On November 7th, 2009, Speaker Pelosi marched to the podium and paraded her lap dogs to the microphone to proclaim “Victory” for herself, her Democratic House colleagues, and President Obama.  What about every other American? The “Victory” was the passage of the second part of ObamaCare, “The Health Care Bill.”  That’s right, the second part of ObamaCare is the 1,990 page bill that created 118 new boards, commissions, offices and bureaus. The same bill that will be paid for with (1)  $740 billion in tax increases,  (2)  a cut in Medicare to Seniors by $500 Billion, and (3)  a cost shift of $34 Billion to States in unfunded mandates.

This “Victory” was Pelosi’s and President Obama’s second victory on the health care front.  The first occurred under the cloak of darkness and obfuscation, in February 2009.  Hidden in The Stimulus Bill and passed into law were the ominous Obama, Pelosi, Reid rationing and enforcement health boards.

On that same evening of November 7th, few know that the GOP Leadership proposed an Alternate Reform Package, and each and every member of the minority signed on.  This Alternate Reform Package received no fanfare.  The problem was,  the President and Speaker Pelosi blocked the Alternative Health Care Reform Package from being discussed or even introduced on the floor of The House……it was “The Dog that was NOT allowed to bark.”  How open minded, how transparent and how American is that !?!

We cannot afford to ignore the GOP input.  This Alternate Reform Package addressed the main issues needed in reform:

• Empower the public,
• Lower health care premiums,
• Establish Universal Access Programs for those with pre-existing conditions,
• Reduce junk lawsuits,
• Prevent insurers from canceling a policy,
• Allow Americans to purchase insurance across state lines,
• Expand HSA’S, and
• Promote Prevention and Wellness.

On November 4^th, Glenn Beck allowed me to “borrow” his audience and to give them a frontline assessment of the health care legislation pending in Congress.

In my discussion with Judge Napolitano on the Glenn Beck Show, I hammered on the facts that (1) the Rationing and Enforcement Boards were already created and passed into law through the Stimulus Bill, and (2)  the President had already appointed the members, funding them to the tune of $20.6 BILLION.  When I pointed out that these boards were charged with directing healthcare “at the time and place of care,” Judge Napolitano expressed outrage at the prospect of these government entities insinuating themselves into the previously private and confidential doctor/patient relationship.  The biggest outrage is the fact that no one seems to know that THIS IS ALREADY LAW!  These rationing boards threaten your privacy, your control, your health, your treatment possibilities, and your future.

Enter Congressman Thad McCotter. He acted upon the information in my interview and added two very important Sections to The Alternative Bill :

DIVISION D—PROTECTING THE DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP

SEC. 401. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship or the practice of medicine.

SEC. 402. REPEAL OF FEDERAL COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH. Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, section 804 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is repealed.

With the addition of these two Sections, the subterranean health care coup within The Stimulus Bill, would have become NULL and VOID. However, by Pelosi’s and Obama’s block of the alternative bill the rationing boards survived.

Enter Congressman McCotter again. On January 22, 2010 he introduced a Bill, The Freedom From Rationed Health Care Act, that would make the health care portion of The Stimulus Bill extinct.

I thank those in Congress who were willing to listen to ‘the grunts on the front line of our health care system and to create the alternative Bill. I thank Congressman McCotter for (1) having the “guts” to call out the President, the Speaker, Senator Reid for their subterfuge in enacting the rationing and enforcement boards, and (2) for proposing a remedy for the unpalatable Democratic draught….not once but twice.

Health Care is too important to enact by default.  It deserves debate and dialogue. It is too important to relegate to back room deals, special interests, and bureaucrats with NO functional medical knowledge.   We need a simplified health care system that can deal with reality, not smoke and mirrors.  We do not need to add expensive bureaucratic gridlock that limits your access to treatments and care and decimates our health care delivery system.  We need to diagnose the ailments in our system, and identify solutions that do not create worse side effects and complications. The” dog that wasn’t allowed to bark” addresses these issues. Congressman McCotter’s new Bill should put the “rabid dog” being pushed by Obama, Pelosi and Reid in a cage for good.

We have one of the finest health care systems in the world. It has been built on a foundation of choice. Doctors were free to choose the care that they deem necessary to treat their patients, and patients were free to seek the medical care of their choice. Initially, the foundation was shaken by the rise of the managed care system with capitation. However, over the past 10 years, capitated plans which limit access to specialists have given way to the rise in power of insurance companies. They have used their anti-trust exemption to craft a system that has used monopoly to increase profits on the backs of both doctors and patients.

Unfortunately, the House does not address necessary changes that would lead to meaningful reform, such as breaking the monopoly strangle-hold that insurance companies enjoy, reigning in the enormous profits of the pharmaceutical industry, tort reform, or crafting a healthcare system based on wellness and prevention and not the management of disease. Instead HR 3962 creates a layer of government bureaucracy that inserts itself between the doctor and the patient by creating a national health commissioner and task forces that will evaluate and decide everything from what medications a physician is allowed to prescribe to a patient, to what surgery will be approved, to what outcomes will be expected for a particular medical condition.

Taken to its logical extent, this bill will create a world where the good of the many by definition MUST outweigh the needs of the few because to spend large sums of money on a limited number of patients will increase costs without the guarantee of a good outcome.  It only makes sense as long as you are not the senior citizen that needs a hip replacement, the premature infant with multiple medical problems, or the person with a chronic disease that statistics show has a limited time left on this earth. The House bill sets up a health care system with a finite number of resources (e.g., doctors, hospitals, expensive medical equipment). Because of these limitations, the system must be used to help those who the government determines to be the most productive people. A principle that has been advocated by a senior White House health adviser called “the complete lives system “. This system will prioritize healthcare for those who are younger on the theory that they have not yet lived a complete life by using tools such as lottery and prognosis to determine who receives care.

This system would lead to a harsh reality; but how else can we possibly cover more people with limited resources at a lower cost without raising the deficit as this bill promises?  Medicare and Social Security are two government run programs that suggest that the answer to this question is… you can’t.