OBAMACARE RATED XXX!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

OBAMACARE RATED “XXX!"

by Steve Fair

     When the 2,572 page Affordable Health Care Act was being considered by the U.S. House in 2010, then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi famously said, “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it.”  You may be surprised to find out what’s in it is rated “XXX.”

    Betsy McCaughey, the former Lt. Governor of New York, and the author of, “Beating ObamaCare,” says the next time you go to the doctor- whether it is a dermatologist, cardiologist or your primary care physician, be prepared to answer some very intrusive questions about your sex life.  According to McCaughey, one of the tenets of ObamaCare is getting physicians to gather information about their patient’s sex life.  If they refuse, they face financial penalties.  

     “This is nasty business,” says New York cardiologist Dr. Adam Budzikowski. He called the sex questions “insensitive, stupid and very intrusive.” Budzikouski couldn’t think of an occasion when a cardiologist would need such information — but he knows he’ll be pushed to ask for it.  

     Four comments:

     First, asking Americans to reveal such private information is unconstitutional! The U.S. Supreme Court has found that the Constitution implicitly grants a right to privacy against governmental intrusion. This right to privacy has been the justification for decisions involving a wide range of civil liberties cases heard by the high court through the years.  This breach of our personal liberty in ObamaCare should make every American- no matter their political Party affiliation- livid. 

     Second, physicians will have to violate their Hippocratic Oath to comply!  Part of the oath says, “What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about.” Physicians should not have to choose between the government and their patients. 

     Third, we can’t trust the government to keep information confidential!  Look at the NSA mess and the number of times a government agency gives out someone’s social security number.  Bureaucrats can’t be trusted to show up for work on time, much less keep information to themselves.

     Fourth, Most Americans have no problem telling their physician very personal information because they trust their doctor.  This requirement, if implemented, will damage the doctor/patient relationship.  Many Americans will either lie or refuse to answer questions that in years past they would have answered candidly. 

     Thanks to the National Rifle Association, Section 2716 of the ObamaCare law does forbid the federal government from compelling doctors and hospitals to ask you if you own a firearm.  They wanted to know if you had a weapon, but the NRA effectively killed that idea. But rest assured, the liberals will not give up. 

     The late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandis was a long time advocate for personal privacy.  Brandis said, “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."