Obama’s Health Care Policy

Let’s take a closer look at Obama and what he wants to do with our health care system.  The following information is from Obama’s Home Page as of June 5, 2009.

The Current Situation

Making sure every American has access to high quality health care is one of the most important challenges of our time. The number of uninsured Americans is growing, premiums are skyrocketing, and more people are being denied coverage every day. A moral imperative by any measure, a better system is also essential to rebuilding our economy — we want to make health insurance work for people and businesses, not just insurance and drug companies.

The Solution

1. Reform the health care system:

   We will take steps to reform our system by expanding coverage, improving quality, lowering costs, honoring patient choice and holding insurance companies accountable.

2. Promote scientific and technological advancements:

   We are committed to putting responsible science and technological innovation ahead of ideology when it comes to medical research. We believe in the enormous capacity of American ingenuity to find cures for diseases that continue to extinguish too many lives and cause too much suffering every year.

3. Improve preventative care:

   In order to keep our people healthy and provide more efficient treatment we need to promote smart preventative care, like cancer screenings and better nutrition, and make critical investments in electronic health records, technology that can reduce errors while ensuring privacy and saving lives.

So in the analysis of the “Current Situation” as described by Obama, his statement makes it sound as if millions of American’s don’t have access to health care.  The fact is that everyone has access to health care.  Health care is not a right.  It is a privilege.  If you have the money, you can get health care.  But even if you don’t have money, hospitals are still willing to treat you.  A good example of this is shown by the illegal alieans that use your health care system.  Many of them receive health care, at the expense of tax-payers.

Obama mentions that “more people are being denied coverage every day.”  This refers to health insurance, not to health care.  There is no such thing as a right to insurance.  Insurance is a business and they can’t do everything for free.  People can still get health care, if they are responsible and pay for it.

Let’s take a look at the first part of the “solution”.  Obama wants to “take steps to reform our system by expanding coverage, improving quality, lowering costs, honoring patient choice and holding insurance companies accountable.”  When was the last time government took over a business and did something good?  Remember the long lines at the DMV?  How about the long lines at the US Postal Service?  How about the VA Administration and hospitals?  Government and business do not work.

As it stands, health insurance covers a lot of areas.  The quality is pretty good and the costs are reasonable.  When an emergency procedure needs to be done, people usually come to the United States.  We have the best health care in the world right now.  It sounds like Obama wants Health Insurance reform than health care reform.

In the second step, Obama wants to put “responsible science and technological innovation ahead of ideology when it comes to medical research.”  Um, this would be great if the government had a research department.  Unfortunately all of this is handled by private business.  We do have researches in state universities, but I don’t think they’re working on medical research.  In the second sentence, he talks about the capacity of “American ingenuity to find cures for diseases.”  I wonder were most of this capacity is found?  That’s right.  It’s found in private business, which is usually found in capitalism.

Obama wants to take all of the research and technology from private industry and give it away for free, without compensation.  This is another step into socialism.  With the institution of a new “Pay Czar” for the financial industry, he’ll probably do something similar for the pharmaceutical industry, since they all make too much.  But if you take away the purpose of a business, nothing is going to get done.  Obama may demand that a drug company offer their product for free or at very reduced prices.  If a drug company is forced to comply, what is their incentive to research and create new drugs?  Obama will destroy your health care industry with his plans.

The third part to Obama’s plan is to improve preventative care.  This is a great goal but Obama lacks the leadership to get this done.  Preventative care lies with the people.  If someone is going to eat fast-food for every meal, no amount of policy or regulation will help with their preventative care.  The people have to want to be better.

Cancer screenings, better nutrition, all good ideas.  But it’s not going to be free and it shouldn’t be provided by the government.  Each person needs to be responsible for their own well-being.

And the last part about electronic health records and ensuring privacy?  That’s not going to happen.  Whenever anything is electronic, you will have no privacy.  Mistakes will happen.  Case in point, the list of US nuclear sites that was released the other day.  While the information is not classified, it was not meant for public release.

Looking at the goals set by Obama, they’re good.  But from what I know about Barack Hussein Obama, being the far-left liberal that he is, he will destroy this country trying to achieve his goal.

The author from New Black Bourgeoisie is also scared of what an Obama policy will do to our health care system.

We must all seriously consider the impact of a predominantly state sponsored health care system. Physicians should not be the group only concerned about how these changes could significantly alter physicians’ abilities to perform with the autonomy which they enjoyed in past times, but which has been greatly diminished with the advent of managed care. Although universal health care is available in most major developed countries, there are significant differences amongst physician salaries, availability and quality for patients in these places. Of course the situation varies from nation to nation, but there is a reason why the United States is the preeminent nation for modern health care. I agree that health care costs should be reigned in, but as more and more citizens become dependent on these government services the situation becomes more dire. Physicians are already working harder to stay afloat with continued cuts in reimbursement by the government and CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services). These factors in addition to the tax burden that physicians (statistically in the top 2% of earners) are sure to shoulder make me realize that many of my colleagues are correct in their politics and more conservative stances on this issue. My plea to the President is to not diminish the greatest health care system in the world by employing measures and creating policy which will increase apathy and drive some of the best and brightest amongst us away from, and out of the field of medicine.

Obama’s Fast Track to Socialized Medicine

With the nation’s attention diverted by the recession, bailouts, and war, Obama and the Democrats have seized upon these diversions to try and shove through healthcare legislation that will drastically alter healthcare in America, most likely for the worse. Universal healthcare legislation, a linchpin of Obama’s domestic agenda, has recently been approved to be fast tracked by the House in a 227-196 vote, which, enact rules that block Republicans in the Senate from being able to slow progress of the legislation — or even stop it, through a filibuster. Odd, I could have sworn that Obama pledged to eliminate partisan politics in Washington. I guess that only applies to issues that already have the support of both parties.

While I am not a doctor, I do have some insight into the current problems with the health care system in America, and the issues that arise when health care is socialized. I know a doctor, a general practitioner, who has been in the business for over twenty years, and the key term here is business. He once accepted Medicare and insurance, however, over the years his business suffered significantly due to two factors. One, Medicare payments have been steadily decreasing over the years and insurance companies dislike paying their bill until the 89th day. So what was his response? Cash up front. He will not see a patient until he is paid in full. Is this cruel, inhumane, a violation of the Hippocratic oath? No. He has been forced to institute this measure in order to stay in business, which is the business of helping others.

As for the issue of socialized medicine, I have, what I believe is a revealing anecdote that illustrates the perils of this system. A friend of mine came over from England three years ago to work with his father, who owned a couple of businesses here in Florida. Unfortunately, he had been suffering from bouts of severe, and sometimes debilitating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting, for a number of years. While in England, he had gone to the doctor numerous times and each time they passed it off as indigestion, bad curry, stress, and so on. However, once he was in the United States, he once again went to the doctor, and, much to his surprise, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

So, what might be the moral of these two stories? Well, one, socializing medicine will only serve to drive the best doctors of of the field due to the fact that they can’t afford to run a practice on the meager ammounts that the government is willing to pay. Two, by driving out the qualified doctors, the standard of care will drop significantly, which will lead to more mis-diagnosis and untreated healthcare problems for patients. So obviously, as Obama has claimed, this program will in fact reduce the national deficit, since by providing Americans with the illusion of health they will be even happier and more productive.

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