Related: MSM Monitor Going Through Menopause
Glaxo's Ghostwriters
Now meet the doctors who signed whatever was placed in front of them (for a buck):
"MGH parent curbs fees to staff from drug makers" By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | January 3, 2010
High-ranking physicians and executives at Partners HealthCare, which includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals, can no longer receive stock or unlimited fees for sitting on the boards of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, under new rules that took effect Friday.
See: The Massachusetts Model: Padding Insurer Profits
Partners estimates that the policy affects roughly 25 vice presidents, clinical department heads, and other top executives who are directors for some of the nation’s leading drug companies. The rules limit their pay to $500 an hour, or $5,000 for a typical 10-hour day attending a board meeting; the rules ban executives and high-level physicians outright from taking company stock as compensation.
NICE HOURLY WAGE that COULD be spent on ACTUAL CARE, huh, Bay-Stater?
The new limits at Partners underscore just how intertwined academic medical centers and pharmaceutical companies have become.
Yeah, so much so that the COMPANIES WRITE the REPORTS and the docs sign 'em!
They are part of a national push by state regulators, Congress, and hospitals themselves to make these relationships more transparent, and to counter industry’s influence over the drugs and treatments doctors prescribe. Mass. General and Harvard Medical School, with which the hospital is affiliated, are among dozens of institutions and organizations nationally that have come under scrutiny from congressional investigators over their relationships with pharmaceutical companies....
Yeah, as the same politicians read industry talking points.
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Like the one this guy is reading from:
Dr. Dennis Ausiello, Partners chief scientific officer and also a member of the
Diagnosis? SHAME, readers!
He said every drug company has one or two physicians on its board.
Maybe that is PART of the PROBLEM, 'eh?
Related: Drug-Addicted Doctors
They just SIGN the REPORTS, huh?
As cochair of the science and technology committee, he reviews drugs Pfizer is considering developing and helps the company evaluate whether they could help patients. Ausiello said he does not know any doctors who sit on company boards for monetary gain. “These rules are largely about perception,’’ he said.
Isn't everything?
And this is perceived by my nose as a STINK!!
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Also see: The Boston Globe's Ghostwriters
So how much healthcare would $700,000 dollars buy the kid?
"State seeks better student health care; Considers revision of college plans" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | December 3, 2009
The issue has taken on urgency after a division report last month revealed that insurance companies are racking up much higher profits on health coverage sold to nearly 100,000 Massachusetts college students than on plans available to the general public....
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Student Shakedown
You sure you want our plan as a model, America?
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On average, 30 cents of every premium dollar goes toward profits and administrative costs, compared with 12 cents for plans sold to the general public....
Woah, woah, woah!! NO WONDER COSTS are SO HIGH HERE!
Students attending state schools face the greatest disparity: 45 cents of every insurance dollar they pay goes to profit and administrative costs, according to the state’s data.
Meanwhile, Medicare and Social Security are about 3% overhead.
Although students are free to buy more expensive policies, many are covered by plans that cap payments at $50,000 a year per injury or illness, leaving them vulnerable to enormous medical debts.
But we CARE ABOUT our KIDS!!!!
See why I am a BIG SINGLE-PAYER PROPONENT?!!!
Some plans place even lower limits on prescription drugs and doctor visits....
You know, between the debt-driving student loans and this, you would think the KIDS are there so OTHERS can PROFIT at THEIR EXPENSE!!
It is NEVER REALLY about the KIDS, is it, America?
That is just a SAW they use to SELL YOU something you would NEVER WANT OTHERWISE in a million years!
Most of those students attended schools that purchase insurance from either Nationwide or
Gee, and I heard Nationwide was on YOUR SIDE!!!
Aetna spokesman Brian St. Hilaire said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that the company works “closely with our college and university partners to customize plans that meet the health and financial needs of students.’’ He said Aetna looks forward to working with the state, schools, and students to ensure continued access to “high-quality, affordable health care.’’
A paragraph of double-talking gibberish is enough, thank you.
Nationwide spokeswoman Liz Christopher said by e-mail that the company provides “valuable coverage to students in Massachusetts,’’ and that it is “always working to reduce administrative expenses in order to provide better value and increased medical coverage.’’
Another one.
Both companies said their profit margins and administrative costs were comparable to others in the Massachusetts student health insurance market.
Yeah, they are just price-gouging like everyone else, so what's the big deal, 'eh?
