Ritze, Brown, Trebilcock to hold Broken Arrow Town Hall Health Care Forum

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 21, 2009) – State Sen. Bill Brown and state Reps. Mike Ritze, D.O., and John Trebilcock plan on holding a town hall meeting on health care at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Arrow Heights Baptist Church, 3201 S. Elm Place in Broken Arrow.

“Senator Brown, Representative Trebilcock and I will be presenting a discussion of the health care issues at stake under the ObamaCare plan,” Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said. “As a physician, I am aware of many of the problems in our health care system, but at the same time believe the federal approach being sought will only exacerbate current problems and will create an undeniable tax burden for future generations.”

Ritze said that he will be looking not only to critique the proposed federal plan, but also offer some alternative solutions.

“There are laws that get in the way of competition between health care providers and it is also important to address the portability of health care from job to job,” Ritze said. “I believe there are zero-cost solutions to many of our health care problems, and I will be presenting those as well.”

Brown, R-Broken Arrow, is the chairman of the Senate Retirement and Insurance Committee. He said that not only is the federal plan folly, but that it will be hard to reverse.

“The plan will take billions of dollars out of Medicare and raise taxes considerably,” Brown said. “We won’t be able to get that money back. Not only that, but as many of my constituents know, once the government gets involved in a particular industry, it’s hard to get them back out.”

Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow, is the chairman of the House Public Health Committee. He said he looked forward to the town hall meeting.

“It’s important to talk with constituents about important issues,” Trebilcock said. “Health care is a very worthy topic and I look forward to offering my own perspective on the problems with the ObamaCare plan.”

ObamaCare….What does it really cost?

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Last Thursday, I went to a Healthcare Symposium, put on by the Tulsa 9-12 Project.

The list of speakers included, Dr. Eric Cottrill, of the Tulsa County Medical Association, the Oklahoma State Medical Association, and the Oklahoma Alliance of Physicians for Tort Reform, http://www.okphysiciansalliance.com

Dr. Cottrill spoke on the need for reform of our current Healthcare system, and he emphasized the need for the reform to be local and state based, not federal. With strong Tort reform, the cost of healthcare drops dramatically. In order to be effective, Tort reform MUST have caps on the awards for “pain and suffering”. These caps, however, do not have an impact on real monetary losses, from job loss, to actual medical costs. Also, another step to loweencyring Healthcare costs, is limiting “frivolous” lawsuits. Right now, in Oklahoma, it costs the plaintiff nothing, to file a lawsuit against a doctor, or medical facility, as lawyers take these cases on a contingency basis. If a “loser pays” law were to be passed, then only those cases with actual merit would be brought. The fewer malpractice suits are filed, the lower the cost of malpractice insurance. The lower the cost of malpractice insurance, the lower the cost of doctor’s visits. Simple Economics.

He also spoke about the ramifications of the Obama Administration’s proposed Healthcare Reform Bill. If we want to see an example of Government run Healthcare, we need only look at the VA hospitals. Restricted, and inferior, treatments, and drugs. All day for a Doctor’s visit. As he put it, there are two ways that you can pay for healthcare, money or time. I don’t know about you, but I would rather pay my own expenses, “out of pocket” than to be treated in a facility that just treats me as a number, and has no regard for my time, while giving inferior care, based on regulations and cost analysis. Noone goes to a doctor and says “Hey, Doc, I want you to cut every corner you can, make sure that my Healthcare costs as little as possible, no matter what!” No, we all want the VERY BEST CARE POSSIBLE!

The second speaker of the evening was Glenn Mulready of Health Insurance Underwriters Association. Glen spoke on the Myths and Facts of the uninsured Americans Debate.
The Obama Administration says that there are 46-50 million uninsured Americans. Well, let’s take a look at those numbers. Of those 46-50 million, 14 million are already eligible for existing Government health programs. That leaves 32-36 million. 45% of the remaining are only without insurance for less than 4 months, as they change employers. That leaves about 18-20 million. 66% of those are the 18-34 crowd, who tend to choose not to purchase insurance, because they are still “invincible”. That leaves just 8-13 million who are truly uninsured. Of those, an estimated 10 million are not even US citizensm according to the US Census Bureau. So, who is truly uninsured? Why do we NEED Government run Healthcare? Just to take care of the illegal immigrants, and indigents who refuse to take care of themselves? Why not do like Dr. Cottrill said, and Reform our current system, instead of scrapping it for one that we can’t even afford, and that is inferior to the quality of care that is already available?

How can a bankrupt Government afford Universal Healthcare?!

The final speaker of the evening, was State Representative Dr. Mike Ritze, of Broken Arrow. Dr. Ritze spoke about the problems of our system, and offered solutions. As he stated, our current Healthcare system is widely acknowledged as being broken. Costs are increasing, ER wait times grow longer and longer, and illegal immigrants are flocking to America. The number of doctors who accept Medicare and Medicaid is shrinking, due to poor reimbursement, and massive amounts of red tape. Americans are calling for change.

There is a common misconception that we currently have a Free Market system, when it comes to Healthcare. The Federal Government already regulates and controls our Healthcare system. About half of all healthcare costs are paid by the US Government, and access is controlled by over 100,000 pages of regulations!! We need to get them OUT of the Healthcare business, not give them MORE control!! We are already seeing shortages of doctors in the US, due to the over regulation. Foreign doctors are recruited to the US to fill the void, oft times without having to go thru the same level of schooling, or credentials checks that American doctors go through! A large percentage of the malpractice suits filed in the US are foreign doctors who didn’t have the necessary training to perform the tasks they were performing!

European experiments in socialized medicine are failing under the weight of delays in necessary medical procedures, a lack of healthcare professionals, and skyrocketing costs. In many countries with socialized medicine, there are talks of limiting, or eliminating, healthcare for smokers, the obese, and many others that the government deems not worthy of being treated. Allowing the Government to make life and death decisions, is dangerous, and absolutely contrary to the freedoms that our nation was founded on.

The real solution to our healthcare crisis is to get Government OUT of the healthcare business! Let free enterprise solve the problems, especially at the state and local levels. Encourage more doctors to run for office, instead of these career politicians, so that we have knowledgeable representatives at the local, state and federal levels. And do your own research and lobby your state and federal legislators to reduce the restrictive regulations, and pass Tort reforms

Over all, the evening was very informative, and educational. I understand better, the arguments against nationalized Healthcare, and the damage it will do to, not only our quality of healthcare services, but also to our Freedoms as Americans.

Please, stand up and fight against the continued attacks on our Constitutional freedoms, and the American way of life. Contact your legislators, let them know how you feel about these bills, and let them know that if they vote for it, we WILL retire them in the next elections. We ARE going to take back our country, and we will put back everything that they have taken from us!
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Please write, call and fax your Congressmen and Senators on Thursday, June 25th, 2009.

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It is CRITICAL that you, your family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors raise major objections to the Waxman/Markey energy/environmental bill up for vote THIS FRIDAY. They are trying to pass this in the shadows of Health Care, Iran and North Korea issues dominating the national media!

Tell them to vote NO and be sure to call your Democratic members and voice your opinion loud and clear. Unless you want to pay another $3,000 per year plus for energy, be sure to call. Please cut and paste what you wish from the information below from the Heritage Foundation. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR DOING YOUR PART!!! Don’t let them cripple our economy and nation any further.

If you are unsure of your representatives contact information, go to http://www.boortz.com who has a link to all contact information. Please send this email to everyone you know who may care.

Here’s the details you need to know:

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) modified their global warming proposal to win support from skeptical congressmen, but in the process made the bill worse for the U.S. economy.

The economic impact of the new draft varies from that of the original draft in several major ways:

Compared to no cap and trade, real GDP losses increase an additional $2 trillion, from $7.4 trillion under the original draft to $9.4 trillion under the new draft;
Compared to no cap and trade, average unemployment increases an additional 261,000 jobs, from 844,000 lost jobs under the original draft to 1,145,000 lost jobs under the new draft; and
Peak-year unemployment losses rise by 500,000 jobs, from 2 million under the original draft to 2.5 million under the new draft.

Though the proposed legislation would have little impact on world temperatures, it is a massive energy tax in disguise that promises job losses, income cuts, and a sharp left turn toward big government.
Ultimately, this bill would result in government-set caps on energy use that damage the economy and hobble growth–the very growth that supports investment and innovation. Analysis of the economic impact of Waxman-Markey projects that by 2035 the bill would:

o Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.4 trillion;
o Destroy 1,145,000 jobs on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs;
o Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation;
o Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent;
o Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent;
o Raise an average family’s annual energy bill by $1,241; and
o Result in an increase of $28,728 in additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation

Further, Cap and Trade Is Wrong
o It’s a Massive Energy Tax
o It Will Not Make a Substantive Impact on the Environment
o It Will Kill Jobs
o It Will Cause Electricity Bills and Gas Prices to Sharply Increase
o It Will Outsource Manufacturing Jobs and Hurt Free Trade
o It Will Make You Choose among Energy, Groceries, Clothing and Haircuts
o It Will Be Highly Susceptible to Fraud and Corruption
o It Will Hurt Senior Citizens, the Poor, and the Unemployed the Worst
o It Will Cost American Families Nearly $3,000 a Year
o President Obama Admitted “Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket” Under His Cap-and-Trade Program (January 2008)

Source: http://www.heritage.org

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Why I Voted Democrat

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This was sent to me in an email….You should all really enjoy it!

I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want.
I’ve decided to marry my horse.

I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I voted Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they are doing because they now think we are good people.

I voted Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don’t start driving a Prius.

I voted Democrat because I’m not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite The Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass that it is unlikely that I’ll ever have another point of view.

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