ObamaCare: One Year Later
It’s been almost a year since the House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. Tomorrow, I will join former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Ethics and Public Policy Center Fellow James Capretta at a National Press Club event in addressing:
- The worst features of ObamaCare
- Identifying which of its features most need to be repealed and replaced
- Proposing an alternative vision for health reform
In testimony last week before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, I identified 10 changes to the law that are necessary for workable health reform.
Break a leg!
D.
I wish I could be there!
Could you please suggest that Congress not fund Obamacare? Thank you!
Kimberly
Thanks, keep up the good work.
Troy
John, thank you.
Our private grantmaking foundation’s benefits consultant volunteered his perspective that the PPACA was designed and intended to “collapse” the entire market for insurance into a government-run insurance and health care system. I suspect you suspect this also, but think you might be assured that we are not alone.
Highest regards for your continuing leadership,
Dean
We don’t want “some bad features” gone.. We want the whole thing gone!
Repeal the whole thing! Too much in there to not do so. The entire program has been ruled unconstitutional… It all needs to go!
JOHN GOODMAN & NEWT GINGRICH,
All of the Health Bill must be defunded until the final court ruling is made by the U.S. Supreme Court. If you start to repeal and replace portions of it with alternatives, you are disturbing the rulings of those courts that have declared it unconstitutional.
The mandate is unconstitutional, and the entire health bill is also unconstitutional in that no severability clause was included in it. This means if any part of the bill is unconstitutional, the entire bill fails. This was pointed out by Judge Vinson.
I will let my representatives know that I want it defunded until it reaches the U. S. Supreme Court. Attorneys General from at least 28 states have received this ruling from Judge Vinson. Pam Bondi is the Attorney General in Florida who appeared before the court. Obama would love it if you made changes to the bill to wipe out past rulings.
Delores Smith
Thanks for your continuing hard work.
There are severe disincentives for people who consider medicine as a career, or practice now as a physician:
Reimbursement is terrible…example: $1,760 to a neurosurgeon for brain tumor surgery by Medicare. This is total reimbursement for history and
physical, operation, all hospital care and follow-up for 90 days after the surgery. It’s less than half of overhead, and is the result of Congress failing to pay doctors, progressively less each year. It is equivalent to giving a gas station owner 85 cents a gallon for Gasicare clients (my example).
Prices for procedures are set by insurance companies take it or leave it. Doctors cannot set their own prices, except for outpatient private electives
(e.g. Plastic surgery), and by law cannot charge one cent more than insurance, especially Medicare, allows.
Malpractice threat. Even with tort reform, premiums are high, and your fate depends upon a story told to a jury by a plaintiff’s malpractice lawyer who will receive one third of any attained verdict (think nice guys like John Edwards smooth-talking the jury). Insurance premiums for neurosurgeons are $50-300,000 per year.
Because of the malpractice threat, defensive medicine is practiced. A recent Orthopedic Surgery study showed tha one-third of the expense for tests billed to Medicare occurred because of defensive medicine.
Hospitals receive the lion’s share of the money. For that patient with brain surgery, the hospital might bill $150,000, and receive $60,000.
Wish we could be there. Thanks John.
Anita
I will not be able to join you at the Press Club, but thank you for keeping these important issues front and center.
Ken Fisher, M.D.
Wish I could be there.
Beverly
Be careful–Gingrich might draft you to be his VP! Good Luck.
Andy
The only way to win the battle is have a forcefulness and attitude and strength and determination like Scott Walker, Wisconsin governor. He demonstrates the only way to win. Do not become weak-kneed.
I support you 100% and hope and pray you can get the message across.
Thanks,
Terry Lee Ives
San Clemente, Calif.
Will you be streaming this live? It’s a fair bet you’re not going to get a lot of play in the mainstream media!
This should be very interesting with you and Speaker Gingrich. — Karen
John,
Don’t forget to mention that PPACA was based on the 1993 Republican response to Hillarycare and the mandate was first introduced by Republicans.
Oh the irony.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx
How about the whole thing?
Keep fighting the good fight, Dr. Goodman! Good luck!
John,
It is a concern to me that Congress, in attempting a compromise with the democrats, appears to be losing an opportunity to stop the $105.5 billion and automatic appropriations for Obamacare’s implementation. There is a serious problem with the way our current President and his staff in the deceitful way they try to force their agenda on the citizens of our once great nation. The American people wish to reestablish integrity in the way our politicians make their decisions. It is my belief that, if Congress and the Senate wish to ask sacrifice and tightening of the budget (which I agree is needed to stabilize our economy) then they need to lead by example, offering cutbacks regarding their own salaries and income supplements. People are willing to follow leaders who not only talk the talk but who also walk the walk they are suggesting. Both parties need to regain the trust and respect of the people by demonstrating by their example what they are asking of their constituents.
Our prayers go with you as you meet this Friday. — Claire
Would love to join you in DC but will be there in spirit only. You did a good job in your hearing last week.
I would appreciate your introducing me to Newt some day.
Blake
Thank you, John. I will make a strong effort to be there. My brother is a retired M.D., and very involved in this. Wish he could be there.
…Which would also cause millions of employees to lose their employer plans. The reason is that tax-exempt employer plans are required to be community=rated. Eliminating the tax preference relative to individually-rated private insurance would cause healthy employees to flee the group plans, resulting in a death spiral for employer-based coverage.
It is simply disingenuous to raise fears about throwing millions off of employer-sponsored coverage while advocating policies that would be even more effective at accomplishing the same.
The sad part about this is that Goodman’s criticisms of Obamacare are mostly dead-on, while his own proposal is just as fatally flawed.