Friends,

As you know, President Obama has been pushing his "Universal healthcare" plan.  There have been a lot of people saying many different things about this new healthcare plan.  Therefore, I felt the need to do what our congressmen and women have not done and read all of the healthcare plans out there.  Let me tell you, as you can imagine, it was not easy reading.  I wanted to be able to give you the ammunition (facts) to reply to those that want to know why we oppose the plan.

First, let me state that I do believe that we need to make sure that every LEGAL American citizen has access to the best healthcare system in the world and that it is affordable for everyone.  Let me also state that, after reading the bills that are being considered, if the healthcare plan was a good plan, I would let you know that.  That being said, the proposals set forth in the house (HR 3200) and in the senate are very bad for America for the following reasons:

1. We simply can not afford it.  The Congressional Budget Office states that even with higher taxes on high income earners and penalties on employers who don't provide coverage, the plan will fall $239 billion short of covering its' cost of over $1 trillion.  That is their best case scenario without the bill being completely scored.
2. It will not cover everyone.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over 17 million people would remain uninsured AFTER this plan is implemented.
3. You will not be able to shop for or obtain private insurance if you do not have private insurance prior to the bill being passed.  This is somewhat clearly stated on pgs. 16 and 17 in section 102(a)(1)(A).
4. After a 5 year grace period, all private insurers that are still in business will be required to offer a "qualified health benefits" plan based on government standards.  The problem is whether or not the "government standards" will exclude private insurers. This on page 17, section 102(b)(1)(A).
5. No new policies will be allowed to be written by a private insurer after the public option becomes law.  Also page 17.
6. Every five years, the elderly will have to attend a mandatory "advanced care planning consultation" for an "explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end of life services."  The consultation will be conducted more frequently if a significant change in health condition.including diagnosis of a chronic, progressive, life limiting disease, terminal diagnosis, life threatening injury or upon admission to a skilled nursing or long term care facility.  In other words, if you are old, you will be consulted about what your options will be if you get sick, if healthcare would not be an option (see #7).  This starts on page 425.
7. Page 501 of the bill starts a section that indicates that $1 billion will be spent on "comparative effectiveness research" which is how the government evaluates relative merits of various treatments.  In other words, rationing.  This is tantamount to the government determining whether or not you are worth getting a particular treatment depending on your prognosis or age.
8. This plan would allow for government funded abortions.  Since this bill would cover all procedures, abortion is included.  There is no exception for abortion.
9. Members of congress and unions would be exempt from this plan and not have to be a part of the healthcare plan.  Recently, John Fleming, introduced H.R. 615 that stated that members that vote in favor of a government run healthcare must enroll under the public option.  No democrat would sign on.  If it is not good enough for congress, it is not good enough for us! This is section 3116.
10. $500 billion will be cut from senior healthcare to help pay for this bill. This will weaken Medicare, an organization already in trouble due to insufficient funds.
11. Hospitals and private healthcare facilities will not be able to collect money from the government plan unless they are "public" facilities.
12. Businesses will be fined over 8% of an employee's salary if they do not provide healthcare insurance for their employees.
13. Individuals that do not have health insurance will be fined an amount that will encourage them to purchase the government plan.
14. All "people", legal or not, will be covered under this plan and identification cards will be issued.  These identification cards will not be based on social security numbers.

These are some of the proven reasons why I could never support a bill like HR 3200.  These are irrefutable facts, things that our present government does not want our citizens to be aware of, which is why they are trying to pass this bill as quickly as possible.  The more we find out about the bill, the worse it gets.  As I stated above, we need to reform our healthcare system, but this is not the way.  In this case, doing nothing is better than passing this bill.  It will hurt seniors, businesses and families.

Congressman Wexler is one of the biggest supporters of this bill as well as, even worse, HR 676.  Why should he care about our businesses, our seniors or our children in District 19 and Florida, he doesn't even live here.  Please consider helping us defeat this bill and Robert Wexler by contributing to our campaign.  It is only through your support and encouragement that we will be able to elect officials who will do what is best for us, finally.

Yours in service,

Edward

I am completely amazed and insulted at how politicians view their constituents and the American public in general.  Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a protest at the office of our representative from Maryland, Robert Wexler.

This event was organized by Elaine Laffey and she did a great job. I am very proud of her efforts.  Wexler's people tried to organize a counter protest to protest the protest......I think.  They did have a few retired people show up with signs supporting HR 676.  I was just there to show my support for a supporter of mine for something that she is passionate about, and rightfully so. I did not go as any part of our campaign. No signs and no shirts.  This was about Elaine and HR 676 and the American people.

So, when I arrived I immediately went to "the other side" and asked some questions as to their position regarding this healthcare plan.  Of course, just like our politicians, none of them actually read the bill so they spoke in sound bites that they were probably told by Wexler's office.  Unfortunately, none of them had any facts but they did have a handout that stated reasons why we should support HR 676.  I did take one of the handouts to verify the information.  It actually did state some of the real messages from the actual bill.  With the exception of one doctor who showed up, I was amazed at the lack of respect shown to me by people that looked quite grandfatherly.  The rudeness, the filth and the venom that poured out of their mouths would make a drunken sailor blush and I was embarrassed for any passers by that would have to see an 80 year old man "flipping the bird" to anyone who actually knew the truth and disagreed with him.

OK, now to the meat of this bill.  First, I read the whole bill....twice, just in case I missed something. You know how our president is always on television saying that if you like your healthcare coverage and your doctor, nothing will change and you can keep what you presently have?  That is a complete lie.  Section 104(A) of HR 676 states, "It is unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this act."  To summarize, your current, private health insurer (Aetna, BC/BS, etc) will not be able to provide you with any insurance except for cosmetic surgery.  Maybe I do not understand the subtle nuances of government legislation but I understand when it says in plain language that it will be made "unlawful" for you to keep what you already have.  These politicians must really think that we are stupid. Or, maybe they figure that, since they don't read the bill, neither will we.

That really is enough for me to kill this bill but I will mention a few more items of interest.  Section 101(a) clearly states that, "All individuals residing in the United States are covered" under this act.  That means that all "illegal" immigrants and visitors will be in the program.  It does not say, "if you want it". Why would anyone want private insurance if they are already in this program and paying for it, whether they want to or not? They wouldn't.  That is the point.  Also in that section it says that they will issue everyone identification cards that will not be based on a social security number.  (TIC)That's good news for all of the illegal immigrants that do not have social security numbers. Do you see a pattern here?

There are many other items that will make you sick thinking about them passing this "healthcare" plan but I want you to read it for yourself.  Let me just conclude with one more little item.  They tout this legislation as an expansion of medicare for everyone.  Medicare, besides being corrupt and government run, costs a little over $10,000 per year for each person covered.  So a family of four would cost the American taxpayer about $40,000.  I guess the $5,000 per year that I pay for my family of four is more than $40,000 per year based on some weird form of "government math".  Maybe that is why our politicians will not strike the bill, although they do estimate that the Kennedy plan will cost $1,000,000,000,000 to cover 16 million people.  Here is the math:  306,000,000 people/16,000,000 times $1,000,000,000,000 = a little over $19,000,000,000.  That is 19 TRILLION dollars, in case your eyes went blurry with all of the zeros.

I am all for affordable health insurance for every "legal citizen" in the United States.  But let's keep in mind that heath insurance is not a right granted to us in the constitution and it certainly is not for "illegal" immigrants. We really need to get rid of Wexler and all of the other politician criminals that currently continue to introduce and pass stupid legislation at the expense of our children's future just so they can buy votes and continue their corrupt ways.

Yours in service,

Edward