Let's Look At The Bill, Shall We?

HR 3200 is the House bill, and here's how it starts: "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes."

Do we have a problem right off the bat? YES. Where in the Constitution is there anything about the federal government giving everyone health care? Where is it government's job to control growth in health care spending? Do you understand how unbelievably nebulous that statement actually is? And here's the worst of all: "and for other purposes". We MUST stop letting Congress use a bill for one thing and tack on a hundred completely unrelated amendments! It must stop NOW!

Okay, working down the document we see the marketed "purpose" includes Insurance Reforms and Health Delivery Reforms. This involves a "Health Insurance Exchange" [pronounced: EXPENSIVE GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY THAT FORCES INSURANCE COMPANIES TO DO ANTI-CAPITALISTIC THINGS]. It also "initiates shared responsibility between employer, employee and government". Again, the government has no business being in the middle of it, nor should it be forcing employers to provide nor employees to subscribe. This is fascism.

It then goes on to mandate prohibition of pre-existing conditions exclusions, guaranteed issue and renewal, insurance rating rules, nondiscrimination of benefits, insuring adequate provider networks and ensuring value and lower premiums.

The next subtitle takes on coverage of essential benefits, defines essential benefits package, creation of the Health Benefits Advisory Board [more government cost and bureaucracy], adoption of benefit standards.

Let's jump down to the Governance subtitle. We have the Health Choices Administration and it's Commissioner; "Consultation and coordination"; Health Insurance Ombudsman.

Subtitle F gives us "Prohibiting discrimination in health care" and "construction regarding collective bargaining" [pronounced UNIONS].

Subtitle G has "ensuring value and lower premiums", "ending health insurance rescission abuse", "administrative simplification" [uh, really? With ANYthing run by government?], and "reinsurance program for retirees".

So, what is "acceptable coverage". Well, Section 202 lists some examples, but then adds a general statement indicating that the Commissioner ultimately has to approve said coverage. This is substantiated by Section 101, which basically says that you cannot seek coverage by private insurance after initiation of this legislation unless it fits the "qualified" status established by the Commissioner. This takes the choice away from you.

Section 113(b) mandates a study whereby the government will examine, among other things, employers who self-insure with the purpose of seeing of the rules they put in place actually encourage self-insurance rather than using their option.

Section 123 describes the 25 member board that are mostly appointed by the President, the rest by Comptroller. They are responsible for establishing what the "benefits standards" are, what cost sharing is allowed. This also includes what limitations will be covered.

Section 142 talks about the Commissioner, who will approve and establish "qualified plan standards" and initiate audits of said plans. Guess who pays for these invasive audits? THE PROVIDERS. That's like paying someone to rape you.

By the way, do you understand what the Exchange is? It's the funding pool that participating insurers/providers receive payments from for the individuals that are enrolled. So, even if you're happy with your insurer or provider, but the government isn't happy with something they're doing, they can fine the entity, disenroll YOU, and stop all payments to them.

There's much more to come, so stay tuned!

Un-American Mobsters

That's what we're being called. Those of us who see Obama's socialist agenda for what it is and are vocal about our dissent are called a "manufactured mob" and "un-American". Of course, when the liberals did the same things and worse, they were exercising their patriotic duty, were all the result of grass-roots efforts and community organization. Hypocrites, the whole lot of them. Pelosi and Reid just keep digging the hole deeper. Pelosi has made it quite clear she doesn't care if she's the most disliked person in the country. Isn't it interesting that a person who is supposed to be representing the people seems bound and determined to do everything to represent herself and NOT the people?

Such is the way of elitist liberalism. Godless, self-righteous, and sincerely wrong.

Here's the thing, folks...we need to continue to be visible and vocal because it's working. Find out where town hall meetings are being held and show up. Bring your signs, bring your passion. Bring facts. Passionate discourse without information is a waste of energy and becomes counterproductive. Believe me, friends, there is plenty of information you can arm yourselves with to bring these elected officials to their knees. Get educated on techniques in logic. Most politicians have a rudimentary grasp of logical arguments and they'll trip most of the public up with disjointed factoids and half-truths, put together in what seems like an unbeatable argument. Arm yourselves with logical arguments.

I'm huge on analyzing processes and getting to root cause and, ultimately, countermeasures. What you're seeing here is not that. I promise you that Obama and the Democrats started with the end-game in mind, their "countermeasure": Universal health care provided by the government. Once they formulated their solution (and they have constantly morphed the exact wording to mitigate your fear or prejudice of it) they then set about task of going backwards through the process to arrive at a sort-of problem statement (which has also gone through some metamorphosis).

So, what is the real problem here? Is it that health care costs or too high? Or is it that not everyone has health care? You see, asking the right question can dramatically change your measurements of performance, performance targets, root cause analysis as to why there's a gap in performance, and the countermeasures that will solve the problem. Here's what I think the liberals think the problem is: We don't have universal health care that relies on the benevolence of the government. I honestly believe that's what they view as the problem.

Now, many of you may believe that the problem statement is, in fact, that not everyone has health care. But, what most of the media isn't letting you hear is the fact that a large percentage of our population simply don't want coverage. And their reasons vary, but usually it centers on the fact that they're healthy with no previous issues and they see it as an unnecessary expense (and it wouldn't matter how cheap). So, how is it that a good solution would be to force coverage onto the people who don't want it? The current versions of the plan do just that and they jack penalties on businesses and individuals who refuse. And if you do happen to have your own, it will likely get taxed as income (the value of your policy is perceived as a benefit).

On the other hand, many of you believe that the problem statement is that health care costs are too high and many who want some sort of coverage either can't afford it or simply can't access it. I happen to think this is closer to the real problem statement. So, using the 8-step problem solving model, what would come next?

Break it down and identify performance gaps. This is extremely difficult in the case of health care, and it's a crucial step that I can promise you the Democrats have done nothing about. Why? It's hugely data-intensive. When you say that health care costs are too high, you have to be able to qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrate it. What is "too high"? What is an acceptable cost? It depends, really. It depends on the type of care and procedures you're looking at. An important piece to all this that almost everyone is forgetting is that health care is a service and a collection of products -- both exist, ultimately, as a way to make money. Liberals only believe in capitalism in a limited form. If it interferes with what they perceive as your "right" to have it, then "someone" should have to make it or provide. This is wrong and it is evil. Our Constitution says you have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Note that there is no guarantee of said happiness. By the way, abortion deprives a person of the right to life.

But I digress. Data needs to be gathered that establishes a fair baseline of what "affordable health care" is. Does this take that form of Routine versus Catastrophic care? Does it take the form of Beginning Of Life, Maintenance, and End Of Life? Each has merit. Show me where the Democrats have done any of this. You can't because they haven't. But here's where we might start: those evil insurance companies. Are they doing right by us? Not always, I'm sure. But remember that they are also a capitalist effort, an "ongoing concern", as they say in the accounting biz, meant to make money. And, like all other insurance, gambles with odds and percentages to balance income against expenditures. But they have data. They have a pretty good idea what differenct kinds of care cost, whether routine or catastrophic, what kinds of care are typically called for at different life-stages. Getting this organized and charted can give us a starting point for what's more often than not needed.

Once you have this you can then analyze what people are actually paying for and at what point they stop being able to pay for it. These points will be the performance gaps. Next, you have to set your improvement targets---these are not solutions, but what you plan to improve. In the case of health care, these targets may be to increase people's ability to pay the costs or it may be to reduce the costs to the level people can continue to pay---or it may be a combination of the two. Again, the Democrats have done nothing about this.

The step to follow that is Root Cause Analysis. Given what our problem statement is and what our improvement targets are, what is stopping us from getting there? Why do costs generally escalate above what people can afford, or why do people stop being able to pay for it, assuming the costs are (or reach a state of being) reasonable? The kind of tools and results you come up with can be wildly different depending on what your performance gaps are. It's even more involved if both gaps are targeted. And I could, without being a medical professional or insurance expert, take you through a number of these and arrive at valid root causes that in no way involve the government or more taxes. I can promise you that.

So, once you've determined the real root causes for the performance gaps, you develop countermeasures. This is not a kitchen-sink approach. These are objective-based countermeasures. Objectives using the SMART model require them to be Specific to the root causes; Measurable, in that the outcomes can be quantified and/or qualified; Aligned to the context of the problem; Realistic, in that we actually have the capability, expertise, etc., to reach the outcome; Timed, in that you can say "by this time the outcome should be reached" or "by these milestones the outcome will be achieved".

Once you have your countermeasures, you need an action plan. Who will be responsible to work the objectives? THIS is where the government could have a role. They could be the "keeper of the gate", coordinating the entities (private business, organizations or, in some cases, governmental) that will execute the countermeasures.

Once all the objectives of the action plan are achieved, a period of time is used to measure the results and see if we achieved the performance targets and if, in fact, the problem statement was satisfied. If so, then the new processes are standardized and shared. Other countries--or even other industries--could share in the success and apply the lessons to their own situations.

The Democrats have done none of this, nor will they do it. Arm yourselves with information, attend these town hall meetings and ask them questions related to the above. Most likely they will stumble around them and give general answers that are non-answers.

Bill Clinton To The Rescue

Well, Bill Clinton took a little trip to North Korea to secure the release of the two reporters for Al Gore's little media venture. Let me say up front that I'm happy they're back, as I'm sure their families are. I'm also certain, though, that Kim Jong Il got what he wanted. So, I watched the little news conference the two reporters gave and I'm a bit saddened by my feelings after watching it. As the one reporter painted a dramatic (melodramatic) picture of the shining white knight (aka Clinton) I had this feeling that it was all an act. She might have been telling the truth, but her tear-filled depiction seemed...contrived, forced.

Basically, Obama was able to bow down before North Korea without actually doing it himself, all in the name of recovering these reporters. The bottom line is that they are safely back. It's at least worth asking the question what it really cost...

Dissenter or Angry Mob?

I have to admit that I didn't think the Obama administration would sink this low this early. Now ads are coming out calling anyone who disagrees with their fascist efforts, particularly at any town hall meeting, an "angry mob". Pelosi has called us "astroturf".

Okay, first off, I don't encourage or condone all-out rude over-shouting at these events. That just puts you at the level of the liberals. However, I'm very glad to see Americans are starting to wake up and get passionately vocal about the lies that the Democrats are telling us. And, rather than admit the truth, what strategy do Obama and his cronies resort to? More lies in the form of internet and TV ads painting dissenters as a hired, angry mob.

I have news for you--I'm not hired by anyone, and I can promise you I'd be front and center at any town hall meeting these liars would hold, and I will be quite vocal. Bring it!

Here's what you have to be angry about:
- More jobs have been LOST every single month since Obama took office and especially since his spendulus package was enacted.
- Obama's promise to read all the bills and post them publicly prior to enacting has proven false.
- The "most ethical Congress in history" has turned out to be the most corrupt with some of the most unethical/immoral members and activities.
- Obama has put into place unbelievable numbers of "czars" when the Constitution makes NO provision for such a thing. I don't discount previous administrations have appointed one or two czars (which I also completely disagree with), but Obama has taken this to frightening levels.
- Obama and Sec. of State Clinton have fallen over themselves to apologize to any country that will listen for America being, essentially, a bad neighbor.
- The government is slowly, methodically taking over industry after industry either directly (pronounced "Government Motors") or indirectly (pronounced "executive pay caps").
- Obama and the Democrats ultimately are trying to get to socialized health care via a single-payer system (just look up on YouTube the proof).
- Obama has appointed over a dozen lobbyists to top positions after stating clearly that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House".
- He dishonestly claimed that the middle class will not see taxes go up, yet the fact is that such efforts as cap and trade, tax increases on cigarettes and other things--which the middle class do engage in -- will clearly result in tax-driven increases in cost of living for every American.
- The embrassment known as "cash for clunkers" ran out of money and they can't even explain the program...yet he wants you to hand over health care to him.
- The man who claimed to be a uniter, not a divider, has, in cahoots with the Democrats in Congress, have run roughshod over the Republicans (who are NOT without blame, by the way).
- Obama continues to lie when he says that "if you like your health insurance, you can keep it", when the FACT is that the Democrats will structure this doomed-to-fail program so that the added costs to businesses and individuals who choose to stick with their own insurance or choose not to have insurance will be so high that there will be no real choice, leaving them only the socialist program.
- Now the government wants you to turn in your neighbors if you receive "fishy" emails expressing dissention with their socialistic health care plan.
- Obama has expanded forcing YOU to pay for the senseless murder of pre-born humans overseas and is campaigning for a health care plan that will also force you to pay for more abortions.
- Obama has crooks as advisors, e.g., Jeff Imelt, of GE (a company that supports Iran), as economic advisor has been found to be guilty of cooking the books. They are being fined, but of course they also received billions of dollars in bailout money.

I could go on, but I do have to sleep some time. The point is, do you understand what fascism is? Do you recall any scifi book or movie where these sorts of things were happening, and all resulted in an oppressed public (that usually revolted in one form or another)?

Please, please, PLEASE call your Senators and Representatives NOW while you still have time. Tell them they can kiss their political careers goodbye if they don't shoot down socialized health care, cap & tax and the rest of these socialist and fascist programs. GET OFF YOUR BEHINDS!