THE FCC IS VOTING ON NET NEUTRALITY TOMORROW, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22ND.

Thursday, October 22, the FCC will decide on whether “Net Neutrality” rules will guide the new regulations they are proposing for the internet. This is yet another grab for power, and this one is serious because it opens the door to censorship of the internet. I think we need to flood the FCC with comments opposing it.

Following is a copy of a letter I sent to the FCC’s new “Join the Discussion” site at:
http://blog.openinternet.gov/?p=1

You can also contact them at: E-mail: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Tel# (1-888-225-5322)
Fax: (1-866-418-0232)
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Sirs:

Net Neutrality will result in slowing the internet down for everyone by making the use of Broadband extremely inefficient. It will stifle innovation because new enterprises will not be willing to invest in new applications when they will not be able to recoup their investment.

The following quotes are from an article by Steven Titch, a Political Analyst, from the Reason Foundation:

"An unmanaged Internet, consumed by an exaflood, endangers the ease of which smaller Web publishers, bloggers and merchants can reach users."

"The network neutrality issue has dwindled to a political agenda supported by a handful of vocal advocates at Moveon.org and Freepress.org. And while these groups may have good intentions behind their support for Internet regulation, the neutrality rules they favor will not result in what they hope for. Quite the contrary, they will lead to higher broadband prices, mediocre service and cede a lot of market power to one segment of the market. In this, network neutrality is no different from many of the radical new regulatory programs the Obama administration is introducing to the American economy, be it banking, insurance, auto manufacturing, health care or alternative energy—they allow a select group of favored companies to privatize the gains and socialize the costs. Such programs don’t encourage competition, job growth and entrepreneurship, they impede it."
http://reason.org/news/show/how-net-neutrality-regulation

Implementing "net neutrality" will destroy choice of services, and increase costs to the public because of the inefficiency and rules against banning the business practice of “Levying surcharges on content providers that are not their retail customers”. Consumers would have to pay full service rates for small and limited applications.

"Net Neutrality" is about government control and special interests. The American people know this, and will express their displeasure at the polls if it is implemented

CONTENT OF LATEST LETTER TO CONGRESS

Per economics Professor Martin Feldstein(1) there are three problems with the American health-care system:

1. Health-care costs are rising much faster than our incomes.
2. More than 15 percent of the population has neither private nor public insurance.
3. The high cost of health care can lead to personal bankruptcy, even for families that do have health insurance.

None of the bills that Congress is attempting to reconcile solve these problems. Their mandates will force Private Insurance to raise their rates or go bankrupt. The various taxes to pay for them will finish bankrupting the rest of us. In the rush to pass “something”, little research has been done into current free market solutions that are working.

Consider the following:

1. Direct Primary Care Practices, such as Qliance in Seattle(2), which operate outside of health insurance. Imagine; they can offer complete primary care much cheaper than the cost of health insurance plans alone; no co-pays, no maximums etc., just a flat, all inclusive, monthly fee, as little as $49.00! They can do this because they do not have the administrative costs of dealing with health insurance plans.

Their patients can use health savings accounts for such things as an MRI or a Colonoscopy. They can also buy a catastrophic health policy, and they will still pay less than those with employer subsidized complete health insurance.

Patients who are uninsured can, at least, get basic care at a very reasonable rate.

For these reasons, Direct Primary Care Practices are spreading across the country. In South Carolina we have Access Health Care.

2. Integrated Care models such as The Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation that have replaced the fee for service model. They achieve better care at lower cost.

3. Innovative insurance plans, such as those of the State of California, The University of California, and Stanford. These plans offer a choice of several plans, but only pay for the cheapest.

4. Pre-tax Health Savings Accounts, which many people with serious illnesses use to manage their disease.

The bills being considered would put all of these practices out of business. This would surely anger the millions who currently depend on them.

Congress has also not considered the following:

1. The high administrative costs of health care insurance and of government regulations are part of the problem. My doctors tell me are these are about 40% of their bottom line. All the current bills would double and quadruple those costs.

2. Medical liability is the second greatest cause of increased costs. What about tort reform? Look to Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and California for tort reform solutions. They just capped punitive damages.

3. If there are billions of dollars of fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid, solve those problems first. This is the true responsibility of government.

4. Every government dollar spent on health care requires $1.25 in tax dollars. Therefore the public option is the most expensive.

5. Healthcare insurance tied to employers is not portable, and creates many problems. Give individuals the same $5000 tax break as employers and let them own their own policy.

6. Health Insurance Companies have only a 3 to 5 percent profit margin(3). Without the access to the large pools that nationwide competition would provide, they cannot cover everything for everyone. If you mandate it, they will go bankrupt. The states can work together to standardize requirements.

7. Innovative ideas such as Professor Feldstein’s elegant solution, which would solve all three problems; without involving the Government in the delivery or rationing of healthcare, without increasing the National Debt, or requiring taxes to be raised.(1)

8. If there are 20 million core uninsured, we could give each of them $10,000 per year for only $200 billion. We don’t need to spend trillions!

The only reason to pass Health Reform legislation based on the models Congress is considering is to intentionally further our march toward total government control of every aspect of our lives and total destruction of the dollar and our economy. Why would you do that?

We are demanding you vote “No” to the boondoggle bill that is being created, then do your homework and create legislation that will actually solve the problems.

Remember, the American people are doing their homework, and they are watching you. There are millions of people who are becoming politically active for the first time. We are joining together and forming independent networks whose main purposes are: fiscal responsibility; defense of the Constitution; and the defeat of any members of Congress who take us further down this insane path.

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072701905.html
2. http://www.qliance.com/
3. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52745

HEALTHCARE COSTS & SOLUTIONS; GOVERNMENT & HEALTH INSURANCE ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

Following is yet another letter I have written to my Senators and Representative:
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Dear

All of the health care bills that are being considered create multiple bureaucracies, greatly increase reporting requirements, and generally increase administrative costs to all providers. Congress is basically trying to reduce what providers can charge while, at every level, greatly increasing their operational costs.

I read a 1998 CBO study that named the three largest contributors to increasing health care cost as: technology, administrative costs, and malpractice insurance. We don’t want to stifle new technologies, which leaves tort reform, and reducing reporting and administrative burdens as the best ways to reduce costs.

A large part of the admin burden comes from health care being tied to employers. As health care costs increase, companies begin changing plans every year, trying to find the cheapest one. As every plan has different negotiated terms with providers; doctors, hospitals and other providers have to hire multiple employees (and pay their benefits) to figure out and process all the claims.

Another part of the admin burden is created by the maze of government programs. Providers need to hire trained personnel to interpret and process the myriad rules, regulations and reporting requirements.

I know that our legislators and government officials live in a bureaucratic sea, which they probably don’t think about, any more than fish in the ocean think about the water in which they swim. However, those in private industry don’t have a bevy of clerks, paid for by the taxpayers, to interpret, manage and create all the paperwork mandated for us. They have to do it themselves, at a great loss of productive time, or they have to pay someone to do it.

The massive increase in new programs, rules and regulations, layered over old programs will do to the Health Care System what “No Child Left Behind” did to education. That is, it will so burden the health care providers that many will retire early, or otherwise leave the profession, just as many teachers have. We don’t want our doctors and teachers spending all their time grappling with red tape; we want them doctoring and teaching.


Please do everything you can to block "one size fits all" mandates for health insurance that will nullify free market solutions that are working.

Consider Direct Primary Care Practices, such as Qliance in Seattle, that operate outside of health insurance(See link below.) Imagine; they can offer complete primary care much cheaper than the cost of health insurance plans alone; no co-pays, no maximums etc., just a flat, all inclusive, monthly fee, often less than $80.00!

They can do this because they do not have the administrative costs of dealing with health insurance plans.

Their patients can use health savings accounts for such things as an MRI or a colonoscopy. They can also buy a catastrophic health policy, and they will still pay less than those with employer subsidized complete health insurance.

Patients who are uninsured can, at least, get basic care at a reasonable rate.

For these reasons, Direct Primary Care Practices are spreading across the country. In South Carolina we have Access Health Care.

Mandates that require all health insurance plans to cover everything, and that require everyone to have health insurance will put these practices out of business.

Please do not create laws that destroy these solutions. Please preserve HSAs and the ability to purchase catastrophic care only. Please preserve choice.

Please consider the fact that the government and health insurance providers themselves are a huge part of the problem. Please look to Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and California for tort reform solutions. Please, if there are billions of dollars of fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid, solve those problems first. This is the true responsibility of government.

As for the 10 to 17 million American citizens who are uninsured for lack of money, we can figure out how to give them excellent care without spending trillions. $170 billion would give each one $10,000.

Not sinking the economy with hundreds of new taxes and fees, not to mention unsustainable debt, would allow the creation of millions of new jobs as the recession ends. This is the best solution for the uninsured.

Please do not create a huge, government takeover, boondoggle plan that will destroy our country while it rewards special interests at the expense of the elderly, minorities and disadvantaged it purports to help.

*http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2008/12/22/seattle-docs-via-qliance-aim-to-revolutionize-health-care-by-freezing-out-insurance


On behalf of your Constituents: