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| ObamaCare endorsements stem from backroom deals |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Jan Sykes | |||
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 09:00 | |||
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Earlier this month the House passed ObamaCare. It now moves to the Senate. Almost none of us agree with all 2,000 pages of the bill in its current form. But surprisingly, Obama is stacking up endorsements left and right. He seems to be a magic man. He can pull literal rabbits out of hats. Is this sleight of hand? No, it is backroom deals.  Dick Morris, former President Clinton’s pollster has the inside information on how Obama gets these amazing endorsements. I will quote one of his communiqués directly: “The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21-percent cut in physicians’ reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5-6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements of treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill. The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of the Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately-purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush — 43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need, plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10-million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into the AARP Medi-gap revenues. Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medi-gap, but the AARP — which supposedly represents them — will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group; contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) “The drug industry backed ObamaCare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade.) They also received administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration. “Insurance companies got access to 40-million potential new customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don’t buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives. “The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn’t go along with Obama’s blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stents, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees, and other necessary accoutrements of healthcare.” For we who want the health-care bill to pass or fail on its own merits or demerits, endorsements that have nothing to do with the content of the bill are blatant examples of corruption. I realize smoke-filled, backroom deals are the way of politics, but Obama promised us that Washington would be transparent. That it would no longer be “politics as usual.” Let’s hold his feet to the fire and insist he keep his word.
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Comments (2)
Dave Peters: ...
Dick Morris? You're quoting Dick freakin' Morris? Known liar for hire, and hooker companion Dick Morris? How about quoting someone mainstream? Like... Sarah (death-panel) Palin, or Michelle (we should all just slit our wrists) Bachmann?
The republican party wants to keep the status quo... 45,000 Americans dead each year because they can't afford to go to the doctor, and billions of dollars stuffed into the pockets of their loyalists in the healthcare industry. That's the true measure of "compasionate conservatism". Who would Jesus refuse to heal? Apparently, it's anyone without insurance. 1
November 30, 2009
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