Ya have to wonder what exactly they are teaching Doctors these days...how to go on junkets with pharmaceutical reps and write it off on your taxes?
The real thing here is I pray I don't get anything seriously wrong because beyond paying for it, with this level of shear buffoonery, I feel like it's the 1880's and you might enter a hospital perfectly healthy and of course never come out alive...
Cutting bleeding and leeches.
But a very obvious place of absolute utter waste is the pharmaceutical industry....and it appears all about the patent. MDs won't prescribe a plant because you cannot patent a plant. Pharmaceutical companies aren't going to package up a naturally occurring substance because they cannot patent that substance.
Just the entire system and it's very clear pharmaceutical companies by the R&D system itself, plus the "for profit" research (just watch AstraZeneca or Lily or any of their stock prices and financial news) it's clearly all directed at market share, potential profits...
so it's disconnected to what is the safest and best method for treatment and even the research itself is disconnected to what is the best solution for a particular illness or disease.
That's just the drugs. Also an obvious is to regulate their advertising methods. Christ, if I watched TV for awhile I would swear I need blue pills to have sex, purple pills to eat, white pills to digest foods correctly and a yellow pill to help me use the toilet. Unreal, it should be outright banned (each one I list is highly ineffective plus has dangerous side effects and all you have to do is flip on the TV to know what I'm talking about).
..you are on the up and up, and that was a serious question, ask yourself this:
Is medicine better off when a Peterson, who works to offshore all American jobs while doing away with Social Security and Medicare, and his cohort, Schwartzman, or any of the other PE guys, really concerned with the state of medicine and biotechnology for people everywhere?
You want experts in robbery in the medical field? Or does it make more sense to have biomedical geniuses, and smart cell biologists?
Are endless financial layers necessary for any increases in efficiency? If so, show me the examples, please.
These are really specious arguments ignoring the data at hand.
That quote about Goldman Sachs' hiding of the loan as a currency trade is highly reminiscent of JPMorgan's hiding of $2.6 billion in loans to Enron back in the late '90s.
Waste of time. Exactly! And we constantly hear that phrase to describe virtually every economic aspect of American society and corporate culture today.
Degenerative inefficiency, constant wastage of time.
Some doctor recently came out with a book about checklists, extolling their postive upside and efficiency.
Geez, all this time and they didn't utilize checklists in hospitals, clinics and ERs!!!!
Unfrigging believable, and it had nothing to do with credit derivatives, leveraged buyouts, etc.
Lack of progress comes from disassembling and cannibalizing companies to make all those debt-financed billionaires.
Always, that is the end result, along with higher healthcare costs and unemployment for the rest of us.
All corporate and neocon memes excusing them from any and all culpability while ignoring illegitimate profits and greed at the expense of health.
Tort reform is such an absolute BS planck I can't be bothered to waste any time addressing it. Another N.A.M. diversion many, many others have already addressed.
Too bad your excellent thesis is not talked about more in the national healthcare debate. I have no reason to doubt its validity (that "private equity leveraged buyouts...and...speculation by those hedge funds are the primary cost drivers...of healthcare in America".) But I would be interested to get your take on the validity of the following alleged other causes of our high medical costs vis-à-vis other countries, and the size of the role they may play, if valid at all:
1. Tort law and excessive litigation
2. Reduction of competition by not allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines
3. Prevalence of individual habits and practices such as lack of exercise, obesity and smoking rates, etc.
Based on your discussion regarding these leveraged buyouts, I am curious whether you see a difference in health care purchases versus those in other sectors. Are the leveraged buyouts simply creating debt for the companies or is there something to be gained from the consolidation that comes from the purchases? Having seen the effects of consolidation first hand, I know that job loss is the large downside. However are there examples of these purchases improving the efficiency of the overall company?
I recently had to deal with really some minor stuff with health in comparison to what most people deal with but frankly my conclusion was:
what a waste of money and time
Firstly every single drug was expensive, didn't work and the side effects were beyond annoying, I researched them out and the side effects could kill you.
While they rail on smoking, I discovered just side effects from drugs (not deaths from mistakes, infections and all the rest), kill 110,000 people in the U.S. each year.
(smoking is est. about 450,000 per year)
Then, about 785,000 people die each year from Medical mistakes (this includes drug side effects), that's more than smoking.
about 25% give or take smoke whereas from all Americans, 50% take at least 1 prescription drug (which is amazing in and of itself and show that advertising works!)
Back to me, basically I had side effects and frankly I don't know how anyone manages to go through 13 years of Medical school and training to be so clueless. The side effects are listed with each drug, I had 'em, yet magically none could put it together that was the cause, nope they were hell bent on claiming I had something else I didn't AND prescribe a drug proven not to be effective but costs about $4 a pill.
It was me, I had to research all of this out and as I did...
I discovered their "effectiveness" itself was a statistical joke!
So, I spent butt loads of money, my health insurance tried to claim an office visit was surgery, submit to deductible (now they are trying to claim if a MD sticks anything up anywhere that's somehow surgery!)
and I ended up researching it all again and using supplements, nutrition and wala....guess what my condition went back to normal in a couple of weeks, zero side effects.
So, in other words I was better off acting as my own Doctor.
I mean from the health insurance company to the pharmaceutical companies to the doctors it's just sure insanity.
I just pray I don't get anything serious, although at this point I think these people must only be useful for bacterial infections, pain and surgery.
While Blue Cross Anaheim is getting all of the press, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Oregon is doing the same screw job. Individual policies are being cut in benefits even further (it's a joke it's so bad) and premiums increased 18%, when just last year it was about 34%.
Firstly, it takes some time to ramp up production, train people and you miss what imports are. There are many categories, including raw materials for production, specialized equipment for production. Without these imports, say some of the raw materials for rechargable batteries as just one example...there will be no production because that element does not exist in the U.S. Same with oil. Do you wish to stop all imports of oil? Would you like to see the U.S. economy collapse real fast?
So, instead you would cause further economic collapse and believe me, on this site we are not friendly to current U.S. trade policy, esp. China and that includes NAFTA, WTO and so on.
Secondly, there is a much easier way to create instant jobs and that is to ban the offshore outsourcing of Federal and State contracts, additionally put a freeze on guest workers.
There are 1.5 million guest workers in the U.S. and I don't know exactly how many jobs are offshore outsourced, but it is in the millions.
State and Fed dollars are already spent, so bringing those jobs back will not add that much to budgets (offshore outsourcing is not the cost savings so proclaimed and many times costs more).
But believing the world can just "stop imports" makes me wonder who is reading this site and getting educated.
WHY IS HARRY DINGEY THE ONLY PERSON IN AMERICA TO FIGURE THIS OUT?
Make no mistake about it the International Trade Deficit must be balanced if America is to SURVIVE. There is only three ways to correct this humongous Trade Imbalance.
1. Increase the American Exports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year. This is absolutely impossible.
or
2. Decrease the American Imports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year. Then manufacture the merchandise in America.
or
3. Pull out of NAFTA and the WTO and Produce all Imports in America. Do not worry about Exports and this will Create 15.02 million Jobs instantly and maybe ever more.
I am suggesting we do number three. This can only be done by the American Congress and will automatically bring the large American Manufactured Goods Trade Deficit into BALANCE almost over night. Where Exports + Imports = Balance of ZERO.
Here is exactly what would happen. Toyota would be forced to manufacture every part on every car sold in America.
Every item sold in every store in America would be required to be manufactured right here in America. America would be swimming in newly Created Jobs almost over night.
I can remember this large sign posted in Wal-Mart: “EVERYTHING SOLD IN THIS STORE WAS MADE IN AMERICA”.
Sam Walton said: “Everything sold in all Wal-Mart stores will be made in America”.
I CAN CREATE 15 MILLION JOBS ALMOST OVER NIGHT right here in America !!!
Here is my Job creation Computations:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total USA Imports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 2,211.7 billion ----- Total Imports.
$ - 309.4 billion minus -(Money spent on Imported Crude Oil)
--------------------------------------------------
$ 1,902.3 billion / 30 billion=63.41 million jobs lost from Imports.
Total USA Exports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 1,451.7 Billion / 30 billion=48.39 million jobs America Created from Exports.
If USA Pulls out of NAFTA and WTO right now:
USA would absolutely gain a total of 63.41 million Jobs by Manufacturing all IMPORTS right here in the USA.
So, 63.41 minus 48.39 = 15.02 million NET JOBS GAIN. But, a lot of Exports must be purchased in the USA. That would mean an even larger number of jobs created in America than I have estimated.
Also, I should note that I have subtracted out the $309.4 billion dollars that America spent on Import Crude Oil in 2006. This is another problem that must be solved later.
My calculation means an ABSOLUTE 15.02 million Jobs gained if the rest of the world did not buy even one penny of USA EXPORTS.
SO MOTE IT BE. . . . .
Do you truly want to help straighten out the United States Government now? Then, copy and post this article everyplace on the Internet you can post.
There still are opportunities for charlatan money manipulators to get rich. The 90 - 99% of the rest of us will continue to struggle and hope the market recovers to some degree so that our various accounts ensure a modest life and/or retirement.
at an Obama rally during the campaign. This gentleman said he was against higher taxes and the interviewer asked if socio-economic status. The guy said he wasn't rich but he may be some day. WRONG.
If that guy doesn't win the lottery, hit big in Vegas or discover a great invention he will never be 'rich'. The greatest myth that still exists is that people work hard they can climb the economic ladder. That notion died a long time ago - the link between wages and productivity was severed in the 1980's. But yet, people still believe in this myth.
Economic mobility for a good portion of Americans is non-existent. Wake up people.
Those are good questions and points. I was happy to see RobardOak answer it so well but this is useful information and the Robert's answer is correct and politically pragmatic as well.
I like your approach better. I suspect that you're right on the 90%. If I can support that, I'll use it. I'll gladly take any pointers now or later. The 71$ is bad enough and it's getting worse.
I like the story about your friend. That's what I call real world research.
Debs had it going but Woodrow Wilson's AG Palmer got him. Ironically, Harding let Debs out of jail early then invited him to the White House and treated him well on the visit. Go figure.
Beyond the fact the job situation is semi being recognized yet still, we cannot get the right legislation and policies to really do something about this....
Much of the report is such fiction I literally got poed reading it and had to walk away.
Example is productivity section, the wrong solution, i.e. more bad trade deals, instead of looking at global labor arbitrage, offshore outsourcing as causing a very serious dent in high productivity numbers and a reason for wage repression and the new culture of disposable workers in the U.S.
states are in deep trouble and then, they are more political than the federal IMHO. (We know about California).
Some of these states have not been really hit yet with real estate...if one notices the maps on real estate price drops, it's still fairly pocketed to certain counties vs. across the board price drops....but many counties get revenues from property taxes and frankly I think there is at least 15% nationwide price drops to go on residential real estate. I don't think prices have bottomed at all.
Oregon, for example, is busy increasing taxes yet they will not, will not take on the health insurance companies.
While California is getting all of the news, Oregon is also getting hit with a rate increases. Last year was unreal, over 30% and this year for individuals it's another ~20%...plus they keep trying to change the definition of care so basic services are not covered.
The states could do something about this, but they sit on their hands...
building bicycle lanes. In Portland, they are busy with composting and bicycle lanes....meanwhile basic bus service is being canceled and people are being laid off.
Ya have to wonder what exactly they are teaching Doctors these days...how to go on junkets with pharmaceutical reps and write it off on your taxes?
The real thing here is I pray I don't get anything seriously wrong because beyond paying for it, with this level of shear buffoonery, I feel like it's the 1880's and you might enter a hospital perfectly healthy and of course never come out alive...
Cutting bleeding and leeches.
But a very obvious place of absolute utter waste is the pharmaceutical industry....and it appears all about the patent. MDs won't prescribe a plant because you cannot patent a plant. Pharmaceutical companies aren't going to package up a naturally occurring substance because they cannot patent that substance.
Just the entire system and it's very clear pharmaceutical companies by the R&D system itself, plus the "for profit" research (just watch AstraZeneca or Lily or any of their stock prices and financial news) it's clearly all directed at market share, potential profits...
so it's disconnected to what is the safest and best method for treatment and even the research itself is disconnected to what is the best solution for a particular illness or disease.
That's just the drugs. Also an obvious is to regulate their advertising methods. Christ, if I watched TV for awhile I would swear I need blue pills to have sex, purple pills to eat, white pills to digest foods correctly and a yellow pill to help me use the toilet. Unreal, it should be outright banned (each one I list is highly ineffective plus has dangerous side effects and all you have to do is flip on the TV to know what I'm talking about).
..you are on the up and up, and that was a serious question, ask yourself this:
Is medicine better off when a Peterson, who works to offshore all American jobs while doing away with Social Security and Medicare, and his cohort, Schwartzman, or any of the other PE guys, really concerned with the state of medicine and biotechnology for people everywhere?
You want experts in robbery in the medical field? Or does it make more sense to have biomedical geniuses, and smart cell biologists?
Are endless financial layers necessary for any increases in efficiency? If so, show me the examples, please.
These are really specious arguments ignoring the data at hand.
That quote about Goldman Sachs' hiding of the loan as a currency trade is highly reminiscent of JPMorgan's hiding of $2.6 billion in loans to Enron back in the late '90s.
In that case they hid them as commodities trades.
Same old stuff....
Waste of time. Exactly! And we constantly hear that phrase to describe virtually every economic aspect of American society and corporate culture today.
Degenerative inefficiency, constant wastage of time.
Some doctor recently came out with a book about checklists, extolling their postive upside and efficiency.
Geez, all this time and they didn't utilize checklists in hospitals, clinics and ERs!!!!
Unfrigging believable, and it had nothing to do with credit derivatives, leveraged buyouts, etc.
Lack of progress comes from disassembling and cannibalizing companies to make all those debt-financed billionaires.
Always, that is the end result, along with higher healthcare costs and unemployment for the rest of us.
Of course not, which was why I included the list of PE firms involved in those LBOs -- for anyone with any speck of wherewithal to research.
Just look into Crestview Partners and Symbion, Roundtable Health Partners and the present and past LBOs and acquisitions afterwards.
Their proclamations extol efficiency; their observable results is a platform of chronic anti-efficiency.
It's always about debt-financed billionaires disassembling American society.
Research the list included as well as Ajuba. Nothing further need to said.
All corporate and neocon memes excusing them from any and all culpability while ignoring illegitimate profits and greed at the expense of health.
Tort reform is such an absolute BS planck I can't be bothered to waste any time addressing it. Another N.A.M. diversion many, many others have already addressed.
Are you with N.A.M., by any chance?
Too bad your excellent thesis is not talked about more in the national healthcare debate. I have no reason to doubt its validity (that "private equity leveraged buyouts...and...speculation by those hedge funds are the primary cost drivers...of healthcare in America".) But I would be interested to get your take on the validity of the following alleged other causes of our high medical costs vis-à-vis other countries, and the size of the role they may play, if valid at all:
1. Tort law and excessive litigation
2. Reduction of competition by not allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines
3. Prevalence of individual habits and practices such as lack of exercise, obesity and smoking rates, etc.
Based on your discussion regarding these leveraged buyouts, I am curious whether you see a difference in health care purchases versus those in other sectors. Are the leveraged buyouts simply creating debt for the companies or is there something to be gained from the consolidation that comes from the purchases? Having seen the effects of consolidation first hand, I know that job loss is the large downside. However are there examples of these purchases improving the efficiency of the overall company?
(by the way, your captcha is very hard to read)
I recently had to deal with really some minor stuff with health in comparison to what most people deal with but frankly my conclusion was:
what a waste of money and time
Firstly every single drug was expensive, didn't work and the side effects were beyond annoying, I researched them out and the side effects could kill you.
While they rail on smoking, I discovered just side effects from drugs (not deaths from mistakes, infections and all the rest), kill 110,000 people in the U.S. each year.
(smoking is est. about 450,000 per year)
Then, about 785,000 people die each year from Medical mistakes (this includes drug side effects), that's more than smoking.
about 25% give or take smoke whereas from all Americans, 50% take at least 1 prescription drug (which is amazing in and of itself and show that advertising works!)
Back to me, basically I had side effects and frankly I don't know how anyone manages to go through 13 years of Medical school and training to be so clueless. The side effects are listed with each drug, I had 'em, yet magically none could put it together that was the cause, nope they were hell bent on claiming I had something else I didn't AND prescribe a drug proven not to be effective but costs about $4 a pill.
It was me, I had to research all of this out and as I did...
I discovered their "effectiveness" itself was a statistical joke!
So, I spent butt loads of money, my health insurance tried to claim an office visit was surgery, submit to deductible (now they are trying to claim if a MD sticks anything up anywhere that's somehow surgery!)
and I ended up researching it all again and using supplements, nutrition and wala....guess what my condition went back to normal in a couple of weeks, zero side effects.
So, in other words I was better off acting as my own Doctor.
I mean from the health insurance company to the pharmaceutical companies to the doctors it's just sure insanity.
I just pray I don't get anything serious, although at this point I think these people must only be useful for bacterial infections, pain and surgery.
First, I did an overview post on other health care systems and it includes Frontline's Sick around the world documentary.
More films:
Sick Around America.
SiCKO
While Blue Cross Anaheim is getting all of the press, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Oregon is doing the same screw job. Individual policies are being cut in benefits even further (it's a joke it's so bad) and premiums increased 18%, when just last year it was about 34%.
Firstly, it takes some time to ramp up production, train people and you miss what imports are. There are many categories, including raw materials for production, specialized equipment for production. Without these imports, say some of the raw materials for rechargable batteries as just one example...there will be no production because that element does not exist in the U.S. Same with oil. Do you wish to stop all imports of oil? Would you like to see the U.S. economy collapse real fast?
So, instead you would cause further economic collapse and believe me, on this site we are not friendly to current U.S. trade policy, esp. China and that includes NAFTA, WTO and so on.
Secondly, there is a much easier way to create instant jobs and that is to ban the offshore outsourcing of Federal and State contracts, additionally put a freeze on guest workers.
There are 1.5 million guest workers in the U.S. and I don't know exactly how many jobs are offshore outsourced, but it is in the millions.
State and Fed dollars are already spent, so bringing those jobs back will not add that much to budgets (offshore outsourcing is not the cost savings so proclaimed and many times costs more).
But believing the world can just "stop imports" makes me wonder who is reading this site and getting educated.
WHY IS HARRY DINGEY THE ONLY PERSON IN AMERICA TO FIGURE THIS OUT?
Make no mistake about it the International Trade Deficit must be balanced if America is to SURVIVE. There is only three ways to correct this humongous Trade Imbalance.
1. Increase the American Exports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year. This is absolutely impossible.
or
2. Decrease the American Imports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year. Then manufacture the merchandise in America.
or
3. Pull out of NAFTA and the WTO and Produce all Imports in America. Do not worry about Exports and this will Create 15.02 million Jobs instantly and maybe ever more.
I am suggesting we do number three. This can only be done by the American Congress and will automatically bring the large American Manufactured Goods Trade Deficit into BALANCE almost over night. Where Exports + Imports = Balance of ZERO.
Here is exactly what would happen. Toyota would be forced to manufacture every part on every car sold in America.
Every item sold in every store in America would be required to be manufactured right here in America. America would be swimming in newly Created Jobs almost over night.
I can remember this large sign posted in Wal-Mart: “EVERYTHING SOLD IN THIS STORE WAS MADE IN AMERICA”.
Sam Walton said: “Everything sold in all Wal-Mart stores will be made in America”.
I CAN CREATE 15 MILLION JOBS ALMOST OVER NIGHT right here in America !!!
Here is my Job creation Computations:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total USA Imports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 2,211.7 billion ----- Total Imports.
$ - 309.4 billion minus -(Money spent on Imported Crude Oil)
--------------------------------------------------
$ 1,902.3 billion / 30 billion=63.41 million jobs lost from Imports.
==================================================
Total USA Exports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 1,451.7 Billion / 30 billion=48.39 million jobs America Created from Exports.
If USA Pulls out of NAFTA and WTO right now:
USA would absolutely gain a total of 63.41 million Jobs by Manufacturing all IMPORTS right here in the USA.
So, 63.41 minus 48.39 = 15.02 million NET JOBS GAIN. But, a lot of Exports must be purchased in the USA. That would mean an even larger number of jobs created in America than I have estimated.
Also, I should note that I have subtracted out the $309.4 billion dollars that America spent on Import Crude Oil in 2006. This is another problem that must be solved later.
My calculation means an ABSOLUTE 15.02 million Jobs gained if the rest of the world did not buy even one penny of USA EXPORTS.
SO MOTE IT BE. . . . .
Do you truly want to help straighten out the United States Government now? Then, copy and post this article everyplace on the Internet you can post.
BY: Harry Dingey
Have a good day my friends.
There still are opportunities for charlatan money manipulators to get rich. The 90 - 99% of the rest of us will continue to struggle and hope the market recovers to some degree so that our various accounts ensure a modest life and/or retirement.
at an Obama rally during the campaign. This gentleman said he was against higher taxes and the interviewer asked if socio-economic status. The guy said he wasn't rich but he may be some day. WRONG.
If that guy doesn't win the lottery, hit big in Vegas or discover a great invention he will never be 'rich'. The greatest myth that still exists is that people work hard they can climb the economic ladder. That notion died a long time ago - the link between wages and productivity was severed in the 1980's. But yet, people still believe in this myth.
Economic mobility for a good portion of Americans is non-existent. Wake up people.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
Those are good questions and points. I was happy to see RobardOak answer it so well but this is useful information and the Robert's answer is correct and politically pragmatic as well.
That is the case. It's "us" - all 299,999,900 - up against what's left, 100,000 or so maybe. That approach is the only way to real change.
I like your approach better. I suspect that you're right on the 90%. If I can support that, I'll use it. I'll gladly take any pointers now or later. The 71$ is bad enough and it's getting worse.
I like the story about your friend. That's what I call real world research.
Debs had it going but Woodrow Wilson's AG Palmer got him. Ironically, Harding let Debs out of jail early then invited him to the White House and treated him well on the visit. Go figure.
It's here.
Beyond the fact the job situation is semi being recognized yet still, we cannot get the right legislation and policies to really do something about this....
Much of the report is such fiction I literally got poed reading it and had to walk away.
Example is productivity section, the wrong solution, i.e. more bad trade deals, instead of looking at global labor arbitrage, offshore outsourcing as causing a very serious dent in high productivity numbers and a reason for wage repression and the new culture of disposable workers in the U.S.
Take Pepto before reading.
states are in deep trouble and then, they are more political than the federal IMHO. (We know about California).
Some of these states have not been really hit yet with real estate...if one notices the maps on real estate price drops, it's still fairly pocketed to certain counties vs. across the board price drops....but many counties get revenues from property taxes and frankly I think there is at least 15% nationwide price drops to go on residential real estate. I don't think prices have bottomed at all.
Oregon, for example, is busy increasing taxes yet they will not, will not take on the health insurance companies.
While California is getting all of the news, Oregon is also getting hit with a rate increases. Last year was unreal, over 30% and this year for individuals it's another ~20%...plus they keep trying to change the definition of care so basic services are not covered.
The states could do something about this, but they sit on their hands...
building bicycle lanes. In Portland, they are busy with composting and bicycle lanes....meanwhile basic bus service is being canceled and people are being laid off.
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