A Scarlet Stethoscope

Hey, GOP - how about a kiss first next time?

2011-05-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hey, GOP - next time, you could at least kiss us first.

In January of 2011, I posted an article written by Adam Love, the North Carolina State Coordinator for Campaign for Liberty entitled, “Obamacare: Symbolic Gestures are NOT Enough”. Adam’s post gave a voice to thousands of healthcare workers that cautiously placed their votes for GOP candidates that vowed to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). Like it or not, all we had to go on was a campaign promise. I am holding on to hope that we will continue to be watchful and keep their elected officials on task.

The House of Representatives voted to repeal the PPACA. The vote passed with a solid majority. The bill went to the Senate and was subsequently ignored. I have called, emailed, faxed, and otherwise made efforts to drive my elected officials crazy. One of my Senators never returns my calls or correspondence – no real surprise. She hasn’t had time for children of lesser gods such as myself since the day she was elected. A friendly young gentleman at my other Senator’s office has assured me they are doing “their best” to try to push the legislation forward.

I appreciate the lip service. But I’m not seeing any results here, hoss.

Instead, I’m watching in horror as family practice doctors are drowning in “Patient-Centered Medical Home” paperwork and tasks as simple as ordering medications for patients with cancer require several additional pages of codes and justification – with a disclaimer printed at the top: “…in compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”. Insurance premiums are skyrocketing as major insurance companies prepare to collect windfall profits once the insurance mandates finally take effect. All this is happening while Congress – and Americans in general – are unusually silent about it.

As most of the mainstream GOP is shrugging their shoulders in an “Oh, well, we tried” gesture, now even “Tea Party Favorites” are deciding that the healthcare battle isn’t worth their time. On May 8th, The Hill released an article about Representative Allen West (R-FL), a known Tea Party “favorite”, who has decided that the one option we have left – defunding key parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – was not worth his vote. He “believes there are bigger funding issues to be focusing on right now”. (The full article can be found at http://thehill.com/homenews/house/159813-tea-party-favorite-breaks-with-gop-on-healthcare-repeal )

Apparently Representative West has learned quickly the classic Congressional stance: priorities of the constituents that got you elected are only important if they match your own personal priorities or the priorities of the people that are padding your pockets. Hopefully the Tea Party that got him into office will show their appreciation for his inattention to campaign promises at the ballot box when he runs for re-election.

In the meantime, big GOP names are lining up to challenge Barack Obama in 2012 for the Office of the Presidency. I expected Mitt Romney to throw his name in the hat. But of all ways to get into the race, he has decided to give a speech on...healthcare?

Today, the Wall Street Journal released an article about Romney’s announcement of his speech this coming Thursday:

“Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will seek to blunt a major criticism Republican primary voters harbor against him by delivering a health-care speech in Michigan on Thursday that lays out a plan to replace the new national health-care law with other, more targeted changes.”

(The Wall Street Journal article can be found at: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/10/romney-to-deliver-health-care-speech-thursday/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter )

Nice...since his first healthcare law was such a resounding hit.

I have an idea for you, Mr. Romney. How about talking with healthcare workers and patients that are already starting to hit brick walls with the PPACA – and people that have to purchase their own health insurance that are reeling at the skyrocketing premiums they are having to pay in anticipation of ObamaCare rolling out mandates – and see what they have to say about government being involved in healthcare? And here’s a more novel concept: how about calling out the rest of your party about sticking to their campaign promises and not giving up the second it looks like it might require just a little bit of a fight?

Because right now, GOP, all I’m seeing is a party of turncoats that said all the right words to get into office and gave nothing more than one token vote – and a ton of lip-service – to the campaign promise that got you elected.

Happy birthday, Obamacare.

2011-03-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the "official" birthday of Obamacare. The healthcare cluster law is a not-so-healthy one year old now, and becoming more of a problem child with every passing month. In honor of the Obamacare's first birthday, I for one skipped the gym, ate cinnamon rolls from Ikea and skipped the gym. Take that, Washington.

To further commemorate this infamous day, I'd like to share an editorial post that speaks to the true implications of allowing this beast of a law to survive even one year. This post is from The Wall Street Journal: "ObamaCare and Carey's Heart", by Ron Johnson. You can also find this article here on the Wall Street Journal Website.

Today is the first anniversary of the greatest single assault on our freedom in my lifetime: the signing of ObamaCare. As we consider what this law may do to our country, I can't help but reflect on a medical miracle made possible by the American health-care system. It's one that holds special meaning for me.

Some years ago, a little girl was born with a serious heart defect: Her aorta and pulmonary artery were reversed. Without immediate intervention, she would not have survived.

The infant was rushed to another hospital where a surgeon performed a procedure at 1 a.m. that saved her life. Eight months later, when her heart was the size of a small plum, an incredibly dedicated and skilled team of medical professionals surgically reconstructed it. Twenty-seven years later, the young woman is now a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit where she is studying to become a nurse practitioner.

She wasn't saved by a bureaucrat, and no government mandate forced her parents to purchase the coverage that saved her. Instead, her care was provided under a run-of-the-mill plan available to every employee of an Oshkosh, Wis., plastics plant.

If you haven't guessed, this story touches my heart because the girl is my daughter, Carey. And my wife and I are incredibly thankful that we had the freedom to seek out the most advanced surgical technique. The procedure that saved her, and has given her a chance at a full life, was available because America has a free-market system that has advanced medicine at a phenomenal pace.

I don't even want to think what might have happened if she had been born at a time and place where government defined the limits for most insurance policies and set precedents on what would be covered. Would the life-saving procedures that saved her have been deemed cost-effective by policy makers deciding where to spend increasingly scarce tax dollars?

Carey's story sounds like a miracle, but America has always been a place where medical miracles happen. Since 1970, American doctors have won more Nobel Prizes for Medicine than all other countries combined. According to McKinsey and Co., thousands of foreigners come to the United States every year for medical care they cannot get at home—due to rationing or because it is simply not provided. And cutting-edge drugs to treat serious illnesses are more widely available in the U.S. than abroad.

Take cancer as one example. Compared to the U.S., breast cancer mortality is 9% higher in Canada (according to the government statistics of each country), 52% higher in Germany and 88% higher in the United Kingdom (according to studies published in Lancet Oncology). Prostate cancer mortality is 604% higher in Britain.

Those in need of timely care from specialists are better off in the U.S. Drawing on several peer-reviewed studies, Dr. Scott Atlas of the Stanford University Medical Center notes that patients who need knee and hip replacement, cataract surgery, and radiation treatment wait months longer in the United Kingdom and Canada than in the United States.

The plain truth is that the American system is better at rewarding innovation and responding to consumer needs. But the history of government-led care is there for all to see. Are we doomed to repeat it?

For the first time in U.S. history, a personal inaction (not purchasing something, in this case, a health- insurance plan) will be deemed unlawful. The person not committing this act (or is it committing an inaction?) will be subject to a fine. Or is it now, as the government contends, a tax? I'm confused.

This is precisely what Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and President Obama wanted. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was sprung on an unsuspecting public with barely enough time for anyone to read it. Remember Speaker Pelosi's famous line? "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Unbelievable.

I am convinced that ObamaCare was designed to lead to a government takeover of our entire health-care system, which is one-sixth of our economy. As I traveled around Wisconsin in the last year, I asked thousands of people a simple question: "Do you think the federal government has the capability of running one-sixth of our economy?" Only two people ever raised their hands.

Our health-care system has problems that must be addressed. But ObamaCare will make those problems much worse. Instead of increasing consumer choice, it narrows it. Instead of encouraging innovation, it stifles creativity. Instead of expanding access to care, it will ration it. And instead of allowing competition to help bring down costs, it increases spending and puts our health-care system on a path to ruin.

The defects with the president's health law are so serious and widespread that the administration has already granted over 1,000 waivers to protect businesses, labor unions and other organizations from its most onerous provisions. We need to recognize that the finest health-care system in the world is at risk—and repeal ObamaCare before it's too late.

Mr. Johnson, a Republican, is a senator from Wisconsin.

Constitutionality, Presumptions, and Blatant Arrogance

2011-02-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing helps a good workout like watching C-Span.

Yesterday, I was able to enjoy a lively debate from my elliptical trainer as Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) grilled a panel of constitutional lawyers with questions about the constitutionality of the healthcare law today at a Judiciary Committee hearing. It didn’t take long for my heart rate to get to a good peak when I saw the exchange between these clowns.

Here are some highlights I found from this debate:

“The judge in that case, Roger Vinson, ruled the individual mandate -- which requires everyone to buy insurance by 2014 or else pay a penalty -- exceeds Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which regulates interstate commerce. He ruled the entire law "void" because the individual mandate provision can't be separated out from the rest of the law.

Vinson agreed with the states involved in the lawsuit that the government cannot force individuals to participate in the stream of commerce, in this case, the health insurance market, nor can it penalize those for inactivity, i.e. not buying health insurance.

Walter Dellinger, professor emeritus of law at Duke University, and Charles Fried, law professor at Harvard Law School -- two of the lawyers on Wednesday's five-attorney panel -- agreed with that stance. Sooner or later, they said, everyone will have to get medical treatment, and when they do, if they lack insurance, the costs will be passed on to others.

Not so, argued panelist Michael Carvin, a partner at the Washington law firm Jones Day.

"Sitting at home and staying out of the insurance marketplace is not commerce," said Carvin. "The decision to sit at home doesn't effect Insurance Company A's ability to contract with Citizen B."

They were joined by John Kroger, the Oregon attorney general, who said the individual mandate is constitutional, and Randy Barnett, a law professor at Georgetown University, who said it is not.

In his opening statement, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said that if the individual mandate is found to be constitutional, then Congress could force Americans to buy any good or service.

...Another common argument in the debate is that the healthcare reform law marks the first time that Congress has used its power to mandate that citizens purchase something on the private market.

Fried said that isn't true and pointed to an century-old case law, Jacobson v. Massachusetts In 1905, the Massachusetts government mandated that all citizens get a smallpox vaccination or else pay a $5 fine -- a hefty sum in those days. The Supreme Court sided with the state of Massachusetts.

But Carvin said that case is about the states having the authority to pass laws to promote health and welfare, and would be out of the scope of the Commerce Clause. A more apt comparison to the individual mandate, he said, would be like Congress passing a law requiring everyone to take vitamins.” (1)

“Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., vowed that repeal "will not go forward."
Durbin called a Judiciary Committee hearing on the law's constitutionality, which a federal judge in Florida struck down Monday.

"Many who argue the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional are the same people who condemn judicial activism," he said. "They are pushing the Supreme Court to strike down this law because they could not defeat it in Congress and they are losing the argument in the court of public opinion."

During debate Wednesday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dismissed the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that repeal would increase the deficit by $230 billion as "garbage in, garbage out," The Hill reported.

He said the CBO failed to account for rising reimbursements to Medicare physicians, which he said was estimated to cost $208 billion over 10 years. He also predicted a long-term care insurance program would eventually have to be funded by the government.

The National Retail Federation endorsed repeal Wednesday.

Requirements for employers to provide health coverage or pay penalties, to take effect in 2014, are "deterring job growth today at the expense of tomorrow's economy," said NRF leader David French.” (2)

I watched as attorneys pontificated back and forth, each with their own agendas and theories about why they thought their opinion was best. What struck me with the most horror was a senator by the name of Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). In summary, here is what I understood from Senator Blumenthal: Since the law was passed by a “coequal” Congress, and since Congress knows best what is constitutional and what is not constitutional, then there should be no question here. If Congress passed it, we should presume that the law is constitutional. Why bother wasting the Supreme Court’s time when Congress knows best, right?

Working in the medical field, there are many shades of gray, as there seem to be in the field of law. Apparently there is one screaming difference: in the medical field, we are obligated to do the right thing. The right thing ethically, the right thing legally, but more than anything, we do the right thing by our patients. The autonomy and freedom of our patients to make decisions about their well-being is a patient right that is held in the highest regard by the medical profession.

That is called liberty.

Senator Blumenthal apparently expects the medical field to bend over and hand that autonomy to the federal government as they decide what is the right thing to do for our patients.

No, sir. Not on my watch.

The “coequal” Congress was far from coequal – it was a heavily biased Congress in both houses that was brought into office by an ingenius marketing campaign by an otherwise no-name senator that learned how to campaign on smoke and mirrors. And even with a filibuster-proof majority, they still had to fight to push through legislation that was a slap in the face to the Constitution – while Americans rallied against this legislation on the lawns of the nations’ capitol.

While pushing through the legislation, Americans were patronizingly told, “Well, if you have a better idea, we’d love to hear it.”

So we gave our ideas and were ignored.

Some of the panel attorneys yesterday gushed over the wonderful thing that the healthcare law is – constitutionality be damned. I am still baffled over their line of thinking. What kind of a wonderful thing is it when you require United States citizens to purchase health insurance – but not allow competition among insurance companies, so for all practical purposes people have less than a handful of options to choose from – and then threaten fines and possible jail time for violations? Moreover, impose the same restrictions on employers who are already struggling to stay afloat and keep people at work in an economy that has yet to come out of the toilet, no matter what the esteemed President says?

Sure it’s a wonderful thing. If you’re an executive for one of those private insurance companies who claimed the biggest financial victory in history when the healthcare law passed. The one group of people that advocates for this healthcare law love to vilify is the exact group of people that will stand to make an insane profit when this law is in full effect. Nice work, Congress.

I would also like to address another issue that has been handed to me a hundred times if it’s been handed to me once. In every debate that I have participated in about the individual mandate, without fail, someone barks, “Well, the government makes us buy car insurance. What’s the difference?”

You can choose not to have a car. We weren’t given a choice as to whether or not we have a pulse. You can choose to ride a bike, walk, or use public transportation if you don’t want to purchase car insurance. And if you do choose to purchase it, you have the benefit of a competitive market that makes the cost more affordable. There is no choice in the healthcare mandate. There is no provision to protect Americans from costs that have already begun to skyrocket as salivating insurance executives prepare to pad their wallets with windfall profits.

I have been watching the efforts to repeal this healthcare disaster over the past weeks with a great deal of trepidation. I fear that this may be nothing more than lip service from the Republican party, and now that the bill has failed in the Senate, we will hear an “Oh, well, we tried.”

No, actually, you didn’t.

Until the Republicans in Congress pursue repeal of the healthcare law with as much persistence as the President had when he shoved this legislation through with no regard for the opinion of the American people – until Republicans in Congress put as much blood, sweat and tears as everyday Americans put into fighting this law over the past two years - only then can they say with any level of sincerity that they really tried.

Keep your campaign promise, GOP. We voted you into office because of that promise. We will vote you out if you don’t remain true to it.

REFERENCES:

(1) Medical News: Senate Panel Probes ACA’s Constitutionality http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/24664

(2) UPI.com: Senate debate on healthcare bill heats up: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/02/02/Senate-debate-on-healthcare-bill-heats-up/UPI-39941296639060/

Political Math

2011-02-02T15:15:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Matthew Ridenhour, leader of the Charlotte Tea Party for sharing this.

An interesting take on what we have to look forward to with our new healthcare reform legislation:

Obamacare: Symbolic Gestures Are NOT Enough

2011-01-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Special thanks to guest blogger Adam Love for this great post!

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives will hold a vote to repeal ObamaCare.

While it's nice that House Republicans are keeping their promise to hold a vote to repeal this socialized medicine scheme, the reality is that with Harry Reid in control of the Senate and Barack Obama in the White House, a full repeal is just not possible.

Given this political reality, no member of Congress is staring at the end of their career by voting for repeal.

Some liberty activists are afraid Republicans are trying to get away with an "Oh well, we tried" vote they know is going nowhere in order to wash their hands of their campaign trail, pro-liberty rhetoric.

This harkens back to the Bush Era, when Republicans would pay lip service to liberty issues while voting to massively expand the size and scope of government.

That's why it's vital you contact your Representative, especially if they are a Republican, and send a clear message that you will not tolerate empty gestures as a substitute for meaningful action.

You see, spending bills must originate in the House, so the newly elected Republican majority holds powerful cards. House Republicans can vote to defund programs and agencies tasked with implementing ObamaCare.

Contact Rep. Sue Myrick by phone at (202) 225-1976 and insist Congress take real action against ObamaCare by voting to defund this freedom-stealing legislation and rollback any regulation that restricts health freedom.

Let your Representative know you haven't stopped paying attention now that the election is over, and that the wave that swept them into office can just as easily sweep them out should they not do everything in their power to restore fiscal sanity and our lost freedom by defunding ObamaCare and eliminating intrusive regulations.

So please, contact Rep. Sue Myrick by phone at (202) 225-1976 and send a clear message that, while voting to repeal ObamaCare is a good start, you will not forgive or forget should this Congress not take meaningful action to defund ObamaCare and eliminate big government regulations that restrict our health freedom.

"Lady Liberty's Pat-Down", by Matthew Ridenhour

2010-11-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

This post was written by Matthew Ridenhour, guest blogger for The Scarlet Stethoscope. Matthew Ridenhour serves in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He is also an executive board member of the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans and the founder and leader of the Charlotte Tea Party.

My heartfelt thanks to Matthew for allowing me to share this.

"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle." - George William Curtis

This month I have gone on two trips by car; one taking me south through Atlanta, across Alabama, and up to Memphis, and the other north through Virginia, to Harrisburg, PA. During these two trips through ten states, I have seen much of what my girlfriend called "the heart of America". From the rolling farmlands of Pennsylvania to the land of the Delta Blues, from Talladega Superspeedway to Gettysburg, Antietam, and Shenandoah; I consider myself fortunate for being able to drive through some of the most noted historical locations in our nation. There is something about watching an Amish buggy bounce down the road which seems to put things in perspective, especially in this time of fearful flying, wars, and cultural degeneration. Sunday afternoon I drove eight hours from Harrisburg, PA back to Charlotte, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you have never driven up I-81, I highly encourage you to do so. Grab your spouse or friend and take off for a weekend, and discover a little Americana along the way.

So what is America/Americana, anyways? Is it a place? For example, my home...I know where that is. I know the walls, the doors, the messy refrigerator, pictures on the wall-I know what "home" is. No, I do not think that America is a place. Oh, sure, it has borders, land area and such, but borders move and topography changes. Is it the Constitution or our rights and freedoms? Certainly those help define us as a people, but any nation could adopt our Constitution and grant their people the same rights and liberties. Would that make them "American"? No, it would not. How about people? Yes, people are certainly America. A people stitched together with the threads of history; bound to each other through community, shared freedoms, and a sense of "us". You and I are America. Much like the idea of true freedom, it lies within us, regardless of our surroundings.

What saddens me is that over the years, through apologetic, revisionist history, segregated communities, and stifled freedoms, we have lost a lot of the handiwork that made us American. Sometimes I feel like we are the cheap, synthetic imitation of America. Yes, we believe in free market economics, but not in times of economic trepidation (in that case, bail ‘em out). Yes, we believe in free speech, but only if it's PC (and not conservative talk, either, lest we pull your website or take you off the air). We believe in the right to bear arms, but not those arms or those arms (in fact, we'd appreciate it if you'd just stick to a .22 rifle and plink some tin cans). I fear we have satiated ourselves eating a McDonalds burger, not knowing that we could have a Del Frisco's ribeye instead. We did not get here overnight; it was not the actions of a single President, nor administration. It was not one terrorist attack, nor one stock market bubble. It was a constant erosion of America because we were apathetic. We were in a hurry. We were under attack. We were fearful. And so we wrote a blank check to the government and said, "Please take this responsibility. Make this easier. Make everything the way it used to be." But there is no going back, and there is no going home again.

"He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security." - Benjamin Franklin

Reactions to the new TSA policies are an interesting barometer of the perspectives of Americans. There seem to be two main camps: "This is a dangerous world, and whatever the government needs to do to keep us safe is okay", and, "Don't touch my junk". I understand the former, but I am a believer in the latter. I understand why people are willing to submit to virtual strip searches and invasive pat-downs. They have become conditioned to: 1) not resist authority 2) believe that it's all in the name of "safety". You see, you can get away with a lot in America in the name of safety and security. Just look at hand sanitizer sales, food recalls, child safety features and a host of other actions we take and devices we use all in the name of safety and security. It is as if we are afraid of life itself. What a lot of people do not understand are the long-term effects of allowing the TSA such broad powers. First they scan and grope at the airports, then subways and mass transit. After all, it's all in the name of your security, Citizen. But then there is always the threat of car bombs, so tighter restrictions are made for car ownership and road travel. Think it will not/cannot happen? History is filled with examples: Germany, Italy, Russia, Ireland...and those are just from the last century. So while I understand people's desire to fly safely, I am concerned about the ramifications of trading a little temporary security for some of our essential liberty. It is a lot easier to draw the line in the sand now, rather than later, when we have to provide papers just to travel along the interstate. Now, I do not think that there is a conclave of old men, shrouded in black robes, wishing to control Americans; however I absolutely believe there are people in government so fearful of another attack, a financial meltdown, or unknown threats that they are willing to do anything to feel protected. They are no different than most Americans-except that they write the laws and set the policies.

"An agreeable village, in a damned rebellious country." - Lord Cornwallis

Americans have long had a history of resistance to oppression and authoritarian rule; it is in our blood, our history, it is a part of that fabric which binds Americans. We are seeing more of that resistance today. We must take our stands at every opportunity, even at the expense of our own time or resources. It may take longer to "opt-out", but we must. It may take time to write emails to members of the Senate against Senate Bill 510, but we must. Every policy, every bill, every action must be scrutinized, tested, and if necessary, resisted. Because we as Americans-the very keepers of America-are the only ones who will. If the Great Experiment fails, it will be because we allowed it to. We can never go back to 1999, but we can ensure that we do not go forward to 1984. Not on our watch.

As we hustle and bustle over the next few days with Thanksgiving, family, football, and black Friday shopping, let us think for a moment about our families, our genealogies, and our own stories. The events of the past, and of our lives, have shaped us and molded us to be exactly where we are right now. We live in a troubling time, filled with uncertainty and doubt. Yet you and I are here now, for a purpose, and that is empowering. You are needed right now. Lady Liberty and your countrymen are calling on you to keep America; keep it free, keep it healthy, keep it a beacon of equality, justice, and liberty. Keep it, and you will earn the eternal thanks of a nation.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Face to Face Encounters and Other Conundrums.

2010-11-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans posted the healthcare law implementation timeline a few months back. I sifted through the 53 pages of fine print to try to get an idea of when we would really start to see some impact (in other words, begin to feel the pain) from the healthcare law.

What I found most entertaining was the first part of the document…the disclaimer:

“This document represents the best efforts of the Energy and Commerce Committee Republican staff to describe the substantive provisions and effective dates of the legislation. Because of the lack of clarity, internal inconsistencies, and ambiguity in the text, many provisions will inevitably be subject to dispute or alternative interpretations.”

...You can’t say we weren’t warned.

One thing that went into place this year was the “Face to Face Encounter”…a provision that sounds really nice on paper. The punch line is that a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist must have a face-to-face encounter with a patient to certify eligibility for home healthcare services, durable medical equipment, and the most recent addition, hospice services. It is justified “in order to reduce waste, fraud and abuse”. And it’s a very good idea…on paper. But when you look at it from the perspective of home healthcare and hospice providers, it gets slippery. What is interesting about this is that in order for a patient to be certified for home healthcare services under Medicare, they must be “homebound”. The guidelines are pretty stringent…so if a patient already qualifies for home health care, one can assume that it takes some level of hardship for the patient to be able to go to the doctor. With the current shortage of healthcare providers at the practitioner level (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and clinical nurse specialists), you’ll be hard pressed to find one that is willing to do a house call. Durable medical equipment? Well…maybe that is more realistic, on some levels. If the equipment is something like a walker, a cane, something that allows the patient to be more mobile, then a face-to-face encounter is reasonable, and quite honestly should be expected. But what about that patient that is confined to their home and bedbound?

And the most jaw-dropping part of this: the hospice provision. In order for someone to qualify for hospice care, they must have a prognosis of six months or less. There is not as stringent a “homebound” requirement as there is for standard home healthcare services because in truth, people with a life-limiting illness are likely already homebound, or close to being that way. Certification periods for the hospice Medicare benefit are in 60 or 90 day increments – meaning that a new order that certifies eligibility must be done every 60 or 90 days, depending on how long the patient has been under hospice care. In many cases, it is very difficult for this patient population to get to the doctor’s office.

Hospice organizations are starting to foot the expense of putting nurse practitioners and physicians on staff (versus working with independent primary care physicians or specialists). This way, they will be able to make home visits for this special patient population to maintain compliance with this regulation…in a time where Medicare and Medicaid is already slashing reimbursement. It is well known throughout this healthcare field that the cost of Medicare and Medicaid fines is far beyond the cost of putting these providers on staff…even though both totals may put many smaller hospice organizations in the red. I’ll be posting an entry in the coming weeks about how Medicare reimbursement to hospice organizations works…just in case you weren’t outraged enough.

Some other interesting items I found on the healthcare law implementation timeline:

“Medicare: Sets Medicare payment for bone-density tests at 70 percent of the 2006 reimbursement rates in 2010 and 2011, subject to conversion and geographic adjustment factors. (Sec. 3111)”

“Medicare: Removes all funds ($22.2 billion) from the Secretary’s Medicare Improvement Fund. (Sec. 3112)”…and…
[April 1, 2010] “Medicare: Start date for the Secretary to reduce the annual inflation update to Medicare payments for inpatient acute hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term care hospitals by 0.25 percentage points for fiscal year 2010. (Sec 3401)”

BUT…

“Medicare: Extends through FY 2012 funding for beneficiary outreach and education activities related to low-income programs with an additional $45 million for such activities. (Sec. 3306)”

Oh. So that’s where that money is going. But just in case they don’t get quite enough money from those cuts, there’s always this provision:

“Medicare: Permits the Secretary to periodically identify physician services as potentially misvalued, and make appropriate adjustments to the relative values of such services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. (Sec. 3134)”

Members of Indian tribes are seeing some incredible benefits from this healthcare law – already in effect for 2010. Not sure why these benefits were not extended to all American citizens…rather curious…but I’m not sure if that is something we are allowed to question anymore (sic). In any case, there is a wonderful breakdown of those government-provided benefits that are already in place on pages 5-20 of the timeline…the link to the PDF of the timeline is listed under “References”.

That's just a small preview of what is already in place, courtesy of our new government healthcare law. More to come on other provisions that will be coming into effect as we near 2011…

REFERENCES

PDF version of House Energy and Commerce Republicans timeline for HR 3590 as Revised by HR 4872: http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/News/042110_Health_Law_Timeline.pdf

What would you say?

2010-10-08T01:30:00.001-07:00

Since the beginning of this healthcare battle, Americans have been scratching their heads trying to figure out the conundrum that is the new healthcare law...and the answers always seem to be different depending on who you are asking. Recently, an iron-fisted press release came from none other than the esteemed Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, admonishing anyone that dared give what she felt like was "misinformation" about the healthcare law. (You can find her statement at the Department of Health and Human Services Website.)

Prior to the passing of the healthcare bill, the Charlotte Tea Party organized a healthcare town hall forum to help give clear information about what was in the healthcare bill - straight from the text of the bill. Now that the bill has become law, there are even more questions about what Americans will be facing in the very near future.

I'm asking for your help with this blog post: I want to know what your questions are. We would like to work on organizing another healthcare forum in Charlotte, and would like to see what is on the minds of people in relation to the new healthcare law. Please give it some thought, and post your questions in the "comments" section of this blog. I'll be compiling your thoughts and questions as I contact area healthcare professionals to see who we can involve on a panel...and will be posting an update as soon as I find out when we can go live with this!

Stay tuned...and please post your questions!

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Healthcare Warriors...

2010-10-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

The Community Oncology Alliance has geared up for battle and are on the ground in Capitol Hill, fighting for cancer patients. Please visit their website at Community Oncology Alliance!

In Memory...

2010-09-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to Greg Irwin for posting this...

Photo courtesy of Flickr

These Men Of Valor

2010-08-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to Guest Blogger and Honorary Scarlet Stethoscope Nurse, Kevin Outlaw, for sharing this amazing work. Follow Kevin on Twitter at @LawlessKO...

The sun was casting shadows on the ground,
as the men filed into the sweltering room.
These men of valor had been beaten down.
Days of browbeating and bellicose proclamations,
had brought them to their knees.

These men desired God's Free Will,
the will of the individual to decide his fate
unbridled from the forces of man.
Their enemy was the never-ending human condition,
the want, the lust...for privilege, prestige and power.

In the days preceding this,
they held quarrelsome debates,
they were losing all their common ground.
For this desperate unborn nation,
time was running out.

Divine Providence had delivered them this far,
and it was the cause for their kneeling.
This much they could agree on,
this leap in human consciousness,
no mortal could create.

The hand of God reached out to them,
cleansing their hearts and minds.
In their time of hopelessness,
these men found compromise.

They formed a land of freedom,
but the battle did not end.
The conflict is everlasting,
stay vigilant my friend.

They pledged their lives,
their fortunes,and their sacred honor.
What are you willing to give?
Is what they might have pondered.

Charlotte-Area Oncologists Are Speaking Out.

2010-08-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

From The Charlotte Observer, August 19, 2010: "Cancer patients could be hurt, we fear, by healthcare reform"

From 10 Charlotte-area oncologists (Drs. James Boyd, Geoffrey Chapman, David Eagle, Justin Favaro, Richard Foulke, Richard Krumdieck, Timothy Kuo, Lance Lassiter, Alfred Newman, Grant Taylor):

As our knowledge about cancer increases, treatments for cancer are becoming more advanced. We know that each cancer has many subtypes. We have the ability to effectively treat the many different cancer subtypes based on individual characteristics, such as unique protein expression or genetic mutations. While these treatments can be costly, they have been proven to extend the lives of cancer patients while preserving a high quality of life. We are troubled by the new health care reform law that will restrict treatment options for cancer patients.

One example of this restriction has already been modeled elsewhere. In England, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) does not permit the use of many of the newer, more expensive drugs. Data from multiple studies as recent as 2008 and dating as far back as the 1950s demonstrate that cancer survival is higher in the United States compared with England. Yet the U.S. health care reform law calls for the formation of a 15-member panel appointed by the president which will function similar to NICE in England. It is easy to imagine that there will be rulings to restrict the use of current effective drugs in order to save money. Despite the ability of these drugs to control cancer and extend life, we fear that many of them may not be available to our patients if treatment decisions become medical cost-containment decisions made by a board.

Another cost saving proposal in the new health care reform bill is the formation of Accountable Care Organizations. A recent document from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defines an ACO as an organization of health care providers accountable for the quality, cost, and overall care of the beneficiaries assigned to it. In other words, a group of at least 5,000 patients will be assigned to a group of doctors who will be responsible for a range of services, including primary and specialty care.

How can an ACO save money? During each 12-month period, if the amount spent on patient care by the ACO is below a benchmark, the physicians and other employees working in the ACO will share in the savings. It is inappropriate to create incentives for physicians to avoid current advanced treatments in order to save money. We believe the first priority for physicians should be to choose the medically appropriate treatment that best serves each patient.

The 15-member panel appointed by the president and the spending deterrents within ACOs are just two ways the new health care reform law will attempt to save money at the expense of quality patient care. Studies prove that similar cost-saving measures used in England end up costing lives.

We suggest that health care be spared from government cost-saving measures. A fair, private health care market will save money and has proven to be more effective at extending the lives of cancer patients.

Rules of Engagement.

2010-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is a great column that was sent to me by Adam Love, guest blogger to “A Scarlet Stethoscope” and the North Carolina State Coordinator for Campaign for Liberty. Adam’s message:

The following column comes from Gary North, a longtime conservative activist. In it, he presents a concise, time-tested strategy that any activist group can use to elect principled conservatives, hold them accountable, and dispose of them should they be co-opted by their corrupt peers. I saw this today after having attended this past Monday night's CAUTION meeting, at which this very subject - how Tea Partiers can be effective at bringing about real, meaningful change in America - was discussed. Please read this, and take it to heart.

- Adam Love

The column:

Eight Unbreakable Rules for Hard-Core Tea Party Activists (or Any Other Special-Interest Coalition)
By Gary North - August 16, 2010

I joined the conservative movement in 1956 when I joined Fred Schwarz's Christian Anti-Communism Crusade. I wrote an anti-FDR high school term paper in 1958. I supported the Goldwater for Vice President movement in 1960. I voted for Goldwater for President in 1964. I voted for Reagan's Republican primary gubernatorial challenger in 1966, William Penn Patrick, because I thought Reagan was too liberal. (I was right; he imposed income tax withholding in his first term as governor.) I was Ron Paul's first research assistant in 1976.

I am hard core. I have been hard core for a long time.

I am writing this for those of you who are equally hard core.

Here are ten facts of American national politics that you must understand to get meaningful change.

1. You can't beat something with nothing.
2. 80% of politicians respond only to two things: (1) fear; (2) pain.
3. Bureaucrats (tenured) respond only to one thing: budget cuts.
4. Political reform never comes as long as the tax money flows in.
5. The #1 goal is to reduce the government's funds, not re-direct them.
6. Congress's club system sucks in 80% of new members by term #2.
7. Politicians listen to their peers, not to their constituents.
8. Money from the government buys off most voters.
9. Most citizens care little about politics and know less.
10. This gives influence to organized swing-vote blocs.

The political system was summed up a generation ago by the man I regard as the elder statesman of the hard-core wing of the American conservative movement, M. Stanton Evans: "Evans's Law of Political Perfidy." (1)

When our friends get into power, they aren't our friends any more.

To this, I add "North's Law of Partisan Politics":

When a movement is in either political party's hip pocket, it will be sat on.

If you do not believe this, then you are a sheep for the shearing -- and then, after several shearings, the roasting. You are on some politician's menu.

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

These are eight basic rules of engagement. There may be others, but these are fundamental. If you do not believe these, you are headed for disappointment.

1. Vote for a hard-core challenger on the other side against a squishy incumbent. This rule separates the hard core members from the soft core members. It has a corollary: A first-term incumbent next election is easier to beat than a squishy incumbent this election. It is always hard to defeat an incumbent. Do what you can to defeat any incumbent, no matter which party he belongs to, if he is squishy on the issue you regard as fundamental. Why is this so important? Incumbents must become deathly afraid of your movement. Take out a few dozen of them in the next election and the one that follows, and many others will cooperate. As Sen. Everett Dirksen put it so long ago, "When we feel the heat, we see the light." In short, you do not settle for the lesser of two evils. You eliminate them both, one election at a time: first the softie, then the newbie.

2. Hold your newly elected politician's feet to the fire the first time he breaks ranks on a key vote. He is like a puppy. When he leaves a mess on the carpet, get out the switch. "Bad dog! Bad dog!" Let him remember that switch. Let him fear that switch. The second time he does it, warm up the car. You and he will be taking a trip to the pound. You are his voter only for as long as he is your representative. Politicians respond to only two things: fear and pain.

3. Get him to sign a resignation letter. Before you work for him, make sure he has signed a resignation letter. This letter says the following:

To the voters of [district, state]:

I am making this public. If I ever vote for [whatever], I will turn in my letter of resignation to the [government body] within 24 hours.
If I fail to do this, I expect voters to vote against me at the next election, since I clearly cannot be trusted.
I expect my opponent in the primary to defeat me next time, and if he doesn't, my opponent in the general election will. And should.

Very truly yours,
Name Candidate for [whatever]

This is a political suicide letter. You will see who is serious about your #1 issue and who is not by means of a signed resignation letter. Post it online. If he refuses to sign it, start working to undermine him after he defeats the squishy incumbent. Above all, do not trust him.

No candidate will sign more than a few of these. Any candidate who will not sign at least one is just another glory-seeking, power-seeking, retirement bonanza-seeking political hack. Like a drone bee who is useful only once in his life, he is useful for only one thing: defeating a squishy incumbent.

You say he refuses to sign? Don't donate any money or time to his campaign. You should vote for him against a squishy incumbent, but you will immediately start working to replace him.

4. Track all of his votes on your #1 issue, and post them online. The Congress deliberately seeks to conceal voting results. Your committee must keep track of every vote related to your interest. This means that someone must follow the voting schedule. If there is no record of his vote, call his office. Ask for an email with his vote recorded. My suggestion: make sure he has an assistant send an email to your committee after every vote in this area, explaining it. Post all of this without alteration. If he breaks ranks, make sure you have a clear statement of why this was a bad vote.

This is boring. This is time-consuming. This is vital. You must see if there is a pattern in his voting on your issue.

I wish there were watchdog sites that cover every vote. Be sure there is one for your special interest.

WordPress is free (www.WordPress.org). A domain name costs $10 a year to register. A multi-site hosting service like Hostgator is $10 a month or less. Have a separate site for every candidate and elected official.

This would make a great civics project for home schoolers: track a candidate for the school year. Then turn the task over to a new student. Have the committee run the sites, but students can do the grunt work. It is good practice.

5. Find out who his largest campaign donors are. This will tell you who will have the most clout when he takes office. Investigate the PACs. Investigate the donors who send in the maximum donation allowed. Are they members of one group? Post this information on the site that you set up to monitor his votes.

6. Instill fear. This is your #1 task, once he takes office.

7. Inflict pain. This is the basis of #6.

8. Trust, but verify. If your group refuses to verify, it should not trust.

CONCLUSION

Politics is not based on love, because civil government is based on coercion. Do not impose "tough love" on a politician. He is not to love you. He is to obey you. You are not to love him. You are to monitor him. Impose negative sanctions and positive sanctions wisely.

Politicians surround themselves with young men and young women who serve as staffers, plus a few old-timers who have survived in the staffing system and who are unimpressed with their bosses, but are even less impressed with the boss's constituents. Politicians spend time in each other's company. They are not much impressed with their colleagues, but they are very impressed with themselves. They are not impressed by their constituents. Finally, they spend time raising money. So, they have to spend time with lobbyists.

I shall now end my little lesson on politics with a verbatim citation from one of the great masters of state-wide politics, Jesse Unruh. He was the Speaker of the California Assembly in the late 1960s. He was known as Big Daddy. He ran against Ronald Reagan in 1970 and lost. But he later was elected state Treasurer. Here is what he said about the proper attitude toward lobbyists:

"If you can't eat their food, drink their booze, screw their women, and still vote against them, you have no business being up here."

So committed was he to this philosophy of life that he chose to die of prostate cancer at age 65 rather than have his prostate surgically removed, because he would not risk the sexual impotence that might result from surgical removal.

He loved dealing with lobbyists.

We are dealing with dedicated people. We are dealing with power-seeking, often ruthless people. Don't try to buy them off. Don't try to sweet-talk them. If they don't vote the way you want them to vote, defeat them. This, they understand. This, they fear.

Either they are on your menu, or you are on theirs. I suggest the former.

REFERENCES

Original article: “Eight Unbreakable Rules for Hard-Core Tea Party Activists (or Any Other Special-Interest Coalition)” by Gary North: http://www.garynorth.com/public/6827.cfm

(1) Evans’ Law of Political Perfidy: http://lawsoflife.co.uk/evanss-law-of-political-perfidy/

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thejameskendall/3330198323/

The Avastin Facepalm.

2010-08-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

The FDA has created quite a little stir in the world of oncology…and the ripple effect was enough to cause the words “death panels” to be uttered all the way in the United Kingdom.

The stir is about a drug called Avastin. In 2008, the FDA approved Avastin under ‘accelerated approval’ (used to approve drugs based on initial positive studies) to treat the most common type of breast cancer in combination with a chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel. In order to maintain that approval, Genentech must continue to submit data to the FDA to receive regular approval. Genentech submitted two studies that looked at adding Avastin to different types of chemotherapy drugs.

Here’s where the wrench was thrown in, according to the Wall Street Journal article:

“The original study that supported Avastin's approval showed adding the drug to paclitaxel added 5½ months to median progression-free survival. The new studies show a smaller impact on progression-free survival of less than a month to 2.9 months depending on the treatment group. The studies showed more side effects among women being treated with Avastin…” (1)

Oddly enough, the remark was followed in this article by the following statement:

“None of the studies showed a survival benefit in favor of Avastin. The panel unanimously said the follow-up studies didn't confirm the clinical benefit seen in the original study. The FDA said the "risk-benefit ratio of [Avastin] when added to the standard chemotherapeutic regimens...may not be considered favorable." (1)

Now, I may be a tad ignorant here. But the initial data showed that Avastin, with paclitaxel, adds 5 and 1/2 months to median progression-free survival. The second study showed a progression-free survival of “less than a month to 2.9 months depending on the treatment group”. I might need some clarification on this study, but the spin in this article – and statement – is hinting that the initial data is wrong, when what it says to me is that Avastin was tested with other drugs and found not to have the benefit it had with paclitaxel.

So why would you pull the drug for treating breast cancer patients? Why not just continue using the Avastin with paclitaxel, if it could possibly add over 5 months of progression-free survival? (If there is anyone reading this blog that has any further information that might clear this up for me, PLEASE post a comment or contact me – I’ve tried to find further information but as of yet, have not been able to find it...)

It probably doesn’t help that Avastin is a rather expensive therapy, in comparison to the “standard” treatments. Although it is more expensive, it also is a more focused therapy, targeting a protein that forms blood vessels in tumors. Standard chemotherapy is not nearly as specific, so it also kills healthy cells in the body.

Needless to say, word spread quickly to the United States Senate.
Senator David Vitter (R-LA) seemed to agree with me, that an extra month to 2.9 months was actually worth something when you’re talking about someone’s life:

“I shudder at the thought of a government panel assigning a value to a day of a person’s life,” Vitter said in a statement. “It is sickening to think that care would be withheld from a patient simply because their life is not deemed valuable enough.”

In a letter to the FDA cancer division leader, Richard Pazdur, Vitter said the committee’s vote appeared to be based on cost effectiveness, not safety issues.
“I am not suggesting that Avastin is a perfect drug, but it has a proven record of effective treatment for some patients when used along with chemotherapy,” he wrote..." (2)

“Vitter’s mother-in-law died of breast cancer. He has slammed the new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force mammogram guidelines that said yearly tests shouldn’t be automatic for most women under 50. In May he asked the HHS to take the recommendations off the agency’s website.” (2)

Here’s where it gets interesting…I found an article from “The Telegraph” in the United Kingdom. The title: “US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels'”. (3)

Coming from the UK, in my mind, made that a DOUBLE facepalm. We’re the country where people in the United Kingdom and Europe come for state-of-the-art, cutting-edge treatments. When they’re turned away in socialized medicine programs, they come to the United States. And now, even the words “death panels” are being uttered in the United Kingdom – about OUR healthcare. As a healthcare provider in the United States, that is horrifically embarrassing to me.

From the UK Telegraph Article:

“A decision to rescind endorsement of the drug would reignite the highly charged debate over US health care reform and how much the state should spend on new and expensive treatments...

“Avastin, the world’s best selling cancer drug, is primarily used to treat colon cancer and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for use on women with breast cancer that has spread...

“It costs $8,000 (£5,000) a month and is given to about 17,500 women in the US a year. The drug was initially approved after a study found that, by preventing blood flow to tumours, it extended the amount of time until the disease worsened by more than five months. However, two new studies have shown that the drug may not even extend life by an extra month...

“The FDA advisory panel has now voted 12-1 to drop the endorsement for breast cancer treatment. The panel unusually cited "effectiveness" grounds for the decision. But it has been claimed that "cost effectiveness" was the real reason ahead of reforms in which the government will extend health insurance to the poorest..." (3)

And here's the kicker:

“If the approval of the drug is revoked then US insurers would be likely to stop paying for Avastin.” (3)

The other end of the argument can be found in an article from Seattle, Washington, entitled "Breast Cancer Costs and Politics" by Merrill Goozner (4):

“If the FDA caves to the pressure and allows Genentech to keep advanced metastatic breast cancer on the Avastin label, it will be one more indication that the nation still isn’t serious about controlling health care costs by complying with science-based medicine.” (4)

“Women’s access to the drug isn’t at stake — at least for those with money... Any physician can prescribe an approved drug for any condition if he or she thinks it will benefit the patient.” (4)

Umm...Not exactly. Most physicians will NOT prescribe something if it’s not FDA approved, or at least approved by the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) or other professional oncology research organization. Because of the litigious society we live in, most physicians cannot afford the risk of prescribing a chemotherapy regimen that’s under fire – no matter how much cash a patient has to cough up. Any doctor that has been hassled with a ridiculous, frivolous lawsuit will tell you it is not worth the risk.

I'm not trying to get nasty here, but this particular article by Merrill Goozner really got under my skin as a medical professional. I can appreciate someone taking an interest in writing about all things medical. However, I cannot see how someone with a graduate degree in journalism can wax prolific about "science-based medicine" when they haven't even taken the time to obtain any type of medical degree. Especially when that writer is trying to put a dollar amount on the value of human life. We're not talking about a cost difference between generic acetaminophen and brand-name Tylenol here. We're talking about the difference between possibly one to five months of progression-free survival.

To Mr. Goozner: Tell a young woman with a husband and children who has been diagnosed with breast cancer that one to five months doesn't mean anything.

If you have the nerve to do that, Mr. Goozner, then I hope she slaps the hell out of you.

References:

(1) The Wall Street Journal: “FDA Panel Says Avastin’s Breast Cancer Indication Should Be Removed”: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703724104575379392504495872.html

(2) The Wall Street Journal: “Senator Slams FDA Advisory Committee’s Avastin Decision”: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/07/29/senator-slams-fda-advisory-committees-avastin-decision/

(3) The Telegraph: “US breast cancer drug decision ‘marks start of death panels’”: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7948878/US-breast-cancer-drug-decision-marks-start-of-death-panels.html

(4) Breast Cancer: How Politics is Driving Up Costs: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Issues/Health-Care/2010/08/16/Breast-Cancer-Costs-and-Politics.aspx

More information on the Avastin controversy:

The “Avastin Mugging”: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405203894857436.html

Fierce Pharma: FDA Faces Outcry with Avastin breast cancer choice: http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/fda-faces-outcry-avastin-breast-cancer-choice/2010-08-16

Sounding Off.

2010-08-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

I try to keep my posts related to healthcare...and admittedly, this one is a bit off-topic. But in a twisted way, maybe it could be healthcare related...since the leaders of this country seem to have a very serious problem remembering things that happened nine years ago.

The following are exchanges I have heard or seen in the past few weeks regarding building a mosque and "community center" within two blocks of where the World Trade Center stood before the attack on September 11, 2001:

“Private Property versus Public Property. Where's your defense of the private sector's right to do as it pleases?” – Posted by Keith Olbermann on Twitter

“RT @SarahPalinUSA Will Obama express US lingering pain & ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque/Madam: Stop politicizing 9/11” – Posted by Keith Olbermann on Twitter

“If we shut down – shout down – a mosque and community center because it is two blocks away from the site where freedom was attacked, I think it would be a sad day for America.” – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

"Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country…That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances…This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable." – Barack Obama

Being a nurse, I'm obligated to help people with such profound memory loss. So here are a few comments and images that may help refresh the memories of people who seem to so quickly forget...

"The city is going to survive, we are going to get through it, It's going to be very, very difficult time. I don't think we yet know the pain that we're going to feel when we find out who we lost, but the thing we have to focus on now is getting this city through this, and surviving and being stronger for it." --Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

"We're going to find out who did this and we're going after the bastards."
--Senator Orrin Hatch

"As the representatives of the people we are here to declare that our resolve has not been weakened by these horrific and cowardly acts."--Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle

"You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy." --Colin Powell

"As for those that carried out these attacks there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame for all eternity."--British Prime Minister Tony Blair

"Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.” –- President George W. Bush

"All of a sudden there were people screaming. I saw people jumping out of the building. Their arms were flailing. I stopped taking pictures and started crying." --Michael Walters, free-lance photo journalist in Manhattan

Looking Back

2010-07-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Case Study: Foot In Mouth Disease

2010-06-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today's case study: Foot in Mouth Disease. A Supreme Court nominee shows symptoms as she accidentally admits that a mandate of what/what not to eat IS a "dumb law". Watch how fast the symptoms cascade as she backpedals through her "explanation".

Hope she has good health insurance.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22465496@N04/3158969534/

Side Effects: Bureaucracy in a Bind

2010-06-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

Side Effects: Bureaucracy in a Bind | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

From Heritage.org: Bureaucracy in a Bind...

Written by Kathryn Nix, a Research Assistant for the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Health Policy Studies and the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies. She studies health care reform, entitlements, and doctors’ and patients’ issues. Follow Kathryn on Twitter @katenix927.

"Health care is a life-and-death matter. It’s also a huge part of our economy (one-sixth, to be exact)...

"With so much at stake, it makes sense to “go slow,” when it comes to reforming the system. But rather than take the time to get it right, the liberal leaders of Congress rammed through a wholesale restructuring of the system without giving their rank and file enough time to read—much less comprehend—what they were up to.

"The rush to “reform” didn’t stop there, either. The Obamacare bill imposed a host of short-term implementation deadlines on the Department of Health and Human Services. Turns out that HHS can’t make ‘em.

"It doesn’t help that HHS seems unsure of its own authorities. We know this, because the “Transparency in government” section of the bill required HHS to list, by April 22, all the Secretary’s new authorities granted under Obamacare. They couldn’t do it. Instead, they simply reprinted the table of contents for the entire bill.

"Then there are the task forces that should have been stood up last month. May 7 was the deadline for the Secretary to establish a task force to improve access to health care in Alaska. The not so aptly named EARLY Act called for an up-and-running breast cancer task force by May 23. But both panels are still stuck in the planning stages.

"No one will die because of these missed deadlines, but the trend is worrisome. If HHS can’t get its act together for the simple, preliminary stuff, how will it do when it has to address complicated and weighty manners under deadline? As Jonathan Strong notes in The Daily Caller:

"The issue is important because vast industry sectors are trying to plan their own implementations of the health-care law and most of the details remain in bureaucrats’ hands, leaving a vacuum of uncertainty about the final burdens the law will impose."

"Part of the problem could be that HHS is so busy trying to patch over some of the more unpopular features of Obamacare that it doesn’t have the time to actually implement it. The department has spent a lot of time browbeating insurers to extend desired mandatory coverages ahead of schedule, for example. And it certainly spared no effort or expense to send millions of seniors a propagandistic brochure from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proclaiming the benefits of Obamacare—even though the claims fly in the face of economic realities identified by the Centers’ own Actuary.

"The real issue here is the hasty, careless way with which lawmakers threw together this legislation. For example, it couldn’t have been intentional that some Obamacare deadlines are legally impossible to meet. A new advisory committee was required by the law to submit a progress report on the development of methodology for designating underserved populations and health professional shortage areas by April 1. But HHS was also supposed to allow 30 days for public comment regarding the members appointed to the committee, before which the committee could not exist.

"Plain and simple, Obamacare is a mess, as its implementation conundrums prove. Repeal is the solution. And when Congress next attempts to reform the health care system, they must take the time to get it right."

Acknowledgements...

Article from "The Foundry" blog: The Heritage Foundation - http://www.heritage.org

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eqqman/199908019/

Inspiration from a friend.

2010-05-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

This week, I received an incredible gift from a friend. She shared with me a poem in an email, and in the subject line: "So you." The thought behind her message brought tears to my eyes, and gave me the gift of inspiration that I wanted to pass on...

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.
Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
Who strives valiantly,
Who errs and comes short again and again
Because there is no effort without errors and shortcomings,
Who knows great devotion,
Who spends himself in a worthy cause,
Who at his best knows in the end the high acheivement of triumph
And who at worst,
If he fails daring greatly
Knows his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
Who know neither victory or defeat.

-Theodore Roosevelt

...Posted in honor of a dear friend and true patriot, Jennifer MacLean, BS, RN, OCN. You. Are. Awesome!

HR 3590: Black Box Warning #1...

2010-05-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Black box warning #1 for HR 3590: Implementation of this healthcare law will lead to severe discomfort and malaise for Hospice care workers and organizations across the United States.

A little background:

Most people have been touched by Hospice in one way or another. Maybe Hospice came in to help with a family member or a friend. Maybe you know someone that works for or volunteers for Hospice. But most everyone knows what an incredible and valuable organization that Hospice has been for many years in the United States.

The majority of hospice care organizations rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid funding, as well as grants and charitable donations. Being dependent on reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid puts a very heavy administrative burden on hospice organizations, requiring extensive paperwork to ensure that every patient that is under hospice care meets Medicare criteria. Hospice organizations that accept Medicare funding have to answer to the Department of Health and Human Services, OSHA, the Office of Inspector General, as well as elective organizations that provide accreditation, such as the Joint Commission.

This is BEFORE the new healthcare law was passed. The administrative burden that will be inflicted on hospice organizations – along with many other healthcare organizations in the country – coupled with the huge reimbursement cuts that are on the way, will be crippling to hospice care providers.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Hospice Action Network released a statement after the passing of HR 3590, describing in detail how the different aspects of the healthcare law would affect the provision of hospice and palliative care.

From their website at http://www.hospiceactionnetwork.org/issues/health_reform.html , here is an overview of provisions in HR 3590 that will affect end-of-life care (certain items I have put in italics for emphasis):

"Market Basket Cuts & Productivity - Incorporates a productivity adjustment reduction into the market basket update beginning in fiscal year 2013, as well as a market basket reduction of .3 percent for hospice providers from fiscal years 2013-2019. Note that these cuts will not take effect until FY 2013...

"Hospice Payment Reforms – (1) This provision would require the Secretary to collect data and update Medicare hospice claims forms and cost reports by 2011. (2) Based on this information, the Secretary would be required “implement revisions to the methodology for determining the payment rates for routine home care and other services included in hospice care” no earlier than FY 2013. (3) After January 1, 2011, a hospice physician or nurse practitioner must have a face-to-face encounter with each hospice patient to determine continued eligibility for hospice care prior to the 180th-day recertification and each subsequent recertification, and attest that such visit took place. In addition, the Secretary will medically review certain patients in hospices with high percentages of long-stay patients...

"Independent Payment Advisory Board - Creates an independent Payment Advisory Board tasked with presenting Congress with comprehensive proposals to reduce excess cost growth and improve quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries as well as the private health system. When Medicare costs are projected to be unsustainable, the Board’s proposals will take effect unless Congress passes an alternative measure that achieves the same level of savings. Congress would be allowed to consider an alternative provision on a fast-track basis. Requires the Board to make non-binding Medicare recommendations to Congress in years in which Medicare growth is below the targeted growth rate. Beginning in 2020, requires the Board to make binding biennial recommendations to Congress if the growth in overall health spending exceeds growth in Medicare spending...

"Quality Reporting - Requires hospice to report on quality measures determined by the Secretary (endorsed by the new quality measure consensus-based entity) or face a 2 percent reduction in their market basket update. Measures published in 2012 for reporting to begin in 2014...

[Statement from NHPCO:] "While we appreciate the fact Congress continues to embrace hospice as a vital part of health care at the end of life and we’re pleased to see the provisions included expanding access to hospice, we simply can’t afford to lose $6.8 billion from the national investment in end-of-life care...

"We have said it all along; two cuts are too much for hospice. And we mean it. The productivity cuts on top of the more than 4 percent regulatory reduction associated with the elimination of the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF) we are absorbing over the next seven years, is more than the community can or should sustain. NHPCO will continue to ensure that hospice is “at the table” after the political dust settles and before the community and the patients we serve feel the brunt of the cuts."

The NHPCO has not given up in the fight for their patients, and neither should we. You can see all of the activity that the NHPCO has worked on regarding healthcare reform at http://www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=5853 . Their website also includes resources on how you can advocate for Hospice patients right in your own district at their Legislative Action Center, at http://capwiz.com/nhpco/home/ .

Side Effects...An Introduction.

2010-05-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

For the past year, I’ve worked to shed light on healthcare reform measures that have been trickling down the pipe from federal and state governments. It’s been quite the whirlwind, and even though I feel like a thorough job was done in getting information out there about what was included in certain healthcare bills and measures, the job is not finished.

I decided to begin a series of posts about what the results of these healthcare policies and initiatives will be. Everything was rushed through and voted on before most legislators could even read it - because “we just had to have it RIGHT NOW”, and we had to “pass the bill to find out what was in it.” Now Americans are have been put in a horrible position of possibly discovering the side effects on our own.

Not on my watch.

As a nurse, it’s my job to make sure that people are prepared and informed about issues that can affect their health. It still pains me to know that things related to a broken government system will very soon have a direct affect on the physical health of Americans. But it has become a reality, and I firmly believe that knowledge is power.

Several advocacy groups from all walks of healthcare are beginning to trudge through the mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy that is included in the new healthcare reform law, and are realizing the destructive impact it will have across the entire healthcare continuum in the United States. In this series, I will also be posting information that has been brought forward by many of these advocacy groups, including the Heritage Foundation, the Community Oncology Alliance, and the Hospice Action Network.

This is not a series of writings to gripe or complain. This is not a time to sit back and accept defeat – not when it comes to the health and well-being of ourselves and our loved ones. To the contrary: I hope that you will view each entry as a call to action.

Knowledge is power – IF you act on the knowledge that you have.

The Most Important GOP Primary You've Never Heard Of.

2010-05-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

"A Scarlet Stethoscope" is proud to welcome guest blogger (and of course, honorary nurse :), Adam Love! Adam Love is the North Carolina State Coordinator for Campaign for Liberty. His article has also been published on Pundit House. Thanks to Adam for sharing his work on "A Scarlet Stethoscope"!

"The Most Important GOP Primary You've Never Heard Of"

Much has been written over the past year about the ongoing “civil war” within the Republican Party. To a certain extent, this is hyperbole; Democrats and much of the mainstream media outlets in this country would love nothing better than to see the GOP tear itself apart in an ideological bloodletting, driving either moderates or conservatives out and leading to a smaller, less effective party. The hope, of course, is that if this happens, it’s the moderates who will be driven out of the party, since moderates, more than conservatives, would be ripe for recruitment by the Democrats. The defection of Arlen Specter last year was presented as the first of many hoped-for pickups by Democrats of Republicans who suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of a burgeoning resurgence of fiscal conservatives within the GOP.

The campaign of Marco Rubio in Florida is one widely-touted example of a Tea Party-influenced candidate running an insurgent campaign against a Republican moderate. Rubio started off in June of last year more than 30 points behind Florida Governor Charlie Crist, but despite Crist having the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Rubio was more than 30 points ahead by mid-April of this year. Faced with few options, Crist abandoned the GOP on April 28th and announced that he will run in the general election as an independent.

Just last weekend, Tea Party-affiliated GOP delegates in Utah nailed the scalp of Senator Bob Bennett to their wall at the Utah GOP State Convention. Citing his vote in favor of the TARP bank bailout last year, Tea Partiers (who made up 2/3 of the voting delegates) eliminated Bennett on the second ballot, disqualifying him from eligibility to compete in the Utah Republican Primary election, to be held June 22nd.

So what are we to make of all this? Is the story of the Tea Party movement (at least as it relates to the Republican Party) the story of conservatives angered over the bailouts, stimulus, and health care debates of the last year, casting out GOP moderates? Does that make Florida the central front of the “Republican Civil War?”

Personally, I don’t think so.

There’s another Senate primary race that hasn’t gotten nearly as much ink as the Florida race, and in my opinion, it’s one that has the potential to have much larger ramifications with regards to what the Republican Party is and what it stands for. Of the big three conservative commentators, only Glenn Beck has mentioned it; Rush and Hannity seem to be pretending it isn’t even happening. That race is taking place in Kentucky, and if you haven’t been paying attention to it, you’ve been missing what could be the fight for the very soul of the Republican Party.

Early last year, Kentucky’s Senator Jim Bunning, who won re-election in 2004 with a slim majority of only 50.7%, announced that he would seek re-election in 2010. However, after several months of frustratingly slow fundraising, Bunning announced on July 27th that he would in fact retire. In his announcement, he strongly hinted that NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (who had been pressuring Bunning to retire) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (the senior senator from Kentucky) had worked behind the scenes to dry up his fundraising sources.

After Bunning announced his intention to retire, five candidates filed to pursue the Republican nomination; of those, Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s Secretary of State, was widely considered the favorite, having an established record and being considered the unofficial apprentice of Sen. McConnell. Indeed, during the summer of 2009, McConnell, despite not having issued any formal endorsement, held fundraisers for Grayson in Washington.

However, quite unexpectedly, Rand Paul, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist who has never held public office, also filed and began a grassroots-fueled campaign that took off like a shot. Funded by online “money bombs” inspired by his father Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign, the Paul campaign has kept pace with Grayson’s, despite drawing primarily from small donors. While over 17% of Grayson’s funds have come from PACs, over 99% of Paul’s donations come from individual donors. The first primary poll, taken August 15-17, 2009, showed Grayson leading Paul by 11 points…however, by Halloween, Paul had pulled ahead, and has led Grayson by double digits since Christmas.

Over the past two weeks, this race has revealed a group within the GOP leadership that is particularly desperate to keep Paul out of the Senate. After securing the endorsements of a large contingent of the GOP caucus in Kentucky’s state legislature, Grayson was also endorsed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Paul landed some big endorsements himself, particularly former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, and the man he’s running to replace, Jim Bunning. This last one was seen as especially significant, since Bunning is a family friend of Grayson and had originally encouraged him to run. But things really got interesting when Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, endorsed Trey Grayson, citing his commitment to pro-life policies, on April 29th. However, the following Monday, May 3rd, Dobson suddenly retracted his endorsement of Grayson, and instead endorsed Paul. In a radio ad he cut for the Paul campaign, Dobson called his endorsement of Grayson an, “embarrassing mistake,” saying he had been “misled by senior GOP leaders” into believing that Paul was pro-choice, but had found out otherwise after talking to Paul personally as well as “OB/GYNs in Kentucky whom I know and trust.”

This revelation, as well as a PPP poll released May 4th showing Paul 18 points ahead, led McConnell to publicly endorse Grayson. The very next day, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint publicly endorsed Paul, despite only two weeks before having publicly said that he didn’t want to get involved in the race because, “…I don’t want to poke my finger in the leader’s eye….but I’m not going to let the race get unfair.” Apparently, DeMint decided that McConnell’s endorsement and possible deception of Dr. Dobson (who Kentucky GOP sources have anonymously identified as the culprit in Dobson’s initial Grayson endorsement) qualified as “unfair.” DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund has committed to raising $50,000 for Paul’s campaign.

So now we have a Senate primary with Trey Grayson flanked by prominent neoconservatives Giuliani and Cheney, plus the current Senate Minority Leader on one side with Rand Paul backed by Tea Party darling Sarah Palin along with fiscal conservative Steve Forbes, Senate Conservative Fund founder Jim DeMint, Senator Jim Bunning, and prominent social conservative Dr. James Dobson on the other. What’s significant about this to me is this: neoconservatives have controlled the Republican Party for most of the last 20 years, with a large part of their support coming from Christian conservatives. Christian conservatives point to issues like abortion, gay marriage, and support for Israel as their criteria for picking candidates. The Tea Party movement seems to be changing that dynamic, though. Now, for possibly the first time, a candidate who identifies primarily with fiscal issues and a more non-interventionist foreign policy has secured millions in funding from small donors, as well as prominent endorsements, including one of the national leaders of social conservatism. Why?

Because Christian conservatives don’t like being lied to, just like everyone else.

I believe a Rand Paul victory would be truly significant, because it would indicate that a fundamental shift is underway in the GOP. Not just a simple shift to the right, like so many newspapers are saying, but a shift away from carte-blanche support of neoconservatives by social conservatives, and a shift towards a focus on fiscal issues, with terrorism and reshaping the Middle East receding in importance. This would mean that Republicans are becoming more and more aware of the dire need to get our fiscal house in order, and a willingness to accept that that means cuts not only in social programs, but in military expenditures as well. Such a notion flies in the face of neoconservatism, which as Dick Cheney said in 2004, holds that, “…deficits don’t matter.”

If the Tea Party movement is to have a lasting impact, a large part of its goal must be the reshaping of the Republican Party into something resembling a party that stands for constitutional government, sound money, individual liberty, and a sane foreign policy. That requires more than purging squishy moderates from the party. It also requires repudiating the neoconservative assumption that big government under Republicans is somehow superior to big government under Democrats. The outcome of the Kentucky GOP Senate primary on May 18th will go a long way toward deciding whether that will occur.

The latest twist in this saga has been a $100,000 buy last week by a group calling itself the American Future Fund to run attack ads against Paul. The AFF is a 501(c)4 whose leadership includes people connected to both Grayson and McConnell. It also includes two media consultants who played key roles in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad campaign that sank John Kerry in 2004 and the Willie Horton ad that doomed Michael Dukakis’ campaign in 1988. In response, Paul’s online donations have seen a spike of tens of thousands of dollars in just a couple of days.

Can Paul and his new fiscal/social conservative coalition stave off the neoconservatives’ Sunday punch? May 18th is just around the corner. Stay tuned…

The first rumble of thunder?

2010-05-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

This past week, several local areas held primary elections, namely here in North Carolina. I, for one, am proud to announce that Corey Thompson has made it to the general elections for Mecklenburg County Commission at Large! Congratulations, Corey!

A few other things happened that I am sure raised a few eyebrows in Capitol Hill...

A Republican incumbent lost their nomination...here's the article from Politico:

Sen. Bennett loses Republican nomination - David Catanese - POLITICO.com

...hmmm...maybe voters were actually paying attention to how their Representative voted, not just which party they hailed from, huh?

Here locally, North Carolina Representative Nick Mackey was fired by his Democratic constituents as well...

http://www.qcitymetro.com/news/articles/moore_defeats_mackey085011364.cfm

...by a whopping margin of 62 percent for challenger Rodney Moore, 38 percent for incumbent Nick Mackey.

Looks like we have just heard the first rumble of thunder for an approaching storm that is going to hit the voting booths in November...

Scarlet Stethoscope readers: if you have any results from your local primary elections that you would like to share, please post them in the comments or on my Facebook page at:

Facebook: "A Scarlet Stethoscope" Fan Page

Lessons Learned and Unsung Heroes.

2010-05-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

I’ve learned so much this past year. Some things I count as priceless gems of knowledge (and then there are those things we wish we didn’t have to know…). But everything that I’ve learned has been so important in helping me to grow – not only as a nurse and an advocate for my patients, but as a person.

I have been blessed beyond belief with the people that God has put in my path to teach me and to be an example for me. I’ve had the honor of working with some incredible patriots, and now is no different. I wanted to take an opportunity to tell you about one of them:

Corey Thompson.

You could probably find out a great deal about Corey just by “Google-ing” him, checking out his website, or reading the newspaper. But there are so many other things that make Corey more than just a candidate.

Charlotte needs to know the unsung hero that we have in Corey Thompson.

I met Corey the week after I returned from the Nurse in Washington Internship. He was – literally – one of the first outside of my family that read the “Scarlet Stethoscope” blog. After reading Corey’s blog, “The Thirsty Quill”, I was a little nervous about Corey taking a look at my blog…he had so much more background on conservative issues, and as a writer, was WAY ahead of me.

It was like asking Emeril Lagasse to try the first cake you made from a box. I was just a TAD nervous.

Imagine my surprise when Corey told me the next week that he liked my blog! From zero to cloud nine in three words: “It’s really good!”

In the months that followed, Corey organized a small group of friends to form CAUTION: “Common Americans United to Inspire Our Nation”. CAUTION, to this day, meets weekly on Monday nights. From the start, Corey prepared for CAUTION meetings as he would prepare for teaching any class. And word started to get around – here’s a guy that knows his history, and knows how to teach it. Once the word got out, CAUTION grew quickly to a roster of over 100 people, with over 40 people meeting regularly each week.

Corey knew that this was a group of people that were concerned about what was happening in this country, and feared that everything we had worked so hard to build was about be destroyed by a government that had gone beyond corrupt.

He also knew that we were a group of people that were interested in what this country was about, where we came from, and how it all began.

So, Corey brought the lessons to us. From the United States Constitution, lessons on our local government, the Battle of Valley Forge, to the one that – to this day – brings me to tears, the “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. That one has a special place in my heart for so many reasons.

On July 4th, I was asked by my friend Matthew Ridenhour to give my first “BIG” speech. I had spoken at several small meetings with colleagues from work, but never to crowds of total strangers about political issues. I was so beyond scared that I made the Cowardly Lion look like Chuck Norris. I was going full-tilt toward a serious meltdown when Corey found me and asked me:

“Do you remember that Patrick Henry speech?”

Did I remember? How could I forget? I cried like a baby the first time I heard it.

“Kristie, he did not have a script for that speech. It was from the heart. You know this stuff. You don’t need that script. Get up there and speak from your heart. You can do this.”

Later that evening, I found myself thinking what a blessing it is that this man is a teacher for young people who have those very same moments every day of their lives. Charlotte had no idea what a diamond in the rough that it had in Corey.

Then Corey decided to put all of his cards on the table, and make a run for the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners for their At-Large seat. It wasn’t an easy undertaking. He signed up along with seven other Republican contenders just a few short months before a primary election.

I have had the honor and privilege of volunteering for Corey’s campaign. I’ve watched him work – literally – day and night, going to work at West Mecklenburg High School, and continuing to serve as a candidate when his work as a teacher was finished. His commitment and passion for our city and the people that make it so special has inspired me beyond belief, as I know it has for everyone on Corey’s campaign team.

Corey’s mantra:

“If you are going to run for office, run every step as if your constituents were measuring how hard you'll work for them by the way you run.”

If you haven’t been able to see first-hand the heart and soul that Corey has put into this campaign, let me assure you, this man has worked his fingers to the bone. And he’s doing it for the right reasons.

He knows how we need someone in local government that will stand up for them, even when it’s tough. He knows how desperately the people of Mecklenburg County need a voice on County Commission. He knows that we need someone that has their priorities in order. As a husband, a father, a teacher, and a friend to so many, Corey gets that.

I find it laughable how the local news media love to focus on the fact that it’s Corey’s “first run”, and that he is “unseasoned” as a politician. Here’s some news for the media. The “seasoned” folk have left quite a bad taste in the mouths of Charlotteans.

We’ve had enough of “seasoned” politicians. It’s time for us to have a VOICE.

Let’s surprise the “editorials” and show them what a diamond in the rough that Charlotte has in Corey Thompson. Let’s surprise the people who say that conservatives can’t get out the vote. Let’s show the students of West Mecklenburg High School that look up to Corey as a leader and a mentor that when you stand up for what you believe in, and never, ever back down…

…you CAN win.

It’s time for our Board of County Commissioners to get back to being a voice for the citizens of Mecklenburg County.

Vote for a voice.

Vote for Corey Thompson!

*******************************************************************************

For more information on Corey Thompson's campaign for Mecklenburg County Commission at Large, visit: http://www.coreythompson.us

CAUTION "Common Americans United to Inspire Our Country" website is at: http://www.proceedwithcaution.us

Corey's blog, "The Thirsty Quill", is at: http://www.thirstyquill.com

2010 Tax Day Tea Party Speech

2010-04-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

I know that everyone in our cause has taken time and effort to fight this healthcare bill. This has not been a war that I have had to fight alone. There are hundreds and thousands of people that have been writing letters, making phone calls, coming to rallies, and turning their lives upside down to travel to the Capitol to fight the government takeover of healthcare, and if you’re standing here, you are one of them.

On behalf of my patients and my colleagues, I thank you from the heart. We might have lost a battle on March 21st, but the fact that we are standing here, and standing tall, is proof positive to me that we can still win this!

THIS IS NOT OVER.

But it has been a long year. Isn’t it sad that we have to constantly watchdog our government to make sure they are doing their jobs? I’ll tell you this, there’s no way any of us could keep a job if we had to constantly be reminded of what our job IS.

Certain members of Congress may not get that right now. They will in November.

We’ve spent the past year working to break down these healthcare bills and expose the truth. It hasn’t been easy. It’s been long hours of study, research, learning how to read legalese, and at the same time, more hours trying to advocate for reform that will actually fix the problems we have in healthcare.

We asked for free market solutions, where Americans could purchase health insurance across state lines on THEIR terms, for lower costs.

We asked for medical malpractice reform, so that hospitals and physicians could lower their overhead costs and administrative burdens, and focus more time on their patients, which is why we went into practice in the first place.

How dare a member of Congress accuse someone of spitting on them, then turning around and managing to spit on millions of Americans by casting a vote that will devastate the healthcare industry in this country!

This healthcare bill has to be one of the biggest legislative disasters in American history.

Here’s what you’ll find just in the table of contents – you can’t make this stuff up. (Emphasis is mine :)...)

Section 3008: “Payment adjustment for conditions acquired in hospitals”
Section 3015: “Data collection; public reporting.”
Section 4205: “Nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants.”
Section 5207: “Funding for a National Health Service Corps”
Section 5210: “Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps”
Section 9005: “Limitation on health flexible spending arrangements under cafeteria plans.”
Section 9004: “Increase in additional tax on distributions from HSA’s and Archer MSA’s not used for QUALIFIED medical expenses.”
Section 9006: “Expansion of information reporting requirements”
Section 9007: “ADDITIONAL requirements for charitable hospitals”
Section 9015: “Additional hospital insurance tax on high-income taxpayers.”
Section 9017: “Excise tax on elective cosmetic medical procedures.”
Section 9001: “Excise tax on high-cost employer sponsored coverage.”
Section 6002: “Transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests”
Section 1553: “Prohibition against discrimination on assisted suicide”

(.pdf version of the bill is at: http://docs.house.gov/rules/hr4872/111_hr3590_engrossed.pdf )

Here’s the “bone” they threw to us.

Section 6801: “Sense of the Senate regarding Medical Malpractice”. ONE WHOLE PAGE, out of 2,409 pages.

Yeah, thanks for nothing, Congress.

We called, we wrote, we got on buses – we’ve done everything within our power to make our voices heard. The Obama administration has done everything within their power to exhaust us into apathy.

I have news for them.

We’re not tired.

WE'RE just getting warmed up!

I’m no expert on politics. But I know enough about government to know that it is not the job of people like Kay Hagan to play “mommy” and decide what they think is best for us. It is their job to be a voice in Congress for the people that they represent.

And unless they want to be another unemployment statistic, they’d better learn that lesson really quick.

My field is healthcare. THAT I know. And in healthcare, we have something called the “patient’s bill of rights”. A patient can come to the doctor, have a full work-up done, and flat-out refuse to do what the doctor says. They don’t even need a good reason. “I don’t want to” is enough, and as long as they understand that it might not be good for them, it’s all good.

They don’t have to go to jail for refusing. They don’t even have to pay a fine.

So we can refuse a doctor – who is extensively trained about healthcare. But we can’t refuse the government – who knows nothing about healthcare?

What is THAT?

Here’s another thing that I’ve learned from working in healthcare.

As an oncology nurse, I can’t give my patients platitudes. I can’t ramble on about possibilities, about what we “could” do. My patients want to hear what their healthcare providers WILL do.

Our president doesn’t seem to get that.

For the past two years, we’ve heard it like a broken record: “YES WE CAN”. There’s no way I could get by with that as a nurse.

Mr. President, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re tired of “YES WE CAN.”

So, in return, we have three words for you, especially from the Charlotte Tea Party.

YES. WE. WILL.

Yes we WILL do everything in our power to stop your spending spree and blatant theft of our freedoms as Americans.

Yes we WILL keep fighting to stop you from destroying the best healthcare system in the world.

Yes we WILL be at the polls in November to take back our Congress at the State and Federal level – and with our votes, yes we WILL give you a lesson on what “WE THE PEOPLE” means.

Yes we WILL, Mr. President, continue to make our voices heard until you decide to DO THE JOB YOU WERE ELECTED TO DO and listen to the country that YOU are supposed to represent!

Yes we WILL, Mr. President. THESE hornets still sting!

Psst…hey…Mr. President…looking for help?

2010-04-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

From cbsnews.com, April 8, 2010:

"Linda Douglass, Director of Communications for the White House Office of Health Reform, announced her resignation today...

"Although she gave no specific reason for her departure, an official tells CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller that Douglass had always planned to leave the White House after health reform was enacted, citing the enormous demands it made of her...

"It has been a tremendous honor to serve the President, and leaving this great team is bittersweet," Douglass said in a statement released today. "After nearly 2 years of work that has been exhilarating and grueling in equal measure, " she continued, "I am going to step off the treadmill for awhile and rediscover the experience of dining with my husband on a regular basis."...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002060-503544.html

I find it odd that Ms. Douglass has decided to jump ship so quickly after the healthcare reform bill, in it's 2,409 pages of glory, is signed into law. Maybe she's tired? Well, take a nap. She wants to go to dinner with her husband? Seriously? Have you ever been to DC? There are about 1,000 places to eat dinner...and she worked in the White House, where I hear there are some pretty well-paid chefs.

My theory is that Ms. Douglass, after the bill was signed into law, may have taken a few minutes to browse over it and finally realized the ticking timebomb that she has spent the past two years blindly endorsing. The first 17 pages - the table of contents - is enough to scare anyone, especially a journalist who spent the past two years plugging legislation about healthcare with absolutely no experience in the healthcare industry.

That got me thinking...I could do that job...how cool would it be to work at the White House doing what I do best - getting the truth out to the American people about the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"! So far, I've only been able to do it through my blog, A Scarlet Stethoscope at rnadvocate.blogspot.com, and through rallies and town hall meetings. Now, granted, I'm probably not the person that President Obama would choose first for the position. But isn't he supposed to be all about reaching across the aisle? He's taken a lot of heat lately about people learning about the bill after it's enacted. He must have known that Linda was about to jump ship.

Well, Mr. Obama, I'd love to do you a grand favor and take her place. You wouldn't even have to read the bill - I've already read it three times! Think of it this way - at least some accurate information would finally get out there. And it would look great on your resume with the whole "non-partisan" thing to finally have a true conservative on your staff!

I figured that I would need something to send along with my resume, so I thought I would open up a Facebook group to see how many people would take a look at my blog and some of my experiences in shedding light on this healthcare "act" (somehow that word fits)...

I'd love the job...willing to start ASAP, since I'm not "tired" and don't have a husband that demands my attention at candlelit dinners. And I'm sure considering what other White House staff members are paid that I would be a relatively cheap date!

Come on, Mr. President! Hire me!

I figured that I would need something to send along with my resume, so I thought I would open up a Facebook group to see how many people would take a look at my blog and some of my experiences in shedding light on this healthcare "act" (somehow that word fits)...

Help me get a job at Capitol Hill! Join the group to encourage our “bi-partisan” President to reach across the aisle!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100426806667558

It's far from over.

2010-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

The first warning sirens.

2010-03-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

The first warning sirens are sounding - loudly. So loud, in fact, that House Democrats are threatening a Congressional hearing on the companies that are - in accordance with the law - restating their earnings to reflect the present value of their long-term health liabilities.

Here is the article from the Wall Street Journal:

"It's been a banner week for Democrats: ObamaCare passed Congress in its final form on Thursday night, and the returns are already rolling in. Yesterday AT&T announced that it will be forced to make a $1 billion writedown due solely to the health bill, in what has become a wave of such corporate losses.

"This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."

"Perhaps that explains why the Administration is now so touchy. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke took to the White House blog to write that while ObamaCare is great for business, "In the last few days, though, we have seen a couple of companies imply that reform will raise costs for them." In a Thursday interview on CNBC, Mr. Locke said "for them to come out, I think is premature and irresponsible."

"Meanwhile, Henry Waxman and House Democrats announced yesterday that they will haul these companies in for an April 21 hearing because their judgment "appears to conflict with independent analyses, which show that the new law will expand coverage and bring down costs."

"In other words, shoot the messenger. Black-letter financial accounting rules require that corporations immediately restate their earnings to reflect the present value of their long-term health liabilities, including a higher tax burden. Should these companies have played chicken with the Securities and Exchange Commission to avoid this politically inconvenient reality? Democrats don't like what their bill is doing in the real world, so they now want to intimidate CEOs into keeping quiet.

"On top of AT&T's $1 billion, the writedown wave so far includes Deere & Co., $150 million; Caterpillar, $100 million; AK Steel, $31 million; 3M, $90 million; and Valero Energy, up to $20 million. Verizon has also warned its employees about its new higher health-care costs, and there will be many more in the coming days and weeks.

"As Joe Biden might put it, this is a big, er, deal for shareholders and the economy. The consulting firm Towers Watson estimates that the total hit this year will reach nearly $14 billion, unless corporations cut retiree drug benefits when their labor contracts let them.

"Meanwhile, John DiStaso of the New Hampshire Union Leader reported this week that ObamaCare could cost the Granite State's major ski resorts as much as $1 million in fines, because they hire large numbers of seasonal workers without offering health benefits. "The choices are pretty clear, either increase prices or cut costs, which could mean hiring fewer workers next winter," he wrote.

"The Democratic political calculation with ObamaCare is the proverbial boiling frog: Gradually introduce a health-care entitlement by hiding the true costs, hook the middle class on new subsidies until they become unrepealable, but try to delay the adverse consequences and major new tax hikes so voters don't make the connection between their policy and the economic wreckage. But their bill was such a shoddy, jerry-rigged piece of work that the damage is coming sooner than even some critics expected."

The article can be found on the Wall Street Journal website at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704100604575146002445136066.html

An Editorial Epiphany: Play Hard To Get.

2010-03-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

I’ve been doing some reflecting this weekend...and realized something very interesting: how incredibly your view of things, and your experiences, can change in the space of one year. In the space of one year, I’ve turned from one easy sell to someone that plays hard – almost impossible – to get. And with good reason.

Exactly one year ago, I was studying like crazy. I was studying civics, politics, United States history, parliamentary procedures, legislative language, and studying every member of the House and Senate – who they were, their likes/dislikes, what they believed in, how they voted – all in preparation for a trip to Capitol Hill and the tiny, tiny little chance that I might get a chance to run into one of these people who, in my mind, were larger than life, and give them information that could touch th lives of millions of cancer patients in a positive way.

I was an Oncology Nurse, headed to Washington, DC for 3 days of my dream – communicating with my elected officials on behalf of my patients. I had worked my tail off and finally, finally won the grant for the Nurse In Washington Internship. And so excited to finally get a chance to speak with these larger-than-life political heroes I had, by that time, almost idolized. I just knew they could help my patients – I just KNEW it! I mean, why wouldn’t they? I wasn’t coming with complaints – I had ideas, by God, and they were real ideas that could help millions of patients, save money and increase healthcare quality overall. Of course they would listen! Why else would someone go into such a huge undertaking as being in Congress, then to be open to the ideas of their constituents?

(It’s true. Go back and read some of my first blogs from March and April of 2009.)

Man, I had a lot to learn.

Since then, I’ve seen millions of people assemble in cities and in Washington DC to scream at the top of their voices – because it was the only way they felt they could be heard. Their representatives weren’t listening unless they screamed. And once they screamed, they were talked-down, insulted, called names, and pretty much dismissed because they didn’t go with the “status quo”.

I watched my television in horror as a woman, who had worked so hard to make a respectful statement to her Representative at a town-hall meeting, was ignored while that Representative turned her back on her to take a cellphone call…I watched while our Secretary of Health and Human Services rolled her eyes at seniors who had real, tough questions about what would happen to their healthcare and the healthcare of their loved ones if the government had a hand in it...while constituents were hauled out by security officers after being cut off, talked down, and finally brought to the point of screaming at the top of their lungs because the people they voted into office – who were supposed to represent them – would not listen to what they had to say.

I’ve met with politicians that have reassured me that they would do their best, but told me they were being “shut out” of sessions where bills that would affect every single American were being written.

Other politicians that I’ve called over and over, begging for 5 minutes of their time to talk with them about the concerns of my patients, have ignored me. I’ve actually been hung up on when I called one office after telling them who I was.

I even had the opportunity to meet one local politician that I had worked for in several of his campaigns and admired for years, only to be brushed off like a piece of lint. I’ve been treated better on bad dates.

Since then, my fresh-faced idealism has hit the ground in flames. My optimism and faith in the United States government...well, it’s pretty much gone. Last night I had a very, very sad epiphany.

Last night, I was trying to do some research for a blog posting...I was looking over my main website "haunts" – the White House briefing room, the Politico Live Pulse, OpenCongress, Kaiser Family Foundation, Heritage, etc...and listening to the news, flipping channels.

On one channel, I saw a Democratic congresswoman reassuring the press that she has the votes to pass a healthcare bill...a sweeping bill that Americans have loudly said “NO” to – just enough votes to pass the bill in a “reconciliation” measure. We’ll understand later, after the bill is passed. After all, we’ll never know what is in the bill unless we pass it, right?

(WHAT???)

On the next channel, I heard another Republican congressman say, “There’s no way they have the votes. If they did, we’d be voting right now.”

And in retort, on another channel, it’s reported that said Democratic congresswoman said they will stay in session “until it’s done”. There’s no option for it not to work out in the favor of the Democratic congresswoman, apparently.

And in retort, I heard about a “Slaughter Solution”. (My basic knowledge of world history tells me that nothing with a spin name of “Slaughter Solution” can be good.) It’s a “thermo-nuclear” measure that the Democratic side of the aisle is considering that would basically shred the entire legislative process that our founders put in place, just so our President can get his way. Whether the American people want it or not.

Again, back to the basic knowledge I have of world history. That just doesn’t ring of “representative republic” to me. That smacks a bit of tyranny, doesn’t it? (Uh-oh, I used the dreaded t-word. I’m on the watch list now. Where’s that hidden camera so I can wave and smile??)

I switch channels again. Wow. This must be awfully important for the President to put off an overseas trip for three days. And he must be awfully optimistic to think that a debate that’s gone on for a year will be finished in three days just because he says so.

Then I switch channels again. A Republican senator is threatening that if the Democrats pull this stunt, then he’ll just pretty much vote “no” on everything.

Nice. So you plan to pout for the rest of your term? Do you expect your constituents to pout with you? How about putting your big-boy boots on and acting like the leader you're supposed to be?

Ugh!

At that point, the epiphany hit. I was literally in tears. I realized that I was watching the legislative system in this country fall to pieces.

Do I think this bill will pass? Well, first off, I feel like that lady from those 1980’s Wendy’s commercials – “WHERE’S THE BILL???”. If there’s a “new” bill, I haven’t seen it. My understanding is that with the reconciliation process, the Senate bill that was bought...oh, excuse me, voted on...will have to be passed – with absolutely no changes whatsoever.

But there’s so much confusion coming from both sides that I don’t know which way is up at this point. The Democratic side of the aisle will send something out to the press that scares everyone to death, then the Republican side of the aisle sends out something to the press that makes everyone want to take up arms.

Here are my favorite spins:

From the Democratic side, you will hear over…and over…and over: “40 million [or whatever arbitrary number that particular politician decides to use] people in this country are without healthcare!!!” Oh, really? So they can walk into an emergency room and they’re turned away? I don't think so! Even people that come into our private, independent specialty clinic aren’t turned away if they don’t have insurance. So are people going without healthcare? No, I think not. People are going without health insurance because of skyrocketing premiums – and the ones with health insurance can’t afford their deductibles – and doctors and hospitals can’t keep their rates under control because their overhead is skyrocketing with the expense of having to protect their licenses and practices against lawsuits.

So to the “40 million without healthcare” politicians: be careful how you word things – there are actually thinking people out there, believe it or not, that can see through that hype.

From the Republican side and the “blue dog Democrat” side: it’s all about the abortion language, of course! We won’t even consider a bill if there’s any funding for abortions!

(Never mind the other 2,000 or so pages of the bill that gives government control over how doctors prescribe medications, treatments and procedures, or how your private health information will be handled, or how trial lawyers will be protected and beyond reproach - which will turn the medical malpractice crisis into an outright disaster). They’ve decided to bet all of their chips on one issue in the bill, and have completely forgotten the big picture.

Politicians on both sides want to get their two cents worth in, making a sweaty and disgusting sprint toward a “deadline” finish line, while ignoring the two cents worth that the American people have tried to give for the past year.

All this is happening while patients, doctors, and nurses lie in wait to see what their fates will be – with no REAL information, no real clue as to what is going on to begin with, much less what is about to happen. While that patient who is having to fight with their insurance company for their treatments is completely forgotten, that politician is doing everything they can to make sure their political jabs are voiced...without hearing the voices of the people that really need help.

The United States Congress seems to have completely forgotten that their job is to make sure that the American people come out on top. It took a very, very poorly written healthcare bill for Americans to finally see that in the harsh light of day.

Over this past year, I’ve learned some hard lessons, and have probably gotten more cynical than I should be - but I’ve gained a lot of wisdom.

Right here in North Carolina, we have a Representative that stands up at town hall meeting after town hall meeting, until every single question is addressed, until every single constituent is heard – no matter how long it takes - and whether she agrees with them or not. Remember that when you go to the polls this fall.

Right here in North Carolina, we have another Representative that thinks he’s too good to have a town hall meeting. He knows what’s best, right? He’s a solid “yes” on universal healthcare – even if 100% of the phone calls coming to his office say “no”, he knows what’s best...so he thinks. Think about that when you go back to the polls this fall.

Right here in North Carolina, we have a Senator who is not afraid to stand in front of constituents and articulate why he is voting the way he is on issues like healthcare and cap-and-trade. He returns calls and letters. He takes interviews and isn’t afraid to let you know that he is representing the people of North Carolina. Period.

And right here in North Carolina, we have another Senator whose schedulers have refused to give an oncology nurse a 15-minute phone conference so that the patients and doctors she works with can have an opportunity to share their concerns and ideas. A Senator who I have yet to see stand in front of her constituents - no hand-picked audiences, just constituents – and give her case as to why she believes so much in this healthcare debacle. She has another 4 years to try to make herself available to the people she is supposed to be representing – not just the ones that agree with her, but all of them. I hope that she takes that time as an opportunity to reach out, or she may not have time to really decorate that nice DC office of hers before someone else comes in to take the seat from her.

Seeing the behavior of some of these politicians has made me very, very leery of which candidate I put my support behind. The “brush-off” experience I had with the politician that I had volunteered for on several of his campaigns was an eye-opener that I needed desperately. You can read about my other ‘learning experiences’ - including the Scott Brown lesson - on my last blog posting.

To make a very, very long story short, I’ve decided to play the best card a woman can play when it comes to my vote: I’m playing hard to get. I don’t care what your political party is. I don’t care how many influential people you know or how much money you have. If your character doesn’t stand up to the tests I have, you don’t get my vote – from federal candidates to my local city government, this girl is playing hard to get.

I would strongly recommend that my readers do the same.

Going Back to School.

2010-02-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been a re-education of sorts for me. I’ve been watching, waiting, seeing what happens with a healthcare bill that for a while seemed “DOA”. I was reticent, to say the least. I had a feeling that the long nights of praying desperately in front of C-SPAN were far from over.

I must admit, Scott Brown’s election to the US Senate was one of my better days. I watched the campaign, ended up helping with the campaign, and figured that this was our best shot at getting some sense of balance back in to the US Congress so that it could work with the “check and balance” system that our Constitution intended.

The past weeks have been like going back to school. It was as if some leftover derelict angel from A Christmas Carol found me and said, “I’m going to show you what the US political system is REALLY like...forget what you learned in school.”

For example: Reconciliation. A rule that was made to pass budgetary issues – at least, that’s what I learned in school. What is it really? Apparently it is a rule that can be twisted to pass whatever a party in power wants to, despite the wishes of the American people.

Oh, and activism! I learned that activism isn’t exactly what I thought it was, either. You can get millions and millions and millions of everyday conservative folks to make phone calls and write letters during all hours of the night to try to stop a destructive bill. Millions can descend upon Capitol Hill after taking off work and paying expensive travel bills, time after time. Oh, but that’s not activism – that’s called “hate mongering” and “astroturfing”. Apparently, much to my surprise, real activism is getting people from MoveOn.Org and Organizing for America to the Capitol and having them make phone calls on ONE day. That’s activism. Apparently that’s the only activism that makes news and the only activism that legislators listen to...

I learned a new definition of conservatism, too. I learned that from Scott Brown.

You know, I thought earlier this week about removing the posts on my blog that were about Scott Brown. Then I thought better of it. Those posts, followed by this one, should be a testimony of a lesson learned – a testimony to not always believe everything you hear and everything people tell you. I have a philosophy that a person should be trusted until they give me a reason not to. I probably should change that philosophy, but in any case, Scott Brown lost my trust this week.

A (relatively) smaller “jobs” bill was presented to the Senate this week for a cloture vote. (God forbid we allow the free market to create jobs...) Our “41st vote” turned into their winner-take-all vote that changed another spending bill into a “bipartisan” jobs bill.

Hear me out here: this bill, like any other, has it’s ups and downs, good and bad spots. I can see reasons someone would vote for it, and reasons someone would vote against it. It wasn’t necessarily his saying “YEA” that floored me. It was his reasoning behind it - what had my jaw hanging was Scott Brown’s statement about the jobs bill. It made no logical sense to me whatsoever.

Here it is, from his website at http://brownbrigade.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jobs-bill-1 :

“I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families. This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.

”I was disappointed with the continuation of politics-as-usual in the drafting of this bill, as it was crafted behind closed doors, without transparency and accountability. I hope for improvements in that process going forward. All of us, Republicans and Democrats, have to work together to get our economy back on track. I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington.”

Scott Brown voted for a spending bill that he said himself was drafted “without transparency and accountability”, but with “hope for improvements”.

Here’s a news flash, Senator Scott – something they apparently forgot to tell you when you hit DC. You are not voting on hopes. You are voting on federal laws.

Let’s pray that he gets that lesson learned before a healthcare bill comes to the Senate for a vote.

But on to other lessons learned...

Last week, our Commander in Chief benevolently held an audience with the rabble-rousing Republicans to hear their pleas for mercy. At least, that’s what it looked like. He called it a “Bipartisan Healthcare Summit”. What amuses me is that I don’t think it turned out quite the way the President expected it to. Maybe he felt like his commanding presence would intimidate them into agreeing with his “plan” for healthcare. Maybe he felt like he could use the power of persuasion to convince them that they are just downright wrong. But somehow, it just didn’t work – the Republicans were there with millions of Americans behind them trying to stop a government takeover of healthcare – and to set the record straight about their ideas for healthcare reform.

The argument that Republicans have not brought forward any “ideas” on healthcare reform has pretty much been snuffed out. They have brought forward ideas. Quite a few, as a matter of fact. And in a government that was built to be a representative, check-and-balance government where all voices could be heard, Republicans have had doors slammed in their face. Now I know things like this have happened on both sides in the past. I know that Republicans are just as guilty of railroading through bills as the Democrats are. My disgust crosses party lines, I can promise you that.

But instead of quibbles about budgets and petty politics, now it’s about healthcare. Now, it’s about something that absolutely no American can ignore. Now the whole ugly mess of what American government and politics has become is center-stage for everyone to gawk at in disgust. A “summit” about healthcare, about human lives, turned into another partisan pissing contest where the President couldn’t resist an opportunity to poke at an old rival to let him know “the campaign is over”.

Well, I’m glad you have your priorities straight, Mr. President. Can we quit the jabs and get back to healthcare now?

I’ve watched the summit...I’ve had to take it in small doses, but finally got through it. There were several points that threw me into a blind rage about a group of people so out of touch with the people that they represent...it is sad. The President talking about the bill giving “suggestions” for medical malpractice reform...suggestions?? Do you really think that will solve the problem of defensive medicine? Especially since, in the Senate bill, the “suggestions” are for federal perks for states that enact malpractice reform that does not cap awards – and does not cap attorney’s fees??? The two things that have caused malpractice insurance and defensive medicine costs to skyrocket end up being the two things that the Senate bill has told the States they cannot reform if they want any federal funding.

Again I say: cater to special interests much?

From what I know so far, there is no “new bill” – just the “President’s Plan” that was posted on the White House website. I couldn’t find a whole lot that gave me any comfort in that, either – yes, it did say no more “Cornhusker Kickbacks” – instead, kickbacks for everyone! Medicaid subsidies for every state! (Where they plan to get this money, I have no idea...) Oh, but it will SAVE money in the first ten years...well, of course it will. The benefits don’t even begin for several years into the healthcare plan as it’s written in the Senate or the House bill. From there, the costs skyrocket. That CBO report on the current healthcare reform bills hasn’t gone away…it’s just being ignored.

Of course, the President did back pedal about purchasing insurance across state lines, and finally agreed it was a “good idea”, but I have yet to see anything materialize from that – so thanks for nothing, Mr. President. Here’s the kicker: the President went through that entire summit giving lip service to Republican ideas, knowing full well they would end up using the reconciliation option to try to shove this bill through...and the President knows that process – he knows that he can’t “add” good ideas at this point, since nothing can be changed on the current bill when it’s voted on in the House.

Am I concerned that they are going to try to ram this through using reconciliation? I am concerned, but for different reasons – I’m not sure that it’s possible to get this from a bill into law during an election cycle, when so many heads will “roll” politically - too many in Congress are more worried about their jobs than they are anything else at this point. I’m not sure it’s possible when you have a Democrat majority that probably wants to hang on to that majority, knowing full well that if they ram this through, that majority will be gone by the end of this year.

What I am concerned about is that Congress would consider doing it to begin with, with such vocal opposition from the American people. I’m concerned that Congress suddenly has the mandate of God to know what is best for me, whether I want it or not.

Instead of having a voice in the American government system, I’m being told to shut up and like it. I don’t think that’s the kind of by the people, for the people government our founders were thinking about when they wrote our Constitution.

That’s what concerns me.

As far as the “nuclear” reconciliation option goes, here’s what I know so far of the process (and I’m still learning, so I’m sure there’s more to come on that...):

If they try to ram though healthcare reform using reconciliation, my understanding is that according to the legal language of reconciliation, they have to start with the Senate bill – cornhusker kickback and all - that they passed by the skin of their teeth...

...and get it through the House of Representatives, without changing as much as a comma. That’s just the first step of a long and exhaustive process. I’m thinking that with the amount of egos and blow-hards that are in the House – and the amount of Representatives that are looking at the possibility of losing their jobs this fall...

Well, Nancy, you might want to get that woodshed of yours cleaned out. You’ve got your work cut out for you.

A Hopeful Victory.

2010-01-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

FINALLY...the brakes are engaged!

Let me preface this entry by saying this: it’s taken me a few days to write this for several reasons. I’ve wanted to “play my cards close to the chest”; you never really know what is going to come out of Congress, and even though Tuesday was probably the best day we’ve had in a year, I was reticent to put a post up in giddy victory because I was concerned about what Congress’ next move would be. In observation, I’ve honestly just become more confused...but I am getting a little more hope that even if we have not made it through this entire ordeal, we have bought some time to breathe and to communicate with Congress about what real healthcare priorities are.

This has been a long year for many of us. In my personal experience, it has been night after long night trying to decipher a bill with law and policy books next to my computer. Then there were the nights I sat gripping my rosary until there were dents in my palm - while Congressional votes were being counted on C-Span - only to end up in a heap of tears and overrun with worry about what will happen to my patients if a healthcare bill is passed that further cripples the already broken parts of the system.

It has been only through the unfaltering support of friends and patients that has kept me chugging the coffee and keeping the gloves on. So before I go any further – THANK YOU!!!

About Tuesday...

I’ll be honest – the Scott Brown election surprised me. (Don’t get me wrong – I was LOVING it – but I was surprised.) I thought, in a normal situation, Scott Brown would have it by a landslide. But the Minnesota election between Al Franken and Norm Coleman was enough to have me more nervous than a “cat in a room full of rocking chairs”. I waited the days up to the election for the shoe to drop. Or on Tuesday for a mystery ballot box to show up, or for votes to be “counted differently”.

Tuesday night was the first time I began to feel a tiny glimmer of hope – albeit tiny – in over a year. Just the fact that there was a little more balance in the Senate made me feel less fearful about what may or may not pass in Congress. A super-majority only works for the majority – there are no checks and balances in a system like that. I remember enough from Civics class to know that the American government was meant to have these checks and balances to protect the American people. Until Tuesday, those checks and balances had pretty much been thrown to the dogs, and have been for years. But it was apparent in the election results on Tuesday that the party in power right now had spent entirely too much political capital on ignoring their constituents in order to pass their agenda – and voters are pissed.

It brought back something I had quoted back in December:

"The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one more such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war." - Plutarch’s “Life of Pyrrhus”

I think it would be safe to say that the December 24th Senate vote was a perfect example of a Pyrrhic victory for Senator Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Life hasn’t been too easy for them since then.

The day after Scott Brown won the Senate seat in Massachusetts, there was the back-and-forth blame-game-throw-anyone-you-can-under-the-bus marathon on Wednesday that everyone expected (and that Americans by and large are sick to death of). But then on Thursday, something changed – the rhetoric of the current administration:

All of a sudden, a bill that HAD to be passed NOW OR NEVER, a bill that America MUST have NOW, that the entire country would be in an UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS if this bill doesn't pass...

...could wait.

Nancy Pelosi, the first of the great vote-buyers, stood before the press on Thursday and flatly stated they “didn’t have the votes” to pass the healthcare bill.

My first response was a surge of relief – I sat at my desk sobbing incoherently with relief after one of my friends – who is also a cancer survivor – called me on my mobile phone to give me the wonderful news. We were ecstatic – finally, maybe we had a chance to go back to the table and get real, reasonable healthcare reform that would WORK. Maybe we could go back to the starting line. I text messaged all of my friends. I received a reply that, along with heartfelt congratulations, reminded me to remain vigilant – stories have changed before. Wise words. And although no one has come “right out”, there are already mumblings inside the beltway of this-or-that “Plan B”.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that there is no firm commitment for Democrats to rush a health care bill through Congress this year...

“First of all, we’re not going to rush into anything,” he said. “We’re going to wait until the new senator arrives until we do anything more on health care.”...

...Reid had earlier ruled out reconciliation, but now he’s leaving the door open to using the controversial, filibuster-busting procedural move.

“I’ve said that reconciliation is one of the things we need to look at,” a somber Reid said. “No decision has been made.”

Reid’s statement today was a complete reversal from what he said just before Thanksgiving:

"I'm not using reconciliation," he said flatly at the time.

"The election in Massachusetts changes the math in the Senate," he said. "It’s easy math. It’s simple math. But it doesn’t change the fact that people are hurting. That election doesn’t change one thing in that regard. It doesn’t change our conviction to help those people." (1)

For those who think that reconciliation is a reasonable approach to pass healthcare reform, be forewarned: to begin, this is a measure that is only used in ‘emergency’ situations for budgetary issues. This is not a measure that was EVER intended for something as critical as healthcare reform legislation – and everyone in Congress knows that. Thanks to millions of Americans becoming much more informed about what is going on in Washington, WE know that as well. Reconciliation has been called the “nuclear” measure for passing healthcare reform for good reason – the fallout for the Democratic party will be political suicide. It would be easy for me to say, “Go ahead, do it, and we’ll get a super-majority by 2012 and then YOU’LL be sorry”.

But in my opinion, the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction would be just as destructive. A balance in Congress is crucial to keep both parties in check – because both parties have had a history of getting a little bit cocky when they have the bigger team. It is only when there is a balance between political parties that bipartisan legislation of any kind can be worked on.

Sure, Tuesday was a huge victory for Republicans. But I think it was also a huge victory for the country, and helped to rebuild protective measures that our Constitution intended to put in place. No matter what political party you hail from, it’s important to remember that even though someone has that letter behind their name, it doesn’t always mean they truly stand with what you believe ideologically – sometimes having the other party calling something to the table helps to bring those inconsistencies to light. Joseph Cao and Arlen Specter are fine examples. At least Arlen Specter had the wherewithal to officially switch parties.

One would think that Congress would have gotten the message after the huge turnover in Congress and the White House in 2009, after the economic crash and a Republican congress passing “TARP” (while Americans were saying “um, NO...”), among several other things that the Bush administration shoved along despite very vocal opposition from voters. We’re in the same situation with healthcare reform - but with a different majority - and a Congress that can’t seem to learn from even very recent history.

So where to go now?

HR 3713, the healthcare reform bill sponsored by Representative Mike Rogers and co-sponsored by Representative Sue Myrick has not died. Right now, it sits in the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. It has sat there since November 16, 2009. HR 3713 allows for the purchase of health insurance across state lines. It has REAL medical malpractice reform. It employs free-market solutions to address healthcare priorities. It calls for verification requirements to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid. It prohibits healthcare legislation that even IMPLIES rationing of care. (2) (3)

It’s time that HR 3713 got some floor time!

Americans were able to at least get the emergency brake pulled on the Senate bill (HR 3590). We can’t start coasting now. Please continue to keep the pressure on the House and the Senate. Tell them about HR 3713. Tell them that we need real medical malpractice reform – with no attorney kickbacks – desperately.

Doctors need the freedom to practice medicine themselves – not the way attorneys or insurance companies tell them to do. Nurses should be able to devote their time to caring for and supporting patients, not drowning in paperwork that has become the “cover your butt” necessity. Patients should have the freedom to shop and choose what health insurance they want according to their individual needs, just as they should be able to shop and choose what doctor or hospital they want to use.

I would like to call on healthcare workers in particular to write and call Scott Brown along with your district Representatives and Senators – let them know what the real priorities are in healthcare reform from your first-hand viewpoint. They need feedback about what patients and healthcare workers are battling every day just to get through this broken system, and as healthcare workers, we can help offer solutions to fix the areas that are broken. Especially with calling Scott Brown, he is entering a huge battleground and needs the support of doctors and nurses to help him stand strong in the middle of a healthcare debate that has become, sadly, pretty messy.

We worked hard to get Scott Brown in office – we can’t throw him to the wolves now. He needs our support just as much as we need his.

REFERENCES

(1) Politico: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31734.html
(2) Open Congress: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3713/show
(3) A Scarlet Stethoscope: http://rnadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/10/hr-3713-call-to-action.html

Providence has arrived...in Massachusetts.

2010-01-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

Providence has arrived – in the form of a (quite handsome) Republican in Massachusetts.

Scott Brown is running for "Ted Kennedy’s" (sic) Senate seat. He’s running against Martha Coakley, who up until recently was considered a shoo-in. Please take some time to visit Scott Brown’s website at http://www.brownforussenate.com/. I know that the majority of folks that read this blog hail from North Carolina...I have sent an email out to his staff to see how we can help (laura@brownforUSsenate.com). Donations, I’m sure, are always welcome. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, it's time to start getting the word out.

Right now, the US Senate has a huge debacle on their hands in the form of a healthcare bill that would run 1/6th of the US economy into the ground. Congress thinks that Americans are too dumb to figure that out. How wrong they were.

Earlier this week, Scott was down 9 points against Ms. Coakley according to a Rasmussen poll...but today, the tide turned. Scott Brown is now up by one point against Coakley - http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0110/Poll_Scott_Brown_leading_Coakley_4847.html - if this is what happens in 4 days, imagine what can happen by January 19th!

The beautiful thing about this election is that Scott Brown, if elected, would become the “swing vote” that will cripple the Senate’s Democratic majority. There are threats being thrown around right now that if Scott wins, they will find a way to keep from certifying the election so that the current sitting Senator (who is a stubborn “Yea”) can vote on the healthcare bill.

That would be an astronomical mistake on the part of the US Senate, if they plan to keep their jobs during this next election cycle.

Barring no catastrophes, I think that we are about to see the beginning of what the 2010 elections are going to look like. Something that the Pelosis and Boxers of this world seem to have forgotten: if you keep slapping Americans in the face, something beautiful happens…

Americans punch back.

Get Your Rear In Gear...Running for Lilo!

2009-12-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

We are sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and friends who have been affected by colon cancer and want to do something. Some of us are colon cancer survivors while others are those who work to honor those lost to this disease. The Colon Cancer Coalition has formed 5K's and other events in cities across the country, working together with health care providers, corporations and the media, to encourage people to "Get Your Rear in Gear" and talk about colon cancer with their doctor, their loved ones and everyone they know. Together, we will positively impact this disease.

“Get Your Rear In Gear” will have their 5K race in Charlotte on March 13, 2010. I will be running in memory of my aunt, Lieselotte Sander, who fought colon cancer until April of 2008. I promised her that I would do everything I could to make sure that no one else would have to fight this disease. Everyone that knew Lilo remembers her for her giggle – no one loved to laugh like she did. In her memory, I wanted to create a race team where the race, the fund raisers, even our slogan, would bring a giggle to everyone involved.

That got me thinking about what I wanted to do for a “kickoff” activity…and I realized - the Scarlet Stethoscope Team needs a slogan! So I thought I’d post a blog up and have folks think of ideas. The top 5 slogans that give us a “ROFL” will be put in a Facebook poll…

If your slogan is elected, you will be in "posteriority” with your slogan and your name on our team T-shirts!!!

Here are the rules:

1...Keep it G-rated. Make sure you're slogan is something you wouldn't mind seeing on your child's T-shirt.

2...To quote Bill O’Reilly, keep it “pithy”. There’s only so much room on a T-shirt.

3...Post your idea as a comment on this blog…the contest will be open until Friday, January 8th, and then a poll will be posted on my Facebook site for everyone to vote on their favorite slogan.

Some examples we’ve gotten so far:

“Dedicate your derriere!”

“Don’t want none unless you got funds, hun!”

“Kicking colon cancer’s butt!”

As you can see…this opens it up for some seriously cute puns. Keep it clean, keep it fun, and you might end up on our t-shirt! (Yes, the winner will definitely get a free Scarlet Stethoscope Team T-shirt!)

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!

For information about the 5K:
http://www.getyourrearingear.com/events/list/2010/charlotte-spring-2010/

The Scarlet Stethoscope Team page is at:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188348718598&ref=ts

Donation page is at: http://www.active.com/donate/gyrigcharlotte10/scarletstethoscope

My facebook site is at: http://www.facebook.com/scarletstethoscope?ref=profile
This is where the poll will be posted after January 8th...the poll will be open for a week, so don’t forget to vote!!!

THANK YOU in advance for your support! Let's have some fun!

Issuing a DWI to the United States Senate.

2009-12-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

Debating While Impaired...or better stated, Debating While Insolent.

Since the Christmas Eve vote in the Senate, I have been sent several articles about the vote, the preceding debate, and various analyses of what Senators and pundits on both sides had to say.

I’ve remained unusually quiet since that vote for a number of reasons.

The main reason is because I am furious, and that makes it difficult to present information in a manner that is even close to objective. And I’m still furious, so this is not exactly an objective post.

There is one issue about this healthcare debate that I want to bring to the forefront – and I am calling Democrats and Republicans alike on the carpet.

Let’s take a look at an excerpt from an article by Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, written Wednesday, December 23rd, entitled “In a sleep-deprived Senate, a punch-drunk holiday” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122203698.html?wprss=rss_print/asection :

“...Perhaps the senators should be given some slack for their strange words and actions on the Senate floor this week, in which they treated the country to everything from catnaps to poetry readings. These people are tired, after all. Enacting health-care reform has gone from a legislative activity to an endurance sport.

“They've been kept in session more or less constantly since Thanksgiving, and in the final days it has become a standoff, some sort of a test of machismo. Republicans forced the delay, and Democrats, up against a Christmas deadline, responded by forcing votes at odd hours, 1 a.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday.

“Just before the vote early Monday morning, a weary Reid was speaking on the floor when he confused aged Americans with African Americans. Speaking about an endorsement from a seniors group, he said: "These are some of the reasons that AARP, the American Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop -- I'm sorry, the American Association of Retired People, not the NAACP. I'm sorry about that, Mr. President."

“...Falling asleep at their desks? Snacking on the floor? Being forced to listen to the poetry of Roland Burris? Finally, Republicans could take it no more. Tuesday afternoon, they ended the protest and agreed to expedite the vote. It was time to settle down for a long winter's nap.”

Being a nurse, this throws me into a rage.

This debate is about healthcare. It is about my patients. It is about the millions of patients that currently have health insurance through their employer, or their spouses’ employer, that stand to lose that coverage if this bill is enacted. It is about patients with cancer that are scared that they may not be able to get the advanced treatments they are currently receiving – advanced treatments that are keeping them alive - under this healthcare bill. It is about patients that depend on community specialty clinics like the one that I work at that may have to migrate to major medical centers to wait in line for care that cannot wait.

It is about doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers all over the country that are concerned about the future of their jobs. It is about the future of hospitals and doctors’ offices that could easily buckle under the reimbursement cuts this healthcare bill will inflict, if it is passed “as is”.

It is about millions of middle-class Americans will be mandated under this bill to buy health insurance – that cannot afford health insurance at current rates and still be able to pay their rent and grocery bills at the same time. These are hard-working Americans that would face jail time if they didn’t buy health insurance...but according to this bill, they make too darn much money for a government subsidy. Make no mistake about it: if Americans are not able to purchase health insurance across state lines, the cost of health insurance premiums will continue to skyrocket, whether this bill passes or not. If there is no reform of the medical malpractice crisis, the cost for hospitals and doctors offices to stay in business and the costs for drug research and development will not budge...and probably continue to rise. But now, we have a bill that says we pay it or go to prison.

This debate is about the life or death of healthcare in this country.

Forgive me for being a bit crude here, but I can’t think of a more fitting way to word this:

This debate should NOT be about “machismo”. It is not about who can stay awake the longest. It is not about who can hold out the longest in a political game of chicken.

It is an embarrassing and disgusting truth that the healthcare debate has turned into partisan pissing contest in the United States Congress.

Democrats are slamming the door on Republicans wanting to offer up alternative plans that include tort reform and allow purchase of health insurance across state lines. Republicans are resorting to stalling tactics and firing back at the partisan mudslinging being shot at them – mudslinging that does not even deserve the dignity of a response. Not during a debate about human lives.

To the United States Senate:

Let me put this in perspective for you. If I was at work right now and responsible for administering your chemotherapy – if I was your nurse, and my speech was as jumbled, slurred and incoherent as this man:

...If I was about to give you an injection, if I was teaching you about your medications, if I was responsible for your care, and couldn’t tell the difference between the AARP and the NAACP, do you think I would be fit to provide nursing care to you?

Then could someone please explain to me how these people can be qualified to preside over healthcare reform in this country?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29813670@N07/4163849967/

A nightcap...

2009-12-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to send out a little nightcap...it’s been a long day for people watching the healthcare debate, and it will likely be a long night. Once the verdict is passed down from on high, however it turns out, it will be time to regroup and keep working.

IF this cloture vote does pass tonight, two things I want to put out there to give some encouragement:

1. It will be a Pyrrhic victory. What’s that, some may ask? Glad you asked.
Pyrrhic victory: noun. A victory that is offset by staggering losses. [named after Pyrrhus (319-272 BC), king of Epirus (306-272 BC), who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279 BC but suffered heavy losses] (Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Pyrrhic+victory )

"The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one more such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war." - from Plutarch's "Life of Pyrrhus"

2. This is one battle in a big war. If this vote goes through, and if I remember my US Civics classes, it still has to go to a committee of Senators and members of the House. They will have to meld the Senate and House bills into one bill that would THEN require passage in both houses of Congress before the President can sign it.

That in mind, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to put a bit of levity out there. We can sure use it.

I’ve been keeping an eye on “Live Pulse” at Politico (http://www.politico.com/livepulse). It’s a very good, up-to-the-minute website that lets you know what’s going on with the healthcare debate. The most recent post is as follows:

“Mass., Vermont bigger winners than Nebraska...

“Perhaps the Republican criticism of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is misplaced: Nebraska is set to reap only a fraction of the $1.2 billion in special Medicaid deals for three states...

“Vermont, which is represented by the once-wavering Sen. Bernie Sanders, would receive $600 million over 10 years for its Medicaid costs, according to Congressional Budget Office figures requested by Senate Republicans...

“Massachusetts would see $500 million, according to the CBO...

“Nelson, who has been lambasted throughout the day, steered only (!) $100 million to his state to cost the full cost of the Medicaid expansion.”

(Posted by Carrie Budoff Brown, 8:43pm, http://www.politico.com/livepulse)

Just after reading this, I read a post that included this article at http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/18132 . Yes, it's satire, and in my twisted mind, it was absolutely hysterical:

Headline: “HOOKERS DEEPLY OFFENDED BY COMPARISONS TO POLITICIAN”, written by Joy Tiz, December 20, 2009, on the Canada Free Press.

“Hookers are also quick to admonish that unlike congress, working girls outside of the D.C. area only infrequently take taxpayer money…
Members of the world’s oldest profession are infuriated by the relentless and invidious likening of their industry to the world’s second oldest profession. Word on the street, literally, is that hookers are prepared to exact an apology for the defiling of their good names.
Even those not well acquainted with the whoring business should be able to appreciate the asymmetry between a freely bargained for and mutually beneficial exchange, versus extorting taxpayer funds in the service of tyrants.
Paid escorts everywhere are especially aggrieved by the hooker title being conferred upon thoroughly contemptible politicians; including Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson. Nebraska Democrat Nelson, who was elected on a pro life platform, sold millions of unborn babies in exchange for extravagant tax payer funded perks for his soon to be former home state.
Nelson has tried to mitigate his betrayal as an abortion opt out compromise, which Nebraska Republican Mike Johanns http://www.omaha.com/article/20091220/NEWS01/712209910” correctly defined as a mere “accounting gimmick”.
The clause is an ersatz segregation of funds rule, which nobody believes will be effective.
“The really heartbreaking thing for Nebraskans, we are a pro-life state. Nebraskans will now be faced with a situation where they know that their dollars are going to provide funding for abortions across the country,” Johanns said.
The prostitute coterie is properly troubled about Washington’s contemptuous disposition towards their profession. They fear that the incessant aspersions toward their industry will lead to a government takeover, with calamitous results. In 1990, the federal government seized the legendary and too- big- to- fail Mustang Ranch in Nevada for tax violations. Under the administration of the federal government, the business, predictably collapsed. The same government that could not keep a cathouse in Nevada afloat is now poised to commandeer the entire health care industry.
Hookers are also quick to admonish that unlike congress, working girls outside of the D.C. area only infrequently take taxpayer money.
It is anticipated that ACORN will be making a statement on behalf of the hooker community and demanding an apology as well as offering interest free business loans to struggling brothel owners."

More to come...

Call To Action - From Conservatives for Patients' Rights

2009-12-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Rick Scott, Chairman, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, for keeping up the fight. These messages were sent out today:

SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Thank you to the many of you who have already contacted your Senators asking them to vote no on cloture! We appreciate your responses in the fight against a government takeover of healthcare.

We’ve learned that many of the Senators’ voice mail inboxes are either full or are not accepting calls. Although the first vote is expected to take place at 1 AM Monday morning, there is still time to have an effect on the vote.

Please visit our Action Page ( http://www.cprights.org/action.php ) and send an email to your Senators asking them to vote no!

Thank you for your continued support in this important effort!

Sincerely,
Rick Scott
Chairman
Conservatives for Patients’ Rights

(Previous message:)

Senate Democrats met secretly over the past several days and cooked up a scheme to get 60 votes on their plan for a government takeover of health care. We don’t yet know the full extent of the backroom deals cut to get those votes, but there are reports it will cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions – or even billions – of dollars to pay for all of the political party favors being handed out by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.

It is now expected that the Senate will cast votes in the middle of the night during this holiday week when most Americans are asleep in bed or at home with loved ones. The Democrats in the Senate hope that this artificial urgency will conclude with a vote to approve their plan on Christmas Eve night while nobody is watching.

Although this may feel like an uphill battle right now, there is still time for you to have an impact. You need to let the Senate know that they should not move forward with this bad bill that costs taxpayers trillions of dollars while sacrificing our freedoms.

In particular, the following Senators need to hear from the American people before the first cloture vote takes place at approximately 1 AM Monday morning.

Arkansas
Blanche Lincoln (202) 224-4843
Mark Pryor (202) 224-2353

Connecticut
Joe Lieberman (202) 224-4041

Delaware
Thomas Carper (202) 224-2441

Indiana
Evan Bayh (202) 224-5623

Louisiana
Mary Landrieu (202) 224-5824

Maine
Olympia Snowe (202) 224-5344

Montana
Max Baucus (202) 224-2651
Jon Tester (202) 224-2644

Nebraska
Ben Nelson (202) 224-6551

North Dakota
Kent Conrad (202) 224-2043
Byron Dorgan (202) 224-2551

Virginia
Mark Warner (202) 224-2023
Jim Webb (202) 224-4024

Sincerely,
Rick Scott
Chairman
Conservatives for Patients' Rights

(photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/3464056083/)

Let's unwrap the bow...

2009-12-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

With 1am closing in on me, I am cramming to get as much information as I can about this healthcare bill out there, and unwrap the bow on this abominable Christmas gift that the Senate is trying to put under the trees of the American people. This post is for everyone - in other words, it includes data from non-partisan government offices that have been given the task of analyzing HR 3590.

I’ve said it before – this bill pretty much speaks for itself. The mandates for employers and private citizens are still there – but the public option is gone. Common sense tells me that this bill ends up being an enormous moneymaker for the insurance companies, since there was no removal of the mandates that keep people from buying health insurance across state lines. In other words, everyone has to buy health insurance, but there is nothing in the bill that makes the cost of insurance more competitive for Americans.

What I find interesting is that Congress – on BOTH sides – have assumed that the American people are just going to swallow what they are going to say. They assume that they need to interpret the information for us – I guess they think we’re too dumb to read things for ourselves. I beg to differ. I don’t have a degree in politics. My degree is in nursing and in, of all things, theology. But I’m smart enough to figure things out. And I’m willing to give the American people that credit as well.

So, in this post, I want to put up some posts that have just “cold hard data”. There may be a “hmmm” here and there from me, just because these are things that make me go hmmm...and I have added italics/boldface type for emphasis on things that need your attention - period.

It’s been easy to find opinions on these things from the news media on both sides of the aisle, but to be honest, this particular information (from the Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) was not as easy to find...not nearly as easy as it was to find various opinions about it. But I did find it – the links are included if you would like to go directly to the website and read these analyses in their entirety.

Simply put, I want people to have an opportunity to read it for themselves. So here we go:

The first report is from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in their report of estimated costs for the Senate Healthcare Bill (which is often being abbreviated as PPACA. This abbreviation stands for “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”, or HR 3590).

You can find the report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services online at: http://enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=85899a92-a646-4bca-87b6-81ae629e7533

“...we estimate that the total national health expenditures under this bill would increase by an estimated total of $234 billion (0.7) during calendar years 2010-2019, principally reflecting the net impact of (i) greater utilization of health care services by individuals becoming newly covered (or having more complete coverage), (ii) lower prices paid to health providers for the subset of those individuals who become covered by Medicaid, and (iii) lower payments and payment updates for Medicare services...”

The CMS’ take on comparative effectiveness research:

“We reviewed literature and consulted experts to determine the potential cost savings that could be derived from comparative effectiveness research (CER). We found that the magnitude of potential savings varies widely depending upon the scope and influence of comparative effectiveness efforts. Small savings could be achieved through the wide availability of non-binding research, while substantial savings could be generated by a comparative effective board with authority over payment and coverage policies...

“...Our interpretation of CER provisions in the PPACA, which allow the Secretary of HHS to use evidence and findings from CER within defined limits in making coverage determinations under Medicare, is consistent with a low level of influence, translating into an estimated total reduction in national health expenditures of $8 billion for calendar years 2010 through 2019...”

Hmmm.......

Here’s another doozy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report:

“The proposed Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) insurance program would produce an estimated total net savings of $38 billion through fiscal year 2019. This result, however, is due to the initial 5-year period during which no benefits would be paid. Over the longer term, expenditures would exceed premium receipts, and there is a very serious risk that the program could become unsustainable as a result of adverse selection by participants...

“Total national health expenditures in the U.S. during 2010-2019 would increase by about 0.7 percent. The additional demand for health services could be difficult to meet initially with existing health provider resources and could lead to price increases, cost-shifting, and/or changes in providers’ willingness to treat patients with low-reimbursement health coverage.”

HMMMM......

These entries are from the Congressional Budget Office, in an analysis on how this healthcare bill will affect insurance premiums: http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10781/11-30-Premiums.pdf

“[A]n estimated 19 percent of workers with employment-based coverage would be affected by the excise tax in that year [2016]. Those individuals who kept their high-premium policies would pay a higher premium than under current law, with the difference in premiums roughly equal to the amount of the tax. However, CBO and JCT estimate that most people would avoid the cost of excise tax by enrolling in plans that had lower premiums; those reductions would result from choosing plans that either pay a smaller share of covered health care costs (which would reduce premiums directly as well as indirectly by leading to less use of covered medical services), manage benefits more tightly, or cover fewer services...

“In reaction to the tax, many employers would reduce the scope of their health benefits. The resulting reduction in covered services and/or increases in employee cost-sharing requirements would induce workers to use fewer services. Because plan benefit values would generally increase faster than the threshold amounts for defining high-cost plans (which are indexed by CPI plus 1 percent), over time additional plans would become subject to the excise tax, prompting those employers to scale back coverage.”

Go to the links; read it for yourself. Right now, most phone lines at Capitol Hill are gridlocked and voice mails are full. I encourage you to communicate over email, fax, and (I can’t believe I’m actually saying this), but over Twitter. If you are in North Carolina, you can reach your Senators over Twitter at the following “callnames”:

Senator Kay Hagan: @SenatorHagan
Senator Richard Burr: @burrforsenate

You can also follow me on Twitter at @RNAdvocate, and see the messages that I am sending to the Senate as this bill is debated.

More to come.

(Photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/instantvantage/4130336907/)

Congratulations, Mr. Grinch.

2009-12-19T07:38:00.001-08:00

Ben Nelson has been bought and paid for. I'm in a bit of a blind rage right now, and am - quite honestly - fighting to keep from posting something in the 'heat of the moment' before I have time to sit back and try to look at this objectively.

According to Politico.com at Live Pulse, Ben Nelson "got the federal government to pick up most [of] his states future Medicaid tab -- forever." This is a provision that is worth about $45 million over the first decade. "It's a sweet deal considering that many governors are worried that the Medicaid expansion will further strain already stressed state budgets".

Excerpts from a Fox News report that summarizes what has happened this morning:

- FOXNews.com
- December 18, 2009
Reid Unveils Health Compromise, Wins Nelson's Support

WASHINGTON - With a self-imposed Christmas deadline at stake, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid engineered a last-minute compromise in the health care debate that has won the support of the lone Democratic holdout and clinched the required 60 votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system.

Marathon negotiations among the White House, Senate Democratic leaders and Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, produced fresh concessions that will mean additional abortion restrictions in the legislation and funding to cover poor people for Nelson's state and more.

"I know this is hard for some of my colleagues to accept and I appreciate their right to disagree. But I would not have voted for this bill without these provisions," Nelson said at a news conference in the Capitol.

Democratic leaders offered Nelson a deal similar to the $300 million in Medicaid assistance Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana got for her support, numerous sources told Fox News.

When asked about this, Sen. Kent Conrad, a key Democratic leader involved in the negotiations with Nelson, said, "Oh, it'll be much more."...

In the Republican response, Arizona Sen. John McCain warned that rushing through legislation now would do more harm than good.

"The best thing government could do to ensure more Americans have access to health care insurance is to institute reforms that would rein in costs and make health care more affordable," said McCain, who lost last year's presidential race to Obama. "Regrettably, there's nothing in this legislation that effectively addresses the problem."

At Saturday's news conference, Nelson said he reserves the right to vote against the final bill if substantial changes are made by House and Senate negotiators.

The compromise package Reid released Saturday puts new limits on insurance company profits. The measure would require insurers in the individual market to spend 80 percent of premiums on medical care. The requirement for group policies would be 85 percent.

That would limit overhead and profits. Children could not be denied coverage for health problems.

On abortion, the measure would let states disallow coverage in new insurance exchanges.

Boxer has a strong record in favor of abortion rights. She told reporters as she left the Capitol at the end of the evening there had been progress made on the issue of separating personal funds, which may be used to pay for abortions, from federal funds, which may not.

The issue is contentious because the legislation provides federal subsidies to help lower and middle-income families afford insurance and the other federal health care programs ban the use of government money to pay for abortions.

The legislation would expand coverage to 30 million people now uninsured and try to curb rising health care costs. Insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with health problems, or charging them more. All Americans would be required to have health insurance, or eventually face fines. The nearly $1 trillion, 10-year cost would be paid for mainly with Medicare cuts and new taxes on insurance companies and other parts of the health care industry.

The week saw an intraparty brawl among Democrats, with liberals seething over the compromises Reid has already made to keep the bill moving.

Gone is a government insurance plan modeled on Medicare. So is the fallback, the option of allowing aging baby boomers to buy into Medicare. The major benefits of the bill won't start for three or four years, and then they'll be delivered through private insurance companies.

Fox News' Trish Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/18/nelson-cites-real-progress-health-care-talks/

Carry Your Candle.

2009-12-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, December 16th, 2009, The Charlotte Tea Party is teaming up with the Scarlet Stethoscope for a Candlelight Vigil to Wake Up the Senate.
Senator Harry Reid has been very outspoken about wanting his bill voted on by Christmas. North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan has been quick to vote “YEA” for every motion related to healthcare reform measures that violate the Constitutional rights of Americans.

It is time for the United States Senate to hear the resounding “NAY” from their constituency.

I know that several people feel that calling on Senator Hagan to vote against this healthcare bill is a lost cause. But a good friend reminded me, very recently, that sometimes lost causes are the ones that are really worth fighting for.

We need a strong showing at this event to draw the attention of the United States Senate – namely, the attention of Senator Hagan. It is for one hour – just one hour – on Wednesday night. Please join us, bring a candle or a flashlight, and don’t forget your warm coats and mittens. We will also have candles available at the gathering.

We will gather at the Charlotte Office of Senator Kay Hagan, 1520 South Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28203 (between East Boulevard and Morehead Street)...from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. If you have a protest sign you would like to bring, please bring it along.

But most importantly, bring yourself.

The light rail line does have a stop at East Boulevard, just parallel to South Boulevard, if you are concerned about availability of parking for the event. The website for Charlotte Transit LYNX (light rail) is here:

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/LYNX/home.htm

How could you...?

2009-12-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, a friend asked me a question that I’ve heard posed several times in past months in news articles, forums, blogs, and the like. I’ve answered the question, indirectly I suppose, by the issues that I have discussed in this blog. But when my friend asked me this question in a recent phone conversation, I asked her if I could write some blog posts about my answer, in an effort to try to answer the question more directly. In this post, and future posts, I’ll also include a few key points that involve the most recent healthcare legislation which, thanks to the most recent vote for cloture, is now under open debate on the Senate floor...with this post being specifically about medical malpractice reform.

The question: “How could you be a nurse...but be against healthcare reform?”

The short version answer is this:

I am not against healthcare reform.

I am against government-run healthcare. I am against the violation of the Constitutional rights of Americans.

I am against mandates and criminal penalties against Americans with regard to health insurance. I am against the federal government having any role in what happens to my body. I am against the federal government having a say in how doctors practice medicine. We already have enough ridiculous laws and regulations that have put medical practices into administrative gridlocks. We don’t need to make a bad situation worse by adding in direct government control of the medical care that Americans receive...and adding in criminal repercussions for those who refuse to obey the government's mandates.

I believe that there are major flaws in the United States healthcare system. But I also believe that despite these flaws, we have the best healthcare system in the world. The expertise of our medical professionals, and the medical innovations that come out every day in this great country are bar-none the best that you can get anywhere – period.

Just because “I am a nurse” does not mean that I sign on with the American Nurses’ Association (or the American Medical Association, for that matter). “I am a nurse” means that I am a researcher, that I pay attention to detail, that I look at every aspect of a situation – the “nursing assessment”, so to speak – before coming up with a conclusion and taking action. A real nurse knows better than to go by the first few words someone tells them, or to take something at first glance. The devil is in the details, and that is usually where the diagnosis is as well.

Do I think that some level of government regulation is in order, in some aspect of healthcare? Yes. (I'll probably have to perform CPR on a good many of my C4L friends...sorry, guys.) But the issue is WHERE that regulation is needed.

I’d like to present just one – very important - example here.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge proponent for tort reform. I will challenge anyone who thinks this is not a critical issue to debate this issue with me. I will also send a friendly warning to whomever the challenger is - you're going up against 14 years of nursing experience, and believe me, there’s not much that I haven't seen. Anyone who works on a daily basis in today’s healthcare environment will tell you that frivolous litigation is a huge issue - the amount of money that is spent on defensive medicine is mind-boggling. Then Congress brings up this monster of a bill that is supposed to be the miraculous solution to the healthcare problems in this country...but has no meaningful tort reform.

In the most recent bill, HR 3590, here is what is mentioned regarding medical malpractice reform – out of 2,074 pages, one of the biggest problems in healthcare in the United States warranted ONE PARAGRAPH of text:

Subtitle I--Sense of the Senate Regarding Medical Malpractice
SEC. 6801. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING MEDICAL MALPRACTICE.
It is the sense of the Senate that-- (1) health care reform presents an opportunity to address issues related to medical malpractice and medical liability insurance;
(2) States should be encouraged to develop and test alternatives to the existing civil litigation system as a way of improving patient safety, reducing medical errors, encouraging the efficient resolution of disputes, increasing the availability of prompt and fair resolution of disputes, and improving access to liability insurance, while preserving an individual's right to seek redress in court; and
(3) Congress should consider establishing a State demonstration program to evaluate alternatives to the existing civil litigation system with respect to the resolution of medical malpractice claims.

(This can be found on page 1858 of HR 3590.)

One of the biggest, most costly issues in healthcare – and it gets a “sense”??

Out of 2,074 pages, 381,593 words, 2,344,670 characters, and 36,593 lines...tort reform gets one paragraph?

How can I be a nurse and be against this type of legislation? Maybe the question is better asked this way: How can I be a nurse and NOT be against something that simply reinforces the chains of defensive medicine? With the threat of malpractice lawsuits becoming more and more of a burden on healthcare professionals, leading to higher healthcare costs and taking more time away from patients...

...there is no way that I can be a nurse and stand in support of a healthcare bill that all but completely ignores one of the biggest problems in healthcare in this country.

More to come...

REFERENCES:

Side by Side Comparison of Senate and House Leadership Bills: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/housesenatebill_final.pdf

Senate Healthcare Reform Bill:
http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act.pdf

Information and statistics on medical malpractice, defensive medicine, and tort reform, from Physiciansforreform.org: http://www.physiciansforreform.org/index.php?id=17

“Scribd” breakdown of the Senate bill: http://www.scribd.com/doc/22734971/Senate-Democrats-Health-Care-Reform-Bill

Interlude...

2009-12-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

I know there has been a “lag” between posts…just to update you, it is not from a lack of action! I am still keeping a close eye on what is happening in the Senate healthcare debate, and still am trying to get a response from the junior Senator’s office in my state (with no luck – I feel like I’m in high school again, trying to get a date…and that’s sad). I’m still trudging through the 4-ream pile of steaming…paper…that is the Senate healthcare bill. I’ve been working on my most recent series of posts for some time, wanting them to be “perfect”, hoping that it will be just the shot of energy that everyone needs. This has been a grueling battle for all of us, and personally I have become very fearful that Americans have resorted to a sort of despondency…I am hearing more and more, “it doesn’t matter what we do…it doesn’t matter what we think…they’re going to do what they want.”

My answer to that is: oh, HELL no!!!

This is not over – it was not over when this bill raced through the house, and the fact that the bill is facing an epic struggle in the Senate is absolute proof to me that this is NOT over – we have not lost this battle, and if we keep up the momentum, we might just win.

I have my moments – quite a few of them – where I’m ready to shut down the computer and say “forget it”. I know that many people who take the time to read and learn from this blog have probably had those moments too, and you are not alone. But the fact that this bill is sputtering as much as it is in the Senate gives me hope for two things: first, the most obvious, there is a tiny little glimmer of a chance that this current bill - as it stands - might not make it through the Senate. Second, going beyond that, if this bill doesn't pass then it opens the door to the possibility that real, useful healthcare reform can be worked on – thoughtful, careful reform that focuses on fixing the problems we have in our healthcare system, and building on what makes us the best healthcare system in the world.

I have my moments – have no doubt. I’ve thought about giving up on this. Then I have to turn the key in my car every morning to go to work, and I remember my patients – and the pledge that I took almost 14 years ago:

"I solemnly pledge myself before God and presence of this assembly;
To pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully.
I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous
and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.
I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession
and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping
and family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.
With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work,
and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care."

This is far from over.

Healthcare reform...The Louisiana Purchase 2.0.

2009-11-22T04:38:00.001-08:00

The vote for cloture to begin debate on the healthcare "bill" passed last night. Oddly enough, the "swing" vote once again fell to the great state of Louisiana.

I'm thinking that the nickname "Obamacare" is going to change soon to "The Louisiana Purchase 2.0" very soon. Apparently, Louisiana is for sale...again.

The House vote became "bipartisan" when Congressman Joseph Cao of Louisiana, in one of the most remarkable passive-aggressive moves in history, waited with baited breath for the 218 votes needed, then cast his one lone 'Republican' vote.

Then the bill went to the Senate... Last night, the cloture vote passed, again, by the skin of their teeth, and again, an important vote was purchased from a Louisiana Senator. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was the infamous "swing vote". She was tight-lipped until recent days, when in a desperate measure to secure the votes he needed, Senator Reid attached a $100 million Christmas gift for Senator Landrieu. Completing her side of the sale, Mary Landrieu obliged Harry Reid with her "Aye" vote last night.

Mary Landrieu is quoted in Politico.com:

"She acknowledged that she had fought for changes to the bill to help people in her state. Reid included an extra $100 million in Medicaid funding for states hit by Hurricane Katrina, which includes Louisiana.

“I’m using as much leverage as I have for the issues that I think are important not just to Louisiana but to broad constituencies throughout this country... In some ways, you can’t fix anything unless you keep the debate moving forward but in the other ways, you’ve got to use the leverage when you’ve got it to get some things that are important,” Landrieu said."

Referenced from: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29778.html

At a dinner party one night, an inebriated Winston Churchill asked the aristocratic lady next to him, "Madam, would you sleep with me for, say, ten thousand pounds?"

She paused and responded, "Well, Sir Winston, I believe I would."

Sir Winston: "How about for ten pounds?"

The lady was indignant. "Sir Winston! What kind of woman do you think I am?"

To which, Churchill smiled and replied, "Madam, we've already established what kind of woman you are. Now we're just haggling over the price."

Any other questions?

2009-11-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

The current administration of our government just sank to a new low.

They sang the praises of universal healthcare, despite the miserable failure it has been in other countries, and the failures we’ve seen right here in Massachusetts and Oregon.

They asked people contact the White House to report people that dared to speak against their plans for healthcare reform.

They broadcasted “guilt-trip” commercials over the airwaves, filled with half-truths and condemning those that dare to voice opposition to government involvement in healthcare. They sent mass, unsolicited emails to people extolling upon the virtues of universal healthcare and how important it is that it is passed NOW, before it is TOO LATE.

They took a 1,990 page pile of paper that is a horrible excuse for legislation, paid off a few folks in Congress so they’d vote for it, and passed it by the skin of their teeth - a bill that is a slap in the face to the United States Constitution. Not to mention that it will completely paralyze the American healthcare system as we know it, if it is signed into law.

They passed this bill with no regard for the enormous amount of opposition voiced by the American people.

Then, right after millions of Americans had put on their pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a task force (the “USPSTF”, United States Preventive Services Task Force) - who would be responsible for a great deal of healthcare decisions in this country should this current reform plan pass - came out with new recommendations:

"The USPSTF recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take patient context into account, including the patient's values regarding specific benefits and harms."

You read it right. This is not a joke, and this is not a drill. It’s right there, in plain print, on their website: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm

Oh, it gets better. Here’s more from their new recommendations:

"The USPSTF recommends biennial screening mammography for women aged 50 to 74 years."

Not enough for you? Read on:

"The USPSTF recommends against teaching breast self-examination (BSE)."

WHAT???

Of course, Kathleen Sebelius had to come out today and do “damage control”, telling everyone, don’t worry!!! Keep getting your mammograms…this is just a recommendation…of COURSE this won’t affect insurance companies reimbursing for mammograms!

…Except that this recommendation comes from a government agency that makes coverage decisions for folks that have to wrestle with Medicare, and will likely end up making coverage decisions for everyone if this healthcare plan passes. Does she really think that the insurance companies don’t pay attention to AHRQ and this task force? If she believes that, she has no business in the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

And the current administration has the audacity to tell Americans that this doesn’t smack of healthcare rationing in a huge way? How dumb does this administration think people are, anyway?

I’ve worked as an Oncology nurse for almost 4 years now, and have worked in nursing for 14 years. I can say with all confidence (and I’m certain, with a great deal of support) that, with regard to healthcare, this is the biggest bag of political excrement that the US government has tried to hand to the American people yet.

There is one bright side: hopefully, this will make people in America start to ask some really tough questions…

Questions like, how does the USPSTF plan to explain these recommendations to my friend, who was diagnosed at age 30 with breast cancer – and had no previous history of cancer?

How do they plan to explain it to another friend of mine, in her mid-thirties, who discovered a lump in her breast on a weekend, received her mammogram that following Monday, and two days later was diagnosed with breast cancer that required surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation?

How do they plan to explain it to the millions of women under age 50 who would not be alive today without that screening mammogram?

How do they plan to explain it to their families, their children?

Thank God that there are organizations and public figures that have enough courage to step forward and speak out about what a joke these recommendations are.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was quick to respond, advising people to keep up with their breast cancer screenings. Their article is at http://ww5.komen.org/KomenNewsArticle.aspx?id=6442451487 .

The American Cancer Society and National Breast Cancer Foundation have spoken out vehemently against these recommendations: http://www.apria.com/common/aw_cmp_printNews/1,2762,1030759,00.html .

Even Sanjay Gupta, MD, tried to get answers directly from a member of this task force, Lucy Marion. (I flatly refuse to put RN after her name. Calling this woman a “nurse” is like calling a Twinkie a “gourmet torte”. Not going to happen, not on my blog.) But this woman apparently calls herself a nurse. He interviewed this woman on, of all networks, CNN. Here’s the interview:

What a horrible embarrassment this woman is to the practice of nursing.

What a startling wake-up call this should be to America.

I’ve tried to be politically correct and tell people to engage in a good debate, debate the facts of the bills, and try to go into the healthcare reform conversation with an open mind. I’m pretty much done with that.

Read that “recommendation” again. Read it while keeping in mind that it was written by an agency of the United States Government. Read it while keeping in mind that this agency has a HUGE say in Medicare reimbursement today – and will have even more say if a government healthcare program is passed through Congress.

In past months, people have asked me why the whole concept of government involvement in healthcare throws me into a blind rage…

…any other questions?

An email from a good friend.

2009-11-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

A good friend shared this email with me regarding the healthcare debate - I wanted to pass it along.

Thanks to all of those who have contacted Sen. Hagan's office. I wanted to share a bit more info. with you all. After college, I worked in DC (on the Hill). Believe me . . . constituent phone calls, emails and mail DO MATTER! Senators and House members receive daily polls from their constituents . . . and oftentimes vote, based on those results. Unfortunately, though . . . Hagan is a Freshman Senator . . . and can be easily influenced by Democrat Leadership. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ask others to send in emails and make phone calls! We CANNOT stress enough how dissatisfied we are with this bill.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ELABORATION:
Democrats will settle for ANY bill to pass in the Senate (with or without a public option). A Senate bill and the House bill (with TONS of JUNK) will be merged together in Conference Committee. There, a public option WILL be added back in. And...we (the People) will have NO say-so at that point! Sooooo...the best thing we can do at this point...is KILL any chance of a Health Care bill passing in the Senate. Again, PLEASE share this with others!

If you have to...call and email EVERY DAY!

BTW, I have downloaded (and am attempting to read all 1990 pages of) HR3962...the House Health Care bill. So far, this Bill addresses EVERY facet of our Health Care...from Cancer patients, to Hospital visits, to data collection & financing, to research funding, to Health Care professionals training, to capped rental of oxygen tank rentals, to rehabilitation use rentals, to a Universal payment schedule (and coding) for ALL Health Care practices (specialized, primary, urgent care, etc). I can go on and on and on!!! This is REALLY SCARY STUFF! Last night, I was reading the following section (and thought I should share with you all):

(A) AGGREGATE PAYMENTS FOR EXCESS READMISSIONS.
—The term ‘aggregate payments for excess readmissions’ means, for a hospital for a fiscal year, the sum, for applicable conditions (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)), of the product, for each applicable condition, of—‘‘(i) the base operating DRG payment amount for such hospital for such fiscal year for such condition; ‘‘(ii) the number of admissions for such condition for such hospital for such fiscal year; and ‘‘(iii) the excess readmissions ratio (as defined in subparagraph (C)) for such hospital for the applicable period for such fiscal year minus 1.

This goes on for 6-7 more pages... but basically what it is saying...hospitals will not receive full payments if they readmit a patient for the same condition (and will continue receiving less payments on the aggregate - total of ALL patients) for re-admitting patients. The pages go on to explain a ratio system that will be implemented to determine payments. Sooooo...my prayer for you all (under this plan) would be...I hope you don't have to return to the hospital for the same condition! Otherwise, hospitals WILL start turning patients away! What is the only other option for them? They have to receive MONEY to stay open...and if they start offering "free" service (because they are receiving less funds from the public option)...could you blame them?

PLEASE arm yourself with KNOWLEDGE of this Bill. I have a question for Ms. Pelosi . . . WHO DRAFTED THIS 1,990 PAGE BILL????? There is sooooo much invasive information (medical/fiscal/policy details) that it couldn't have been written in such a short period of time. This Bill has been on the back-burner for quite some time, I am convinced.

More information to come this weekend.

And on to the Senate we go...

2009-11-12T03:11:00.000-08:00

It’s time to focus our efforts on the US Senate. Conveniently…they are on recess this week!

This blog contains resources to help you in the fight to stop HR 3962 for making it one inch further. Please visit the following websites and get your name on the petitions that are headed up to Congress:

Physician Petition: Take Back Medicine www.takebackmedicine.com

Conservatives for Patients Rights: www.CPRights.org

National Center for Policy Analysis: www.freeourhealthcarenow.com

Americans for Prosperity: www.joinpatientsfirst.com

The Galen Institute: www.DoNoHarmPetition.org

Register to Opt Out of Obamacare: www.patientoptout.com (Social Security Institute)

American Legislative Exchange Council: www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Federal_Health_Care_Reform

The Republican Study Committee, chaired by AAPS member Congressman Tom Price, MD, released their “Legislative Bulletin” of November 7, 2009, which outlines the key conservative concerns about H.R. 3962.

Constitutionality: The U.S. Constitution and the principle of limited government are tested as never before by forcing Americans to purchase “acceptable” health care coverage or face a tax of 2.5% of modified adjusted gross income. The definition provided in the bill for “acceptable” coverage will surely force some Americans to purchase plans that include coverage they cannot afford, or don’t want or need.

Illegal Immigrants: The bill fails to adequately address citizen verification for individuals applying for low-income affordability subsidies, or enrolling in Medicaid/CHIP, or enrolling in high risk pools.

Forced out of Current Plans: Government-run plan will force tens of millions out of the coverage they currently have while Members of Congress are not subject to the same health care system Americans will have to live by.

Increases Premiums: The Democrats’ health care plan will increase premiums. As JCT, CBO and six other studies have shown, imposing new taxes on insurance policies, health care products, and various new insurance regulations will be drive up the cost for patients of all ages in the form of higher premiums. Industry reports found that the youngest 30% of the population will see a 69% increase under the 2:1 age band included in the Pelosi Government Healthcare Takeover Bill.

Increases Personal Health Expenditures: CMS Actuaries predicts overall national health expenditures under the bill due to various regulations will jump by 2.1 percent, or $750.3 billion.

Bends the Curve in the Wrong Direction: According to CBO “On balance, during the decade following the 10-year budget window, the bill would increase both federal outlays for health care and the federal budgetary commitment to health care, relative to the amounts under current law.”

Raises Taxes: The bill increases taxes by $766.6 billion over ten years. The bill also includes billions in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, cutting benefits and raising premiums on seniors. Theses cuts are not used to reduce the deficit, but instead to create new entitlement programs.

Costs: The total cost of is nearly $1.3 trillion (not including the $210 billion “Doc Fix”) when including the cost to states for mandated Medicaid expansion ($34 billion) and authorized discretionary spending for grants, public programs, changes and funding for a variety of agencies that would be responsible for implementing H.R. 3962.

Government Takeover: Many conservatives may believe that the bill is a step away from personal, private coverage and choice, to a Washington-controlled healthcare system that rations care, limits choice, and reduces quality, innovation and competition.

HR 3962 passes. 220-215.

2009-11-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain, simple rule: "Love thy neighbor."...

You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked! Well, I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause... even if this room gets filled with lies like these; and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to me."

This is NOT over.

The editorials...part two.

2009-11-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

My first blog today went over some of the personal reasons why I have fought as hard as I have to try to stop bills like HR 3962, HR 3200, the Senate Finance Committee and HELP Committee bills.

This second blog is about why these bills do nothing to correct the real problems in healthcare, and why these bills are a debacle of explosive proportions.

Doctors and nurses work hard. Damn hard. The longer I work as a nurse, the more I see our time and resources becoming more and more limited, and even more expected of healthcare workers – in less time, with less to work with. We are expected to meet every need, cure every pain, answer every question, and make sure our answers are absolutely perfect. The job is getting more and more challenging, and it is not for the faint of heart.

Doctors and nurses do NOT go into healthcare because they want to be rich – make no mistake about it. We go into healthcare because we want to help people. The ones that go into this industry for the wrong reasons don’t last very long, trust me. If you don’t give a rip about people, it’s not worth the time and effort that the job demands. But in the past 10 years, I’ve noticed that healthcare workers have to constantly be on guard, lest they lose their jobs – and their livelihoods. The stress of taking care of people that are battling illnesses is quite enough. The stress of worrying about someone trying to take your license - and every dime you have - over a lawsuit, puts you beyond critical mass.

But lately, the medical industry has been gridlocked with lawsuits and threats of lawsuits. I love reading the articles that say defensive medicine is not the big deal that others say it is…excuse me? Try going into a hospital for chest pain. You can give them any array of symptoms that would make it obvious that it is not cardiac. Too bad. You get a cardiac workup. Whether the doctor thinks it’s necessary or not. Anyone who works in healthcare knows that defensive medicine is more the rule than it is the exception. It stinks, but it’s reality right now.

I’ve seen several situations where people demand a huge array of diagnostic testing, when a physician knows full well what the problem is, but also know full well that if they do NOT do that diagnostic test, they end up in a fencing match with an attorney. Subsequently, the doctor ends up having to spend countless hours on the phones with insurance companies trying to explain why the tests are being ordered, time that could be spent doing what they went to school for: taking care of patients.

So the insurance companies end up paying for this multitude of tests. The insurance companies can’t keep premiums low and pay for this kind of testing. The result? Higher premiums. (Don’t get me started on insurance profits. That’s a mile-long blog in and of itself. Let it suffice to say that yes, they end up eventually paying for the tests, but not at sacrifice of profits. They just cut the doctors reimbursements and jack up the premiums.)

And there is not much that beneficiaries can do about it. It’s not like they can shop around for cheaper insurance – since you can’t buy insurance across state lines.

Here’s more detail of the equation: Let’s say a patient decides they want to press charges against a doctor. This doctor carries malpractice insurance with a $5,000 deductible (which is standard). They receive the subpoena. The doctor has to contact his attorney and pay that attorney to research the case, and in many cases the doctor ends up having to take time away from his patients to testify in court. Either way, this doctor has coughed up $5,000 out of his pocket, that doctors’ patients had to reschedule their appointments because someone else thought that their court case was more important than these patients are, and even though it turned out to be a ridiculous charge, that doctor is out the money he paid to defend himself because of that deductible. Because a charge was brought against the doctor, there’s a good chance that the premiums on his/her malpractice insurance will go even higher.

And the patients that needed that doctor’s attention had to wait.

Please understand that I am NOT trying to say that people shouldn’t have the right to file suit if they feel that they are victims of malpractice. That is not what I am trying to say at all. What I AM trying to say is that the abuse of this system has been ridiculous, and has had huge detrimental effects on the healthcare industry overall.

Here’s another doozy: hospitals and doctors offices giving out free medical care. To be fair, the hospitals and clinics really don’t know at the beginning that it’s free. It’s just that the patients coming in have absolutely no intention of paying their bill, they know full well that the hospital can’t turn them away, so they are hitting the emergency room for every ache and sniffle. And when the call is made to these people asking them to pay their bill, in many cases these people are nowhere to be found.

While patients that ARE sick, wait.

I could spend hours typing hundreds of stories where our healthcare system is being abused (but it would kind of fly in the face of HIPPA, and I need my job, so oh, well). Trust me, it’s happening in emergency rooms every day – people going to the ER for primary care because they know they won’t be turned away, even if they don’t have insurance. Let’s keep in mind that just here in Charlotte, there are two very easily accessible free clinics that I know of – possibly more? - where people can go to for primary care, that are staffed by volunteers. There are resources all over our community to help people that are unable to afford healthcare. Why people continue to go to the ER for this, I will never know.

Physicians and hospitals can’t keep forking out that kind of money and stay in business. And, I’m sorry to say, there is a reason that healthcare is called an “industry”. It is a business, people, and businesses can’t run by giving everything away for free (and paying out huge malpractice settlements if that “free” thing doesn’t work). Physician fees have risen – not because they are trying to get rich quick – but because they have to keep their doors open and protect themselves with malpractice insurance, and somehow have to make up for the losses that they are taking from “free” care.

Right now, there are several things that are having a disastrous effect on healthcare: rising cost of health insurance (in my opinion, a great deal caused by insurance companies paying for a huge amount of testing that is not always indicated, all while they are trying to pocket profits that are ridiculous), rising costs of overhead for healthcare workers – namely in malpractice insurance and the litany of measures that healthcare organizations have to take to protect themselves from lawsuits, and blatant abuse of the healthcare system. This is not only hurting the healthcare system financially.

This is taking away necessary resources from patients who really need care.

THERE ARE SOLUTIONS.

Tort reform: Nancy Pelosi’s idea of tort reform is giving incentives to states to pass medical malpractice reform. Oh…but there’s a catch: if the state wants that incentive, they are forbidden from putting ANY caps on attorney’s fees or damage awards. Um…excuse me!!!…the whole reason the medical malpractice mess exists is because of the exorbitant fees of attorneys, usually gleaned off of million-dollar settlements, causing malpractice insurance costs to skyrocket. You’re not going to bring down malpractice insurance premiums by that kind of tort reform. It’s complete insanity – it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!

If REASONABLE tort reform was passed, tort reform that put caps on attorney’s fees and damage settlements, the cost of malpractice insurance to physicians and hospitals would go down, allowing them to hire more workers and give better resources to their patients. I’d be willing to bet that reasonable tort reform would cause a sharp decrease in the amount of defensive medicine being done in this country…and an increase in real, meaningful, patient focused medicine.

So let’s say that this reasonable tort reform passes, and leads to decreased healthcare costs. Let’s go one step further. Let’s lift the mandates about purchasing health insurance across state lines and let the free market take over. Let’s allow patients to buy health insurance according to what they need, and let the insurance companies compete for their business. Guess what happens then? Simple economics, folks.

Health insurance premiums drop.

And if you don’t want health insurance, then fine. Pay out of pocket. If you can’t afford to pay out of pocket, there are existing resources out there to help you. But my bet is that if these simple steps were taken, more people could actually afford healthcare.

I doubt very seriously that a bill that would include these measures would be carrying a trillion-dollar price tag. To the contrary, I think that it would do wonders for the economy, free the job market for healthcare workers (which right now, is on lock-down), and finally make health insurance affordable. It’s first steps to fixing a system with a lot of areas of breakdown, but these steps could take us leaps and bounds.

It is a crying shame to me that no one that wrote the healthcare bill that is being debated on today even considered these issues long enough to give it a page or two out of the 2,000 pages of nonsense they are trying to push through.

Facts not enough? Here come the editorials. Part One.

2009-11-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

Warning: Don’t get in an argument with anyone that buys ink by the barrel. I think that could easily apply to bloggers as well.

I’ve spent the past few months trying to post facts and figures. I’ve tried my best to get the truth out there about some of the bills that are coming through the House and Senate right now. I’ve been honored to hear some really good feedback from people that are trying to help me with this fight.

I’ve also received a great deal of criticism. I’ve been called a hate-monger, an elitist, a tea-bagger, and what is most offensive to me, a racist. A racist! Where that comes from, I have no idea. But it is horribly offensive to me – and yes, I’m taking that one personally. To those who have this opinion of me: if that is all you have to bring to a debate, then quite honestly, I have no use for you.

If facts and figures aren’t enough, then I’m willing to get editorial. This is the first of what will probably be two or three entries, starting with the personal reasons of why I stand where I do. You will be surprised to find that it has nothing to do with the fact that my Mecklenburg County Voter Card says “REP” on it, and it saddens me that something as critical and important as healthcare in this country has turned into a partisan bitch session on Capitol Hill.

I have worked as a Registered Nurse for almost 14 years. I’ve worked everywhere from hospitals, home health, nursing homes, and hospices, to private physician practices. There is not much I have not seen. I’ve seen the healthcare system from a management perspective and from a staff perspective.

What I have refrained from sharing is my experience with healthcare as a patient. Without going into too much detail, I’ve dealt with two health conditions in recent years that gave me first-hand experience with the ups and downs of the American health care system. I’ve been treated for a condition that causes spontaneous cartilage tumors to form – out of nowhere – in joints, namely affecting my left leg. Four surgeries later, I have very little sensation in my left lower leg and have had to re-learn how to normally walk, and most recently, how to run. For many years, steroid treatments and pain in my joints had me on crutches at best, and usually in a wheelchair, with the steroid treatments skyrocketing my weight to almost 300 pounds. It was a long, painful fight to get to the physical condition I am in today, and it’s still far from perfect, but I’ve been fortunate that I’ve had a lot of support from friends and from doctors that believed in me. Most recently I have been treated for endometriosis, and am fortunate to have a doctor that is doing everything he can to protect my chances of being able to have children one day, even though the reality is that those chances are very, very slim.

I am considered “middle-class”. Not upper middle class. Just plain old middle class, on a nurses’ salary, with very little savings. I pay my bills on time, but don’t have much left after that. I have health insurance through my employer. My employer is a private medical practice with a little over 30 employees, and they are fighting to keep health insurance for us at no cost to employees for the premiums. But insurance options are becoming fewer and fewer for several reasons that I will elaborate on in my next post. Let it suffice to say that I am fortunate to work at a clinic that gives a damn about their employees, and are doing their best to provide this benefit to their workers at what I fear could end up being a big financial loss to them. They are in business to care for people – their patients and their workers, and it’s an honor to work for them.

The insurance options that they are able to get for us are beginning to tighten as healthcare costs are rising. In the past few years I’ve worked with them, we’ve gone from a very low deductible to a $5,000 deductible that includes fees for seeing specialists. That makes life really tough for someone like me that should be regularly following up with a rheumatologist. Since the deductible has come in to effect, I have been unable to follow up with my rheumatologist - I simply cannot afford it. I’m not able to get the care that I need, so I do my best to care for myself through diet, exercise, supplements, and rest. So far I’ve been lucky – I’ve had setbacks, but I’ve made it through them, thank God. I can’t afford care through the insurance that my employer is doing their best to provide for me. But I make too much money to qualify for any government plan, much less the Pelosi plan.

The kicker is this: In the healthcare bills being presented in the House and Senate, I make too much money to qualify for a subsidy to pay for my own insurance, and no one seems to know what the government plan premiums are – the most recent figure I’ve seen is about $15,000 a year (source: http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583 , where the CBO office reports that the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016).

If HR 3962 passes, small employers that are fighting to stay in business through an economic crisis - and are taking a financial loss to get health insurance to their employees will be better off paying the penalty to NOT offer employer-based insurance. Their employees will have to search for their own insurance, since there is a “low cost” public option. Even if the public option cost was $200 a month (versus what the CBO is saying – it’s looking more like $1,250 a month by 2016), I can’t afford it. But I make too much money – per the current healthcare plan – for a subsidy from the government. Sorry, Uncle Sam, but I have things like RENT to pay. Excuse the hell out of me.

So, under HR 3962, I’ll be facing fines. Huge fines – from $25,000 to $250,000. And if the IRS comes in and decides, since I’m a “teabagger” and all, that I’m not buying health insurance as a “willful behavior”, I could go to jail.

I’ve never even had a speeding ticket in my entire life. But if this bill passes, I could go to jail because I can’t afford health insurance, and wasn’t willing to live out of my car to purchase it, and because I dared to speak out against it.

Sure, this bill will get health insurance to a small percentage of people. A very small percentage. But to the majority of Americans, working 40+ hours a week, making modest salaries but getting by, this presents a huge financial issue, and will turn everyday, hard working, law-abiding citizens into ‘criminals’.

The health insurance I have now is not perfect, but I’m grateful that my employer is fighting hard to provide it to me. And it’s better than the ‘no insurance’ that I will end up with if this bill passes, and much better than having to spend time in prison.

I just heard a caller on CSPAN say, “I’m tired of hearing about a government takeover of the healthcare system. We don’t HAVE a healthcare system in this country.” God help us.

We have an amazing healthcare system in this country. It’s not perfect, I will admit that – but unfortunately, the current majority in Congress has turned a blind eye to where it is broken.

More to come.

Advocacy Update on HR 3962

2009-11-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

We’re down to the last 24 hours before the Pelosi bill is presented to the House of Representatives. We’ve worked our butts off all day making phone calls and sending faxes. This week, people took time away from their jobs and traveled hundreds of miles to stand on the steps of Capitol Hill to say NO. And even though Speaker Pelosi loves to tout people that don’t agree with her as “Astroturf”, “angry mobs”, et al, and loves to talk about how insignificant we are, for some strange reason she is scrambling at the last minute to get the votes she needs. Apparently she’s in a bit of a pinch, because President Obama is on his way to Capitol Hill to save her tail.

HMMMM…can they hear us now? I’d call that a big YES!

I was able to get 35 faxes out today, and was able to reach most of the Blue Dogs on the blog posted on November 5th (http://rnadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/11/48-hours.html ). I could probably have sent several more, except many lines were busy (again, another VERY good sign). If I couldn’t get through to the DC fax, I sent the faxes to their local offices. You can find most of the fax numbers through the House of Representatives website at http://www.house.gov . I tried to get calls out to the folks I couldn't reach by phone.

I was able to speak staff members from the North Carolina offices of our Representatives. Here’s what I have so far with regard to how they plan to vote tomorrow, from what the staff at their offices told me:

Representative Sue Myrick: NO
Representative Virginia Foxx: NO
Representative Patrick McHenry: NO
Representative G. K. Butterfield: YES
Representative Howard Coble: NO
Representative Mel Watt: YES
Representative Mike McIntyre: UNDECIDED
Representative Heath Shuler: Unable to reach a staff member
Representative David Price: YES
Representative Larry Kissell: NO
Representative Bob Etheridge: UNDECIDED
Representative Brad Miller: Unable to reach – but – if you look at the website, my guess is that he’ll support the bill
Representative Walter Jones: NO

I doubt that they are still taking phone calls; you may still be able to leave a voice mail, but I’m hearing word that most voice mail boxes are full (again – YAY!). You should be able to continue to send fax messages. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind a few tax dollars having to go to some new toner cartridges at Capitol Hill…

I will be keeping a close eye on CSPAN tomorrow and will let you know of any updates I hear. I will be posting updates on my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/A-Scarlet-Stethoscope/122294771101?ref=mf .

Thanks to everyone who took took the trip to DC this week, took time today to make phone calls or sent correspondence to Capitol Hill! Let’s hope we can kill this bill!

My letter to the Blue Dog Democrats.

2009-11-06T03:35:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this with you to give you a starting point in your communication with Congress. I hope this helps. Please feel free to copy/paste as you need to. Faxing letters is a perfect option when you are not in that Representative's district, or if the voice mailboxes are full...

November 6, 2009

Dear

I am a Registered Nurse from Charlotte, North Carolina. I understand that I am not in your district; however, your vote directly affects me, my colleagues, and most importantly, my patients.

I am writing to urge you to please vote AGAINST HR 3962, the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”, and to please advocate for the presentation, open discussion and vote on HR 3713, the “American Health Care Solutions Act”. I have studied HR 3962 and found that it does very little, if anything, to address the real problems in healthcare that so desperately need reform. In my work as a nurse, we have many challenges in caring for our patients. Two of our biggest challenges deal with health insurance and medical malpractice.

Often patients have very limited insurance choices because they cannot afford the more comprehensive coverage they need and their choices for coverage are so limited. The House Bill HR 3713 “American Health Care Solutions Act of 2009” sponsored by Representative Mike Rogers would allow patients to purchase health insurance across state lines. Opening the insurance market in such a way will increase options for patients so that they can purchase plans specific to their needs – and it will drive the cost of insurance for people who, right now, cannot afford insurance.

I have yet to find that option in HR 3962.

I did read a section titled “Medical Liability Alternatives” in HR 3962 and found the title grossly misleading. It is basic knowledge in the medical community that there are two things that drive up the cost of medical malpractice insurance: astronomical attorney’s fees, that feed off of the exorbitant damages that are often paid for frivolous lawsuits. HR 3962 does nothing to remedy this problem – it actually worsens it by preventing states from capping these amounts if they want to receive the federal incentives offered.

HR 3962 effectively manages to do one thing, and one thing only – completely destroy what is working in healthcare. It does nothing to address what is already broken.

Please take action on behalf of the healthcare workers and patients in America, and advocate for reform that will address the real problems in healthcare. I would appreciate your reply, and would be honored to assist you in any way possible in working toward real healthcare reform.

Respectfully yours,

Kristie Chapman, RN, LNC

48 Hours.

2009-11-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

In 48 hours, the House of Representatives could be voting on the biggest legislative debacle in history.

It’s crunch time. I’m not too proud to beg. I need your help.

The 1,990 page “Pelosi” bill, HR 3962, is on the table. Today, I learned that Pelosi is pushing hard to have this bill voted on – on SATURDAY. In 48 hours. Here is what I think her strategy is:

Number one: Pull it out at the last minute, knowing that the people this bill will immediately affect will not be able to make it out to Capitol Hill to do anything about it. She knows that doctors and nurses will not be able to leave their posts to get to DC every time she pulls a stunt like this. Make it so mind-blowingly long that the average citizen – even ones that have experience reading bills – would never be able to finish it in time to get out any opinion about it.

Number two: Keep using this strategy until the people that are working so hard to fight it finally wear down, become despondent, and give up.

Number three: Take the “swing votes”, her Blue Dog Democrats, out to the woodshed. Threaten them with losing that committee, that promotion within the house, let them know they won’t be part of the “inner circle” if they don’t support her bill.

My “pithy” description of HR 3962 is this: it’s HR 3200 on steroids. The cost is just as astronomical. The mandates, the fines, the public option, all have returned with a vengeance. Her version of ‘medical malpractice reform’ is a complete joke – and should be called medical malpractice DEform. The biggest influences that raise medical malpractice insurance – huge damage awards and attorney fees – are protected in the Pelosi bill - no caps here! Heaven forbid we do anything to take money out of the pockets of trial lawyers!

The spin on this bill is disgusting. Of course they are saying that it’s not “Universal Healthcare”. And in the beginning, it won’t be. But once employers, in the middle of an economic crisis, realize that they can get a cheaper deal with the government plan, they’ll go to the public option, eventually putting private insurance out of business, and thus your public “option” is the only option left…while the economy continues to circle the drain. But most importantly, and most critical: if you are a patient that needs specialized care – this bill could be a matter of life and death. If you are not a patient that requires specialized care – still no excuse – one day you could be. This could affect you.

Once again, Pelosi has underestimated the American people. It’s time for a counterattack on her three-pronged strategy.

Number one: If you can’t make it to Capitol Hill, you can pick up the phone. You can write a letter. You can send a fax. We’ve locked up their phones before, and by God we can do it again. There are several healthcare advocates that HAVE finished the entire bill, and there are reviews and resources online with accurate information. If you can’t call from work, email from home.

Number two: WE CANNOT GIVE UP. We cannot give in. If the patriots that won our freedom 200 years ago made it through the dead of winter, sometimes battling in bare feet in the snow, we can keep up this fight, stay vigilant, and keep the pressure on. This will not be the last attempt – mark my words on that. The pressure, corruption, and power-hunger on Capitol Hill is more than I’d care to think about. Pelosi and the Obama administration are hell-bent on passing this. We have to be just as hell-bent on fighting it.

If they want to pass healthcare reform, remind them that HR 3962 is NOT the “be all and end all” to healthcare reform. There is a house bill that has free-market alternatives for healthcare reform, allows the purchase of health insurance across state lines, and has real medical malpractice reform. This bill would have nowhere near the astronomical pricetag of the Pelosi bill – it would, in the end, SAVE money that can be directed to more medical innovations and research, keeping America where it should be – the best place in the world for state-of-the-art, life-saving medical treatments. The bill is called HR 3713, and North Carolina’s very own Sue Myrick is co-sponsoring this bill. Please see my blog from October 25th at: http://rnadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/10/hr-3713-call-to-action.html for more information about this bill.

Number three: Remind the swing voters (a.k.a. “Blue Dog Democrats”) – promotions and perks are really nice. Everyone loves to be the big man on campus. That great committee or House position is awfully inviting…but won’t help much if you end up losing your job in the coming elections. Remind them that you are watching, and when it’s time to get to the polls, you along with thousands of others will make absolutely certain that they will be collecting unemployment when the votes are counted.

Jennifer Sherrel, RN, has put together a list of the Blue Dog Democrats and phone numbers to reach them at Capitol Hill; she has been able to contact several of them, and I’ve made notations of the information she has been able to get from her calls. PLEASE contact them – even if they said they will vote against the bill. The more calls they get, the more reinforcement they will have when it is time to place their votes. If they ask where you live, if you’re in their district, it may help to remind them that even though you’re not in the district, their vote directly affects you. Be polite, but at this point, if politeness doesn’t work, you may need to demand to be heard. If that doesn’t work, send them a fax. If you do not live in the district, it can be impossible to send emails over their websites. And please remember to send a “thank you” to Representative Sue Myrick for tirelessly standing up for our freedom, and protecting us from government intrusion in our healthcare – and thank her for co-sponsoring alternatives that actually address the real problems in healthcare.

Please take action – NOW. We have less than 48 hours to stop this. Please pass this blog along to everyone. Everyone deserves healthcare – but they don’t deserve to have piecemeal, thrown-together solutions. Americans deserve the best healthcare at a low cost, and free-market solutions can do this.

HR 3962 could destroy the healthcare system as we know it. There’s a bill out there that might fix it – HR 3713. With enough support, our Representatives can get the RIGHT bill on the table.

The Blue Dog Democrats:

Jason Altmire (PA) (202) 225-2565 – fax (202)-226-2274
John Barrow (GA) (202) 225-2823 – fax (202) 225-3377
Marion Berry (AR) (202) 225-4076 – fax (202) 225-5602
Dan Boren (OK) (202) 225-2701 – fax (202) 225-3038
Bobby Bright (AL) (202) 225-2901 – fax (202) 225-8913
Parker Griffith (AL) (202) 225-4801 – fax (202) 225-4392 – Voting NO
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD) (202) 225-2801 – fax (202)225-5823 - ***UNDECIDED***
Glenn Nye (VA) (757) 273-7217 – fax (757) 299-8017
Earl Pomeroy (ND) (202) 225-2611 – fax (202) 226-0893 – Voting YES
Nick Rahall (WV) (202) 225-3452
Christopher Carney (PA) (202) 225-3731 – fax (202) 225 9594
Travis Childers (MS) (202) 225-4306 – fax (202) 225-3549 – Voting YES
Kathy Dahlkemper (PA) (202) 225-5406 – fax (202) 225-3103
Larry Kissel (NC) (202) 225-3715 – (202) 225-4036 (Confirmed by Jennifer today that he will be voting NO – please call and THANK him for voting no!!!)
Jim Marshall (GA) 202/225-6531 – fax 202/225-3013
Jim Matheson (UT) (877) 677-9743 – fax (202) 225-5638
Mike McIntyre (NC) (202) 225-2731 – fax (202) 225-5773
Walt Minnick (ID) (202) 225-6611 – fax (202) 225-3029
Harry Mitchell (AZ) (202) 225-2190 – fax (480) 946-2446
Gene Taylor (MS) (202) 225-5772 – fax (202) 225-7074
John Tanner (TN) (202) 225-4714 – fax (202) 225-1765
Charles Wilson (OH) - (202) 225-5705 – fax (202) 225-5907 - ***UNDECIDED***
Mike Thompson (CA) – (202) 225-3311 – fax (202) 225-4355 – Voting YES
Collin Peterson (MN) – (202) 225-2165 – fax (202) 225-1593 – Voting NO
Loretta Sanchez (CA) – (202) 225-2965 – fax (202) 225-5859 - ***UNDECIDED***
Baron Hill (IN) – (202) 225-5315 – fax (202) 226-6866
Charlie Melancon (LA) – (202) 225-4031 – fax (202) 226-3944
Henry Cuellar (TX) – (202) 225-1640 – fax (202) 225-1641

EMAIL FOR THE BLUE DOGS:
Kristen Hawn, Communications Director: BlueDog@mail.house.gov

And, while you're at it...
President Barack Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

References and Links

Links with listings of the “Blue Dog Democrats”:

http://wichitacountydemocrats.org/Blue_Dog_Democrats.html

http://templeofmut.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/blue-dog-dem-contact-numbers-and-more/

.pdf version of HR 3962, “The Pelosi Bill”: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/t2GPO/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3962ih.txt.pdf

Library of Congress summary of HR 3962: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR03962:@@@D&summ2=m&

HR 3713: Library of Congress summary - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3713:

.pdf version of HR 3713: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/t2GPO/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3713ih.txt.pdf

Matthew Ridenhour, Candidate for Charlotte City Council At Large

2009-11-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I really don’t know where to begin with this guy. If I were to summarize Matthew in one word, it would have to be “inspiration”.

I first learned of Matthew when I returned from the Nurse in Washington Internship this past April, when he was organizing the Charlotte Tax Day Tea Party. At that time, really all I knew of him was what I heard in interviews from television and radio. The first time I saw Matthew in person was at the Charlotte Tax Day Tea Party: he stood at the podium outside of City Hall, looked out into the (HUGE) crowd, and I saw this United States Marine choke up when he realized the impact that the Charlotte Tea Party movement had, and how many people it had reached. I’m glad I wore sunglasses so no one could see how much I was bawling!

After the tea party, I had the privilege of getting to know Matthew and his girlfriend, Abby Michelle Draxler, through the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans. I was blown away by the energy that they had for being informed and active in the community. Their love of freedom and belief in the power of an individual is incredible. In June, Matthew asked me to speak on healthcare reform at the Independence Day Tea Party – that was an amazing honor for me - and a huge responsibility. I wanted to make sure that I represented Matthew, Abby, and the Charlotte Tea Party in the best way possible, and to support their mission of empowering people to get informed and get involved. I prayed…a lot…then went up to the podium for my first “real” speech, and the rest, as they say, is blogging history!

Matthew is a native Charlottean that has been – literally – drafted to run for Charlotte City Council at Large. He took that petition as a call to action and has not slowed down since. It’s not the first time that Matthew has heard a call to act on behalf of his community. Matthew is a United States Marine that volunteered and served not once – but TWICE – in Iraq. An Eagle Scout with a heart for service, he’s worked for organizations including “Adopt-A-Cop” and organizing a “Toys for Tots” campaign.

In the past few months, Matthew has stayed on the top of issues that directly affect the people of Charlotte. When it was time to vote on a tax hike, Matthew was there, spreading the message, informing and encouraging people to participate in the City Council meetings. For the first time in my memory, City Council meetings were packed standing-room-only with people that, for the most part, had never before attended a City Council meeting, but decided it was time to get involved.

Matthew teamed up with Tariq Scott Bokhari to get the word out about healthcare reform, and in August 2009, they held a Healthcare Town Hall meeting at Dilworth Neighborhood Grill. Again, it was standing room only, and Charlotteans were able to ask specific questions about the HR 3200 bill and get information to help them communicate with their elected officials – again, become active in their community, and getting involved.

What I’ve learned about Matthew as a person is what I think will make him an incredible leader in this city: he holds himself to the same accountability as he holds his friends to. He expects his elected officials to represent him with courage and character – and as a member of City Council, he will do the exact same thing for those he represents. He takes his life’s endeavors to heart – from being a United States Marine to bringing toys to children in need. If he’s doing it, his heart is in it 110%, and he goes in with passion and gusto

I often wonder – if it weren’t for Matthew, would there be a Scarlet Stethoscope? I wonder where Charlotte City Council would be without the presence of the Charlotte Tea Party to keep them in check? I wonder how many people have met, become friends, and banded together for a common cause because of what Matthew has started in this city? Hundreds? Thousands? With that much of an impact so far, there is no telling what Matthew will be able to accomplish as an at-large member of Charlotte City Council.

Who does Matthew make me think of? William Wallace.

“Men don’t follow titles. They follow courage.”

http://www.matthewridenhour.com

Tariq Scott Bokhari, Candidate for Charlotte City Council At Large

2009-11-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Tariq is probably one of the most energetic people I’ve ever met. When I first met him and his wife, Krista, I thought, these guys would be a blast to go to a comedy club with. They are upbeat, positive, encouraging souls that have two speeds: Go, and go faster!

After I got to know them, I realized that these were people that were happy and positive, but also on a mission. When I got together with other members of Tariq’s campaign team, it was not just about a campaign, but they wanted to find out what we could to do help Charlotte. Sure, it was an election. But it was also about using the time they had in the campaign to help uplift and empower the people of Charlotte. When he signed up for the City Council race, he got on his bike and ride 28 miles through all 7 districts of Charlotte to benefit charity. Tariq, so far, has hosted two job fairs, with the second job fair adding charitable organizations, so that people in search for work could find places to serve in the community while they are looking for a job. Working for one of the large banking centers in Charlotte, the unemployment crisis was right in Tariq’s face, day in, day out. There are a number of ways that someone could respond to this. They could take the “que sera, sera” attitude and hope for the best. They could do everything they could to make sure that their job was okay. Or they could step forward and do everything they could to put prospective employers together with people that are looking for work, and give people an opportunity to put their best foot forward to get that new gig. That’s what Tariq and Krista did.

Tariq also teamed with Matthew Ridenhour in August to host a Healthcare Town Hall Forum. They both knew that the healthcare reform bills being circulated about had started to lead to a lot of questions, and a lot of fear, in people in our area. Again, they took this as an opportunity to empower and inform the people of Charlotte by getting them together with a panel of local healthcare professionals that had studied the healthcare legislation and could provide real, solid answers. The forum not only addressed questions but gave suggestions on how people could get more involved and make their voices heard.

If Tariq is elected, it will be his first experience as an elected official. To me, that is a huge positive. It’s time that we have some new faces and new ideas in Charlotte City Council. The old system is just not working anymore. The Charlotte City Council needs new energy, new ideas, and a candidate that can get this message to Charlotteans.

As I have seen Tariq move forward with his campaign, and how has incorporated outreach efforts into his campaign functions, it reminded me of a great quote by Winston Churchill:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Vote optimistically.

Visit Tariq's website at: http://www.votetariq.com

Susan Walker, Candidate for Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board District 5

2009-11-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

I really hope my friends that went to Garinger read this.

I remember going to Garinger and wondering what the big deal was. We had a “bad rap” in the city. No one wanted to to go the G. When ‘senior privilege’ time came around, everyone wanted to transfer to South Meck, Myers Park, Providence, etc, etc… My family had moved into the Independence High School district when I was in 11th grade. When ‘senior privilege’ time came around, I transferred back to Garinger.

Why? When we lived in East Charlotte, I started out at Garinger and had teachers that were tough on me. But they believed in me. I had an ROTC instructor that rode my tail so much that I thought he hated me. It turns out, he didn’t hate me at all – to the contrary, he knew I would get somewhere in life but knew that I needed to learn some resilience and discipline. I had an English teacher that took time to read the short stories and poetry I wrote – on her own time – and was convinced that I would be a writer. She even brought extra books for me to read to learn about different writing styles. And orchestra! The one thing I was actually GOOD at. High school was not easy for me, as is the situation for many folks. We all remember high school – and for most of us that didn’t end up in the popular squad, it was a miserable, confusing time. But I had teachers and friends at Garinger that made it not so bad…and actually, I have a lot of great memories, and received an excellent education that moved me forward to college and nursing school.

Garinger has its problems, and it did back in 1992 as well. A kid was shot in the parking lot, about 15 feet from where my car was parked, during my junior year. That rattled the entire school to its core, and added another mark to the less-than-shining reputation that Garinger already had. Let’s just say people weren’t banging down the door to volunteer at our school.

With the exception of Susan Walker.

Susan was an Adopt-A-School Volunteer Coordinator and Tutor for computer literacy training. Of all of the schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system, she went to Garinger.

Garinger is not an easy school. I can say that. I graduated there. But I will also say it’s a good school, that deserves good volunteers, and people that can see past the “bad press” to go in and help kids that deserve the same attention as the kids at the more affluent schools. My support goes behind the candidate that believes in all of the schools – not just the pretty ones.

A little about Susan…She’s a mom. Of FIVE. Two of her children are teachers, one teaching in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. So far, her kids have a total of six college degrees, all with honors – I’m thinking that is probably because Mom made sure they knew the importance of education and lifelong learning. She has an excellent resume with a background as an Account Executive. And that, in and of itself, makes her an amazing candidate for school board. (And she’s a runner! She finished an Ironman Triathlon at age 45…I know my ROTC buds can appreciate that!)

But the fact that she took her personal time to devote to students at Garinger closed the deal for me. That spoke volumes to me about Susan’s heart for education and for our students.

If you live in District 5, please consider voting for Susan Walker for Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board on November 3rd. Students and teachers desperately need more people on the school board that will speak up for what they need to be successful. Susan has already proven to be an advocate for them – we need her advocacy on the school board.

Visit Susan's website at http://www.electsusanwalker.com.

HR 3962, "The Pelosi Bill" Tort Reform? I think not.

2009-11-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

I’m going to do the best that I can to maintain professionalism in this blog. But I will have to include a disclaimer: the bill introduced by Nancy Pelosi last week was a stinging slap in the face to every aspect of healthcare in this country, and a slap to everyone who stepped forward in the past three months to make their voices heard about healthcare reform. I am beyond angry at what I have found thus far in this useless stack of paper. I shudder to even call it a "bill", but as they say, it is what it is.

A few tireless healthcare advocates have already made it through the reams of paper that is HR 3962, and I’ve found some great resources to start my research with. At this point, I’m about 1/3 of the way through the bill, but I have found some key points in the THOMAS Library of Congress outline that I feel like should be published NOW, and I am working hard to get as many blog entries written as I can so we can make the calls – THIS WEEK – and stop this monster from making it out of the House.

This bill is a stinging slap to the people who said that government involvement in healthcare, and government mandates regarding healthcare, is unconstitutional.

It is a stinging slap to the doctors and nurses who pleaded for help with malpractice reform, so they could be allowed to practice medicine in a way that was in the best interest of their patients, rather than having to practice defensive medicine.

It is an insult to the intelligence of the American people – apparently, Congress feels that if they make the bill longer, more burdensome, and make it appear impossible to read through, that Americans will not take the time to do the research and find out what type of garbage is hidden in this bill.

And once again, Pelosi and her “closed-door” colleagues have underestimated the American people.

Remember the mandates? The fines for not obeying the mandates of the government healthcare bureaucracy? The “comparative effectiveness” research that people feared would fly in the face of privacy? The public option that would lead to a single-payor system and shut down the healthcare system as we know it?

They’re baaaaaaack…

This entry will address tort reform. I’m sure that you will soon hear the Pelosi camp touting, “But we DID include tort reform in this bill. You wanted it, and here it is!”

Oh, really?

Here’s what I found in THOMAS:

SEC. 2531. MEDICAL LIABILITY ALTERNATIVES.
(a) Incentive Payments for Medical Liability Reform-
(1) IN GENERAL- To the extent and in the amounts made available in advance in appropriations Acts, the Secretary shall make an incentive payment, in an amount determined by the Secretary, to each State that has an alternative medical liability law in compliance with this section.
(2) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY- The Secretary shall determine that a State has an alternative medical liability law in compliance with this section if the Secretary is satisfied that--
(A) the State enacted the law after the date of the enactment of this Act and is implementing the law;
(B) the law is effective; and
(C) the contents of the law are in accordance with paragraph (4).
(3) CONSIDERATIONS FOR DETERMINING EFFECTIVENESS- In determining whether an alternative medical liability law is effective under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall consider whether the law--
(A) makes the medical liability system more reliable through prevention of, or prompt and fair resolution of, disputes;
(B) encourages the disclosure of health care errors; and
(C) maintains access to affordable liability insurance.
(4) CONTENTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL LIABILITY LAW- The contents of an alternative liability law are in accordance with this paragraph if--
(A) the litigation alternatives contained in the law consist of certificate of merit, early offer, or both; and
(B) the law does not limit attorneys' fees or impose caps on damages.
(b) Use of Incentive Payments- Amounts received by a State as an incentive payment under this section shall be used to improve health care in that State.
(c) Technical Assistance- The Secretary may provide technical assistance to the States applying for or receiving an incentive payment under this section.
(d) Reports- Beginning not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual report on the progress States have made in enacting and implementing alternative medical liability laws in compliance with this section. Such reports shall contain sufficient documentation regarding the effectiveness of such laws to enable an objective comparative analysis of such laws.
(e) Definition- In this section--
(1) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and
(2) the term `State' includes the several States, District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each other territory or possession of the United States.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary, to remain available until expended.

OK…here’s the punch line. Pelosi’s bill says that states will receive an “incentive payment” for enacting medical malpractice reform. Wow. How benevolent of her! Making the medical liability system more reliable through the prevention of, and prompt and fair resolution of disputes. Encouraging the disclosure of health care errors. And “maintains access to affordable liability insurance”??? EXCUSE ME? You want to MAINTAIN the system as it is? Did anyone that wrote this bill take the time to find out how much it actually costs to have malpractice insurance? And you want to MAINTAIN that kind of price tag?

Of course, if you don’t work in the healthcare industry, this sounds really nice! Hey, we asked for tort reform, and here it is!

This is where “creative wording” (A.K.A. “spin”) comes in to play. Make it sound really nice. Pray to God that no one reads the fine print.

This section of the bill says that the states will get this nice little incentive payment if they enact malpractice reform IF it is determined to be “effective”. So what makes it effective?

That’s where the fine print comes in.

The law will be effective IF:

- the litigation alternatives contained in the law consist of certificate of merit, early offer, or both; and
- THE LAW DOES NOT LIMIT ATTORNEYS’ FEES OR IMPOSE CAPS ON DAMAGES.

Here’s a little economics lesson for ya, Nancy. The reason that malpractice insurance is so astronomically high is because the damage rewards are astronomical – and the higher the award, the better the fee the attorney receives.

Cater to special interests much, Nance?

This is the most useless piece of legislation I have ever seen, bar none. Apparently, Nancy Pelosi thinks that Americans are so stupid that they can’t figure out what this means. It’s insulting to me, the physicians that I work with, and the patients that are having to struggle through a healthcare system that is paralyzed because of scrambling to protect themselves from lawsuits.

To my readers: make no mistake, this bill is a blatant insult to your intelligence. It’s in-writing proof that the majority of the people in Congress do not give a rip about their constituency. They have an agenda, and by God they are going to force it through, with no regard for the opinion of the American people.

The time is NOW. It is time to remind Congress that the American government is a REPRESENTATIVE government. Maybe they need a little refresher on how the American government is supposed to work. We will have to be the ones to remind them. We could not have screamed louder, we could not have made a bigger presence, we could not have made a clearer point. They just refused to listen. They presented this bill in the hopes that Americans would throw their hands up and give up, thinking that their opinion doesn’t matter.

Do not give up. Do not back down. Do not stop calling, faxing, writing, and spreading the word to everyone you know. Keep the pressure on – and make the pressure higher. Congress needs to be reminded that the American people are stronger and more persistent than any agenda they want to shove through.

Let’s prove to them once more how much they have underestimated us.

2009 Charlotte General Election Endorsements

2009-10-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

As it gets closer to election day, I’ve seen several folks step forward to endorse candidates. People find someone special, someone that stands for what they believe in, and step out to say, “Hey, I think this person is awesome.” Endorsements are important…who your endorsements are from, I think, is even more important.

An endorsement from me is not like getting an endorsement from a high-profile political leader. I don’t have much clout in anything. I don’t have gobs of money. I don’t have a huge amount of influence over much of anything. And that’s OK. People that really know me know that I am VERY particular. I do not – and never will - throw my support behind every Republican or Libertarian just because they are Republican or Libertarian. My experience in life has taught me to take time, learn about people, and find out if they are someone you can trust – someone who won’t let you down – someone who has character and integrity, that stands behind their word. I watch how they respond to different situations, and to see how they are as people – not just as candidates. What is in a leader’s heart, what they believe most sacredly, is what directs the decisions they make when they finally do become elected officials. Resumes are VERY important - but I want to know what is in their hearts. So…I guess I’m not the most important “endorser” a candidate could have. But I can honestly say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am one of the most difficult endorsements they could ever add to the list.

For the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of seeing some amazing people face the challenging task of running for public office. With my background being in healthcare, I figured that I was pretty well-versed at dealing with the public in general…that was before I started volunteering for political campaigns. Man…I had a LOT to learn.

I’ve found that how people respond to you can be VERY unpredictable – even more than dealing with people in a healthcare setting. I’ve had people that were willing to talk with me and have very good, intelligent dialogue about candidates – regardless of party affiliation. And I’ve been yelled at, ignored, or avoided (people act like you have the swine flu!!!)...I find it rather humorous that some folks would literally walk a block or two out of their way to avoid having to face the looming campaign volunteer. Now I know how those folks feel that work at the Dead Sea Skincare booths at the mall!

So…imagine what these candidates are facing right now. Running for public office is rough. (And THAT is the understatement of all time!) I can’t speak from personal experience – the closest thing I’ve done to running for office is the local Oncology Nursing Society chapter…I ran uncontested – and even if I was contested, the organizational bylaws prohibit any type of real campaigning. (No sport in that!) But from what I’ve seen these candidates endure over the past months, it is not for the faint of heart. Your entire character is placed “right out there”, for the public (and your opponents) to praise or scrutinize as they see fit – and how you respond can make the difference between a ‘win’ or a ‘lose’.

It’s been a incredible honor for me to be able to help in the campaigns of these candidates. I’ve taken great joy in watching them grow even more as leaders, when most would have dropped from exhaustion. I feel that part of my job as a volunteer is to be a source of encouragement to them, but honestly, they’ve been more of an inspiration and encouragement to me then I ever could have been for them. I’ve watched these candidates work tirelessly at all hours, managing jobs and campaign schedules that would make even the most energetic student nurse drop. They showed up at every opportunity possible to reach the citizens of Charlotte, walked the streets to knock on doors, listened to the concerns of thousands of people, all while doing their best to serve the community – even before the election had taken place. Through it all, I never saw a moment or a word about giving up from any of these candidates, never a loss of momentum, always having faith in our great city.

So I decided to post these candidates on my blog, and share the wonderful, special things about them that you don’t always get to see in debates or (especially) in the newspaper. I’m also going to include their websites so you can contact them and have the opportunity to get to know them for yourself.

What these candidates have in common:

These candidates have conservative principles. Why is this important? Right now, our city is trying to pick up the pieces of a broken economy and record-breaking unemployement, and there is nothing in our current city government that shows a problem has even been acknowledged. Quite the opposite, actually – our current City Council has been spending money like drunken sailors, figuring that the next tax increase will cover it. The candidates listed here are action-minded and results-driven - they have solid plans and strategies to correct the budget, reinforce our police force and other emergency services, and work on desperately needed road improvements. The school board candidate has her primary focus exactly on where it should be – the students and the teachers – not the interior décor or the administrative offices.

These candidates, if elected, will be assuming public office for the first time. Why is this important? We need new energy and fresh ideas in this city, from people who know this city and the people in it. These candidates know what east Charlotte looks like NOW…they don’t live in a fantasy world thinking it’s the same place it was in 1990. They know that Charlotte is a lot more than “Center City”. They are very aware of the issues, and well-equipped with solutions. With the recent tax increases – and nothing to show for it – it’s become pretty apparent that it’s time for an overhaul at City Hall in Charlotte. I think these leaders have the courage, knowledge, and energy to make that overhaul happen.

You have four votes for Charlotte City Council at Large. Make them count.

For the 2009 General Election in Charlotte, North Carolina, including the District 5 Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board race, the Scarlet Stethoscope endorses:

Matthew Ridenhour, Charlotte City Council At Large
http://www.matthewridenhour.com

Tariq Scott Bokhari, Charlotte City Council At Large
http://www.votetariq.com

Jaye Rao, Charlotte City Council At Large
http://www.jayerao.com

Susan Walker, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board, District 5
http://www.electsusanwalker.com

Wishing the best of luck to these amazing candidates!

HR 3713 - A CALL TO ACTION

2009-10-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read my October 11 blog, this will be a refresher for you, along with some follow up information…for those of you that missed it, please take some time to read this…it is time to take action.

After the grueling weeks of healthcare town hall meetings, certain members of the House got together and penned a healthcare bill that addressed many of the issues that we worked hard to bring to the table. This healthcare bill is different – it does not include the issues that many people stood so strongly against: mandates, fines, ‘public options’, and government control of healthcare.

HR 3713, “American Health Care Solutions Act of 2009”, is sponsored by Michael Rogers (R, MI-8), and cosponsored by the following:
Sue Myrick (R, NC-9)
Marsha Blackburn (R, TN-7)
Mary Bono Mack (R, CA-45)
Stephen Buyer (R, IN-4)
Ralph Hall (R, TX-4)
Joseph Pitts (R, PA-16)
John Shimkus (R, IL-19)
Frederick Upton (R, MI-6)

What it DOES address:

It employs free-market solutions to address healthcare priorities.
It prohibits healthcare legislation that even implies rationing of care.
It allows for purchase of health insurance across state lines.
It prohibits the use of healthcare data research, otherwise known as “comparative effectiveness”, to direct the care of a patient – thus allowing for personalized medicine and understanding that each patient responds differently to treatments.
It calls for verification requirements to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid benefits.
It provides tax incentives and taxpayer credits for long-term care insurance and long-term care needs.
It provides incentives for organizations to band together to provide low-cost PRIVATE healthcare insurance plans that people can purchase – IF THEY SO CHOOSE – in lieu of their employer’s health care plans, and opens the door to lower-cost private health insurance to those who currently have no insurance, cannot afford private insurance but do not qualify for Medicaid.
And it includes medical liability reform.

I did hear from Sue Myrick’s office about the IMA’s, “Independent Membership Associations”, mentioned in HR 3713 - and was very pleased with what I found out. What IMA’s are: they allow small employers/organizations to band together for better bargaining power with insurers. The bill would authorize (NOT mandate) associations to band together to purchase their health insurance through member groups of their own choosing, and will not be tied to an employer for health coverage. In order for an organization to qualify as an IMA for the purposes of offering insurance, an association would have to be in existence for 5 years, be organized for a purpose other than offering insurance, and offer insurance only to members of the group. This would include organizations like Knights of Columbus, a university alumni association, or a local Chamber of Commerce. The opportunities with this are huge, and combined with the ability to purchase insurance across state lines, it will allow free market forces to FINALLY pull the cost of health insurance down so it is affordable for everyone.

I cannot find where this bill has been evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office yet, and would assume that will happen after it has begun discussion in the House Committees. I will update you as soon as I hear anything about the estimated cost – but by the nature of this bill, and allowing the free market to actually work, I would think that the cost of this bill would be EXPONENTIALLY lower than the other multi-billion and trillion dollar healthcare bills being debated right now.

I stand firm in my conviction that there should not be ANY government involvement in healthcare. Period. And after further investigation of this bill, I’ve found that it is a very well written bill in that it works to reform health INSURANCE, where a huge part of the healthcare crisis lies. It provides for medical malpractice reform, where another huge part of the healthcare crisis lies. Regarding government involvement: it includes specific language that restricts government involvement in rationing healthcare – so, if anything, it is a bill that does the exact opposite of the other ‘government-takeover’ healthcare bills. In my almost-14 years of working in healthcare, I can honestly say that the two biggest headaches that doctors and nurses deal with are dealing with health insurance companies and doing their best to protect themselves from lawsuits. These are two problems that, in my opinion, manage to effectively tie the hands of healthcare workers and prevent them from being free to provide the optimal, high-quality care that Americans deserve.

I am giving this bill my endorsement because it RESTRICTS the government from mandating or rationing anything with regard to healthcare – and – allows the free market to take over - and bring down the cost of health insurance.

I am giving this bill my endorsement because it addresses where the REAL problems are in the healthcare industry, and provides real solutions to areas that desperately need reform.

On October 30th, this bill will be referred to the House Judiciary, Appropriations, and House Education and Labor Committees…we can’t let this bill die in committee just because it has been introduced by the party that is not in control of Congress.

THE PEOPLE should be in control of Congress – not ANY political party. It’s time we let them know who is in charge.

This bill has received little to no publicity in the press. And that is no surprise –it addresses none of the priorities that the current White House is pushing – there’s nothing to increase government control of the American people, nothing that allows the government to invade your private healthcare records, nothing that will cause another explosive rise in our national debt. Of course they are going to do their best to keep this bill under wraps – it does nothing for THEIR agenda.

But it is what we have asked for. So making noise will be up to the American people.

It’s sad that we are not able to have trust in our elected officials to have discernment in issues like this, but the tide has changed – for now – and we have to stand up and make our voices heard. Here is the call to action:

Look up HR 3713. There are several references – the direct link to the bill is here:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3713ih.txt.pdf

The OpenCongress summary of the bill, including updates and news, is here:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3713/show

OpenCongress also has links to the sponsors and co-sponsors of the bill, and lists the members of the committees that will be debating this bill so you can contact them.

But I think we will need to go a step further. I think we need to let other Americans know that this bill IS OUT THERE. This is so critically important, people – we are at a crossroads. We can allow Congress to railroad through a bill that will cripple the economy and paralyze the healthcare industry. Or we can advocate for a bill that will really address the problems that exist in healthcare.

I feel like this is turning into my mantra, but here it is:

We face dire consequences if we break what is working and do not address what is already broken.

I am going to do all that I am able to make more people aware of this bill and get the word out. I need your help. Please share information about this bill – feel free to share the link to this blog – and encourage family, friends, colleagues, everyone to review it, and if it is something they agree with – start speaking out! Contact your elected officials – House, Senate, AND THE WHITE HOUSE. Contact the media – no matter which direction they spin – you are a customer, and if they hear from enough customers, they will eventually bend. I will be sending out any articles I can find over this blog and over Facebook – again, feel free to share the information and pass it on to anyone you think will listen - and even to those you think may not...you may be surprised.

It’s up to us – so much is at stake here. Please take the time to act.

HR 3713: a HESITANT endorsement.

2009-10-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

It’s finally happened. Hell has frozen over.

There is a healthcare bill that has the nod of the Scarlet Stethoscope.

Caveat emptor: It is a HESITANT nod…but a nod, nonetheless.

Let me start by explaining my hesitancy. From the get-go, I’ve tried to be abundantly clear that as a healthcare worker and American citizen, I do not think that the federal government has ANY business in healthcare. Period. It is dangerous from a patient care standpoint, from a financial standpoint, a free market standpoint, and in my opinion, downright unconstitutional.

That being said, it’s become pretty obvious that some type of healthcare reform is going to be passed, despite the loud objection of the American people. The members of Congress that are trying to take over the playground (you guessed it, the Democratic Party) are pushing bills that they say will cover millions of uninsured Americans. I find that odd, as all of the bills that they are producing include mandates for people to have health insurance, and fines for those who do not obtain health insurance. If someone cannot afford health insurance, do you think that a pittance of a subsidy from the government is going to change that? I don’t know about you, but I have enough problems making ends meet without having to worry about paying exorbitant fines or facing jail time because I can’t afford a government mandate.

We have called Congress. We have gone to town hall meetings. We have marched on Washington. We have done everything but beg on our knees for things we KNOW need reform in healthcare (which is odd that we should have to do that…considering that Congress is supposed to be working for us?…but again, I digress).

Today I received an email about a healthcare bill that is being sponsored by Representative Mike Rogers and has been co-sponsored by Representative Sue Myrick, among others. The bill number is H. R. 3713, the “American Health Care Solutions Act of 2009”. I was reticent at best, but decided to give it a glance anyway. I found the bill in the Library of Congress, and began scanning over its contents, expecting the worst…and my jaw hit the ground.

This bill actually addresses a few things that are broken in America’s healthcare system. Here are some of the things I have found in the bill so far (this is directly from the bill’s text):

Page 4, line 1: “SEC. 2. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PROHIBITION ON AUTHORITY TO RATION HEALTH CARE. Nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize the Federal Government to ration health care for the American people.”

Title II, Subtitle B: “Tax incentives for long-term care insurance”

Section 212: “Credit for taxpayers with long term care needs”

Subtitle C, Section 221: “Prohibition on certain uses of data obtained from Comparative Effectiveness research – accounting for personalized medicine and differences in patient treatment response”.

Section 305: “Verification requirements to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid benefits”.

Subtitle D – “Purchasing insurance across state lines”.

And Title V…drumroll, please…

“MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM”

There is one item in the bill that I still have a question about, that I am going to call Sue Myrick’s office about to get some clarification on. The bill talks about “Individual Membership Associations”, that sound very similar to some already existing “pools” of healthcare insurance plans that are used by small businesses, to help increase affordability. The North Carolina Medical Society has a health insurance “pool” that my health insurance plan is under – several clinics group together to get a better deal on health insurance coverage for their employees. I want to make sure this is something that the government is encouraging – remotely overseeing, at best, from an “insurance reform” standpoint. But if this is another “public option”, or “co-op”, you can bet I will be writing another blog - STAT - to let you know. So far, I don’t see that in the language of the bill.

As I write this, I am still reading the fine print and particulars in the bill, but at this point I haven’t found anything that has made me toss it in the Recycle Bin. Just the fact that there is an official bill out there that is actually addressing what I have been hearing people begging for at healthcare town halls – a bill that may just address what is REALLY broken in healthcare, rather than making a bad situation worse – is encouraging. I am concerned that this is a bill being introduced by Republicans…because thus far, everything they’ve tried to introduce – good, bad, or indifferent – has been all but ignored. But the fact that it’s been introduced and made it to committee is better than where most Republican proposals have ended up lately.

Please take a look at this bill. If this is what you feel like will be the best solution, YOU MUST START CALLING. YOU MUST START WRITING. Not only Congress – we need to write to the news media: newspapers, websites, blogs, television stations, you name it. This bill is not getting a lot of press. The only way it will is if the American people let them know – we have seen this bill, and we want you to take a look at it, too.

I will be giving more information on this bill as I break it down line by line. On my first reading of the bill (and it only took me one day! Only 220 pages!), I have to give this one my endorsement – if something MUST go through, this is by far the best I’ve seen yet. Again…It’s a hesitant endorsement, but it’s a good start.

The link to the bill is here:

Library of Congress listing - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3713.IH:

PDF version: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3713ih.txt.pdf

Bend over, America. This WILL hurt.

2009-10-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to let everyone know that I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth!!! During September, my family came from Germany to visit. The week before they arrived, it was one of the longest weeks of my life – even though we had a million things to do to get ready. But the three weeks they were here went by so unbelievably fast. It was wonderful to see them, and we had a wonderful time. I’ve finally gotten my ducks back in a row and am getting back in the saddle. I tried my best to try to keep up on what was going on in healthcare (although it really puts a damper on a vacation!), most especially the new healthcare bills that came out. I did speak at a Constitution Celebration that was held by the Caldwell County Campaign for Liberty on September 19th, and had a chance to get some information out about these new healthcare bills while I was there.

There are so many healthcare bills floating around right now that it is mind-boggling. But in all honesty, there are three that are getting stage time in Congress…basically because they are sponsored by congressional members from the Democratic Party. We’re way too familiar with HR 3200, the House bill, that has pretty much been put aside at this point because of the huge amount of public scrutiny it has received. Don’t forget about this bill, though – it’s still “alive”, and I’m sure that certain elements of this bill will be used to formulate the “final product” that Congress will do their best to push through during the wee hours of the night.

The other two bills originate in the Senate – the Senate HELP committee bill and the “Baucus Bill”, the healthcare bill written by the Senate Finance Committee. (I have links to all of these bills under “Resources’” at the end of this blog.)

I wanted to post a few things here that I’ve found in all three of these bills. If you’d like to look into these further, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Side By Side Comparison” is an excellent resource to compare similarities and differences. You can find this at: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_tri_full.pdf . Here’s the (relatively) shorter version.

All three proposals will that all Americans have health insurance. The Baucus Bill markup made a feeble attempt at making this a less bitter pill to swallow by changing some wording about the mandates by requiring MOST U.S. citizens and LEGAL residents to have health insurance. (Just an aside here, and I’m drawing a conclusion that I probably shouldn’t, but the whole “legal resident” thing…and yet another fine/tax that you can dodge if you are “undocumented”. I’m starting to wonder if we’re getting the short end of the stick by being legal U.S. citizens…?) Here’s the text from the markup about who will be exempt from the mandates, under the Baucus Bill:

“Exemptions from the excise tax will be made for individuals where the full premium of the lowest cost option available to them (net of subsidies and employer contribution, if any) exceeds ten percent of their AGI. Available policies are defined as an employer policy in the case of an individual who works for an employer who offers coverage and an individual policy in the case of an individual who does not have access to an employer sponsored plan. Exemptions from the excise tax will also be made for individuals below 100 percent of FPL, any health arrangement provided by established religious organizations comprised of individuals with sincerely held beliefs (e.g., such as those participating in Health Sharing Ministries), those experiencing hardship situations (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) and an individual who is an Indian as defined in Sec. 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Additionally, in 2013, individuals at or below 133 percent of FPL will be exempt from the excise tax. When making these determinations, income from individuals not subject to the mandate should not be considered."

Under the Senate HELP Committee bill, the exemptions are granted to “residents of states that do not establish an American Health Benefit Gateway, members of Indian tribes, those for whom affordable coverage is not available, those without coverage for fewer than 90 days, and those with incomes below 150% FPL” (Kaiser Family Foundation).

Under the HR 3200 bill, exemptions are granted for “dependents, religious objections, and financial hardship” (Kaiser Family Foundation).

Geez…sounds like the only ones these mandates (and resulting excise tax fines) WILL affect are those in the middle class and upward. How’s that for not raising taxes on the middle class? Oh, pardon me. I guess that is what “shared responsibility” is all about.

All three proposals will include fines, called “excise taxes”, for those who dare to choose not to carry health insurance that the government deems “acceptable”, “qualifying” or meeting their “minimum insurance standards”.

All three proposals mandate that employers provide coverage on some levels, and with very few exceptions, all three proposals include fines for employers that do not obey the government mandates.

All three proposals include some type of new, government-run insurance. A rose by any other name, right? You can call it a “public option”. You can call it a “co-op”. Or you can call it a “health insurance exchange”. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, guess what?

All three proposals mandate that health organizations report data about patient outcomes to the United States Government for research, “comparative effectiveness” and “quality measures”. Here’s the punch line: this could put hospitals in a position where they are no longer paid according to what services they provide – they will be paid by “performance”. Better hope that first treatment works, or a lot of hospitals will end up in big financial trouble. This is where penalties start in for hospital readmissions, infections acquired while in a hospital, and the like. The problem with politicians writing healthcare policy is this: politicians apparently don’t understand that not every human being will respond to the same treatments, and some people will get sick no matter how hard you try to prevent it, whether the government mandates that they stay well or not.

All three proposals have massive cuts to Medicare, affecting millions of senior citizens that are already struggling to find doctors that will be able to take them under care. Even then, one proposal (in HR 3200), will “eliminate any cost-sharing for preventive services in Medicare and increase Medicare payments for certain preventive services to 100% of actual charges or fee schedule rates” (Kaiser Family Foundation).

This is Barack Obama’s idea of prevention and wellness? Um…excuse me???

All three proposals create their very own new, top-heavy bureaucracies to “oversee” healthcare…(wasn’t that a doctor’s job? But I digress…) Everything from “Health Choices Commissioners” to “Health Care Program Integrity Coordinating Councils”, “State Advisory Councils”, “Health Choices Administrations” and “Health Insurance Ombudsmen”. In case you were wondering, I didn’t find one place in these proposals where any of these were “elected offices”. In the House bill, it specifically states that the “Health Choices Commissioner” is appointed by the President, and is one of the two most powerful administrators of the healthcare plan, second only to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (again, appointed by the President).

Another little aside…I looked to see if the word “mandate” was anywhere in the United States Constitution. Guess what? You guessed it. Nothing about mandates…nothing that gives the federal government any power over healthcare. There’s really not much in the Constitution that gives the Federal Government ANY power to begin with – that was the purpose of the Constitution – the founding fathers must have known what kind of power-hungry blow-hards we would end up having to deal with in Congress and did their best to protect us from them. The Constitution does protect us from this kind of government intrusion…if only Congress and the President would pay attention to it.

What is NOT in any of these three proposals? You guessed it – the one thing that we have actually said YES to – tort reform.

According to the Physicians for Reform website (http://www.physiciansforreform.org), 76%of Americans favor a law that guarantees full payment of lost wages and medical expenses but limits amounts rewarded for pain and suffering.

76%!!! That is so beyond a majority that it’s ridiculous.

Why isn’t Congress listening? Ladies and gentlemen, money talks. In the 2008 election cycle, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party received campaign donations to the tune of about $180 million dollars from attorneys and law firms. They’ve received $752 million since 1990. (http://www.opensecrets.org)

Howard Dean said it himself at a town hall meeting in Virginia:

“The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on.”

Um, excuse me, Mr. Dean, but the people who wrote it do not work for the trial lawyers.

They work for US.

I’m hearing rumors and tittering that Congress is thinking about attaching this healthcare reform debauchery to another bill so they don’t have to worry about getting a majority vote, or using “reconciliation”, a measure that was put in place only for budget issues. The punch line is that Congress, at least the liberal side of it, is hell-bent on passing healthcare reform, no matter how much the American public says “NO”, no matter who it hurts, no matter what destructive force it will be to the American economy and more importantly, the health and lives of Americans…

…This healthcare reform is Barack Obama’s top priority, after all. Never mind that the first priority of the President of the United States should be preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United states, not selfishly trying to create some fascist legacy that will take a healthcare crisis and turn it into a complete disaster.

Excuse me, Mr. President, but what part of NO do you not understand?

If you have not made a phone call or sent a letter to your representative demanding that your constitutional rights be protected, you make that call now. If you have already called, CALL AGAIN.

Remind them – they work for YOU, and their basic priority should be representing you as a constituent and upholding the United States Constitution. If they can’t handle that, then let them know that you, along with the rest of their constituency, will relieve them of their employment at the next election.

RESOURCES

The “Baucus Bill”, America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/leg/LEG%202009/091609%20Americas_Healthy_Future_Act.pdf

Chairman’s revisions made to the Baucus Bill, September 22, 2009: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/leg/LEG%202009/092209%20Modifications%20to%20the%20Chairman's%20Mark%20Final.pdf

Website with information/links regarding the Baucus Bill: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/Americas_Healthy_Future_Act.html

The Senate HELP Committee Bill, S. 1679: http://help.senate.gov/BAI09I50_xml.pdf

Summary of Senate HELP Committee Bill, S. 1679: http://help.senate.gov/DetailedSummary.pdf

Links with information regarding mark-ups of S. 1679: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_06_17_E/2009_06_17_E.html

HR3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009”: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.txt.pdf

Links to HR 3200 Bill Summary and all Congressional actions related to HR3200: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.03200:

Kaiser Family Foundation Side-By-Side Comparison of all three healthcare reform bills: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_tri_full.pdf

Kaiser Family Foundation Home Page: http://www.kff.org

Happy Feet.

2009-08-28T19:07:00.001-07:00

Senator Kay Hagan paid a local Charlotte radio station a visit this morning. Radio host Keith Larson from WBT (1110 AM) had a “town hall” with her, inviting callers to ask questions regarding healthcare reform…what an interesting and informative interview.

I want to begin this with a huge “shout out” to Keith Larson! LAMA!

If it weren’t for Keith Larson holding Kay Hagan to task and pressing her for answers, it would have been an epic fail. But I feel like the way he kept pressing for answers to his questions, as well as questions from callers, should have been a real eye-opener to anyone listening – and it was successful in showing something important: we may be in a situation where we have a senator doing what THEY feel, in their (questionably informed) opinion, is best for us, rather than representing the opinion of their constituents. If that is the case, the healthcare crisis is the least of our problems in this state.

For example: “If the majority of your constituents are against a bill being proposed…will you still vote for it?” And thus, the dancing began.

The audio link to this interview can be found online at: http://larson.wbt.com/ . The interview link (as of 28 August) is posted on the right hand side of the page, “Keith talks with the US Senator about the Healthcare plan”; click on the “listen now” button.

All I can say about the majority of Senator Hagan’s responses is this: If she did not take tap dancing in school, she has a natural-born talent for it.

Earlier in August, I participated on a panel for a healthcare town hall meeting in Charlotte sponsored by the Charlotte City Council At Large campaigns for Tariq Scott Bokhari and Matthew Ridenhour. This past week, Sue Myrick hosted three town halls in the Charlotte Metro area. At her town hall meeting at Weddington High School, there were over 1,000 people. I know that Patrick McHenry has had several town halls as well since Congress went on recess. At the “Hands Off My Healthcare” bus tour sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory was one of the speakers. Politicians are speaking out – I honestly feel like the politicians that are really in it for their constituents are the ones that are getting out in to the community and interacting. No one has heard a peep from Mel Watt, as far as I know. We stood in front of his office last Saturday for over an hour, and not even a staff member bothered to show up. And to be fair, I haven’t heard anything from Richard Burr about town halls (if you have heard anything about one, especially one coming up, please post a comment so we can spread the word).

This interview was, sadly, the closest thing to a town hall we will get here in Charlotte from Senator Hagan. Why is this so critical? Senator Hagan is on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (“HELP” committee) that is penning the major Senate health bill that is supposed to be the Senate’s answer to HR 3200. If you have not had a chance to review this legislation, please check the “side by side comparison” at the Kaiser Family Foundation website: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm; you can also track this bill’s progress through Congress at http://www.opencongress.org . As a nurse, it is alarming (to say the very least) that I cannot get my calls returned from her office, and I have yet to receive a response from any email or fax I’ve sent. Get this: I have yet to even get a reply from my personal visit to her Capitol Hill office in March of this year.

If you’re not at a place where you can listen to Keith’s podcast right now, here is just a taste of what he had to put up with on his show today…this is just the first few minutes of his interview with her. I will do my absolute best to restrain myself keep the peanut gallery remarks to a minimum (but no guarantees that they will be completely absent!)…but the interview pretty much speaks for itself...

Keith began by asking her about “town halls” she has been having – Kay has not been having “town halls” in the official sense of the word, like Patrick McHenry or Sue Myrick have had. She has had “open office hours” where people can come “in groups of 50”. (Have you heard about these? I was surprised…as involved and ear-to-the-ground as I have been about healthcare reform, I have not heard about any “open office hours”…odd.) According to Kay, they are divided in to groups of 10, 12,or 15…she said she has been going to “healthcare sites, community health centers, hospitals, physicians, talking to people…” Keith then asked her where these visits were taking place. She answered, “All over North Carolina.” She continued to explain that in Charlotte, she has been to “The Carolinas Medical Center…and some other…other areas.” She said that she’s been in Sanford, Burlington, Raleigh, Goldsboro, Wilmington, and will be “out west all next week”. Keith asked if any of these “question and answer sessions” coming up would be anywhere within 100 miles of the largest city in the state.

Senator Hagan answered, “You know, Keith, I’d love to take some questions right now from you… I have an office right here in Charlotte, I’ve met recently with a number of people in…in the Charlotte office…whether it’s the Chambers group…a lot of other groups…that I’ve been meeting with. I also have great people working in my office, I have a lot of great caseworkers…we’re here to serve.”

Keith clarified: “{Senator Hagan] has not had open office hours Charlotte office that she [personally] has been at?”

Senator Hagan’s reply: “You know, Keith, as I said right now, bring on the questions. Let’s chat.”

Keith tried again: “OK, so that hasn’t taken place.”

Senator Hagan’s reply: “I’ve been all over the state…I want to talk to people. Trust me. I’ve been talking to lots of folks.”

(OK...can't help it! Never, ever, EVER trust a politician that says "Trust me"!!! Famous last words: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help.")

Kay Hagan continued about healthcare reform: “I think we need it…We pay more in this country than any other developed nation and have no better outcome.”

So Keith asked her to elaborate on this: “What do you mean when you say we have no better outcome?”

Senator Hagan’s reply: “For the amount of money that we spend…we are actually not nearly as healthy a nation as many other countries. “

Keith: “Based on what measure?”

Senator Hagan: “Based on studies that have been done, longevity, incidence of cancers, heart attacks, asthma, chronic diseases, those areas. It is well documented…”

Keith: “Well, studies this week showed US life expectancy again hitting new records…men up to 78 years, just getting better and longer all the time. So that’s good?…”

Senator Hagan: “Well, it’s also good, but we want to be sure that they have a high quality of life…the obesity factor is huge in this country.”

Keith: “…I wanted to be clear on the townhalls and the meetings…because, while, the healthcare in substance is the main issue and is critically important, it is also a factor, and matters, how people’s elected representatives are handling this issue. And I just want to be clear…you’re either having a certain kind of meeting or you’re not…or, it has been announced that people have a chance to come and ask you questions or it hasn’t. I just want to be able to be clear on that.”

Senator Hagan: “I just want you to know that I’m hearing from people all over this state. We have about 9.2 million people in NC. And…I feel very comfortable about the people that I’m hearing from. Obviously, I want to talk to more people, and that’s a wonderful opportunity right now. You know, 1 in 5 people in NC don’t have health insurance. 3 out of 5 people are obese in our state. We have some of the finest research universities in the world, and I’m just very concerned about the long-term aspects from health.”

Keith: “Sure…And maybe during the news break, Kaitlyn [Senator Hagan’s assistant?], you can figure out if any of these public sessions happened in the Charlotte area, just so we can report and be factual about that?…”

That was just the first segment. Senator Hagan was unable to stay any longer than a few minutes. With several people on hold and hundreds of calls coming in, Senator Hagan had to leave for a meeting with a solar company. Keith was incredulous. (As was I.) “You’re going off to a solar energy thing, rather than answer these questions on healthcare? For real??”

Keith asked Senator Hagan, “Is the public doing a lot of clamoring about solar energy?”

Senator Hagan’s answer: “Lots.”

Answers.

2009-08-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

I want to start by thanking everyone that helped make our Healthcare Townhall Forum in Charlotte such a huge success. We were able to welcome a huge crowd – it was close to standing-room-only! And although we fielded questions for almost two hours, there are still many questions out there about healthcare reform that need answers.

As of today, there is a great deal of excitement among those that have been fighting against government-run healthcare, with news articles flooding the headlines: “White House Appears Ready to Drop “Public Option””. And this is a good thing – but I would advise everyone to remain vigilant. I am very suspicious – for something that was Barack Obama’s highest priority for his administration, this seemed a little too easy. We have not seen the last of this. My fear is that a plan will be presented and passed that will crush any other options that Americans could have with their healthcare, and it will be passed under a more ‘palatable’ title, the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” type phenomenon. I fear that the White House hopes that calling this a different name will quiet the “angry mobs” that have been awakened by these threats to their personal freedoms.

Let me be clear: a government option for health insurance cannot allow for a “free market”, much less a competitive one. Private insurance companies must operate as businesses – and I’ll be the first to say that they DO need a great deal of overhaul. But the hard reality is that they do need to sustain a profit in order to stay in business, just as hospitals and private medical practices do. The interesting thing about government programs is that they do not have to achieve a profit to stay in business. No profit? No problem, we’ll just raise taxes. We’ve seen that en masse with state budgets all over the country, and of course the brainless wonder of the stimulus package. If you add in a government healthcare option that is accessible across state lines, how can private insurances – that cannot compete across state lines – stay afloat? It will create a monopoly that will destroy any private healthcare insurance option, and I doubt that any type of antitrust law will be able to touch it…be assured, that will be included somewhere in the bill.

There are a few questions that I’ve been presented with since the forum that I wanted to share with everyone, along with some information that I’ve been able to find that might help with some answers. I also wanted to address some of the lists that have gone out over emails in the past month that have listings of page numbers from HR3200 along with statements about what is in the bill. I have been very hesitant to post these here on A Scarlet Stethoscope because as I have gone to these pages and read the text of the bill, in comparison to the statements I’ve gotten in the emails, some of them are right on target, but other areas are very much ‘open to interpretation’. The “loose legalese” that is rampant in this bill leaves many doors wide open for the nightmare of “unintended consequences”, but I’m hesitant to put that information here on the blog in such a critical debate. I really want to use this blog as a place where you can get real, accurate information – and then draw your own conclusions, form your own stance, and have the tools you need to communicate your stance to your elected officials. There are listings that are available from the Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as http://www.gop.gov if you prefer more conservative talking points, as well as side-by-side comparisons of all of the healthcare plans that are on the table right now at the Kaiser Family Foundation website. Please see the “Resources” section at the end of this blog for information and links to these helpful websites.

Here are some of the questions I’ve been asked since the forum, questions that folks wanted to raise but could not because of time limitations. I’ve tried to get as much information as possible to answer these questions completely, but if you have more information to be helpful, please include this under the comments section!

For reference, the text of the most updated version of HR 3200 is at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.txt.pdf

Q: Is it true that if a healthcare bill is passed that it will then go to his appointed czars and they would be able to amend it and say just how things will happen in each part of the bill?

A: The HR 3200 bill specifically mentions the development of a “Health Choices Administration” and a “Health Choices Commissioner” in section 141 (starting on page 41 of the bill), and section 142 outlines the duties of the Commissioner. You can see specifically in section 141, starting in line 10: (a) IN GENERAL.-There is hereby established, as an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, a Health Choices Administration (in this division referred to as the “Administration”). (b) COMMISSIONER – (1) IN GENERAL. – The Administration shall be headed by a Health Choices Commissioner (in this division referred to as the “Commissioner”) who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Q: “My husband and myself are both 68 years old and receive SS and Medicare with a Blue Cross supplement. President Obama has said in the past that he was very much in favor of single payer and now is saying that he is not. Which can we believe? Needless to say that once we turned 60 our Blue Cross plan tripled and was costing us $23,000 per year for two persons in good health. We decided we could not afford to be without insurance and paid that amount for the five years until we reached 65.”

A: Ah, the single payor question. That one is foggy, at best, when you look at the House AND Senate bills. The problem is that neither of the bills have made it through a really thorough committee mark-up, even though the House bill did get some mark-up prior to its “naming” of HR 3200. It’s hard to speculate what type of impact the public option will have on insurance companies -nwhen there is nothing out yet about how much the premiums will cost. I suppose you could estimate according to how much employers or individuals have to pay as a penalty for not taking the option, but that in and of itself is still variable on several different factors (namely, payroll). The fear is that the premiums will be ‘dirt cheap’ and will monopolize the healthcare insurance industry, hurting private insurance companies where they are not able to remain in business and making the public option the only “option”. But…there have to be premiums on some level in order for it to function – it can’t go solely on tax dollars. I think the insurance lobby is trying hard to find out what premiums will be on a public option and I’m watching very closely for updates. I do think with the backing of the fines they plan to impose, the cuts that Obama has already proposed (I’m praying they do NOT pass, but it’s not looking good for us), and the funding provided for the bill, they will try to make the premiums low, at least at first. As far as what to believe… I’m a “proof is in the pudding” kind of girl. I think that his behavior and the behavior of his administration about this particular issue has been very odd, secretive and adversarial. It leads me to suspect that there is more than meets the eye (in other words, there’s some serious plans for mark-up on this bill that we haven’t seen yet). I think that the good news for you is that you are already established in the Medicare program, and that was a very good move on your part. The “word on the street” is that you won’t become eligible under the HR3200 plan, at least in the first years, for the “public option” unless you have a lapse in coverage or have a policy change. Since you are already in the Medicare program, you’re avoiding the problem of lapse in coverage – should the bill pass – that would put you in the “Healthcare Exchange” pool. There are several references to Medicare in the bill, so right now, it looks like Medicare will remain a viable option for you.

An addendum/update to the answer for this question: in light of the news today that the “public option” may be “dropped”, please keep in mind that there is still the discussion of having government or non-profit-run “co-ops” to offer a healthcare insurance plan. Again, there is no indicator of how competitive the premiums will be in these programs – and, keep in mind, this federal option/alternative will undoubtedly be something available to citizens in all fifty states. It will be impossible for private health insurance companies to compete because of federal mandates in place right now that prevent health insurance from “crossing state lines”.

Q: What do you think would be the top five conservative talking points when debating this bill?

A: As far as conservative talking points go, I was able to find some excellent information through The Heritage Foundation as well as the Republican Party national website. To narrow it down to five…well, these are the five that I felt were the most compelling. I strongly encourage everyone to do your own homework to make sure that you know about issues that relate the most to you personally and to your loved ones. What look like huge talking points to me might be non-issues for someone else. Here are five big-hitters that I found:

1. The Healthcare Reform bill has been marketed by the current administration as being the “be all and end all” for everyone. But it doesn’t consider the fact that there are millions of Americans that DO have health insurance, and are very happy with the coverage they currently have. The bill could have serious negative effects on the private insurance industry and lead to Americans having to resort to the government plan, because it could be the only feasible option left for them. There has been a great deal of non-partisan research that shows that as many as 114 million Americans could lose their existing coverage should this bill pass. Please see http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090625/testimony_sheils.pdf to review testimony given by John Sheils, Vice President of The Lewin Group, given on June 25, 2009 to the House Energy and Commerce committee that elaborates on this research.

2. The bill includes restrictions on the purchase of individual private health insurance policies, beginning in 2013. In Section 102, starting in page 18, line 23, the bill reads:
“(c) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE – (1) IN GENERAL. – Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan.” (8)

3. This bill places huge burdens on private employers. First, the private employers must make absolute sure that the health insurance programs they offer are deemed “acceptable” according to the government standards set forth in the bill. This is laid out starting in page 14, Title I, Subtitle A “Protections and Standards for Qualified Health Benefits Plans.” Later on in the bill, starting on page 25, is a listing of what makes a health benefit plan “qualifying”. If the insurance plan is not what the government deems “qualifying”, or, if an employer elects not to offer health insurance coverage, they must pay a fine in the form of a payroll tax. Moreover, in section 311, if an employee elects not to take the coverage offered by the employer, the employer is imposed a fine that is approximately 8% of the average salary for that employer (see section 311) – and – the employee must pay a fine of 2.5% their modified adjusted gross income (section 401). Reference: House Energy and Commerce Committee - http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/hr3200_summary.pdf .

4. There is no mention of tort reform in either the House or Senate bills. It’s a well-known fact in the medical community (although not very well publicized in the media right now) that “tort reform will not only increase patient access to life-saving medical specialties such as obstetrics, trauma surgery, and neurosurgery, it will save between $60 and $80 billion each year without restricting access to care.” (4). President Obama made his intentions very clear to the American Medical Association that he has no intention of including this measure in his healthcare reform package. It is mind-boggling that such a cost-saving measure is not even being considered. Tort reform has been in place in Texas since 2003, and by 2007, nearly 600 OB/GYN’s had returned to practice in Texas, and the cost of malpractice insurance dropped an average of 21%. Not to mention the impact that tort reform will have on the $124 billion estimated to be spent each year on defensive medicine (4). I’ve yet to be able to get an answer as to why this is not included in the bill, but after doing some research, I found that the democratic party has received a great deal of political donations from lawyers, law firms, and the law industry overall. In the 2008 election cycle, Democrats received a total of over $178 million dollars, versus $54 million donated to Republicans. Here’s where it gets interesting: So far, for the 2010 election cycle (and we’re still just in 2009!), Democrats have ALREADY received over $19.3 million in campaign contributions, versus $4.3 million to Republicans. Now why would they feel the need to give so much money? Do you think they’re a little nervous that they might lose some business if tort reform is introduced? Just a hunch.

5 – It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Period. And I’ve pored over the United States Constitution to see if there is even an implied area that says the federal government has jurisdiction over the healthcare of it’s citizens.

Section 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. (6)
(10th Amendment) Article X. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. (7)

REFERENCES

(1) HR 3200 America’s Affordable Health Choices Act: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf

(2) Energy and Commerce Committee Summary of HR 3200: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/hr3200_summary.pdf

(3) Republican Party Reading Guide for HR 3200 with talking points: http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/09/08/06/reading-guide--democrat

(4) Physiciansforreform.org information regarding Tort Reform: http://www.physiciansforreform.org/index.php?id=17

(5) Opensecrets.org information regarding campaign contributions from the law industry - http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=K01

(6) The United States Constitution: http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html

(7) The Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

(8) America’s Affordable Health Choices Act: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.txt.pdf

RESOURCES

Kaiser Family Foundation “Side By Side” Comparison of Major Health Reform Proposals: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm

The Heritage Foundation – Healthcare Policy Website “Fix Healthcare Policy Now”: http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/

Dr. Robert Moffit’s testimony before The Committee on Education and Labor, US House of Representatives, June 23, 2009: http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/testimony/20090623RobertMoffitTestimony.pdf

Congressional Budget Office analysis from July 14th regarding the House Healthcare Bill: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/doc10430/House_Tri-Committee-Rangel.pdf

Top line changes in the Tri-Committee version (compared to the original HR 3200 bill): http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/upload/71409TOPLINE_CHANGES_FROM_DISCUSSION_DRAFT.pdf

OpenCongress – Track bills, votes, senators and representatives in US Congress: http://www.opencongress.org

OpenCongress info on HR 3200: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/show

GOP Talking Points/Reading Guide for HR 3200:
http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/09/08/06/reading-guide--democrat

Empowering the Community about Healthcare Reform: "Town Hall" Meeting - August 12th, Charlotte, North Carolina

2009-08-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for us to regroup and take a stand.

It's time that we get together as concerned citizens and really break down this healthcare bill for what it is, get objective information together, and move forward with real debate on the issue.

I'll be honest - I've been very alarmed with some of the reports about the "Town Hall Meetings" that have started since Congress went into recess. It saddens me that people are feeling as though they are not being heard by their elected officials - and from the responses they are getting from many of these officials, I can't blame them. And it's led to some serious mud-slinging from people wanting desperately for this bill to pass. "Angry mobs". "Astroturf". To go so far to say that people are "hired" by healthcare organizations! Here's a news flash for you: a good many healthcare organizations are close to being BROKE from cuts already in place. I doubt they will be doling out money anytime soon to have protestors storm town hall meetings. Just an observation.

On that note, I want to share with you an opportunity coming up this week in Charlotte. Matthew Ridenhour and Tariq Scott Bokhari, candidates for Charlotte City Council at Large, have joined to sponsor a "Healthcare Reform Town Hall Meeting" on Wednesday, August 12th, at 7:00pm. It will be held at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grill, 900 East Morehead Street #200. There will be panel members there that are members of the healthcare industry and are familiar with HR 3200, and will be available to answer questions from the audience about specifics in the bill. We will be "hooked up" to a computer that will have the bill up for us to look at for specific questions.

I will be one of the members of the panel for this meeting. Other members of the panel will include Dr. Justin P. Favaro, MD, PhD, a Charlotte hematologist/oncologist who is very active in the Community Oncology Alliance and recently visited Capitol Hill to advocate for cancer survivors. Dawn Quesenberry, MHA is also a Charlotte professional whose area of expertise is healthcare data, healthcare quality analysis, and outcomes measurements - she is the "go-to" for questions regarding management of medical records in this new healthcare bill. As most of you know, my area in this debate is primarily on tort reform, and I will be sharing statistics about how tort reform has worked in the state of Texas to save billions in healthcare costs without reducing access to care.

One thing I want to make abundantly clear about this forum: the only "politicians" that are involved in this presentation are Matthew Ridenhour and Tariq Scott Bokhari, who have secured the venue for this forum. The analysis of the healthcare reform bill will be coming directly from healthcare experts. We did not want Congressional representatives or staffers at this forum because we wanted it to be a calm exchage of ideas, and a time where Charlotte citizens can be empowered with information that they can take with them to communicate with their representatives. This is NOT a protest. It is an opportunity to get informed, get educated, and decide for yourself where you stand in this debate. It's time for us to get serious - we have until September 8th to get our message to Congress. But I also think that it is critical that our message remain calm, informed, and given with suggestions if we do not agree with the current bill being debated.

It's time to suit up and get this done!

I strongly encourage you to attend this forum if you are able. The Facebook event page is posted at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home&__a=1#/event.php?eid=115469191108&ref=ts