"Brutal Health Care Truths"

[Calabrio]

"What a candidate for President would say if they didn't care about becoming President. In other words, this is what the truth is, and a candidate will never say, but what a candidate should say if we were in a kind of democracy where citizens were honored- in terms of their practice of citizenship. And they were educated in terms of what the issues were, and they could separate myth from reality in terms of what candidates tell them.

'Thank you so much for coming this afternoon. I’m so glad to see you and I would like to be president. Let me tell you a few things on health care. Look, we have the only health care system in the world that is designed to avoid sick people. And that’s true and what I’m going to do is that I am going try to reorganize it to be more amenable to treating sick people but that means you, particularly you young people, particularly you young healthy people…you’re going to have to pay more.

Thank you. And by the way, we’re going to have to, if you’re very old, we’re not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It’s too expensive…so we’re going to let you die.”

Also I’m going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government in terms of Medicare, Medicaid—we already have a lot of bargaining leverage—to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs. What that means, less innovation and that means less new products and less new drugs on the market which means you are probably not going to live much longer than your parents. Thank you.”

Robert Reich
Profesor at UC Berkley.
Former Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton.
Economic Advisor to President Obama.

University of California, Berkley
9/26/2007

 

[Calabrio]

YouTube - Robert Reich: What An Honest President Would Say About Health Reform

 

[shagdrum]

Sticky?

 

[JohnnyBz00LS]

The Audacity of Greed

Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley
Posted: October 14, 2009 04:31 PM

The health-insurance industry has finally revealed itself for what it is.

Insurers hate the idea that's emerged from the Senate Finance Committee of lowering penalties on younger and healthier people who don't buy insurance. Relying on an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers, insurers say this means new enrollees will be older and less healthy -- which will drive up costs. And, says the industry, these costs will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. Proposed taxes on high-priced "Cadillac" policies will also be passed on to consumers. As a result, premiums will rise faster and higher than the government projects.

It's an eleventh-hour bombshell.

But the bomb went off under the insurers. The only reason these costs can be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums is because there's not enough competition among private insurers to force them to absorb the costs by becoming more efficient. Get it? Health insurers have just made the best argument yet about why a public insurance option is necessary.

Right now they run their markets and set their prices, and pass on any increased costs directly to consumers. That's what they're threatening to do if the legislation attempts to squeeze, even slightly, the colossal profits they plan to make off of thirty million new paying customers.

They want every penny of those profits. They demand every cent. And if the government dares raise their costs a tad higher than they expected when they first signed on to support the bill, they'll pass those costs on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. They can carry out their threat only because they have unaccountable, untrammeled market power.

But they've now hoisted themselves on their own insured petard. They've exposed themselves. If they had to compete with a public insurance plan, they couldn't get away with this threat. They couldn't pass on the extra costs. They'd have to compete with a public insurance option that forced them to give consumers the best deals possible.

Now's the time for Congress and the White House to say to the insurance industry: You want to play hardball? Okay. We'll play it, too. You didn't want a public insurance option. That was one of your conditions for supporting the bill. You wanted gigantic profits from having thirty million new paying customers and the market to yourself. The Senate Finance Committee and the White House agreed because they wanted your support and were afraid of the negative ads and hurricane of opposition you could finance. But you're even greedier than we imagined. And now you've demonstrated that greed to the American people. They don't want to turn over even more of their hard-earned money to you. So, insurance companies, we've got news for you. We're going to make sure Americans have the freedom to choose a public insurance option that's cheaper and better, and you're going to have to work hard to keep them your customers.

 

[Calabrio]

Yes, Johnny... that would be the same guy.
Except the quote and audio I provide was candid and in front of a friendly group.

 

[foxpaws]

So Cal - The 'candid' snippet of video you posted is 2 years old. The excellent article Johnny posted is 2 days old.

Why do you think Reich did an about face? Did the editors at Huffington hold him down and nail his knees to the floor until he wrote a scathing article against the insurance industry? They obviously are an unfriendly group...

Oh shag-sticky? Nope-y!

 

[Mick Jagger]

I am going try to reorganize it to be more amenable to treating sick people but that means you, particularly you young people, particularly you young healthy people…you’re going to have to pay more.

I'm young and healthy, and I think that's a great idea. I'll pay a little more for quality health insurance when I'm young and healthy, and a little less for it when I'm old and sick. Everyone will have affordable quality health insurance, which will improve the general welfare of the people, because healthy people are happier than sick people. It will also improve their safety, because healthy people are better at defending themselves than sick people.

Everybody wins.

we’re not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It’s too expensive…so we’re going to let you die.

I thought you said healthy young people where going to pay more than their fair share of the nation's health care expense, so that when they get old and sick they will pay less than their fair share.

 

[Calabrio]

I don't see any about face there, foxpaws.

Johnny posted an article written by a man who's attempting to build an argument with the intention of persuading a broad audience regarding an agenda item that is being hotly contested across the country.

The clip I posted was an off the cuff exchange during a speaking engagement at University of California, Berkley in 2007.

Here's the way he set it up... I hadn't transcribed, so I'll go edit the first post and include it there too.

"What a candidate for President would say if they didn't care about becoming President. In other words, this is what the truth is, and a candidate will never say, but what a candidate should say in a kind of democracy where citizens were honored- in terms of their practice of citizenship. And they were educated in terms of what the issues were, and they could separate myth from reality in terms of what candidates tell them."

But, in case any one doesn't remember who this man is-
more recently, he who said this during the Stimulus discussion:

REICH: …”I am concerned, as I’m sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high-skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers…I have nothing against white male construction workers, I’m just saying there are other people who have needs as well.”

YouTube - Explosive Video Reich, Obamas economic advisor no "White Male Construction Workers"
(the video has some commentary embedded in it.... if anyone finds a clean copy of the video, I'll consider switching it)

And there's no need to sticky it when I knew you'd be bumping it up to the top.

 

[foxpaws]

So, what does Riech's comments regarding the stimulus have to do with his comments regarding health care?

 

[Calabrio]

So, what does Riech's comments regarding the stimulus have to do with his comments regarding health care?

As I explained, some people might not remember him if I simply say he's Obama's economic advisory.

 

[Calabrio]

This candor from Reich is very insightful, and I don't just mean the part regarding the brutal realities of health care reform. But even the way he sets it up. It demonstrates the classic condescension and inflated of superiority people who share his philosophy seem to share.

what a candidate should say if we were in a kind of democracy where ...... they were educated in terms of what the issues were, and they could separate myth from reality in terms of what candidates tell them.

In other words, the public it too stupid to understand this stuff, so, what we really need is a political and 'intellectual' class, an elite class, to make these difficult decisions for us. Maybe just pull us kicking and screaming into it, but don't worry, they know what's best for us.

YouTube - stupid

 

[Mick Jagger]

Also I’m going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government in terms of Medicare, Medicaid—we already have a lot of bargaining leverage—to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs.

What costs, exactly, are you going to force them to reduce, and why?

 

[Calabrio]

What costs, exactly, are you going to force them to reduce, and why?

You are a very confused person.

 

[Mick Jagger]

You are a very confused person.

Should we take that to mean you didn't know what you were talking about when you alleged that you were going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs?

 

[Calabrio]

YouTube - Uncle Duke: Health Care Reform
2000 Election
Doonseberry Video.
It's tongue in cheek, but still rather telling, isn't it?