Interesting Tidbits – Page 8

4 Thoughts on Health Insurance Reform

Notice I never call it health care reform? That’s because it isn’t. Very little of what is being discussed will change what happens between you and your doctor beyond how (and how much) he* gets paid.

As I see it, there are 5 points of view on the bill currently being rammed through the Senate:

1. It goes too far. This point of view has a problem with anything that might be called “socialized”. They are barely able to tolerate the idea that their tax dollars go towards schools where the people who will eventually sack their groceries attend; subsidies for buying insurance is way out! Let them get jobs that have decent benefits!

2. It does some important things, even if it’s a little too liberal. Hey, at least it’s making those lazy bastards buy insurance so they can go to a doctor instead of just sneezing their germs on me! In other words, it’s better than a lot of things and the bad things can be fixed later. Some people I generally respect hold this position.

3. It does some important things, even if it’s a little too conservative. Or, the Ezra Klein position. Hey, we’ll take out that Stupak thing in conference or something. At least there is some money set aside for subsidies to help people afford the overpriced and underfeatured health plans they will soon be forced to purchase. In other words, it’s better than a lot of things and the bad things can be fixed later. Huh, where have I heard that before?

4. It does almost nothing — except give favors to Big Insurance and Big Pharma. Or, the Howard Dean position. Progressives didn’t get anything they wanted or needed out of this bill. No public option. Pre-existing conditions can still be used to set rates. Corporations are still in charge, and because we are legally obligated to do business with them — that’s what mandatory coverage or “the coverage mandate” is about — there is no incentive for them to chance their ways.

In short, two points of view say “It’s better than nothing, and far better than it could have been,” and two points of view say “This is worse than nothing and should be scrapped.” While I appreciate where the others are coming from, I generally hold to view 4. What we wanted and needed was a short laundry list that included getting rid of abusive practices such as use of pre-existing conditions for coverage or pricing, rescission, and constantly rising prices, maybe 10 pages of law. What we appear to have is a legal requirement to bend over and take it, a law so long that the Republicans are threatening to make them read the whole thing out loud in open session.

And nobody is talking about not just the elephant in the room, but a veritable zoo: obesity rates raising the amount we spend on health care; baby boomers who will soon be on Medicare; obscene insurance company profits; a looming shortage of primary care physicians and experienced nurses to assist them.

* Um Yeah, that’s right, I said “he.” Not “he or she”, not “she.” Politically correct horsehockey aside, odds are very good your doctor is a dude. Don’t like it? Encourage women in your life to go to medical school. Just don’t get them any books on the subject like House of God. I can’t find the book that made me decide I wanted no part of medical school on Amazon, but this looks like similar content.

Bed, Bath, and Way Beyond This Nonsense

Yesterday, we decided it was high time to purchase a particular item for our kitchen. And not particularly wanting to pay Williams and Sonoma prices, we headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Let me begin by saying that this is not a particularly strange item. 20 years ago, any quality cook’s supply would have had probably two different models and a few accessories for it too. I’ve seen it used in both Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen multiple times. In short, I expected this to be a quick dash in, head to the section, get one off the shelf, and be paying in a matter of moments.

Wrong.

The first thing we had to do was park at the sprawling complex of large specialty retailers while avoiding idiots in other vehicles.

Once in the store itself, we had to figure out where this item would be. After wandering around for a little while, we found one that would hook on to my stand mixer. Now, I like my mixer well enough, but why should I power it up when all I need is a gadget, patience, and a little elbow grease? Surely the non electric powered one was around here somewhere?

We wandered around. We found electric juicers and electric rotisserie machines that take up loads of countertop space, we found mini-keg coolers and poorly made toaster ovens, we saw silicone cake pans and handheld battery powered milk frothers. There were probably a dozen ways to make coffee. I can live without all this junk, and I bet you can too. Heck, I haven’t even had the food processor on the countertop in over 3 years. Who is buying this stuff?

However, no sign of the one thing we had come in to get. So my husband did what seemed like the only sensible thing to do: he pulled out his smart phone, went to Amazon.com, and ordered the darn thing, while we were standing in Bed Bath and Beyond. It will arrive later this week.

Maybe BB&B is the place if you need overpriced kitchen and bath crap or Need New Sheets Right Now, but for the rest of us, there is a better way to get exactly what we want for our homes. That’s why Linens and Things and The Great Indoors both failed: wrong merchandise, wrong price, and too hard to shop there.

In Closing: it turns out that grouping kids by ability levels (“tracking“) helps them learn (duh); a little song about CPR from MC Lars; obligatory health insurance reform items; big banking already had it’s shot at ruining our society, get ready for Monsanto to finish the job; contrariness is not a good foreign policy; “If you let gays marry then we’ll stop doing that serving the poor thing that Jesus told us to do!”; watch less TV and you’ll do things that burn more calories, duh; “Maybe we could fix the economy by all taking starvation wage jobs. Well not me, of course.”; banking behemoth; and dumbest business moments of 2009.

Two Sad Stories Involving Children

#1, in which Seatbelts Would Have Saved Lives

Yesterday, an ordinary looking minivan blew out a tire and clipped another vehicle. What happened next was horrifying. The van rolled multiple times. It turns out that inside that van were 15 people — in a van that normally seats 8 — only two of whom were wearing seatbelts. Thirteen children were thrown from the vehicle. Ten people were severely injured, five were killed, including a little kid 3 years old. One witness says there were “kids flying everywhere.”

Please, people. Make sure everybody in your vehicle is belted in. If that means taking two vehicles or getting a bigger vehicle, so be it. For that matter, check your tires regularly. This was preventable. The adults in that vehicle had a responsibility to do certain things to keep those kids safe and they failed.

#2, in which Grade School Kids Lack Almost Everything

Every city has a school like Vegas’s Whitney Elementary. In some ways, it’s like any other grade school in Clark County School District, one of the 5 largest school districts in the nation. It’s got a mix of students from all racial backgrounds, although it’s almost half Hispanic. It doesn’t have the best test scores, but the scores could be a lot worse.

However, of their 562 students in 2007-2008, 370 got free school lunches and another 62 got reduced price lunches. The principal estimates that 75% of the 622 current students have experienced homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. Because most of the families can’t afford much of anything, the school holds monthly birthday parties for all the kids who had a birthday, complete with cake and presents. The school has it’s own food bank, it’s own clothing donation stockpile. Every teacher has a story of a kid who needed help.

Now, say what you want about personal responsibility. These are little kids, all under the age of 12. Not one of them has any control over his or her circumstances. None of them can legally get a job, and frankly society is better off with them learning to read and write than becoming unskilled child laborers. There is a Christmas wish tree from these kids in my office. It will break your freaking heart. There are kids that just want a pair of pants that fits, or maybe a sweater. There are kids who asked for one toy, singular, that I could buy with the kind of money I typically have in my wallet. There is one family that all they want for Christmas is to have electricity!

So if it is in your heart to send something to Whitney Elementary, please do. If instead is in your heart to find and give to your own hometown’s version of Whitney Elementary, that is wonderful too. If all you can send is kind wishes and prayers or maybe spreading the word, it’s better than nothing.

In Closing: the best reason for Cheney to run for President in 2012 is that he thinks we run elections under Gallifreyan rules and won’t let him be extradited to the Hague (is this seriously the best the Republicans got??); The Life of Brian couldn’t be filmed today, and more’s the pity; I guess terrorists only count if they are brown; recycle small electronics with the USPS; yawning is good for you; obligatory item on controlling health insurance costs; Blue Cross BS demonstrates why we need reform now; I’m going to let the economists worry about whether this Dubai mess is a big deal (their Vegas investments notwithstanding) (sorry, a drop of 150 on the Dow doesn’t impress me anymore); WTF is wrong with Africa??; concentration of wealth; the importance of arts education; an a cartoon on commercial and industrial regulation.

First Monday in October

The Supreme Court is now in session! I really meant to do a nice post on this. But frankly Pat Edaburn did such a nice job, why should I reinvent the wheel?

So let me close with some nice bits on the economy (Yes, I love Calculated Risk, why do you ask?), some nice bits on health insurance reform, one on how real reform could create jobs (Thanks, Mr. President, I’m a bit ahead of you on that one. Why just now beating the drum?), a couple things on housing, one on the TARP, one on “fetal personhood” (They aren’t. Moving on now), and 10 myths about Iran.

Open Letter to the President

I am a real estate professional and homeowner in Las Vegas, NV. As you surely know, Vegas has been hard hit by foreclosures. We continue to have a high number of foreclosures in process and a substantial number of bank-owned homes available in our local real estate market. All the major banks and mortgage servicers have homes for sale in our area: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Chase, etc.. In addition, they are lien holders for the thousands of additional homes owned by people attempting a “short sale”. Thus, the banks collectively control over 75% of our real estate market before even considering their role as a lender for new sales.

The banks are using this position to further drive down prices, and exacerbate the decline in property values. This is a direct threat to Americans’ retirement accounts and municipalities’ tax rolls. Moreover, it has the potential to drive builders out of business altogether as it is impossible for them to compete with ludicrous prices well under $100 per square foot.

Banks are setting prices locally around $70-90 per square foot for nicer foreclosed single family homes that need a minimum of work. For under $60 per square foot, the property needs serious work but is still habitable. Only once a property is priced under $45 per square foot are homes “gutted.”

The initial low price is designed to bring in many offers in a short period of time – often dozens and sometimes over a hundred in just a few days. This feeding frenzy of bidding is hidden under most MLS systems. While locally, the final sales prices is a matter of public record, that is not true everywhere. The bank’s goal is to quickly get rid of the property no matter what, minimizing maintenance/utility costs, taxes paid, and homeowner’s association fees due.

This combines with the new appraisal rules in a toxic fashion. Under HVCC, many inexperienced or out-of-area appraisers are choosing to use these artificially low priced homes as comparables to non-distressed sales. They do this without regard or even knowledge of the condition of the properties in question. In one recent case, an appraiser compared a home that had been recently renovated to a home that was in desperate need of work. Thus, the values of all local homes are deflated by the big banks dumping inventory.

This practice is almost certainly not limited to our local market. These issues threaten the long term housing stability of our nation. Banks collectively control our markets, and they must be made to “play fair” rather than distorting prices for short-term gain. I have not even addressed the abusive practices of banks towards the potential buyers of these homes: mandatory pre-qualification with the lender that owns the property; contract addenda that strip the buyer of many protections they have under their original purchase contract; capricious and arbitrary closing dates. Nor have I addressed the bank-imposed labyrinth of frustration faced by all participants in a short sale.

If any other industry attempted these business practices, the Federal Trade Commission would investigate sanction them. As much as the various states would like to come down on these and other abusive activities, the big banks are federally regulated and thus almost untouchable by state authorities. It is time for the Feds to investigate the big players in the foreclosed property market, punish those whose actions hurt both home owners and home buyers, and make sure that all parties follow the law.

Thank you for your consideration.

In closing: Follow up on the Baucus Plan. I guess it was written for his *ahem* other constituents.

What Color is Myrna’s Sky?

Myrna Ulfik’s item in the Wall Street Journal says:

I didn’t run to Canada for [cancer] treatment. Medicare took care of my needs right here in New York City. To endure, I just need the freedom to choose my insurance, my doctors, and get the diagnostic scans and care I need. And one more thing: I need hope that a treatment will be developed that can control my diseases the way insulin controls diabetes.

Every cancer patient needs these things, especially hope. But the government’s plan to reform the health-care system in this country threatens all of this—particularly the development of new treatments.

Most people do not have the freedom to choose their insurance. Most people have insurance that is chosen for them by their employer. Lucky people may have the choice of several plans of varying costs through their employer. Unlucky people have their choice of overpriced and under-providing private policies. Myrna admits that she has Medicare, so she in fact has no control over her primary insurance, only her supplemental insurance. That’s strike one.

Most people do not have freedom, but rather they have limited choices for their doctor and hospital. They can either choose from a list of “preferred providers” published by their insurance company — many of which are closed to new patients and are only listed because they have existing patients covered by that insurer. Or, they can go “out of system” and commit to paying twice as much. This is not an option for most people. Myrna doesn’t address hospital care, but most people have even more limited options there. Why do hospitals advertise at all? The choice is almost always “the one the insurance company picks” or “the one closest to the accident.” So strike 2 for Myrna.

As for diagnostic tests, scans, images, and care, all these things are regulated now not by government bureaucrats, but by insurance company bureaucrats. It is routine for insurance companies to require inexpensive tests before authorizing more appropriate but more expensive ones. This requirement wastes time and money in many cases — time and money that could be helping a patient who is in pain. It is routine for insurance companies to require authorization for many treatments, and this authorization may require your doctor to submit piles of paperwork and sit on the phone for an hour. He could have seen other patients that needed help in that hour. Strike 3 to Myrna.

And as for the development of new treatments, I would like to point out that not a single new drug, not a single new treatment, not a single scientific breakthrough has ever been made by an insurance company. Pharmaceutical companies, research universities, and innovative physicians/scientists will continue to do these things, and their discoveries will continue to be tested scientifically before being administered to the general population.

Myrna goes on to talk about a cancer vaccine that has been held up by the FDA for over 20 years. She points out that if this treatment works, it could already have saved tens of thousands of lives. She has apparently forgotten that sometimes what appears to work in small research patient populations doesn’t work the same way for everybody. She has forgotten the many drugs the FDA has approved which have turned out to be harmful. This list includes but is not limited to Palladone, Baycol, Zelnorm, Rezulin, Trasylol, fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, and Vioxx. These drugs were all FDA approved, and all happily reimbursed — with an appropriate co-pay — by insurance companies.

People of privilege are trying to scare us by talking about how we could lose things we don’t even have, things most of us have not had for decades. Sadly, most of them are so out of touch that they honestly think everyone has the same privileges in the health care system that they do.

Cross-posted at The Moderate Voice.

In closing: thankfully even the Obama Administration has started calling it insurance reform; don’t let reform get derailed over abortion, a controversial but sometimes life-saving operation; I love Howard Dean; it took economists to tell us that unemployed people can’t afford COBRA?; the political football called the public option; who would Jesus deny health care?; on the role of special interests (hint, it involves lubricant); glad I’m not in Detroit; “Cash for Clunkers” already out of money!; ok, this guy is even more angry at our Congressmice than I am; arcane rules of Congress being debated; GOP misogyny; 2 years into the financial crisis; and can you spare a few bucks for JurassicPork?

The Fiat of Refrigerators

When I was a kid, my parents drove Fiats. There’s some truth to the old joke about what does Fiat stand for? Fix It Again, Tony; the head mechanic at the dealership was named Tony. For a long time, there was a Fiat engine block in our basement (long story, Dad swore the oil pan just fell off). At one point or another, they had an 850 spider, a 124 spider, and a station wagon that I can’t recall the model number (but the interwebs insists must have been a 124or a 131). I’m pretty sure there was another convertible and maybe another sedan in there too.

The last Fiat to grace our parking area was what I recall having been a 136 Brava. It was the first Fiat we’d ever had with Air Conditioning! Oh the modern advances! However, it would be proper to point out that the AC and heat never worked very well in that car. Somehow nobody else considered it an issue at the time. “There’s nothing wrong with your car.” “They all do that.” “It’s perfectly normal.” “Oh come on, it’s not that cold.” In the end it was the problem that got my family out of Fiats altogether.

It was my birthday, and there was a buffet restaurant a ways south of town that would give you a free dinner on your birthday. I was probably 9 or 10, and it was the dead of winter. On the way home, I announced that it was my birthday, and I was riding in front! My father, whose hatred of the cold was second only to Sam McGee, rode in back, teeth chattering. I wish I had thought do to it sooner.

That car was gone within 3 days.

This is not a post about the new management at Chrysler. Trust me, I have stories involving a 1978 LeBaron that are almost that good. This one advertises a “rebuilt transmission”. I sure hope so, since Dad went through 4 trannys (and 7 torque converters) in the time he drove it.

Nope, this is a post about our recently departed Samsung Refrigerator.

We purchased this faux-stainless model new two years ago when we purchased our current home. It really seemed nice sitting in the store. However, once you actually try to put food in it, things seemed different. The layout was sub-optimal, with lots of wasted space. The water dispenser always seemed a bit slow. Some months later the “change water filter” light came on. Replacements were unavailable anywhere in the nation for several more months.

A few weeks ago, we noticed that the ice-maker was not keeping up with our demand. This was frustrating, since among other reasons one needs ice to shake a proper martini. We fiddled around with troubleshooting and reset buttons.

Tuesday evening, we realized that it was starting to be not-particularly-cold in the fridge. We got out the thermometer and our suspicions were confirmed. At least we found out early enough that I could go get ice and save a lot of the contents of the freezer. A large cooler and a mini-fridge from the garage saved us much greater disaster.

In the morning, we called Samsung to see if by some fluke, our problem might be covered by warranty or recall. The answer could be summed up as “maybe”. I called around to see what a service call would cost. Everyplace I talked to said that they don’t service Samsung appliances because it’s too hard to get parts. Remembering our experience with the filter, I could see their point. Even if it was simple and easily repaired, it can’t be fixed without parts.

Since we have no desire to be without a full-size fridge for weeks while parts come in — assuming we can even find a repair person who will figure out what parts are needed — we purchased a new fridge by noon, and it arrived that evening. It’s a joy to have a cold fridge that actually makes adequate quantities of ice.

A quick search tells me that we are not alone in having problems with these units. While looking, my partner was told that Samsung was “one of our most popular units.” Gee, I’m sorry.

No “in closing” tonight. Have a great weekend.

Tanabata!

Today is Tanabata, a Japanese holiday celebrating a celestial romance. This is the one night of the year that the star-crossed lovers can traverse the Milky Way and be together.

So, let me know if you think Japanfilter needs to be its own topic.

In Closing: maybe it isn’t a good idea to text message everybody in town if there’s an emergency; world’s oldest Bible now available online; Democratic Senators part of the problem? Remember to email them! Remind them that you vote; unemployment is up, and hours worked is down; as exciting as what is happening in Iran might be, don’t forget what’s happening (or not happening) in Iraq; and Lynx kittens.

Look Great, Feel Good About It

If you had to name the top 3 contributors to anti-AIDS initiatives, you would probably guess that Bill and Melinda Gates were up there. Once you saw the list, you’d think the Ford Foundation also made perfect sense.

But would you guess, without looking or knowing a lot more about AIDS issues than I do, that the #3 contributor was a make-up company?

It turns out that the MAC AIDS Fund has given $145 million to anti-AIDS causes, all from the Viva Glam line of lip colors. Animal rights activists will also be happy to know that MAC’s products are not tested on animals*, although some products are not vegan. While I have a hard time spending what a modern lipstick costs, it doesn’t seem so bad if I am helping people when I buy it.

Follow up on the economy: unemployment and part time workers; unemployment and education level; more sad unemployment figures; one in 9 Americans on Food Stamps; 37th bank failure of the year; apparently community banks are small enough to fail; let’s solve “too big to fail” by breaking up the megabanks.

Follow up on health insurance reform (it isn’t care that needs reform, it’s how we pay for it!): Robert Reich explains how the health insurance industry plans to kill real reform; beware of anything labeled a “centrist compromise“, because it isn’t any such thing; an international perspective; be sure to scroll all the way down the charts to see how long people struggle with bills before declaring bankruptcy.

Follow up on Anti-Abortion Terror: Feds now investigating; the myth of the lone gunman; and how to see abortion as a blessing.

In Closing: there’s one, two, three trailers on a big rig; search overload; manopause, the NYT column; and mass transit. Have a great weekend, folks.

* I consider this designation to be bogus on all personal care products. What it usually means is that either some other entity was paid to do the testing, or it is an old formula which was tested and found to be safe many years/decades ago. If a product is going to cause harm, I would rather it was discovered with cute fuzzy bunny rabbits than my family.

Follow Up on Anti-Abortion Terrorism

From *itch, PhD. And her colleagues.

From Brilliant Jill. Twice.

From Kos. And again. And yet again.

Here’s MahaBarbara.

And from Donklephant.

From Firedoglake.

And Susie.

Here’s the ArchCrone.

Don’t forget JurasicPork.

Stories of lives saved by Tiller start with Donkeylicious.

Summary of right-wing opinions from Incertus (thanks to them for reading this crap so I don’t have to).

At least the AG is taking this seriously.

I am seriously amazed that there are people who think it’s ok to kill somebody — anybody — for what amounts to a philosophical disagreement. To do this in the middle of a religious service adds insult to injury. What’s to stop these people from killing “sluts” to prevent them from someday maybe having abortions? When is the rest of the nation going to stop calling them “pro-life” and start calling them what they are: Anti-Abortion Terrorists.

It is also becoming clear that there was at the least an informal conspiracy at work. Let’s hope the Obama Administration has the guts to use all the invasive anti-terror tools the Bush Administration provided them.

Oh, and as a free point, REAL ID wouldn’t even have slowed this guy down.

In Closing: please congratulate my state on their shiny new domestic partnership law (we are going to have such faaaaaabulous ceremonies in Vegas!); blast from the computing past; rape is still a pandemic in Liberia, with even old women and babies being violently assaulted; some people think the mortgage meltdown is only beginning; and the mystery of the cat. (I know, Iz no mstry, U gives cat cheezburger!)