NorthWest Florida Republican

Here is what Congressman Allen Boyd wrote on his website about why he voted for the Health Care legislation.

Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today voted to support healthcare reform legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, indicating that the legislation adheres to the four principles of responsible reform he has been fighting for since the start of the healthcare debate over one year ago.
“Throughout this entire debate, I have consistently said that responsible healthcare reform will embody four key principles: it will reduce costs, increase access, ensure patient choice, and not add to the federal deficit,” said Congressman Boyd. “This bill is not perfect, but I believe it meets these four principles of responsible reform by providing the largest middle class tax credits for healthcare in our nation’s history and preserving a patient’s ability to choose their own doctor.”

It isn’t even close to being poor. It has a long way to go to being a good bill. The four key principles will be broken in the first year alone.

Congressman Boyd continued: “This package of reforms effectively curbs the skyrocketing cost of healthcare services, helping to lower monthly insurance premiums and doctor bills for millions of North Floridians. It levels the playing field between patients and insurance companies, providing all of us with added peace of mind by guaranteeing that insurance companies cannot suddenly drop your coverage or deny you coverage based on any type of pre-existing condition. It ensures that you and your doctor are the only people making decisions about your healthcare. And it will successfully reduce the deficit more than any other policy enacted since 1993, helping cut more than $1.2 trillion dollars from the deficit over the next 20 years. Taken together, these reforms improve the overall health of our economy and the American people.”

There isn’t anything in the bill to curb costs on healthcare services. According to the New York Times there isn’t anything in the bill to do this.

But the new law does not tackle head-on the staggering cost of health care in the United States, which eats up $2.3 trillion a year, about 16.2 percent of our gross domestic product, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Remember, none of this next part takes effect until 2014.

The healthcare reform legislation passed in the House today adheres to Congressman Boyd’s four key principles of responsible reform and provides many benefits to North Florida residents.

1. Reduces the cost of healthcare services for individuals and families

“Rising healthcare costs are the single largest threat to our country’s economic future. In Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, there were 800 healthcare-related bankruptcies in 2008 caused primarily by the exorbitant cost of healthcare services not covered by insurance,” said Congressman Boyd. “That’s why I have been fighting to implement smart policies that effectively curb rising healthcare costs and ease the burdensome pressure millions of Americans feel when paying their healthcare premiums or doctor bills.” The legislation helps reduce the cost of healthcare services by:

Providing nearly 194,000 households in the district with tax credits and other assistance to purchase health insurance. For example: a family of four making $50,000 per year will receive approximately $5,800 in tax credits for the purposes of purchasing health insurance.
Capping annual out-of-pocket costs at $6,200 for individuals and $12,400 for families who purchase insurance through the insurance exchange or who receive insurance through their small business employer.
Offering small businesses – including 15,400 small businesses in the district – tax credits of up to 50% of the cost of providing health insurance to their employees.
Establishing an independent advisory panel to improve the way Medicare provides services to its recipients without jeopardizing the quality of care seniors depend on.
Ensuring that more than 95 percent of Americans have access to quality, affordable health insurance, including 67,000 uninsured residents in the district. When uninsured individuals receive medical services and are unable to pay their bill, the costs for these services are passed on to those with insurance, leading to higher monthly premiums. Expanding coverage to more uninsured individuals prevents these costs from being passed on, which in turn will help lower insurance premiums for everyone.

So basically, Boyd wants to pay you off. Maybe you will vote for him because he gave you a boat load of money. Don’t worry who will pay for it. It isn’t your problem unless you make more than $200 thousand dollars.

It may expand coverage but that doesn’t mean we have the doctors to care for those who were added to the health care system.

2. Increases access to quality, affordable health insurance for more Americans

“This legislation expands coverage to more than 130,000 residents in the district and brings to an end some of the worst practices the industry has engaged in for years, including unjustly dropping coverage when you need it most, denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and massively raising premiums beyond affordability,” said Congressman Boyd. The legislation helps increase access to health insurance by:

Prohibiting insurance companies from denying Americans with pre-existing conditions from obtaining quality, affordable health insurance. There are 13,300 individuals in the district who currently have pre-existing medical conditions that have been preventing them from accessing affordable health insurance.
Expanding health coverage to more than 32 million uninsured Americans, including 67,000 uninsured residents in the district and 70,000 young adults in the district who will now be able to remain on their parents’ policies until they turn 26 years old.
Providing small businesses and uninsured individuals a menu of insurance options to choose from, similar to the options provided to federal employees, through an open insurance exchange.

Um, kids on the parents policies isn’t in the bill at the time of passing.

Turns out Reid never got around to including The One’s highly touted vow to let young adults stay on their parents’ plans until age 26 in the Senate bill, so for the moment, it’s no-go on that promise too. The House stuck it back in as part of the reconciliation fix so presumably it’ll be law next week, – Hot Air

Don’t worry though. It will be. It just wont’ take effect immediately.

Hmm… I don’t think anyone but my doctor and I have made any decisions on my Health Care. Sure, they didn’t want to pay for some medication but after a little bit of justification all was well. Expensive but well. The bill won’t do anything about expensive medications. It isn’t in there.

3. Ensures patients can choose their own providers

“For far too long, Americans and North Floridians have not had control over the most important decisions affecting their own healthcare,” said Congressman Boyd. “My vote helps restore the fundamentals of the doctor-patient relationship and puts all decisions controlling the future of your health squarely in the hands of you and your doctor.” The legislation preserves patient choice by:

Permitting Americans with insurance to keep their existing coverage and existing medical providers if they so desire.
Offering 32 million uninsured Americans the opportunity to choose their own insurance and medical providers, including 67,000 residents in the district.

Don’t worry about the 23 million who won’t be getting this. The 32 million will be good enough I’m sure. But just in case you think I’m pulling that number out of thin air like the Democrats have done with this legislation here is the info on it.

Although the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the healthcare overhaul will eventually cover 32 million more Americans, it admits that about 23 million people will still be left out of “universal healthcare” by 2019. – FierceHealthCare

Of course that assumes that employers will continue to offer that coverage. There are going to be some major changes in many large companies. Especially since they are taking over a billion dollar hit this year alone in just one company.

4. Is fully paid for and does not add to the federal deficit

“Just like any other piece of legislation brought before the House, I have insisted that healthcare reform not be financed on the backs of our children and grandchildren,” said Congressman Boyd. “The CBO has estimated that not only is this reform fully paid for, but that it will work to reduce the federal deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next twenty years, helping secure a stronger and more stable economy for future generations.”

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over 20 years, constituting the single largest deficit reduction effort since 1993.
The legislation largely pays for itself – nearly two-thirds of the cost of the bill is paid for through the savings gleaned from other provisions of the legislation.

This is a wild assumption. Since when has any Government legislation ever cost less or exactly as much as planned? Let’s see…. Social Security? No. Medicare? No again. Why does Boyd think that this is going to be different? As a matter of fact, the neutral deficit is based on on things that Congress really has no stomach for changing. Which means that it won’t do what Congressman Boyd says it will.

The CBO, after all, is independent. It’s highly respected.

But it can only judge what’s laid before it, and in a matter as complex and political as this, that necessarily limits its real forecasting ability.

(For a Monitor blog on what could happen to the cost of insurance premiums, click here)

The office can’t factor in, for instance, political behavior. Right now, the legislation assumes Congress will go ahead and cut Medicare reimbursements to doctors by 21 percent the way it’s supposed to. But lawmakers keep putting off this cost-saving measure, and everyone knows it’s not going to happen.

The CBO probably knows that, too, but it can’t account for a political probability. It has to work with what’s before it.

Here’s another political calculation that must worry the CBO. Will a Congress of the future decide it’s too politically dangerous to tax “Cadillac” insurance plans when the time comes? The tax would raise revenue to help pay for the 32 million Americans expected to be covered under the revised plan.

A lot of union households have these expensive insurance plans, and they don’t like the tax idea. Democrats already caved to union demands by putting off a vote on imposing the tax until 2018. Will lawmakers capitulate again eight years from now? They do just that with such unpopular taxes as the alternative minimum tax, making adjustments year by year without really fixing the problem.

Yes, the CBO can only score what’s before it, including creative accounting. The healthcare plan starts raising revenue this year, but it won’t begin paying for most benefits until 2014. So the revenue side gets a four-year head start. – Christian Science Monitor

And don’t think you can get away with not paying for health care. It will cost you. Not much at first but quite a bit later on.

And a number of young, healthy people may prefer paying the $95 fine in 2014 to buying insurance. However, enrollments are expected to increase when the penalty for not carrying health insurance rises to $695 (or 2.5 percent of a person’s income, whichever is greater) in 2019.

Any time you are forced to pay for something from the Government it is nothing but a Tax. Something that President Obama and Democrats said they wouldn’t do to those in the middle class.

And how will they know if you bought Health Insurance? Why the extra 16,500 new IRS Employees of course. Everyone loves them. I guess Boyd can claim he created some jobs.

This entire bill is a sham created to keep you voting for those in office. With handouts to just about everyone it is impossible to believe that this is deficit neutral.

Boyd has fallen asleep at the wheel of Democracy and is dreaming about things that he knows are not true but would desperately like them to be. It is time to wake him up from our nightmare, send him off to his own bed and replace him with someone who can keep his eyes on the road.

Since he won’t listen to his constituents, it is time to replace Boyd.