Category: Health Care

Something that didn’t get much comment in the ObamaCare debate is Section 5210 of the odious, authoritarian bill — a pdf of which can be found here. It starts on page 496 and greatly expands the role of the U.S. Public Health Services Commissioned Corps.

Section 5210 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act establishes a  “ready reserve corps” for the Commissioned Corps with the purpose of the reserve being to “fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions.”

The reserve will be subject to involuntary call up and be subject to response to “public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic . . .”

The reserve will also “be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities. . .to improve access to health services.”

Do these health services include providing abortions?

A “medically underserved” community, btw, would be the population of an urban or rural area designated by the Secretary (of Health and Human Services) as an area with a shortage of personal health services or a population group designated by the Secretary as having a shortage of such services.

ObamaCare authorizes $5 million per fiscal year through 2014 for the training of the Commissioned Corps and $12.5 million per fiscal year through 2014 for the training of the Ready Reserve Corps.

The bill doesn’t spell out what kind of training this reserve will receive but it is a radical departure from how  health services had been provided in emergencies.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has become the first medical society to sue to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The suit was filed Friday in the U.S.District Court for the District of Columbia.

“There will be a dire
shortage of physicians if the PPACA becomes effective and is not
overturned by the courts,” said Jane Orient, M.D. the Association’s executive director.The Association claims the law violates the Tenth Amendment, the Commerce Clause, and the provisions
authorizing taxation. The Taxing and Spending power cannot be invoked,
as the premiums go to private insurance companies. 

The Association also points out  that in
scoring the proposal the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was bound by
assumptions imposed by Congress, including the ability to “save” $500 billion in Medicare, and to redirect $50 billion from Social Security. HHS Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius stated that PPACA would reduce the federal deficit, knowing the
opposite to be true if these assumptions are unrealistic, the Association says.

Hat tip to FreeRepublic .Com and the Washington Times.

In a related matter HotAir.Com is reporting that the Democrats are livid that insurance companies have begun pointing out that children with pre-existing conditions are not covered by the bill.

This was one badly written piece of legislation.

Obamacare, or H.R. 3590,  mandates that after 2013 everybody carries  essential insurance coverage or be penalized (see Chapter 48 section 5000A). The goal of the law was to provide insurance for all, obviously, and  requiring everyone to buy it is certainly one way to achieve this goal.

And, of course, with everyone now pitching in the burden will be shared and rates will drop, at least that’s how the theory goes.

There is a religious exemption, however, to this mandate which can be found in section d of the above section and says Such term shall not include any individual for any month if such individual has in effect an exemption under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which certifies that such individual is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1) and an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division as described in such section.

1402 (g)(1) refers to this part of the Internal Revenue Code.

The exemption is purportedly written for the Amish to which nobody should object since the Amish have never burdened the health care system due to their tradition of self-reliance.

There is another religious sect, however, that prohibits the purchase of insurance including health insurance, and they don’t have the Amish tradition of self-reliance.

Under Obamacare, will health care for Muslims  be subsidized by the rest of us? It looks like the decision is up to the Commissioner of Social Security.

This was one badly written bill.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said he believes ObamaCare will be declared unconstitutional and has added Pennsylvania to among the states suing to declare it so.

Other states suing are Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Idaho, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Louisiana.

The suit states that the bill violates the 10th Amendment and forces states to carry out its provisions without reimbursing them for the costs.

Also the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mi., is suing on of itself and four people that don’t have private health insurance and object to being told they must buy it.

Also, Idaho and Virginia have passed laws exempting themselves from ObamaCare while bills to do so have been introduced in 34 other states.

When Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI1) was threatening to withhold his support from ObamaCare because of his concerns as to how it would endanger the weak and helpless he told National Review’s Bob Costa that Democrat Party leaders were telling him: “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing. Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue–come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we’re talking about.”

Now why would any person with a conscience  stay with an organization that would choose such people as its leaders?

Of course Stupak ended up voting for the bill sans his amendment endangering all of us not just the weak and helpless. So maybe Stupak doesn’t have a conscience. Or maybe he is like Gollum and his conscience just can’t overcome his desire for pretty things and power.

The House of Representatives, voted 219-212 at 10:49 p.m., March 21 to approve bizarre, destructive, restrictive and very unpopular changes to our health care system. Here is how Pennsylvania’s delegation voted:

Robert Brady (D-PA-1)        Yes
Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2)        Yes
Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA-3)    Yes
Jason Altmire (D-PA-4)        No
Glenn Thompson (R-PA-5)        No
Jim Gerlach (R-PA-6)        No
Joe Sestak (D-PA-7)        Yes
Patrick Murphy (D-PA-8)        Yes
Bill Shuster (R-PA-9)        No
Christopher Carney (D-PA-10)    Yes
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA-11)    Yes
Vacant Seat (12)
Allyson Schwartz (D-PA-13)    Yes
Mike Doyle (D-PA-14)        Yes
Charles Dent (R-PA-15)        No
Joseph Pitts (R-PA-16)        No
Tim Holden (D-PA-17)        No
Tim Murphy (R-PA-18)        No
Todd Platts (R-PA-19)        No

The bill will cost between $940 billion and $3 trillion; put the Department of Veterans Affairs TRICARE Health System under the auspices of the Department of Treasurey; greatly expand the scope of the IRS; and cause 30 percent of doctors to quit practicing.

All Republicans voted against it, and all Pennsylvania Democrats — except for Altmire and Holden — voted for it.

Remember, however, Altmire and Holden did vote to approve the leadership of the House that manipulated this monstrosity through.

Congressman Jason Altmire (D-Pa4) has told KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh that he will be voting no on ObamaCare.

Altmire, who was a “no” vote on the plan last November, had said he was considering switching.

He has ties to the health care industry and represents a fairly conservative district.

A survey by the Medicus Firm shows that almost 30 percent of doctors will either quit practicing medicine or retire early if the Nancy Pelosi’s Deemocrats pass the embattled ObamaCare socialized medicine plan. The breakdown is 7.4 percent quitting and 21.8 percent retiring early.

If the public option plan desired by many members of the party were part of the package the percentage abandoning their practice would be 45.7 percent.

The Medicus Firm is a national physician search firm based in Atlanta and Dallas.