G. Wesley Clark, MD
[FONT=times new roman,times]Mr. President, I just read your op-ed in the New York Times. You must either be incredibly ignorant (e.g., pediatricians performing tonsillectomies, surgeons being paid $50,000 for an amputation), or else you believe that Americans are incredibly stupid. [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]You justify a hasty and massive healthcare "reform" to save money, by spending an additional trillion dollars. You would fix a "broken" and broke Medicare system by adding another 47 million beneficiaries to government programs while arguing this will reduce overall costs. [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]I've itemized your inaccurate claims, with my comments in italics.[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]You assert that your healthcare reform will:[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]As you say, "...let's disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations" such as those in your op-ed, "that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed."[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]And I agree, this is about America's future: whether Americans will remain free, or be ruled by an increasingly intrusive and authoritarian statist government.[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]G. Wesley Clark, MD [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times](Doctor Clark is not related to the retired general of the same name)[/FONT]
American Thinker Blog: A doctor responds to Obama's NYT op-ed
[FONT=times new roman,times]Mr. President, I just read your op-ed in the New York Times. You must either be incredibly ignorant (e.g., pediatricians performing tonsillectomies, surgeons being paid $50,000 for an amputation), or else you believe that Americans are incredibly stupid. [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]You justify a hasty and massive healthcare "reform" to save money, by spending an additional trillion dollars. You would fix a "broken" and broke Medicare system by adding another 47 million beneficiaries to government programs while arguing this will reduce overall costs. [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]I've itemized your inaccurate claims, with my comments in italics.[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]You assert that your healthcare reform will:[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]Force insurance companies to insure pre-existing conditions. That's like allowing bettors to wait till after the race has been run, to place their bets. That won't cut costs.[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]Eliminate lifetime limits on coverage. Unlimited lifetime coverages must increase premiums to pay for them and will raise total costs.[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]Require insurance companies to pay for routine examinations, preventive care, and screening tests like mammograms and colonoscopies. Once again, how can you be insured against a sure thing? The only way my company can pay for a colonoscopy is to add enough onto the premium to pay for it, plus their overhead.[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]Make Medicare more efficient, so tax dollars won't enrich insurance companies. Insurance companies do not derive income from Medicare, because it is a federal program. Incidentally, its costs per patient have increased much faster than private insurance. [/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]Cut hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid. These programs have been in effect over 40 years -- and I've seen the waste and inefficiency for most of that interval. Did you just find out about the waste and inefficiency now, and why hasn't something already been done about it?[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]"If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan." But didn't you just imply this week that Medicare Advantage subsidizes insurance companies and should be eliminated to save money?[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." But large numbers of doctors have indicated that they will quit or retire if this plan is enacted[/FONT]
- [FONT=times new roman,times]"You will not be waiting in any lines." Maybe you won't but we will. Your plan will add up to 47 million new insureds, with no increase in the supply of primary care physicians that are already in short supply. [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]As you say, "...let's disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations" such as those in your op-ed, "that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed."[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]And I agree, this is about America's future: whether Americans will remain free, or be ruled by an increasingly intrusive and authoritarian statist government.[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times]G. Wesley Clark, MD [/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times](Doctor Clark is not related to the retired general of the same name)[/FONT]
American Thinker Blog: A doctor responds to Obama's NYT op-ed
