The Big ‘Doc Fix’ Flop
There are times when politics approaches the sublime level of art, where the sheer audaciousness and breathtaking arrogance of the players, along with the elegance of their schemes, achieves the same effect that one gets while gazing on the Pietà or watching Pulp Fiction. The shortening of breath, the quickening of the heartbeat — responses to the joy in recognizing the awesome majesty in the clever ways the greatest politicians can separate the taxpayer from his hard earned coin or simply pull the wool over his eyes while he is being fleeced.
Is this a great country, or what?
That’s the feeling I got while observing Harry Reid and the Democrats as they attempted the most brazen and shameless legislative switcheroo in quite some time.
Yes, it’s the “doc fix” or, more prosaically, the “big ugly bribe” that the American Medical Association eagerly grasped with both gloved hands and sold their principles for a little more cash when treating Medicare patients.
The story, as it broke in The Hill, is that a secret meeting took place last week between Reid, Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, a couple of White House aides (including Rahm Emanuel), and representatives of the AMA and other doctors groups. At the meeting, the majority leader offered to restore cuts in Medicare payments to doctors that were mandated by a 1997 law that was supposed to reform Medicare. Never mind that Medicare is going to go broke and that those cuts were designed to help forestall that unhappy happenstance.
Problem: Those cuts were already figured in to the health care reform bills moving their way through Congress with the lightening speed of a three-toed sloth making its way to the ground for breakfast only to alight around dinner time. The cuts were counted as “savings” in order to fulfill the president’s pledge not to add “one dime” to the deficit when passing health care reform.
No worries, says Fast Harry. And he proceeded to make an offer to the docs that they simply couldn’t refuse.
We’ll restore those cuts in a jiffy, says Harry. All you have to do is drop your longstanding opposition to national health care and we can do “the bus-i-ness.” The doctors present must have thought they died and went to heaven. This kind of gift doesn’t come along every day on Capitol Hill — well, almost every day, but who’s keeping track? Needless to say, they agreed to sell their souls for considerably more than thirty pieces of silver.
And to top off this fantastically outrageous and exquisitely artistic scheme, the Democrats would restore the doc cuts by bringing the bill to the floor as a “standalone.” In other words, despite the fact that the Democratic reform bills had all included the Medicare cuts in their “savings,” and thus remained true blue to the president’s promise not to add to the deficit, Harry was going to make the president out a liar anyway by sending the bill to repeal the cuts to the floor while “forgetting” to bring along the rest of the health care reform measure.
This is the best of all worlds for the country…and some say like me say for doctors.
This will impose a 21.5% cut immediately and another twenty percent in the next five years…almost everyone will opt out of the program this first year and rationing will be in place for Medicare immediately in sharp contrast to those non-Medicare patients who will receive boutique and immediate care. Specialty care will be very scarce.
This could be the cyanide pill for the program.
It also brings to the forefront the reality of government care. Medicare and Medicaid are the organized crime of medicine failing to pay their way at every step and necessitating a cost shift the rest of the patients. Government underpayment alone adds almost forty percent to the cost of care for everyone. This will end the issue if allowed to stand…unfortunately, look for another under the table deal.
You will note that the AMA represents all doctors like Sharpton represents every American with a tan.
Hey, the best part is to come—much greater savings!!! Doctors will drop out of medicare or retire, as medicare payments will not be enough to pay for their overhead!! Presto–rationing!! And fewer doctors!! Awesome!!
What does one expect when “Dingy” Harry is involved in anything. I hope the good people of Nevada have the good sense to vote the guy out come next year.
And where is NBC? ABC? CBS? CNN? NYTImes? WashPo? HuffPO?
crickets chirping
In essence, the administration and the AMA conspired to undermine health care for seniors in this country…and not a peep out of the “guardians of the populist realm”.
The folks who were slobbering over the “Trig Palin affair”, who wanted to “dig” for the clues to the “real” Cindy McCain, who unearthed everything they could about “Joe, the Plumber”…simply have no interest in (yawn), this sort of boring and tedious story about our countrymen as taxpayers being gang raped in a party clubhouse.
The bigger story isn’t that one party attempted this…it’s that they know they will never be exposed in the mass media. Conspirators after the fact…THAT’S the story. And THAT’S the reason…it will happen again.
crickets chirping
I’m dumb or misinformed, but isn’t this the same group of guys they were
castigating 2 weeks ago for pulling out tonsils or cutting off feet to make extra bucks? Unbeeelievable!
I’m looking at the Democrats who voted for this and am thinking: Aren’t these people at all worried about keeping their job? The ordinary observer can read these tea leaves..
Mr. Moran, great article, verbage. ‘Pulp Fiction’ did come to mind when reading the names of those voting for this bill.. wow!
Though this is just the beginning. AARP, the Unions, drug companies and their lobbyists, other private insurance lobbyists, etc.,
Phew. What a bureaucratic nightmare..
They won, why isn’t old Harry Reid smiling? He seemed to smile a lot more when Bush was in office. Come-on Harry show us those old yellow dentures after all, you got hope and change coming your way. Hey!!
A good question to ask in the aftermath of this vote is:
If Harry can’t keep his own party united on a vote like this, how the heck does he expect to keep them united on a vote on the big bill?
Methinks he’s gonna have a lot of problems doing that.
Hmmm… nearly 5 hours since the last comment.
Where’s the usual lefty trolls to try and spin this as a victory for ObamaCare (or BaucusCare)?
These suits from the AMA, specialty organizations and insurance companies think they can share the trough with the pigs in Washington and not get their shoes dirty. That’s why the AMA represents fewer than a third of practicing doctors. After practicing ethical, cost-effective primary care for 43 years, I am making $50 an hour in a failed state (CA) where the failed policies of liberalism are on full display. Government can’t create a real job or treat real patients no matter how many votes they steal.
Due to a point of order in the House, the bill will not be voted on for at least three days after the bill hits the floor. This means that there is no possible way for a health care bill to reach Obama’s desk before election day. Watch out for Democrats jumping ship if they lose the New Jersey and Virginian gubernatorial races.
I’m actually disappointed the vote did not pass, it would’ve put Democrats’ hypocrisy in full view! For after passing a law that abolished Medicare doctor pay-cuts, how could they justify a healthcare reform that assumes Medicare doctor cuts?
It’s like allocating money to keep all front porch lights on, then pushing an energy bill that cuts costs by assuming we’ll save money turning off the front porch light… But wait… didn’t you… just fund that…?
The problem was never in suspending the cuts, it was how Baucus could dream up a healthcare bill (ostensibly to promote greater health security for all) that insanely assumed these unsafe cuts would go through. Cutting doctors’ already low Medicare reimbursement by 21% (and driving many to opt out of Medicare) really IS like leaving the front porch light off: it would leave Medicare patients less, not more, secure. Democrats may realize this, but not the incongruity of patching the program while assuming no patch should be placed (as it would be too expensive). Either you have your cake, or you eat it. I prefer to have doctors paid adequately. The Democrats can eat their so-called healthcare reform.
Almost all Americans suffer from severe ADD: Arithmetic Deficit Disorder.