Tuesday, September 22, 2009

US Senior Citizen Speaks Out on Healthcare Bill

The videos below were made by John C. Crawford and his wife from their ranch in south-central Texas . Please watch both video's they are short. (Probably too short.)

At their own expense, they made 1000 copies and sent one to every single congressman and senator plus some media outlets. Let's hope and pray that each and every one of them watched and LISTENED!!!



1 comment:

Laurie Fleming said...

Dear Rose,
I have watched the first of those videos, and if what he were saying was the truth, that would indeed be a terrible thing.

But unlike a lot of other people, I have actually read the bill. Sad to say, he is a liar. He claims to read exact excerpts from the bill, but he does not. The very first quote, supposedly from page 29, is:
"All health care will be rationed based on age, present health condition, occupation and availability of health services and supplies."

What it actually says is none of that:
"(2) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—
(A) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—The cost-sharing incurred under the essential benefits package with respect to an individual (or family) for a year does not exceed the applicable level specified in subparagraph (B).
(B) APPLICABLE LEVEL.—The applicable level specified in this subparagraph for Y1 is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. Such levels shall be increased (rounded to the nearest $100) for each subsequent year by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average) applicable to such year.
(C) USE OF COPAYMENTS.—In establishing cost-sharing levels for basic, enhanced, and premium plans under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent possible, use only copayments and not coinsurance."

So instead of health care being rationed, there will be a limit of how much money anyone will have to pay over the cost of their health care.

I took the time to follow up on his other supposed quotes, and they were all either completely false or misrepresentations of what was actually in the bill.

I am not from the US. I live in a country that has a government-run health system. The proportion of the taxes that I pay to cover that is relatively small compared with what I understand are the average health insurance premiums in the US. New Zealand may not have equipment and research to match that of the US, but our health outcomes, surely the most important bit, are superior.

When the health insurance companies are paying politicians to say things and enact bills, that is where the problem lies. Cui bono? Who benefits? It's not the aged and the sick. So don't worry about the politicians, get mad at the insurance companies.

Kia ora,
Laurie