Tennessee Political Blotter

After a slight break, Rep. Phil Roe R-TN-1, has still yet to find even one tiny scrap of truth to put in his campaign mail-outs…

From the diseased mind of Dr. Phil “NO” Roe….

Yesterday marked the six-month anniversary of the health care legislation becoming law. Since passage, reality is much different than the promises made by the Democratic Congress and by the Administration. The sobering reality of this bad legislation includes the risk of higher costs, rising insurance prices, and the loss of current health plans. Action must be taken to repeal and fix aspects of this legislation that will be detrimental to Tennessee and to our nation.

First of all, what kind of idiot gives legislation of this magnitude only 6 Mos to become established. Secondly, most of the provisions are not scheduled to take effect yet. Roe knows this and willfully ignores that fact. That’s what we normally refer to as Prevarication.

One example would be:
Ban on Discriminating Against Kids with Pre-Existing Conditions:

Before reform, tens of the thousands of families had been denied insurance each year for their children because of an illness or condition. Starting September 23rd, plans cannot discriminate against kids with pre-existing conditions. In 2014, no one seeking coverage can be discriminated against because of a preexisting condition. Up to 72,000 uninsured children are expected to gain coverage by banning insurers from refusing them coverage due to a pre-existing condition. Coverage for up to 90,000 children will no longer exclude benefits because of a pre-existing condition.

This is good, was promised and has become reality. That law in it’s self is worth the legislative effort.

Roe continues to lie….

As we learn more about the health care law, we see bad elements tucked away like the Independent Payment Advisory Board ( IPAB ) – a board that has a mandate to meet a budget. This will harm patient care because the only way to meet a budget is by delaying access to care or denying care altogether. Ultimately, this bad bill will not only reduce access to care, but it will also certainly reduce the quality of care because rationing is inevitable. This is not what I want, nor is it what the American people want – but the emerging details indicate that is what we’re going to get unless we act soon to change it.

A lie that is so blatant it’s almost amusing in a sad kind of way. Delaying or denying care is what Insurance companies do and it’s preposterous to state that those are the only way to meet a budget. Eliminating wasteful spending by Insurance companies and Hospitals is the best way to meet a budget. Of course, Roe never mentions what “budget” he’s attempting to refer to.

Roe mentions “rationing". Which is what Insurance companies do. That’s how CIGNA killed a child named Nataline Sarkisyan, with rationing. A standard poly amongst Insurance Companies to meet their “budgets” (while CEOs get multi-Million dollar bonuses)
Reform legislation actually prevents this kind of “rationing". Examine the video here…

Nice try, Phil. But you are a liar.

The American people have heard so much rhetoric by the President and his Administration, especially in the push to get the legislation through Congress. For example, in April, the President promised this health care legislation “will reduce the deficit by $1 trillion over the next two decades.” However, recently, President Obama’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said that this legislation will increase health care spending by 6.3 percent annually and will cause health care to consume almost 20 percent of the our nation’s health care bill.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Congressional Budget Office, soundly debunk this partisan drivel that Dr. Roe would have us believe.

Despite an official estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to the contrary, some critics of the new health reform legislation — such as Rep. Paul Ryan and former CBO director and McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin — charge that it will not reduce federal budget deficits because it relies on budgetary gimmicks or games.[1] Careful analysis of these charges shows them to be misleading or inaccurate. They do not withstand scrutiny.

CBO estimates the legislation will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the ten years from 2010 through 2019. [2] In the following decade, 2020 through 2029, it estimates that the legislation will reduce the deficit by an estimated one-half of 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or about $1.3 trillion. CBO also anticipates that health reform “would probably continue to reduce budget deficits relative to those under current law in subsequent decades, assuming that all of its provisions continue to be fully implemented.”

So the only thing that would prevent deficit reduction in this case is Rep. Roe’s “repeal".

Roe lies more…

In June, the President told the American people that this legislation will “cut costs and make coverage more affordable for families and small businesses.” But now we’ve learned that the new law is causing health insurance prices to increase. The Wall Street Journal reported that the health care legislation is causing rates to increase up to 20 percent for some buyers. In Connecticut, rates are increasing 18 percent for small businesses and 14.2 percent for the self-employed, early retirees, and others who buy their own coverage on October 1, 2010.

No, idiot, insurance companies are increasing premiums for no other reason but their own greed. It has nothing to do with the legislation and these greed laden corporations will suffer if they continue to gouge….

From Kaiser Health News:
Sep 10, 2010
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday said insurers who blame their rate increases on the new health overhaul could be excluded from health insurance exchanges and the 30 million new customers they promise, The Associated Press reports. “‘There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases,’ … Sebelius said in a letter to the insurance lobby. ‘Simply stated, we will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections,’ Sebelius said. She warned that bad actors may be excluded from new health insurance markets that will open in 2014 under the law.” Sebelius sent the letter to insurer trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. “The industry’s top lobbyist responded that the health care law is a factor behind higher rates, but not the only one” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/9).

The Wall Street Journal: “The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that some carriers are asking for total premium hikes topping 20% starting this month, and the carriers are attributing one to nine percentage points of the increases to new benefit mandates in the law. … [AHIP’s top lobbyist Karen] Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said: ‘It’s a basic law of economics that additional benefits incur additional costs, and the impact on premiums depends on the type and amount of coverage policyholders had before.’” Sebelius said that later this fall, HHS will issue a regulation requiring state or federal review of all “potentially unreasonable” rate increases. “It’s unclear how much power that will give state insurance commissioners, who say there’s little they can do to stop insurers’ rate hikes if the companies can justify charging more for greater benefits” (Adamy, 9/10).

Looks like Dr. Roe was just debunked in perfect harmony. LOL, what a lying sack of shit.

If you recall, the President repeatedly promised that “if you like your insurance plan, you can keep it.” On September 21, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that next year, 1.2 million seniors will be forced out of the Medicare Advantage or Medicare prescription drug plan they have currently. In addition, nHealth has dropped all its customers because of this bill and is going out of business. Additionally, American National Insurance Company will not sell health insurance to early retirees, self-employed workers, and small businesses because of this health care legislation. Lastly, even regulations put out by President Obama’s own Administration show that up to 80 percent of small businesses may lose their current plans under the new law.

LOL!!!
No mention of the fact that seniors will now be paying only 50% of the cost of prescription drugs, huh Phillip?
Did you simply overlook that critical fact or did you just decide that your lie would be more believable without it?
You filthy little ingrate.

And only nHealth is to blame for being a failed company that specialized in high deductible plans and Health Savings Accounts. First, they had only been in business for two years. Second, they only employed 50 people at a call center in Ohio and third, these “savings accounts” were a Republican idea that the American people flatly rejected during the Bush years.
HERE(PDF file) is a letter sent out to their agents from James Slabaugh and CEO Paul Kitchen explaining how it was their own idea to fold the company because they couldn’t raise the capital to continue.

Yawn:

You’re a liar, Phil Roe. A low-life lying stooge who cannot even think for himself. Your rhetorical lies are a product of your fellow stooge, Dave Camp, on the Republican minority House Ways & Means. Camp, like yourself, is a liar.

The truth is here:

Ban on Discriminating Against Kids with Pre-Existing Conditions:

Before reform, tens of the thousands of families had been denied insurance each year for their children because of an illness or condition. Starting September 23rd, plans cannot discriminate against kids with pre-existing conditions. In 2014, no one seeking coverage can be discriminated against because of a preexisting condition. Up to 72,000 uninsured children are expected to gain coverage by banning insurers from refusing them coverage due to a pre-existing condition. Coverage for up to 90,000 children will no longer exclude benefits because of a pre-existing condition.

Ban on Insurance Companies Dropping Coverage:

Before reform, insurance companies could cancel your coverage when you got sick and needed it most because of a simple mistake on your application. Starting September 23rd, insurance companies are banned from cutting off your coverage due to an unintentional mistake on your application. Approximately 10,700 people’s coverage, whose coverage is dropped each year because they get sick or make a technical mistake on their application, will be protected under the new law.

Ban on Insurance Companies Limiting Coverage:

Before reform, cancer patients and individuals suffering from other serious and chronic diseases were often forced to limit or go without treatment because of an insurer’s lifetime limit on their coverage. Starting September 23rd, insurance companies can no longer put a lifetime limit on the amount of coverage they provide, so families can live with the security of knowing that their coverage will be there when they need it most. Up to 20,400 people who typically hit their lifetime limits on the dollar amount that can be spent on coverage, along with the nearly 102 million enrollees who have policies with lifetime limits, will no longer have to worry about hitting their benefits caps. The use of annual dollar limits will be restricted, and in 2014 will be banned completely. By 2013, up to 3,500 people will gain coverage as a result of the ban on annual limits that insurers impose on nearly 18 million people today.

Ban on Insurance Companies Limiting Choice of Doctors:

Before reform, insurance companies could decide which doctor you could go to. Starting September 23rd, if you purchase or join a new plan you have the right to choose your own doctor in your insurer network. Up to 88 million people will benefit from the provision that protects primary care provider choice by 2013.

Ban on Insurance Companies Restricting Emergency Room Care:

Before reform, insurance companies could limit which emergency room you could go to or charge you more if you went out of network. Starting September 23rd, if you purchase or join a new plan, those plans are banned from charging more for emergency services obtained out of network. Up to 88 million people will benefit from this provision.

Guarantee You a Right to Appeal:

Before reform, when insurers denied you coverage or restricted your treatment, you were left with few options to appeal. Starting September 23rd, if you purchase or join a new policy, you will be guaranteed the right to appeal insurance company decisions to an independent third party. Up to 88 million people will benefit from the new appeals process provisions by 2013.

Covering Young Adults on Parent’s Plan:

Starting September 23rd, young adults will be allowed to remain on their parent’s plan until their 26th birthday, unless they are offered coverage at work. Up to 2.4 million young adults, up to 1.8 million who are uninsured and nearly 600,000 who purchase coverage in the individual market, could gain coverage through their parents.

Covering Preventive Care With No Cost:

Starting September 23rd, if you join or purchase a new plan, you will receive recommended preventive care with no out-of-pocket cost. Services like mammograms, colonoscopies, immunizations, pre-natal and new baby care will be covered and insurance companies will be prohibited from charging deductibles, co-payments or co-insurance. Up to 88 million people will have access to preventive care with no out of pocket costs.

VOTE MIKE CLARK FOR CONGRESS: Because lies don’t make people healthier.