Axelrod’s offhand comment could light healthcare fuse: state compacts?

David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president, talked with Bill O'Reilly after President Barack Obama addressed Congress Wednesday. Axelrod focused on Dick Morris, but what he said about state health insurance regulations lights the fuse of opportunity.Leftist media pundits are celebrating President Barack Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod bashing rightie pundit Dick Morris after Obama’s address Wednesday to Congress. But all missed a loaded remark Axelrod made about the states. The  top strategist for the left was talking to Bill O’Reilly and the talk show host asked about being able to purchase insurance across state lines. In his speech Obama cited an obstacle to reform—“In 34 states 75 percent of the insurance market is controlled by 4 or 5 companies.”

When O’Reilly mentioned this, Axelrod suggested—I’m paraphrasing—deregulation was a matter for the states.

Apparently I am the only analyst who saw the fuse Axelrod unintentionally lit.

In the full exchange with O’Reilly,  Axelrod focused on Dick Morris’ book, denying potential for rationing medical care once new consumers come into the market when the Democrats pass legislation. Rationing, by the way, is likely. We face a shortage of primary care physicians within a few years because the real money is in specialties.

But the adviser’s comment lights a path to state involvement in deregulation. Why can’t states form compacts to combine purchasing power with a goal of broadening the market? If you think companies won’t compete for market share, talk to your nearest CEO.

Why can’t Southeastern governors come together to pool resources, and open the health insurance market so our choices are expanded?

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Extreme left Dems may block healthcare reform over public option

by Kay B. Day

The real holdup on healthcare reform are far left extremist donkeys.What could possibly be the motivation for extreme leftist Democrats to insist on another welfare program, aka a public option, as the keystone in a healthcare reform bill? American citizens that are part of the “accessibility gap” are waiting. I have no hopes anything Congress does will lower costs for those of us in private plans. We all know we will subsidize whatever proposal they pass.

Those I know hoping for relief fit into the demographic I wrote about in a previous column. They are largely male, technically single and in some cases, self-employed in a business of less than 5 people. What about same sex couples? For those in committed relationships, should they not be able to purchase health insurance? Even if you don’t buy into the idea of same sex marriage, surely we can agree a person should be able to purchase health insurance. All of the people I mentioned work. All of them pay taxes and contribute to their communities. And they have every right to expect Congress to come up with an acceptable bill.

In July Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calf.) posted a letter signed by approximately 2 dozen members of Congress. Addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and key committee members, the letter said, “Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates—not negotiated rates—is unacceptable. It would ensure higher costs for the public plan, and would do nothing to achieve the goal of ‘keeping insurance companies honest,’ and their rates down.”

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Do Pelosi, Hoyer perpetuate disinformation with ‘USA Today’ editorial?

Politicos have a habit of spitting out statistics to justify succeeding in their goals, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are no exception. In their joint USA Today editorial, the two Democrats do the expected in more than one way. First they suggest the protesters showing up at local meetings are “un-American.” Then they cite figures President Obama and others have tossed to media with almost no questions asked about how the study supporting that figure.

In the editorial, Pelosi-Hoyer said, “Never again will medical bills drive Americans into bankruptcy…”

If you’ve listened to statists push socialized medicine, you’ll be familiar with the statement 62 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical.

The study supporting that figure comes from David U. Himmelstein, MD, et al.

To give credit where it’s due, the normally pro-Obama network ABC had one lone voice question the study. In June, director of polling at ABC News David Langer wrote, “Again, the lead author, Dr. David Himmelstein, is a co-founder of the ‘Physicians for a National Health Program,’ an advocacy group calling for a ‘public or quasi-public’ single-payer health system. One wonders whether other researchers, with other perspectives, might have presented the data differently.”

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Guatemalan native sues Florida hospital for sending him home

Updated on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 8:59PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

The Associated Press published a story today I covered in June, 2008, about a native of Guatemala who was injured in the US. A drunk driver hit the undocumented worker who had come to the US for a job. The wire service says the man was deported secretly, but then adds: "even as his cousin and legal guardian, Montejo Gaspar, frantically sought to stop the move." If it was done in secret, how did his cousin and legal guardian know? Florida newspapers also covered the story.

In 2008, Florida hospital administrator Carol Plato testified about costs incurred by her hospital after treating people who were in the US illegally. Her testimony before the Florida House Committee on State Affairs about costs incurred by a hospital in Martin County, an area near the glitz and glam of West Palm Beach,was pretty earth-shattering.

She talked about one patient, a Guatemalan here illegally who stayed in the hospital from 2001-2003. Total for his healthcare services: $1.5 million. The hospital finally managed to return the patient to Guatemala. Total cost: $30,000. And at the time of her testimony, the patient’s family was suing the hospital, with approximately $250,000 spent by the hospital on legal fees. Can you sue somebody for a service you didn’t pay for? In the U.S., where there’s a will there’s a lawyer.

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US Census data on the uninsured and poverty missed by media and bloggers

If you listen to media and some politicians, you probably think the U.S. is in an economic mess. But the new U.S. Census Report offers a look at hard facts and some of those were missed by media and bloggers who focused on the housing market crash—largely a result of quests for outrageous profits by the industry and some homebuyers. The economy isn’t as bad as you might think. Ask yourself this—do you see a reporter, news anchor or pundit starving? Among the findings that may surprise you—facts about median household income.

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