“Joe the Plumber” elicited a response from candidate Obama exposing his administration’s ultimate goal of redistributing wealth. With centralized power and federal control, more than $1 trillion will be redistributed under the guise of health reform.

Personally earned wealth and benefits will be taken from Medicare beneficiaries, adults under age 30, owners of individual policies, those insured under small group plans, and health conscious Americans. This is not robbing from the rich to give to the poor this is pork-barrel politics unlike anything Americans have ever seen.

There are four methods to redistributing wealth through health reform: (1) lower government funding of Medicare, (2) add taxes, fees and penalties on private insurance and medical supplies, (3) implement price controls, and (4) add costly mandates. These approaches allow government to draw monies from targeted populations and reallocate wealth and benefits to politically favored groups.

Medicare beneficiaries. Health reform proposals will take $400-500 billion from Medicare. Twenty-two percent of Medicare beneficiaries are covered by Medicare Advantage, who will be hit with $114 billion in reduced funding. Seniors will lose in other ways. Lower physician reimbursements will lead to longer waiting, less time with a doctor, lower quality of care, and fewer available specialists.

Adults under age 30. Many uninsureds are working adults under age 30. They need affordable products responsive to their needs. Legislation will not allow young adult insurance to be reduced below 50% of aged 60-64 premiums. Young adult claims are only 20% of older adult claims. By ignoring reality, premiums for adults under age 30 will be artificially increased by government price controls making their insurance even more unaffordable. A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study estimated premiums would increase by 59-63% for ages 18-24. Insurers have estimated young adult premiums will likely increase by 100% or more. If they don’t pay the price controlled higher premiums they will face fines and penalties.

Individual and small group plans. A report by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimated individual health premiums will increase an additional 60-73%. The PwC report calculated an average increase of $4,000 for small group participants. None of the proposals lower the cost of health insurance as promised by candidate Obama. It is no wonder that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that there will still be 25 million uninsureds.

Healthy Americans. Financial rewards for health status from exercise or diet will be made illegal. Plans cannot provide financial incentives for following doctor’s orders, lowering blood pressure, or to keeping cholesterol levels in check. Those taking personal responsibility to improve their health would have to pay for those making unhealthy risky choices.

The monies taken from the above would be redistributed to the lower income nonelderly, community organizing groups, and entities relying on government grants and funding for special interest project funding.

Free coverage will be provided to 14 million new Medicaid enrollees, many of whom are currently covered under private plans paid for by employers. Additional federal subsidies are provided for those earning up to $66,000. Up to forty-nine percent or more than 148 million Americans may become eligible for government subsidies.

Organizations relying on government funding of special interest projects will enjoy billions of dollars in grants are allocated for studies, research, development, implementation, and other consulting arrangements by the many new committees, departments, working groups, panels, boards, and other new government entities.

The overall goal of health reform is not about improving health or healthcare. The proposals do not expand access to care, improve quality, or lower costs. The proposals do not address the current high number of uninsureds. The impact will be to create dependence on government, expanded government employment, and enrich more government consultants.

Joe the Plumber was attacked for discovering the truth. Evident in recent elections, regular citizens are engaged in a populist movement to tell government to lower spending, eliminate pork barrel projects, stop the redistribution of wealth policies, and rely on the intelligence and ingenuity of the American people to create jobs and solve their own problems. Health reform is needed, but many want to focus on the uninsured and those in real need of financial support. Americans are a generous people, we can help those who need help, without destroying the greatest healthcare system and economy the world has ever seen.

I’m trying to understand; is it possible because the Bible tells us to: obey authority – honor governing institutions/rulers – do not break the law – that you feel justified in creating any type of government?

How can I make sense of what is happening in OUR federal government, except to accept that in November 2009, the majority of Congress and the President simply do not believe in freedom; do not believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness; and certainly, do detest our system of justice, not to mention, capitalism? I’ve concluded that the LEFT believe in UTOPIA, and believe they should do whatever they can to CREATE UTOPIA – no matter who they hurt, no matter who they steal from, no matter the whining and bellyaching, unless it’s coming from the non-producers…

Mrs. Pelosi, you have proven that women don’t do things better than men when they have power. You’re just as arrogant, you’re just as lazy, and let’s face it, you’re having as much fun as any man in your powerful position.

I just bet that the word “lazy” catches your eye more than any other word I’ve yet used. I say LAZY because the REAL work that needs to be done is just too hard; it’s so much easier (and FUN!) to create yet another government infrastructure, create more legislation (it’s FUN!) that drains creativity, entrepreneurship, and yes, life-force (not to mention, creates more criminals – I find it very interesting that so many of the folks that almost moved into government staff positions hadn’t paid their taxes or unwittingly hired illegal aliens! Hmmmm…..) — all by STEALING from PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS and eliminating free enterprise.

You know something, Mrs. Pelosi? It’s really not good enough that, when your life is over, it is said of you: She did what she thought was right. After all, what you are thinking when you do wrong really doesn’t matter.

November 4, 2009

Dear Member of the Congressional Blue Dog Coalition:

Angry constituents this past summer made it clear to Members of Congress that HR 3200 was too expensive, too intrusive, too impractical — and was being rushed too quickly through the House for Members and their constituents to comprehend the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on our health care system and our faltering economy.

We at Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine were among those angry constituents at Tea Parties, Town Hall Meetings, and internet discussion forums. We are a grassroots coalition of patients, doctors, and business owners founded on July 4, 2009 to encourage health care reforms that preserve, protect, and promote individual rights and freedom in health care.

Launched four months ago on July 4th, our website has been visited by 9505 times by 7921 people from 2481 cities in 79 countries around the world, including all 50 states in America. Our message is getting through to Blue Dog constituents who rightly expect you to safeguard the rights of patients, doctors, and business owners from any governmental intrusion during the health care reform process.

Over 600 people have thus far signed our recently posted “Petition to Protect Doctor and Patient Rights” to get Congress to vote against any legislation that provides for any:

–Public plan option,

–Mandates that force individuals to buy insurance coverage,

–Mandates that force employers to provide insurance coverage,

–Surcharges that force some groups to pay for the healthcare of other groups, and

–Provisions that might allow HHS to force doctors to participate in public plans.

About 97% of the petitioners have responded “Yes” to the question: “Should doctors ‘go on strike’ by refusing to participate in any new government-run healthcare plan?”

Another 86% of the petitioners have responded “Yes” to the question: “If ObamaCare is approved, should doctors ‘go on strike’ by stopping their participation in other government-run healthcare plans (Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, SCHIP)?”

We are now urging you to oppose HR 3962: “The Affordable Health Care for America Act” because this 1,990-page behemoth is — like HR 3200 — too expensive, too intrusive, too impractical, and is again being rammed down our throats.

We ask that you vote against HR 3962 because it contains so many poisonous provisions — ones that are patently immoral, arguably unconstitutional, fiscally irresponsible, demonstrably ineffective, and, as recent polls show, politically unpopular.

If you do not find these arguments against HR 3962 persuasive, we would appeal to your political self-interest before you vote on HR 3962 and whatever health care reform bill might eventually emerge from both Houses of Congress.

Think about how many different groups of likely voters will be hurt by HR 3962: seniors (due to Medicare cuts), the young and healthy (due to individual mandates), doctors (due to government intrusion into decision-making and reduced Medicare payments), small businesses (due to mandated insurance for employees and the surcharge on wealthy business owners), the wealthy (due to the surcharge on millionaires), medical device manufacturers (due to increased taxes), and — last but not least — the millions of health care policy holders who would have to pay significantly higher premiums (due to taxes on insurance, costly mandated coverage by HHS, and shrinking risk pools).

Think about the possibility that these voters would be so hurt by HR 3962 that Republicans, Libertarians, and Ross Perot-style Independents could easily mobilize them to vote many incumbent Democrats out of office in 2010 and 2012.

Think about the electoral consequences of forcing Americans to buy expensive health insurance while they learn that Congress has failed to address the root causes of rising health care costs.

Think about how — as our economy continues to falter in 2010 and beyond — the 2009 Tea Parties and Town Hall Meetings would be dwarfed by a rapidly spreading, Dresden-like firestorm of popular resistance to any more federal intrusion into our lives.

Think about how HR 3962 would be a prescription for economic, health care, and electoral disaster: Surely, a bad bill would be worse than no bill, not only for our economy and our health care system, but also for your political career.

Finally, think about this: A Blue Dog voting for HR 3962 might very well be committing an unnecessary, career-ending act of political suicide.

Dr. Gregory Garamoni
Doctors on Strike for Freedom

P.S. We are encouraging patients, doctors, and business owners from all over America to call, email, or fax the Blue Dogs to urge them to reform healthcare in a fiscally and ethically responsible manner that fully respects the rights of doctors and patients to make healthcare decisions without any government interference. To this end, we have compiled a list of the Washington phone numbers along with a complete list of the Washington and District fax numbers for all 52 members of the Blue Dog Coalition