COMMENTARY: "Health care reformers should get facts straight." by Joanne B. Conrad

Newspaper Commentary, published 8/27/09, Livingston County News, Geneseo, NY 14454.

Response to Judith Hunter, Geneseo: http://thelcn.com/2009/08/hunter-rebuttal/

Perhaps Ms. Hunter, who writes that Congressman Lee’s data are suspect, might also be susceptible to FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

First, the Lewin Group not only proclaims its independence from Ingenix, its owner, which is a subsidiary of United Health Group, in which, incidentally, TIAA-CREF (a SUNY pension plan) invests, it has also rebutted Congressman Pete Stark’s (D-CA) disputes of its numbers. (See “Lewin vs. Stark: How Many Americans will end up on the public plan,” posted 7/22/09 in “Health Care.”) It is further purported that "Neither Ingenix nor United Health Group or its subsidiaries review the work products of The Lewin Group. [It] operates with editorial independence and provides its clients with the very best expert and impartial health care and human services policy research and consulting services." In addition, the Wall Street Journal, 6/26/07, quoted Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Bob Bennett (R-UT) as saying "The Lewin Group [is] the gold standard of independent health-care analysis." According to Ms. Hunter, I suppose this is wrong.

Second, 6% of the people in the 26th congressional district who don’t have health insurance may well include some of those who can afford it but elect not to purchase it or decline to enroll in things like NYSCHIP, etc.

Third, I do not begrudge that my premiums may help pay for the uninsured.

Fourth, cannot the donut hole problems be fixed without a new program?

Fifth, tax credits for small businesses (or anyone) are deducted from taxes owed; I presume these tax savings might be used to purchase employee health insurance, so Section 313 of H.R. 3200 requires an 8% tax on businesses who don’t purchase the insurance for their employees. Their payroll taxes will then be the employer’s share of Social Security, Medicare, AND another 8%, not to mention the mandatory disability, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance costs, the latter being TOTALLY paid by the employer. I would be interested in knowing what amount the “tax credits” are and how much they would offset actual health insurance costs. 8% of a $30000 annual salary is $2400; is that adequate for a health insurance policy?

Sixth, how can H. R. 3200 be fully funded from Medicare and Medicaid savings and a tax on the wealthy? I have heard about $500 million cuts in Medicare, but no details about what such cuts include. There is also a proposal to cut $150 billion from the Medicare Advantage program, yet the President declared on 7/28/09 that it is a “misperception” that Capitol Hill is discussing reducing Medicare benefits. What are the facts? What is the truth? It seems astounding that CBO estimates of the costs are so much different from House and/or Senate committees’ projections.

Seventh, taxing the wealthy means less investment, much of which gets invested in the economy as job creation. Are we shooting ourselves in the feet? In addition, NYS is suffering from lower revenues that used to come from the wealthy’s tax payments.

Eighth, why aren’t we amenable to solving Medicare’s and Medicaid’s problems before we embark on “Medicare For All,” or any of the other 4 or 5 pending national health care proposals?

My FUD stems from government control of 1/6 of our economy. At least insurance representatives are sometimes flexible whereas government fiats are inexorable. I have personally experienced insurance refusals that have been reversed.

Let government fix things like portability, caps, refusals, tort reform, purchasing across state lines, et al, but why should government control all of our health care? It seems like putting bandaids on an aneurysm (Medicare and Medicaid) that’s about to rupture, and the bandaids are all controlled by myriad NEW federal agencies, boards, advisory councils, commissions, etc. I have heard a rumor that H. R. 3200 creates up to 53 +/- new departments. How can that be very cost effective, provide quality control, or even be fair? Indeed, who will be guarding the guardians?

I would recommend visiting http://myheritage.org/, then clicking on “Fact-checking the White House on health care,” and then watching the 4 videos. However, the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank, and they are probably regarded similarly to the Lewin Group. I simply wonder who is really telling the truth.

It’s no wonder that claims and counterclaims are causing confusion and are probably contributing to new polls showing more Americans opposed to health care and insurance reform. Whom are we to believe? Maybe more transparency and accountability would help?