Tuesday, November 04, 2003
It Looks Like A Joke But It Ain't Funny
Headline spied this morning in a news roundup from NYTimes.
Ex-chief of HealthSouth Scrushy Indicted on 85 Counts of Fraud
CEO Scrushy; tell me that's not straight out of the Simpsons. Maybe Krusty's more successful cousin? Except it's all too real. Thank-God that private enterprise finally entered into the health care field to save us from creeping socialism, the logical outcome of the triumph of the New Deal, as I've only recently learned, as a result of the nomination of Justice Janice Brown by President Bush. Thank-God for President Bush. And President Reagan. Remember Humana Inc, anybody? Of course Humana is no longer with us, while Medicare is, which only shows you how corrupted we've all been by that early triumph of socialism, Social Security.
Here are a few prize moments from the AP story.
I'll bet there are. Add to that discussion of the "framing" of issues being carried on by Digby and others, how we on the left have managed to let the right vilify trial and defense lawyers, who are the only ones who occasionally represent people like you and me, while the overwhelming percentage of legal resources in this country are used up by corporate law firms.
On the brighter side, what a hard working Justice Dept. we have, that they can catch a Scrushy and still have the time to go after Martha Stewart for a questionable, ill-defined charge of insider trading. I guess a certain amount of time is being freed up by not having to bother with so many tiresome requests for wire taps, and being able to hold bad people without actually indicting them.
Who exactly is HealthSouth?
And George W. Bush has the gaul to continually speak of the need to "modernize" Medicare. But most Americans won't feel the outlandishness of that claim, because of yet another example of brilliant rightwing, Republican "framing." Medicare has problems with rising health costs, let's modernize. He'd get a very different reaction if he said privatize, but that's what he's talking about.
We've had twenty-five years now of experience with the failures of corporatized private health care, and it's clear as clear can be that market forces do not have a major impact on rising health costs. The amount of fraud that's been uncovered over the years commited by these giant "health" conglomerates is actually quite astonishing, but it shouldn't be surprising. Corporations are legally bound to put the good of their stockholders above all else, including their customers. Marketeers will tell us customers are protected by the laws of the market; if a corporation doesn't produce what the customer wants, the customer goes elsewhere, according to the sacred law of competition. Sorry, guys, ain't working in health care.
It's interesting to look back at the arguments used against the Clinton health plan in 93. Every one of the projected horror stories perpetrated by Sen Graham et al about what the Clinton plan would do if it were allowed to see the light of day has come true - health care is being rationed, patients no longer choose their own doctors, the sacred relationship between patient and physician is constantly compromised by the intrusion of bureaucrats, even the insured have to worry about cutbacks in benefits, the uninsured have increased - but none of this has happened at the hands of government, all of it is the work of these giant "health" conglomerates. And how are the Republicans and the President going to lead us out of this untenable wilderness of contradictions, you should be asking yourself. Why, by giving the very people who have brought you the current health care crises a bigger piece of the action, i.e., exactly more of the same snake-oil that has gotten us here.
And yet in every discussion of national health care, what is brought up again and again as an example of disastrous health care policy? Yeah, that's right, the Clinton health care initiative. This is, in part, because the Clintons tried to find a middle course between rampant, unchecked corporatism and a single payer system and managed to satisfy no one. But people talk about it as if it had become policy. It may have been a political disaster for the Clinton administration, but the real disaster for health policy was the failure of congress and we, the people, to address the very real problems that the Clintons, at least, were trying to.
I understand why both Clintons continue to apologize for having had the temerity to try and do something about a failing health care system; they were beaten to a bloody pulp for it, and not only by rightwingers, but I sure wish they could find a way to stop their standard, sheepish, good-humored, "wow, were we ever wrong" response whenever the issue of health care is brought up.
In fact, they were right. Without governmental intervention, the American system of health care provided primarily through employment by private health plans was bound to prove untenable within the next decade, which is where we are today. We no longer have a failing health care system, we have one on the verge of collapse. Funding is lacking for the few emergency rooms that are left. Those without the means to buy either health insurance or medical care wait until a crises and then seek care in emergency rooms, the most expensive and least effective way to provide health care. And don't think the care is free; it is not uncommon for hospitalized patients at public hospitals without insurance to find themselves with severly garnished wages, and even to end up jobless and homeless. Ever increasing costs are forcing large industry-wide health care plans to continually cut back benefits, while raising co-payments. Large, private HMO's are increasingly finding they can't make money and provide the same level of benefits most Americans take for granted any health plan should include. Smaller employers are increasingly unable to provide any kind of benefits to their workers. Cost of prescription drugs is through the roof and spiraling up into the stratosphere. The ranks of the unsured continues to swell.
And the President wants to "modernize" Medicare by making it as similar to what the rest of our health care system looked like in the early nineties. A person could start to develop a cold; a bad, bad cold. A person could start to get angry, really angry. Let's not do either. Let's start to get smart. Starting with the Medicare bill that is coming out of conference and probably to be voted on soon, and which is totally unworthy of Democratic support.
As this is a complicated subject, and this post is longer than it should be, but what's the point of having a blog if you can't rant, I'll address the issue of what we need to do to help Democrats defeat the Medicare bill in another post later today.
Ex-chief of HealthSouth Scrushy Indicted on 85 Counts of Fraud
CEO Scrushy; tell me that's not straight out of the Simpsons. Maybe Krusty's more successful cousin? Except it's all too real. Thank-God that private enterprise finally entered into the health care field to save us from creeping socialism, the logical outcome of the triumph of the New Deal, as I've only recently learned, as a result of the nomination of Justice Janice Brown by President Bush. Thank-God for President Bush. And President Reagan. Remember Humana Inc, anybody? Of course Humana is no longer with us, while Medicare is, which only shows you how corrupted we've all been by that early triumph of socialism, Social Security.
Here are a few prize moments from the AP story.
Former HealthSouth Corp. head Richard Scrushy was indicted on 85 counts, accused of juggling the corporate books in a huge federal fraud case in which 15 former executives of the rehabilitation services giant already have pleaded guilty.
The indictment, dated Oct. 29 and released Tuesday at the federal courthouse, accuses Scrushy of a range of criminal violations including securities fraud and false certification of corporate statements.
Scrushy attorney Donald Watkins said the HealthSouth co-founder and former chief executive officer will plead innocent. (edit)
Watkins declined to comment on the 85-count indictment except to say, ``There's a whole group of lawyers studying it.''
I'll bet there are. Add to that discussion of the "framing" of issues being carried on by Digby and others, how we on the left have managed to let the right vilify trial and defense lawyers, who are the only ones who occasionally represent people like you and me, while the overwhelming percentage of legal resources in this country are used up by corporate law firms.
On the brighter side, what a hard working Justice Dept. we have, that they can catch a Scrushy and still have the time to go after Martha Stewart for a questionable, ill-defined charge of insider trading. I guess a certain amount of time is being freed up by not having to bother with so many tiresome requests for wire taps, and being able to hold bad people without actually indicting them.
Who exactly is HealthSouth?
"Birmingham-based HealthSouth, founded by Scrushy in 1984, is the largest U.S. provider of outpatient surgery, diagnostic imaging and rehabilitation services. The company has some 50,000 employees and about 1,700 sites in all 50 states and overseas.
And George W. Bush has the gaul to continually speak of the need to "modernize" Medicare. But most Americans won't feel the outlandishness of that claim, because of yet another example of brilliant rightwing, Republican "framing." Medicare has problems with rising health costs, let's modernize. He'd get a very different reaction if he said privatize, but that's what he's talking about.
We've had twenty-five years now of experience with the failures of corporatized private health care, and it's clear as clear can be that market forces do not have a major impact on rising health costs. The amount of fraud that's been uncovered over the years commited by these giant "health" conglomerates is actually quite astonishing, but it shouldn't be surprising. Corporations are legally bound to put the good of their stockholders above all else, including their customers. Marketeers will tell us customers are protected by the laws of the market; if a corporation doesn't produce what the customer wants, the customer goes elsewhere, according to the sacred law of competition. Sorry, guys, ain't working in health care.
It's interesting to look back at the arguments used against the Clinton health plan in 93. Every one of the projected horror stories perpetrated by Sen Graham et al about what the Clinton plan would do if it were allowed to see the light of day has come true - health care is being rationed, patients no longer choose their own doctors, the sacred relationship between patient and physician is constantly compromised by the intrusion of bureaucrats, even the insured have to worry about cutbacks in benefits, the uninsured have increased - but none of this has happened at the hands of government, all of it is the work of these giant "health" conglomerates. And how are the Republicans and the President going to lead us out of this untenable wilderness of contradictions, you should be asking yourself. Why, by giving the very people who have brought you the current health care crises a bigger piece of the action, i.e., exactly more of the same snake-oil that has gotten us here.
And yet in every discussion of national health care, what is brought up again and again as an example of disastrous health care policy? Yeah, that's right, the Clinton health care initiative. This is, in part, because the Clintons tried to find a middle course between rampant, unchecked corporatism and a single payer system and managed to satisfy no one. But people talk about it as if it had become policy. It may have been a political disaster for the Clinton administration, but the real disaster for health policy was the failure of congress and we, the people, to address the very real problems that the Clintons, at least, were trying to.
I understand why both Clintons continue to apologize for having had the temerity to try and do something about a failing health care system; they were beaten to a bloody pulp for it, and not only by rightwingers, but I sure wish they could find a way to stop their standard, sheepish, good-humored, "wow, were we ever wrong" response whenever the issue of health care is brought up.
In fact, they were right. Without governmental intervention, the American system of health care provided primarily through employment by private health plans was bound to prove untenable within the next decade, which is where we are today. We no longer have a failing health care system, we have one on the verge of collapse. Funding is lacking for the few emergency rooms that are left. Those without the means to buy either health insurance or medical care wait until a crises and then seek care in emergency rooms, the most expensive and least effective way to provide health care. And don't think the care is free; it is not uncommon for hospitalized patients at public hospitals without insurance to find themselves with severly garnished wages, and even to end up jobless and homeless. Ever increasing costs are forcing large industry-wide health care plans to continually cut back benefits, while raising co-payments. Large, private HMO's are increasingly finding they can't make money and provide the same level of benefits most Americans take for granted any health plan should include. Smaller employers are increasingly unable to provide any kind of benefits to their workers. Cost of prescription drugs is through the roof and spiraling up into the stratosphere. The ranks of the unsured continues to swell.
And the President wants to "modernize" Medicare by making it as similar to what the rest of our health care system looked like in the early nineties. A person could start to develop a cold; a bad, bad cold. A person could start to get angry, really angry. Let's not do either. Let's start to get smart. Starting with the Medicare bill that is coming out of conference and probably to be voted on soon, and which is totally unworthy of Democratic support.
As this is a complicated subject, and this post is longer than it should be, but what's the point of having a blog if you can't rant, I'll address the issue of what we need to do to help Democrats defeat the Medicare bill in another post later today.
