I know healthcare is Mayhew’s bailiwick, but it’s incumbent upon us to point and laugh at the Trump administration’s effort to put together a 20,000-page term paper the night before it’s due. Prior to becoming the first person on the planet to discover that healthcare is “so complicated,” Trump made some pretty big promises about how he would change coverage in the US:
“I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.”
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”
Three years later, Trump’s flunkies are desperately seeking small-bore policy-tweak “wins” as the freight train of the upcoming election bears down on the administration. The Post:
White House advisers, scrambling to create a health-care agenda for President Trump to promote on the campaign trail, are meeting at least daily with the aim of rolling out a measure every two to three weeks until the 2020 election…
One senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House believes it has “tremendous authority” to write executive orders under food, drug and cosmetic laws, as well as through the ACA, which gives the government broad power to test ways to improve health care and reduce costs in government programs.
“We think the [ACA] authority is pretty tremendous,” the [Trump admin] official said. The administration is currently arguing in federal court to overturn the law, however, with a decision expected late summer or fall.
But many health policy and legal experts disagree and are also skeptical the steps the administration is talking about would have a tangible effect on consumers before the election.
“It’s unlikely the administration is going to be able to use an executive order that Americans are going to be able to notice before the election,” said Benedic Ippolito, a health economist at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s an incredibly ambitious timeline.”
What could possibly go wrong, aside from wingnut judges nullifying coverage for tens of millions by overturning the ACA on the Trump admin’s advice, thus also deep-sixing the executive order experiments, or the spectacle of top GOP pharma donors suing the Trump admin in court in the run-up to the election?
Other participants in the sometimes contentious daily meetings include Azar, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and representatives from the vice president’s office.
Oh.
I get that a lot of folks are nervous about some of our candidates’ ideas on healthcare. I share your anxiety, mostly because the media goes all budget-ninja on Democrats when healthcare (or any other topic, really) comes up and doesn’t even bother pointing out the absurdity of Trump’s stream-of-semi-consciousness lies on the subject. But Judd Legum* on Twitter made a good point here:
Last night’s debate revealed the real bias in the media which is the assumption that the status quo is “moderate” and anyone that proposes structural changes is “radical”
In my view, letting people die because they can’t afford insulin is more extreme than proposing a new policy.
Truth. As for Senator Warren locking herself into Medicare for All and the abolition of private insurance, did anyone happen to see the wee hours of the post-debate coverage? I did, God help me. Warren joined the CNN panel, and they pressed her on that issue, particularly on how Medicare for All would affect unions that negotiated Cadillac coverage as part of their compensation.
I don’t remember Warren’s exact words and cannot find a video of the exchange on YouTube, but she mentioned having unions at the table when negotiating the healthcare transition. She talked about leadership and gaining consensus, and she sounded a good bit more flexible on the topic than the post-debate pundit pearl-clutching suggests.
Let’s also recall that the 2008 candidates evolved quite a bit on healthcare by the time the rubber met the road in DC. IIRC, then-candidate Obama scoffed at the idea of an individual mandate on the campaign trail. But since they seriously intend to govern, Democrats have to be willing to compromise and take new factors into account as appropriate.
Given the clown show we’ll be up against, I like our chances on every hot-button issue, including healthcare. As Buttigieg rightly pointed out, the Trumpublican retort will be “socialism!!!” no matter what, so you might as well fight for what you believe is the best plan.
*H/T: Valued commenter germy
SiubhanDuinne
Is he back?
Sigh. Just when I was getting used to that Anderson fellow…..
Gin & Tonic
What a talented young man – is there anything he can’t do? We are so fortunate, as a country, that his altruism and beneficence spurred him to contribute to so many tasks.
Quinerly
OT
This Epstein piece. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder.
“Controlled breeding” and freezing his head and penis after death. Must be read. Hard to summarize, that’s for sure.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-eugenics.html
Quinerly
I’m in moderation for posting an article from NYT about Epstein being into “Controlled breeding” and wanting to freeze his pen*s after death. Help.
JustRuss
Funny how our pundits don’t seem to give a damn about unions until they can use them to concern-troll about universal healthcare.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Anderson’s pretty good, but he’s no Meyhew.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Quinerly:
You know what you did.
the Conster
How long are we going to keep pretending that the media isn’t just a bunch of lazy hacks who are all in for Trump and know anything about policy? I hate to be the party pooper on the healthcare discussion, but this isn’t going to be a policy election, it’s going to be let’s keep what we have, let’s return to presidential norms of behavior, and get babies out of cages. The media is paid to not understand or discuss policy, but they’ll understand that.
Betty Cracker
@Quinerly: Sprung, and…ewwww.
MattF
I suspect that Democrats will be required to issue trigger warnings if they continue to mention labor unions. It’s just not allowed– it makes Republicans hyperventilate.
And, well, of course Trump lied about health care. I mean, seriously, -policy-?. Ha Ha.
mrmoshpotato
Who let’s that string of sounds escape their mouth without immediately slapping themselves – yes, themselves – across the face. What a garbage sentence from a garbage, bastard administration.
Another Scott
Yup.
The PPACA 906 pages as a pdf. No 60 second comment on it, or enhancements to it, can possibly give anything more than a snapshot.
I’m not worried about Warren (or anyone else sensible) being caught up in a gotcha in talking about what they want to see in a bill.
Medicare and Medicaid turned 54 yesterday. I’m more concerned about doing everything we can to elect more (and yes, better) Democrats to every seat than about how our candidate talks about health care. Registering Democratic voters, educating Democratic voters about what’s at stake, turning out Democratic voters. We must run up the score to protect the country’s gains and to have a chance of extending them…
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty Cracker
@the Conster: Biden is leading in every poll at the moment, so maybe you’re right. We shall see!
lumpkin
Every time I refresh the page the site downloads files to my device.
Chyron HR
@the Conster:
Oh no, friendo. Bernie and Da Squad handed the country over to the nazis for the explicit purpose of building a socialist paradise from the ashes. They’re not giving up now when they’re “so close”.
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I forget how old fashioned this place is. I should have said “Epstein’s Johnson.”
Quinerly
@Betty Cracker: hope you didn’t touch anything in the springing process. Use sanitizer if you did. ?
rikyrah
Democrats need to stop accepting Republican framing by the reporters.
7 MILLION have lost their healthcare since Dolt45 came .
7 MILLION.
1 in 2 Americans has a pre-existing condition….and, they are in court trying to overturn Obamacare.
We should be on the offensive every damn day.
They have no plan, except for to go back to the bad old days.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
I wrote that nothing good was happening at that ranch in New Mexico. Looked evil from the jump
ola azul
@Betty Cracker:
Among alla legitimate Dem contenders, I take the view that Biden, contra the polls, is among the two that Trump actually *could* beat.
(Bernie being the other.)
Last night, Warren addressed the flight-to-safety fear-response (existential panic, really; not unjustified, just not productive) that many Dems are experiencing. Am very much hoping the surfeit of credible Dem candidates doesn’t dilute and cannibalize support for the best woman, whomever she may be.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: Yikes. I wonder if there are any baby Epsteins out there. Which of his genes/traits did he think the world could not live without?
I also loved this sentence, cuz how often do you see this in a news story:
We will be a healthier society when brains, knowledge, science, kindness, compassion are as much a draw as filthy lucre.
Also:
Lucky Pinker.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Quinerly: We do have delicate sensibilities here young lady.
Quinerly
@rikyrah: I have friends who actually live near it. They have been posting on FB about how they thought the place was evil from the beginning. Literally felt that way when they first drove by it and became aware of it.
Martin
So, Warren knows how to thread this policy needle, but she’s struggling to figure out how to explain it. Matthews (spit) was grilling her on this last night and kept pressing on the tax issue. Warren’s answer is that taxpayer outlay won’t go up, but she wasn’t going to itemize which buckets go up and which go down.
What Democrats need to do is change the example. Tell voters that Medicare for All will be paid for by taking the $700 bags of saline that the hospitals charge your insurance company and only pay $1 for them, like they really cost. The $699 in savings pays for your premiums. Or the $300 Epipen for $25. That’s a gross oversimplification, but it’s not possible to discuss this without gross oversimplifications.
The fact is that we pay more than double what other nations pay not just because of insurers, but because of every component of the healthcare industry. We’re going to take some profits here, some billing overhead there, some advertising budgets there, some high salaries here, and put all of that money into what people expect would be higher premiums.
Democrats also need to address that Medicare itself is in need of some revisions, so that people who know about Medicare problems can hear that they will be fixed. As for the union issue, simply attach as part of the legislation that employers may not reduce the value of total compensation for workers. If the $20K insurance policy that the union negotiated gets reduced to an $8K policy under Medicare for All, then the employer has to return the $12K in savings to the worker. Allow unions to negotiate how that should be done – maybe it’s a $12K supplemental insurance policy, maybe it’s pension contributions, maybe it’s just salary. This isn’t that hard, people.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I didn’t watch last night, did any of the candidates mention these numbers? I’ve seen people tweeting that the anti-O’Care lawsuit was never brought up, but I don’t know.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Yep. This election will be a referendum on Trump. Policy discussions should be discussed as Trump failures. People losing healthcare. Prescription costs go up. Taxes lowered only for the ultra rich. Immigration policies meaning kids in cages. Etc.
wv blondie
My own pet peeve about all these varietal flavors of healthcare plans is that none of them will pass as is. Whichever Democrat is elected president, the legislative process means that whatever is enacted will be different – maybe radically so – from what they proposed.
I wish one or more of the candidates would point this out. When a president gets beat up for not keeping campaign promises, this is frequently – maybe usually, maybe even most of the time – the reason.
opiejeanne
@rikyrah: I agree. And If the Republicans succeed in overturning the ACA, I’m told we won’t go back to what we had before but that it will be substantially worse.
Martin
@wv blondie: None should point that out. This is our opening offer. Force the other side to justify why it can’t pass.
jl
the debauched life-style and mega-parties of super rich and idle insurance oligarchs was also Mayhew’s bailiwick. But we could use a few posts on that topic too.
This Anderson guy is a wonk-nerd and boring. I don’t think Chuck Todd or Andrea Mitchell ever read a thing he writes.
Jay
@Martin:
Or pointing out how Y’all manage to pay for the Pentagon and 17+ ongoing wars with out worrying about the money at all.
ReThuglican healthcare in a nutshell,
Baud
@Quinerly:
For the record, these things would not be covered under Baud!Care!
ola azul
@Martin:
Saved me the trouble of replying to original post. Am agreed 100 percent with your view. There is no upside, at all, to Delaneying the fuck outta every Dem proposal. There’sa vast difference between politicking and governing. Don’t get to do the latter ‘less the former is an accomplished fact.
Oh, and if you don’t ask for what you want in life, you may rest assured you ain’t gonna get it.
MomSense
I’m really sorry to hijack the thread but my sweet pup is really sick and I had to bring her to the veterinarian. Fingers crossed she feels better tomorrow, but poor sweetie is not well at all right now.
There were three cats in the waiting room and she didn’t so much as look at them!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MomSense: is it mushroom season where you are? some kind of berry? My sister’s dog got violently ill from eating a bad mushroom, the symptoms were terrifying, but the cure was pretty simple– an IV, if I recall.
Jay
M31
@Quinerly:
wttf!
lol maybe just freeze his penis now, I bet there are some volunteers to help with that little project
seriously, the perversity of the very wealthy is just boundless
Jay
@MomSense:
So sorry, wishing both of you well.
Cameron
@Gin & Tonic: “I asked for insulin and all I got was this shitty Mideast peace plan.”
MattF
@Jay: Yeah, Republicans have figured out that they get mocked for warning about ‘commies’.
jl
I hate to repeat myself, but I repeat myself. Any good plan to improve the completely dysfunctional US health care system needs the following elements. You can do that with straight 200 proof Bernie single payer, many variations of Mostly Medicare for All with some private plans left, public option, Medicare Advantage type plans, or improved PPACA with very much stronger regulation of insurance market and large corporate providers with local and regional market power. All the drama you hear in the TV news is about what are essentially details if you got the items below right. The items below can be implemented with many kinds of systems.
If you don’t get the below correct, any new system for funding health insurance, or reimbursing large corporate providers will be too expensive, produce unacceptably low population health and individual patient outcomes, or we are really unlucky, all of them, which is what we have now.
Below is cut and pasted from the Mayhew/Anderson thread earlier today.
universal coverage
single mandatory benefit package for everyone to prevent cream skimming by insurers and providers (Ihose who want extra buy supplemental insurance on a separate market)
Some risk adjustment mechanism for providers to equalize health differences between health status of their patients
Some kind of community rating system, no underwriting, and some subsidy system for low income people
Some mechanism to stop corporate price gouging due to local monopoly power and lack of price transparency.
ola azul
@MomSense:
Heading to grounds, ’bout to lose recep, just wanted to wish you the best with your pup.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Shorter jl: “more hookers and blow”.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes. I can’t remember who said it, but they did address that we’d lost ground under Trump, and I hope tonight’s batch notes that too.
@Martin: I like the idea of calling out the $700 bags of saline. Warren is good at illustrating policy with real people as examples, but I’m not sure how effective those are with the generally healthy.
Quinerly
@Baud: Poco endorses that position.
jl
@Baud: You’ll always feel on top of the world buzzed up on the Baud Beer Program. Problem solved. We are thankful, or would be if Baud 2020! would lift a damn finger on the campaign.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That is way out of a typical Baud 2020! supporters budget and league
MomSense
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m hoping it is because my mom insists on giving her people food and lying about it and all she has in an inflamed intestine. She had an IV today and antiemetics, but if she is not improved tomorrow they will do a lot of tests.
She just had her check up last week and was pronounced exceptionally healthy- ugh it was a curse.
This is the worst behaved, must infuriating dog I’ve ever known, but damn I love her the most.
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: snowflakes.
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
Oh, I hope she bounces back!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
No you don’t!
See.
Betty Cracker
@MomSense: Damn, sorry to hear that! Hope it turns out to be nothing serious.
Baud
@MomSense:
All the best to the baby.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker:
Given the time constraints, that actually proved to be a problem last night.
jl
The meetings must be interesting. Azar is one of the few people in the Trump administration who seems willing and able to push out good policy proposals that actually serve the public interest from time to time. I don’t know anything about the guy, and don’t know if he is doing dirt behind the scenes. Anyone know, leave a comment about it.
Some of his proposals have been mere wish lists, and others lame, but I don’t whether that is him, or fact that he has to work with Trumpsters.
MomSense
Thanks everyone. Going to lie down on the floor next to the pup for a bit.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: sounds like Derschowitz was aware of all of this even though he still insists he hates massages but wore his underwear during the massages.
TenguPhule
We are not going to get any improvement to Healthcare until 40% of the population consisting of Republicans are gone. Pretending otherwise is wishful thinking. 2020 is about trying to stop a plummet into the abyss, forget about trying to climb up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense: Hope for a good outcome for the pup.
@Quinerly: In lowland Southern CA, doubtful. Anyway, I’m off to Joshua Tree.
Cameron
@Chyron HR: Nach Trump bros.
eclare
@MomSense: Oh no! Fingers and paws crossed here, keep us posted.
jl
I’m not so worried about Warren getting more Bernified on Medicare for All. I think she is improving very rapidly in providing capsule explanations for the rationales behind her policy proposals and positions that people can understand. I think she is building the trust and credibility on commitment that she can bring people to implementable compromises with out losing support (except among hard core Bernieites which won’t support her anyway). So, by far, if she has to change her stance on a policy, she is in a much better position to do that without losing credibility. Which is another reason she would be a better progressive candidate, and president, than Sanders.
MattF
@Quinerly: Sigh. Why do we need to know about Dershowitz’s sex life? Is that really at issue here?
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: as for the baby Epsteins, I recall an old Law and Order SUV episode that had a similar story line. The guy in that episode was pricking holes in condoms and impregnating 100’s of women over many years all over the world (yes, he was busy? and still found time to practice law) . It didn’t end very well for him. Nothing left of his “Johnson” to freeze after death.
L85NJGT
If you don’t believe crooked hacks can pervert a public option or single payer plan, you haven’t been paying attention.
jl
@TenguPhule: ” until 40% of the population consisting of Republicans are gone. ”
With the current US health care system, and the condition of many of the older Trump supporters I see interviewed on TV, that may take less time that you think.
Morbid thought, but some truth to it.
Quinerly
@MattF: not really. I just would like the guy to be disgraced and possibly imprisoned. Collateral damage. He’s mentioned in the article. I find it disgusting that a Jewish man would be hanging out with someone who was into controlled breeding and eugenics. And he’s a Trump defender. Like I say “collateral damage.” And come to think of it, it’s even more disgusting considering Epstein’s background.
wv blondie
@Martin: I gently disagree. We all know what sausage is; we all have a pretty good idea of how it is made. Acknowledging that it’s going to be sausage is not the same as giving the sausage away.
chopper
@SiubhanDuinne:
i at first read the line as
TenguPhule
@jl: Cleek’s law will doom us all.
They will oppose any reforms out of sheer spite.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: I remember that episode. Was it Rob Lowe, or someone who resembled him?
I remember all the women gathered at the police station …
ETA: It was John Stamos.
Aleta
@MomSense: I’m sorry that’s happening. Hope she is better soon.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: Oh no! Be well, Korra. You have lots of mischief in your future.
Please keep us posted.
Ohio Mom
@Elizabelle: It’s an unusual day when I am applauding Steven Pinker but here we are.
I skipped over the Epstein article this morning. Going to have to retrieve today’s Times from hand recycling bin.
Betty Cracker
@?BillinGlendaleCA: True.
Chris T.
@Quinerly: Given who’s now the leader in the UK, can we also say Johnson’s Epstein?
Patricia Kayden
@the Conster: If perchance SCOTUS destroys what’s left of the ACA, healthcare is going to be front and center on voters’ minds and will be a key election issue. I don’t see healthcare as an issue favorable to Trump which explains his scramble to come up with something,
Steve in the ATL
@Quinerly:
Happened to me once when I skied Mont Tremblant before March. Le shudder.
opiejeanne
@Quinerly: nothing left of his Johnson? Was it worn down to a nub?
SiubhanDuinne
@MomSense:
Oh, how worrying. I hope your sweet pup is easily diagnosed and cured. {{{hugs}}}
Betty Cracker
@Patricia Kayden: I think the partisan hack Chief Justice will decline to nuke the ACA if it comes to his court because doing so would be harmful to Republican political fortunes, which is the only thing he cares about outside his ego. He’s a partisan hack, but unlike Trump, not stupid.
Ohio Mom
@MomSense: I know you will keep us posted. Here’s hoping the vet has something up his/her sleeve that brings your pup back to full health.
Felanius Kootea
@rikyrah: Thank you! I can’t believe that none of the candidates pointed this out while the
CNN moderators spewed Republican talking points as questions.
I know Marianne Williamson is batshit crazy, but she made a point about healthcare being more than just having insurance – tying it to environmental policy
(lead in drinking water anyone???), etc., that I would love to see a sane Dem candidate steal and frame in a much better way. There are tons of policy proposals
that can be made about farming, the environment, childcare, eldercare support, healthy eating, wellness, and prevention that is tied to overall wellbeing and health
and can be framed in that way. One of the top ten candidates, please do it.
(I’m not going to lie, I loved her response about reparations even though I know none of the top eight candidates will touch that with a ten foot pole.)
I was happy to hear Beto O’Rourke actually talk about Congress’s unconscionable restriction on federal funding for CDC research on gun violence as a public health issue
(via the Dickey Amendment, etc.). More of this please!
Elizabelle
@Ohio Mom: Yeah, I kind of remembered Pinker does not have his fans. Bit of a glibster, no?
This looks like fun. The Chronicle Review: Why Do People Love to Hate Steven Pinker?
Jay
@Chris T.:
Keep in mind Bad Boris, ( UK)
Putin, ( RUS)
Dolt45, ( USA)
All veto’s on the UNSC.
Quinerly
@Chris T.: Good one.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: John Stamos. Remember how he died in the garden?
A super special diving knife.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: I just remember it being Messy. Fun episode. I love how you think you’re seeing one story on Law and Order, but wait …
Suzanne
@MomSense: Hugs to your pup and to you!
As for Warren’s tendency to use examples when explaining things…. I actually think this is a bad tactic that many Dems have. It should have been easy to explain a concept without discussing a specific person or situation. I think it backfires on us because it comes off as emotional. EXPLAIN WHY the rich should pay more in taxes, i.e. because society paid to educate and protect and feed their workers, from which they extract a profit. Point out that making a profit is great, but that the wealthy business owner is literally taking advantage of public expenditures and isn’t paying any of that back. Explain why an individual mandate is necessary. Explain why Medicare is able to reduce cost. These are a thing their core basic math problems. When we get all emotion-driven, we weaken the argument, IMO.
Jeffro
So now they are hustling to slap together something, ANYTHING, to try and cover their sorry selves heading into the 2020 election. I’m not sure why – Cornyn was straight-up lying about Dems, yes DEMS, being the ones who wouldn’t protect people with pre-existing conditions(!). Yes, really.
It’s just like with the story yesterday or the day before about trumpov wanting troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in advance of the elections. That’s it, that’s the full context: “I want them home before the elections”. Not “I want to do what’s best for our national security, Afghan security, etc” or anything else. Just whatever’s best for Combover Caligula’s re-election chances.
And now we have the Fed caving to trumpov’s twitter-bashing and cutting rates a quarter point (to try and mitigate the damage from trumpov’s own trade wars). He wants more, MORE SUGAR HIGHS PLZ, for the economy heading into next year.
The downside possibilities here are endless and terrifying if you really stop to think about them.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: I think it started with a baby being kidnapped.
debbie
There is no fucking plan coming from Trump. Period. This is Nixon’s promise to end the war all over again.
Something has to be done about executive orders. In less than three years, Trump has already issued more than half the number any of his three predecessors did over their eight years in office. And now he wants to enact nationwide healthcare via executive order? I say get rid of all executive ordering.
Jay
TenguPhule
I see Ben Carson is giving Uncle Tom a bad name by supporting Trump’s Baltimore comments.
TenguPhule
@debbie:
Only after President Harris issues an executive order calling for Mitch McConnell to be turned into turtle soup.
Chris T.
@Suzanne:
From a logic perspective, that’s true. But that’s not how most humans work: they buy things—or vote for people—based on emotion; if pressed for reasons, they rationalize.
Or, in bumper-sticker-ese: Feels = votes
debbie
@Quinerly:
Why is it always the gross guys that want to do this kind of shit? Why isn’t there a law that they have to be good looking too? //
Jeffro
@debbie: Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of secret plan coming from trumpov for health care after the 2018 election, but only if the GOP won?
Or was it a secret plan to get North Korea to rid itself of nukes?
I forget but he had SOME sort of secret plan that he was eager to share with the country, but only if we voted the right way. I guess we’ll never get the benefit of his wisdom now…
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
I have drunk more in the last three years then in the previous 8.
debbie
@debbie:
Crap. Math in my head is impossible. Trump hasn’t done more than half; he’s done close to half.
debbie
@Jeffro:
He is, but Betty’s post makes it sound like it will be shared during the election campaign, not after. Trump must be worried.
Mary G
I’m betting that Republicans have just noticed that health care lost them the midterms and their internal polling for 2020 is dire.
So they are all in on “Republicans want to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but Democrats won’t cooperate” bullshit. Only the 27% believe that and maybe even not all of those.
So Trump’s going to issue a flurry of executive orders in the knowledge that the courts will overturn them. The Republicans get credit for not being heartless bastards without actually having to help any of the little people.
I don’t think it’s going to work.
Mary G
@TenguPhule: I don’t know if it’s true and feel too lazy to Google, but I read somewhere that Carson chose a big church’s lawn to hold his press conference and they told him to GTFO. When he didn’t, the church called the cops to come arrest him for trespassing. D’oh!
Jay
Jay
@Mary G:
ReThugs ran on lies about medical care at the local level in 2018.
Didn’t help.
Capri
There are 2 issues that are always conflated- the cost of health care and the cost of insurance. The biggest problem in the US is the crazy high cost of health care. Much of it through price gouging or inefficiencies in the system. That is completely different from access to decent insurance – except you don’t care if insulin costs $10,000 a bottle if insurance covers that for you. What I would like to see politicians tackle is the crazy high medical costs in addition to the issues with insurance. Going after the cost of health care means taking on kindly doctors while going after insurance means taking on weasely middle-men so I get why politicians don’t do it. But you can’t really tackle health care in the US without addressing the profiteering and price gouging that is rampant through the system.
Sab
@Mary G: My husband age 67 remembers the 2018 midterms as being about impeachment. Me, age 65, remembers the 2018 midterms as being about saving the ACA, Medicare and Social Security.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Maybe Warren can sell single payer. I guess we all just have to buckle up and wait to find out. I’m guessing Mark Kelly, Doug Jones and eventual nominees in CO, ME, NC and IA are hoping they don’t have to figure out how to dance around this.
Meanwhile…
Wait till St Mattis, Learned Philosopher of the separation of the civilian government and the military, hears about this. He may just continue to wander silently through woods of the Pacific Northwest.
Sab
@debbie: I am okay with freezing his parts, as long as nothing requires that we thaw them.
Or maybe eventually pickle in a jar with formalin, display and laugh.
Miss Bianca
@Quinerly: Good Lord, I just read that because I couldn’t help myself and now I feel like I need a shower. Or a brain bath, at any rate. Eewww…
Patricia Kayden
@Another Scott: Most importantly, we must flip the Senate. Another four years of McConnell blocking a Democratic President’s judicial nominees would be nightmarish, to say the least.
Martin
@Felanius Kootea:
The in-discipline argument is that engineers save more lives than doctors. That is, of course, statistically debatable, but the point is that prevention of disease and development of treatments is part of a broader health policy. Flint MI is a perfect example of this. Another is that prior to WWII, penicillin was extremely rare. It was isolated in 1928 but doctors didn’t know how to produce it. Margaret Hutchinson, a chemical engineer, perfected a process to produce hundreds of billions of doses between 1942 and 1945. Auto safety is another area. The national center for statistics and analysis publishes a lives saved analysis each year. In 2017, about 21,000 lives were saved thanks to child restraints, airbags, seat belts, motorcycle helmets and minimum drinking age laws.
A lot of the time when Republicans talk about the ‘best healthcare in the world’ they mean certain aspects of public health engineering. We are at the forefront of engineering of medical devices and medications, but we completely suck at the more mundane distribution of those things. Ideas are cheap – execution is what matters.
It’s not a bad thing to talk about, but it’s largely a distraction from the structural and policy problems in traditional healthcare. Yeah, people think actively about airbags when they buy a car, but what they really want to know is if they need medication, will they be able to afford it. That’s what’s really on their minds. That needs to be addressed directly.
Jay
@Capri:
Hunting around for comparison stats, annual costs per person,
Canada, $3678 on Healthcare costs per person, 100% treated.
USA, $6714 on Heathcare costs per person, 85% treated.
Additional costs, per family, ( prescriptions, deductables, dental, health and wellness, PT)
Canada, $1900
USA, $9,600
Platinum Insurance Costs, ( Employee or Employer)
Canada, $3980
USA, $14,016
Insulin costs,
Canada, $32
USA, $300
Quinerly
@Miss Bianca: somebody had to post it. Now I kinda wish it hadn’t been me. All this aside, think of all the people who knew all this stuff and continued to remain friends/socialize. “The rich are different.”
Jay
@Miss Bianca:
Wasn’t much of a leap from not prosecuting War Criminals,
To punishing those who attempt to prosecute War Criminals.
Suzanne
@Chris T.: The problem is that we think that their voters we are speaking to identify personally with the people in our anecdotes. But many of them don’t. Over and over we have found that many people who are far from rich somehow personally identify more with the rich than with other people who are in their social class. Part of that is because everyone is aspirational, and no one wants to think that bad things can happen to them, and part of it is racial. Lots of working class whites easily put themselves in the headspace of rich whites rather than black or Latinx people who make a similar amount of money.
We should explain why our policies are fair, effective, and workable.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie:
Bad idea, just like banning earmarks was a bad idea.
Jeffro
@TenguPhule: Oh, I’m right there with you on that one. It’s stressful having a completely corrupt, mentally unwell moron in charge of one’s country.
TenguPhule
Republicans believe government is the problem, get appointed, then prove it.
Patricia Kayden
@ola azul: I hope you’re wrong because Biden is doing well in the polls although I find his campaign to be very disappointing. Anyone but Trump though.
TenguPhule
Equifax promised up to $125 for the hack. Now the FTC says you’ll get ‘nowhere near’ that amount.
Sorry folks, that $125 was a lie.
Arcnor
@Jay
Just going to leave this here as an addendum to your post (it’s a copy of my comment on Anderson’s earlier healthcare post today), since this seems to be part of President Trump’s oh-so-amazing healthcare plan that they’re scrambling to cobble together out of bubblegum and bullshit in time for the election.
—
U.S. demand is threatening Canada’s drug supply
U.S. plans to allow importing prescription drugs from Canada
Oh good, this can only end well. I do like how America is so entirely incapable of dealing with pharmaceutical companies and their quite-literally lethal prices that you have to go elsewhere to find prices that aren’t murderous. And now Canadians get to be the villains for telling poor people desperate for insulin and the like that there’s only enough supply and infrastructure in the Canadian health system for one country, not two, particularly not when the one supplying the medicine is only one-tenth the population and tax base of the one wanting cheap drugs on someone else’s dime. The entire U.S. has now adopted the Sarah Palin model of health care — when in doubt, when in debt, let the Canadians sort it out for you. And then tell us our health care system sucks on the way out the door.
I may be very slightly bitter about this, by the way.
—
And yes, I am still bitter about this. Republicans get their jollies talking down our healthcare system, but when push comes to shove, their answer, apparently, is “the Canadians will take care of you, and if they say they don’t have enough to go around, blame them, not us!”
Doug R
I think I found some video, Betty Cracker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rma_HxXZnDg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0yUx6tExcj4UeRbcd-auq3UWalDB7JE3SpEHXx-J3RMazwYLJuEvr1xrA
Doug R
The video I found of Warren on the CNN panel has disappeared, I’m trying again:
Warren Faces Pushback from CNN Panel over Progressive Policy Promises
Sab
I just realized that Pete Buttigieg, who is already a very accomplished human being, is the same age as my stepdaughter. We are still hoping she gets focused about the future.
Perhaps we set the phucking bar too low! People in their late thirties are not children. Grrr.
Of course, we are not rich [ Democrats] Republicans.
ETA: being a Luddite, I don’t know how to cross out D and substitute R. Didn’t want to correct and pretend my typo never happened.
Keith P.
By executive order, ACA is now called “TrumpCare””, with platinum, gold, silver, and bronze replaced with “Ivanka”, “Don”, “Eric”, and “Melania”. Done!
Bill Arnold
@Quinerly:
It’s a good piece. Quite weird, and a lot of names are named. What pisses me off the second-to-the-most is that rich/powerful people like him get to decide what fringe/semi-fringe stuff to fund, based on fleeting malformed thoughts. (The most is the pedophilia; if his head is ever unfrozen and resurrected, perhaps it will be to punish him for a few 10s of thousands of subjective years.)
Doug R
So are links not ok now? Two comments gobbled up.
The Lodger
@Suzanne: I see your point about being (relatively) resistant to emotion-based reasoning and wanting Warren to show her work. But in a political debate setting, she’ll never have time to present a complete logical or mathematical argument. It’s unfortunate, but the format provides very few opportunities to rack up the score quickly with facts and logic.
Doug R
@Betty Cracker: I got two attempts to share video of Warren on the CNN panel disappeared into the ether.
Omnes Omnibus
@Doug R: no more than three and the reply button uses one of them.
Bill Arnold
@TenguPhule:
This is why it was good to get as many people to sign up as possible; large numbers of annoyed voters.
Bill Arnold
@Omnes Omnibus:
That limit should be bumped up, IMO. This place is crackling with links; more is better.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bill Arnold: There is fuck all I can do about it.
Msilaneous
@MomSense: Wishing the best for you both.
Jay
@Arcnor:
Yup, Americans stealing Canadian Healthcare and Pharmacare is a big drag on the Canadian system.
And of course, it only provides respite to those who can afford to travel.
Meanwhile, Epstein, Thiel, et al.
L85NJGT
We all look forward to the screaming match when pharma, provider and insurance execs get called in and meet with dumb ass.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: The permissible number of links was increased a while [back] (because embedded tweets often take so many). I think it’s around 5 now.
But FYWP is ready to implode at any minute, so it’s anyone’s guess if a comment with any links at all will get posted…
Cheers,
Scott.
Felanius Kootea
@Martin: I definitely agree that pressing issues that impact voters (high insulin costs and unsafe patient rationing of insulin because of those costs come immediately to mind) should be at the forefront of what a candidate talks about. However, I still think there’s room for candidates to talk about healthcare in a much more
comprehensive way than just insurance.
I keep thinking about the terminally ill Greek-American cancer patient in his 60s who returned to Ikaria to die to save on funeral costs and ended up living well into his late 90s. Those who study Blue Zones like Ikaria or Loma Linda and try to emulate them could use politicians at the top who have policy proposals that include improving the walkability of cities, access to healthy, nutritious food (I work in a food desert and while my school has successfully secured grants to bring in farmer’s markets, much more is needed), support for volunteerism, etc. There are clever ways to tie reductions in student debt to young people taking on jobs that they are passionate about versus those that pay enough to cover their debt repayments. We’ve talked on this very blog about many MDs preferring high-paying specialties like surgery to areas that have the most need and physician shortages – family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine because of medical school debt. That should be part of the discussion of healthcare as well. My school sends a small group of students every year to Cuba to study their healthcare system and I have to say that while Cuba doesn’t hold a candle to the US on specialty care, it does much, much, much better on primary care and prevention (which can lead to a need for fewer specialists, in my opinion).
Just found out that 45’s administration is planning to make it much easier for Americans to purchase their medications from Canada. I wonder how that will impact the insulin pricing problem here.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I get the sense Perez really wants to get elected to something, or at least campaign
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yelling is in.
Jay
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Now that we know what happens when we let an asshole use them (don’t forget, this is the guy who insists Article II says he can do anything he wants), there need to be restrictions on what executive orders can be used for.
Jay
For Profit,
Ohio Mom
For us masochists, is there going to be a debate open thread?
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: There are limitations. I would be very surprised if many of his EOs survive court challenges.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom:
I was wondering the same thing.
Jay
@Ohio Mom:
I thought there was,……
Or did you mean Debate II, “CNN, you know nothing,…”
Gbbalto
@Steve in the ATL: Brilliantly played!
Fair Economist
@Jay: I suspect that should actually be:
Sab
@debbie: I think he thinks Article 2 lets him fire his gun anywhere. Articles, amendments, all the same.
Doesn’t Article 2 have impeachment? That was put in to save the poor **** from bills of attainder.
Brachiator
I have been away from the Internets and anything not related to work for the past couple of days, and also didn’t see the debate. But a side note here:
The ACA included a tax on Cadillac plans, which has been suspended again and again. Within the past couple of weeks, the House voted to eliminated the tax altogether. Both employers and unions hated the tax, and most economists thought it was a good idea.
Anyway, one point, I guess, is that this issue, as always, is more complicated than hack reporters understand. There is what we need to do about health insurance issues now as well as any future considerations.
Jay
@Felanius Kootea:
There’s roughly 3 million Canadians with diabetes or pre-diabetes requiring insulin treatment.
There’s roughly 100 million Americans with diabetes or pre-diabetes requiring insulin treatment.
So Dolt45’s “cunning plan” to solve the insulin pricing crisis, because he saw a segment on an “insulin caravan” on Faux News, is to send hordes of Americans north to loot pharmacies of insulin.
RedDirtGirl
@MomSense: oh dear. I hope it’s resolved quickly and happily!
debbie
@MomSense:
Oh, no! Hope Kora’s back to driving you nuts very soon!
joel hanes
@jl:
Republicans are gone
Unfortunately, the College Republicans seems to be an inexhaustible source of replacements.
They grow them in vats, I believe.
How else to explain Jonah Goldberg ?
joel hanes
@Omnes Omnibus:
I would be very surprised if many of his EOs survive court challenges.
The courts are already not what they were.