Health Care

[KartMan 58]

Glenn Beck: "I could give a flying crap about the political process. ... We're an entertainment company."

Even Beck knows he has the ignoramous in the country by their unhinged jaws.

WOW!! 32 mill a year will make Beck say anything.

Heck, for $32M I might vote for Palin. Sadly, that test of my integrity is not likely to happen soon.

[pattygreen 5]

What part of "NO" does this woman not understand?

[BJean 16]

Sorry kid, ya lost me. What woman? Understand what? I don't open random links. It can eat your machine.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Boy, these hilarious republicans just keep you in stitches. In case you didn't hear - republican candidate for senate in NV - Sue Lowden- has advocated paying doctors with chickens. Yes, she says, you too can barter with your doctor. Here is an "endorsement" she received :thumbup:

NV-Sen: Lowden Receives Major Endorsement

by BarbinMD

Wed Apr 21, 2010 at 07:10:05 PM PDT

The bold proposal by Nevada Republican senatorial candidate Sue Lowden to have patients pay their doctor with chickens is already paying dividends, as she picked up a major endorsement today:

A spokesman for the group said, "For too long we've had to stomachs the Republican Party indiscriminately throwing red meat to their base. It's refreshing to see a candidate go with a healthier, albeit just as dishonest meat."

And these are the people some want to win in November?

I assume she would also be agreeable to her campaign donors giving chickens instead of cash. Ya think???

Edited April 22, 2010 by Cleo's Mom

[pattygreen 5]

Sorry kid, ya lost me. What woman? Understand what? I don't open random links. It can eat your machine.

Can you see a picture of Sen. Diane feinstein speaking on HC? I see the picture on the posting.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Wasn't it someone on these boards who claimed (wrongly) that insurance companies don't drop subscribers when they get sick?

Devastating report: Wellpoint routinely targets then cancels policies of breast cancer patients

Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 08:27:26 AM PDT

Wellpoint has been busted again. And this new savage attack against sick women must not go unpunished.

Wellpoint singles out women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent of canceling their insurance federal investigators told Murray Waas at Reuters.

Despite the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the shameless for-profit insurance industry, which remains at the heart of our new and improved health care system, is digging in to fight sick Americans at every bend in the road.

The latest atrocity is a just released report via Reuters, that Wellpoint routinely and systematically targeted breast cancer patients and rescinded their policies once they became ill.

One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled. First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles. Later, Robin Beaton, a registered nurse from Texas. And then, most recently, there was Patricia Relling, a successful art gallery owner and interior designer from Louisville, Kentucky

It gets worse.

Before I go any further, keep in mind, Wellpoint has more customers than any other U.S. health insurance company. And it should be clear to everyone that the thugs who run this company have every intention of gaming the new law at every opportunity. They reward their executives very well for their predatory business practices.

The CEO of Wellpoint Angela Braly 2009 compensation package skyrocketed 51 percent from 2008 to $13.1 million.

Wellpoint already busted for gaming medical loss ratios.

Wellpoint got busted out of the box for gaming the medical loss ratio requirements the new law mandates.

Now Wellpoint is busted for targeting breast cancer patients.

Now, Wellpoint is busted for routinely and savagely canceling the policies of women with breast cancer. This is chilling, and certainly fills me with fear about what these predatory companies will think of next, to stay one step ahead of the law.

When will the elected class begin to include jail as the only remedy for the executives like Angela Braly of Wellpoint, who endorse these illegal activities?

None of the women knew about the others. But besides their similar narratives, they had something else in common: Their health insurance carriers were subsidiaries of WellPoint, which has 33.7 million policyholders -- more than any other health insurance company in the United States.

The women all paid their premiums on time. Before they fell ill, none had any problems with their insurance. Initially, they believed their policies had been canceled by mistake.

They had no idea that WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators.

Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information. WellPoint declined to comment on the women's specific cases without a signed waiver from them, citing privacy laws.

from: dailykos

[BJean 16]

Can you see a picture of Sen. Diane feinstein speaking on HC? I see the picture on the posting.

Oh. No I can't see it. I guess I miss a lot of stuff here. My computer has been attacked so often we finally have a gizmo that screens everything and kicks out anything suspicious and sometimes it even kicks out things that aren't surpicious at all. Go figure.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

I don't want to slight any of the republicans who advocate bartering with your doctor, so I have to add Republican state representative, Mike Bell, from TN who is another member of what is being called HEALTH REFARM who advocates paying your doctor with vegetables.

Seriously, do the republicans have a lab somewhere where they produce these whackos from pods?

[tdslf1 0]

FAKE NOISE, where else?

[BJean 16]

I don't want to slight any of the republicans who advocate bartering with your doctor, so I have to add Republican state representative, Mike Bell, from TN who is another member of what is being called HEALTH REFARM who advocates paying your doctor with vegetables.

Seriously, do the republicans have a lab somewhere where they produce these whackos from pods?

Hilarious! I liked your earlier comment about those brilliant congress people accepting veggies for campaign donations. If I were one of their constituents, I'm pretty sure I'd be sending them some okra.

You know it's pretty scary knowing the intellect of some of our congressional legislators! Good grief!

[pattygreen 5]

Pew Poll: Trust In Government Hits Near-Historic Low

by Liz Halloran

Explore The Results: Americans' Distrust Of Government

text size A A A

April 18, 2010

Americans' trust in government and its institutions has plummeted to a near-historic low, according to a sobering new survey by the Pew Research Center.

Only 22 percent of Americans surveyed by Pew say they can trust government in Washington "almost always or most of the time" -- among the lowest measures in the half-century since pollsters have been asking the question.

And an increasing number -- almost 1 of every 3 people -- say they believe government is a major threat to their personal freedoms and want federal power reined in.

Pew asked people to say whether they were content, frustrated or angry with the federal government -- and 3 of every 4 people said they were either frustrated or angry.

Heard On 'Morning Edition'

heard on Morning Edition

April 19, 2010

The public's unalloyed hostility flows from what Pew Center Director Andrew Kohut characterizes as a perfect storm of conditions: a bad economy, backlash against Washington partisanship and "epic discontent" with elected officials that found fuel in this year's bitter health care debate.

"Health care reform contributed in the second half of last year to this growing concern about the power of government," Kohut tells NPR.

"The public," he says, "wants a less activist government."

Kohut says measures of trust typically decline during Democratic administrations. Indeed, some of the previous lows in trust of government, as measured since 1958, were recorded during the Clinton and Carter administrations.

But the trust numbers were even lower at the close of the George W. Bush administration, dipping below 20 percent.

The current sour mood is expected to favor out-of-power Republicans in the fall midterm elections. But there's a caveat that should give pause to those on both sides of the aisle: Pew also found that the number of Americans who view Congress favorably declined by half over the past year, to 25 percent, the lowest Pew has ever recorded.

At A Glance: Key Survey Findings

• Just 22 percent of Americans say they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in a half-century.
  
• Public hostility toward government seems likely to favor Republicans in the midterm elections this fall. But favorable ratings for both major parties, as well as Congress, have reached record lows.
  
• The proportion of Americans who say they are "angry" with the federal government has doubled since 2000, increasing from 10 percent to 20 percent.
  
• Independents who are highly frustrated with government are highly committed to voting this year, and they favor the GOP candidates in their district by a margin of 66 percent to 13 percent.
  
• Explore More Of The Findings
  

Source: Pew Research Center

Americans, Kohut says, have a "relentlessly" negative view of Congress.

How Bad?

The results of the Pew survey, conducted in March, were so startlingly grim that Kohut says the organization did three follow-up surveys to verify its findings.

"We were concerned that we were getting a misread," Kohut told NPR's Steve Inskeep, because the original sample was taken during the height of the health-care debate in Congress.

Kohut's interview with Inskeep will air Monday on Morning Edition.

But Pew's additional surveys showed largely the same results: a disaffected and increasingly angry populace, disillusioned with state and federal government, as well as with federal departments ranging from the food and Drug Administration to the Department of Education.

The mistrust that is permeating the electorate, Kohut says, is "about government writ large."

Measuring Anger

Pew surveys dating from 1997 show that an average of about 55 percent of Americans typically express frustration about the federal government, with the exception of a temporary spike in trust after Sept. 11.

In the current survey, 56 percent say they feel frustrated by the federal government. The big difference this time, according to the Pew survey, is the growing numbers who expressed "intense anti-government views."

The proportion of Americans who say they are angry has doubled since 2000. Now at 21 percent, it tops the previous high of 20 percent in 2006.

"The percentage who are angry is still small," Kohut says, "but it's twice as much as it was back in the late 1990s."

Pew found that intense anti-government sentiment is concentrated among Republicans, independents and others who lean Republican, as well as those who agree with the Tea Party movement.

Anti-government animus is particularly intense among the 30 percent of those surveyed who say that "government is a major threat to my personal freedoms," Kohut says.

Those numbers among people who identify with the Tea Party movement "go through the roof," he says. Fifty-seven percent in that group say the government is a major threat to them, and 43 percent say they are angry with the federal government.

Those negative feelings far outpace the view of traditional Republicans, 43 percent of whom said government is a major threat, and 30 percent who described themselves as angry. By contrast, 18 percent of Democrats view the government as a major threat, and only 9 percent say they are angry with the federal government.

Key Voters: Independents

The Democrats have several big worries going into the fall elections: growing disaffection among independents, and expected high turnout among those who are the angriest -- and thus most motivated.

"The Democrats and liberals have been politically asleep when we talk about the intensity of their views," Kohut says. "There's just no comparison."

Independents who are "highly frustrated with government are highly committed to voting this year," he says. "And they favor the Republican candidates in their districts by an overwhelming 66-to-13 percent margin."

The survey also found that about a third of independents who lean Republican said that the Tea Party best reflects their view, with about the same number saying the Republican Party fits the bill.

Interestingly, only half of self-identified Republicans say their party best represents their views, with close to a third saying they believe their leanings are better reflected by the Tea Party.

The past year's backlash against government may be best illustrated by a couple of statistics, Kohut says.

Before President Obama took office last year, the public was "pretty much evenly divided" about what size government the country needed, with 42 percent advocating for a smaller government and 43 percent for a bigger one.

Now, 50 percent of those surveyed want a smaller government; 39 percent want a bigger one that provides more services. That comes even as 61 percent of those surveyed say they think stricter regulation of financial companies is a good idea -- up from 54 percent in October of last year.

"We've had some backlash," Kohut says. "Washington and politics have poisoned the well in terms of trust in government."

The majority of Americans do NOT trust the government, yet the few who post here do. What does that tell you? Oh yeah, that they're more intelligent than the majority of their fellow man. (rolling eyes)

Edited April 23, 2010 by pattygreen

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Well, first of all, I am better educated than the average american. That is not an elitist remark, just a fact. And secondly, I study politics and the government and am better informed about it than the average person. And thirdly, these same people don't trust corporate america or wall street either, which SOME on these boards trust. So I guess that makes those on here who stand with wall street think they know more than the average american. Also, the government is we the people. It is me. And I want to see it work for me and for all Americans. I want it to succeed. Saying the government is the problem over and over again is not the answer or the solution. It's just easy.

Rolling eyes!!

Over the past several years, opinion polls have revealed the public's concerns about its views of business ethics diverging from the opinions held by business leaders. A poll of citizens and business people was conducted by The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in 2009. The survey found that citizens were more likely than business executives to express a downbeat opinion on the direction and practices of corporate America. This gap suggests that business leaders are out of touch with their stakeholders. Some key findings:

► More than three-quarters of Americans said the moral compass of corporate America is pointing in the wrong direction, compared to 58 percent of business executives.

► A majority of Americans gave corporate America the grades of D or F for honesty and ethics and rated the country's business leadership as "poor" while business leaders gave themselves C and B marks for honesty and ethics and think they are doing a fair job at leading.

► Only an estimated 3 in 10 Americans and executives think the "public good" is a strong factor in the choices of corporate leaders.

Carl Anderson, a leader in commissioning the survey reportedly said: "Today, America faces a serious problem with a financial crisis caused in no small part by greed - the public lacks confidence in our financial system and in much of 'corporate America.'

"This confidence cannot and will not be restored until American executives and companies choose to be guided by a moral compass in their business decisions. Only a strong commitment to ethical business practices on the part of executives and the companies they lead can restore America's confidence in its financial system," Anderson said.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Cleo's Mom

[BJean 16]

Well that opinion poll is aptly named.

Americans distrust anyone who has any power these days.

And why wouldn't they? They've been screwed royally by the Republican majority for 8 years running. So far, the new Democratic administration and congress have acted like they're trying to make things right. But although they have passed health care reform and have worked to keep the economy from tanking, they haven't made the very drastic changes that Americans need and require from their government.

The Republicans want everyone to believe that the Democrats are turning America into a socialist country but the reality is a very different thing. But that doesn't keep them from screaming "socialism!" and wringing their hands and beating their chests in a very raucous display of politics at its' worst.

Most Americans have a good idea of what's really going on. They are not as motivated to chant and wave placards and strap on their guns and march in the streets, but trust me, the majority of us have high hopes that the administration will keep moving us in a better direction.

[BJean 16]

I'm curious patty, how many people were polled? Who were these people? How were their opinions obtained?

[LeighaMason 19]

Patty Do you even read these articles that are suppose to support your position?

"Americans' trust in government and its institutions has plummeted to a near-historic low, according to a sobering new survey by the Pew Research Center."

So if they are at a near historic low when was the historic low? Answer from the article: "But the trust numbers were even lower at the close of the George W. Bush administration, dipping below 20 percent." So technically they have risen since Obama took office.

"The proportion of Americans who say they are "angry" with the federal government has doubled since 2000, increasing from 10 percent to 20 percent."

What happened in 2000? Bush took office.