Senate Health Care Bill Blues: Take Action and BE HEARD

Yeah... no doubt about it. I picked the wrong summer to write this novel (my third). I've had to put it aside. I can't stand by and not devote my attention to this health care debate. Aside from the mudslinging, the SEIU violence, Pelosi's (after accusing dissenters of being nazis) questioning of the patriotism of dissenters, and other assorted nonsense, the health care bill is a vitally important issue.

It is in the best interests of all people who value their freedom of choice, and believe in a free market system of exchange, for those who do not wish live under the yoke of a British-NHS style of nationalized health care to stand up and say "no" to this bill.

Contact your Congressional Representatives and your senators. Don't e-mail them (it's stated that it'll takes 6 - 8 weeks to get a reply). Call them at their offices. Be polite. Be courteous. Respect the office. Don't yell. Don't name call. But be HEARD! Express your opinions and thoughts in no uncertain terms.

I'm still slogging through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee bill (615 pages long), but I can tell you this much. The bill retains the HBAC provision, although it's been renamed the Medical Advisory Council (Sec. 3103, pages 62 - 71) and is now subject to Congressional review, that will ration your health care, set standards (controls) for private insurers, and likely drive all non-government subsidized health insurers out of business.

I've called both of my senators, and the people I've talked to have been very polite and courteous. Don't be anxious about this. It is not just your right as an American, but your duty as an American. I quoted Theodore Roosevelt at the top of this blog and I do so again. "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Don't let a president who makes such a ludicrous claim like this at the Portsmouth town hall determine what's best for your health care. "All I'm saying is let's take the example of something like diabetes, one of—a disease that's skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it's not treated as effectively as it could be. Right now if we paid a family—if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they're taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000—immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure that we're also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right? That will save us money.

"So changing reimbursement rates will help. The other thing that will really help both nurses and doctors, helping pay for medical education for those who are willing to go into primary care. And that's something that we already started to do under the Recovery Act, and we want to do more of that under health care reform" (h/t No Sheeples Here and do read her informed response). This was even worse than that tonsil and red pill/blue pill nonsense.

We as a people, not just the left and right, but all of us as Americans have been lax, dispirited, and cynical for far too long. Most of us don't even bother to vote. That must end now. It's not too late. You can make a difference-- headline: "Newly elected Democrats waver on health plan" (h/t Instapundit).