If You Think the Healthcare Bill is Not About Totalitarian Control, Read This

Bob Moffitt and Julius Chen from the Heritage Foundation write:

The President and his congressional allies routinely insist that if Americans like the health insurance that they currently have, they can keep it. But the simple fact is that this is a presidential promise that will not be kept if the House bill, in its current form, is signed into law. Under the House bill, the federal government is authorized to determine what health benefits must be included in Americans’ health insurance plans and federal officials will determine the health plans that would be considered “acceptable” coverage under the law.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) offered an amendment that would ensure that nothing in the bill could prevent individuals from keeping their current health benefit plan. Based on their own reading of the language of the bill, several [The House Energy and Commerce] Committee members did not believe such a guarantee, as proposed by Rep. Stearns, was necessary. So, they defeated the Stearns amendment...

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) offered an amendment that would put the government in control of setting prices for insurance premiums for seniors’ prescription drug coverage. The amendment would mandate that premiums for insurance plans offered on the National Health Exchange could not exceed 150 percent of the annual percentage increase in medical inflation, essentially placing a government price cap on premiums. In addition, the amendment would allow the Secretary of HHS to “negotiate” the drug prices in Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans. In other words, the government, not the market, would fix prices for drugs. The Schakowsky amendment passed...

Under the House bill, the Congressionally-created public health plan would receive favorable tax treatment and funding for start-up costs. Nearly all independent studies conclude, however, that the public plan would erode private health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. A major reason is that the public plan would not compete on a truly level playing field with private health insurance.

Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA) proposed that the public plan be subject to the same legal rules and standards and operate in the same business environment as private health plans. He offered an amendment that would impose these various requirements, including payment of state taxes, on the public option. The Radanovich amendment failed...

President Obama has repeatedly told Americans that any health care reform legislation he signs will keep the government out of health care decisions. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), himself a physician, offered an amendment to prohibit federal officials from interfering or dictating how medical providers should treat patients. The Gingrey amendment failed, with 33 Democrats voting against it...