Patient's Statement of Rights

Please review and attach to my chart.

            In this era of health care reform and rapidly changing paradigms many patients feel as though they are on the losing end of a quickly shortening stick.  Every time you go to a physician’s office or hospital you are bombarded with all sorts of forms to sign with all sorts of rules and regulations.  Who on earth can know what it all means?  It seems that everyone is telling patients what they can and cannot do; their physician’s office, hospitals, pharmacies, insurance companies and then government is telling everyone what can and cannot be done.  Is anyone actually looking after the patient?  Sadly, it seems no.  In light of these realities, here are some patient responses to all of this.  These are the things that I the patient, will and will not do or permit:

• When I call to make an appointment with my doctor, I want to see my doctor.  Not some other doctor or physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner; unless I specifically request or agree to that.
•  I will not be financially responsible for any charges or fees not covered by my insurance for any tests, procedures, consultations or lab unless those charges are specifically discussed with me prior to any of them actually being incurred.  After the charges are discussed, I will then decide whether to proceed or not and will inquire as to alternatives or if they can be done cheaper elsewhere.  Of course, this applies to routine situations, not dire emergencies.  It would be wise and helpful for you to post your routine fees and charges on your website and on a large sign in your waiting room.
•  I will not answer any questions about or provide any social or behavioral information, except things I may relate to my physician in private and confidence directly.  I do not give permission for any such information to be transmitted in any form to anyone or any private or governmental agency (local, state or federal) other than my physician.
•  I do not give my permission for any information of any sort to be transmitted to any private or governmental agency (local, state or federal) other than my insurance company.
•  I do not give my permission for any information to be stored off-site of my physician’s physical office.
•  I do not use my social security number as a personal medical identification number.  Please use an alternative number such as my employee ID number from my employer who provides my health insurance.  I will not provide my social security to anyone and do not give my permission for you to obtain it by any means or from any source and do not give my permission for you to retain and/or store it.

Thank you!

__________________________________________                                    ___________________

Signed                                                                                                              Date (in effect until further                                                                                                                                         notice)

__________________________________________                                    ___________________

Printed Name                                                                                                  Date of Birth

The Smart Medical Shopper

The Smart Medical Shopper

Kyle C. Akers, M.D.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

     We have the best medical care in the world, bar none.  Unfortunately, we have the most confusing, convoluted method of charging, pricing and paying for it that one can imagine.  Our medical care financing system is unlike any other sector of the economy or industry in the country.  This mixed up system leads to frustration, anger and sadly ultimately to ObamaCare.  The misnamed Affordable Care Act is not about medical care and certainly has nothing to with affordability.  We have the best doctors, hospitals, medicines and technology available.  ObamaCare is all about payment and it is the worst possible solution to come down the pike so far.  What we need is less government regulation, top down control over pricing and payment for medical care and more simplified, streamlined common sense interaction between doctors, patients and insurance companies.

      The current coding system for diagnoses and procedures which drives charges is a monopoly owned by the American Medical Association and is its largest source of revenue, given that only about 13% of physicians are members of this fading organization.  Medical charges are essentially driven across the industry by the Medicare tables of allowable payments.  This cobbled together system sets up a one-size-fits-all approach that tries to shoe-horn everyone into one payment system using the ubiquitous Medicare HCFA billing form, whether it works for individual doctors and patients or not.  Couple that with all of the different discount arrangements between insurance companies and doctors and you have a recipe for disaster and ever sky-rocketing costs.  No one knows what anything really costs.  In reality the same procedure can cost many different amounts for different insurance companies and patients.  Doctors have no idea what things cost and patients have no idea what charges they are incurring at the time of service, what insurance is going to pay or what discounts are being applied.  They only find out weeks or months later when they get an unexpected bill for their portion that insurance didn’t pay.  You would never buy a car that way.  You don’t buy anything else that way.  Would you let someone else pick things out for you, don’t tell you what they are costing you and after all is done send you a bill months later expecting you to pay for them?  Of course not.  Even attorneys meeting with a potential new client will explain what their hourly rate is, what the retainer will be up front and estimate what the whole cost will ultimately likely be.  All before the client pays a penny or commits to anything.  I once spoke with my doctor about my annual routine wellness laboratory work.  My insurance company pays 100% once a year for those tests.  He had no idea that if his office did not code the visit correctly, for a routine annual physical exam, then I would be liable for the full cost of the lab work.  Additionally, he was shocked that the cost of that lab work would be $600.00 out of my pocket (and actually it should be about $150.00 if you look at the actual real cost).

     Now, obviously in a medical emergency stopping to discuss fees and costs and options is not really feasible, but these situations account for a very small fraction of most people’s interactions in the medical system.  The vast majority of the time it would be possible for the physician to have a discussion with the patient about fees, costs and less costly options prior to committing to treatments and incurring expenses.  Unfortunately, right now doctors have no idea what those costs are.  They usually assume that insurance is going to pay everything, not realizing that their ordering decisions may incur hundreds or thousands of dollars in unexpected out-of-pocket expenses for their patient.  And the patient won’t even know that until weeks or months later. 

     Medical billing statements result from the coding employees at the doctor’s office reading through the doctor’s notes and trying to find the best fit diagnostic codes and procedure codes to reflect what was done.  This then drives the charges.  There is actually a lot of wiggle room in how these things get coded and what the ultimate charges wind up being.  Sometimes inadvertent mistakes are made, coders are only human.  Things get coded incorrectly or things get coded that never actually happened.  It’s not intentional fraud, just honest mistakes.  But these mistakes can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.  It’s funny, we will stop a clerk at the grocery store if the scanned price of an item does not reflect the $1.00 off sale price in order to correct it but we have no idea if the medical bills we get are accurate.  If you don’t get detailed, itemized statements and carefully review them, you just wind up paying these incorrect charges.  Many billing statements, particularly hospital bills only show the total owed, not the minute detail of the individual charges which comprise the total.  Always request and review detailed statements before making payments and ask questions if you’re not sure about specific charges.  Because of this slow, mixed up payment system doctors and hospitals routinely have patients sign forms (among the myriad forms one signs when checking in) agreeing to pay any charges not ultimately paid by the insurance company.  Wow!  How cool for them.  Why would anyone in their right mind sign such an agreement which could encumber you with hundreds or thousands of dollars in charges months down the road but you have no say or input at the time the charges are incurred?  You are generally not informed or asked to approve of the cost of things that are being ordered and done on your behalf at the time they are happening.  And let’s face it, most people are not medically savvy and are rather intimated by the people and process going on in a doctor’s office or hospital.  They might be sick or injured and not really thinking about cost at that moment.  Or it might be a routine visit, but people tend to trust the doctor and not question what is being done or inquire about the cost or less costly options.  It’s sort of like the restaurant menu that says “Market Price” next to the lobster.  Would you order the lobster without inquiring as to the “Market Price” today for the lobster?  No, of course not.  Doctors and hospitals should post their fees and prices on menus on their waiting room walls for all to see.

     Now let’s not leave insurance companies out of the discussion.  Has anyone read a medical insurance policy cover-to-cover lately?  I didn’t think so.  It’s sort of like a mortgage contract.  No one actually reads those things before signing them.  And if you did you wouldn’t understand it.  It’s the same with medical insurance policies.  Try wading through the individual deductibles, family deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, in-network/out-of network, discounts, tiered prescription formularies, maximum annual out of pocket (and what ACTUALLY is applied to that and what is not, you will be surprised) and all of the exclusions and exceptions.  If that’s not bad enough, try figuring out in July where you are for the year in all of that.  Yikes!  It’s virtually impossible to know before a procedure or test just exactly how much the insurance plan is going to pay and how much you will be getting a bill for in several weeks.  Don’t think that your co-pay is going to always cover your financial responsibility for an office visit or procedure.  It depends on exactly what is done.  An in-office steroid injection might be covered or not, partly or in whole.  Doctors typically don’t discuss that with patients before doing the injection.  Their office might contact your insurance company for prior approval or not.   You will probably not know.  Even if they do, they may not tell you anything before the injection.

     So what is the average, medically uninitiated patient to do?  Well, until the medical industry realizes that it must start acting like every other business and post and discuss its prices before charging people for things, the patient must act proactively and aggressively to avoid incurring enormous surprise charges weeks or months down the road.  Here are some tips to help keep you in control of your medical costs: 

•  Make sure you understand your insurance policy.  Ask your carrier for a clear summation page of your benefits, co-pays, co-insurance, maximum annual out-of-pocket cost, individual/family deductibles, in-network/out-of network details, in-patient vs. out-patient tests and procedure costs, annual wellness/screening 100% covered expenses, pharmacy details/co-pays, exclusions and exceptions. 

• Ask your insurance carrier to provide a way (online dashboard) for you to quickly and accurately check where you are in your expenses in all of the various categories throughout the year. 

•  Ask your insurance carrier for a quick, easy way for you (and doctors/hospitals) to check on covered charges and what your potential liability portion would be before authorizing any tests, treatments, medications or procedures.

• Request that doctors/hospitals contact your insurance company and pre-authorize anything beyond your co-pay and discuss that with you before it is done.  If necessary, you contact the insurance carrier.

• Discuss the cost of any and all procedures, tests, treatments or medications that your doctor wants to order for you prior to agreeing to them.  Discuss the possibility of cheaper alternatives or just waiting a while if possible.

• Always ask your doctor to choose generic medications or cheaper alternative medications when possible.

• When checking in at a doctor’s office or hospital, give them a note that you have signed and dated informing them that you will only be financially liable for charges (particularly beyond your co-pay) that have been discussed with you in detail prior to you authorizing those things that incur the charges.  Don’t sign blanket statements that you will be liable for any charges that your insurance company does not pay.  Have them (and/or you) contact the insurance company for clarification/pre-authorization if necessary.

• Always ask for a detailed, line-item billing statement; not just a total bill due.  Review the bill for accuracy.  Get someone who is medically savvy to help you if necessary.  If you don’t understand something, ask the provider for clarification.  If you think there is an error, speak up!

•  When communicating with doctor’s offices, billing offices, hospitals and insurance companies about charges, bills and disputes; always get everything in writing.

• When communicating with billing offices about charges, bills and disputes always copy your insurance company and your employer HR/Benefits office (if you have employer provided medical insurance) on all correspondence to and from the billing office.

• If you think a charge is way out of line, do some research.  See if you can find what the actual cost is and what other places are charging for similar services or products.  Ask for a price match; Wal-Mart will price match, why shouldn’t doctors and hospitals?  These medical people are in business after all.  Let them know there is some competition for you business out there and you’re willing to go where you can save money.

• Ask doctor’s offices and hospitals not to share any information of yours (even non-identifiable generic information) with anyone other than your insurance company.  Not with any private company or any government agency; local, state or federal.

• Unless required by a federal program such as Medicare or Medicaid, do not use your social security number for identification and do not give your number to doctor’s offices or hospitals.  If you ask them to use an alternative form of identification they must comply.  Similarly, let your medical insurance company and employer HR/Benefits department know that you will not use your social security number for medical care identification purposes and you do not permit them to use it.

Time to Set Our Compass

All of this talk by RINO's about repealing ObamaScare because it is bad economics or using it as 'foundation' for more tinkering with our health care system totally misses the point and sets us up to be used as 'useful/useless' idiots by the liberal progressives to further their heinous agenda.  ObamaScare must be repealed because it is simply UNCONSTITUTIONAL in toto.  The federal government has absolutely no constitutional authority or power in the arena of health care.  Period.  It's not really complicated.  At this point in time health care policy is strictly a State function.  As it should be.  If the other side wants federal power over health care policy the very first step must be a constitutional amendment.  Let's see them propose that.  And I would throw Medicare and Social Security into the same mix.  I know that the Supreme Court has ruled in that past on those programs, but the court is made of up fallible people, not gods.  And they DO have their own personal political agendas, all of the protestations about objectivity to the contrary not withstanding.  Courts have certainly been overturned by Congress and subsequent courts.  The basis for ruling that these programs are constitutional usually revolves around Congress' taxing authority.  As I have argued prior the power to tax is not synonymous with the power to spend.    The taxing authority is to support the legitimate, constitutional powers of the the federal government.  It is not carte blanche to spend money on anything they darn well desire.  If so, why have Article 1, Section 8 in the Constitution?  This reasoning defies logical thought.  What if Congress raised tax money from all of the citizens and then spent it to hire thugs to break the kneecaps of their political opponents?  They can't do that we would scream, breaking kneecaps is illegal!  Ah, they would reply, we are doing this under our taxing authority.  Say what?!
The Constitution is our fixed point of reference in law and government.  Without it we are not a nation of laws, but rather a nation governed by the whims of men.  This is a recipe for disaster.  And that is where we are headed, and have been for years.  Think of it this way.  In the Christian world the Holy Bible is the fixed point of reference.  It is considered the revealed, inerrant Word of God.  It is not changeable by men.  It is not subject to their interpretation.  If it were, Christianity would not be a religion of God, but rather of pastors.  And that would be a recipe for disasters.  If I can pick up my fixed point of reference and move it, then it's not really a fixed point of reference.  It's not really of much help in troubled times.  What if the North Star kept moving?  How would mariners navigate?  What if the lighthouse on the rocks kept moving?  How many ships would wreck?  When our Constitution is treated like Silly Putty we are adrift in a dangerous sea with no North Star and no lighthouse.  We are rapidly approaching the rocks and don't seem to realize it.
The ends do not justify the means.  We must follow our constitutional dictates if our republic is to survive.  The states are the great laboratories of freedom.  Let them deal with the health care questions and see what works best.  Then other states can duplicate the best programs.
Keep the feds out and freedom and diversity will solve our problems.

When It Comes To Health Care, Here's HOW!

The announcement that the federal government wants to have everyone's BMI by way of their electronic medical records mandated to begin in 2014 under ObamaScare may just be the "shot heard 'round the world" in this battle over government take-over and conrol of the nation's health care system. The proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. While on its face it may seem a trifle, the implications and what it reveals about this adminsitration is nothing short of ominous. In true fascist fashion they are all about knowing everything and controlling everything. Period. It's really no more complicated than that. This little BMI announcement is just the camel getting its nose under the tent. (Seem to be a lot of camel references. Well it's appropriate, camels stink!) Time to talk about getting off of the health care grid. Why not set up private clinics/hospitals on Indian Reservations, free of government oversight and control? They already have hotels, golf courses and casinos. People could take their whole family for a week, get their checkup and coronary bypass surgery while the family plays and relaxes. It would be a financial boon to the Reservations (a form of reparations from the evil white man usurpers of the early colonial years) and a way to get your medical care without waiting in line and signing your firstborn male child over to the feds. All done in secret. How could Obama say no to the Indians? And as an added bonus he could get cheap cigarettes to boot!

Rights vs. Entitlements

A Right does not require the time, money, property or effort of other people. Entitlements do. Stop and think; Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom from Unreasonable Search & Seizure, the Right to Bear Arms; all Rights referenced in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and none require input from other people. On the other hand; Medicare, Social Security, Universal Health Care, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, Federal Minimum Wage, Housing Subsidies, Transportation Subsidies, Education Subsidies; all require something (mostly tax money) from other people; and all Entitlements.

In the current debate it is disingenuous to call for a Right to Health Care. Universal Federal Health Care/Insurance cannot be a right; it requires time, money and effort of other people. It is just another entitlement. And it is an entitlement which the U.S. Constitution does not empower or authorize the federal government to provide. (Frankly, most other federal entitlements actually are not authorized by the Constitution either) Thus, it could only be provided by the States or the Federal Government following passage of an empowering Constitutional Amendment.

Heads Up Senators

To Senators Kyle & McConnell,

I and many other conservatives believe that this health bill must be opposed in its entirety on constitutional grounds. Quite simply, the federal government has no constitutional power or authority to be involved in health care delivery or regulation or the provision or regulation of health insurance. This would include the current bill before the senate as well as MediCare/MediCaid. (And Social Security and a federal minimum wage; but those are battles for another day) To argue any less is tantamount to an admission that the Constitution is null and void and we are no longer a nation of laws but now rather of men. This will ultimately lead to tyranny and anarchy. These issues are rightly reserved to the States, barring a constitutional amendment. Seeing no amendment movement on the horizon the federal government must cease and desist from this illegal pursuit. Surely someone in the D.C. vacuum must realize that these activities contribute greatly to the current 71% mistrust level of the federal government among the People. Mark my words, a movement is brewing based upon the 10^th Amendment, the States and the People to retake our federal government and reinstate the Constitution, with or without the cooperation of the Congress, President and Courts. The People and the States created the federal government to serve them, not dominate and oppress them. We expect our creation to obey the rules that we set out for it in the Constitution, to the letter. So very much of what the federal government does and spends today falls outside of its Constitutional authority. Understand, the People have had enough of it. This is the proverbial line in the sand. May God bless and save the Republic and the Constitution.

The Health & Care of our Nation

I have written at great length about the anti-constitutional usurpation of power by the federal government over the past many years. In my, and many others’ opinion the federal government exceeds its constitutional authority to act and spend in the majority of what it does, aided and abetted by a usually complicit President and a sycophantic Supreme Court composed of blatant political appointees with rabid agendas. The notion that the Court is objective and removed from the vagaries of politics is absurd. The reach of the current federal government far exceeds anything conceived of by even those founding fathers with the most inclination to a strong centralized government. The bastardization of the Constitution, the trampling of the State’s rights and the abrogation of the People’s freedoms has of late reached epic proportions. The health care juggernaut currently consuming the Congress may well be the final straw to prophetically break the camel’s back. It is a truly sad and pathetic commentary on the state of politicians today when legitimate questions brought to them about the constitutional authority to act as they are is laughed off as being silly and lacking any seriousness while the questioners are derided and lampooned as simpletons and fools. This is how our public servants treat those who put them in office, pay their salaries and place their trust in them to do the right thing for the country. The world is truly turned upside down. In addition, to hear the contorted explanations of politicians (most lawyers) as to the purported constitutional authority to act merely affirms the pathetic level of constitutional legal education in our nation’s law schools. Or worse, they actually know the truth but think that they can bamboozle the ‘little people’ with byzantine explanations. Well, we will not be bamboozled! The Constitution was written in plain English; it is not that difficult for the common man to understand. And what the common man understands is that this federal government is acting outside and beyond its legal authority, taking and spending money it has no right to and destroying rights and liberties which come not from the government, but from God. The Constitution promises to protect these rights of the ‘common man’ from abuses of government, not protect the government from the will or wrath of the People. It is not the role of the federal government (whether through Congress, the President or the Supreme Court) to be the final dictator of what the Constitution says and means. These entities are created by the Constitution and thus lesser and subservient to it. They cannot rule on what it means and how it applies to them. That is reserved to the People acting through the States. The States, after all wrote the Constitution thereby creating the federal government to serve them and their respective citizens. That is why our country was originally referred to as the United States IN America, not OF America.
As to our current debate, the federal government has no constitutional role in providing for, insuring for or regulating health care. That is strictly a state-by-state issue. And yes, that would also apply to Medicare and Medicaid. That a Supreme Court ruled on their constitutionality only proves their criminal collusion. Programs such as Social Security and a federal minimum wage also fail the test, but that is a fight for another day. Arguments trotted out by our nefarious Congressional spokesmen about the General Welfare Clause of the Preamble, the fabulously abused Interstate Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause are breathtaking only in the audacity of their being brought forth and they are convincing not in the least. As I mentioned earlier, such proclamations are either a testament to enormous intentional chutzpah or a symptom of the decline and fall of constitutional education in the law schools. At any rate, while the current Congress many ram through some health care bill, have this fascist buffoon of a so-called President sign it and no doubt the lackey Supreme Court will give it a false imprimatur of legality; the People and the States will ultimately have none of it. Mark these words, a movement is coming, based upon our founding principles as spelled out in the Declaration of Independence to turn back this tide of creeping federal cannibalism and restore the tenets of the Constitution to their rightful place. It will be a movement of the People and the States. We will once again make it clear that the Constitution means exactly what it says. It is not a living evolving document. It can only be changed by the proper amendment process. If Congress does not have the will to propose a Constitutional Amendment to take over the health care system, then it must leave hands off and let the States and the People see to it. We are on the precipice of becoming a nation, not of laws, but of men. In other words, tyranny which will rapidly devolve into anarchy. The Constitution is the only instrument which separates us from rule at the end of a gun barrel. Right now, the Constitution is barely hanging on by a frayed thread. If the federal government can do anything it wants to We the People simply by virtue of proclaiming that it can and will, without Constitutional restraint; then we are truly adrift on a tempest-tossed sea with no sail, no map and no rudder. The Republic is on the verge of collapse. If that be the case, then only God can help us. Let us pray that we soon come to our senses. God save the Constitution, God save the Republic and God bless America.

Health Care Debate

The current raging debate about health care is NOT about health care, it’s NOT about health insurance, it’s NOT about how much this bill or that bill will cost, it’s NOT about a public option or co-op’s or opting out, it’s NOT about how many Americans don’t have health insurance vs. access to health care. IT IS about the Constitution, IT IS about Article 1, Section 8 and the specific enumerated powers and constraints upon the Congress, IT IS about repeated Congressional over-reaching, IT IS about the rule of law, IT IS about a republic vs. a democracy, IT IS about States’ and People’s rights, IT IS about the 10^th Amendment, IT IS about a line in the sand. This is it, enough is enough. The People have decided to take a stand here and say, “No more!” Our republic may live or die on this issue. Yes, it’s that big.

Whoa!

With a clear understanding of the history of the writing of the U.S. Constitution, I as a legitimate party to that covenant and upon close inspection finding no mention of health care or health insurance; demand that the federal government cease and desist any intrusion into these areas until and unless an amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been duly passed granting such authority to the federal government. And yes, I seriously believe that this stipulation would apply to Medicare, and by extension; to such programs as Social Security and the federal minimum wage.

OK, I'm Only Going to Say This Once...

Drop the illegal aliens and people who can afford health insurance but don't want it, then take the 8-10 million who are left and add them to the current Medicaid program, DONE! For cost savings: Tort/liability reform, de-link health insurance from employment, i.e. portability, make health savings accounts available to everyone, make tax deductibility for premiums available to everyone and allow cross-state competition. That's all we need to do. And get the Feds out of the picture!

TINSTAAFL

My freshman year of college, first semester Economics 101 the professor walked in the very first day of class and wrote that on the blackboard (yes, with chalk). He asked if anyone knew what it meant. No one did. He explained that it is the fundamental principle of all economics. There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Even if you did get your lunch for free, someone somewhere paid for it. Stuff does not materialize out of thin air. Except maybe air, and God provided that. In this current debate over health care, and anything else that the government 'provides' we would be well served to remember TINSTAAFL. The federal government cannot give you anything for free. If they say that they will, remember the family down the street will actually be paying for it out of their milk and bread budget. If someone gets something for nothing then someone else always must get nothing for something. The government cannot give anything that it does not have, and technically speaking it has nothing. It can only take or steal things from those who do have stuff or money. One way is taxation. Or, it can print money, but that just artificially inflates the money supply, decreasing the value of goods and services by the amount of new money, driving up the price and at the end of the day everything is a wash. We can borrow money from China to pay to give you stuff (well, they used to be willing to loan to us), but we still have to tax your neighbor to service the debt: pay the interest and eventually pay back the principal (yeah, right). The old saw goes that a government that has the power to give you everything that you want will also have the power to take everything that you have. Think about it, they must have the power to take everything that you and your neighbors have if they are going to give other people things for free. If they don't have that power and exercise it then they cannot give other people stuff for free. Remember, they don't create stuff or wealth, they only redistribute it. That is the process of socialism and it by necessity results in the equal sharing of poverty. It brings everyone down to the lowest common level of existence. Because it creates a climate of disincentives for business and private wealth creation due to high taxation/confiscation, the amount of overall wealth in a society declines. Over time there is less and less to redistribute. Business is driven off-shore and overseas. Taxes continue to rise as service levels fall. Scarce goods and services now must be rationed. Look around the world. Every country that has tried this has come to ruin or is in decline. By contrast, things such as private health insurance are voluntary agreements between citizens to pool their money and pay for major medical expenses incurred by those in the pool. Participants can drop out at any time and are not forced to participate if they choose not to. You have no constitutional or natural right to the money or stuff that your neighbors have acquired or created. You can provide for yourself or ask your neighbors for a handout, but don't beseech the government to go to your neighbors with a gun and demand that they give you stuff. That's immoral. If people are truly disadvantaged through no fault of their own, we have always and will always help these folks out. But still, it is much more efficient to do that through private charity than government fiat. In this debate we able-bodied Americans must focus not on what we can wrest from our neighbors but on how we can best provide for ourselves and families and then give what we can to help the really needy among us.

Bend Over and Grab 'em!

Now that his hinney-ness is back from studying the health care system of Ghana, we must rush through the take-over of 1/6 of the U.S. economy in the next few weeks. No real national debate, just ram it down our collective throats. The sense I get out there in the real world is that this is the last straw. Coming on the heels of the not-quite-dead Cap & Trade bill this crosses the proverbial line in the sand. I believe that this country is on the verge of blowing apart at the seams. Let it be on their heads to quote Felix Unger. And may God have mercy upon us all.

Marching to Pretoria

June 24, 2009, Wednesday

Good Morning America!

• No Cap-and-Trade or Carbon Emissions Tax Legislation! Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. Man-made global warming/climate change is a myth and a hoax perpetrated by that over-weight, over-the-hill mooch Algore. This legislation is another fascist attempt by the Chicago Obama Mob Syndicate to destroy capitalism and take over the economy. Don’t let yourself be duped into being one of their useless idiots!
• No Iranian diplomats at the White House for hot dogs (pork?) on July Fourth! This Kenyan is a moron! Don’t Tread on Me!
• BarryCare is a monster! Doctors will not participate in this charade. Hardly any will take Medicare now. If you try to force them they will quit medicine and go make wine, which is what most would rather do now anyway.
• So the messiah doesn’t smoke cigarettes in front of his kids. It’s what he smokes behind closed doors that worries me. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

OK, now you have your marching orders for today.

Now get out there and kick some liberal butt!

ABC News=Always Been Communist

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

MORE

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff

Barry Care

Obama Health Care:

• Scheduling handled by Amtrak
• Billing handled by the I.R.S.
• Medical Records handled by the U.S. Postal Service
• Colonoscopies handled (literally) by Barney Frank!

So bend over and grab your ankles. Here it comes!

Light Up for Life!

Poster Boy for the Obama Socialized Nationalized Health Care System

Doctor, Heal Thyself

(Responding to an emergency room physician letter-to-the editor asking Obama and the feds to provide more funds for emergency rooms to become the safety net for people needing basic medical care who do not have health insurance)
The federal government lacks the constitutional authority and power to fund or manage emergency rooms (not to mention that is is busted, it has no money). They are a horribly ineffiencient and expensive avenue for delivering family medicine to the needy. The feds have already made a wreck of the health care system and any further meddling by them will only greatly worsen the situation. Let's clean up the tort system, get malpractice premiums and product liability costs down and reduce the union driven cost of labor. Give people portable medical savings accounts which unties insurance from employment. Finally, relink payment between the actual consumer (patient) with the provider so that people can shop for insurance and shop for care to find the best care for the best price. Let the market actually work and get the artificial, inflationary constraints of government out of the equation. For those that still need help with basic medical care let the states figure out the best way to help deliver it, but not through emergency rooms.

With Liberty and Health Care For All

In her letter of 10/9/07, 'Gotcha Covered' (The Gazette, Colorado Springs), Kathy Verlo wonders why ‘socialized’ is a derogatory term and she makes the point that under a federal government single-payer health care insurance system, ‘everyone pays and everyone benefits.’
Well, first the simple truth. The elephant in the room that no one will notice is that under our Constitutional Republic (not the ‘true democracy’ to which she defers) the federal government has no constitutional power or authority to enact any federal health care or insurance system, mandatory or voluntary. No current Congressman, Senator or prospective Presidential candidate to whom I have made this point has been able to refute it. Short of a Constitutional Amendment such a program is a State prerogative. If our State’s constitution permits such a program then it should be proposed and debated in Denver, not D.C.
Second, socialism is just another name for collectivism which has been foisted upon the world in various forms including communism and fascism. It has never worked. It did not work that first harsh winter in Jamestown and it doesn’t work anywhere today. Socialism is merely the equal sharing of misery. Does she really want us to be more like decrepit, decaying Europe which produces nothing really, except laziness? The fact is most people of means who need specialized medical care come to the U.S.A from Mexico, Canada, Great Britain and most of the world. Most medications and medical treatments are the product of American research and development.
Finally, which successful federal government social program does she want to model this one after? You can hear the pin drop. There really aren’t any. These programs rapidly become bloated, inefficient and counter-productive to their original intent. Let’s leave the federal government to its true responsibilities of defending the borders, coining the money and building the roads on which to deliver the mail. I agree that we can make improvements in our health care delivery and insurance systems, but not the way that she has proposed.

Health (S)care

I have a simple request regarding the concept of federal mandates or provision of health- care and/or health insurance. Would someone kindly cite the empowering language in the U.S. Constitution (as amended) which gives the Federal Government authority and power to provide or mandate healthcare and/or health insurance and furthermore to use any federal tax money for such activity. I have read through the Constitution and amendments and can find no such positive authority, short of a new amendment. Finding none, it seems that the Tenth Amendment is the controlling legal authority in this instance and only the States would have such power. Any light that shed on this murky conundrum would be greatly appreciated. And by the way, don’t throw up the infamous Interstate Commerce Clause. Sorry, no cigar. It would seem that this question applies equally to Medicare and Social Security as well.