Barry : Glad you are back among the living again. Too bad the reason is what it is, but months ago I gave up hope that anything I might say would make one iota of difference as far as the health care bill goes. Public opinion, at least according to one poll I have seen is about 48 % against, approximately 40% in favor. Therefore we got it anyway. For me the tragedy is that a good health care bill would have had me cheering at the outcome. This one isn't all bad, but, damn, it is so flawed that it is an embarrassment. One reason I'm a Radical Centrist. This time I think the Dems deserve most of the blame, but the GOP was hardly "all good" in the matter, either. As per usual we get shafted from both directions. We need a new political party. Billy ======================================================== In a message dated 3/22/2010 2:02:34 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
After 4 weeks of having my left arm in a cast due to me falling off a ladder and breaking my wrist, I cannot stand it any more. Finally regained the use of my fingers enough to get back into the fray and boy, there are things I have wanted to say for the past weeks!! Healthcare..... Here is my take in a letter to the RG, EW..... Even before retiring to bed Sunday night I knew I would have nightmares. The passage of the healthcare reform bill is not a wonderful dream come to fruition but a dark time for the future of all Americans. Another 1Billion added to the already monstrous debt accrued under Obama, no meaningful reform of the true villain, the insurance companies (and the AMA) and most heinous of all, the requirement which forces everyone, under penalty of some kind of punishment to buy health insurance. Supporters claim it’s no different than auto insurance requirements, I say phooey on you. Your health cannot be compared to driving a car, one is an absolute necessity, the other a tolerated privilege. There is, buried in the over 1000 pages of the bill a provision called a "hardship waiver" for those who really cannot afford the legal requirements, no mention however of how many hoops one must jump through to get that coveted waiver. As one currently unemployed and collecting unemployment until it runs out at the end of the year, how do I get coverage? No mention in the bill about this. Will they tax my benefits to pay for healthcare, along with the IRS who takes from my unemployment check each week? Will I have to become homeless to get healthcare? Too many questions and not enough answers. I am very afraid. The new motto of the Wellness Police will be "To sleep, sleep and dream the dreams of kings, as long as your policy is up to date and legal." Just one mans opinion. Glad to be back.....sort of. Barry > Ernie: > Token "socialist," yes, but a Saint-Simonian not a Marxist ( "neo" or > anything else ). > Saint-Simonianism refers to what might better be called > Capitalist-Socialist, > a hybrid system that seeks public good through a blend of private > enterprise > and elected officials who take their responsibilities for the people they > represent seriously ( objectively ) rather than ideologically. > > But about the current bill, to be candid about it, it seems to me to be > excessively > partisan. Do we need health care reform ? We have needed it since the era > of FDR. > But it would have been far better to seek market solutions as much as > possible > instead of essentially as Democratic concessions to the GOP. Such as > creating > competition among insurance companies by allowing choice of health plans > across state lines. This seems so totally obvious that it boggles the > mind > that it wasn't done. But where was discussion on the objective merits ? > The Democrats didn't seem able to do any such thing because > of their mindset. > > This said, a public option was also called for, which I have always > regarded as > absolutely necessary, and about that the Democrats fought each other > to such an extent that it became impossible given Republican > opposition. That opposition struck me as utterly perverse. > > Bottom line, along the way I became so disgusted with the whole process > that I eventually tuned it out almost completely since whatever came of > the debate > it would be capitulation to special interests , little conservative > input, and > what you'd expect from lawyers. > > And what the hell do student loans have to do with health care ? > > Is the bill better than nothing ? I suppose so, but is that the best > that > could be done ? > What a joke and what an insult to the whole country. But you'd never know > it > from media accounts which, true to form, are praising the result as > salvific. > > We got a compromise .A bad compromise at that. Essentially Congress makes > me sick > --for which the health care bill provides no remedy. > > Billy > > ======================================================= > > In a message dated 3/22/2010 10:01:45 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > > I tend to agree that whatever its political significance, the current > bill > is a non-event in terms of truly transforming health care delivery. We > can only hope that whatever happens will encourage rather than discourage > innovation. > Billy, you're our token socialist -- what do you think of the bill? > > > -- Ernie P. > > > > > > > > > > Health Care Reform Passes--Now Let's Start Health Care Innovation > Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on March 22, 2010 > To the surprise of many, Congress passed legislation this weekend that > extended US healthcare to nearly everyone in the country. Bravo. The US > joins > the 19th century. The next trick is to try actual innovation in health > care > that lowers costs and increases the healthcare experience for Americans. > There is almost nothing in the bill passed that does that. > The _US already spends far more on healthcare innovation than any other > country_ (http://innovationandgrowth.wordpress.com/category/health/) . But > government healthcare R&D has gone into life sciences that haven’t paid > off > (genome) or advanced medical procedures that are extremely expensive and > help extremely few people. In terms of longevity, the US lags Europe and > Asia. > US healthcare needs platform innovation that uses social media to connect > people to the medical system in new, cheaper, more personal and more > productive ways. _Hello Health is one way to go._ > (http://hellohealth.com/patient/) It’s founder, _Dr. Jay Parkinson_ > (http://jayparkinsonmd.com/) , has > just launched_ The Future Well_ (http://thefuturewell.com/) , a design > consultancy that promises to extend the new social media model for > wellbeing > across the country. > US healthcare also needs the kind of demassing and decentralization that > design and innovation consultants can provide. _Memorial Sloan- > Kettering > (MSK) did workshops with students at the Parsons School for Design to > come > up with small, inexpensive, neighborhood chemo centers _ > (http://www.interiordesign.net/article/CA6714455.html) and it just > completed the first in > Brooklyn. > The _Mayo Clinic is innovating broadly_ > (http://centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/transform/2009/index.html) in health > care. > _Clayton Christensen has a great book on The Innovator’s Prescription_ > (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071592083?ie=UTF8&tag=claytonchrist-20&linkCo > de=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0071592083) that calls for > disruptive innovation in healthcare based on new business models. This is > a > very important book. > Now that the US has extended healthcare to all its citizens, the next > step > is to cut costs and improve outcomes and experiences by harnessing the > best thinking of designers and innovators. Most of the concepts and tools > are > already at hand. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Centroids mailing list: [email protected] > http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com > Archives at http://radicalcent > rism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Centroids mailing list: [email protected] > http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com > Archives at > http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/ _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected] http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com Archives at http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/
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