"The prospect of millions of new customers has been a major enticement for other industry players as well. Drug manufacturers, suffering declining profits as consumers switch to cheaper generic medications, have put money and lobbying muscle behind universal coverage, expecting that the newly insured will become new Healthcare industry customers."
Is that how the MSM is presenting the thing to you?
"Obama praises healthcare industry on cuts; Some question usefulness of promise" by Erica Werner, Associated Press | May 12, 2009
WASHINGTON - Several lawmakers made clear that the industry proposal would do nothing to stave off the outcome health insurers and others are trying to avoid - a new government insurance plan that would be available to middle-income Americans. Health insurers say such a plan would drive them out of business.
GOOD!
Watch: Sicko
Of course, that is not what we are getting at all, so the insurers are once again exposed as outright liars.
See: Return of the HMOs
What Your National Health Plan Will Look Like
Significant changes in the way hospitals and doctors are paid also may be necessary, said Dr. Mark McClellan, an economist who ran Medicare and the Food and Drug Administration for President George W. Bush.
See: How You Will Pay For Your Medicine
Also see: The MSM Buries McClellan
Where in the MSM World is Scott McClellan?
That's his brother, readers.
He noted, for instance, that past attempts to restrain Medicare payments haven't worked in part because they force doctors to cycle more patients through their office to make up for the declining revenue. He said a system that ties payment more to quality, rather than quantity, must be developed.
Harvard economist David Cutler said trillions of dollars in savings are possible over the next couple of decades. Medical mistakes - which can range widely from infections developed in hospitals to improper prescriptions - can cost as much as $100 billion a year. A lack of preventive medicine and poor care coordination also can drive up costs by leading to patients who need more extensive care.
And here is who you can thank for the new gouging.
"This is an extraordinary moment of opportunity for real reform in healthcare," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is helping lead the healthcare effort in Congress.Yeah, well, we now whom he works for now.
Related: Kennedy Comfortably in the Hands of Health Corporations
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You couldn't hold a candle to your brothers, Ted.
So get ready for your Ted Kennedy Memorial Healthcare Bill....
"The man at the center; A year ago, when Kennedy was rushed to MGH by helicopter, time and hope seemed fleeting. But he has rallied remarkably, reserving his energies for one last fight. He is, again . . ." by Susan Milligan and Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | May 10, 2009
WASHINGTON - A career-capping piece of legislation.
Kennedy himself has furthered that idea, portraying universal healthcare as "the cause of my life" and the ongoing legislative fight as his last battle.
And you wouldn't want to deny a dying man his final wish, would you, Amurka?
"He's impatient. He wants to get this done. He's pushing people, he's pushing the process. He's not sitting around worrying about himself," said Senator John Kerry, Kennedy's Bay State colleague. "He understands this is the moment. He has to do it while the stars are aligned to do it."
Impatience is never a good reason for anything.
Think Patriot Act, Iraq, telecom immunity, bank bailouts, etc, etc.
"You hate to say it," added Dr. Barry Zuckerman, head of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and an ally of Kennedy's on children's health issues. "But it's almost as if he's sacrificing himself."
For the INSURANCE COMPANIES, not YOU, American!
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And if you don't believe globalists are getting better care than the rest of us, well....
Still, many colleagues doubted he would make it back to Washington. The average survival time for a patient with his type of tumor is about a year even with surgery and radiation, said Dr. Deepa Subramaniam, director of the Brain Tumor Center at Georgetown University's cancer center. Further, Kennedy's age put him at a disadvantage.
And yet, HERE HE IS -- and apparently DOING WELL!
Still, Kennedy has shown signs of picking up his pace....
What? I'm suspicious. Fossils like David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger roll on, Magic Johnson doesn't contract AIDS, and now Ted is doing pretty good?
So what life-saving technologies and transplants are the elite accessing and hiding from us?
On the Hill, senators are more optimistic about Kennedy's condition.
How much more do you need?
No one asks him about the cancer, and Kennedy rarely references it - though Kerry said Kennedy joked about his weakness in throwing out the first pitch on opening day at Fenway Park last month. Once "people were walking on eggshells when they saw him," said Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska. But now, "people treat him in a normal way."
No longer a dead man walking?
Mikulski and the others who talk with Kennedy describe him as upbeat - she and Kennedy have a running joke that "neither one of us ever met a calorie we didn't like" - and focused on his legislation.
"He has such verve," she said. "Even when he's got his own struggles with chemotherapy, he's always got the jokes and the juice to keep us going . . . We talk about the power of now - how do we use 'now' to get the job done?"More crisis and fear used to sell the agenda!
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Also see: Health Reform to Live or Die With Ted Kennedy
