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RNC Chair Steele Tries to Scare Seniors with the Latest Lie About Health Care Reform |
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After years of trying to gut Medicare and turn health care for the nation’s seniors over to the private health insurance industry—the same industry that’s done such a fine job for the rest of us—Republicans today announced they will “protect” Medicare with a brand new “Seniors Health Care Bill of Rights.”
Oh, puleeze!
Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, unleashed this latest scam in a desperate attempt to derail health care reform, writing an op-ed in today’s Washington Post that is chock-full of lies and falsehoods about President Obama’s health care reform efforts.
Steele claims health care reform will cut vital Medicare programs, prevent seniors from making their own medical and health decisions, and echoes the rest of the anti-reform litany. (Steele also tried to falsely portray himself as part of the Steelworkers union by setting up a misleading Facebook page. Buy land from this guy in Florida? Think not.)
Edward Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, says this latest Republican attack on health care reform is:
galling not only for its gross distortions of public policy issues, but also for its hypocrisy on the heels of high-profile GOP efforts to scare and confuse American seniors about the health care debate.
Coyle also says there is one very important right missing in this so-called Bill of Rights—the “right to be told the truth.”
The truth is retirees have a lot to gain from leading Democratic proposals that would make it easier for them to see a doctor, get a prescription filled, and afford long-term care.
Click here to read Coyle’s full statement.
Last week at a Florida health care forum, Alliance President Barbara Easterling outlined how health care reform will strengthen Medicare. It will:
- Close the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D, the one that guarantees insurance companies keep getting their monthly premiums even when they aren’t giving you any benefits.
- Allow Medicare to negotiate for volume discounts with the drug companies. Savvy seniors know you should pay less when you buy in bulk.
- End wasteful taxpayer subsidies to the private insurance companies who run Medicare Advantage plans.
- Keep you healthier by eliminating the co-pay for Medicare preventive services such as checkups and cancer screenings.
- Offer an opportunity for early retirees to buy into Medicare
Coyle says the Republicans’ real intent is to “scare seniors and mislead them the with lies and predictions of doom.”
You know, the usual.
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Medicare Advantage Programs must be regulated.
I am a RN who recently was hired as a Case Manager at a Med Advantage Program and was amazed to see what is going on. I had no idea so much money was being poured into these privately doc owned companies who command huge salaries and employ dubious sales practices to get seniors to sign up for programs they do not understand. Sales people know they are not offering quality health care options yet to these companies it is about the bottom line, not the seniors. I heard slurs against older persons and comments which made me realize that my desire to actually help seniors be more healthy happy was not approved by the company. Self referral is a daily occurrence, referral of seniors to hospice when they did not need it also took place, and comments that I was taking too much time helping a member on the phone made me realize they are NOT interested in the seniors who are their members. Something must be done to stop these companies getting free money from the government and our taxes. It is a disgrace what is being done to seniors, some of whom I spoke to had no idea what plan they were with or what their coverage was. Members did not know that non medical staff some of whom were very young and learning on the job medical training had only been in this country a few years. Yet they were handling many of their claim questions with only 1 or 2 nurses and one Medical Doctor handling the oversight for almost 10,000 members. With poor documentation of the member population, improper referral to hospice to move seniors off the plan, shoddy sales practices, and conflict of interest. it is imperative that there is increased regulation and oversight of theses so called Advantage Plans. Thank you.
Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts
http://larryhubich.blogspot.com/2009/08/universal-health-care-message-to.html
Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts
http://larryhubich.blogspot.com/2009/08/universal-health-care-message-to.html
The objective of Medicare was to be a Universal Healthcare program for seniors. Because in the US we allow ourselves to be emotiionally swayed by comments like “government controled healthcare” won’t work we do not do the obvious!
Here is the Wikipedia Dictionary definition of Universal Healthcare!
Universal health care systems require government involvement, typically in the forms of enacting legislation, mandates and regulation. In some cases, government involvement also includes directly managing the health care system, but many countries use mixed public-private systems to deliver universal health care.
We are allowing ourselves to ignore the obvious, this is not a suply and demand economic model the seller makes the Buyers decision. We are not qualified to know what we need and not informed enough to know wher to buy it. That’s why competition in healthcare doesn’t work!
The Fox is running the hen house!!
What is the point of setting Madicare fee levels when doctors can decide not to participate or not follow them. We must regulate participation in the system like EVERY other country does.
How Dumb can we get?
Will not happen in Hemet.
People continue to talk past each other on this issue. What we skipped was a discussion of the goal. If the goal is coverage of uninsured Americans let’s figure out how to do that. If the goal is better health care, let’s focus on that. If the goal is cutting unnecessary costs - let’s do that.
What we don’t want to lose is that our present health care system works for most people, provides the most innovation and attracts the wealthy around the world for health care.
What we should address is why we pay the most for drugs, why doctors have to pay so much for malpractice (and thus do unnecessary testing) and why there is a lack of competition for health insurance.
We also have to ask ourselves why our nation is so overweight.
I think after Madoff, Iraq and other mistakes, we don’t have the same trust we had that we should just “trust” politicians and government.
Support the public option. March on Washington for Healthcare and the public option.
Marches are being organized in all major cities.
Sign up at:
http://www.marchforhealthcare.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118144661546
If another AMNESTY sneaks past Americans, then their must be at least a ten year moratorium of the 20 million plus Path to Citizenship recipients. The consequence for these millions getting immediate access to government welfare, would be financial ruin to our national wilting economy. Nor will a new amnesty end there, because millions more in every impoverished niche around the world, will come–expecting a welcome? Only if we enforce the border with engagement by the National Guard, who are armed and ready to stop drug smugglers, terrorists and a host of other criminal enterprises, will US citizens feel safe. We desperately need strong immigration laws such as E-Verification. Do not let politicians undermine the “Rule of Law” and our very Constitution pandering to the profiteering special interest lobbyists, while jobless American workers numbers grow. My health care experience was mainly in England, Germany and 15 months in Australia and prior to the mass European immigration invasion was positively first class. FIRST CLASS AND EXEMPLARY! THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS RATIONING?
Of all the states that should be using E-Verify, is the illegal immigrant sanctuary state of California. Illegal immigration attributed to the near bankruptcy of California and many of the bordering territories.
We are still conveying many entitlement programs to illegal aliens and their families, with extorted taxes including health care. Free health care given in the hospitals and passed onto taxpayers. We have always been the recipients of business welfare and likely always will be? Pariah businesses that hire illegals, never pay anything to their support. THATS THE TAXPAYERS YOKE TO BARE! . GET RAW ANSWERS AT NUMBERSUSA Contact those in WASHINGTON! NO MORE AMNESTIES. USE ATTRITION TO DEPORT THEM THROUGH E-VERIFY, 287 G, NO MATCH SOCIAL SECURITY LETTERS AND LIGHTENING ICE RAIDS. CONTACT YOUR POLITICIAN 202-224-3121 AND DEMAND NO WEAKENING OF CURRENT 1986 (IRCA), also Simpson-Mazzoli Act (Pub.L. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359,LAWS? We already have the laws, that become saturated with corruption. The legislation made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants (immigrants who do not possess lawful work authorization), required employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status. It also granted amnesty to certain illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously. From its inception it was full of fraud leading to 5 million illegal aliens instead of 3.5 receiving green cards.
Brittanicus continues to ingore the lack of responsibility the California Agribusiness Industry has displayed on the immigrations issue. As a child farmworker of California in the 1960’s and 70’s, I continue to see how the Mexcan workers are still needed by the ranchers of Calif.
I have to agree with Gary! We are “talking past each other” on this!
Sometimes I think certain groups have to maintain an exaggerated viewpoint regarding the other side just to keep their base (or membership) fired up and “contributing.” They are largely tilting at windmills and supposed dragons to justify their existence.
I find the arguments on healthcare, on both sides, to be rife with a full battery of every kind of logical fallacy possible - you name it; ad homonym, straw men, red herrings, etc. The extremes have used this to whip the rest of us into a feeding frenzy.
I find it at first amusing, then quite sad that we all get so easily sucked in. Gosh but I hate this kind of divisiveness - and don’t tell me both sides aren’t full of it!
But I have to say again, that it appears neither side (especially the politicians) really understands what is in the details of this whole issue, what it will cause, and what it will truly cost of us.
Thank you Right on the Left. I agree.
In the technology world, we don’t just change everything to launch a new product en masse, we experiment with prototypes, do research, tweak, get results. Here we have 17% GDP at risk and there is an effort to change it without an honest discussion or even an agreement on what we are trying to achieve.
Perhaps, Congress will try some less ambitious projects and look at the results.
I went to a health care forum last night. It was so sad. The right wing has done what they do so well: divide and conquer. The pro-health care people were yelling at the people walking around with signs showing Obama with a Hitler-style moustache. No thoughtful debate about how to solve our problems.
The corporate elite in America are truly evil people.