* The so-called "Patient Care" bill, HR 3590
Topics: Health
05 Apr 2010
From: Ervan Darnell
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- Congress and the executive branch exempted themselves from the
new plan. Part of the rhetoric of selling the plan was that everyone
should have health care as good as Congress, hah! (
href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/23/obamacare-for-everyone-but-obama/"
id="heli" title="Washington Times">Washington Times
href="http://docs.google.com/a/kelvinist.com/Doc?docid=0AWg9p11BBf8cZGNiNnY5ajRfNmdudnJ2ZmY5&hl=en#FOOTNOTE-2">2 )
- Supply and demand backward. This bill bans competition on the
theory that more competition leads to higher prices instead of lower.
- It incidentally wiped out several $100M in existing capital by
preventing new hospitals under construction from being opened, thus
engaging in "taking" without compensation, clearly violating the Fifth
Amendment. The Constitution is already dead in the mere passage of the
bill, of more immediate concern is that it makes it difficult to invest
in any medical technology when the government might destroy your whole
investment tomorrow.
- Restricts new technology and services
- Imposes a 40% tax on insurance or HSAs over the government
standard (section 9001) and obligates you to buy insurance at the
government minimum level (section 1501). There is no room left offer
better insurance or more personal responsibility.
- It has restrictions on new hospitals, price fixing, wage
controls, and many other market restrictions (
href="http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politicsinvesting/1563-20-ways-obamacare-will-take-away-our-freedoms"
id="efu2" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);"
title="Investors' Business
Daily,3/21/10">Investors' Business
Daily,3/21/10
href="http://docs.google.com/a/kelvinist.com/Doc?docid=0AWg9p11BBf8cZGNiNnY5ajRfNmdudnJ2ZmY5&hl=en#FOOTNOTE-4">4 ).
- The fallacy of "fair" pricing is implicit. Insurance companies
can raise rates only with government approval (section 1003). Thus, if
they are more efficient, they'll have higher profits and likely be
denied any price increases. If they are less efficient, they look
needy (lower profit margins) and might be granted a price increase.
This bill discourages efficiency.
Home
believe in technological progress, a vibrant economy, balanced budgets,
and the freedom to control your own body (not to mention income), this
is a disaster of the first magnitude, passed by the narrowest of
margins by bribery ("Louisiana Purchase"), deceit ("you can keep your
current policy"), violating the existing process rules
(reconciliation), acting against the will of the American people (54 to
41), and phony accounting (out years are greatly deficit).
The greatest long run damage will be that price controls and
prohibitions on expanding medical facilities will discourage
innovation. The new drug that saves you or the new scanner that finds
your problem early will now never come to be. This cost will be almost
entirely hidden and never accounted for. The immediate damage will be
higher medical costs, higher taxes, higher deficits, and less access to
care.
Yes, it covers the 10% of low income Americans who couldn't afford
insurance (the truly poor already have Medicaid), but that problem
could have been solved without all of this destruction merely by using
sliding scale vouchers or expanding Medicaid with a phase-out.