Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies


Courtesy of Moveon.org.

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!! The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill." What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!! The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options. Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down. If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them. But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!! The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage. And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!! The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits. Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!! The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy. Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses. Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.We're closer to real health care reform than we've ever been—and the next few weeks will decide whether it happens. We need to make sure the truth about health care reform is spread far and wide to combat right wing lies.

2 comments:

  1. Generally, I find your statements inaccurate and misleading. The real issue is the loss of individual freedoms and ultimately comes down to one word--TRUST. Can you name ONE federal program that has actually "worked" ? and on budget?? Look to the England/France/Spain networks to predict the future. Your future and your children's future lies in exposing the facts. It is true that our present system needs to be modified---but not totally replaced with a program that has already failed (MA,TN,canada,europe). Get the facts- don't rely on emotion- and actually take the time to read the proposed House Bill(6abc.com); and yes- actually listen to the opposing sides.

    David C. Zilker, D.M.D.

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  2. First, let's not talk about budgets when healthcare for the vast majority of us (I suppose dentists won't be too affected, so you're good) will not be affordable in the coming years. Let's not talk about individual freedoms because that's an empty topic, now. Please, with jobs going overseas because companies must provide healthcare and with ballooning costs, opt to ship our jobs for cheaper labor and no healthcare - let's talk about that. Let's talk about how healthcare is a moral issue, whether you want to admit it or not. Let's talk about the thousands of Americans who cannot afford healthcare, to the companies who cannot afford to provide healthcare, to the people who are denied healthcare. Let's talk about your daughter and son-in-law who make middle-class salaries, both at companies with active lay-offs, trying to buy healthcare in the private market (because we wouldn't be able to, and you know that). Let's talk about how there is no ONE healthcare bill making the rounds right now, but four. Let's talk about how Americans are fighting against their own interests when they cannot afford healthcare in a few years. Let's talk about the broken, corrupt system that denies coverage to the very people who need it - "insurance", indeed.

    But let's not talk about how I'm bringing "emotion" into this. Dad, you may be able to always afford healthcare, but you need to realize Matt and I will never be in that situation, and it will always be a very acute concern for us. I would hope, with a daughter with an incurable, chronic, auto-immune disease (and another daughter with her own health concerns) you would understand there is a real problem here, and reform is needed. There is no reason our overhead needs to be 10x that of other industrialized nations with nationalized healthcare, where their healthcare has no marked disadvantages.

    So, am I emotional? I suppose, but only because I'm fearful of my future, and that of my children. And frankly, I think it's those who oppose reform who are getting "emotional" at the town halls.

    And, yes, I've listened to both sides. So much so that I have trouble sleeping when I think of the misinformation being spouted by those who oppose change. And it's sad. It really, really is.

    Healhcare is a right, not a privledge.

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