Lou Kiefer – 11/5/09

This page was last updated on November 8, 2009.

Hypocritical harm or Hippocratic Oath?; Lou Kiefer; Beaver County Times; November 5, 2009.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman told the American public on ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday that no health-care reform bill at all is better than one that includes some form of a public option.

[RWC] As a reminder, “public option” is a lefty euphemism for a government-run insurance “company” whose true intent is to push us down the road to a government-run healthcare monopoly.

“Lieberman, Connecticut’s former Democrat turned independent, went much further, saying that no reform is better than the public option because, ‘‘I think we ought to follow, if I may, the doctors’ oath here in Congress as we deal with health care reform: ‘Do no harm.’’’

“‘Do no harm’ — in the senator’s hands attempting to eliminate a public option — becomes hypocritical and surely not physicians’ Hippocratic Oath.

“For what could be more harmful to Americans than ever soaring health insurance premiums, outrageous costs of C-Scans, MRIs and a multitude of charges upon charges in this grossly dysfunctional system? A system that is, for all of us, essentially run unfettered by the insurance oligopoly that we know will never heel to we the people and get straight with the people, until they are made to compete with a public plan that replicates a more fraud-resistant and cost-effective version of Medicare.”

[RWC] How is a government-run healthcare monopoly going to address “soaring health insurance premiums, outrageous costs of C-Scans, MRIs and a multitude of charges upon charges.” The idea private businesses could “compete” with a government-run monopoly making the rules and printing its own money is outright deceit.

Medicare is “fraud-resistant and cost-effective?” According to the Medicare Trustees in their report to Congress in 2009, Medicare is now in deficit (outlays exceed Medicare tax revenue) and will be bankrupt in 2017. Further, part of the bills in Congress is to reduce Medicare spending by $500 billion over 10 years. If Medicare is “cost effective,” how can that be?

Please read my paper entitled “Healthcare.”