Careful, Axelrod's Lips Are Moving On Health Care Reform

It fell to David Axelrod to do the heavy spinning on Obama Care today.

AXELROD: Well, first, let me note that Senator Brown comes from a state that has a health care plan that is similar to one that we are trying to enact here, and that people in his state are overwhelmingly in support of it. He voted for it and said he wouldn't repeal it. So we're just trying to give the rest of America the same opportunities that the people of Massachusetts have to get health insurance at a price they can afford.

If it can be worked out at the state level, than they should leave it at the state level. Of course, not all has worked out as planned in Massachusetts - not according to the New York Times, anyway.

In Massachusetts, Universal Coverage Strains Care

It amounts to much longer waits and physicians rationing time with patients. Sound familiar?

Romney spent a year apologizing for the state of Massachusetts health care thanks to him. It just didn't work out as planned, he said. Now, Obama and Axelrod would have you believe the Feds will do better? Puhlease. If Mass turned out to be an "embarrassing flop," the Federal equivalent will be an unmitigated disaster. Mark your calender - March 16th - Kill the Bill.

To much fanfare from both right and left in 2006, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to require all residents to buy health insurance. A new state health insurance clearinghouse was created, with taxpayers subsidizing those who couldn’t afford to buy coverage. Then Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, promised that “every uninsured citizen in Massachusetts will soon have affordable health insurance.” Yet just two years later, Romney’s much-heralded “solution” — touted by many as the model for a national program — has become an embarrassing flop.

Just a year after the universal coverage law passed, The New York Times reported, state insurers were already jacking up rates to twice the national average. According to Dr. Paul Hsieh, a physician and founding member of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, 43 mandatory benefits — including those that many people did not want or need, such as invitro fertilization — raised the costs of coverage for  Massachusetts residents by as much as 56 percent, depending upon an individual’s income status. So much for “affordable” health care.

Comments

[plunks84]

thanks for updated post.. the date in it needs to be corrected from March 26.. KILL THE BILL ..the date is March 16th, yes?

[jimr3]

Sarah Palin weighs in via her Facebook page.

“With a Stiff Spine America Must Stand Against Obamacare”

“If Senator Reid, Speaker Pelosi, and President Obama get their way, soon our country will be changed forever. Using every partisan parliamentary trick in the book (including some they invented just last week), Washington’s Left intends to ram through their takeover of our health care system regardless of the consequences.”

”The latest twists and turns in the Obamacare drama seem almost surreal. One minute the Democrat leadership is trying to amend a bill before the president has even signed it into law, and the next minute they’re trying to draft a new rule that will allow the House to “deem” a bill passed without actually voting on it! They’re determined to use the Senate reconciliation process as a parliamentary trick to bypass the regular voting procedure (and by the way, to add insult to injury, they’re now going to ram through federalization of America’s student loan industry with this same reconciliation vote). Is there any other wildly unpopular legislation they’d also like to sneak in? Perhaps the anti-energy-independence policy “Cap and Tax” (aka Cap and Trade) is next?”

”And make no mistake, the Obamacare bill is wildly unpopular. The Democrats’ own pollsters warn of an “unmitigated disaster” for them in November if they don’t abandon their plan and start over with real incremental health care reform. Incredibly, at this point, they don’t seem to care. Speaker Pelosi thinks Congress must pass the bill so that the American people can then “find out what’s in it.” We know what’s in it. We don’t want it. The Democrats will take short-term electoral losses in exchange for long-term radical change of the United States of America. They assume we’ll come to accept this new intrusion of government once we’re stuck with it. That’s why we can’t concede this battle. Americans must stiffen our spines and stand against this action that violates the will of the people with centralized government mandates and crippling costs.”

”Republicans in Congress are holding the line, and some Democrats are standing with them. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) said he won’t vote for the Senate bill if federal funding of abortion is included. Last Friday, he told National Review Online that some Democrats have told him that if abortions aren’t covered in Obamacare then “more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more…Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America?” As I wrote in my first post on this topic, human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion. Government health care will not reduce the cost of medical care; it will simply refuse to pay it. And who will get left behind when they have to ration care to save money?”

Please ask yourself: who will be left behind? And who will decide – what kind of panel will decide – who receives the health care that government will obviously have to ration?

”There’s a great deal of pressure being put on Stupak’s pro-life Democrats. They’re already dwindling in number. Their party is threatening them, and so are powerful SEIU labor union bosses. The Democrats respecting the sanctity of life have every incentive to buckle under the pressure, so they need to know that we’ll support them if they do the right thing and vote no on Obamacare.”

”Please take the time to get involved in the debate this week. There are many grassroots efforts under way. There will be a march on Washington on Tuesday, March 16th (see here for details). Rep. Michele Bachmann has a “Kill the Bill” online petition that you can sign here. Most importantly, contact members of Congress and offer your support if they do the right thing.”

”We know we’ll beat them at the ballot box, but we have to kill this bill before November. This is the final push. We must stand up and stand together one last time to insist on true market-oriented, patient-centered health care reform that reflects America’s values and the will of the people.”

- Sarah Palin

http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/with-a-stiff-spine-america-must-stand-against-obamacare/362023333434

[Keith]

^^^
If Obama wants Palin's support all he would have to do is offer gift bags and then her whole clan would be on board. LOL

[Ragspierre]

"So we're just trying to give the rest of America the same opportunities that the people of Massachusetts have to get health insurance at a price they can afford."

Kuhl...than let the people of the individual states decide.

What's wrong with that...???

[ChristineWithRegence]

Want to get ideas for how you can take charge of your own health care costs? Check out Whatstherealcost.org.

[buckjohnson]

What Axelrod is pointing out is the hypocrisy of Brown and all politicians.

How come nobody talks about Hawaii experience in mandatory coverage, how well it has worked, and the overwhelming support it has with its residents?

[Steven Den Beste]

"Mandatory benefits" are an invitation to rent-seeking, and that's exactly what has happened in Massachusetts. It would happen nationally, too.

[Paul Hsieh, MD]

Steven Den Beste is absolutely right -- mandatory insurance will create a lobbyist feeding frenzy. For those interested in more information on how the "Massachusetts plan" has played out (and why we don't want to adopt it at the national level), here are a few of my OpEds and articles on this subject.

"ObamaCare: A National Version of RomneyCare"
PajamasMedia, 11/2/2009
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obamacare-a-national-version-of-romneycare/?singlepage=true

"Health care in Massachusetts: a warning for America"
Christian Science Monitor, 9/30/2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0930/p09s01-coop.html

"Mandatory Health Insurance: Wrong for Massachusetts, Wrong for America"
The Objective Standard, Fall 2008
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-fall/mandatory-health-insurance.asp

[Paul Hsieh, MD]

buckjohnson: It's interesting that you should mention Hawaii. Although they have near-universal "coverage", patients have a hard time getting actual medical *care*.

It's like the difference between getting an IOU for some bread from the government and having actual food to eat:

"Doctor shortage belies top ranking"
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6/17/2007
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/17/news/story03.html

Too many politicians conflate coverage with care, leading to disastrous results:

"Health care,' more or less"
David Hogberg, Washington Times, 6/9/2007
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jun/09/20070609-101634-5625r/

This is very similar to the dynamic playing out in Massachusetts, where patients have theoretical "coverage" but face longer waits for care:

"Massachusetts' Obama-like Reforms Increase Health Costs, Wait Times"
Michael Cannon, Detroit News, 8/27/2009
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10488
(Original Detroit News link now behind for-pay firewall.)

Waits to see Boston doctors grow longer"
Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 5/15/2009
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/05/15/waits_to_see_hub_doctors_grow_longer/?s_campaign=8315

[WBestPresidentEver]

Action ALERT....Not a surprise that Pelosi/Reid/BHO post a 2300 Reconciliation Bill @ 10:30PM on a SundayNight ! http://bit.ly/b5NIaq ~Public option is back among other nightmares. KILL THIS BILL NOW !