An HHS Pork Mandate?

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The Patrion Post:

 

 

An HHS Pork Mandate?

 

By Ken Blackwell (Archive) · Monday, May 7, 2012

What will come next? Will the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issue a Pork Mandate as part of ObamaCare? Will this be the next shoe to drop? Sound ridiculous? But, wait. Here's what the pork industry says about pork, "the other white meat."

Pork today compares favorably for fat, calories and cholesterol with many other meats and poultry. While providing a greater amount of vitamins and minerals, many cuts of pork are as lean or leaner than chicken. Pork tenderloin, for example, is just as lean as skinless chicken breast and meets the government guidelines for "extra lean." In total, six pork cuts meet the USDA guidelines for "lean," with less than 10 grams fat, 4.5 grams saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving.

This is a fairly persuasive catalog of the benefits of pork versus chicken. The case for pork is even stronger when compared with beef. And isn't it the case that the fat and cholesterol content of beef has been a subject upon which nutritionists and cardiologists have been writing for some time?

If the health benefits of pork vis a vis chicken and beef can be scientifically demonstrated, then it could only be "irrational" religious objections that stand in the way of a Pork Mandate, right?

Try to imagine an HHS Pork Mandate applicable of Jewish rest homes and Muslim soup kitchens. Surely, these small religious minorities would be required to go along with the federal government for the greater good. Health is health, after all. And that's what HHS is all about.

As absurd as it is to think about a Pork Mandate, it is equally absurd to consider the federal government forcing Catholics, Evangelicals, many Lutherans and some Jews to include insurance coverage for drugs that can cause abortions. Yet,

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$13-per-mile ambulance fee passes in Houston

 

 

City Council has just imposed a $13-per-mile fee on ambulance rides in Houston.

That is on top of the existing $1,000 per ride base price.

Houston dropped the mileage fee in November 2010 to make more palatable its action to raise the base price from $415 to $1,000, Councilwoman Melissa Noriega explained.

But dropping the mileage fee has disqualified the city from claiming about $2.7 million a year in Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance reimbursement that it cannot claim through its base charge.

The measure passed 12-4 with council members Andrew Burks, Helena Brown, C.O. Bradford and Jerry Davis opposed.

About 45 percent of all ambulance riders pay nothing at all because they are indigent and uninsured. The city does not charge those who can prove, through documentation of other government services to the poor, that they cannot afford to pay. Read More

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics