Hysterical Headlines (Funny or Absurd) for January 24th
Bottom Line: These are the daily doses of nonsense in the media and my hot takes on them...
Excerpt: “It is time to have a national conversation on the role of price increases in the growth of health care spending,” Niall Brennan, president of the Institute, said in a statement.
“While consumers, especially those with employer-sponsored insurance, may not feel the direct impact of these charges via out-of-pocket payments, they ultimately pay through increased premiums and decreased benefits,” he said.
Hot Take: Well shut the front door! It's almost like we had a government takeover of the healthcare industry mandating coverage which only served to exacerbate the single biggest issue with medical services. Candidly, at times, I don't know what's worse...the lies and the perpetuation of the lies associated with the Affordable Care Act...or the subsequent stories presented in an almost surprised context that tell you what you already know because you've been experiencing and paying for it for years. Ain't rocket science or brain surgery. The average American pays about 90% more for the same healthcare today as eight years ago when the ACA passed. If I'm looking for a silver lining it's that after years of BS medical and many in the medical establishment there's actual acknowledgement that it's the price of healthcare and not freaking insurance, which is an obstacle to affording most healthcare, that's the problem. You're only a decade late to the meeting but I guess it's better late than never?
Anyway, for the uptenth the problem in healthcare is simple as is the solution. The problem is that we lack virtually any price and service transparency in healthcare which robs us of the ability to be responsible consumers of it and create market competition (including competition on outcomes in addition to price). The cause of this inefficient model is the insurance first model which robs us (literally) of any ability to understand actual cost of care. Until and unless we break the back of the insurance first healthcare model the problem will persist. Health insurance should be no different than other insurances for the average American. Minimal in footprint and reserved for catastrophe care.
Shutdown Lessons: GOP Shameless, Dems Brainless Michael Cohen, Boston Globe
Hot Take: This headline made me instantly think of two music references. Garth Brooks for Shameless and Katy Perry for Brainless. I'd certainly take Garth Brooks over Mitch McConnell but it's a closer call between Chuck Schumer and Katy Perry. I'd probably opt for Perry because she has redeeming talent if you look beyond her mindless lyrics. In defense of Chuck though, I bet he didn't have to take off his fake eye lashes to cry on Election Night in 2016
Chuck Schumer Just Lost the Shutdown, Bigly Ben Domenech, The Federalist
Hot Take: As I'm inclined to say - there are two sides to every story and one side to facts. The facts happen to support that narrative. In today's midweek midterm update story, I depict just how big of a hit Democrats really took over their shutdown charade. And yeah, you might say it was bigly.
Until Tomorrow...