letter to Senator Bayh from a doctor
Subject: *Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: *Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens)
"Here is a letter I sent to Senator Bayh. Feel free to copy it and send it around to all other representatives." -- Stephen Fraser
Senator Bayh,
As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the government's proposed involvement in the patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a health care system that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed.
I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill.
You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens.
Page 22 of the HC Bill: *Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!
*
Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: *THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
*
Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: *YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!
*Page 42 of HC Bill: *The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!
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Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: *HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
*
Page 58 HC Bill: *Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances &a 'National ID Health card' will be issued! (Didn't they have National ID Cards in the USSR?)
* Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: *Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for electronic funds transfer. (Has anyone thought about the fact that having a database that has all this information makes it easier for hackers to committ identity theft?)
*Page 65 Sec 164: *Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).
Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: *Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.'
*Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: *Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans *--* The Govt will ration your health care!
*Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: *Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)
*Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: *The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps) to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: *Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!)
*
*Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: *Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (_No_ choice.)
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Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: *No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly.
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Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: *Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.
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Page 145 Line 15-17: *An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. _(NO_ choice!)
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Page 126 Lines 22-25: *Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees _AND_ their families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)
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Page 149 Lines 16-24: *ANY Employer with payroll 401k &above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the last comment in parenthesis.)
*Page 150 Lines 9-13: *A business with payroll between $251K &$401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll*.
Page 167 Lines 18-23: *ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.
*
Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: *_Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt_ _from individual taxes_. (Americans will pay.)
*
Page 195 HC Bill:* Officers &employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to _ALL_ Americans' finances and personal records.
*Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: *"The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!)
Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: *Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.)
*
Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: *It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in -- you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that's not Socialism!)
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Page 253 Line 10-18: *The Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.)
*
*Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries.
Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - *Cancer patients* - welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions).
*Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -- the Govt _will_ penalize you.
Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.)
*Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?)
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.)
*Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan)
Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' _Unbelievable_!
Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health *Advisory Committee*." (Can you say HC by phone?)
Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)
Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding *living wills*, *durable powers of attorney*, etc. (And it's _mandatory_!)
*Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death.. (Also called 'assisted suicide.')
Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)
Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates..
Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)
*
*Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)
*Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!)
Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!)
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover *marriage and family therapy*. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)
*
*Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.
Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating..
Furthermore, if you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor-patient relationship, I will do _everything_ in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election.
Respectfully,
Stephen E. Fraser, MD
Posts
8 comments:
Dr. Fraser certainly did his homework. My blood pressure started to rise by the time I read the provision allowing the government access to my bank account.
I had to stop reading at that point and take a few deep breaths.
They say this will pass, despite all Democrats knowing that Dr. Fraser's last sentence will indeed be carried out. They are committing political suicide, but doing it for their Marxist cause, knowing that the system and process will be in place when they regain their power in a few years.
I am not sure that it is going to go down like that for them in a few years. Not sure at all.
hey guys, if health insurance passes, everyone gets a free ham sandwich and lifetime oil changes at jiffy lube!
does anyone believe that?
if not, ask yourself: why do you believe the "letter" above? both are the same thing - someone telling you something. it's up to you to determine whether that something is correct or not.
in this case, it's not. i was able to ascertain this myself with about 30 seconds of research on the internet.
snopes.com says:
"Many of the claims this item makes about health care legislation are erroneous"
it doesn't even refer to the bill that actually passed, and in addition has most of its facts wrong about the ones that didn't.
Dr Fraser certainly did his homework? No, he most certainly did not, if he is even a real person.
Nor did you.
Hometown troll,
Hey, you had enough time to type up that long response. Can you be specific about which portions of the letter are incorrect? Or did YOU fail to do your homework.
Yeah, Opus #6, what you said.
I read about 1/4th of Dr. Fraser's letter above, and I had known ALL of those issues prior to reaching for my blood pressure medication as being factually correct. And why in the world would Dr. Fraser need to refer to 'the bill' by name? Everyone in the US knows which bill he is referring to.
I don't need to do MY homework, I am giving Hometown troll an F for trying to muddy the waters, and for being a liberal idiot in general. If, however, he turns in some extra credit you assigned, Professor Opus, such as specifics regarding Dr. Fraser's summary of a 2,037 page bill that are in error, I can change his grade.
Your graduate assistant,
Fredd
folks, i'm neither a troll nor an idiot. i am a fellow citizen who happens to disagree with you.
i didn't call anyone names, and i don't deserve to be called names in return.
this blog does not allow pasting in the comment area, so i will not be putting in point-by-point refutations of all the points above. however, as i said before, they are easy enough to find with a bare minimum of research, so i will post some links so you can go read them yourselves. that is, if you care more about knowing the truth than you do about supporting the opinion you already have.
note - these articles show some of Dr Fraser's points to be semi-accurate, a couple to be mostly-accurate, and the majority of them to be flat-out inaccurate. again, draw your own conclusions. the daily kos piece provides a link to the bill in question so you can cross reference the page numbers and read for yourself. and again, it's not the bill that ended up passing, but it seems to be the one you want to talk about.
http://faithfulinprayer.wordpress.com/email-from-dr-stephen-fraser-to-senator-bayh/
(jackie at faithful in prayer has a generally conservative, christian-oriented blog that also has a handy section-by-section guide to the actual current bill so you can examine it for yourself, without anyone's commentary)
http://realhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2009/08/response-to-a-letter-from-dr-stephen.html
http://ihatechainmail.blogspot.com/2009/08/response-to-dr-stephen-e-fraser-letter.html
http://www.dailkos.com/story/2009/8/10/764657/-Refuting-Dr.-FraserWhats-really-in-the-Heathcare-Bill
H/G
You are right, you shouldn't be called names. I will not call you or anyone else names. You are entitled to your view. I will check out your links when I have the time.
Although I will admit I don't take the Daily Kos all that seriously. The truth is, the health care bill has some very distrubing things in it. We need reform. We don't need government control. People on Medicare are going to have problems with the current form of this bill. Taxes are going to go up, and many people can't afford to pay anymore taxes. What I want is the dems to be honest and say they want a single payer system. Not this slow crawl to destroy private health care. Which is what they are trying to do. There are misconceptions on both sides. The left makes it sound like this is going to be so great. They are going to be unintended consquences to this bill. If you don't happen to fall into those cracks, great. But, if you happen to be one who does, it will suck big time.
thanks for the civility, i knew ultimately i could count on you for it.
fair enough about not taking daily kos seriously when it comes to opinion, i feel the same way sometimes. i'm just asking you to look at the facts, which i know you will do.
there are a fair number of things you post on this blog that i agree with (and you see no comment from me on), and some you post that i don't agree with but are based on real facts (which again i do not comment on) but on this one i felt compelled to post because it had huge factual errors and misrepresentations.
i know you want the best results for the country out of any possible legislation, and so do i. but posting an article like this without checking it at least a little doesn't get us anywhere. i can't argue against the points, and you can't argue for them, because they (for the most part) are not true.
the majority of dems actually do NOT want a single payer system. it would be very difficult indeed to go from the system being proposed to single-payer, and would involve all sorts of things that we know aren't going to happen, such as dissolving all insurance companies.
the majority of dems do want a public option. this is not, as you say, because we want the public option to edge the insurance companies out of business. believe me, the insurance companies are powerful enough to stand up for themselves. it is because we want one option out there in which a corporation does not profit from people getting sick. and because the government, by definition of our constitution, answers to the people. corporations have no such requirement.
while i believe in and want a public option, i'm willing to accept that this may be too much for the more conservative or anti-government folks among us, and if the consensus is to not have it, then i'll accept my health care reform without it.
this, despite what we see on conservative blogs, hear in talk radio, and see on fox news, is approximately the position of most dems i know.
we can meet in the middle on this, the dems in congress have already done a great deal to move to the middle. there is very little movement on the other side.
i'll leave you with a question that i would actually love to know the answer to (i.e., it's not rhetorical): how do we get real health care reform, which you acknowledge we need, without government control? realistically.
H/G
Too be honest, I don't know what the real answer is. But, I am willing to say that I don't know what the answer is. Many on the left are not willing to do the same.
I do know that a complete change in how the system works is not the answer. You don't tear down your house in order to fix a bathroom.
We need to do this slowly and carefully so the outcome works for everyone. One thing that MUST be done is tort reform. Doctors/Hospitals need to stop performing defensive medicine. I have a friend who is a RN, everyone person who comes into her hospital gets a MRI. Not out of need; out of fear of being sued.
The further the person gets away from the responsibility the more they are willing to waste. I have a $5000 deductible. I put $5000 into my HSA. Because I am paying out of my own pocket, I am much more careful about how I spend my healthcare dollars. I don't run to the doctor when I get a cough.
Healthcare spending accounts are a very good thing. They need to be expanded, not dimished as this bill (at least the house version) wants to do. We can insure the poor for far less than these bills are estimated to cost.
This bill is about control, not about healthcare reform. Anything that government gives you, they can take away. I have had serious health problems that left my in debt. That shouldn't happen to anyone, but I don't feel that I need to pay for someone who can't get off thier ass to improve thier life. You must admit they are out there. I am not talking about the really needy. I am more than willing to help them. I am not willing to give my hard earned money to someone who can't be bothered to improve thier own lot in life. They are out there, and you know it.
They are lying to us about it being budget neutral. The ten year plan only includes 6 years of expenses while it collects 10 years of taxes. I want the truth. Unlike Jack Nicholson; I can handle the truth.
I have tried to read the bill. You need a dictonary and a law degree to understand it. It keeps refering back to the IRS codes. Which means it is a tax bill.
We need to clean the swamp of people who are after nothing more than consolidating power. We need to get back to the founding fathers vision of our country. They work for us, and they have forgotten that.
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