Barack Obama: Organizing for health-care

Here's some info people can use to beat back some of the most absurd healthcare claims that are coming out of the mouths of the Big Health Insurance Lobby and their foaming at the mouth puppets in the Republican party.

1) The government -- i.e., not private enterprise -- wants to kill Granny. Let us get this straight. The government wants to kill Granny and, by implied contrast, private enterprise, that we all learned in Economics 101 exist for the sole purpose of caring for each and every citizen, will look out for Granny's well-being.

* Is this the same private enterprise that sells death (cigarettes), needing to addict 15,000 new children per month just to maintain revenues? Or, is it the same private enterprise that resisted selling safe cars? Or, perhaps it is the same private enterprise that would never pollute our air or water, or, if they did, rush to clean it up before they hurt anyone? Or, maybe they mean the private enterprise that imported toxic toys for children? Or, the private enterprise that so generously donates candy and soda pop machines to public schools?
We actually do know the private enterprise they mean -- it is the private insurers who try not to insure people who are or may get sick, try to drop them from their rolls when they do, and deny every claim they can when they cannot drop you from their policies. That's the private enterprise that has been caring for you for years.
And what about the government? Perhaps the evil government they refer to is the one that determined cigarette smoking caused lung cancer in the first place; or the one that established pollution controls and standards for clean air and clean water; or, perhaps it is the evil government, out to kill Granny, that administers Medicare with less than a 5 percent administrative cost compared to 25-30 percent for private enterprise; or, the evil people at the Food and Drug Administration that ensure the integrity of the food supply and the safety (and potency) of drugs people take to combat illness?
Let us concede, however, that the government does deliberately kill people. It is called the death penalty. And, although the goal is not to have our own people killed, war usually does a pretty good job of ensuring people die. So, if Granny refrains from committing a capital offense, and does not -- like the Limbaughs and O'Reillys and Bushes and Cheneys and Kristols and Lowrys and Buchanans and Chamblisses who love war so long as they do not get called to fight it -- volunteer for the armed forces, it is not the government she needs to fear for her life.

2) We cannot afford it.

* Here's a shocker--we are affording it today, paying for it now. Hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies are not giving away treatment and medicine for free. They are not printing their own money (although the word "scrip" is indeed in prescription). They are getting paid.
Now, how can that be? Well, if you are among the 260 million Americans who have health insurance, you are already paying for the 47 million who do not. Health care providers overcharge you assuming a predictable percentage of bills will go uncollected. You see, along with your insurance exec's Gulfstream, you pay for the uninsured with your premiums for those higher charges.
But, you don't mind, do you? Because they never called it a "tax."
If we get universal coverage, there will be no unpaid charges. Charges per item or service could come down and, therefore, insurance premiums could come down -- unless of course the insurance execs wants a company yacht along with the Gulfstream, or just to report higher profits, then they won't. Wonder what a competing public option would do? Hmmm....
And, by the way, there are huge savings to be had just from improved efficiencies of a system in which total costs count more than the cost of one procedure or drug or intervention.
The secret reason they never called part of your premiums a "tax" is that if we ever got health care reform, and premiums declined, or at least did not increase more rapidly than other parts of the economy, then we might have called it a "tax cut." And one of the "Old Rules" is the only the right wing gets to say the word, "tax cut."
But, they are correct that health care costs are spinning out of control and that one of the purposes of reforming the system is to reduce those costs. One of the best ways of reducing costs is improving outcomes. More on that in another article.

3) Let private competition solve everything: Imagining a world without Medicare

* Ok, to test that hypothesis, let us examine what our world would be like without Medicare. One possibility would be that the elderly would be insured privately and randomly in the same plans as the rest of us. Care to guess how high your premiums would be if your plan carried those higher risk seniors?
Or, suppose no insurance company really wanted to insure the elderly and they were without insurance. Then Granny gets sick. Who pays? Do you let Granny go untreated? Does Granny "allow" you go bankrupt, and deprive your kids, her grandchildren(!), of their college funds, to pay for her care?
Or, suppose there are insurance companies only covering the elderly? Their insurance premiums would be ... oh, doesn't seem to work does it? Very few would be covered since it would be unaffordable, so we are back to no coverage.
How about this? Your children can be covered to the age of 18 under your policy. What about your parents getting covered under your policy once they hit 65? Think we are back to sky-high premiums with that one.
I know, I know, I know (says Newtie), let's give each Medicare recipient a lump sum, and let them go out and buy private insurance with it. For starters, about 20-30 percent of that is no longer going into actual care, but into "administrative" costs, so their coverage would decline.. Then again, if a person is ill, the insurer may not wish to cover him; if there were a law against such discrimination, we are back to both skyhigh premiums few could afford and the contribution coming from Medicare being insufficient.
Now, for the most likely scenario without Medicare. Granny is covered, premiums are higher but not outrageously. Why? Because when Granny does get ill, the insurance companies will deny coverage, or drop her. So, you can have the wonderful experience of paying higher premiums and then going bankrupt a bit sooner, all while Granny is wondering how she could allow herself to do this to you, and her grandchildren. Now that would really kill her.

4) The free market can solve everything, and at lower cost.

* No, it cannot. First, and most convincingly, it has not. Since most systems tend toward equilibrium, it might have been surmised that, after all these years, everything would have already been solved. The purists would say that there are government programs around (like Medicare) that have distorted the system so that free markets cannot reach an equilibrium solution. But, that is nonsense. See # 3 above.
Secondly, though, free markets are genetically incapable of providing high-quality, low-cost, health care for all. Why? Because most people incur most of their health care costs when they are old. By the time they are old, health care prices have risen (even if at a normal rate), whereas their incomes were earned way-back-when wages and salaries were not nearly as high. Hence, even if they had saved prudently for the inevitable rainy day, it is unlikely most people would have enough saved from wages during their youth and middle age to cover the costs that they are now charged in their old age.
In addition, the costs of an illness can be, and often are, catastrophic to individuals, and only the very wealthy would have the money to pay for the total costs of care.
Ok, the free-market-solve-everything crowd would say, they would all purchase insurance. But, that is today's system, not everyone purchases it, not everyone can afford it, and private markets in search of profits do what would be expected: they weed out those most likely to add costs.

5) Your health care will be rationed.

* Don't know how to break this to you, except to say it in a whisper -- your health care is rationed today. Insurance companies do not cover everything, and, when they do, it is often just up to a point. Medicare likewise has certain rules about the level of nursing care required to qualify for reimbursement.
For example, we now know that highly intensive, properly guided physical therapy can restore motor function in people after strokes. A different part of the brain is trained to take over motor control. Here is a real-life case: A professor had a stroke. He is otherwise young and vigorous, formerly a champion-level athlete. But, his insurance will not cover the costs of 12-16 weeks of the highly intensive physical rehabilitation required to recover motor function. He gets just 3 weeks, only one hour on alternate days, but not even at the facility closest to his home, he has to go to one the insurance company approved.
One of the benefits of a comprehensive system is that treating this man for 12-16 weeks so that he can recover his motor function is not only better for the patient but, in the long run, is also much less expensive than forcing him, because of lack of coverage, to remain partially paralyzed. For any given insurance company, however, it is not less expensive, because he is likely to get passed into a different company. Thus, outcomes are worse and costs are higher.

6) Medicare is bankrupt ... or will be in 2042.

* I'll buy the first foaming at the mouth Wingnut that came name one private insurance company who is funded for all the healthcare expenses it will have to pay for the next 33 years, a meal of freedom fries, deep-fried in beef fat with all they can drink Mountain Dew.

The Big Health Insurance Lobby-Republican Puppets, who are using aggressive, foaming at the mouth tactics to shut down the possibility of a political discussion on healthcare in this country are reminiscent of the anti-desegregation movement, a point that becomes noteworthy when you aggregate the motives of the Wingnut "birthers", who loudly deny Obama's citizenship, the Wingnut "teabaggers", who loudly declare that the same taxes they paid under Bush are tyrannical under Obama, the Wingnut "deathers", who loudly assert that healthcare reform is secret plot to euthanize seniors and others that the government deems unproductive.

None of these positions makes a damn bit of sense or has any evidence to back it up, but in large part it is the same group of hard-right nutjobs, almost entirely white conservatives that believes all three at once. If you believe the Repug shouters themselves, in their own words, the healthcare debate isn't about healthcare but about a conspiratorial government and the end of the Republic.

This is, by definition, a far-right position, and less charitably a batsh*t insane one, and that it has managed to make it so far and be featured so prominently is testament to just how completely the farthest of the far right has captured the Republican party and why they can't win elections anymore.

These people are pathetic excuses for human beings - Right-Wing Lunatic Fringe 'Protesters" In Action.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K21_teAW0Zg
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The GOP is performing orchestrated outrage for their Big Health Insurance overlords. There is a script for this stuff that was written before these events happened and that appears to be instructions GOPer minions to shut down these efforts at civic discourse. The web site Think Progress obtained a leaked memo from a group that calls itself Right Principles. The three page memo details how these right-wing nutbag protesters should behave at town hall events.
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http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-gop-thugishness-town-halls-called

For 6 of the last 8 years the Repubs had complete control of everything. My insurance premiums doubled in that time span. I don't give a rats arse what that Republipuke party thinks or wants. They're only motivation is to protect the insurance companies and corporate America.

JON STEWART DESTROYS GLENN BECK'S "HEALTHCARE FOR THE RICH, SCREW EVERYONE ELSE" RIGHT-WING TALKING POINTS ON HEALTHCARE.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-13-2009/glenn-beck-s-operation
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It is great to see that President Obama will not allow the media to put words into his mouth. He is championing a government-sponsored option and that is the end of it. The Health insurers better get used to the idea, no more profits, for lives. A universal healthcare is the only action to solve America's healthcare problems. So, the Healthcare Corps and their water-carriers, the Republican-Libertarian Party, better quit telling lies about the British healthcare system, the leaders of that country are rebuking those, over here, that are telling those lies !! Those snake-oil salesmen and women of the Republican-Libertarian Party, are trying to scare people about a government-sponsored option, like the very good national healthcare system in England. Even the renown scientist, Steven Hawking, who is a theoretical phycist and suffers from neuro-muscular dystrophy, related to ALS. He is almost completely paralyzed. He states, categorically, that he would not be alive, if it weren't for the English national health service, which he doesn't hesitate to praise.
So, quit the misinformation about other countries national healthcare services, aka , Universal Healthcare. They work well and America should be developing her own. America would be better off, health-wise, economically, politically and morally. Any thing less and it is business as usual, with greed running the show, again !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

It is great to see that President Obama will not allow the media to put words into his mouth. He is championing a government-sponsored option and that is the end of it. The Health insurers better get used to the idea, no more profits, for lives. A universal healthcare is the only action to solve America's healthcare problems. So, the Healthcare Corps and their water-carriers, the Republican-Libertarian Party, better quit telling lies about the British healthcare system, the leaders of that country are rebuking those, over here, that are telling those lies !! Those snake-oil salesmen and women of the Republican-Libertarian Party, are trying to scare people about a government-sponsored option, like the very good national healthcare system in England. Even the renown scientist, Steven Hawking, who is a theoretical phycist and suffers from neuro-muscular dystrophy, related to ALS. He is almost completely paralyzed. He states, categorically, that he would not be alive, if it weren't for the English national health service, which he doesn't hesitate to praise.
So, quit the misinformation about other countries national healthcare services, aka , Universal Healthcare. They work well and America should be developing her own. America would be better off, health-wise, economically, politically and morally. Any thing less and it is business as usual, with greed running the show, again !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Americans Can't Trust Republicans With Medicare

You want a simple message to counter dishonest Republican fear mongering on healthcare? How's this, Republicans want to do away with Medicare. They've always wanted to take it away, and if they get half a chance in the future they'll get rid of it then. It's not hard to find examples of them saying so in their own words since Medicare started.

Saint Ronny Raygun in the 60s: "if you don’t [stop Medicare] ... you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free."

Republican Bob Dole openly bragged in 1996 that he was one of 12 House members who voted against creating Medicare. "I was there, fighting the fight, voting against Medicare ..."
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http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/07/29/medicare-44/

GOPer nutjob/ "guru" Newt Gingrich said of Medicare, "We don't get rid of it in round one because we don't think that's politically smart, we don't think that's the right way to go through a transition, but we believe it's going to wither on the vine." He then went on to propose cutting Medicare by 14% and forcing millions of senior citizens to seek out private HMOs or go without, all to help make sure Medicare would 'wither on the vine.' And it continues right into present day.
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http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/16/us/gop-s-plan-to-cut-medicare-faces-a-veto-clinton-promises.html?sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all

Roy Blunt: "You could certainly argue that government should have never have gotten in the health care business, and that might have been the best argument of all, to figure out how people could have had more access to a competitive marketplace."
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http://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/radical-roy-blunt-it-would-have-been-best-if-medicare-and-medicaid-never-existed

Former Republican House Majority Leader the Dick Armey reaffirmed this week on MtP that he thinks Medicare is "tryanny" and if that's not worrisome enough, he wants to "phase out" social security too.

Republicans want to do away with Medicare because they're against government healthcare, always have been, always will be. That's a core plank in GOP ideology, they hold it as dear and precious as some holy theology. Just yesterday, when asked about government healthcare, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said the "government is a predator, not a competitor" and went on to note he wouldn't vote for any healthcare reform bill as a matter of conservative principle, even if it has everything he wants in it. So when a Republican talks about "reform," says we must "get the government out of healthcare," pitches convoluted tax schemes and private accounts for the affluent, or spits out terms like "socialized medicine," like a dog whistle they all mean the same thing: getting rid of Medicare.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/2009/08/sen-grassley-on-health-care-the-government-is-a-predator.php?ref=fpblg

Forget about grandma being unplugged, grandma won't be able to afford being seen, much less be able to pay for hospital admission. Grandma is on her own. All so that conservative zillionaires and their Republican congressional lackeys can save an extra 0.0145 of their gross, bloated paycheck, the same flat rate we all invest to keep milli

Stop the Press, did Silva say the BO "staged" his town hall meetings?

The Kool-Aid chugging is at 2:30 on Thursday.

I wonder what Vegas has for the odds that the "pblic-option" is still mandatory in the bill.

IS there a phone number availble for this speech of fertilizer.

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Stop the Press, did Silva say the BO "staged" his town hall meetings?
Posted by: Terry | August 18, 2009 7:39 PM
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Obviously, Trickledown Terri here is another victim of Bush's no child left behind act.

The only thing that's "staged" is the wealthy Big Insurance Co's and Right-Wing Lobbyist groups who are getting dumber than a bag of rocks toothless rednecks (you) who make up the GOPer base to go out to healthcare townhalls all over America and protest against their own well being.
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http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/when-liberals-protest-its-facism-when-c

Despite the absurd claims from the state-run media and Democraps, the true bussers of the townhall meetings are the Democraps. Obimbo and his deranged minions are sending union thugs, ACORN and other despots to the townhall meetings to shut up the regular, normal folks there who do not want government-run health care.
Yes, those Obimbo townhall events are staged. Just like a Hollywood TV show.

Paul A., BO is abandoning the public option. You need a new talking point memo. Not to denigrate your copy-and-paste skills, as they are very impressive, but you should try writing your own posts. Who knows? You may be good at it.

Paul A,

Nice cut and paste job from "Cup of Joe Powell". Here's JOe's qualifications - according to Joe - Language, Politics, Humor, Philosophy, MoviesMoviesMOVIES!!, Everything I Don't Know

The last part is very telling.

1) The same free enterprise that sells cigs? Would Medicare be part of teh same gov't that allows the legal sales of cigs and makes more per pack than the cig companies do?

2) We can not afford it. That is a true statement. Just like any business, the paying customers pay for those that do not pay - be in it th electric company, the local department store, etc... It's part of the cost of business - unfortunately. Private health insurance also subisdizes the short-changing of doctors and hospitals by Medicare and Medicaid also.

3) Imagine a world w/o medicare. I can only dream if I would have been allowed to save 2.9% of my slary until I was 62 , invest that money and take the proceeds and purchase helath insurance. I, and most others would make out like bandits.

4) Name a gov't program that has come in at estimated cost and with customer satisfaction. Medicare? NO. Social Security? Not even close.

5) Health care will either be rationed or taxes will be increased. It's either or. I guess Cup of JOe was sleeping during that class of Econ 101.

6)I buy you two of those delicious lunches when the gov't uses the same accountingstandards that the insurance companies have to.

BTW - First GrannQuack and now you, Paul A - are any of you libs able to think for yourself?

After watching & reading all of the information & misinformation, I think we need some sort of public option. We tried to get affordable, private insurance for a family member and being turned down three times I feel the only option is a public option. Once private insurance was off the table, we tried for SCHIP through the state. After 6 mos. of paperwork going back and forth, the premiums went up to the same amount we are paying for COBRA. It is extremely frustrating but not having coverage is too scary.

I think we all see more disinformation posted by John D. That character certainly has trouble with the truth and being honest with others. Wouldn't have been a good Boy Scout for sure. Tell us how the townhall events are 'staged'.
My suggestion is that anyone who is against any sort of healthcare reform, should lose their social security, unemployment, VA, and Medicare benefits, since those are also government run programs.

Terry, did you really have to ask the question: are libs able to think for themselves?
Read Mary Schmich's column today and you have your answer (though I believe you've known the answer for a very long time now!). Liberals and the ability to think: not compatible!

The republicans have demonstrated that they incapable of any kind of leadership. They have had years to come up with healthcare reform, and nothing. Now, the dems are actually trying to do something about it, and the repubs show up to the party with....NOTHING. Outright lies and disinformation do not count as any kind of a counter-offer or plan for healthcare reform.

Any one can figure this one out ,not but Obama desperation on his downward slide.

The latest Gallup Poll shows Obama's approval numbers at an all-time low.

I feel sorry for Mark Silva and the rest of the Obama media. All these bad poll numbers, the scandals, the government computer crashes, all this forces your average Leftist journalist to work harder and longer to make sure such news doesn't get mentioned.

This is Bruce explaining the low approval # for Bush (note date)

Bush's approval rating is twice that of Congress. And twice that of the media.

Posted by: Bruce | July 17, 2008 7:04 PM
Ps.Bush #s at 25

The human GPS of politics would like you to fasten your seatbelts as we misdirect you to other issues and away from facts. Please keep your hands inside the ride and no smoking.

It is amazing how short memories are for those who are now on the end of the public criticism stick.

I do not recall these people and their supporters denouncing public demonstrations for the last eight years.

I do recall these people saying public dissent was a good thing. That "disruptors" were good. That being a "public organizer" was a position of esteem. That bussing people hundreds, even thousands of miles away was being "truely patriotic." That comparing George Bush to Hitler was honorable and protected by the 1st Amendment. That using publicly funded and tax-protected organizations such as ACORN was true Amercan "grassroots" activity at its best.

How short the memories.

Unless one has a two-faced, double-standard based value system. Then it's ok.

Most people agree we need to make some changes to the health care system. However, we have a long track record that shows government run anything (except for the military) is a bad idea. Government should regulate. Governement should provide a standy Army. Government should not try to compete with free enterprise. Even the Great Communicator II got that right when he said UPS and FedEx are eating the USPS lunch.

Why take a chance destroying the best medical care system in the world? Address the real issues.

Regarding the so-called 47 Million uninsured... break that down as to why they are uninsured. Take out the illegal aliens and college students... what is left?

Let's get real, folks!

It is amazing how short memories are for those who are now on the end of the public criticism stick.

I do not recall these people and their supporters denouncing public demonstrations for the last eight years.

I do recall these people saying public dissent was a good thing. That "disruptors" were good. That being a "public organizer" was a position of esteem. That bussing people hundreds, even thousands of miles away was being "truely patriotic." That comparing George Bush to Hitler was honorable and protected by the 1st Amendment. That using publicly funded and tax-protected organizations such as ACORN was true Amercan "grassroots" activity at its best.

How short the memories.

Unless one has a two-faced, double-standard based value system. Then it's ok.

Most people agree we need to make some changes to the health care system. However, we have a long track record that shows government run anything (except for the military) is a bad idea. Government should regulate. Governement should provide a standy Army. Government should not try to compete with free enterprise. Even the Great Communicator II got that right when he said UPS and FedEx are eating the USPS lunch.

Why take a chance destroying the best medical care system in the world? Address the real issues.

Regarding the so-called 47 Million uninsured... break that down as to why they are uninsured. Take out the illegal aliens and college students... what is left?

Let's get real, folks!

I do not recall these people and their supporters denouncing public demonstrations for the last eight years.
Posted by: BJ | August 19, 2009 1:06 PM

Funny........I remember those on the right who did. Remember traitor, terrorist loving, unAmerican?

Why take a chance destroying the best medical care system in the world? Address the real issues.

Regarding the so-called 47 Million uninsured... break that down as to why they are uninsured. Take out the illegal aliens and college students... what is left?

Let's get real, folks!

Posted by: BJ | August 19, 2009 1:06 PM

For one thing, ours is not the "best medical care" in the world. Actually it ranks 37th. Secondly, there are many self-employed who have to pay extremely high payments for their insurance. There are unemployed and illegal aliens are exempt from this bill. By the way....you are paying for the uninsured everyday anyway.

Hey Bruce, join the club. The Worthless Loons on the Left save all of your Swamp posts too!!!! Consider it an honor!

This is Bruce explaining the low approval # for Bush (note date)

Bush's approval rating is twice that of Congress. And twice that of the media.

Posted by: Bruce | July 17, 2008 7:04 PM
Ps.Bush #s at 25

The human GPS of politics would like you to fasten your seatbelts as we misdirect you to other issues and away from facts. Please keep your hands inside the ride and no smoking.

Posted by: bill r. | August 19, 2009 12:22 PM

Hey Bruce, join the club. The Worthless Loons on the Left save all of your Swamp posts too!!!! Consider it an honor!
Posted by: John D | August 19, 2009 3:53 PM

It's called a search engine big fella.......It's at the top of the blogs to...........drum roll please..........search previous posts.