What’s interesting in the news today?
An interesting read on ObamaCare, from, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Howard “the Scream” Dean. 😯
No, seriously. 🙂 He’s still a fan overall, but he points out some of the obvious flaws.
From TheWallStJournal “That said, the law still has its flaws, and American lawmakers and citizens have both an opportunity and responsibility to fix them.
One major problem is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.
There does have to be control of costs in our health-care system. However, rate setting—the essential mechanism of the IPAB—has a 40-year track record of failure. What ends up happening in these schemes (which many states including my home state of Vermont have implemented with virtually no long-term effect on costs) is that patients and physicians get aggravated because bureaucrats in either the private or public sector are making medical decisions without knowing the patients. Most important, once again, these kinds of schemes do not control costs. The medical system simply becomes more bureaucratic.”
Almost sounds like a “Death Panel” or something. But that’s just Sarah Palin crazy talk right? 🙂
_________________________________________________________
Next, one that stinks for those affected, yet bittersweet justice at the same time. Maybe the members should pay closer attention to where their leaders are sending their dollars, political clout, and endorsements. They supported the politicians responsible for these laws, as well as their elections. Did they really think they’d be totally exempt like Congress and the White House?
From TheNYTimes “As Detroit enters the federal bankruptcy process, the city is proposing a controversial plan for paring some of the $5.7 billion it owes in retiree health costs: pushing many of those too young to qualify for Medicare out of city-run coverage and into the new insurance markets that will soon be operating under the Obama health care law.
Officials say the plan would be part of a broader effort to save Detroit tens of millions of dollars in health costs each year, a major element in a restructuring package that must be approved by a bankruptcy judge. It is being watched closely by municipal leaders around the nation, many of whom complain of mounting, unsustainable prices for the health care promised to retired city workers.”
“There’s fear and panic about what this means,” said Michael Underwood, 62, who retired from the Chicago Police Department after 30 years and has diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Underwood, who says he began working for the city when employees did not pay into future Medicare coverage, is part of a group suing Chicago over its plan to phase many retirees out of city coverage during the next three and a half years. “I was promised health care for myself and my wife for life,” he said.”
Look for ObamaCare’s popularity to continue to tank with the public.
_________________________________________________________
Meanwhile the President says the retirees are lucky to have ObamaCare. Silly peasants.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Detroit’s reported plan to drop health care coverage for retirees and force them into Obamacare exchanges highlights “the benefits of the Affordable Care Act,” according to President Obama’s spokesman.”
😯 Wow. Talk about tone-deaf. 🙄
_________________________________________________________
Who’s up for some fuzzy math? This is even fuzzier than last time.
From CNSNews “According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 26, which the Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt has been stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 70 straight days.”
“Even though the government’s official accounting of the debt has not budged for 70 days, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it was redeeming.”
“How could the value of extant U.S. Treasury securities increase by $53.267 billion during a 70-day period when the federal government’s debt subject to the legal limit has remained constant at $16,699,396,000,000.00—just $25 million below the legal limit?”
That would require the fuzziest of maths. Probably the same guys who do the CBO estimates, and BLS employment numbers.
Math, like Art, can now be interpreted.
_________________________________________________________
CAIR makes demands on the Brotherhood’s behalf…..
From TheDailyCaller “The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest and most powerful Muslim advocacy group, called Saturday for the Obama administration to condemn military attacks against the Freedom and Justice Party, the controversial religious party removed from power in a recent coup that the Obama administration is insisting “was not a coup.”
The administration reportedly fears that declaring a coup d’etat in Egypt would force the U.S. to suspend all of its assistance programs in the country, which also help block weapons smuggling to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the Obama administration’s inaction, Egyptian military forces have instituted a shoot-to-kill policy to suppress protesters urging the return of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi to power. Morsi, who fled Cairo during the military non-coup earlier this month, has been defiant in exile — and Egypt hangs in the balance. 65 or 66 pro-Morsi protesters were killed Saturday by military forces near a sit-in at a Cairo mosque.”
The Obama White House obliges.
From Reuters “The White House condemned the Egyptian military’s bloody weekend crackdown on demonstrators on Monday but took no immediate steps to suspend U.S. military assistance to Egypt.”
_________________________________________________________
And for the last one, Reason #63,459 to not send your kids to public schools.
From EAGNews “The group’s latest effort to indoctrinate the nation’s youth is a 286-page book aimed at teachers, titled “Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers.” The book is a mix of math lesson plans and essays from activist educators who explain how they’ve used their classrooms to advance a progressive political philosophy.”
“The first is that the U.S. is a hopelessly racist country that routinely oppresses “people of color.”
This message is conveyed through lessons and essays about racial profiling, environmental racism, unfair mortgage lending practices of Big Banks, the “overabundance of liquor stores” in minority communities, and slave-owning U.S. presidents.
The book’s other major theme is that capitalism’s unequal distribution of wealth is the root cause of the world’s suffering. Students learn to despise free market economics in lessons about third-world sweatshops, “living wage” laws, the earnings of fast food workers and restaurant CEOs, and the “hidden” costs of meat production.”
As the link shows, the radicals rule.
_________________________________________________________
Wandering Views 
There are problems to ACA as Dean points out. Most of these problems point to single payer as a better solution including at containing cost. Recently, the royal birth was cheaper than the average cost giving birth in the US. For the most part, this is due to the excessive amount of tests and the itemization of expenses. The simple fact is the US spends more money on health care than any other nation, doesn’t provide universal coverage and is on the bottom half of the OECD list in terms of health care outcomes. Obviously, prior to the ACA there were problems and there will be problems after ACA. Until the US adopts a more comprehensive approach and minimizes the role of private insurers, the problems will continue.
Detroit and other municipalities have rightly seen the ACA as a cost containment tool (that’s part of the rationale for it). However, there’s nothing so far to indicate a loss in coverage other than retirees fear of change
Accounting tricks are quite common in the private sector, check out the miraculous turn around prior to the quarterly report.. The public sector has been imitating the private sector for over 40 years much to their detriment. Its interesting that we expect a better performance from our government despite the right wing belief that gov’t is incapable.
Other gov’ts have condemned the Egyptian military without CAIR lobbying. I highly doubt there is a causal link between CAIR and US condemnation. Almost all western gov’ts have been rightly critical of the military and other than the US have called it a coup. And these nations were not lobbied by CAIR and in fact several including Canada are quite conservative and pro-Israel.
And finally, do seriously think most teachers look at those materials? Although discussing mortgages and low wages in the service sector might provide good life lessons, I highly doubt most teachers have the time nor inclination to teach social justice in math. I have five strands of math to report on and five months to teach per term. If I mess around I won’t be able to report nor will I finish the curriculum. And lets face it, most teachers are busy with class management issues and will stick to the gov’t approved textbook.
LikeLike
Part of the problem with US health costs–and which is never discussed by anyone in our lawyer-heavy government–is tort law. A lot of those tests are done to stave off malpractice law suits.
Fascinating, how nothing about tort reform showed up in this 1000+ page health care INSURANCE bill. But then, it was written by a bunch of lawyers, right? 😦
If some of those costs were curtailed, cut back or reduced, doctors could practice medicine without worrying about the next lawsuit and make use of their ‘art” of medicine, rather than off-ensive testing.
LikeLike
Torts are an overrated problem. Most tort cases especially the ones with ridiculous rewards are in states with little or no consumer protection laws. Secondly, the awards given by juries are usually reduced on appeal.
Insurance companies and free market think tanks had a huge role in writing the ACA. Despite the competition and lower premiums, insurance companies receive a guaranteed profit. If torts were an issue for insurance companies, they would have made sure it was addressed in the document. In some cases, medicare takes care of malpractice insurance. (In Ont. the gov’t pays or administers OB/GYN malpractice insurance).
The excessive testing in some cases is detrimental to the well being of the patient. In some cases, the tests are for profit not due diligence to avoid lawsuits
LikeLike
The Obama Administration is using Tax Payer money to fund the development of Small Nuclear Reactors that could be transported on trucks. The Liberals supporting this should watch this 1st:
http://youtu.be/FAKcWM-yBkI
LikeLike
All I know is the doctors is my acquaintance pay a LOT of money in malpractice insurance and have never been sued. Maybe they order a lot of tests?
LikeLike