I heard something recently that remained stuck in my mind for a few days. It was a quote from Cheryl Mathias of AARP, who said, “If you make a Medicare Advantage choice, and you don't realize you've agreed to a limited network of doctors and hospitals, and you suddenly go to a different doctor or hospital, [then] you could wind up with a very big bill that you would have to pay out of pocket.” Since a number of Medicare Part C Advantage plans cover less medical expenses than Parts A and B, and have higher deductibles and copays, they were touched on in the ObamaCare legislation. Beginning this year in 2011, Medicare Part C Advantage Plans cannot charge higher cost-sharing requirements beyond the initial Medicare for specific services, such as skilled nursing care, dialysis and chemotherapy. This could mean a range of different outcomes, because - at least according to one site, there are five basic types of Medicare Advantage. Utah a Case Example Medicare clients in Utah who are on the Medicare Advantage plans should have gotten notices already about any changes that they can expect to see in those plans, including if the plans will no longer be available in your state. In the event that these plans are no longer offered in your state, it is critical that you make the appropriate changes to your plans or you may risk losing your Medigap benefits that cover your expenses beyond the regular reimbursements from Medicare. When you sign up for a Medicare Advantage Plan, you are able to use the insurance card from your plan for health care. In the majority of these plans, there are typically additional benefits as well as lower copays than is offered with the original Medicare plan. However, you may not be required to go to doctors who belong to the plan or specific hospitals to get the treatment that you need. Medicare Premiums Seen to be Increasing Although premiums may decline this year, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will most likely see an increase in cost sharing. Also beginning in 2011, Medicare Advantage plans are not able to charge anything more than regular Medicare for dialysis, chemotherapy, skilled nursing care or any other service that is deemed appropriate by CMS. photo credit: mikecogh

Business Roundtable Shines Light on U.S. Health Care Shortcomings

I imagine the Business Rountable to very similar to depictions of the Knights of the Round Table: Large, well dressed men sitting around a round table (who would have thunk) discussing how powerful and wonderful they are and then getting down to solving the problems of the world. In reality, the Business Roundtable is a group of modern-day powerhouses-the CEO's of America's largest corporations, in fact. The purpose of the Business Roundtable (to be referred to as BT throughout the rest of the article) is to unite these bigwigs and hope they can churn out some good solutions to the world's problems. I mean, who better to address all the poverty and despair in the world then some of the wealthiest folks in America, right? Sarcasm aside, I find myself impressed with a recent study that the BT released, comparing the success/cost of health care in the United States with that of European countries. Considering that the recent economic malaise has sent numbers of former employees to the ranks of the uninsured - or even, gasp, resorting to self-employed health insurance - the findings are grim, a little nauseating. Still, there may be nuggets of wisdom the U.S. Government can take to make some much needed changes. The U.S. Health Disadvantage Here is a little bit on what the BT's study found regarding the United States health care system. It's estimated that the United States spends nearly $643 billion more every year on health care than other industrialized countries like France, Germany and Japan. The BT rounded up 19 different metrics of looking at a method for measuring the impact of health care spending on U.S. global economic competitiveness. What did the BT find? "The United States stands at a 23% disadvantage relative to five leading economic competitors: Canada, France, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the so-called G-5 group); and a 46% disadvantage relative to the emerging competitors of Brazil, India and China (BIC).” To continue, the report states “As a group, workers and employers in G-5 countries spend approximately 63 cents for every dollar we (U.S.) spend on health care. The gap is even wider when we look at the BIC (Brazil, India, China) group; they spend just 15 cents for every dollar we spend on health care. These health spending gaps persist after adjustment for our higher per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product).” Take a minute to let all of that sink in. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll recall that a few months prior I wrote a piece about the different health care models in large countries around the globe, how much they cost for the country in a given year and how much they cost consumers. Most industrialized nations have something similar to a universal or nationalized health care system. There are variations, of course, but they all stand in a similar ilk. The United States really stands all alone in it's little corner while those in European countries not only spend less, but get more thorough, easily accessible and affordable care. What is wrong with this picture? One thing I did read that lightened my spirits a bit is this: the study "has had profound influence on the thinking of Obama’s White House staff of economists and analysts." Let's make some changes here people. photo credit: hans s

False Apologies

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge Yesterday Joe Wilson did not fail to entertain again. He emitted several apologies that really weren't. In one interview he claims the GOP leadership told him to apologize, it wasn't something that came from his heart. Now he claims he is sorry but wants people to send him money. His false apology was never in response for being wrong. He wrongfully claims that the health care bill offers insurance to illegal immigrants when in fact it has a section devoted to denying health care insurance to illegal immigrants. So if you read his apologies, he only apologies for his behavior and not about being out of touch, willfully ignorant and plain-assed wrong. So in that spirit, I give you today's strip! P.S. No one really complained.

The Wingnut View Of Reality

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge

McCain: Only As Strong As His Weakest Lobbyist

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeJohn McCain showed his true strips (again) last week when he came out against the G.I. Bill on the eve of Memorial Day Weekend. He has a history of ignoring the needs of the military even though he was a prisoner of war. One would think he would have a firm grasp of the needs of the military but as my friend, Christine Hall, pointed out, "John McCain can easily be talked out of anything." That had to be the best description of John McCain I have ever heard. The SEIU published a research report exploring John McCain's health care record, policies and campaign plans. From AAP: As the research shows, McCain’s latest ideas for health care would actually make obtaining coverage more difficult for the average working family and cause health care costs to go up for millions of hardworking Americans. Deborah Roberson, a child care worker in Erie, PA, has diabetes and is currently uninsured. Under the McCain plan, she would not be guaranteed coverage because she has a pre-existing condition. Her net pay last year was $14,300 and her out of pocket health care costs were $3,000 – over 20 percent of her income. “I live in fear of getting sick,” said Roberson. “I have to stretch my medication. Sometimes I take one diabetes pill instead of the two my doctor prescribed. God forbid I should have to go to the hospital. I need health insurance so that I can stay healthy and take care of myself, my family and these kids. John McCain has no plan to ensure that people like me get the care we need.” Good grief! How in the world can John McCain believe a health care plan that maintains the idiotic pre-existing condition position? It is easy, he was talked out of it. If you are a woman, it gets worse. From HuffPo, Since 1983, in votes in the House and the Senate (where he has served since 1987), McCain has cast 130 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. 125 of those votes were anti-choice. Among his voting lowlights: He has repeatedly voted to deny low-income women access to abortion care except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life (although McCain is now wavering on trying to put these exceptions into the party platform). He voted to shut down the Title X family-planning program, which provides millions of women with health care services ranging from birth control to breast cancer screenings. He voted against legislation that established criminal and civil penalties for those who use threats and violence to keep women from gaining access to reproductive health clinics. He voted to uphold the policy that bans overseas health clinics from receiving aid from America if they use their own funds to provide legal abortion services or even adopt a pro-choice position. Of his anti-choice voting record, McCain has said, "I have many, many votes and it's been consistent," proudly adding: "And I've got a consistent zero from NARAL" through the years. And last month he told Chris Matthews: "The rights of the unborn is one of my most important values." What's more, McCain has made it very clear that if he becomes president he will appoint judges in the Scalia, Roberts, Alito mold. His big judicial speech earlier this month was filled with coded buzz words that make it clear that, if given the chance, he'd replace 88-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens with an anti-choice Justice who would tip the scales against Roe v Wade. Throw in an additional anti-choice replacement for the 75-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and you can kiss the right to choose good-bye for a long, long time. Why John McCain is so interested in my wife's uterus is beyond me. McCain's problems are deeper than that of course. These are probably not McCain's beliefs, they are the beliefs of his lobbyists and special interest pals. John McCain is nothing more blank sheet of paper where the highest bidder gets to write down their commands for McCain to follow. He has been following orders for years and can't get enough when he figured out there was real money in it. John McCain cannot seem to think for himself. He has to look to one of his moneyed superiors to tell him what to do. When he takes his 3AM phone call, a lobbyist will probably answer for him what to do based on THEIR interests, not the interests of the American people and not what is in the best interest of the United States of America. Simply put, John McCain is only as strong as his weakest lobbyist. SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish. If anything, put in a good word for Darren and Candorville. I am submitting Town Called Dobson to the paper for their consideration. They seem to have given great weight to receiving 200 messages considering Candorville. I am asking TCD fans to try to surpass that amount. (I get more than that many hate mails a day, surely fans can do better?) This is not a race between Darren and I, it is a hope that more progressive strips can be represented in the printed press of America. So if you read the San Francisco Chronicle or live in the Bay Area (Google Analytics tell me there are a lot of you), please send your kind comments (or naked, straining outrage) to David Wiegand at his published addresses below. If you are a subscriber, cut out your mailing label and staple it to a TCD strip and include it in your letter. candorcomment@sfchronicle.com or David Wiegand Executive Datebook Editor The San Francisco Chronicle 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103

Another Reason to Hate Hillary

Appearing at The Jaundiced Eye, the Independent Bloggers' Alliance, and My Left Wing. She wants to pick your pocket. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to have workers' wages garnisheed if they refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans. The New York senator has criticized presidential rival Barack Obama for pushing a health plan that would not require universal coverage. Clinton has not always specified the enforcement measures she would embrace, but when pressed during a television interview, she said: "I think there are a number of mechanisms" that are possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment." Clinton said such measures would apply only to workers who can afford health coverage but refuse to buy it, which puts undue pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms. Under her plan, she said, health care "will be affordable for everyone" because she would limit premium payments "to a low percent of your income." Because we all know how good the federal government is at determining what is affordable for average American workers. Just ask all those "Welfare to Work" mothers. Of course it may be hard to reach them between shifts of the two or three jobs many of them work to keep their kids clothed, fed and in daycare. Yes, Hillary, in her infinite wisdom, has deduced that the ones responsible for our broken health care system aren't insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies or employers who are slashing benefits and pay raises, simultaneously. It's those flush workers who just refuse to pay for insurance. Make no mistake. This is yet another Republicrat idea designed to utterly fuck the middle class. But, if Obama is smart, he will take this ball and run with it, because Hill has just handed him a hell of a campaign issue right before Super Tuesday. "Hillary wants to garnish your wages." It just writes itself.

Another Michael Moore Fan Is Born

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge I saw Moore on Wolf Blitzer last night and what a show! Moore didn't give Blitzer any place to run and hide, but above and beyond the issue of SiCKO, I think Mike was speaking for the rest of us. "Where has the mainstream media been?" The string of lies and obstruction of justice for this White House goes all the way back to before BushCo took the oath of office (he even broke that in no time) and the MSM is now just starting to crack its eyes open and ask a hard question or two. With the exception of Lou Dobbs and Keith Olbermann, the media continues to chat about mostly nothing. Here is something to think about. Take all of what I have said and all you have seen from this administration, take the malpractice of the mainstream media for the last 6 and a half years - take it all in and thin about it. Now imagine life and this culture WITHOUT blogs. What would you have? How hard of a life would we be living? Without the constant watchdogs in the blogosphere, what more would BushCo have gotten by with? How much farther would they have gotten without us? Would we know about the secret prisons, non-existent WMDs, Abu Ghraib, Walter Reed, no bid contracts, Gonzo Gate? What about Katrina? Would we even know about Michael Moore?

SiCKO - A ReVIEW

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane & My Left Wing click to enlarge My wife and I went to see SiCKO this past Sunday at the 1:30 matinée. The crowd was thin, but it was just as crowded as the theater showing Die Hard. The film was different from other Michael Moore works as it focused on an issue without a single-person focus such as Roger Smith, George Bush or Charlton Heston - this film had a lot of stars and a lot of sad stories and all of them were tear jerkers. Moore targeted an industry and did it well while managing to crucify both Democrats and Republicans for taking bribes (I call them that) from the health care titans of industry. My favorite guy was the philosophical older British gentleman who spoke on the power of democracy and I think he made one of the greatest points of the film. Democracy moves the power of government from the rich to the poor and if the poor ever feel disenfranchised, they stop voting - so it is in the interest of the rich to disenfranchise. Leave it to the British to sum up our voting problems here in the former colonies. Two of the most emotional moments for me were both scenes from Cuba. One of the women who worked on The Pile had severe respiratory problems resulting from her exposure to Ground Zero. Her disability check was about $1000 a month and just one of her inhalers ran close to $100 each - in Cuba, she learned the inhalers were five cents. You could see the pain and elation on her face when she learned the price difference. The other was a woman who had cancer and lost her house due to medical bills. Once she was in her hospital bed, she expressed her gratitude and her utter disbelief over the cost of her treatment - free. You could see her relief of being helped and her frustration of her American health car experience - murder-by-spreadsheet. What the fuck is wrong with us? And lastly, in the beginning of the film, where the parents had to move in with their daughter - would it have KILLED the daughter to at least clean up with room where she stuffed her parents? After all, her Dad has had THREE hear attacks and her mother had cancer (mentioned previously). Hadn’t they been through enough without you dumping then in your cramped, junk-filled storeroom?

Going Backwards

Forget about Stephen King and his fake boogeymen. If you want to have the shit scared out of you, then read this nightmare scenario by David Michael Green, a professor of political science at Hofstra University in New York: "One day you’re gonna wake up in a hostile world where your country no longer has any friends. There will be governments of other countries – former long-standing allies – that cannot afford to have anything to do with you, lest their publics angrily remove them from office for collaborating with a country as hated as yours. Nor will those governments trust yours anyway. They will perhaps possess intelligence that could save your life, but they will not share it. They will possess forces that could help you survive real security threats, but they will not provide them. Your country will have become an international pariah, the South Africa of the twenty-first century." You can read the rest of Professor Green's terrifying essay here. This canary-in-a-coal-mine memo was from Alternative Brain. And thanks for the sleepless nights, guys. But, then again, you can't see the oncoming train with your eyes closed. ,