UnitedHealth deny, deny, deny

Whats wrong with for profit health care? How about this striking number. For every $700 spent on health care $1.00 goes to one person. That's unreal. UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley makes 819,363.10 every day of 2009. Hemsley's stock options of over 700 million dollars would pay for flu vaccinations for every man, woman and child in California, Texas and Minnesota.

This company has been fined millions of dollars for wrongly denying coverage and delaying payment for health care services delivered to patients. They pay the fines because its better for the bottom line. Deny payment, deny coverage and many people will go away, in some cases die.

2,700 lobbyists at war with Obama

2,700 lobbyists are working for the private health insurance industry and other health care corporations in Washington right now. That's more people than Canada has in Afghanistan. You might call this lobby effort a war. Their goal is simple. Stop any attempt at offering a Public Option or public health Care plan.

At issue is a Public plan that would compete with private insurance companies to provide insurance and changes that would prevent insurance companies from eliminating coverage for people with pre-exisiting health problems.

All of this lobbying is having an effect. Many lawmakers have still to agree on a public option despite 65% of Americans being in favour of a Government run plan that competes with insurance companies. Its time lawmakers in the USA trust themselves and the people.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA

All too real, do you part, insurance companies are under attack...

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Imagine a Canadian PM do this...

Imagine our Prime Minister getting this kind of reception from anyone. Then try very hard to imagine the current Prime minister even making a speech like this. I know you can't. You don't see the current PM even talking to these people. You don't see the current PM doing anything for organized workers.

Close your eyes, listen to Obama and imagine a Canada that had its leader recognize the need for a strong union movement...

Church silent on Health Care

In the "I'm not totally surprised category" the Catholic Church is missing in action on the health care front. I know the RC Church has strong opinions on us queer folks and abortion, but they also have a pretty good record in recent years in their own convoluted way, of trying to end poverty. Why not health care for people that can not afford it.

On paper, the church supports universal health care. On paper, the church supports a public option. On paper, the church says that ending poverty is a fundamental issue of our time. - Change.org

Take a look here at an article on Change.org. Its amazing the church remains as quiet and or so spend-thrift on a matter that would address their purported mission...

Hey wasn't Ted Kennedy just buried by the Catholic Church?

The Real Medicare in Canada

Just for my American readers, the real Canadian medicare program...






Ok, some Canadians should see this too..

Can we have more FRANKness!

Can we have more FRANKness!

You go Barney!

Finally it has happened. I have been waiting for this, for Democrats to stand up and call out these town hell republicans on their nonsense.

"The economy is collapsing," one woman told Frank, suggesting that President Obama has chosen the wrong time to pursue health care reform.

When she compared the administration's policies to Germany under Hitler, Frank responded by asking her, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

Watch the whole clip, Frank does a good job!

h/t to Creative Revolution

go here if video does not work

Who is behind the Town Hells

Who is behind the Town Hells

Watch this display of organized attacks by the big money people in the town halls held across the USA by Democrats. The Republican Party has labeled these Town Halls as Town Hells...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

They are Gay, Duh!

They are Gay, Duh!

The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments. - NY Times, August 6, 2009

By a vote of 124 to 4 the American Psychological Association agreed that gay patients should not be told they can become straight. Reparative therapy is used primarily by religious conservative therapists and wing nuts like James Dobson. They have destroyed many lives along the way with their zealot like assault on the GLBTTQI communities.

Enough already!

He hopes people don’t Google his name

He hopes people don’t Google his name

“He hopes people don’t Google his name,” said John E. Hartwig, a former deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, one of various state and federal agencies that investigated Columbia/HCA when Mr. Scott was its chief executive. (NY Times Article, April 2, 2009)

Rick Scott is the big money man behind Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR), a lobby group created to stop President Obama's Health Care plan from passing. The organization is run primarily by Scott and have hired the Swift boat company, Creative Response Concepts (The company contributed to John Kerry's loss in 2003 with a smear campaign, now commonly referred to as "Swiftboating", to be its public relations firm.

Scott is no stranger to controversy, In the 1990's he built the largest health care company in the world, owning over 340 hospitals and hundreds of other health care facilities. He was turfed as the CEO by his board of Directors when the FBI launched an investigation into fraud of Medicaid and Medicare which lead to 1.7 billion dollars in fines and reimbursements to several States and the federal government.

Richard J. Kirsch, the national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now told the NY Times in April, ...“We cannot have a better first person to attack health care reform than someone who ran a company that ripped off the government of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Yet despite this incredible past of heading a hospital conglomerate that defrauded the US and many State Governments of 100's of millions of dollars, the main stream media are slow to pick up on who the people heading these so called "grassroot" organizations like CPR are. They have made their billions using the current system of private health insurance. Scott does not want to see that change anytime soon. He has a vested interest in insuring no public plan is created.

Scott now owns Solantic, a firm that operates urgent care clinics, marketed as a "lite" emergency room for people that do not have health coverage. Some of these are in Wal-Marts in Florida. These center's cherry pick customers by doing the light work, leaving the burdensome work to an already overloaded system.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourage regular use of urgent care because they say it undermines the concept of having a primary-care doctor who manages long-term health. "There's nothing like having a physician that really knows you," said Dr. Karl Altenberger, a retired Ocala physician and immediate past president of the Florida Medical Association told the Gainsville Sun in Florida.

All of this indicates to me that Rick Scott sees healthcare as a commodity to be bought and sold as the market will let it. A public funded health care option would see fewer people using/needing his urgent care facilities as people will be able to afford good regular health care and will not have to wait until something can not be tolerated any longer before they seek treatment.



Scott is a very rich American. He has a vested interest in a health care system that must meet Wall Street expectaions for profits each quarter.

More on Scott and his and like organization in future posts.

Health care is coming

Health care is coming

Health care is coming and perhaps just in time for Senator Kennedy. The Senator was not at the committee meeting today when they passed legislation (See AP below) supporting President Obama's Health care plan. Kennedy was receiving treatment for brain cancer at the time. One of his last efforts as a senator will be to get this legislation to the President, the culmination of a long career dedicated to bringing affordable health insurance to every American.

Kennedy's medical treatment is likely something many Americans could not readily afford without going into crippling debt. The Senate as a whole will have an opportunity now to discuss, modify and pass the legislation.

From AP: The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-10 along party lines to pass a $600-billion measure that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans by requiring individuals get insurance and employers to contribute to the cost.