President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for a second term, delivered at Philadelphia on 27 June 1936, said, "The economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power."
(healthcare and the insurance companies... - promoted by poligirl)
The insurance companies' definition of 'competition' Posted by Judy Dugan - ConsumerWatchDog - March 31, 2009
Insurance companies love their free market, and corporations in general love the idea of competing against government, i.e. outsourcing government services to private companies (see: Iraq War). But insurers and their well-oiled friends in government see public-private competition in health care as Armageddon. We get what the real problem is: public health care is cheaper because it doesn't suffer bloated overhead, profits and CEO salaries.
One of the state's largest insurers, Health Net signed a first-of-its-kind agreement with the California Department of Insurance, agreeing to pay $3.6 million in penalties, plus as much as about $14 million in reimbursements for medical charges that the insurer had refused to pay. The company, however, did not admit to any wrongdoing.
In a continuing state crackdown on health insurers, Health Net Inc. of Woodland Hills has agreed to offer new coverage -- no questions asked -- to 926 people whose policies it canceled after they got sick.
(an important conversation that needs to be had - promoted by poligirl)
President Obama made many promises about Entitlements, when campaigning. SO What will the Administration, really do about Entitlements, NOW that the country bought into those Promises?
"'Hard Choices' are going to be made." (or so Press Secretary Gibbs, just hedged on, about Social Security.)
Oh really??
This time a bipartisan group of lawmakers and business leaders, under the direction of Alan Greenspan, came up with a solution that put the system on a path that is projected to keep [Social Security] solvent until 2042 or 2052, according to the most widely accepted estimates.
(health care, stimulus, and the auto industry... - promoted by poligirl)
Note: This was posted earlier at DailyKos as The Answer for the Auto Industry is Simple Arithmetic. The painful question is, with single payer health care for all off the table, how is it that such a small move still seems so foreign?
The automakers are being forced to prove to the government that they can become a sustainable industry. The banks that have failed specifically because of our government's deregulation did not have to pass that test and after trillions in taxpayer money, banking sustainability is still not assured.
Of course the media and our representatives will never discuss the fact that the auto manufactures of other nations biggest advantage over our domestic auto makers are the exorbitant employee and retiree medical benefits that make American cars and trucks so expensive.
One thing the media and representatives will bring up and bring up often is the impotence of the auto industry to America. They aren't working very hard to find answers but you can't go through a day without the reminder that auto parts manufacturers and car dealerships employ many Americans.
Now with a government throwing around hundreds of billions in a stimulus plan and trillions at the banking industry the simple arithmetic of subsidizing the auto worker's medical cost is obvious and far more stimulating that anything they have tried so far. So what is the problem?
U.S. PIRG, the federation of Public Interest Research Groups, has just released its new study on Health-Care Costs -- and the News is NOT Good. (Big Surprise, huh?)
Skyrocketing Health-Care Costs Could Double Premiums for Many Americans By Steven Reinberg - HealthDay Reporter, WashingtonPost
Jan 28, 2009
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Unless health-care reform becomes a reality, most Americans can expect to pay health insurance premiums that will double by 2016, a new report claims.
Left unchecked, the costs of employer-paid health insurance will jump from $11,381 to $24,291 in the next seven years, according to the report, which was released Wednesday by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).
(China leading the way on UHC? - promoted by poligirl)
Back in the 1960s, the Russians launched a space satellite before the U.S. did, and caught us flat footed. Our citizens panicked over the thought of Russia planting weapons and spy satellites in space. We made it a national priority to catch up and did.
When I read last week, buried deep in a New York Times article, that China proposes spending $124 billion to subsidize basic medical health coverage and overhaul hospitals, I had a Sputnik moment.
(hope for healthcare reform... - promoted by poligirl)
With true Nationalized Medicine off the table is the expense factor just media and corrupt politician propaganda? "It's just too Expensive" is heard far too often without many facts being presented.
There was a breakout session at YearlyKos 2007 and Barack Obama said something like "You know the Canadian System didn't happen overnight." I came to the personal conclusion that a federal medical insurance program would be his stepping stone legacy and he realized that even as the most powerful man in America there would be only so much that he could achieve.
In a nation where the media is swayed by prescription drug commercials and elected officials are literally in the pockets of the medical machine there is deception at every level. It has gotten so bad and the medical lobby has been allowed to become so strong that even many voices on the left can't take an honest look at this issue.
To make matters even worse, the present state of the economy is a deterrent to health care for all. As hard as it is to swallow almost every medical dollar that some American has to pay into this corrupt system is a dollar in the economy. That fact must be way upfront in Congress right now.
Already getting ignored over at Daily Kos but rant I must.
I woke up this morning thinking about a relative. A middle aged woman who fresh out of collage took a job in hospital administration and for years has been filling my ears with horror stories. Stories like steering near elderly and nearly bankrupt couples to a reverse mortgage so they can continue treatment.
Today she is celebrating a demotion. Less pay and more work but from now on she will only have to deal with foreigners who come here for elective surgery. Through applying for and receiving this demotion a huge weight has been lifted from her shoulders and the atrocious acts that were making her miserable will no longer effect her lifestyle.
There is a way too courteous war being fought in this nation. The war wages on between a large group of advocates that want to insure sanity in the way Americans receive healthcare and a much smaller gang of thugs that are looking to continue collecting corporate campaign donations from the medical industry.
Often times the many companies and people who actually perform these many despicable acts against middle class Americans take the brunt for performing their stated missions. Why is that?
