2009 Healthcare

Let's Beat the BlueDogs - and Blanche Lincoln

Bob Fertik — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:41:59 -0500

I don't know about you, but I've had it with "BlueDog" Democrats.

They claim to be "fiscal conservatives," but they voted for George Bush's trillion-dollar tax cuts for the rich, which turned President Clinton's $6 trillion projected surplus into Bush's $5 trillion added debt.

They voted for Bush's trillion-dollar invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and spend billions more every month getting our soldiers killed to protect dictators.

And now they're blocking healthcare reform that would save billions for taxpayers and patients.

We need to run progressive challengers against them in Democratic primaries. Help us get started with small contributions to three great candidates:
http://www.actblue.com/page/democratscom

The BlueDogs aren't just bad on taxes, wars and healthcare. They want to outlaw abortions. They support torture and warrantless wiretapping. They oppose every plan to reduce global warming.

They're not "conservatives" - they're tools of big business, secret government, and the religious right.

What can we do? Beat them in Democratic primaries.

In 2008, Donna Edwards (MD-4) beat Al Wynn and is now a rising progressive star in Congress. In 2006, Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary and would have won the general if Lieberman hadn't lied about supporting healthcare reform.

When we have great progressive candidates, we can win!
http://www.actblue.com/page/democratscom

We're thrilled to have three great progressives in primaries:

* CA36 (Los Angeles): Marcy Winograd is re-challenging BlueDog Jane Harman. Marcy is a dynamic leader of the peace and justice movement. In 2006, Marcy got 38% on a shoestring. This time, she already has great TV ads.

* GA12 (Savannah/Augusta): Last week, Regina Thomas decided to re-challenge BlueDog John Barrow. Barrow won in 2008 by promising to support Barack Obama, who made powerful radio ads for Barrow. But Barrow betrayed Obama in Congress and Georgia voters are flocking to Regina's campaign.

* NY-Senate: When Hillary Clinton left the Senate, Gov. Paterson chose little-known Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a centrist from upstate NY, to replace her. Jonathan Tasini is a brilliant leader who has devoted his life to progressive causes and would truly change the Senate.

Please support Marcy, Regina, and Jonathan here:
http://www.actblue.com/page/democratscom

We'd like to support primary challengers against every BlueDog in the House and Senate, but we can't find candidates. If you can recommend a good candidate to beat a BlueDog, please tell us now by posting a comment. Time is running short!
http://democrats.com/lets-beat-the-bluedogs

We especially want to challenge Senator Blanche Lincoln, who is working night and day to kill the public option. She might even join the Republican filibuster to block ANY Senate debate or vote. That would devastate 473,000 Arkansans who would get healthcare under the House bill. She's betraying her own voters - and the entire nation.

So we're looking for a great candidate to run against her. Help us find one by joining our new Facebook group and posting your suggestions:
http://primaryblanche.com

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

Billionaires for Wealthcare

Mike Stark — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:42:11 -0500

The Billionaires for Wealthcare showed up; I followed them around for a couple of hours.

These folks have always made me laugh. Their shtick is creative and fun. What I hadn't thought about is how dicey (meaning borderline - or actually - dangerous) their work can be. In fact, when they finally broke character and went home for the day, I spoke with one of the troupe. He told me that at one of their outtings, he watched one of his performers take a punch to the face.

I put this video together to show you what it can be like in the lion's den...

As most of you probably know, yesterday Representatives Michele Bachmann, Steve King and the rest of the Republican caucus, along with Mark Levin and several other conservative celebrities rallied their base against healthcare reform on the Capitol steps. The Billionaires for Wealthcare showed up; I followed them around for a couple of hours. These folks have always made me laugh. Their shtick is creative and fun. what I hadn't thought about is how dicey (meaning borderline - or actually - dangerous) their work can be. In fact, when they finally broke character and went home for the day, I spoke with one of the troupe. He told me that at one of their outtings, he watched one of his performers take a punch to the face. I put this video together to show you what it can be like in the lion's den...

2010 Looms: Democrats Crash and Burn in Virginia and New Jersey

dlindorff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:58:27 -0500

By Dave Lindorff

It would be easy to read too much into the few statewide races that
were decided last night, but I think it’s fair to say that the results
in New Jersey and Virginia, where Republican gubernatorial candidates
won--in New Jersey’s case knocking off a well-funded Democratic
incumbent--that the results were a blow to the Barack Obama/Rahm
Emanuel strategy of playing to the right, of avoiding confrontation in
Congress and of ignoring the progressive voters whose enthusiasm and
effort back in the 2008 campaign put Obama in office.

Exit polls showed that many Obama voters sat out this election in
New Jersey and Virginia, with turnout low in both races. In part that
was because of local conditions, of course. In Virginia, Democrat R.
Creigh Deeds ran as a conservative, and was attacked by the Republican
candidate, former state attorney general Robert McDonnell, as a
tax-happy liberal. With liberal voters in Virginia unenthusiastic about
Deeds, and Republicans revved up, the loss was a foregone conclusion,
even with Obama making two visits to campaign for Deeds, and with the
national Democratic Party pumping in $6 million in campaign funding.

In New Jersey, incumbent Democrat John Corzine was wildly unpopular
for raising taxes, so that even with Democrats holding an almost 2:1
registration advantage in the state (half of all voters are
unaffiliated), he too had no enthusiastic backing from his former base.
No amount of money poured in by the former Goldman Sachs chief
executive could overcome the negative views of his record as governor.

But despite the lackluster candidates in both Virginia and New
Jersey, I think it’s safe to say that there was also clear evidence
that the losses, and the margins of the losses—huge in Virginia’s case,
and significant in normally safely Democratic New Jersey—provide
evidence that the Obama presidency, and the prevailing Democratic
strategy of minimalist legislative initiatives on health care reform,
global warming etc., expanded and unending war in Afghanistan, support
for Wall Street and neglect of the one-in-five Americans who are
unemployed or underemployed, are a political disaster in the making for
Democrats in general and Obama in particular.

The president came into office on a wave of populist enthusiasm and
high expectations for the “change” candidate Obama promised. No change
has been forthcoming now for over nine months, and with the president
now past the first-year anniversary of his historic election victory,
the latest election results suggest that his presidency could already
be headed for the rocks.

2010 is an election year that will see all seats in the House, and
a third of the seats in the Senate up for grabs. Typically, a
president’s party loses seats in that election even when things are
going well. When things are not going well, the losses can be
significant.

Obama had a chance, coming into Washington after a big rout of
Republicans last year, to set out an agenda of major progressive
change. He could have called for expanding Medicare to cover all
Americans. Instead he handed health reform over to Congress and
immediately put out the word that he was open to compromise with
Republicans, thus dooming reform from the outset. He could have
announced a thorough review of America’s two wars, and then set in
motion a withdrawal form both Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead he dithered
on Iraq, and added troops in Afghanistan, assuring that both these
disasters inherited from the Bush/Cheney administration became his own
disasters, which will now drag on through his whole term. He could have
declared a global climate emergency, and announced a job-creating crash
program to develop renewable energy in the US and to make the US a
leader in renewable energy R&D. Instead, he did almost nothing in
this critical area. As for the economic crisis, he could have taken a
progressive stand against the abuses of Wall Street, ordered a criminal
investigation of the banking class, broken up the big banks and
established a new regulatory system to put an end to the era of casino
capitalism. Instead, he put the bankers in charge of Treasury and
poured trillions of dollars into the largest banks, allowing them to
grow even bigger and more predatory.

Voters, their collective assets shrunken over the year by $14
trillion, understandably are left wondering how, aside from better
verbal skills, this president differs from the last one. As for the
Democratic Congress, with Democrats pretending that nothing can be done
unless they have not just 60 seats in Congress, but perhaps 70 or 75
(enough to be able to survive the inevitable defection of conservative
members of the party), they can’t do anything of consequence—a claim
that only is true if, as is the case, the party’s leadership and the
president are unwilling to punish those who break rank.

If Democratic and progressive independent voters feel the same way
about Obama and the Democratic Congress next fall, it will be curtains
for the Democrats and for Obama’s presidency, such as it is.

And you know what? It won’t matter much if that happens, because
what we’re seeing is that having Obama in the White House, and
Democrats “in control” of Congress doesn’t get you much in the way of
progressive change.
___________

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. His latest
book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). His work
is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

Medicaid is NOT Medicare.

elpme — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:48:59 -0500

Congress thinks we're too stupid and the issue too complicated to convey to the public - so that no one will know the difference if they offer the uninsured Medicaid or Medicare.

The House HealthCare Reform Bill recently delivered by Nancy Pelosi, included a proposal to expand Medicaid to enroll an additional 20,000 recipients. The Senate is poised to put this in the combined bill, as a means to reach universal coverage. But no one has exposed that Medicaid is in shambles, costs the feds and the states billions...

AND

Medicaid is almost completely run(RIGHT NOW) by Private health insurance companies through out the US. No one has exposed that these Medicaid Managed Care plans (subsidiaries of the major health plans) do not now have the infrastructure to provide care for the Medicaid enrollees they already have. By expanding Medicaid and enrolling (through a mandatory program) an additional 20,000 recipients - taxpayers will be paying PRIVATE health insurance companies to provide the worst health insurance available in the US!!!

The deal is: The public at large doesn't know the difference between MEDICAID and MEDICARE!!!!!

MEDICARE for all YAAA!!!! It's what Grandma has. It pays for her health care no matter what she needs. And it's paid for by Everyone who works. It comes out of the Social Security tax we pay on every dollar we make - we pay it so we will be guaranteed healthcare insurance when we reach 65. It's not an entitlement - WE PAID FOR IT.

But MEDICAID for all? AAH!!!! NO WAY!!! Medicaid is NOT Medicare. It's what people on Welfare get. It's paid for by the Federal government and the States, through many kinds of taxes. It is under-funded and doctors hardly ever accept it - because the reimbursement rates are so low - no private doctor could earn a living on Medicaid patients - even the doctors who aren't greedy. The only doctors who accept Medicaid are usually those who have no other choice - the worst of the worst.

But Congress is Banking that the Public doesn't know the difference between MEDICAID and MEDICARE and thus will think that giving 20,000 uninsured Americans MediCAID is a good thing. The public will think "What's the difference?" They won't object.

Everyone Needs to Know: MediCAID is a Scam; and it's run by the PRIVATE Health Insurance Industry!!!

Medicaid was privatized in the 90ies - when Clinton (thru HCFS - Bruce Vladik) issued 1915b waivers to states. These waivers allowed states to strip the freedom of choice clause out of Medicaid regulations - thus permitting mandatory enrollment of all Medicaid recipients into PRIVATE health plans.

i.e. Medicaid recipients can be asigned a health plan and a doctor. If the bill that emerges from Congress does not alter Medicaid significantly, 20,000 new recipients will be forced into Private Medicaid health plans arbitraily.

In the 90ies the private health insurance plans lined up to get State contracts to administer Medicaid, vowing to reduce costs - by using their clout to negotiate capitated rates with providers. It all seemed sooo good... Imagine: Medicaid recipients with Blue Cross insurance? Whoopi!!! Until providers started pulling out.

Doctors and hospitals refused to accept very low rates, the health insurance companies offered them to care for their Medicaid recipients. The Poor Private plans just had to set up Medicaid only groups, so that their angry providers would not be obliged to take care of Medicaid recipients. The only hitch was the Plans didn't have other networks of providers: doctors, clinics or hospitals, to cover the recipients they had already enrolled.

But - lucky for them - it didn't matter much, since Medicaid recipients either didn't use the health plans they were assigned to - or they didn't seek care at all. And what's more - they don't vote. When the plans reported to the State's DOI and DOH they used fabricated provider networks and submitted thousands of fraudulent claims. And no one noticed and no one complained that taxpayers are paying these health plans billions for NOTHING.

The message that needs to get out - Medicaid is NOT the answer. Medicare would be - but Medicaid isn't. Congress must not vote to enroll the uninsured into Medicaid.

Ask Congress if they would be willing to accept the same health benefits they are about to give to the uninsured through Medicaid. No member of Congress would be willing to enroll in Medicaid as it is now. If they don't fix it, it will be a disaster. And those who are forced to enroll in Medicaid - this lower to middle class group of uninsured - won't be happy with the results. And they vote.

In other words - if the Congress proceeds to vote on an expansion of the existing Medicaid program - run by Private insurance companies - they will be creating a huge outcry from the masses who will find out that there are no providers or only bottom-feeding providers giving care. There will be no glory - no one will be glad to take credit for this disaster. And only Democrats will be to blame.

Please HELP communicate this to All. The President and the Democratic Party should not accept this proposal. It is also the worst move they could make. If anyone is truly concerned about getting heath care to more uninsured - enroll them into Medicare. The only winners will be the Republicans and the Health Insurance Industry.

My information comes from personal involvement in the Medicaid Managed Care switch-over: through working with HCFA - creating PSAs to get their message out; through working on my own account and with the Mayor's Office of Managed Care in NYC, running health fairs; through working for CarePlus - one of the contracted plans in NYC; and through working on database management for the Medicaid Managed Care industry Nationally.

Pelosi Must Let States Create Single Payer Plans

Bob Fertik — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:23:17 -0400

When Speaker Pelosi announced her "floor version" of the healthcare bill on Thursday, she made a critical mistake: she removed the "State Single Payer" amendment proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

The "Kucinich Amendment" passed the House Education & Labor Committee on July 17 by a rare bi-partisan 27-19 vote.

States should be free to create the best possible healthcare plans for their residents. If Congress gives States the right to "opt-in" or "opt-out" of a national "public option," it must also give States the right to "opt-in" to a State Single Payer plan.

Tell Congress the "Kucinich Amendment" must be included in a "Managers Amendment" to H.R. 3962 immediately. Pelosi will decide on Monday.
http://democrats.com/state-single-payer

The "public options" currently before the House and Senate are both grossly inadequate. Even with the stronger House plan, CBO predicts only 2% of Americans - 6 million people - will join by 2019.

This small program will not create real competition for private insurance monopolies and therefore will not reduce costs for individuals, businesses, or the government. Instead, costs will continue to skyrocket until no one can afford healthcare.

Tell Congress the "Kucinich Amendment" must be included in a "Managers Amendment" to H.R. 3962 immediately. Pelosi will decide on Monday.
http://democrats.com/state-single-payer

The only way to reduce skyrocketing costs is through a Single Payer plan. Activists in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania want to enact State Single Payer plans, but cannot do so under current law.

The Kucinich amendment would grant a waiver of the application of ERISA to a State Single Payer Plan.

Tell Congress the "Kucinich Amendment" must be included in a "Managers Amendment" to H.R. 3962 immediately. Pelosi will decide on Monday.
http://democrats.com/state-single-payer

Thanks for all you do!

URGENT: We Need 4 House Votes for a Robust Public Option

Bob Fertik — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:38:50 -0400

Capitol Hill sources tell me we're very close to a 218-vote majority for a robust public option, but we're still 4 votes short. Call/fax/tweet everyone below with this message:

The only way to reduce healthcare costs and make healthcare affordable for America's working families is to pass a robust public option based on Medicare+5%. Will you stand with the overwhelming majority of Democrats in supporting Medicare+5%?

Please post their replies in the comments below. Thanks!!

last	first	dist	phone-dc	fax-dc	twitter
Adler	John	NJ03	202-225-4765	202-225-4765
Altmire	Jason	PA04	202-225-2565	202-225-2565
Baird	Brian	WA03	202-225-3536	202-225-3536
Barrow	John	GA12	202-225-2823	202-225-2823	repjohnbarrow
Bean	Melissa	IL08	202-225-3711	202-225-3711
Berry	Marion	AR01	202-225-4076	202-225-4076
Boren	Dan	OK02	202-225-2701	202-225-2701
Boucher	Rick	VA09	202-225-3861	202-225-3861
Bright	Bobby	AL02	202-225-2901	202-225-2901
Cardoza	Dennis	CA18	202-225-6131	202-225-6131
Chandler	Ben	KY06	202-225-4706	202-225-4706
Childers	Travis	MS01	202-225-4306	202-225-4306
Cooper	Jim	TN05	202-225-4311	202-225-4311
Costa	Jim	CA20	202-225-3341	202-225-3341
Dahlkemper	Kathy	PA03	202-225-5406	202-225-5406
Davis	Lincoln	TN04	202-225-6831	202-225-6831
Donnelly	Joe	IN02	202-225-3915	202-225-3915
Giffords	Gabrielle	AZ08	202-225-2542	202-225-2542	Rep_Giffords
Gordon	Bart	TN06	202-225-4231	202-225-4231	RepBartGordon
Griffith	Parker	AL05	202-225-4801	202-225-4801
Herseth Sandlin	Stephanie	SD00	202-225-2801	202-225-2801
Hill	Baron	IN09	202-225-5315	202-225-5315
Holden	Tim	PA17	202-225-5546	202-225-5546
Kagen	Steve	WI08	202-225-5665	202-225-5665
Kirkpatrick	Ann	AZ01	202-225-2315	202-225-2315
Klein	Ron	FL22	202-225-3026	202-225-3026
Kratovil	Frank	MD01	202-225-5311	202-225-5311
Lipinski	Daniel	IL03	202-225-5701	202-225-5701
Maffei	Dan	NY25	202-225-3701	202-225-3701
Markey	Betsy	CO04	202-225-4676	202-225-4676	MarkeyMemo
Marshall	Jim	GA08	202-225-6531	202-225-6531
Matheson	Jim	UT02	202-225-3011	202-225-3011	RepJimMatheson
McIntyre	Mike	NC07	202-225-2731	202-225-2731
McMahon	Michael	NY13	202-225-3371	202-225-3371
Melancon	Charlie	LA03	202-225-4031	202-225-4031
Michaud	Michael	ME02	202-225-6306	202-225-6306	RepMikeMichaud
Minnick	Walt	ID01	202-225-6611	202-225-6611
Mitchell	Harry	AZ05	202-225-2190	202-225-2190	HarryEMitchell
Murphy	Steve	NY20	202-225-5614	202-225-5614
Nye	Glenn	VA02	202-225-4215	202-225-4215	GlennNye
Peterson	Collin	MN07	202-225-2165	202-225-2165
Pomeroy	Earl	ND00	202-225-2611	202-225-2611
Ross	Mike	AR04	202-225-3772	202-225-3772	RepMikeRoss
Shuler	Heath	NC11	202-225-6401	202-225-6401
Skelton	Ike	MO04	202-225-2876	202-225-2876
Space	Zachary	OH18	202-225-6265	202-225-6265
Stupak	Bart	MI01	202-225-4735	202-225-4735
Tanner	John	TN08	202-225-4714	202-225-4714
Taylor	Gene	MS04	202-225-5772	202-225-5772
Teague	Harry	NM02	202-225-2365	202-225-2365

Robust Public Option

Bob Fertik — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:07:06 -0400

On Monday, Harry Reid dramatically announced he would include a "public option" in the Senate healthcare bill. But progressives won't settle for just any old "public option." Here are the minimum requirements for a robust public option that progressives can support:

based on Medicare rates (Medicare+5%), not rates negotiated with providers (which would delay implementation for several years)
nation-wide, with no state opt-outs until several years have passed
administered by Medicare, not a for-profit insurance company
available in 2010, not 2013
negotiated discounts for newer brand-name drugs and full coverage of older generics

San Francisco General Hospital will not accept private insurance....

dan3mike — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:38:08 -0400

San Francisco General Hospital does not accept private insurance. It is the only public hospital that does not accept private insurance in the general area. This could prove to be a thorn in the side for those public figures championing for health insurance. I have written Mayor Gavin Newsom, asking why he would want all San Franciscans insured when the largest general hospital in the city will not accept private insurance.....no answer. Ditto for Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and local ABC news. Maybe someone here could get the ball rolling. Make them put the money where their mouth is!!

The Democrats: Really, You Just Gotta Laugh

dlindorff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:46:07 -0400

By Dave Lindorff

The Democrats in Congress, and their main man Barack Obama in the
White House, have taken tens of millions in legal bribes from the
health insurance industry over the past year, and have obligingly been
hammering out in Congress a health “reform” bill that, instead of
helping people, has been designed to help the insurance industry.

They started out by immediately blackballing any discussion of real
health reform in the form of an expansion of Medicare to cover everyone
of every age, which of course would have ended the problem of the
uninsured, while cutting the nation’s overall health bill by at least a
third, but in the process shutting down the private health insurance
business.

Then they chipped away and are at this point on the verge of
eliminating any so-called “public option” or government-run health
insurance plan to even compete with the private insurance sector.

Finally, in a move as breathtakingly accommodating of the insurance
industry as was the multi-trillion-dollar bailout financial bailout of
Wall Street’s biggest banks, they proposed to require (on pain of a
$3800 fine by the IRS) to require everyone in America to buy a health
insurance plan from the private sector—a gift to the industry of some
40-50 million new captive customers.

But a combination of public outrage at this forced program of
compulsory insurance and recognition that the inevitable government
subsidy of low-income insurance buyers would be humongous has led
Congress to backtrack, and start backing away from the mandatory aspect
of this plan.

And now the private insurance industry, not satisfied that it has
managed to practically dictate the terms of the health reform
legislation so far, and angry that it might not get those 40-50 million
new forced customers, is reportedly threatening to turn around and
knife the president and the Democratic Congress in the back,

They’re threatening to (gasp!) start running attack ads on the “reform” legislation.

Remember the old “Harry and Louise” ads the industry ran attacking
Hillary and Bill Clinton’s health reform proposal back in the early
1990s? Well, this time, it’ll be Harry and Louise attacking ObamaCare.

I can see it now. America’s Health Insurance Plans, the lobby for
the insurance industry vultures, will set up some nice-sounding front
group with a name like People for a Healthier America, and they’ll fund
a new ad campaign like this:

Harry will be sitting at the breakfast table, reading the local
paper. He’ll look up from his coffee as Louise is puttering around by
the sink.

“This ObamaCare looks like it’s gonna drive up our insurance premiums, hon.”

“What do you mean Harry?”

“Well it says here that they’re not going to force the poor
folks to buy insurance, so most of ‘em will probably wait until they
get sick and then buy it.”

“Well what’s wrong with that, dear?”

“Nothin’ ‘cept that the law would also prohibit the insurance
companies from charging those sick folks higher premiums when they do
finally come in to buy insurance.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be unfair to charge them more, when they need it?”

“It might seem that way Louise, but if the insurance company
has to take a loss on them, they’re going to make it up by charging us
good folks who have insurance more.”

“Oh my god, Harry! We’re already paying $6,000 a year for our insurance. What will our premiums go up to?

“Says here they could go up by another $1000 a year!”

Announcer: Don’t let Congress make you pay for the uninsured.
Call your Senators and Representatives and the White House, and tell
them to demand that every American be required to buy insurance
immediately! This announcement is brought to you by People for a
Healthier America.

It’s funny really, to see Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), the biggest
recipient in Congress of insurance industry money, who has spent the
last few months working hand-in-glove with the insurance industry
lobbyists to craft a bill to their liking, suddenly accusing his
erstwhile financiers of doing a “hatchet job” on his bill. Actually,
his bill has been a hatchet job itself on the whole concept of health
care reform.

All of this, of course, was entirely predictable. Like HillaryCare
before it, ObamaCare has been doomed from the start by its
unwillingness to address the basic issue behind America’s twin crisis
of health care: lack of access for those with lower incomes, and
absurdly high cost for everyone.

What makes it all so pathetic is that America already has
an excellent model for delivering quality health care: a single-payer
system called Medicare. Everyone in America gets this program, just
like in Canada, Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan and elsewhere. The only
difference is that in those other countries, people get it from the day
they’re born. In America, you have to wait until you are permanently
disabled, or until you reach the age of 65.

Far from having to “start from scratch,” as Obama duplicitously
claimed in his last address to Congress in explaining why he was not
proposing a single-payer solution despite its obvious success in other
countries, solving America’s health crisis by adopting a single-payer
system would be a simply matter of taking a well proven system that
works and is popular, and expanding it to cover everybody.

But of course that would have made the insurance industry furious.
They’d have to go back to just selling life insurance and homeowners
insurance and car insurance.

And so we can expect a new round of “Harry and Louise,” and ObamaCare will go down in flames.

You have to laugh at these Democrats. Even when they brazenly try to sell out, they get screwed.

________________

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. He is author
of “Marketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For-Profit Hospital Chains”
(Bantam Books, 1992) and most recently of “The Case for Impeachment”
(St. Martin’s Press, 2006). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

Health Care

jeffbgarrett — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:10:16 -0400

An ad idea for Health Care Reform.

EXT. HOME -NIGHT

Flames and smokerise up from a suburban home. A family, father, mother and two young girls,rush out the front door onto the lawn. The father holds a cell phone to hisear.

DISPATCHER (O.S.)

This is 911. What is your emergency?

FATHER

Our house is on fire!

DISPATCHER (O.S.)

Which fire company would you like me to connect you with?

FATHER

I don’t care! Any of them!

DISPATCHER (O.S.)

One moment, sir.

RINGING

RECEPTIONIST 1 (O.S.)

Thank you for calling Fire Fighters Incorporated.

How can we help you?

FATHER

Our house is on fire!

The flamesgrow larger. The mother hugs her two sobbing daughters.

RECEPTIONIST 1 (O.S.)

Can I get your insurance information, please, sir?

FATHER

(To wife)

Who’s our insurer?

WIFE

Home Fires Insurance.

FATHER

We’re with Home Fires Insurance.

RECEPTIONIST 1 (O.S.)

I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept Home Fires Insurance.

You’ll have to call another fire company.

CLICK. DIALTONE.

Flamescrackle and leap from the house. The father dials furiously.

DISPATCHER (O.S.)

This is 911. What is your emergency?

FATHER

I need a fire company that accepts Home Fires Insurance!

DISPATCHER (O.S.)

One moment, sir.

RINGING

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

Thank you for calling The Fire Syndicate.

How can I help you?

FATHER

Our house is on fire! We have Home Fires Insurance!

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

Can I get the name and address on the account, please, sir?

FATHER

It’s Max Bailey at 921 Elm Street.

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

Thank you, sir. It looks like there is a $1500 deductible on

your policy, along with a 20% co-pay. Will you be paying

that with cash or credit card, sir?

FATHER

Uh, credit card.

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

Thank you, sir. Can I please get the card number and

expiration date?

FATHER

My credit cards are burning up inside my house.

The house isalmost entirely engulfed in flames.

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

I’m sorry to hear that, sir. If you like, we can extend youa

line of credit backed by a lien on your property. We just

need your social security number to check you credit

report, sir.

FATHER

Okay, it’s…

The wordsare BLEEPED out as he gives his ss#.

RECEPTIONIST 2 (O.S.)

I’m sorry, sir, but your credit report shows outstanding

debts from unpaid medical bills. I’m afraid we will need

a cash payment.

Flames crackand rip through the house. The father looks desperately at his wife.

VOICE OVER

Imagine if your health care system functioned like this.

WIFE

We can use the girls’ college savings.

VOICE OVER

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