Affordable Choices??

Unfortunately in just the past couple of hours we’ve heard that the U.S. House of Representatives has sold out the American people once again and passed the health care bill. If there’s any positive outlook it’s that the vote was very close, 220 – 215. I know a long list of individuals in this country who are going to become unemployed very, very soon. All we need to concentrate on now is putting an increased amount of pressure on the Senate and hope that all faith hasn’t been completely lost in the entire Congress.

But while we’re on the subject, lets look at the facts surrounding this piece of legislation and what the media is deciding to withhold from us.

First of all the bill was approximately 2,000 pages, give or take a few hundred. I can guarantee with 90% certainty that not a single congressman has read this entire bill, not even John Stingell, the sponsor of this bill.

Then the hype that insurance companies are “critical” of this legislation when in reality, THEY WROTE IT! Who to benefit most then these corporations when having health insurance is MANDATORY and if you opt not to get it, you are taxed as a penalty.

Speaking of penalties… During Obama’s campaign during the 2008 election season, the now President repeatedly promised that the American people making $250,000 per year or less wouldn’t see an increase of a single penny in their taxes. They may not be direct, but when a company or an employer faces increased taxes and regulations that restrict business, those reduced profits become a burden upon the employees and customers.  For example:

Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).

Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.

Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.

Just because these taxes aren’t listed underneath Federal Income Tax and Social Security on your paycheck doesn’t mean they aren’t being passed on to you eventually. So much for promises, right?

Then there’s the public option. Oh yes, the new bureaucracy that an aide for a representative in Arizona told me personally had “majority support.” An option, that even if it was remotely a positive thing, is actually unavailable to 200 million Americans. Wow. Great. And the confusion of funding doesn’t make it any more appealing, the politicians can’t even come to a consensus on whether abortions are covered under this plan.

And is anyone aware of how this bill infringes on our liberties? Does anyone care that Congress has no authority what so ever to manage health care? According to James Clyburn, Congress is well aware that most of what they do is not authorized by the Constitution. Is anyone really surprised by their ever-increasing cocky attitudes?

I agree that health reform is needed on a monumental scale in this country. A hospital stay shouldn’t cost anywhere near $100/hour, especially with the poor quality of their food. But the answer isn’t government intervention. More control by Washington will be a medical disaster. Look at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). How well does the government handle that fiasco? Or how about nationalizing Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG? Look how successful those companies are doing today (or not). Or maybe the most helpful, the bailout packages. Remember how we were told the economy would collapse and the stock market would plunge if we didn’t pass the bill? Well… it’s a year later and unemployment has only increased ever since (government says 10.2%, other sources say 17+%).

I beg the public not to panic and support a bill that no one has read nor anyone truly understands. This massive bill is the complete wrong direction for us to take. If we’re ever going to get medical prices under control and limit the power insurance companies have over us we must eliminate the insurance companies in question. They are the cause of the inflated medical costs and premiums. This problem started with the creation of HMO’s (which happened to be by the government) and it will end when they do.

Think before we act. That should be common sense, the very fact that it must be stressed is appalling.

- Jeff