Letter to the President

I just sent a letter to President Obama via Susan B. Anthony List. In the letter are the facts concerning the funding of abortion in the current congressional health care bill. Because this form letter has such good information, I posted it here for you to read. If you would like to send a letter to the President demanding the truth be told, you may write your own or go to http://www.sba-list.org/obama.

Dear President Obama,

As one of your constituents, I am disappointed that you have chosen to mislead the American people in regard to abortion funding in the health care bill.

On August 19th, you stated: “You've heard that this is all going to mean government funding of abortion. Not true. This is all, these are all fabrications that have been put out there. . .”

President Obama, you are misleading the American people. Here are the facts:

The Capps Amendment, as passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, explicitly requires every enrollee of a government-subsidized health insurance plan to be charged an extra fee to cover abortions. The federal agency administering the health care plan will collect the premium money, receive bills from abortionists, and send the abortionists payment checks from the federal Treasury account.

In response, many pro-abortion politicians are hiding behind the Hyde Amendment, but the truth is the Hyde Amendment does not apply because federal subsidies for private plans and start up money for the public plan are directly appropriated under H.R. 3200.

Therefore, I demand that you oppose any health care bill unless abortion is explicitly excluded from the scope of any federally mandated, federally subsidized, or federally defined health insurance plans.

President Obama, my concerns are not fabrications, they are facts. They are facts that even the mainstream media confirms. Consider these quotes:

“The health-care reform proposed by House Democrats, if enacted, would in fact mark a significant change in the federal government's role in the financing of abortions. […] So in effect, anyone who wanted to sign up for the public option, a federally funded and administered program, would find themselves paying for abortion coverage. […] Nonetheless, the new system differs markedly from the old federal policy of not involving the government in abortion services unless issues of rape, incest or the life of the mother are at play.” - TIME, August 24, 2009, “How Abortion Could Imperil Health Care Reform.”

“Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.” -The Associated Press, August 5, 2009, “Gov’t Insurance Would Allow Coverage for Abortion.”

“Obama has said in the past that ‘reproductive services’ would be covered by his public plan, so it’s likely that any new federal insurance plan would cover abortion unless Congress expressly prohibits that… Therefore, we judge that the president goes too far when he calls the statements that government would be funding abortions ‘fabrications.’”-Factcheck.org, August 21, 2009, “Abortion: Which Side is Fabricating?”

President Obama, the current health care reform proposals, if enacted, would result in the greatest expansion of abortion since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision imposed abortion on America in 1973.

Polls consistently show that the overwhelming majority of Americans are pro-life. Abortion must be explicitly excluded to ensure the pro-life views of Americans are properly reflected in any health care reform effort.

Susan B. Anthony List Activist

Words from a Great Defender of Freedom

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

- President Ronald Reagan

The Tip of the Healthberg

There is so much to say regarding the Health Care Plan in Congress that I will have to do it a portion at a time. The bill is H.R. 3200 with the "short title" being ‘‘America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009’’ and it is 1,017 pages long. You can read it online. I urge you to request your Congressman to read it as most have not and seem to have no intention of doing so. I have begun to read it in its entirety as well as having read sections of it.

What is the purpose of the Congressional Health Care Plan?
To begin the statement of purpose is "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes." The emphasis is mine because when I read that, I immediately wondered what other purposes are in this health care bill?

Will you be able to keep your current health insurance plan?
On page 16, Section 102, ironically titled "Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage", states that individual health insurance issuer cannot enroll new individuals on or after the first day of Y1 (which is 2013) except for new dependents of current individuals who are already covered. Neither can the health insurance issuer change any of its terms, conditions, benefits, or cost-sharing. If a health insurance company is so regulated as to be unable to accept new clients or make any changes whatsoever that company will be put out of business. No new clients equals a dying business. Page 19, lines 1-5 states that individual insurance coverage offered on or after the first day of 2013 must be "an Exchange-participating health benefits plan". What is that? Page 116, line 10-12 tells us that an Exchange-participating health benefits plan is referred to as "public health insurance option." Some "option" that is! The answer is that if you have individual health insurance coverage, you may be able to keep it for awhile but it won't be long before your insurance company would be forced out of business and your only option would then be the public option.

Who will run the "Public Option"?
There are many people listed in just the first 40 pages who will be responsible for portions or all of the government run insurance plan. There will be a Health Benefits Advisory Committee which will include: the Surgeon General (who is appointed by the President) will be a member and the chair of this Committee, 9 non-federal employees appointed by the President, 9 non-federal employees appointed by the Comptroller General of the United States (who is appointed by the President), and an even number (up to 8) of Federal employees and officers appointed by the President. At this time there is both an Acting Comptroller General of the United States and an Acting Surgeon General who will be replaced by a President Obama appointee. 2/3 of this Health Benefits Advisory Committee will be directly appointed by the President and 1/3 of the Committee will be appointed by a person who was himself appointed by the President. The job of the Committee is to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans to the Secretary of Health and Human Services as stated on page 32, line 22-25.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services is to establish the office of ombudsman for the public health insurance option. (I have not yet read what the ombudsman is supposed to do.) Page 116, line 14-17 tells us that the Secretary designs the "options" of the Exchange benefit levels: basic, enhanced, premium, and premium-plus. (Is that supposed to be the "competition" I hear about?) The Secretary shall collect such data as required to establish premiums and payments rates for the public option as stated on page 118, lines 4-9.
Then there is the establishment of the Health Choices Administration, an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, which will be headed by the Health Choices Commissioner who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Read this for yourself in Section 141 on page 41. The Commissioner shall collect data for the purposes of carrying out Commissioner's duties... and may share such data with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (page 43, lines 19-24) The Commissioner, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Labor shall conduct a study of the large group insured and self-insured employer health care markets. (page 21, lines 23-26) Page 42, line 12 states the Commissioner is responsible for the establishment and operation of a Health Insurance Exchange which is the Public Option. (page 116, line 14-17)
To sum up, the Public Option will be run by a newly established government agency in the executive branch, a Commissioner appointed by the President, the Surgeon General appointed by the President, the Secretary of Health and Human Services appointed by the President, and a Committee which is 2/3 appointed by the President and 1/3 appointed by a presidential appointee. Does anyone else see a massive power grab by the Executive Branch of the Government?

Who will choose your coverage?
In all these 1,017 pages, the specific coverage and exceptions of benefits and the cost to us is not specified but instead power is given to the above listed people (most of whom are yet to be appointed) to choose insurance for you instead of you having the power to choose your own plan, or choose not to be insured, or the amount of coverage you want for yourself.

Just as you only see the tip of a massive iceberg, so the health care bill only shows us portions of what is its entirety. The rest will be determined after power has been handed over to the Government. Will the United States choose a collision course with this monstrosity? I hope not.

If this posting makes you feel overwhelmed, just consider that I've only partially commented on the first 40 pages and those pages to which they referred. There is much more to come.... another day.