H.R. 3962 Weighs in at 19 pounds and $1.055 Trillion

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), along with the Democrat leadership, unveiled their healthcare reform bill today. The ceremony was held behind closed doors with invitation-only guests as witness. The bill known as H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is 1900 pages long, stands nearly 9 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds.  The CBO tallies the cost of the plan at $1.055 trillion over the next ten years. This legislation is a combination of H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (approved by the Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means) as well as other provisions negotiated behind closed doors by the Democrat leadership. The bill is expected to be presented on the floor of the House the week of November 2. 

House Democrats have provided a Short Summary H.R. 3962. The basics of the bill are these:

• Creation of a government-run health insurance program – potential to cause 114 million Americans to lose their current coverage.
• Forcing of individuals to purchase government-run Exchange – private health insurance industry will be forced out of business.
• Employers would be encouraged to drop existing coverage, due to regulations that would raise premiums.
• New federal spending (Trillions of dollars) and increased deficit will affect long-term fiscal solvency of America.
• Taxes will be levied on Americans who purchase insurance, Americans who do not purchase insurance and millions of small businesses – leading to job losses and increased healthcare premiums.
• Cuts to Medicare Advantage plans will result in increased premiums and more than 10 million seniors having their coverage dropped.

Here is the breakdown of the Key Provisions in H.R. 3962:

Government Takeover

Health Insurance Exchange:  Uninsured individuals or those whose existing employer coverage is deemed “insufficient” by the federal government will be eligible. Employers would be permitted to join over a period of 3 years, based on the size of the business. Any employer may join, if so permitted by the Commissioner.

Exchange Benefit Standards:  The Commissioner will establish benefits standards for all plans. This will hinder the introduction of innovative models to improve health and wellness for plan participants.

Government-Run Health Plans: Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a “public health insurance option” through the Exchange which empowers the government to collect individuals’ personal health information while allowing the government access to federal courts to enforce actions. The costs include $2 billion in start-up funds as well as 90 days’ worth of premiums as reserves [from the Treasury].

The government-run plan will accept all Medicare providers, unless they choose to opt-out of the program.  Choosing to opt-out of the plan could lead to the Secretary imposing Medicare reimbursement levels on providers as part of a government-imposed “negotiation”. If this happens, , the Lewin Group has estimated that as many as 114 million individuals could lose access to their current coverage. Reimbursing at the rates contemplated by the legislation would actually result in a net $16,207 decrease in reimbursements per physician per year, even after accounting for the newly insured.

The Secretary has full control to “establish conditions of participation for health care providers”, with no guidance or conditions defined.  This may lead to doctors being prohibited from participating in other health plans as a condition of participating in the government-run co-op.

Low-Income Subsidies:  Subsidies will put employer health plans at a disadvantage while benefiting Exchange participants. 

State Medicaid agencies may make determinations of eligibility and exempt participants from [the current] 5-year waiting period. Individuals would have strong incentive to immigrate to U.S. in order to obtain subsidized health benefits with no waiting period.  Identification verification is not a requirement to receive benefits.
 
Premium subsidies provided are determined on a six-tier sliding scale, based on adjusted gross income (AGI). This means that individuals with total incomes well in excess of the AGI threshold could qualify for subsidies.  In addition to raising subsidy costs for the federal government, plan participants would be insulated from the higher health spending – leading to an increase in overall healthcare costs.
 
Medicaid Expansion:  The bill would expand Medicaid to all individuals with incomes under $33,075 for a family of four.  The Medicaid expansion to more than 10 million individuals would be fully paid for by the federal government only through 2014. States would be left holding the bill for the unfunded mandates beginning in 2015.
 
“Health Benefits Advisory Committee”:  Committee of federal employees and Presidential advisors, charged with the task of making recommendations on minimum federal benefit standards and cost-sharing levels. 
 
Care Rationing:  Language form  H.R. 3200 stating that Committee should “ensure that essential benefits coverage does not lead to rationing of health care” has been removed. This change looks like an admission that the bureaucrats on the Advisory Committee-and the new government-run health plan-would therefore deny access to life-saving services and treatments on cost grounds. 

Forcing Patients into Government-Run Plan

Elimination of Private Insurance Market: Individual plans may remain in effect, so long as the carrier “does not change any of its terms and conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing.”  Individual plans subject to numerous restrictions, insurance purchased on the individual market “may only be offered” until the Exchange comes into effect. This will abolish the private market for individual health insurance and require all non-employer-based coverage to be purchased through the government-run Exchange.

New federal mandates and restrictions on employer-sponsored coverage will increase the health costs for businesses and their employees. This will encourage employers to drop existing coverage and leave employees to access care through the government-run Exchange.
 
“Pay-or-Play” Mandate on Employers:  Employers will be required to offer health insurance coverage, and contribute to such coverage at least 72.5 percent of the cost of a basic individual policy as defined by the Health Benefits Advisory Council) and at least 65 percent of the cost of a basic family policy, for full-time employees.   Employers will be required to extend [and fund] benefits to part-time workers, which will certainly lead to lay-offs.

If employers choose not to “play”, they must pay a tax of 8% of total wages. Additionally, if an employee chooses to purchase coverage through the government-run Exchange, the employer will be forced to pay an 8% tax to finance the worker’s Exchange policy- even if the employer offers a private plan to employees.  Employers will also be fined $100 per employee, per day for non-compliance with “pay-or-play”.

The employer mandate would impose added payroll and administrative overhead costs on businesses. An economic model developed by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer found that an employer mandate could result in the loss of up to 5.5 million jobs as employers lay off employees to avoid providing costly, government-forced health insurance.

Individual Mandate:  Individuals who do not purchase “acceptable health care coverage,” would be taxed 2.5% of their adjusted gross income up to the amount of the national average of the premium through the Exchange.  For many, paying the fine is a less expensive option. Those who cannot afford the coverage, most likely cannot afford to pay the fine, either.

Medicare Advantage: Medicare Advantage (MA) payments will be reduced by reducing the benchmarks of levels paid by traditional Medicare. The adjustment would reduce access for millions of seniors that have purchased additional benefits.

The bill imposes price controls on MA plans that would limit their ability to offer innovative benefits packages.  This would encourage plans to keep seniors sick instead of managing chronic diseases.
 
The Secretary will have full authority to reject “any or every bid by an MA organization,”  as well as any bid by a carrier offering private Part D Medicare prescription drug coverage.  This gives the federal government the power to eliminate the MA program entirely-by rejecting all plan bids for nothing more than the arbitrary reason that an Administration wishes to force the 10 million beneficiaries enrolled in MA back into traditional, government-run Medicare against their will.
  
Tax Increases
 
Government-Forced Insurance Penalties:  Taxes will be imposed on individuals and businesses to offset the cost of the federal government financing the takeover of the healthcare industry.

Taxes on Small Businesses:  A new 5.4 percent “surtax” on individuals with incomes over $500,000 and families with incomes greater than $1 million will begin in 2011.  More than half of all high-income filers are small businesses therefore, this provision would cripple small businesses and destroy jobs during a deep recession. 

Taxes on Health Plans:  The bill prohibits the reimbursement of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals from Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Medical Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and increases the penalties for non-qualified HSA withdrawals from 10 percent to 20 percent, effective in 2011.  Because these savings vehicles are tax-preferred, adopting this prohibition would raise taxes by $8.2 billion over ten years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.  FSA contributions will be capped, beginning in 2012 and may total only $2,500 per year.  At least 8 million individuals hold insurance policies eligible for HSAs, and millions more participate in FSAs.  All of these individuals would be subject to additional coverage restrictions and tax increases under this provision.

Taxes on Health Products:  Beginning in 2013, the bill would impose a 2.5 percent excise tax on medical devices. The Congressional Budget Office and other independent experts have confirmed that this tax would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices-and ultimately higher premiums.
 
Budgetary Gimmicks
 
Unpaid-For Doctor Fix:  While the Democrats claim their bill is now deficit-neutral, they also introduced a separate piece of stand-alone legislation (H.R. 3961) that would add $200 billion to the cost of this legislation. H.R. 3961 would increase deficit spending and interest costs to the federal debt.  The Congressional Budget Office recently analyzed similar legislation (S. 1776) as raising Medicare premiums by $70 billion.
 
Long-Term Care Program:  Long-term care program requires individuals to contribute five years’ worth of premiums before becoming eligible for benefits. The Congressional Budget Office (in analyzing similar provisions included in Section 191 of legislation considered by the Senate HELP Committee)found that “if the Secretary did not modify the program to improve its actuarial soundness, the program would add to future federal budget deficits in a large and growing fashion beginning a few years beyond the 10-year budget window.”  This legislation is seen by many to be fiscally irresponsible and not credible.

The legislation proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat friends in the United States House of Representatives proposes to control one-sixth of the U.S. economy. While claiming to provide health insurance to those who are currently uninsured because they cannot afford it, H.R. 3962 is full of tax increases for Americans. The proposed legislation includes the public option that a majority of Americans have made clear they are not interested in. Health insurance providers will face competing with a government Exchange that has no financial limits and is not required to show profit or answer to anyone. The bill contains heavy burdens for small business owners as well as for physicians, while increasing costs of medical care and eliminating individuals from their current plans.

In his speech to the joint sessions of Congress on September 9, 2009, President Obama promised America that he would offer a more secure healthcare system for those already participating, provide health insurance for those who want it but cannot afford it and slow the growth of healthcare costs for families, businesses and the government.  With a price tag of $1.055 trillion and a 1900 page plan full of taxes, forced participation and abolition of competitive health insurers, it is difficult to find these promises.

Cloture Vote Leads to Confirmation of Regulatory Czar, Cass Sunstein

On Thursday, September 10, 2009, while Americans were discussing President Obama’s healthcare speech from the night before, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Cass Sunstein as the new Regulatory Czar. This “up or down” vote came the day after the Senate voted to invoke cloture for the confirmation of this very dangerous man. Do you know who Cass Sunstein is? Do you know what cloture in the U.S. Senate means? Do you think it doesn’t matter; you can’t do anything about it anyway?  Well, it DOES matter! Arming yourself with the information matters! I’m going to breakdown exactly what happened and why this very serious confirmation that took place right under the noses of the American people matters!

To understand the severity of this action, you need to understand the answers to the following questions:

•  What is cloture?
• Who is Cass Sunstein?
• What kind of power does Cass Sunstein have?
• Why does this matter to me?

Here is the breakdown: 

WHAT IS CLOTURE?

The definition of cloture is this:  the closing or limitation of debate in a legislative body especially by calling for a vote [1]  The Senate requires a minimum of 60 votes to invoke cloture. Once cloture has been invoked, debate over the issue is [extremely] limited and the Senate then calls an “up or down” vote to pass the issue. [2]

THINK:  Senate votes to stop debate on a very controversial man who will have the power to regulate our country into the FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATION that President Obama has promised will take place. The U.S. Senate made the arrogant decision to eliminate the opportunity for Americans to learn exactly who this man is! They closed the debate so that the truth as to who this man is and what he believes would not be exposed prior to his confirmation.

WHO IS Regulatory Czar CASSS SUNSTEIN?

• One of Barack Obama’s closest ideological academic friends and intellectual “soul mate” to the president. (Obama: “Cass is not only a valued advisor, he is a dear friend”)
• Taught with President Obama at the University of Chicago Law School
• Harvard Law School professor; prior to that, was a professor at the Univ. of Chicago Law School (1981-2008)
• Academic specialties: constitutional law, administrative law, and regulatory policy

WHAT DOES CASS SUNSTEIN BELIEVE?

On the issue of the 2^nd Amendment: Cass Sunstein believes that the right to bear arms is not an individual right, but a Federal right.  In his book, “Radicals in Robes”(p.220) , Sunstein writes,  “[A]lmost all gun control legislation is constitutionally fine. And if the Court is right, then fundamentalism does not justify the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. ”

THINK: He is saying that gun control laws are fine. The Constitution (fundamentalism) does not protect an individual’s right to bear arms.

Cass Sunstein also believes that hunting should be banned. In a speech he made at Harvard University in 2007, Cass Sunstein made the statement that, “[Humans’] willingness to subject animals to unjustified suffering will be seen … as a form of unconscionable barbarity… morally akin to slavery and the mass extermination of human beings.”  

THINK: Hunting is comparable to slavery and mass extermination of humans?

From here, you have to look at Sunstein’s views on animal rights: He has extremely radical views on the rights of animals. In 2004, Susntein wrote “Animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives …”[3] In Sunstein’s opinion, animals should have the right to sue humans. He has also written that he would like to establish legal rights for livestock, wildlife and pets. Just when you start to think this can’t get any more ridiculous, Cass Sunstein also has said that animals should have a right to property, too!

 THINK: This new Regulatory Czar will also serve to remove your right to own a pet. He will stifle the progress of medicine (among other things) and limit the food products that are derived from animals. This is evidenced by his writings in “The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer” (Aug. 2002). The exact wording is this: “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, in scientific experiments, and in agriculture.”

Cass Sunstein’s view of the 1st Amendment is made clear by statements he made in his internet book Republic.com 2.0 (p. 137). Here, Sunstein writes “A system of limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government.”  He has said that he wants to balance the internet through a legislative (laws) effort that would regulate broadcasting in the interest of Democratic Principles. 

THINK: If Cass Sunstein, or some other government representative, does not like what a person is saying over the airwaves or on the internet, they will be regulated into silence. The 1^st Amendment guarantees the right to free speech. By silencing any dissent (1st amendment rights regulated) you will not even be aware of what is happening! The very people who are attempting to spread the word of TRUTH will be silenced by this administration.

On taxes, Sunstein has told his readers they are selfish for opposing the size, scope, expansion and skyrocketing expense of the government. In his own words: “In what sense in the money in our pockets and bank accounts are fully ours. Did we earn it by our autonomous efforts? Could we have inherited it without the assistance of probate courts? Do we save it without the sport of bank regulators? Could we spend it if there were no public officials to coordinate the efforts and pool the resources of the community in which we live. Without taxes there is no liberty.” [4]

THINK: Cass Sunstein is telling you that he believes that without the government, you are nothing. Without the government, you would have no place to work to earn money. No bank to store your money and no community in which to live. This is a socialist/Marxist theory.

Cass Sunstein believes the United States should adopt a Second Bill of Rights. He wrote in 2004, “In a nutshell, the New Deal helped vindicate a simple idea. No one really opposes government intervention. Even the people who most loudly denounce government interference depend on it every day.” [5]

THINK:  The Founding Fathers gave no thought (for better or worse) to including social and economic guarantees in the Bill of Rights. As an American, you have the” Right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” There has never been a guarantee of equal results. For the government to change the founding documents to include equal social and economic rights for all citizens is to FUNDAMENTALY TRANSFORM the United States of America! This will take our great country from a free republic to a socialist (at best) state!

HOW DOES CASS SUNSTEIN IMPLEMENT HIS VIEWS?

Cass Sunstein will not change laws. He will serve to make EVERYHTNG more difficult.

Start with gun control.  He won’t offer laws to eliminate individual gun ownership. He will implement “regulations” that will make obtaining and keeping a gun next to impossible. To understand this, look at the state of New York. It is not illegal to own a gun there, but just TRY to get one!

Look at his views on animal rights. He believes animal rights are equal to humans. He won’t pass a law to ban meat; he will work with the environmental agencies to ensure that feed is harder to obtain and grazing land will be further protected. This will make feeding livestock next to impossible. There is an example of this type of regulation in California. An environmentalist group sought to save the smelt. Water to grazing land was reduced and animals did not survive.

THINK: Ranchers have been put out of business. Livestock products (meat, dairy, etc) are forced into limited supply. Limited supply drives up the cost of the available products.

Cass Sunstein will regulate animals’ rights to the point that if you have a rat in your house, you won’t be able to get rid of it because it has the “right” to live there. The rat will now own property – your home!

Cass Sunstein has said he wants to make laws that will require broadcasters and internet sites to include information the government deems necessary.

THINK: If an [American citizen] individual speaks or writes something that is not in line with the government, they will be required to include the state sponsored propaganda in their talks or writings.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER TO ME?

This matters to you because President Obama has promised to FUNDAMENTALY TRANSFORM this country! Cass Sunstein will aid in the transformation by regulating every aspect of Americans’ lives! The goal is to overwhelm the system and intentionally force it to collapse.

Cass Sunstein clearly describes the process by which he will FUNDAMENTALY TRANSOFRM America in his book “NUDGE”. In the book, Sunstein talks about little “nudges” that eventually effect the change that is the ultimate goal.

  [1]http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cloture

 [2]http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/cloture.htm

[3] – 2004 book Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions  p. 252

 [4] “Why We Should Celebrate Paying Taxes,” The Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1999

 [5] The Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need it More Than Ever, Basic Books, New York, 2004, p. 19

 1st Amendment Text:  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 2nd Amendment Text:  A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

 More on Cass Sunstein’s opinions: http://stopsunstein.com/media/pdf/Sunstein%20quote%20file.pdf

Obama’s Goal is Always the Same – DIVISION

Why Does President Obama Want to Talk to Children in School?

A Conflict of Interest?

Bloomberg’s Timothy Burger brings the news that “Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising for Barack Obama’s White House run last year have profited from his top priority as president by taking on his push for health-care overhaul.”

“One is AKPD Message and Media, the Chicago-based firm headed by David Axelrod until he left last Dec. 31 to serve as a senior adviser to the president. Axelrod was Obama’s top campaign strategist and is now helping sell the health-care plan. The other firm is Washington-based GMMB Campaign Group, where partner Jim Margolis was also an Obama strategist.

The Bloomberg article continues with, “This year, AKPD and GMMB received $12 million in advertising business from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, that is seeking to build support for a health-care overhaul, said the coalition’s spokesman, Jeremy Van Ess.” [1]

The Associated Press reports that coalitions of interest groups running at least $24 million in pro-overhaul ads has hired GMMB and AKPD Message and Media. [2]

Is this a conflict of interest?  Here is the breakdown:

Coalition groups behind the funding:

HEN’s other members, according to its Web site, are the AARP, the biggest advocacy organization for retirees; the Advanced Medical Technology Association; the Business Roundtable; Families USA; the Service Employees International Union, all based in Washington, and the American Medical Association based in Chicago. PhRMA represents 28 drugmakers, including New York-based Pfizer Inc. and London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc. [1]

Healthy Economy Now (HEN) is now dormant.  The AMA, FamiliesUSA, PhRMA, SEIU (Service Employees Internation Union), along with Washington-based Federation of American Hospitals, has created another coalition named Americans for Stable Quality Care.  This group announced last week a new $12 million ad campaign to promote health-care overhaul. GMMB and AKPD are also working on the new coalition’s ads.

Both groups (HEN & Americans for Stable Quality Care) were formed by a coalition of interests with big stakes in health care policy, including the drug maker lobby PhRMA, the American Medical Association, the Service Employees International Union and Families USA, which calls itself “The Voice for Health Care Consumers.” [2]

Key Players:

David Axelrod

Senior Advisor to President Barack H.Obama. [3]

Axelrod was president and sole shareholder of AKPD from 1985 until he sold his interest after Obama’s victory, government records show. The firm owes Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay in installments beginning Dec. 31. Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there.

Michael Axelrod

Son of Senior Advisor to President Obama and employed by AKPD.

David Plouffe

Barack Obama’s campaign manager and employee of AKPD.

Jim Margolis

Currently he is a senior strategist to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign where he oversees advertising and provides strategic and message guidance for the effort. GMMB was lead agency for Bill Clinton’s election to the White House. And overseas, Jim has helped direct presidential and prime ministerial contests in Latin America, Africa, Central America and Asia. [4]

AKPD and GMMB both proudly proclaim their connections to Obama on their Web sites

THINK:

• AKPD Message & Media, a public relations firm founded and operated by David Axelrod, is paid some portion of $343.3 million to market Barack Obama during his Campaign for president.
• David Axelrod separates himself from AKPD, yet retains a commitment from the company to pay him $2 million over time
• David Axelrod is named Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama
• Special interest groups whose members include the pharmaceutical lobby, PhRMA, AMA and SEIU retain AKPD & GMMB to market the White House’s healthcare reform ideas.
• Special interest coalition groups pay at least $24 million to companies who employ:  Michael Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Margolis
• AKPD & GMMB have direct ties to the White House and President Obama

So, Axelrod operates company that benefits significantly from the Obama campaign. Axelrod leaves said company with a commitment from AKPD Message and Media to pay him $2 million, beginning Dec 31, 2009, in installments over a four year period. Axelrod goes on to become the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. Axelrod’s son continues to be employed by AKPD. It is in Axelrod’s best interest that the company remains solvent and able to meet the payment obligation, as well as to keep his son employed.

If the President’s plan for Healthcare Reform is what is best for the citizens of this country, WHY does the selling of the idea (to the people) require $24 million in marketing by special interest groups?

Americans across the United States are standing up in opposition and saying “NO!” Keep it up America! You are making a difference!

[1] see: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aV3dLt6wmZH4

[2] see: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_CONSULTANTS?SITE=WIJAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[3] see: www.whitehouse.gov

[4] see: www.gmmb.com

FOR MORE, SEE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/21/AR2008082103646_pf.html