LoD

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Dirty Politics

By Vigdor Schreibman

Undue health care delay in the United States, is a leading cause of "accidental death," often caused by placing provider interests in maximizing profit and minimizing medical responsibility ahead of the interests of patients. This pattern of serving medical self-interest while disregarding the harmful impact on patients is the root of the American health care crisis. This problem goes back to the Nuremberg Tribunal when Nazi Doctors were brought to trial by the United States for "inadequate provision of surgical and medical services" identified as the cause of murder and ill-treatment of civilian populations.

The current proposed House Bill, would establish a private-public advisory committee to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee, "to recommend covered benefits" (sec. 123). This would be supported with Comparative Effectiveness Research (sec. 1401), and Electronic health records (sec. 1124(c)). Clearly, the House Democrats' scheme is designed for institution of a medical rationing board, supported by a national electronic health records (EHR) system. Once you get this centralized health control system in place, it is inevitable that the federal police services (e.g., U.S. Secret Service, National Security Agency, etc.) together with Big Money (e.g., GE Medical Systems) will play a major roll in management of the system to support their own pernicious priorities. This is already occuring even without the massive centralized control included in the new health care legislation, as described in my statement on Undue health care delay. You can expect to hear a lot more about medical rationing, a growing rumble including everyone from The New York Times and Fox News, to Lyndon LaRouch and Sarah Palin have already jumpted into the debate. Health care is becoming the dominant issue in Washington this summer.

Senator Jim Bunning (R) and Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus discuss amendments to healthcare reform legislation during an executive session on Capitol Hill in Washington October 1, 2009. REUTERS/Richard Clement

This is very scary stuff, take it from one old man who knows from first hand experience with medical rationing. In his Wild West Town-hall Health Care promotional tour President Obama categorically assailed fair criticism of his health rationing plan, as "wild misrepresentations"! This may be good political gamesmanship but it is deplorable medical care dialogue for America's future. The proposed Health Advisory Committee (described as a "medical rationing board") supported by EHR, the electronic health records system managed by GE Medical Records Systems, and other "Big Money" providers, is designed to sqeeze money out of health care so that Congress can allow continuation of the traditional practice of maximizing profit for the Health Insurance Industry. Let's get this straight. It is not the increasing health costs but maximizing profit that is the major problems in the health services industry. Corporate execuives have duties beyond maximizing profit for themselves. The Medical Rationing Board would curtail increasing costs not by curtaining excessive corporate administrative costs and profits but by establishing a central control system managed by a panel of appointed "experts" who would exercise superordinate control over medical decisions traditionally made by doctors in the best interests of their patients. In short, the strategy is to squeeze medical costs so that excessive corporate administrative costs and profits can continue as usual. This form of centralized health care control provides a normative system that would lock out the voices of doctors and patients who have the greatest direct knowledge and interest in the genuine success of the health system, to be replaced by appointed "experts" who thrive on self-promotion, fraud, and waste. This is no health reforn strtatgy. It is a strategy to rip off the poor suckers who are in dire need of medical care to asssure the rich medical system can prosper..

They say the medical rationing plan is needed to control runaway health care costs. We are well aware, however, the largest cost is the private health insurance administration, which is a massive budget buster, once eliminated with the single payer public health plan most favored by citizens and medical professionals, would settle the health care cost problem very nicely. We need to carefully design medical care reform that includes the single payer option for universal health care provided by H.R. 676, introduced by Rep. John Conyers, Jr (D-MI), and cosponsored with 93 other members. There can be no compromise or concession on this basic issue. Let us, instead, proceed with an integration of the best that all can contribute to healthy people. This is the best ethical teaching based on the most progressive psychology. Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management, Chapter Seven (P. Graham, ed.) (Harvard Business School Press Classic, 1996). H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act would end the arguments over runaway health care costs and health rationing. A historical floor debate and vote this fall on the single payer health reform system has been promised by Speaker Nancy Pelosi!

The single payer health system is inevitable because of the increasing costs of the private health insurance system. The best interests of the American people, tested in universal health systems adopted by all other developed nations around the world, is clear, especially when you consider the exceptionally high cost of private health insurance in the United States. The settled will of the people, expressed in many polls throughout the United States, is clear. Defeat of H.R. 676, under all of these circumstances -- logic, morality, public will, and massively increasing premature deaths -- would risk defeat of the ultimate legitimacy of the representative system of the Government of the United States. Continued undue reliance on the private health insurance scheme, which costs far too much and leaves far too many people prematurely dead, simply cannot be defended by any sane and reasonable health policy maker. The people's representatives in the US Congress must vote to approve H.R. 676, for universal health care, or get ready for the inevitable blowback of unintended consequences.

A government that demonstrably does not adequately provide for the health of the people cannot retain the trust of the people and cannot stand. The present Government of the United States is attempting to recover from the 2008 crash now moving toward the 2009 crash. This Government remains threatened by interlinked crises. Now comes, The Demise of the Dollar, reported by Robert Fisk, October 07, 2009. This government is now pandering to Wall Street and Health Insurance Industry profits while disregarding the massive deaths of Americans due to millions of citizens who lack health insurance, and chronic systemic failures resulting in preventable medical mistakes and infections that the professional "experts" promised to fix 10-years ago. Such a Government will inevitably collapse from a failure of public trust, or risk overthrow.

This fight is not about health care. No way. Its about dirty politics. Its about giving a payoff to the health insurance industry for their multimillion dollar bribery (described as campaign donations). Its about tens of thousands of dead Americans each year whose lives are sacrificed to dirty politics caused by the greed of the health insurance industry, and by medical homicide (described as undue delay in necessary health treatment). Lets tell it like it is. Current reports disclose there are 200,000 deaths annually (up from 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually a decade ago) due to medical mistakes and infections, and another approximately 44,000 deaths annually due to lack of health insurance. This fight is about the god damned politicians, including our highly acclaimed, and very dignified President, who have abandoned the dignity of the American people who are dependent upon a caring nation for their very lives. Only single payer health insurance, i.e., H.R. 676, will clean up this mess, or a national insurrection to bring down this absolutely disgusting government pretending to be a democracy.

This page is maintained by Vigdor Schreibman.
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Cornelia P. Atchley, artist,
Portrait of Vigdor in blue 2001.