From the Globe’s op-ed page today, a column by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler and Dr.David U. Himmelstein about the dumbass Mass healthcare bill, brought to us by Mitt Romney, with the aid of a legislature that can only be called corrupt or stupid or bought and paid for by the insurance industry.
Pertinent paragraphs:
And 244,000 of Massachusetts uninsured get zero assistance – just a stiff fine if they don’t buy coverage. A couple in their late 50s faces a minimum premium of $8,638 annually, for a policy with no drug coverage at all and a $2,000 deductible per person before insurance even kicks in. Such skimpy yet costly coverage is, in many cases, worse than no coverage at all. Illness will still bring crippling medical bills – but the$8,638 annual premium will empty their bank accounts even before the bills start arriving. Little wonder that barely 2 percent of those required to buy such coverage have thus far signed up.
While the middle class sinks, the health reform law has buoyed our state’s wealthiest health institutions. Hospitals like Massachusetts General are reporting record profits and enjoying rate increases tucked into the reform package. Blue Cross and other insurers that lobbied hard for the law stand to gain billions from the reform, which shrinks their contribution to the state’s free care pool and will force hundreds of thousands to purchase their defective products. Meanwhile, new rules for the free care pool will drastically cut funding for the hundreds of thousands who remain uninsured, and for the safety-net hospitals and clinics that care for them.
Apparently Hilary Clinton is calling for everybody to get insurance when she’s President. And the Mitten is bitching at her that she’s for socialized medicine.
Two stupids in a pod. Romney’s a Republican. He wants everyone to get sick or go broke paying insurance.
Hilary’s a Democrat. I don’t know what in hell she’s thinking, but if her plan includes the insurance companies, she should quit the race.
But all the pols, except Kucinich if I recall correctly, want you to give your money to insurance companies and don’t want to provide reasonable health care for everyone.
We can’t have a reasonable health care system in this country until we get the insurance terrorists… companies… out of the mix. They don’t give a damn about your health, never did, never will. They want your money, money for nothing, so they can drive around in BMW and Mercedes cars.
But as long as they’re allowed to continue buying politicians, you are screwed. Get seriously sick and your life is destroyed. You lose your health, your money, your house, your car, your dignity, all so insurance company executives and managers and salesmen can run around in fancy cars to expensive restaurants, using expense accounts that you paid for.
They’re thieves and they’ll kill you for your money. Literally kill you.
Grumpy Lion 