Government Now Picking Winners and Losers as Part of Healthcare Takeover

Pelosi: “We Have To Pass The Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It”:

“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other.  But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket.  Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting.  But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Pelosi Remarks, 3/25/2010)

RED ALERT: Standard & Poor’s Analysis Says Gov’t Picking Winners And Losers, Nonprofits Face Credit Risk:

“The U.S. healthcare overhaul bill will provide insurance coverage for millions of Americans and possibly lower healthcare cost inflation, but it poses an increased credit risk for nonprofit providers, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday. ‘We expect that the expanded insurance coverage will create winners and losers among providers, based on their existing and future payor mix, their ability to meet demand from newly insured patients, the impact on disproportionate share funding, and the impact on commercial health care insurance availability and rates,’ said S&P analyst Liz Sweeney in a new report….The bill can be viewed as having two halves, insurance reform and delivery system and payment reform, said the report.  The former will mostly be covered by higher taxes and cuts in existing provider reimbursement formulas. But it remains unclear how the second part of the bill will be implemented, creating uncertainty for providers.” (Ciara Linnane, “Healthcare Bill Poses Credit Risk for Nonprofits,” Reuters, 5/13/2010)