What are your ideas for real health care reform?

The American public has been vocal and consistent in their opposition to the current health care proposal being rammed through Congress yet the President and fellow Democrats continue to dig their heels in on trying to pass this bloated, trillion dollar bill.
Check out this new video that highlights the real battle going on over the [...]

On yet another campaign tour to promote his health care plan, the President has alluded to a Goldman Sachs analysis of the insurance industry to vilify them and promote himself as the protector of patients. Dr. Eric Novack, Policy Adviser to Patients First (A Project of Americans for Prosperity), argues that while the administration rails [...]

Larry Kudlow’s latest piece in NRO hits the nail on the head when discussing President Obama’s approach to ramming his health care plan through Congress:
“Rather than a post-partisan olive branch to congressional Republicans and the American public, President Obama’s latest health-care speech was a declaration of war. He’s more than willing to use a 51-vote [...]

Despite all the polls and election results that have shown the American people don’t want a government takeover of health care, President Obama made yet another speech on Wednesday demanding Congress pass health care reform. Prominent in Obama’s argument for his plan is the assertion that patients will be protected against insurance company abuses. In [...]

The Senate is getting a lot of play these days. The president’s pushing hard for that chamber to use the parliamentary trick called reconciliation to pass changes to a health care bill still pending in the House right now. But by most accounts, the process of “fixing” a bill can’t begin until that bill is [...]

President Obama ran his campaign on a platform that rejected Washington’s hypocrisy and cynicism. Unfortunately, a year into office, the President is advocating exactly what he denounced as a Senator and on the campaign trail.
Check out this new video that captures the President denouncing the 50-plus-1 strategy of governing. Particularly on health care, Obama referenced [...]

The coverage issue is best viewed by looking at ALL Americans, not just the ones who are uninsured, said Senator Barrasso (R-WY). Not only will cost go up individually and for the entire country, but perhaps most importantly, the QUALITY of care will go down. This is the scariest part of the current proposals and [...]

The Congressional Budget Office is a respectable, non-political organization that analyzes budget costs of proposals put before it. While the CBO is consistently looked to as the independent referee on the playing field, this doesn’t mean its conclusions are always complete or not subject to distortion. For instance, the CBO concludes the Senate bill reduces [...]

“It makes sense to have the individual mandate..despite the fact that I was against it during the campaign.” – President Obama, Health Summit 2/25/10
The problem with this statement, aside from the fact that President Obama is breaking a promise that he passionately defended on the campaign trail, is that it violates the Constitution of the [...]

The second half of the summit is underway and one point being made by some Democrats is that scrapping the current bill is unnecessary because Republican ideas are already included and that the incremental approach won’t work.
The first point – that Republican ideas such as tort reform, allowing insurance to be sold across state lines, [...]

Halfway thru the much-hyped “Bipartisan Health Care Summit,” there is serious need for fact-checking the President’s claims. Here are some of the highlights:

Republicans do have ideas, contrary to the obstructionist label President Obama and Congressional Democrats have tried to tag them with;
Insurance premiums will INCREASE 10-13% under the current health care bills passed by the [...]

Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams defended his decision to flee Canada’s government-run health care for heart surgery in the U.S. saying, “This is my heart, it’s my health, it’s my choice.”
The Canadian premier’s choice to jump the border for quicker access to medically advisable treatment in the US is only available to a small percentage of [...]

We are just days away from the “bipartisan summit” that the President has promoted as a genuine opportunity for all ideas on health care reform to be considered. Unfortunately, his rhetoric appears to be just that. Any hope for real reform and a genuine exchange of ideas is fading fast. The President is planning to [...]

We wanted to take a moment to share important facts, courtesy of The Heritage Foundation, regarding President Obama’s promises. He’s claimed over and over that the reform he and his liberal colleagues support will make health insurance cheaper for young people, as well as more accessible.
According to Heritage, “Some of the promises the President [...]

Since the Massachusetts special senate election a few weeks ago we have heard the Democratic leadership and President Obama espouse multiple interpretations of the political significance of the event. Unfortunately, none of these have acknowledged the high percentage of voters that elected Brown so he would be the 41st vote in the Senate and effectively [...]

“We are now in the red zone. That’s exactly right. We’re in the red zone. We’ve got to punch it through.” – Barack Obama, Feb. 2, 2010.
Yep, after a shocking loss in the Massachusetts Senate election, fading poll numbers and large groups in his own party demanding he move back to the center, the President [...]

For the last nine months, we’ve fought against a government takeover of our health care not only because of its high cost but also its debilitating effect on the quality and accessibility of care to patients.  Yesterday, we were given a reminder from fifty-nine-year-old Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams that this is the case in Canada [...]

Just 9 months after taking on health care reform (by proposing to have the government assume control), the states are rebelling. Their main vehicle of opposition is an initiative called the Health Care Freedom Act, which seeks to protect the state’s residents from Washington’s proposed individual mandate (or government-forced insurance as it came to be [...]

Notwithstanding multiple signs from the American public that they stand opposed to Washington’s proposed government takeover of health care, it appears that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid refuse to listen. So-called contingency plans have been developing for a few weeks now and although most have been shot down as unworkable, shrewd political calculation remains the [...]

Polls, rallies, townhalls and recently, elections have all shown strong public opposition to President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s plan to ram through their government takeover of health care. Yet still, they refuse to listen to what Americans want.
Dick Morris recently uncovered a scheme that would require the House to first pass the Senate [...]

Nine months into a contentious health care debate fraught with backdoor deals and closed-door meetings, Barack Obama has rendered himself the most polarizing president in history. The 65 percentage-point gap between Democrats (88%) and Republicans (23%) average job approval ratings “is easily the largest for any president in his first year in office, greatly exceeding [...]

Yesterday was a huge blow to President Obama and the Democratic leadership’s attempt to ram through a health care bill that the American people clearly don’t want. Polls have been showing this for months now but Reid, Pelosi and Obama have refused to listen. We can only hope that Massachusetts provides a wake-up call to [...]

Ben Nelson got a lot of controversial and expensive gifts for his vote to push health care through the Senate. What he didn’t count on was the unbelievable outrage that existed back home against this bill and the way the Democrats have handled this process.
Recently, the senator got a taste of this outrage in person [...]

The health care debate thus far has been about as transparent as mud! Nonetheless, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer have claimed multiple times that they have kept this process completely transparent throughout. They must have overlooked all of the middle of the night votes, closed door sessions and backroom deals.
The latest version of this [...]

We discussed last week that MIT economist Jonathan Gruber was under contract with the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services for upwards of $400,000. Putting aside the conflict of interest that Gruber himself has caused by not disclosing this information earlier, the White House appears to be the one most at [...]

There are many losers in the health care bills working their way to the President right now. But perhaps the states are among the worst suited to meet the unfunded mandates Congress is currently proposing put ting on them.
In fiscal year 2010, the states will face a budget shortfall of roughly $190 billion. So appropriately, [...]

Yet another report is out calling Congress’ bluff that radical health care reform will somehow reduce government spending. Today, the Wall Street Journal editorializes on why the free passes should end here:
Among the astonishing things about the ObamaCare debate—or lack thereof—is that Washington is inundated with warnings about the destructiveness of this plan, and it [...]

In a searing report released by the office that actually administers Medicare and Medicaid, the conclusion is simple: the Reid bill will cost taxpayers more than $400 billion more than the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate.
The bill will inevitably lead to further government intervention in the future. According the CMS:

15 million people will drop their private [...]

Jonathan Gruber: MIT health economist, spiritual guru and reliable source for the Obama Administration’s health care proposals. Oh yeah, also an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services, i.e., the Obama Administration. In fact, Gruber has received nearly $400,000 to study the effects of changes in the health care system.
Gruber has long been [...]

The infamous 60th vote that moved health care out of the Senate, Ben Nelson spoke out yesterday criticizing the Administration for ignoring the economy at the expense of pursuing a politically-minded health care bill.  Nelson emphasized, “I think it was a mistake to take health care on as opposed to continuing to spend the time [...]

President Obama promised multiple times during the campaign that health care negotiations were going to be televised so Americans could see who was representing the insurance industry and who was looking out for the interests of the American public. Check out this great new video that captures Obama in his many proud campaign moments.
Where does [...]

In case you missed it:
In a letter to House and Senate leaders just before the New Year’s recess on Dec. 30, C-SPAN’s CEO Brian Lamb wrote a letter asking for both the House and Senate Chambers to be opened to electronic media coverage. Lamb wrote:
“As your respective chambers work to reconcile the differences between the [...]

In the midst of a very real terrorism threat in multiple countries, a major recession and massive deficits, President Obama has chosen to dedicate his first year to…health care policy. The reason for the massive (and very expensive) overhaul have constantly shifted, leading many to question what exactly President Obama has gambled on and whether [...]

By now you’ve heard that the Senate voted to pass the Reid health care bill in the wee hours of Christmas Eve. The vote was a major step as Democrats blindly push for government-run health care. As Democratic leaders in Congress and the White House declare victory, it’s worth comparing the President’s rhetoric [...]

Two senators who were critical in passing the much-despised Reid bill out of the Senate are facing severe political backlash among voters back home. The infamous “Louisiana Purchase” that bought Mary Landrieu’s vote for $300 million has driven her approval rating down 15 points since the health care debate began.  As the bill’s unpopularity increases, [...]

In an extraordinary move to ram his health care package through Senator Reid is keeping the U.S. Senate in session possibly up through Christmas Eve.
Democrats control the White House, a large majority in the House and a filibuster-proof Senate, yet support for “health reform” has been hard to get and expensive to purchase. Sixty-one percent [...]

Holding out to be the 60th and final vote needed to invoke cloture (and end debate) on Reid’s ever-changing health care bill has proven quite successful for Ben Nelson. A reported deal was reached last night to obtain the Senator’s vote and allow the government takeover of health care to move one step closer to [...]

Remember when transparency was popular and health care negotiations were going to be aired live on C-SPAN? Well those days are long gone. Throughout the health care debate, the name of the game has been “hide the bill”.
Whether it is the Energy and Commerce Committee or the Finance Committee, the House floor oo the Senate [...]

He said it!
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), speaking on a radio show today, said, “I can’t and don’t” support the Democrats’ health care reform bill.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D-NE): “Right now, I’m more focused on what I’m going to do here with health care and continuing to try to reform the reform bill, make improvements on it [...]

The web is buzzing this morning about two must-see videos–and we thought it only fitting to share them with you here. (Both were put together by the Senate Republicans, though the first crossed our path via The Patriot Room.)
Please post a comment below and let us know what you think. Have another must-see health care [...]

Another day closer to Christmas and the fourth artificial (read: political) deadline imposed on the health care bill and another poll indicating America remains strongly opposed to what is being debated. The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released today shows 47% of the public thinks passing a health care is a bad idea while only 32% [...]

Making a very reasonable request when voting to drastically alter one-sixth of the U.S. economy, Senate Coburn (R-OK) offered an amendment earlier today that would require each member to certify that they have read and understand the Reid bill before voting on it. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) promptly objected to the amendment, stating it is [...]

A big thank you to all the American grassroots activists who joined us on Capitol Hill yesterday (or at their local U.S. senators’ offices) to send a clear message: Hands off our health care!
Here’s a slideshow of some of our photos. We encourage you to post a comment below and tell your story or [...]

What does Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid want to give us for Christmas?
On the 12th Day of Christmas, Harry Reid gave to me…
12 lip service to the poor and uninsured… This plan would actually hurt the very people it was supposed to help. It would force everyone to pay for health insurance, and even after [...]

As yesterday’s Code Red Rally on Capitol Hill demonstrated, there is tremendous energy among average Americans against the current health care legislation. Thousands came from across the country to remind their senators who they work for – the people. And right now, the people, in overwhelming numbers, OPPOSE the Reid bill. Check out the footage [...]

A very interesting piece on BigGovernment.com discusses the possible origin of leading Democrats’ plan for “health care reform.” According to the author of a very prescient manifesto on how to bring socialized medicine to America, much of the rhetoric surrounding today’s discussion was completely manufactured.
From his federal prison cell in 2006, Rep. Jan Schakowski’s husband, [...]

Can’t make it to Washington on December 15th for the Code Red Rally?
Locate the U.S. Senate offices near you by clicking here and entering your zip code. You can also download our PDF of all U.S. Senate offices.

In yet another strange turn of events in the charade to “reform our health care system”, the Senate Democrats have reached a “broad agreement” with 10 liberal and progressive members of their caucus regarding the public option. Allegedly, the version of the public option currently in the Reid bill will be replaced with a Medicare [...]

Senators face a perplexing question. What exactly is the point of passing Harry Reids health care legislation? With a massive $2.5 billion price tag there better be some pretty darn good reasons.
Let’s look at the various reasons given along the way:

Bending the cost curve down: this has been a driving reason for reform. This bill [...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to federalize one-sixth of the American economy with his $2.5 trillion health care reform bill, a bill that would usher in the largest single expansion of government that our country has ever seen.
Had enough? Join Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D., Patients First and other health care allies for the Code [...]

Transparency was a top priority for the Obama campaign and one that many independents, among others, viewed as an appealing aspect of candidate Obama. Although this pledge for a new Washington went out the window long ago, it’s still interesting to observe the audacity of this Administration to promise one thing and do the opposite. [...]

New unemployment numbers were released today and while the unemployment rate remained in double digits, the one notable sector where jobs actually increased was the health care sector, adding 21,000 jobs in the last month alone.
So as the Administration talks about a jobs bill and easing the pain of Americans during the holiday season, an [...]

Earlier today 58 Senators voted to kill a motion that would have protected the promise we made to our seniors.  They voted to strip $464 billion from Medicare to fund an new entitlement program in Senator Reid’s health care bill.  The choice was a stark one: protect America’s seniors from a future of rationed care [...]

In an unusually candid floor statement, Senator Baucus admitted that the true cost of the health care bill (with 10 full years of implementation from 2014-2023) is actually $2.5 Trillion. This blows the original cost of $1.2 Trillion out of the water and demolishes any claim that the proposal will actually reduce the deficit.
“Just for [...]

A new study that was released November 27th by Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist and “the favorite economist of the White House”, finds that the Senate health care bill will leave patients better off than under current law. Specifically, Gruber concludes that under the Senate bill, patients will pay lower premiums than under current law while [...]

Continuing the downward slide in support for the current health care proposals in the House and Senate, a new Gallup poll indicates public support is dropping across the board. Not only are Republicans and Independents steadily withdrawing their support but even Democrats are beginning to drop off, falling by 6 points since early October high.
While [...]

Despite the decision of 60 senators to move the Reid health care bill forward, support among the American public is at the lowest level yet measured in nearly two dozen tracking polls conducted since June. In fact, the senate’s 60-39 vote almost mirrors the OPPOSITION to the bill among the public (56% oppose while only [...]

Yesterday’s 60-39 vote to begin debate on the Reid bill was sold by many who voted for it as a harmless vote that did not bring a government-run health care closer to reality. Unfortunately, history shows quite the opposite to be true – voting to proceed leads to passage 97% of the time!
So knowing [...]

In the dark of night, they did it again.
The Senate Democrats (along with Independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders) just voted to advance the Reid bill and bring the government one step closer to coming in between you and your doctor. This will mean you and your family will have to rely on a bureaucrat [...]

Free healthcare! Better yet, healthcare that saves us money! If American’s weren’t already skeptical of claims coming from politicians in Washington, they might buy it. But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Phil Kerpen exposes some of the gimmicks being used to get these utopian numbers in his piece on FoxNews.com.
Here [...]

1) Harry Reid has had his bill for 6 weeks – shouldn’t the American people have the same time period to review it and know what the bill contains? After all, 2,074 pages isn’t exactly light reading.
2) Some treatments could be deemed unnecessary – A government task force recently declared that mammograms for women [...]

Through the Patients First website and at rallies all across the nation, many Americans have voiced their opinions to Congress. Now, a turkey is doing the same.

Roll Call reported today about our latest efforts on Capitol Hill (subscription required to view the original post):
It’s not too early for Thanksgiving turkey: Capitol Hill denizens should [...]

Yesterday, a federal panel decided that self-exams and some mammograms are no longer necessary for women in their forties and should only be administered every other year for those in their fifties and sixties. Despite being said to reduce cancer deaths by about 15% in women ages 39-59, the federal panel based their decision to [...]

“I’m a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information,” Barack Obama said yesterday while speaking to a crowd in Shanghai.
This is certainly welcome advice for many in China who are still subject to severe government censorship. Let’s hope Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are listening as well. Both have promised [...]

A few things we know for sure:

Medicaid is quickly heading toward insolvency and threatening to bring many state budgets down with it.
Current health care legislation in both the House and the Senate seek to expand the defunct Medicaid program to millions more by raising the eligibility levels by as much as 50% (150% of FPL [...]

Coming less than a week after the House of Representatives passed its Health Care legislation Gallup’s latest poll shows that a majority of Americans are against a government take over of Health Care. The new numbers show that 50% believe it is NOT the government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health coverage and [...]

On Tuesday, Pacientes Primeros (Patients First) joined nine other Hispanic organizations in letting Congress know they oppose a Washington takeover of health care as represented by the recently-passed House bill. Although quiet for much of the debate so far, the Hispanic community would be big losers from any government-run health care system. Â

Millions of elderly [...]

Details of the many proposals for a Washington takeover of health care have been hard to come by. Those writing the legislation have simply not wanted to show the American public what they are doing and the devastating consequences it will have. But inevitably, the legislation has come out and people have begun to discover [...]

Just moments ago, 220 members  of the House of Representatives voted to place the government in control of your health care. The $1.2 TRILLION package features rationed care for seniors and veterans, nearly $700 billion in tax hikes on small businesses, a government-run insurance plan and a mandate to purchase government-forced insurance (backed by criminal [...]

In September, Speaker Pelosi was very clear that any health care bill (in its final form) would be posted online for at least 72 hours before any vote. Considering amendments have been added as recently as last night and a vote scheduled for tonight, that promise is clearly going to be violated.
Why is this promise [...]

Contrary to what Speaker Pelosi and President Obama claim, physicians do not support the health care legislation being voted on today in the House. The AMA’s support for the House health bill has drawn sharp criticism from many of its state chapters and runs counter to the 20 other physician groups that have come out [...]

The debate over how much control government will have over our health care system and what that will mean for average Americans is carrying over to the swine flu epidemic. Although originally promising 120 million vaccines would be made available, at this point a mere 27 million doses have been produced. It’s little surprise that [...]

In addition to Politico, The Weekly Standard Blog reported Patients First’s outrage over Gitmo detainees receiving H1N1 vaccines:
“Vaccinating Guantanamo Detainees ahead of millions of at-risk Americans should serve as a serious warning about the federal government’s ability to follow through on its health care reform promises,” said Novack. “The government has had more than 6 [...]

Patients First’s own, Dr. Eric Novack, was quoted in Politico responding to reports that Gitmo detainees will receive swine flue vaccines:
“Vaccinating Guantanamo detainees ahead of millions of at-risk Americans should serve as a serious warning about the federal government’s ability to follow through on its health care reform promises,” said Eric Novack, spokesman of Patients [...]

From the Associated Press:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon get swine flu vaccines, despite complaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said Sunday.
Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving [...]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell identifies the common thread in all of the proposed health care bills so far – higher taxes:
“If you have insurance, you get taxed. If you don’t have insurance, you get taxed. If you’re a struggling business owner who can’t afford insurance for your employees, you get taxed. If you use [...]

Speaker Pelosi just unveiled her massive 1,990 page health care bill that ignoring the American public by putting politics first instead of patients. While Pelosi claims the bill is deficit neutral and will cover 96% of Americans, the bill goes a long way toward placing Washington in charge of our health care. Early highlights [...]

The Pelosi Plan (no official number for the bill yet) is online!
Read all 1990 pages if you like here: http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf.
Or stay tuned for live updates from us, as our experts are reviewing the bill as we speak! Be sure you’re following us on Twitter and become our Facebook fan for the most up-to-date information [...]

In conjuction with the Independent Women’s Forum, the polling company, inc./WomanTrend surveyed women who are registered to vote about health care.
In short, the poll found that women want Washington to slow down and get it right. They like their own health care and health care insurance. They oppose an individual mandate. They think the government [...]

We need you to join us and thousands of other freedom fighters across the country for our Congressional House Call Day on Thursday November 5 at 12:00 pm. Thousands of grassroots activists have already RSVPed and will walk straight into the district office of their senator or congressman and say: “Hands Off My Health Care!”
RSVP [...]

This just in from the road!

Do you have photos from a Patients First event? Post them on your own blog or to your own Flickr account–and then post a comment below, sharing the link with us. We like our photos, but we’d love to see yours, too!

A crucial moment took place today in the Senate as the so-called “doc-fix” bill came up for a vote. Substantively, the bill would have ensured that payments to physicians treating Medicare patients would not be subject to a built-in formula aimed at cost-control.
The goal of Senate leadership in proposing the legislation was purely political, however, [...]

A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that any health care bill will live or die based on the details.  Of course, this is not surprising and something we’ve been saying all along.  With 33% already saying they oppose current plans and 39% saying it depends, it’s no wonder Congressional leaders are doing their best to [...]

This statement, from U.S. congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan on health care reform, has more than 5.2 million views. It’s powerful stuff–and if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to watch it:

Please share this video with your family and friends. Remind them that American innovation and ingenuity has made our country great, not the [...]

On behalf of the millions of members represented by the undersigned groups, we urge you to oppose S. 1776, the “Medicare Physician Fairness Act,” and its appalling and dishonest attempt to mask the tremendous costs health care reform will impose upon American families and businesses. Considering the enormity and complexity of our health care system, the American people deserve honesty and transparency in a reform debate. This kind of legislative scheming fails to live up to the high standards to which this Congress claims to aspire.

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 57 percent of Americans support a government-run insurance plan.
Everbody’s talking about it.
As we communicated with our members via email:
Famed pollster Frank Luntz criticized the poll, noting that a majority of Americans and their elected leaders are opposed to a public option: “If 57% of Americans truly [...]

It’s important to remember that the bill won’t exist in this form for long. Senate Majority Leader Reid and Sens. Max Baucus and Chris Dodd along with senior White House aides are merging the Finance and Health Committee legislation into one bill that will be considered on the floor of the Senate.

We’d summarize what the editors of National Review Online have written about the “doc fix” and health care reform this week, but we can’t say it better ourselves:
“You don’t have to be a Washington insider to understand what the Democrats are up to with their last-minute plan to run the ‘doc fix’ — postponing scheduled [...]

Patients First is thrilled to announce new stops on our bus tour, plus some special events, in Arkansas this month!
Join us next week on Fri., October 23rd and Sat., October 24th for nine rallies throughout the state.
Plus, we have the joy of welcoming renowned health care reporter and analyst John Stossel to three special [...]

Our rallies in Virginia this week have been an overwhelming success, despite the chilly weather and the rain! Patients First welcomed former Virginia governor George Allen on the bus tour!

Benjamin Marchi, the Virginia state director for Americans for Prosperity, reported that more than 130 people met up in Charlottesville on Wednesday, rallying with Albemarle Supervisor [...]

We’re excited to announce that our “Hands Off My Health Care” bus is traveling through Virginia, making stops in Charlottesville, Salem, Lynchburg, and many other cities! Join us and take a stand against reform that puts politics–not patients–first.
Check our Virginia events page to see if the bus will be stopping near you. Former senator George [...]

As the Senate Finance Committee discusses the Baucus proposal and likely votes on it this afternoon, it’s important to ask the question – will this improve our health care system? The overarching priority should be to do reform right, not just quickly.
Unfortunately, those who have analyzed the proposal’s relevant provisions have not reached a positive [...]

As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on Senator Baucus’ health care proposal, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the measure will cost taxpayers $829 billion and actually reduce the deficit by $81 billion. While this figure is itself a massive figure, it is very likely well below the actual cost.
There are [...]

This morning, the Wall Street Journal likens the promises of the Baucus plan (it’s not a bill) to a circus sideshow:
“Washington spent the week waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to roll in with its new cost estimates of the Senate health-care bill, and what a carnival. Behold: a new $829 billion entitlement that will [...]

A very special thank you to all those who participated in our National Call Congress Day on Tuesday. We’re still churning the numbers, but the thousands of people who contacted Congress–many by both phone and email–was outstanding!
The designated day may be over, but the importance of contacting Congress continues. Take action today and encourage a [...]

Under the proposed legislation try not to get sick at the end of the year. Specialists might not be available.
That might sound like a joke, but there is nothing funny about it. According to the Wall Street Journal:
“Take a provision in the Baucus bill that would punish any physician whose “resource use” is considered too [...]

Big government is great for the economy and great for the future of your health care…or maybe not. As Washington has demonstrated time and again, its credibility on issues of cost control, quality health care and effective government spending are less than stellar.
It doesn’t take much to identify the enormous waste that came from the [...]

In case you missed Dr. Eric Novack’s op-ed in the Washington Times yesterday…
“Two of my colleagues work part time at the Phoenix VA providing orthopedic services not adequately covered by the full-time doctors there. With the low productivity of the employed physicians (as compared to orthopedic surgeons in the area generally), the surge in returning [...]

Dr. Ami Siems, family practitioner, appears in this new ad, from Americans for Prosperity and JoinPatientsFirst.com:

Earlier this week, we blogged about the anticipated cuts to Medicare (“Health Care Reform: Cuts to Medicare Only Sure Bet”). Well, the hits keep coming.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
“More than 660,000 seniors next year will lose the private Medicare plans they now have because some insurers are dropping coverage in response to tougher federal [...]

What happens when massive, intrusive health care reform is rushed? Miscalculations enter the mix.
CongressDaily (subscription required) reports that the Congressional Budget Office miscalculated the anticipated savings of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care plan.
“A CBO e-mail obtained by CongressDaily reveals the agency did not assume hospitals and hospices would be exempt from the commission’s recommendations [...]

Sermo.com, an online community for physicians, surveyed 2,566 U.S. Physicians on public options, co-ops and how health care reform might impact care they provide their patients. The results? Physicians overwhelmingly disagree with the current reforms on the table.
When asked if either of the alternatives to private insurance being discussed–a public option and a co-op option–address [...]

There’s so much uncertainty about the health care bill and still so many questions the Administration and Congress need to answer. One thing we’ve known from the very beginning: Benefits and care for senior citizens are on the line.
Don’t take our word for it. We’ve put together the quotations you need to know with links [...]

The first time Max Baucus released his health care bill in early summer, the CBO projected its cost would run about $1.6 TRILLION over the next decade. This raised serious concern among the public about how we were going to pay for this “reform” and what actual benefits we were going to see from such [...]

You might not have heard it on your local radio station yet, but you can hear it here first!
Play the video to listen to the audio ad from Patients First, playing this week in different parts of the country:

Shona is an average Canadian woman who continues to provide valuable insight on how a government-controlled health care system negatively impacts its citizens. She has appeared in television ads sponsored by Patients United Now, another project of Americans for Prosperity, and last week spoke on Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?
OBAMA: For us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase…you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s [...]

“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.” – President [...]

Real health care reform puts patients first, but the Senate’s idea puts—well, you can examine this chart and decide for yourself.

It’s time for complete transparency from the U.S. Senate regarding their bill. Americans deserve to know what their elected officials are doing to our health care system.

On Tuesday, October 6th, Patients First is sponsoring a National Call Congress Day to send our legislators a simple message: “Hands Off My Health Care!”
Thousands of Americans have already joined with Patients First by participating in our bus tour and town hall meetings. And on Tuesday, October 6, patients, families and small business owners across [...]

10 . “If after my 30-something speeches about health care, there is still anyone out there who disagrees with me, I’m going to have one-on-one beer summits at the White House until we get this thing passed.”
9. “If you’re uncomfortable with the sound of ‘government-run health plan,’ we’ll just call it something different. [...]

Sen. Debbie Stabenow thinks Obama Care is right for America but maybe not for her constituents.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has offered more than 20 amendments to the Senate health care bill currently in the Finance Committee. One noteworthy amendment (Stabenow Amendment D-14 to the Chairman’s Mark) would waive certain statutory requirements for some hospitals in [...]

Tens of thousands of people have stood with us against a Washington takeover of health care at our bus stops all across the country. We’d love to meet you in person along our bus tour, but if you can’t join us at our events, follow us online!
We post updates from the road at our [...]

Did you know you can become a fan of Patients First on Facebook?
Our posts there often receive more than 30 comments, plus we highlight stand-out photos and videos from the road! If you’re not a Patients First fan, you’re missing a big part of the health care conversation happening on our Facebook page between real [...]

Opposition to an individual mandate is growing—and Washington won’t be able to ignore the public’s distaste for it.
Yesterday’s unsigned editorial from the Washington Examiner, for instance, outlined some major concerns about any compromise plan that includes an individual mandate.
The Wall Street Journal took a similar approach on their front page today, citing the example of [...]

The Patients First bus has added the following stop to its schedule:

September 19 – 1:30 p.m.West End ParkLouisiana Ave. exit off I-10New Orleans, LA 70124We will be joining the Greater New Orleans Tea Party as they celebrate their rescheduled 9/12 event (rain delay). Note that this event replaces a previously scheduled stop.

Join us to say, [...]

Patients First’s parent organization, Americans for Prosperity, joined a broad coalition in confronting Sens. Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley, urging the senators to oppose a co-op in lieu of the public plan. As the coalition letter emphasizes, a co-op is not a fair compromise at all; this is simply a rhetorical game that the White [...]

More than half the crowd in Chesapeake, Virginia had never participated in a rally before our event Thursday morning. Later that afternoon in Virginia Beach, more than 100 people walked over to Rep. Glenn Nye’s office and asked him to keep his hands off health care until there are reforms that put patients first. Attendees [...]

President Obama, vehement in his campaign attacks against Sen. Clinton regarding the individual mandate component of her health care plan, completely reversed his position on the mandate in his speech before Congress.

Over 1,200 people gathered Wednesday night at our Hands Off My Health Care bus tour in Raleigh, North Carolina to view the president’s speech. These real Americans waited anxiously for the president to present an ACTUAL PLAN offering REAL REFORM in health care.

For the 28th time speaking on the health care topic last night, President Obama changed nothing about his plan. His speech did not move Congress any closer to reforms that would put patients first. Instead, he vowed to “call out” people he deems as “misrepresenting” his plan.

The American people spoke loud and clear over the August recess – they stand opposed to higher costs and government control over their health care. Thankfully some Democrats are listening to their constituents’ concerns.

For much of the summer Washington politicians have pushed for a “public option” — a government-run health insurance plan — as health care reform. When Americans realized that “public option” equates to government control, they showed up at town hall meetings in unprecedented numbers to voice their concerns.
Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi continues to ignore an increasing percent of Americans, saying that any [...]

Once again the unions bosses prove to be out of step and out of touch with Americans – including the workers they are supposed to represent.  Today the AFL-CIO announced they will oppose any health care reform legislation lacking a public option – a political strategy to accomplish a Washington takeover of health care.  We [...]

Democratic lawmakers will not be able to count on the AFL-CIO’s support if they drop the public insurance option from the health care reform legislation, union officials said Tuesday.
The AFL-CIO’s incoming president, Richard Trumka, outlined “three absolute musts” in any overhaul package: a public option, an employer mandate and no tax on employer-provided health benefits.
Asked [...]

Senator Grassley, ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee and one of three Republicans in negotiations for a health care bill, has had a productive August. He’s clearly identified where the vast majority of his constituents stand on the current proposals for a government takeover of health care – strongly opposed.
Responding to everyday Iowans’  concerns, [...]

As the White House stumbles to clarify whether a final health care bill will include a public option, the House Democrats have come back with a promise that they will move forward without the Republicans if necessary to complete their government takeover of health care. Meanwhile, outside Washington, 54% of Americans think we would be better off without a health care bill passing Congress and the usually-dull August townhalls are swamped with outraged citizens begging their representatives to vote against government-run health care.

Despite rain, wind, and unseasonably cool August weather, they came by the dozens in Round-up, Lewistown, Great Falls, Helena, Butte, Dillon, and Whitehall. In Bozeman, they came by the hundreds. Montanans, who had listened to what the President and some in Congress had to say about health care reform, and who now wanted to be heard. They don’t want more government interference in their lives and their health care decisions, they want less.

In the latest sign that normal Americans are standing up against a Washington takeover of health care, up to 60,000 individuals have torn up their AARP membership cards. The primary reason for this outrage is that seniors are the biggest losers in the current effort to establish government-run health care, facing up to $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid if a bill passes.

Last week, Senior Adviser to the White House David Axelrod sent out a chain email to thousands of email addresses detailing eight benefits of the current health care reform bills and eight myths floating around regarding the same proposal. Axelrod’s email was intended to lay out the merits of current legislation and dispel certain fears circulating among some citizens who have followed the debate. Patients First took the time to respond to the these rather fishy claims. Click here to view Axelrod’s first eight claims for reform analyzed from the eyes of a patient and taxpayer. Stay tuned for Patients First analysis of the eight myths laid out by Axelrod.

Listening to President Obama at the New Hampshire townhall yesterday you might be comforted by Obama’s soothing promise that you can keep the care you have and no one will wait in lines so long as we just pass his bill.

That’s the Patients First bus rolling into Lebanon, PA, where Sen. Specter was holding his town hall meeting on Tuesday — which we soon learned was broadcast live all over the place. We were outside with about 2,000 people who didn’t make it inside. When we drove up and honked the horn, the crowds cheered and waved.

In a state of nearly 4.9 million, we anticipated the voices on health care in Colorado to be as riveting and diverse and the ever changing landscape and we were not disappointed! At every stop we were overwhelmed by the turn out, rain or shine. Our words were cut short as stop after stop, the crowd shouted their own thoughts on commentary.

Patients First exposes the “grassroots attire” of the left.

According to Health Care for America Now, you are “militant right-wing activists” out to halt “health care reform through pure spectacle and and obstruction.” Apparently your checks got lost in the mail because you are “far right-wing ideologues recruited by paid organizers.”

In Nebraska, It’s a Moral Issue: Quality Care
We anticipated inquisitive crowds and comprehensive conversation in Nebraska, as more than 6 headlines across the state announced our arrival, and we were not disappointed! More than 500 people have come out to meet us so far, but we watched as those folks spread the word to others [...]

When the AARP called a town hall meeting to discuss health care reform, the moderators quickly realize their national representatives are out of touch with their average member. Just one of many major organizations in the health reform debate that are ignoring their members’ genuine concerns and instead trying to curry political favor with the [...]

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
“We’re not here because we’re against health care, we’re here because we’re for health care reform – the right way – not the government way.” –Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory
As we travel, North Carolinians continue to turn out in droves! We have been welcomed by over 3,000 people in the state so far, [...]

Monday, August 3, 2009
Nearly 2,000 people have already turned out in North Carolina to meet the Patients First bus and oppose government take-over of health care. Speaker Mary Ann Suarez drove home the point that 60% of North Carolinians are against government takeover of healthcare. Members of the crowd waived homemade signs with the message [...]

Following the White House claims that fishy information on health care is abound, Reason searches their building for a suspect.

The White House blog has issued a dire warning and a plea for help. The official blog of the most powerful seat of government in the world warned citizens of the pernicious threat of “scary chain emails and videos … percolating on the Internet.”
The White House blog continued:
These rumors often travel just below the surface [...]

Our Patients First Bus Tour has seen huge crowds so far. Now the east coast bus is making its way through North Carolina.
In Winston-Salem our crowd of 500 activists applauded US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx as she spoke about the dangers of Government Controlled Health Care. Our crowd kept growing throughout the event. It’s great to [...]

While Obama might sound like a friend to the free market with his soothing rhetoric of choice, competition and the marketplace, his policies look much more like command and control. Case in point, the recent health care bill:

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” While this statement has been used in just about every one of Obama’s speeches on health care reform, his previous remarks on moving toward a single-payer system leave one to wonder about it’s truthfulness.

House Democrats passed a bad bill out of committee that will bankrupt the American medical system, put bureaucrats between a patient and her doctor, counsel seniors about end of life decisions and worst of all, they didn’t listen to their constituents. It’s going to be a long August as these politicians hear from the American [...]

While liberal Washington politicians are mired in internal bickering over the best way to takeover our health care system, many state legislators may take matters into their own hands. Most recently, legislators in Florida proposed amending the state constitution to nullify any Federal takeover of health care in Florida.

Based on a similar amendment working [...]

Colorado Springs, Colorado
July 29th, 2009
Yesterday our Patients First “Hands Off Our Health Care” rally drew over 1,200 activists to Acacia Park in downtown Colorado Springs. The crowd was there to send a clear message to President Obama: Americans won’t sit back and watch our health care system be taken over by Big Government bureaucrats. Speakers [...]

Farmville, Virginia
Monday, July 27, 2009
State Senator Frank Ruff and AFP-Virginia State Director Ben Marchi addressed the crowd about the dangers of the proposed reform in front of the courthouse in downtown Farmville. The crowd actively participated in the event by drawing the attention of neighbors and passing traffic.

South Boston, Virginia
Monday, July 27, 2009
Our 13-state Patients First bus tour kicked off with a stop in South Boston, Virginia a town of 6,915 people. We were greeted by 350 energetic Virginians who came out to express their concern for their healthcare and to stop big government regulation by signing onto our petition, [...]