By Dr. Westlake (Emergency medicine Doctor in Oconomowoc)
I am not a very political person, but I feel called to send this out and obligated to fight what is going on in our country right under our noses. I cannot sit by and simply live my life and practice clinical Emergency Medicine while the very fabric of our healthcare system is being attacked/assaulted/and dismantled. I have found that most people have no idea about what is proposed in the healthcare legislation. We need to make ourselves aware and informed. This is not a democrat or republican issue--- this is an issue of freedom and personal choice for all Americans. .
Now is the time to stand up for what we believe in. While we are working nose to the grindstone providing the best healthcare to our patients, the Government is attempting to fundamentally and irrevocably alter the healthcare system. I'm not an alarmist, but the laws that are being considered in HR 3200 are unbelievably scary. I can't even comprehend the changes that are being rammed through. The U.S. healthcare system is under attack. What is being proposed is nothing short of the complete takeover of healthcare by the Government. There is no mention in all 1000 pages of any mention of tort reform/malpractice reform which is probably one of the costliest aspects of practicing medicine--defensive test ordering. There is no personal accountability--the problem now is that patients don't directly know or usually care about the cost of their healthcare--this bill takes accountability even further away by creating a nanny state of cradle to grave entitlements. The proposed changes truly will constitute socialized medicine and take control of healthcare away from doctors/patients and families and put the control in government beurocracy. This is not true healthcare reform--this is the elitist government of Nancy Pelosi taking making a grab for 1/7th of the nations economy. The media is not covering it. We have to act now. We have an obligation to our patients/ourselves/our families and our fellow Americans to get our voices out. We have to get our opinion out to our legislators and government. I know we all think "What can I do?" But we cannot sit back while the best healthcare system in the world is damaged beyond repair, while we stick our heads in the sand.
Here are a few examples of the things they are proposing to turn into law:
1)There will be rationing of healthcare--there is an "annual limit" on healthcare expenses (sec122 pg.29 lines 4-16, and sec203 pg.85 line 7).
2)There will be a Government committee and a Health Choices Commissioner deciding what treatments and benefits you will receive--(sec123 pg. 30, sec142 pg. 42).
3)Healthcare will be provided to all illegal aliens and non U.S. citizens (sec152 pg.50-51), and they will not pay (sec59B pg.170 line1).
4)Govt will gain control of all private plans by creating an exchange that all private plans must join, and then the Govt. will control/define all the coverage and benefits (sec 201 pg. 72, and sec203 pg. 84-85).
5)Govt will force all new employees into public option (sec 312 pg 145).
6)Govt will control physician salary and reimbursement (sec225 pg.127), and what conditions will be paid for (sec1751 pg.800)
7)Govt. will control all aspects of medical training programs (Sec1501 and 1503).
8)Govt will have real-time access to all Americans bank accounts/healthcare records, and be able to use them for electronic fund transfer to withdraw money they see as owed for services (sec163 pg.58-59).
I can't go into all the details, but in the webpage below there are literally 7 pages of the worst examples of what this bill entails. It just makes me sick. Take 15 minutes and read all seven pages of the Overview. I wanted to vomit when I read it.
We can do a few things to stand up and be heard. We have to make ourselves heard. We are the only one's who can look after the safety of our patients.
This is what we can easily do--
1)Be informed--attached is a webpage that concisely translates the bill, and has a link to the actual bill. The site is www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=19319 . Please look and read through it.
2)Call our Senators and Congressmen-- both Senators express public support for this bill--even though they won't discuss any details. Here are the web pages Russ Feingold www.feingold.senate.gov/contact.html and for Herb Kohl www.kohl.senate.gov/contact.cfm/ which has the phone #'s for all of their offices. Congressmen are by district and can be found by www.writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome/shtml/. Just call and leave a message of who you are--including that you are a physician (or what your profession is), where you live, that you don't want them to pass this bill. I've called all the offices and left messages with the staffers at each one. It will only take a few minutes. God forbid what if this bill passes and we look back and didn't even take 10 minutes to try and stop this?
3)Tell our friends, pass along the information to everyone--neighbors/friends in our address books etc...
4)Tell our patients--they need to know what is truly at stake.
5)Donate to organizations that are getting the word out---check out www.Dickmorris.com/.
Remember, if we say nothing- then our silence will be interpreted and used as tacit agreement.
This is not a single battle, this is a war. If we stop this this month, they will not go away. We have to wake up and protect our profession before it is taken from us.
Please forward this to as many people as you can. This may get voted on in September. Democrats are considering using Reconciliation--a special way to pass budget bills by using only 51 votes in the Senate instead of 60 to ram this pig of a bill through against the will of the people. We cannot stand by idly while our freedoms and liberties are being stripped away.
Tim Westlake
No comments:
Post a Comment