Universal Health Care Blogging -- Day 1

If you are breathing at all, this health care bill has an effect upon your future regardless of your age or social class. There will be places where I will quote some pertinent parts of the bill verbatim. In other places I will cite section(s) and/or subsection(s), but I will attempt to state them more clearly than they are written. Here we go:

This information is a beginning summary I read which will serve as a preview of what's to come.

The Universal Health Care Bill (H.R. 3200) states that its purpose is "to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth of health care spending, and for other purposes (emphasis mine)." I am concerned about what these "other purposes" are, and hopefully we can uncover that somewhere on down the line. I don't like that language because it's purposefully vague in what I think is an attempt to insert other taboo agenda items into the middle of this train wreck.

The total out-of-pocket expenses per person will be $5,000 and $10,000 per family. Employers will be required to offer health benefits to employees unless their payrolls are below $250,000.

An amendment to the Internal Revenue Code will cause taxes to be imposed upon: (1) anyone without coverage under health care benefits; (2) any employer who fails to provide health care coverage requirements for its employees. Also, anyone earning over $350,000 modified adjusted gross income will be charged a surtax.

Amendments to Medicare's title XVIII of the Social Security Act as they pertain to access, coverage, and payments are such: (1) payments to hospitals will be reduced to offset too many readmissions; (2) Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will have limited cost-sharing; (3) Medicare Part D, which is Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program, will reduce gap coverage (I've already witnessed this with my grandmother's meds going up by over $90 per month); (4) there will be increased payments to primary health care providers; and (5) cost-sharing will not be allowed for covered preventive services.

Medicaid's title XIX of the Social Security Act is set to be amended as follows: (1) Medicaid elgibility will be expanded to include low-income individuals and families; (2) coverage of preventive services will be included; and (3) primary health care providers will receive an increase in payments.

The summary says the health care bill aims to provide the following for health care employees:
(1) that it will address (whatever than means) the repayment of loans and training needs for workers; (2) that it plans to establish a "Public Health Workforce Corp" (which sounds scary to me--very socialist and "brownshirt"); (3) will "address health care workforce diversity" (sounds like elimination of equal employment to me); and (4) will "establish the Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment" (sounds like an bureaucratic "ivory tower" position).

Finally, the summary wraps up by saying it plans to: "(1) provide for prevention and wellness activities; (2) establish the Center for Quality Improvement ("ivory tower" again); (3) establish the position of the Assistant Secretary for Health Information (ditto to point (2)); (4) revise the 340B drug discount program (a program limiting the costs of the covered outpatient drugs to certain federal grantees); (5) establish a school-based health care program; and (6) establish a national medical device registry (don't know what this is)."

That's all for now, people. I shall return. I would appreciate hearing from you all as to your understandings on any of these items.

Love Ya,
God Bless!