AARP & AMA Misinformation

Imagine it! The AARP and the AMA are disseminating massive disinformation about health care reform. Actually it's easy to imagine. Neither represents its constituency. Please see this link http://action.aarp.org/site/PageNavigator/Myths_vs_Facts. Sounds convincing, but it's just cleaver misinformation and not what we will have if this terrible legislation becomes law.

In this propaganda, the AARP and AMA quote statements by opponents of current health care reform legislation and then label them myths. I will debunk one of these here.

They label assertions by opponents that health care will result in rationing as follows: "Myth: Health care reform means rationed care." However, the AARP/AMA response to this so-called myth never touches on the real reason why rationing will occur, namely that there are not enough doctors to absorb the patient load added by infusing tens of millions of new patients in the insured health care system. (Note: the uninsured receive emergency medical care by law and compassion, a far different service level than they would have under an insured program.) Imagine the number of new patients in your doctor's waiting room, which may already be overflowing, if the current reform bill is enacted. This automatically means that you will not be seen as long or as often as you need. That is a form of rationing.

If congress, the president, AARP and AMA really wanted to address this question other than by misdirection, they would first set up a program to find outstanding young people and then begin the process of helping them to choose and finance a medical education. Simply infusing the uninsured into the current system will result in rationing of medical care.

I urge you to read the other so-called myths and see what the AARP and AMA say. You will find that they do not have good and honest answers. Both groups see a big profit in health care reform and will sell you out for those profits - just what they say about the insurance companies. It's just a question of who profits.

I tore up my AARP card and quit them.

This country is broke and U.S. dollar is failing. Soon inflation will be headed our way unless we mend our ways. Our job as Americans is to fix our economy starting with our government. Adding a huge new social program is not the answer. We need to pay for the programs and services that we currently have and want, reduce some, and eliminate others. These are the hard choices before us.

We can open up health care to more people starting right now. The logical things include:

• Give everyone the tax credit that those who have employer sponsored insurance have.
• Offset the cost of tax credits with a combination of improved auditing of heath care charges, reductions to non essential government programs and an attack on excessive litigation in the system. (The latter should go far beyond health care. Too much money is spent on frivolous litigation.) I might also add that juries need to be educated that no matter how egregious an injury is that awarding huge settlements results in all of us paying more for goods and services. Litigation should not be viewed as the lottery.
• Increase competition among insurance companies by permitting individuals to select insurance plans that they want and for which they can pay. That is to say, make sure that there are a variety of policies some of which are for basic health services that cover true illnesses, especially life-threatening ones. We should not mandate that people buy policies that cover all manner of elective procedures.
• Increase competition by permitting people to purchase insurance across state boundaries.
• Increase spending on technology and practices that help to detect the onset of major illnesses before they reach critical stages.
• Expand access to health savings accounts. People should have the option to set aside money in a tax exempt fund to use for health care. They could use these funds to pay premiums, deductibles and co payments. Let us manage our lives, PLEASE!
• We must be hard nosed with people who do not purchase insurance when they have that ability; i.e., they have incomes. Don't buy insurance; you get emergency services only and just for life threatening situations. We should not pay for irresponsible behavior. Start doing this, and people will fall in line.
• We must assist the unemployed to purchase insurance for limited periods of time. just as we do unemployment compensation.
• Finally, there is too much emphasis on supporting or opposing the "government option" for health insurance. This in my judgment is a red herring argument. We don't need a government option, but if it is the judgment of the congress that we have one, then it should compete fairly with the private insurers. This could be done by designing a government option with premiums set at cost plus an allocated portion of total government debt. It would be unfair competition to have a government health plan that did not have to charge its full cost including overhead. After all the government does not have to balance its budget.

One last thing. I am tired of constant criticism of the government, criticism that centers on the false assertion it cannot do anything right. It does a lot of things right. We have a fine military, a state department to handle foreign relations, an air traffic control system that keeps us safe, police and fire services, a system of national parks, interstate highways, and much more. The government does many things right.

Even the much maligned post office is better than it is portrayed - remember that FEDX, UPS, and other private companies are not mandated to deliver mail to all business and residences every day no matter how remote they may or how few pieces of mail they receive. The decision to do this was made long ago, and if that decision is to stand, there are inefficiencies for which the costs must be born by someone. If you don't want this universal service then say so and change the law.