The 40% health premium hike shame

The 40% health premium hike shame

I am sure WellPoint/BlueCross actuaries have their claim numbers,
expense numbers, profits, etc lined up to justify its 40% increase.
However, it would be good to examine the expenses line that are
included in the rate determination.

When you consider that the CEO is getting $24 million; the lobbying
arm (AHIP) alone is getting $20 million; and who knows how many more
millions go to other lobbying activities, marketing, plus the
airplanes, luxury offices, bonuses, etc., then you can get a picture.

Maybe the economic condition has caused deterioration in the market as
WellPoint/BlueCross states, but it surely has not caused deterioration
in the excesses of the health insurance industry.

Underlying healthcare cost inflation was 10-15% in 2009 which is far
less than the 40% WellPoint/BlueCross is asking for. So, what
justifies the other 25-30%? You are right, the other expenses that are
not related to healthcare cost inflation: admin and profit.

Judging for the amounts of money health insurers are paying to their
CEOs and the amounts they are spending in lobbying, it is not
surprising why they want to jack premiums 30% on top of what
healthcare inflation justifies.

Shame!

What the Hell Happened to Health Care Reform?

Because it seems that everyone is writing a book these days (even
Sarah Palin "wrote" a book which I am convinced must be a Nostradamus
clue that the end is near), I though I would try my literary skills
with a short story.

So here is an excerpt of "What the Hell Happened to Health Care
Reform?" - a tragicomedy of political conspiracy drama of a love/hate
story

(disclaimer: the events described here are the product of the
progressive, irreverent and ruthless imagination of the author…or
maybe not…so, I rant, you decide)

--- Except for progressive activists that refused to abandon millions
of Americans to die due to their lack of access to health insurance,
the White House, and democrats in Congress have been very quiet on
healthcare, granted, except for a few snippets here and there, every
now and then, and when asked by the press. At this point I believe
Obama and many democrats would have preferred that healthcare just
dies a quite and unnoticed death, so they can concentrate on other
more politically "popular" issues like jobs and the economy.

And this is precisely the issue: politically popular. Obama ran on a
big healthcare platform and won in big part thanks to his promises
regarding healthcare. When the healthcare process started, it looks
like the democrats had the winning hand and it was only a matter of
time and letting the opponents vent out. However, as usually happen,
democrats shit their pants and tripped on their own waste.

You need to understand that AHIP, Pharma, etc. and many other interest
groups never delivered their full blown attack. Yes, they complained
here and there, aired a few ads, etc, but we never saw the full extent
of their machinery in action. Why? Why they held back? or better yet,
What held them back? And the answer is inside the White House and more
specifically Obama and Emanuel. I believe they negotiated a deal with
these groups that reform would not go "too far to the left", meaning
no single payer and no public option. That is the reason Obama kept
saying to progressives he supported the public option but never acted
upon those words. Actually the only time the White House got VERY
involved in HCR was to push the Senate version, which goes in line
with what was promise to those industries. Progressive thought Obama
would put the full weight of the White House to push the public option
to the end line and he was putting the full weight of the White House
to push the public option out of the line.

Remember those reports about Obama being surprised by the reaction of
the left? Or Emanuel's comments on what the hell the left was thinking
about? Both Obama and Emanuel made an error in calculation. They both
MISREAD THE LEFT. They thought progressives would love Obama so much
they would be willing to eat whatever piece of crap he may dump. The
White House promised it would keep the left in line, but he couldn't
and the left rebelled.

Now the impasse was real. The White House could not allow the passing
of a bill with public option and the left wont let a bill without the
public option pass. And if the White House could in some way strong
arm progressives to eat the Senate bill Obama and Rahm knew the left
would "retaliate" on November elections. So a new strategy was needed
by both sides and quick. Progressives started to push reconciliation
while the White House was on stand by mode. However reconciliation was
a tough sell because technically democrats still held a 60-vote
filibuster proof majority.

And this is the point where the collective wisdom of Mass. liberals
and independents comes into play: with the swipe of a pencil, they
took that technical 60-vote filibuster proof majority away from
democrats. Now there was no excuse for not using reconciliation to
pass HCR with a public option, as the majority of Americans have
consistently expressed is their desire. The only obstacle: the White
House's promise to AHIP, Pharma, etc. that the bill would not go "too
far to the left". This is the reason behind the White House inaction
that has many democrats so perplexed that even Al Franken had to push
Axelrod aside and start questioning why for the lack of White House
involvement.

And this is the state of the union as of today. All elements are there
to give the people what people want and need. An HCR bill with public
option that has been scored by the CBO will cover the largest number
of Americans, would reduce the deficit and bends the curve of
healthcare inflation.

How will the White House get out of the mess they have managed to get
themselves into by making a pact with the devil? ---

To be continued…

http://www.demandquestiontime.com/

One of the few things that left and right can agree is for the
opportunity for each side to make its case directly to the American
people and the President, live, without moderators and without scripts
or cumbersome prenegotiated rules. In addition to these obvious
political advantges, the American people benefit each time opposing
ideas are debated and discussed without the trenche war of political
diatribe.

http://www.demandquestiontime.com/

How the GOP plans to win 2010 and 2012? By Democrats losing

Funny that Rubio is ahead in Florida and he will probably win the GOP
nomination. He is also posed to win the senate seat unless the
democrats wake up and offer people real options as promised in 2008
and not just continue being Republican Lite.

But how this candidate that was a long shot less than a year ago is
posed to become another Scott Brown? The answer is because the
Democrats are afraid to lose.

Conservatives are not afraid, not even afraid of losing. Conservatives
have no shame and they stop at nothing to push their flawed and failed
ideology forward. In VA. NJ, MA they ran wolves in sheep clothing as
candidates. Add to this the short memory of the people about the
Republican Bush administration plus the millions of dollars from
corporations that will flow into the GOP thanks to the Bush Supreme
Court and you have the key to GOP current and future success. And this
is the way ladies and gentlemen you win in this country.

Democrats on the other side are always afraid of losing. Democrats get
into power and then become so afraid of messing things up, that they
act shy, inconsistent, flip flopping, trying to accommodate themselves
to the wind, so people get frustrated, abandon them, and they end up
losing anyway.

Just look at how even the Liberals are abandoning Obama and the party.
Obama ran on a platform of change and changing Washington, and all he
is delivering is business as usual in Washington. Obama promised a
bottom up approach and criticized the Republican trickle down economy,
and his economic plan is all top down, trickle down, stuff the rich
approach.

Obama wasted one year, did not take advantage of the urgency, spent
all his political capital and wasted a 60 vote majority in the Senate
without delivering Health Care Reform or a single other reform that
really helped the ordinary Americans.

Now, get this right, the blame is on Obama and his detached, clean
hands approach. On Health Care for example, Obama knows the American
people want a Public Option and Medicare expansion, but he is so
afraid of the criticism from Rush Limbaugh and his GOP troops that he
prefers to step back, let others (Congress) do the work and claim
victory if they succeed or blame them if they fail.

I don't know in which world Obama lives. Doesn't he realize that
people see his clean hands game? Doesn't he know that the press will
catch it, report it ad nauseum and will be then hold accountable?
Maybe Obama is so smart that he is a couple of notches ahead in human
evolution. And because we all tend to see others as we see ourselves,
Obama may think that people are advanced enough to see his path or
that we see each other as brothers and sisters that will come together
and accept ideas either conservatives or liberals for the good of the
country.

He is wrong! We are still sort of cavemen! Our nation is currently
divided into three tribes: conservatives who want another Bush era on
steroids; "moderates" who just mean status quo and who are puppets of
the current corporate elite that want no big change because they are
getting richer just fine (they get rich when the economy is good
because of increased consumption of their goods and they get rich when
the economy is bad because the puppet government always bail them out)
and Liberals who want change in a direction that is opposite to the
other two, meaning change for the people and the little guy.

There is little consensus and little overlapping among these three
tribes. Obama wants to be in good standing with the three tribes but
that is impossible, as the interests of one tribe will always go in
opposition of the interests of the other two tribes. So the only
solution to implement real changes is to pick a side, make your case,
stick with it and hope that enough independents see it your way and
support you. And the beauty of the whole thing is that independents
don't care about ideology but for what works for them, so if what you
propose and implement works, you will get their support, period. (just
electoral psychology 101)

Now the question is which tribe to pick. The 2008 election, the Mass.
election and all polls are screaming the answer. ONE YEAR LATER PEOPLE
STILL WANT THE CHANGE, CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND BOTTOM UP APPROACH
OBAMA PROMISED!!! All these are LIBERAL values and the perfect
indication that people want Obama and Democrats to be more
Progressive. And because Liberal ideas will always work better than
conservative ideas 9.9 out of 10, when you implement a Liberal agenda
for the people, the people will support that. This has been the
biggest Obama's mistake and the reason 2010 is posing to be a big
electoral bloodbath for Democrats. Obama an Dems show no direction,
vision or flag in moments when the nation and the world are in dismay.
People want steady leadership (hopefully in the right direction as
elections and polls show) and instead they are just getting zigzags.

Is there any hope? Yes, there is always hope. Obama has taken a more
populist approach, which means he is at least talking on ordinary
people's terms. The test will be if that talking will be followed by
real and concrete actions. If real action comes, Obama and Democrats
will score. If not, it will just add to the current perception of
betrayal we all feel. And the actions that will send the clearest
message right now is a real tough crack on Wall Street and pass real
Health Care Reform with Public Option and Medicare expansion to ages
55-64.

Now will Obama and Democrats listen? I don't know and I personally
don't hold my hopes high. But because "I am the change I have been
waiting for", this is my line on the sand: Obama and Democratic Party,
I will not volunteer time, donate money or vote for democrats unless I
see real Health Care Reform enacted.

This will show me that you are acting for the good of the people and
not just talking and then continue to be Republican Lite.

FactCheck.org: CLIMATEGATE DEBUNKED

Climategate"

December 10, 2009

Summary

In late November 2009, more than 1,000 e-mails between scientists at the Climate Research Unit of the U.K.'s University of East Anglia were stolen and made public by an as-yet-unnamed hacker. Climate skeptics are claiming that they show scientific misconduct that amounts to the complete fabrication of man-made global warming. We find that to be unfounded:

* The messages, which span 13 years, show a few scientists in a bad light, being rude or dismissive. An investigation is underway, but there's still plenty of evidence that the earth is getting warmer and that humans are largely responsible.
* Some critics say the e-mails negate the conclusions of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but the IPCC report relied on data from a large number of sources, of which CRU was only one.
* E-mails being cited as "smoking guns" have been misrepresented. For instance, one e-mail that refers to "hiding the decline" isn't talking about a decline in actual temperatures as measured at weather stations. These have continued to rise, and 2009 may turn out to be the fifth warmest year ever recorded. The "decline" actually refers to a problem with recent data from tree rings.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site www.factcheck.org

The way to reduce health care cost inflation

The way to reduce health care cost inflation is by curbing inflation on the supply side. The way to do this is by controlling the arbitrary price setting power that medical providers, manufacturers and drug makers currently have. And the best way to do this is by using Medicare allowances as basis for provider reimbursement.

You're Not Going To Like This, But Listen Anyway

You're Not Going To Like This, But Listen Anyway.
by Stephen Daugherty , Daily KOS
Fri Nov 27, 2009 at 06:04:50 PM PST

If you're thinking of staying home, you're thinking of making a mistake. Right now, the Republicans are making the next election a referendum on Democrats' current performance. Performance they are deliberately dampening.

I know we want results. I want results. I know we're angry at people in our party. But two years is not enough, apparently, to convince Republicans out there to give up.

We've gotten soft, complacent, maybe not on the issues, but maybe on what it takes to keep our power against the aggressive assault of a rival party that thrives on their opposition to us.

There's no use trying to reason this out. Republicans have chucked reason out the window. They're not trying the altogether impossible task of trying to win on the merits.

They've been twisting the American people up emotionally, trying to get everybody back to thinking in their intuitive terms of liberals as the bad guys, the folks who aren't in Washington to solve problems, but to spend taxpayers money and burden them with more costs.

I am not suggesting we fight fire with fire here. I am suggesting that our job from the last two elections is not over, and we've got a public that is disillusioned from where they were with us in the last two elections.

Our trouble, really, is that we're not going to get the chance to change the policy we need to change, if the Republican turn up in strong enough numbers and we don't. We need to match their stubbornness, not expect that they'll see the light.

If you're gay, if you're battling for healthcare reform, if you're trying to battle to see our intelligence and defense apparatus saved from the legacy of Bush, I guarantee you that failing to show up and failing to push people to vote against the Republicans will be a failing strategy in 2010.

I know you people want reasons. I know you people want a simple relationship of reward to action. I do, too. But we can't start the process of purifying the party, of enforcing the party will just yet, if we're facing the challenge we are in 2010.

The Republicans are trying to work this out in a line of circular reason, pointing to their wins as evidence that the country hasn't turned against them. They are trying to completely bypass any responsibility for their continued obstruction, for the failures they've never been repentant about.

They are trying to force you to give up first. Maybe you got good reasons to give up yourself, bitter disappointments. I know. I'm mad as hell we're not doing better. But if we decide we have the luxury of giving up here, things only get worse, because the Republicans have made this nothing less than a fight to escape the legacy of this last decade, The Decade from Hell.

This is about more than just our individual agendas, this is about the ability of liberalism and progressive politics to overcome the Republican's frenzied, fanatical opposition to any departure from the status quo. We're not in a polite philosophical battle here right now, we are in a very nasty fight for the future of this country, for the ability of our politics to triumph over theirs.

Yes, people are disappointed. They need to remember why they're feeling like hell, what party brought it about, and understand that any vote against a Democrat this coming election could grease the skids on the return to the very politics that put us in this terrible position.

We need them to perceive the truth about what's happening in Washington, and we need to understand it ourselves: The Republicans are united in their efforts to stall our legislation, and they are doing their best to leave us empty-handed coming into the next elections, including on healthcare.

We need people to understand that going back to divided government will not free us from gridlocked government.

We need those numbers on that link to go up. We need to realize that the big fight out there is still with the Republicans, and if we fail to win it, then no other fight, not for gay rights, not for healthcare, not for a foreign policy that make sense will get any easier.

We need to win the fights that let us win the other fights first. It's a bitter compromise, but the alternative may be a bitter defeat. America does not need another decade in the Wilderness. The Republicans do.