Let the Lawyering begin!!

     A milestone in the implementation of ObamaCare was reached recently, at least that is what the newspaper headlines trumpted.  While I know it is hard to believe that anyone reads the newspaper anymore, I found the proclamation a bit perplexing and premature.  It referred to the compromise that the HHS wonks and religious organizations agreed upon to resolve the controversy surrounding contraception.  You remember that the original law mandated that, for example, Catholic hospitals had to pay for their employee’s birth control through their insurance plan.  Well, as you can imagine, this played at the Vatican about as well as Kim Kardashian at a Mensa meeting, so more than 60 groups filed lawsuits to stop the implementation of this mandate saying it violated very basic precepts of their religious teachings.  The government and these groups apparently had a Kumbaya moment and settled most of the legal wranglings and reached a compromise recently that allows the employees of said religious groups to have their birth control and eat it too.  In other words, very little on principle was really achieved. 

         
     This issue is much deeper than birth control, there are multitudes of rulings in the law that can be seen as moral rather than legal issues, and this compromise goes nowhere to settle the real question as to whether we want government dictating morals and ethics.  You might argue that is precisely what a government is for, to legislate and implement law that is moral, ethical, and in the interest of the general welfare.  If that is the case, I hope you are satisfied when legislators who have a different moral and ethical belief system pass laws that totally oppose your point of view.  A republic is based on a representative government, not a democracy, so the premise for such action is the Constitution, not the Bible, Koran, of Bhagavad Gita.  I have yet to see anywhere in the Constitution that the national government has the power to compel me to buy insurance and, as a business owner, pay for services I might object to.  I see this ruling solving very little and opening the floodgates of lawsuits of businesses objecting to everything from contraception to hospice care.  Let the lawyering begin!!     

An Apple a Day

Okay, okay, I realize that I have been less than generous in praising ObamaCare over the past several months, but it’s kind of like finding something good to say about a herpes outbreak.  This week I am actually going to mention a few of the things that may, and I emphasize the may, be

Anemia screening on a routine basis for pregnant women

Breast Cancer Genetic Test Counseling (BRCA) for women at higher risk for breast cancer

Breast Cancer Mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40

Breast Cancer Chemoprevention counseling for women at higher risk

Breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breastfeeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women

Cervical Cancer screening for sexually active women

Chlamydia Infection screening for younger women and other women at higher risk

Contraception: Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider for women with reproductive capacity (not including abortifacient drugs). This does not apply to health plans sponsored by certain exempt “religious employers.”

Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women

Folic Acid supplements for women who may become pregnant

Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes

Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk

Hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit

HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA Test every 3 years for women with normal cytology results who are 30 or older


Osteoporosis screening for women over age 60 depending on risk factors

Rh Incompatibility screening for all pregnant women and follow-up testing for women at higher risk

Sexually Transmitted Infections counseling for sexually active women

Syphilis screening for all pregnant women or other women at increased risk

Tobacco Use screening and interventions for all women, and expanded counseling for pregnant tobacco users

Urinary tract or other infection screening for pregnant women

Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65



    Whew! If you waded through all that I give you kudos.  Think about this for a moment, the government is mandating that your insurance cover these tests (and there are even more for kids and men) so what would you think your insurance may do if that is not already a part of your policy.  Do ya think they might jack up the premiums to compensate for the lost revenue due to mandated coverage...do ya??  I think we all know those answers, especially if you have seen your premiums recently.  This reveals another flaw in the system.  While I am not advocating a single payer system, the current structure allows insurance companies free reign to increase rates. Pundants claim competition in the exchanges will keep rates low, but how well has that worked in reality...not!
    So while I am a big fan of prevention and I am glad to see this kind of emphasis, remember...everything comes at a cost.

construed as good in this program.  Let’s start with preventative services.  According to the Affordable Care Act various screenings and preventative tests and check ups are encouraged and a person’s insurance has to cover them with no copay and no charge against the deductible. Below is a list of those tests for women (yes, this is a sexist blog) Oh and one other caveat, if your current plan was in force in 2010, this may not apply to you (clear as mud, I know):

The IRS Man Cometh

     In light of recent revelations, I feel it is both timely and appropriate to outline exactly the role of the IRS in administering ObamaCare.  What?  The IRS is involved in healthcare?? You bet your sweet premium it is.  The IRS, with the compassion of a pit bull in heat and the efficiency of the post
   

office, is mandated to play a key role in ObamaCare.  This is the same IRS that handles non profit requests as unbiasedly as Al Gore protecting an endangered polar bear. 
     The big stick, or big enema, that ObamaCare wields is a fine for anyone who doesn’t “buy” health insurance. (Remember buy is relative, if you are a middle class tax payer you are buying other’s health insurance for them with subsidies). So if you decide that rising premiums and falling coverage is not logical (imagine that) then who better to seek out and destroy your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness than the IRS.  The Affordable Care Act (I giggle every time I say that) empowers the IRS to confiscate your tax refund to pay this new tax.  That means proving to the IRS you have insurance.  That means providing an inefficient, politically motivated, bloated bureaucracy with not only your financial wherewithal but also whether you had a prostate exam this year. So you are getting probed by both your urologist and a clerk at the Cincinnati IRS office who thinks conservatism is tantamount to leprosy.  Some one in the know was recently quoted as saying,
   
     “We the people have been told there is no choice. You must buy health insurance or pay the new Gestapo – the I.R.S.” 
   
     This wasn’t Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck...it was the Governor of Maine, Paul LePage. 
   
     In addition, Obamacare appropriates funds to hire new IRS employes to handle this influx of information.  Already the IRS has requested $473 million to begin the process (they didn’t specify how much was for line dancing instruction and Gilligan Island videos). 
   
     So to summarize, if you don’t have health insurance the IRS will be on you like Clinton on an intern. Now that’s an image that should make you sleep sounder at night.

Racism?? Are you kidding me!!

     A Louisiana state legislator, Karen Carter Peterson, recently made national headlines talking about opposition to ObamaCare by stating, “It’s about race. No, nobody wants to talk about that. It’s about the race of this African-American president.”
   
   
   

      Honestly I was wondering when it was going to come down to this.  This ignorant, manipulative rhetoric has been a staple of Obama supporters ever since he burst onto the national scene.  It is the fallacious argument that if you object to any policy or program it has nothing to do with the absurdity of the legislation, it is only because it is being pushed by a black man.  This is not only evil but insulting as it assumes that race is the only factor people consider when judging the benefits or downsides of an action.  Really?? Does this petty bureaucrat think so little of her president’s agenda that she has to ignore the substance and resort to a logical fallacy in defending the plan?  If I was to recommend to a patient that she have a hysterectomy, would her first inclination be to wonder about the validity of my advice due to my terminal Caucasian persuasion.  That’s absurd of course.  She would judge my advice based on the merits of the argument itself, pros and cons, benefits and risks.  So the American people are judging Obamacare based on the structure of the arguments not the fact that Barak Obama happens to posses an excess of melanin pigment. 
    
     When a policy is bad or failing, when logical arguments to defend it are proving illogical, when even supporters are horrified at how bad things are going, what is left is sycophants grasping for anything to bolster a crumbling building.  If the president was a woman, I’m sure there would be cries of sexism.  If the president was a Republican, there would be cries of wealthy elitism.  Let’s be honest, both sides can play this despicable game; however, we all acknowledge our revulsion at being labeled a “racist” and these Obamatons understand and exploit this political correctness with the fervor of a dog in heat. 
   
     I for one will not tolerate being accused of opposing this piece of legislation because of racism.  I oppose it because it is bad...pure and simple.  It will forevermore damage health care delivery in this country, bankrupt the national government, and hurt patients.  The president could be a troglodyte from Venus and I would feel the same way.