The Health Care Reform Flim-Flam
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
jrswriter@comcast.net
“We must realize that we're in a battle not merely for whether this particular puppet regime of the demonic cabal in 2009 starts this pre-emptive war or that or gives trillions of taxpayer money to fat-cat bankers, but with whether or not our very being will be subverted by lies and false values. A depraved society--such as we now face--can destroy a person's soul, because the disorder of society is a disease in the psyche of its members... We must, in other words, refer to what's happening today by its true nature--pathocracy--the rule by insane thugs--instead of masking it with such lies as ‘incompetence,’ ‘receiving false intelligence,’ and ‘well-intentioned but bungling efforts.’” Pathocracy www.hermes-press.com/pathocracy
Did you know that Republican Party candidates William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt ran for President and Vice President in 1900 on a platform calling for universal health care and national health insurance? They won but obviously they didn’t follow through on their campaign promises because here we are in 2009 and many US citizens lack health insurance and the so called health care industry is far from the angels of mercy portrayed in the corporate media. Granted emergency care, Triage and acute care have helped numerous people in time of need and distress. However a candid look at the US “health care” industry reveals some very alarming results. In 2000 Dr. Barbara Starfield M.D. MPH at the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health wrote a paper for the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled: Is US Health Really the Best In The World? The paper compares the health of US citizens against the health of twelve other industrialized nations. In it she pointed out some shocking facts, “The US population does not have anywhere near the best health in the world. Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. The US ranks behind Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Belgium. The poor performance of the United States was recently confirmed by the World Health Organization, which used different indicators, and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries. 13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages 13th (last) for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 11th for post-neonatal mortality,13th (last) for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes), 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males, 10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females and 9th for males,7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females and 7th for males, 10th for age-adjusted mortality” Is US Health Really The Best In The World JAMA, Vol. 284, No. 4, July 26, 2000 www.drscottfuller.com/pdfs/US_Health.pdf
In her report Dr. Starfield also came to some very unsettling conclusions: “The health care system also may contribute to poor health through its adverse effects.” For example: 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery, 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals, 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals, 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals, 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. These estimates are for deaths only and do not include adverse effects that are associated with disability or discomfort. If other estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. An estimate of adverse effects in outpatient care and including adverse effects other than death concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience adverse effects in outpatient settings, resulting in 116 million extra physician visits, 77 million extra prescriptions, 17 million emergency department visits, 8 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term admissions, 199,000 additional deaths, and $77 billion in extra costs.” www.drscottfuller.com/pdfs/US_Health.pdf
With all the hoopla about Obama, Congress and “health care reform” have you seen or heard any of these figures, estimates or issues raised in the corporate media? I certainly haven’t. How can they talk about serious health care reform and not address the conclusions in Dr. Starfield’s paper, “Recognition of the harmful effects of health care interventions, and the likely possibility that they account for a substantial proportion of the excess deaths in the United States compared with other comparably industrialized nations, sheds new light on imperatives for research and health policy” ibid.
All the talk in the media is about costs and fiscal deficits but in my opinion the debate needs to be expanded to address the thousands of needless deaths caused by medical interventions and policies!! It is obvious Obama and the Congress are not on our side. They are too busy pandering to the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, the for profit hospitals and physicians who have influenced the pending legislation via bribes euphemistically called campaign contributions. Our Congress critters can always set aside budget busting funds to wage illegal invasions and occupations of sovereign nations on behalf of the military industrial complex and oil companies, bail out the international money changers whose irresponsible speculation and Ponzi schemes caused the US financial system to implode and pass laws that benefit the pharmaceutical industry but they magically become frugal when it comes to looking out for Joe and Jane Sixpack, Pookie and Shananay.
The same politicians who give away the store to the aforementioned special interests are doing nothing to help their struggling and suffering constituents weather the depression we are currently experiencing. Don’t be fooled by the hype and disinformation; the pending health care reform legislation will not reform the system to help us nor make affordable health insurance a reality. How can working class people pay for health insurance if they are losing their jobs?! This is another scam to fleece the people, extort more taxes under the guise of health care/insurance while creating stranglehold monopolies for the insurance companies, drug industry, hospitals and physicians.
“A survey published in the April 2008 Annals of Internal Medicine showed that 59 percent of U.S. physicians support national health insurance. Polls have long shown that a majority of Americans favor some form of single payer healthcare system. Over the last 30 plus years the number of doctors and nurses has increased approximately 2.5 to 3 times. This increase is proportional to the growth in population. But the number of health administration personnel has increased 30 times! These increased personnel are not doctors, not nurses, not pharmacists. They provide no care. Many of them are being paid to deny care. So, they're fighting with the doctors and the hospitals to see how few bills can be paid. That's how the insurance industry thrives--by denying care, paying as little out as it can, getting the healthiest patients, and yet getting reimbursed as though these patients were sicker than they really are. With such a racket as this going it's no wonder that the billions being made from the private health insurance industry and from the drug industry get spread all around Washington. The biggest recipients of insurance money and drug money are the powerful people who chair the committees, who decide what witnesses testify.” Workers Must Demand Single Payer Universal Healthcare www.hermes-press.com/health_industry_scam.htm
This is why the “single payer public option” was taken off the table. Don’t go for the okey-doke, this is another flim-flam scam. We can’t count on the federal government to save us because they are too corrupt. They are bought and paid for and have sided with the corporatocracy . Personal, familial, communal health and wellness are our responsibility. If you want to be healthy, stop eating so much junk food, increase your intake of plant based foods, get your rest, relax and detox your system, practice meditation, exercise regularly and make healthy living your top priority. Remember McKinley and Roosevelt won in 1900 and they did nothing to bring about national health insurance or universal health care. If history holds true, Obama won’t either.
-30-
Junious Ricardo Stanton
jrswriter@comcast.net
“We must realize that we're in a battle not merely for whether this particular puppet regime of the demonic cabal in 2009 starts this pre-emptive war or that or gives trillions of taxpayer money to fat-cat bankers, but with whether or not our very being will be subverted by lies and false values. A depraved society--such as we now face--can destroy a person's soul, because the disorder of society is a disease in the psyche of its members... We must, in other words, refer to what's happening today by its true nature--pathocracy--the rule by insane thugs--instead of masking it with such lies as ‘incompetence,’ ‘receiving false intelligence,’ and ‘well-intentioned but bungling efforts.’” Pathocracy www.hermes-press.com/pathocracy
Did you know that Republican Party candidates William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt ran for President and Vice President in 1900 on a platform calling for universal health care and national health insurance? They won but obviously they didn’t follow through on their campaign promises because here we are in 2009 and many US citizens lack health insurance and the so called health care industry is far from the angels of mercy portrayed in the corporate media. Granted emergency care, Triage and acute care have helped numerous people in time of need and distress. However a candid look at the US “health care” industry reveals some very alarming results. In 2000 Dr. Barbara Starfield M.D. MPH at the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health wrote a paper for the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled: Is US Health Really the Best In The World? The paper compares the health of US citizens against the health of twelve other industrialized nations. In it she pointed out some shocking facts, “The US population does not have anywhere near the best health in the world. Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. The US ranks behind Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Belgium. The poor performance of the United States was recently confirmed by the World Health Organization, which used different indicators, and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries. 13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages 13th (last) for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 11th for post-neonatal mortality,13th (last) for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes), 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males, 10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females and 9th for males,7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females and 7th for males, 10th for age-adjusted mortality” Is US Health Really The Best In The World JAMA, Vol. 284, No. 4, July 26, 2000 www.drscottfuller.com/pdfs/US_Health.pdf
In her report Dr. Starfield also came to some very unsettling conclusions: “The health care system also may contribute to poor health through its adverse effects.” For example: 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery, 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals, 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals, 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals, 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. These estimates are for deaths only and do not include adverse effects that are associated with disability or discomfort. If other estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. An estimate of adverse effects in outpatient care and including adverse effects other than death concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience adverse effects in outpatient settings, resulting in 116 million extra physician visits, 77 million extra prescriptions, 17 million emergency department visits, 8 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term admissions, 199,000 additional deaths, and $77 billion in extra costs.” www.drscottfuller.com/pdfs/US_Health.pdf
With all the hoopla about Obama, Congress and “health care reform” have you seen or heard any of these figures, estimates or issues raised in the corporate media? I certainly haven’t. How can they talk about serious health care reform and not address the conclusions in Dr. Starfield’s paper, “Recognition of the harmful effects of health care interventions, and the likely possibility that they account for a substantial proportion of the excess deaths in the United States compared with other comparably industrialized nations, sheds new light on imperatives for research and health policy” ibid.
All the talk in the media is about costs and fiscal deficits but in my opinion the debate needs to be expanded to address the thousands of needless deaths caused by medical interventions and policies!! It is obvious Obama and the Congress are not on our side. They are too busy pandering to the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, the for profit hospitals and physicians who have influenced the pending legislation via bribes euphemistically called campaign contributions. Our Congress critters can always set aside budget busting funds to wage illegal invasions and occupations of sovereign nations on behalf of the military industrial complex and oil companies, bail out the international money changers whose irresponsible speculation and Ponzi schemes caused the US financial system to implode and pass laws that benefit the pharmaceutical industry but they magically become frugal when it comes to looking out for Joe and Jane Sixpack, Pookie and Shananay.
The same politicians who give away the store to the aforementioned special interests are doing nothing to help their struggling and suffering constituents weather the depression we are currently experiencing. Don’t be fooled by the hype and disinformation; the pending health care reform legislation will not reform the system to help us nor make affordable health insurance a reality. How can working class people pay for health insurance if they are losing their jobs?! This is another scam to fleece the people, extort more taxes under the guise of health care/insurance while creating stranglehold monopolies for the insurance companies, drug industry, hospitals and physicians.
“A survey published in the April 2008 Annals of Internal Medicine showed that 59 percent of U.S. physicians support national health insurance. Polls have long shown that a majority of Americans favor some form of single payer healthcare system. Over the last 30 plus years the number of doctors and nurses has increased approximately 2.5 to 3 times. This increase is proportional to the growth in population. But the number of health administration personnel has increased 30 times! These increased personnel are not doctors, not nurses, not pharmacists. They provide no care. Many of them are being paid to deny care. So, they're fighting with the doctors and the hospitals to see how few bills can be paid. That's how the insurance industry thrives--by denying care, paying as little out as it can, getting the healthiest patients, and yet getting reimbursed as though these patients were sicker than they really are. With such a racket as this going it's no wonder that the billions being made from the private health insurance industry and from the drug industry get spread all around Washington. The biggest recipients of insurance money and drug money are the powerful people who chair the committees, who decide what witnesses testify.” Workers Must Demand Single Payer Universal Healthcare www.hermes-press.com/health_industry_scam.htm
This is why the “single payer public option” was taken off the table. Don’t go for the okey-doke, this is another flim-flam scam. We can’t count on the federal government to save us because they are too corrupt. They are bought and paid for and have sided with the corporatocracy . Personal, familial, communal health and wellness are our responsibility. If you want to be healthy, stop eating so much junk food, increase your intake of plant based foods, get your rest, relax and detox your system, practice meditation, exercise regularly and make healthy living your top priority. Remember McKinley and Roosevelt won in 1900 and they did nothing to bring about national health insurance or universal health care. If history holds true, Obama won’t either.
-30-
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