Kohtz.org

If anyone actually believes that this new health care plan will actually decrease the deficit as is being quoted by politicians and the news, here are some previous estimates congress has made.

"In the case of the Medicare Program, the government estimate was off by over 816%."

"In the case of the Medicare Part A, the government estimate was off by 165%.."

"In the case of the Medicare Home Care Benefit, the government estimate was off by 150%."

"In the case of Social Security pay outs, the government estimate was off by a massive 2,600%."

"In the case of the Medicaid DHS Program, the government estimate was off by 1,600%."

- Capitol Comment 432: How Reliable are the CBO Cost Estimates for Healthcare Reform?

And for those who say that this is so important that cost shouldn't be a factor, see this:

And finally for those who think we live in a free society, you may need to redefine the term "free society":

But the individual mandate extends the commerce clause's power beyond economic activity, to economic inactivity. That is unprecedented. While Congress has used its taxing power to fund Social Security and Medicare, never before has it used its commerce power to mandate that an individual person engage in an economic transaction with a private company. Regulating the auto industry or paying "cash for clunkers" is one thing; making everyone buy a Chevy is quite another. Even during World War II, the federal government did not mandate that individual citizens purchase war bonds.

- Constitutionality of Obamacare

A new study was released that shows in the past decade, doctors have cut their average work week from 55 hours to 51 hours. This decrease in hours happens to coincide with a decrease their pay.

Staiger acknowledges that it's impossible to pinpoint the exact cause for the decline. But the research team does have a "best guess": a combination of lower fees and increased market pressure. The drop in hours worked can be directly stacked up against the decline in doctors' fees over the past decade. And in metro areas, where fees dropped faster and doctors faced greater competition for plum jobs, hours dropped at a greater rate.

In fact, doctors' wages dropped about the same proportion as their work hours -- 7 percent, after adjusting for inflation -- from 1995 to 2003. By comparison, salaries for other professionals increased by 7 percent in the same span of time, according to a 2007 report from the Center for Studying Health System Change.

- Fewer Hours for Doctors -- and Less Pay

It's basic economics than when you try and put price controls on a particular market, there are shortages. For instance, the gas lines seen in the '70s when Nixon put price controls on oil and gas. Bread lines in Russia.

One of the biggest "cost savings" for any proposed health care reform bill is always Medicare/Medicaid payments. While it may or may not save money for tax payers, it will most certainly reduce and restrict access to doctors.

People often point to Canada as a poster child of socialized health care. So why is it then that the government head in charge of health care in Canada, is coming to the United States for heart surgery? Nobody is talking right now, so it's anyone's guess.

The Health Bill Is Scary

A few excerpts...

"If the bill expands Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the poverty level, that too will lead to rationing. Because Washington bureaucrats have created a system that underpays doctors, 40% of doctors already restrict access to Medicaid patients, and therefore ration care."

and...

"Other unintended consequences of the Reid bill could wreak havoc on patients' lives. What happens, for instance, when savvy consumers commanded to buy insurance realize the penalty is the de facto premium? It won't take long for younger, healthier Americans to realize it's cheaper to pay a $750 tax for coverage instead of, say, $5,000 in annual premiums when coverage can't be denied if you get sick."

Here is a very simple example of inflation caused by government spending.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in October, a bit more than the 0.2 percent economists had expected. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, rose 0.2 percent, compared with analysts' expectation for a 0.1 percent rise.

The higher figure was driven by another increase in energy prices and the biggest jump in new car prices in 28 years (emphasis mine). The price of used cars and trucks also rose by the most since September 1980.

Weak home building a drag on economic recovery

Since the government gave everyone $4500 to buy a new car, everyone buying a new car was willing to spend more. It's not their money they're spending, it was easy to come by, so why not spend more? Thus, car manufacturers charged more.

Whoever thinks a government takeover of health care will reduce costs is fooling themselves. And if you want to look at why health care is so expensive right now, you might want to see if there are any similarities between "cash-for-clunkers" and our current health care system. Hint: health care is heavily subsided by the government, and employers + insurance companies pay for the rest (free money, easy to come by).

I heard Howard Dean on NPR say that Canada pays 10% of GDP for health care while the United States pays 17%. Therefore, there is plenty of fat to cut and paying for more health care shouldn't be a problem.

If it's such a simple solution, why haven't we cut the 7% fat already? Let's just do that first, then see how things go from there before adding $1 trillion + to the deficit every 10 years.

FACT CHECK: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge
This isn't just an Obama problem, it's a government problem. Republicans, Democrats, they're all guilty. It just so happens that Democrats control things right now.

Only-in-Washington accounting...

House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count $245 billion of it - the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts.

Their reasoning was that they already had decided to exempt this "doc fix" from congressional rules that require new programs to be paid for. In other words, it doesn't have to be paid for because they decided it doesn't have to be paid for.

I keep hearing people, the President included, use the post office as a possible model for health care. They say it's a public entity competing effectively with private industry.

I think they're wrong, and I think John Stossel does a good job of explaining why. Read Obama's Post Office Mistake and Post Offices Closing: Good Riddance!.

I think John Stossel hates the post office. :) Actually, looking at John Stossel's blog, I think I've found a new place to visit every day.

The only way our Senators and Representatives will do what we want is if we tell them what we want. Therefore, if you have good reasons to either support or oppose a bill in congress, tell them. It works. And if they vote against what you want, help to vote them out of office the next chance you get.

Here is my letter to Senator Nelson regarding public health care.

Dear Senator Nelson,

While I appreciate the need for reform of our health care system, more government is not the answer. Government is the problem.

Whenever the government gives people money who don't work for it, prices go up. The CEO of Kelly Blue Book was recently quoted saying used car prices will increase 5%-10% due to the cash for clunkers program. Medicare/Medicade costs have gone from 1% of GDP from its inception, to 20% of GDP today. Its cost go up an average 2.25% over inflation (3.25%) every year (total of 5.5%).

For true reform, we need people to stop using insurance as free health care. When I get an oil change, I don't expect my car insurance to help cover the costs. I don't expect my car insurance to pay for all but $20 of my new tires. The reason I have car insurance is for catastrophe.

If you want true health care reform, tax health insurance coverage by employers as a benefit and let us save our money in a tax free account for medical emergencies. Do things that will encourage people to pay for their own bills. Why have hospital costs increased so much even though technologies, procedures and drugs have made such huge strides in providing care, while costs for Lasik eye surgery and cosmetic surgery have gone down? The reason is simple. Consumers have to pay for their own eye and cosmetic surgery.

I encourage you (or a staff member) to read the following articles. They explain much better what I am attempting to say in this letter.

How American Health Care Killed My Father
Some doctors want cash payment - and their patients aren't complaining
Nurse's Cash-Only Clinic Improves Access to Care

The U.S. health care system is screwed up. It needs fixed. Simply throwing more tax dollars at is will not fix it.

Sincerely,

Craig Kohtz

I have to say, there are a lot of people opposed to a public health care option, and some of them are looking like idiots. Obama is not Hitler. A public option for health care, no matter what anyone thinks about it, is not fascism.

Second, when someone says something like Steven Hawkings wouldn't stand a chance in the UK, they sound like an idiot because he lives in the U.K. and is obviously cared for. Fear mongering isn't going to work.

What I don't understand is why the opposition insists on using these tactics. They just make themselves look stupid, and give those for health care "reform" things to point to as examples of their stupidity.

If the opposition would instead educate themselves about what has caused the problems with health care, they might be able to actually convince people to oppose it, or at least make them think about the inevitable consequences of a public option. Instead, because of a few idiots, they can brush off any criticism as coming from right wing nut jobs.

Anyway, I've been kind of avoiding the subject for a while because I wasn't sure what the problems were myself. I had an idea, but hadn't really researched it. However, during a recent discussion with a complete moron on another web site I am a member of, it all came together. During my "discussion" with this apparent second grader, I remembered hearing about an article on NPR that was to be published in the Atlantic Journal. After reading it, it pretty much said everything I felt. So, instead of me trying to explain my thoughts, I'm going to post this link instead.

How American Health Care Killed My Father

It's an intelligent article that leaves out the typical rhetoric and describes in detail what the problems with our system are, and why more government won't fix them. It's six pages long, so takes some reading, but it's worth it. I just wish more Republicans would read it so they could make some intelligent arguments. There are big problems with our health care system, problems that need to be fixed. More government will make them worse, not better.