America deserves to know exactly what it all means

I have reviewed Obama’s healthcare proposal and am led to believe, like every other American, that the government is going to do all these wonderful things for us. However, it is not mentioned once what the actual cost of healthcare will be for the individual and for the family. Although his proposal makes some very clear and valid points, there are some points that need to be clarified.

Obama introduces several ideas but never thoroughly explain what he means. I found some key points confusing.

He stated:

“The most expensive health plans”

According to the summary of Obama’s proposal the standard for healthcare will have no limits or caps, no maximums, no exclusions and no pre-existing conditions. His plan will also provide major medical coverage and 100% prevention coverage. This plan is no different than the proposal made by the Senate and the House of Representatives. The only major difference is increasing the threshold for the excise tax on the most “expensive health plans”. Yet, there is only one plan. So, in essence Obama is increasing the tax for everyone once cost exceeds $27,500.

“Lower Premiums”

In the summary under the category Policies to Improve the Affordability and Accountability it states Increase Tax Credits for Health Insurance Premiums as a perk of the proposal. It goes on to state, “The House and Senate health insurance bills lower the premiums through increased competition, oversight, and new accountability standards set by insurance exchanges.” This statement is quickly followed by, “the President’s proposal lowers premiums for families with income below $44,000 and above $66,000. Relative to the house bill, the proposal makes premiums less expensive for families with income between roughly $55,000 and $88,000.” I, however, am suspicious of such a generous offer. In the house bill the control of the insurance companies was barely mentioned, so I am led to believe that in the President’s Proposal the insurance companies would not be lowering their premiums at all. In fact the premiums would be increased and off set by the lowering of subsidies and tax credits, creating a false sense of security between the American people and the insurance companies.

“New accountability standards”

His proposition for tax Credits are fine. Obama states that the maximum percentage of income paid for premiums is 9.5% for a family income of $88,000 a year. However, according to his chart any family that earns over $88,000 a year will not receive a tax credit. Those families will have to resume responsibility for the premiums that must be paid and will not receive any reduced cost sharing from Obama’s health insurance plan.



“Invest in Community Centers”

I am in complete accordance with the President’s proposal to invest $11 billion in these centers. My one contention is that community centers should not be limited to the underserved communities. These centers can be the future of healthcare in all communities. The 47 MR Model for these centers are self sustained and only would require funding for setup cost and professional staffing for the first year.

“Improve Individual Responsibility”

In our opinion there should be no requirement to pay for insurance as the only option. The insurance argument of lowering costs by mandating that all Americans must pay, is what the insurance experts been stating for years, the supply and demand rules. The industry will raise the rates regardless and the people will be paying more from the onset. This is what we are told to believe from the insurance companies. We believe we should allow each individual to have the freedom to choose where to direct his money? In the 47MR Model the consumer would pay a flat fee directly to a community center on monthly base.

“Hardship exemption”

Under the 47MR model there will be no need for such a clause. Everyone is contributing via government programs, private insurance, or the community center approach.

“Can purchase a low-cost catastrophic plan”

According to the Presidents proposal an exemption can exist if you purchase a catastrophic policy. All Americans would be happy to have this option. A catastrophic policy is a high deductible policy specifically used by large employers who self insure. We should be able to purchase this type of policy. We should be able to select the deductible according to what we can afford. Being able to choose whether we would like to receive a deductible of 10,000, 25,000, 35,000, 50,000 or higher would eliminate the worry of “What if” a catastrophic situation occurs. In the 47MR Model each community center will offer this type of policy to its members. Each consumer would have peace of mind knowing there primary care, preventive needs, and catastrophic needs are being satisfied.


Now the “assessment” for the individuals and businesses who choose to participate in a community center is eliminated. The assessment for businesses with 51 employees proposed by the President proposal is greater then what it would cost to directly support the community centers.

The “comprehensive database” should be solely for claim filing activity. The 47MR Model would eliminate claim-filing activities since new technology would create a database for enrolling, eligibility, and billing.

Standardized funding for the 47MR community health centers would be the model for community mental health centers. In addition, standardized funding for basic medical fee services within the Medicare and Medicaid programs would be beneficial as well.


“Access to Generic drugs”

With the 47MR Model Rx would be provided in each community center in addition to education programs where patients can learn about alternative forms of medicine. Eastern and western philosophies would become an integral part of our center and would allow patients a wide variety of sources for good health.

“Unjustified coding patterns”

There are several coding systems available. Too often Doctors are faced with choosing codes that do not properly diagnose the patient. This is due to a lack of code systems being used. This can correct the patterns if we determine these systems based on the more extensive diagnosis coding.

If we must increase revenue lets have more than one industry. We should offer incentives to the manufacturers of natural herbs--and those of Rx--which have proven to lower health risks as an alternative to prescription medication. They should be included and monitored to avoid abuse.

“Uniform 100% Federal support”

Under Obama’s proposed health bill each state will be uniformly supported for Medicaid services. The federal government is taking 100% responsibility and subsidizing the states. The 47MR Model would be offered nationwide as well and would benefit all communities, not just the underserved.

“67 Billion Assessment on health insurers over 10 years to offset some of the cost of enrolling millions of Americans in their plans”

This statement does not provide any clarity as to who will be paying who. It does, however, seem to suggest that the insurance industry will receive an assessment for enrolling all Americans, now eligible under mandate, into the plan. So what is being said is that the government will pay them another $67 billion just for enrolling all Americans, who have been mandated by the government to join the plan. We are already paying premiums, which include up to 30% of administrative fees which includes enrollment. It doesn’t end here though. In his proposal it goes on to state, “another $1 billion is for the administration.” Am I then correct for assuming that the insurance companies will receive 30% of premium, a $67 billion assessment, and an additional $1 billion for administration, all in the name of healthcare?

With the 47 MR Model projects the cost for an individual to be a member of the community center would average around $20.00 per week. This membership would include an inclusive primary care, preventive, wellness, and educational facility. Each community can help their citizen who are uninsured by having this 47MR model.

In order for America to agree with this proposal we need to know the cost of the premiums, and the rates. America deserves to know exactly what it is that the Americans are being asked to pay before passing any healthcare bill. The cost charged by the insurance companies should be negotiated first to be reasonable and affordable for all Americans before any subsidy is applied. If not we are paying too much for insurance.

Let’s not ask if it’s broken, but rather how do we fix it?

There was a survey by CNN and the Opinion Research Corp and release February 21, 2010 asking if “our system of government is broken” and published in The Swamp Tribute’s Washington Bureau. Let’s not ask if it’s broken, but rather how do we fix it? This question requires introspection of ourselves, as to who are we "the people". Are we a nation of parties, Democrats, Republicans, Independents and now Tea Party? Equally locked in their beliefs of their own party? If so we have seen and are living the results of our party actions.

Big business understands this so they support both sides and buy the votes they need to win. The problem is we feed into this party game, by solely voting on party lines. Its time to place party lines aside and do what our forefather would do and vote American first. Let’s stop the corruption by voting in the young politician who want to make a difference for America and will vote for what best for Americans. If big business can buy votes on all parties lines to benefit themselves. Then we should elect candidates who are best for America regardless of their party. We as Americans have allowed big business to control our government because of party lines. Now is time for us to change our thinking and make America first again. Our votes must be for the candidates who have the best interest for our nation. It’s about him serving the American public, not the American public serving him syndrome we have today.