Dave Petno

Obama's "Meaningful Coverage"

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:26:00 -0500

By Dave Petno

President Obama's latest catch phrase is that employers need to provide "Meaningful Coverage" or make a "Meaningful contribution" to the cost ....

So who will determine "meaningful?" I'd imagine that will not be in the eyes of the employer, employee or an individual.

What are the odds that a government bureaucracy will determine the term "Meaningful"

Would my current $5,000 deductible HSA program suffice as Meaningful?

Will "Meaningful" require chiropractic visits, mental health, hair transplants, hearing aids, dental care.........and dare we ask Abortion?

Got MORE Government in YOUR life?

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:38:36 -0500

since healthcare is a right, and we all have limited resources........we need some "really smart" people to tell us what is good for us...

I'm from the government, and I'm hear to check your fridge.

Obama Supports Despise Insurance Companies

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:16:27 -0500

from the NY Times via Heritage

When a dozen consumers gathered over the weekend to discuss health care at the behest of President-elect Barack Obama, they quickly agreed on one point: they despise health insurance companies.

They also agreed that health care was a right; that insurance should cover �everything,� not just some services; and that coverage should be readily available from the government, as well as from employers.

Ohio Children's Health Plan has Low Enrollment

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:08:35 -0500

By Dave Petno

The AP is reporting that Gov. Strickland's Childrens buy-in program is a little short on enrollment.

The Gov set aside $12.5 million to cover as many as 5,000 children by June 09. So far a whopping total of 335 have enrolled.

To qualify, employees must be without coverage for at least 6 months (in order to not cannibalize private plans), then pay $250 to $500 per child to participate.

The report states that there are 215,000 uninsured children....although that number seems to be inflated by at least 3x since children can often register on the spot if they are uninsured, and charitable care abounds.

How could this be?
Could it be that people don't want to over pay for a government health plan?
Could it be that the government is not effective at enrolling people in programs?
Could it be that citizens will be glad to complain about their status about anything, but they will opt-out of a solution that costs them anything to fix the problem?

Sure Fire Solution: Mandate that all people purchase this coverage, then tax it out of their paycheck, then sprinkle in some jail time if someone refuses to enroll and pay...........yes, a little socialism, backed by the power of the state can solve anything

Nursing Home Bed Taxes Kill Medical Insurance Plan

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:35:09 -0500

By Dave Petno
So I have a client who owns a nursing home in rural Ohio. They have about 100 nursing home beds.

For the privilege of being allowed to take care of elderly people, the client must pay a "bed tax" which amounts to approximately $60,000 / quarter.

The bed tax needs to be paid regardless of whether there are patients in the beds or not. The facility is operating at about 55% occupancy, and the bed tax is really killing their cash flow.

This tax is in addition to taxing profits, payroll taxes, FICA, FUTA.

So they cannot stop paying taxes..........

But they can reduce costs of benefits. So, effective 2/1 they will no longer offer a group health insurance plan to their employees.

So since they still need to pay salaries, and the BED TAXES, something had to go...

Why are new drugs so expensive?

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:22:44 -0500

Bringing a new drug to market requires 12 - 15 years and costs more than $1.2 Billion to get it through the FDA for approval to distribute to the market.

Drug companies eventually recoup the R+D costs in only one in five of the drugs that are approved.

Once approved, the drugs are patent protected for only a limited period of years.

The government is now talking about getting MORE INVOLVED in paying for drugs, thus limiting future profits of the drug companies.

(Statistics via: Miller and Gershon as published in the Weekly Standard)

So you tell me, if you have $1.2 Billion dollars......would you want to invest it in the development of new drugs?

Government Healthcare = Power Grab

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 07:15:22 -0500

Via Grace Marie Turner

Great quote from Paul Starr, the Pulitzer-Prize Winning Sociologist who wrote The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The rise of a sovereign profession and the making of a vast industry (Basic Books, New York. 1982. P. 235).

"Whoever provides medical care or pays the costs of illness stands to gain the gratitude and good will of the sick and their families. The prospect of these good-will returns to the investment in health care creates a powerful motive for governments and other institutions to intervene in the economics of medicine.
"Political leaders since Bismarck seeking to strengthen the state or to advance their own or their party's interests have used insurance against the costs of sickness as a means of turning benevolence to power."

Fight for Health Reform looks serious

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 14:32:19 -0500

Tom Daschle gears up:

Health Care Fight Looking Tougher

IRS: Employers may reimburse employees for Bike Expenses

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:35:58 -0500

And so it begins......the IRS Code now reflects that employers may now reimburse employees for bike commuter related expenses up to $20 / month.
I thought that people who rode Bikes to work already are saving money from all other sources.

Today, employers may reimburse..........tomorrow "thou shalt provide for all employees????"

The employer may reimburse a maximum of $20 per month for each month in a year that the employee uses the bicycle regularly for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee's residence and the place of employment. An employee may not receive the bicycle commuter reimbursement in any month in which the employee receives any other qualified transportation fringe benefit (i.e., transit pass, transportation in a commuter highway vehicle, qualified parking). Unlike the other qualified transportation fringe benefits, the bicycle commuter reimbursement will not be adjusted for inflation.

US Postal System Losing Billions

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:51:38 -0500

By Dave Petno

Yes, a government monopoly, socialist mail system is Failing Big time.

2008 losses at $7.7 Billion. 2009 losses projected to be $2.7 Billion.

This is the same government system that regulates what can go into your mail box. That makes an alternative mail system ILLEGAL.

The same system that INCREASES postage prices when use goes down.

If the US Government can lose $7.7 Billion delivering mail, just imagine how much they can lose when we give them our healthcare.

Read Article here