Guiding Vision

There’s way too much crazy talk about healthcare reform hitting the airwaves.  While the internet often adds to misinformation, there are also some great online newspapers and other websites that provide a way to sort it all out and find out the real deal.

Here are 8 points of information (with links for more info)…

1. On Socialism: Myth: Health care reform is socialized medicine. Fact: Health care reform will preserve the employer-based health care system, meaning an estimated 200 million Americans will continue to get their coverage through their employers. – AARP

2. Numbers: The federal government estimates that over 45 million individuals lacked health insurance coverage of any kind during 2008. As most elderly people are covered by Medicare [a government run healthcare program], nearly all the uninsured are under age 65.  Nearly twenty percent of uninsured Americans – 8.7 million individuals – are children. – CovertheUninsured.org

3. On Rationed care: Myth: Health care reform means rationed care. Fact: None of the health reform proposals being considered would stand between individuals and their doctors or prevent any American from choosing the best possible care.  Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life or death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by an individual, their doctor and their family. – AARP

4. No one will be “put out to pasture.” On former Sen. Fred Thompson’s radio show, former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey said that the House’s proposed health care bill contained a provision that would institute mandatory counseling sessions telling seniors how “to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short.” In truth, that section of the bill would require Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling sessions helping seniors to plan for end-of-life medical care, including designating a health care proxy, choosing a hospice and making decisions about life-sustaining treatment. It would not require doctors to counsel that their patients refuse medical intervention. False Euthanasia Claims, July 29, 2009 FactCheck.org

5. On Abortion, Medicare cuts: “In fact, none of the health care overhaul measures that have made it through the committee level in Congress say that abortion will be covered, and one of them explicitly says that no public funds will be used to finance the procedure. Furthermore, none of the bills call explicitly for cuts in Medicare coverage, much less rationing, under a public plan.” Surgery for Seniors vs. Abortions?, August 3, 2009 FactCheck.org

7. Impact on existing insurance companies: “The insurance companies are in no danger of going out of business under this bill, under any version of this bill…. All its going to do is give people more choice, lower costs over time, although it will cost more initially, and end the fear that all of us should we lose our jobs or get sick. For us not to be addressing that, to continue to discriminatie against people who are ill is the real outrage that has to be ended this fall. ” Johnathan Alter, Senior Editor, Newsweek, on MSNBC August 6, 2009

8. Impact on small business: Small business owners, sole-prorietors and employees of small business are more likely than employees of larger firms to be uninsured or under-insured. The 16.8 million uninsured workers at firms with fewer than 100 employees make up 63% of all workers without coverage, even though such companies employ just 41% of the labor force. – Health-Care Debate: Issues for Small Business, May 4, 2009 BusinessWeek

P.S. For additional news sources see my Delicious bookmarks on healthcare

Late last night I got a message from Congress.org regarding the issue of health care reform.  I’m not 100% sure why they framed the question this way, but at least it’s attention getting:   SHOULD AMERICANS PAY MORE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM?

Although final Congressional action is still many months away, several House and Senate committees this week are holding hearings on health care reform – and the costs associated with it. The nation spent $2.4 trillion on health care in 2008, and yet 46 million Americans have no health coverage at all.

This is the short and sweet message I sent along with my vote:

America needs health care reform and universal access because:

1. Many of those who are already covered are already paying HIGH premiums, deductibles and copays.
2. There are many self employed, small businesses, retirees, underemployed and unemployed who cannot get affordable healthcare.
3. Uninsured care cases are already driving up the costs of insurance and provider fees.
4. Access to health care is a right not a privilege.

Sincerely,
Sandra Sims

Vote at Congress.org and send a message to your senators, congressional representatives and President Obama

Legislative Timeline: Health Care a look back at this issue over the years