Quotes of the Day -- On Health Care

Universal health care is such a complex beast that only 32 of the world's 33 nations have been able to make it work.

--Duke @Maxonsdad 

If you think Covid treatment should be free (of course it should), why do you think insulin shouldn’t be? 

Or cancer treatment? 

Or mental health?

Health care should not be run for profit. Period.

--Robert Reich @RBReich

Quote of the Day -- On America and Universal Health Care

Quote today from one George D Morgan on Facebook.

He's so right.

"I spent 36 years in the insurance business. So I know a thing or two about the subject. The one thing everyone needs to understand is that insurance is an exclusionary product--though it includes good risks that the insurance companies want, it EXcludes bad risks they do not want.

Because of the exclusionary nature of insurance, health care is not, never has been, and never will be, a good candidate as an insurance product. This is because everyone needs health care.

Everyone---without exception.

So don't talk to me about Socialism or Capitalism or anything in between. We need to adopt a universal health care system because health care is universally needed--unlike what is provided by insurance.

It's really that simple."

And the rest of the Western, industrialized world does it. 

Somehow I think we could manage.

Here's That "American Exceptionalism" For You

Here you go.

Just one more way we are "exceptional" as a nation.

There is an article out just now on countries with the best life expectancy.

Countries with the best life expectancy

And get this.

The top countries are all Democratic Socialist nations…

And they all have universal healthcare.

We, the US, are at---wait for it--the number 34 position.

34

Cuba is in the number 33 position. They live longer in Cuba, freaking Cuba, than we do here in the States.

We also have a worse life expectancy than Slovenia.

Coincidentally, Israel, to whom we give millions of dollars, has a far higher life expectancy than we in the US. They are #14 on the list. And yes, it really is true they have universal healthcare, too. We don't but they do.

People in the Republic of Korea have a longer life expectancy, at number 9.

Singapore is number 4---number 4---on the list. Far better, far higher than the US.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what lots of guns and money and zero universal healthcare gets us.

Enjoy that exceptionalism, folks.

Our Obscene, Highly Immoral, Bankrupting, Even Murderous Healthcare System

In the past week, quite by accident, I've heard two different stories from two completely unconnected people, women, as chance would have it, about health care travesties. They highlight, very well, the ugly insanity of how we do health care.

The first was from a woman who said she worked full time at a law office and for her family's health insurance, she paid $600 per month.

That's it.

That's the whole story.

One person, one woman, trying to support her family and the best her company--heck, our nation--could offer her was to pay $600 per month for health care insurance.

She rightly and truly pointed out, too, that this didn't include the huge, thousands of dollars minimums she'd have to pay first if there were any health care needs nor does it include the co-pays.

That alone is, as the headline says, obscene and immoral.

Is it any wonder health care costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in this nation?

The second example was from a co-worker, by chance, this afternoon. I heard her talking that she had, some time ago, gone to her doctor's office and had some sort of health care episode of some kind. She was in her doctor's office by coincidence, for something else, entirely. The doctor's office was physically attached to the hospital. One could go through the hallways to get there.

Once she started having this "episode"--I don't know what the ailment was--they told the doctor's staff, naturally. That staff informed the woman they would not only call an ambulance but that--get this--THEY HAD TO CALL THE AMBULANCE.  She couldn't go through the building or even go around to the front door or something. An ambulance had to be called, she had to be put into it and be taken to the emergency entrance.

So that's what happened.

And because of that, she was billed $800.

$800 for an ambulance trip, AROUND THE BUILDING, not even a block, that took seconds.

This is a woman who doesn't make a great deal of money, ladies and gentlemen.

We seem to not have any sense when it comes to health care in this nation. We're all about companies and corporations making loads of money and having big profits but we don't care about the costs.

Again, WE ARE THE ONLY NATION THAT DOES THIS.

We, the US, are the only nation in the world that ties health and health care to profit and profits.

Consequently, we are the only nation that has citizens that go bankrupt due to health care costs.

We are the only nation that has people die because they can't afford treatment. We are the only nation that has people die because they can't afford insulin, as just one perfect example.

We just are not very bright. In spite of what we tell ourselves.

Link:

Americans are dying because they can’t afford insulin

Don't Look Now But a Town In Rural Missouri Just Got Hit. And Hard

I hadn't seen anything of this but it seems a hospital in rural Missouri, in the town of Kennett, is closing.

116-bed Missouri hospital to close 

next month

The website Axios simply and clearly points out three very big factors of all this:

• Many people are worried residents won't get care at all or will suffer from having to drive long distances for hospital care.
• "We have two nursing homes, and people are already talking about pulling their loved ones out because there's not a hospital close enough," one worker said.
• "This little town just lost its biggest employer...financially, a lot of businesses are going to suffer," another employee said.
• Kennett is a farming community in Dunklin County, whose residents are poor and have some of the worst health outcomes in the state. (The area overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in 2016.)

Get that.

Not only losing your town's only hospital but also it's biggest employer. Talk about a double, if not triple or worse "whammy."

Can you imagine even being elderly in that town, let alone in a nursing home, knowing your town is losing its hospital?

If you had a loved one in a nursing home there, would you keep them there?

Worse, if you were in that nursing home and in reasonably good condition otherwise, would you want to stay there, in that town, in that nursing home?

What do you bet the nursing home or homes in Kennett, Missouri will be losing patients, customers? And quickly?  I would be very surprised if, in only a couple to a few years, the nursing home or homes there don't also close, have to close. I certainly hope I'm wrong about that.

Then, can you imagine being an employee of the hospital? Thinking you had a job for life? And you're in rural Missouri, rural America. The nearest hospital is 50 miles away. Further, do you think they have many job openings? It's questionable, at least.

The heck of it is, this is not good for the town of Kennett but it's not good for that entire area. It's not good for that region, that part of the state. Simply put, it's no way good for Missouri.

It's not good for America. It's not good for the nation.

____________________________________________________________

More of the fuller situation that brought this about here, below:

When a rural hospital shuts down

Other links:

Sudden hospital closure gravely concerns Kennett doctors 

Wellington, Kan., hospital threatened 

like other rural facilities 

Possible shutdown of St. Francis hospital in Topeka

Closing of Kansas hospital adds to 

Medicaid expansion debate

America's Rural Hospitals Are Dangerously Fragile 

Fantastic Article On American Health Care Today

There is, as said above, a fantastic article in the New York Times today outlining things we ought to get, rights we ought to have, from our health care providers and system. It's an eye opener, not least of which because we all know these are out there and we can be subject to each and every one of them.

Nine Rights Every Patient Should Demand 

And they are:

1. The right to an itemized bill in plain English.

2. The right to never receive a surprise out-of-network bill.

3. The right to accurate information about the provider network in my insurance plan.

4. The right to a stable network.

5. The right to be informed of conflicts of interest.

6. The right to be informed in advance about any facility fees.

7. The right to see a price list for elective procedures.

8. The right to be informed of cheaper options.

9. The right to know that a disputed bill will not be sent to a collection agency.

Here are 9 things we're subject to, as Americans, as patients and each one is pretty outrageous, really. After all, it's our health and it's our health care system. Yet we're subject to all of these any time we go to a doctor or the hospital. It is, again, outrageous.

And why do we put up with this? Why do we tolerate this?

Partly because we have to. Partly because we know the corporations and moneyed people are in charge. They can give their Congressional representative---our Congressional representatives--some money and they get the laws and government they want.

They're in control.

Welcome to "free market", profit-driven health care, America.

What're you gonna' do about it?

Here's That "American Exceptionalism"

Worst vacation policies of any developed country

America Has the Worst Vacation Policies 

Of Any Developed Country

Americans get the least paid vacation time in the world

America Has the Worst Family Leave Policies

Most expensive health care of the top 17 industrialized nations

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive 

and Worst Performing

And check that out--also the least effective health care of those same 17 nations

We own more guns than any other nation.

Americans own more guns than residents of any

 other country

Our gun homicide rates are more than 25% higher than other high-income nations.

America's gun culture vs. the world 

in 5 charts 

Oh, yeah. We're exceptional, all right.

At least we have Grand Canyon, eh?

What Canadians--and the World--Are Seeing Here In the US

I saw this today out on the interwebs. I couldn't confirm it's written by a Canadian but seriously, think about what they write. It seems a very real, fair and at least sad, if not ugly comment on America presently.

And he didn't even touch on shoveling yet more money to the already-wealthy and corporations while taking it from the middle- and lower-classes.

Again, thanks, Republicans!

And may God help us.

Higher and Yet Higher Health Care Costs Thanks to This President

Yes, sir, all that bloviating and equivocating this Republican President is doing is no way going to be good for your or my health care costs in this nation. The health care companies, the pharmaceuticals and insurance companies, especially, are using it to, yet again, still more, just keep on raising and raising their prices---and so, our costs.

This came out yesterday, from the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, no less.

Study says Trump moves trigger health premium jumps for 2018

The Trump administration's own actions are triggering double-digit premium increases on individual health insurance policies purchased by many consumers, a nonpartisan study has found.

So to all the Trump voters and supporters, once again, to you and The Donald, both, we say, THANK, FELLAS!!

Presidential Campaign/Candidate, Now Officeholder Quote of the Day

That was then.

"We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

--Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump

This is now.

G.O.P. Health Bill Would Leave 

23 Million More Uninsured

I'd laugh but I think I'm going to be sick to my stomach.

Links:

Trump vows 'insurance for everybody' 

in Obamacare replacement plan

Republican Health Care Bill Delivers Big Tax Cut For The Rich

More on the Republicans' Wealthcare Proposal

Because that's what this AHCA, "Trumpcare" is, of course.


Definitely.

Wealthcare.

It's certainly not healhcare.

Nations That Have Universal Health Care

Yes, nations that have universal health care--health care for all--and so, don't tie its cost to profit like we in America. A partial list.

Check that out.

Slovenia, for God's sake.

But no, we can't do it.

Idiots.

Quote of the Day -- On Our Health Care

Quote of the Day -- On Yesterday's House Health Care Debacle

How can you prescribe a cure for heartlessness? 

What a deplorable day for America. 

Perhaps the Senate will stop this assault; we will see. 

Meanwhile the congressional GOP, and its fundamentalists, are full of real bastards, replete with the hubris and conceits that blind white people of privilege. 

It’s the stuff of fiction. 

All of them are the pious and stunted Babbits who have shown up time after time in American history. In the 19th century, these ignoramus moralists used to tar and feather the wicked and clutch their skirts and get the vapors, when their real motive was fleecing someone. 

And now? 

Snake Oil comes in Red, White, and Blue with a GOP pin. 

Once again, the officiously comfortable afflict the poor, elderly and vulnerable, and proclaim their righteous glory and salvation while killing them, Alleluiah. No dunking chairs, stocks or nooses are being used here, and no one is quite being run out of town, but it's a bonfire of hubris. 

And of course, a rancid lecher like Trump and his administration target women and the poor. 

He is enabled in so many ways by those who obsess over the organ Trump is so fond of and yet horrified by, the organ which does all those things he and his coterie are so terribly, demonstrably, shamed by. Misogyny, racism and an orgy of white class privilege define today; NOT American ideals. 

This is ancient, orgiastic Rome on the Potomac. 

Or, leap ahead to the 17th century: You don't have to endorse everything HRC did in her campaign to be appalled by her burning at the stake by Comey and the rest with casual, partial, deadly “reveals". (Comey tosssed letter bombs.) 

So, friends, what comes next? 

Demonstrations, protests, and 2018. 

The Democrats may have been less than elegant today -- but really, who can blame a visceral reaction in the face of an Orwellian overload of cant? We're watching democracy be trampled, and decent people be trampled, and our way of life -- I don't think I'm exaggerating here -- be peeled off to appease and enrich the exalted triumphalists. 

They should start wearing togas. 

Staid, pleasant rhetoric doesn't cut it for me in these times. And unless we're really willing to do the hard work of connecting people, this ugliness dominates. I think we're on the cusp of a radical act: Democracy, and yanking it back in 2018 from the worst, most venal characters since the days of Vigilantes, boss rule and segregation and other nativist elements. 

Can we provide the cure for the diseased heart of the American power structure? 

For the heartlessness and greed which lie at the heart of Trumpism and the GOP? 

That's my definition of palliative care: vote them into oblivion. Whatever it takes, wherever we are, but link arms, and do not be silent.

--Jacki Lyden

Link:

Jacki Lyden - Wikipedia

Republican Party America

Click on the picture for easier reading.

The One Nation Without Universal Health Care

This is what Capitalism has gotten us in both health care pricing and mortality rates as well internet pricing and speed. Ours are both the most expensive and worst quality.



We're just not that bright.

Links:

Once again, U.S. has most expensive, least effective health care

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive and Worst Performing

Senator McCaskill, On the Trail of Our Crushing Health Care System

Proof positive, folks, of what the insanity of having our health care system tied to profit and profits does. Capitalism, at it's both worst and finest, and brought to light, thank goodness, by our own Senator Claire McCaskill. From yesterday's New York Times:


Senator Claire McCaskill, left, and Senator Susan Collins presented a 130-page report Wednesday on price gouging by prescription drug makers. CreditDrew Angerer for The New York Times

To Stop Price Spikes on Prescription Drugs, 

a Widening Radar

In the actual paper itself, it had a different headline and one that I like far better. It was

The Price of One Vial: $38000

A bit of the article:

Congressional reports can be a snooze. But that is not how I’d characterize Wednesday’s in-depth account of price gouging among prescription drug makers. The 130-page narrative prepared by the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging was juicy, detailing how four pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of our health care system to enrich themselves and their executives, harming patients and taxpayers.

Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who is chairwoman of the committee, and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri who is its ranking member, published the report. But in a statement, they said their work was not finished and called for “continued efforts to stop bad actors who are acquiring drugs that have been off-patent for decades and driving up their prices solely because they can.”

The report focused on Retrophin, Rodelis Therapeutics, Turing Pharmaceuticals and an old favorite, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. But these four companies are not alone in pursuing the pernicious price-hike business model, the committee noted. Other companies take the same approach, hurting taxpayers, patients and the health care system.

That’s for sure.

It is unclear where the Senate may set its sights next. But fresh Medicare data points to a candidate right in Ms. McCaskill’s backyard: St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt PLC. It makes H.P. Acthar Gel, a 1950s vintage, off-patent drug whose cost has rocketed from $40 a vial in 2001 to $38,000 today.

That Epi-pen episode, not that long ago was just one more example of this kind of, again, Capitalist gouging of the American public. Sick Americans, actually.

Senators McCaskill and Susan Collins (R-Maine) get credit for bringing this to light and for doing this examination. Seems the women have the empathy for the American public who are trying to afford our grossly obscene and immoral health care system. Men in Congress don't seem to be as interested in doing this so-important work.

Senator McCaskill gets additional kudos for this exploration since one of the companies they're looking into is based right here in Missouri, Mallinckrodt PLC.  That takes some guts since she no doubt risks some political capital--potential votes--in doing this though the article did mention one Senator Tim Scott (R-So. Carolina) did raise questions about this drug's pricing "over a year ago."

It's a fascinating, even, possibly important, very relevant, if depressing article. Virtually all adult Americans, paying for health care, should be aware of it. It shows just what the pharmaceutical companies are doing to us all and getting away with.

All in the name of health care.

And, again, that mighty, mighty Capitalism so many love so dearly.

Links:

Healthcare, Meet Capitalism

US Healthcare is an Embarrassment

Will Corporate Greed Destroy Our Healthcare System?

Health Care Problem Isn't Socialism, It's Capitalism

Healthcare Isn't A Free Market, It's A Giant Economic Scam

The Reason Our Healthcare Is So Outrageously Expensive

We're just not very bright.  We put companies and corporations and profit and profits ahead of people and people's needs.

American "Health Care"

American health care.

It is the most expensive---and by expensive, I mean outrageously so--and least effective health care system in the world. And by a lot. We have the worst medical outcomes of the top 17 industrialized nations.

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive and 

Worst Performing

We have the worst, lowest mortality rates of those top 17 industrialized nations meaning we die sooner than the other 16.

It's insane.

And all because we tie health care to profit and profits. 

No other nation in the world does this. Just us. And this is what it's giving us.

I saw the following comparison on Facebook today, posted by a friend. I post it here, in hopes people will open their minds. From Tom Degan.

"As an American who has been living in Europe for most of the last 20 years, one who has visited doctors numerous times in four different countries, whose two children were brought into this world in European hospitals (France and England), who has himself spent a week in a public British hospital, and who underwent an operation in a private British clinic, I think I can say a thing or two about health care in Europe.

"Our out of pocket expenses for the births? Zero. Even though in France my wife spent 5 days in the hospital after the birth of our first daughter, which is standard by the way.

"During the three years we lived in England, we never once paid for medicine for our children. Children get drugs for free in the UK. Visits to the GP are free for everybody.

"My expenses for the week in the NHS hospital? Zero.

"The cost of the operation in the private clinic? Zero, it was covered by my work insurance, as was the post-op physical therapy I needed.

"In Western Europe you would never be forced to sell your home in order to pay for your medical bills, as happens all too often in America when catastrophic illness strikes and the insurance company decides that your condition was 'pre-existing'.

"The quality of the care? Mostly good. French hospitals are excellent, even the food is decent. The food at the NHS hospital was beyond awful, but then again most English food is pretty bad (though they do have great Indian food). At night, they were understaffed, but I am guessing that, apart from that place where Dr. House works, most American hospitals are understaffed at night, too.

"In short, in the US, you pay more, get less, and die younger than we do in Europe. What part of that don't you understand?

"My fellow Americans, you have nothing to fear except those who would use fear to keep you enslaved to the myth of the might of the American health care system."

--Jeff Degan, from Tom Degan's blog, posted 8/19/09

Links:   "The Rant" by Tom Degan

"The Rant" by Tom Degan | Facebook

Those Health Care Hikes Announced This Week?

You likely heard about the double-digit hikes in health care costs for people with Obamacare?

There are some things to know about it all.

First, the costs won't be passed on to the patient. They will be paid by the subsidies in and from Obamacare. So the person getting the care won't be gouged. Their health care won't get any more expensive. Sure, this is still not good because that money has to come from somewhere but at least the person on the street, that patient won't have it any worse.

Second, this---

The truth about healthcare premiums: 

They'd be a lot higher without Obamacare

The fact is, the health care corporations in this country are still just gouging the hell out of all of us here in this country. They still just keep relentlessly, year after year, jacking up the prices of their drugs and treatments, etc. And what's great, at least for them, is that now they get to blame the Black guy, they get to blame Obama and his Obamacare.  Worst of all, too many people will believe all that nonsense, that the price rises are the fault of Obamacare.

No one should be fooled. The fact is, the ugly fact remains, we are the only nation in the world that ties health care to profit. It is, single-handedly, clearly, the only reason our health care is, far and away, the most expensive health care and health care system in the world, on the planet. And for all that money, let me remind you, it's also the least effective for us. Check this out.

Once again, U.S. has most expensive, 

least effective health care

Yes, this is from 2014 but keep in mind, since this survey, our health care costs, as we know, have risen even higher, and not by just a little bit. And the higher the price goes, the less can afford it, the less get that health care.

We must untie health care in this nation from profit and profits.

That's all there is to it.

What we're doing now, what we've done up to now has gotten us this outrageously high, not just expensive but super expensive, deeply immoral system.

And it's killing us.