It’s been over a month since Obama’s first healthcare infomercial on ABC. Last week, we saw the sequel at his primetime press conference. Then, two days later, Rasmussen reported that the President’s Approval Rating dropped to an all-time low. This week, those numbers are even lower. From all indications, it’s quite clear that the American People are not fond of current healthcare reform efforts. According to Gallup, only 41% of Americans feel that we need to pass healthcare legislation by the end of the year. Since America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) is really the only bill close to a vote, I think it’s safe to assume most American’s do not support it.

Neither do many in congress. At his press conference last Wednesday, the President blamed Republicans for not supporting H.R. 3200. Here is the video:

The truth is, much of the opposition to H.R. 3200, is coming from Democrats. In fact, the more fiscally conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, have emerged as the bill’s greatest roadblock. That’s because no one knows where the funding will come from. Rep. Jim Cooper is a Democrat from Tennessee and a leader of the “Blue Dogs.” In reference to H.R. 3200, Cooper was quoted as saying “I think the American people want to take a closer look at this legislation. They want to feel more comfortable with it.” Well Congressman, I agree. But House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi definitely does not.

Speaker Pelosi has remained very optimistic that the House will vote on the bill before the August recess. On Sunday, Pelosi was interviewed on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Here’s what she had to say: “When I take this bill to the floor, it will win…We will move forward. This will happen.” Then yesterday, she told reporters that the house is “moving closer” to an agreement, but wouldn’t say whether the House will vote on it this week or not. Today, she STILL wasn’t willing to rule-out a vote by week’s end. Way to leave us hanging Nancy! I’ll be honest, I think she’s delusional. I don’t think she’ll get a vote this week and if she does, there’s no way she’ll have the votes to pass it. But I’ve been wrong before. For my readers who aren’t familiar with how Congress works, here’s the deal: They take summer vacation for the entire month of August. So, supporters of H.R. 3200 have been pushing very hard, to get it passed before the August recess. But, why?

The bill is 1,017 pages long and almost no one has read it… including Congress. President Obama even admitted that he’s unfamiliar with the bill. It’s not his fault though. Who would be? 1,017 pages is roughly the length of the Bible. People study that book for an entire lifetime. Obama’s only had a few weeks to brush up on H.R. 3200. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan and head of the House Judiciary Committee, spoke at a National Press Club luncheon yesterday and said this: “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?” Great attitude John! It’s nice to know you’re doing your job. The purpose of this article is to explain the bill to my readers and expose why Obama, and some members of Congress, are pushing so hard to get this thing passed. That way, when your Representatives come home in August, you’ll be more informed than they are, and you can give them an earful in the produce section of your local grocery store. Please pay attention. This is more important than the climate bill, which has been put on the Congressional “back-burner.”

At his primetime presser last week, President Obama gave an overview of current efforts to reform healthcare. To his credit, he made it sound very easy. What can I say? He’s a great speaker. But the President may have been a little too vague and general, for the American people to trust him on this issue. Obviously. Look at his numbers. He explained H.R. 3200 as a bill that will create a free and open marketplace, where people can choose from a wide variety of healthcare providers. H.R. 3200 would make sure this marketplace also includes a low-cost public option (government run), that would compete against private insurance companies. Sounds simple enough to me. Here’s where it becomes too good to be true: The President said that if we’re happy with our current provider, we can keep it! On top of that, he said under the new plan, insurance companies would not be able to deny anyone coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Gee golly Mr. President, that sounds swell! Well, doesn’t it? To me, it sounds like the best healthcare scenario imaginable. The problem is it’s not going to work like that. Now, let me be clear… the President did not lie to us during that press conference. However, he did portray this bill in the best possible light. Let’s uncover the ugly facts.

First of all, this bill does allow you to keep your current provider, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to. What do I mean? Well, first of all, the government will create a public option that competes against private insurance companies. That alone is a problem. To understand why, we have to look at the way government already conducts business, with regard to healthcare. Currently, Medicare and Medicaid are hemorrhaging money. They are not self-sustaining programs. Each year, they go deeper in debt and experts say both programs will be bankrupt within a decade. Another failing government program is social security. This is basically the “public option” for retirement. That too is going bankrupt. Experts also agree social security will collapse within 10 years. But none of that matters. See, when private companies go bankrupt and run out of money, that’s it. That’s the end of the line. They just go out of business and cease to exist. But the same is not true for government programs. Politicians just pass more bills, with more earmarks, to continue funding them. In other words, they have an endless supply of money in the American Taxpayer. The language of H.R.3200 shows a clear intent to conduct business the only way they know how.

Page 124, lines 24-25 clearly state that there can be no judicial review of the government’s prices. Let me break this down in plain English. The government is trying to establish a monopoly on healthcare, and they are protecting themselves against a lawsuit from insurance and drug companies. It’s as simple as that. They’re going to price their coverage way below everyone else, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. They don’t want to “compete” against private companies; they want to drive them out of business. If they weren’t planning to establish a monopoly, why would they take the time to include a clause that would protect said monopoly? The government would be able to beat EVERYONE on price, because they’re not concerned with profits. Hell, they’re not even concerned with losses! Like I said before, who cares if they lose money by under-pricing health coverage? They’ll just raise taxes to make up the difference! So, yes, you can keep your provider… if they’re still in business.

Ok, ok. I’m being a little too cynical. Let’s assume that insurance companies would somehow find a way to cut costs and stay in business. They have another huge obstacle to overcome. Page 84, Sec. 203 states that the government will mandate what services private insurers must provide and what guidelines they must follow. One of these guidelines states that insurance companies cannot deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Private insurance companies must comply or they will be shut down. Sure, it sounds like the President and Congress are taking a hard stance on discrimination, but this will not work. Hillary Clinton proposed this idea during her campaign. I thought it was just as stupid then, as I do now. I’m aware that I sound like a total a-hole, so stay with me. Think about how insurance works. It’s built on the idea that many people pay into the system, while only a handful of people actually ever need treatment. That’s how insurance companies have enough cash on-hand, to pay for things like cancer. Millions of people pay into the “pool,” while only a few in the “pool” actually get cancer or break a leg. Now think about this: If insurance companies had no rules on pre-existing conditions, why would anyone get health insurance BEFORE they got sick? That’s right, they wouldn’t. If everyone knew they could get coverage, sick or not, they would wait for a cancer diagnosis or a broken leg to sign up. That means the entire “pool” would be full of sick people, who need treatment. The insurance companies would not have millions of healthy people to pay for that treatment. They wouldn’t collect premiums, but would still be expected to pay-out on millions of claims… putting them out of business very quickly. So again, you can keep your current provider… if they’re still in business.

But let’s assume you hate your current provider and like the way the government runs the DMV and Postal Service. I’m sure this bill is sounding pretty awesome. Well, don’t get too excited because here comes the worst part. Page 50, Sec. 152 clearly states that healthcare is to be provided to everyone in America, whether they are a legal citizen or not. So, here you have the government asserting that illegal aliens are entitled to healthcare. Regardless of how you feel about illegal immigration, this has some very strong implications about your doctor-patient relationship. Currently, there are 11 million people estimated to be living in the US illegally. If the government mandates that they receive healthcare… that is 11 million more people in our healthcare system. It’s quite easy to understand that with 11 million more patients and the same number of doctors, wait times are bound to increase. It will be like going to lunch at a McDonalds that sits right across the street from a high school, right at noon. You’ll have to wait forever to get a Big Mac, or in this case treatment. Oh, and lunch-hour never ends. But that’s not the only provision in this bill that would disturb the doctor to patient ratio.

This bill imposes many restrictions on how much money doctors can make, but perhaps the most troubling is on page 241, lines 6-8. Doctors will all be paid the same, regardless of specialty. That means a family physician will make the same amount as a gynecologist, oncologist, plastic surgeon, etc. Wow. Sounds a bit like socialism to me. I find all income restriction troubling, but this is especially scary. The reason why a brain surgeon makes more money than a family doctor, is because there are less of them. Therefore, their time is more valuable. There are less of them because specialty fields are harder to enter. They require additional schooling and training, which costs more money. But why would anyone spend more time and more money, to learn a difficult specialty like neurosurgery or gynecology, when they’ll get paid the same as a regular ol’ family doctor? Who raises their hand and says “Yes, I would like more student loan debt, without a higher paycheck?” Exactly, no one. The result will be fewer specialists. That means… you guessed it, longer wait times.

I’m getting all cynical again. Maybe we won’t need so many specialists anyway. Maybe this bill will magically make primary-care physicians better at what they do, so we can prevent illness before seeing a specialist is necessary! Well, that won’t happen either. Page 298, lines 9-11 clearly state that doctors will be penalized for re-admitting patients. Basically, if a doctor admits you for a condition, you have to get better. If you don’t, and you have to be re-admitted for the same condition, the doctor will be monetarily penalized, i.e. the government will pay him less. So, what are doctors going to do? Well, their either going to turn you away the second time or intentionally misdiagnose you. That way, it would look like a new illness and they wouldn’t be penalized. If this bill passes, you’ll never really know if your doctor is telling you the truth the second time around. But you’ll also need to worry about the first time they see you…

Page 30, Sec. 123 states that a healthcare committee in Washington D.C. will decide what services are covered. So, if you have an illness or need a procedure that is not covered, even if it is the first time you’ve been admitted, your doctor will have to turn you away. This panel of “experts” in Washington D.C. will be called the Health Benefits Advisory Committee. This committee will be a lot like the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. These people will literally decide who lives and who dies, based on what services they decide to cover. That’s called rationing. Not very NICE is it?

So, as I’ve established, this bill would create a public option to compete with private insurers. That public option would have an unfair advantage and an endless cash source, in the American Taxpayer. The bill would then put unrealistic expectations on private insurance companies, eventually driving them out of business. Once the government’s public option is officially a monopoly, there’s nothing anyone can do about it, since this bill has a protection clause written-in. The bill also contains many limitations on how much doctors can make. That coupled with the fact that illegals would receive coverage, would completely crowd waiting rooms, as doctors become totally inundated with patients. Then, if you ever actually saw your doctor, you had better hope for two things. First, that your illness/procedure is covered, as decided by some Washington bureaucrat. Secondly, that you get better and don’t have to come back. Like I said, this bill would punish doctors for re-admitting you. So, you’re only guaranteed to get the truth the first time and even then, you still may not be treated. The second time, your doctor will either lie or send you packing. But don’t blame him! With all the restrictions on physician pay, the guy’s gotta make a living somehow!

On top of all this, Obama and members of Congress, have no idea where the funding for this bill is going to come from. Many supporters have claimed this bill is “deficit-neutral,” which means it wouldn’t cost anything to implement. Well, that’s not the case. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is the government agency in charge of tallying the cost of these crazy bills. They are completely non-partisan and unbiased. They don’t side with Democrats or Republicans. They just make sure everyone knows how much a given bill will cost. According to the CBO, H.R. 3200 will cost more than $1 trillion, over the next ten years. Now, Speaker Pelosi and her minions have figured out how to pay for 2/3 of that. They’re just going to increase taxes, which isn’t a great idea in an ailing economy. But over $300 billion is COMPLETELY unaccounted for in this bill. The entire bill is a fairy tale. A pipe dream that is not grounded in reality. That is why Democrats are facing so much opposition from a faction within their own party, the “Blue Dogs.”

Again, this bill is 1,017 pages long. I’ve only given examples from the first few hundred pages, and those are just the highlights! This thing contains so many nasty little provisions, it’s unreal. Pages 838-845 discuss a visitation program for families with small children, or people expecting children. Basically, the government will come to your home and tell you how to parent. I guess that’s part of “preventative” healthcare. Page 65, Sec. 164 states that union members and ACORN employees would get a subsidy that the rest of us wouldn’t. Way to pay off the people who got you dirty dems elected! It’s all in there, but don’t take my word for it! Feel free to read through it yourself. H.R. 3200 is like an octopus with a million tentacles. This bill would undoubtedly reach into ever facet of you and your family’s health. Which begs the most pressing question of all: Why is such a lengthy and comprehensive bill being rammed-down the American People’s throat, by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi? What’s the rush? It seems to me this bill would make things WAY worse than they are now. So why does it need to become law right away?

As I said before, the August recess will start at the end of this week. Democrats who favor big government, like Obama and Peosi, are afraid that if this bill is not passed before August, members of Congress and the American People may actually have time to read it. Not only that, they know that members of the House are headed back to their districts for an entire month. That means all of you will have access to them. As I’ve said before, their biggest fear is not getting re-elected. Obama and Pelosi know we will put pressure on our Representatives to vote against H.R. 3200. Since this is a huge power grab that would essentially shift the entire healthcare system into their hands… they just can’t afford that.

I strongly encourage my readers to be aware and involved. Read this bill right away, even if you only skim through it. There is SO MUCH I wasn’t able to cover. Then, call your Representatives over and over, until they get the point. Since they didn’t read it, let them know this bill is bad for the American People and we will not stand for it. I can’t say this enough: THEY WORK FOR YOU!