Obama is trying to convince doctors to support his disastrous health care plan.
He's offering them an incentive, protection from malpractice lawsuits. More on that, in the New York Times.
Tax cheat Tom Dashcle, Obama's health czar, is part of the campaign calling for tort reform.
(What is "tort retorm"?)
From Reuters:
With Congress working to flesh out controversial elements of his healthcare reform plan, U.S. President Barack Obama will make his case to the nation's doctors on Monday for a new public insurance program, seeking to overcome their resistance.
Obama, in a speech to the American Medical Association, will "lay out his vision for a system that replicates best practices, incentivizes excellence and closes cost disparities -- and he'll ask for our medical professionals' help in getting the job done," an administration official said.
Speaking to the doctors' group's annual meeting in Chicago, Obama will make his case for "a health insurance exchange where private plans compete with a public option that drives down costs and expands choice," the official said.
In a move that could appeal to doctors and Republican skeptics of his healthcare overhaul ideas, Obama privately has been making the case for taking action to help protect doctors from malpractice lawsuits, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The Times quoted an unnamed Democrat described as close to the president as saying Obama views addressing medical liability issues as a "credibility builder" and an issue that might keep the nation's doctors as well as Republicans at the negotiating table over his broader healthcare overhaul goals.
The Times reported that Obama likely would refer to the lawsuit reform issue in his speech to the AMA but would not offer any specific proposal. The doctors' group and many Republicans want to limit malpractice jury awards.
The newspaper noted that doctors complain that "defensive medicine" -- ordering tests and procedures out of fear of being sued if they do not -- drives up health costs.
I'm really uncomfortable with Obama trying to win over doctors to accept his rationed care plan by bribing doctors. It's a sleazy, self-serving move.
But Obama is willing to make concessions to socialize medicine and get doctors on board.
I suppose it's easy for Obama to offer some malpractice protection because doctors won't have access to all the technology now available anyway. Necessary procedures will have to be put off or won't be accessible at all.
Malpractice reform would be a necessary aspect to contend with the consequences of the Obama's proposed system -- guaranteed long waiting lines, delays in treatments, and rationed treatment guidelines, and death.
...Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a television news show appearances on Sunday, defended the president's push for a public insurance option.
"The president feels that having a 'public option' side by side -- same playing field, same rules -- will give Americans choice and will help lower costs for everybody. And that's a good thing," Sebelius told CNN.
"The president does not want to dismantle privately owned plans," she added. "He doesn't want the 180 million people who have employer coverage to lose that coverage. He wants to strengthen the marketplace."
No, he doesn't.
Obama wants to force out private plans. Obama is not expanding choice. BS. He's presenting the roadmap to socialized medicine.
He's considering taxing medical benefits.
Responding to demands that he further explain where the money would come from to pay for his dramatic health-care overhaul, President Obama is said to be on the brink of endorsing the limited taxation of employer-sponsored health benefits -- benefits that have historically been tax free, no matter how generous and regardless of how much employees earns.
Even though Obama's plan would only tax benefits over a certain amount, it would still rate as his biggest reversal yet on domestic policy. During his election campaign, Obama strongly criticized his Republican rival John McCain for his proposal to tax all such benefits.
I've lost track. How many campaign promises has Obama broken?
How many times has he lied to the American people and not been held accountable by the media, his fawning media?
Oh, well. Never mind that.
Where are Barack and Michelle going for their next date night?
11 comments:
What a great spokesperson you are for ObamaCare!
Poor and middle class Americans do NOT go to Canada for care.
The Anonymous above at 9:05 AM has no clue what they are speaking of. There is a reason why America has the best medicine in the known world and it has to do with it being NOT socialized. I am a physician in Canada as well as having experienced the UK system, and I think I know more than most what socialized medicine implies.
You're very credible, DR. ANONYMOUS.
Sure, I believe you. Who wouldn't believe an "anonymous" Internet posting by someone claiming to be a doctor in Canada and knowledgeable about the health care systems in Canada and the U.K.?
Of course, YOU would know.
Right.
"Sure, rich Canadians come here, but poor and middle class Americans go THERE."
Really? That is the first time I've ever heard that. I want to see a source...and don't go quoting a wikipedia page on me.
P.S. if the middle and lower classes in America can't afford to pay for treatment here, then how do they pay for transportation to Canada?
I understand your skepticism, though I can do without the snarkiness.
I grew up and finished medical school in the US. I have done training in Canada and in the UK. I have spent all of my practice time in Canada though know the three health care systems well. There is a 3 week to 3 month waiting list to see a Cardiologist, which happens to be my specialty. One of my staff has a daughter finishing school in the UK and has had secondary amenorrhea for approximately 6 months. When she visited last month, I was able to get her an MRI in Canada, which she was not even booked for one in the UK. In the UK, she was not sent to seen an OB/Gyn for a specialist assessment despite repeated requests to her family doctor.
These are but a few examples and there are many, many more. I could go on, though I do not think it necessary nor care as I was only trying to put in a couple of my "cents" into this preposterous discussion of socialized medicine saving lives as the first anonymous was trying to imply.
"DR. ANONYMOUS," I'm not being snarky, just realistic.
That's right, Dave.
Sources, please.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant.
All types of medical systems have their faults. It is easy to point fingers at what is not working. It is a fact that the US is not #1 in health care.
That's a meaningless statement.
You don't define your terms. You don't specify your criteria. You don't provide any sources to back up your "fact."
It is a fact that the US is not #1 in health care...
I agree that this is less than meaningless because you do not define what you are using as criteria. A simple look at cost would put the US down on the list, however the bottom line is worthless to people who need the finest and most up to date care available when their health and life is at stake.
Canadians with significant money go to the US for their health care. That is a fact.
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