Press release from the Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan:
Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan is sponsoring a
People’s Town Hall on Healthcare
Saturday, August 29, from 10-12:30 PM
at the Unitarian Universalist Church
5310 Old Mill Road, Fort Wayne, INCongressman’s Town Hall … People’s Town Hall
Come hear a balanced perspective on healthcare reform
Giving the Single Payer, Universal Healthcare perspective are Paul Wilson, CEO of Park Center, and Dr. Jonathan Walker, Allen County Retinal Surgeons. We are currently seeking medical professionals in the community to present a Market-based perspective on health insurance. Sens. Lugar and Bayh, as well as Rep. Souder, have been invited to give their perspective as well.
~ All opinions welcome ~ panel discussion ~ respectful discourse ~
Light refreshments served
Did you know that New York Congressman Anthony Weiner was able to work with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, to get HR 676, Single Payer Health Insurance brought before the full house in September? On August 1, 2009, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee announced that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to give Single-Payer an up or down vote when healthcare reform is considered before year’s end.
Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Co-Chair of the Middle Class Caucus and member of the Energy & Commerce Committee who led the effort with Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA); Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY); Rep. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL); Rep. Janice Schakowsky (DIL); and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), released the following statement:
“Single-payer is a better plan and now it is on center stage. Americans have a clear choice.
Their Member of Congress will have a simpler, less expensive and smarter bill to choose. I am
thrilled that the Speaker is giving us that choice.”
The guy with the sign that states “health care is a civil right,” obviously is not familiar with the U.S. Constitution.
There is lots of talk about rights and benefits. Many see no distinction, is this true? A right is defined by that given to all people that creates no burden or sacrifice on another. Rights such as freedom of speech, religion, assembly and the press placed no burden on another nor do they require another person to sacrifice.
The accessibility to eat in a public place is a right, however no one has to guarantee you have the right to eat; One has the right to freely travel, but they do not have the right to demand an airplane, car, bus, train or other mode of transportation from others for this would require someone to make a sacrifice or place a burden on someone else.
Some say healthcare is a right. As soon as you place a burden or require someone else to make a sacrifice in order to accommodate that person, it is no longer a right, but a burden. Healthcare is not a right, but accessibility to healthcare is. The problem is you must pay for your own healthcare.
Others say we have a democratic form of government, but we live in a Republic. Even though the majority may believe one way, in our form of government we do not have the right to take from others their freedoms simply because they our outnumbered. Slavery was wrong and was done away with. We hopefully would not return to slavery simply because the majority wanted it. Our constitution bestows on each of us unique individual liberties/freedoms and limits what government can do. These were instituted to protect each of our individual rights from the majority voting them away.
Many have heard the saying; “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”
There is no free lunch. My solution is to get back to basics. Insurance is based on a low risk of an occurrence against a large loss. The many pay low premiums for a low risk of occurrence that in the event that it does happen, they are covered by the many. The problem with our healthcare system is that there are low risks of occurrence, but that too many people think going to the doctor for immunizations, sick visits, eye glasses, etc should be covered when in fact these are normal costs with high risk of occurrence. Insurance paid to cover these things increases premiums, paper work and adds administrative costs. If the average person pays $500 a year for normal expenses, then the deductible at the very least should be $500 and these costs should not be covered. What most people want is catastrophic coverage. This would eliminate 90% of all claims, eliminating $10 to $12 administrative fee for processing a claim. It would make providers more efficient and put control into the hands of the consumer by shopping around. I use Redimed and pay cash up front. I save 20% right up front.
Number two and most importantly. A provider uses CPT codes to determine charges. Each test, procedure has a CPT code, but each CPT code may have numerous prices associated with it depending if it is Medicare Medicaid, Insurance, self paid, etc. This is where the problem is. Government began negotiating lower reimbursement rates which led to cost shifting. Insurance companies have done the same thing. What we need is for the playing field to be fair. A doctor has no ability to increase efficiency because they can serve only one patient at a time. He may be able to do it faster using technology, but it would apply across the board to everyone; therefore, negotiating price discounts based on economy of scale cannot be justified. Therefore, no provider should be able to charge any patient a different price for the same procedure/service. Now of course different providers can charge what they want, but within that providers business, they should not be able to charge different prices. It would be like going into a grocery store and Food Stamps negotiated with the store for a 40% discount on groceries sold.