[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H1136-H1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     RUIN YOUR HEALTH WITH THE OBAMA STIMULUS PLAN: BETSY McCAUGHEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the so-called economic stimulus 
bill involves itself in health care. And, Mr. Speaker, if the seniors 
in this country and the AARP take a real close look at this bill, I 
believe seniors would not only be calling the Capitol, raising cane 
about what's in it, but they'll be marching on the Capitol.
  What it's going to do is it's going to require that there will be 
rationing, and it will be based upon some formulas that will say if you 
only have an

[[Page H1137]]

expectation of another 8 or 9 years of life left, or 4 or 5 years, that 
they will ration the care that you get based upon the life expectancy. 
It's unbelievable.
  Let me just read to you some things that Mr. Daschle had put in the 
bill before he was removed as the potential head of HHS. Daschle 
proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the tough decisions 
elected politicians won't make.
  The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating 
Council for Comparative Effective Research. Pages 190-192 in the bill. 
The goal, Daschle's book explained, is to slow the development and use 
of new medications and technologies because they're driving up costs. 
He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept ``hopeless 
diagnoses'' and ``forego experimental treatments,'' and he chastises 
Americans for expecting too much from our health care system. The 
elderly are hit the hardest.
  Daschle says health care reform ``will not be pain-free.'' Seniors 
should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age, instead 
of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt of what is 
in this bill.
  Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The 
stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost effectiveness standard 
set by the Federal Council. The Federal Council is modeled after a 
United Kingdom board discussed in Daschle's book. This board approves 
or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the 
treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit.
  So they are going to figure out how many years you're supposed to 
live and then they're going to divide the treatment based upon the 
years. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than 
treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.
  In 2006, a UK health board decreed that elderly patients with macular 
degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before you 
could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost 3 
years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.
  There are hidden provisions in this bill. If the Obama 
administration's economic stimulus bill passes in its current form, 
seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing of health care. 
Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years 
and sacrifice later. Let me say that gain. Seniors in the U.S. will 
face similar rationing of health care as they have in the UK.
  The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from the 
medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much 
hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this 
bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined.
  Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle 
supported the Clinton administration's health care overhaul in 1994, 
and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle 
wrote that the next President should act quickly before critics mount 
opposition. ``If that means attaching a health care plan,'' and this is 
a quote now, ``If that means attaching a health care plan to the 
Federal budget, so be it,'' he said. ``The issue is too important to be 
stalled by Senate protocol.''
  If I were talking to the seniors of this country, I'd say you really 
ought to read this bill. You ought to look at pages 445, 454, 479, 442, 
446, 511, 518, 540, 541, 190, 192, and 464. I know I went through those 
fast, but I am going to put this in the Congressional Record and it 
will be on my Web site.
  But every senior American and the AARP ought to be very concerned 
about this, Mr. Speaker, because it will result in rationing health 
care for seniors, and it will minimize health care for a lot of other 
people as well, even because they are younger.
  And the doctors in this country and the nurses and health care 
officials ought to be very concerned because it's going to impose 
penalties on them if they don't follow the government's requirements. 
It's in the bill. This isn't baloney. And I hope my colleagues and 
everybody will take a hard look at it.
  Mr. Speaker, if the seniors across this country are paying attention, 
I hope they will read the bill as well.

             Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan

                    (Commentary by Betsy McCaughey)

       Feb. 9 (Bloomberg)--Republican Senators are questioning 
     whether President Barack Obama's stimulus bill contains the 
     right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the 
     economy.
       Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the 
     health provisions slipped in without discussion. These 
     provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until 
     recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services 
     Department.
       Senators should read these provisions and vote against them 
     because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers 
     refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).
       The bill's health rules will affect ``every individual in 
     the United States'' (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments 
     will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having 
     electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily 
     transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid 
     duplicate tests and errors.
       But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the 
     National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will 
     monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the 
     federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The 
     goal is to reduce costs and ``guide'' your doctor's decisions 
     (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are 
     virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 
     book, ``Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care 
     Crisis.'' According to Daschle, doctors have to give up 
     autonomy and ``learn to operate less like solo 
     practitioners.''
       Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is 
     important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.


                             New Penalties

       Hospitals and doctors that are not ``meaningful users'' of 
     the new system will face penalties. ``Meaningful user'' isn't 
     defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, 
     who will be empowered to impose ``more stringent measures of 
     meaningful use over time'' (511, 518, 540-541)
       What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the 
     electronically delivered protocols when your condition is 
     atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness 
     is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed 
     body with vast powers to make the ``tough'' decisions elected 
     politicians won't make.
       The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal 
     Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research 
     (190-192). The goal, Daschle's book explained, is to slow the 
     development and use of new medications and technologies 
     because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for 
     being more willing to accept ``hopeless diagnoses'' and 
     ``forgo experimental treatments,'' and he chastises Americans 
     for expecting too much from the healthcare system.


                          Elderly Hardest Hit

       Daschle says health-care reform ``will not be pain free.'' 
     Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come 
     with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly 
     will bear the brunt.
       Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. 
     The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost-
     effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).
       The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed 
     in Daschle's book. This board approves or rejects treatments 
     using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the 
     number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments 
     for younger patients are more often approved than treatments 
     for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.
       In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients 
     with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind 
     in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save 
     the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests 
     before the board reversed its decision.


                           Hidden Provisions

       If the Obama administration's economic stimulus bill passes 
     the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face 
     similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that 
     individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.
       The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, 
     from medical and nursing education, to how patients are 
     treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates 
     more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, 
     Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).
       Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is 
     intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration's 
     health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to 
     debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next 
     president should act quickly before critics mount an 
     opposition. ``If that means attaching a health-care plan to 
     the federal budget, so be it,'' he said. ``The issue is too 
     important to be stalled by Senate protocol.''


                          More Scrutiny Needed

       On Friday, President Obama called it ``inexcusable and 
     irresponsible'' for senators to delay passing the stimulus 
     bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.
       The health-care industry is the largest employer in the 
     U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation's gross 
     domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way 
     European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a 
     growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in 
     the electronics or

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     auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is 
     dangerous to your health and the economy.

     

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