"Market Based" Healthcare Solutions : A Future of Leech Farms and Barber-Surgeons

Let's be clear about one thing - Obamacare sucks and the Democrats failed on a phenomenal scale when they attempted to modify our "uniquely American" system of keeping for-profit insurers at the center of our healthcare system. Ever wonder why our system is "unique"? Because almost every other sane country in the world has realized that "profit" and "healthcare" cannot co-exist in the same space.

The health insurance industry was obviously already aware of that fact. Why do you suppose they came up with the concepts of "pre-existing conditions" as a barrier to coverage, or "lifetime caps" to limit payouts or "age-rating" to gouge older people who will have predictably rising coverage needs, or "rescission" in order to bump out covert bunion sufferers who later turned up with breast cancer? Because the insurers want premiums but they don't actually want to pay for actual healthcare! Imagine an industry whose sole goal is to limit and hinder access to the product they supposedly are the conduit to. Insurers are the industrious beavers damming up the channels we have to navigate in order to treat our illnesses and hopefully save our lives. Instead of realizing that there is no role for beavers and their dams in a modern national healthcare construct, the Democrats undertook a Save the Beavers campaign.

The Beavers are actually responsible for writing much of Obamacare, through the Senate Finance Committee and Max Baucus with the full approval of the President and his White House minions, who in an early secretive move, killed off the only thing that potentially could have made Obamacare successful - the Public Option which would have acted as a powerful lever of competition to provide an alternative to the for-profit insurers. The Beavers would have been faced with some industry altering choices if they still wanted to stay in the game - like (gasp!) not paying out ginormous, staggering sums to their top tier executives and BODs. Those insane and immoral compensations are based on the relative success of the scheme to kill Americans through Death by Spreadsheet - healthcare denied is healthcare insurance profit earned.

Why is Obamacare so spectacularly unsuccessful? It's a matter of simple math. A person may be able to afford the premium, but then they have to sit around and hope that they never have occasion to actually USE the insurance, because they will be hit with co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pockets that they often will not be able to afford. For 2017 the maximum out of pocket for an individual is $7,150 and for a family it is $14,300. When taking into account that the average American family has savings of less than $1000 it's easy to see that a number of people who desperately need coverage have figured out that they would be forking money over for premiums for coverage they can't affords to actually use. They will be out the premium money and they will still be forced into financial ruin or bankruptcy over medical expenses. And this situation is not limited to those covered by Obamacare, people who have employer coverage face the same dilemma of having insurance but not being able to cover the co-pays and deductibles.

Kaiser recently released a study in conjunction with the New York Times detailing the consequences that start the downward financial spiral when someone is unfortunate enough to get ill or have an accident even when insuredThe Burden of Medical Debt - Section 2: The Role of Health Insurance Major issues cited were the inability to pay their portion of cost-sharing (75%), "surprise billing" from a health provider they were unaware was outside of their network (32%), or having their claim denied by the insurance company (26%)

So here we are folks, in 2016, six years after the passage of the ACA in2010 and 3 years into its implementation. The problems that existed before the ACA still exist even though coverage has increased. The increase in coverage becomes moot when large percentages of the population, whether covered by Obamacare or receiving employer coverage STILL cannot afford to get care as opposed to the illusion of care.

In my opinion the ACA suffered from a fatal flaw at its inception, the tenet that for-profit insurers had to remain at the core of the American healthcare system. The good thing about the ACA is that it can be considered an experiment that failed. The choice is clear - either insurance companies retain profit subsidized by the illness and death of every American, or we finally, finally attempt to implement a single payer system that removes profit from the equation.

We can rely on Republicans to continue spouting useless aphorisms about "market-based" healthcare without understanding that is what we have had and still have - a market created by the greed of both the providers, the drug companies and the insurers. They will also talk about Health Savings Plans, another useless concept for Americans with stagnant wages and no disposable dollars. I have no particular reason to believe that Democrats will rise to the occasion of offering a better alternative to the ACA based on their previous failures of competence and reasoning in implementing it in the first place. The only way that Americans will finally get comprehensive, single-payer healthcare is if we coalesce around this issues and make it a litmus test for any politician who wants to get elected in the future. Bernie Sanders laid some groundwork in this regard. Healthcare was a major impetus for the election of President Obama in 2008. We need to make it the impetus for election in 2018 and beyond. We need to reject candidates who tell us "it will never happen" if we want it to happen. We can make it happen.

I leave you with this article Repealing Obamacare? A Better Idea: Medicare For All written by Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Directer of National Nurses United.

Medicare remains one of the most popular social reforms in U.S. history. Expanding it to cover everyone is an idea favored by 58 percent of Americans, as a May Gallup poll demonstrated. It’s the real healthcare reform we need.

Imagine that - 58% of Americans are already in favor of Medicare for All right out of the starting gate. Imagine what will happen after we unite and promote and educate. Our leaders apparently don't have the will to do what needs to be done. We will have to "make them" as one of them told us frankly. It's a struggle we can win.

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

which was the expansion of Medicaid in those states that accepted the expansion - definitely life-saving and which was also the only part of the ACA which could be considered as an expansion of a single-payer system. Hard to believe that Republican Governors who chose to kill their constituents as opposed to accepting the expansion are still in office.

On the other hand their is an additional very sucky aspect to the ACA that I did not address - the gap of uninsured who make too much for Medicaid and too little to receive a subsidy. These people have been in clear view since day one - the uninsured working poor.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

It's applicable to anyone 55 years or older who is forced on to medicaid in the years before they qualify for medicare.

If the medicaid recipient owns their house, upon their death their state is permitted to clawback the costs of their medical care from their estate by claiming their house. This loophole courtesy of the 1992 democratic congress iir.

The clawback has a horrifyingly sinister meaning when you consider that the medicaid program is not allowed to negotiate the costs of prescription drugs. Big pharma will be paid at the rate they desire, and the heirs be damned.

So if you are lucky enough to have conserved a little bit of your lifetime earnings as a wage slave and you wanna give it to your kids upon your death so they have some resources to tangle with the elite 1%ers in the future, don't get sick. But if you do, die quickly enough to stay off of medicaid.

up
0 users have voted.

~annominous

a long term nursing home stay will convert to Medicaid. And if your kids put you in the home, they will required (the kids) to repay nursing home costs.
Poor kids get sued, while rich kids get all daddy's money without estate taxes assessed.
We Texans have more laws to protect deer than the sick and elderly.

up
0 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

The Estate is required to pay, but not the children. You are not responsible for your parents debts. Unless you signed a paper agreeing to be responsible.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

to get the person signing the patient in to accept "responsibility", not necessarily making it clear that means financial. If there is no estate, the responsible person gets sued.

up
0 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Unless they are too far over the bend to read or write. In that case, death is rather near. Might as well die at home, as my Uncle did this October.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

I didn't address it in my comment simply due to time and space.

The Medicaid expansion which dropped the asset limitation was seen as great because it seemed to understand that people may have accumulated some savings and assets and yet still had reduced income which limited their access to being insured. But then the clawback provision was discovered. And, it only addresses one specific segment of the age demographic. I know people who have qualified for the Medicaid expansion but did not go on it for this very reason - they did not want to dissipate their savings and assets when they might need them to finance their later retirement.

Many people were initially unaware of it when they went on Medicaid as the disclosure was lacking and/or insufficient which I think has been addressed in most states. (By the way, Medicaid does have negotiated drug prices, unlike Medicare, but the clawback is still reprehensible.)

The clawback applies only to people between the ages of 55-65 which is senseless in and of itself. Age 54 and below, no clawback. Hit 55, boom! Clawback. One of the more questionable aspects of the clawback is that in many cases, simply being enrolled in the system, even if you do not need or require care, care trigger "administrative" charges which are not specified. There are so many things wrong with the clawback that I could go on and on, (which I have, previously.)

The clawback triggers once again the question - who writes these rules and laws, and for whose benefit? Certainly not for the citizen/consumer.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

In my case, it doesn't make a difference. Medicaid is not an option for me. Luckily I'm vested in ongoing health insurance coverage, though affording the premiums may be dicey, once I give up full time employment.

Excellent post btw, thanks for that too.

up
0 users have voted.

~annominous

Alligator Ed's picture

Many states sharply limit the drugs covered on Medicaid because they cannot find pharmaceutical companies to participate in a market which restricts their profit significantly. What does "significantly" mean? It means whatever the drug company wished it to mean.

Funny how RepublicRATs always railed against the "death squads" when ACA was first promoted but they forgot, those death squads already existed in Pharma boardrooms and the Lord High Executioners were the CFOs and their underling bean-counters. You might liken these underlings to the Albert Speers of the world, who didn't directly kill anybody (other than working a few thousand slave laborers to death). Albert just made sure Himmler, Heidrich, Eichman et al got the proper equipment to do their jobs.

Somebody please tell me how this murder by neglect is any different than starving prisoners of a concentration camp to death.

up
0 users have voted.
riverlover's picture

She can afford to live on her savings until she's about 120. Inheritance to her offspring, designated such by her. I can do without, my sister, her former major caregiver, needs those funds more. Family difficulties. Luckily, my mother is unaware. Beware!

up
0 users have voted.

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.

Medicaid is increasingly privatized as Medicaid managed care. The ACA expanded opportunities to privatize, including moving dual eligible people from Medicare to Medicaid, as on the cusp has posted above; and expanding the extent to which states can privatize. People here will recall in the early days some states resisted the expansion. Additional privatization was a bargaining chip. Insurance companies were eager for the expansion

July 2015 discussion of privatized Medicaid
http://pnhp.org/blog/2015/06/15/privatized-medicaid-managed-care-yet-ano...

2013 overview
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/03/david-dayen-the-gradual-privatiza...

up
0 users have voted.

Deleted duplicate

up
0 users have voted.
divineorder's picture

up
0 users have voted.

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

riverlover's picture

which the NLRB (Labor Relations Board) found guilty of impeding unionization of the nurses. When she received her BSRN (after her RN qualifications) she got a later $0.30/hr raise. That's all. Up the interstate, where nurses are unionized, they make more. With similar sick patients, all covered by the same insurance companies.

The sheer fact that a nurses union is in favor of sucking this all away from the clutching hands of insurance companies says much. Like teachers, many nurses are underpaid and have to deal with sicker patients who could not afford health care until Something Really Bad Happened. Stress on the system from all sides. Add in understaffing by RNs on shifts (she does 12 hour shifts, good for patient continuity). The hospital is not a hotel with room service. It's medical service first.

Now add the power-play by the insurance companies withdrawing coverage from states. We are being gamed.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

Anja Geitz's picture

There can be few other words to describe the burgeoning commoditization of cancer treatment centers across the country.

Because almost every other sane country in the world has realized that "profit" and "healthcare" cannot co-exist in the same space.

They might as well start putting up a billboards on the side of the road that read 1-800-CANCER.

up
0 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

riverlover's picture

I should have been mercenary enough to go there. Check this out, co$ts are showing.

https://www.cnyfertility.com/

My daughter got superovulated and donated 18 eggs. She walked out with a check for $4K. Profit, profit.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

Anja Geitz's picture

Are they offering coupons too?

up
0 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

riverlover's picture

My daughter's eggs were bought by shopping family, presumably to be inseminated immediately and frozen as the "best candidates" to be implanted some 3 days down the line. The IVF lab had glass windows so I could see setups. Nice scopes.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

If you tried to call 1 800 CANCER you wouldn't get through - the phone would wait forever for the last number. Something like if you tried to call a health insurance company and waited for a real person who could say something other than "no".

up
0 users have voted.

On to Biden since 1973

Anja Geitz's picture

Ok, how about a billboard that reads: Call 1 800 FUCK YOU and we'll tell you all the ways you're gonna die.

I think that has about the right amount of numbers. Smile

up
0 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

ggersh's picture

you pay for not playing what the ACA has done is created a tax on health.

I can't imagine what the aliens are thinking when watching the reality series "America Exceptionalism"

up
0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

sojourns's picture

The ACA exists as a platform for private insurers to force a private sector tax. As far as I'm concerned, it is a violation of the peonage laws under Title 18 U.S.C. I'd be interested in what any attorneys that might visit here may have to say about that.

up
0 users have voted.

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

ggersh's picture

people known as corporations, only for people that can't afford to be a corporation.

up
0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

sojourns's picture

Corporations are people too!

up
0 users have voted.

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

ggersh's picture

ROFL

up
0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

PriceRip's picture

          How rude of you to make mirth, we all know Corporation Lives Matter most! Libtards, they just don't understand the angst and struggle involved!

up
0 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

well done!!!!!!

up
0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Though it wasn't a win, win...we did not elect one politician who said Universal Healthcare was a non-starter...Hillary Clinton. Her comment about that ( from debate with Bernie, if I recall correctly) was the main reason I turned permanently from her as a candidate...then, of course, the corruption of the Primary by the Clinton Campaign, and DNC, sealed the deal.

Unfortunately, now we are left with an executive branch where doctors are running the Dept. of Housing, and Urban Development, Big Oil execs in charge of the EPA, Wealthy, religious, right wing, idealogues seeking to destroy public schools in charge of the Dept. of Education, and the economic attitude of those in charge is completely in the "market based" world.
I guess the good news (or the really, really bad news) is that little has changed...the inmates are still in charge of the asylum!!

up
0 users have voted.

Trump called in Al Gore to talk about climate change, & it's apparently going to happen again. Maybe he'll surprise us.

up
0 users have voted.
divineorder's picture

Trump did join later.

up
0 users have voted.

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

wilderness voice's picture

to head up the EPA. No fan of Hillary's, but this is not good.

up
0 users have voted.

Smoother talking I'm sure, but not, in practice, better.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Anyone have any idea how much the insurance companies and pharmaceutical industry PAY to the members of Congress.
It is astronomical. More lobbyists per member of Congress than we can even imagine.
Why was Lieberman given such a voice - Insurance companies in CT.
Obama should have listened to Rahm on this one issue - do the "economy" before ACA.
But, think Obama was more concerned about his "legacy" even in those very early days than we could have imagined.

We fell for Hope & Change. We lost.

up
0 users have voted.
Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

politicians are corrupted -

What kind of legislature or country passes a law specifically to prevent itself from negotiating prices in a government funded healthcare program, i.e. Medicare? This is prima facie evidence of deep deep corruption since it entrenches into law that our Congress not fulfill its fiduciary duty to the citizens taxpayers to spend our common wealth as wisely as possible. Instead, this law means that the Congress abetted in a wealth transfer to a specific industry. End of story.

I'd like any Congressperson or Senator to attempt to explain the rationale for this law. They can't. The only explanation is the one they can't offer - we passed this law because we were told to by our corporate funders. Under the Influence

"The pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill," says Jones. "The bill was over 1,000 pages. And it got to the members of the House that morning, and we voted for it at about 3 a.m. in the morning," remembers Jones.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

riverlover's picture

And what happened to time frames for a bill to be introduced and studied (at least by aides)?

What a useless bunch, then and now.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

I'm almost two years in to my bad cancer diagnosis. I'm only still here because I've responded so well to several of the new chemo-type targeted treatments that retail for about $100K per year each. My health insuror negotiates those costs down by 75%, hell of a markup.

Each year I've watched the annual out-of-pocket max for my employer-based health insurance increase by over $1K and felt personally responsible. This year I had one medication that suddenly jumped from $400 per month to $600 per month, but I'm supposed to feel no blame cuz that's the cost for the generic! The real deal retails for about $3500 per month! And that's not even one of the miracle chemos! Apparently my insurer has agreed to this price increase, and I'm not even allowed to shop around for a better price.

Lucky for me I've been able to stay employed, trying to hang on to my insurance and succeeding so far (the FMLA helps a lot) but ... think about that. I've had to continue working more or less full time while dealing with metastatic cancer, chemo, surgery, and radiation treatments and their debilitating side effects.

What kind of an exceptional place is this US of A? PEOTUS Trump assures us people won't be dying in the streets after he signs the ACA repeal, and he's probably right. Most of us will prefer to die in the alleys, for the sake of maintaining a semblance of privacy as we face the ultimate destiny.

up
0 users have voted.

~annominous

TheOtherMaven's picture

I wouldn't bet my whole future on it, nor should anyone.

up
0 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

boondoggle for the insurance industry. Anyone claiming otherwise, is lying.

Recced and shared.

up
0 users have voted.
Citizen Of Earth's picture

Insurance Cos, Hospitals, Providers and Pharma, all Charging You The Maximum The Market Will Bear. What will you pay to restore your health. The only answer is anything, everything. And those fuckers know it.

Gee if only we didn't have a FAKE GOVERNMENT. You know, one where congress, the executive branch, and courts were on our side. I know, I know, you can't have your fucking unicorn. Funny how the US is the only industrialized nation that doesn't regulate price controls on healthcare.

I got dumped into Obamacare this year. Still wrestling with the agonizing decision of whether or not to take the no-coverage penalty option.

up
0 users have voted.

Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

my county has a program where the uninsured get a 50% discount through a ciinic that provides better, faster care than private practices, but your county will vary. Also, Medicaid eligibility varies state to state.

up
0 users have voted.

On to Biden since 1973

While the insurance companies are the worst actors in the "healthcare industry," the worst problem is that healing is considered an "industry" rather than a sacred calling. The most disappointing thing to me is how doctors, other than a tiny minority of brave folks, are far more focused on running a business than being healers. They've been obstacles to needed changes going back to the Medicare fight (where they hired Ronnie to do his 20-Mule Team thing).

If that doesn't change--and I don't think it will--then our communities will be required to look into less capital intensive ways to provide effective healthcare to the population as a whole. Cuban doctors have a different focus. Once upon a time, many American doctors did too. It's going to take a rebuild from the foundation on up.

up
0 users have voted.
Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

America's facing a shortage of primary-care doctors

Years ago I had a good friend in medical school. I have to say that every med student I met at various gatherings seemed to be motivated by future financial prosperity. They all discussed what specialty they wanted to go into and which was the most lucrative. The very few people I met who seemed to be going into medicine for altruistic reasons were women. I'm not generalizing from that, I'm just saying that was my personal experience with one group of people. But aside from that, there aren't enough medical schools to graduate the number of doctors we will need, so I'm sure doctors from other countries will continue to immigrate here for the financial opportunities offered here.

I always thought that implementing single payer healthcare in this country should act as a huge jobs engine. If every single American were entitled to receive government funded healthcare, we should see an explosion in the number of doctors, nurses, therapists, dieticians, radiologists, etc. that would be required. Additionally, these are all higher paying, skilled jobs. The construction trades should also boom due to the need for building new medical schools, clinics and hospitals, and outpatient centers. Then there would be the supplemental and accessory jobs of the restaurants and stores needed to complement the new medical centers. It's such a total win I can't understand how that is not being utilized as one way to market the desirability of single payer. The influx of new jobs and taxes should go a long way to the funding of the healthcare.

Our government always focuses on cutting and reduction as a means to growth - which is simply stupid IMO. Expansion and growth is the means to growth.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

riverlover's picture

And the economy of the field is stressed. NPs graduate as semi-doctors and can do most of those clinical roles. For about half the price and about half the educational time. Majority-female was last year's graduating class.

up
0 users have voted.

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.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

to the GP doctor shortage. Every one I have ever interacted with has been great and I never missed seeing an actual doctor at all. Your daughter sounds like she she is on the road to a successful, productive and necessary career. Congrats to her.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

a friend of mine, who's a chemical engineer, tells me that something like 60% (it was a casual conversation, so I might have the exact number wrong) of engineering graduates are women. Is it possible that women are still looking for "traditional" well paid careers - doctors, engineers (well paid because they are actually worth something) while men go into fields like the finance industry (parasitical) If so, wait a generation, then everyone will be stock brokers and there won't be any doctors at all.

up
0 users have voted.

On to Biden since 1973

Alligator Ed's picture

bursts.

If so, wait a generation, then everyone will be stock brokers and there won't be any doctors at all.

When the bubble pops a lot of these non-fiduciary blood suckers will be looking for jobs in the general labor force because there will be less need for them. It would serve them well too find out that they are over-qualified to flip burgers or sell athletic shoes.

up
0 users have voted.

Getting Lyme 20-some years ago was very disillusioning about the medical system. Essentially, they are taught to discount what patients say and feel, and only look at numbers on lab reports, even when they don't have good lab tests.

So I started reading medical journal articles, and that was wven worse. My academic training was largely in how to design and analyze research, and an awful lot if what gets published is truly dreadful in terms of methodology. Not to mention that single non-replicated studies are accepted at face value and their (often unsupported even by their own data) recommendations widely implemented.

But there are alternatives, alternative doctors and protocols, nutrition (including probiotics and live fermented foods to keep your critical microbiota happy) and what finally worked for me was an herbal protocol. It took a good year, but after that, this is the best I've felt in 20 years. You can do your own research and adapt what you're doing to how you're responding.

Emergency medicine is necessary, though, and is probably is the best of the medical system.

up
0 users have voted.
LeChienHarry's picture

treating physician. But after rounds of abx for both of us, the answer has been herbals, essential oils, diet, and other non traditional treatment. It does work. And we are better without the constant rounds of abx which made us sick as dogs.

We have to be our own doctors, lawyers, and many other "experts" to look after ourselves.

up
0 users have voted.

You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce

If you can donate, please! POP Money is available for bank-to-bank transfers. Email JtC to make a monthly donation.

wilderness voice's picture

it is way more frightening, disturbing and depressing than even the mainstream media. I'm talking about conclusions expressed in the abstract that are flat out contradicted in the body of the text. Out and out lies about how good certain prescription drugs are and to the contrary for supplements. Details here: http://caucus99percent.com/content/when-good-doctors-prescribe-bad-medic...

up
0 users have voted.

I don't think American doctors will take chickens or vegetables in payment.

Many doctors used to adjust their charges to the patient's income back before widespread insurance. Now, I think that is specifically prohibited, although I can't cite when that happened.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Alligator Ed's picture

"accepts assignment" from CMS. That means that the patient's charges, heavily discounted, are paid directly to the patient.

up
0 users have voted.
orlbucfan's picture

to do with material $$$$profit. "Promote the General Welfare....." Where is "and turn a profit"? It would be funny if it wasn't so damned sickening!! (No pun intended.) Rec'd!!

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

as a country which involves rating every function of government through a business infused perspective of ROI or Return on Investment.

I wrote about that a while ago in this essay When Leaders Reach the Right Conclusions For the Wrong Reasons which I'll just abstract some bits from:

I have noticed recently that a fundamental economic principle, ROI (Return on Investment) is fast becoming the underpinning of our national political and legislative debate. Simply put: Anything that provides a good return on investment is a thing worth doing, anything that doesn't provide a good return is not.

skip

. . . there are many times when both companies and people are faced with quandaries that will not be answered by applying the "ROI" metric and where in fact the ROI metric will lead to the wrong and even morally reprehensible answer. We find example of the ROI metric failing us as a society when a company chooses to pollute (yes, some of them make the conscious choice to do so if they consider the cost of compliance too high) or when a company decides whether a patient gets lifesaving treatment based on how it impacts their bottom line.

Why were people directed to higher costs sub-prime mortgages when they qualified for better ? Because the businesses involved were using the ROI metric and not the old-fashioned metric of basic morality, decency and ethics. So I personally don't advocate the ROI metric as being the one that should rule our policy decisions as a county.

Going down this same line of reasoning of placing financial returns on functions of government has led us to the madness where some think policing needs to be a profit-making center for a municipality such as happened in Ferguson. Policing, the courts, the justice system,and prisons were never envisioned as money making enterprises, at least not until this pervasive and corruptive worldview took hold that no entity had intrinsic value in its service to society and that everything must either pay for itself or even turn a profit. The worldview that the overriding concern of the globe and the nation is the health and strength of corporations is one apparently shared by Hillary - business growth trumps everything else and all the other good things in the world will be a trailing positive effect.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Alligator Ed's picture

Yes, we have a treatment plan already PROVEN. I will spell this out for those of you who may not know: M-E-D-I-C-A-R-E for all.

fiduciary |fəˈd(y)o͞oSHēˌerēfəˈd(y)o͞oSH(ə)rē|

adjectiveLaw

involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary: the company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders.

That "company" (trustee) is the association and collective best interests of its stakeholders (trustors). Who are these? They are us. The government was developed ostensibly to promote health (i.e. welfare), mutual protection and the ability of all to be safe and secure (i.e., welfare again = health).

up
0 users have voted.

mixed signals for years... but he has at times, expressed interest in a single payer system. To the horror of his Republican colleagues.

up
0 users have voted.

native

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

and cost effective way to achieve universal healthcare. One of the biggest conundrums to me has always been why all American businesses large and small haven't lined up to demand single payer for this country since our industries are at such a competitive disadvantage compared to other countries due to the fact that they have to absorb the cost of employee health insurance in their bottom line.

Granted, some taxes will go up, but as Bernie said, even after a tax increase, there would still be a net gain for both companies and individuals.

This country's leaders have consciously decided that protecting the profits of a few specific industries is more important than saving the lives of its citizens. There's your Democrats and your Republicans. How do they look at themselves in the mirror?

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

PriceRip's picture

          We all know Healthcare Costs are driven by corporate executive's greed and stock market (id est stockholder's) expectations. A few years ago I attended an open forum on Health Care issues. One of the speakers commented on a "straw poll" he recently conducted at a midwestern medical school. He asked the future doctors what they expected for income in the years following med school. He then asked what they thought would be a reasonable income if their education was free or significantly less expensive. Everyone, everyone, emphatically agreed they had no interest in an exorbitant income.

          Sure, maybe they were lying. Maybe peer pressure influenced the conversation. But I wouldn't be so sure. I have known many medical professionals that have made career choices corroborating the speakers thesis. So, I am inclined to think the key to a saner system is fully funded education that would help drive the movment to implement vigorous measures to de-privatize essential services of all types.

up
0 users have voted.
wilderness voice's picture

As you imply, another key is for doctors to be in salaried positions so they do not have to worry about creating a profitable business.

up
0 users have voted.
Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

I know one person who joined the military as part of some program to defray his med school expenses. I think there are also programs which forgive some costs if the person will go practice in some rural area for a few years.

This all relates back once again to the fact that America crushes its students with debt while Europe supports their professional progress and future with low/no tuition policies. But of course they have government health plans and have figured out that providing healthcare requires medical professionals.

Why are we so far behind the curve? I maintain it is because of our geographical isolation and lack of curiosity about other countries combined with an inborn complacency and hubris that promotes the entire concept of American exceptionalism - we're No 1! Even when the truth is we're No. 37 or something when it comes to healthcare.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

PriceRip's picture

          The health professional must agree to a three-year practice obligation and accept Medicaid patients. Leaving a shortage area prior to completing the 3-year practice obligation will result in the health professional repaying 150 percent of the funds received through the program at 8 percent interest from the date of default.

          Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, master's level mental health professionals, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists may receive up to $30,000 per year ($15,000 from local funds; $15,000 from state funds) to be used toward the repayment of commercial or government educational loans. Physicians, dentists, and clinical psychologists may receive up to $60,000 per year ($30,000 from local funds; $30,000 from state funds). The actual amount awarded will depend on the health practitioner's student loans, the local entity’s local match, and the availability of state funds.

          There is a similar program for Lawyers. The obligation is for ten years with a loan forgiveness on the order of 50%.

up
0 users have voted.
Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

MarilynW's picture

Unless one has an employer healthcare benefit with their job, ⅓ of one's income could go to healthcare. If there was a good Federal medicare program in place, the burden would not fall on employers; they would be able to increase their workers' salaries.So Jobs/Economy are intricately tied to healthcare. The USA needs single payer healthcare, there are examples from other countries that prove it is possible and that it will not bankrupt the Federal budget.

Watch the propaganda wording: we should never use the word "entitlements" for Medicare, healthcare, pharmacare- Americans have a right to government funded health care. Medicine should be a "service" not a "business."

It will happen one day but under Trump the prospects are so dim. It doesn't stop people from studying and planning for it in the future. Trump may not even make it through his first term. He's walking right into impeachment territory every day.

up
0 users have voted.

To thine own self be true.

k9disc's picture

investment vehicles. Nothing like a couple trillion dollars flowing directly into markets and investment vehicles to prop up the economy. That's quite a slush fund.

IMO, it's this that is the problem that makes public healthcare a political non-starter.

up
0 users have voted.

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

but how about making all out of pocket medical expenses a refundable tax credit? Like with the ACA, (which calculates your subsidy based on last year's income and pays the insurance provider in advance) your doctor would just send his bill to the IRS in your name. It wouldn't be quite as good as single payer - people would still be adverse to doctor visits, and some doctors and hospitals and definitely nursing homes would try to pad their bills, but it would cost about half what it costs today, and would work better than the system we have.

up
0 users have voted.

On to Biden since 1973

divineorder's picture

No doubt a focus on cost saving would do something about THIS problem, but yeah, with you on our devolution of moral compass on HCR.

OT but your post brought back memories of Grayson putting it to the Republicans back during HIR.

up
0 users have voted.

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

jwa13's picture

are NOT in the "claims-paying" bidness -- they are in the "premium-collection" bidness.

All clear?

up
0 users have voted.

When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

And the flaws within the product have become glaringly obvious although many were predicted right from the getgo once the legislation was revealed.

Recall that this program was designed from the ground up BY DEMOCRATS as the first priority they had once elected and with all three branches of government under their control.

To me, one of the great ironies has always been that President Obama when running for prez in 2008 and a fairly detailed plan for his proposed healthcare plan with 4 major legs to his stool: a public option to drive competition with the for profits, negotiated drugs in Medicare, a fast track to generic drug development and allowing the re-importation of drugs from Canada. The last two were designed to hold down the costs of Pharma. Shockingly, or perhaps not, not one of these fundamentals of his campaign healthcare plan made it into the final legislation. I hold that the reason is that any one of these proposals would have had a a salutary effect in controlling prices and promoting competition, so naturally every one of these planks were removed by the input of industry lobbyists whose input essentially wrote the resulting bill.

What we have right now is insurance that most cannot afford to use. The people who made out the best were the poor (at least income wise) who qualified for Medicaid expansion (albeit with the clawback provision for those between 55-65) and the wealthy for whom the costs of out-of-pockets and deductibles was never a concern in the first place. The vast numbers of working poor and moderate income Americans were tossed into a place where they had coverage as long as they didn't need to use it.

One of the weirder aspects of the ACA is the punitive fashion it takes to so-called "Cadillac plans", more expensive plans, some with great coverage and low deductibles, which it attempts to completely remove from the marketplace with a onerous tax of 40% set to kick-in in 2020. These are/were the kind of benefits that unions fought for and forwent wage increases to get. But the "Cadillac" status is determined solely by the cost of the plan and not by the benefits provided, so some companies with expensive plans as a result of underwriting an older/sicker pool of employees may get caught up and labelled as "Cadillac" and end up with this crazy tax burden which will most likely be passed along to the employees.

Another issue is the "family glitch" where a spouse and family of a worker who has employer provided coverage whose cost for that individual worker is less than 9.5% is deemed ineligible for subsidies and an exchange policy for the family even if the cost of family coverage with the employer is way over 9.5%, which seems to be the majority of family policies compared to family income. If you are unaware of this "glitch" - read here:For Family Trapped In The ACA's Glaring "Glitch", Life Gets Harder and also read the comments. "Glitch" seems such an innocuous and inappropriate word for a bureaucratic snafu, if that's what it is, that consigns many of American families to lack of coverage and financial ruin if a family member falls ill or gets into an accident.

Whenever I bitch about the ACA, I try to remember, that yes it did some good things. Probably the best things it did was establish that trying to eliminate people with pre-existing conditions is a no-go, as is lifetime caps, as is rescission. But the tension between the ACA without those profit protectors for the insurance industry is destined to eventually cause the entire system to blow up because the industry NEEDS those policies to cherry-pick coverees and maintain their profit margins.

The lesson here is you cannot serve two masters. The Democrats had a choice as to whether they would design a working healthcare program that would lower costs and serve the public and provide actual affordable healthcare as touted in the name of the legislation OR they could bow to the will of the united front of healthcare industries (primarily insurance and pharma but some providers as well) whose goal was the direct opposite - maintain their for profit placement as the nexus of the system and eliminate any and all effective price controls. Note here that the Medical Loss Ratio has no effect in controlling actual costs, it actually is a legislated profit ceiling of 20-25% of direct health expenditures but can actually result perversely in encouraging higher costs (i.e. if the insurer is allowed to retain 25% of 100K in expenditures, why should they be motivated to keep expenditures at 50K?).

If one was going to be their most cynical, they could imagine that the ACA, an industry written program, was designed to offer the illusion of coverage and not actual coverage because, at its heart that's exactly what it does. If you can afford your premium and you avoid major illness or catastrophe, you can go about your merry way believing that you have healthcare in the great ole USofA which is unable to separate the profits of the few from the lives of the many.

up
0 users have voted.

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

DunDealgan's picture

This is worth repeating:

unable to separate the profits of the few from the lives of the many

up
0 users have voted.

"People always have been the foolish victims of deception and self-deception in politics, and they always will be until they have learnt to seek out the interests of some class or other behind all moral, religious, political and social phrases."