Tag Archives: Medicare

What Next? – For the 21st Century

Barack-Obamajoe-biden

What should we do now?

  1. Strengthen the safety net.
  2. Reverse the Citizens United and Florence v Burlington rulings.
  3. Place reasonable restrictions on Second Amendment rights, as  reasonable restrictions exist on First Amendment rights. And tax properties and income of religious institutions.
  4. Address Climate Change.
  5. Develop a Renewable & Sustainable Energy Infrastructure – Clean & Green within 15.

As President Obama said, in his Second Inauguration, (White House . Gov / The Atlantic)

“The commitments we make to each other …  do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us.  They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. 

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult.  But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. “

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How to Fix Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security

FDR in 1933
President Roosevelt created the Social Security Administration in 1935.

Pres. Johnson
President Johnson created Medicare in 1965.

President Obama
President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

People say “Medicare and Social Security are broken. They need to be fixed.” Some say they should be eliminated, or turned into voucher programs. What are the facts? What does “Broken” mean, in the context of Medicare and Social Security?

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Cleaning Up In Hospitals

Germs on the hand

Germs on the Hand. Courtesy Talk is Cheap

5% of hospital patients develop an infection. And the majority of those infections are acquired from the hands of Health Care Providers.

Medicare pays 40% of the nation’s hospital bills. (This, in and of itself, is an argument for a single payer system – one single payer already pays 40% of hospital bills. And it’s the Government.) However, Medicare does not reimburse hospitals for their mistakes. It shouldn’t. If I borrow your car, and run out of gas, it’s my fault, not yours. Note that this is an example of the government doing something right.

Because of this policy decision, medical accidents went from being a source of hospital revenue to a massive financial drain. Medical institutions were forced into the business of disease prevention, at least once people were in their care.

According to the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths statistics, (PDF) hospital acquired infections kill more people in America than AIDS, Breast Cancer and Auto Accidents combined. What is worse is that 5% of the patients in hospitals acquire infections in the hospital, and the vast majority of the patients that acquire such infections in hospitals get them from the hands of health care providers.

More details after the click.

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