Follow the Money

They are writing the bill today.
They are voting tomorrow.
A bill that literally spells death for millions.  And will probably collapse the entire health care sector.

This. Is. Not. Anywhere. Near. Normal.

They are blatantly ignoring the protocols of the Senate and the safety and wishes of their own constituents because a few shriveled billionaires told them to.

At least we got to see their true faces before we die.

I Hope You Survive

What a horrifying, shameful day in America. 

Don't eat gluten.  Don't drink alcohol.  Don't take antibiotics.
Brush your teeth with baking soda.
Rinse your nose with saline.
Swab the mucous out of your throat.
Rub your skin with olive oil.

Live to fight another day.

Meanwhile in America

10 ways the GOP tried to sabotage Obamacare

Trump and Congressional Republicans have repeatedly said that the ACA is collapsing under its own weight, and that the exchanges are exploding. But while there is reason to be concerned about problems in the individual market, the story of Obamacare’s problems is not complete unless we take a look back over the last several years and look at all the ways Republican lawmakers, governors, and pundits – and now the Trump Administration – took steps to deliberately weaken the Affordable Care Act.

And now...
Trump reportedly wants to kill critical Obamacare subsidies, despite warnings health insurance premiums would spike

Yo Doctors

There's a lot of things that need to change in Health Care, but for right now, you just need to Step Up...
or there won't be any sick people sitting in your waiting rooms.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
― Edmund Burke

America's Nightmare

Paul Ryan is determined to gut Medicare. This time he might succeed 

He's going to give it to insurance companies.  Who are now hostages of the pharmas.
Yeah, this Matrix Thing is gonna be GREAT.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

This is annoying the crap out of me:

Cigna- my health insurance provider, the one that pushes the food pyramid for diabetics and universally tries to get everyone to lower their fat intake and eat more carbs...

Yeah, they've taken that show on the road.
They are using my money to broadcast that bullshit on TV.

They are financing this program that uses those same erroneous assumptions to humiliate sick people into compliance.

See the Matrix.

Simple Answers

Facebook may be eyeing your health data. Should you trust it?

Absolutely NOT.

Not Surprising

Obamacare Dividends Pile Up for Hospitals and Insurers

What is shocking.... that they haven't got enough clout to shut up the republicans... they clearly need this money to lobby harder...

Oh really...

New Mexico court upholds insurance coverage for medical pot

The state's Court of Appeals voted unanimously on Monday to uphold a previous workers compensation court decision that also ruled in favor of the 55-year-old former mechanic, who suffered a lower back injury in 2000, according to court papers.

Awesome hack of the Matrix.

Debunking the Talking Points

My heart belongs to Matty.

A New Low in Health Care Rhetoric
He covers the erroneous ER visit statistics, but I like this part-

Specifically, she pointed to data showing that the Oregon group didn't show significant improvement in cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes rates (although enrollees did show lower rates of depression).

Her take on this tiny initial sample of reform data: Just a few years into having access to primary care doctors, people are not healthier according to a few markers. Therefore, that proves it! Giving poor people health insurance achieves nothing.

He's got a point, it takes a while to improve chronic illness. But- to be clear, nobody shows improvement on cholesterol, blood pressure or diabetes rates whether it's Medicaid or not.  It's a feature of the protocols, not the patients.

For the Record

I am not a big fan of Obamacare. But not because of the mandate or technical complications- I would have preferred universal Medicare buy-in and some real incentive to improve efficacy and keep costs down.

I truly appreciate the fact that there are no more denials for pre-existing conditions or lifetime caps on reimbursement. That's a real nice thing for people with chronic illnesses, like everyone.  And  I really hope that maybe it will prevent some narcoleptics from killing themselves before they are properly diagnosed and effectively treated.

...Even though that also means the profit driven medico-pharma complex is still intact and your doctors can tell you to eat fruits and grains and prescribe you Xyrem for the rest of your lives.  Make their boat payments and give those criminals over at Jazz some more millions.
At their prices, you would have run out of benefits in a year or two. Forever.

Showing their Hand

AMA declares obesity a disease

The move by the American Medical Assn. board means that one-third of adults and 17% of children in the U.S. have a medical condition that requires treatment.

Obesity can be caused by many things.  It's clearly a symptom, not an illness.  Basic classification.

This definition however, is being made by the group of people who make their money off treating illness.

Considering the skyrocketing rate of obesity- they certainly haven't had much success with the symptom.
But now they can get more insurance money to tell more fat people to eat more carbs.

Profiting off their own incompetence.
See how that works?

Because They Can

Hospital Charges Vary Across U.S. for Same Procedures

The data from more than 3,000 hospitals that take Medicare, the government’s health program for the elderly, showed that in some cases costs can drastically vary for hip replacements, bone fractures and treatments for kidney failure. Three hospitals in and around the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, charged an average of $97,214, $46,457 and $28,237, respectively, to treat a respiratory infection with complications, one example showed.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it released the data for the first time to make the health system “more affordable and accountable.” The information adds to the scrutiny of what patients, insurers and the government pay for medical services as President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act aims to extend coverage to 27 million uninsured people.
“Hospital pricing is the craziest of crazy quilts,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of the Washington-based consumer advocacy group Families USA, in a phone interview. “People who wind up paying the highest prices are people who are uninsured and who can least afford bearing this unaffordable burden.”

I don't think those hospitals were expecting this.
Lots of spokespeople explaining how "complicated" pricing these things is.
Apparently math is hard even for accountants.

Pigs at the Trough

Raptor's FDA Approval Is New Test For Orphan Drug Pricing

Investors love orphan disease companies because they can charge sky-high prices -- Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN_), for example, charges about $500,000 per year for Soliris -- and insurance companies reimburse without much protest. But as the number of orphan disease companies with approved products grow, so too are concerns about a backlash. As the cost of orphan drugs rise, will insurance companies erect more roadblocks in the way of reimbursement?

Gosh let's hope so.    I think that might be just the people to pull the plug on this bullshit. 

Raptor is an interesting test case because Procysbi isn't a new drug, just a long-acting version of Cystagon, approved in 1994 to treat nephropathic cystinosis. Cystagon must be taken on a strict, every six-hour schedule. Procysbi is administered twice a day. Cystagon costs about $10,000 a year. By orphan disease standards, that's almost giving a drug away for free. Raptor intends to charge $250,000 per year for Procysbi. We'll soon find out if insurance companies agree to a 2,400% price hike for a more convenient, but not necessarily more effective, orphan disease therapy.

Yes, well Xyrem is basically just a stronger version of alcohol.   No chemistry wizards needed.

I do wonder how Jazz expects to keep it's Orphan drug status for Xyrem while seeking to sell it for every other affective illness...  Do they already have some other new and vile way to rip off Medicare and Medicaid?
Medicare fraud.   That would look good in a headline.   Hmmmm.

The Root of the Problem

Effective treatment is not as profitable as ineffective.

Hospitals Profit From Surgical Errors, Study Finds 

Hospitals make money from their own mistakes because insurers pay them for the longer stays and extra care that patients need to treat surgical complications that could have been prevented, a new study finds. Changing the payment system, to stop rewarding poor care, may help to bring down surgical complication rates, the researchers say. If the system does not change, hospitals have little incentive to improve: in fact, some will wind up losing money if they take better care of patients.

Foxes and Henhouses

As Walgreen Plays Doctor, Family Physicians Bristle

Walgreen's is now providing new services that include “assessment, treatment and management for chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma and others, as well as additional preventive health services.” ...
But some physicians are upset by the expansion, saying it will further splinter an already fragmented health care system and therefore harm quality and patient safety.
...
Walgreens, for example, has formed various affiliations with large hospital systems and doctor-led clinics across the country to create patient-care protocols and other programs. Walgreen has also formed and is joining with larger providers to create accountable care organizations, which organize a collection of medical-care providers to care for a group of patients.
ACOs work to keep patients healthy and out of the more expensive hospital setting. If ACOs are successful and reduce costs, the providers in the organization divvy up the savings with the health plans that are paying them.

This is not about better or more consistent care.  Those doctors are worried about the revenue they are losing.
And it's not about saving money either-  it doesn't save anyone anything.   It just gets pocketed by someone else.  Thus this very fascinating public squabble.   Expect more of this behavior.  (See the ADA.)

I am all for low cost clinics for health maintenance.  But the truly scary part of this one is the conflict of interest.  A drug distributor is now helping write protocols for sick people. 

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Rapid Rise in Antipsychotic Treatment of Medicaid-Insured Children

The study, the latest to confirm a rapid rise of antipsychotics prescribed among Medicaid-insured children, raises questions about America's health care system, says lead author Julie Zito, PhD, professor in the UM School of Pharmacy.
"Many were diagnosed with behavioral rather than psychotic conditions for which they have FDA-approved labeling," says Zito. "These are often children with serious socio-economic and family life problems. We need more information on the benefits and risks of using antipsychotics for behavioral conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, in community treated populations." Furthermore, use of antipsychotics in children with Medicaid coverage is five times that of children in the private sector -- a disparity in need of greater study.

Now that is terrifying.

Their Vision of your Future

The compliance police are on their way...

CVS to workers: Tell us how much you weigh

CVS Caremark has put its employees on notice that they need to reveal their weight or pay a monthly $50 penalty.
“Avoid the $600 annual surcharge,” CVS warns its employees who use the company’s health insurance plan. They’ve been told they are required by May 1 to show up to a doctor for an annual WebMD Wellness Review and submit to tests for blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass and body weight.
“Going forward, you'll be expected not just to know your numbers - but also to take action to manage them,” the CVS policy states.

Just pointing out the obvious- CVS makes it's profit by selling prescription drugs.  If everyone did this-

Update.  Which reminds me-  my insurance company now requires that we use Caremark (via mail since we don't have CVS) for our prescriptions.   Including insulin which must be shipped overnight in a cooler pack.    It's much cheaper and less wasteful for us to use a local pharmacy but then they would not get their cut of the drugs too.   Sometimes we do it anyway because it's actually cheaper than their damn copay plus shipping.

Place your bets

Health Plan Must Pay Anorexic Woman's Care: US Court

A health insurance plan must pay for an anorexic woman's residential treatment under a court ruling that remains intact after the U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to consider the insurance plan's appeal.
...
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held in a June 2012 ruling that a state law, the California Mental Health Parity Act, required Blue Shield to pay. The law states that coverage must be provided for treatment of severe mental illnesses.

I am trying to decide if this is positive or negative.
If they will now be motivated to actually find an effective treatment.
Or just raise their rates so they can continue putting those women in institutions, feeding them carbs,  giving them vitamin D deficiency, and asking them if they were abused.

The Root of the Problem

I don't know how I missed this:

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

Third Party Profit.  Period.