Washington (CNN) — President Obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the “rapid increase in illness” from the H1N1 influenza virus.

“The 2009 H1N1 pandemic continues to evolve. The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities,” Obama said in a statement.

“Thus, in recognition of the continuing progression of the pandemic, and in further preparation as a nation, we are taking additional steps to facilitate our response.”

The president signed the declaration late Friday and announced it Saturday.

Calling the emergency declaration “an important tool in our kit going forward,” one administration official called Obama’s action a “proactive measure that’s not in response to any new development.” Another administration official said the move is “not tied to the current case count” and “gives the federal government more power to help states” by lifting bureaucratic requirements — both in treating patients and moving equipment to where it’s most needed.

The officials didn’t want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Obama’s action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements” to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic.

Those requirements are contained in Medicare, Medicaid and state Children’s Health Insurance programs, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rule.

Since the H1N1 flu pandemic began in April, millions of people in the United States have been infected, at least 20,000 have been hospitalized and more than 1,000 have died, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the rest of the story Please go here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/24/h1n1.obama/index.html?eref=rss_us

Face Forward Comments:

According to the the news release, this will only impact government managed health care services like Medicare, Meicade, and Children’s Health Insurance Programs.  I am interested in the way that this has been worded.  When Kathleen Sebelius said, “to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements”, it does make one wonder what those certain requirements are.

I read through the CDC website and could not confirm the numbers that CNN is reporting.  Certainly nothing to indicate that millions have been infected.  At best, there have been a large number of cases of people with Flu like symptoms, which is running just a bit above normal.  Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization said, “On present evidence, the overwhelming majority of patients experience mild symptoms and make a rapid and full recovery, often in the absence of any form of medical treatment.”

Again, we need to watch this story closely and try to get a better understanding why a national emergency has been called by Mr. Obama and see what the implications are.

By MARK MIX  – Wall Street Journal

In the heated debates on health-care reform, not enough attention is being paid to the huge financial windfalls ObamaCare will dole out to unions—or to the provisions in the various bills in Congress that will help bring about the forced unionization of the health-care industry.

Tucked away in thousands of pages of complex new rules, regulations and mandates are special privileges and giveaways that could have devastating consequences for the health-care sector and the American economy at large.

The Senate version opens the door to implement forced unionization schemes pursued by former Govs. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois in 2005 and Gray Davis of California in 1999. Both men repaid tremendous political debts to Andy Stern and his Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by reclassifying state-reimbursed in-home health-care (and child-care) contractors as state employees—and forcing them to pay union dues.

Following this playbook, the Senate bill creates a “personal care attendants workforce advisory panel” that will likely impose union affiliation to qualify for a newly created “community living assistance services and support (class)” reimbursement plan.

The current House version of ObamaCare (H.R. 3200) goes much further. Section 225(A) grants Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius tremendous discretionary authority to regulate health-care workers “under the public health insurance option.” Monopoly bargaining and compulsory union dues may quickly become a required standard resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of doctors and nurses across the country being forced into unions.

Ms. Sebelius will be taking her marching orders from the numerous union officials who are guaranteed seats on the various federal panels (such as the personal care panel mentioned above) charged with recommending health-care policies. Big Labor will play a central role in directing federal health-care policy affecting hundreds of thousands of doctors, surgeons and nurses.

For the rest of the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574400571702189240.html

got a preview Sunday of the tough sell lawmakers will face over health care as audience members booed and jeered them during a town hall meeting in Philadelphia.  Among those at odds with the officials touting the $1 trillion, 10-year plan was a woman who earned loud applause when she said she doesn’t want Washington interfering with her health care choices.

“I look at this health care plan and I see nothing that is about health or about care. What I see is a bureaucratic nightmare, senator. Medicaid is broke, Medicare is broke, Social Security is broke and you want us to believe that a government that can’t even run a cash for clunkers program is going to run one-seventh of our U.S. economy? No sir, no,” she said.

Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/03/audience-shouts-sebelius-specter-health-care-town-hall-philadelphia/

Face Fwd Comments:

This incident is being played out all across the US.  In Austin Lloyd Doggett was shouted down as he tried to make excuses for not following the will of the people.  It is time to vote the liars out.  The question is who do we have left to run the country?

TARP funds cannot or will not be accounted for, bail outs of automobile manufactures (and given to the unions), “cash for clunkers” which is another welfare program for unions and a history of failed medical programs in the US (medicare, VA, Medicaid), do you really think this government is capable of running a medical program?  And  what about Social Security?  Does it now have all the funding it needs?  Wake up America!!  It’s not just Obama, it’s is the governments history of failed programs.  If you add the socialist bent of more taxes for more programs being pushed by this administration, then you can see we are headed for disaster.

I ask all of my liberal friends (and enimies), “if you can find just one major government program that has been a success then I will drop all opposition to healthcare”.  In every instance I can think of, the private sector out performs government.  Even the US Postal service cannot beat FedEx or UPS and they have a monopoly!