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Commonsense Approach To Health Care and Geting Us Out Of This Mess We Are In

Posted by Jack Cruger on Thursday, August 20, 2009 1:02:15 PM
 

I Think I found somebody who has some leadership abilities. His name is John Mackey and he is the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc. If you haven’t been to one of these stores you should go and experience something new in food shopping.

Mr. Mackey wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2009 titled “The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare” It is a very well written piece in which he lays out eight steps we can take to improve Health Care (HC) with out adding to the deficit.

My premise from the start of this discussion is that ObamaCare is an unattainable HC approach because what we need prior to implementing a complete overhaul of HC is the creation of private sector JOBS. I am not in favor of a complete overhaul or for that matter any government run HC system, the government has a tendency to bankrupt everything they touch.

 Mr. Mackey’s approach would satisfy my need of fixing what is wrong with HC at the same time providing the fiscal environment for creating JOBS. If you add to the deficit the business climate suffers and no new JOBS are created and in fact JOBS are lost.  

Health Care in this country is the best there is, but there some things wrong with it. Most of what’s wrong has to do with government mandates and local restrictions that drive the cost up. Mr. Mackey’s eight steps have to do with fixing these impediments, not inventing a whole new Government run system and malpractice over reaching. Italics are my comments:

His first step would be to remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). There are many instantiations of how this could happen. Mr. Mackey’s provides such a system for his employees by paying the premiums on the high deducible policy with employee’s paying into a HSA which could be used to pay the deducible amount if needed. Any unused portion of the HSA can accumulate over the years. The premiums on a High deductible plans are much lower, and are paid for by an individual or family instead of the employer which would make it portable. Whole Foods wishes to pay the premiums but if the employee leaves the company he would take their insurance plan with him or her. Of course they would pay the premiums themselves.

Government participation would be limited to passing laws banning preconditions and the designation of non-taxable HSAs similar to Roth IRA designation. It will not add to the federal deficit.  Just watch out for the “EARMARKS”.

Second, equalize the tax laws which ties in with the number one. Today the employer provided benefits are not taxed when used or considered has income. Individual benefits are. Neither should be taxed in any way. Again A few million would be lost in tax revenue but NO COST TO THE TAXPAYERS.

Third, repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across State lines. We should have the legal right to purchase insurance from any insurance company in any State. We should be able to use the insurance where ever we live making it portable throughout the Country and will not add to the federal deficit.    

Forth, repeal all government, local and federal mandates what insurance must cover. Most of these mandates will never be used by most of the people and therefore could be eliminated from individual plans. Not one plan fits all. The mandates could be treated, if needed, has optional add-ons. Again this will not add to the federal deficit.

 Fifth, enact tort reform to end ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay for insurance that cost hundreds of thousand of dollars per year which of course is passed on to us through higher cost of care.

There is a big discussion now in Washington because this was not one of the items in any of the plans. Just today FOX NEWS did and investigation of just how much was paid out as a result of these tort claims, $60Billion. This does not include the doctor’s cost of insurance, costing each doctor hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on type of practice. THIS WOULD NOT ONLY BE NO COST TO THE TAXPAYER BUT ALSO SHOULD COST US MUCH LESS IN OUR COST OF CARE AT THE DOCTORS AND HOSPITALS. This will not add to the federal deficit. How- ever this is a good example of how special interests groups get involved and what happens when they are extorting the Congress. 

Six, make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health care treatments cost. This should be made readable to the patient not just procedure numbers.

Seven, enact Medicare reforms. Create greater patient empowerment, choice, and responsibility.

In my opinion HSAs should start with all new people entering the work force today. This is all tied into Social Security which would have to be changed at the same. I believe allowing for lump sum non-taxable payouts, equal to the amount they have put into each plan, to people for their own HSA’s and Health Care plan and a  similar to a 401k retirement plans, what ever their age, and  who are under 65 years old. There would be no more Social Security or Medicare payouts. For all the people over 65 the Government would pay their premium on a Health Care plan mentioned above as well pay their Social Security until death. Supplemental plans should be made available as they are now and would be paid for by the people themselves.

 

 If you think about we were forced to hand over a percentage of our gross each pay period to our government, who kept it in a virtual fund for 40 years, paid us no interest and taxed us at the going rate when we were old. What a great PONZ scheme?  

Eight, make tax forms easier to make voluntary HSA tax-deductible donations for people who are not covered by any insurance. This should be the only tax deductible contribution.

Now we can talk about JOB CREATION:

First let me quote part of a piece written by Kenneth "The Hawk" Rogoff: From the Economist’s View Web Site:

America Should also Look to its Fiscal Health

“Unfortunately, the idea that healthcare reform will alleviate debt problems rather than exacerbate them is far-fetched..., many proposed healthcare reforms are more likely to worsen the government’s budgetary health than to improve it. This should hardly be surprising, given that a main purpose of reform is to help provide better care for Americans who cannot afford insurance.

Higher taxes to pay for healthcare are also likely to reduce US growth, making it far more difficult to escape the debt trap. This comes at a time when other policy initiatives, such as tackling environmental degradation and income inequality, are also likely to imply higher tax burdens... In addition, the continuing weakness of the financial sector weighs on growth, and it is by no means clear yet when and how some semblance of normality will be restored.”

This, in my opinion, this makes sense so, I think my premise of “JOBS” First is right on and if Obama does not change direction soon there will be National Debt of $20 to $25Trillion dollars, with Unemployment of 15 to 20% not counting the unfunded liabilities we currently have, about $54Trillion.

I believe the recession was caused by the mass abuse of political power in order to maintain control of the politically empowered Congress for the next 4 or so decades. What is needed is that our, Representatives in Congress, have the mental and moral prowess to do what is right for our Country, not satisfying the special interest lobby groups. However I think the resolution of this matter (mess) is more COMMOMSENSE than anything else. One thing I do know is that hiring people for Government jobs will only add to government spending and overhead. With the current proposals, especially health care we would add at least 6Milliom Government jobs.  

I have no idea in what shape our economy would be in, if or when these solutions are implemented, but the sooner the better. These solutions are nothing new and were used successfully before. Let’s just call them THE COMONSENSE PLAN. I would make a promise that any plan that was short lived would not clean up this “mess we are in.”

The two factors that kill the growth of job creation are Government spending and intervention in businesses (excessive taxes and regulations). The other is taxing of individual income.

First we should make the Bush tax cuts permanent, but make them lower first, This move would provide businesses with some stability in knowing that their taxes would not go any higher then they are now. They would start them to reinvest in their product and service lines of businesses and start hiring.  

Then if the Cap and Trade got passed, repeal it. We should open all land and off shore areas for oil and natural gas exploration. Allow permits to be allotted for petroleum refineries and nuclear power plants (one area that would still require government regulation and oversight). All this fluff, we are hearing about energy independence, should not mean we should still pay $750 million a year, until something better comes along, to the people who would attack us at a moments notice. We still should continue to look for alternative fuel sources, not the kind that uses up our food supply, as well as technology that would provide clean coal and oil, all in the private sector. This would almost certainly lower the price of oil and gas, right away. Just this would create thousands of jobs. Environmental Waco’s beware. “COMMONSENSE” so far?

Next we must zero in on ways to stop the bleeding of cash out of the government coffers. We should find ways to unload all private enterprises that we got our- selves into, Fanny and Freddie, auto makers, financial sector, and anything else that the Government should not be in. Stop the funding of all non-critical endowments and non-Governmental agencies. I am sure that is a long list. Stop the funding of all ethnic and special interest Congressional Caucuses, they can pay for their own get to getters.      

Look for ways to cut the overhead costs, first by asking Congress, President and cabinet members to cut their staffs by 50% and their own salaries by 25%. Let’s put some of the Congress’s skin in the game to show they are serious. Cut all Congressional junkets and ground the government planes they use.  They can use commercial travel, which will create private sector jobs.

We have been bitching about tax reform for the longest time and it’s about time we did something about it. We implement a flat tax for individuals (8%) and cooperation’s 12.5%. This would be filed with every pay period electronically. I personally like the Fair Tax better but we would have to repeal the 16 Amendment of our Constitution, and that could take years. Then we should incrementally cut the IRS down by 75% leaving in place investigative jobs to deal with violators of the new code. Capital gains and the death taxes should be eliminated. We must take a serious look at the function and usefulness of the central bank, which in my opinion has played a major role in the mess.

The last three paragraphs, while increasing the deficit in the beginning, would now allow companies to bring home their offshore funds (about 11 Trillion), with out taxing them at today’s high rates. This would also stimulate the flow of Government revenue to be more than the Government spending thereby starting the filling of the Government coffers. This would allow the bills to be paid with CASH instead of more borrowing

Off course this plan is contingent on the make up of congress, in today’s environment we could not get this plan implemented, because the Democrat majority is bent of driving us deeper into debt and more about Congressional control than doing what the people want or what is “COMMONSENSE.”                                                     

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Obama Care Part II

Posted by Jack Cruger on Saturday, July 18, 2009 12:28:00 AM
 

A comprehensive health care reform bill may be a long ways off because there is simply no money for it. However with this Congress, Health Care is not a matter of getting it right it’s a matter of getting it passed before dear old Teddy (Senator Ted Kennedy) dies. The Senate doesn’t really care about the “people” and what they will have to put up with this bill as long as dear old Teddy has a legacy to take with him to where ever he is going.  I have my own thoughts on that.

Our V.P. Biden recently said that he and the Health Care Providers reach a deal that will pay for it by saving $168 billion over a ten year period. That may be a start but if you remember Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came up with a price tag of $1.7 Trillion over the same ten year period. The CBO also said that the plan submitted by dear old Teddy only produced a “Net Zero” plan, meaning that it only covered the same amount of people that are covered on the various other Government plans, namely Medicaid and SCHIP. So I think the floundering Vice President has a way to go. 

I recently received copy of the Aug. issue of the AARP Magazine, which I get for what reason I don’t know.

The AARP Health Report, this month, was tiled “8 Myths about Health Care Reform”. Naturally AARP has no idea what plan the Democrats will come up with, but to them it makes little or no difference, so in my opinion the whole thing is a smoke and mirror Myth.

Let’s start with the introduction prior going to the 8 Myths. The article starts with the Democrat talking point we’ve heard since the start on the Obama campaign that we Americans spend more on health care then we spend on such things as education, building roads, and even feeding ourselves. They cite we will spend an estimated $2.6 trillion health care dollars in 2009 or $8,300 dollars per person. Then comes the coup de grace that is suppose to scare us into signing on the bottom line on any stupid Government Run Health Plan:

There are supposedly 45million Amigos without any form of health care. These staggering figures are the heart of the current debate. First of all, that number is BOGUS. According to the Census Bureau 9.7 million of the uninsured are not citizens of the United States, but does that matter to the Democrats, it does to Teddy, because they are “in the shadows and should be covered.” What happen to the other 1.3 Million? The Democrats have been using a figure of 11 million “in the Shadows”. At any rate the 9.7 million will get care if the have to visit an U.S. Emergency Room.

14 million more of the Amigos are eligible for Government programs such as Medicaid or SCHIP. These Amigos would be automatically signed up for these programs if they visited an Emergency Room.

What about the ones who can afford Health Insurance, but make enough money they have decided to go it alone. This segment amounts to roughly 26.7 million.

Since the above total adds up to 49.1 million people either don’t want Health Care insurance, or who are not eligible because they are Teddy’s “in the shadows Amigos” and the ones who are eligible but can get it free buy going to the Emergency Room the Obama reasoning is truly BOGUS.

The last paragraph in the introduction which was put out by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which, I guess funds the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), says “There is enough evidence that it is now time to do something and do the right thing.” The key is to focus on the fact and dispel, once and for all, the myths that block our progress.

I say the emphasis should be doing it RIGHT but if you are looking for justification, first get all the facts right.

The Bipartisan Policy Center leaders Howard Baker Tom Dashle and Bob Dole have talked to hundreds of people associated with the health care sector came out with this brilliant statement. These are the guys who set the ground work for what was being worked on in the Senate.  

 Promoting a Bipartisan Process:

 

The Leaders believe strongly in the importance of finding a real, bipartisan solution to thenation’s health care crisis right now. This requires members of both parties to engage in acollaborative, constructive debate with the goalof achieving true compromise. The Leadersencourage truly bipartisan efforts in Congress, and support inclusiveness and transparencyacross all stages of the process – from policydevelopment to final passage. Addressing anissue as complex and personal as health reformthrough the budget reconciliation process mayimpede the ability of lawmakers to passlegislation that is durable, lasting, and meaningful to all Americans. In similar regard, because timing is so critical, bipartisan legislation should be considered without extended floor debate.

You and I both know, because anything Teddy has to do with will be so large, there won’t be any bipartisan debate just like the Cap and Tax bill, and nobody will read it before the vote. Is that fast enough for these three “has-beens”? If you are like me, we go through the task, every year of selecting the best insurance plan for our families regardless of who the providers are. SO WHY SHOULDN’T WE HAVE THE SAME RIGHT WITH “THE PLAN” THE GOVERNMENT IS FORCING ON US? The key word is PLAN, meaning the one and only.

My opinion is that after the bill is finalized but before being voted on, there should be a 30 day cooling off period so that our congressmen and the public can read and digest it. Comments, opinions, and questions should also be made known to our legislators for their debate prior to voting. 

I like the saying “back in the day” because it can mean anytime. It’s a perfect statement for the older people like me. Between you and I we have always thought that those of us who worked for non Government employers and were getting health care, that the Government was not meddling around with it.

Well back in the day the IRS said, to the effect, that if an employer provided health care for their employees they, the workers, would not have to pay taxes on the benefits. This became a recruitment benefit to draw in the best employees as well as a UNION perk. The companies also were in competition with one another that company provided health care became a major factor for prospective employees, including me, so much so that now over 60% of all the people covered are covered under employer plans. This is what McCain was talking about during his campaign and Obama spent 17% of the total cost of his campaign besmirching McCain for saying he would tax benefits provided by the employers.  

The majority of the small business owners were left to purchase their own Health Care insurance and their employees, if they could afford it and get taxed for using the benefits. 

Now we don’t know what the health plan is that just past in the Senate Committee today (07/15/2009), and I bet you the most of the Democrats and none of the Republicans read it because they weren’t allowed to see the bill until the 15th . I can almost guarantee it will make these small business owners provide benefits for their employees, except for union shops, have to pay for part of the cost of the Government plan. I will, again almost guarantee that with this “Plan” one of the ways it is going to be paid for is by taxing the employer provided Health Care benefits used by their employees. Today there is about 6% of the population who pays for their own insurance who don’t get the tax advantages of the employer provided ones. We all should.

AARP Myth #1: Health reform won’t benefit people who have insurance today.

The premise here is that you may have it know but maybe not tomorrow and states that nearly 266,000 companies dropped their employee Health Care coverage from 2000 to 2005, not mentioned is why:

“The Devil is in details”

Why did, employer provided, health care get so costly? The big reason employer provided plans have risen, some as much as 50% , is when they get a special tax exemption from the Government they have to include, in the offerings, what ever mandates they tell you. Mandates vary by State, because of state regulations, but currently the Governments have imposed some 2,000 mandates and regulations nationwide, this is also the avenue by which Unions thought they would gain control small businesses.

Hopefully you can see how a Government provided health care plan can and will take over the employer provided plans. In fact the Government has been governing our health care for a long time. I think all this is part of the grand plan of supporting a case for Socialized Health Care. Ask your elected officials if they will drop their plan and join the one they are forcing on us??  Obama already said no.

                                                MY OPINION

I sort of think it would be easier, less costly, and portable if everybody obtained their own Health Care solution. Get the employers and Government out of the business of managing Health Care altogether, so that each individuals and families can pick the plan, with the coverage, they require.

Since the cost of most insurance plans average around $5,000 for families and half that for individuals, I think it a deduction covering the cost of our plan up to $5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals and with no tax on benefits would work just find. People who do not pay taxes would get, if they file a 1040, a refund of the same amount after the insurance companies file a claim. Most of these people are already getting some sort of Government assistance.

I was going disclaim all of the AARP myths but I was saved by this:

I just received this today. I saw the chart on TV last night.

You must go to this link. It will boggle your mind:

Facts You Need to Know about the Health Care Bill

Posted By Bobby Eberle On July 17, 2009 at 7:25 am

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/wp-print.php?p=1736

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OBAMA-CARE

Posted by Jack Cruger on Saturday, June 20, 2009 2:07:14 AM
 

So we’re getting Universal Health Care are We?

I don’t know about you but why aren’t we involved in the creation or selection of our health care plan. Don’t we have too every October select which options we want and even in some cases we have to decide on new plans altogether. Who are these idiots who think they know more than the general population, we’ve made this far on our own.  

What ever happened to the fact that we were supposed to get the same Health Care that the members of Congress are getting? Only yesterday somebody let the cat out of the bag when he said that members of Congress are not participants in the proposed Obama health care plan. So why should we have to take what they, the Congress, feels is not good enough for them?

I also can’t figure out what the Obama-Care plan really is because whenever members Congress talk about it, it always sounds altogether different, and depending what crowd they are talking to. As I write this, Obama is speaking to the AMA so we will see how he placates this bunch.
An update on 6/23/2009: I just heard that there are 3 different plans now being tossed around in the Senate, so what will we get by the 4th of July?

I know this Obama Health Care plan is really a Ted Kennedy plan which means the document will weigh at least 300 pounds, 800 pages and have more give-aways to all of the different groups, even building playgrounds, lighted sidewalks to run at night, and everything else that will exercise every thing down to your little finger, and don’t forget illegal immigrants, you know the ones Kennedy calls “Undocumented Americans”.

Obama said they will get the biggest bang for the buck by eliminating unnecessary medical testing then he told the lawyers lobby there would be no “CAP” on suing for malpractices. How do the Doctors know if the testing necessary or not until after they test? I know the answer to this one also. The Obama Care testing police will let the doctors know.   

By the way I keep hearing that we will be able to keep our current “Plan” but if it is from our employer they will tax our benefits to pay for the other plan. Isn’t that something special? I wonder if Members of Congress will have to pay tax on their benefits?

How are the plans from the Employers going to be portable? Does each employer you work for have to take on the previous employers plan? I have the answers to the questions, they aren’t portable and you will have to switch to the Obama-Care Government plan when you leave or if you get laid-off or fired.

How are the 95 million who are supposed to be uninsured and don’t pay taxes going to pay their Obama-Care? I know they aren’t. The middle class workers and seniors are.

In order to save Medicare and to pay for Obama-Care seniors will have their benefits severely curtailed because we are now, according to Obama, EXPENDABLE and care should not be given to extend our life, except for the seniors in Congress of course.

 

I think the Obama admistration or Congress should send us all a copy of the entire plan and give us 90 days to ask questions and another 30 days for them to respond with a marked up version.

The bottom line is we will not know what we are getting until it’s too late and believe me there won’t one Congressperson who will have read the whole thing, and just a few who read the summary.

Senator Ted Kennedy submitted the Obama-Care Plan document to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), by forklift, for a cost estimate. Get a load of this devil in the detail:

CBO

“The coverage of an additional 16 million people in the Kennedy plan is a net number. The CBO estimates 39 million people would join a federally-sponsored “gateway” health care plan by 2019, but that 15 million of them would join by leaving their employer-sponsored health plans for the federal program and another 8 million would join by quitting Medicaid and other state-sponsored health insurance plans -- in essence, 23 million people already covered would simply swap one form of coverage for the government’s “gateway” coverage.”

So we are providing health care to people who already have it, only now at a substantial cost to the Taxpayers.

In addition the CBO said, “its analysis did not include the President's proposal to pay for health-care reform in part by cutting government Medicare and Medicaid spending by more than $600 billion over the decade. But the CBO estimates did include $257 billion in tax increases, nearly the amount -- $326 billion -- proposed by the President over the decade.”

Taxes are going up which means us seniors will get less but pay more, not to save Medicare but to pay for Obama-Care   

FOX News analysis:

“In the Kennedy plan, nearly all of the costs of providing health insurance to 16 million more people would stem from the subsidies, estimated at $1.3 trillion over 10 years, CBO said.” Just think only 288,000,000 people left to cover and more $18 trillion to spend. Isn’t that special?
 
 My God isn’t it good that the taxpayers pay for 800,000 abortions every year, we can only imagine the savings.

Don’t forget the USPopulation: 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.).

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