Healthcare Issues

[GoCubsGo]

... Whether you support the act or not, it's undeniable it's had a huge effect.

Premiums will go up to cover the extra security costs?

Meh,
Buy 'em some bullet proof vests and call it a day.

[O Really]

Health insurance companies have mostly earned the hate they gather, but focusing on them isn't ever going to fix the problem. Health insurance companies have an average pre-tax profit margin of about 3-4%, lower than auto insurance at about 5% and way lower than plumbing companies at 15-20%. If they weren't tight on claims, either they'd go belly up or raise premiums even more. For-profit companies are going to try to make a profit whether it comes out of the hide of their customers or not. What would unhappy UHC customers want the company to do? Pay promptly on all claims, sure - but if that comes with sharply increased premiums, will they be happy?

The fix, and what everybody's demand should be, is something like Medicare for all.

[GoCubsGo]

Health insurance companies have mostly earned the hate they gather, but focusing on them isn't ever going to fix the problem. Health insurance companies have an average pre-tax profit margin of about 3-4%, lower than auto insurance at about 5% and way lower than plumbing companies at 15-20%. If they weren't tight on claims, either they'd go belly up or raise premiums even more. For-profit companies are going to try to make a profit whether it comes out of the hide of their customers or not. What would unhappy UHC customers want the company to do? Pay promptly on all claims, sure - but if that comes with sharply increased premiums, will they be happy?

The fix, and what everybody's demand should be, is something like Medicare for all.

They're hardly hurting.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... just-fine/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... n-in-2023/

[O Really]

They're hardly hurting.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... just-fine/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... n-in-2023/

No, and I didn't mean to imply they were. And their stockholders, who they work for - not their customers - are probably happy, too. Which is still my point - if it's profit-based, the customers will always be paying the tab.

[GoCubsGo]

They're hardly hurting.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... just-fine/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... n-in-2023/

No, and I didn't mean to imply they were. And their stockholders, who they work for - not their customers - are probably happy, too. Which is still my point - if it's profit-based, the customers will always be paying the tab.

Yeah, healthcare that actually focuses on health instead of the bottom line is a foreign concept.

In this respect I'm a Bernie Sanders fan, healthcare should be a right , up there with national defense.

[Vrede too]

... What would unhappy UHC customers want the company to do? Pay promptly on all claims, sure - but if that comes with sharply increased premiums, will they be happy?

IF Luigi was going to choose assassination, he chose his target well.

The fix, and what everybody's demand should be, is something like Medicare for all.

You neglect to mention that the biggest impediments to single payer are those same insurers who are lobbying, bribing and outright purchasing OUR pols.

[Vrede too]

Yeah, healthcare that actually focuses on health instead of the bottom line is a every foreigner's concept.

In this respect I'm a Bernie Sanders fan, healthcare should be a right. up there with It is national defense, more so than our next invasion.

Ftfy.

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah, healthcare that actually focuses on health instead of the bottom line is a every foreigner's concept.

In this respect I'm a Bernie Sanders fan, healthcare should be a right. up there with It is national defense, more so than our next invasion.

Ftfy.

[Vrede too]

More MurderMerch:

A book with a title that includes words similar to those found on shell casings near the body of slain insurance executive Brian Thompson has climbed to second on Amazon’s nonfiction bestseller list, CNN reported Tuesday.

“Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It” remained there as of Wednesday morning....

[Vrede too]

Bit of a stretch, but interesting connection being made:

'This Is A Sickness': People Are Calling This Fox News Clip About Luigi Mangione 'Hypocritical' Because It Bashes Him While Praising Daniel Penny
"People celebrating this — this is a sickness, honestly. ... Up next, the other big news out of New York: Daniel Penny. A lot of people think he's a hero."

The trial was a microcosm of arguments about race and police brutality in America, as Jordan Neely was Black and Penny is white. Yesterday's "not guilty" verdict prompted further discussion and anger at a system that criminalizes homelessness and mental health crises in the US but excuses murder and manslaughter when it comes from a white authority figure....

<-- Sense and awareness of irony
Laura fucking Ingraham -->

The difference between Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione is that Daniel Penny killed an innocent person

More tweets at the link.





Article and more tweets

[Vrede too]

Luigi Mangione Is Revealing the Right's Double Standard



How would the narratives be different if:
Luigi Mangione, with a different name, was Black and not handsome?
Daniel Penny was Black and homeless?
Jordan Neely was White?

[O Really]

How would the narratives be different if:
Luigi Mangione, with a different name, was Black and not handsome?
Daniel Penny was Black and homeless?
Jordan Neely was White?

Here's one: https://www.amny.com/news/bronx-man-sho ... r-19-2024/

And another: https://www.fox13news.com/news/man-shot ... ete-police

And another: https://www.kcra.com/article/man-shot-f ... 9/63243406

And another: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/loca ... g/3578575/

Didn't hear about any of those? Must not have been rich white guys killed.

[Vrede too]

How would the narratives be different if:
Luigi Mangione, with a different name, was Black and not handsome?
Daniel Penny was Black and homeless?
Jordan Neely was White?

Here's one: https://www.amny.com/news/bronx-man-sho ... r-19-2024/
Also sounds like a hit, but being in the Bronx rather than in front of a Manhattan luxury hotel is another relevant factor . . . and the victim probably wasn't a rich white guy.

And another: https://www.fox13news.com/news/man-shot ... ete-police

Not important enough to label the pic as the victim or the suspected shooter. Thanks, Faux Maybe it's just a random Black guy from their stock crime file.

And another: https://www.kcra.com/article/man-shot-f ... 9/63243406
Basically zero info.

And another: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/loca ... g/3578575/
Sad and mysterious. That one might develop some interest, eventually, depending on where the narrative goes.

Didn't hear about any of those? Must not have been rich white guys killed.
Yup.

[Vrede too]

Plenty of heartbreaking and/or inspiring events in my career, but never anything quite like this:

An 88-Year-Old Woman Was Brought To My ER. When Her Family Told Me Why, I Was Stunned.

[Vrede too]

CDC health officials in US ordered to stop working with WHO immediately
Senior leaders at agency told to ‘await further guidance’ in stoppage that upends expectations of extended withdrawal

... Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing threats from around the world. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among US livestock....

Donald Trump last week issued an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from WHO, but that did not take immediate effect. Leaving WHO requires the approval of Congress and that the US meets its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. The US also must provide a one-year notice.

Of course, this hasty preemptive action is a big to Congress, the law and the American people.

... “Talking to WHO is a two-way street,” he added, noting that WHO and US health officials benefit from each other’s expertise. The collaboration allows the US to learn about new tests and treatments as well as about emerging outbreaks – information “which can help us protect Americans abroad and at home”....

People in the US and abroad will DIE as a result of this. Thanks, DonOLD.

Days before this latest stupidity:

... Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said leaving the WHO would leave Americans vulnerable, as US health agencies and pharmaceutical companies rely on WHO data for vaccines and therapies.

“He’s unraveling US engagement & funding now. That’s unlawful & a grave strategic error,” Gostin said on X. “Trump could be sowing the seeds for the next pandemic.”...

[Supsalemgr]

I don't believe the US will withdraw. However, it opens the door for some changes going forward.

[Vrede too]

I don't believe the US will withdraw. However, it opens the door for some changes going forward.

As described above it is already a de facto withdrawal, immediately and unilaterally imposed.

[Vrede too]

CDC health officials in US ordered to stop working with WHO immediately
Senior leaders at agency told to ‘await further guidance’ in stoppage that upends expectations of extended withdrawal


Of course, this hasty preemptive action is a big to Congress, the law and the American people.


People in the US and abroad will DIE as a result of this. Thanks, DonOLD.

Days before this latest stupidity:

... Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said leaving the WHO would leave Americans vulnerable, as US health agencies and pharmaceutical companies rely on WHO data for vaccines and therapies.

“He’s unraveling US engagement & funding now. That’s unlawful & a grave strategic error,” Gostin said on X. “Trump could be sowing the seeds for the next pandemic.”...

I don't believe the US will withdraw. However, it opens the door for some changes going forward.

As described above it is already a de facto withdrawal, immediately and unilaterally imposed.

More nuttiness:

Jeremy Faust, MD

BREAKING NEWS: CDC orders mass retraction and revision of submitted research across all science and medicine journals. Banned terms must be scrubbed.

Goes beyond MMWR +other CDC pubs. Applies to research already submitted to top medical journals.

Take a look.
https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/b ... retraction

Article

Fascist bigots detest free speech and science. Even more political censorship:

Epidemiologist Flags Dangers Of Donald Trump’s ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Data Scrub
“There's never been this level of sort of dismantling and tampering with data," warned Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo.

... The “widespread tampering and dismantling of really critical public health data” at “the direction of politicos, not scientists” is not “in anyone’s benefit,” Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo told CNN this weekend.

The removed data is “critically important” for health agencies to figure out how to best protect different communities and removing it “just makes that job harder,” said Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology and the director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health in Rhode Island.

“There’s never been this level of sort of dismantling and tampering with data that we’ve seen, and it is deeply concerning,” Nuzzo added. “It’s only going to sow distrust in the federal government.”

... And with health agencies now not communicating with state and local health officials, Nuzzo warned how potentially deadly outbreaks risk not being properly assessed and monitored.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “can’t even talk to our health officials, they cannot fulfill their statutory obligation to protect America’s health,” Nuzzo said.

Watch the full interview here:


Epidemiologist reacts to removal of certain health data, information from CDC website

This is all feeling very Soviet and will in no way contribute to the health of Americans.

[Whack9]

I don't believe the US will withdraw. However, it opens the door for some changes going forward.

As described above it is already a de facto withdrawal, immediately and unilaterally imposed.

The USA is basically voluntary ceding global influence and leadership to the likes of China. Soft power/diplomacy is also an important tool.

[Vrede too]

... Whether you support the act or not, it's undeniable it's had a huge effect.

Premiums will go up to cover the extra security costs?

Meh,
Buy 'em some bullet proof vests and call it a day.

Americans will be paying double - premium increases plus the security costs are business expense write-offs for the execs or insurance companies.

TV news: Mangione has raised $400K for legal expenses from 10K donors.

All it takes is one juror . . . If he skates I wonder what that will do to security costs, write-offs and premiums.