Although we’ve written about health care reform on several occasions, we’ve tried to remain as neutral as possible. And although we absolutely encourage you to do your research and form your own opinion on the matter, we finally feel that it’s time to explain our position on the House Health Care bill. To put it quite frankly: we dislike it – immensely. We do believe that health care reform is necessary. Our health care system is certainly flawed, and our country needs to find a way to provide affordable health care options to everyone. The health insurance industry also needs to be reformed, making health insurance more accessible and affordable for Americans. But this House Health Care Bill that President Obama and Congress are trying to push through goes way beyond necessary reform and takes the ideas of government-run health care a little too far.

If you’re interested, we urge you to look through the House Health Care Bill. We know that it’s 1,018 pages, but you can at least skim through and read parts of it. You’ll probably be surprised by some of the stuff you read. Certainly there are good parts of the bill – but that’s not what we’re concerned about right now. Instead, we’re concerned with the more radical portions of the bill. Here are just a few excerpts that caught our eye:

Pg 29 – Essentially, your health care will be rationed based on an “annual limitation” and “applicable level.” -Now, it seems to us that the idea of “rationed” health care is a bit crazy. Isn’t the whole idea of health care reform to provide all necessary health care to Americans, not just some of it?

Pg 30 – A health benefits advisory committee will be established to determine which benefits and health care services should be offered.

Pg 42 – The “Health Choices Commissioner” will choose your health care benefits for you.

PG 50 – HealthCare will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise. –This is still a huge debate in our country

Pg 58 – They want to have real-time access to all individual’s finances, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility. A national identification card will be issued to all individuals, in order to help the Government monitor everyone’s finances.

Pg 59 – They allude to having direct access to your bank accounts for electronic fund transfers of health care payments. This isn’t the worst thing we found, we just don’t really like the idea of the government having their hands in our pockets any more than they already do.

Pg 72 – A Health Insurance Exchange will be established, bringing all private health insurance plans under the Government’s control. –Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of having “private” health insurance plans?

PG 95 - The Government plans on using special groups to help get people signed up for the Government Health Care plan – these groups could include ACORN & Americorps –Seems like a conflict of interest, doesn’t it?

PG 110 – Employers not offering government health care will have additional taxes imposed on them –What a great way to help our small businesses! sheesh…

Pg 127 – Doctors will be organized into 2 classes: “Preferred Physicians” for those physicians who agree to the Government-established salary and “Participating Non-Preferred Physicians” for those physicians who do not accept the established salary. However, even for those Non-Preferred Physicians, the Government still limits how much they can charge. So, either way, the government is deciding how much physicians can make.  –But the most important point: The government will control how much money doctors make!

Pg 203 – Just read this: “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.”  –Yea, it sounds confusing, but aren’t they saying that this “tax” won’t actually be considered as “tax.” Sound curious to you?

Pg 241 – Doctors will all receive the same salary, regardless of their specialty.  –We’ve also heard this will be true for Nurses and other health care professionals.

Pg 253 – Doctors will no longer be able to place a value on their own time. Instead, the government will determine how valuable the doctor’s time is, along with the value of their: mental effort, professional judgment, technical skill, physical effort, and stress due to risk.  –I bet that will really motivate doctors…

Pg 425 – Individuals on Social Security will be required to attend “Advanced Care Planning” consultations every 5 years. These consultations will include end of life planning resources, a thorough explanation of end-of-life services available, such as palliative care and hospice, and and explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatments.  –We have a sneaking suspicion that our Government is trying to discourage people from using life-sustaining treatments when they reach old age.

Pg 429 – You will be required to attend Advanced Care Planning Consultations more often if there is a significant change in your health condition or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long term care facility, or Hospice. Again, you will be reminded of your end of life options.

Pg 429 – These consultations may include government orders regarding life-sustaining treatment.  –Again, the government may control how much care you receive!

Pg 430 – “The level of treatment indicated . . . may range from an indication for full treatment to an indication to limit some or all or specified interventions.”   –More government control

Pg 489 – The government will also control Marriage & Family therapy.  –I don’t know about you, but that’s just what our marriage was missing – government control!

That’s not the end of our story, but we must rest our eyes a bit before we tackle the rest of the House Health Care Bill. We urge you to take a look through it yourself and let us know if you come across anything that sounds strange. And even if you choose not to look at the actual bill, we urge you to do at least ONE thing:

Let your voice be heard!! Do the research, look into the health care reform proposal, and speak up! This proposed Health Care Bill would be a travesty to our nation. Program your elected representatives’ phone numbers into your phone and call often. Send e-mails & ask them to vote “NO” to this health care reform bill. Or send snail mail, if that’s more your style. Either way, SPEAK UP! Find all the contact information you need here: House.gov and Senate.gov.

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