I think it would be fair to say, after reading his website, that Senator Obama has some pretty kooky, moonbat ideas about healthcare.
So without further ado, here are some ideas that I gathered in a single, half-hour cruise through the doubletalk and politico-speak of his website. Text in black is my understanding of some of the points I found on his site, while the comments in blue are my smart-alecky opinion:
1. Under the Obama health care plan, private insurance companies would be forced to cover people with pre-existing conditions. I wonder how much that would cost for the insurance companies (meaning, how much it would cost the consumer)?
2. The Government would pay an income-related individual federal subsidy for all those who do not qualify for the various medical insurance handout programs. That's written for people who don't understand the First Noble Truth of government: The government pays for NOTHING. Taxpayers pay for everything the government does. They may not be telling you this, but additional agencies, programs and projects are ALWAYS paid for by additional taxes. Period. You folks who like the idea of "the government" paying your way through life have a rude awakening heading your way.
3. Insurance companies would be required by federal law to report your health information to the federal government. This would be "to ensure that standards for quality, health information technology and administration are being met." Is it just me, or would you also like to avoid seeing your private medical information being reported to some inept federal agency? Can you say PROLETARIAT, boys and girls? Good. I knew you could.
4. An Obama health care program would create, among other agencies, the National Health Insurance Exchange. It would be the job of this agency to create rules and standards for private insurance companies, in order to "ensure fairness". Liberals never tire of the old class warfare dogma. What they're doing here is mandating that the federal government create yet another agency whose job is to watchdog your life. Hope ya feel better, knowing the National Health Care Exchange is out there, making sure that the world is safe for HMOs. But the real problem here is the old question, WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT'S FAIR? Would that be the poor, the downtrodden, the exploited workers? Doesn't any of this sound familiar?
5. "The Exchange" would force private insurance companies to issue a policy to every applicant, regardless of ability to pay or pre-existing condition. So if you're the owner of a small insurance operation, get ready to be out of business. Beautiful, huh? Betcha didn't know you were the problem, didja?
6. Every employer would be required to either "Make a meaningful contribution to the cost of their employers' insurance, or "Contribute a percentage of their payroll toward the cost of the national plan". FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS MEANS, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEED...Yay. Let's just forget all those who gave their lives to fight the spread of Communism in this world. Let's all be rabid Socialists. No prob.
7. The Obama plan would require that health care providers and hospitals "utilize proven disease management programs." Does this mean that the government gets to decide what treatment you receive? Sounds that way, doesn't it? It MANDATES that your PROVIDER utilize proven PROGRAMS, and not others that you may prefer. What about someting that's not so 'proven'? Do you want the government telling you which treatments you can use ? (you think the FDA is bad now...)
8. It would require all providers (doctors, hospitals, etc) publicly report "disparity" figures - how many of this certain race were treated this month, how many of that gender. What we need right now is less race-baiting, not more. This is the most disappointing point I found on his website.
9. This plan would reorganize how doctors and other health care professionals are paid. Barack wants doctors to be paid according to the 'quality' of their work, rather than on how well they persorm during whatever evaluations they do. I can sorta see this one. The idea is to avoid the waiting-room experience and keep the clinics and hospitals focused on their task. However, I must ask: What happened to the profit margin for these doctors? What ever happened to moving the line along? See, here's the problem: Without the simple volume incentive of profit, you get what they have in the UK, which is an inherent inability to see a doctor without a six-month wait. Honestly, is that what you want?
10. He would establish an "Independent Institute" to gather information and assist in the decision-making process, and to be a watchdog agency for the other agencies being created with this initiative. I just use the Internet, which as we all know was invented by Al Gore - but will soon be rendered obsolete by this new, useful federal govenment program and/or agency. I think we're up to what, three? Four? Five?
11. Barack Obama doesn't like that your medical records are often kept in paper files at your doctor's office. His plan would earmark TEN BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, for FIVE YEARS, to convert your medical records - whether you want this done or not - into electronic files, which can then be stored in some central database, for everyone in the world to see. I just don't know what to say about this. It genuinely sounds too ludicrous to be considered, but there it is, right on his website. PLUS: Who pays for this particular $50 BILLION new federal prgram? Well, I'll give you one guess...But the real problem here is that now your medical records will be accessible to every teenaged hacker in the world, as opposed to being safely tucked away in your doctor's office, as they are now. I dunno - you tell me: Has the fact that your medical records are kept in your doctor's office ever caused you a serious health problem? Me neither.
12. The plan would force the largest insurance companies to pay more in claims, in an effort designed specifically to limit their profits. This is typical Socialist class envy at work, folks. This is typical haves-versus-have-nots Marxism. The essence of the Communist class struggle lies in the idea that the government can tell everyone how much they need. It can tell the rich that they don't need as much, and then it can take from the rich and redistribute that wealth throughout the lower echelons of the economic structure. Obama's plan seeks to punish large insurance companies for their success by mandating larger claim payments sepcifically from them, in an attempt to appease those who feel the big companies make too much money.
13. This plan would also "allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe...". I would ask how the government would actually police that "safe" rule. The safety aspect is the reason for the existence of the FDA to begin with, but the FDA has no jurisdiction outside the US. So how does the US government regulate the 'safety' of drugs manufactured and purchased overseas? Smells like yet another government agency to me.
Now, I'm not just bashing Obama just to be bashing Obama. Honest. I can also point out some fallacies regarding Senator Obama and his campaign: He is NOT, for example, a Muslim - and he never was. He has a Muslim name, but that's because his father was from Kenya. Also, the Che Guevara flag in his Houston campaign office was NOT placed there by a member of his campaign, but by one of your typical moonbat Obama supporters. Is there a difference? I'll leave that for you to decide.
But beyond all that, I have some serious ideological differences with the senator, and they're the same differences I have with the Clintons, and with any other arch-liberal Mars-orbiters out there. So I'll explain all that a little more in the next post.
NEXT UP: The Politics of Personal Responsibility
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