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<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/cops.html">Bad cops</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/debunk.html">Debunked</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/dialogue.html">Dialogue</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/diy.html">Do-it-yourself</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/DrRuhs.html">Dr Herb Ruhs</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/">Latest update</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/oldnews.html">Old news</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/wow.html">Words of wisdom</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|</TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="980" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="10" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonttnr"> </TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="10" BGcolor=white class="fonttnr">&nbsp;</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="635" BGcolor=white class="fonta"><BR> <BIG><B>Obama's next big screw-up: <nobr>Health care "reform"</nobr></B></BIG> <BR><BR><I>by <B>Hazel Burke</B></I>, <I>Unknown News</I> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; July 1, 2009<BR><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0907-01HB.html"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; I am puzzled about part of the health care reform debate. "Single payer" and "public option" advocates assert that failure to implement their positions at minimum means that nothing gets better for customers. This fails to take into account two major problems facing individuals: recission and pre-existing conditions.<BR><BR> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="65%" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="2%" bgColor="#ffffff">&nbsp;</td><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="98%" bgColor="#ffffff"><table cellSpacing="5" cellPadding="5" width="100%" border="0"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%" bgColor="#ffffff"><table cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="100%" border="0"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%" bgColor="#cccccc"><table cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="100%" border="0"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%" bgColor="#dddddd"><table cellSpacing="8" cellPadding="8" width="100%" border="0"><tr><td class="fontpq" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"bgColor="#eeeeee"><b> Personally speaking, as someone who has worked in the insurance industry, I would like very much to see all health insurers be socialized, nationalized, or run out of business and sent to Guantanamo Bay. </b></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table> </td></tr></table> Recission means dropping a customer's coverage, typically for a (any) error in the customer's application. Pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure, being overweight, history of tobacco or drug/alcohol use, etc. are also used to deny insurance coverage. For individuals attempting to obtain private insurance coverage in the "free market" recission and pre-existing condition exclusion mean that often private health insurance is not available AT ANY PRICE &#151; particularly for someone over 50! Thus, Congress could improve the existing situation simply by prohibiting these practices and by setting maximum prices and minimum coverage levels. That would leave the problem of covering those unable to afford even basic insurance.<BR><BR>Another problem intimately tied to the health insurance debate is linkage of health care to employment. I can think of few things as destructive to the economy and jobs as tying health care to employment. Historically this has meant that employers attempt to use part-time employees, temps and outsourcing to minimize health care costs. For individuals, tying health care coverage to employment means that losing employment means losing health <!-- health --><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="395" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"><BR><img src="http://unknownnews.org/healthcarenow.jpg" alt="health care sucks in America" border="2" width="375" height="259"></td></tr></table>care; COBRA continuation of coverage is both expensive and temporary, and for a sick, unemployed person it is truly the end of the line: no job, and pre-existing conditions mean bankruptcy and no possibility of obtaining affordable insurance coverage!<BR><BR>Tying health insurance to employment also means reduced mobility. At a time when the US economy needs radical restructuring, individuals are more likely to fight like cornered weasels to keep their shitty low-paying jobs doing crap work for exploitative companies than to relocate to areas of the country where good jobs are available. I do not know why the Democrats in particular have mandated employer-based health care for so many years. Perhaps it is just a no-brainer to drop the million pound shit-hammer on "rich" corporations when the running for re-election. One of the reasons the GM went bust is health care costs. Thanks, Congress! Heckuva job, vote sluts!<BR><BR>Personally speaking, as someone who has worked in the insurance industry, I would like very much to see all health insurers be socialized, nationalized, or run out of business and sent to Guantanamo Bay. The main problem with the private, for-profit insurance business is the nature of the business itself. Insurers make money two ways:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1) paying out in benefits less than they charge in premiums; and<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2) investing premiums.<BR><BR>For example, suppose that my insurer charges me $5000 a year for ten years and earns 10% profit on their investments. At the end of ten years they will have accumulated more than $100,000 to use to pay for any medical problems I might develop in the future. But what if they stink at financial investing? Typically, every time there is a financial crisis or bear market insurance companies raise premiums to make up for their investment losses! If Bush/Obama had not squandered trillions of dollars bailing out the financial markets, many health insurance companies would have been absolutely crushed.<BR><BR>To imagine that we should entrust our health care futures to the investing ability of health care executives is to believe that we live in Lake Wobegon&nbsp;... where all investors are above average. Since we know that American financial systems are a kind of Ponzi Scheme with a long history of fraud and government engineered wealth redistributions, the idea is ludicrous! Letting health insurers gamble with our money this way is just asking to be screwed over.<BR><BR>Furthermore, since we know that the federal government has a long history of monetary inflation and waste, the likelihood that health care executives can beat the market and do better than inflation over the long run is statistically unlikely; during bull market years the health care executives reward themselves lavishly, and when the markets crash, they raise premiums and cut benefits. No thanks.<BR><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="54%" class="fonta"> FYI, here is a nice little Op-Ed from Robert Parry about the Obama health care reform disaster in progress:<BR><BR> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="2%" class="fonta"> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="44%" class="fonta"> <CENTER>&#169; by the author.<BR> This article is archived at <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/0907-01HB.html">unknownnews.org/0907-01HB.html</A></CENTER><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE> <center><HR NOSHADE width="450"></center><BR> <A HREF="http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/062809.html">Obama, they want you to fail</A>&nbsp;by Robert Parry<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="25" class="fonty">&nbsp;</TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" class="fonta"><BR> <I>Excerpt:&nbsp;</I> The pattern of belligerent Republicans and timid Democrats is now repeating itself on health-care reform. Democrats first excluded from the debate the one measure that probably could save significant money &#151; a single-payer system &#151; and they now appear poised to trade away Obama's proposal for a "public option" to possibly garner a couple of Republican votes.<BR><BR>Though enacting a public option is favored by nearly three-quarters of the American people &#151; and has the potential of at least saving some money by pressuring private insurers to rein in costs &#151; Democrats are so entranced by the siren song of bipartisanship that they appear on the verge of scuttling it.<BR><BR>In doing so, the Democrats could well recreate the worst mistake of Hillary Clinton's failed health insurance plan of 1994. The fundamental flaw in her complex scheme was that it tried so hard not to harm the insurance industry that it wasn't clear how it would make matters any better &#151; and the industry still torpedoed it with a misleading public relations campaign.<BR><BR>Today, the Obama administration and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus have been so proud of getting all the players to sit down at the table (with the exception of single-payer advocates who were excluded) that they have lost track of the hard reality that if the nation is really going to address its health care crisis, there will have to be some financial losers.<BR><BR>Right now, the losers are the tens of millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans, the doctors and nurses who are appalled at the cruelty of the US medical system, and the US businesses that pay for their employees' health insurance and thus are put at an economic disadvantage to their foreign competitors operating in countries that have single-payer systems.<A NAME=01bh743></A></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonta"> <A HREF="#01bh743"><FONT COLOR=blue>#</FONT></A>&nbsp; <i><B>7/1/2009:</B></i> &nbsp; Add to this the fact people without insurance show up at emergency rooms. This is where they don't have to show proof of insurance. This is vastly more expensive than seeing a normal doctor.<BR><BR> So it's either emergency rooms turn away the hurt, sick and dying or pay for it- like we do now- in higher insurance for us and higher taxes. I honestly think you couldn't get doctors to work in a hospital that turns away sick and in some cases dying people at the door who have no other options. <BR><BR><DIV align="right">belhamster &nbsp; </div><!-- reply --> </TD></TR></TABLE> <center><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="625" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"><BR> <iframe src="http://www.unknownnews.org/support-wide.html" width="625" height="550" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></TD></TR></TABLE></center> <center>|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/"><B>Home</B></A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/about.html">About us</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">Contact us</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/!workfiles.html"><FONT COLOR=black>|</FONT></A>&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/faq.html">FAQ</A> 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src="http://www.unknownnews.org/archive-HazelBurke.html" width="295" height="443" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="auto" frameborder="0"></iframe></center> </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=today></A><A NAME=wdwb></A><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="8" WIDTH="295" border=1><TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="300" bgcolor="#E3E4FA" class="fonta">Like the URL says, this website is about "unknown news". We post a once-weekly round-up of reports we think merit more attention, from mainstream, professional journalists, or (rarely) other sources we trust entirely.<BR><BR>Why only once a week? Because the 24-hour news cycle moves far too fast for most of us to keep up with. In the media's flood of coverage of some celebrity's death or drunken arrest, important news might be mentioned once and then forgotten, so we try to <i>stop the presses</i> and pause for a moment to ponder the news that's not known, or not known enough.<BR><BR><center><BIG><B>What we believe</B></BIG></center><BR> We believe in liberty and justice for all, so of course, we oppose many US government policies. This doesn't mean we're anti-American, redneck scum, pinko commies, militia members, or terrorist-sympathizers. It means we believe in freedom, as more than merely a cliché. <BR><BR> We believe you have the right to live your own life as you choose, and others have the equal right to live <I>their</I> lives as <I>they</I> choose. It's not complicated.<BR><BR>We believe freedom leads to peace, progress, and prosperity, while its opposite -- oppression -- leads to war, terrorism, poverty, and misery. <BR><BR> We believe it's preposterously stupid to hate people because of their appearance, their race or nationality, their religion or lack of religion, how they have sex with other consenting adults, etc. There are far more apropos reasons to hate most people. <BR><BR> We believe in questioning ourselves, our assumptions, each other -- and we especially believe in questioning authority (the more authority, the more questions). We believe obedience is a fine quality in dogs and young children, but not in adults. <BR><BR> Like America's right-wingers, we believe in individual responsibility, hard work to get ahead, and stern punishment for serious crimes. We believe big government should not be blindly trusted.<BR><BR> But unlike most right-wing leaders, we mean it. <BR><BR> Like America's left-wingers, we believe in equal treatment under law, war as a last (not first) resort, and sensible stewardship of natural resources. We believe big business should not be blindly trusted.<BR><BR>But unlike most left-wing leaders, we mean it. <BR><BR> Like libertarians, we believe it's wrong and <I>reprehensible</i> to arrest people for what they think, believe, look like, wear, eat, smoke, drink, inhale, inject, or otherwise do to themselves. <BR><BR> But unlike many libertarians, we're not obsessed with the gold standard, we don't believe incorporation is humanity's highest achievement, and we don't believe everything in life comes down to dollars and cents. We've read and enjoyed Ayn Rand's novels, but we understand that they're works of fiction.<BR><BR> We're skeptical, and we're sick of so-called 'journalists' who aren't skeptical at all. <BR><BR>A reader asks, what are our solutions?<BR><BR>We propose no solutions except common sense, which is never common. We like the principles of democracy, and the ideals broadly described as 'American'. The US Constitution is a fine and workable framework for solutions, when it's actually read and thoughtfully understood by intelligent statesmen and women. So, no manifestos from us. We don't dream that big, and if there's one thing the world <i>doesn't</i> need it's yet another manifesto.<BR><BR>Our suggestion is: think.<BR><BR>A fact-based instead of faith-based approach leads to solutions for most of the recurring issues of our time, from abortion to global climate change, pollution to universal health care, careful but real regulation of industry and economy, hunger, war, terror, human rights for humans not for corporations, science not religious doctrine in public schools, equal protection and prosecution under law, etc. Approach problems without glorifying stupidity, without demonizing intelligence, and answers usually come into focus. <BR><BR> These pages are published by <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.net/bighowdy.html">Harry and Helen Highwater</A>, happily married low-income nom de plumes and rabble-rousers from Madison, Wisconsin (with a few friends scattered around the world helping out). <BR><BR> We try to spotlight news that hasn't gotten enough (or appropriate) attention in American media, along with our opinions and yours. <BR><BR> We bang our keyboards against the wall, because it doesn't hurt as much as banging our heads. <BR><BR><center><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/bighowdy.html"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/Highwaters-oldtime.jpg" border="3" width="199" height="277"></A></center><BR> <DIV align="right"><i><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/contact.html">Helen &amp; Harry Highwater</A></i> &nbsp; <BR><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;(from <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/about.html">About <I>Unknown News</i></A>)&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> </TD></TR></TABLE> <A NAME=help></a><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="8" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" bgcolor=white WIDTH="100%" class="fonta"><BR><center><B>You can help</b></center><BR> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the news frustrates or angers you, please, <A HREF="http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml"><b>contact your elected officials.</b></A> Seriously. Perhaps it sounds hokey and futile, but someone on the other end will actually take your call or read your letter and pay attention to what you say &#151; and if you say it well you can make a difference.<BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A helpful hint:&nbsp; Sending a letter on paper or making a phone call takes more time and might cost a little more than sending an email, which is why <A HREF="http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa020199.htm"><b>a well-written letter</b></A> or a well-rehearsed phone call is <i>more effective</i> than an email.<BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As for our work on the website, we try <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="72" align="right"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="right" width="100%"><BR><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/begging.jpg" border="0" width="62" height="110"></td></tr></table> not to whine too much or too loudly, but we are poor and this site eats a lot of time and especially <I>money</I>. Just a buck or two can make all the difference and help keep <I>Unknown News</I> alive.<BR><BR> <center><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/donations.html">Donations</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/advertising.html">Sponsorships</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/stickers.html">Stickers and stuff for sale</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/subscriptions.html">Subscriptions</A> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/wishlist.html">Wish list</A><BR> <A HREF="http://www.unknownnews.org/credits.html">Thank you</A><BR><BR> <A HREF="https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2125&2125.donation=form1&s_src=UNW080001C00&s_subsrc=getinvolvedmenu_join_hp&JServSessionIdr006=wnbcqvc7x1.app20a"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/aclu_logo.gif" border="3" alt-"American Civil Liberties Union" width="190" height="74"></A><BR><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="220" border=1><TR> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="50" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"> <A HREF="https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=36"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/thumbtack.jpg" border="0" width="40" height="40"></A> </td></tr></table><BR> <A HREF="https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=36">Help ACORN fight<BR>the Right-wing's&nbsp;lies</A><BR><BR></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="3%" class="fonty"> </TD><TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="49%" class="fonty"> <A HREF="http://article31.org/"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/article31.gif" border="1" width="148" height="70"></A> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="4%" class="fonty"> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="37%" class="fonty"><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" border=1><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="middle" WIDTH="100%" bgcolor=white class="fonty"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="50" align="left"><tr><td class="fonty" vAlign="top" align="left" width="100%"> <A HREF="http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica08"><img src="http://www.unknownnews.net/thumbtack.jpg" border="0" width="40" height="40"></A> </td></tr></table> <BR><A HREF="http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica08">Act<BR>Blue</A><BR><BR> </TD></TR></TABLE> </TD><TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="7%" class="fonty"> </TD></TR></TABLE><BR> <TABLE CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="5" WIDTH="295" border=2><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"> <TABLE CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="5" WIDTH="100%" border=0><TR> <TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="100%" class="fonty"> "A mind-blowing mix of<BR>fact and fantasy, hard science<BR>and well-grounded speculation, with concrete how-to info to top it all off -- resulting in some of the best and strangest stuff on Earth..."<BR><BR> <A HREF="http://www.jrmooneyham.com">www.jrmooneyham.com</A> </TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></center></TD></TR></TABLE><BR> </TD><TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="5" BGcolor="#eeeeee" class="fonttnr"> </TD> </TR></TABLE> </body> </html>