The "myths" of health care reform

I’m going to make something very clear here in the beginning. Facts that I cite here in this blog are from the house health care bill, HR 3200 “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.” Obama, Frank, and Pelosi can say all they want, but I will only be citing the bill itself. Now, I’ve been digging into the internet gathering up a list of those pesky, dangerous, ultra-right wing rumors and myths that everyone is talking about, I’ll be going point by point, after each “myth” I will list the sections of the bill that point out the facts for the particular “myth.” I’m not going to post the full text of the sections on here, because they are quite long. However, on the Library of Congress website, there is a service called THOMAS, where you can look up the full text of the legislation and read it, just in case you thought I was making this up. Ok, let’s begin.

1) Americans will lose their private insurance, or be funneled into the public option.

Under Sec. 102 (a)(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT
Sec. 102 (a)(2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR CONDITIONS
So, insurance companies cannot accept new enrollments or change the terms or conditions of their current plans.

2) Health care reform will limit patient’s choices.

Sec. 123 HEALTH BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Sec. 141 HEALTH CHOICES ADMINISTRATION; HEALTH CHOICES COMMISSIONER

There will be a committee designated largely by the president in charge of deciding your benefits, and an administration, largely appointed by the president, will decide what standards constitutes coverage. That applies to private companies as well.

3) Health care reform will grant the federal government access to people’s bank accounts.

Sec. 163 ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLIFICATION
Subsection 1173A GOALS STANDARDIZED ELECTRONIC ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSACTIONS
(a)(2) GOALS FOR FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSACTIONS

The federal government will establish access to people’s bank accounts for electronic transactions and to determine the financial stability of patients.

4) Death panels.

Sec. 1233 ADVANCED CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION

As illustrated throughout this section. Every five years you SHALL (not, you MAY be visited. You SHALL…) be visited by advanced care consultants, to consider options such as living wills, health care proxy, hospice care, assisted suicide, and ‘your life, your choice’ handbooks. Now, if you’re going to this section looking for the specific phrase “death panel” is going to be disappointed. The term “death panel” is a metaphor for government guidance into death.
I’ve outlined the major “myths out there, if you have one that I forgot to mention or want to challenge me on, leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you on it. Enjoy.