Let's discuss what's in the Health Care Bill

Claim:

PG 676-686 Government will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, including teaching hospitals.

What it says, yet another big section so I will try to post only relevant sections:

18 ‘‘(K) NONPROVIDER SETTING THAT IS PRI
19 MARILY ENGAGED IN FURNISHING PATIENT
20 CARE.—The term ‘nonprovider setting that is
21 primarily engaged in furnishing patient care’
22 means a nonprovider setting in which the pri
23 mary activity is the care and treatment of pa
24 tients, as defined by the Secretary.’’.

I'm not going to post any more sections, Instead I encourge everyone to read the section because this claim is true.

[edit on 9-8-2009 by Hastobemoretolife]

PG 502 Section 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. - Hello Big Brother - Literally.

‘‘SEC. 1181. (a) CENTER FOR COMPARATIVE EFFEC
19TIVENESS RESEARCH ESTABLISHED.—
20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab
21lish within the Agency for Healthcare Research and
22 Quality a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Re
23search (in this section referred to as the ‘Center’) to
24 conduct, support, and synthesize research (including
25 research conducted or supported under section 1013
1 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement,
2 and Modernization Act of 2003) with respect to the
3 outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of
4 health care services and procedures in order to iden
5tify the manner in which diseases, disorders, and
6 other health conditions can most effectively and ap
7propriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and
8 managed clinically.
9 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Center shall—
10 ‘‘(A) conduct, support, and synthesize re
11search relevant to the comparative effectiveness
12 of the full spectrum of health care items, serv
13ices and systems, including pharmaceuticals,
14 medical devices, medical and surgical proce
15dures, and other medical interventions;
16 ‘‘(B) conduct and support systematic re
17views of clinical research, including original re
18search conducted subsequent to the date of the
19 enactment of this section;
20 ‘‘(C) continuously develop rigorous sci
21entific methodologies for conducting compara
22tive effectiveness studies, and use such meth
23odologies appropriately;
24 ‘‘(D) submit to the Comparative Effective
25ness Research Commission, the Secretary, and
1 Congress appropriate relevant reports described
2 in subsection (d)(2); and
3 ‘‘(E) encourage, as appropriate, the devel
4opment and use of clinical registries and the de
5velopment of clinical effectiveness research data
6 networks from electronic health records, post
7 marketing drug and medical device surveillance
8 efforts, and other forms of electronic health
9 data.
10 ‘‘(3) POWERS.—
11 ‘‘(A) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The
12 Center may secure directly from any depart
13ment or agency of the United States informa
14tion necessary to enable it to carry out this sec
15tion. Upon request of the Center, the head of
16 that department or agency shall furnish that in
17formation to the Center on an agreed upon
18 schedule.
19 ‘‘(B) DATA COLLECTION.—In order to
20 carry out its functions, the Center shall—
21 ‘‘(i) utilize existing information, both
22 published and unpublished, where possible,
23 collected and assessed either by its own
24 staff or under other arrangements made in
25 accordance with this section,
1 ‘‘(ii) carry out, or award grants or
2 contracts for, original research and experi
3mentation, where existing information is
4 inadequate, and
5 ‘‘(iii) adopt procedures allowing any
6 interested party to submit information for
7 the use by the Center and Commission
8 under subsection (b) in making reports
9 and recommendations.
10 ‘‘(C) ACCESS OF GAO TO INFORMATION.—
11 The Comptroller General shall have unrestricted
12 access to all deliberations, records, and non
13proprietary data of the Center and Commission
14 under subsection (b), immediately upon request.

Ok, this needs to be read. I've bolded an interesting section. I have tried to stay objective, but the use of the term "The Center" appears rather Orwellian to me. This claim is true, and a must read.
Just my humble opinion of course. As I've stated before, any issues, contradictions, or mistakes made, I welcome any and all critiques.

reply to post by Hastobemoretolife


It is slightly terrifying to consider isn't it? Nursing homes themselves aren't bad, but some of the people who end up working in them do not have the ability or patience to handle taking care of the elderly. And few things the government puts it's hands in turn out better than before they messed with it.

I actually haven't heard much about the Obama eugenics hoax, so I can't really comment on that intelligently. I'll have to look into it and get back to you.


EDIT: On a side note, I just looked to see how much we have left to go through and we're close to finishing up the claims. Might not be much left for Redhatty to go through.

[edit on 9-8-2009 by Jenna]

Very Interesting!

Thank you all for putting this into Understandable English!

I am interested to read the rest of your DeCoding as the real document is like reading Greek for me. It makes my head swim.

I am probably closer to some of this than you are - I am almost 64 and my husband turns 65 in Oct. We are self-employed and DO have a Self-Insured (type) program now.

This Health Care Bill is like the Welfare System - Good in theory but Not in practice.

The IDEA of having medical coverage for All Americans is Brilliant - but when you read (or have someone translate it as you guys have) you start to see all the flaws.

Thank you all again for the time and work you are putting into this - I for one Really appreciate it!

Claim:

PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency - Government will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.

What it says(relevant section):

3 SEC. 1501. DISTRIBUTION OF UNUSED RESIDENCY POS
I4 TIONS.
14 ‘‘(iv) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN HOS
15 PITALS.—In determining for which quali
16 fying hospitals the increase in the other
17 wise applicable resident limit is provided
18 under this subparagraph, the Secretary
19 shall distribute the increase to qualifying
20 hospitals based on the following criteria:

This claim is somewhat misleading, the Secretary will only distribute people if the hospitals have unused residency positions.

PG 502 Line 5-18 Government builds the “Center” to conduct, support, & synthesize research to define our HealthCare Services.

His reference point is off. This is from Page 501 Line 18 to Page 501 Line 8:

SEC. 1181. (a) CENTER FOR COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH ESTABLISHED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (in this section referred to as the ‘Center’) to conduct, support, and synthesize research (including research conducted or supported under section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003) with respect to the outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of health care services and procedures in order to identify the manner in which diseases, disorders, and other health conditions can most effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed clinically.

This claim is true. There will be a Center established to conduct, support, and synthesize research.

reply to post by Jenna

EDIT: On a side note, I just looked to see how much we have left to go through and we're close to finishing up the claims. Might not be much left for Redhatty to go through.

Nope not much at all, I skipped a bunch of sections at the end because the claims I didn't find all that alarming, I was tired, and the sections were huge.

She will just have to catch up on a lot of reading.

PG 503 Line 13-19 Government will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic medical records.

PG 503 Line 21-25 Government may secure data directly from any department or agency of the US including your data.

Page 503 Lines 3-25:

(E) encourage, as appropriate, the development and use of clinical registries and the development of clinical effectiveness research data networks from electronic health records, post marketing drug and medical device surveillance efforts, and other forms of electronic health data.
(3) POWERS.—
A) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Center may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request of the Center, the head of that department or agency shall furnish that information to the Center on an agreed upon schedule.
(B) DATA COLLECTION.—In order to carry out its functions, the Center shall—
(i) utilize existing information, both published and unpublished, where possible, collected and assessed either by its own staff or under other arrangements made in accordance with this section

The first claim I'm not sure about. I don't see anything that says there will be a database where they will keep this information.

The second claim is true as far as obtaining information from any department or agency goes. I'd like to say that it won't be personal identifying information, but "any department or agency" includes places such as the IRS, FBI, and CIA so it's entirely possible that it will include that stuff.

Claim:

PG 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections - Looks okay.

What it says(just the general section):

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide
16 that a hospital (as defined in subsection (g)) or am
17 bulatory surgical center meeting the requirements of
18 titles XVIII or XIX may participate in the programs
19 established under such titles (pursuant to the appli
20 cable provisions of law, including sections
21 1866(a)(1) and 1832(a)(1)(F)(i)) only if, in accord
22 ance with this section, the hospital or center reports
23 such information on health care-associated infections
24 that develop in the hospital or center (and such de-
1 mographic information associated with such infec
2 tions) as the Secretary specifies.

Well, the claim is that it looks Okay, but what I notice is that the only hospitals that get to report are the ones that meet the requirements. Strange to say the least.

PG 504 Line 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)

see previous post of mine.

Claim is true.

reply to post by Jenna

(E) encourage, as appropriate, the development and use of clinical registries and the development of clinical effectiveness research data networks from electronic health records, post marketing drug and medical device surveillance efforts, and other forms of electronic health data.

The first claim in that one is a little misleading determining the semantics you want to use. The term "networks" is a form of a database, it just isn't in once central system, it's spread out across a bunch of systems in different locations.

reply to post by Hastobemoretolife


She gets the easy job.

We'll just get her to compile the results of all this deciphering.

The first claim in that one is a little misleading determining the semantics you want to use. The term "networks" is a form of a database, it just isn't in once central system, it's spread out across a bunch of systems in different locations.

Now why didn't that occur to me? This bill is frying my brain I think. If that's what they meant by network, then I stand corrected.

[edit on 9-8-2009 by Jenna]

PG 506 Line 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data

‘‘(G) make recommendations for policies
9 that would allow for public access of data pro10
duced under this section, in accordance with ap11
propriate privacy and proprietary practices,
12 while ensuring that the information produced
13 through such data is timely and credible;
14 ‘‘(H) appoint a clinical perspective advisory
15 panel for each research priority determined
16 under subparagraph (A), which shall consult
17 with patients and advise the Center on research
18 questions, methods, and evidence gaps in terms
19 of clinical outcomes for the specific research in20
quiry to be examined with respect to such pri21
ority to ensure that the information produced
22 from such research is clinically relevant to deci23
sions made by clinicians and patients at the
24 point of care

True, and I hate to sound like a broken record, but this sounds like another HIPPA violation to me. Is there going to be any privacy left?


edited, am getting tired, will have to take a break and draw humpty dumpty with my 6 year old.


[edit on 9-8-2009 by mikerussellus]

PG 518 Line 21-25 The Commission will have input from HealthCare consumer reps - Can you say unions & ACORN?

(3) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall consult with patients, health care providers, health care consumer representatives, and other appropriate stakeholders with an interest in the research through a transparent process recommended by the Commission.

The claim is true. Whether it will include unions or ACORN is up for debate, but they will have input from consumer representatives.

Claim:

PG 635 - 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision - Government wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Government.

What it says(relevant sections):

21 ‘‘(b) REPORTING OF OWNERSHIP INTEREST BY PHY
22 SICIANS IN HOSPITALS AND OTHER ENTITIES THAT BILL
23 MEDICARE.—Not later than March 31 of each year (be
24 ginning with 2011), each hospital or other health care en
25 tity (not including a Medicare Advantage organization)
1 that bills the Secretary under part A or part B of title
2 XVIII for services shall report on the ownership shares
3 (other than ownership shares described in section 1877(c))
4 of each physician who, directly or indirectly, owns an in
5 terest in the entity. In this subsection, the term ‘physician’
6 includes a physician’s immediate family members (as de
7 fined for purposes of section 1877(a)).

Well interesting, hospitals will have to report everyone who has an interest in the hospital, including doctors immediate family members.

8 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—
9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab
10 lish procedures to ensure that, not later than Sep
11 tember 30, 2011, and on June 30 of each year be
12 ginning thereafter, the information submitted under
13 subsections (a) and (b), other than information re
14 gard drug samples, with respect to the preceding
15 calendar year is made available through an Internet
16 website that—
17 ‘‘(A) is searchable and is in a format that
18 is clear and understandable;
19 ‘‘(B) contains information that is pre
20 sented by the name of the applicable manufac
21 turer or distributor, the name of the covered re
22 cipient, the business address of the covered re
23 cipient, the specialty (if applicable) of the cov
24 ered recipient, the value of the payment or
25 other transfer of value, the date on which the
8 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—
9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab
10 lish procedures to ensure that, not later than Sep
11 tember 30, 2011, and on June 30 of each year be
12 ginning thereafter, the information submitted under
13 subsections (a) and (b), other than information re
14 gard drug samples, with respect to the preceding
15 calendar year is made available through an Internet
16 website that—
17 ‘‘(A) is searchable and is in a format that
18 is clear and understandable;
19 ‘‘(B) contains information that is pre
20 sented by the name of the applicable manufac
21 turer or distributor, the name of the covered re
22 cipient, the business address of the covered re
23 cipient, the specialty (if applicable) of the cov
24 ered recipient, the value of the payment or
25 other transfer of value, the date on which the

Yes this claim is true, not only is it going to shine the light on the Doctors, but also their immediate family members. :shk:

[edit on 9-8-2009 by Hastobemoretolife]

Claim:

PG 632 Lines 14-25 The Government may implement any “Quality measure” of HealthCare Services as they see fit.

What it says:

14 ‘‘(II) In the case of a specified area or medical topic
15 determined appropriate by the Secretary for which a fea
16 sible and practical quality measure has not been endorsed
17 by the entity with a contract under section 1890(a), the
18 Secretary may specify a measure that is not so endorsed
19 as long as due consideration is given to measures that
20 have been endorsed or adopted by a consensus organiza
21 tion identified by the Secretary. The Secretary shall sub
22 mit such a non-endorsed measure to the entity for consid
23 eration for endorsement. If the entity considers but does
24 not endorse such a measure and if the Secretary does not
25 phase-out use of such measure, the Secretary shall include
1 the rationale for continued use of such a measure in rule
2 making.’’.

I'm going to have to say this claim is true. It really sounds like it can go both ways, and yet again more power for the Secretary that bypasses congress.

PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.

Page 524 Lines 9-13:

(b) COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH TRUST FUND; FINANCING FOR THE TRUST FUND.—For provision establishing a Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund and financing such Trust Fund, see section 1802.

Claim is true. For further reading see the following section beginning on page 823:

8 SEC. 1802. COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH TRUST FUND; FINANCING FOR TRUST FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to trust fund code) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
SEC. 9511. HEALTH CARE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH TRUST FUND.
(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the ‘Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘CERTF’), consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section and section 9602(b).

Claim:

PG 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups including Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HealthCare quality.

What it says:

9 ‘‘(6) MULTI-STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.—For pur
10 poses of this subsection, the term ‘multi-stakeholder
11 groups’ means, with respect to a quality measure, a
12 voluntary collaborative of organizations representing
13 persons interested in or affected by the use of such
14 quality measure, such as the following:
15 ‘‘(A) Hospitals and other institutional pro
16 viders.
17 ‘‘(B) Physicians.
18 ‘‘(C) Health care quality alliances.
19 ‘‘(D) Nurses and other health care practi
20 tioners.
21 ‘‘(E) Health plans.
22 ‘‘(F) Patient advocates and consumer
23 groups.
24 ‘‘(G) Employers.
1 ‘‘(H) Public and private purchasers of
2 health care items and services.
3 ‘‘(I) Labor organizations.
4 ‘‘(J) Relevant departments or agencies of
5 the United States.
6 ‘‘(K) Biopharmaceutical companies and
7 manufacturers of medical devices.
8 ‘‘(L) Licensing, credentialing, and accred
9 iting bodies.

This next section is before the who, this is the why:

10 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT FOR TRANSPARENCY IN
11 PROCESS.—
12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In convening multi
13 stakeholder groups under paragraph (2) with
14 respect to the selection of quality measures, the
15 consensus-based entity described in such para
16 graph shall provide for an open and transparent
17 process for the activities conducted pursuant to
18 such convening.

Well, this claim is true, even though it doesn't specifically mention ACORN, Labor unions and every other entity under the sun is mentioned so I don't see why they wouldn't be included.

A side note - Ready for your health care to be determined by who is the most well connected?

Claim:

PG 628 Section 1443 Government will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures.

What it says:

1 SEC. 1443. MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PRE-RULEMAKING INPUT
2 INTO SELECTION OF QUALITY MEASURES.
3 Section 1808 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
4 1395b–9) is amended by adding at the end the following
5 new subsection:
6 ‘‘(d) MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PRE-RULEMAKING
7 INPUT INTO SELECTION OF QUALITY MEASURES.—
8 ‘‘(1) LIST OF MEASURES.—Not later than De9
cember 1 before each year (beginning with 2011),
10 the Secretary shall make public a list of measures
11 being considered for selection for quality measure
12 ment by the Secretary in rulemaking with respect to
13 payment systems under this title beginning in the
14 payment year beginning in such year and for pay
15 ment systems beginning in the calendar year fol
16 lowing such year, as the case may be.
17 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION ON SELECTION OF EN
18 DORSED QUALITY MEASURES.—A consensus-based
19 entity that has entered into a contract under section
20 1890 shall, as part of such contract, convene multi
21 takeholder groups to provide recommendations on
22 the selection of individual or composite quality meas
23 ures, for use in reporting performance information
24 to the public or for use in public health care pro
25 grams.

This claim is true and in my previous post is the mentioned people that will have input, but when you read through the bill you notice the consensus based group is one set up by the secretary.

PG 525-620 deals with the Government basically taking over nursing homes, ... Read More here

If either one of you wants to take over on this one, please go ahead. There is so much on new ethical compliance, rules, new regulations, each nursing home (to stay in compliance with new goverrnment regulations) has to have 3 previous years of records to show compliance of everything, from overtime, food expenditures, physical therapies (costs)nursing avaliability to residents. . . .

I'm going to say this one is true. I think I threw my back out just reading this.

Just my opinion, but it looks like they are making it so difficult to STAY open and operate as a nursing home, that many would have to close. Just my opinion, mind you, but trying to read this portion of the bill has been brutal!