (Funding available to states to establish Exchanges within one year of enactment and until 1/1 2015)  

Access to coverage through the Exchanges would be restricted to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who are not incarcerated.  

Four benefit categories of plans plus a separate catastrophic plan would be offered through the Exchange, and in the individual and small group markets:

1. Bronze plan represents minimum creditable coverage and provides the essential health benefits, cover 60% of the benefit costs of the plan, with an out‐of‐pocket limit equal to the Health Savings Account (HSA) current law limit ($5,950 for individuals and $11,900 for families in 2010);
2. Silver plan provides the essential health benefits, covers 70% of the benefit costs of the plan, with the HSA out‐of‐pocket limits;
3. Gold plan provides the essential health benefits, covers 80% of the benefit costs of the plan, with the HSA out‐of‐pocket limits;
4. Platinum plan provides the essential health benefits, covers 90% of the benefit costs of the plan, with the HSA out‐of‐pocket limits; (§1311)  

Catastrophic plan available to those up to age 30 or to those who are exempt from the mandate to purchase coverage and provides catastrophic coverage only with the coverage level set at the HSA current law levels except that prevention benefits and coverage for three primary care visits would be exempt from the deductible. This plan is only available in the individual market.

But what about Co-ops?: 

A CO‐OP initiative would be established to foster the creation of non‐profit, member‐run health insurance companies in all 50 states and District of Columbia to offer qualified health plans.

A grant or loan would not be awarded unless the following conditions are met to be a qualified health insurance issuer: an organization must not be an existing health insurer or sponsored by a state or local government, substantially all of its activities must consist of the issuance of qualified health benefit plans in each state in which it is licensed, governance of the organization must be subject to a majority vote of its members, must operate with a strong consumer focus, and any profits must be used to lower premiums, improve benefits, or improve the quality of health care delivered to its members.   

The cooperative would coordinate with the implementation of state insurance reforms required by this bill.

$6 billion would be appropriated to finance the program and award loans and grants to establish CO‐OPs by 7/1/2013.

The Health and Human Services Secretary will be in charge of this boodoggle.  Regarding the Exchanges: 

HHS Secretary is required to “establish procedures under which a State may allow” (but is not required to permit) “agents and brokers to enroll individuals” in Exchange plans;

HHS would be required to establish an advisory board to assist with helping to clarify the requirements for the state exchanges. The Advisory Board must include “individuals and entities with experience in facilitating enrollment in qualified health plans.”  

 Any state exchange can enter into contracts with private entities to carry out any exchange responsibility; although health insurance issuers are precluded from entering into such contracts, there is no agent/broker prohibition. 

 Exchanges will contract with outside parties to engage in exchange‐related education, marketing and enrollment‐related activities (“Navigators”). Insurance agents and brokers are expressly included in the list of individuals/entities contemplated as Navigators. Note, however, there is a restriction prohibiting anyone from serving as a Navigator who is paid in any way “directly or indirectly” in connection with the “enrollment of any individuals or employees” in an Exchange‐provided plan. HHS will be required to promulgate regulations that would apply to the state exchanges to ensure that any Navigator “is qualified, and licensed if appropriate.”  

Government’s role in Co-ops:

For a CO‐OP to be eligible for federal start‐up assistance, its “governing documents [must] incorporate ethics and conflict of interest standards protecting against insurance industry involvement and interference.” Additionally, the federal advisory board that would be established to oversee the funding program for CO‐OPs specifically bars any insurance industry involvement. 

Just think, all these potential decision makers are the same genuises who bought $10,000 toilet seats for the Pentagon.  Professional Bureaucrats, state Democratic Party Politial hacks, and Beancounters will be making life and death decisions over whether you are enough of a viable return on their investment in your Healthcare to making treating your illness a worthwhile proposition. 

Mr. Jones, I’m sorry you need a quadruple bypass.  But, at your age, surgery just would not be  fiscally responsible.  Here is a bottle of Flintstones Vitamins.  Good luck. 

Sarah Palin was exactly right.  God help us all.

Sources:  deathpanels.com, abcnews.com, mediamatters.org, Sarah Palin’s Facebook page, Provisions of The Federal Healthcare Measures