Constitutionality of Universal Healthcare

[Guest guest]

I've enjoyed reading the postings on this list serve, but missing from

most of the discussion is the constitutionality of the proposed

legislation, most notably the House version (3200). The following is

why the legislation violates the U.S. Constitution:

1) There is simply nowhere in the Constitution that gives any

authority to the members of Congress to regulate healthcare.

2) The 3rd and 4th amendments, pertaining to unreasonable search

and seizure, are violated by providing all your personal healthcare

information, your financial information, and the information of your

employer, physician, and hospital to appointees of the President's

administration.

3) If you decide not to have healthcare insurance, or if you have

private insurance that is not deemed acceptable to the Health Choices

Administrator appointed by the Administration, there will be a tax

imposed on you. It is called a tax instead of a fine because of the

intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th

Amendment. However, that doesn't work because there is nothing in the

law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it

is definitely depriving someone of property without the due process of

law.

4) The 10th Amendment states: The powers not delegated to the

United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,

are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Under the

provisions of this Healthcare Reform legislation, neither the people nor

the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas

that once were theirs to control.

5) Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both

houses of Congress to " be bound by oath or affirmation to support the

Constitution. " If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote

for this legislation or anything like it, without feeling I was

violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway, I

would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

We as U.S. citizens all have different political ideologies. I believe

that it's always a good practice to begin with the U.S. Constitution

when debating any legislation. Thanks for considering my posting.

-Curtis

________________________________

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On

Behalf Of Glenn Brown

Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 11:22 PM

To: PTManager

Subject: RE: Re: Universal Healthcare

This is in Response to Tim's email. Unless one addresses impairments,

there

will be no functional games. Please be careful not to throw the baby out

with the bathwater. Our profession is in a precarious place right now.

We

are stuck in the middle of many forces that ultimately affect the way

care

for our patients. I still believe that in the end the force of

delivering

great care to patients that uses strong scientific rationale to treat a

specific patient with his/her own set of impairments and functional

deficits

(and often with their own specific co-morbidities) will ultimately be

the

" force that wins " . However, there will continue to be a tug of war of

values until this force wins. Let us not grow weary in our efforts to

run

the race to the finish. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Glenn Brown MMSc, PT, ATC, SCS

Re: Re: Universal Healthcare

Dave,

Superbly stated ... I couldn't agree with you more. It sounds cynical

and I

guess it is but in studying how the political, financial, and economic

systems of the world function, the evitable conclusion that is arrived

at is

that it's always, always, ALWAYS about power and money, at least for the

political/financial elite. As a group, physical therapists have (at

least

in the past) tended to be far more altruistic and far less mercenary

than

most of the individuals in power. A caring and ethical physical

therapist

always puts the patient first. Unfortunately, Wall Street doesn't give a

rip about the patient. All they care about is profits. As such, we're

essentially sardines dealing with a system that's run by sharks. The

sardines can survive but they definitely don't have the power and they

better stay alert and nimble.

, PT, OCS

Universal Healthcare

> > >

> > > It looks like this universal healthcare is going to happen.

> > >

> > > Regardless of your political or philosophic views, I have two

questions:

> > >

> > > Q1: What impact do you foresee (degrees of increase, decrease,

no change)

> > > universal healthcare having on:

> > >

> > > -Professional autonomy

> > > -Waiting Times

> > > -Plans of care, including frequency and duration

> > > -Reimbursement from Medicare

> > > -Reimbursement from non-governmental insurance companies

> > > -Salaries

> > > -Small PT practices

> > > -% of Self-pay patients

> > > -Pursuit of patients seeking PT to delay surgery

> > > -Pursuit of patients seeking alternative health providers

> > >

> > > Q 2:

> > > Has the APTA served our interests well during this legislative

process?

> > >

> > > Very respectfully intended,

> > >

> > > Alan

> > >

> > > Alan Petrazzi MPT, MPM

> > > Rehab Manager

> > > Pittsburgh, PA

> > >

> > >