Fix Healthcare? Define “Fix”

http://www.lostnation.tv/ ^ | July 14, 2006 | Jack McEnany

[joebergeron]

Fix Healthcare? Define “Fix”

A couple years ago, the WaPo OpEd page carried an odd piece of bi-partisan puffery from Sens Bill Frist (R-TN) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) – now both potential 2008 presidential candidates. As experts on healthcare – Dr. Frist’s daddy founded HCA, which made him filthy rich, while Clinton was appointed in 1993 by her hubby to put her estimable cattle futures investing skills to work revamping America’s broken, overpriced, and heartless healthcare system.

The following quote isn’t news to those of us who aren’t privileged enough to have private healthcare coverage paid for by the federal government (as members of Congress do):

“Today our care is often afflicted by systemic error and dramatic inefficiencies. According to a recent Rand Corp. study, even patients with the best available coverage receive recommended care, on average, only 55 percent of the time. Costs continue to escalate far in excess of inflation.”

What they’re saying is that American healthcare is sub-par even for those with “good” coverage and, inexplicably, it just keeps getting more unaffordable. So what have either of them done about it?

For her part, Clinton, through sheer Cheney-like secrecy and incompetence, managed to set the cause of national health care in this country back 100 years. The plan she and her minions devised back in 1993 made Bush’s prescription drug plan read like a haiku.

For his part, Frist supported a slick “Harry and Louise” national ad campaign paid for by the healthcare industry to de-rail the Clinton plan.

So now that she’s the presumptive front-runner for the 2008 Dem presidential nomination, the bigfeet in American healthcare must be shaking in their booties, right? Hardly.

As it turns out, Sen Clinton (D-NY) is the second highest recipient of healthcare industry financial contributions nationwide, beat out only by Sen Rick Santorum (R-PA). In the past year she’s taken $854,462 from the same Big Pharma, for-profit hospitals, private insurers, and doctors she accused in 1993 of “price gouging” and “unconscionable profiteering.” Their motives are clear – better to have Clinton inside the oxygen tent micturating out, than outside micturating in. But her motives? We can only guess.

And what about the 50 million Americans (10 million more than in 1993) who don’t have health coverage? Maybe they should sink a grand into pork bellies and make themselves a small fortune. What else is there?

~Jack McEnany

[MNJohnnie]

Depends on the meaning of Fix. Fix as in "the Gangster fixed the boxing match"? Corrupt it to produce a desired corrupt outcome? That what I hear when Pols tell me they are going to "Fix" something.

[MNJohnnie]

I would not get too comfortable here, you will not be here long The absurd Neo Socialist blather and economic ignorance expressed in this article usually gets slapped around here pretty quick. Doubtlessly you will pop your gourd and get Zotted. Leftists always lose it when fact and reality smacks their nonsense in the face.

The reason Health Care is "in crises" is because the Wacko Leftist like Kennedy, have been messing around "fixing it" since the 1960s.

Sorry life is hard for Americans. Maybe they should not of made some of the stupid choices in life that brought them to this. I ways find it interesting how many luxuries various Health Care Hysterics, like weekly trips to the Casino, vacation homes, multiple autos etc, that the Baby Boombers think they are entitled to keep while demanding the Working Class Taxpayer shell out to pay for their "Health Care" Entitlement.

Note to Health Care Hysterics, none of us have any obligation to pay to fix the Hysterics prior life errors now that the consequences are coming home to roosts.

[Screamname]

The problem is the out of control lawsuits, not only against Doctors, hospitals, etc etc, but also drug companies. Merck is currently facing 13 thousand seperate lawsuits for it`s drug Vioxx, one of which they just won the other day against a 68 year old overweight diabetic woman with high cholesterol, who sued Merck claiming Vioxx gave her a heart attack! Why was this even allowed in court?

Freggin` liberals keep complaining about the high cost of AIDS drugs, how 3rd world countries "can`t afford them". Well no freggin` wonder! These drug companies are throwing all their money into defending lawsuits! Then you have Doctors and hospitals whose insurance is through the roof, and rising every year. Obstetricians pay a quarter million bucks and up in malpractice insurance every year! And for what? So they are covered when some crack smoking b*tch who drinks while pregnant sues him whe she has a kid with health problems?

[RobFromGa]

If you think it's expensive now, wait till its Free.

And the quality will decline as the price goes up.

The government cannot do anything efficiently.

[Flavius]

all they have to do remove lawyers, and insurance companies, and cap wrongful death payments to 1-5M

oh and paperwork

that would cut costs by 90%

[Vigilanteman]

I was thinking more of fix as in:

1. The junkie got his drug fix.
   or
   
2. We fixed the tom cat.

[ClaireSolt]

Take a scalpel, hatchet and chisel and remove government interferance.

[Dutch Boy]

I think they are once again confusing healthcare with health insurance. No one is refused healthcare including the unemployed, uninsured, illegal aliens, young, old, bitter or happy.

[darkwing104]

You again?...You are going to need health care when the kitties get done. Don't pay attention to the hot tar, it will only cauterize the wounds.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.

[darkwing104]

You again?...You are going to need health care when the kitties get done. Don't pay attention to the hot tar, it will only cauterize the wounds.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.

[darkangel82]

Sheesh, we're averaging a troll a day. The air is getting ionized from all the zotting.

[King Prout]

Mollie thinks flash-fried fool tastes like chicken.

[Danae]

Now THAT was a fast ZOT!
IATZ

[gondramB]

>>Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.<<

Is this a record number of troll thread?

[darkwing104]

Is this a record number of troll thread?

Hardly. He just wasn't finished off the first time. This guy was more of a Blog Pimp than a troll...

[Delta 21]

[UCANSEE2]

"I would not get too comfortable here, you will not be here long"

Hey, who died and made you king?

All he did was post the article, didn't even have a comment to be argued with. How can you tell the slant of his opinion when he hasn't given one?

[vigilante2]

Your account has been fixed

[reagan_fanatic]

Don't worry, troll - it will only hurt for a second..