The United States Does Not Provide the Best Medical Care

When I grew up in the United States I was taught that this country is the greatest in the world. Furthermore the rest of the world was far behind the United States in every way from technology to literacy to whatever. I soon understood that the teachers were either misinformed or were intentionally misinforming the students. You see up until the age of nine my family visited their home town, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada every summer. That city looked like most cities in the United States (i.e. street cars, tall buildings, telephones, radio, etc.).

The teacher in my 4^th and 5^th grade classes told us that Winnipeg still had farmers bring in their crops in horse drawn wagons. I tried, in vain, to correct this ridiculous image. I realized that the students were probably being given incorrect information about many other things. It was my first understanding that teachers were not infallible. When my own mother became a teacher, as I entered college, I knew my earlier suspicions had been confirmed.

Now I find that another “fact” about the United States is called into question. Conservative talk radio show hosts keep telling us that we have the best health care in the world. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States government has a web site that provides mortality table for every country in the world. Our country is in 50^th place out of a total of 224. Macau is in first place and Japan is in 3^rd. Canada is in 8^th place. Isn’t Canada the country most criticized for its “socialized” medicine? Oh yes, that’s the country that still uses horse drawn wagons to bring their crops into the towns to sell at markets.

Oh, wait minute those CIA figures are all estimates. President Obama has probably influenced the results of that survey. The problem is that every other web site places the United States well below Canada and below many other countries in 36^th to 50^th place.

The reality is that 45 million Americans are not covered by any health plan. Arguments that no one is turned away from an emergency room, does not mean they are covered by a plan. No plan means that you only go to the doctor when it is an emergency. The consequence is the individual pays the full fee for every visit and those visits are more likely than not to an ER.

Have you gone to an ER when you are covered by a plan? My daughter had chest pains that lasted for half a day. She thought she was having a heart attack. She has Blue Cross medical insurance. It’s a plan that requires her to pay 100% of the first $3,500 of annual medical fees. Her cost for that visit was over $1,100.00. If you do not have any insurance plan the ER will charge you an even higher rate and payment is due immediately.

Do I support abandoning our employer provided insurance system? NO! The objective is to provide coverage for every American. That probably means some type of Medicaid system. How will that be accomplished without destroying the employer based system? That’s the trillion dollar question.

It’s Called PORK

The $787 billion stimulus package signed into law this past February has not resulted in the promised thousands of new or saved jobs. The reason is clear. Nearly 90 percent of the stimulus money has not yet been spent. This is very bothersome to me because President Obama emphasized “shovel ready” projects to invigorate the economy.

The boulevards and primary avenues in the San Fernando Valley certainly need repaving but there are no road graders to be found anywhere near those streets. There are plans in the works for widening the infamous 405 freeway and extending the Orange Line Busway but little or no action has occurred even though those projects have been on the table for years. Los Angeles City officials are asking for more than $7.3 billion of the stimulus money.

Based upon the mere 10 percent of the package being spent to date one can only conclude that this entire effort was a “feel good” action that played well politically at the time but likely will not pay well in the 2010 congressional elections.

I notice that the press has not done a good job of tracking the many projects that the stimulus package was going to aid.

The stimulus money will undoubtedly be spent but it won’t be on “shovel ready” projects. Perhaps it will be spent on every congressman’s pet projects. It’s called PORK.

Mexico is Not Safe to Visit

I have no personal vendetta against Mexico. I took a 10 day vacation there in 1967. The trip included a few days in Mexico City, a night in Taxco, and another few days in Acapulco. It was a lot of fun. I have been to Tijuana many times. There was never an issue about my safety or others with me. Things have changed in that country. The unending reports about attacks on Mexican citizens and visitors to Mexico have convinced me that travel there is not safe. It is not safe for the citizens of Mexico either. A Mennonite community in Chihuahua that dates to the 1920s is the latest in a series of continuing attack victims conducted by drug cartels. The U.S. government has issued warnings. They should be heeded.

Defense Secretary During the Vietnam War

For all his faults Robert S. McNamara (June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) took on the job that few of us would take. America’s leaders really believed that the fall of Vietnam would result in communist domination of South East Asia. Forgotten by most of us is the fact that the West was in the midst of a war with the U.S.S.R. on the future of world economies. Both McNamara and LBJ were wrong but thought they were right. I do not buy McNamara’s contention that he thought the war was wrong. He adopted that view after he saw that it was a losing proposition costing thousands of American lives. American right wing radio still believes we did the right thing and so do many Americans. As recently as last week radio show host Hugh Hewitt was talking about the war and why it was the right thing to do. I initially supported the war until I realized we had no offensive plan to end the war and the South Vietnamese were not interested in winning the fight.

Toronto Is a 21st Century City

We took a five day trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada this past June. We had a wonderful time. This was a fortieth anniversary celebration. I had suggested a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea but she said “no.” You never know when you might need that IRA money for something serious. Well she is probably right as it hurts to pull even $3,000 out.

The only part of the trip that was distasteful was the air flight. You are squeezed in to seat spaces that are too small and too close to the next passenger unless you are in love.

Toronto is truly a city of the 21^st century because it is so international. They seem to have almost every race, religion, and nationality represented with equal respect for all. That is a goal the entire world should attempt to achieve.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown on Yonge Street. Not the most expensive hotel but certainly one of the most comfortable I have known. Despite four full days there we did not see many sights and only left the downtown area for one day at Niagara Falls.

After all it was a holiday trip and we did sleep late and took our time. So here is what we saw: Casa Loma, Royal Ontario Museum, Kensington Market, China Town, Harbour area tour Toronto Skyline from Boat #1 (a ride out to the islands that act as a breakwater), an evening at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, Eaton Centre, and two tour bus rides around the entire downtown area.

I took over 100 photos and that wild woman, my wife, took well over 200. Of course mine were the better pictures. These were taken with the new Panasonic DMC -FZ28. http://picasaweb.google.com/coastcontact/TorontoNiagaraFallsJune2009

We are already talking about another trip to Toronto.

Tough Times Means More Scams

By Heather Larson • Bankrate.com

Highlights

Internet scammers are using President Barack Obama’s mug to mask their scheme.
Treat companies that claim to improve FICO scores with skepticism.
Don’t fall for the cash-for-gold scam. You’ll never get the true value.

Scam artists look more legitimate than ever.

They follow headlines about financial bailouts, stimulus packages and a popular president into your pocketbook. And they’re taking advantage of people’s need for cash in a recession as well as the latest social media trends.

However, the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” still applies.

Here are some new scams you might have missed and how they work, as well as suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Government grants scam.

Pop-ups and ads on the Internet depicting President Barack Obama holding a check appear to lend some credence to the government grant scams. The government’s stimulus package and bailouts also fuel the false impression that money’s available for the asking.

These Web sites “guarantee” you’ll get a grant, says Tom Bartholomy, president of the Better Business Bureau in Charlotte, N.C. In this scam, you must pay an application or processing fee, usually between $500 and $1,000. Once you send the fee, the scammer sends you applications and forms that are printed from government Web sites. In some cases, the scammer keeps your money and doesn’t give you anything.

How to avoid this scam: Government grants are available, but you don’t have to pay in advance to apply for them.

“Many people don’t have a deep awareness of how grants work,” says Bartholomy. So they believe they really are guaranteed to receive a certain sum of money.

“We are receiving dozens of calls each day about this scam, and the guarantees appear to be the most effective trigger for the scammers,” says Bartholomy. “Once we talk with the consumer and point out the lies behind this ploy, he begins to understand it’s not a legitimate opportunity.”

Another expert on scams, Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix, a training and development firm for virtual careers in Woodstock, Conn., says you should always read the fine print on a grant opportunity.

“You may be signing up for a subscription service that bills you monthly,” says Durst. “Also, run a Google search with the name of the company plus (the word) ‘scams’ and see what that reveals.”

2. Instant credit repair.

It’s no secret that credit is tight right now and getting approved for a loan is much more difficult than it was two years ago. So when these perpetrators say they can raise your FICO score, the nation’s most widely used credit score, that’s tempting.

“This is very appealing to someone who has just been turned down for a car loan,” says Bartholomy.

Here’s how the scam works. A victim who’s looking to fix his or her credit receives an ad in the mail or sees one in the newspaper and calls about the service. The company offers to order the victim’s credit report and challenge every negative item, and those items will instantly be removed. The credit repair company charges either a per-item or flat fee but promises satisfaction, or you get your money back.

“A month after the fraudulent company has been paid, the victim will see that these negative items have been challenged and removed from his credit report,” says Bartholomy. “But that is only temporarily. As soon as the negative item is verified as authentic, it’s put back on the credit report.”

Besides paying for nothing, the victim is vulnerable to identity theft from the scammers, Bartholomy says.

How to avoid this scam: Anyone can receive a free credit report once a year from each reporting agency — Equifax, TransUnion and Experian — at Annualcreditreport.com. So you can access your report three times a year and challenge inaccurate items yourself for free.

“Instant” credit repair isn’t a legitimate option, and nobody can fix your credit but you, Bartholomy says.

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3. Cash-for-gold scam.

Offers abound to pay you for your unwantedgold, silveror platinum — usually jewelry. You’re told to place it in an envelope provided by the company and mail it in. In return, the company says it will send you the cash value of the gold within 24 hours.

Durst says these companies use the calendar against you. They claim it takes seven to 10 days to receive your jewelry, when actually it takes only three to four days.

“This gives them time to assess the value of the gold and, in doing so, they date and cut a check immediately, usually for an amount that the customer isn’t happy with,” says Durst. “Then, the check isn’t mailed for several days.”

When the check is finally sent, it’s too late to return it. By the fraudulent company’s rules, it must be sent back within 10 days of the date on the check. Of course, reaching customer service to complain is next to impossible. When customers do finally get through, they have their own meltdown because their gold has already been melted down.

And if you do get a check for your gold, it’s only for a fraction of what it’s worth.

How to avoid this scam: If you have any one-of-a-kind heirlooms or antique jewelry, you should take them to a reputable jeweler or antique dealer for an appraisal, Durst says.

“Those unique pieces may be worth considerably more than their weight in gold,” Durst says.

Any other gold could be taken to your local pawnshop or jeweler. Durst suggests going to several to find the one that will pay you the most.

4. Mystery shopping scam.

The victim answers a newspaper or Internet ad asking for mystery shoppers. He or she is sent a training assignment and a cashier’s check for a few thousand dollars. The assignment letter tells the mystery shopper to cash the check at the bank, go to a certain retail store and write a report on the cleanliness and service.

The shopper is told to keep $50 for use on the mystery shopping spree and for the shopper’s fee, and to wire the remainder of the funds to an address supplied by the supposed mystery shopping company.

“These are very real-looking checks,” says Bartholomy. “Some even have watermarks and holograms.”

The shopper is told to complete the assignment within two or three days. This urgency keeps the victim from discovering that the check is counterfeit until it’s too late. Once the check is cashed, the victim becomes the responsible party. Unless the victim keeps a hefty checking account balance, personal checks will start bouncing.

How to avoid this scam: If you receive a check to mystery shop, it won’t be legitimate, Bartholomy says. Bona fide mystery shopping companies don’t send checks before the work is done. You can look up the company name at the Better Business Bureau. Bartholomy warns that these companies change names frequently, so you may find no report. Don’t let that give you a false sense of security.

“You should verify that the company is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, which only represents legitimate mystery shopping companies,” says John Swinburn, executive director of the association in Dallas.

Unfortunately, some of the scammers use names of legitimate mystery shopping companies. Make sure the company is on the association’s Web site and that the contact information is the same.

5. Social networking scams.

In this, someone builds a friendship with you on a social networking Web site such as Facebook or MySpace, becoming your “online friend.”

“Once he has your trust and confidence, he runs into trouble and needs your help or, more specifically, your financial assistance,” says Durst.

In another version of this scam, a person may pose as a relative who needs financial help.

The scammer may say he will lose his home or car unless he gets some money quickly. Or he might say he’s in jail. Other perpetrators send you a check and ask you to wire the funds to a relative who lives in your country, saying it’s too difficult to do it from his own country.

“In both cases, you end up out of luck,” says Durst. “With the first scenario, the ‘friend’ will disappear with your money. And in the second scenario, the check you deposited in your account in order to wire the funds will bounce, leaving you to repay the bank.”

How to avoid this scam: Be careful about giving out too much personal information online, says Durst.

If you’re contacted to “bail someone out” and aren’t sure if that person is who he or she claims to be, ask personal questions that only the actual person could answer. Or contact the person that the scammer is claiming to be. Finally, you could call the authorities that are supposed to be holding him.

“If you call your grandson, and he doesn’t know anything about being jailed in Canada, you know you’re being bamboozled,” Durst says.

Just Don’t Call It “Socialized Medicine”

October 13, 2013

This column was originally published on June 29, 2009. It seems apropos given the current arguments over Obamacare. The law was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.

The words “socialized medicine” drives many Americans crazy. There is an overwhelming fear as if the mere thought of socializing medical care will destroy our nation. The AMA has done an outstanding job of instilling this fear. They started their campaign in the 1930s against Medicare (socialized medicine for social security recipients). AMA publicists included a phony quote from Lenin proclaiming “socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the Socialist State.” Is there any reason to anticipate a change in AMA philosophy? No.

Between the AMA, medical insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies there is one objective and that is to keep Americans hooked on the support of a system that makes doctors, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers very rich. In a June 29,2009 BusinessWeek commentary it was reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates their annual payments to doctors at $744 billion. Do you know a poor doctor? I am sure there are some somewhere in America but they are rare.

How much is spent on cancer treatments every year? Breast cancer was an identified illness at the beginning of the 19^th century (President John Adams daughter died from the disease). There is still no preventative drug for this disease. PSA screening tests for prostate cancer have recently been called into question but most doctors continue to recommend them. Doctors treat men for the disease even though the treated men are more likely to die sooner than those who have not been screened. It’s all part of a scam to treat people for cancer but not cure them. A wonderful money machine.

A doctor at the University of Vancouver in Vancouver, B.C. questions prescribing medication for high cholesterol. He backs his contentions with data that shows there is no longer life resulting for people who take statins to reduce the bad cholesterol. My doctor says taking the pills is the right thing to do. Of course it is a money maker for the pharmaceutical companies. Cholesterol lowering medications are Levacor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, Crestor, Simvastatin (a generic for Zocor) and more.

Are the medical insurance companies really earning extraordinary income? I did the research and found these astonishing net income amounts

– Aetna $1.831 billion USD (2007)

– Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield $3.095 billion USD (2006)

– Cigna Corporation $1.1 billion USD (2007)

– Kaiser Permanente $1.3 billion USD (2006)

– Regence Group $6.7 billion USD (2006)

As far as pharmaceutical companies are concerned look at CVS Caremark as just the tip of the iceberg. Their quarterly net income for the period ending March 31, 2009 was $738,400.

Do we need a complete overhaul of our medical care system in the United States? The answer is obvious. The question is how do we provide the needed care at a cost that everyone can afford?

HUBRIS

From Wikpedia ,“In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of humility, not always with the lack of knowledge. An accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow…”

This word is used to describe persons of power who thought they could do what ever they wanted without facing consequences but in the end they did experience a humiliating punishment. Politicians are the most common people to be defined as suffering hubris. Some corporate heads have faced the same fate.

The most well known political names suffering hubris are former President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Nevada Senator John Ensign, and today South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. There are so many others that the names would probably fill a page. Cheating, lying, adultery, etc. is not limited to one political party. Furthermore this kind of behavior is not new. Past presidents John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower, FDR, and Andrew Jackson are all known to have had sexual dalliances.

Richard Wagoner, the former General Motors CEO, is the best example of a corporate head who thought he could do no wrong. Merrill Lynch’s Stan O’Neal, Fannie Mae’s Franklin Raines all left there positions in disgrace. After three weeks of mounting criticism of his $140 million compensation package, Richard A. Grasso, the chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, resigned.

What we learn from this is that occasionally that even the misbehaving mighty can fall. They just can’t see it coming.