The new Republican Congress is unlikely to repeal the
Affordable Care Act even after the GOP’s overwhelming victory in the 2014
midterms, with both medical and political experts agreeing that Americans must
learn to live with Obamacare for a few years.
Many Republicans won their elections by criticizing the
president’s expansive health-care scheme. But in reality, Obama would block any
congressional attempt to rein it in, analysts say.
Dr. Lee Hieb, author of the
explosive “Surviving
the Medical Meltdown: Your Guide to Living Through the Disaster of Obamacare,” warned in an exclusive interview with WND that the
consequences of the new law are already beginning to hit the American
heartland.
“Just
judging from my experiences in Iowa, we’re already seeing increasing shortages
of critical drugs like Valium, which is needed to prevent seizures,” she said.
“We’re running out of drugs to prevent tetanus infections in Arizona, and I’m
even receiving reports about shortages of propofol, which is basically what is
used to induce anesthesia during surgeries. And while things may be OK in the
major metropolitan areas for a while, here in Iowa, the shortages and supply chain
failures are already starting.”
Hieb’s personal experience is supported
by reports
from around the country of hospitals
nationwide encountering shortages of critical drugs.
According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, or
ASA, in the past five years “the United States has experienced shortages of an
array of vital anesthetic drugs such as propofol, succinylcholine, even
epinephrine.”
An ASA survey from 2012 shows more than 97 percent of
anesthesiologists have experienced a shortage of at least one anesthetic drug.
And the reports have become more common, she said. “When you
make life difficult for providers, you negatively affect the entire process
down the entire line. The Affordable Care Act imposes further regulatory and
compliance burdens on both doctors and those who create medical equipment and
pharmaceuticals. We’ve had these kinds of burdens for a long time, but
Obamacare simply makes everything worse. It takes everything that’s been
detracting from medical care and expands it.”
She said a requirement that details of every appointment be
entered into “electric medical records” is sabotaging medical care. Instead of
doctors spending time with patients, they spend most of their time and effort
in data entry. The records are then used by the government and insurance
companies to ensure that patients are receiving what bureaucrats regard as the
appropriate kinds of care. Doctors must follow this system to be paid.
The system especially hurts specialists, she said. “Many
specialists simply leave the profession either because they can no longer
afford to practice or simply out of disgust,” she said.
Government and insurance company bureaucrats are not
familiar with the patients and have no basis to determine what kind of
treatment is required. The result is that doctors have more overhead and
liability even as they are prevented from providing effective treatment.
Hieb said, “This electronic records requirement was the
final nail in the coffin for me and pushed me to leave private practice.”
Obamacare strengthens such requirements and makes the
government more involved in determining how medical care is to be provided.
Other medical experts concur with Hieb that the Affordable Care Act is
transforming the role of doctors from providers of medical care into “data
entry clerks.”
In
an interview by the medical industry publication Medscape, arheumatologist said: “Bureaucrats are telling us how to
practice our profession, and they don’t have a clue about seeing patients on a
daily basis. All the factors that made U.S. medicine the best in the world are
now being destroyed.”
Little reason for hope from
Congress
According to Hieb, “Obamacare is emptying out the heartland
as far as medical care goes.”
The effects of the law are creating
a political reaction as newly elected Republicans such as Sen. Bill Cassidy,
R-La., report “a tide rising” against the Affordable Care Act from “all
these angry people” forced to deal with the law.
But leading conservatives and political experts do not see
much hope of a repeal or even a substantial rollback in the short term.
Renowned Republican strategist
Richard Viguerie, author of the new book “Takeover:
The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives Can Finally Win
It,” predicts that the new Republican
Congress will disappoint conservatives by not repealing the Affordable Care
Act.
Viguerie judges that many Republicans “don’t have the
conviction or the political courage, and a total repeal is not something high
on their priority list.”
“Though I think we can chip away at it and weaken it, I’m
not optimistic that GOP leaders are really honest when they say repeal and
replace,” he said. “They are not prepared to fight Obama in the way that is
needed.”
Similarly, Eagle Forum Founder and President Phyllis
Schlafly says, “Many Republicans ran against Obamacare, and repealing it is
clearly the sentiment from the grassroots.”
However, Schlafly believes the “Boehner Congress has not
been willing to put up much of a fight.”
Viguerie thinks Republicans can eventually win the war over
Obamacare after a long struggle.
“We need to defeat more RINO (Republican In Name Only)
Republicans in the House particularly and keep up the pressure. And we have to
make sure we nominate a Republican for president that shares our views, not an
establishment Republican like a Jeb Bush, a Chris Christie or a Mitt Romney. We
have to get a president that commits to repeal and replace Obamacare.”
Viguerie notes that many Republicans come to Washington with
the best of intentions but are eventually co-opted. However, “one of the things
we have now is a network that can keep the pressure on and support those
Republicans who decide to buck the leadership. We didn’t have that 10 years
ago.”
Still, such hopes hinge on a unified Republican government,
which is at least two years away, and on conservative victories in the
Republican presidential primaries and a sweeping election win in the 2016
general election. In any case, Americans will have to live with Obamacare for
some time.
Furthermore, conservatives still have to confront the
political reality that Republicans receive much of their money from corporate
lobbyists.
Viguerie goes so far as to say “Conservatives need to
understand that their No. 1 opponent is not Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid or even
Barack Obama.’
“It’s the Chamber of Commerce. Even the best of these young
conservatives get 75 percent of their funding from K Street and corporate
lobbyists,” he said.
When it comes to the Affordable Care
Act, some of the biggest stakeholders donating to the Republican Party are insurance
companies that enthusiastically support the new legislation.
For that reason, Hieb is pessimistic even in the long term.
She says wryly that a repeal would be proof that “the age of miracles is not
yet over.” But she believes most voters won’t understand the implications of
the Affordable Care Act until they personally experience the coming shortages
and restricted care.
http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/doctor-america-seeing-shortages-of-critical-drugs/
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