Bay Area Patriots

Members will be returning to their districts during the late summer recess and it appears that this bad legislation will not come to a vote before they reconvene in September. House Republicans presented their own amendments to health care legislation which passed the last of three House Committees (Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor) late Friday. The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday night approved the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill, setting up a floor vote this fall. The passage of the legislation came after days of intense negotiations between Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and conservative Democrats as well as liberal Democrats.

In a recent press release, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) highlights over 31 amendments that were defeated by Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership without serious consideration. Some of the amendments included proposals that eliminated the 'public option' plan, prevented government bureaucrats from determining patient treatment, removed requirements forcing employers to provide health care coverage for all employees, and a plan to help small businesses purchase health plans at lower costs.

Special thanks go to CFRW Legislative Analysts Amy Lyons and Edelweiss Geary, member Ursula Wagstaff Kustler and Dr. Linda Halderman, Senior Policy Advisor to the California State Senate, for their assistance in preparing the following analysis and talking points. Please use the information below when contacting your representatives or writing letters to the editor.

The current plan, in one of its three forms, creates a health care plan run by the federal government. This plan would have approximately 304 million customers. In order to pay for this new government plan, massive tax increases on citizens and small businesses must take place.

• Citizens who do not purchase "acceptable coverage" will be assessed a 2.5% tax.
• Businesses that are deemed to have failed to purchase "acceptable coverage" will be hit with an 8% payroll tax.
• A new "czar" titled the Health Care Commissioner would be empowered to determine whether coverage is or is not "acceptable."
• Income tax filers making in excess of $280,000 ($350,000 for joint filers) will be hit with a 1% income tax surcharge.
• Those making $400,000 ($500,000 joint) will be assessed 1.5%.
• Those making in excess of $800,000 ($1 million joint) will be subject to a 5.4% surtax.
• H.R. 3200 exempts members of Congress from participation and is silent on one of the most significant cost drivers in health care - tort reform

Some of the other low points of this 1,000+ page bill are:

• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure.
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed.
• Page 30: A government committee will decide treatments and benefits (with no appeals process).
• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Health Card.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (SEIU, UAW and ACORN).
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange .
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and AmeriCorps to sign up individuals for the Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted.
• Page 127: The government will set doctors' wages.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan.
• Page 126: Employers must pay healthcare bills for part-time employees and their families.
• Page 170: Any non-resident alien is exempt from individual taxes.
• Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that.)
• Page 425: Advance Care Planning Consult; Senior Citizens. Government will mandatorily instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, et cetera. The Government will provide an approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy.
• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

~Useful Links~

• We've created a great brochure to print and pass out at rallies, town halls, and other meetings. Among other things, the brochure contains the above pages and points.
• Our Bay Area Patriots protest of ObamaCare Bill 3200 made it to Michelle Malkin's web site. Check out  Winds of Change in San Francisco
• Text of Proposed Health Care Bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.956:
• The Heritage Foundation's response: http://www.heritage.org/LeadershipForAmerica/health-care.cfm
• Memo from the desk of the President of the California Federation of Republican Women
• The Tea Party Patriots Health Care Talking Points: http://teapartypatriots.org/TPLM03.pdf
• A great book to read: The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen’s Guide by Sally Pipes

Sally Zelikovsky