Grilling Gruber and the Deception of ObamaCare Wednesday, Dec 31 2014

Jonathan Gruber told the truth about ObamaCare in 2009. He said it would not be affordable. We don’t hate him because of the truth, we hold him in contempt for continuing to work on the biggest legislative abomination that has ever been vomited from the bowels of Congress.

Jonathan Gruber  was a key White House advisor and was paid handsomely for his ‘expert economic advice’, but the actual dollar amount remains a mystery. Jonathan learned that telling the truth, and then being forever captured on digital film stating that “Americans are stupid“ was an asinine thing to do.

Gruber was dumb enough to make the following statement from a panel, “This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the CBO did not score the mandate as taxes”.

Grilling Gruber

Chaiman Darrell Issa grilled Gruber about the tactics of ‘cost shifting’ which is how ObamaCare would be paid for. If one person is getting it at a discount, then someone else is getting it at an inflated rate.

Issa was characteristically the good guy on a hit squad, at some points praising Gruber for being ‘smart’ and at other times questioning his intelligence. It was brilliant.

Gruber claimed that overall costs fell because health exchanges were set up that pooled risk and then was dumb enough to bring up the offset which are ‘tax credits’.

Issa, not buyging the liberal talking points kept at Gruber, stating “Total costs did not go down. Cost shifting occurred in your model, isn’t that true”?

Gruber’s response, “Average costs fell in my model” to which Issa fired back, “It didn’t fall in reality”.

Chairman Issa then moved on to Gruber’s video comments that he had to “deceive in order to get things passed”, and “if deception was part of the process by your own model, from your own statements – why should we believe your analysis? Why should we not demand to go into the microeconomic analysis and find out whether in fact the $4 million in services you delivered were accurate or whether the books were cooked?”

Gruber became visibly shaken and angry and said, “First of all no one has ever questioned the quality or the integrity of the model, the fact…” and he was cut off by Darrel Issa’s sharp response, “Mr. Gruber, I’m questioning it in light of your statements, that’s why I’m asking – shouldn’t we question or at least have independent analysis of the numbers you delivered…based on your statements that if people knew the truth they wouldn’t…that there was a deception, and that’s all I want…”.

The Deliberate Deception of ObamaCare

Gruber stated in one video that, “If people had knew the whole truth they wouldn’t have voted for this.”

How bittersweet it is though, because Gruber isn’t giving the money back. No, he’s going on talk shows, and appearing before the House Oversight Committee. Oh, he was humble when he was grilled by a Congressional panel. That is, if you consider what a liberal will do when backed into a corner with damning evidence that cannot be disputed.

The Truth Hurts

The truth is that American voters really are stupid. They were so easily deceived in 2008 that they voted for the same deception in 2012.

It’s A Tax – No It’s a Fine

Well guess what folks. This is the year that the fine kicks in and it’s based on your income. In 2014, the fine is estimated to be $95 – not exactly a heartache, but remember, you are paying a fine for a product that you didn’t purchase.

Imagine that. Paying a fine for a product you have never used.

Congratulations America. You passed the retard test.

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Punishing Doctors – Reduced Reimbursement Sunday, Dec 28 2014

Socialized Medicine Has Arrived

Everyone has an opinion of ObamaCare but few truly understand the implications. The Affordable Care Act is forcing doctors into; retirement, corporate partnerships or to sell their private practice. Reducing Medicaid payments through reduced federal reimbursements gives physicians zero incentive to treat patients on Medicaid.

Obama’s Broken Promises

We all remember Obama’s promise, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” He used that as a voting mechanism to get elected and he used it as a carrot and stick bait for doctors.

People didn’t get to keep their doctor, specialist or even their insurance plan. As plans were terminated by the federal government because they didn’t meet certain criteria such as birth control, pre-term care or other ridiculous requirements that not everyone needed. Certainly a man in his 60’s should not be forced into a plan that is geared towards a woman and her unborn child. The options disappeared and federal mandates were etched in stone.

As people lost their insurance, they were forced to seek other options. America’s poor was pushed to Medicaid. Medicaid as all government managed programs is a failure. Think – Amtrack, the Post Office, the IRS. All failed agencies.

Literally millions of Americans were forced into Medicaid.

Physicians were offered a financial incentive to treat Medicaid patients. The increase as with all Obama promises was released with an expiration date. Those incentives were only for years 2013 and 2014. We are on the cusp of 2015 and the carrot is gone. The stick now comes into play.

Pushed Into A Corner

Doctors have challenged the level of reimbursement from Medicaid and Obama pushed back. Their financial concerns and building their practice is no concern of his. His push for socialized medicine just went from a walk to a trot and he isn’t looking back. His only concern is to have single-payer become an institution in his dream of the Socialized United States of America.

A study by the Urban Institute estimates that “doctors who have been receiving the enhanced payments will see their fees for primary care, but by approximately 43%”.

Imagine having your incentived pay reduced by 43%. Imagine being forced into the choice of not treating people because they are on Medicaid. Imagine being pushed into a corner by a government so big and out of control that no one can hear you protest. Imagine not being able to run your business effectively because this legislation has hamstrung who you treat.

Dr. David Fleming, the President of the American College of Physicians has stated that it does not make sense to reduce Medicaid reimbursements, “at a time when the population enrolled in Medicaid is surging”.

The carrot of “Free Health Care” and “you can keep your doctor” was penned with severe consequences that affect the very patients that believed Obama’s promise that you can get something for nothing. It is classic bait and switch and people should be used to the broken promises.

How Can American’s Be So Dumb?

Voters got so caught up in the promises that they failed to ask the question, “At what cost?”

They got what they paid for, and now they are stuck with ObamaCare. Unfortunately, so are our doctors and specialists.

#aca #Medicaid #Obamacare #reimbursement #physician #doctor #practice

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ObamaCare: Punishing Doctors Wednesday, Dec 24 2014

The Affordable Care is neither affordable, nor is it about medical care. While American families struggle with high deductibles and the higher monthly cost of insurance, doctors somehow became silent victims. ObamaCare imposed specific regulations on physicians, hospitals and health systems. But I believe that it was also designed to cripple private practices and force everyone else into a corporate conglomerate with “shared risks” and strict penalties.

No one seems to be asking why physician practices have been a political target. They have been forced into using new technologies which allows them to ‘share’ patient data with other physicians and of course insurance companies. That technology is neither cheap, nor is it easy to implement. New technology requires training of staff. Tack on that cost. New technology can force an already stretched office into hiring more people. Tack on new headcount, salaries and the cost of employee benefits.

They have been forced into a little game called Attestation and Meaningful Use. The game includes starts and stops where physicians have to prove to the federal government that they meet the criteria and are ready to move to the next phase. There are fines imposed along the way for practices that fail to meet the criteria. The game sucks and has been poorly implemented by this administration.

Meaningful Use is defined as; using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to: Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities. Engage patients and family. Improve care coordination, and population and public health.

Not all practices use an EHR because a lot of them still use pen and paper to record patient data and a fax machine to transmit that data. It doesn’t matter to the government if those established processes work for a practice. The government is forcing physician practices into this technology under the guise of patient care, and electronic record sharing.

Nobody asked the patient if they wanted their data shared. In fact, more than a few years ago new legislation in the name of HIPAA was implemented. In order to be seen by a physician a patient first had to assign or deny permission for record sharing.  We really have no say in the matter and trust our physicians to follow the guidelines after we sign the document.

Imagine a government that loses years worth of IRS emails while a certain investigation is ongoing, being responsible for the care of your medical records. I trust my doctors with my records. I do not trust the government.

Imagine a government that manages the postal system, Amtrak, the IRS and the Veterans Administration – and not a single one of them is efficient and none of them generate money like the UPS, health systems or FedEx.

Remaining an independently owned practice is becoming increasingly difficult. The ridiculous legislation we now call ObamaCare has allowed hospitals and health systems to ‘buy’ physician practices. By joining a hospital or health system, the physician has less to lose because of ‘shared risk’. Shared risk though means they no longer operate independently and must play according to the ‘corporate rules’.

The only good news for physicians is that due to the government’s failure to roll out the technology, they were given a reprieve in 2014. That reprieve came about in the form of a one-year delay which has already come and gone. The delay was pushed again to 2015.

Remaining competitive will force privately-owned practice to try some new things like new marketing techniques to get patients into the office more frequently for wellness visits and routine checkups. The balance between encouraging repeat visits, which benefits through increased revenue is the perceived value and benefit of the patient.

#aca #Obamacare #physician #doctor #practice #highdeductible #MU

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Obama’s Madness and Method of Control Thursday, Dec 18 2014

When Obama doesn’t get his way he has a tool chest full of deceit and he’s become an expert at using these tools. He uses the infamous pen and phone, the AutoPen, Executive Orders, the media AND a little something he likes to call Presidential Memoranda.

The truth about Obama is that he cannot work with people that have opposing views. Right now, that’s pretty much everyone in Congress. He has taken on the power of a monarch and his powers remain unchecked.

This is a problem.

Let’s talk lawlessness for a moment and the new face that it represents. When we elect people to represent us, that is our minimum expectation. That they will pass laws that protect, not impugn us. That they will not insult or blame us and not have a different set of expectations that they themselves are not willing to follow. We expect them not to act as a Dictator. We expect them to hold our interests, our families, our economy, our military, our foreign policies and our nation in their best interest.

We’ve all heard about Obama’s arrogant use of his pen and phone. Instead of working with Congress, he uses the power of his office to pass legislation that hasn’t been vetted, does not benefit our nation, and has proven to be unconstitutional. How does a Constitutional Lawyer get away with such lawlessness, and why does he still have his pen and phone?

In January 2014, Obama put on his serious face to pretend that he had “work to do”. That’s one of his most annoying quotes, that and the look of contempt on his face and those angrily clenched jaws. Obama was temporarily interested in the state of the economy, jobs and American families. He stated, “We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” Obama’s pretend focus on the economy typically lasts as long as his speech. He has never stuck around to work with Congress to get any real work done. Instead he circumvents Congress because he thinks he’s a king and he thinks that he has autonomy to do whatever he wants.

In that same lecture to the American people, he stated; “The belief that everybody’s got to take responsibility, everybody’s got to work hard, but if you do, that you can support a family and meet the kinds of obligations that you have to yourself and your family, but also to your communities and your neighbors.”

That’s all fine and good with one exception. Obama takes no responsibility for anything, and when something goes wrong, he blames someone else. When is President Obama going to take responsibility for his failures? When is he going to turn off ESPN and actually start working?

We also know about his Auto Pen. Why would we allow a President to sign legislation that is not even in front of him?

Did you know that Obama’s first use of the AutoPen was to extend the Patriot Act? It’s true. The Patriot Act was one of the issues Obama railed against President George Bush while he was campaigning. He warned about the abuse of this legislation in 2005, but once he took the oath of office, he extended the Patriot Act and he wasn’t even in the same state when it was signed. Oh no, he was off vacationing and simply couldn’t wait for the paperwork to be delivered.

How’s that for irony?

I have to admit that I was completely unaware of Presidential use of ‘Memoranda’ as a way to circumvent Congress. It is similar to Executive Orders and carries similar weight. According to USA Today, Obama has “already signed 33% more presidential memoranda in less than six years than Bush did in eight. He’s also issued 45% more than the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who assertively used memoranda to signal what kinds of regulations he wanted federal agencies to adopt.”

Why are we just now hearing about this little factoid?

Why has the media been silent about Obama’s Memoranda? Are they just a bunch of scaredy cats or are they complicit?

Why do We the People allow a President to continue his lawlessness, unchecked and with no accountability?

Does anyone really know what happens from day to day in our nation’s capital?

In the spirit of Obama’s lawlessness we have things like ObamaCare, Amnesty, IRS targeting of conservative groups, Fast and Furious and recess appointments – to name a few. This week a federal judge declared that portions of Obama’s Executive Order for Amnesty, to be unconstitutional.

Obama’s use of Executive Orders is not unconstitutional. What is unconstitutional is the stipulations that he includes in those orders. For example; AMNESTY.

Obama’s Amnesty ‘legislation’ is designed to PROTECT illegal aliens from deportation.

They came here illegally. In doing so, they broke the law.

So what does Obama do? He pens and Executive Order that is designed to protect illegals from deportation. Well, five million of them anyway. Yes, you read that correctly. The President of the United States is protecting law breakers…from the law they broke.

Voters used the power of the ballot in 2010 and again in 2014 to show our dislike for Congress. The Democrats were slaughtered in both elections and now the GOP has the House and the Senate.

But even with Republican control of Congress, there is still no control over Obama.

When will his tool chest be closed and his power removed? Do we seriously have to wait until January 2017?

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