Tag: Health Debate

STOP THE PRESSES!

After bumping his gums for a year Donny has a new healthcare plan that we all should study carefully….

President Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up. The move comes as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs after lawmakers let subsidies expire, the AP reports. The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit. Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for the tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people.

  • “The government is going to pay the money directly to you,” Trump said in a video the White House released to announce the plan. “It goes to you and then you take the money and buy your own health care.”
  • Trump’s plan also focuses on lowering drug prices and requiring insurers to be more upfront with the public about costs, revenues, rejected claims, and wait times for care.
  • Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive health care plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.
  • When he ran for president in 2024, Trump said he had only “concepts of a plan” to address health care. His new proposal, short on many specifics, appeared to be the concepts of a plan, the AP notes. Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, described it to reporters on a telephone briefing as a “framework that we believe will help Congress create legislation.”
  • It was not immediately clear if any lawmakers in Congress were working to introduce the president’s plan. The White House did not offer any details about how much money it envisioned being sent to consumers to shop for insurance, or whether the money would be available to all ObamaCare enrollees or just those with lower-tier bronze and catastrophic plans.
  • The idea mirrors one floated among Republican senators last year. Democrats largely rejected it, saying the health savings accounts would not be enough to cover costs for most consumers. Currently, such accounts are used disproportionately by the wealthiest Americans, who have more income to fund them and a bigger incentive to lower their tax rate.
  • Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the announcement was another one of Trump’s “empty promises” on health care, the Washington Post reports. “Every American should be asking themselves a simple question: are you paying more for your health care than you were a year ago?” Wyden said. “The answer ought to tell you everything you need to know about the Trump-Republican health care agenda.”

AS with anything that Donny spews out…there is little clarity but this is just an idea that will go to Congress for their take and that is where it will get more interesting.

Since this is not very clear I will hold my reservations until the final shoe drops in Congress.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Profits From Medical Debt?

You hear about the people that are screwed by medical debt….how they have lost everything to pay those massive bills that come in the mail and phone calls.

But that is all too common….every thought about who profits by throwing people into debtors prison (not really but has the same results)…..IST would be remiss if I did not tell the rest of the story…..

Patients at North Carolina-based Atrium Health get what looks like an enticing pitch when they go to the nonprofit hospital system’s website: a payment plan from lender AccessOne. The plans offer “easy ways to make monthly payments” on medical bills, the website says. You don’t need good credit to get a loan. Everyone is approved. Nothing is reported to credit agencies.

In Minnesota, Allina Health encourages its patients to sign up for an account with MedCredit Financial Services to “consolidate your health expenses.” In Southern California, Chino Valley Medical Center, part of the Prime Healthcare chain, touts “promotional financing options with the CareCredit credit card to help you get the care you need, when you need it.”

As Americans are overwhelmed with medical bills, patient financing is now a multibillion-dollar business, with private equity and big banks lined up to cash in when patients and their families can’t pay for care. By one estimate from research firm IBISWorld, profit margins top 29% in the patient financing industry, seven times what is considered a solid hospital margin.

Hospitals and other providers, which historically put their patients in interest-free payment plans, have welcomed the financing, signing contracts with lenders and enrolling patients in financing plans with rosy promises about convenient bills and easy payments.

For patients, the payment plans often mean something more ominous: yet more debt.

Millions of people are paying interest on these plans, on top of what they owe for medical or dental care, an investigation by KHN and NPR shows. Even with lower rates than a traditional credit card, the interest can add hundreds, even thousands of dollars to medical bills and ratchet up financial strains when patients are most vulnerable.

How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills

You now see that your health issues money in the bank for Pharma and the health industry.

While you were rotting your brain on Twatter, Tik Tak and other mindless sites your life is being dismantled….and seemingly with your permission.

Pay Attention!

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

M4A (Again)

In case you are not up on the latest acronym–M4A stands for Medicare For All….

Our health care is getting more expensive as the Congress keeps allowing the industry to screw Americans at every turn.

Since the dialog has come to the possibility of Medicare For All I have been a supporter…there are too damn many Americans without health care for this to be anything but a ‘gimme’.

Sen. Sanders has once again brought the proposal to the forefront……

Slamming the current U.S. healthcare system as a morass of waste, dysfunction, and profiteering, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced Medicare for All legislation that would eliminate out-of-pocket insurance costs and provide comprehensive coverage to everyone in the country.

“It is not acceptable to me, nor to the American people, that over 70 million people today are either uninsured or underinsured,” Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said during a Medicare for All hearing that he convened Thursday morning.

“As we speak,” the Vermont senator continued, “there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. This is an outrage.”

…

Under the system that Sanders’ bill would usher in, patients would no longer have to fork over copays, deductibles, and premiums to hugely profitable insurance companies.

“If Medicare for All becomes law, your taxes will go up,” Sanders noted, anticipating insurance industry talking points against his bill. “But what they won’t tell you is that there would be no out-of-pocket costs.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/12/realistic-humane-and-just-choice-sanders-unveils-medicare-all-act-2022

For  break down on this issue then I have a post that can help the reader understand what this bill will detail….

Medicare For All

Before you start bumping your gums in opposition please read about the bill and tell me why Americans do not deserve coverage.

Realistically whether you are for or against M4A your choice matters not…..for the the government from top down is swayed only by bribes….sorry I mean campaign donations….not what the best for the people of this country…..their ( elected officials) means nothing!  Their only motivation is the cash they can siphon off…not the will of the people.

Like I stated before I am in favor of the idea…but that is just me….

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

KamalaCare

That time of the election cycle…..we have health care issues and promises from all sides…..with the exception of Republicans…..we have Madicare For All, Medicare USA, and now KamalaCare.

This is Kamala Harris proposal for solving our health care dilemma…..but what is it….no really what?

There’s no question that the American health care system is a crazy quilt that leaves health “insurance companies in charge,” as Senator Kamala Harris appreciates. Unfortunately, her health reform proposal, “KamalaCare” does not match her rhetoric. It leaves health insurers running the show.

Harris’ proposal relies extensively on for-profit health insurers to provide coverage. But, they are the reason health care is unaffordable and the reason people are often faced with denials of care and coverage. She claims her plan will hold the health insurers to account if they game the system. That sounds great in theory, but how exactly would it work in practice?

Like Senator Bernie Sanders’ and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All legislation, Harris’ proposal makes an improved traditional Medicare public plan available to all Americans. Unlike Sanders and Jayapal, after a ten-year transition, she keeps the for-profit health insurance industry in business, offering Medicare Advantage plan options to people who want a private plan.

KamalaCare leaves health insurers running the show

As usual from the “corporatist” candidates….the health industry stays in control of your health care….so basically it is the status quo with some minor adjustments…..

If you get health insurance at work or buy your own plan, will you be able to keep it? No. Harris says insurance companies will be allowed “to offer a plan” in the government-run system but only if they follow the government’s strict rules to skimp on what’s spent on your care. “If they want to play by our rules, they can be in the system. If not, they have to get out,” she says.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/07/31/the_truth_about_kamalacare_140894.html

This one has holes all through it to allow the industry to keep control of your health care.  Is that what you want?

Leran Stuff!

VOTE!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Old Idea For Health

Closing Thought–19Jul19

Many years ago I wrote a letter (days before emails) to my representative, Gene Taylor, with an idea I had….a proposal that I wanted him to look over and try to find a way to make a bill out of it.

I proposed that practicing doctors would dedicate one day a week to treat the poor….they could deduct their time, meds and services, day’s rent and costs of operations from what they owe in taxes/student debt.  The proposal was more extensive in the proposal but that is the gest…I sadly cannot copy the original for it was lost in Katrina.

I got a letter back thanking me for my support and hope to see me at his next rally….apparently the letter was written by a staffer who did  not read my letter……so I wrote off Taylor as a possible person to look to for help….and my support for him was gone.

I got to wax nostalgic after reading something taking place in California…..

As a remedy for its shortage of physicians, California has begun paying off the medical school debt of doctors who commit to making low-income Medi-Cal patients 30% of their caseload. The five-year commitment could suppress doctors’ pay at the beginning of their careers, Forbes reports, but erase debt that can total several hundred thousand dollars. The state has allocated $340 million for the program so far. It’s one more offer for new physicians, who are in demand, to consider: Two-thirds of physicians finishing their training last year had been contacted more than 50 times by recruiters, a survey found.

“This really is life-changing,” said Bryan Ruiz, a new dentist, after finding out that he no longer owed $300,000 in medical school loans. Ruiz already was serving mostly Medi-Cal patients at a community health clinic, per the Los Angeles Times, and expected to spend decades paying off the loans. “He’s committed his life to this kind of service, and that’s what our loan repayment program is about,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference. Using tobacco tax revenue to pay for the program, California dispensed $10.5 million in debt relief to 40 dentists and $58.6 million to 247 physicians this month in its first installment.

I knew I had heard the idea somewhere before.

Damn!  I knew it was a good idea.

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Accept No Substitutes

The 2020 election is a mere short months away from its kick-off….and the Dems are fighting amongst themselves….as usual…..healthcare will be a hard sell this time around.

There is a debate on health care…..not between parties for the GOP has already lost that debate many years ago……instead the debate is between progressives and others…….Medicare For All is the answer and the attacks have begun……

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2019. A companion bill of the same name has already been introduced in the House by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). That’s good news for the country. Unfortunately, these bills are facing opposition from what, for some people, will be an unexpected direction.

I don’t mean Republicans. They’ve already lost the health care debate, in one sense, now that large majorities of voters support Medicare for All. The real threat may well come from its Democratic friends. They’re the people who say they support Medicare for All’s “goals,” but claim to have found a better way to achieve them.

Intentionally or not, Medicare for All’s “frenemies” are sowing confusion about it. Among them is Ezekiel Emmanuel, who argues, “At least four different approaches to health reform could truthfully carry the Medicare for all label.”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/10/medicare-all-accept-no-substitutes
 
Those in opposition are those from the Obama admin that let the industry write the law that created the ACA, Obamacare if you are dense……that same industry that is pulling no punches to defeat the idea of Medicare For All……
 
In an effort to inform the public about the corporate forces working to crush Medicare for All, an employee at the insurance giant UnitedHealthcare leaked a video of his boss bragging about the company’s campaign to preserve America’s for-profit healthcare system.

“I felt Americans needed to know exactly who it is that’s fighting against the idea that healthcare is a right, not a privilege,” the anonymous whistleblower told the Washington Post‘s Jeff Stein.

During an employee town hall in February, Stein reported on Friday, UnitedHealthcare CEO Steve Nelson boasted about how much his company is doing to undermine Medicare for All, which is rapidly gaining support in Congress.

“One of the things you said: ‘We’re really quiet’ or ‘It seems like we’re quiet.’ Um, we’ve done a lot more than you would think,” Nelson said. “We are advocating heavily and very involved in the conversation. Part of it is trying to be thoughtful about how we enter in the conversation, because there’s a risk of seeming like it’s self-serving.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/12/i-felt-americans-needed-know-insurance-industry-whistleblower-gives-glimpse-effort

My personal opinion is the Medicare For All would be the best and the easiest to put into action……we will hear all the tired old excuses…like it will stifle innovation…..BS…..or that the quality of care will go down….another BS…..

We all agree that adequate health care is needed then why not take the easiest road to that end?

Where Is That Health Care?

Enough international stuff now let us turn to the domestic…..

We all are well aware that the GOP has been having a stroke until they could get rind of the ACA (Obamacare for the slow amongst us)……now that they have successfully crapped on the health care how is the new and improved health care doing?

President Donald Trump handed an influential business advocacy group what should have been a historic lobbying victory when he recently rolled out new rules encouraging small businesses to band together to offer health insurance.

Trump, who’s touted the expansion of so-called association health plans as a key plank in his strategy to tear down Obamacare, even announced the rules at the 75th anniversary party of the National Federation of Independent Business last month, claiming the group’s members will save “massive amounts of money” and have better care if they join forces to offer coverage to workers.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/19/trump-health-care-better-cheaper-693362

So he LIED!….but that is some how okay because he can appoint judges…..that is a pathetic way of looking at our nation.

Let’s look at the way that health care can be fixed….well sort of…..

Nobody knew health care could be so complicated,” was Donald Trump’s now famous pronouncement on the issue. The Congressional Republicans were struggling too. Not only did they fail to reach a legislative solution, but, even worse, they were confused about where to even search for a solution. All told, health care begins to look insoluble. But is it really that complicated? Actually, no.

Some progressives claim that they have an easy solution, one that proceeds from their belief that more government it is often the answer: Medicaid or Medicare for all.1 What is the easy solution of classical liberals? There are two sets of reforms: one on the demand side and one on the supply side. On the demand side are a surprisingly simple combination of out-of-pocket payments, a new type of event-based health insurance, traditional care-based health insurance for some, and, perhaps, judicious subsidies. A later article will deal with reforms on the supply side.

https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2018/HooperHendersoncure.html

That is a lovely article but sadly for them Medicare For All is the easiest answer and the best answer….but if you need it explained yet again…..

Democrats across the country are running on three simple words, recognizable to every American: Medicare for all.

“There’s no more popular brand in American politics than Medicare,” says Adam Green, co-founder of the lefty Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC). “Our hope is that Democrats wrap themselves in the flag of Medicare in 2018.”

In Democratic primaries around the country, Medicare-for-all candidates are winning — from Kara Eastman in Nebraska to Katie Porter in Orange County, California, to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx, the message is resonating.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/2/17468448/medicare-for-all-single-payer-health-care-2018-elections

Need more info?

http://www.medicareforall.org/pages/Home

My Early Days With Health Care

Ding Dong……Health care is dead!

I cannot wait for the strong anti-McCain rhetoric….that he is a RINO….a traitor….on and on….I am sure the Trump will Tweet something derogatory.  WAIT FOR IT!

This quickly resurrection of the dead GOP health care bill looks like it will go the way of the dodo…..McCain once again may be the guy with the final nail……

The latest Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act may very well be dead after Sen. John McCain announced his opposition to it Friday, the AP reports. “I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” CNN quotes McCain as saying in a statement. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried.” This would be the second time McCain has put a nail in the coffin of Republican efforts to end ObamaCare.

McCain said he couldn’t vote for the Graham-Cassidy bill without a CBO score, which wouldn’t be available until later this month, to let him know “how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it.” Republicans could only afford to have two senators side with Democrats in opposition to the bill. Sen. Rand Paul was already opposed and Sen. Susan Collins was leaning that way. A recent poll found only 24% of Americans support the Graham-Cassidy bill and 50% disapprove of it, the Hill reports.

Back in 1989, before all the health care debacle of the Clintons and onto today, I sent an idea for health care to my representative, Gene Taylor, for his consideration.

 My idea was that since doctors usually owe millions for their schooling that they should set aside one day a week to treat people that were poor…..they could deduct the price of the visit and supplies that they use from the bill they owe for their schooling.  They could do this every week for at least 40 weeks per year.  (This is as simply put as I can do in this post)
Keep in mind this was in the days before any substantial work on a health care bill.
My Rep. did not have the courtesy to reply to my idea…..I would have excepted anything but instead he sent me a donation card for his next campaign….needless to say he lost all support from me.
Soon after this I started supporting the single payer system….a Medicare For All….if you like.
And I still think it is the best idea to get ALL Americans the health care they need and deserve.

Will Dems Feel The Pain?

The Dems have been on a vision quest to find a message for the upcoming mid-terms…….right now they have nothing but slogans….maybe they think because one person can win with mindless slogans that it will work them as well.

Appears the health care is the proving ground for the next election……the progressive wing of the DNC is pushing for all to recognize and get behind a Medicare for all provision.

House and Senate Democrats have wondered for months whether Bernie Sanders’ supporters might choose to focus their energy on launching primary challenges to party moderates in 2018. They’re about to get an answer.

Sanders has decided the moment is right to launch his proposal for the single-payer health insurance system that helped form the backbone of his presidential message. And Democrats who don’t get behind it could find themselves on the wrong side of the most energetic wing of the party — as well as the once and possibly future presidential candidate who serves as its figurehead.

Source: Sanders ‘litmus test’ alarms Democrats – POLITICO

I see that the normally liberal media is jumping on the DNC to try and prevent it from moving more Left than they are now….

Thirty Democrats disillusioned with their party’s struggles in Middle America have unveiled a new group aimed at expanding its base beyond just the two coasts. The initiative, which comprises current and former mayors, governors, cabinet members and lawmakers, comes complete with a catchy new title, “New Democracy.”

If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it was the same as that given by Mao Zedong to his theory of democracy in communist China.  (of course it does not sound familiar because no one remembers that far back….but it makes for a great political attack)

“In a word, new-democratic culture is the proletarian-led, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal culture of the broad masses,” Mao wrote on New Democracy in 1940, nine years before coming to power in China.

Source: Democrats new slogan borrows from communist China

A shame when even a liberal media would use such yellow tactics against the Dems…..but their efforts may be a moot point….for you see the DSA is making headway against these cowards in the DNC……

The Democratic Socialists of America are meeting there this week as part of the group’s biannual convention. In the wake of a surge of new interest over the past year, the organization announced earlier this week that it now has 25,000 dues-paying members — a historic peak for the group that makes it the largest socialist organization in the country since World War II.

David Duhalde, DSA’s Deputy Director, was brought on by the organization in 2015. He told The Intercept that shortly before the November election, the organization had between 7,000 to 8,000 members. On November 9, they started seeing supporters of Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential run and others flooding into DSA.

Source: Democratic Socialists of America Celebrate Record Membership in Chicago. Now What?

I for one think that this turn is for the best…..time for the DNC to return to being where it belongs….with the working class.

So the question is….will the Dems return to being the party of working America or will they stay in the lane with big money?

What say you?

Bi-Partisan Health Care

Last week the GOP health care plan went down in flames….thanx to 3 brave Repubs….now there is scrambling to find a new health care plan…

News has come out that there could be a bi-partisan attempt at a repair….

“Centrist lawmakers plot bipartisan health care stabilization bill,” by Heather Caygle and Paul Demko: “A coalition of roughly 40 House Republicans and Democrats plan to unveil a slate of Obamacare fixes Monday they hope will gain traction after the Senate’s effort to repeal the law imploded. The Problem Solvers caucus, led by Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), is fronting the effort to stabilize the ACA markets, according to multiple sources. But other centrist members, including Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and several other lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition and the GOP’s moderate Tuesday Group are also involved.

“Their plan focuses on immediately stabilizing the insurance market and then pushing for Obamacare changes that have received bipartisan backing in the past. The most significant proposal is funding for Obamacare’s cost-sharing subsidies. Insurers rely on these payments – estimated to be $7 billion this year – to reduce out-of-pocket costs for their poorest Obamacare customers.” http://politi.co/2vdbyY7

Sounds good?

To my mind any time that something can be accomplished with the help of both Houses then it is a good day for the Republic.

Then there is Bernie’s promise to introduce a “single payer” system….

As Senate Republicans go back to the drawing board on the proposed Obamacare repeal, Sen. Bernie Sanders has swung the national healthcare debate to the other side of the pendulum. The Vermont Independent says he’ll “absolutely” introduce a single-payer bill to the Senate, reports the Hill. Sanders didn’t give a timeline for the proposed bill, but told CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union that, “We’re tweaking the final points of the bill and we’re figuring out how we can mount a national campaign to bring people together.” According to CNN, the senator admitted that the Republican-controlled Congress wouldn’t be the only obstacle in passing such a bill. Special interest groups all but sank Vermont’s bid to enact a single-payer system, he said, and would make such a proposal difficult to pass.

“Taking on the insurance companies and the drug companies, taking on Wall Street, taking on a lot of very powerful forces that make billions of dollars a year from the current health care system is not going to be easy,” he said, “and it’s not going to take place until millions of people get involved in this struggle.” Per the Hill, a spokesperson for Sanders called a single-payer amendment attached to the ObamaCare repeal Wednesday a “sham.” President Trump tweeted support for repeal Sunday morning, writing, “Don’t give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace…and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.” But Sanders isn’t taking the bait: “If people don’t like the private insurance that they’re getting, they should have a Medicare-type public option available in every state in this country.”

Neither will go far but at least there is an attempt at a repair job….not something as moronically simplistic as a slogan like “repeal and replace”…..

I wish them both luck for they will need it.