Swine Merchants

October 17, 2009

Apparently, in 1945, Congress extended a degree of antitrust exemption to the Insurance Industry.  The excuse they used was that this would, somehow, not only translate into huge campaign graft, but also lower insurance rates.  The hundreds of thousands of dollars filling campaign coffers also convinced the dedicated legislators to throw in exemption from all federal regulation of the Insurance Industry.  Of course, the resultant extra billions of dollars in America’s health care costs (“Free Money” for the industry) did not seem to bother these altruistic swine merchants.

As usual, Congress, House and Senate lack the common sense to be able to simplify health insurance or even to discuss the issue rationally.  Add to this, President Obama, a true healthcare neophyte, the only person in this country capable of accomplishing meaningful National Health Care reform.  Mr. Obama seems to be catching up as quickly as possible, but probably should not have pushed for health care reform until he understood virtually all aspects of the issue.  Mr. Clinton, who clearly understood more about healthcare reform than anyone, constantly amazing even hospital administrators, (most of whom opposed him politically) made the same mistake of turning the job over to other people unable or unwilling to deal with the various ramifications of Comprehensive Health Care.

As I have said before, exemption from antitrust constraints does have a place in health care.  If insurance companies could purchase durable goods, oxygen, laboratory tests and drugs, using the leverage of their cumulative 140 million patients, while Medicare, Medicaid and a “Public Option” could do the same, many objections to that “Public Option” could be nullified.  At the same time, Medicare/Medicaid would automatically benefit to the tune of more than 100 billion dollars per year.  The only thing holding this back: Lobbies.  Think of the millions of dollars Congressmen and Senators would lose in illicit contributions, accurately termed “blood money.”

Include a “bill of rights” for insurance companies, hospitals, physicians and patients.  Include in these “bills” the needs of each group, not what they want.  Again, as I have stated for years, what these groups or what anyone wants is of no consequence to a legitimate government- only what they need.

A good example of the problem of “lobbies getting what they want,” is the idea that 500 billion dollars can be saved in the next ten years by streamlining Medicare.  The Republicans, for the most part, claim that “benefits” will be stolen from Medicare recipients to reach this goal.  Actually, the 500 billion dollar savings could be achieved by changing to realistic prices for durable goods, oxygen and laboratory tests.  Competitive bidding for the drugs, alone, using the Medicare population could also save the entire 500 billion dollars without cutting any benefits.  The Republican Swine merchants, with Billy Tauzin, are 100% responsible for the drug overcharges, by the way.  The Democrat Swine merchants are 100% responsible for the durable goods, oxygen and laboratory “blood money.” 

Apparently, there is over a trillion dollars in Medicare costs to be saved over the next ten years, without stealing benefits from our seniors.  The government’s swine merchants, even the Messianic liberals, still plan to give their buddies (lobbies) 50 billion extra dollars every year.  Talk about selling out one’s country!  Judas received only 30 pieces of gold and he’s reviled by hundreds of millions of Americans.  The swine merchants receive hundreds of thousands of dollars every day.  Billy Tauzin received 2 million dollars the minute he retired from Congress- payment from his new pharmaceutical bosses for passing Part D and screwing his constituent seniors out of 25-50 billion dollars per year.  Can you smell the odor of rotting pork, Americans?

When, exactly, did the Press Corpse die?  When is the autopsy?  Worse yet, how much blood money is Congress being paid by the Military Industrialists to escalate wars in Afghanistan and who knows where else?  The graft in the Pentagon makes Medicare and healthcare reform look like chump change!  Just remember one thing.  Judas didn’t eat pork, even he would have wretched at the odor of our swine merchants at work.

Allen Finkelstein, D.O.