Tag: Doctors

Welcome to Scotuscare

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

obamacaremoe

Judicial Activism is on the verge of changing our nation from one which cherishes the Faith and Heritage, which those before us sacrificed their very lives for, to a shallow, live-for-the-moment collection of individuals, worshiping at the altar of Popular Culture and Political Correctness.

Fox News reports that

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his conservative colleagues may have been overruled in Thursday’s decision upholding ObamaCare subsidies, but they didn’t go down without a fight. 

The firebrand conservative justice delivered one of the most scathing and linguistically creative dissents in recent memory. In a 21-page rebuttal, Scalia and two other justices tore into the Affordable Care Act and the court’s handling of it over the years — effectively accusing their colleagues of twisting the law for the sake of preserving President Obama’s signature policy. 

“Today’s interpretation is not merely unnatural; it is unheard of,” Scalia wrote, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. 

The case itself centered on language in the original law that technically limited subsidies to people buying insurance in exchanges set up by the states. Opponents said this made subsidies through the federal exchange invalid. 

“You would think the answer would be obvious — so obvious there would hardly be a need for the Supreme Court to hear a case about it,” Scalia wrote.

The majority, though, upheld subsidies everywhere, arguing that is what Congress intended.  

Scalia in his dissent scolded his colleagues’ handling of Affordable Care Act challenges, writing, “We should just start calling this law SCOTUScare,” referring to the several times the high court has ruled on controversial parts of ObamaCare. 

At one point, he panned the majority’s reasoning as “pure applesauce.” 

Scalia essentially made two major points: he accused the court of playing favorites by letting politics get in the way, and claimed the majority’s opinion contained “somersaults of statutory interpretation.”

The conservative justice attacked the logic behind the ruling as “interpretive jiggery-pokery” and said the result shows “words no longer have meaning.” 

He wrote: “The Court forgets that ours is a government of laws and not of men. That means we are governed by the terms of our laws, not by the unenacted will of our lawmakers.”

Drilling down to the language of the case itself, he wrote: “The court holds that when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act says ‘Exchange established by the State’ it means ‘Exchange established by the State or the Federal Government,’ That is of course quite absurd, and the court’s 21 pages of explanation make it no less so.”

He noted the other justices have stepped in twice now to block what he considered worthy challenges to the law, including the 2012 case challenging the individual mandate. Scalia suggested the court is now in a position of protecting the law, writing: “Under all the usual rules of interpretation, in short, the Government should lose this case. But normal rules of interpretation seem always to yield to the overriding principle of the present Court: The Affordable Care Act must be saved.”

The Thursday decision was 6-3.

Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion. He said that while the law’s wording was problematic, Congress’ intent was clear. 

“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them. If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter,” he wrote. “Those credits are necessary for the Federal Exchanges to function like their State Exchange counterparts, and to avoid the type of calamitous result that Congress plainly meant to avoid.”

Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer ruled in favor of the subsidies.

TheHill.com reports that

A House Republican on Thursday proposed forcing the Supreme Court justices and their staff to enroll in ObamaCare.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said that his SCOTUScare Act would make all nine justices and their employees join the national healthcare law’s exchanges.

“As the Supreme Court continues to ignore the letter of the law, it’s important that these six individuals understand the full impact of their decisions on the American people,” he said. 

“That’s why I introduced the SCOTUScare Act to require the Supreme Court and all of its employees to sign up for ObamaCare,” Babin said.

Babin’s potential legislation would only let the federal government provide healthcare to the Supreme Court and its staff via ObamaCare exchanges.

“By eliminating their exemption from ObamaCare, they will see firsthand what the Americanpeople are forced to live with,” he added.

It has been a rough week for America. We have seen the Southern Half of our contiguous 48 states mercilessly attacked by those who would rather that we ignore our history, than grow because of it, to rewrite history, rather than to learn from it, and, to blame an inanimate object, a flag, for the actions of a racist sociopath.

And now, we have witness the Judicial Branch of our Government, assume the duties of the Legislative Branch, in blatant protection of the Executive Branch.

In the midst of my anger, I thought about this moment in history…so very long ago…

To avoid interference from Lieutenant-Governor Dunmore and his Royal Marines, the Second Virginia Convention met March 20, 1775 inland at Richmond–in what is now called St. John’s Church–instead of the Capitol in Williamsburg. Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise a militia, and to put Virginia in a posture of defense. Henry’s opponents urged caution and patience until the crown replied to Congress’ latest petition for reconciliation.

On the 23rd, Henry presented a proposal to organize a volunteer company of cavalry or infantry in every Virginia county. By custom, Henry addressed himself to the Convention’s president, Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg. Henry’s words were not transcribed, but no one who heard them forgot their eloquence, or Henry’s closing words: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

…And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

OUR Revolution will be a peaceful one.  Our weapons will be our ballots. The outcome will be the same:  Freedom from those who would rule our lives.

On November 8, 2016, Americans will once again fire the shot heard ’round the world.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Why Should Illegals Get Free Healthcare For Breaking Into Our Country? (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

AFBrancoVoting Results111514We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birth-place or origin.

But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn’t doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people. – President Teddy Roosevelt

I remember it as if it was yesterday. It was a Sunday morning, around this time of year. I was 11 years old and I was sick as a dog from bronchitis.

My devoted Daddy was driving me to the doctor’s office. One of the three doctors, who literally raised me  as an asthmatic child, would open up the office for a couple of hours on Sunday morning, for folks who were seriously ill.

Since all three of them felt like they were my surrogate fathers, when we got to the office, the doctor immediately set me down and started to care for me.

Both my mother and father worked for Sears for 20 years. This being the 1960’s, there were no hoops to jump through, just insurance to be filed later by the doctor’s office.

Now, all these years later, I am still asthmatic, however, my condition is controlled by medication prescribed to me by physicians who worked in the finest healthcare system in the world.

As an adult, in the past, even during periods of unemployment, I was always able to receive treatment, from doctors who would work with me.

Having recently gone through a period of unemployment, I found, with the advent of Obamacare, that if you did not have insurance, doctors were more reluctant to work with you in regards to payment of their services. In fact, my physician requested payment of $250 on the spot for treating me for another case of bronchitis. Luckily, I had it, or else I would have been out of luck.

Now, it’s not like I did not try to get Obamacare while I was out of work. However, my wife has insurance through her job, and, according to the Obamacare website, I was not eligible, even though the cost of adding me to my wife’s insurance was beyond our means to pay.

Through the providence of Gods, now I have a great job, and will be eligible in January for my company’s insurance plan.

All that being said, were you aware that the secretary of Human Services has suggested giving all of these five million illegal aliens whom Obama is fixing to grant amnesty to, FREE OBAMACARE?

I’m not kidding.

That’s correct. The Prevaricator-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, wants to give away free healthcare to people who have never sworn allegiance to our country.

Let that soak in for a moment, boys and girls.

These criminals, who have broken into our country, violated our laws, and already are on EBT cards and are receiving driver’s licenses, will now receive their healthcare absolutely free.

Do you think that if we broke in to Mexico that we would get all this stuff for free?

There’s less chance of that happening, than Davy Crockett and those boys had in surviving the Alamo.

However, you have to admit, that it is a heck of a way to both create and buy off new voters.

And, that is what this is all about. Barack Hussein Obama is not being benevolent. He is as self-centered and Machiavellian as they come.

The fact is, the Democratic Party cannot stand on their own ideals. They just got their hindquarters handed to them in the midterm elections.

Anybody with any common sense whatsoever, knows that socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried. These self-proclaimed geniuses are no smarter than any other want-to-be socialists, who have tried to implement “sharing the wealth” in the past. They just have a more effective propaganda machine.

What we saw on Tuesday the 4th, was what happens when the promise of a Marxist ideology, turns out to be the reality of a failed presidency.

And, just like Lenin used the Bolsheviks to overthrow the Czar in the Russian Revolution, so are Obama and the Democrats using the illegal aliens to ensure that they will be elected to office for decades to come.

This next week will show us exactly what we bought with our votes on November the 4th.

It is up to Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and the rest of the Republicans in Congress, to stand tough against this usurpation of the Constitution.

Contrary to what the mainstream media and the rest of the Democrats have been saying since the election, Americans did not collect all these Republicans to work with the Democrats, we elected them to stop them.

This week is their chance to prove that we made the right decision.

Their bosses, We the People, are watching.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama at 39%. Does Anyone Know a Good Doctor…Who Hasn’t Closed His Office?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

doctorYesterday, gallup.com reported that President Barack Hussein Obama’s popularity has dropped to 39%.

Quite Frankly, I am surprised that it is that high.

Let’s take a look at the way Americans Feel about his Signature Legislation, the disaster given the ironic name of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare”.

Gallup.com reported on October 8th, that

…Although more provisions of the Affordable Care Act have taken effect over the past year, more Americans still say the law has hurt rather than helped them. Compared with early 2014, fewer Americans say it has had no effect, although this group is still in the majority, at 54%.

…Americans overall are both more positive and more negative about the law’s effect on themselves and their families. Since the start of this year, the percentage saying the law has helped them has increased from 10% to 16%, while the percentage saying it has hurt them has also gone up, and by a similar amount, from 19% to 27%.

At the same time, overall attitudes about the law have stayed constant over the past year. Currently, 41% of Americans approve of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” while 53% disapprove.

Attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act remain sharply divided along party lines. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans and independents to say the law has helped them, and Republicans are much more likely to say it has hurt them. Similar percentages of Americans from all three partisan groups say the law has had no effect.

…The 15% of Democrats who say the law has hurt them is up from 6% in May. At the same time, the percentage of Democrats who say the law has helped them has also increased slightly, from 23% to 27%. Republicans’ views now are essentially the same as they were in May.

…Americans’ views on the long-term effect of the healthcare law on the healthcare situation in the U.S. have barely budged over the last year, and remain more negative than positive. Forty-six percent say the law will make things worse in the long run, while 36% say it will make things better and 15% say it will not make much difference.

…Again, the negative tilt toward the law is largely attributable to Republicans’ being much more negative about the law’s effects than Democrats are positive about them. Sixty-six percent of Democrats say the law will make the U.S. healthcare situation better, while 80% of Republicans believe it will make things worse.

…President Barack Obama in a recent speech praised the ACA’s success, saying, “It’s working pretty well in the real world.” Gallup’s ongoing tracking of the uninsured rate shows that the percentage of Americans without health insurance is 3.7 points lower now than it was in late 2013, before the requirement to have health insurance took effect.

Even though the healthcare law appears to have lowered the U.S. uninsured rate, Americans’ views toward the law overall and its effect on the U.S. healthcare situation in the long run continue to be more negative than positive. Views may change as more Americans gain insurance through the 2014 open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15.

A survey was conducted by fax and online by the Doctor Patriot Medical Association, from April 18 to May 22, 2012. DPMAF obtained the office fax numbers of 36,000 doctors in active clinical practice, and 16, 227 faxes were successfully delivered. Doctors were asked to return their completed surveys by fax, or online at a web address included in the faxed copy. Browser rules prevented doctors from filing duplicate surveys, and respondents were asked to provide personal identification for verification. The response rate was 4.3% for a total of 699 completed surveys.

SURVEY RESPONDENTS

  • Doctors from 45 states responded, in addition to 130 who did not provide their geographical information.
  • Most are in solo or small group practice (81%) and office-based (89%) versus hospital-based (11%).
  • Most of the doctors are mid-career (77%) and have been in practice between 11 and 30 years.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS:

  • Almost unanimous that medicine is on the wrong track, and overwhelmingly blame the government;
  • Government-imposed solutions (PPACA, electronic health information) destined to fail;
  • Highest numbers ever opting out of Medicare or refuse Medicaid;
  • Vacuum in leadership in medical profession, feel abandoned by AMA & organized medicine;
  • Corporate medicine (including hospital and insurance companies) is intentionally trying to destroy private practice;
  • Doctors are pessimistic – failing financially & assume things will worsen;
  • See doctors and patients as the solution – not government;
  • Believe direct payment by patients will restore accountability & patient control;
  • Restored autonomy, elimination of government involvement, increased patient responsibility and free market reforms are solutions.

KEY FINDINGS

  • 90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK

  • 83% say they are thinking about QUITTING

  • 61% say the system challenges their ETHICS

  • 85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN

  • 65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems

  • 72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care

  • 49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients

  • 74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely

  • 52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE

  • 57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them

  • 1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion

  • 2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially

  • 95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE

  • 80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things

  • 70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

This survey hit home recently, as my and my wife’s primary doctors both decided that they were too old to put up with this mess any longer, both closing their offices. Her’s decided to become a hospitalist, dealing with in-hospital patients only. My doctor joined a local “See You Now”-type clinic.

I was literally raised by 3 doctors. No, I’m not some genetic experiment, like Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the movie “Twins” with Danny DeVito. I was born a severe asthmatic, caused by being born a month premature to a Mother 3 days before her 40th birthday.

These three men worked in the same clinic in Mid-town Memphis, TN. They later went on to become the chairmen of the Medical and Surgery Departments at a local hospital.

Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve laying in one of their examination rooms, with oxygen strapped to my face, as my beloved Daddy waited nervously, by my side.

Asthma treatment back then, consisted of a swig of nasty-tasting yellow Triaminic Syrup, a shot of Epinephrine, an antibiotic shot (usually a Mycin drug), a prescription for Prednisone to alleviate the inflammation, and a prescription for an anti-biotic (again, usually a mycin drug). Thank goodness, back then, (1960s through early 1970s) Sears, where both of my parents worked, had a really good insurance plan.

That being said, I owe my life to those three devoted physicians and the Greatest Healthcare System in the World.

Unfortunately, that Healthcare System, thanks to the megalomaniac who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, is in the process of going the way of the Dodo Bird.

So, the question persists, regarding this fiasco euphemistically named the Affordable Care Act, as my wife and I try to figure out whom to choose as our primary physicians, in order to continue the maintenance medicines which we both requite to continue living,

How can a state-run Healthcare System function without any doctors? Answer:  it can’t.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama and Obamacare: A Con Man Pulling A Con Job. Lies have Consequences.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

Obama-Shrinks-2Once upon a time, America’s Legendary Showman, P.T. Barnum, was reported to have said,

There is a sucker born every minute.

It was this philosophy that led the 44th President of the United States of America and his slavish minions in a Democrat-controlled Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act in the middle of one cold dark night, against the wishes of the American people.

After a disastrous launch, Obama is now attempting to escape from a suffocating spider’s web of his own  design.

Obama, speaking at an Organizing for America Campaign Event, yesterday, said,

Now, if you have or had one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you can keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law passed. So we wrote into the Affordable Care Act, you’re grandfathered in on that plan. But if the insurance company changes it, then what we’re saying is they’ve got to change it to a higher standard. They’ve got to make it better, they’ve got to improve the quality of the plan they are selling. That’s part of the promise that we made too. That’s why we went out of our way to make sure that the law allowed for grandfathering.

If we had allowed these old plans to be downgraded, or sold to new enrollees once the law had already passed, then we would have broken an even more important promise — making sure Americans gain access to health care that doesn’t leave them one illness away from financial ruin. The bottom line is that we are making the insurance market better for everybody and that’s the right thing to do.

On Saturday, August 8, 2009, during his Weekly Address, “The Smartest Guy in the Room” said,

As we draw close to finalizing – and passing – real health insurance reform, the defenders of the status quo and political point-scorers in Washington are growing fiercer in their opposition. In recent days and weeks, some have been using misleading information to defeat what they know is the best chance of reform we have ever had. That is why it is important, especially now, as Senators and Representatives head home and meet with their constituents, for you, the American people, to have all the facts.

So, let me explain what reform will mean for you. And let me start by dispelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care. That’s simply not true. This isn’t about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it’s about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.

And while reform is obviously essential for the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, it will also provide more stability and security to the hundreds of millions who do. Right now, we have a system that works well for the insurance industry, but that doesn’t always work well for you. What we need, and what we will have when we pass health insurance reform, are consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and that insurance companies are held accountable.

So, the President of the United States of America, lied. And now, he is lying, in a desperate, but futile attempt to cover up that lie.

The fact that Obama only lies when his lips are moving, is not a revelation.

The problem is the irrefutable fact that lies have consequences. And, in the case of Obamacare, the consequences apply to American lives.

In a Sunday Op Ed for The Wall Street Journal, Edie Littlefield Sundy, who is suffering from Stage 4 Gallbladder Cancer, wrote the following,

Everyone now is clamoring about Affordable Care Act winners and losers. I am one of the losers.

My grievance is not political; all my energies are directed to enjoying life and staying alive, and I have no time for politics. For almost seven years I have fought and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 2% after diagnosis. I am a determined fighter and extremely lucky. But this luck may have just run out: My affordable, lifesaving medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31.

My choice is to get coverage through the government health exchange and lose access to my cancer doctors, or pay much more for insurance outside the exchange (the quotes average 40% to 50% more) for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar insurance company and impaired benefits.

Countless hours searching for non-exchange plans have uncovered nothing that compares well with my existing coverage. But the greatest source of frustration is Covered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act health-insurance exchange and, by some reports, one of the best such exchanges in the country. After four weeks of researching plans on the website, talking directly to government exchange counselors, insurance companies and medical providers, my insurance broker and I are as confused as ever. Time is running out and we still don’t have a clue how to best proceed.

Two things have been essential in my fight to survive stage-4 cancer. The first are doctors and health teams in California and Texas: at the medical center of the University of California, San Diego, and its Moores Cancer Center; Stanford University’s Cancer Institute; and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The second element essential to my fight is a United Healthcare PPO (preferred provider organization) health-insurance policy.

Since March 2007 United Healthcare has paid $1.2 million to help keep me alive, and it has never once questioned any treatment or procedure recommended by my medical team. The company pays a fair price to the doctors and hospitals, on time, and is responsive to the emergency treatment requirements of late-stage cancer. Its caring people in the claims office have been readily available to talk to me and my providers.

But in January, United Healthcare sent me a letter announcing that they were pulling out of the individual California market. The company suggested I look to Covered California starting in October.

You would think it would be simple to find a health-exchange plan that allows me, living in San Diego, to continue to see my primary oncologist at Stanford University and my primary care doctors at the University of California, San Diego. Not so. UCSD has agreed to accept only one Covered California plan—a very restrictive Anthem EPO Plan. EPO stands for exclusive provider organization, which means the plan has a small network of doctors and facilities and no out-of-network coverage (as in a preferred-provider organization plan) except for emergencies. Stanford accepts an Anthem PPO plan but it is not available for purchase in San Diego (only Anthem HMO and EPO plans are available in San Diego).

So if I go with a health-exchange plan, I must choose between Stanford and UCSD. Stanford has kept me alive—but UCSD has provided emergency and local treatment support during wretched periods of this disease, and it is where my primary-care doctors are.

Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines.

What happened to the president’s promise, “You can keep your health plan”? Or to the promise that “You can keep your doctor”? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician.

For a cancer patient, medical coverage is a matter of life and death. Take away people’s ability to control their medical-coverage choices and they may die. I guess that’s a highly effective way to control medical costs. Perhaps that’s the point.

The experts are now predicting that 129 million Americans will lose their private Health Insurance Coverage to the ill-conceived National Catastrophe, known as Obamacare.

These Americans will not have the option of “shopping around”. With 68% of private policies expected to be eliminated, and the Obamacare Policies themselves un-affordable, average Americans will be in a no-win situation..

Oh, by the way, if you are over 76, and you get Cancer…pick out your ice floe…because Obama’s “perfect” “Affordable” Care Act is neither…and, you will be denied life-saving coverage under Obamacare.

It was a Con Job from the get-go. Lies told freely, with no conscience or thought of the consequences…the pain and suffering Obamacare would be bringing to American Lives.

Never forget this moment, Americans. It is a time when the United States President is revealing himself to be everything that Conservative Bloggers, like myself, warned you that he was and would be.

God protect us.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Coming of Obamacare: Like the Titanic Headed for the Iceberg

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

obamadoctorAs America creeps closer and closer to the full launch of Obamacare, Americans are finding out why Congress did not want to read the bill before they passed it into law.

On February 10th, Reason.com told us that Obamacare will not lower Americans’ medical costs. Au contraire…

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,” said Nancy Pelosi during the debate over Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act passed, and Americans are now finding out. It’s not a pretty picture.

Take employment. “Medical device makers in Massachusetts and elsewhere are warning of potential job losses,” reports The Boston Globe, because of a 2.3-percent tax on medical devices imposed by law. Even liberal-heartthrob-turned-Massachusetts-Senator Elizabeth Warren, a supporter of the law, says repealing that tax is “essential.” (To paraphrase a cliché, if it saves one job – hers – it’s worth it.)

But the ACA’s effect on jobs goes well beyond medical device makers. Reporting on January’s employment numbers, Investor’s Business Daily notes an “apparent shift to part-time work ahead of a key Obamacare deadline.” Although more people are working in the retail sector, they are working fewer hours per person – now just a hair above 30 hours a week. “A similar trend,” IBD notes, “showed up in leisure and hospitality.”

Why? No great mystery: Under the ACA, companies with 50 full-time employees or more must provide health insurance or pay a fine. As Paul Christiansen writes in The Wall Street Journal, “thousands of small businesses across the U.S. are desperately looking for a way to escape their own fiscal cliff” through layoffs or shifting to more part-time employees. (He advises a third route: “going protean,” an approach in which a small cadre of managers sets strategy and outsources everything else – from accounting and IT to product development and manufacturing – to contractors.)

This employment shift may frustrate one of the aims of the Affordable Care Act: increasing the percentage of Americans who have employer-based health insurance. Won’t the downsized be able to buy subsidized health insurance through the new state exchanges, though? Sure. In fact, they will be forced to, or pay a fine. But that only highlights another area where the law is falling short: cost control. Back in 2010 the Congressional Budget Office estimated the average subsidy at $3,970 per individual. It’s now up to $5,510 – bringing the overall cost between now and 2022 to more than $1 trillion.

This is the trajectory of a law President Obama insisted was necessary to “bend the cost curve downward.” Indeed, three years ago Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained the “urgency” of health-care reform this way: “Working families have been saddled with huge rate increase in their health insurance premiums” – 39 percent in California, 56 percent in Michigan, and so on.

Yet as Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute notes, a recent survey of insurance companies finds that “if the law’s insurance rules were in force [now], the premium for a relatively bare-bones policy for a 27-year-old male nonsmoker on the individual market would be nearly 190 percent higher.”

Okay, so maybe the conservative group that conducted the survey cherry-picked that case. What about other sorts of policies, and other people? The news isn’t much better: Wisconsin predicts “an average premium increase of 41 percent.” Ohio’s Department of Insurance says “the individual health insurance market premiums are estimated to increase by 55 percent to 85 percent above current market average rates.”

But, hey, at least the “least among us” as Obama likes to call lower income Americans, will be taken care of. Especially, if they have pre-existing conditions, right?

Err…not so much.

The Washington Post reports that

Tens of thousands of Americans who cannot get health insurance because of preexisting medical problems will be blocked from a program designed to help them because funding is running low.

Obama administration officials said Friday that the state-based “high-risk pools” set up under the 2010 health-care law will be closed to new applicants as soon as Saturday and no later than March 2, depending on the state.

But they stressed that coverage for about 100,000 people who are now enrolled in the high-risk pools will not be affected.

“We’re being very careful stewards of the money that has been appropriated to us and we wanted to balance our desire to maximize the number of people who can gain from this program while making sure people who are in the program have coverage,” said Gary Cohen, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. “This was the most prudent step for us to take at this point in time.”

The program, which was launched in summer 2010, was always intended as a temporary bridge for the uninsured. But it was supposed to last until 2014. At that point, the health-care law will bar insurers from rejecting or otherwise discriminating against people who are already sick, enabling such people to buy plans through the private market.

From the start, analysts questioned whether the $5 billion that Congress appropriated for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan — as the program is called — was sufficient.

Initial fears that as many as 375,000 sick people would swamp the pools and bankrupt them by 2012 did not pan out. This is largely because, even though the pools must charge premiums comparable to those for healthy people, the plans sold through them are often expensive.

But it was also because the pools are open only to people who have gone without insurance for at least six months. The result is that, while only about 135,000 people have gotten coverage at some point, they are proving far more costly to insure than predicted.

Many people who are uninsured go untreated, exacerbating their medical problems. When they finally do get coverage through a high-risk pool, they are in immediate need of expensive care.

“What we’ve learned through the course of this program is that this is really not a sensible way for the health-care system to be run,” Cohen said.

Of the original $5 billion, about $2.36 billion remains available for the last three quarters of 2013 — enough only to continue coverage for those already in the pools, according to administration estimates.

The law gave states the option of either administering their pools directly or allowing federal authorities to operate them. In 27 states that have chosen direct management, applications for new enrollment can be accepted only through March 2. In 23 states and the District, where the pools are operated by the federal government, only applications received through Friday will be considered.

Obama administration officials said they did not have estimates for how many more people would have sought coverage through the pools beyond then. But Cohen said that new enrollment has averaged about 4,000 people per month in the past several months, suggesting that the figure could number in the tens of thousands.

Asked why the administration has not requested additional money from Congress to keep the program open — admittedly a tough sell in the current political and budgetary environment — Cohen said, “My responsibility is to work with the appropriation we have.”

About 129 million people nationwide have a medical condition or prior illness that would make it hard for them to buy their own insurance plan.

Large numbers of them can and still do obtain full coverage through employer-sponsored plans, which generally do not treat sick people differently.

An additional 215,000 people are insured through separate high-risk pools that 35 states fund through their own budgets — although the policies often do not pay for treatment of the person’s preexisting illness, only covering new illnesses the person may develop.

Between 9 million and 25 million people with preexisting conditions are uninsured, depending on the estimate.

And, just think…Obamacare is not even fully implemented, yet.

Oh, and if someone offers you “Soylent Green”, don’t eat it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

What if Obamacare is Implemented and There are no Doctors Left?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

What if 83% of American Doctors gave up their practice, rather than suffer through the Politboro-driven coming catastrophe known as Obamacare?

Can you imagine?

The Doctors surveyed by the Doctor  Patient Medical Association can…and they’ve threatened to do just that.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The survey was conducted by fax and online from April 18 to May 22, 2012. DPMAF obtained the office fax numbers of 36,000 doctors in active clinical practice, and 16, 227 faxes were successfully delivered. Doctors were asked to return their completed surveys by fax, or online at a web address included in the faxed copy. Browser rules prevented doctors from filing duplicate surveys, and respondents were asked to provide personal identification for verification. The response rate was 4.3% for a total of 699 completed surveys.

SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Doctors from 45 states responded, in addition to 130 who did not provide their geographical information.

Most are in solo or small group practice (81%) and office-based (89%) versus hospital-based (11%).

Most of the doctors are mid-career (77%) and have been in practice between 11 and 30 years.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS:

  • Almost unanimous that medicine is on the wrong track, and overwhelmingly blame the government;
  • Government-imposed solutions (PPACA, electronic health information) destined to fail;
  • Highest numbers ever opting out of Medicare or refuse Medicaid;
  • Vacuum in leadership in medical profession, feel abandoned by AMA & organized medicine;
  • Corporate medicine (including hospital and insurance companies) is intentionally trying to destroy private practice;
  • Doctors are pessimistic – failing financially & assume things will worsen;
  • See doctors and patients as the solution – not government;
  • Believe direct payment by patients will restore accountability & patient control;
  • Restored autonomy, elimination of government involvement, increased patient responsibility and free market reforms are solutions.

KEY FINDINGS

  • 90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK
  • 83% say they are thinking about QUITTING
  • 61% say the system challenges their ETHICS
  • 85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN
  • 65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems
  • 72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care
  • 49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients
  • 74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely
  • 52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE
  • 57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them
  • 1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion
  • 2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially
  • 95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE
  • 80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things
  • 70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

The Republic of Texas stated its intentions concerning Obamacare, yesterday…in no uncertain terms: 

Governor Rick Perry said on Monday Texas will not implement an expansion of the Medicaid program or create a health insurance exchange, placing the state with the highest percentage of people without insurance outside key parts of President Barack Obama’s signature law.

The announcement makes Texas the most populous state that has rejected the provisions. Some 6.2 million people are without health insurance in Texas, or 24.6 percent of the state population, the highest percentage in the nation. California has more people without insurance but a lower percentage.

Perry joined fellow Republican governors of Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Louisiana in rejecting the two provisions of the law, according to americanhealthline.com. They hope that November elections will result in Republicans winning the White House and enough seats in Congress to repeal the law.

“I will not be party to socializing healthcare and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government,” Perry said in a statement.

He sent a letter on Monday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking her to relay the message to Obama that Perry opposes the provisions “because both represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state.”

“I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the Obamacare power grab. Neither a ‘state’ exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under this program would result in better ‘patient protection’ or in more ‘affordable care,'” said Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January. “They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care.”

Sebelius spokesman Keith Maley said the department “will continue to work with states to ensure they have the flexibility and resources they need to implement” the law known formally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Meanwhile, the House Republicans are sending a message of their own:

House Republicans this week are launching what some believe is a quixotic push to repeal the health care overhaul, in the latest display of campaign-messaging theater.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., announced that the House of Representatives would vote to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision to uphold the law.

The opening act begins with a House Rules Committee hearing late Monday afternoon. Members of the panel will set the parameters for the repeal bill’s floor consideration.

Floor debate commences Tuesday in Act II. Expect a long series of speeches from both sides praising or condemning the legislation.

The actual vote on the repeal bill will come Wednesday. The tally will likely fall along party lines much in the same way as the legislation passed in 2010. Not a single Republican voted in favor of the health care overhaul while 34 moderate House Democrats voted no.

This may prove to be a difficult vote for centrist Democrats facing tough reelection battles. Watch for members of the Blue Dog Coalition like Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Larry Kissell, D-N.C., to potentially defect from their party on this issue as they gear up for the fall campaign.

Of course, at this point, with the Senate and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue under the control of the Democrats, this is strictly a symbolic gesture by the Republicans.

…But, at least they will get it on the record before the electoral nuclear explosion (i.e., The World’s Largest Tea Party) scheduled for November 6, 2012.