"Universal" Healthcare? No!

This little bit of news needs to be disbursed wide and far.

From the Wall Street Journal article titled Dissecting the Kennedy Health Bill

by Betsy McCaughy

Last September Sen. Barack Obama promised that under his health-care proposal "you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves." On Monday, President Obama repeated that promise in a speech to the American Medical Association. It's not true.

The president is barnstorming the nation, urging swift approval of legislation that is taking shape in Congress. This legislation -- the Affordable Health Choices Act that's being drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy's staff and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- will push Americans into stingy insurance plans with tight, HMO-style controls. It specifically exempts members of Congress (along with federal employees; the exemptions are in section 3116).

That's right. The fine folks in Congress have written an exemption for themselves and other federal employees (most likely judges, cabinet officials, etc. and not the vast number of blue and white collar workers) into the health bill so they can continue to enjoy the exemplary health care they currently have. You won't be able to do the same. The subtitle of the article is "No, you won't be able to keep your insurance if you like it." The name of the bill is a lie, too. "The Affordable Health Choices Act" is ain't! There will be damn few "choices" for We The People.

It is reasonable to require that people who accept a government subsidy for health insurance tolerate cost controls to protect taxpayers. But according to the terms of the Kennedy bill, you must enroll in a "qualified" plan or face a fine, even if you and your employer are paying the entire cost of the plan you already have (section 161).

The president has promised that if you like your plan you can keep it. Mr. Kennedy's bill says that too. It's doubletalk, as the consequences of nonenrollment make clear. How big a fine will you face? The bill doesn't specify or set a limit. It says the fine will be enough to "accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage" (section 161).

So, if you like the plan you have but it is not on the "qualified" list, you may be fined. Even though you have health coverage and the government isn't paying a dime for it!

This bill needs to be drowned in the bathwater and then thrown out.

And every idiot on the Hill who votes for this exemption and/or the final bill needs to be tarred, feathered and carried out of town on a rail.

It's getting to the point when investment in lead may indeed be wise and possibly necessary.

(h/t commenter Jim B. over at Don Surber's)