re: "Health Care Debate" (8/23/09 response to the B.C. Courier Times)

[A slightly modified version of the following was posted at the above link on 9/1/09.]

In the Courier Times’ August 23rd endorsement of President Obama's so-called "reform" of health care, it acknowledges that "most people are still pretty confused about…the current health care legislation before Congress.” Yet, the Courier Times inexplicably stops short of encouraging us to read what has been placed on the table.

Reading this dramatic proposal is a responsibility which we owe to ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. As we need to know exactly what HR 3200 (and its senate companion) says, does not say, and the implications of both, we must not allow its 1018 pages to intimidate us. In the words of a New York City clothier, “an educated consumer is our best customer."

I do not believe that anyone can legitimately argue that health care does NOT need to be fixed. As far as I am concerned, that is not at issue. As per the Catholic Medical Association, "True reform of health-care financing and delivery is certainly needed. Yet the bills that have been passed by committees in the House and Senate—combined with President Obama’s push for hasty action—could make the current, flawed system even worse."

Many people are concerned that “reform” could be hijacked. As per Cardinal Rigali's August 11th letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops "views health care as a basic right belonging to all human beings....I am writing specifically about our fundamental requirement that such legislation respect human life and rights of conscience in the context of abortion. Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an 'abortion rights' agenda or reversing longstanding policies against federal funding and mandated coverage of abortion....As amended by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 31, H.R. 3200....remains seriously deficient....As long-time supporters of genuine health care reform, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is working to ensure that needed health reform is not undermined by abandoning longstanding and widely supported policies against abortion funding and mandates and in favor of conscience protection.” Like the Cardinal, I want to be absolutely reassured that reform is not hijacked by an “'abortion rights' agenda” or by diminishing rights of conscience for health care workers and institutions.

On August 18th, the Courier Times editorialized that "The death panel charge...is an obvious and brazen scare tactic. Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that....Instead of leading an informative discussion that would have benefitted befuddled citizens in need of clarity, they blurred the issue with myths and misinformation. We have all witnessed the results as angry and frightened citizens stormed town meetings to vent and rage." Really? I only spotted one Courier Times reporter at Rep. Murphy's so-called August 1st town meeting at Concerto Fusion in Morrisville. J.D. Mullane’s eyewitness report differs dramatically from what Mr. Petroziello’s editorial: “voters…have been characterized in media accounts as malcontents stirring trouble ….In Bucks County, I didn't see that at the two meetings held by Congressman Patrick Murphy.”

Based on his August 13th piece, Mr. Mullane also has a very different take on Section 1233 of HR 3200: "Section 1233 would have Medicare pay doctors to counsel seniors on 'end-of-life' matters once every five years - or more if the patient's health is dicey....The man who wrote Section 1233, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., advocates euthanasia or, as he calls it on his Web site, 'Death with Dignity'....Can a man who supports doctor-assisted suicide be completely disinterested when he writes a national law that deals with 'end-of-life' matters?" As per Charles Krauthammer’s August 23rd piece, "We…have to tell the defenders of the notorious Section 1233 of H.R. 3200 that it is not quite as benign as they pretend....it is subtle pressure applied by society through your doctor. And when you include it in a health-care reform whose major objective is to bend the cost curve downward, you have to be a fool or a knave to deny that it's intended to gently point the patient in a certain direction, toward the corner of the sickroom where stands a ghostly figure, scythe in hand, offering release."

Don't Mr. Petroziello and Mr. Mullane ever talk at the water cooler?