I have to start off by admitting that I have NOT read ALL of the 1000 plus pages but I have read a LOT of it. Leaving aside the cost ( over a $ trillion over the next decade )a few things quickly become clear. First is that at least 12 million illegal immigrants will get free health care under the plan. The second is that rationing is part of the plan.
Under the "public option" there is absolutely no enforcement mechanism to stop illegals from getting free health care. Most already have enough phony documentation ( phony S.S. numbers and /or driver's licenses ) to get coverage. The public option is SUPPOSED to force private insurers to lower premiums. Primarily this will happen by having employers end their health plans forcing their employees into the public option.
Other than controlling the rate of reimbursement from the "public option" a la Medicare there are NO COST CONTROLS. Afaik, there is no obligation on the part of doctors to see patients covered by the public option. Just as doctors today are NOT obligated to take Medicare or Medicaid. Most hospitals are which is why they have to charge the paying customers $5 for an aspirin tablet. That is the fast lane to RATIONING because for one thing there will be a limited number of doctors for everyone except the very rich, members of Congress and a few gold-plated health plans.
There is nothing to promote better medicine; or smarter medicine or improve risk management. Nothing to weed out bad doctors or improve bad hospitals. No tort reform of any kind. That means doctors and hospitals are going to continue ordering the 50% of tests that are ordered SOLELY to avoid malpractice suits.
There is NOT a single word about weaning America off prescription drugs. We have psychiatrists in this country prescribing anti-depressants for THREE YEAR OLDS ! I am NOT making this up. I wish I was.
There is nothing that I have seen to promote WELLNESS. It was one of the very few commendable parts of Hillary-Care.
Would someone who has READ the plan please explain HOW this plan will control costs ? Expand coverage ? Yes. A lot of people currently without coverage will be covered. Whether they want to be or not. Most of whom are completely healthy and do not and will not have any need for serious health care for the next ten, twenty or even thirty years. No. Obama and the Dems are saying the plan will do two things: expand coverage and control costs. I'll concede the first but I haven't seen anything to support the second.
A final word about the so-called "death panels" i.e. "pulling the plug on Grannie". As the plan is written, there is only coverage for counseling about "end of life options". Common sense says that since 90 % of health care is rendered during the last year of life that eventually it will become a big bullseye for cost - cutting. At the risk of being called cold-hearted and a whole lot of other unpleasant things, if folks want to pay out their OWN money to keep someone hooked up to a respirator or to gamble on a one in a thousand chance of a miraculous cure, that's fine. I find it questionable now and I guarantee it's quickly going to become debatable, how much of this we all want to pay for. Britain, Canada, Scandinavia, other countries and Oregon have all found that they have to draw lines to maintain affordability. When public funds are involved, I'm not inclined to be very squeamish about recognizing some painful necessities. If you look at Medicaid programs that are bleeding billions ( N.Y. , N.J., California ) poor people get a very broad and deep menu of care. Often more than those covered by HMO's and private plans are able to receive.



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