Has Obama Already Vetoed Single-Payer Health Care?‏

Obama is on record saying...

Obama is on record saying he will have an open mind to changes. During the Presidential debates, President-elect Obama said health care in America should be a right. There is no escaping that. The current U.S. medical system run by health insurance companies will be the next financial disaster Americans have to deal with if our leadership wimps out. This battle must be won so the War on Medical Terrorism, which I discuss in my book with that title, is won by all Americans. There are a lot of promises and hopes for the U.S. health care system and a single payer Medicare-type system for all Americans would be a good sensible start towards making this protection from financial catastrophe to working and unemployed Americans a real possibility. There has never been a better opportunity than now.
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Money is not the problem. Cost is the problem due to 25-50 cents of every premium dollar going to administration. Wasted money and insurance companies as gatekeepers with only profit in mind prevents what is unique and great about the U.S. medical system from becoming a reality. If health insurers win, universal coverage will only benefit them. Health insurance companies should be embarassed at their performance. They have failed to add value to the system. In fact, the health insurance lobby is so rich, selfish and arrogant that the medical industry is bursting at the seams. Demand is much bigger than supply and, with technology and non profit driven motives, maybe our health will not be taken for granted.

Not all CEOs are dishonest...

Good health promotes freedom. Freedom keeps democracy and capitalism alive. Not all capitalism is vested in this Wall Street disaster. Not all CEOs are dishonest. Single payer would create more jobs and allow U.S. business to flourish in this competitive, global economy that has grown very dependent on U.S. financial leadership. However, this should not be viewed as a picnic for our Peter Principled Fortune 500 CEOs. What a fantastic opportunity to add value to the lives of Americans. We have no excuse to not exercise this opportunity especially in light of this terrible recession. Let's make up for lost time!

We must act now President Elect Obama...

United Health Care, the nation’s largest Managed Care Company announced in the NY Times on Dec. 2^nd a new product called Continuity. This product is being sold to protect your right to individual health insurance coverage. Of course if President Bush or President Elect Obama understood what this was, they will immediately level the playing field and make all health insurance sold in America, guaranteed issue from your employer or individually. This garbage is a marketing insult to intelligence and a blow to the lack of action from Congress regarding health reform. 

In my book, “The War on Medical Terrorism”, you can  become educated on the U.S.  health insurance industry and its value proposition. What a farce. This product should never exist because the U.S. government already recognizes the need for every state in America to guarantee issue of individual insurance policies especially in light of the recent high unemployment numbers and our current economic crisis. Americans should always have the right to purchase protection from catastrophic financial disaster due to bad health, if they can afford it. However, as you will find in my book, due to the naivete and lack of responsiveness from the U.S. government, Congress must be convinced that legislation of this type can wait.  I am embarrassed by our inability to act on legislation that would guarantee Americans the right to purchase health insurance protection if they could afford it, instead of adding  profits for a valueless product. 

The fact that this product hasn't any viability is the fault of Congress to enact any useful health insurance reform in the past 50 years. Group insurance, which is usually a guaranteed issue product, will not protect the two million Americans who are now out of work and whose COBRA benefits exhaust after 18 months. If they are not working at a company that makes health insurance benefits available to their employees, this economic crisis will result in many more hardship than is necessary. 

My prediction is that United Healthcare will be the first health insurance company in America who will be begging our government for money based upon their financial collapse, which will prove to have nothing to do with the health risk they bear in selling health insurance policies. It is greed and poor management and lack of leadership that will kill this company and endangers the strength of our entire health care system. They will take many others with them. Is anybody aware of this? Of course not, which is why we are where we are. United Healthcare’s coming inability to pay claims on a timely basis is increasing. Do you know anything about this company and what got them in to this position anyway?

The service provided by American health insurance companies has deteriorated to levels of abomination. If you have health insurance and have been sick, you might understand that the provider side or care suppliers will come through for you regardless of your coverage and the underlying insurance carrier, despite their attempts to keep you from getting the medical services you need by not paying for them. If you provide a service that someone needs and you do it ethically and honestly to the best of your ability, most of the time you deserve to be compensated for it. This United Health Care company invention or product  called Continuity shows the arrogance of the health insurance industry and its strong hold on cherry-picking risk. American citizens should not have to be the insurer of last resort.

 

When the U.S. government, under the directive of President Elect Obama, creates a government alternative to corporate health insurance, Americans should benefit from this competition… not suffer from it. What are we waiting for? There is a tremendous opportunity in this particularly difficult economic crisis to respond with great strength and humanity to our health care crisis. America needs to focus on herself first. It isn't isolationism, just an executable plan for the future. Be bullish on America. The world still depends on us. American capitalism has been the economic machine of prosperity that saved the world numerous times from economic disaster. But when economic woes affect America, the world suffers with us. 

The U.S. dollar will be and deserves to be the strongest currency in the world. Every world leader either knows this or is afraid to admit it. Don’t lose faith in America. We will survive and lead the world back to more stable times but cannot and must not ignore our immediate needs at home. The U.S. health care crisis has the potential to dwarf our current economic crisis. We must act now President Elect Obama. I know you can do it. 

This bail out is not Capitalism. It is Socialism...

This bail out is not Capitalism

Last night on October 1st, 2008, the US Senate voted 75% in favor of the Wall Street Bailout according to the New York Times, CNN, Fox News etc. This bail out is not Capitalism. It is Socialism and borders on Communism. Both presidential candidates voted in favor of the Bill. We will see how the House votes on Friday. If the U.S. government votes to force this outrageous legislation on the middle class and moves Capitalism towards Socialism, what is our excuse for not moving to a single payer health care system that is universal in nature and would identify every single person living in the United States? With single payer, rich and poor United States citizens win together, saving as much as 50% for health care, not to mention the opportunity it will afford us to identify illegal immigrants who are financially stressing out our health care system.

Americans need affordable health care, not to bail out rich executives on Wall Street. Why should a CEO who earned hundreds of millions of dollars on the way to bankrupting their company receive an exit package at all? Careless, fat CEO’s cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs if not millions. The CEO’s who caused this mess should proportionately be bailing out this economic mess created by their incompetency and greed.

The U.S. will become a financial fatality…

The cost of a single payer U.S. health care system looks cheap in comparison to this Wall Street bail out. Main Street, or the middle class, will probably be paying for this legislation for many years. As I’ve pointed out in my book (“The War on Medical Terrorism”) the costs of postponing the move to single payer and not fixing the way medicine is practiced, from reimbursement to administering care, will bankrupt our nation. The U.S. will become a financial fatality…a calamity from poor management and a lack of vision. U.S. Gross Domestic Product will be monopolized by the coming health care crisis, should we choose to ignore the problem. Without single payer, the U.S. will not be prepared to compete in this new, highly competitive global economy.

That next U.S. government bankruptcy is rooted in health care…

That next U.S. government bankruptcy is rooted in health care and will dwarf our current economic woes. By the way, no other country will care. U.S. health care is not the same as our global financial markets. If the U.S. does not move to single payer within the next 5 years, the financial corruption in health care will overtake the actual benefits Americans need desperately. More CEO’s get richer and health care in America deteriorates. Keep in mind that a hand-out in America because you have fallen on hard times is acceptable. That is why these social programs exist. The expectation is that every working-age American will at least try and make the effort to work and contribute to our great country. Are all American political policies only reactive or can we become proactive and stand up for the majority of Americans?

On Richard W. Fisher of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

… his recent comments before the Commonwealth Club of California San Francisco

America needs to make significant changes in order to meet and exceed the financial demands that our health care and retirement systems face. In Mr. Fisher’s highly socialistic overtones, his recent comments before the Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaSan Francisco, California regarding the fiscal turmoil we Americans face were depressing when taken literally. Once again, Americans have a supposed financial guru, who is part of the system that created the problems, telling Americans everything that is wrong with our social programs without any proposed solutions. Sounds like the common politician…not the kind of opinion that can make a difference in any of our lives.

Where has the vision in our leadership been? There are numerous ways to fund the shortfalls associated with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that Mr. Fisher stressed in his speech. Mr. Fisher’s story implies that fixing the system is impossible with the mounting debts and an unmanageable outlook on America’s financial horizon. However, a smart banker like Mr. Fisher should be suggesting ways to resolve the financial struggles we face in light of some of the critical aspects of our current and future economy.

Here are some ideas:

Our tax system needs to be simplified. Reform it.

The U.S. government needs to re-prioritize where it invests our money. What about the citizens of America? America’s pressing issues include education, infrastructure, health care, retirement and overall global competitiveness. Isn’t that even more important than policing the Middle East by rebuilding schools or fighting terrorism or trying to democratize the world?

What about the medical terrorism within our own economy?

Our problem, Mr. Fisher, is not the scary numbers that you so inaccurately project which intimidates Americans to the point of inertia. Leadership is initiated by people with vision…not to be skewed by unrealistic statistics manipulated to make a point. However, the point Mr. Fisher is making does have some validity to it. What about the medical terrorism within our own economy? America is struggling financially in a global marketplace with some very deep internal problems. The further deterioration of the entire middle class due to greed, selfishness and the lack of leadership continued to allow the privileged few to enjoy a favored tax process that ignores the needs of our democracy. Mr. Fisher should be talking about repealing laws like ERISA that have clearly allowed large employers to escape full responsibility when it comes to health insurance if he favors the current system. If Large Employers did not want to be in the health insurance business, they should have never lobbied to pass ERISA. By the way, Mr. Fisher when we fix the U.S. health care system using some of the suggestions in my book (The War on Medical Terrorism), there will be more than enough money to fund these supposed unfunded liabilities that your statistics support.

The reason we are at this juncture financially is due to poor planning and lack of vision

Mr. Fisher makes some excellent points about life expectancy and medical advances that were not taken seriously into consideration when these programs were enacted. The reason we are at this juncture financially is due to poor planning and lack of vision. We have a chance to make it right. Help us help ourselves. Amend the constitution and make health care a right. Americans will get on with our lives and accomplish the unbelievable. Our tax base will grow immensely due to our thriving economy and once again America’s resilient economy will be the envy of the world. America needs the New Deal of Health Care Reform 2009. It can be a 20 year process that starts to make changes with the next administration in the White House.

Use your vote carefully. It is a matter of life and death.

“Hospitals Now Rate Insurers”

Most of the issues with hospitals and insurance companies surround reimbursement

In the LA Times article on March 7, 2008, “Hospitals Now Rate Insurers”, Hospitals are now rating insurance companies who they get reimbursed from. Is the rating based upon anything that has to do with the care members of health plans actually receive from that particular hospital? Hospitals need to work out their problems with insurance companies and keep consumers out of the fray. Most of the issues with hospitals and insurance companies surround reimbursement. Some issues have tied reimbursement to superficial measurements of quality. Hospitals need to focus on efficiency and flushing out medical errors. They should put more energy into staffing and training. There should be zero tolerance for medical error from all parties involved.

So is there any significance to this new rating that hospitals may be embracing?

When an insurance company receives a favorable rating from a hospital, what does it mean? The fact that a hospital likes to do business with one insurance company over another one means nothing. Hospitals and their respective providers should just do their job of getting us well as efficiently and effectively as possible. Reimbursement will come timely and as per their contract with the insurance company for the appropriate outcome. I know that patients have this viewpoint. So is there any significance to this new rating that hospitals may be embracing? It is just one more cog in the broken health care wheel that needs to be dealt with. Providers and reimbursement issues will always be a hot issue. Profit drives health care and education drives good health.

We need a leader who can…

Our priorities as a nation are challenged by wealthy private interest groups that ruin any chance of timely progress. We need a leader who can make tough decisions and stick with them. America is supposed to be a democracy, not a republic driven purely by capitalistic idealism and overwhelming discrimination. Unfortunately, our elected leaders to the U.S. government are not setting the right example for our children’s future. So, hospitals who rate insurance companies are missing the point. Quality ratings need to be administered by third party vendors that are reimbursed by the U.S. government. There can be no conflicts of interest…especially in the name of profit.

On January 22 in the Boston Globe...

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts…

On January 22 in the Boston Globe, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the most dominant carrier in this progressive health insurance state, is trying to slow runaway health care costs and improve the quality of care by changing the reimbursement methodology it uses for paying physicians and other providers. I applaud them for attempting to make useful changes that address the Achilles heal of the U.S. health care system by addressing cost head on.

The acknowledgement that medical costs are the most significant problem facing the U.S. health care system and that reimbursement incentives to providers have to be changed, is a major step forward, especially for an insurance company. In light of that, empowering the medical system to work together to provide the right care sounds great in theory. Performance measures carry the message of accountability. That is a good start. There is so much work for America to do and, as a country, we are running out of time. The facts are Americans are letting insurance companies once again determine what they think is right. Americans need to wake up and face the music. Americans need to elect politicians who have a vision of what the future will bring. We are in the midst of a serious provider shortage. Many doctors are leaving the field especially at teaching hospitals where we develop the most competent doctors. Nurses are extremely hard to come by. That is a recipe for disaster and increased medical error rates. At the same time, we are talking about overhauling the U.S. health care system. What a tremendous challenge.

There are numerous tax laws and other disincentives…

There are numerous tax laws and other disincentives through out the system that have to be changed. Americans and providers are obviously concerned but understand that the US Health Care System has to change. Massachusetts’s Health Care System has been an excellent model for other states to attempt to duplicate. The problem is that very few states actually are like Massachusetts. Sophistication, population, access and other issues affect the potential for standardized change. However, all States must do something to resurrect the entire U.S. medical system.

Health insurance companies are trying to make a difference…too little and too late. The problem is no one trusts that their heart is in the right place. We already know that CMS operates at 3% and insurance companies operate at 12% to 24 %. That means a single payer system would save money or leave more money on the table for necessary care instead of top level executives getting rich at the expense of the American people’s health. Keep that in mind when you elect the next President.

Can any of the candidates get the U.S. health care system back on track?