Just when it couldn't get worse, the Bush Pharmaceutical Industry Big Wet Kiss Prescription Drug Bill Disaster is now getting some appropriate attention.
The worst president of all time. The greediest, most self-centered generation of all time. Put 'em together and you have the biggest fiscal mess since Rome fell.
U.S. COMPTROLLER: PRESCRIPTION DRUG BILL 'MAY BE THE MOST FINANCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE LAW IN 40 YEARS';
Bill Will Add $8 Trillion to Long-Term Medicare Obligations That Could Already Bankrupt the U.S.
The U.S. government's top accountant says the law that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare may be the most financially irresponsible legislation passed since the 1960s.
U.S. Comptroller General David Walker says Medicare -- barring vast reform to the program and the nation's healthcare system -- is already on course to possibly bankrupt the treasury and adding the prescription bill just makes the situation worse.
38 comments:
Oh yeah... the west coast is holding up fine!
“When a certain $126,000 subprime loan on a $696,000 house on the West Coast failed to produce a single mortgage payment, alarm bells went off at Clayton Holdings, a company that monitors credit risk.”
“Closer scrutiny revealed other red flags. The borrower’s previous rent payment had been $1,000, compared to the $4,482 she was supposed to be shelling out for both the primary loan and the $126,000 piggyback. And her stated income was $84,000 even though she was an hourly worker at Target.”
“‘We do an autopsy to find out what caused the loss of blood,’ says Keith Johnson, Clayton’s COO. ‘It’s a CSI subprime.’”
“Particularly troubling for investors is the rapidly deteriorating quality of subprime vintages originated in 2005 and 2006, years when lenders were downright promiscuous about who they loaned money to. Serious delinquencies, defined as loans at least 60 days late or in foreclosure or bankruptcy, for a 5-month old loan originated in 2006 is running at almost 4 percent, according to Moody’s, compared to 2.2 percent for a similar loan originated in 2004.”
“‘The scariest part of that statistic is the fact that 2006 borrowers are still in their fixed-rate period. ‘What will they do when their payment starts to rise?’ says Glenn Costello of Fitch Ratings.”
“‘If there is a fault line in the global financial system, it runs through the U.S. mortgage market,’ says economist Mark Zandi. ‘If some hedge fund blows up on a residential mortgage-backed securities investment, that has very different kinds of implications because it is the biggest chunk of the global fixed income market. So the ripples will be more like waves, and it could turn into a tsunami.’”
And this is omnimous...
“Insurance premiums on the potential default of Wall Street bonds have risen sharply, indicating possible concern among bond traders about potential exposure. The cost of insurance against potential bond default on Bear Stearns’s debt, for example, increased 40 percent recently, from about 22 basis points in mid-January to more than 31 on Tuesday, according to Lehman Brothers data.”
“‘It is impossible to get a number’ on big investment bank’s exposure to subprime loans, analyst Richard X. Bove told The Times. ‘And I don’t think they even know.’”
Other countries manage to provide healthcare to everyone and while they may not be in better financial shape than the US, they're not in any worse shape. Meanwhile people like you think we should simply not provide it, some sort of primitive Darwinian nightmare.
We should ALL pay into a system we ALL get to benefit from. The ones with more will pay more. Those without will pay nothing. Those who think that is socialism can move to a place where savagery is condoned.
The comptroller must have trouble sleeping at night with nobody listening and nobody caring
What a mess
It's the American way: The food industry feeds Americans with all kinds of crap like hormones in meat, pesticides, and corn syrup that makes everyone obese. Then they get sick and live like a zombie thanks to big pharma that keeps pushing overpriced drugs that cost half-price anywhere else. And there the hamster-zoombies go, eating crap, getting sick, consuming drugs, and spinning the hamster wheel faster and faster, like a zoombie until they die. You guys know how to live well!
Whatever as long as I can get my Paxil for 4 dollars.
I just want my meds and shopping sprees at Wal-Mart for quality goods.
Screw the next generations, the government deficits, and the low paid exploited workers. I just want mine.
A tril on a bogus war...
a tril on entitlements...
3 tril lost in US treasury...
M3 vansihed.
What does it matter...our country acts exactly as the people who live in it act...this should not be a suprise.
Other countries don't have the high priced miracle cures and machines that they have in the US.
More MRI machines in Pittsburgh than in all of Canada.
Americans wouldn't tolerate Canada type health care. Best quote about Canada's health care system (from a Canadien no less)..."Canada's health care is the best in the world....as long as you're not seriously sick."
I wouldn't be opposed to "free" heatlh care for the masses as long as it was stuff like fixing broken arms, diabetes care, immunizations...
But the latest cancer cure from Genzyme costs something like 10K a MONTH for extending your life 6 months. Multiply that by all the millions of poor downtroddens who get cancer. We going to "pay into a system" to treat them too? How expensive will that be?
And the reason drug costs are so high here is that the US is the cash cow that pays for all the research and profit. Without the profit from the US....kiss all the miracle life extending drugs of the past 30 years good-bye. How many new drugs did the USSR or China develop?
It's not fair that the US pays higher prices than Europe...but be careful what you wish for...you'll end up killing the whole drug industry, which has been an incredible boon overall.
Without drugs they were nothing. They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men.
On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed.
Except for one man armed with an AK-47, and a Honda full of silver.
years when lenders were downright promiscuous about who they loaned money to.
And several subprime lenders have already died of AIDS.
“‘We do an autopsy to find out what caused the loss of blood,’ says Keith Johnson, Clayton’s COO. ‘It’s a CSI subprime.’”
I wonder if actually checking the loser that you loaned money to might have prevented this. Ooops, my bad, only renters are losers.
-JBR
Just to set the record straight about the "greediest generation"..Most senior citizens that I know of opposed the bill and still don't like it. When I called our Senator (Feinstein) to voice my vote against it, her secretary said that telephone calls from seniors and boomers, in fact most of the calls, opposed the bill. Apparently there were lots of calls. Blame the corrupt Congress who was paid off by the drug companies.
Love your website, read it twice a day. Thank you.
``Other countries manage to provide healthcare to everyone and while they may not be in better financial shape than the US, they're not in any worse shape. Meanwhile people like you think we should simply not provide it, some sort of primitive Darwinian nightmare.''
A very small number of countries provide universal health care. A vast majority of countries do not. The vast majority of the human race lives in some sort of primitive Darwinian nightmare according to you. Everyone did just a century ago. It's not that bad, actually. It doesn't even keep me and the vast majority of the world up at night. I've gone without insurance at various points in my life for financial reasons. I didn't wake up in cold sweats from any nightmares about natural selection. In fact, I don't think that it bothered me at all.
Maybe one should tone down the rhetoric and assume a... slightly more reasonable position. One that can be defended and that doesn't sound hysterical?
``We should ALL pay into a system we ALL get to benefit from. The ones with more will pay more. Those without will pay nothing. Those who think that is socialism can move to a place where savagery is condoned.''
It is socialism. Remember that the catch phrase of socialism is ``From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.'' I'm sure that any socialist would completely agree.
So, don't suggest that people that think that is a socialist idea should move. You need to tell anyone who isn't a socialist to move instead.
That said, it doesn't matter if the idea is socialist or not. Positions should be solely evaluated on their merits not based on who proposed them. After all, does it actually matter whether a socialist proposed an idea or a capitalist? Not really, right?
Now. If you take this to heart, you may begin again and attempt to have a rational conversation about universal health care.
Q: What's the difference between the Titanic and the Stock Market?
A: The Titanic eventually found the bottom.
can i get viagra for $4?
[reposted:] why folks think the gov't oughta pay for health care is beyond me...what kind of brainwashing brought us to this point? maybe the gov't should also buy you a house and hold your hand when you go peepee??? here's the truth: you live, maybe you take care of yourself, if you're a solid human being maybe you take care of some others - then you die. we know you americans are softer than soft but have your brains actually turned to jello??? oh, i get it: just cause the europeans are jumping off a cliff that means we have to follow...like they're running model societies - geez, wake up already - what's it gonna take!
Please don't start on the Canada has a good health care system crap. I lived in Canada for 26 years until I escaped 8 years ago. Contrast and compare the "great" system in Canada vs. the "awful' US system.
In 1995 I tore my meniscus which is a common thing to do I learned. I saw a doctor in Toronto. He sent me to a specialist. I had to wait about 3 weeks to see him of course. He tehn told me I needed surgery. I had to wait 5 months for that to happen. No that's not a typo, 5 MONTHS waiting for knee surgery.
Fast forward to 2004 in the US. My wife tore the meniscus as well (see I told you it's quite common). She went to her doctor on Monday. Went to see a specialist on Wednesday and had surgery the next Tuesday.
And this is relatively minor surgery, I'm not going to die if I don't have a knee operation. Here is a report from 2006 on wait times for surgeries accross the country. Average wait time is 126 days and the government is "aiming" for 26 weeks wait times for cardiac surgery...are you fucking kidding me? 26 weeks for cardiac surgery? Is this the system you want?
http://tinyurl.com/23f3hx
And next time you think Canada's system is FREE just remember a few facts about Canada like:
- there is a 7% national sales tax ina ddition to provincial sales taxes meaning the sales tax combined is as high as 15% in some areas
- gas is about $3.50/gallon the difference in price with the US purely due to higher gas taxes
- case of beer about is $30, again difference in price just more tax and the same for liqour and cigarettes which last I knew were about $8 a pack (i'm not a smoker so I don't care about that, just showing how the taxman gets you)
- the highest income tax bracket in Canada starts at $1200,000 a year. Every province has it's own income tax rate too, usually in the 10-15% range.
Compare that to the US where the highest federal bracket starts at $309,000. California which is a "high tax" state has an income tax of 9.3% and that is lower than the lowest rate of any Canadian province. Think of it, by Canadian standards, California has VERY LOW taxes.
I am telling you this from many years of experience, you don't want Canadian style "FREE" health care. Nothing in this world is free.
Universal Healthcare = Rationing. When will you get this?
"Now. If you take this to heart, you may begin again and attempt to have a rational conversation about universal health care. "
No NO NO!!!
I wont I WONT I WONT!!!
brianb,
It always amazes me to hear Americans critisize the Canadian Health Care System. I can assure you that my dad recently had excellent care during his cancer treatments. I have never ever ever heard a Canadian directly complain about our health care system - in fact exactly the opposite - Canadians are very proud of our system.
I am not critisizing the American system, but there is obviously some bizarro propaganda floating around in the U.S. when it comes to ours. We are very happy and well-cared for.
Let me just say this . After you pay into the system for 45 years you feel that you have paid for your retirement .You have to be in that position to understand why seniors feel they earned the right to live the last 10 to 25 years of life with food and shelter and some medical care .
When I was young I never resented older people getting benefits .Now the system will go broke and I understand why the young people resent paying into the system . So ,the only thing that can be said is that people will have to save more for their retirement in the future .I think in part this is why the baby boomers bought into the real estate mania .
Nobody ever said life was fair .
The Greatest Generation endured the Great Depression and World War II . Was that fair ? I think not .
If we have hard times ahead ,is that fair? I think not . A person just has to make the best of what they are handed in life . I have been cheated many times in my life but I try to look at the areas that have been good . I have my health still and that is a blessing . I always still think in terms of what I can give on a daily basis ,not what I can get, and I always seem to get back when I least expect it .Just be a giver in life , not a taker ,and your life will be rich . Take care of your health .
You socialist crackpots want free health care for one and all.
Bush gives free prescirptions to old people and you complain it's too expensive.
Well what do you think free health for every single American will be like geniuses? If only free drugs is going to cost trillions and bankrupt us, what do you think free everything will cost?
You cannot be this fucking retarded.
The U.S. government's top accountant says the law that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare may be the most financially irresponsible legislation passed since the 1960s.
How about the 1930s, when Social Security was established?!
The United States is the only first world nation that does NOT provide universal healthcare to its citizens. Beautiful, better places like Switzerland, France, and Italy provide such care for its citizens. European immigrants do not come to the USA anymore in numbers, those that do, a large shocking percentage move back, but the third world is what is immigrating and staying. It is not the welfare state that is bankrupting America, but the capitalistic state of borrow now, pay later. America will be bankrupt because it did not take care of its citizens, but tried to run the world. The biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in America is because of medical bills.
"A very small number of countries provide universal health care. A vast majority of countries do not."
Like who? Brazil, for instance, gives FREE healthcare, including several pills (like the ones Magic Johnson takes everyday), to all AIDS patients or any tourist who walks in. Condoms and birth control pills are free to anyone, too. In France, anyone can just walk in the hospital for anything, and most of Europe is like that also. I lived and used healthcare in Europe, South America, and Canada. There are thousands of Americans that go to Brazil to have plastic surgeries for 1/3 of the price...and please, don't come bashing the service because Brazil has the best plastic surgeons in the world, such as Dr. Pitanguy who operates on international celebrities (including Americans), Queen of Sweden, royal families, wealthy Europeans, etc. He also has a clinic/medical school that receives many American doctors seeking a prestigious specialization. The health care system in the US is very good if you are rich. Of course, the big pharma cartel and other American doctors don't like to reveal all that because it cuts in on their greed.
The ONLY time I have EVER heard of someone in Canada having to wait months for any type of surgery is from Americans saying that they have a "friend" that used to live in Canada that told them that. I personally have had two "next-day" surgeries.
I'm in British Columbia and we have no wait times.
we don't consider the healthcare "Free" - our tax dollars support it, and everyone is cared for and you never have to worry about going bankrupt or without medical care.
)))Universal Healthcare = Rationing. When will you get this?(((
Rationing? Some of us, who can't afford insurance, essentially get "rationed" care now, far more limited than any national health would provide. A waiting list is better than no treatment at all. Socialized health care is the sane thing to do.
The ONLY time I have EVER heard of someone in Canada having to wait months for any type of surgery is from Americans saying that they have a "friend" that used to live in Canada that told them that. I personally have had two "next-day" surgeries.
Read this
http://tinyurl.com/35ohcb
and this
http://tinyurl.com/ho32q
Reports from the Canadian government about wait times that everyone else in Canada has to endure but you apparently.
Is this American propaganda smart guy?
Orson, I lived in the country with socialist healthcare system - in the USSR. Trust me, it doesn't work, and you still have to pay (bribes, etc.) to get a better service. There should be a middle of the way solution, but not Universal one. It will be Universally bad for everyone. Care to talk to Canadian folks I regularly meet in Midwest. They come here to get treatment their system is unable to provide. Finally, it's not related to you, don't take it as an offence. If you smoke, drink and load on BigMac every other day and I don't, if you drive w/o seat belts or w/o a helmet and I don't drive w/o safety measures, why should I pay for your acquired ilnesses?
I agree with the "Greediest Generation" lets see what they got from the government all the work programs in the 30's, Gi Bill in the 40's, Great Society in the 60's. My point is they have taken sooo much from America. What do they tells us pull your self up by your boot straps. I guess they forget all the free hand outs they have gotten and continue to get. I can not wait to see them all die so we can dance on their graves.
I think the government should take over housing since it's getting so expensive. Housing is a right just like healthcare. Everyone will live in small soulless Soviet style apartments and we won't need cars or fancy shoes. The government will produce shoes and toilet paper too. We will get ration cards for all the necessities of life. That would make the world far more efficient
"Reports from the Canadian government about wait times that everyone else in Canada has to endure but you apparently."
Those articles appear to relate to elective surgery only. Obviously emergency surgery is a priority for ANYONE over and above some rich dude that wants some "elective" surgery completed. People (yes even poor people) with emergency conditions take priority.
Based on this article, however, the government is trying to reduce the wait times for even the elective surgery.
And no, I don't know anyone who has had to wait for surgery at all, so it obviously only affects a very small portion of the population, and NOT those that require surgery for a medical condition.
And yes if someone wants same-day service for elective surgery, they certainly have the option of travelling to the U.S. and forking out big bucks.
I'm not critisizing your system, nor saying that Canada's is "better". I'm only saying that Canada's is very good and we are generally very happy with it.
``Like who? Brazil, for instance, gives FREE healthcare,
...
France
...
most of Europe
...''
Well, I grew up in Africa. So what. There are around 300 countries in the world. You named two and referenced a couple of continents with ambiguous statements. So let's see:
China: http://tinyurl.com/yv9ewh
India: http://tinyurl.com/2hocb6
I think that I've with a quick web search found that as of 1993 and 2006 respectively that universal healthcare is a fantasy for almost half the Earth's population.
``The health care system in the US is very good if you are rich.''
Uh, you don't have to be ``rich''. You just have to pay a few hundred bucks a month. I was consulting for a while and found insurance for around $3K/year and it's much more expensive in Manhattan than it is in, say, Indiana. I don't think that being able to afford $3K/year makes you rich by any convoluted stretch of your imagination. Just buy a cheaper car, don't maintain a large credit card balance, cut down on a few expenses and you're set.
If you have a pre-existing condition then you need to find a full time job with bennies. It's not actually _that_ hard if you have a few skills.
Remember also that about 50% of the healthcare expenditure on a person occurs in the last six months of their lives which is generally when they're covered by medicare. So, the govn does actually pick up a shockingly large percentage of the total healthcare expense. A lot more than most countries.
``Of course, the big pharma cartel and other American doctors don't like to reveal all that because it cuts in on their greed.''
Mmmm, the politics of envy.
Now this isn't to say that there isn't a need to tackle a number of problems in the healthcare system. But your arguments are misguided and do not actually make any concrete and verifiable propositions. And hence are useless in any conversation unless your purpose is simply to vent.
"Well, I grew up in Africa."
That explains.
"I don't think that being able to afford $3K/year makes you rich by any convoluted stretch of your imagination."
40% of Americans can't afford healthcare insurance, but you say it's cheap to everyone. Go ahead, spin the way you want, because it won't change the stats.
"I was consulting for a while and found insurance for around $3K/year and it's much more expensive in Manhattan than it is in, say, Indiana."
3k per year? Must be a crappy insurance that doesn't cover anything. I studied Risk Management & Insurance at some reputable B-School, run a business, and I consult with insurance brokers all the time to insure my employees. I know for a fact that you can't get decent healthcare insurance for that much. Yes, you can have your little crappy emergency room assistance and minor stuff, with a huge deductible, but major forget it. As a matter of fact, my insurance just went up 14% and I haven't had any claims for 20 years. I pay around $900 / month for each employ in the company with Blue Shield. You must be dreaming or under insured if you think that you can get good insurance in the US for $3k per year. Dream on. You must think that you are in Africa or something.
``3k per year? Must be a crappy insurance that doesn't cover anything.
...
Yes, you can have your little crappy emergency room assistance and minor stuff, with a huge deductible, but major forget it.
...
You must be dreaming or under insured if you think that you can get good insurance in the US for $3k per year. Dream on.''
I got insurance that was good enough for my needs at the time. It cost about $3K/year. You may have higher standards about health insurance than I do. Your
comment:
``You must think that you are in Africa or something.''
does seem to indicate that, now doesn't it. A little classist there.
I also spent a couple of years uninsured because I was young and wanted to take a year and a half off work. I made a risk tradeoff at that point that it was unlikely that I would need the insurance. It turned out that I was correct. Even though I had a motorcycle accident while uninsured which broke my foot, it only cost me about a K-buck. That wouldn't have even consumed my deductible. Now, granted, the care that I received was at a hospital for the poor people that you appear to despise. And the care was not really of the highest quality. But, I'm a basically healthy person and didn't even bother going in for all of the follow-up visits because I knew that I was going to heal properly in a few months and everything would be fine. I don't need to be coddled.
Paying my own costs also made me use the medical infrastructure only as much as necessary. You know, x-rays for $75 instead of MRIs, etc. So, I put less of a burden on the system and was not overtreated as most are in the states.
I've got a full time job at the moment and so better health care coverage. But, I'd rather just have the emergency only variety and get the difference in cash. I'm healthy, have more than enough savings to cover the high deductible and am perfectly willing to pay for the routine work out of my own pocket.
``40% of Americans can't afford healthcare insurance, but you say it's cheap to everyone. Go ahead, spin the way you want, because it won't change the stats.''
Really?
http://www.cbpp.org/8-29-06health.htm
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml
seems to indicate that 15-16% are uninsured. Not 40%. No, you're right, I will not ``change the stats''. What I will do is look them up and quote them accurately.
Now, we can probably assume that some percentage of the uninsured have actually made the choice to be uninsured even though they can afford it. We can't really speculate what this percentage is, but I have certainly been a part of it many times. So, a maximum of 16% of Americans cannot afford insurance.
I just looked up the cost of health insurance for me online as a smoker in my early thirties living in Manhattan. There were multiple plans under $300/month. I used to be on one.
I looked up plans in Indiana and there a number of plans under $100/month.
San Francisco came in with plans a little more expensive than Indiana but not nearly as high as Manhattan.
Check out:
http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/
So, now, if we assume that in most parts of the country, you can get some basic level of coverage for about $100/month then most uninsured people could probably cancel their cable with HBO, eat out a little less often, drive a slightly less expensive car and buy insurance.
Add in Medicare, Medicaid. Also consider that hospitals are not legally allowed to turn people away from the ER in a number of conditions even if they know that the patient will not be able to pay. The hospital has to eat the cost.
There are most certainly major problems with health care in the US but Americans do on average get much better health care than the majority of the denizens of this planet. In fact, even the poor in the US get better health care than most of the people in the world.
Post a Comment