The Business Model of Healthcare in the US – Pay or Die - Updated
The US is the only major country on this planet that does not view Healthcare as a human right for citizen survival. The ACA is a complete joke on US citizens. (We are not fucking consumers, we are citizens, asshole!) The idea of “affordable” healthcare through over priced health insurance, is nothing short of a bad fucking joke. The linguistic gymnastics has got to stop.
There is nothing “affordable” about healthcare in this country. When your health insurance premiums are more than 30% of your income, how the heck can that be considered affordable? When you are forced to sell almost everything you own to be able to afford the over priced deductibles and out of pocket expenses, and are denied possible life saving cancer treatment drugs because they are too expensive for the insurance company to cover, what are you gonna do? Well, the way our healthcare system is set up in this country, you have only one choice, pay or die.
Mark T. Bertolini, the Chairman and CEO of Aetna has indicated in a letter to the DOJ, that if the DOJ blocks it's planned merger with Humana, they will be forced to pull out of the ACA.
“Our analysis to date makes clear that if the deal were challenged and/or blocked we would need to take immediate actions to mitigate public exchange and ACA small group losses. Specifically, if the DOJ sues to enjoin the transaction, we will immediately take action to reduce our 2017 exchange footprint. We currently plan, as part of our strategy following the acquisition, to expand from 15 states in 2016 to 20 states in 2017. However, if we are in the midst of litigation over the Humana transaction, given the risks described above, we will not be able to expand to the five additional states.
In addition, we would also withdraw from at least five additional states where generating a market return would take too long for us to justify, given the costs associated with a potential break-up of the transaction. In other words, instead of expanding to 20 states next year, we would reduce our presence to no more than 10 states. We also would not be in a position to provide assistance to failing cooperative exchanges as we did in Iowa recently.
Finally, based on our analysis to date, we believe it is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely and plan for additional business efficiencies should our deal ultimately be blocked. By contrast, if the deal proceeds without the diverted time and energy associated with litigation, we would explore how to devote a portion of the additional synergies (which are larger than we had planned for when announcing the deal) to supporting even more public exchange coverage over the next few years.”
So, in other words, if you don't do like we ask, more people will die because they will not have access to healthcare, because they will not have health insurance, because Aetna isn't making enough profits and Aetna's CEO, is a fucking mobster. He believes in the pay or die business model of the Mafia.
I wonder if Mark T. Bertolini is considering the effects of climate change on people's health in their "analysis" of the market? I seriously doubt it. What about the effects of climate change on people's ability to pay for health insurance or healthcare at all? Does that make it into their analysis? I seriously doubt it. How about the massive problem with lead in over 2,000 water systems in this country and the ill's it is inflicting on our fellow citizens? I seriously doubt it.
Healthcare in this country, and especially the ACA, is a fucking joke, on us. There is nothing "affordable" about healthcare nor the cost of health insurance. We pay more in healthcare costs than any other country on this planet. Why? Because of our Mafia business model that's why. When one can hold a gun to the collective head of an entire country, what are you going to do? You got one choice, pay or die.
(Sometimes, I get to a dark place and just wish for an intense Gamma ray burst to make it all go away.)
Update: Video from RT's Big Picture with Thom Hartmann.
[video:https://youtu.be/VquLi4ITZVQ]
Comments
I agree 100% with your analysis. The ACA was designed
to transfer wealth from the bottom to the top and that transfer would continue until the ACA failed.
The ACA was designed to leave more than 20 million people without health insurance.
And, in my opinion, its hard to call the Bronze policy, with its family $10,000 deductible, an insurance policy to begin with, knowing that 1/3 of American families can't come up with $500 to meet an emergency.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Obama secretly negotiated a deal with the healthcare insurance
bigwigs and Big Pharma and handed them a captive audience. And he lied all the way throughout the process. (Well, he really started lying on the campaign trail, but why quibble?) AND THEN he dumped the employer mandate BUT kept the mandate on the American people so that they had to buy crappy insurance with high deductibles and that didn't pay shit. It was all a scam. And Barack Obama is a master scammer.
This whole ACA thing was Obama's way of pretending he was solving the healthcare coverage crisis while playing up to his real constituency, the 1%. Who, by the way, just happen to be Clinton's constituency as well.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Obama pretended that Obamacare came from
Romneycare. However, as we all know, Romneycare came from Billarycare, and, in turn, Billarycare came from the Heritage Foundation; and the Heritage Foundation was so perverse as to disavow it after the Clintons proposed it.
Nixon had proposed a plan with an employer mandate, but no individual mandate. Forcing the private sector to take on something government should have done was semi-conservative, but the Clintons and Obama managed to outdo Tricky by quite a bit.
As he neared the end of his life, Kennedy admitted that he had blocked Nixon's efforts because he (Kennedy) did not want a Republican President to get credit for passage of a health care plan. Kennedy claimed he regretted his actions and tried to go forward with it later, but, by then, Nixon was embroiled in Watergate. The problem with Kennedy's entire story is, Carter said Kennedy blocked his (Carter's) health care plan, too. In my view, Kennedy hoped HE would be the President who went down in history for passing health care.
Too bad Kennedy never became President. Too bad the next Democratic President was DLC kingpin, Bill Clinton, who triangulated from the Heritage Foundation to Billarycare. Too bad Billary could not get any kind of health care passed, even by a Democratic Congress. Yadda, yadda, yadda, Obamacare, a far more conservative plan a half century later. And that's how politicians, even ones known as liberal as Ted Kennedy, prioritized our lives.
Oh, and let's not forget Obama's running to Congress to put the kibosh on the drug re-importation bill because that was against the deal he had cut with PHRMA before the bill ever got to Baucus. https://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2010/02/12/the-legacy-of-billy-tauzi...
Thank you very much for all that history behind this
story. I did not know half of that.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Thank you. Glad to know my rambling is useful sometimes.
ha ha ha, I love your comment
I recognize myself in it
~OaWN
Rooster is right. And
Obama fucked us all. Why we still haved "Insurance Companies" CEOs d!cktating what is health care in this country is criminal. And, why we're not in the streets demanding their heads and demanding real Single Payer is on us. These futhermuckers should be hanged, and Single Payer should happen overnight.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
"Pay Or Die" would make a great ad campaign
If you saw Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" (2007) you know that for-profit private health insurance is a raw deal for most Americans.
"Pay Or Die" would make a great ad campaign for single-payer Medicare for All.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
A raw deal for sure.
Fucking disgrace.
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
WTF??
This shit needs to go viral. It is nothing less than EXTORTION. Under which federal laws is that permissible?
Everything is permissible, unless one or more laws prohibit it.
I guess no one thought to pass a law against corporations blackmailing the federal government to get a merger approved.
/shrug
Wow
glad you can just shrug at it...no big deal, huh?
I hope that /shrug is snark, but it IS pay or die.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
My post was about the lack of a law that prohibits blackmailing
the federal government in order to get approval of a merger, not about people dying. It was in response to this post http://caucus99percent.com/comment/157347#comment-157347. Very obviously, the shrug in my post was about what I posted, namely, absence of a federal law, and not about the "pay or die" part of the title of the thread. You are correct that, even as to absence of a blackmail law, the shrug was not meant to be taken literally.
No words for how offensive it would be for anyone to assume I was shrugging about people dying. Nothing I have posted, said or done in my life justifies any assumption remotely like that. It's hard for me to imagine the kind of conduct that would justify that assumption.
You would be surprised at how many
don't care about "other people" dying. Which is mostly why you might see misunderstanding at your shrug. That concept isn't always obvious, so thanks for the clarity.
That being said, "there's no law" does not excuse this vile behavior, nor does it preclude these beasts actually trying to act humane. This whole fucking system is offensive, starting with the ability to blackmail a bunch of people, holding their very human bodily health as hostage.
It's too bad so many people harbor it--mostly on the right, but you can find some on the left as well.
deleted
Wow again.
This is not the first thread on which you scolded and attempted to school me about something you read into my post that was not there, but your accusations on this thread are far "over the top."
To recap.You made a post that was either flip or indicative of a genuine lack of understanding. Either way, your post misstated a very basic, fundamental concept about the way in which any system of laws works. For that reason, and only that reason, I replied to you with a brief, correct statement about law and nothing but the law that ended with a "/shrug." Had my post been about "pay or die," rather than about your comment about the law, I would have replied to the post that started this thread, not to you, and the content of my post would not have been solely about your comment about law. That's Message Board 101. Equally obviously, a "shrug" in my post to you about law was about my own remarks and not an indication of indifference to the content of the post that started this thread. My post to you did not mention or imply a single thing about sick people or insult you personally.
Without asking me what I meant, you snarkily scolded me for my alleged indifference to sick people suffering and dying for lack of money. That accusation was both heinous and unwarranted. In response, I pointed out what should have been obvious: that my first post to you was about law, as was the "/shrug." Your reply to that insulted my intelligence, tried to make yourself right about having insulted me, then summoned a straw man out of nowhere to imply that I don't know that blackmail is morally wrong. w.t.f.
FYI, not being brain dead (yet), no, I am not at all surprised that some people in this world, including in this country, are evil and greedy enough to be indifferent to human suffering and to be unable to distinguish between right and wrong. I just don't assume that those people are posting on this board. In any event, I hope that your future posts to me, if any, will be about facts and issues and your opinions about public figures.
Wow, indeed.
http://caucus99percent.com/comment/158069#comment-158069
And in the meantime,
people who cannot afford to purchase the insurance get the privilege of paying the govn't a penalty every year! What a great system we have. Don't understand all the complaints.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Maybe it is time
for a taxpayer revolt.
Public funds are benefiting us little, big corps get a ton. In other words we are paying taxes to the rich
and FOR them, too. eom
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
It is long-past time for that
LONG past time.
The IRS has been gutted more and more every year. I am often tempted to go that route, but I am actually still in school, so it's a little hard to do that.
We need, seriously, to consider general strikes, at the very least. At some point...
Our healthcare system
is very reflective of our collective values. What ACA or Obamacare did was memorialize the right of a for profit middle man as a part of our healthcare system. Insurance is not healthcare. High co-pays and deductibles are not healthcare.
So what does the for profit middle man bring to our healthcare system as far as providing quality healthcare to those who need it? This is the question every citizen should be asking. Why do we need a for profit middle man as a part of our healthcare system? And this is exactly why we pay more for what healthcare we get for worse outcomes than any other industrialized nation.
Our values as a nation are in the wrong place. Only in the United States is healthcare not a right. Only in the United States is the right of a for profit middle man more important than the health of our citizens.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Medicare operates on less than 3% overhead. Private insurance
has overhead of approximately 15% to 18%. We are paying for a lot of waste such as advertising and excessive executive salaries.
Thanks for bringing up this important point.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Insurance companies increase our cost in other ways too
I needed about 4 crowns done a few years ago. I spaced them out so that insurance would cover them. If I remember correctly, my policy had a max payout of $1200 per year at that time. Every time the dentist finished one of the crowns, he took another x-ray of the finished crown. I finally asked him why he was doing it. He told me he has to take an x-ray to "prove" to the insurance company that he actually did the crown! We are being charged for the cost of the crown and then for an additional x-ray to prove to the insurance company it was completed. Not to mention that as human beings we are being subjected to a completely unnecessary dose of radiation. I hate the health insurance companies. Their demise can't happen soon enough for me. And that includes their blood sucking employees. If they want a job in the health care industry they can find one that actually provides health care rather than steal from it.
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush
Nicely said. Thank you!
~OaWN
Next up... let's solve the environment problem...
of air quality, by making people pay to breathe and carry around a card proving they HAVE paid in order to avoid arrest at spot checks by enforcement personnel who are specifically hired to ONLY check on whether or not folks have paid their air quality surcharge!
I probably shouldn't give them ideas.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Don't laugh
There are libertarians who argue for exactly this sort of thing. According to them, the problem with the environment is that most of it is not owned.
(I don't tell my GOP relative to vote for Johnson just to support third parties. I tell them to do it so they can see where their values naturally lead.)
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
I became a single payer activist 10 years ago
When I focused on the issue I thought it was a no brainer.
2 things;
1. Many do not have a brain.
2. Many of those who do have a brain are greedy.
When Obama removed single payer from the negotiating table and decided to start negotiating from a public option I was not happy.
The ACA is falling apart (thanks to the greed of the health insurance mafia).
The political revolution continues
Recsll that he most reliable voters are over 65, and Medicare-
covered. Most have no idea, they have never been denied Medicare coverage. Front-loading, as it is.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Who the f**k needs health insurance companies
They serve no common good what so ever. Their business model is extortion, pay us or die. It's a tribute to the prophetic nature of the movie, Idiocracy, that people just accept their mob like control of our lives.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Nope, we don't need health insurance companies with
their grasping employees and panels that are set up to deny service. Shut them out of the delivery of health care services and provide retraining into productive jobs.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
The foundational ethics of Medicine
and the questionable ethics of Capitalism do not blend easily with one another. They're like oil and water. Even a skillful mix-master like Obama can't get them to operate in unison for very long. Obama's entire administration of national affairs, both foreign and domestic, has mostly been an exercise in schizophrenia... or if you prefer, a not-particularly-successful effort to balance opposing forces.
native
You walk into a medical office in the USA...
In other civilized countries when you walk into a medical office, they ask "Where does it hurt?"
In America, you're immediately asked, "How much money do you have?"
Their next statement is, "Give it to us." And if you don't, you can drop dead right there on the spot for all they care.
"You'll get your clothes back with your receipt" - W.C. Fields
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Not always clothes back
When I was hospitalized they cut off my shirt, I came home from second hospital wearing a gown and not-comfy scrubs. (Patient pants). Too bad about that shirt.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Alan Grayson was SO Correct
One begins to question whether Soylent Green wasn't as much of a script as Wag The Dog and Idiocracy.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
Thank you for this essay, RR
When I woke up today, I didn't know that the theme of today was going to be Obamacare
~OaWN