Health Care Reform

A friend of mine by the name of Barbara Vitale sent me this e-mail message below, real facts about health-care reform. I have received many e-mails about this, as I am certain you have too. None of them checked out. None! The anger over this issue is being fanned by flames coming out of Russ Limbaugh’s mouth about “Nazism,” claims of “evil” from Sarah Palin, and exaggerations from medical lobbies and labor unions, that make me almost ashamed to call myself an American. We want solutions, not name calling. I am not interested in your politics. I am interested in a plan of health-care reform that works. The bill we have before us isn’t quite there. It’s more of a bandaid than reform, but it’s a start.

I have had what Barbara sent me investigated. Everything checks out and with high praise from investigators. For this reason, I am passing this information on. Do with it as you like, but leave me out of any step you take. We must each take this up with our own Congress-people and in civil town-hall discussions. Thank you. PMH



Excellent web site that addresses all the political issues. The Desolation Angel - An Idiot's Ravings At the Ragged Edge of the American Century.

. . .There is a website that you can go to for separating health care fact from fiction, truth from lies, and debunking the myths. Reality Check will answer a lot of your questions.

Interested in "following the money" ? Facts are revealed over at Open Secrets about $1.6 billion on lobbying money thrown by doctors, hospitals and pharma at Washington, and following up some items by, Dr. Dean Ornish:

. . .Just in case you are one of those people who doesn't believe that the health care system isn't broken, that it isn't in need of serious reform, that it should "just be left alone". Well, how does the figure $1.2 trillion sound. Nope, it's not the projected cost. It's the amount of money that current health care system wastes every year. The system we have right now. Are you willing to settle for that? Money magazine lists the top six ways that $1.2 trillion gets wasted every year:

• $210 billion in overtesting, unnecessary testing, and unneeded testing
• $210 billion in processing claims alone
  
• $110 billion dollars wasted by us, the people, by ignoring doctors orders and then winding up having to use the ER when it gets as bad as he/she warned us it would be - $17 billion a year in medical errors, "oops" and clerical errors
  
• $25 billion in medical readmissions caused by discharging patients too soon due to insurance coverages and time limits
  
• $88 billion dollars in completely ineffective and inefficient uses of medical technologies - $14 billion dollars on completely unnecessary ER visits, things that don't actually require a clinical or medical setting
  
• $3 billion dollars on hospital acquired infections
  

I'm going to ask this of you for the next 30 days. Turn your TV off, turn your radio off. Start to use that beautiful mind that your Creator gave you, that your underpaid, underappreciated High School teachers tried to develop. If you hear something, if you read something, if someone sends you an e-mail that says "this bill will do this", or "this politician says this", I'm asking you to check it out. Check it out this way, use some of the following fact-based sites, who exist solely for the purpose of data and fact-checking.

If whatever you've heard or read concerns a bill in Congress, use the following:

- Open Congress, it's non-partisan and devoted to a complete tracking of every bill in Congress, both houses. How a bill is developed, who is sponsoring it, what the riders are, what the discussion around it is.

- GovTrack, again non-partisan, non-commercial and open source; devoted to the same things, tracking Congress.

- Open Secrets, one of the most important ones, it tracks the lobbying money and campaign contributions flowing to your congressperson, and most of the time is a pretty good predictor of how they'll vote.

- Political Party Time, non-partisan, devoted to solely tracking political fundraisers, and letting you know exactly what parties your Representative and Senators are throwing for fundraisers and who is attending and how much money they're throwing at them to gain influence.

. . .If someone sends something to you saying "this is so" or "that is so" or "the President/Senator/Representative said this" use the following:

- Fact Check, non-partisan, designed to separate fact from bullshit and fiction
- Snopes, devoted to the same thing.


Be a part of the solution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!