Saturday, October 31, 2009

PELOSI'S GOVERNMENT MANDATED HEALTH CARE BILL, A READER'S GUIDE


As you know, Pelosi's behemoth, Government Mandated Health Care Bill, is a gargantuan monstrosity of almost 2,000 (1,990 to be exact) pages of unreadable gobbledygook and legalese that is virtually impossible for anyone to read or understand, except for the geekiest of bureaucrats. Nevertheless, if you're hellbent on reading the bill in its entirety, you can find the entire text of the bill here.

It's no wonder why they don't read their own bills! I guarantee you that someone of Pelosi's non-existent intellect hasn't read it, which begs the question: Who actually writes these things? For those of us who have a life, below is a "reader's guide" or breakdown of some of the key elements of Pelosi's bill:

Page 94—Section 202(c) prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government

Page 110—Section 222(e) requires the use of federal dollars to fund abortions through the government-run health plan—and, if the Hyde Amendment were ever not renewed, would require the plan to fund elective abortions

Page 111—Section 223 establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats (the “Health Benefits Advisory Committee”) to dictate the health plans that all individuals must purchase —and would likely require all Americans to subsidize and purchase plans that cover any abortion

Page 211—Section 321 establishes a new government-run health plan that, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group, would cause as many as 114 million Americans to lose their existing coverage

Page 225—Section 330 permits—but does not require—Members of Congress to enroll in government-run health care

Page 255—Section 345 includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health care subsidies under the bill—while the bill includes a requirement for applicants to verify their citizenship, it does not include a similar requirement to verify applicants’ identity, thus encouraging identity fraud for undocumented immigrants and others wishing to receive taxpayer-subsidized health benefits

Page 297—Section 501 imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health insurance— the tax would apply on individuals with incomes under $250,000, thus breaking a central promise of then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign

Page 313—Section 512 imposes an 8 percent “tax on jobs” for firms that cannot afford to purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health coverage ; according to an analysis by Harvard Professor Kate Baicker, such a tax would place millions “at substantial risk of unemployment”—with minority workers losing their jobs at twice the rate of their white counterparts

Page 336—Section 551 imposes additional job-killing taxes, in the form of a half-trillion dollar “surcharge,” more than half of which will hit small businesses ; according to a model developed by President Obama’s senior economic advisor, such taxes could cost up to 5.5 million jobs

Page 520—Section 1161 cuts more than $150 billion from Medicare Advantage plans,potentially jeopardizing millions of seniors’ existing coverage

Page 733—Section 1401 establishes a new Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research; the bill includes no provisions preventing the government-run health plan from using such research to deny access to life-saving treatments on cost grounds, similar to Britain’s National Health Service, which denies patient treatments costing more than $35,000

Page 1174—Section 1802(b) includes provisions entitled TAXES ON CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES to fund comparative effectiveness research, breaking Speaker Pelosi’s promise that “We will not be taxing [health] benefits in any bill that passes the House,” and the President’s promise not to raise taxes on families with incomes under $250,000


Other Items of Interest (or shame, disappointment, disgrace, perversion, etc.):

There are approximately 450,000 words of new rules, regulations, penalties, mandates, deception, taxes, and bureaucracy that guarantees "provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending . . . ."
  • The word, "Regulation" is used 181 times...
  • "Tax" is used 214 times,
  • "Fees" is used 103 times,
  • "Shall," the strongest word in the English language, is used over 3,000 times!
Pelosi "doublespeak" runs rampant: "government mandate," has become "government option," which was changed to, "public option," which morphed into, "competitive option," which was finally transformed into the more palatable, "consumer option".

In summary, to quote the timeless wisdom of Ronald Reagan:

"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."



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5 PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS HERE:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the summary. It does make me need to go and read the entire sections of the bill which you highlight.

It is hard to believe they have written a bill so contrary to the wishes of so many of us, but they seem to have done it!

John R said...

Idiots. The inmates are truly running the asylum!

RightBlackVoice said...

Both of you are so correct. This bill, in addition to most of what the President and Congress have attempted and/or succeeded in cramming down the throats of Americans, is done without regard to the wishes of the people or the legality of the act according to the Constitution. Their main concern is power. Our rights and freedoms as Americans are of little consequence to them.

TheCapitalist said...

Scary stuff. These people will go to whatever lengths are necessary to takeover as much of our lives as possible. What's gone on lately with this bill and the Pay Czar is nothing short of tyranny!

Anonymous said...

Can the american people stop this health care
bill? if, how?

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