Why Americans Have Been Deceived About Canada's Health Care System

"For decades, the health insurance industry has been scaring Americans about Canada's health care system. We hear from a whistleblower about his role in the disinformation campaign." 

Why is this relevant today?  The same types of disinformation are being used to smear the Affordable Care Act.

AMANDA ARONCZYK, BYLINE: When I first moved to the U.S. 20 years ago, people would say the strangest things to me about Canadian health care - that Canadians wait forever, that doctors don't want to work there and, weirdly specifically, that Canadians get left on gurneys in the hallways of hospitals to die. These rumors were everywhere. They were in TV ads...

This National Public Radio report from a Canadian reveals the lies perpetrated by "a man who worked in PR for health insurance companies for over 20 years named Wendell Potter."

"One of the ways Potter is making amends is by revealing how he smeared an entire health care system. He says there were three main tactics. Tactic No. 1, use anecdotes. Find Canadians who had negative experiences and disseminate their stories widely."

"Tactic No. 2, cherry-picked statistics. For example, he'd play up how long Canadians have to wait. Thing is, he'd only focus on elective surgeries and the things that you can wait for."

"Tactic No. 3, plaster the airwaves with negative ads."

Listen to the 3 minute report or read the transcript:  https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/931990578/why-americans-have-been-deceived-about-canadas-health-care-system

So be skeptical when you hear/read politicians, journalists and the general public discuss health care, the ACA, and insurance.

 

Happy New Year! Medicaid Expansion Finally Comes to Utah

Starting January 1, 2020, Utah will finally expand Medicaid coverage to more Utahns. Anyone earning less than 138% of the federal poverty level ($35,000 for a family of 4; $17,000 for a single person) is now eligible for Medicaid coverage, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Benjamin Wood. About 120,00 more Utahns will be eligible for coverage.
Voters approved Medicaid expansion in Proposition 3 but legislators rejected the voters' will. The Legisature's plan was rejected by the feds so finally we have a plan approved by voters but with the caveat that beneficiaries meet a work requirement to maintain eligibility. But many applicants will be exempt from the work requirement including persons older than 60, students, and parents of young children.
For info on how to enroll: Utah Health Policy Project: http://www.healthpolicyproject.org/
and Take Care Utah: https://takecareutah.org/

Pelosi's drug-negotiation proposal would save Medicare $345B

A provision in a bill introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that would permit Health and Human Sservices to negotiate prices for as many as 250 drugs per year would save Medicare $345 billion from 2023 to 2029 and lower pharmaceutical industry revenues by $500 billion to $1 trillion over 10 years, according to a preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. A separate analysis from the CMS Office of the Actuary found Pelosi's plan would reduce health care spending by $480 billion and save US households $158 billion over 10 years through lower premiums and reduced cost-sharing on drugs.

Details at: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/465491-cbo-pelosi-bill-to-lower-drug-prices-saves-medicare-345-billion

How a health care overhaul would cut jobs -- and help the economy

"As calls for radical health reform grow louder, many on the right, in the center and in the health care industry are arguing that proposals like “Medicare for All” would cause economic ruin, decimating a sector that represents nearly 20% of our economy."
"It’s true: Any significant reform would require major realignment of the health care sector, which is now the biggest employer in at least a dozen states. Most hospitals and specialists would probably lose money. Some, like the middlemen who negotiate drug prices, could be eliminated. That would mean job losses in the millions."
"Though it will be economically painful, the point is to streamline for patients a Kafka-esque health care system that makes money for industry through irrational practices. After all, shouldn’t the primary goal of a health care system be delivering efficient care at a reasonable price, not rewarding shareholders or buttressing the economy?"
Yes, there would be economic disruption and job losses...
Economist and health policy expert Robert "Pollin suggests that a transition to Medicare for All should be accompanied by a plan to give those made redundant up to three years of salary and help in retraining for another profession."
"Despite the short-term suffering caused by any fundamental shift in our health care delivery system, reform would ultimately redirect resources in ways that are good for the economy, many experts say."
“I’m sympathetic to the impact that changes will have on specific markets and employment — we can measure that,” Schulman said. “What we can’t quantify is the effect that high health care costs have had on non-health care industries.”
"The expense of paying for employees’ health care has depressed wages and entrepreneurship, he said. He described a textile manufacturer that moved more than 1,000 jobs out of the country because it couldn’t afford to pay for insurance for its workers. Such decisions have become common in recent years."
“Yes, these are painful transitions,” said Baicker, who is now the dean of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. “But the answer is not to freeze the sectors where we are for all time. When agriculture improved and became more productive, no one said everyone had to stay farmers.”
 Read the details from Elisabeth Rosenthal at:
https://khn.org/news/analysis-a-health-care-overhaul-could-kill-2-million-jobs-and-thats-ok/

The Medicare Debate

Health care is sure to be one of the focal points of the 2020 presidential election. While Trump is proposing substantial cuts to Medicare, Democrats are promoting variations on "Medicare for all" ranging from allowing persons 50 and older to buy into Medicare with annual premiums to more extensive plans to promote universal access to health care. 
Remember, health care is different from insurance. 
Check out this Washington Post article:
"Alternatives to Medicare-for-all that are worth studying and debating": https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/21/alternatives-medicare-all/

Coverage for pre-existing conditions at risk under Republican administration

"Protections in the Affordable Care Act that ensure people with pre-existing conditions can get and keep health insurance are popular, but may be in jeopardy due to Republican attacks on the law. Republicans contend they have plans to replicate the ACA protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, but critics claim they would not be as comprehensive." Read the details at: https://khn.org/news/fact-check-whos-right-on-protections-for-preexisting-conditions-its-complicated/

Fact Check: Who’s Right On Protections For Preexisting Conditions? It’s Complicated

Our problem isn't insurance, it's how we use health care

Is Medicare for all the answer to our problems? 
Richard Quinn writes: "Today, a common focus is on insurance premiums and insurance companies. Indeed, many people see insurance as the problem. It isn’t. Our problem is how we use health care. That’s what drives premiums and that’s what we must deal with. Changing how Americans use health care and their expectations for the health care system isn’t easy."

"It has been estimated that up to $25 billion annually is spent on health care that’s low value or unnecessary. Sound high? Maybe not. The Institute of Medicine estimates that $210 billion is spent needlessly on medical testing and medical care annually in the U.S. Who knows what the right number is? But one thing is certain: Unnecessary care—often expected, if not demanded, by patients—not only costs money, but can also harm patients."
To learn more and read the full blog post go to: https://humbledollar.com/2018/09/get-me-the-doctor/Richard Quinn blogs at QuinnsCommentary.com. Before retiring in 2010, Dick was a compensation and benefits executive.

Health Care for ALL Americans: We're asking the wrong questions

Paul Waldman provides the answer to the question posed by opponents to universal health care.

"With Democrats becoming increasingly ambitious in their policy goals, Republicans believe they have a killer answer to any new proposal: How are you going to pay for it?

The fact that this question is asked in complete bad faith — the GOP is the party that recently passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations and the wealthy without bothering to pay for it — doesn’t mean it can’t be effective. And one reason is that it will probably also be asked by the Washington media, people who as a group are enthusiastic deficit scolds, at least when it comes to programs that actually benefit ordinary people."

Opponents to universal health care (Medicare for all) claim it will cost $40 million (in next 10 years) that we don't have. Waldman reports:

"This $50 trillion number comes from the most recent projections by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which say that America will spend $3.7 trillion on health care this year, a figure that will increase by 5 to 6 percent per year in the coming years. Their projections go only to 2026, so I extended them out two years, assuming a 6 percent increase per year, to reach a full decade from 2019 to 2028. When you add the numbers up, you get $50.3 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s what we’re going to spend if we change nothing."

So, our choice is to pay $50 trillion on our current broken system or $40 trillion on a system that covers all Americans.

Details: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/09/20/were-asking-the-wrong-question-about-medicare-for-all/?utm_term=.db64c296c163&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

70% of Americans support single-payer health care

"Medicare for all," a single-payer health-care system is supported by 70% in a recent poll.
"The Reuters–Ipsos survey found 85 percent of Democrats said they support the policy along with 52 percent of Republicans.
Medicare for all has been in the headlines after a study by the libertarian-leaning Mercatus Center at George Mason University found it would lead to $32.6 trillion increase in federal spending over a 10-year period.The study’s author, Charles Blahous, wrote in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that even doubling taxes would not cover the bill for a single-payer health-care system.
The policy’s proponents, however, point to a note in the study showing that health-care costs would also decrease by $2 trillion by 2031 if it became law."
Read the details in Megan Keller's 8/23/18 article in "the Hill" at:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/403248-poll-seventy-percent-of-americans-support-medicare-for-all

Why is health care so expensive in the US? It's the prices, Stupid!

"Uwe Reinhardt, an economist whose keen, caustic and unconventional insights cast him as what colleagues called a national conscience in policy debates about health care," died in November 2017. 

What we can learn about U.S. health care costs from the New York Times obituary (quoted below; bold added):

Professor Reinhardt argued that what drove up the singularly high cost of health care in the United States was not the country’s aging population or a surplus of physicians or even Americans’ self-indulgent visits to doctors and hospitals.

“I’m just an immigrant, so maybe I am missing something about the curious American health care system,” he would often say, recalling his childhood in Germany and flight to Canada and apologizing that English was only his second language.

Then he would succinctly answer the cost question by quoting the title of an article he wrote with several colleagues in 2003 for the journal Health Affairs: “It’s the Prices, Stupid.”

What propelled those prices most, he said, was a chaotic market that operates “behind a veil of secrecy.”

That market, he said, is one in which employers “become the sloppiest purchasers of health care anywhere in the world,” as he wrote in the Economix blog in The New York Times in 2013.

It is also defined by the high cost of prescription drugs, he said, and the astronomical amounts that hospitals spend in dealing with a maze of insurers and health maintenance organizations.

“Our hospitals spend twice as much on administration as any hospital anywhere in the world because of all of this complexity,” he told Managed Care magazine in 2013.

If the nation cut the cost of health care administration in half, he said, the savings would be enough to insure everyone.

Professor Reinhardt’s prescription for a more sensible system included imposing penalties on the uninsured so that people would not postpone buying policies until they got sick. That idea, the so-called individual mandate, requiring most people to purchase health insurance, became an integral component of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Republicans in Congress are now seeking to repeal that provision as part of a tax overhaul.

Professor Reinhardt also advocated providing government subsidies so that low-income families could afford mandated insurance, another feature of Obamacare.

His ideal model was the German system in which insurers negotiate with health care providers to set common binding prices in a specific region.

“I believe it is still the best model there is, because it blends a private health care delivery system with universal coverage and social solidarity,” he told The Times in 2009. “It’s inexpensive and equitable. Coverage is portable. You’re never uninsured in Germany. No family goes broke over health care bills.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/obituaries/uwe-reinhardt-a-listened-to-voice-on-health-care-policy-dies-at-80.html

Why not Medicare for all? HR bill 676

With all the debate and animosity about overhauling the Affordable Care Act (which, BTW IS the same as "Obamacare" although 30% of Americans do NOT know this simple fact), why not Medicare for all Americans?  Most people, both consumers and members of Congress, don't seem to realize that under our current system of health insurance, the insurance companies are behind the cost increases. The reason why we pay the highest health care costs of any nation on earth and are far behind the leaders in the health outcomes, is because of the profit-making insurance companies that skim off a portion of every premium.

HR bill 676 was introduced by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and has 90 co-sponsors. 
"This bill establishes the Medicare for All Program to provide all individuals residing in the United States and U.S. territories with free health care that includes all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, dietary and nutritional therapies, prescription drugs, emergency care, long-term care, mental health services, dental services, and vision care." Learn more about this proposed legislation https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/676 and ask your member of the House of Representatives to support this legislation.

Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies

With Republicans vowing to repeal (and replace?) the Affordable Care Act, the headline that "Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies" was no surprise to this researcher who devoted many years to the study of consumer bankruptcy.  Dan Mangan wrote in 2013: "Bankruptcies resulting from unpaid medical bills will affect nearly 2 million people this year—making health care the No. 1 cause of such filings, and outpacing bankruptcies due to credit-card bills or unpaid mortgages, according to new data." But here is the real kicker: "even having health insurance doesn't buffer consumers against financial hardship." http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148
According to the federal government's Office of Personnel Management, https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/ federal employees, including members of Congress, "retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country" through The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. So your Senators and Congress members don't have to worry about access to health insurance. So repealing the Affordable Care Act is OK with them.

How has health care reform worked in Massachusetts?

It’s long past time to get past the politics, stop bashing “Obamacare,” and understand how the Affordable Care Act is likely to affect our health care system. Research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College reports on how former Gov. Romney’s health care reform played out in Massachusetts.

“What We Know About Health Reform in Massachusetts” by Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher

The brief’s key findings are:

• Numerous studies have examined the impact of Massachusetts’ landmark 2006 health care reform, the basis for the national Affordable Care Act.

• The results suggest that the Massachusetts reform has largely succeeded by:
• reducing uninsurance rates;
• improving health care access and health outcomes; and
• inducing more firms to offer coverage, without raising unemployment.

• At the same time, improving access to non-employer coverage may have reduced labor force participation for men age 55-64.

• Finally, while health care cost growth has slowed in recent years, cost control remains a challenge.

Details at: http://crr.bc.edu/briefs/what-we-know-about-health-reform-in-massachusetts/

Affordable Care Act

Don't listen to the political pundits; educate yourself about the ACA and how it might benefit your family. 

Among the best sources of information about the Affordable Care Act is the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in health-policy analysis according to The Wall Street Journal, 1/12/14. “The organization's website offers… an animated video that explains how individuals can obtain health coverage for 2014; a subsidy calculator (plug in your income, family size, age and tobacco usage) that estimates how the ACA might affect you financially; a list of more than 200 common questions about the program, divided into 16 categories; an infographic with three scenarios that illustrate the cost of health insurance under the act for families in different circumstances, before and after premium subsidies; a flowchart that helps explain what types of health coverage people qualify for in 2014; and a quiz that will test your knowledge of the health law.” Go to kff.org and, under "Topics," click on: "Health Reform."

ACA Health Law Answers

Learn how the health care law works for you and your family by answering just a few questions. This AARP tool is for all ages and does not sell health insurance. http://healthlawanswers.aarp.org/?intcmp=FTR-LINKS

Get help applying for Health Insurance

Starting October 1, 2013, you can apply for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov and CuidadoDeSalud.gov with coverage starting as early as January 1, 2014.
The Marketplace offers different types of health plans to meet a variety of needs and budgets. Through the Marketplace you can apply, compare your options, and find out if you can get free or low-cost coverage.
Go to http://takecareutah.org/ type in your zip code and find help

Understanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare)

There are many misconceptions and much misinformation about the Affordable Care Act—the health reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. 

If you don’t understand the basics of health insurance how can you assess Obamacare?  (Obamacare Hurdle: Consumers Flunk Health Insurance 101): http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/08/06/209492567/obamacare-hurdle-consumers-flunk-health-insurance-101

How Much Do You Know About Health Reform?  Take this 10 question quiz: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2012/01/17/10862/how-much-do-you-know-about-health-reform/

The Kaiser Family Foundation website http://healthreform.kff.org, has an amazing amount of information and resources on health insurance.

To learn more about health care reform and how it will affect you and your family: 

The Kaiser Family Foundation website http://healthreform.kff.org, has an amazing amount of information and resources on health insurance.

Obama Care Facts http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts.php

Utah Health Policy Project http://www.healthpolicyproject.org/  “The Utah Health Policy Project (UHPP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building lasting solutions to the crisis of the uninsured and rising health care costs.”

Watch YouTube videos:

Health Reform Explained Video: "Health Reform Hits Main Street" (9 min.) Kaiser Family Foundation  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Ilc5xK2_E

The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare (7 min.) Kaiser Family Foundation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZkk6ueZt-U

Health Reform Explained in less than 2 min! Affordable Care Act & Health Insurance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTSqPYCMFtc&list=TLQWkokWrjq1k