Bureaucrat Beat
Written by Benett Kessler Friday, 05 March 2010 14:22
All right. To those of you out there who do not believe we need health care reform, would you believe Warren Buffett,
According to CBS news blogs, Buffett wants aggressive reform. He said health care costs come close to 17% of the overall Gross Domestic Product. Other countries spend 10% or less. Buffett said America has fewer doctors, nurses and hospital beds per capita than much of the rest of the world. Buffett noted that auto executives have told him that they include $1500 worth of health care costs into the price of every car. By the way, what did the financial guru say about the overall economy? "It's getting better, but at a very, very slow rate." Yeah.
On the subject of health care, or not, here's a sad story that may have a happy ending. An Alameda, CA, man who went skiing at Mammoth Mountain fell, he told us, and broke his leg at the knee. Very painful. This man called us from the Travel Lodge in Mammoth and said he had been denied care at Mammoth Hospital. He didn't have health insurance. Hospital officials said they could not comment because of privacy laws. This man, 49-year-old Andre Paspre, told us he had waited a week for surgery at Mammoth Hospital and then at the last minute was told he could not get charity care. Police came and escorted him out with a voucher to stay at a motel. The man was desperate. He couldn't walk or drive and was in bad pain.
He started to see if he could go to Northern Inyo Hospital. We called Mammoth Hospital. A bit later a social worker from Mammoth Hospital called Andre. Later, he said that three members of the hospital board came and talked to him at the ER waiting room. They offered an ambulance out of town. He said no. They finally said yes to surgery. It was scheduled for this morning. One more victim of our health care system? He's a self-employed laborer, and can not afford health insurance. Sadly, if you don't have health insurance, you might not want to hit the slopes.
Here's some good financial news. Finally, we repeat, finally Congress passed a new federal credit card law that started two weeks ago. Not soon enough. Credit card companies, i.e. banks, have behaved like loan sharks with interest rate tricks. They're no better than thieves with their secret little games of raising interest and fees every time you hiccup. Well, no more. They now have to play by a new set of rules. They can still raise rates and implement fees but under more strict circumstances in our favor.
On a completely different note, what were the circumstances surrounding the death of a young woman named Patricia
We were reminded of that when the Mammoth Police Arrest Log came over the fax machine and right there under arrests was the name - Carlos Castaneda - picked up for drunk in public and vandalism. Of course, not the enigmatic and deceased author, but enough to conjure memories. All of us aging hippies in the Bureaucrat Beat Newsroom read Castaneda way back when. Fascinating stuff about shamans, visions and what Castaneda described as the "non-ordinary reality" beyond how we see things every day.
The mysteries that spell heartbreak for parents all over the country - missing children. Seems a non-profit organization called National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has paid for law enforcement from many counties to receive training to work on missing children cases. Inyo Sheriff Bill Lutze and his Undersheriff Jim Jones headed to Washington, D.C. this week for a 2-day training. Next, local investigators will go for the training. This way, cops up and down the country can work on these cases which frequently cross state lines.
If you liked our representation in Congress the past several years, you'll love the news that Inyo-Mono Congressman Buck McKeon announced he has officially filed for re-election. Among other issues, McKeon opposes amnesty for immigrants, he opposes the current health care reform proposal. McKeon names competitive insurance rates across state lines and medical malpractice reform as his most important health care issues. Hey, Congressman, what about care for people and outrageous insurance rate increases? He doesn't want a "government take-over of health care."
A problem we heard about the Congressman - local constituents wrote to him with very specific questions and concerns. The reply they got was a canned and non-responsive letter. Hello!!!! We are out here and we do have opinions that differ from party lines.
Elsewhere in politics, how about Senator Roy Ashburn's indiscretions? Alleged drunk driving as he left a gay night club with a special friend. As one of our own in the Bureaucrat Beat Newsroom said, "I guess you have to practically be a sociopath to run for office in the first place." At the very least, how about an oath to make your political views consistent with your lifestyle. It was Ashburn who badmouthed same sex marriage.
With that, this is Benett Kessler signing off for Bureaucrat Beat where we await your word on our lives in the Eastern Sierra and beyond.
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Subscribe to this comment's feedwritten by Jay Wheaton , March 05, 2010
written by Eastern Sierran , March 05, 2010
First, medical malpractice reform only focuses on non-economic damages, primarily pain and suffering. You can't limit how much recovery someone is going to get for the surgeries and other medical care they will need due to the malpractice. That would be unjust under any honest review -- "sorry that guy ran over both your legs, but the limit on recovery is $200K and the surgery costs $400K -- which leg do you want?" Most Republicans do not advocate this kind of limitation when they talk about reform -- no one with a conscience does.
Similarly, you can't really limit how much you give someone for other economic damages, such as lost wages due to the malpractice. That would also be unjust -- "hey piano man, I realize you trained for 20 years and you made $100K last year playing the piano, so sorry I cut off your healthy fingers instead of your gangrenous toes, but you can still get a job that doesn't require fingers, so no harm no foul!" No to that, too.
That leaves the non-economic damages, i.e., pain and suffering. But, the fact is that there are already medical malpractice caps in most of the larger jurisdictions of the nation, including the biggest, California, where I think the limit is $350,000. So, if the jury finds that your pain and suffering was worth $2 million, the judge nevertheless is required to reduce the jury's finding to $350,000. While this may be seen as unfair to some, it's been the law for something like 20 years in California, and we all seem to have gotten along, and the health care crisis has nevertheless continued to grow. In other words, in the nation's biggest jurisdiction, medical malpractice reform has had no real positive effect in reducing the health care crisis. It is not subject to debate. It is a simple fact.
All that said, tort reform is seen to be the red herring that it is. Gutless "conservatives" tout it as a talking point, and people who get their news from Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck baaah-lieve it, but every economist will tell you it's a 1 to 2 percent issue, at most, and therefore isn't a real useful discussion point, other than to create a good talking point. And it is a good talking point -- it riles people up into thinking that it's all the trial lawyers and welfare cases and "liberals" that are working the system to drive up the cost of healthcare, when in fact it is the insurance companies, doctors, and drug companies that are making the big bucks, then lining the pockets of cynical politicians.
It would be nice if McKeon would be real about this, but I don't think any of us actually expect that to happen. Maybe if people stopped buying the "conservative, family values" line from people like McKeon, Ashburn, Foley, Abramoff, Haggard, Craig, etc., we would actually be able to start digging out of our hole, rather than digging it deeper.
written by Friar Tuck , March 05, 2010
written by John Williams , March 06, 2010
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Mr. Paspre is paying for his surgery. He worked out a deal with the hospital with a down payment and monthly payments.
Certainly we need to use good judgment when it comes to risk in our lives. Mr. Paspre does not make thousands of extra dollars to spend on health insurance.
We in the Bureaucrat Beat Newsroom do not believe that the price for bad judgment should be pain and suffering. We are human. We all make some bad decisions from time to time. We don't believe punishment of not performing surgery on a broken leg is the appropriate response.
Benett Kessler
written by Devin , March 08, 2010
written by David Shadle , March 09, 2010
written by Bruce , March 09, 2010
I think that he with your help decided that Mammoth Hospital and the people of Mono Co. would be the ones to pay his bill.
Please keep track of him and report on his paying back to us.
written by bltnmammoth , March 10, 2010
Editor's Note:
To be technically correct - We did not compare the two. I said that the name of Carlos Castaneda on the police blotter merely reminded me of the author Castaneda.
BK
written by Concerned , March 16, 2010
Editor's Note:
And you need to read my editor's notes more carefully. As I have noted on other comments, the man paid $5,000 down and signed a payment plan.
Benett Kessler
written by Rob , March 16, 2010
It appears to me like Mammoth Hospital is turning out-of-towners away without insurance, but not locals without insurance.
written by Jeff Klenck , March 16, 2010
A person is suffering. Even one like Dave A. who ran himself over?
lets go Doctors and Nurses stop worrying about money and care for the people you have sworn to help.
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