[Harrison]

Those of you following a proposed trillion-dollar healthcare overhaul know that this behemoth legislation is being debated at this very moment. The 1990 page bill can be found here (and other places).

An op-ed letter in a major US Newspaper recently quoted the prescient wisdom of James Madison, in relation to this particular “healthcare bill monstrosity,” which is 19.6 pounds printed:

“…It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow…”

Jane Sasseen’s article in Business Week seems to echo this concern in another way, going so far as to call this pricey reform a “Tax Hike by Any Other Name.” She raises some good points in the article – like how the middle class will end up footing much of the financial burden for this change. Also in this article, Jane mentions how device-makers may be forced to pony up more bucks - $120 billion over the next decade. And it is anyones guess how that translates back to us patients. In the meantime, more and more people are receiving ortho implants, so maybe Uncle Sam is raiding the treasure chest!?

Please answer the one-question poll herein. And offer your comment regarding this complicated, but well-intentioned bill.