The Critical Thinker’sResponse toThe Five Freedoms You’d Lose In Health Care ReformByD.S. Brown
The assertion is there are Five Freedoms we will lose under ObamaCare. As an aspiring critical thinker that clearly understands the need for health care reform now, I recognize and understand the need for rich dialogue, and heated debate. Still, as heated as the debate may be, it must be focused on the critical disparities, the points that divide us, with both parties leaning into positive conflict, in order to define a solution that might not satisfy all, but still gets the job done for most. We need health reform now, as opposed to some time later in the future, perhaps far in the future when getting it done becomes a nationalized industry wide tragedy that will place the fate of the entire country on a precipice poised for doom. Of course, in this doom scenario I am employing my imagination to maximum effect. However, despite my unchecked mental flights of fancy, there is still a very real chance of running into a national tragedy if we don’t address health care soon. As such, I felt obligated to read this article and then write a critical response. As a common American aspiring to be a strong critical thinker I feel not only qualified, but obligated to write a response. All Americans should be active. We all should be engaged. We all should aspire to be critical thinkers.Before we begin, before we delve deep, let me clearly state my approach by sharing my favorite quote, coined by me:“The path to wisdom is brightly illuminated by the light of perspective.”I divined this quote some time ago as I continued down my critical thinking path of discovery and growth, seeking to achieve my own personal Critical Success. And what is critical success? For those that don’t know, let me clearly define it:Critical Success is the planned achievement of something urgent and essential utilizing careful planning and judgment for the express purpose of attaining personal prosperity.This is Critical Success. So why is it important to consider my quote, and my definition of Critical Success in this, the critical issue of our time, health care reform? Please allow me to explain. In driving towards achieving Critical Success I find that I must approach all activities from the perspective of one that thinks, one that questions, one that makes informed decisions, decisions based on prevailing facts, and careful reasoning. This is critical to me personally in regard to health care reform. My plan to achieve Critical Success involves the establishment of F-PEC in my life, and for my family.What is F-PEC?F-PEC is Fundamental Personal Economic Control. I’m a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I must utilize critical thinking skills to divine my path through both these personal mandates. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are intimately bound, when one considers a personal situation critically. How do I reconcile the two? Simple, I know that I must be a master of the wealth that I generate through my personal effort.I must manage it wisely, invest it wisely, and most importantly spend it wisely. I exercise 3POP, The Three Principles of Prosperity, and what are they? One must own real estate, one most invest in the capital markets, and one must try entrepreneurship. In America one can readily pursue all three. However, even if you are not the kind of individual to own and effectively manage a business, you can, and must adhere to the first two tenets of the 3POP rule. You must invest, and you must own property. Not mentioned in the rule directly, but implied nonetheless, you must save your money in order to execute these activities.Of course, if you mismanage your money, spending it on the floss and flash, and then add crushing credit debt on top of it … well, I don’t think I need to clarify that this is a recipe for disaster and a sincere barrier to achieving Critical Success. However, in life, there are those things that one can only mitigate, that we can and must try to manage, but sometimes are completely out of our control. Many of us view health care from this perspective. We can’t afford it, so we simply don’t get it. And if we do get it, it is painfully destructive to our monthly budgets, so much so that even those of us that practice aggressive F-PEC must shudder, and monthly dream of new ways to cut our healthcare costs, usually to no avail.As part of my family’s financial plan I must take into account health care. I’ve watched my premiums increase over the last ten years from $5 to $35. I took my daughter to the doctor last Friday. She apparently had been a bit rough at daycare. My little girl as a wanna be daredevil, which scares the living daylights out of me. When we picked her up we noticed she was sore around the rib cage just underneath her left shoulder. She howled like a banshee whenever I pressed under her arm to pick her up.In seconds my wife, my mother, and my child were loaded in our 4-Runner and flying to Children’s Medical. The doctor examined my little angel, and recommended X-Ray scans. Needless to say this was very unpleasant. Still, according to the technician my baby’s howling was minor compared to most. As we went through this exercise the last thing that was on my mind was cost. My child’s health is not a negotiating point, it’s not something to be compromised. Providing my family superior service and care is not debatable. My wrath, though tempered by age, has always been something cold, terrible, and quite dangerous. Critical thinking be damned all to hell if you threaten my own. I was once upon a time considered jubilantly insane, and completely without limits. Of course, age and the pursuit of wisdom weans one of younger indulgences. However, the tendency, and the requisite ability to behave in said manner still remains.My friends, it is not about profits … not from my perspective, especially not when you’re in the middle of a medical crisis, and I’m quite willing to bet that you and all your friends share my perspective.The X-Rays will be around $75. Our co-pay for the visit was $45. I just went to the doctor two weeks prior, and surprisingly enough I found out I had to pay my own lab-work. Two years ago my insurance covered my lab-work. Now, they apparently don’t, or only pay some of it. I was so disgusted I tossed the bill. I didn’t thoroughly interrogate it, at least not yet. However, I will read every detail and balance back against our policy before paying. Did I mention the bill was for $120? Money is no object when it comes to taking care of my family, but what about the things I can’t afford? What about the families that can’t make ends meet, and stomach the almost $400 per paycheck I was paying twice a month before getting on my wife’s insurance.Hmmm, another did I mention moment.Did I mention the attendant at Children’s medical, a very, very nice woman who was quite attentive didn’t have health care insurance? Did I mention this? Everyone at the facility gave us OUTSTANDING service. You could tell how much they really cared. They looked tired, their movements were indicative of stress, wear and tear, but you had to pay attention to really notice just how weary they were. I did indeed notice, but still they smiled. Still they were professional. Still they were helpful, and they treated my daughter like the little princess she is. All this service, and no health care; she said it was simple. She said it with a smile. She couldn’t make ends meet with her family expenses, and include health care. This was a woman working in the health care field, who could not afford health care. Instead, she would rely on our current Universal Healthcare model, also known as Emergency Room Primary Care Physician, or Medicaid Clinic care, all subsidized by the taxpayer … rife with excess and waste.We need change.The time is now.However, if you listen to the detractors, those that stand happily opposed to ObamaCare, you will believe that the complete and total disillusion of the Union is on the offing, that our great nation will cease to exist, our freedoms slowly marginalized into obscurity, as we enter into an Obamaesque communistic utopia, planned and executed by the leftist proponents of the New World Order.Spoon …Below we will examine some information I pulled from the article I mentioned earlier. It was written by CNN Money contributor Shawn Tulley. It was posted on Rush Limbaugh’s site, and I picked it up on Neal Boortz’s site. Let’s examine what some are calling facts, and see if it is really fiction, seeking to be made into fact through the effective utilization of hyperbole and propaganda.The article was called, “5 Freedoms You’d Lose In Health Care Reform.” Let’s engage each one critically, and examine it.1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan.Under ObamaCare, the government will mandate "standard benefits packages" that all health care plans must offer in order to be "qualified" by ObamaCare. Will this really make health care less expensive? Don't count on it. "Every group, from chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors, do lobbying to get included. Connecticut, for example, requires reimbursement for hair transplants, hearing aids, and in vitro fertilization."My friends, let’s try and parse this paragraph in an effort to understand it clearly. Keep in mind we can apply part of my mental methodology, 3FE (Find, Focus, establish the Fundamentals, Execute) in order to understand what is being said. First, it indicates that ObamaCare will mandate standard benefits packages, that all health care plans must offer in order to be qualified. We can ask critical questions here, like what is the benefits package? What does qualified mean? Who gets included? Where, and in what situation might this be applied? How different might this be from the mandates placed on me by my insurance company? How different might it be from the mandates on my Medicare, Medicaid, or here in Georgia my state run Peachcare?Remember, in any given situation it is a must that we be engaged and respond with critical questions. One must not simply drink from the fount of the loud, the bombastic, or the hopelessly inane. One must regard a critical situation such as healthcare reform seriously, and analyze it for themselves.Understand, this means reading and seeking to understand as best as you can, the facts. I can’t begin to tell you how many people comment on my own YouTube videos by directing me to other YouTube videos that supposedly speak the facts. After watching the video, which in turn is nothing more than witless, and increasingly dangerous propaganda, I’ll check the information links for more information, which I have been directed to read by the YouTuber. I click the links and end up reading about conspiracy theories, legalized White House Power czars, child slave camps, and death boards. This is not conducting primary research my friends. If a government official states publicly they will do a thing, then find where it is written, and read it for yourself.So what can we infer from the loss of Freedom number 1? First, consider that if one implies that this is a freedom, and it is one which we already possess, then one is hopelessly inaccurate. All healthcare plans that are offered now offer a standard care package. When you sign up for you insurance through your employer you are offered packages from standard to what may be called deluxe. Given prevailing economic factors and what the customer may demand in services, a government mandated package will not limit what an individual insurance company can provide in its pursuit of higher profits.Will this make health care less expensive? Will everybody try to creep into the standard government package? Perhaps, and it will be priced accordingly. However, what would prevent the government Public Option from providing a suite of options, priced accordingly for the indigent to the wealthy? What precludes government from offering a suite of options just as private insurance does now? Conclusion, so long as we maintain critical dialogue and engage our government effectively, we can gain the best in terms of care and the least in terms of cost for a suite of packages, an option we can demand, which is not a freedom we currently enjoy.SUPPORT AND ACTIVELY PROMOTE OBAMACARE IN ’09!2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or to pay your own costs.Under ObamaCare, all qualified plans must conform to a yet-to-be-developed "community rating" scheme, whereby all insureds pay roughly the same premium, regardless of age or health. Giving a break to people who suffer from chronic or hereditary conditions like diabetes or cancer is not a bad idea, but community rating is like "car insurers [having] to charge the same rates to safe drivers as to chronic speeders with a history of accidents."The second freedom we are set to lose appears to me once again like a freedom we never had. If we focus on the comparison used, I’m certain many people will wonder what the article’s author means. There are many people who are excellent drivers, but have been adversely affected by how insurance companies rate them based on where they live, and what type of ethnicity they may be (well, this is illegal, and does not happen anymore?). Still, let’s dispel that thought and focus on what is being said.It does seem clear that ObamaCare as currently outlined by House Bill 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is insisting that premiums be maintained at reasonable levels in order to insure that coverage can be maintained at all levels of the socio-economic ladder. It also implies a tax penalty for those that do not have coverage. In this sense, I can’t agree with the plan as outlined. It would seem to deny the ability to offer a suite of coverage defined by private enterprise, by holding private insurance companies to a community rating with certain specific areas of variance. This can be a point of contention and should be re-examined for real-world viability. I have an option that should be included in place of what HR 3200 is offering, and I will detail it after we discuss the next freedom.In summary, this too is not a freedom that we currently enjoy. I don’t know anyone who gets rewarded for being well, accept when one considers the healthier they are the fewer co-pays and lab-work fees they’ll have to pay. They still have to suffer the pain of ever-increasing monthly insurance payments eating, no devouring their salaries or wages. Part of what OBAMACARE is emphasizing is programs to promote wellness. I fully stand behind this. The only thing I would add, and hopefully something like it will be added as the final version of the bill nears completion, is a provision truly rewarding an individual for being well, which might translate into something like annual credits to be utilized as accumulated costs savings on health services, and/or credits to doctors for successfully maintaining a healthy and vigorous clientele. I would not like to see this incorporated as a tax credit … because I’m still praying for the Fair Tax in coming years. I don’t see anything like this in the current incarnation of HR 3200. However, don’t think this means you should step away from the table, and pull your support. No! Quite the opposite! It means you should increase your engagement and push for the things you want to see in Health Care reform.SUPPORT OBAMACARE IN ’09!3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage.The mandatory low-deductible, full-coverage benefits packages in qualified ObamaCare programs will end the ability of consumers to buy cheaper, catastrophic care health policies and use the resulting premium savings to pay for occasional doctor visits and prescriptions out of pocket. For young, healthy Americans who do not need monthly prescription medications, this is an attractive and affordable option for health coverage. (This was the type of coverage I bought until I got married and had kids. It cost me $110 a month in the mid-1990's.)The Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage is very much an enticing option when one is young, healthy, and feels quite invincible. When I first started working I did the exact same thing as the author, opted for the super cheap insurance. I want to take a moment and ask that you focus on what is being detailed here, what is the essence of this supposed loss of freedom.An aspect of choice.On the surface, allow me to say I think we finally hit upon something on which the article’s author and I can agree. One of our most important freedoms is indeed the freedom to choose, within reason, given legal constraints by law, and of course the natural rights of humankind. According to HR 3200, as I interpret it, an individual will be taxed a penalty for not having health insurance coverage. I think this is wrong. One should be able to choose whether or not they want to have insurance coverage. It’s just that simple.We have to be critical and use sound judgment in where we want to apply force in improving and evolving our culture. This evolution and growth should be forced only in terms of promoting, and making a thing (health services) available. The ultimate choice should still remain the purview of the adult individual. So what does this mean in terms of HR 3200? As I alluded to earlier, I have my own solution, which I would like to see added to the legislation.I’ve considered it critically, and to my common mind it means if a person chooses to not have coverage, and they aren’t in the indigent category (such as the homeless wandering into a hospital), then that’s fine. If this person of means gets sick, they should be given the right to pay the $20, $30, $150, $500 required by the physician, or emergency room attendant tending to their care. If that person does not have the necessary funds to cover whatever care has been provided, then that burden naturally falls on the taxpayer. At that moment, in that very instance, our data systems implemented due to the provisions provided in ObamaCare, should indicate this person has violated our health care policies to the detriment of the American taxpayer, and should be assessed a tax penalty, and immediately enrolled in the public plan, at the primary benefits package cost. That person will have the option of changing plans, and going with a private insurer, so long as they maintain continuous coverage, which means demonstrating that they maintain their payments for six months, proof that they will not again burden the taxpayer with personal negligence. Just my opinion. I would like to see this added to the legislation.SUPPORT AND ACTIVELY PROMOTE OBAMACARE IN ’09!4. Freedom to keep your existing plan.This has been discussed at length here at WizBang. And frankly, it's the biggest lie currently being told by the Obama Administration. Draconian restrictions that will be placed on private health insurance plans by ObamaCare guarantee that almost everyone who is currently covered by private insurance will be forced out of those plans and into the public ObamaCare insurance exchange within 12 months.This has been discussed at length by many of my follow critical thinkers and we think the assertion made by the author in this statement is one of the stupidest, worst piece of broadcast political spin histrionic propaganda put forth throughout this entire health care debate, next to Death Panels of course. It is pure political ideological, meant to press forth an agenda and ruin the current administration, hot off the hyped-up press garbage. My friends, we don’t even need to debate freedom number 4. Why, because the President of these United States has stated time and time again that you will be able to keep your plan if you so desire. Personally, it’s quite clear that my plan sucks rhinoceros waste. However, I love my doctor. Really! The man is just there for me whenever I need him. If competition drives down the cost of my plan and expands my coverage, then lets get moving on reform starting yesterday. However, for those of you that enjoy your current plan, it’s really simple … you keep it. Spin-doctors and Poll-Moronic-Mind-Meisters are incredibly adept at moving the common man’s mind, and making him see things that aren’t even there, believe things, that have not happened, and fear things that don’t exist. This is their purpose, and their reason for living. They elect officials with ulterior motives, and care nothing for the good of the common human being, be he wealthy or poor. It’s all about the objective, and their personal benefit. This is the crux of THEIR freedom number 4.In summary, Freedom number 4 has been assured by the President himself. If he doesn’t hold true to his word, it’s simple. We kick him out of office. However, the Miesters are convincing the non-critical thinking masses that this freedom’s loss is a fait accompli, that we Americans can’t even give the President the chance to try for CHANGE we can believe in, because he’s going to take our freedoms away. People, be critical. Be thinking … for yourself. Be engaged, so you can counter this mindlessness that is passed out to the masses like so much mental candy fit for consumption, when really, it’s only fit for waste.SUPPORT AND ACTIVELY PROMOTE OBAMACARE IN ’09!5. Freedom to choose your doctors.Under ObamaCare, you'll be "assigned a primary care doctor, and the doctor controls your access to specialists. The primary care physicians will decide which services, like MRIs and other diagnostic scans, are best for you, and will decide when you really need to see a cardiologists or orthopedist ... The danger is that doctors will be financially rewarded for denying care, as were HMO physicians more than a decade ago." If the fees paid by the government to primary care physicians are going to be based on efficiency or cost-saving ratings by government bureaucrats, then doctors can also easily be punished if they make too many specialist referrals. Is this really the way to sustain quality health care for Americans? Remember, on of President Obama’s goals is to level the playing field with respect to how much money primary care physicians and specialists earn.This is what is known as prevarication. What is the definition of prevarication? It is the act of shuffling, or quibbling in order to evade the truth, to speak falsely, or more importantly, to speak in a misleading manner; to deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression.Can you say Poll-Moronic-Mind-Meisters three times fast?First, let’s just say the President has said time and time again, you can keep the doctor, and the insurance you have if you so desire … again. In fact, let’s say it one more time. You can keep your doctor, and your plan. There, again just for good measure. Please remember people, all we need do is hold the man to his word. Don’t call him a liar when the Bill is still sitting in committee. In fact, just don’t call him a liar at all, until he gives you proof that he is one. Be critical thinking. Don’t be a spoon.Applying portions of 3FE, the critical thinking common man’s tool of motivational empowerment, let us parse this statement, Find what’s pertinent in it, Focus on it, and establish the critical Fundamental facts. Will you be assigned a primary care physician under ObamaCare? Sure you will. Are you not assigned a primary care physician now, from a variety of choices? Will this be any different under ObamaCare? No, it won’t. This is not a Freedom you will lose.Under ObamaCare will the doctor decide what services you will receive? Duhhh, yes he will. Again, is this any different from how we do things now? No, it is not. Just as it is now, under ObamaCare you will have to be a responsible patient, working closely with your physician to understand what is happening to you, and partnering on how best to treat what ails you. This is common sense. It is common sense that many Americans actively run away from. However, times are changing. People are working to be well, to live healthier lifestyles, to lose weight, understanding that fat is not okay, if it is indeed trending you toward diabetes and heart disease.Will doctors be rewarded for not giving you services? As part of an imperative to limit costs, let’s just say this is accurate. However, in this statement the word prevaricate is so appropriate and aptly applied. The objective would be to set certain standards to which doctors adhere so they don’t actively work to avoid lawsuits and run up costs, especially for Medicare patients.People, please understand that rightsizing medical services is a tricky and complex thing, but it can be done. We can establish norms that not only accurately assess health and provide diagnostic information, but give the patient that feel-good feeling one so readily needs when they visit the doctor, that the services she has provided are very appropriate, and more than adequate. For clarification on why this is so important read a very critical article from the New Yorker regarding health care in McAllen Texas. It’s called, The Cost Conundrum, written by Atul Gawande. Don’t be put off by the name. Remember, this is America. And, for a sobering differing perspective by a doctor from McAllen, read an article from Health Leaders Media called, Doctor Says New Yorker Used Slanted Stats Against McAllen, TX. Remember, we need perspective in order to achieve wisdom. I would hope after reading both you would find that the truth lies in the middle, and the story of McAllen is truly required reading, an example of what not to do, and where we can find incredibly significant cost savings.What is clear? It’s clear that the President’s mandate is to eliminate waste, not punish doctors for referring people to specialists, but rather incentivize the promotion of wellness so the doctor won’t have to send patients to specialists. Remember the word prevaricate?Regarding the level playing field in terms of how much money primary care physicians make, it’s not about some socialized mandate that means everyone makes the same. It’s about removing abuse from the system, and letting market forces in terms of service and demand drive costs at reasonable levels, without financially murdering the patient, or the taxpayer, who in many cases, more than we might think, is one and the same. Personally I feel like I’m getting stabbed every time I see a bill for lab-work, which used to be covered by my insurance.In summary, this is not a Freedom you would lose under ObamaCare. Keep yourself accountable. Keep you doctor accountable. Keep you government accountable. And remember, there is a clear difference between keeping them accountable utilizing critical thinking skills versus blindly spewing hate and rhetoric in an effort to bring down the administration because … they just ain’t right!SUPPORT AND ACTIVELY PROMOTE OBAMACARE IN ’09!In the rest of the article the author basically goes on to state that nothing will change under ObamaCare except the entire health care delivery system. Let me make this simple for you, THAT IS A GREAT THING. I’m sick of $400 out of each paycheck. I’m sick of $45 dollar co-pays when they used to be $5. I’m sick of paying for my own lab work on the best insurance available to my family through our employer, with coverage that doesn’t cover everything. I’m sick, and trembling at the thought of catastrophic illness striking anyone in my family, as it did my father-in-law, who had to pay $2000 for his procrit shot (per shot) when he was fighting cancer. I’m sick and shuddering as I remember the bill we received from the hospital after he passed. I’m sick, remembering that he was so fiscally conservative that he funneled sums of money to insurance and other sources just to cover such eventualities. I’m sick because even as I practice F-PEC, I can’t do that with my money right now. It’s not feasible as a middle-class American paying a mortgage, saving for retirement, and living reasonably well on a budget in modern America to shunt sums of money to extra, yes extra, insurance to cover every eventuality. I’m sick because I miss my father-in-law dearly. He was a great man.I’m sick because I watch Americans on a daily basis give in to mindless rhetoric and propaganda. I’m sick because I watch so many white Americans who consider themselves moderates and compassionate conservatives, ally themselves with the compassionless conservatives and racists. I’m sick because the remnants of that peculiar institution for which so many Americans can’t even bring themselves to remotely apologize for still remains.Yes, I’m sick, and even as I speak to kids and tell them that once upon a time a great black man named W.E.B Dubious, a learned scholar from Harvard, stated that the defining issue of 20th Century America is the problem of the color line, racism, the issue of his era remains the issue of our own. I stay sick because as I keep talking to them I say that though the issue is very much still relevant, the defining issue, the problem of 21st Century America is the money line, economics, the widening divide between the haves, and the have-nots. I almost vomit as I stop and consider it critically, and realize, even as I think about Geraldo Rivera’s book, His-Panic, Why America Fears Hispanics in the US, that the problem of the color line has not receded quite as far back as I had once thought, that I was being naïve, and that I must dispel that naiveté and gird myself for what looks like an onrushing wave of intensifying racism. I must remind the young Black American men that they are Black American men, and still considered less-than in the eyes of all the other children of planet Earth, despite the fact that a black man of vast intelligence, wise political acumen, ethics, and good strong aspirations for all of Earth’s peoples resides in the White House.I’m sick because I know there are Americans, my people, even now, plotting. I’m sick because racism is alive, strong, hateful, willful, and consuming. I’m sick because people, white Americans, are banding together in unreasoning irrationality to oppose just about anything this administration does, starting this year, THIS YEAR, and are at a loss to explain why. I’m sick because my fellow Americans can’t acknowledge their own racism, which will be their downfall, as well ours. Yes, we will all be doomed to hell together. I’m sick because just like an alcoholic, they fight against accepting the condition, which of course is the first step in moving on to wellness.I’m … just … sickMy fellow Americans, please, I beg of you, let’s stand together, and plan to be well. I go to the mall, and I see hope, and the promise of feeling well. I see White, Black, Latino, Asian, Indian and everything else walking, talking, laughing, embracing, and I’m filled with hope. I talk to my friends, of all ethnicities, and rejoice at their feelings of hope, knowing that the see what I see, feel what I feel, empathizing as best as they can, fully considering my perspective, and eagerly joining me in this struggle. I feel this, and I have hope of feeling well. Yes, I have great hope, because I know so many people, so many that are Anglo-American, African-American, Latin-American, Asian-American, Indian-American, and whatever else American are strongly committed to the American ideal, and consider a statement like, “I hope he fails,” to be the mantra of the mindless and asinine, a statement that can’t be coddled, sugar coated, or retracted, simply because the person who said it refuses to do so, even though we would willingly give him the chance. Yes, I have hope. Yes, I believe I will get better. I believe I will be well. My fellow Americans, let us all work together to be well. Let us work together to be innovative, creative, brilliant, world-changing Americans. Let us be … together.SUPPORT AND ACTIVELY PROMOTE OBAMACARE IN ’09!www.2rulesof3.comblog.2rulesof3.comwww.TheHandMill.comblog.dsbrownwrites.comblog.facebooktales.comwww.youtube.com/dsbrown300
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