2,000 Pages of Really Bad Stuff

General Session on Day 3, "2,000 Pages Plus of Really Bad Stuff” of the National Right to Life Convention featuring Douglas Johnson speaking on abortion coverage and Burke Balch, J.D. speaking on rationing in the Health Care Act.

Douglas Johnson is speaking on abortion coverage in the Health Care Act.

One of the ways the pro-abortion lobby has always sought to increase the number of abortions is to have government subsidies for abortion. It is estimated that there are over one million people alive today because of the Hyde amendment. They think that's a bad thing; we think that's a good thing. Within 3yrs of Roe v. Wade (1973), the Govt. was paying for 300,000 abortions/yr - the Courts found that this was a just application of the law. In 1976, Hyde amendment came in prohibiting Federal money going towards abortions. This amendment expires every year and so comes under attack but needs to be renewed every year.

In 2007 Barack Obama was asked how "reproductive healthcare" would be covered in the Health Care Bill. “In my mind, reproductive care is essential care. It is basic care. It is at the center and at the heart of the plan that I propose… It will be a plan that will provide ALL essential services, including reproductive services."

The Executive Order which is claimed to prevent abortion funding. USA Today reported that both sides of the debate agree that the order was meaningless. National Right to Life Committee's Douglas Johnson referred to the order as "a transparent political fig leaf," and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood called it a "symbolic gesture".

Burke Balch, J.D. is speaking on rationing in the new Health Care Act. Federal law now limits what individuals are allowed to spend out of their own funds for their health care insurance. "We should not have a two tier health care system." Do you even things out by helping those who can't afford adequate health care by limiting the health care available to those who can afford it? "This is what the Act does."

Rationing Procedure:

1. Independent Payment Advisory Commission. It's aim is to push private healthcare spending down, so that it does not keep up with the rate of medical inflation. Recommednations every two years. Department of Health and Human Services is going to impose "quality and efficiency" standards... "under what circumstances is it efficient/appropriate for someone to receive a kidney transplant?". HC providers must comply with these guidelines (caps on private spending on healthcare), or else they will lose insurance contracts. This limits and micro-manages the healthcare you can get.
2. Medicare Limits - $529 cut from Medicare. Will the govt. allow senior citizens to make up the difference from their own private funds? Currently older Americans are allowed to add their own money if they choose, in order to get insurance plans less likely to ration - these are known as Medicare Private Advantage Plans. However under the Obama health law, HHS given standardless discretion to reject any Medicare advantage plan.
3. Exchange Limits on What People Can Pay for Insurance. First state-based insurance exchanges. Govt. officials will exclude health insurers whose plans inside or outside the exchange allow private citizens to spend whatever govt. officials think is "excessive or unjustified" amount on their own health care insurance.
4. Shared Decisionmaking. Funding to non govt. groups to develop "patient decision-making aids" to help patients, caregivers or authorised representatives to decided with their health care provider, what plans are best for them. They're going to "establish regional shared decision making resource centers to provide technical assistance to providers to develop and disseminate best practices". In other words, re-education...

Govt. website box states: "about 25% of Medicare dollars are spent on people in their last 60 days of life" - but we don't know when people are going to die, we're trying to save them. "Toward the end of life, too many people receive ineffective, expensive medical treatments" - California Health Care Foundation

Health care spending as a percentage of personal consumption expenditures has been rising steadily since 1940. Also, private food, clothing and shelter expenses have been steadily dropping. The reason that we've been able to put more money into healthcare to date, is that we've put less resources into other things. America could ensure decent health care for all. Currently we have private sector cost-shifting - it imperfectly covers people who are uninsured. "We could achieve good healthcare for all without rationing." The fundamental, worst elements are not going to come into affect until 2014. Need a pro-repeal president and senate and 60 senators to beat a filibuster (41 Senators). "We are not hopeless. What we have to do now is educate Americans about the grave danger this law poses to our family members."