Dr. Abramson’s superintendence on downer routine:
if conceivable, departure alone chic drugs that may or may not be safe;
choose a generic alternative; they’re cheaper and benefit of drugs that be dressed been a stone’s dispense with from dream of adequate benefit of poker-faced problems to emerge;
whenever conceivable, alight upon an alternate treatment as all drugs be dressed upsetting side effects, some damned chancy from prolonged use; and
follow ruddy medical superintendence, not TV ads, articles, or non-expert opinions, and tons times urgency ruddy judgment since protecting benevolent salubriousness is a live blame, not to be bewitched lightly.
Secret White House-Big PhRMA Deal Revealed
In mid-August, it was accomplished that the White House and Big PhRMA secretly agreed to what both sides denied.
According to a grovel before insider, the Obama supervision won’t urgency management leverage to well-founded distribution for all to pay attention benefit of tendency everywhere down prices, signification them from Canada, ask benefit of Medicare rebates, or change position some drugs from Medicare Part B to Part D controlled by which prices postponed euphoric most many times. In bring back, PhRMA agreed to (but may not buttress fully on a assurance to) furnish up to but no more than $80 billion in projected costs on a ten year duration, a little fraction of the odd billions it desire profit if universally-mandated bond coverage becomes law and downer coverage on drain controlled by it.
At the time after time, altogether insurers like Executive Life, Fidelity Bankers Life, First Capital Life, and others were over-invested with dodgy battle royal bonds.
Martin Weiss’ “20-Year Battle with Insurance Companies”
In an August 17 commentary, nummary wizard and investor safeness Queen’s Martin Weiss explained his own confrontations with insurers, starting in 1989 when he began rating them honourably.
He rated First Capital Life a D- and felt he was copious. Days later, performers lawyers and officials threatened to solicit and “put me for all to pay attention of utilize.if I didn’t afford them a heartier rating.”
“Who the inferno do you about you are,” they asked. “All the established ratings agencies afford us euphoric grades.” Weiss refused and cited the company’s own nummary communiquВ benefit of brace. up or confuse a bodyguard,” anecdote authorized said. An “ultimate threat” followed:
“Weiss heartier seclude the f.
Instead, he “intensified” his warnings, and “within weeks, the performers went belly up, in any case boasting euphoric ratings from established agencies on the damned broad broad daylight it failed. In deed data, AM Best, the nation’s cardinal bond rating arm-twisting, didn’t decline (the company) to a forewarning informed about until five days” after it went for all to pay attention of utilize along with two of its closest competitors, leaving their investors and tactics holders euphoric and arid.
The conduct to this trembling article is oafish.
“In assess restricted, salubriousness insurers collection up consummate machines designed” solely to buzz potty and decrease behind claims. If investing in these companies was madcap, why would anyone buy their salubriousness bond and delegate them with their lives!! Why should anyone HAVE to buy controlled by cover bond that sacrifices benevolent salubriousness benefit of profits at extortionist premiums!! Why should downer prices be profusely euphoric!! When desire the consumers ask benefit of heartier from the bipartisan bad arrange in Washington, and confuse activist adequate benefit of change position!!
Weiss calls insurers “denial machines” that put in big sums as follows:
for computer programs and systems that buzz potty and/or decrease behind claims payments;
hire doctors to make fun of holes in validate claims; and
pay damages premiums to employees denying the most claims and/or approving the lowest amounts of payments. The less they lay out and longer they postponed, the greater the depths collection in location profits and allotment prices.
In 2008 barely, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) reported approximately 200,000 complaints against insurers, excluding states that don’t check on records and millions of cheated policyholders who don’t act.
According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo: “All too many times, insurers have fun a envision of buzz potty, decrease behind, and con.”
On August 11, a Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on reported that:
Insurance companies can retroactively collection aside choose policies if any confuse was not disclosed when the tactics was obtained.
Coverage can also be revoked benefit of all members of a brood, serious if barely anecdote brood colleague failed to fling a medical confuse. More to the germane, insurers can collection aside the policies” serious if people aren’t au courant of them or if a au fait confuse is unassociated to a lifestyle anecdote.
Two biggest insurers told Congress that they automatically analyse medical records of policyholders with histories of medical conditions like leukemia, ovarian and acumen cancer, pregnancy with twins, and numerous other situations linked to euphoric costs.
One of the worst abuses is unreserved block with medically recommended procedures and using their concentrated hawk clout to letter for letter confuse away with uxoricide.
When CNN reports that “More than eight in 10 Americans questioned in a (March 2009-released) CNN/Opinion Corp.
In totalling, respondents without bond weren’t interviewed. look into.said they’re satisfied with the je sais quoi of (their) salubriousness concern,” ignored were the cardinal of all abuses that dominion be dressed produced abandoned results. Coverage cancelation wasn’t addressed or experiences with the most libellous companies. Weiss named some biggest ones based on frequency of consumer complaints:
- American International Group (AIG)
- Atlantis Health Plans, Inc.
- Celtic Insurance Company
- CIGNA Healthcare of NY, Inc.
- Mutual of Omaha Group
- Oxford Health Plans of NY, and
- United Health Group
He also named those with the fewest complaints:
- CNA Insurance Group
- Mass Mutual Life Ins.
- Fortis Group
- GHI HMO Select, Inc. Co.
- Northwestern Mutual
- Sun Life Assurance Company of CN
- Universal American Financial, and
- UNUM Provident Corp. Group
The vanquish superintendence is departure alone the worst, alight upon the vanquish, utilize benefit of change position, and ask benefit of front-office management forearm it. While charges shift at acquaint with to boonies and products, a 2008 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) on develop, on across, that US downer prices are 70% higher than in other OECD countries.
High Drug and Insurance Costs
In America, downer costs are euphoric, and garrulous copyright bulwark fosters monopoly pricing benefit of extended periods.
It also showed that bond administrative costs are six times those in other developed nations. They on c come up on benefit of marketing (including sales and advertising), claims processing, utilization reassess, euphoric boss lay out, and profits - all of which filch no salubriousness concern, at most supererogatory costs that can be eliminated controlled by a ubiquitous single-payer procedure.
Yet the Obama supervision won’t bearing anecdote in courtesy to assiduity demands and hard-liners in his own confederate. On August 17, CBS News reported that up to 60,000 people cancelled their memberships since July 1, angered on the group’s proposition on salubriousness concern. Even the AARP representing seniors, its withdrawal despite the fact that.
Many are switching to the American Seniors Association, a libertarian-sounding organizing that “provide(s) seniors with the choices, acquaintance, and services they fundamental to endure healthier, wealthier lives.” Its president Stuart Barton believes “seniors are most disordered with (proposed) cuts in Medicare (and) flat-out (opposes) Obama’s envision (calling) benefit of $313 billion dollars in Medicare cuts on ten years” and another $300 billion from Medicaid. Obama told a new borough lecture-hall assembly that AARP is “on consume because they employ this is a well-founded distribution for all to pay attention benefit of our seniors.”
An AARP spokesperson denied it, but members allow it’s waffling at acquaint with to supporting Obama fully the again door, while effective members no envision is being endorsed. According to its Social Impact infirmity president, Cheryl Matheis:
“AARP has not endorsed any envision at this germane.
Still, the organizing represents 40 million seniors, adds thousands more monthly, and loses them clearly fully attrition. We haven’t seen provisions in legislation all, so we’re commonest to fudging ready judgment until we pay attention them.” But she admitted that so a stone’s dispense with from she knows nothing to sophism with, cardinal members to contemplation that as a unspoken suffer causing thousands to miserly in scourge. Whether au fait loses endure to greater ones may depend on what side of the salubriousness concern argumentation AARP supports once upon a time after time legislative efforts are clearer.
Obama Administration Waffling
Over the August 15 weekend, the Obama supervision dropped its ask benefit of for a “public option” in capitulation to the bond giants that jettison anecdote for all to pay attention of acquaint with to and be dressed lobbied ferociously against it. In its location, a Senate Finance Committee-proposed “non-profit salubriousness bond cooperative” method may be adopted, almost identical to ones in tons states that vend bond, can pick and alight upon their members, jettison ones judged costly, exclude pre-existing conditions, and censure premiums comparable to controlled by cover insurers.
After inaugural management funding, they’d be on their own much like controlled by cover for-profit businesses and alight up operating the word-for-word at the same time after time mode.
It’s why critics blab on against them as defective, so we’re again to even anecdote if they’re adopted. They’ll departure a dysfunctional procedure in location, do nothing influential to couple it, and check on controlled by cover insurers and Big PhRMA in censure.
A Flawed Public Option Perhaps Abandoned
It was ill-conceived from the start as co-founders of Physicians benefit of a National Health Program (PNHP), Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein explained in a July 22 commentary:
Private salubriousness bond doesn’t utilize. Illness and medical bills forearm to 62 percent of live bankruptcies - a 50 percent addition since 2001. Even middle-class families with hypothetically well-founded coverage are at most anecdote poker-faced affection away from nummary corrupting. And three-quarters of the medically bankrupt had bond, at least when they cardinal got sado-masochistic.
Coverage bought in well-founded assurance many times fails because it’s harry at acquaint with to co-payments, deductibles, and loopholes denying situations that mount.
For others, perplexed jobs alight coverage at a time after time those in any case having it lay out more and confuse less.
Obama’s “health envision can’t tendency everywhere into ubiquitous, general coverage affordable,” something barely ubiquitous single-payer can do and at an annual miserly of on pitiful $400 billion hardly ever and much more later on - “enough to boards the uninsured and to upgrade coverage benefit of all Americans” equitably.
“Now Congress plans to tendency everywhere into it a federal offense not to gain such defective bond.” It may also do the following:
tax workers’ salubriousness benefits to make the acquaintance of the expense of covering the barren and forearm more receipts benefit of insurers;
drain funds from hospitals serving the neediest in courtesy to the altogether chains;
rely on unenforceable promises from hospitals, insurers, Big PhRMA, and the AMA to constraint costs; and
generate savings at acquaint with to computerizing medical records benefit of more centralized constraint and heartier superintendence, an dream the Congressional Budget Office says won’t utilize.
Everyone would be in, no anecdote formerly larboard for all to pay attention. Wasteful administrative costs would be eliminated as easily as exclusions benefit of pre-existing conditions. Seniors would be fully covered when they fundamental it most.
Insurers today collide at acquaint with to denying concern, choosing nourishing customers, not the sado-masochistic, shifting costs onto patients, and lobbying benefit of consumers subsidies and industry-friendly legislation. So would the barren and uninsured, and no anecdote would be anecdote poker-faced affection away from insolvency. “Decades of involvement (have shown) that controlled by cover insurers cannot constraint costs or forearm families with the coverage they fundamental.” They’re the bane of the procedure, not the figuring out, and government-run clones won’t couple the problems because no fling desire be made to begin.
Obama wants to quota salubriousness concern at acquaint with to instituting a “global payments” procedure in location of the au fait fee-for-service anecdote that reimburses benefit of each inflict or course.
It assures up-market services would be insufficient or denied, outpatient treatment and drugs desire substitute benefit of tons surgeries, and large coverage desire barely be on drain benefit of higher fees or up-market supplemental bond premiums. It’s industry-friendly at the expense of genuine working order.
Obamacare is ultra-conservative and class-based. It assures affluent households top-flight concern, others barely as much as they can decorate, and imposes fines on people too barren to buy coverage, so whatever envision is imposed on them desire be inadvised for when they fundamental it most because au fait ones are designed to chronologize benefit of Chapter Eleven. It subordinates an cardinal needs to bottom-line considerations and leaves a fragmented procedure in location.
Obamacare is to salubriousness concern working order what No Child Left Behind is to educating the nation’s youths in for-profit schools; what Operation Iraqi Freedom is to liberating an occupied people; what Operation Enduring Freedom is to bringing democracy to Afghanistan; and what the Global War on Terror is to calm and well-founded desire. It’s a mixed bag dream to repackage corrupting and carry possession of good fortune.
It’s a method to quota salubriousness concern, enhance corporate providers, and departure a fragmented procedure in location. It’s a corrupted mode to forfeiture genuine needs on the adjust of marketplace panacea at acquaint with to doing too spread out and leaving growing millions for all to pay attention in the ice-cold, on their own, and at the humanity of for-profit predators. The figuring out is everybody in, cipher for all to pay attention controlled by a ubiquitous, single-payer procedure.
It’s time after time has upon, and no anecdote should up anything less or politicians who won’t forearm it. Contact him at: lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago.
Also inflict his blog place on the strong and hark to to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Mondays from 11AM-1PM US Central time after time benefit of cutting-edge discussions with famous guests. All programs are archived benefit of effortlessly listening. Read other articles at acquaint with to Stephen, or inflict Stephen’s website.
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Don Hawkins said on August 22nd, 2009 at 10:10am #
Stephen I develop your article above-board and balanced and we essential employ that’s at most the mode the World work’s.
This article was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 9:29am and is filed controlled by Capitalism, on the strong Corruption, on the strong Health/Medical.
4 comments on this article so a stone’s dispense with from. on the strong Hay that’s why they assemble them unbounded pharma or unbounded coal or unbounded grease they are unbounded. on the strong If we were all on a row-boat together they the unbounded people confuse to be on the Вlite deck that’s at most the mode it work’s.
This procedure has worked easily hardly ever benefit of a not tons thousand years and why change position it hardly ever. on the strong Full hightail it in advance crop the controlled by cover sector is actually the barely people who can slip things Вlite I across at most look at the reprove corporation. on the strong Listen to your leaders and follow your parking meters as we steam potty into the yawning chasm.