Let health reform do its job

Let health reform do its job

A patient loses his insurance and it puts his life at risk. Everyday stuff in America.

Health insurance is essential for living well with chronic disease, and the loss of access to care is a major cause of preventable illness and death, but it is also ultimately much more costly to society than long-term continuous primary care. As a doctor, I know how to help people. I can't do it when I don't see them because they cannot afford to come in. We need to shift our care to the doctor's office and away from the expensive emergency room.

The Affordable Care Act is in the process of correcting that fatal flaw in our health care system. With the benefits for seniors including making medications more affordable and shoring up Medicare, Medicaid expansion, health insurance exchanges (that would help people like Mr. Smith), subsidies to purchase insurance and spreading of risk across large populations to make possible the ending of exclusion for pre-existing conditions, the coverage gap for patients such as mine should ultimately be a thing of the past.

Most medical organizations are supporting the ACA. Most primary physicians favor it as at least a major step toward access to health care. Those who oppose it and work to create barriers to implement it have yet to offer a reasonable alternative that would help patients such as Mr. Smith. If they have one, it is time to tell the American people what they have in mind, and if not, they should step aside and let reform do what it was designed to do.

 From Doctors for America member Ian Gilson.

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Romney’s theory of the “taker class,” and why it matters

Romney’s theory of the “taker class,” and why it matters

For what it’s worth, this division of “makers” and “takers” isn’t true. Among the Americans who paid no federal income taxes in 2011, 61 percent paid payroll taxes — which means they have jobs and, when you account for both sides of the payroll tax, they paid 15.3 percent of their income in taxes, which is higher than the 13.9 percent that Romney paid. Another 22 percent were elderly.

So 83 percent of those not paying federal income taxes are either working and paying payroll taxes or they’re elderly and Romney is promising to protect their benefits because they’ve earned them. The remainder, by and large, aren’t paying federal income or payroll taxes because they’re unemployed. But that’s a small fraction of the country.

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A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

According to Pew, 1/3 of Americans now consider themselves part of the lower class, but look at the political and ideological breakdown:

While the share of Republicans who place themselves in the lower class has increased, the GOP is still underrepresented among the lower classes relative to their numbers in the overall population. Overall about 16% of the lower class identifies with the Republican Party, while the GOP makes up about 22% of the population. In contrast, the percentages of the lower class who identify as Democrats and independents mirror their overall proportions in the country as a whole. A third (34%) of the lower class are Democrats and 43% are independents, while nationally a third of adults (33%) say they are Democrats and 38% are independents.
The survey also finds that the proportion of self-described conservatives who are in the lower class also has surged, rising from 19% in 2008 to 32% in the latest Pew Research survey. In contrast, the proportion of moderates increased from 24% to 30%. A third of all liberals (33%) placed themselves in the lower class, while 29% did in 2008, though this change was not statistically significant.
As a result of these shifts, roughly equal shares of conservatives (32%), moderates (30%) and liberals (33%) say they stand on the bottom rungs of the social ladder now

So, clearly the 47% of moochers are across the political and ideological spectrum, contrary to Mitt Romney's suppositions (fantasies?) 

 

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Mitt Romney Thinks "$200 - $250K or less" is middle income!

Full Transcript: George Stephanopoulos and Mitt Romney - ABC News

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Is $100,000 middle income?
MITT ROMNEY: No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.

Reality:

 Ahh, another MBA in the White House. Hooray!

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RAND Institute for Civil Justice | RAND

RAND Institute for Civil Justice | RAND

Most Physicians Will Face Malpractice Claims, But Risk of Making Payment Is Low

The most comprehensive analysis of the risk of malpractice claims by physician specialty in more than two decades finds that U.S. physicians have a greater than 75% career-long risk of facing litigation. In some specialties, doctors can be virtually certain of a lawsuit over the course of their careers. However, the vast majority of those claims will not result in payment to a plaintiff.

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Daily Kos: In defense of red state socialism

Daily Kos: In defense of red state socialism

 Support for Republican candidates, who generally promise to cut government spending, has increased since 1980 in states where the federal government spends more than it collects. The greater the dependence, the greater the support for Republican candidates.

Conversely, states that pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits tend to support Democratic candidates. And Professor Lacy found that the pattern could not be explained by demographics or social issues.

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