posted July 17, 2009 10:42 AM         

O'Bomber told every lie imaginable to get himself elected. If he had told the truth about anything he's now doing while he was campaigning, he would have been trashed in the election.

The truth about O'BomberCare is that you are not going to be able to keep your current insurance plan, you are going to be forced to join O'BomberCare, you are going to be fined if you do not join O'BomberCare and petty non medical bureaucrats are going to be making decisions about what kind of treatments you can receive under O'BomberCare or..if you are going to be treated for your illness or disease at all.

For many, O'BomberCare is going to be a death sentence and you'll have to go along to your grave with no recourse because there aren't going to be any options available.

O'BomberCare should properly be called: The Kill Americans Bill because that's going to be the result.

These are some of the reasons O'Bomber and his Marxist buddies in the Congress are attempting to rush this Kill Americans Bill through Congress...before all the provisions in the bill become public knowledge.

You should also know there is a provision in this bill which exempts members of Congress from joining O'BomberCare. They have a great medical insurance plan..compliments of taxpayers.

Under the provisions of O'BomberCare, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton..aka Kommander Korruption, Robert KKK Byrd and other elderly members of Congress would not have been treated and would likely be dead today: ditto Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

But, they're exempted from the provisions of the bill which they intend to apply to you..and me.

One more thing, this bill is 1017 pages long in it's current form and by the time it gets to a final vote chances are it will top 1500 pages of gobbledygook.

July 17, 2009
Obama's broken promises
Rick Moran

Betsy McCaughey, writing in the New York Post:
http://www.nypo st.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost.com%2Fseven%2F07172009%2Fpostopinion%2Fopedcolumnists%2Fos_broken_promises_179667.htm
points to an under-discussed aspect of the health care boondoggle; Obama's broken promises:

Obama promises that "if you like your health plan, you can keep it," even after he reforms our health-care system. That's untrue. The bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests.

Two main bills are being rushed through Congress with the goal of combining them into a finished product by August. Under either, a new government bureaucracy will select health plans that it considers in your best interest, and you will have to enroll in one of these "qualified plans." If you now get your plan through work, your employer has a five-year "grace period" to switch you into a qualified plan. If you buy your own insurance, you'll have less time.

And as soon as anything changes in your contract -- such as a change in copays or deductibles, which many insurers change every year -- you'll have to move into a qualified plan instead (House bill, p. 16-17).

When you file your taxes, if you can't prove to the IRS that you are in a qualified plan, you'll be fined thousands of dollars -- as much as the average cost of a health plan for your family size -- and then automatically enrolled in a randomly selected plan (House bill, p. 167-168).

Ah, life under Obama is such a treat, eh? The guy's nose has grown so long from so many lies he has told that it may be used as a pole vault in the next olympics.

Can you imagine if he had actually campaigned on this plan? He would have been slaughtered - even by milquetoast old John McCain. Watch now as the Democrats finesse this little lie - as they will finesse the others including the whopper that the government plans will be better than anything you can get yourself.

Liberals have learned to lie about what they support because they know if they told the truth, no one would vote for them. They tried that for about 20 years and kept getting beaten. Now, they talk like moderates and write legislation that any far left loon would love.

And people are swallowing it whole.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/obamas_broken_promises.html

posted July 17, 2009 11:08 AM         

As Obama's poll numbers have declined, the Democrats' push to enact their agenda, especially cap and trade and nationalized health care, has become increasingly frenzied. This is no accident. They are laboring under a delusion.

As Thomas Sowell said:

The grand delusion of contemporary liberals is that they have both the right and the ability to move their fellow creatures around like blocks of wood -- and that the end results will be no different than if people had voluntarily chosen the same actions.

By now, many Democrats must know, and even the most "obtuse" among them must suspect, public opinion is turning, and in some cases, already has turned, against them.

(See, e.g., here:

rasmussenreports.com

here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6530994.html

here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/07/dems.health.care/index.html

here:

rasmussenreports.com

here:

rasmussenreports.com

and here:

rasmussenreports.com

Thus the rush and Obama's deadline to pass nationalized health care by August.

Congressional Democrat leaders realize that if they recess before passing the bill, by the time they get back the public will have turned sufficiently against the bill as to leave no doubt: those members who vote for the bill will be voting against the will of the people. And it's entirely possible that negative public opinion will have made passage of the bill impossible.

Clearly, in their minds, it's now or never. In a more reasonable milieu, an undertaking as massive as reforming healthcare would be the subject of months, if not years, of debate, but Democrats are in no mood to be reasonable. As their having already passed two major pieces of legislation, Obama's stimulus package and climate change, without even reading them demonstrates, time is of the essence for Democrats. Debate and circumspection are not.

Which brings us back to Sowell's statement, for in viewing the Democrats' rush to pass their agenda, it is important to understand that, though Democrats certainly care about public opinion, they care about it not as a reflection of what we the people think, but its utility to their agenda.

posted July 17, 2009 11:36 AM         

"WE HAVE TO GO SPEND MONEY TO KEEP FROM GOING BANKRUPT"

And, where is the intellectual pygmy speaking? He's speaking to an AARP..American Association of Retired People..audience and the Bill he's spouting drivel about will kill most of them at some point if it gets passed by Congress.

Of course, the leftist dominated AARP fully supports the "Kill Americans Bill" and every other leftist cause, which is the reason I throw all literature from the AARP in the trash where it properly belongs.

The very thing the radical Marxist Socialist Regime in Washington is proposing is to lower the cost of healthcare, lower the cost of Medicare and lower the cost of Social Security..BY KILLING OFF MILLIONS OF THOSE WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR COVERAGE BY REFUSING TO GIVE THEM PROPER TREATMENT FOR THEIR ILLNESSES AND DISEASES. PROBLEM SOLVED!

But, why would the AARP, a group made up of retirement age members, go along with such a plan?

You just have to understand that leftists have never been able to connect the dots. If they could, they wouldn't be leftists in the first place.

Joe Biden: ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’
Thursday, July 16, 2009
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

Vice President Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money.

“And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable,” Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. “It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially.”

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.” (Listen to Audio)

The event, sponsored by the AARP – which supports the Obama administration’s plan – was attended by mostly AARP members who were bussed in for the meeting.

Biden took time from answering questions to chat with a member of the audience, who were mostly members of the AARP. (Photo by Penny Starr/CNSNews.com.) Biden told the group that the Obama health plan will not eliminate people’s ability to choose their health care insurance and that people who cannot afford insurance will be covered by the plan.

“They’ll be a deal in there so there’s competition, so what you’ll have in there is you’ll have the ability to go in there and say, ‘Now look, this is the policy I want. This is the one,” Biden said.

“And those people who can’t afford to get in there, up to a certain income, we’re going to subsidize them, you get in there and we’ll help you pay for it,” Biden said.

After opening remarks by Biden and AARP CEO A. Barry Rand, the audience asked questions, which were fielded by Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform.
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=51162

posted July 17, 2009 12:48 PM         

because everyone is covered by the govt these companies have to keep their prices down to get business. the result is a perfect blend of choice and low cost...

while it may have changed since i left - england certainly has! - there is nothing wrong with this situation. everyone is covered at a price they can afford or want to pay.

my 75-year old m-in-law has parkinson's and gets excellent care and the best possible meds for her situation. my sister-in-law has had state of the art treatment for her breast cancer and the fact that she is genetically disposed that way (ie pre-existing condition) doesn't stand in the way of her treatment. though she is wealthy she is entitled to complete care under the PUBLIC plan - which fact she learned from her private consultant who she pays $100 3-4 times a year for second opinion and extra support...

posted July 17, 2009 12:59 PM         

I didn't have to pay for the neurological/psychological testing there.

Those things usually cost over 1000 dollars.

------------------
“It is absolutely the perfect name,” Dr. Brown said, given the continuing discord among astronomers and the public over whether Pluto should have retained its planetary status.

In mythology, Eris ignited discord that led to the Trojan War.

“She causes strife by causing arguments among men, by making them think their opinions are right and everyone else’s is wrong,” Dr. Brown said. “It really is just perfect.”

posted July 17, 2009 03:19 PM         

Now katatonic, if you can get past all that and still promote the Socialist health care system...as you have in the past, then reasonable people would most likely decide you're either being disingenuous or you simply don't understand the facts of Socialist health care systems.

posted July 17, 2009 03:46 PM         

i know the conservatives lost the government in 97. the deconstruction i was talking about started in around 1980 under margaret thatcher, and the national health was a major casualty! and as i mentioned, the combination of private and public that was still in effect when i left, and apparently still used by my sister, worked very well indeed. could you get yourself treated for cancer for nothing at one of the top hospitals in the world here? i doubt it. and her taxes aren't much higher than yours..

i don't know where you get your stories but it was HERE in the us that i couldn't afford to get my teeth fixed, not in the uk where my ordinary dentist did a great peridontal job for about $50 per visit...unfortunately i had to come back here before the job was done and couldn't afford the $1000 per quadrant charged by the local peridontist - which cost me a large number of teeth. so don't tell me about british health care. i have to agree with you their dentists are mostly not the best, but it is more from lack of dedication to their trade in a country where people really don't care as much about perfect teeth as they do here, than anything else! some of their dentists are perfectly brilliant.

every single one of the horror stories you mention have their equivalents here. i have heard any number of them and know people who were insured who still found their treatment costs ruinous to put it mildly. it was here also that my INSURED sister spent a day on a hospital bed in the hall waiting for some investigative work to explain her intestinal pains...

so basically you are generalizing with third-hand knowledge and refute my personal experience and that of my family out of unwillingness to believe that anything forwarded by democrats could be less than diabolical. take off your blinkers, man.

and the outrage at the program cited above is a bit premature since there are plenty in congress and senate who will drag their feet and push for alterations before it ever gets to the table.

posted July 17, 2009 04:03 PM         

2 hour waits in emergency rooms are common here too jwhops.

seriously sometimes hanging on to the old way is definately not better.

if you were to get sick jwhops, they would make you liquidate all of your assets to pay for your care prior to your eligability for medical subsidy from the govt. that is not what i am working my whole life for. i pay enough now for healthcare.

i hope it never happens to you, but it happens to many, it is out of control and too many uninsured. candians like thier medical. sounds like europeons do too.

i too have a tooth that i need because i didn't want to fork over more than a grand to have done. even dental insurance doesnt cover much of certain procedures.

jwhops, i never want to see you or anyone else have to sell thier house to pay for thier medical needs. those who have worked hard all of thier lives should not have to prove poverty to maintain thier health. nor should they be forced to sell thier assets. they should be able to retire in dignity without being afraid of disease sickness ruining them financially.

posted July 17, 2009 06:35 PM         

my mother was floored when my doctor showed up to check up on my daughter AT MY HOUSE - my mom hadn't heard of doctors' housecalls for years! this was a regular occurence for us.

not only did i have my daughter in hospital for nothing, but stayed there for a week afterwards BECAUSE I COULD and i was "between houses" waiting for my new home to be ready for move-in. after her birth i had a weekly visit from a midwife/maternity nurse at home for 8 weeks, after which we had infant care at the doctor's office that would rival anything here

while my sister-in-law was able to have her children at home also free with 1st class care. patients' choice.

my father in law recently had a knee replacement also GRATIS.

when my daughter ran into a doorjam and split the skin on her forehead to the bone the ambulance was there in about 40 mins and the exam and scan were over and done with in about 90 (from the time of accident)

and NO ONE forced me to give my daughter any vaccines i didn't approve of.

yes we all paid taxes for these services. but bear in mind that the tax rate was no worse than it is here. i remember hearing rod stewart saying he paid more tax in the states than he would have to at home during the 80's. don't frankly know what the taxes are over there these days but i know the rich have just as many loopholes as they do here! and they can get free healthcare if they want

several years ago my ex offered to pay for insurance here in america for me as well as my daughter - i could not find a plan for under $3500 a year and that one had so many exclusions and such a high deductible i passed it up. today that sounds cheap!

posted July 17, 2009 06:56 PM         

but affordable healthcare for all was a very big part of why so many voted for obama/dems. they will be more disillusioned if the naysayers don't get creative and work for a GOOD plan instead of trying to obstruct at any cost.

posted July 17, 2009 09:57 PM         

Across the globe, citizens of nations with government-run health care systems experience long wait times, a lack of access to certain treatments and, in some instances, a diminished quality of medical care. Navigate the links below to learn more about patients’ health care horror stories.

“I wouldn’t like to see Americans make the same mistake Canadians have made… Patients in Canada are treated like Third World citizens. Our health-care system is like Cuba or North Korea.”
- Lindsay McCreith (Brain tumor patient, Canada)

“This country would be nowhere without its elderly population. We have always worked and paid our taxes. It seems most unfair that we’ve got nothing at the end of it.”
- Dawn Ford (Eye disease patient, UK)

“I’m a person who left school at 15 and I’ve worked all my life and I’ve paid into the system, and I’m not going to live long enough to get my old-age pension from this government.”
- Debbie Hirst (Breast cancer patient, UK)

“Once you have had the diagnosis you want to have the thing done. The longer it is in your body, the more chance it has of spreading.”
- Linda Lucas (Breast cancer patient, UK)

“There should be somewhere closer. No one with breast cancer should have to go on such a long journey, particularly when we are not feeling too good anyway.”
- Muriel Buckley (Breast cancer patient, UK)

The United Kingdom
Linda O’Boyle
When Linda O’Boyle, 64, was diagnosed with cancer, she decided to pay for additional, private treatment out of pocket, hoping to prolong her life. O’Boyle was told that a medication not provided by NHS would increase her chances of fighting the disease. After deciding to use her savings to pay for these outside medications, NHS withdrew their services, including chemotherapy because current government laws ban a patient from combining public and private healthcare. O’Boyle passed away March 26, 2008.

“NHS scandal: dying cancer victim was forced to pay” The Sunday Times (June 1, 2008) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4040146.ece
“Woman dies after fight for dual cancer care,” The Guardian (June 2, 2008) http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/02/nhs.health
“Cancer patient Linda O’Boyle dies after NHS ends free care over ‘top up’” The Telegraph, By Richard Alleyne (February 6, 2008) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2062737/Cancer-patient-Linda-O’Boyle-dies-after-NHS…
Joshua Halliday
Joshua Halliday, 5, was forced to travel 50 miles to be treated for a broken arm after doctors failed to find him a place at seven hospitals. The original care facility no longer performs serious trauma surgery.

Joshua’s 50 mile trek with a broken arm, Bucks Free Press, By Lucinda Adam (June 27, 2008) http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.2367416.0.joshuas…
Katie Hilliard
Katie Hilliard, 24, asked to be given a smear test twice, and was refused because she was “too young.” Katie now has cervical cancer, and it has spread to her lymph nodes and lungs. Doctors have given her 11 months to two years to live.

‘I was told I was too young for a smear test but now I am dying of cervical cancer at just 24′ The Daily Mail, By Amanda Lynch (June 10, 2008 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025334/I-told-I-young-smear-test-I-dying…
Claire Everett
Claire Everett, 22, a married mother-of-one, was diagnosed with cervical cancer after developing symptoms took her to the doctor. Claire feels that a smear test would have caught the terminal disease sooner, but the UK increased the regular screening age for cervical cancer from 20 to 25 in 2004. Chemotherapy and radiation were initially thought to have been successful, but two months after the treatment finished, Claire was informed that the cancer had spread to her pelvis and is now incurable.

‘I was told I was too young for a smear test but now I am dying of cervical cancer at just 24′ The Daily Mail, By Amanda Lynch (June 10, 2008 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025334/I-told-I-young-smear-test-I-dying-cervical…
Terry Pratchett
Author Terry Pratchett, 60, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Because Pratchett is only 60, a relatively young age to develop the disease, he cannot be prescribed the drug Aricept on NHS.

“Terry Pratchett, Lord of Discworld, fights to save his powers, The Times (June 8, 2008) http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/…
Jackie Knight
Last November, Jackie Knight was diagnosed with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma after a checkup revealed a tumour on his liver. The consultant he was referred to told him that the most effective treatment would be Sorafenib or Nexavar. NHS denied him access to this drug because it was not “cost effective.” Knight does not know how much longer he will live.

“Grandfather’s anger at being denied drug,” Evening News 24, By Sarah Hall (June 21, 2008) http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline…
Anne Thomas
After an x-ray, Anne Thomas, 69, was told by doctors that she had only suffered bruising from falling in her garden, and was sent home. After five days of continued pain, friends took Thomas back to the hospital. She was sent home again and told to return to see a consultant in two days. The consultant determined that Thomas had a broken arm after examining the same x-ray.

“Pensioner’s Broken Shoulder is Missed,” The Evening Post, By Sion Morgan (June 23, 2008) http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161366…
Amy Thomas
Amy Thomas, 2, went to the hospital with an excruciating leg pain. After taking x-rays, doctors sent this two-year home and told her parents to “put a bag of frozen peas on it.” Thomas spent the night in pain. Her family later found out her leg was broken.

“Pensioner’s Broken Shoulder is Missed,” The Evening Post, By Sion Morgan (June 23, 2008) http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161366…
“Doctor “Missed” Broken Leg,” The Evening Post, By Paul Lewis (June 18, 2008) http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161366…
Alan Francis
Alan Francis, a 68-year-old leukaemia patient, was denied a life-saving bone marrow operation by the Health Commission Wales (HCW). The HCW would have refused to fund the operation, which would have entailed taking the marrow from the donor in Australia and flying it to the UK.

“Agency under review after transplant row” South Wales Evening Post (27 February 2008) http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161389…
Alan Peasnell
Alan Peasnell, 60, was told he needed keyhole surgery on his knee. He thought he would have to wait a few months for an operation, but the mechanical engineer from Peterborough ended up waiting for more than a year. “I went to see the consultant with a knee problem,” Mr. Peasnell said. “After MRI scans and X-rays they decided in early February last year that I required an operation. They sent me a letter saying that I’d have the operation within a few months. But from the time of a consultant saying I’d been put on the waiting list to getting the operation it was 13 months. While this was all going on some days I couldn’t walk at all. I was in pain and on anti-inflammatories. It harmed my quality of life. People who are in pain like I was shouldn’t be kept waiting.”

“Patient promised knee operation within months had to wait a year” The Times, By Patrick Foster (June 7, 2007) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1896222.ece
Allan Lloyd
Allan Lloyd, from Hereford, said he traveled 7,000 miles to take his wife to a hospital in Cheltenham to receive her cancer treatment. It took 210 hours and cost £750 in petrol.

“Cancer patient, 87, forced to travel 500 miles a week” The Guardian, By Steven Morris (April 4, 2006) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/apr/04/health.healthandwellbeing
Andrew Lawson
Andrew Lawson, a 48 year-old NHS doctor, was diagnosed with pulmonary mesothelioma. He said, “treatments are available now, but in parts of the UK the drug that is used as a frontline treatment is not available on the NHS. This is because for each year of (quality-adjusted) life it brings it costs more than £30,000. [If you are] diagnosed with a mesothelioma in Scotland, Australia and many European countries, you will receive the drug – but not in England.”

“My surreal side: doctor to patient” The Sunday Times, By Dr. Andrew Lawson (May 27, 2007) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1844501.ece
Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville, 50, was refused the drug Tarceva by the NHS, despite being told by doctors it could prolong his life. The father-of-one died on February 11. Now Mr Melville’s sister, Pat Myatt, wants all patients refused drugs on the NHS to form an action group. Her aim is to take on the Government over the issue.

“Family vow to step up drugs fight” The Sentinel (UK), By Richard Ault (26 February 2008) http://www.thesentinel.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=158338…
Christine Preuth
Christine Preuth, 72, of Keywood Avenue, a Sunbury pensioner, was told she was too old to receive treatment for a head injury at Ashford 24 Hour Walk-In Centre. While making her daily trip to the shops on Beechwood Avenue she tripped and fell on the pavement. Bleeding from the head and concerned she may be suffering from concussion, she went to the centre for a check up. But the check up was cut short when another nurse said she was not able to received full treatment because she was over 65 and her complaint was a head injury.

“Woman, 72, ‘too old for treatment’” This is Local London, By Louise Hale (May 30, 2006) http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.774601.0.woman_72…
David Swain
David Swain, a terminal cancer patient, was refused a drug by the NHS that could extend his life - despite offering to pay part of the cost himself. His offer to meet the monthly £2,000 cost of Erbitux was refused, he said, because the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) ruled it was too expensive.

“Cancer patient denied ‘too costly’ drug” The Yorkshire Post (UK) (4 March 2008) http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Cancer-patient-denied-39too-costly39.3839326.jp
Dawn Ford
Dawn Ford, 67, had to pay out-of-pocket to receive Avastin, an as yet unlicensed, form of Lucentis. The Echo (UK publication) launched its “Save Our Sight” campaign last year in a bid to make Lucentis and Macugen - another vital drug - available on the NHS.

“Calls for guidance on treatment for cause of blindness” Express & Echo (UK) (19 February 2008) http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=137015…
“Dawn Faces Up to Losing Her Sight” Express & Echo (UK) (24 March 2008) http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=136993…
“Health Trust Reviews Eye Treatment Policy” Express & Echo (UK) By Nadia Stone (5 April 2008) http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=142328…
Debbie Hirsts
Debbie Hirsts, 57, was denied access by the NHS to a drug that would have slowed the progression of her breast cancer. With her oncologist’s support, Debbie decided to raise the $120,000 for the medicine herself. The situation changed in December 2007, when Debbie’s doctor told her the NHS would no longer allow her to subsidize the medication. If Debbie decided to pay for the medicine out-of-pocket, she would then need pay for all of her cancer treatments, which she could not afford, and would no longer receive free health benefits from the NHS.

“Paying Patients Test British Health Care System” The New York Times, By Sarah Lyall (February 21, 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/world/europe/21britain.html
Deborah Sugg Ryan
Deborah Sugg Ryan, a breast cancer patient, was denied a £20 test for HER2, a protein which affects the growth of cancer cells, at Derriford Hospital back in October.

“Penryn cancer patient’s case ‘a scandal’ says MP” The West Briton, By Ginette Harris (28 February 2008) http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144143…
Jacky Pickles
Jacky Pickles, 44, said that after 25 years working in the NHS, she will have to give the final years of her life to a Health Service that refuses to save her. Her condition improved when she went on a Velcade drug trial earlier this year, but has now been told that she will not get the drug again when her condition deteriorates. She said: “I am absolutely devastated by NICE’s decision. I believe that Patricia Hewitt has, through the back door of NICE, encouraged a new policy that saves the NHS money by condemning patients to an early death which means they are less of a financial burden both in the short term and the long term.

“Medical apartheid as English cancer patients are denied life-extending drug” The Daily Mail, By Tim Shipman (October 20, 2006) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=411521…
Jane Hewitt
Jane Hewitt, 58, who lives in Whitchurch, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She underwent a lumpectomy on January 6 and then a mastectomy on February 3, 2006. Her surgeon recommended a course of Herceptin but Bristol South and West PCT refused to pay for it. She appealed but was turned down because the PCT said there were no exceptional circumstances in her case. Mrs. Hewitt, took a lump sum from her pension and has so far paid out £9,500 for her three weekly injections.

“Cancer patient won’t have to pay for drugs” The Bristol Evening Post, By Julie Harding (July 3, 2006) (Subscription Required)
Linda Lucas
Linda Lucas, a 51-year-old teacher from Cupar, Fife, was diagnosed with breast cancer and given a surgery wait time of 8-9 weeks. She had medical insurance and chose “to go private,” resulting in a mastectomy three weeks later.

“Scots cancer victims face deadly delays in treatment” The Scotsman, By Eddie Barnes and Richard Gray (June 25, 2006) http://news.scotsman.com/bowelcancer/Scots-cancer-victims-face-deadly.2786941.jp
“The Sufferer: ‘No treatment – but cells multiplying’” The Scotsman (November 29, 2006)
Lynda Coghill
Lynda Coghill, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 39. At an appointment after surgery and radiation, she told her oncologist she was still bleeding. He did a quick exam, announced she had a new tumor, and said bluntly: “Your chances are slim to none.” He told her to wait a few weeks for the results of a biopsy, then left to treat a patient down the hall. “I looked at the nurse in sheer disbelief,” Ms. Coghill says. “The doctor had proceeded to tell me, in less than 30 seconds, that I was going to die.” She cried for days, unable to eat or sleep. She and her husband planned her funeral. At last, she contacted the sympathetic nurse from the doctor’s office and persuaded her to call for an “unofficial” biopsy report. The tumor was benign. Eight years later, Ms. Coghill remains angry about having been treated “like a numbered object on an assembly line.”

“I made noise, and things moved,” The Globe and Mail, By Erin Anderssen (December 9, 2006) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061209.wxcancer-front09/BNStory/cancer/
Margaret Coates
Margaret Coates, 65, has been diagnosed with age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Despite the availability of sight-saving drugs, Coates was told by Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT) that she does not qualify for NHS-funded treatment.

“Pensioner denied funding for ’sight-saving’ drugs” News Shopper (UK), By Robert Fisk (11 March 2008) http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/mostpopular.var.2110483.mostviewed.pensioner_denied…
“Pensioner refused sight treatment” Channel 4 News (Belfast) (11 March 2008) http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/pensioner+refused+sight+treatment/1755862
Nurse Marie Robjohn
Nurse Marie Robjohn, 60, was billed for £10,000 for Herceptin. She then received a letter from North Somerset PCT saying it would wait until the final NICE guidelines were published and then write to her oncologist to ask if he considers her a priority. She said, “what infuriates me is that my oncologist has already written to the PCT - they know his opinion. The trust is procrastinating.” Mrs. Robjohn, who needs eight more injections, said a delay could cost her and other patients thousands.”

“Cancer patient won’t have to pay for drugs” The Bristol Evening Post, By Julie Harding (July, 3 2006) (Subscription Required)
Mark Cannon
Mark Cannon, 30, died eight and a half weeks after being admitted to the hospital with a broken leg. He was clearly distressed and in pain, but he had to wait three days to see the pain team. His father Allan, from Barton Turf, has been campaigning with Mencap to raise awareness of the ingrained discrimination he claims to have encountered from NHS staff towards his son, who had severe learning difficulties and could manage very little speech.

“I welcome inquiry into my son’s death” Evening News (Norwich) (June 4, 2007) http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline…
To find out more about Mencap’s campaign for equal heath care treatment for people with a learning disability, visit www.mencap.org.uk/deathbyindifference
Martyn Sumner
Martyn Sumner, a kidney cancer patient, has been denied a life-prolonging ‘wonder drug’ by Oxfordshire NHS officials because he is not considered an “exceptional case”. Sumner has been given ten months to live.

“New row over cancer drug denial” The Oxford Times, By Victoria Owen (26 January 2008) http://www.theoxfordtimes.net/search/display.var.1996633.0.new_row_over_cancer_drug_denial.php
Muriel Buckby
Muriel Buckby, an 87-year-old woman with breast cancer, must travel more than 500 miles a week for treatment because of a lack of local services. She has to make three 175-mile round trips every week from her home in mid-Wales to a radiotherapy unit in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Each journey takes her more than four hours by car. “There should be somewhere closer. No one with breast cancer should have to go on such a long journey, particularly when we are not feeling too good anyway.” Health campaigners said Mrs. Buckby’s case highlights the problem of specialized cancer centers serving large catchment areas. Patients in rural areas have to travel considerable distances several times a week, and sometimes daily, to get the treatment they need.

“Cancer patient, 87, forced to travel 500 miles a week” The Guardian, By Steven Morris (April 4, 2006) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/apr/04/health.healthandwellbeing
Rose Harrison
Rose Harrison, 59, of Barlby, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer in April 2007. According to Harrison’s doctors, the drug Sunitinib, also known as Sutent, could extend her life by up to five years. But Harrison was refused funding by North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT), despite patients in neighboring County Durham and Teesside being approved for treatment. Harrison and her husband, Ronald, 60, spent their life savings on the treatment.

“A Terminally-ill woman denied cancer drug,” The Yorkshire Post, By Julie Hemmings (30 August 2007) http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/ATerminallyill-woman-denied-cancer-drug.3161513.jp
Sarah Perez
Sarah Perez, from Enfield, has undergone repeated courses of chemotherapy since she first developed bowel cancer six years ago. Her oncologist says the only drug that could help is Cetuximab, but Enfield Primary Care Trust will not pay for it, saying it has to balance the drug’s chances of success over NHS resources.

“Cancer patient told new drug is too costly” The Evening Standard (February 12, 2008) http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437056-details/Cancer+patient+told…
Canada
Beverly Green
Beverly Green, 45, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001. Initial tests indicated she would not benefit from hormonal drug treatment, but retesting at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2005 found that her initial test results were incorrect. Green testified at a public inquiry in March 2008.

“Angry patients testify at breast cancer test inquiry” CTV.ca News (March 19, 2008) http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080319/breast_cancer…
Branislav Djukic
Branislav Djukic, an Ontario cab driver, faced a difficult choice: Wait more than 14 weeks for cancer surgery, or travel outside of Canada and purchase the lifesaving operation. Ultimately, Djukic returned to the country he fled in 1995, the former Yugoslavia. In Belgrade, he underwent surgery to remove a portion of his left kidney at a cost of $5,000.

“Long wait forces cancer patient to buy operation in land he fled; Patient’s choice: Wait 14 weeks or pay $5,000,” The Globe and Mail, By Lisa Priest (January 31, 2007) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe… (Subscription Required)
“Londoner Travels to Yugoslavia For Cancer Treatment,” A-Channel News http://www.achannel.ca/london/news_40168.aspx
David Malleau
David Malleau, a 44 year-old truck driver suffered a devastating car accident in 2004 that forced doctors at Hamilton General Hospital to remove a fist-sized piece of bone from his skull to relieve pressure on his brain. Once the swelling subsided and he was ready for surgery in March 2005, Malleau was sent home and placed on a waiting list. Three months passed. Then six. He waited at home, a prisoner unable to leave the house for fear something would hit the exposed side of his brain - for him a potentially fatal incident. In the end, it took nearly a year before he could get skull replacement surgery.

“You can’t fight the hospital; Man forced to wait a year for skull surgery had no official advocate,” The Toronto Star, By Tanya Talaga and Robert Cribb (May 22, 2007) http://www.thestar.com/article/216280
Diane Nesenbrink
Diane Nesenbrink, was goofing around as a teen when her jaw locked open. That incident, 27 years ago, marked the beginning of the Stratford, Ontario, woman’s lifelong ordeal with jaw joint problems. Ms. Nesenbrink jaw joint needed to be surgically replaced. But patients who need a new hip or knee have been deemed a political priority and are guaranteed joint replacements within nine months – the “medically acceptable” wait for consultation is no more than three months and the subsequent wait for surgery no more than six months. Ms. Nesenbrink’s doctor, Dr. Baker said, “The jaw joint is an important joint as well, but we’ve been forgotten.” In fact, his patients wait an average of more than two years for surgery. Even critical cases – where patients suffer excruciating pain and are unable to move their mouths – wait at least three months. “We see patients who are in dire straits: Talking, eating, chewing, smiling are all difficult, if not impossible,” Dr. Baker said.

“A jaw-dropping wait time for surgery; While people who need new hips or knees get action within nine months, jaw joint patients can wait more than two years,” The Globe and Mail, By Andre Picard, (May 22, 2007) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070522.wxljaw22/BNStory/special…
Jeff Clarke
Jeff Clarke, 34, was in a chronic state of pain for three years. The Kitchener man could stand for only 10 minutes at a time, sit for about 20 and then lie down again. The back pain, diagnosed as degenerative disc disease, travelled through his legs and often he buckled over as he tried to stand. He used two canes and a walker to get around. Then one night last November as he was watching TV, he saw a commercial about a Canadian company offering surgery in India. Clarke called the Vancouver-based business and within two days was sending his folder of medical information to the surgeon in Chennai, India. “All of a sudden there was hope, valid hope I could grasp,” he said. On Jan. 28, Clark had two titanium rods placed in his lower back, two reconstructed discs made of high-density plastic inserted, as well as screws to hold the discs together, all thanks to an Indian doctor.

“Kitchener man walks again after back surgery in India; ‘Still in a state of shock,’” The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, By Liz Monteiro (April 19, 2007) (Subscription Required)
Jordan Johanson
Jordan Johanson, 18, died at Rockyview Hospital in late March. He died following a 12-hour wait for surgery on his appendix. Darcy Johanson, the boy’s father, said “Young kids shouldn’t be dying like this. If something can be done to fix it, they should get on with it.”

“Families upset city health-care inquiry delayed; Five appendicitis deaths in 10 years at city hospitals,” The Calgary Herald, By Sean Myers (May 2, 2007) (Subscription Required)
“Teen dies after appendix ruptures,” The Edmonton Sun, By Bill Kaufman (April 19, 2007) http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/04/19/4078502.html
Lindsay McCreith
Lindsay McCreith, 66, was told he had a brain tumor but that he would have to wait four and a half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the tumor was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumor in March, 2006. In Ontario, Mr. McCreith would have waited eight months for surgery, according to his family doctor. Eight months is enough time for a cancer to worsen, spread and progress to an irreversible stage. Had Mr. McCreith not paid $26,600 for immediate care, he might be dead today.

“Ontario man featured in U.S. health-care debate,” The Toronto Star, By Tim Harper (February 22, 2008) http://www.thestar.com/Article/305918
“Taking Ontario’s health monopoly to court,” The National Post, By John Carpay (May 3, 2007) http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=282c225e-cf2a-4c9d-a34d-35f03f0afa66
“Patients suing province over wait times,” The Toronto Star, By Tanya Talaga (September 6, 2007) http://www.thestar.com/News/article/253664
Manon Lemoignan
Manon Lemoignan, 46, a cancer patient and the mother of two girls, was denied access to a life-prolonging drug. Lemoignan’s oncologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital recommended the best therapy available, Avastin. The drug, however, had not yet been approved for use in Canada.

“Cancer drug has OK - it just isn’t available,” The Montreal Gazette, By Charlie Fidelman (March 27, 2006) http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=c5d9271c-d0be-42cd-8e0a…
Rally Levy
Rally Levy, a breast cancer patient in Montreal, was denied eligibility for the drug Herceptin. Where she lives, the drug is only available to women with advanced breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. “If I started my chemo a month ago, I would have been on the trial group that was eligible,” said Rally Levy. “They have realized it is a good pill. Why can’t I get it?”

“Speed up cancer drug availability, critics urge,” CBC News (June 21, 2005) http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/06/21/Herceptin-050621.html
Sheila Nunn
Sheila Nunn, a Kitchener woman suffering seizures, was told by her doctor that she urgently needed an MRI scan. She was also told she would have to wait three months to have it done locally. Nunn, who had been suffering blackouts, memory loss, confusion and seizures for two months, decided to take action: She paid $1,100 to have the MRI scan done in Michigan.

“Seizure patients face long MRI waits, group says,” The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, By Anne Kelly (June 15, 2007) (Subscription Required)
“Wait for MRI tests too long in region,” The Kitchener-Waterloo Record (June 9, 2007) (Subscription Required)
“‘Totally Unacceptable,’” The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, By Anne Kelly (June 7, 2007) (Subscription Required)
Sheryl Smolkin
Sheryl Smolkin had been undergoing several months of assorted treatments for pain in her right knee, but the pain was still putting a crimp in her quality of life. So, she decided to go to Buffalo, New York in late December for an MRI. She had an appointment at 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 21 at a Toronto hospital, but simply didn’t want to put it off any longer. With the assistance of Richard Baker at Vancouver-based Timely Medical Alternatives, she arranged to have the procedure done at a convenient time five days later for $465 (CDN). The only waiting she had to do was the two hours in traffic it took to cross the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge into the United States. Based on the MRI, her knee problem has been diagnosed, but that’s only the first step. A February appointment with a specialist will determine if she’ll need to go on another wait list for surgery.

“Shuffling off to Buffalo for an MRI,” Employee Benefit News Canada, By Sheryl Smolkin (February 1, 2007) (Subscription Required)
Vince Motta
Vince Motta, 23, died of a severe asthma attack after he was airlifted to Rockyview Hospital following appendix surgery at High River hospital. Motta and his mother had waited at both Rockyview and Foothills Hospital, but eventually left due to the long waits.

“Deaths deserve a public inquiry,” The Calgary Herald, Editorial By Maureen L. Prowse (June 17, 2007) (Subscription Required)
“CHR review clears hospital in death of Calgary teenager; Parents of boy ‘disappointed’ with finding,” The Calgary Herald, (June 13, 2007) (Subscription Required)
“Families upset city health care inquiry delayed; Five appendicitis deaths in 10 years at city hospitals,” The Calgary Herald, By Sean Myers, (May 2, 2007) (Subscription Required)
Virginia Yule
Virginia Yule, 49, met her surgeon only twice, for a total of 45 minutes, to learn she needed a biopsy after a mammogram found a shadow on her breast, and then to be told she had cancer. So she wrote her doctor a letter. “I really wanted her to know who I was,” she says now, cancer-free for seven years. Ms. Yule’s desire to be seen as a person is a common complaint among cancer patients caught in a system that seems overwhelmed by waiting lists and swamped by test results, where phone calls tunnel through to voice mail and a busy doctor may have mere minutes to explain the most complicated, heart-stopping medical information.

“I made noise, and things moved,” The Globe and Mail, By Erin Anderssen (December 9, 2006) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061209.wxcancer-front09/BNStory/cancer/
Australia
Gerald Carroll
Gerald Carroll, 46, of Kalgoorlie had chemotherapy for tumors in his jaw and behind his eye. After that treatment, he had a three-month wait for radiotherapy. “But in the three months it took to get the stereotactic radiotherapy I needed, the tumor had grown too large to treat,” Mr. Carroll said. “The radiotherapist referred me back to my oncologist. I’ve been on chemo since February and now’s it’s reduced the tumor to a point where I can have the radiation. I’m on the waiting list for stereotactic radiosurgery at this time.”

posted July 17, 2009 10:10 PM         

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in a rare moment of honesty on what he’d really like to do about health care reform, recently asserted that if we were starting from scratch he would probably choose a single-payer health care system.

That’s a system in which people pay higher taxes and the government pays most medical bills.

Obama’s not alone in that opinion. Filmmaker Michael Moore took his “Sicko” audience to England, among other places, where we learned that doctors in that single-payer system made good salaries, had nice homes and cars, and patients were very satisfied.

But anyone who reads the English press will find a different message, including waiting lines, angry patients, rationed and often subquality care. Consider these recent news stories about England’s National Health Service (NHS) quoted directly from the British press.

• Twice Katie asked for a [Pap] smear test, but was told she was “too young” to need one. Now 24, she is dying from cervical cancer, one of many young women who have fallen victim to a scandalous change in health policy. (London’s Daily Mail, June)

• A man with terminal cancer has been refused a drug by the NHS that could extend his life — despite offering to pay part of the cost himself. . . . David Swain's offer to meet the monthly £2,000 cost of Erbitux was refused, he said, because the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [a government body] ruled it was too expensive. (Yorkshire Post, March, emphasis added)

• Health service dentists have been forced to go on holiday or spend time on the golf course this month despite millions of patients being denied dental care. . . . Many [dentists] have fulfilled their annual work quotas allotted by the National Health Service and have been turning patients away because they are not paid to do extra work. This is despite the fact that more than 7m[illion] people in Britain are unable to find an NHS dentist. (The Times of London, March)

Does that sound like your idea of a great health care system? The British press — as well as the Canadian press and other countries — regularly runs stories like these about patients who are denied treatment because they are too old, too young, too sick or too costly.

Indeed, The Times of London ran a story in 2006 asserting: “Patients are being denied appointments with consultants in a systematic attempt to ration care and save the NHS money, The Times has learnt. . . . Leaked documents passed to The Times show that while ministers promise patients choice, a series of barriers are being erected limiting GPs’ [general practitioners] rights to refer people to consultants.”

If you want to read these stories and others like them for yourself, just go to the “Health Care Horror Stories” at BigGovhealth.org, which regularly posts the negative press coming from those government-run health care countries (which has to be a full-time job!).

The fact is that every government-run health care system struggles to make ends meet. Money for health care in those systems has to compete with money for other government programs like education, defense and pension programs.

That’s why other countries spend less on health care. It’s not that their systems are better or more efficient; it’s because politicians control the funds and have to make trade-offs. That often means the more expensive treatments, the marginal members of society, and even preventive care and screening can get axed.

Yes, many people in those countries are satisfied with their care. And yes, everyone in those countries is “insured” — the apparent goal in the current health care reform debate. But having coverage doesn’t count for much if patients can’t get quality care in timely manner.

Health care reformers often claim or imply that the U.S. health care system is terrible, while countries like England provide quality care for everyone, and for less money. That’s simply not a balanced assessment.

U.S. health care is excellent, but it can be very expensive and, a not unrelated fact, too many people are uninsured.

But copying other government-controlled systems isn’t the solution. They have their problems; we have ours. Let’s fix ours problems without importing theirs.

posted July 17, 2009 11:32 PM         

I saw the most effective commercial I've ever seen. The commercial, very quickly, puts forward the best argument against government-controlled health care.

If this commercial gets a wider audience it could be the nail in the coffin.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/obama_care_in_60_seconds_or_le.html

Patients United Now http://patientsunitednow.com/

posted July 18, 2009 12:25 AM         

i understand the lack of trust in government-run anything. when listening to a conspiracy theory one day a friend of mine who used to practice law in washington laughed out loud at the idea that the government could get its collective head around such intricate and well-organized plots...

but look at the worldwide statistics and tell me if you still think we have the best healthcare...
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_lif_exp_at_bir_tot_pop-life-expectanc y-birth-total-population
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_dea_fro_can-health-death-from-cancer
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_pla_sur_pro_percap-plastic-surgery-procedu res-per-capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_phy_per_1000_peo-physicians-per-1-000-people
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_phy_per_1000_peo-physicians-per-1-000-people
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_hea_dis_dea-health-heart-disease-deaths
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_hos_bed-health-hospital-beds
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_sui_rat_mal-health-suicide-rate-males
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_spe_per_per-health-spending-per-person

we do SPEND more per capita than anyone else but the rest of the lists don't justify that.

how would YOU correct the situation at hand, jwhop? the stories i hear from insured people in this country are almost as bad as what you posted up there...?

most of the doctors i know, like ron paul, would prefer not to have to deal with insurance companies. they would rather give away work to their poorer patients than have to give in to the regulation and litigation that results from the insurance industry. and people pay through the nose for the privilege of being turned down here.

at one time i took clients on insurance. no more. the interference is disgusting and the pay SLOW. where is the benefit we enjoy?

you have ze solution?

and really, the title of this thread! a politician lied? well jiminy cricket that's a new one on me! must be a first!!

posted July 18, 2009 09:17 AM         

not on the healthcare, but on a lot of things.

posted July 18, 2009 09:19 AM         

Obama’s health care proposal is, in effect, the repeal of the Medicare program as we know it. The elderly will go from being the group with the most access to free medical care to the one with the least access. Indeed, the principal impact of the Obama health care program will be to reduce sharply the medical services the elderly can use. No longer will their every medical need be met, their every medication prescribed, their every need to improve their quality of life answered.

It is so ironic that the elderly - who were so vigilant when Bush proposed to change Social Security - are so relaxed about the Obama health care proposals. Bush’s Social Security plan, which did not cut their benefits at all, aroused the strongest opposition among the elderly. But Obama’s plan, which will totally gut Medicare and replace it with government-managed care and rationing, has elicited little more than a yawn from most senior citizens.

It’s time for the elderly to wake up before it is too late!

In our new book, Catastrophe, we explain - in detail and in depth - the consequences the elderly of Canada are feeling from just this kind of program. Limited colonoscopies have led to a 25% higher rate of colon cancer and a ban on the use of the two best chemotherapies are part of the reason why 42% of Canadians with colon cancer die while 31% of Americans, who have access to these two medications, survive the disease.

Overall, the death rate from cancer in Canada is 16% higher than in the United States and the heart disease mortality rate is 6% above ours’.

Under Obama’s program, there will be a government health insurance company that gets huge subsidies of tax money. It will compete with private insurance plans. But the subsidies will let it undercut the private plans and drive them out of business, leaving only the government plan - a single payer - in effect.

Today, 800,000 doctors struggle to treat adequately the 250 million Americans who have insurance. Obama will add 50 million more to their caseload with no expansion in the number of doctors or nurses. Indeed, his plan will likely reduce their number by lowering reimbursement rates and imposing bureaucrats above them who will force medical decisions down their throats. Fewer doctors will have to treat more patients. The inevitable result will be rationing.

And it is the elderly who rationing will most effect. Who should get a knee replacement a 40 year old or a 70 year old? Who should get a new hip, a young person or an old person? Who should have priority in the operating room a seventy year old diabetic who needs bypass surgery or a younger person? Obviously, it is the elderly who will get short shrift under his proposal.

But the interest groups that usually speak up for the elderly, particularly AARP, are in Obama’s pocket, hoping to profit from his program by becoming one of its vendors. Just as they backed Bush’s prescription drug plan because they anticipating profiting from it, so they are now helping Obama gut the medical care of their constituents.

posted July 18, 2009 11:34 AM         

O'Bomber is going down the wrong road on both.

You need to ask yourself why members of Congress will be exempted from the provisions of O'BomberCare..if it's really sooo great.

Call your Senators and House member and ask them if they're going to drop their health insurance coverage and sign up for O'BomberCare. When you pin them to the wall with pointed questions, you'll find out they will not commit to dropping their current coverage because it's solid 24 caret gold and O'BomberCare is at best, tin plated pewter.

If O'BomberCare is good enough for American citizens, why isn't it good enough for members of Congress? The other issue is...if O'BomberCare is sooo great, why the stampede to get it passed through Congress before all it's provisions are released and the public has a chance to see what Congress intends for American citizens?

Once you answer those questions for yourself, you won't be nearly so hot for O'BomberCare.

posted July 18, 2009 12:53 PM         

i repeat, what CAN be done about the situation as it is? which is NOT sufficient for a great many people here in america or elsewhere?

do you really think the people who tell horror stories about their insurance experiences are lying? people who pay thousands and tens of thousands for insurance that cuts them off when they need too much help?

maybe the high cancer rate in canada is due to something besides healthcare? did you notice that the UK cancer death rate (and many others) is LOWER than ours on the list above? and that though we spend more per capita on healthcare our performance/ results do not justify that?

i am not actually very keen on government-run healthcare myself. i think it will consist of way too much drug-pushing and "guidelines" that proscribe our lifestyles. even though in the UK there are no exclusions for smokers, drinkers etc....but it will not be much worse at this point than what many people who do and don't have insurance in this country go through right now.

i repeat, i watched my mother, who had insurance AND medicare, face the prospect of a finite lifespan when she ran up to the limit on certain aspects of her coverage.

and medicare IS government run healthcare. if it is so good why are you against the government covering young people - do you not realize that your health in younger years influences your health in old age?

posted July 18, 2009 01:22 PM         

There are some things insurance companies will not pay for. Generally, insurance companies will not pay for experiential drugs or unproven surgeries and the list of things they will not pay for are clearly stated in their policies. So are the limits of monetary coverage clearly stated in their policies.

On the other hand, O'BomberCare is going to ration health care. Which means that even things insurance companies routinely pay for now will not be available under O'BomberCare. A grubby little bureaucrat will be making medical decisions for you..and your doctor.

One thing more. The Office of Management and Budgets says O'BomberCare is going to raise the cost of health care in America.

O'Bomber is lying through his teeth when he says O'BomberCare is going to lower health care costs.

The only way it will lower costs is to cut millions off from treatment of illnesses, injuries and diseases...just like in Canada and Britain.

Polls say about 80% of Americans are satisfied with their health care coverage. That means O'Bomber is trying to wreck the best health care in the world for about 20% of Americans who are not satisfied.

Of those...so called 47,000,000 people who are not covered by insurance, most have resort to MediCare, MediCaid or Suplemental Social Security benefits.

Of those so called 47,000,000, about 20-25% are illegal aliens in this country illegally.

Of those so called 47,000,000, about 15-20 million are between the ages of 18 and 35 and have the resources to pruchase health insurance but have decided not to because they are in good health and don't believe they need health insurance.

There are very few of the remaining so called 47,000,000 who have no options because they don't have insurance through their employer, don't have the financial resources to purchase an individual policy and make too much money to qualify for health care under one of the government programs.

This entire health care boondoggle is a trumpted up bunch of bullshiit to take over about 17% of the entire private sector. That's the wet dream of every Marxist, to make everyone dependent on government.

I think most of those who vote for O'BomberCare are going to find themselves back home after the coming elections. Hopefully, they will be able to find work they are capable of performing. They sure as hell don't belong any where near the levers of power in the United States.

You are starting to see even democrats pushing back against O'BomberCare. They're reading the tea leaves and getting nervous their constitutients are getting wise to the scam.

posted July 18, 2009 02:24 PM         

"how would YOU correct the situation at hand, jwhop? the stories i hear from insured people in this country are almost as bad as what you posted up there...?"

"i repeat, what CAN be done about the situation as it is? which is NOT sufficient for a great many people here in america or elsewhere? "

"did you notice that the UK cancer death rate (and many others) is LOWER than ours on the list above? and that though we spend more per capita on healthcare our performance/ results do not justify that?"

if you go looking for negative stories you will find them in any area of discussion. the laundry list above is impressive until you think that that is exactly what they are - sought out NEGATIVE stories for tabloids and paranoids.

but when you consider the 100's of millions of people they are culled from, it is after all only a few stories. and insured people here do have matching sagas.

still i would like to know what you think about positive actions and reforms that would make healthcare, access to doctors AND alternative healing, more accessible TO ALL not just the wealthy.

posted July 18, 2009 10:50 PM         

Barack Obama claims - incredibly - that spending more on health care via his "public option" health care plan will lower costs. The Congressional Budget office found this assertion to be wrong (Obama makes up history, so why can't he just make up future projections,as he has with the stimulus bill and its supposed benefits).

Now comes a study that points out that government run health care is actually more expensive than private-sector care. Jeffrey Anderson, the author of that study, says in a New York Post Op-ed that Obama's rhetoric doesn't match reality:

My new study, published by the Pacific Research Institute, shows that -- across four decades -- the costs of government-run health care have risen far more than the costs of private care.

My study compares the cost increases of Medicare and Medicaid with those of all other health care in the United States. The key finding: Since 1970, Medicare and Medicaid's costs have risen one-third more, per patient, than the combined costs of all other health care in America -- the vast majority of which is purchased privately.

Since 1970, Medicare and Medicaid's combined per-patient costs have risen from $344 to $8,955, while the combined per-patient costs of all other US health care have risen from $364 to $7,119.

Medicare and Medicaid used to cost $20 less per patient than other care. Now they cost $1,836 more. (And that's even without the Medicare prescription-drug benefit.)

In fact, if the costs of Medicare and Medicaid had risen only as much as the costs of all other health care in America, then, instead of costing a combined $807 billion last year, they would've cost a combined $606 billion. That savings of $201 billion would have amounted to more than $1,750 per American household last year alone.

We should also keep in mind that doctors who accept Medicare and Medicaid patients often complain about the small reimbursements the government provides them. Yet the total cost for treating those patients is higher than it is for private sector patients.

posted July 18, 2009 10:53 PM         

Doing the job the MSM refuses to do...

This GOP ad is an "Obama, then and now" summary of what the president said to get the stim bill passed back in February and what he's saying now.

posted July 19, 2009 01:04 PM         

It went retrograde at 2 Capricorn April 2008 beginning the long wave era that will bring radical transformations to all power structures and the way society is organized. One thing is certain during the many years we'll deal with Pluto in Capricorn. We will learn to use energy more economically and precisely, and many old "authorities" will die never to be seen again on this Earth."
http: //www.aquariuspapers.com/astrology/2009/07/spiritual-astrology-in-july-august-september-2009-pt-2---uranus-neptune-and-pluto-all-retrograde-reviewing-2007-2008.html

oh and thanks for answering my questions. commercials from the american thinker? i don't think so...

there's a reason why videos and cassette tapes aren't admissible as evidence in court, you know!