Submit Link To This Article or It's Content To Your Personal Blogs

Politifact • Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure! False: Section 113  of the bill requires the Health Choices commissioner to conduct a study to make sure health reform does not unintentionally create incentives for businesses to self-insure or create adverse selection in the risk pools of insured plans. There is no mandated audit.

ME – Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!! So Politifact gives me a false but you actually have to read the page to understand – If you actually read the requirements for the report which is mandated by the government you will quickly realize that indeed the only way to give a complete report is for the Government to audit the books of employers. So I say to Politifact – TRUE!
Politifact • Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed! False: Section 122 outlines broad categories of benefits that must be included in an essential benefits package. It prohibits cost-sharing for preventive care and limits annual out-of-pocket spending to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family, indexed for inflation. It says nothing about rationing or limiting treatment.

ME – Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill – YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!  So if the Government sets limits for annual out of pocket spending for an individual and for a family then the Government has to control costs for the health services delivered. How? Through rationing of those services. Politifact – I believe I’m owed a TRUE.

Politifact • Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process) Barely True: Section 123 establishes a Health Benefits Advisory Committee that makes recommendations on what types of health insurance coverage will be defined as basic, enhanced or premium. The committee will be chaired by the surgeon general, with members appointed by the president, the comptroller general, and representatives of federal agencies. This committee makes recommendations on insurance regulations, so in that sense it does set standards for benefits. But it does not make decisions about treatments for individuals.

ME – Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benes u get. Notice how the chain email that Politifact quotes adds things that I did not say. Now if you read the complete section, 123, starting on page 30 you will see that the committee in fact sets the standards for the basic, enhanced, and premium benefits package which are treatments and benefits that you would receive I think I’m owed an upgrade from barely true to TRUE on this one.

Politifact • Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. Pants on Fire!: Section 142 outlines the duties of the Health Choices commissioner, who is charged with regulating insurers. The commissioner should seek insurers to offer different types of insurance, including basic, enhanced and premium. Individuals will be able to choose among competing insurers who are regulated via the exchange.

ME – Pg 42 of HC Bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC Benefits 4 you. U have no choice! Now I have to completely disagree with Politifact. So let’s look at the exact wording directly from the text of the bill:

“(1) QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS.—The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with State insurance regulators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.”

So we can see directly that indeed one of the duties of the Health Choices Commissioner is to establish qualified health benefits plan standards. So yes the HCC does choose your health care benefits for you.  Politifact – you owe me a big TRUE.

Politifact • Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services. Pants on Fire! Section 152 includes a generic non-discrimination clause, which says insurers may not discriminate with regard to “personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.” It says nothing about “non-US citizens” or immigrants, legal or otherwise. In fact, the legislation specifically states that undocumented aliens will not be eligible for credits to help them buy health insurance, in Section 246 on page 143.

ME – PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill – HC will be provided 2 ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise. We can see that the chain email Politifact received completely misquotes me here.  Now let me explain what I actually tweeted here -

“SEC. 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.”

In particular the phrase “without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.”  For me, I interpret this to mean that regardless of the individual’s race, gender, age, religion or national origin health care will be provided. Equally important is the phrase “Except as otherwise explicitly PERMITTED by this Act”.

Additionally there is a specific reference to national origin on page 763 where it deals with non discrimination of Disproportionate Share Hospitals and Essential Access Hospitals and I quote:

‘‘(A) provides services to beneficiaries under this title without discrimination on the ground of race, color, national origin, creed, source of payment, status as a beneficiary under this title, or any other ground unrelated to such beneficiary’s need for the services or the availability of the needed services in the hospital;”

I interpret – “without discrimination on the ground of national origin” as a basis and an opening for non-U.S. citizens to be provided health care in the U.S.

Now we have but to look at California to see how illegals are not allowed health care right? Yeah riiight. So Politifact I’ll take a Mostly True on this one.
Politifact • Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard. Barely True: Section 163 sets out goals for electronic health records. It says one goal should be real-time confirmation of which services a person qualifies for and how much they will have to pay. That could be achieved by machine-readable beneficiary cards, according to the legislative language. But the legislation does not require the cards.

ME – Pg 58HC Bill – Govt will have real-time access 2 individs finances & a National ID Healthcard will b issued! Let’s go directly to the text of the health care bill -

“which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card”

Now come on folks, we all know that a Govt Run Health Care Exchange and Plan will require this National ID Health Card.  I think I should get at least a Mostly TRUE.

Politifact • Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer. Barely True: Section 163 sets out goals for electronic health records. One of the goals is to include features that “enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation” between payment and billing. The legislative summary says the intent in the section is “to adopt standards for typical transactions” between insurance companies and health care providers. The legislation generically describes typical electronic banking transactions and does not outline any special access privileges.

ME – Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts 4 elect. funds transfer! Read the exact text that I referenced folks. Indeed the Government will have direct access to your bank accounts as they must have access to electronically withdraw funds. Come on now, you want the Government accessing your bank accounts at all? So Politifact, you owe me a full TRUE on this one.

Politifact • Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN). Pants on Fire! Section 164 creates a temporary reinsurance program to help employers or employee associations pay for coverage for workers ages 55 to 64. It does not mention labor unions or community organizer groups, though presumably they could qualify for subsidies like any other employee association that previously offered health insurance. The section’s point, however, is to offer subsidies to employer-based insurance programs, not unions or community organizers.

ME – PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN). Again I have to completely disagree with Politifact. I believe that GM’s employer based insurance program is for their UAW employees. I believe that SEIU’s union members have employer based insurance programs as well. I also believe that ACORN is covered as well too as a vlountary association.  But let’s take a look again directly at the text in this section -

“The term ‘‘eligible employment-based plan’’ means a group health benefits plan that—is maintained by one or more employers, former employers or employee associations, or a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association, or a committee or board of individuals appointed to administer such plan”

So it’s very clear that what I am saying is the exact opposite of what Politifact says – It’s A TRUE!

Politifact • Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange. True. Private health care plans must conform to government rules to participate in the exchange, and this page begins an explanation of exchange rules. However, the requirement that insurance companies must conform to is also presented much earlier in the bill. We spotted an earlier reference on page 15, Section 101.

ME – Here is my original tweet: “Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans under Govt control.” So we can see that the email completely misquotes what I sd but Politifact confirms it to be true.

Politifact • Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans). Mostly True. Section 203 sets rules saying that plans must offer basic plans before they can offer plans with extra benefits. These extra benefits are defined as enhanced plans and premium plans. (The unstated assumption here is that enhanced and premium plans will be more profitable for the insurance companies.) But this isn’t the page number that requires health plans to participate in the exchange. Technically speaking, private insurance plans are not required to participate. Rather, only insurance sold on the exchange will satisfy the mandate that people have health insurance. In effect, private health plans that want to sell to individuals will have to sell through the exchange, under the terms of the bill.

ME – PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill – Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs 4 priv. HC plans in the Exchange. So again the email completely misquotes me and when you look at what I actually said then Politifact’s “Mostly True” becomes true.
Politifact • Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens. Half True. Section 204 outlines more regulations for health insurance plans in the exchange. One of the requirements is that they provide “culturally and linguistically appropriate communication and health services.” Another part of the bill mentions that this includes “effective methods for communicating in plain language.” There is no mention of citizenship status.

ME – I don’t even list Page 91. So the email has something I never said.

Politifact • Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan. False. Section 205 says the Health Choices commissioner is charged with publicizing the options on the health care exchange. The legislation says the commissioner “may work with other appropriate entities to facilitate the dissemination of information.” The bill does not mention ACORN or Americorps. The bill also says that the commissioner must publicize the “Exchange-participating health benefits plan options,” which would include private insurance plans.

ME – Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan. Again the email completely misquotes what I actually sd. I also have to disagree with Politifact on this and here’s why -

Now within those lines it references Paragraph 4 of such subsection – specifically I am pointing to page 100 lines 15 through 18:

“USE OF OTHER ENTITIES.—In carrying out this subsection, the Commissioner may work with other appropriate entities to facilitate the dissemination of information under this subsection”

As you can see the door is ambiguously left wide open for the Commissioner to work with other appropriate entities, for exampleACORN or AmeriCorp. So I leave it up to you to decide – I think what I sd is true. With this administration and their relationship with ACORN it is very well within the realm of possibility.
Politifact • Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter. False. This page describes people who would qualify for Medicaid, a government insurance program for people with very low incomes. It says that individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid only if they have “not elected to enroll in an Exchange-participating health benefits plan.” So the auto-enrollment only happens if they have not chosen another plan.

ME – PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill – Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will b automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice. Well we have one that’s close to what I said. Again though I have to disagree with Politifact. So let’s go specifically to the actual text of the bill:

“AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OF MEDICAID ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS INTO MEDICAID.—The Commissioner shall provide for a process under which an individual who is described in section 202(d)(3) and has not elected to enroll in an Exchange-participating health benefits plan is automatically enrolled under Medicaid.”

Well it’s pretty clear to me that the Govt is telling you that if you don’t elect to enroll in a Government Exchange participating health benefits plan then you will be automatically enrolled under Medicaid. So you don’t really have a choice. If you don’t enroll in one Government program you’ll have to enroll in another Government Program. So Politifact – sorry it is TRUE.
Politifact • Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No “judicial review” is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed. Barely True. Section 223 discusses how the government will pay doctors under the public option health insurance; they will pay 5 percent more than Medicare pays. It’s true that this section does not set out any sort of judicial review, but it specifically states that health care providers do not have to accept patients under the public option. The bill also says that the Health Choices commissioner has the authority “to correct for payments that are excessive or deficient,” taking into account “amounts paid for similar health care providers and services under other Exchange-participating health benefits plans.” There may be a broader case to be made that the government can out-compete private insurers through the public option, but this section of the plan doesn’t have to do with lawsuits or judicial review.

ME - pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt Monop. So again you can see how the email misquoted me. Now Politifact gave me a Barely True. So let’s see directly from the text of the bill.

(f) LIMITATIONS ON REVIEW.—There shall be no administrative or judicial review of a payment rate or methodology established under this section or under section 224.

Well I think that “judicial review” means courts and since the Government states there cannot be a review  of a  payment rate then that leaves the door wide open for the Government to fix prices. Politifact – I think you owe me a TRUE.

Politifact • Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages. Barely True. Section 225 discusses payments for physicians who choose to accept the public option insurance. Again, there may be a broader case to be made that the government can out-compete private insurers through the public option, but this section of the plan only applies to payments to doctors for patients who are part of the public option. The government does not set wages for doctors because doctors are free to decline to see the patients.

ME – pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill – Doctors – The Govt will tell YOU what u can make. Once again the chain email completely misquotes me.  Again I have to give this a TRUE. If you read the actual lines that I referenced then indeed, the Government is telling Doctors what they can make and yes it happens to be in the Public Option Plan.

Folks, The list I provided in my HC Monstrosity post are references.  It is every one’s duty in America, to read the Health Care bill in it’s entirety – Politifact included, especially if you want to comment specifically on it.