Conservatives for Patient Rights

Source: http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2009/03/conservatives-for-patient-rights.html

Barack Obama, like a bull in a china shop, is going full steam ahead to keep all his campaign promises and do it all in one year.  Yesterday he "bluntly warned lobbyists and "special interests" not to stand in the way of efforts to rein in costs and guarantee coverage for all Americans. He said he intended to achieve those goals by the end of this year."

For the second time in as many weeks, President Obama pulled together dozens of lawmakers, community leaders and business representatives to solve a pressing issue -- this time, health care reform. 

But the president's focus-group brand of governing is starting to wear thin for some who say the sessions are more style than substance.  (Fox)

  Conservatives for Patient Rights is a non-profit, 501 c(3) organization dedicated to educating and informing the public about the principles of patients rights and, in
doing so, advancing the debate over health care reform.  CPR takes a look at 16 plans that have been discussed, written about or offered up as legislation. Which plans provide that the individual patient can make their own choices regarding the health care they seek? Which plans promote competition within the health care industry? Which plans are just too costly? Read about and compare the different health care plans here.

Obama Plan for a Healthy America Creation of a public health coverage option. Creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange. Read Plan Details Daschle Critical — What We Can Do About The Health Care Crisis Universal coverage through an individual mandate to purchase either public or private health insurance. Oversight of both public and private coverage by a Federal Health Board. Read Plan Details Baucus Call to Action The Baucus plan would ensure that every individual can access affordable coverage by creating a nationwide insurance pool called the Health Insurance Exchange. Read Plan Details 2009 Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act H.R. 2 Publicly-funded health care coverage for low-income children. Read Plan Details McConnell Kids First Act S. 2152 Publicly-funded health care coverage for low-income children. Read Plan Details Wyden Healthy Americans Act S. 334 Universal coverage through state-administered health care exchanges. Read Plan Details Stark Americare Health Care Act H.R. 193 Universal coverage through expanded Medicare benefits Read Plan Details Conyers United States National Health Insurance Act H.R. 676 Universal coverage through a single-payer program. Read Plan Details

Baldwin Health Care Partnership Through Creative Federalism H.R. 506 Provides grants for competing state reform efforts. Read Plan Details MassHealth Universal coverage through individual mandate and the creation of a state health insurance exchange. Read Plan Details Jindal Louisiana Health First Improve health outcomes and expand coverage through Medicaid reform. Read Plan Details American Benefits Council Ten Prescriptions for Reforming Health Care Quality, Cost and Coverage Ten principles for employer-based health care reform, including an individual mandate. Read Plan Details Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform Five principles for market-based reforms. Read Plan Details Divided We Fail Health Care Platform Three basic principles for reform: universal access, wellness and prevention and long-term care. Read Plan Details Heritage Foundation Design Principles for a Patient-Centered, Consumer-Based Market Six principles for patient-centered, consumer-driven health care reform: individual consumers as key decision makers; individual ownership; individual choice; wide range of available choices; price transparency; regular opportunities to make coverage choices. Read Plan Details Center for Health Transformation (Gingrich) 21st Century Intelligent Healthcare Solution to a 300 Million Payer System Focus on health information technology and electronic medical records. Read Plan Details

Perhaps Obama might consult the Heritage Foundation or Newt Gingrich about their plans or perhaps consult the medical community and patients for their input.  Doctors don't like a system that will keep them from giving the best care to their patients.  They also do not like plans that will try to force them to perform procedures that are morally repugnant to them.  These focus groups are mostly for show.  Obama has his mind made up on what kind of government health care play he wants for Americans.

"For the most part, these kinds of things are dog-and-pony shows that are hard to associate with any concrete, substantive results," said Michael
Franc, a health care expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation. 

"With 99.6 percent certainty, they're going to walk out of this summit wanting to do the same thing." [snip]

So what's the next topic Obama might focus group? 

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say climate change," Franc said.  (Fox)

Obama said, ""Those who seek to block any reform at all, any reform at any cost, will not prevail this time around."  Maybe, maybe not Mr. President.