Why Don't They Cap Malpractice Premiums?
--Amid considerable emphasis on the cost of health care--rising faster than inflation, driving Americans deeper into debt, contributing heavily to individual bankruptcy, imposing an ongoing strain on any small business that actually tries to provide employee benefits, and generally driving the rich and everybody else farther and farther apart--nobody seems to be mentioning malpractice premiums. And yet insurance carriers have, under our current system, virtual carte blanch to siphon anything out of doctors* that they can get.
CAP MALPRACTICE PREMIUMS would seem to be an excellent slogan for the health care industry to bear ... more »
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Wednesday, September 30
Why Don't They Cap Malpractice Premiums?
by
margieburns
on Wed 30 Sep 2009 10:41 AM EDT
Tuesday, September 29
'Birther' Lawyer Gary Kreep Has Been Draining U.S. Courts Since 1990
by
margieburns
on Tue 29 Sep 2009 10:19 AM EDT
'Birther' Lawyer Gary Kreep Has Been Draining U.S. Courts Since 1990
--Posted below for convenience is the quick list of federal cases in which 'Birther' ultra-sponsor and lawyer Gary G. Kreep, of California and the "United States Justice Foundation," has either repped the (hysterical or misled) parties or filed an amicus brief. For the record, Kreep began with defensive actions, when in 1990 he coordinated with then-San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Republican) members incl Brian Bilbray (who later went on to Congress), filing an amicus brief. He then filed other amicus briefs in other matters, then progressed ... more » Thursday, September 17
A line half a mile long for Obama's health-care rally at College Park
by
margieburns
on Thu 17 Sep 2009 11:02 AM EDT
A line half a mile long for Obama's health-care rally at College Park
--Regardless of how tomorrow's newspapers downplay the event, the number of people waiting patiently in line to hear President Obama speak at the University of Maryland, College Park, this morning is impressive by any standard. Undaunted by a long trek from the permissible parking lots on the large UMCP campus--home to the UMD system's flagship state university, a former ag institution with ample acreage--local supporters joined young people already on campus to queue up for at least half a mile from the Comcast Center, the venue of ... more » Wednesday, September 16
Remember UNUM (among other companies)? More on bad-faith insuring
by
margieburns
on Wed 16 Sep 2009 10:53 AM EDT
Remember UNUM? More on bad-faith insuring
--For the record, I intend to go see Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, which should help further clarify our current 'debate,' as the corporate newspapers call it, over health insurance. But lest anyone should think that I get my ideas from Moore, see the post below. For future reference, here are some past but relatively recent examples from our largest carriers of how they deal with their customers, the policyholders: Tuesday, September 15
Analyzing public health policy and health care reform
by
margieburns
on Tue 15 Sep 2009 09:16 AM EDT
In the midst of smarmy attacks on health care reform and on insurance reforms--attacks colluded in by my newspaper, the WashPost, among other corporate media outlets--I would like to post a quick overview of the broader topic, public policy on health. That, after all, is what we are ostensibly discussing. Public health policy in the · health care, maintenance, promoting wellness and preventing disease ... more » Monday, September 14
Avoirdupois, elevator eyes, and "Don't tread on me" signs: the teabaggers hit Washington
by
margieburns
on Mon 14 Sep 2009 10:10 AM EDT
Avoirdupois, elevator eyes, and "Don't tread on me" signs: the teabaggers hit Washington
-As indicated, some tens of thousands of demonstrators against abortion, against big government, and/or for the insurance companies hit DC on Saturday. I was out that day, using our estimable Metro system to run some (unrelated) errands, and looked around at some of the millers-around. A predictable mixed bag in some ways: The pleasant, courteous, Christian-behaving anti-abortionists, on their best behavior and often with children in tow, wearing sticker labels saying things like "Abortion is not health care." Actually, I think it is, but disagreement aside I ... more » Sunday, September 13
George McGovern says it best: "It's Simple: Medicare for All"
by
margieburns
on Sun 13 Sep 2009 09:37 AM EDT
George McGovern says it best: "It's Simple: Medicare for All"
--Meanwhile, Fox News and WashPost campaign against any public option-- Former presidential candidate and senator George McGovern has a very good oped in the Washington Post today titled "It's Simple: Medicare for All." The clarity is terrific. On the other side--i.e. against the public interest--Fox News Sunday today also offers clarity: "The public option is dead." Pronounced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chris Wallace of Fox moderating, if that's the word. The two Dems on board for the panel are ... more » Friday, September 11
DO INSURANCE COMPANIES SELL POLICIES TO 'ILLEGAL ALIENS'?
by
margieburns
on Fri 11 Sep 2009 04:51 PM EDT
DO INSURANCE COMPANIES SELL POLICIES TO 'ILLEGAL ALIENS'?
--Does anybody ask? THIS QUESTION ARISES--SPONTANEOUSLY, AS REP. JOE WILSON WOULD SAY--FROM WILSON'S YELLING OUT "YOU LIE" TO THE PRESIDENT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. DO THE INSURANCE COMPANIES SELL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, HEALTH AND MEDICAL INSURANCE, ACCIDENT AND DISMEMBERMENT POLICIES, HOME INSURANCE, etc etc, TO 'ILLEGAL ALIENS'? Has anybody, including Rep. Wilson, asked this question? It is not something that I myself have ever heard anyone mention--anyone, not even among the hysterics and racist quasi-illiterates who have tried to take over and disrupt those town hall meetings? Are any of these concerned ... more » Thursday, September 10
Congressman Joe Wilson, by the numbers
by
margieburns
on Thu 10 Sep 2009 09:35 PM EDT
Congressman Joe Wilson, by the numbers He had some material motivation. Records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show that—as said, only too predictably—Rep. Wilson’s top donors in the last election cycle ... more »
President Obama: "Our health care problem is our deficit problem"
by
margieburns
on Thu 10 Sep 2009 07:56 AM EDT
President Obama sets out his vision for health care reform: A public option will be available.
--Addressing an enfeebled and manipulated press as well as the general public last night, President Obama stated the rationale for health care reform clearly enough to dismiss the subterfuges against reform dignified in slanted reporting as 'debate'. In regard to including a public option--making a public option available--Obama pointed out, rather matter-of-factly, that "a strong majority of Americans" want it; that no one would be forced to choose it; and that we do better with choice, with competition. "We will provide you with a ... more » Monday, September 7
From Tarantino to talking heads, and back
by
margieburns
on Mon 07 Sep 2009 12:21 PM EDT
From Tarantino to talking heads, and back
--True enough, middle-class USA lives like Caesar in some ways, even though it does not always feel that way to anyone caught up in the chores of maintaining property--real and portable--keeping it restored and repaired. Aside from such obvious examples as being able to drive around in air conditioning, there is also the freakish wealth of experience of listening to Sunday talking heads the morning after watching Inglorious Basterds. It wd be too easy to joke here. This was the first Tarantino movie I have bothered to go see since Pulp Fiction... more » Sunday, September 6
More on health and health insurance reform, from Sunday talking heads
by
margieburns
on Sun 06 Sep 2009 11:11 AM EDT
More on health and health insurance reform, from Sunday talking heads
--Following up on the previous post--Regrettably but unsurprisingly, most of today's talking heads kept their heads down like imprinted ducklings and waddled the party line. Today's premier example, ABC's George Will (who this week came out against the war in Afghanistan; according to neocon commentator Charles Krauthammer, Will has a son in the armed forces): re health care, Will postulated this morning that "for a while" we "were" talking about "health insurance reform," an idea he went on to pooh-pooh. Actually, there 'was' talk about health insurance reform ... more »
Howard Dean very good on Fox News Sunday; consensus on insurance reform--even on Fox!
by
margieburns
on Sun 06 Sep 2009 10:18 AM EDT
Howard Dean very good on Fox News Sunday; consensus on insurance reform--even on Fox!
This just in, as of Sunday September 6, 2009: Even GOP interviewees concur on the "need for private insurance reform." Four speakers invited by Fox to weigh in--Howard Dean, John Podesta, Newt Gingrich and Lamar Alexander--on the health care debate this morning concurred that at the very least some reforms of private insurance are needed. Former GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander mentioned two specifics--allowing customers to buy insurance across state lines, and letting small businesses pool to buy group health policies collectively to reduce cost. (Alexander ... more » Friday, September 4
Forcing the public to pay the insurance companies: A ridiculous proposal
by
margieburns
on Fri 04 Sep 2009 01:30 PM EDT
Let's put this in simplest terms: If this administration and Congress push through any proposal forcing the general public to pay billions to the insurance companies, they are politically dead. Period.
This political truth is so, regardless of whether the public is forced to pay the insurance industry collectively, through higher taxes, or individually, through insurance premiums. If many billions of tax dollars end up transferred to an industry that has done so little to deserve public subsidy, the public will know it, will learn it--and before the 2010 elections. If, on the other hand, millions of Americans are ... more »
Health Insurance Reform Suffers from Lack of Reporting
by
margieburns
on Fri 04 Sep 2009 10:45 AM EDT
From a quick check of giant database LexisNexis: The last time the Washington Post, which is the newspaper I subscribe to, mentioned insurance bad faith in the United States was 1986.
Yes, you read that right: 1986. That year, attorney Richard Ben Veniste won an award of $800,000 for a client, a woman in the DC suburb of Alexandria, VA. The federal jury in the case, tried in DC--apparently this was the first time an insurance bad-faith case won in the District--found the policyholder's insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, acted in bad faith in refusing to pay $12,000 ... more »
Connecticut, Your Tax Dollars at Work: House Members Play Solitaire
by
margieburns
on Fri 04 Sep 2009 10:03 AM EDT
In the kind of activity often deplored in young people, two members of the Connecticut House were photographed by the Hartford Courant playing while at work.
Caption reads, "House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, far right, speaks while colleagues play solitaire on their computers as the House convenes to vote on a new budget for the fiscal year in the Capitol, in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Aug., 31, 2009." As the young person who emailed this points out, it's funny that the members find solitaire so engrossing when they have the range of the Internet to play with.... more » Thursday, September 3
"Consumer spending" versus saving for college
by
margieburns
on Thu 03 Sep 2009 08:44 AM EDT
The United States will never have a strong economy while its economy depends on consumer spending. "Consumer spending," implicitly and explicitly touted as a way out of recession, is in simplest terms a macro Ponzi scheme, and it demands the general population to fork over cash that the individual members of that general population need, sometimes desperately, to keep in their own pockets, purses and bank accounts. Individual consumer spending, often to the detriment of the individual doing the spending, is being used as a substitute for rational industrial policy, for rational agricultural policy, and for rational public spending. (We're ... more »
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