Healthcare Doctor Fix Going On Jobs Bill

By James Fox on March 6, 2010, 8:55 am

The so called ‘Doctor Fix’, a measure that addresses Medicare reimbursement fees, is being bundled into the job’s bill. This looks like a slippery way of putting something that should be in the healthcare bill into another bill that America will not notice.

Bundling Legislation

The “Doctor Fix” has been moved from the healthcare insurance reform bill to what is being referred to as the “Jobs Bill” to keep the cost of the healthcare insurance reform bill under $1 trillion. Though “Doctor Fix” definitely belongs on the healthcare insurance reform bill, elected officials are manipulating the system by playing a numbers game.

Manipulative Practice

This is a manipulative practice, known as bundling legislation, used by elected officials to hide some of their spending tactics. What they do is they pool together a group of bills and combine them into one so that they will move smoothly through the House or Senate. Also included in this bill are monies for extending unemployment benefits and health insurance for the long-term jobless and providing for highway programs.

 

Not only does this hide some of their out of control spending, it also allows them to make those that take a stance against the bill look bad if they oppose it. As is the case earlier this week with Sen. Jim Bunning who was trying to stop a bill to prevent the further growth of the deficit, but was made to look like a demon for stopping a bill which would supply benefits for the jobless. What Sen. Bunning was trying to do, in actuality, was to make the government more fiscally responsible. This is what Americans have been begging of lawmakers to discontinue for years. Someone put it this way: It is the responsibility of elected officials to communicate with their constituents; failure to be able to do so makes him or her unable to effectively serve in his or her office.

Related posts:

1. Healthcare Bill’s Passing Gives Government 17% Control Of US Economy
2. Is Sen. Jim Bunning The Last Ethical & Responsible Person In Congress?
3. Obama Health Care Reform: Do Jail Time For NonCompliance
4. MI Gov Granholm & AG Clash Over Healthcare Reform Bill
5. Obama Healthcare Bill Strips Away America’s Rights