What was actually in the Healthcare Bill?

Well, we wondered what the repercussions are from the recently passed health care bill. What actually is in the bill? How will it affect my family? I wish Congress would have at least listened to the doctors since they definitely weren't listening to the people. The Friday before they passed this, I heard a speech given by our President in which he stated that Doctors would be forced to able to find out what was wrong with one test verses 5 tests saving the country money. This scared me! How often can a doctor give a true diagnostic with ONE test? Is he really that out of touch with medicine? But now he's the one at the top running it. May God help us all.

Many of you know that I grew up in Indiana. This letter appeared in the Indianapolis Star (which is owned by the same people who own the Arizona Republic) and was sent to a very popular Indiana Senator. This just goes to show everyone what pressure these Democrats are currently under, so continue to let them know how you feel about the healthcare bill.

Indianapolis doctor's letter to Sen. Bayh about the Bill (Note: Dr. Stephen E. Frazer, MD practices as an anesthesiologist in Indianapolis, IN.) Here is the letter Dr. Stephen Fraser sent to Senator Bayh.


"Senator Bayh,

As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the government's proposed involvement in the patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed.

I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens.

Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!

Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.

Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances & a 'National ID Health card' will be issued! (Papers please!)

Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer. (Time for more cash and carry)

Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).

Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.'

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans The Govt will ration your health care!

Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)

Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps) to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!)

Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (No choice.)

Page 124 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly.

Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.

Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!)

Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees AND their families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)

Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the last comment in parenthesis.)

Page 150 Lines 9-13: A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll.

Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.) (Like always)

Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans' finances and personal records. (I guess so they can 'deduct' their fees)

Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!) ( a 'fee' instead)

Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.)

Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in --- you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that's not Socialism!)

Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.)

Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries.

Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions).

Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission --- the Govt will penalize you.

Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)

Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.)

Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?)

Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of=2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.)

Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan)

Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' Unbelievable!

Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health Advisory Committee." (Can you say HC by phone?)

Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)

Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it's mandatory!)

Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.')
(Sounds like Soylent Green to me.)

Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)

Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates.

Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans.. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)

Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)

Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!)

Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!)

Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)

Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.

Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating. Furthermore, if you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor-patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election.

Respectfully, Stephen E. Fraser, MD"

Day of Mourning

Today in some sense has been a day of Mourning for me and my family. We have written several letters over the last year to our representatives and senators in opposition to the Health Care Bill that was passed last night.

Arizona does not have the money to cover Health Care. Governor Brewer said, "The devastating impacts of the federal legislation will rob Arizonans of their rights and pocketbooks alike." She said this will bankrupt our state and that we can not afford it.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords vote yesterday was a slap in the face not only to our governor but also to the people of Arizona. She basically showed us that she cares nothing for what her constituents want. We are concerned about losing our teachers. Will this cause us to lose more? 50 kids in an elementary classroom will kill the quality of education as we know it!

We are concerned about the fragile job market and that our home is only worth 50% of what we paid for it. We are concerned about the financial situation of our great state!

Health Care needed reformed. By opening up the competition between insurance companies so state lines wouldn't dictate who you could choose, the price of insurance would have been forced down by the free market. Why did she not press for this? Health Care did not need reformed in the manner of this 2309 page bill that passed.

Personally I liked her. I met her in person on a couple occasions. I liked how she fought for the town of Marana when it was fighting the flood plain issue. To me, her vote yesterday was a deal breaker. She promised to represent us at the highest levels of government and to uphold the constitution of the United States of America. Yet she voted for something that would put our state in financial bondage and would insure our dependence on the federal government.

She is up for re-election. I will definitely be voting against her come November!

3/11 My March Madness Entertaining Media Day

This has to be my favorite picture from the trip!

Do you ever wake up thinking, "Did I dream that or did it really happen?" Well, that is exactly what I thought this morning as I got up and got my kiddos ready to take to school. I would still be wondering if the last 2 days happened if I hadn't downloaded all the pictures as proof.


Wednesday, I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was an enjoyable trip despite the 2 delayed planes and arriving 2 hours later than planned. I can't stand to pay more than necessary so I rented the cheapest rental car I could find in Charlotte which was still expensive! After all I just needed it to drive to the hotel, television shoot, and back to the airport the next day. I go to turn on the rental car and the engine light pops on with the wording that one of the tires is low. I unload everything and took the keys back. The lady looks at me and says she's going to make my day. She gave me the keys to a brand new Mustang convertible to drive! My husband and son were jealous.

Lauren Hopkins and Libbie Summers

Thursday I got up at 5 a.m. ET (3 a.m. Tucson time) and was at the kitchen set at 6 a.m.. Lauren Hopkins, the publicist from the Butin Group, and Libbie Summers, Paula Deen's food editor and head food stylist, were already there hard at work getting everything ready for the big production.


Emily McCarty and Marty Snider came in from the satellite truck to brief me on the schedule. You might recognize Marty from his reporting on Nascar. Then, the hair and makeup lady arrived around 6:30 a.m. to get me ready. The hair and makeup artist did hair and makeup for Deborah Norville (from Inside Edition) for 3 years in New York and for ACCESS Holleywood in LA. She did a fabulous job.


Before I knew it, we were off and running doing radio interviews and television interviews until about 11: 45 a.m.. I felt really good about the whole day. Libbie helping made it possible for me to concentrate on the actual interviewing and removed the stress of making sure the food was perfectly arranged and ready. It was such a fun surreal day!

I returned the car and flew home. I'm happy to be home again with my family, back to potty training, and driving my mini-van which allows me to actually see above the cars in front of me. If they ask me to do it again, I'd love it. For now, I'll enjoy my quiet life in Tucson and all it has to offer!

Click here to see one of the interviews I did yesterday with Cleveland's WKYC.

You can find all the recipes we used and tips for entertaining for March Madness on clubentertaining.com.

Click here for information on my 14 cookbooks.


More pictures from the trip:


I was able to see my friend, Jessie, while I was there. She came to see the tail end of the shooting and we were able to go out to lunch afterward. We grew up together and I hadn't been able to see her in years! It was fun to catch up.

Pray for Chile

My mom called this morning and told me to turn on the news. From the tone of her voice, I sensed it was serious. She informed me that Chile had been hit by a major earthquake. You may wonder why this would shake me and become the majority of my focus today.

At the age of 21, I was blessed to spend a year and a half of my life as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I lived in La Cisterna (Santiago), La Florida (Santiago), Puente Alto (Santiago), Buin, Paine, Peumo, and Pichidegua. All day I've been trying to make contact with people I knew in Chile. Facebook is a wonderful tool! With each new notice that a friend is safe, my heart lightens. I still have many that I haven't heard back from. I especially am concerned for the people who lived in Peumo and Pichidegua since they were located even closer to the epicenter in smaller towns that didn't build for earthquakes in the same way they did in Santiago.

I see the pictures and want to cry.

Chile will always be a part of who I am.
Please keep the people of Chile in your prayers.

Update on the Ashcrafts

I love the Olympics. I have to admit that I have become quite the recluse since Opening Ceremonies on Friday. I just can't get enough of it. I have such wonderful memories from the Salt Lake City Olympics. Ivan and I were able to attend an event in 2002 and feel of the Olympic spirit that was there. I wish we could be in Vancouver!

With everything going on, I haven't been diligent at updating our family blog. I thought I would list what we've been up to:

1. I was just put in as secretary of the Police Citizens Advisory Commission for the town of Marana. I have to type up all the minutes to be posted on the town's website along with the agenda for upcoming meetings. Just what I needed- extra work!

2. Elizabeth and I have been going crazy selling Girl Scout Cookies over the last month. I still have Trefoils, Do-si-dos, Thank You Berry Much, Dulce de Leche, and Lemon Chalet cookies left if anyone would like any!

3. Ivan has been staying busy as Cub Scout Master. Pine Wood Derby is now over and the Blue and Gold Banquet is coming up soon. I have the dream calling of teaching the Gospel Essentials class. I love all the wonderful people who come to my class and who I learn so much from.

4. Devan was Student of the Month in January. He's been enjoying learning about colonial history and the Declaration of Independence. We're in the middle of Devan's Science Fair project. I hate science fair projects. Ivan leaves on Wednesday for Florida leaving me to help him finish his project. Devan is also receiving his Tender Foot Award in Boy Scouts.

5. I'm in the middle of working on 2 new cookbooks. Testing, trying, thinking of new ideas. That about sums it up on that one.

6. My dad had to have his heart shocked back into rhythm today. We were grateful that the procedure went well and that he's feeling so much better.

7. Ivan and I were able to go to the Gem and Mineral Show for the first time on the 12th. I let Ivan buy me a beautiful pair of opal earrings that were mined 15 miles from his family farm in Spencer, Idaho. We also went to a great valentine's dinner put on by one of our local builders and home owners association. It was wonderful to meet more of our neighbors.

8. I still am posting deals on www.mysavvysavings.com and filming 2 stories a month for KVOA's 4 p.m. news. I really enjoy it.

Hope this catches you all up!

There's got to be the bad mixed in with the good

Emma has been our family's joy over the last 3 years. Yet, recently she has been my biggest challenge. She's always been a good kid, but lately she's turned into a little terror. In one day, she emptied a whole tube of my lipstick by rubbing it all over the couch upstairs, poured lotion that an older sibling left out all over the hallway carpet, and wrote all over her sister's bed sheets and her own stomach with a permanent marker that another sibling left out. That was in just one day. I could start a huge list of what she's been up to, but I'll refrain. Last night she cried on and off all night. I thought the days of not sleeping were over until the kids hit the late teen years.

As I reflected on the madness and my frustration with this little girl, I started to think about the necessity of opposition. Without pain and sadness, we wouldn't appreciate the joy and happiness. Without chaos, we wouldn't relish peace. It's all part of Heavenly Father's plan.

One Good Man

Tonight I watched the film One Good Man with our family. What an amazing movie! Here's the trailer. If you live close, you are welcome to borrow it.