Representative Louis Gohmert actually wants to create a panel of political appointees that will decide what treatments you can use your Health Savings Account funds for as part of his "Patient-Controlled Healthcare Protection Act". For a Republican fighting to protect the country from "government control of heath care" this is the ultimate in hypocrisy.
We have a GOP health care Bill actually proposed in Congress and my Congressman Louis Gohmert is shooting for an exacta in GOP hyperbole with it.
While none of these claims come as a shock to anyone who knows about Congressman Gohmert the fact that he proposed legislation that actually creates a health care panel composed of political appointees whose mandate was to determine what treatments would be covered under expanded Health Savings Accounts as part of his "Patient-Controlled Healthcare Protection Act" may actually surprise you.
(a) Establishment- There is established a Panel to be known as the `HSA Healthcare Panel' (in this section referred to as the `Panel').
(b) Duties-
(1) REVIEW OF QUALIFIED MEDICAL EXPENSES- The Panel shall review the reports and other information submitted to the Panel under section 104 or requested by the Panel and review appropriate information regarding the healthcare treatments, services, and products that are potentially treatable as qualified medical expenses for purposes of section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(2) REPORT- The Panel shall, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter submit a report to Congress providing a new list of eligible healthcare expenses.
(c) Membership-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Panel shall be comprised of 101 members.
(2) APPOINTMENTS-
(A) VOTING MEMBER AND CHAIR- The Surgeon General of the United States shall be a voting member of the Panel, and shall be the chairperson.
(B) OTHER VOTING MEMBERS- The Governor of each State shall appoint 2 voting members to the Panel, one of whom shall be a health care specialist and one of whom shall not be a health care specialist.
Can you believe the hypocrisy of this man. He is "on record" as opposing government interference in health care decisions between you and your doctor while his own legislation actually creates a panel of appointees whose job is to decide what your Health Savings Account can be used to pay for.
For the record I will back up my other claims.
Even though Rep. Gohmert voted in favor of the congratulatory resolution on the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood which included the provision stating that President Obama was born there, shortly thereafter signed on as a co-sponsor of the "Birther Bill".
Gohmert is on record in an interview with Alex Jones, of all people, for his complicity with the Deathers.
GOHMERT: We've been battling this socialist health care, the nationalization of health care, that is going to absolutely kill senior citizens. They'll put them on lists and force them to die early because they won't get the treatment as early as they need
.
Gohmert posted a press release with his message to the tea baggers.
Thank you for your efforts and presence here today. Your willingness to come out and publicly express your opinion shows that you truly appreciate the fatal danger facing this nation. The Obama Administration and liberal leadership in Congress are ramming through nation-ending, liberty-usurping, and economically-bankrupting policies that violate the fundamental values on which this country was built. We are in the midst of a struggle to protect our precious individual liberties and enumerated rights from being devoured by the federal government's insatiable desire for more control.
IMHO Gohmert falls only behind Michelle Bachmann, Phil Gingrey, and Virginia Foxx as the nuttiest members of Congress and since Gohmert was once a Texas Supreme Court Judge his actions say a lot about Texas and his East Texas District and I hang my head in shame whenever I consider it.
