Bureaucrats making decisions based upon what will cost least on average"
Even as some Democrats were advocating budgetary gimmicks to avoid financing the full cost of health reform others were proposing massive new tax increases to finance government-run care. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman
Pete Stark (D-CA) on Thursday called for a two percent income tax surcharge to finance health reform.
As President Obama traveled to Chicago to address the annual convention of the
American Medical Association the writings of one of his senior policy advisors
confirmed that the government-run health plan he supports will result in doctors being unable to treat their patients.
President Obama recently nominated Sherry Glied to the post of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation within the Department of Health and Human Services to serve as the chief policy advisor to Secretary Sebelius and the President regarding implementation of health reform. Dr. Glied has previously stated that government-directed efforts to reduce costs will be ineffective and that a government-run system will lead to under-funding and a two-tiered health system.
Dr. Glied has also written in support of waiting lines for health care treatments as an acceptable trade-off to save costs admitting that waiting lines will in some cases lead to worse health for patients" but this harm is an acceptable outcome because on average" most patients wont suffer.
Coupled with one of President Obamas recent proposals to allow a board of federal bureaucrats to make recommendations on cost reductions" that would have the force of law some Members may be concerned that Dr. Glieds position on waiting lines and rationing of health care could lead to exactly the type of approach Tom Daschle proposedgetting into the nitty-gritty of which treatments are the most...cost-effective."
While supporting health reform that lowers the growth of health care costs some believe that the American people want a board of unelected bureaucrats making health decisions for American patients based upon what will cost least on average"they should make health decisions based on the advice they receive from their doctors about what works best for them.
Of Fish and Bureaucrats
Health Subcommittee Chairman Stark also endorsed Congress swift timetable to enact a government takeover of health insurance noting that reform legislation is like fish without a refrigerator." Also on Thursday Stark commented on the implementation timeline for any legislation that may be enactedHow quickly can a bureaucracy get going?"
Some may view Chairman Starks second commentindicating the bureaucratic mandate-driven approach to government-run health careas prompting the need for his seafood-related quip. Members may agree that like a fish left out of the refrigerator the more the American people become exposed to the true implications of Democrat health reform planshigher taxes government-run health care delays for care and outright denials of life-saving treatment at the hands of government bureaucratsthe more the attractiveness of the legislation will disintegrate and decay.
Shooting the Messenger
This past week saw the introduction of the first major Democrat health reform billalbeit one not paid forand reports that Democrats do not want to achieve the savings necessary to finance their expansion of government-run health care.
The major bill introduced by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Kennedy could cost as much as $2 trillion over ten years according to press reports but the bills only proposal to finance this new government spending is a tax on individuals who do not purchase health insurance that meets federal bureaucrats standards.
The effort to avoid paying the full cost of health reform legislation comes from other press reports indicating many Democrats want to rely on scores from the White Houses Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rather than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as the arbiter of whether reform legislation is fully paid for over ten years.
The Democrat hopeand expectationis that White House political officials leading OMB will direct the agency to produce a more favorable score for a health reform bill than the non-partisan CBO.
Many are concerned by this transparent budgetary gimmick as well as the longer-term implications of subverting CBOs independencebecause the agencys apolitical appointees dare to speak inconvenient truthsto enact an expansion of government-run health insurance.
However if Democrats insist on looking to other entities for information about their bills implications some Members may point them to a study by independent actuaries at the Lewin Group which found that Democrat proposals to create a government-run health plan would cause as many as 120 million Americans to lose their current coverage.
Even as some Democrats were advocating budgetary gimmicks to avoid financing the full cost of health reform others were proposing massive new tax increases to finance government-run care. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) on Thursday called for a two percent income tax surcharge to finance health reform.
As President Obama traveled to Chicago to address the annual convention of the American Medical Association the writings of one of his senior policy advisors 
confirmed that the government-run health plan he supports will result in doctors being unable to treat their patients.
President Obama recently nominated Sherry Glied to the post of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation within the Department of Health and Human Services to serve as the chief policy advisor to Secretary Sebelius and the President regarding implementation of health reform. Dr. Glied has previously stated that government-directed efforts to reduce costs will be ineffective and that a government-run system will lead to under-funding and a two-tiered health system.
Dr. Glied has also written in support of waiting lines for health care treatments as an acceptable trade-off to save costs admitting that waiting lines will in some cases lead to worse health for patients" but this harm is an acceptable outcome because on average" most patients wont suffer.
Coupled with one of President Obamas recent proposals to allow a board of federal bureaucrats to make recommendations on cost reductions" that would have the force of law some Members may be concerned that Dr. Glieds position on waiting lines and rationing of health care could lead to exactly the type of approach Tom Daschle proposedgetting into the nitty-gritty of which treatments are the most...cost-effective."
While supporting health reform that lowers the growth of health care costs some believe that the American people want a board of unelected bureaucrats making health decisions for American patients based upon what will cost least on average"they should make health decisions based on the advice they receive from their doctors about what works best for them.
Of Fish and Bureaucrats
Health Subcommittee Chairman Stark also endorsed Congress swift timetable to enact a government takeover of health insurance noting that reform legislation is like fish without a refrigerator." Also on Thursday Stark commented on the implementation timeline for any legislation that may be enactedHow quickly can a bureaucracy get going?"
Some may view Chairman Starks second commentindicating the bureaucratic mandate-driven approach to government-run health careas prompting the need for his seafood-related quip. Members may agree that like a fish left out of the refrigerator the more the American people become exposed to the true implications of Democrat health reform planshigher taxes government-run health care delays for care and outright denials of life-saving treatment at the hands of government bureaucratsthe more the attractiveness of the legislation will disintegrate and decay.
Shooting the Messenger
This past week saw the introduction of the first major Democrat health reform billalbeit one not paid forand reports that Democrats do not want to achieve the savings necessary to finance their expansion of government-run health care.
The major bill introduced by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Kennedy could cost as much as $2 trillion over ten years according to press reports but the bills only proposal to finance this new government spending is a tax on individuals who do not purchase health insurance that meets federal bureaucrats standards.
The effort to avoid paying the full cost of health reform legislation comes from other press reports indicating many Democrats want to rely on scores from the White Houses Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rather than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as the arbiter of whether reform legislation is fully paid for over ten years.
The Democrat hopeand expectationis that White House political officials leading OMB will direct the agency to produce a more favorable score for a health reform bill than the non-partisan CBO.
Many are concerned by this transparent budgetary gimmick as well as the longer-term implications of subverting CBOs independencebecause the agencys apolitical appointees dare to speak inconvenient truthsto enact an expansion of government-run health insurance.
However if Democrats insist on looking to other entities for information about their bills implications some Members may point them to a study by independent actuaries at the Lewin Group which found that Democrat proposals to create a government-run health plan would cause as many as 120 million Americans to lose their current coverage.
