December 11, 2009 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is continuing to wage a disinformation war against the American public over his nationalized health care plan.
The latest ploy is to pretend that he has reached a “compromise” agreement with moderates over the “public option” – which is government-run socialized medicine. According to the agreement, allegedly reached on Tuesday evening, the public option has been revised to be a program like the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). This program covers government workers and Members of Congress.
The FEHBP offers private insurance plans, but are under strict government control. The FEHBP costs are rising higher than the national average. Premiums in this plan are expected to rise to 7.9% this year and 8.8% in 2010. In fact, premiums in this government-controlled program are rising so fast that 100,000 federal workers have opted out of the program.
FEHBP members are finding their choices being narrowed, too. Next year, 32 insurance plans will either drop out of the program or reduce their participation.
Jacqueline Simon, public policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees has stated: “We just always want to emphasize that FEHBP shouldn’t be a model for anything except for what not to do.”
Sen. Reid wants to force Americans into a federally-controlled health care system that is collapsing before our eyes.
Americans don’t want Reid’s health care plan. Fox News has just reported on December 11 that 54% of Americans don’t want Congress to do anything on health care reform!
In addition, Reid’s plan forces Americans to get health insurance whether they want it or not. This is clearly unconstitutional, but liberals justify ignoring the principles in the Constitution by claiming a right to mandate insurance under the interstate commerce clause or the power to tax.
The Heritage Foundation held a conference on December 9 to discuss the unconstitutional plan to force Americans to purchase health insurance in Reid’s plan. The federal government has no authority to force Americans to purchase any products.
Bail Out For Abortion Industry
An effort was made to restrict abortion coverage in the Reid bill, but it was defeated by a 54-45 vote. The amendment had been sponsored by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) says he will add something in the manager’s amendment to satisfy Nelson’s concerns. We can’t trust Reid to protect the lives of unborn children.
The amendment would have prohibited abortion coverage in the proposed federal government insurance program, and prohibited subsidizing private insurance plans that cover abortion on demand.
The health care bill is a bailout for the abortion lobby. If the abortion coverage is included, it will benefit Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry. Abortions will be contracted out to groups like Planned Parenthood through the health care bill.
Planned Parenthood has an annual budget of more than $1 billion yearly and had an $85 million profit in 2008. It also received $350 million in federal funds in 2007.
Yet, even with all of this money flowing in to Planned Parenthood, it is having financial difficulties, according to a Harvard study. The abortion group is losing affiliates – and thus losing a lucrative income from destroying human babies. It is also losing money on the sale of emergency contraceptives.
Sen. Reid’s health care bill, however, will help solve Planned Parenthood’s financial woes by including abortion as a federally-guaranteed health benefit. Planned Parenthood will be contracted by the federal government to provide abortion services. Thanks to Reid, Planned Parenthood will have an unlimited supply of abortions – paid for by taxpayers.
If abortion coverage is included in any health care bill, it will directly benefit Planned Parenthood’s bottom line.
Reid’s bill will lead to rationing of health care for the elderly, fund abortion, put bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions, raise premiums, gut Medicare, and cost trillions of dollars.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your U.S. Senators to oppose Reid’s health care bill or any other Democrat-sponsored bill that will have the federal government controlling our health care system.
