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Shorter George Will to Arianna Huffington: "Oh, calm down, you silly girl; Americans are happy with their health insurance, so stop whining."
Nothing patronizing there. Nope. Move along.
Earth to ABC’s favorite recipient of media welfare, George Will:
The percentage of people with employer-based insurance is declining rapidly; it’s now below 59 percent, and those still covered are getting less coverage and being forced to accept more of the risks pushed onto them by insurers struggling to meet Wall Street’s demands for lower medical loss ratios (aka, less coverage, more profits).
As the employer-based coverage shrinks, it pushes people once covered at work into the highly concentrated individual "markets." There, the insurers’ death spiral is forcing massive increases in premiums for the sick (see Anthem BC/BS) and inducing those who are young/well now to drop coverage in a bet they won’t also get sick, thus driving up premiums more, etc, etc.
The very concept of private "health insurance" is failing, and the only thing saving some of its victims is the expansion of public insurance programs like SCHIP and Medicaid, which the reform bills would extend.
Every trend line says America’s private insurance system is imploding, leaving tens of millions at risk and killing/bankrupting thousands. But the willfully misinformed and misinforming George Will says we’re all happy, not to worry, because, you know, he’s well off and can afford his insurance.
And the reason he’s okay (and hence the country must be fine, since he presumes to speak for the common man) is because the beltway media feel compelled to hire, sustain and overpay a fact-challenged conservative hack because that’s what they do.
Related links to follow:
Kaiser, Employer Health Benefits 2009 Annual Survey
EPI, Employer-sponsored health insurance erosion continues, will likely accelerate through 2009
Commonwealth Fund, Trends in Underinsurance and the Affordability of Employer Health Coverage 2004-2007
Wonk Room, Medicaid program sees highest one-year increase in 40 years
Paul Krugman, California Death Spiral (Anthem)
CAP, Map of Health Insurance Competition (Concentration)
Crooks and Liars, Wendell Potter on Medical Loss Ratios
Seminal Archives, Paul Krugman on Republican health care logic: the Great Forgetting meets the Great Disingenuousness
33 Comments
George Will is a poster boy for the arrogant Tory aristocracy that owns and runs Amerika today. He’s the favorite cod-piece for the Plutocrats. What he desperately needs is a big fat cream pie shoved into his sanctimonious puss.
I listened in on the CIGNA earnings call for investors. They were touting their new “lean benefits” plans.
Those would be the plans where the insured pay the big bucks to receive no benefits at all?
Or am I just anticipating the next round of benefits cuts and cost increases?
Price per month: $1200
Medical loss ratio: 55%
George Will’s smirk: priceless
What amazes me most is not particularly the things these people say from time to time, but rather how they feel there are no consequences for such a way of life. Their desire to consume others will too bring them to consume themselves. They are so gluttonous that they will abandon every tactic and strategy that made them into what they are. Foolish, Foolish, Foolish. They are bred to be so arrogant that they think their very thoughts are untouchable by those below them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105793/quotes?qt0405534
I’m Rich and Covered, So the Rest of You Don’t Need Health Reform
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. What Will said is after all the republickan house and senate Health Care reform plan. A.K.A. I’ve got mine fuck you.
George Will reassured us all in 2000 that Richard Cheney was a good VP pick because he could do the ‘heavy lifting’ for party boy Dubya.
Yet he’s still on teevee opining.
Go figure.
I wish that Doctors Without Borders would do their next free clinic in DC; and that George and Cokie and other talking heads were forced to register the patients and see/hear their stories.
If they could still opine as they do after that experience, it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had no souls.
what a great idea
*Gasp* And mingle amongst the Rabble…? ;-)
Here’s the thing about, “Most Americans are happy with their health insurance.”
Most Americans never put their health insurance to the test.
The whole point of insurance is to cover unlikely events. As such, the overwhelming majority of Americans who are using the de facto welfare portion of their insurance (the regular check-ups, non-chronic, and non-catastrophic) are predictably satisfied with the product. It’s a quasi-subsidy provided by the employer to help out a bit when they get the sniffles. When things get more complicated, the insurance disappears, or you end up in the morass of bullshit trying to get your claims paid, etc. then all of a sudden that product you came to know and love is the bane of your existence.
The statistics on insurance satisfaction should contain claims information, whether or not any were filed, what they were for, etc. Without that data, the statistic is functionally useless. All it tells us is that people are okay with something they have absolutely no experience with.
Of course George Will is one of those special rubes that I actually think is just so stupid as to not comprehend that; rather than being just that disingenuous.
yep.
and Kelly, yes to you too. I would LOVE to see that happen.
Exactly.
Thank you.
Book Salon up at the Mothership with Dean Baker’s False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy hosted by David Dayen
Ms. Huffington should have grabbed his patronizing claw, flung it off her arm, and kicked him with such force under the table that he squealed like the pig he is.
I am a male, and after seeing this, I’d like to kick the pea-sized nuts of that prick, Will.
What a condescending, arrogant turd. I don’t know how she kept her cool with that old fossil.
George Will will at every opportunity malign FDR and try to rewrite history so the crimes of his friends will never come to justice. A young George Will was rewarded with much power and riches for being the one who stole Carter’s notes before the debate which allowed Reagan to defeat Carter in their debate. It was George Will who slandered, libeled, defamed, and delegitimized Anita Hill which allowed Supreme Court Justice Uncle Thomas get on the court.
We need to make and strengthen laws against disinformation and those against slander to deal with conspirators like him.
I was really afraid for Obama when he went to his house for a meeting.
Anglo Saxon version of Marie Antoinette incarnate. So you’ve got yours now George? Can only hope that someday you don’t, you pompous, soulless excuse for a human being.
One thing I hope Will was right about: that Obama is only holding this “summit” so that he can ram through the HCR on reconciliation. His conclusion – that such a thing would be ruinous for the Dems – is of course regular old Will stupidity…
Even if they do ram this crap bill through using these moronic legislative tactics, it’s still a crap bill. Nothing short of single payer/Medicare for All will do the trick. As we have seen this past week, the HMO criminals are increasing rates by 40%. You think they won’t do the same thing after Obummer’s crap bill is passed? The blood sucking corporatists always find ways to line their gilded pockets, folks. They are vampires sucking on the life blood of the American people. They need to be stopped. We need an army of citizens storming the gates, man. I mean it.
One of the biggest problems with Medicare and Medicaid is that they are now being skimmed by the HMOs so any extra money will be channeled to them while the care patients get is decreased. so far, everything that’s been proposed is more giveaway to the giant insurance and PhRMA corporations.
Doctors are dropping their Medicaid patients like rocks, and the states all want to cut it.
After Obama’s backroom deal with PhRMA, my orphan drug for the neuro-muscular condition I have ( dystonia) went up nearly double; from $1000 a vial to $1800. Somehow, I can’t picture my state, which can’t even agree on a budget, paying for this much longer, even if it was at the lower price.
Frankly, I can’t see private insurance paying for this, either. Nearly $6000 every 3 months to keep me out of pain and allow me to function? HA!
Privatization of these programs is killing them. that’s why they’re in the red so badly.
These corporations are going to put themselves out of business eventually with their greed. Unfortunately, alot of people will die before that happens.
I’m nearly paranoid enuff to believe that is the point
George Will is just another pompose ass that thinks He knows it all. Why does He think this way, because people read His columns and say how great He is.
He is a great example of people in this country who don’t have what it takes to comment on things, but give us their opinions like they do. He is not a war hero, a elected Rep., or even a many degreed professor, but just a columnist, a pundant,and a fool.
Yet by this diary we see that people listen to Him and care what He says even if opposed to it.
I love that term, “medical loss ratios.”
Translated: “the percent of every dollar in insurance premiums you give us that we actually have to spend on medical costs for your sorry, sick asses.”
Just think of what they could do with all that money if they got to spend 100 percent of your insurance dollar on hedge fund speculations, real estate speculations and every other kind of speculation, instead of having to use some of it to pay all those outrageous, inflated, medical bills.
“Medical loss” makes it sound like we’re forcing them to lose money by expecting them to do what we pay them for. Maybe we should flip it around and call it “inefficient management, administration and skimming off the customer’s dollar ratios” for the percent of every dollar they don’t spend paying medical bills.
Scarecrow quote: The very concept of private “health insurance” is failing, and the only thing saving some of its victims is the expansion of public insurance programs like SCHIP and Medicaid, which the reform bills would extend.
I have HealthNet Medicare Advantage, which has served me well. While my medical care usage is well beyond minimal services, I’ve not had hugely expensive diagnostic or treatment claims thus far and my primary and specialist co-pays are only $15/visit. Because I have a very low SS income with no assets, I also have “extra help” under Medicare D, so my out of pocket expenses are relatively minimal
This week I got a call from a Florida company rep informing me that he was calling on behalf of HealthNet to let me know I might qualify for the state of California Medicaid program to pay my Medicare premium ($96 ?/mo)because of my low-income and no assets status. Another rep called a few days later to take the next step – i.e. complete the application form over the phone and directed me to send copies of various information validating documents regarding my status, etc. with my reviewed application form.
Having explained that she too was calling on behalf HealthNet, I asked why HealthNet had hired her company to do the application procedures, what was in it for them? She replied that she assumed it was a service to maintain my business (vs. going to another insurer during the current open enrollment period or otherwise). I forgot to ask her if that extra $96+ month in my SS check would jeopardize my “Extra Help” status (for which I am most grateful), so I’ll have to check on that, as well as confirm this is a HealthNet service and not a scam to get my personal info for identity theft, etc.
But then the local paper had articles about the probability that Medicaid benefit services would probably be reduced because of the California financial crisis. Would the proposed $96/mo state subsidized benefit to me and others like me insure that Medicaid benefits would be reduced for others? If it might than it would be morally unacceptable for me to accept the benefit that I can do without. Beyond that, is it morally acceptable for me to continue “Extra Help” when it’s not financially essential – I could get by without it, e.g. by insisting that all my meds be generic only, as well as aggressively doing more no cost preventive and self management activities to reduce the need for meds, which I need to do any way.
I desperately want expanded medical benefits for everyone needing them. I also desperately want all our costs lowered now and in the future). I know that most of us seniors (and lots of non-seniors) can do much more to
improve our health in ways that don’t grossly expand costs. I have already dropped covered podiatric procedures because of their absurdly high doctor charges ($500) to my insurer, because I can get the foot care work done at a very small fraction of that cost ($35 to my pedicurist} and I’m looking for other ways to reduce insurer costs that are financially viable within my limited budget.
As a long time neuropathy educator/advocate with something of a national reputation, I occasionally get calls from out of the blue, pleading for help. The last call was from a man calling from Yonkers, who had been told that, above and beyond all his horrendously painful neuropathy problems, that as his aneurysm (sp?) was inoperable and could burst at any time, he could drop dead at any moment, but in the meantime, no neurologists or pain specialists in major New York area university hospitals are willing to treat him. One of the doctors who is supposedly the most informed doctor on neuropathy issues has refused to see because he has no answer for him, but also because he has a MEDICARE Advantage policy and he doesn’t take any Medicare patients.
I shared my anger and disappointment about the man’s experiences and she replied that she understood why an independent doctor would refuse to take Medicare patients – doctors simply can’t afford to treat us unless they are in a managed care situation as with my medical group, which also means a significant loss of income at their wages, as compared to independents. And she’s so frustrated that at least half of her time as a primary care physician (and thus case manager for her patients) is arguing with insurance companies to get even some basic diagnostic and treatment procedures approved, much less more specialized services. I knew such was common for Medicaid doctors but had no idea that this was part of her practice truth.
I’m angry that the man from Yonkers is suffering so much with so little medical care support from an industry that does not care about his suffering. I’m angry that my good doctor and others like her are so plagued with such oppressive health insurance systems and practices.
I’m dieing to read Obama’s proposed bill, wondering how many of my legislative goals (or even his) would be included in the product so that I could hold my nose and say to Mike Thompson, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein to vote for it as they might be called to do so in the upcoming process, whatever it finally looks like, if there is in fact to be a real legislative process going forward.
I hate the system we’re in, I’m in, my fellow/sister PNers are in and so long to have reasons to hope for much needed justice and mercy.
In the meantime, George Will needs something more painful than a pie in the face.
On the other hand, as a Lenten discipline I am seeking to not be enraged and hateful before all the painful realities in this issue world, and all the rest of the issue worlds I care about. Lord have mercy on us all.
Blessings to all,
The Pie is just a start.
Bless you Kassandra, So sad about your dystonia. That’s another one of those real bitch neurological conditions I’ve come to learn about in recent years and be exceedingly grateful that I don’t have to contend with that.
Your old med costs are horrific, so I can appreciate the possibility your insurer may refuse to pay the new higher cost. I met someone with another neurological disorder this year whose treatments are $1m/year and Kaiser Permanente continues to pay them. She’s white. I know a black woman who was denied diagnostic and treatment options and then gave her mega doses of a med that gave her neuropathy and then refused to acknowledge she had PN for a couple of years and still refuses to acknowledge that their malpractice over several years have pretty much destroyed her life viabilities. (She’s the second person I’ve known who’s KP doctors gave mega doses of flagyl thus producing neuropathy.) Really makes me mad.
So, here’s hoping that your meds will continue to be covered and may they be effective for your needs. Bless you.
Lord have mercy on us all,
Hey, I just solved both the food supply problem and the rising-health-care-costs problem: Soylent Green!
in a country of citizens that has allowed mega profits off the sick and needy this is the karma associated with that selfish mentality.
the enemy is not out there the enemy lies within Americans own back yard.
capitalism will create a selfish, materialistic and imperialistic society.
we Americans are living proof of these conditions.
anyone with half a brain could tell Americans that privatized insurance will create suffering for many especially for those caught in the middle class.
Don’t blame insurance companies for preexisting conditions or high premiums they are only trying to max out their profits. That is the role of capitalists. Get over it Americans are in love with capitalism until it hits their home. Then oh my we are going to go bankrupt and whine like a baby. But when their neighbor goes bankrupt over medical costs too bad for them.
Americans have no one to blame but themselves for this as they lined up to vote for politicians with a Reagan economic mind set.
until Americans look into a mirror and see themselves for what they really are nothing much will change.
did Americans actually think they could have their wars for profits and not suffer the outcome of those wars. it is called karma. their own Christian savior called it what we sow we reap and they paid him little attention.
Maybe to caught up in the sacrifice thing and a free trip to heaven to notice?
Other industrialized countries look at us in awe at our ignorance when it comes to privatized health care that leaves so many people out of the system. They see us for what we are and it isn’t pretty what they see.
As one person from Canada told me Americans are not in afghan and Iraq so little girls can go to school or to fight terrorism. He nailed it. We have been an imperialistic nation for so long we don’t even recognize our imperialism for what it is.
Will is nothing more than a pompous, privileged, pampered cold blooded patrician. He figures he’s got his, screw everyone else. That’s pretty much the conservative/libertarian philosophy in a nut shell.
Will, the quintessential prig, has probably never soiled his dainty hands doing an honest days labor in his life. I’d like to give him $500, drop him in the middle of east Los Angeles and without using his real name or ID, make him try to find a place to live, buy a weeks worth of groceries, and find a doctor to treat him without using his insurance card. He’d run home crying like a 12-year-old girl by 1 o’clock.
WELL!
It’s one thing to diss George Will, and quite another to diss a twelve year old girl
I think he’d run home crying like a twelve year old boy.
George Will makes the perfect spokesmodel for conservative/libertarian Republican philosophy. Rich, pampered, privileged, pompous and cold blooded. In a nutshell, “I’ve got mine, what’s wrong with you?”
George Will and the other Republican on the program were busy telling the American people what they think. He kept saying “the American people think health care coverage is just fine” and “the American people think this”
What a strategy telling the American people instead of listening. Polls report that 60-75% of the American people support the public option. They are trying hard to ignore the facts. Busy telling the American people what they think.
During this segment George Will really pounded the Birch Society referring to them as the “fringe”
He’s avowedly an agnostic, but could’ve simply said he was a disbeliever and be done with it. I’ve not seen him comment on his personal experience anent Sarah Palin’s treatment of her Down Syndrome offspring. Of course, Palin’s offspring benefits from the public dole almost as much as his mum.