It must be nice to believe that Uncle Sam, MD can be the reincarnation of Marcus Welby. Similarly, it must be nice to believe that veganism is the answer to our national healthcare woes. And it must be nice to believe that a national healthcare system run by the government minus any free-market incentives isn’t socialism. Therefore, it must be nice to be Congressman Dennis Kucinich. He believes all of the above.
As already mentioned, (http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6904) the former Boy Mayor and I spent the better part of an hour Saturday debating healthcare reform on Fox Business Channel. My favorite bit (and its right up front, so have look) was when he said that, just because the government would pay the bills and specify the treatments, doesn’t mean the government would be “in control.”
To which I replied (and with all due respect) that he was “living in fantasyland.”
The complete debate can be found here.
http://drugwonks.com/podcasts/peter-pitts-on-fox-business/
Kucinichcare. What a concept.
In the meantime, the gloves are off elsewhere too. Got this e-mail yesterday and it’s worth passing along:
FISHY CLAIMS
We Answer The White House's Call For "Disinformation" On Government-Run Health Care
THE WHITE HOUSE'S BLOG: "There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spa nning from control of personal finances to end of life care ... Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." (
WE FOUND FISHY CLAIMS ABOUT KEEPING YOUR DOCTOR AND YOUR INSURANCE PLAN ...
"If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance. If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor." http://tinyurl.com/mj5od2
"If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what." http://tinyurl.com/mzkrz9
AND FISHY CLAIMS ABOUT SO-CALLED "PUBLIC PLAN" AND CONSUMER CHOICE ...
"Now, the public plan I think is a important tool to discipline insurance companies. What we've said is, under our proposal, let's have a system the same way that federal employees do, same way that members of Congress do, where -- we call it an 'exchange,' or you can call it a 'marketplace' -- where essentially you've got a whole bunch of different plans." http://tinyurl.com/krmgqn
"That's why I've said that I think a public option would make sense. What that then does is, it gives people a choice ... You don't have to do anything. But if you don't have health insurance, then you have an option available to you." http://tinyurl.com/moq36h
AND A FISHY CLAIM ABOUT KEEPING HEALTH CARE COSTS DOWN ...
"What I've said is our top priority has to be to control costs... And I've said very clearly: If any bill arrives from Congress that is not controlling costs, that's not a bill I can support. It's going to have to control costs. It's going to have to be paid for." http://tinyurl.com/krmgqn
AND A FISHY CLAIM ABOUT TAXING MIDDLE CLASS
"And while they're [Congress] currently working through proposals to finance the remaining costs, I continue to insist that health care reform not be paid for on the backs of middle-class families." http://tinyurl.com/lkvgsp
So to help the surely inundated White House, we've already debunked these "fishy" statements at BarackObamaExperiment.com
Was anyone really ever wearing gloves in the first place? Hard to act polite when that "seat at the table" had a trap door beneath it.
Meanwhile, on the topic of when “cost” means “co-pay,” a new op-ed in today’s edition of Speaker Pelosi’s hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle. It begins as follows:
Higher co-pay, fewer prescriptions filled
Peter Pitts
“One of the major threats to patient health hasn't received nearly enough attention during the recent negotiations in
According to a recent study by Wolters Kluwer Health, fewer Americans are filling their drug prescriptions. In the fourth quarter of 2008,
Why? Drug prices. It's not that the cost of prescription drugs is rising - it's patients' out-of-pocket costs, or co-pays. One of the reasons for this is that insurance companies, reluctant to foot the bill for brand-name medications, have been refusing to cover more brand-name prescriptions.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, in fact, health insurers denied coverage for 10.8 percent of brand-name drugs - a jump of 21 percent from the first quarter of 2007.
And it's not because the medicines themselves are becoming more expensive. Between 1998 and 2003, prescription drug costs increased by $22.48 per person. Meanwhile during that same period, the average health insurance premium went up by $104.62 per person.”
For the rest of the story, see here.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/04/EDP0193SR1.DTL
