What I have been up to....boring! I know.

I have been writing my Congress and Representatives about Healthcare reform. I know I don't usually get political on the blog. But here are the fruits of my labors.

August 11, 2009

The Honorable Jon Kyl

Dear Congressman Kyl:

I am writing to let you know that I OPPOSE HR3200 and the government hijacking my private healthcare decisions. I do not want the government to have more control and influence over my health care.
I also have a few questions for your Congressman Kyl. My first question is do you support Obamacare? My second question is it is my understanding that Congress will be exempt from Obamacare. If that is true; then why is Obamacare good enough for me, but not good enough for you?

I oppose the plan to nationalize our health care system and urge you to oppose it. There may be good intentions behind the legislation, but the unintended consequences will be massive and destructive to our economy.


Here are a few reasons why ObamaCare will be destructive to our country:

* Healthcare rationing: Government takeover of health care also would allow Washington to use "comparative effectiveness research" to dictate to doctors which treatments they should prescribe and how much they should cost. That in turn would lead to rationing of health care services. (Page 29 - rations healthcare; essential benefits are defined and there is an annual limitation of $5,000/individual and $10,000/family).

* Government decisions about what healthcare benefits you can receive, even from your private employer: (Page 30 – the "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide what treatment/benefits you receive.) It ultimately would transform legislators into quasi health care practitioners. Legislators would become quasi medical practitioners because they would lead and guide the government-controlled medical boards, personnel and policies that would oversee the program. That would include abortive and end-of-life counsel and services. Federal politicians would rely upon relatively few chief physicians (appointed mostly by them), who in turn would oversee and implement the medical policies and procedures that they felt were best for the country.

* Family Planning Services (code phrase for government funded abortion Pages 769-770) – --every version of ObamaCare currently being discussed includes the devastating Abortion Mandate that will REQUIRE me and other pro-life Americans to fund abortion with our tax dollars! THIS IS WRONG!!! Why should we be required to fund abortions when we are morally against it. Government Funded Abortion is not a "right" guaranteed in our constitution.

* This legislation also requires euthanasia counseling - the frequency of which increases with age and illness. (section 1233 of the legislative proposal) This deals with a government requirement for an “Advance Care Planning Consultation.” One of the most shocking things is page 425, where the Congress would make it mandatory absolutely that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session. Dr. Betsy McCaughey who is a former New York state officer and health expert said. “They will tell [them] how to end their life sooner.” The proposal specifically calls for the consultation to recommend “palliative care and hospice” for seniors in their mandatory counseling sessions. Palliative care and hospice generally focus only on pain relief until death. That section may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign. This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law.

* ObamaCare is an economic suicide pill for our faltering economy! It will add to an already ridiculously high deficit. This legislation clearly would drive our country deeper into debt and cannot be paid for without massive across the board tax increases. America cannot afford the $1 trillion price tag of socialized health care during these difficult economic times. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate version of the health care legislation "would result in a net increase in federal deficits of about $1.0 trillion for fiscal years 2010 through 2019." Is that what you call good fiscal responsibility within an economy and government that already is bordering on bankruptcy? I flatly reject any health care proposal that increases costs or imposes new taxes on any American.

* This legislations will kill small businesses under a mountain of taxes, regulations and other cost. It will NOT save money, but will increase the rapid rise in healthcare cost in the country.

* All Employers will be required to auto-enroll all employees in ObamaCare with no options. Businesses will be pushing workers onto the government run plan, driving up costs, and shutting down private insurance. ObamaCare ultimately would limit the competitive market of health care. You don't create competitive markets by creating monopolies, yet that is exactly what government-run universal health care would prevent: competition. If government should do anything, it should crack down on medical insurance monopolies. If government wants to regulate one more thing, it would be better to regulate the medical insurance companies, not the American people.

* Mandated audits of the books of private companies: -Page 22 - mandates the government will audit the books of all employers that self-insure

* It also requires A National Health ID card, complete with government access to our personal information and even our bank accounts.

* It mandates counsel to "increase the frequency interval" between pregnancies (in other words, bureaucrats will tell us when we should have a child). And, it even requires taxpayers to pay for "sex change" surgeries!

* Other mandates: Page 317 – government can prohibit a hospital from expanding, Page 341 – gives government the authority to disqualify certain plans, i.e. Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part B), Page 353 – sets limitations on enrollment of special needs individuals

And what about the taxpayers who would pay for the program? Would having universal health care encourage their future productivity? Further taxing members of the upper class (which would mean further penalizing their productivity) certainly would not provide incentive for Americans chasing the American dream. And their added taxes obviously would trickle down to consumers, as well. Or do we just assume they would pay 47 million Americans' universal health care out of their surpluses?

One needs only look at the failed and deeply flawed TennCare in Tennesse and Massachusetts’s government run health care plans to see that Government-run Universal Healthcare is a bad idea that will end up devastating our nation.

Canada and Europe already have proved that national health care translates into national nightmares, with a plethora of new government regulations and new systems of rationing medical attention. Under government-run services, personal health care would transform into more impersonal harassment.

I urge you to stand against the loss of personal freedom, the skyrocketing tax increases and the healthcare rationing that will result from H.R. 3200, "Obamacare". Please know that I am watching your actions on this bill. I urge you to take time to listen to your constituents during the August recess.

Respectfully,
International Party Girl