Senators, Representatives, Pres. Obama - ARE YOU NUTS???

Rarely do I write opinion pieces, but with Medicare cuts beginning today, this time is an exception.

Senators, Representatives, President Obama, are you all seriously deluded or NUTS?. I know you read this site often; your foot prints are visible to me. Just in case you aren't reading anyone else, please check these sites out:

"With cuts to Medicare looming again, Maryland doctors mull whether to leave practice" - Baltimore Business Journal http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2010/05/24/story3.htm... ____

"Congress Fails to Avert Medicare Payment Cut Scheduled for June 1 CMS Instructs Contractors to Hold Claims" http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/government... _____

From Medscape Medical News "Organized Medicine Blasts Congress for Failing to Stop Medicare Pay Cut" by Robert Lowes http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/722694 _____

"The medical record: as it goes, so goes medicine" By DAN GOLD • For the Tribune • June 1, 2010 http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100601/LIFESTYLE/6010306 ____

Texas doctors opting out of Medicare at alarming rate By TODD ACKERMAN HOUSTON CHRONICLE May 17, 2010, 11:02PM http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7009807.html ____

This last one is alarming because, like Texas & Maryland, physicias in other states are seriously considering whether to opt out of Medicare. Texas & Maryland physicians aren't alone.

This isn't about jobs being lost, or money being lost. This is about the elderly & disabled being able to have affordable healthcare with physicians who will be there to provide it. This is also about ALL of us having affordable healthcare, not just Medicare recipients.

What seems to be ignored is the "Domino Effect" this will have on the entire industry. Most insurance companies build their reimbursements based on a percentage of what Medicare pays. Guess what - if Medicare payments go down, the insurance companies' reimbursements will go down also per payer/provider contracts that are built on this percentage agreement. It's *not* just Medicare!

Built into our laws is that everyone must have (and pay for) insurance coverage, but forgotten (overlooked? ignored?) is the fact that not all providers must ACCEPT those insurances; healthcare providers can OPT OUT of Medicare and they can OPT OUT of any insurance plans that also cut their fees.

With insurance coverage, people can still see healthcare providers, but they will pay the expenses out of their own pockets to be reimbursed later (sound like the way things were back in the 60's & 70's?).

It's a double whammy as people pay insurance premiums & then pay for the cost of the services on top of that right out of their own pockets. If payments get to the insured the same way some of them get to the providers - good luck to everyone!

I am hereby making this PLEDGE to you. I will re-register for voting once I'm in my new town, and will encourage others who are't registered to do so as well.

I will personally cast my vote AGAINST any & all incumbents in any race in my district. I will cast my votes for only new blood - and not for those who have ties with anyone in office now.

Republican, Democrat, Independent - whatever your party affiliation - I will look at your record and I will see where your heart is: with your constituents or with your wallets. Are you FOR me & mine, or are you AGAINST me & mine? Your decisions will/do sway my vote. From my seat, I will be the judge. I will encourage others to do the same.

We all make mistakes so you're entitled to have a mistake or two as well. However, any hint of poo on your shoe will discount you in my eyes for my vote. So far, I'm not all that impressed with any of you, which is why if there is an "(I)" next to your name, the "I" will mean IGNORE, as far as I'm concerned.

I encourage ALL the visitors & readers to this site to do the same, regardless of what side of the aisle they sit on. It's time for a blend of ideologies in true Bi-partisan (or Tri-partsan) COOPERATION - not a single-party ram-rodding against the will of the people for their own selfish interests. We need to vote our conscience & need, not for any particular political party.

There, I said it.

Now it's YOUR TURN! What say YOU? Comments encouraged.