Category: Health Care

AARP Sweet Scam On Seniors

AARP Sweet Scam On Seniors — Tea Party activist Bob Guzzardi pointed out the other day that the AARP  is a “very profitable insurance company pretending to be do-gooder.”

Bob notes that organization, which claims to be an advocate for seniors, has $2.2 billion in total assets and generated over $1.4 billion in revenue in 2009.

AARP, through its sale of “Medigap” insurance policies is going to benefit greatly from Obamacare which guts the Medicare Advantage program by $200 billion and which the AARP polices are being written to replace.

AARP Sweet Scam On Seniors

More Thoughts On HB 42

HB 42, the  bill pending in the Pennsylvania House that would keep much of ObamaCare from being enforced in Pennsylvania, is being held in the  Appropriations Committee until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on challenges to the law socializing American medicine, according to Appropriations Chairman Bill Adolph (R-165).

The idea, according to his staff, is to  simplify any tweaking that may be needed.

One suspects that Rep. Adolph just doesn’t get it.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was rammed through a year ago on false pretenses and against the obvious will of the American people. A Republican was elected to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate in hopes of stopping it, for Pete’s sake.

The legislators — including the leadership — did not read the bill before voting on it, and the Obama administration told blatant falsehoods to the public regarding what it would do whether it be not raising insurance premiums, not cutting Medicare benefits, or that the mandates not being a tax which they are  now are telling judges that it really is.

Peaceful federalist resistance to ObamaCare is a perfectly moral and legitimate answer to it; and it would be a successful one assuming that the state legislators have the courage to carry it out which does not appear to be the case in parts of Pennsylvania.

Why Pa.’s Anti-ObamaCare Bill Is Bottled Up

HB 42, a bill that would keep much of ObamaCare from being enforced in Pennsylvania, will be held in the State House Appropriations Committee until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on ObamaCare’s constitutionality according to the staff of Committee Chairman Bill Adolph (R) whose 165th District  includes much of Springfield and Marple townships.

ObamaCare has been found, in whole or part, to be unconstitutional by lower courts.

The Pennsylvania bill — which says “law or rule shall not compel, through penalties and fines, directly or indirectly, any individual, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system” — specifically allows health care providers to accept direct payments for services from employers or individuals without penalty, and prohibits  state law enforcement and regulatory agencies from participating “in compliance with any Federal law, regulation or policy” that would compromise the “freedom of choice in health care” of any resident of the state.

The Adolph staffer —in returning a call placed a month ago — said keeping it in the Appropriations Committee will simplify tweaking it in accordance with any ruling, or, hopefully, making the bill unnecessary.

The bill was introduced Jan. 19 by Matthew Baker (R-68) and 61 other representatives. It has been reported out of the House Health Committee on Feb. 7 by a 14-9 vote and has since languished in Appropriations.

Adolph was called out for sitting on the bill at a Feb. 20 event of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Americans For Prosperity.

Enviro-Loons Force End To Lone OTC Asthma Inhaler

The federal government is forcing Primatene Mist, the sole  asthma inhaler that is available over-the-counter, off the market.

The announcement was made March 15.

Is it because it doesn’t work? No.

Is it because it is dangerous to health? No.

So why?

It’s because it uses chlorofluorocarbons to propel the medicine into one’s throat and as any mis-educated twit fast-tracked in the federal bureaucracy knows chlorofluorocarbons, even in the small amount used by asthma inhalers, offends Gaia.

The last day  the inhaler may be sold is Dec. 31, so if you suffer from asthma start stockpiling.

Pimatene Mist is made by Armstrong Pharmaceuticals which is a subsidiary of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. which, unfortunately, is a privately held company in case one was so inclined to place a bet that the run on the market was going to drive the stock price up.

Ends, Means And Unintended Ends


The extremes on the left and right may never agree but for the vast middle the debate is almost entirely about means with everyone agreeing on the ends.

Who for instance does not believe that we as a society should try to get quality health care for all?

There actually are some. Some on the right think “I’ve got mine, and you are not my problem.” More damnably, some on the left think that as long as there are those who need health care there will always be someone to manipulate to do their political bidding to keep them in wealth and power.

ObamaCare perfectly illustrates this. Remember that debate was never about health care but about the “uninsured”. ObamaCare’s political supporters stuck to the matter of cost and never broached actual health care namely how to increase the quality, quantity and efficiency of those who provide it i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical manufacturers etc.

They never attempted to understand what makes someone go through the expense and effort to become one of these professionals nor did they consider what makes one of these professionals stick with their taxing jobs and put forth the extra effort that can’t be itemized on a spreadsheet.

They did however listen to the trial lawyers and political bureaucrats and so what we end up with are cuts in Medicare, increases in middle class health insurance and doctors quitting their practices. For many Obama voters this would be an unintended end because they truly wanted better health care for all. What they might still not understand, though, is that many opponents of ObamaCare wanted the same thing.

The rising dispute over compensation for public workers is another example. Decent people don’t begrudge public workers good pay. Decent people, however, also understand that it is wrong for a widow barely getting by to be forced to pay another thousand dollars per year in property taxes to give these public workers their nice pay.

Or  consider the minimum wage. Most don’t want to see others made to do soul-sapping work for a pittance. On the other hand, most also would like to see a business owner pay an otherwise unemployable drunk a little self-respect to sweep out the store room without having to answer to government. And anybody sane would understand the benefits of this business owner being allowed to take a chance and give a teenager his first job which the red tape now put on his plate might  otherwise dissuade him from doing.

The more the ends are discussed rather than the means the more likely common ground will be found among the typical American and the more likely the plans will be foiled by those who seek to divide and rule us.


Pa. Bill Takes On ObamaCare


A bill that would prevent significant parts of ObamaCare from being enforced in Pennsylvania has been introduced in the State House where it appears to be languishing in the Appropriations Committee.

HB 42 was introduced Jan. 19 — two weeks after the session started — by Matthew Baker (R-68) and 61 other representatives.

It prohibits state law enforcement and regulatory agencies from
participating “in compliance with any Federal law, regulation or policy”
that would compromise the “freedom of choice in health care” of any
resident of the state.

The bill also says A law or rule shall not compel, through penalties and fines, directly or indirectly, any individual, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system.

It also specifically says that an individual or employer may pay directly for lawful health care services and shall not be required to pay penalties or fines for doing so; and specifically allows  health care providers to accept direct payments without penalties.

HB 42 was reported out of the House Health Committee on Feb. 7 by a 14-9 party line vote with Delaware County’s Nicholas Micozzie (R-163) and John Sabatina (D-174) not voting. It was submitted to Appropriations the next day which is chaired by Springfield’s own Bill Adolph (R-165).

Adolph was accused of sitting the bill by Steve Lonegan, the director of the New Jersey chapter of Americans For Prosperity, Saturday, at an event sponsored by AFP in Valley Forge. Lonegan encouraged supporters of the bill to contact Adolph’s offices .



Read The DNR Before Signing



Those who sign “advance health dare directives” in times of good health should read this tale of a relative’s slow and painful death by the pseudonymous “Zombie” at Pajamas Media.

So whatever you sign make sure it does not say that you want withheld “nutrition and hydration”  because the bean-counters will happily take you at your word.

If  we should make as our form of national execution death via withholding food and water while keeping the condemned passive with morphine, how quick would the Supreme Court rule it to be cruel and unusual punishment?

It really does look like convicted criminals are better treated than our elderly.

0Care Taxes That You May Not Know About


Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the current tax deduction for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services.

Under the act there will be a $50,000 per hospital excise tax on charitable hospitals that fail to  meet new “community health assessment needs,” “financial assistance,” and “billing and collection” rules set by Department of Health and Human Services.

Under the act, the tax deduction for employer-provided retirement prescription drug coverage will be ended.

The Americans for Tax Reform has a detailed list as to how this bureaucratic nightmare passed last March is going to make our lives our harder and why we must repeal it as promised by the newly elected House. It can be found here.

Oh, and did you know that there will be exemptions to Individual Mandate Excise Tax starting in 2014 to anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance.

Those eligible for the exemptions are, according to ATR,  religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases determined by HHS.

What religions could possibly be included? Will it be the one discussed at the link?

Democrats Love The Poor Which Is Why . . .

Democrats Love The Poor Which Is Why . . . — The Democrat Party loves the poor which is why it works so hard to create so many.

The price of oil is marching to $100 per barrel and the “party of compassion” bends over backwards to keep new drilling from occurring on American territory leaving the matter as almost the exclusive privilege of Islamic and socialist dictators.

“Climate change” regulations are estimated to be costing this country $10.6 million per day despite it becoming more and more evident the “climate change” crisis is a despicable hoax .

Meanwhile, construction of non-CO2-emitting nuclear power plants are stopped by Democrats while they advance the destruction of non-CO2-emitting hydro-electric dams.

Under health care “reform” the cost of health insurance is skyrocketing and Medicare is being cut .

The Democrat Party leaders love the poor so much they want us all to be poor.

Themselves excepted, of course.

On a definitely related matter, wealthy New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, Thursday, wrote this article in which he said America was divided between greedy conservatives who don’t want to be taxed to help the poor and the enlightened ones such as himself.

He has it completely bassackwards. It’s the conservatives who give to charity and the vast majority of them do not have a problem with a social safety net.

It’s just they wonder why things like state tax dollars are used to fund propaganda like Democracy Now on Mind-TV.

It’s just that they wonder how exactly are tax-supported ACORN and Planned Parenthood part of a social safety net.

It’s that they wonder why Social Security has run a surplus for decades which is used to fund pensions, health plans and salaries for bureaucrats far, far, far more generous than those of the Social Security recipients.

And of course they wonder how a person who could make such a unsophisticated, ill-reasoned claim actually get a Nobel Prize.

OK, never mind on that last point.

 

Democrats Love The Poor

Tips From Readers

Reader Tom C has sent a link to this article describing how Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke says that unemployment will remain high for the next four or five years regardless of change in GDP.

Is this so hard to understand? With rising unemployment insurance costs and uncertain 0bamaCare demands why would any employer not bend-over backwards to avoid new hiring?

And with regard to 0Care, for those with insurance how do you like your new premiums?

Reader Fran C sent this fascinating report by David Spady of American for Prosperity, California describing how welfare recipients from that state are using their state-supplied ATM cards at luxury vacation spots and on cruise ships.

And casinos. Hey, Fast Eddie, how come you missed that one?