A Practical Health Care Solution

I would like to suggest a condensed health care plan.

1. Doctors – not bureaucrats - determine appropriate treatment.

2. Don’t gut Medicare to pay for health reform.

3. No one should be excluded because of a pre-existing condition.

4. Provide full scholarships for primary care doctors.

5. Enact real tort reform – cap “pain and suffering” awards and instigate a “loser pays” policy for medical malpractice suits.

6. Allow citizens to buy health care insurance across state lines.

7. Subsidize premiums for low income families.

8. Drop the public option. It is too expensive for both the country and its citizens.

Please do not try to hide controversial items in lengthy, convoluted bills. Read the bills and make them available to the public at least five days before Congress votes on them. Be open and transparent. Respect the intelligence of your constituents.

Signed,
The Electorate

Article V - VII: Amendments, Debts and Ratification

Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

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Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

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Article. VII.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest William Jackson Secretary

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

From the National Archives

Article IV: The States

Article. IV.

Section. 1.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section. 2.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section. 3.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section. 4.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

From the National Archives

Article III: The Judiciary of the United States

Article III.

Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section. 2.

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;-- between a State and Citizens of another State,--between Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

From the National Archives

Is Health Reform Meant To Save Social Security?

I am beginning to wonder if health care reform is meant to solve the social security problem. Social security is running out of funds. How can less money be spent on social security? Every year more and more people are entering the system. If fewer people received social security, the system could be saved. If medical treatment was restricted to those who received social security, the number of recipients would be reduced.

All the health care proposals being considered cut Medicare by over 500 billion dollars. As more people enter Medicare, how can costs be massively cut and benefits not be affected? Eliminating fraud alone will not accomplish this and why has eliminating fraud not been addressed long ago? The government says it will cut waste. So what does the government consider waste? Is it denying treatment to seniors when that treatment would be approved for those who are younger? Is this waste? Some of the president’s remarks indicate that it would be.

Medicare already has arbitrary restrictions. A bone density test can not be ordered without a diagnosis of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is diagnosed by a bone density scan. It is a Catch 22. This is government bureaucracy at work.

Only half the doctors in this country currently accept Medicare. Next year, their reimbursement will be cut by twenty-one percent. Other cuts are proposed for the not so distant future. Fewer and fewer doctors will accept Medicare. Lines will get longer and in some areas cease to exist.

The current health care proposals are all a bad deal for seniors. The health care proposals are being paid for by cuts that only effect seniors. The plans are build on the backs of seniors. Plans would virtually eliminate Medicare Advantage, which supplies health care to about twenty-five percent of seniors. Many of these are low income seniors. In some sections of the country this is the only plan available. Civilizations are judged by how they treat their very young and very old. It is not about “cost effectiveness”. It’s about valuing human life.

Signed,
The Electorate

Article II: The Constitution and the President

Article. II.

Section. 1.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section. 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

From the National Archives

Health Care Part 2: Congress Still Doesn't Listen

This summer the American people made it abundantly clear that they did not like and did not want the health care reform being proposed by Congress. Polls show that this is still true. Two-thirds of our representatives were unwilling to meet with their constituents. I can at least respect those who were willing to “take the heat”. I have waited to see the response of our representatives. At first they ”hunkered down”, but are now again beginning to try and push this unwanted, so called, reform down our throats.

The House is trying to “repackage” and combine their proposals. The bills don’t need to be repackaged; they need to be fundamentally changed. A bad bill is a bad bill. The House needs to consider what the people want and not just what Congress thinks they need.

The Senate is working on a supposedly bipartisan bill. If the government controls a co-op, it is still a public option. The bill is now being marked up in committee. It is being changed from a true effort of bipartisan legislation into the same kind of legislation that the public has already said that they do not want.

Is Congress unable or unwilling to listen to the American people? We do not want the government to run or control our health care. It doesn’t matter what Congress calls the plan. We do not want and can not afford a large, expensive new program. Congress has already spent all the money this country has and more. In this difficult time, citizens can not afford more taxes and fines are nothing but hidden taxes.

Significant changes can be made to our health care system that will make it more available and more affordable. These changes will not further bankrupt this country and will not cause more governmental intrusion in out lives. Congress needs to drop the public option. Congress needs to eliminate exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Congress needs to allow citizens to buy health care from any insurance company based in this country – across state lines. This would increase competition and lower costs. Congress needs to enact real tort reform. Cap “pain and suffering” awards and instigate a “loser pays” system for medical malpractice suits. This would discourage the practice of defensive medicine and lower malpractice insurance. This would lower health care costs. This has already been proven at the state level. Congress does need to address the fraud and waste in current government health care programs. Congress should not gut Medicare to provide health care to others. Congress can set a basic minimum of health care coverage, but not a maximum. Congress should eliminate comparative cost effectiveness in health care. People are not lab rats. These are just a few things that could be done to reform health care and would not put our country further in debt.

Signed,
The Electorate