What Changed?

Last November, Suzanne Kosmas voted against the health care reform bill because she believed that the bill before the House was fiscally irresponsible.

Here is the explanation in her own words:

Health care reform is, at its core, an economic issue, and addressing rising costs was always one of my highest priorities. Last year’s bill simply did not do enough to rein in costs or to reduce the federal deficit.

On March 19th she declared tha she would change her vote to Yes because:

“We now have a bill that, while not perfect, represents the change needed to put the economy and our health care system on a sustainable and positive path – a bill that includes numerous ideas from both Republicans and Democrats.

“It was my commitment to families and businesses in Florida’s 24th District to be a voice for fiscally responsible, common-sense solutions and positive change for our children and their children. This bill represents those priorities, and that is why I will vote yes.”

Now she says:

As I have considered health insurance reform, a critical priority in my decision-making has been that reform must be fiscally sound. Unlike the original health care bill before the House, the reform bill that I supported is fiscally responsible and takes critical steps to rein in health care costs that are overwhelming our economy. This reform represents the single largest deficit reduction effort in over a decade, reducing the deficit by over $140 billion in the first 10 years and $1.3 trillion in the decade to follow.

Apparently, the only thing that changed was her opinion. She voted No the first time, and Yes the second time – to essentially the same bill. I guess now when she runs for re-election in the fall she can claim ” I voted against it before I voted for it.”

I hope she is happy with her vote, because come November she will be unemployed.

Phil Hare Doesn’t Care

Congressman Phil Hare (D) – IL sums it up when he says that he doesn’t worry about the constitution when it comes to health care.

Doctor tells Obama Supporters: Move On

A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care “elsewhere.”…

See the sign and read the whole story here in the Orlando Sentinel.

Senator LeMieux on State’s Rights

Senator George LeMieux (R) FL – appeared on CNN to talk discuss Florida’s lawsuit over the Health Care Reform Bill.

The End of Freedom

Representative Michael Burgess (R-Texas) told CNSNews.com that if the mandate in the health care law requiring individuals to purchase health insurance or be penalized is upheld by the courts, the federal government could mandate anything, such as requiring all Americans to purchase a General Motors car.

An Open Letter from Jeff Atwatter

Last Tuesday morning, President Obama signed into law the largest unfunded mandate and entitlement program in our nation’s history. By Tuesday afternoon, our Attorney General joined with thirteen other states in filling a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the Obama health care bill. Attorney General McCollum has rightfully revealed an even more egregious aspect of this bad legislation: it violates the individual rights of Americans.

The lawsuit contends two main issues: 1) it is unconstitutional to penalize citizens that choose not to purchase health insurance; and 2) the entitlement program illegally burdens the Florida taxpayers with huge increases in Medicaid costs.

The experts at Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration have determined that Obama’s Medicaid expansion would cost taxpayers over $1.1 billion. This unfunded mandate is a budget wrecker for Florida and one we should not be forced to endure. Floridian’s hard work should support their families, not bigger government.

However, the cost to Florida’s seniors may even be greater. One study sited recently by the New England Journal of Medicine indicates almost half of all general practice doctors would feel compelled to leave medicine altogether if Obama’s proposed plan passed.

Bigger government, larger entitlement programs and additional financial obligations to the people of Florida are not the solution and will not lead us to economic recovery.

The people of Florida and our great nation do not have one more dime to send to Washington. I will do everything within our rights to make sure Florida stays on a road to economic recovery–I thank you for your support!

The Freedoms We Lose

  1. You are compelled to buy insurance if you want it or not.- (Section 1501)
  2. You won’t be able to get insurance based on your health status. Bad for healthy people. – (Section 2701)
  3. No more low premium insurance with high deductibles or annual limits. (Section 2711)
  4. Your insurance must cover preventive care or require a co-pay. (Section 2712)
  5. Your insurance must cover your children till age 26. (Section 2714)
  6. You must buy a policy that includes a long list of mandates. (Section 1302)
  7. Companies employing over 100 workers must provide insurance to all. (Section 1513)

Reagan on ObamaCare

From the 1961 Operation Coffee Cup Campaign against Socialized Medicine as proposed by the Democrats, then a private citizen Ronald Reagan Speaks out against socialized medicine.

Health Care Town Hall

panelists

We are hosting a town hall on the upcoming health care legislation on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at Eastmonte Civic Center, 830 Magnolia Dr, Altamonte Springs, FL. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:30pm.

Panelists include: Rick Scott, Founder and Chairman of Conservative for Patients’ Rights (CPR); State Representative D. Alan Hays, District 25; Kenneth J. Miller, MD, Anesthesiology; and Jason Brodeur, Procter & Gamble Account Executive, Healthcare for the Eastern United States.

Rick Scott founded Conservative for Patients’ Rights in February 2009 as a response to Obama’s health care plan. CPR believes that true health care reform centers on 4 pillars of Patients’ Rights: Choice, Competition, Accountability, and Personal Responsibility.

Rick, an attorney by trade has been in the health care industry since 1987 when he founded Colombia Hospital Corporation. In 1997, he left Colombia Hospital Corporation to start Richard Scott Investments, which has stakes in health care, manufacturing and technology companies. In 2001, he founded Solantic Corporation, which operates walk in urgent care centers.

State Representative Alan Hays is a Dentist by trade. He earned his DMD from the University of Florida in 1976. In 2004, he was elected to the State House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 2008. During that time he served as the Vice-Chair of the Insurance, Business, and Financial Affairs Policy Committee, and was a member of the Health and Family Policy Council. In addition, he served on the Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care.

He is currently the Vice Chair of the Committee on Health Quality, a member of the Health Care Council and the Committee on Insurance.

His awards include the Florida Dental Association Representative of the Year 2006, Dr. Lewis Earle Legislative Service Award 2009, Florida Association of Health Plans Appreciation Award 2005, and Crown Council, Humanitarian Award for Dental Service in Third World Countries 1999.

He is a member of the Florida Medical Association Council on Legislation and the Dental Association.

Kenneth J. Miller, MD, is a Board Certified, private practice Anesthesiologist. From 1985-1987 he served as Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Winter Park Memorial Hospital. He received his MD in 1980 from Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Three years later in 1983, he completed his Internship and Anesthesiology Residency at the University of Florida.

He is a member of the Florida Society of Anesthesiology, the American Medical Association, and the Florida Medical Association.

Miller believes: Doctors must set the standard of care, not the government; and patients must remain an equal partner in decisions that affect them.

Jason Brodeur is an Healthcare Account Executive for Procter & Gamble. His territory includes the Eastern United States. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Food and Resource Economics and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida. He recently earned a Executive Education Certificate, Negotiation and Decision Making from Harvard University.

Brodeur was appointed to the State of Florida Medicaid Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee by Governor Crist to adjudicate preferred drug list for the 2.2 million Medicaid recipients in Florida, representing over $1 billion in annual spending.

He is also on the Board of Directors of Community Based Care of Seminole County and is a member of the Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists and an active American Cancer Society Volunteer.