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Rothfus, Toomey ignore most-vulnerable citizens; Dr. Jonathan Douds (JD); Beaver County Times; November 19, 2017.
In his previous letters, JD alleged he lived in Nashville, TN, and BCT editor’s notes asserted “The writer is a 2004 graduate of Hopewell High School.” This letter indicates JD now lives in Brighton Township.
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center website indicates JD completed his residency in 2017.
My reviews of previous JD letters are here and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, have abdicated their moral responsibility as public servants with their prior attempts at a health care reform law and now continue to do so by incorporating elements of the Affordable Care Act repeal within tax reform.”
[RWC] For background, please read my paper “Healthcare.”
In an ideal world, everyone would have affordable (to them) and timely access to high quality healthcare to address their healthcare needs and wants. I believe most serious participants in the healthcare debate would like this to be true. What differs is the solution.
Mr. Douds (JD), in this and his two previous letters, appears to believe the way to accomplish this goal is via taxpayer-funded government programs. We’ve been using this prescription (tax-free status, Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, etc.) with increasing doses since World War II, yet the patient keeps getting worse. If you were ill and got progressively sicker because of your doctor’s actions, would you stick with him and his treatment plan?
A free market represents the best approach to providing the best combination of healthcare accessibility, choice, price, quality, timeliness of treatment, et cetera. I also believe citizens cannot be dependent on their government for medical needs and remain free. No approach – either private or public – is perfect and some people won’t be able to afford healthcare or healthcare insurance no matter how inexpensive it is. Do I believe people who need help because of unforeseen circumstances should get it? Of course, but via private charities funded by voluntary contributions.
“According to the Congressional Budget Office, up to $25 billion will be cut from Medicare in the House tax plan to fund an estate tax repeal to benefit the Trump family. The Senate plan goes further by eliminating the individual mandate, thus removing up to 13 million people from the health insurance market. This would increase insurance premiums for all and continue to destabilize an already fragile marked [sic].”
[RWC] Where was JD’s concern about increasing premiums when my medical insurance premium increased 283% since Obamacare was signed into law in 2010?
“Rothfus and Toomey are political cowards who hide behind a gerrymandered congressional district and a marginal re-election victory, respectively. More concerned about appeasing an immature and egomaniacal president, they have neglected their most helpless and powerless citizens by writing and supporting bills which ultimately slash Medicare funding, while lowering taxes on the wealthy. All of this has been done without public hearings, town halls or feedback from constituents.”
[RWC] Given his name-calling, JD should probably avoid calling someone “immature.” You would think someone with JD’s apparent education would know how to debate an issue without name-calling.
Lefties have pretty much killed public hearings, townhalls, and so on by flooding these events with an opposition mob, turning the events into a no-win situation for Republican reps/sens. If you attempt a townhall, lefties flood the event with an opposition mob trying to shout you down and/or embarrass you. While some people can handle this kind of situation, I suspect most normal people and politicians can’t. If you don’t attempt a townhall, lefties claim you’re afraid to face your constituents and the mob conducts an “empty chair” meeting anyway. One of these faux “town halls” was “Hosted by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.”
If JD thinks Messrs. Rothfus and Toomey didn’t get “feedback from constituents,” he needs to look at their Facebook pages (Rothfus, Toomey).
“Heartfelt gratitude is owed, however, to Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. By supporting Medicare, they have saved lives and served their constituents with honor and dignity.”
[RWC] Do we want a healthcare “system” where we feel “Heartfelt gratitude is owed” to politicians for our medical care? Unless they’re going to pay for “supporting Medicare” out of their own pockets, Messrs. Casey and Wolf are playing with other peoples’ money. Do we really want a healthcare “system” run by politicians and their appointees?
How did Messrs. Casey and Wolf “save lives?” Nothing has happened yet.
This is a good time to mention Medicare has been a fiscal mess since its 1965 birth.
From 1966 through 1986, Congress increased the Medicare tax rate 10 times! At 2.9%, the current Medicare tax rate is over four times its original 0.7% rate.
From 1966 through 1993, Congress gradually increased the maximum taxable earnings amount (MTEA) from $6,600/year to $135,000/year, over 20 times its original rate. The MTEA was eliminated effective in 1994. In other words, all of your wages with no limit are subject to the Medicare tax.
The reason changes like these fail to fix anything other than pushing back judgment day is, like SS, Medicare is a Ponzi/pyramid scheme. You can find the details in my papers “Socialist Security and Medicare” and “Healthcare.”
“Pennsylvania deserves better than Rep. Rothfus and Sen. Toomey. History judges societies by how the most vulnerable of its members are treated. These legislators are on the wrong side of history and morality.”
[RWC] Did you notice JD never addressed who would pay for his generosity?
I took a quick look at the AHCA as passed. The word “repeal” is used a lot, but I can’t find the one line that should read something like “This act repeals Public Law 111-148 (aka ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ and Obamacare) and all actions taken via its authority.”
As far as I can tell, Republicancare (AHCA) is Obamacare with a bunch of amendments.
Please read my paper “Healthcare.”
To all reps/sens in Congress who truly want to do what’s right, just pull the frickin’ band-aid and get the pain over with.
© 2004-2017 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.