U.S. Politics NEXT!

[Jace, Extat]

Please be gentle with me guys, but wouldn't it just be so much simpler to make it illegal for hospitals to charge such exorbitant rates?

[DMC]

58 minutes ago, Altherion said:

Having utterly failed to grasp the concept of not biting the hand that feeds it, the UN will have this idea demonstrated to them in the next budget:

 

It seems apparent that it's you that utterly fails to grasp the point of the UN, but that's never going to change.

[Bonnot OG]

Well I missed a lot today. 

[The guy from the Vale]

1 hour ago, dmc515 said:

It seems apparent that it's you that utterly fails to grasp the point of the UN, but that's never going to change.

Admittedly, he seems to share that ignorance with the President of the USA

[Dr. Pepper]

Seems the UN and the rest of the world would be better off reorganizing so as to not have need to rely on the US.  We're a clearly unstable country that has caused significant harm around the world and who is handing over power to countries like China or Russia.  I know I'm being simplistic here, but it cracks me up that people like Altherion are acting as though it's the UN's loss, when the rest of the world increasingly has no need for the US.

[Mudguard]

3 hours ago, Altherion said:

Having utterly failed to grasp the concept of not biting the hand that feeds it, the UN will have this idea demonstrated to them in the next budget:

 

This budget cut is less than the 400 million cut for the 2016-2017 UN general operating budget.   285 million also is only about 5 percent of the general operating budget.  There's no indication that this small cut is retaliatory in any way, and it doesn't look like this touches the separate UN peacekeeping budget, which was 8 billion last year.

Quote

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) wrapped up the main part of its seventieth session tonight, recommending the General Assembly adopt a $5.4 billion budget for the United Nations for the 2016-2017 biennium.

The figure was $170 million less than the $5.57 billion proposed budget unveiled by the Secretary-General in October due to, among other things, reduced resources for public information and common support services, and roughly $400 million lower than the $5.8 billion final appropriations for 2014-2015.

 

[denstorebog]

2 hours ago, Mudguard said:

This budget cut is less than the 400 million cut for the 2016-2017 UN general operating budget.   285 million also is only about 5 percent of the general operating budget.  There's no indication that this small cut is retaliatory in any way, and it doesn't look like this touches the separate UN peacekeeping budget, which was 8 billion last year.

 

Sshhh, don't ruin Altherion's MAGA revenge porn with cold, flaccid facts.

[Inigima]

Regarding both-sides-ism, it's not that people think centrism is an invalid position always and forever. But right now one party is arguing based on facts and information and pushing public policy through a fair public process, and one party is arguing based on provable lies that contradict reality and hiding the legislation they want to pass. To think that "both sides" are doing the same thing at this juncture is either delusion or deceit. If you think "both sides" are doing the same thing in 2017, then I think you are either lying or stupid, or possibly both.

That Trump's mode of "debate" is as popular as it seems to be is an indictment of large swathes of the American public. The idea that he would replace Obamacare with "something much better and cheaper," for example, is breathtakingly stupid in a way dwarfed only by the gullibility of the people eating it up. To believe it requires believing either that Trump is a million times more gifted at public policy than the entire American political establishment -- the opposite seems to be true, my left nut is more of a healthcare expert than Trump -- or that the Democrats saw an option for something both better and cheaper and opted not to pass it for no reason. (The only thing some Democrats preferred was single-payer, which Obama took off the table early in an attempt to work with Republicans, for which they spit in his face.)

[Seli]

7 hours ago, Altherion said:

Having utterly failed to grasp the concept of not biting the hand that feeds it, the UN will have this idea demonstrated to them in the next budget:

 

US administrations completely failing to understand the concept of soft power. What else is new?

[LongRider]

sigh...

Quote

The Trump administration is rolling back Obama-era rules for how animals should be treated if their meat is going to be sold as “certified organic.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its plan to withdraw the final rules, which were originally set to take effect on March 20 after having been delayed three times.

USDA said the rules exceed the agency’s statutory authority under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to issue animal welfare regulations. The agency called the rules, which govern an animal’s access to outdoor space, transportation and slaughter, among other things, “broadly prescriptive.”

http://thehill.com/regulation/365432-usda-withdraws-welfare-rules-for-animals-certified-organic

[Zorral]

13 hours ago, Altherion said:

Having utterly failed to grasp the concept of not biting the hand that feeds it, the UN will have this idea demonstrated to them in the next budget:

 

Um for years the US hadn't paid its bill to the UN, owing 1.182 billion.  Finally, during the Obama, in 2011, the US paid down part of the debt -- leaving still $736 million in arrears.  And that was back in 2011. By now one highly doubts that the UN gives a shyte.

Also, why have the rethugs, neoliberals, reaganite cultists etc. entirely forgotten that the US INSISTED the UN headquarters be located in the US in order for the US to control it?

[lokisnow]

12 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Please be gentle with me guys, but wouldn't it just be so much simpler to make it illegal for hospitals to charge such exorbitant rates?

Dr and nurse and support staff salaries are all based on those exorbitant prices and the compensation for their labor would have to be cut if you institute across the board price caps .

[Morpheus]

Orrin Hatch, great defender of the tax bill, reads the paper as closely as he reads legislation

https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/945677436036923392

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I’m not sure you can implement nationwide price controls, but you could try to remove the profit motive in the insurance industry. That would go a long way in reducing prices.

[Zorral]

46 minutes ago, Triskele said:

 

And it's not even just those salaries...charging much more than is necessary for procedures and supplies and whatnot...

Be all of that as it may no action on this front seems likely because it would, by the nature of Jace's "make it illegal" require government, and anything in healthcare that would require government would be a "government takeover of healthcare" or a "bureaucrat making my healthcare decisions."  So a non-starter.  

As per usual, salaries are NOT the problem in this industry.

Quote

 As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average income for registered nurses was$71,000 per annum, in May 2015. The mean hourly wages was reported to be $34.14. The total number of RNs employed throughout the USA was 2,745,910.

Most nurses work far more hours than they get paid for, as do just about every staff person, no matter what the position is, whether admin, porterage,  etc.  Unless, of course, they are the shareholders, stockholders and nabobs of these for-profit institutions.  Physicians don't even, generally, get paid that much, and they work insane hours.

IOW, it's not human beings as laborers who are the economic problem in the medical industry, but again the corporations and shareholders, stockholders and top poobahs.

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, lokisnow said:

Dr and nurse and support staff salaries are all based on those exorbitant prices and the compensation for their labor would have to be cut if you institute across the board price caps .

I am a nurse who handled logistics for a hospital and am about to become a PA.

It does not cost three thousand dollars for our techs to put people in an MRI. It doesn't cost 85 dollars for a box of cotton swabs, and we don't have to bill insurance companies for fifty times the adjusted cost of a goddamn xray

[Mudguard]

43 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

I am a nurse who handled logistics for a hospital and am about to become a PA.

It does not cost three thousand dollars for our techs to put people in an MRI. It doesn't cost 85 dollars for a box of cotton swabs, and we don't have to bill insurance companies for fifty times the adjusted cost of a goddamn xray

Some of the medical billing practices are unconscionable.  I'm in agreement that price controls would be the most effective way of getting health care expenditures under control, but Republicans definitely aren't going to do it, and I don't think Democrats have the stomach for it either.  Too many industries and too much money is involved, so I think it's unlikely to get implemented anytime soon.  

There was some outrage this year about excessive drug pricing, but I'm not sure it led to any actual reform.  Just some bad press for several drug companies.  Improvements in medical cost transparency (drugs, materials and supplies, labor) might help get us there in time if enough outrage is generated.

[Zorral]

51 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

I am a nurse who handled logistics for a hospital and am about to become a PA.

It does not cost three thousand dollars for our techs to put people in an MRI. It doesn't cost 85 dollars for a box of cotton swabs, and we don't have to bill insurance companies for fifty times the adjusted cost of a goddamn xray

I cannot express how infuriating it is that so many ignoramouses and those who want health care only for the obscenely wealthy insist that doctors and nurses and technicians are the problem with the exhorbitant fees charged by insurance and hospitals and other care facilities. EMS people's salaries are preposterous for what they do and how much of it they do.  Technicians, like ever more nurses and physicians aren't even employees, and thus don't get health care benefits themselves! but are on call outside labor.  Not to mention the people who keep the facilities clean and have to clean up after EVERYONE.

[Durckad]

Please don't quote me on this but one of the reasons hospitals overcharge so much on services and materials is because insurance companies fight them on every single charge. So, in order to maximize their ability to make money on their services, they charge astronomical prices on everything and itemize all the bills thus making the insurance companies question and fight every single line on the bill. It's basically a giant game between the insurers, providers, and manufacturers and no matter who wins, the customer gets fucked.

So yeah, while staff salaries may be AN issue WRT medical costs, I don't think it is THE issue.

[OldGimletEye]

I’ve always said waitresses and waiters have been livin’ high on the hog for too long.

It’s about time somebody, said “enough”, and cracked down on plutocrat waiters and waitresses and gave their money to needy restaurant owners.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/12/21/the-trump-administration-wants-to-let-employers-control-workers-tips-an-interview-with-heidi-shierholz/

Quote

HS: The Department of Labor’s proposed rule is about employers taking control of workers’ tips. It rescinds portions of long-standing Department of Labor regulations that prohibit employers from taking tips. Under the administration’s proposed rule, as long as the tipped workers earn the minimum wage, the employer can legally pocket their tips.

 

Quote

Evidence shows that even now, when it is illegal for employers to pocket tips, many still do.  Research on workers in three large U.S. cities (Chicago, Los Angeles and New York) found that 12 percent of tipped workers had tips stolen by their employers or supervisors. With that much illegal tip theft taking place, it’s clear that when employers can legally pocket the tips, many will. 

 

Quote

 When Trump was running for office, he made big claims about how he was going to fight for workers.  But since in office, he has consistently moved against the interest of workers in favor of corporate interests — by rolling back important worker protections, advancing nominees to key posts with records of enabling the exploitation of working people, pushing for the dismantling of Obamacare, fighting for a tax bill that overwhelmingly favors the wealthy, etc.  In the case of the tip rule, Trump has delivered a huge gift to the owners of big chain restaurants, for whom getting their hands on workers’ tips has been a holy grail for a very long time.