Speaker Pelosi announced Oct. 29 that a 1,990-page healthcare reform bill was on its way to the Senate. It includes a public option and will finally insure 90 percent-plus of the people in the United States.
She claimed that it will cover the 36 million uninsured in this country. Is it 36 million, 47 million or 50 million?
Speaker Pelosi was followed by President Obama speaking to what was said to be a representation of small-business owners from across America. He stated “if you like your insurance, you can keep it without any changes.” He said there will be insurance pools from which you can choose an insurer if you do not already have insurance for your business employees. President Obama said that this reform will pay for itself.
Well, I thought, if this is so, then I have been -oh-so-wrong in my assessment of what the financial impact and reduction of quality healthcare on Americans, our children, grandchildren, etc. will be if the Congress passes this healthcare reform bill. If what Speaker Pelosi and President Obama said is true, then I am on board with the whole program and I will issue another “mea culpa.”
“Oh,” you ask, “what if that old adage that if someone in authority tells you something (not factual) to your face enough times that you will actually believe it?” Well then ... if that is the case, I am on board with Rep. Joe (“You lie”) Wilson.
The president said fixing Medicare/Medicaid fraud will help pay for healthcare reform. Has the crackdown begun? If not, why not? The government has never successfully run any type of program. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak, all are broken and broke.
Government competing with private insurers will drive private insurers out of business. I have no love lost for the private insurers, but this is the United States of America. The home of capitalism. The greatest republic* in the history of civilization. That said, there is great room for health insurer reform, starting with portability and the ability for individuals and businesses to purchase insurance across state lines. The government just prints more money to compete and the competition goes away. President Obama also neglected to remind us of the $500 billion cuts to Medicare and the 21.5 percent Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements in 2010 .
* Benjamin Frankin said “I give you a republic if you can hold on to it.” A republic is a political unit governed by a charter (the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are U.S. federal charter documents). A democracy is a government whose prevailing force is always that of the majority. One of the difficulties in defining these two words, democracy and republic, stems from the fact that many people consider them to be synonyms, which they are not. They are no more alike than Nancy Pelosi and Puff the Magic Dragon, and yet they are often used interchangeably