Sunday, March 14, 2010 |
 |
Activism Recap |
 |
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 PM   
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, March 8, 2010: Mark Steyn: Obamacare worth the price to Democrats by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, March 9, 2010: ObamaCare Update and Odds by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, March 9, 2010: Mankiw on Deficit Neutrality by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, March 10, 2010: Quick Links: Williams, Boudreaux, America by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, March 11, 2010: Hillman: "More health care 'help' we can't afford" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, March 11, 2010: President Obama's Cousin Opposes ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, March 12, 2010: Vote Count Update by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, March 12, 2010: Beware Both Parties by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, March 12, 2010: Will and Gratzer on the 12% Problem by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, March 13, 2010: Hennenfent on Death Panels by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, March 14, 2010: Health Care Endgame by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | |  E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink ( )  Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts  via Feed Reader  via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts  M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 |
|
Mazer: The Business of Health Care |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
The Spring 2010 issue of The Undercurrent has published an article by 4th-year medical student Laura Mazer entitled, "The Business of Healthcare".
What I especially liked about her piece was that she cut to the heart of the health care policy debate:Medicine often focuses only on the physical act of living -- breathing in and out, keeping the heart beating. But human life is more than the functioning of the moving parts. Although healthcare may be the only requirement for a brain-dead accident victim on life support, it is not the only requirement for the rest of us. To live, we need food, we need shelter, we need companionship and work, and hundreds of other material and spiritual requirements. Healthcare is a necessity -- and after a car accident, or during a flu infection, it may be the most important necessity. But it is not the only requirement for life.
When people talk about a 'right' to healthcare, they mean an entitlement to healthcare. They mean that unlike other goods and services that must be earned through individual work or trade, healthcare should be provided for free.
Medicine is not the only industry that fulfills a necessity for life, so what entitles us to the products of this particular industry, and not others? Why not food or clothes? And why not those products that provide a good life -- feather beds or paintings or tickets to the movies? Or are we entitled to those as well?
The issue goes far beyond healthcare. It is a question of what the government's role should be in providing for its citizens. Should the government collect taxes to provide citizens with whatever goods and services they deem 'necessary?' Or is it the responsibility of individual citizens to work for whichever products and services they can independently earn -- with the government existing to secure their freedom to pursue these ends? (Read the full text of "The Business of Healthcare".)
I'm glad to see that one of America's future physicians is asking exactly the right questions!Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, March 07, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, March 1, 2010: Napolitano: 4 Health Care Questions and Answers by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, March 1, 2010: Legislative Update by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Mazer: The Business of Health Care by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, March 3, 2010: Amerling: The Threat to Physician Autonomy by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, March 3, 2010: Reconciliation: Then And Now by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, March 4, 2010: Mythbusting From Megan McArdle by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, March 4, 2010: Hsieh OpEd at PJM: Can the Moral 'Narrative' of ObamaCare Be Defeated?" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, March 5, 2010: Quick Links: Colorado and Indiana by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Thursday, March 04, 2010 |
|
Hsieh OpEd at PJM: Can the Moral 'Narrative' of ObamaCare Be Defeated?" |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
PajamasMedia has just published my latest OpEd, "Can the Moral 'Narrative' of ObamaCare Be Defeated?"
My theme is that we have to oppose ObamaCare on moral grounds, not just economic or procedural grounds. I'm especially glad to be able to cite Dr. Peikoff's essay, "Health Care is Not A Right" in my piece.
Here is the opening:President Obama has finally demanded an "up or down vote" on his health care plan. Republicans have already raised numerous economic and procedural objections, arguing that his plan relies on economic "smoke and mirrors" and that the president is now endorsing the same controversial "reconciliation" process that he denounced in 2005 as a senator as "the wrong place for policy changes." Yet the president and his supporters remain committed to their goal of government-run "universal health care." Why is that?
The key is Obama's declaration, "I don't know how this plays politically, but I know it’s right." Ultimately, Obama and his liberal base believe that government-guaranteed health care is a "moral imperative" -- i.e., "it's right." And that will also be the key to defeating it.
As Leonard Peikoff once wrote, "So long as people believe that socialized medicine is a noble plan, there is no way to fight it. You cannot stop a noble plan -- not if it really is noble. The only way you can defeat it is to unmask it -- to show that it is the very opposite of noble. Then at least you have a fighting chance."
Hence, one must challenge ObamaCare not merely on the economic or procedural levels but on the moral level. (Read the full text of "Can the Moral 'Narrative' of ObamaCare Be Defeated?")Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 |
|
Hsieh Cited in Re:new Magazine |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
The February 2010 issue of the British magazine Re:new has published a story on the American health care debate and how it relates to ongoing problems with the British National Health Service. They quoted me as a representative of the free-market side.
The story is entitled, "A Bitter Bill".
Although the article is generally supportive of the concept of "universal health care", the author quoted me fairly and she gave me and FIRM a lot of space on the first page. In contrast, the representative for the pro-"single payer" US group, Physicians for a National Health Program, was not named and received less column space.
The online version of the story is not available yet, but you can see the print version here:
http://issuu.com/renewmagazine/docs/renewmagazine1
(Use the navigation controls to go to pages 6-7.)
Here is the relevant excerpt from the article:Despite living in the only Western country without universal healthcare, millions of Americans are keen to keep things as they are. The current system may not be perfect, but the alternative, or so they believe, is unthinkable.
To them, the idea of paying for others is a socialist one, going against their definitions of rights and freedom. Collective responsibility is an alien concept that means spending your hard-earned money on someone else. To these Americans, Obama's "socialism" is only a short step away from communism, the great fear of the 1950s.
Lobbying groups, such as Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM), argue that universal health care infringes on individual rights. "There is no such thing as a right to healthcare any more than there is to a car or a house," argues FIRM's Dr. Paul Hirsch [sic]. "President Obama's health care plan -- or any other form of universal health care -- is wrong, because attempting to guarantee an alleged right to health care must necessarily violate the actual rights of those forced to provide such care and those forced to pay for it".
The British National Health Service has often been dragged into the American debate, and Dr. Hirsh believes that government provision of healthcare like that in Britain results in unnecessary bureaucracy. "Whenever the government attempts to guarantee health care, it must necessarily also control it," he says. "Hence crucial medical decisions are inevitably made by government bureaucrats, rather than physicians and patients. Healthcare becomes just another privilege to be dispensed at the discretion of bureaucrats." (The author apologized for misspelling my name and she told me that it would be corrected on their website.)
Overall, I thought she represented my views fairly, and I'm honored to have FIRM's ideas circulated to readers in the UK!
[Cross-posted from the FIRM blog.]Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, February 28, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 10:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, February 22, 2010: Permanent Political Football by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 23, 2010: Presidential Plan Panned by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 23, 2010: Hsieh OpEd at PJM: "Government Grab of Retirement Accounts" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 24, 2010: Reconciliation Roundup by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 24, 2010: More Alternatives To ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 25, 2010: Dissident Doctors Challenging the AMA by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 25, 2010: Hsieh OpEd at PJM: "Republicans: Beware the Trap of 'Limited' Reforms" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, February 26, 2010: Ryan At The Summit by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, February 27, 2010: PJTV Health Summit Summary by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, February 28, 2010: Quick Links: Madianos, Pelosi, Coburn by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, February 28, 2010: Hsieh Cited in Re:new Magazine by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Thursday, February 25, 2010 |
|
Hsieh OpEd PJM: "Republicans: Beware the Trap of 'Limited' Reforms" |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
PajamasMedia has just published my latest health care OpEd, "Republicans: Beware the Trap of 'Limited' Reforms".
My theme is the seemingly innocuous compromise "reform" of requiring insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions would gradually lead to a full government takeover of health care.
I was very glad to be able to cite John Lewis' excellent TOS article observing that the Democrats' last secret weapon against the American people was the Republicans' willingness to compromise (in the final paragraph).
Here is the opening:President Obama attempted to revive his faltering health care initiative by releasing a revised version of his plan on Monday. But as Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute noted, the president's basic approach remains to "Tax, Spend, Regulate, Mandate" -- i.e., to impose massive new government controls over health care that Americans have already rejected in tea party protests across the country and in the polling booths of Massachusetts.
GOP leaders have been appropriately skeptical of the president's demand that his plan be the basis for their "summit" negotiations, calling it a "nonstarter." But while they've avoided that obvious trap, the Republicans are still in danger of falling for the subtler trap of agreeing to seemingly benign limited compromise "reforms" that would merely result in a slower government takeover of American health care.
One of the Democrats' favorite limited proposals has been to require insurance companies to accept all customers regardless of pre-existing medical conditions -- an idea supported by many Republicans... (Read the full text of "Republicans: Beware the Trap of 'Limited' Reforms".)Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 |
|
Permanent Political Football |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
While reading a story in the New York Times about the Texas State Board of Education, I was struck by the parallels between special-interest lobbying that occurs with a mandatory school curriculum and special-interest lobbying that occurs with mandatory health insurance.
The February 14, 2010 New York Times Magazine published a lengthy article entitled "How Christian Were the Founders?" This article described in detail the ferocious political lobbying in Texas resulting from the fact that Texas has established a statewide curriculum guideline for all its schools. Hence special interest groups have a powerful incentive to have their point of view promulgated in this mandatory curriculum.
The NYT article focused primarily on the Religious Right, and their often-successful attempts to promote the theme that "America is a Christian nation" -- by which they mean that "the United States was founded by devout Christians and according to biblical precepts". This in turn has powerful implications for what they believe children should be taught about American history, the proper relationship between government and religion, and what they considered the dangerously flawed notion of "separation of church and state". And they have been successful in using the power of government to include their views within the textbooks in use throughout the state of Texas.
Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the various Religious Right theories of American history, the kind of lobbying they engage in is a completely predictable consequence of a government-mandated educational curriculum. In other jurisdictions, we might see hardcore environmentalists attempt to require school textbooks adopt a radical "green" perspective or leftists require teaching an anti-West, anti-capitalist curriculum.
Basically, the presence of a mandatory curriculum serves as a giant magnet for special interest groups seeking to have their particular viewpoint represented in the curriculum. It turns the educational curriculum into a permanent political football to fought over by the various interest groups.
Hence, there is a parallel with the lobbying that occurs under a system of mandatory health insurance. If everyone is required to purchase health insurance (as they are in Massachusetts), the government must necessarily determine what constitutes an "acceptable" package. This creates a giant magnet for special interests to have their particular pet benefit included in the mandatory package. In Massachusetts, residents must therefore purchase numerous benefits that they may neither need nor want, including in vitro fertilization, chiropractor services, alcoholism therapy, and hair prostheses -- raising costs for everyone to benefit the few with sufficient political clout.
Nor does the lobbying ever stop. As Michael Cannon noted in the August 27, 2009 Detroit News:In the three years since Massachusetts enacted its individual mandate, providers successfully lobbied to require 16 specific types of coverage under the mandate: prescription drugs, preventive care, diabetes self-management, drug-abuse treatment, early intervention for autism, hospice care, hormone replacement therapy, non-in-vitro fertility services, orthotics, prosthetics, telemedicine, testicular cancer, lay midwives, nurses, nurse practitioners and pediatric specialists.
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering more than 70 additional requirements. As with mandatory educational curricula, mandatory health insurance thus becomes a permanent political football for special interests to fight over.
Of course, the solution in both arenas is to eliminate the government mandate. Just as parents should be allowed to decide what kind of education their children should receive, consumers should be allowed to decide what sorts of health insurance they wish to purchase. The government should respect and protect these individuals' rights to make these decisions for themselves, rather than making that decision for them.
However, according to the February 18, 2010 New York Times story, "Obama to Offer Health Bill to Ease Impasse as Bipartisan Meeting Approaches", President Obama is still insisting on his plan of mandatory insurance as the basis for his upcoming health care "summit" with the Republicans.
His plan would thus turn health insurance into an unfair game of permanent political football, where the politically strong perpetually pummel ordinary Americans who lack sufficient lobbying pull. Unless Americans want to become the permanent tackling dummies for the special interest groups, they should remain firm in their current opposition to the President's plan and not let down their guard yet.
[Crossposted from the FIRM blog.]Labels: Education, Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, February 21, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, February 15, 2010: Taxing MDs in Michigan by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, February 15, 2010: Ten Small-Scale Reforms for Pre-Existing Conditions by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 16, 2010: Virginia Legislature Outlaws Mandatory Insurance by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 16, 2010: Schwartz Rebuts Carroll by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 17, 2010: Scott Brown: A Mere Speed Bump on the Conservatives' Road to Serfdom by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 17, 2010: The ObamaCare Nuclear Option by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 18, 2010: Ralston LTE in NY Times by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, February 19, 2010: Quick Links: Health Care Summit - Trap or Opportunity? by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, February 14, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, February 8, 2010: Quick Links: Minnesota, Virginia, Catron by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 9, 2010: Does Murtha's Passing Kill ObamaCare In The House? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Filibuster For Me But Not For Thee by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 11, 2010: Opposite Trends in Health Spending by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 11, 2010: Reconciliation Trick Back On The Table by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, February 12, 2010: Ralston OpEd: "Health care fight: What's next?" by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, February 07, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 11:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, February 1, 2010: Gorman and Schwartz on Health Choice by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 2, 2010: ObamaCare Supporters Not Giving Up by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Canadian Premier Comes to the US For Care by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, February 3, 2010: States Seeking To Ban Mandatory Health Insurance by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, February 4, 2010: Interview With Jared Rhoads by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, February 5, 2010: Hsieh OpEd in Boulder Daily Camera: Polis And Public Option by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, February 8, 2010: Quick Links: Minnesota, Virginia, Catron by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Thursday, February 04, 2010 |
|
Hsieh OpEd in Boulder Daily Camera: Polis and Public Option |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 11:00 AM
The February 4, 2010 Boulder Daily Camera has published my latest OpEd, "Polis and Health Care Reform".
My theme is that Boulder's congressman Jared Polis (a very liberal Democrat) should drop has latest proposal for a "public option" and instead support free market health care reforms -- because it would be both good policy and good politics.
Here is the introduction:Boulder's Congressman Jared Polis recently made national headlines when he and fellow first-term Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) teamed up to petition the U.S. Senate to include the so-called "public option" in its next version of health care legislation.
Polis' move was an attempt to break the political stalemate between the House and the Senate following Republican Scott Brown's upset election victory in Massachusetts. After Brown's election deprived Senate Democrats of the 60-vote supermajority necessary to pass the current version of ObamaCare, the House and Senate have struggled to bridge the differences between their respective versions of health legislation. In particular, one key difference has been the government-run "public plan" to compete with private insurance plans, which House liberals (including Polis) supported but which the Senate rejected.
Unfortunately, Polis' "public plan" is both bad policy and bad politics... (Read the full text of "Polis and Health Care Reform".)
In particular, I mention the fact that Polis' views are out of step with what Americans want. Hence, he could alienate many independent voters here in Colorado.
Could a version of the Massachusetts election upset also happen here in liberal Boulder, Colorado?Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, January 31, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, January 25, 2010: More California Dreaming by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 26, 2010: Faux Health Reform by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 26, 2010: ObamaCare Not Dead Yet? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 26, 2010: ObamaCare Finally Dead? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 27, 2010: Barro on "Scaled Back" ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 28, 2010: Obama Not Giving Up Yet by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 29, 2010: Massachusetts' Other GOP Winner by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 29, 2010: Not Dead Yet? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 29, 2010: Crawford Letter Opposing Reconciliation Trick by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, January 30, 2010: "Reconciliation" Update by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, January 31, 2010: Did We Avoid ObamaCare Because of MLK Day? by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Friday, January 29, 2010 |
|
Crawford Letter Opposing Reconciliation Trick |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 11:00 AM
As mentioned earlier, ObamaCare may not be quite dead yet.
If this report from HotAir.com is accurate, the Democrats will use the "budget reconciliation" technique to ram ObamaCare through Congress.
Basically, the House has to first approve the Senate bill without changes. Then they would use the "budget reconcilation" technique to make changes in a pre-arranged deal to satisfy the various special interest groups. This only requires 51 votes in the Senate, not 60. This tactic is necessitated by the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts which deprived them of their prior 60-vote supermajority.
The good news is that several Democrat Senators have already expressed opposition to using this method. (Whether they actually vote against it is a separate issue). So the Democrats may only have just barely over 50 votes they can count on. Which means if 1 or 2 more Democratic senators decide to oppose this tactic, then it will fail.
Hence, the important people to contact would be your two Senators, especially if they are Democrats.
Here's an example of a great letter that David Crawford sent to his Senators from Washington state (reposted with his permission):Senator XXX,
I have heard news that there is a plan to pass the Senate version of the health care bill with modifications made through "budget reconciliation", which requires fewer votes.
None of this seems to be confirmed, so I don't know what is true, but if there *is* such a plan, it seems to be a total subversion of the legislative process! Please do not support efforts that are obviously intended to force a major new set of laws and regulations on a people who are trying to make it clear that they don't want it.
The Massachusetts election was the latest of many efforts of voters to communicate that we do *not* support this massive intrusion into our health care. I believe the Senate bill was passed too early, without a real understanding of your constituents concerns.
We all want better health care, but the proposed changes may have a devastating effect on the existing system, especially at a time when the economy is still very unstable. Please listen to what your constituents are trying to tell you and vote NO on any "budget reconciliation" efforts to get ObamaCare into law.
Thank you,
David Crawford If you agree with those views, please speak out!
[Crossposted from the FIRM blog.]Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, January 24, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, January 18, 2010: Colorado Rally Against ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, January 18, 2010: Hsieh PJM OpEd: America Doesn't Need a Health Insurance Czar by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010: More Medicare Malignancy by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010: Rhoads On The Massachusetts Election by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010: Massachusetts Miracle by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010: Today's Massachusetts Video by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010: Hennenfent's Reforms by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 21, 2010: Coloradans Speak Out Against ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 21, 2010: Hsieh PJM OpEd: "A Declaration of Independents" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 22, 2010: Armentrout's Letter by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 22, 2010: IBD: Why 'Scaled-Down' Health Reform Won't Work by Paul Hsieh, MD
Here's a quick note that I posted to FIRM's "News" e-mail list that summarizes my views of the health care debate:
Don't miss Dr. Paul Hsieh's op-ed -- Brown's Victory: The Declaration of Independents -- published by Pajamas Media on Thursday.
Happily, ObamaCare seems to have been stopped dead in its tracks by the election of Scott Brown. Hooray!
However, defenders of free market medicine cannot be complacent. Democrats might team up with pragmatic Republicans to pass piecemeal measures, such as outlawing "discrimination" by insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions and expanding Medicare and Medicaid. Also, individual states might attempt to create "universal coverage" at the state level, just as Massachusetts did under Republican Mitt Romney a few years ago -- with disastrous results.
Many Republicans, including Scott Brown, oppose further federal takeover of medicine, but they support the state-level socialized medicine. They aren't advocates of free markets -- nor even opponents of socialism. They simply prefer more local sources of tyranny. Yet socialism is morally wrong and practically disastrous wherever implemented, whether in cities, states, or the whole nation.
So we need to be vigilant, even while we pause to enjoy this victory. As always, I recommend writing your representatives -- federal and state, Republican and Democratic -- with a clear and succinct statement expressing your opposition to any forms of socialized medicine and advocating free market reforms. You can do that via Congress.org. Write letters to the editor. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who mustered the time and energy to stand up to the seemingly invincible juggernaut of ObamaCare. Thank you, thank you!!
-- Diana Hsieh Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Thursday, January 21, 2010 |
|
Hsieh PJM OpEd: A Declaration Of Independents |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
The January 21, 2010 PajamasMedia has just published my latest OpEd, "Brown's Victory: The Declaration of Independents".
My theme is that the recent election in Massachusetts (as well as the earlier November 2009 elections in NY, NJ, and VA) show that independent voters want limited government. Specifically, they want "the Democrats out of their pockets and the Republicans out of their bedrooms."
Here's the opening:In the aftermath of Scott Brown's stunning upset election victory in Massachusetts, pundits will be debating the meaning and political implications for weeks to come. However, one fact is incontrovertibly clear. The race hinged on the independent voters.
In Massachusetts, 50% of the registered voters are independent, as opposed to 37% Democratic and 12% Republican. In this week's election, independents voted overwhelmingly for Brown, giving him a 52-to-47% victory -- in a state where Barack Obama easily won 62% of the vote in 2008. This enormous swing shows that the independents represent a powerful political force that neither party can take for granted.
Independents are also the driving force behind the tea party rallies. Many tea party supporters have been quite explicit in warning that their opposition to the policies of our current Democratic president and Congress should not be mistaken as automatic support for the Republicans.
So what do the independents want? In a word, limited government... (Read the full text of "Brown's Victory: The Declaration of Independents".)Labels: Activism, Health Care, Politics
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
|
Massachusetts Miracle |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Now that Scott Brown has been elected to the Senate from Massachusetts, pundits will be discussing the reasons and the significance for weeks to come.
However, the fallout for the health care debate has begun as Democrats in Congress are starting to shy away from ObamaCare. Even Barney Frank has expressed his doubts about its eventual passage.
Although we're still a long ways away from genuine free market reforms, last night's election may have halted the momentum towards a seemingly-inevitable government takeover of medicine. Perhaps now, some genuine free market reforms can be part of the health care debate.
I would like to highlight the fact that the Massachusetts election confirms what Duke University professor John Lewis observed in his superb article in the Fall 2009 issue of The Objective Standard entitled, "Obama's Atomic Bomb: The Ideological Clarity of the Democratic Agenda":...This is the clarity that Obama has brought to the American political scene. To see a president’s clear and principled commitment to an ideology -- any ideology -- is precisely what America has needed for decades. This sight has helped many people understand the issues at a more fundamental level than they ever have.
Obama and his congressional allies have unwittingly launched a grass-roots movement that is actively questioning the role of government in our lives. Although a large portion of the protesters remains confused about the principles at stake, an increasing number are gaining clarity. They are coming to see the Democratic proposals for health-care "reform," for instance, not as a matter of new programs backed by good intentions, but as an attack on individual rights and an effort to impose a dictatorship -- as signs at tea parties attest. And many are beginning to see that the Republicans as well have been guilty of such attacks.
...Many Americans are now able to see Obama's plans as an assault on the founding principles of this nation. In addition, many Americans realize that time is running out -- that the future is here, today. These two factors are energizing otherwise nonpolitical Americans to literally rally around the flag, to confront their elected representatives, and to turn against the administration in droves. Last night, the people of Massachusetts spoke loud and clear to express their rejection of ObamaCare and the underlying ideology.
Brown may not be a perfect candidate, but his election will buy supporters of free markets and individual some valuable time to promote our ideas.
Thank you, Massachusetts!
Update: Barney Frank has apparently gone back on his earlier statements.
(Cross-posted from the FIRM blog.)Labels: Health Care, Politics
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Monday, January 18, 2010 |
|
The Lucidicus Project |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 12:00 PM
[This a special guest post from Jared Rhoads highlighting the work he's done for The Lucidicus Project. I hope other Objectivists find this as informative and inspiring as I did. -- Paul]
NoodleFoodler Paul Hsieh recently invited me to write about the healthcare activism that I do under the banner of The Lucidicus Project.
For those who haven't heard of it before, The Lucidicus Project is a small educational initiative that I started back in 2005. Our mission is to help med students learn more about the moral and economic case for capitalism.
(This, of course, is done with the selfish hope that they will go on to become better defenders of their own rights -- and in so doing, help create a freer system in which they can deliver the type of high-quality care and innovative treatments from which everyone can benefit.)
We engage in a variety of activism, including publishing editorials on Lucidicus.org, getting involved in Tea Parties, writing LTEs, and so on. But by far what we enjoy most is sending out our "self-defense kit" to med students.
The kit we have put together contains an assortment of pro-capitalism books and materials, including Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand's article "How Not to Fight Against Socialized Medicine."
One of the biggest hits with recipients is the audio CD of Dr. Peikoff's Ford Hall Forum speech, "Medicine: Death of a Profession." It's a very stirring overview, and it's perfect for busy med students to listen to on the go. It also demonstrates the power of thinking in principles, since it was delivered nearly 25 years ago yet every word is still relevant today.
On January 2nd, we awarded our 50th kit. It's a proud achievement for a grassroots project with such a niche focus. As you can imagine, med students are about as challenging a demographic as one can choose. For starters, there are relatively few of them and they are extremely busy with courses, labs, and rotations. Many are not interested in politics. Some believe that philosophy is nothing more than the hogwash that their freshman-year humanities professor taught.
To make matters worse, the culture in med school is thoroughly altruistic; the desire "to help people" and "to serve others" is often pushed as the only valid reason for entering medicine.
Despite the challenges, though, each med student we reach represents a potentially tremendous gain. Imagine how beneficial it would be to have 100, 200, or 1,000 doctors stand up and defend their right to practice medicine free of coercion, controls, and social welfare programs. Big-government advocates pushing socialized medicine wouldn't stand a chance.
So that's what we're shooting for. Chipping away at the unearned guilt; ending the sanction of the victim.
I'm thrilled that there are multiple groups out there with similar values and goals -- namely AFCM, FIRM, the Ayn Rand Institute, and the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. We have lots of different angles covered, including different niches, issues, geographies, you-name-it. In a world where conservatives don't know what they believe, and the Tea Party movement is at risk of drifting away, we need all the help we can get.
Lately our focus has been on health reform. We've been writing letters to Congress, LTEs to newspapers, Tweeting, and more. Typically we concentrate on long-term philosophy rather than narrow politics, but these health reform bills are not your average pieces of legislation. In 2010, we'll be getting back to our core focus on getting more kits out to med students.
Please -- if you're interested in healthcare as an issue -- get involved. There are lots of ways to do so.
If you have the time and can put pen to paper, consider writing a guest editorial for Lucidicus.org. If you don't have the time, but have the money, consider making a donation. (In case you're curious, it costs us roughly $37 to send out a kit, but donations of any size are always a big help.) If you have neither time nor money, but have a blog, then give us a link and send some traffic our way.
Or go solo. Or help out with one of the other organizations mentioned above. The point is, if you enjoy doing it and if you think it makes a difference, then give it a shot. More people are listening than you think.Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
|
Hsieh OpEd in PJM: America Doesn't Need A Health Insurance Czar |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 9:00 AM
The January 18, 2010 edition of PajamasMedia has just published my latest OpEd, "America Doesn't Need a Health Insurance 'Czar'".
Here is the opening:The Wall Street Journal warns us that under ObamaCare, we may see yet another "czar" -- this time, in charge of our mandatory health insurance. This would be in addition to the long list of czars President Obama has already appointed for "green jobs," executive pay, domestic violence, international climate change, and the auto industry.
Under any system of mandatory insurance, the government must necessarily determine what constitutes an "acceptable" plan. The health insurance czar would be in charge of a new bureaucracy called the "Health Choice Administration," which would regulate what prices insurance companies could charge for policies, who they must cover, and what benefits they must offer... (Read the full text of, "America Doesn't Need a Health Insurance 'Czar'.")Labels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, January 17, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 4:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, January 11, 2010: Ralston Essay: Essential Principles and Common Fallacies by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, January 11, 2010: Where U.S. Health Care Ranks Number One by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 12, 2010: The "Right To Health" In Brazil by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 13, 2010: Dr. Rajiv Chaundry by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 13, 2010: Scott Brown -- Lesser Of Two Evils by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 14, 2010: Gratzer: Massachusetts Poses Problem for Obamacare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 15, 2010: The Permanent Politicization of Health Care by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, January 16, 2010: Quick Links: Opacity, Lab Tests, Lobbyists by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, January 17, 2010: Denver Post Opposes ObamaCare Now by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 |
|
Mayor Bloomberg: The Gun-Toting Nanny |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
You might be surprised to learn that New York City doesn't have a mayor. Yet it's true! New York City is governed by an armed nanny, Michael Bloomberg. He is determined to coerce adults into his vision of healthy living, without regard to their rights or the relevant science. His latest proposal concerns salt. The New York Times reports:
First New York City required restaurants to cut out trans fat. Then it made restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menus. Now it wants to protect people from another health scourge: salt.
On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.
...
The city's campaign against salt resembles its push to cut trans fat from restaurant foods, which began with a call for voluntary compliance. When that did not work, the city passed a law to force restaurants to eliminate trans fat.
But city officials said it would be difficult to legislate sodium reduction.
"There's not an easy regulatory fix," said Geoffrey Cowley, an associate health commissioner. "You would have to micromanage so many targets for so many different products." Oh, don't worry about those pesky details! Nanny Bloomberg will do his very best to mandate salt reduction at the point of a gun when his "voluntary" scheme fails.
Back in April, John Tierney wrote an excellent op-ed for the New York Times about this proposal, likening it to an ill-founded experiment using the whole city as unwitting subjects. That's clearly immoral, particularly given that the case against salt -- not just for healthy people but even for people with heart disease -- is weak at best. Tierney writes:First, a reduced-salt diet doesn't lower everyone's blood pressure. Some individuals' blood pressure can actually rise in response to less salt, and most people aren't affected much either way. The more notable drop in blood pressure tends to occur in some -- but by no means all -- people with hypertension, a condition that affects more than a quarter of American adults.
Second, even though lower blood pressure correlates with less heart disease, scientists haven't demonstrated that eating less salt leads to better health and longer life. The results from observational studies have too often been inconclusive and contradictory. After reviewing the literature for the Cochrane Collaboration in 2003, researchers from Copenhagen University concluded that "there is little evidence for long-term benefit from reducing salt intake." Even worse, salt-reduction might kill people with heart disease:
In the past year, researchers led by Salvatore Paterna of the University of Palermo have reported one of the most rigorous experiments so far: a randomized clinical trial of heart patients who were put on different diets. Those on a low-sodium diet were more likely to be rehospitalized and to die, results that prompted the researchers to ask, "Is sodium an old enemy or a new friend?" Moreover, salt might be the only source of iodine for many people. Of course, iodized salt isn't a great source of iodine, and much salt isn't iodized. Nonetheless, further salt reduction would likely only exacerbate the all-too-common iodine deficiency in America today. Such iodine deficiency can be a source of major health problems -- such as hypothyroidism, retardation in children, goiter, and possibly breast disease. Moreover -- surprise, surprise! -- hypothyroidism dramatically increases risk of heart disease -- the very condition that the Nanny of NYC seeks to reduce by limiting salt.
No, I won't call that an unintended consequence. Like the politicians determined to worsen the mortgage crisis with their good intentions, Nanny Statists like Bloomberg ought to know better. They deserve to be morally condemned in the strongest possible terms for the suffering and death they cause by their negligent exercise of force.Labels: Health, Health Care, Politics
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, January 10, 2010 |
|
Activism Recap |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 5:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, January 4, 2010: Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, January 4, 2010: Oh The Taxes You'll Pay... by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, January 4, 2010: Crawford's Letter by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 5, 2010: IBD: Mayo Vs. Medicare by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, January 5, 2010: "VIP" Treatment Under National Health Care by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 6, 2010: NHS Maternity Meltdown by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, January 6, 2010: Quick Links: Vanishing Doctors, Transparency, Constitution by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 7, 2010: Mihos Health Care Platform by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, January 7, 2010: Vince Carroll On "Free" Health Care by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 8, 2010: ObamaCare Shafts The Young by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, January 9, 2010: Schwartz PJM: "Insurers' 'Sins' Don't Justify Reform" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, January 9, 2010: Pitts: US Medicine That Europe Envies by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, January 10, 2010: Will ObamaCare Kill The HSA? by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Wednesday, January 06, 2010 |
|
Crawford Letter on Health Care |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
Jason Crawford has started sending the following letter to his elected officials. With his permission, I am posting his text below:
Dear _______,
I am opposed to the health care bill for several reasons:
First, I just read an important editorial in Saturday's Wall Street Journal explaining why the health-care bill is unconstitutional in multiple ways. In particular: "the Constitution does not give Congress the power to require that Americans purchase health insurance."
Further, I oppose a mandate to buy insurance from a company where I can't negotiate freely.
Finally, I oppose any further restrictions on abortion rights.
In general, I oppose socialized medicine, "universal coverage", any "public option" or "single-payer" system, and any expansion of government control over health care.
Real reform would be increased freedom in health care, especially repeal of insurance mandates, opening insurance across state lines, and opening HSAs to everyone.
Health care is not a right! It is a service to be bought and paid for. And doctors, hospitals, and patients should have the right and the freedom to deal with each other any way they want.
- Jason A. Crawford
Thank you, Jason, for a fine letter! I encourage anyone who agrees with his ideas to send something similar to their elected officials.
You can find their contact information at:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtmlLabels: Activism, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Monday, January 04, 2010 |
|
Recap #74 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 11:00 AM
I just realized that I forgot to post the recap yesterday. Here it is!
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, December 28, 2009: Socialized Or Not? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 29, 2009: Watkins and Brook: Repudiate The Morality Of Need by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 30, 2009: Ralston: Twelve Ways to Increase the Cost of Health Insurance by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 31, 2009: Orient: Is it Always Better to Have Health Insurance? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, January 1, 2010: Happy New Year! by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, January 2, 2010: Simberg: Will Health Care Tip MA Senate Race to GOP? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, January 3, 2010: More Constitutionality Arguments Against ObamaCare by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Thursday, December 31, 2009 |
|
Watkins and Brook: Repudiate the Morality of Need |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
The December 28, 2009 Investor's Business Daily carried this piece by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights entitled, "Memo To Foes Of Health Reform: Repudiate The Morality Of Need".
Here is an excerpt:...The reason we continue to move toward socialized medicine is that everyone -- including the opponents of socialized medicine -- grants its basic moral premise: that need generates an entitlement.
So long as that principle goes unchallenged, government intervention in medicine will continue growing, as each new pressure group asserts its need and lobbies for its entitlement, until finally the government takes responsibility for fulfilling everyone's medical needs by socializing the health care system outright. They also note:...The only way to effectively oppose socialized health care is to reject the morality of need in favor of a genuinely American alternative. According to the American ideal, men are not their brother's keeper -- we are independent individuals with inalienable rights to support our own lives and happiness by our own efforts.
That means taking responsibility for your own medical needs, just as you take responsibility for your grocery shopping and car payments. It means no one can claim that his need entitles him to your time, effort, or wealth.
Where is the willingness to defend this ideal by saying, "Your health care is your responsibility -- and if you truly cannot afford the care you need, then you must ask for private charity -- not pick your neighbor's pocket to pay for it"? (Read the full text of "Memo To Foes Of Health Reform: Repudiate The Morality Of Need".)
Watkins and Brook also note that the Republicans are failing to make this kind of principled moral opposition to the Democrats' plan, instead relying predominantly on more derivative economic arguments.
America will likely soon learn the consequences of this failure.
(Crossposted from the FIRM blog.)Labels: Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, December 27, 2009 |
|
Recap #73 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, December 21, 2009: Rebutting the Mammography Rationers by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 22, 2009: Negative Reviews Of Senate Bill by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 22, 2009: Lewis: "Arbitrary Power, Dictatorship, and Health Care" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 23, 2009: Pipes: Get Ready To Wait by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 24, 2009: Parker WSJ LTE on Health Care Entitlements by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 24, 2009: 10 Lumps Of Coal In The Health Care Bill by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 24, 2009: Senate Passes Bill, Now Things Get Interesting by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, December 25, 2009: Merry Christmas! by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Friday, December 25, 2009 |
|
All I Want for Christmas Is the Death of ObamaCare |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 12:00 PM
My deepest apologies for posting about the Democrats' evil plot to socialize medicine on Christmas, but I didn't want to delay this post.
On December 24th, I received the following letter from Colorado Senator Michael Bennet:
Dear Friend,
Today I voted for a health care reform bill that will bring meaningful change to Coloradans. Reform that provides coverage to 840,000 uninsured Coloradans, extends and protects Medicare for our seniors and provides free preventive care for everyone. Reform that provides tax cuts to small businesses and eliminates exclusions based on pre-existing conditions. And, as promised, I voted for health care reform that doesn’t add a dime to the deficit.
This bill will make a substantial difference in the lives of Coloradans who are doing jobs much harder than those in Washington, working late into the night, and taking an extra shift before Christmas so they can afford that extra gift beneath the tree. It is for those Americans who are unemployed in this savage economy and still trying to make sure the kids know they are remembered during this holiday season.
For Colorado, this bill will help over 68,000 small businesses provide health care coverage for their employees as they have always tried to do. It makes health care more accessible and more affordable in rural areas by making sure doctors receive a fair rate of return for the quality care they provide. And for the nearly 500,000 seniors in Colorado, it strengthens and protects Medicare while ensuring seniors don’t see a single cut to their guaranteed benefits.
I do not support the special deals in this bill. I continue to believe we should include a public option. And I have been disappointed by weeks of delay tactics that have done nothing but expose a broken Washington.
However, this bill is about the Coloradans and all Americans who just want a decent shot at the American dream. It’s about lowering skyrocketing health care costs and reducing the deficit by nearly $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years. It’s about ensuring the strength of Medicare for years to come and bringing much-needed, improved and affordable care to working families.
After decades of trying, we finally passed a bill that saves money, saves lives and gives families a fighting chance against relentless insurance company abuses.
I will continue to push for improvements in this bill as we move toward the conference report and a final bill.
As always, I would love to hear from you. You can send me a message or find contact information at my web site. I encourage you to reach out.
Sincerely,
Michael F. Bennet
U.S. Senator for Colorado I was so angry that I immediately sent the following letter to him:
Dear Senator Bennet --
I am thoroughly disgusted with your vote in favor of the health care bill.
The lives and health of Americans depend on freedom in medicine. We need politicians willing to see that government controls, regulations, and welfare are the source of today's high-cost, bureaucratic medicine -- and brave enough to advocate for repeal.
Instead, we have you and your pork-loving, vote-buying, economic-illiterate, moral-degenerate, freedom-destroying colleagues in the Senate.
Shame on you. You all deserve to be voted out of office as soon as possible.
In Utter Disgust,
Dr. Diana Hsieh Since Colorado's other senator -- Mark Udall -- voted the same way, I sent him the same letter. (Note: If you live outside Colorado, you're more than welcome to copy and/or modify my letter to send to your own Senators.)
Undoubtedly, Senators Bennet and Udall deserve to be voted out of office pronto. The problem is that the Republicans don't deserved to be voted into office. Yet I think that's what needs to happen in 2010, if only to buy us a bit more time with gridlock. We are traveling down the road to hell at breakneck speed right now. (Update: I explained a bit more about my views on this point in Comment #4.)
Notably, ObamaCare is not yet a done deal: the Democrats have some major political infighting ahead. Paul posted the following message to OActivists yesterday:
One final pre-Christmas message for my fellow OActivists.
Just as a small ray of hope, I read this interesting analysis which indicates that the health care battle is not yet lost.
Ironically enough, it depends on whether the far liberal Congressman will find the current bill so unpalatable that they're willing to vote "no", rather than rubber stamp the Senate version.
I'll send out more after Christmas. But those of you who live in Congressional districts with very liberal legislators, you may be able to help bolster their desire to kill the current ObamaCare bill.
In particular, there are a couple of arguments you can make that are true that would also resonate with them.
1) That you oppose a mandate to buy insurance from a company where you can't negotiate freely. It would be as if the government forced you to buy a new GM car every 2 year as a form of a government bailout.
2) You oppose any further government restrictions on a woman's ability to get an abortion.
And of course, you can make your usual arguments. I believe it's possible to make arguments that they might heed without compromising our core principles.
Hence, we should not give up yet and despair. More later. Please... Do not give up yet! We simply must fight to the death on this issue. Your life and health will depend on it.Labels: Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 |
|
Lewis: Arbitrary Power, Dictatorship, and Health Care |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 10:00 AM
Duke University professor John Lewis has a great essay up at PajamasMedia (12/22/2009) entitled, "Arbitrary Power, Dictatorship, and Health Care".
Here is the opening:The essence of a dictator's method is not to write harsh laws and enforce them rigidly. The world's most destructive thugs have wanted something different. They have wanted to impose their wills on a compliant populace using arbitrary power -- power not limited by laws or constitution, but power that was open-ended, ill-defined, and could be expanded based on the whims of the moment.
Well-written laws are the enemy of the dictator. As philosopher Ayn Rand put it, "When men are united by ideas, i.e., by explicit principles, there is no room for favors, whims, or arbitrary power: the principles serve as an objective criterion for determining actions and for judging men, whether leaders or members." Laws, properly formulated, are based on principles, and serve to translate those principles into firm criteria for judging particular cases. What a dictator wants is to be free of such principles and to use his power as he wishes. Professor Lewis then proceeds to show how the current ObamaCare health bill gives an unprecedented degree of arbitrary power to bureaucrats to determine what sort of health insurance you may buy and what sort of health care you may receive.
Some examples:If you are an employer, you will not escape punishment if a bureaucrat decides that your health plan is not "acceptable" and that you must be fined for your failure to meet his decision. If you are an individual who does not want to purchase full-coverage health insurance, but would rather buy catastrophic insurance that covers hospitalization only, your decision will not be "acceptable" and you may face a government audit and a new tax.
Do you have a serious disease? Does your doctor wish to readmit you to the hospital? A bureaucrat will decide whether or not you get treatment, based on a statistical analysis of the number of such readmissions by the bureaucrats: "excess readmissions shall not include readmissions for an applicable condition for which there are fewer than a minimum number (as determined by the secretary) of discharges for such applicable condition for the applicable period and such hospital" (Sec. 1151). (Read the full text of "Arbitrary Power, Dictatorship, and Health Care".)
As Dr. Lewis notes, the current health care debate is not just about health care. It's about basic American freedoms.
(Crossposted from the FIRM blog.)Labels: Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, December 20, 2009 |
|
Recap #72 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 10:00 PM
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, December 14, 2009: "Doing Nothing" Is An Option by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, December 14, 2009: Message From Louisiana by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 15, 2009: Hsieh OpEd at PJM: "ObamaCare: Tightening the Noose Around Private Health Care" by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 16, 2009: Goodman on the Senate Bill by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 16, 2009: Mythbusting From McCaughey by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 17, 2009: "Freedom To Contract" Article Now Available On Audio by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 17, 2009: How Leftists View America by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 17, 2009: The Public Option In 40 Seconds by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, December 18, 2009: Coburn: The Health Bill Is Scary by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, December 21, 2009: Rebutting the Mammography Rationers by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, December 13, 2009 |
|
Recap #71 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 PM
This week on Politics without God, the blog of the Coalition for Secular Government:
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, December 7, 2009: Arguing That Less Choice Is Good by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 8, 2009: Spot the Fallacy by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 8, 2009: Mundy: Comparing Screening of Breasts and Shoes by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 9, 2009: Durand On Rationing by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 10, 2009: Five Questions On Health Reform Americans Should Be Asking Now by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, December 11, 2009: Tightening The Noose Around Private Medicine by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, December 12, 2009: Schwartz: Why To Condemn Insurance Companies by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, December 13, 2009: John Lewis Talk: "Individual Rights and Health Care Reform" by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Coalition for Secular Government, Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, December 06, 2009 |
|
Recap #70 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 2:00 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Sunday, November 29, 2009: Schwartz LTE On Public Option by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Monday, November 30, 2009: 5 Paragraphs You Must Read In Senate Health Bill by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, December 1, 2009: UK Health System FAIL by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, December 2, 2009: Turner: Ten Reasons Public Won't Buy Senate Health Plan by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, December 3, 2009: ObamaCare At Any Cost by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, December 4, 2009: John Lewis: What HR3962 Actually Says by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Sunday, December 6, 2009: Light Posting Notice by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Sunday, November 29, 2009 |
|
Recap #69 |
|
By Diana Hsieh @ 3:45 PM
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
- Monday, November 23, 2009: Jane Orient: View From 35,000 Feet by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Tuesday, November 24, 2009: The End Of HSAs? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, November 25, 2009: Sticking It To The Young People by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Wednesday, November 25, 2009: An American Physician Reports From New Zealand by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Thursday, November 26, 2009: Happy Thanksgiving! by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Friday, November 27, 2009: Who Will Determine Who Gets a Mammogram and How Often Under ObamaCare? by Paul Hsieh, MD
- Saturday, November 28, 2009: Letters from Peck and Stoddard by Paul Hsieh, MD
Labels: Health Care
| | | E-mail Diana Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
Friday, November 27, 2009 |
|
An American Physician Reports From New Zealand |
|
By Paul Hsieh @ 5:00 AM
Dr. Ross Stevens is an American radiologist currently working temporarily in New Zealand. He recently composed this detailed analysis of the NZ state-run medical system, which I received as an e-mail forward from a colleague.
Dr. Stevens has graciously given me permission to post the full text of his e-mail here. Any American who wants to know what his or her health care future will look like under "universal health care" should read this eye-opening piece:I am currently on a sort of sabbatical and am working in New Zealand for a public government hospital. New Zealand has a purely socialist medical system although there is also private insurance that can be obtained as well. This is a single payer system from a government ministry that controls all care through District Health boards. Each District Health Board gets a lump sum of money each year to provide for their population.
Primary care physicians (general practitioners) are private contractors and are paid fee for service from the government plus a copay from the patient. Specialists (including radiologists as well as surgeons, pediatricians, internists, cardiology, gastroenterology, urology, etc) are paid a salary which is based only upon the number of years since board certification plus bonus for after hours call coverage.
All specialists are paid the same. The top salary band (15 years + after certification) is about NZ $200.000 which is about $150,000 US. Call coverage can add another 15-25% depending on how busy and how frequent. All New Zealand citizens and permanent residents are covered by the National Health Service.
General practitioners see one patient every 7 minutes and, I am told, can make up to NZ$600K - $800K with their fee for service.
Patients must go first to their GP for all initial care--adult and pediatric. Pediatricians are specialists and only see patients after referral from GPs. All routine obstetrics is handled by midwives who receive 2 years training post high school. To go to the ER you must have a referral from your GP unless it is emergent (trauma, etc).
How does this work? Well, my hospital is over budget for the year, so they are closing the hospital (the only one within a 3-4 hour driving radius) to all but emergent patients for 6 weeks in December and January!! No elective surgery or non emergent patients. I could give many stories about delays in diagnosis that would be unheard of in the US.
That said, patients are generally happy with their healthcare and are glad that it is "free". The mentality of patients here is different from the US. Patients are not as demanding. No one gives a second thought to waiting 4-6 weeks for a staging CT for their newly discovered lung cancer prior to treatment -- many don't accept treatment anyway. If they are told they have a cancer, they just go home to die. They are generally happy for what they have and don't worry (or know) what they don't.
For radiology, I am working in a small rural district, so our waiting times are good, but in many of the urban districts, the waiting times for a routine CT scan are up to 9 months. GP's cannot order CT or MRI -- only specialists. The radiology department runs 8:30 am - 5:00 pm and I read about half of what I would read in the US. If it is not done by 5:00, it doesn't get done until tomorrow. In some cases, it might be weeks until a routine film is read. Call back after hours are pretty much only for trauma or surgical emergencies. Everything else can wait until the next morning, or Monday.
Our department is over budget, because they forgot to include the $35,000 equipment maintenance contract in this years budget. They installed a PACS system but didn't buy the Physicians Hanging Protocol software or the RIS [Radiology Information System] -- they are using a 20 year old system that is no longer supported.
Physicians who live here are generally satisfied due to the light workload and the lifestyle. However, there is a huge brain drain from the country. Many New Zealand doctors emigrate to Australia, Canada, or the US where the pay is better.
The country is critically short of physicians, especially specialists such as radiologists. In my hospital, about 2/3 of the medical staff in not native New Zealander -- most from South Africa or Europe) and about 1/4 of the staff is made up of locum tenens like me -- people from outside of New Zealand who come here for 6-12 months for the experience.
It is an interesting system and I have had an interesting time here. They spend about 1/4 per capita compared to what we spend in the US for health care. The care is good but not great here. They have a hard time recruiting and keeping physicians and are critically in short supply. I do not think that the American public would accept the level of care that is provided here. We will see what our future brings!
Ross Stevens, MD Dr. Stevens is absolutely correct. Americans would not accept the levels of restrictions on access and quality of care caused by New Zealand's government policies.
Long waits, outdated technology cost overruns, patients going home to die -- this is not change I can believe in.
Let's hope the US health system never gets to this point!
(Crossposted from the FIRM blog.)Labels: Health Care
| | | E-mail Paul Hsieh PermaLink () Comments (New Page) |
|
| |
Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader via E-mail
Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3) via Feed Reader via E-mail
|
|
|
| | |
|
