My inbox has been flooded with emails spreading crazy rumors about health reform so I wanted to share some facts from AARP about what's really going on. Please join me in forwarding these facts to everyone you know. Print them out and pass them around at your social gatherings and other places where people are discussing the issues of the day.
FACT #1: Medicare will not be ended, and no benefits or services will be cut.
Your services will not be ended, nor will your benefits be cut. AARP's position on this could not be clearer. And we have sent this message loud and clear to Congress. While the current proposals include savings in Medicare by cutting out fraud, abuse, waste, and inefficiency, we're standing up and making sure benefits for Medicare recipients are not only fully protected, but are improved.1
FACT #2: No legislation currently in Congress would mandate the rationing of care. Period.
Our staff has read all of the legislation circulating in Congress and there are no provisions in these bills that would ration care for our members. None. If any ever did, we would vigorously fight to stop that legislation.2
FACT #3: There is no provision of any piece of legislation that would promote euthanasia of any kind.
The rumors out there are flat out lies. Right now Medicare does not cover counseling for end-of-life care. The portion of the bill in question would simply provide coverage for optional end-of-life consultations with doctors, so that the patient can be aware of all of the treatment options on the table. It is not mandatory and it has nothing to do with euthanasia.3
FACT #4: We have not endorsed President Obama's plan.
In fact, we haven't endorsed any plan. We are supporting reform of our health care system, something that AARP has pushed for many years. We're working closely with Republican and Democratic members of Congress to lower health care costs and to ensure quality affordable coverage for older Americans and we want reform legislation passed and signed by the president this year.4
So what is AARP fighting for in health reform?
Stopping insurance companies from charging older Americans unaffordable premiums because of their age.
Ending the practice of excluding people from insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
Holding down health costs and making insurance coverage more affordable for all Americans.
Making prescription drugs more affordable by narrowing the Medicare doughnut hole, bringing generics to market faster, and allowing Medicare to negotiate better drug prices.
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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You're right ajc, they always need the last word and they're always wrong about it. Sigh! Gotta go now, got lots of stuff to do. Have a nice morning, oops, afternoon. *chortle*
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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They only said they have no plan to endorse yet. What the fuck does that do to make you so happy?
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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I don't know if this qualifies as happy but just the fact that the special interest groups are all up in arms and putting out so much distorted crap about the bills indicates to me that reform is needed. They generally don't fight this hard unless their oxen is getting goared.
Just that it cleared up the "end of the world" scenario that you people started. I never said I was ecstatic, I just don't think as big a disaster as you would have me believe.
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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"...I don't know if this qualifies as happy but just the fact that the special interest groups are all up in arms and putting out so much distorted crap about the bills indicates to me that reform is needed. They generally don't fight this hard unless their oxen is getting goared..."
What special interest groups are those? The Democratic National Party? ACORN? AARP? The puplic employee unions - state and federal?
Or do you mean the special interst groups who actually work in the medical insurance business, invest money in it, manage its risks, try to provide good outcomes for its customers?
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We'll be friends until we're old and senile. Then we'll be new friends.
-Anon.
Roby and cjgrill: do you guys read any of what the government is proposing?
No, we leave all the misinterpretation to you fucking morons.
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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But you might have to expand your vocabulary beyond 4-letter words.
Oh, fuck you.
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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Sure, whatever you say gus, whatever you say. *chortle*
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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I'm not grumpy, I just don't like it when an imbecile like carolyn tells me to expand my volcabulary. And the word fuck makes her wince. LOL!
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"We are all equal, but we definitely are not the same"
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The first time my mother ever heard the word 'fuck' was when I was seventeen and she wouldn't sign a paper that would allow me to buy a motorcylcle and probably kill myself.
She must have been forty-four or fourty-five at the time.
You would be surprised by how many people in America really don't employ profanity in their lives.
But not me.
*****
We'll be friends until we're old and senile. Then we'll be new friends.
-Anon.
I would say they do to an extent. Liver scans only every six months if you are on Lipitor. A colonoscopy only every five years if you're over 50. A finger up your butt exploring for prostrate cancer only every year if you're over 50.
You know, all the things the government wants to provide you, with at least 100 new bureaucracies to oversee it all.
What the hell. One finger is just like another. And I hear the government will be expediting the production of more female proctologists.
Whoopee.
*****
We'll be friends until we're old and senile. Then we'll be new friends.
-Anon.
Current Topic - Just the facts from AARP re: Healthcare
