Austinites protest health care reform (homes, income, living)

[txgolfer130]

Originally Posted by texastea

I've read some of it...down loaded the whole thing. I was especially interested in the section that "allows" us to keep the insurance we have. It says that if you have insurance from an employer that's in effect as of Jan. 1st of YR 1 then your policy gets "grandfathered" in. But whenever there's a change (change in benefits, provider, etc) you have to buy the gov't plan. AND this provision expires in 5 yrs. The real goal is to have everyone on the gov't plan.

I also read the section that REQUIRES "End of life" counseling for the elderly. It actually spells out what the specially trained counselor has to tell them about "alternatives" to receiving treatment. Everyone should read it. Scary.

No wonder they're protesting that Lloyd Doggett wouldn't listen to them.

Hmm, what a bald faced lie.

PolitiFact | McCaughey claims end-of-life counseling will be required for Medicare patients

The "specially trained counselor" is actually their doctor or other specialist...like a lawyer or hospice advice. The meetings are not required, and are available to be paid for every 5 years. And everyone should read it.

[txgolfer130]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this, it made CNN and the top of the Drudge report -- Austinites protest health care reform | KXAN.com

Youtube link here:

YouTube - Lloyd Doggett's meeting on Obamacare in south Austin, TX, 1 Aug 2009

from the article:


So, anyone from this board participate in that? I must admit, it seems a little out of place for Austin... however, Doggett's district (after redistricting) now includes a huge swath of I10 between SA and Houston. Looking at the video, it's not a huge crowd, but a very vocal one with some really funny signs...

Funny, but I would bet that more than 90% of those there, are not even in Doggett's district.

[texastea]

Originally Posted by txgolfer130

Hmm, what a bald faced lie.

Well, I don't have facial hair if that's what you mean

I'm not quoting anybody. I read it myself and that's what I got out of it. Maybe I'm mistaken on some of the details (it is written in confusing language) but I'm not a bold-faced liar.

[Trainwreck20]

I think that statement more correctly refers to the congresswoman(?) that first made that assertation. An excerpt from the link that quotes from the bill:

"such consultation shall include the following: An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to; an explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses; an explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy."

Medicare will cover one session every five years, the legislation states. If a patient becomes very ill in the interim, Medicare will cover additional sessions.

I don't know how she got this into "would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner."

Quite a leap....gotta love our politicians .

As per the rally, that is a new phenomenon, I think....the paid or supported 'activist' crowds. Nothing illegal or anything, but the poor politician cannot win, since in the media it will always look like his/her constituents, even when they are not.

[love roses]

No one knows if those people are paid or not. Why does everyone assume that everyone in the US is for this debacle? Maybe these people belong to some group and decided to get together for a good old fashioned protest. Liberals aren't the only ones who can protest without a paycheck for incentive.

[gpurcell]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

It is an off-shoot of the tea-baggers (still can't believe they use that term!)

They don't. It's used exclusively by those opposed to them to mock the Tea Party movement.

[atxcio]

Anyone else here seen the movie Sicko? I know, I know... it's Michael Moore.. and it is propaganda. But it's pretty watchable, and does touch upon some of the real problems of the current system. It seems like in this debate, no one wants to bring up the current rationing system (profit-based), and how the system has changed since the 60's. Anyone old enough to remember how healthcare in this worked decades ago (I'm not, but I am fascinated by it).

Back to the event, though... whether a grass-roots protest or a coordinated effort backed by larger interest groups, it was pretty effective. If this continues all over the country, I can't see any possibility of any health care reform passing. And that is a shame.

[love roses]

I think that Congress ought to actually read what's in the bill and keep the good stuff, throw out the ridiculous. I agree that some changes need to happen, but I don't think we have a totally broken system. My problem is with insurance companies and some of their ridiculous rules. I have a problem with the denial of services for people with pre-existing conditions. My daughter has asthma so getting her covered is always an issue.

[achtungpv]

Maybe they should start with having the insurance industry fix the fact that 85% of policy costs go towards administering plans and not paying health care providers.

If any other industry had that type of overhead, they wouldn't last very long.

[texastea]

Good point, achtungpv. There are lots of things the government could do to fix gaps in the current system. I personally think HR 3200 goes too far, messing with things that aren't broken and adding way too much to the deficit in the process.

There are 18 pages in the bill that establishes a grant and follow-up study for non-English language services. 10 pages describe the new service, Advance Care (end of life) Planning Consultation, added to the Social Security Act.