Where's the Outrage?

Before I get to the Brothers Johnson, I wanted to post this video. This is the bass player from the Brothers Johnson – Louis Johnson. When he burst onto the scene in the late ’70s, I was awestruck. I thought he was one of the best bass players of his time. I’m still not sure if anyone is actually better than he is.

Amazing.

There aren’t any good live clips of the Brothers Johnson that I have found so far. I’m going keep looking. Enjoy this instrumental.

Artist: Brothers Johnson
Tune: Streetwave

Tags: Music by ecthompson md
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Last night, I finally saw the movie Inception with my wife. Inception is all about perception. (Yes, it is also about dreams and really cool special effects.) In the United States, we have the perception that we have the best doctors and best hospitals in the world. This is probably true. The problem comes in translating great doctors and great hospitals into great cost-effective patient care.

Sooner or later, we have to realize that the numbers are what they are. We spend over $7000 per capita on health care per year. No other country comes close. Our life expectancy in the United States is 78 years. Canada, France, Italy and Japan have higher life expectancies. These same countries have lower cardiovascular mortality rates and lower cancer mortality rates. So we’re spending more and we’re dying earlier of various diseases. Yes, many have questioned these numbers. Many have technical reasons why they don’t think that these numbers are valid. Okay, are we saying that every single number is not valid?

On one hand, I think it’s important to point these numbers out. I think Americans need to understand the facts. On the other hand, I think we’re stuck in this movie, Inception. We desperately want to hold onto the perception that we are the best at everything. We have our heads stuck in the sand but we have our index finger waving in the air – we are number one.

Some conservative estimates state that we could save over $300 billion by going to a single-payer system. (I think the number is closer to $600 billion, but what do I know?) Experts are saying that we could use this $300 billion to cover the 22 million people in our country who don’t have health insurance. Republicans look at the cost and ask where this money is going to come from. Personally, I think we should take the money that were currently paying into the system and simply pay it into a different system. If we pay insurance premiums, why not write the same check to the United States Health Corporation? To me, doesn’t matter how we pay for it, we simply need to have the resolve to improve our health care system. Currently, we have this hodgepodge which works for some people and doesn’t work for others. We need a system that will work for all Americans. Finally, when conservatives shoot back and say that we simply can’t afford such a system, yell horse hockey! If, in 2007, someone told you that we would need to pay $3 trillion to the financial industry in 2008 and 2009, almost every American would have said we couldn’t afford it, yet somehow we found the money. We found a way to pay the financial sector $3 trillion. You cannot tell me we can’t find a way to cover all Americans with health insurance.

Tags: Healthcare by ecthompson md
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I have deliberately tried to stay positive about the health-care reform bill. I thought it was crucial to point out that this bill isn’t just a piece of trash, but could and should actually help millions of Americans. The bill is far from perfect. I think it obviously needs some serious work. Unfortunately, the Republican Congress will not try to modify the bill but will instead try to scrap it. The following is a list of some of the bad:

• About 23 million people will remain uninsured nine years out. That figure translates to an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually and an incalculable toll of suffering.
• Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income while covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Many will find such policies beyond what they can afford or, if they do buy them, too expensive to use because of the high co-pays and deductibles.
• Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power and, with it, their ability to block future reform.
• The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals, threatening the care of the tens of millions who will remain uninsured.
• People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan’s limited network of providers, face ever-rising costs and the erosion of their health benefits. Many, even most, will eventually face steep taxes on their benefits as the cost of insurance grows.
• Health care costs will continue to skyrocket, as the experience with the Massachusetts plan (after which this bill is patterned) amply demonstrates.
• The much-vaunted insurance regulations – e.g. ending denials on the basis of pre-existing conditions – are riddled with loopholes, thanks to the central role that insurers played in crafting the legislation. Older people can be charged up to three times more than their younger counterparts, and large companies with a predominantly female workforce can be charged higher gender-biased rates at least until 2017.
• Women’s reproductive rights will be further eroded, thanks to the burdensome segregation of insurance funds for abortion and for all other medical services.

Finally, I should add that this deficit reduction committee has released its final report. It seems to me that if we want to gut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, this is a great start. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t make some sacrifices in trying to reduce our debt. I think that’s reasonable. On the other hand, like my mother has said time and time again, “don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” There is a better way. There is a way to grow ourselves out of debt. Manage our expenses and rebuild our economy. Invest in America.

Tags: Budget, Healthcare by ecthompson md
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