Posted by
Roxanna M. on Saturday, November 07, 2009 2:00:41 PM
According to the report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on November 2, the health care "reform" bill that Nancy Pelosi is so desperately trying to pass provides that:
(1) a person earning $44,000 - before taxes - will have to pay a $5,300 premium AND still be responsible for another $2,000 out-of-pocket.
(2) a family earning $102,100 - before taxes - will have to pay a $15,000 premium AND still be responsible for another $5,300 out-of-pocket.
To help pay for this new plan, about $500 billion is going to be taken from Medicare, which is going broke. So, basically, the idiots in charge of this country are going to rob Peter to pay Paul, even though Peter is broke.
We must enroll in a "qualified plan" now, even though it won't be until 18 months after the bill is signed into law that the Secretary of Health and Human Services - most likely exempt from this horror - will decide what constitutes a "qualified plan". Better not need a doctor for a year and a half because nobody will know what's covered and what isn't.
When you file your taxes, you must provide proof that you are covered by a "qualified" plan or you will be fined. Unless, of course, you're an illegal alien, in which case nothing really changes. You'll still get free health care courtesy of the citizens of this country, until such time as we're all broke.
Reimbursement to health care providers will be based on what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. So, Dr. So-and-So in San Francisco is going to receive the same amount as Dr. So-and-So in Podunk. We will have to settle for a nurse practitioner instead of a doctor for primary care. And hospice patients get no doctors at all, just physician assistants.
Billions of dollars are going to be directed to:
(1) "community entities" that have "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" so that "each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program";
(2) grants that establish racial and ethnic preferences for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs, i.e., grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population" and secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities". In other words, ability and skill are no longer required. You just have to be the right color.
Also tucked away in this so-called health care "reform" bill is the provision that if you don't buy insurance, you go to prison. And, there's also a hefty fine of $250,000.
So, this is government of the people, by the people, for the people.