Monday, April 23, 2012
Welcome to D4PC "Morning Rounds", your daily review of healthcare news and information from Washington, DC and around the nation. These briefings will keep you up to date on recent developments and our effort to replace the PPACA with patient-centered reforms that protect the doctor-patient relationship and preserve individual freedom of choice.
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"Americans Want More Control Over Their Own Healthcare", Reason
The question remains: What kind of reforms do Americans want? The Obama administration completely misread the public mood when it based its decision to craft a 2,700-page, Rube Goldberg-style makeover of literally one-sixth of our economy on polls suggesting that Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes for universal coverage. Worse, a joint Reason-Rupe poll released last week found that the misnamed Affordable Care Act—a.k.a. ObamaCare—imposed trade-offs that Americans were simply unwilling to accept. But the problem is that most polls pose questions in a vacuum, without actually confronting Americans with the consequences of their choices. The Reason-Rupe poll was among the few to do so systematically, and it found that although Americans do want equity and coverage for all, they want control, choice and quality for themselves even more.
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"Report Urges New Tax On Medical Care", Wall Street Journal
D4PC: Apparently, the $500 Billion plus tax burden buried in the PPACA is not enough for proponents of Obamacare. In order to meet the goals of their idea of reform, government officials are now proposing a new tax that will be levied at the time of your visit to the doctor.
"They favored instead a surcharge on health-care services and health insurance, they said, because it would be a "broad-based tax to benefit a common good." The levy could be imposed on doctor's visits and prescription drugs, and would apply to consumers with private insurance plans as well as those who use Medicare, the government-funded program for older and disabled Americans, the authors said. About $50 billion could be raised with a 2% transaction tax, they estimated, though the report doesn't recommend a specific tax level".
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"Utah Breach Shows Vulnerability Of Healthcare Records", New York Times
D4PC: This article and the following one should make you concerned how secure your personal health and identification information will be once the National Institute of Health Information Technology becomes operational.
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"Healthcare Providers Reporting Rise In Data Security Breaches", iHealthBeat
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"Memo To The Supreme Court: Healthcare Is Not A Right", Forbes
One need only read the legal briefs or hear the oral arguments made before the U.S. Supreme Court last week on the constitutionality of just one provision in the 2700-page ObamaCare law (the mandate to buy health insurance) to recognize that both sides blithely assume that “health care is a right.” The law itself and many of the Justices also assume it. Thus most everyone in this alleged “debate” is merely quibbling over how much the rights of health care providers will be violated – for that’s what a mythical “right to health care” entails.
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