Health Care Reform - When does it start? When does the hemorrhaging end?

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Here in the United States we already pay far more per capita for health care than any other country in the world yet our health care system ranks far down the list in terms of quality of care.  Doesn't that seem odd to you?

For the past six years our political system has ground to a halt because of the partisan bickering between political parties over Obamacare.

And the many candidates running for the House and Senate in this year's midterm elections are all over the place in terms of whether they support Obamacare, want to fix Obamacare or want to dump Obamacare.

Obamacare is really called the Affordable Care Act and there is nothing affordable about it.  In terms of the health care industry, the cost of nothing has gone down but the premiums, profits, bonuses and kickbacks have sure gone up.

If we were really interested in hearing the truth the story would be a whole lot different. You see, Obamacare did nothing to fix the health care system, it only extended an already broken system to the millions of Americans who are uninsured.

The truth is far more brutal than worrying about the consequences of Obamacare.  The truth consists of the following:

Nothing is being done in Washington to improve the quality of health care service.

Nothing is being done in Washington to reduce the criminally high cost of health care.

Nothing is being done in Washington to stop the unnecessary and excessive amount of patient testing to determine the cause of health problems, many of which are never confirmed.

Nothing is being done in Washington to stop the millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors for prescribing their drugs for patient treatment.

Nothing is being done in Washington to stop the corrupt influence of hundreds of millions of dollars being spent by the current health care system to legally bribe our politicians through campaign contributions.

Nothing is being done in Washington to stop the insurance companies from denying coverage for many types of health care treatment that could drastically lower the cost through alternative health techniques.

Nothing is being done in Washington to stop the FDA, our federal regulatory agency, from favoring applications for New Drug Approval from super rich pharmaceutical companies over a host of low cost and time proven techniques to improve health that are being kept off the American market.

Nothing is being done to stop the runaway cost of court litigation relating to medical malpractice and class action health cases.

In the meantime billions of dollars are being wasted every year paying for the nonsense we call health care.  If we need more proof of the incompetence of our health care providers and corrupt nature of our health care system just look at the Veterans Administration scandal that is just beginning to unfold.

The Obama Administration claims to have done more to reform the health care system than any president since George Washington (that is a joke), at least it wants to be given such credit, yet for six long years the very people Obama sent to war have been cheated, lied to, ignored and killed by the very same saviors of health care, the Obama administration.

What is the logic in that?  We can  reduce the cost of health care by killing off those who were sent to risk their lives fighting for our country?  America needs to wake up.  Our federal government, all of it, is under the control of the White House, not just the parts that seem to work.

If our federal government knew how to provide better health care then why did thousands of veterans get cheated for the past six years.  Thanks in large part to the health care and related industries Obama spent over $2 billion to get elected two times.

It seems to me the only health care insurance that works in America was the investment by the health care providers, big pharmaceutical corporations, Wall Street, big banks, the insurance industry, the trial lawyers and financial institutions of $2 billion in the Obama campaign because they are the only ones financially benefiting from the health care fraud and abuse sanctioned by the Obama Administration and Congress.

People have got to wake up, demand more from their elected officials, throw out those who protect the status quo and encourage those with no strings attached to find ways to make it work.  In short, people deserve a return on their investment in so called democracy and holding all those responsible for our broken system accountable is the first step.

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Wake Up America - Our Government has been Hijacked!

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The Enemy Within - The Two Party System

My premise is simple.  No where in our Constitution or Declaration of Independence does it say the Democrat or Republican party control America.  No where is the Democrat or Republican party even mentioned in those sacred documents.

 

 

I don't care what party you support, there is nothing that says only the members of the Democrat or Republican parties can decide our future, yet here we stand on the brink of fiscal collapse and only the Democrats or Republicans are part of the process to solve our problems.

 

Neither party can solve the problem, they are the problem.  The American system of individual freedom and democracy has been hijacked by the two party system and the special interests that control every single element of both parties from the radical left to the radical right.

 

 

Pure and simple, MONEY is the dominant force in politics and the obsession with money by both parties has caused this temporary breakdown in the American system.  Whose to blame?

 

 

Our Executive branch is controlled by the Democrats with Obama in the White House as their flag bearer.  Our Legislative branch is split with the House of Representatives controlled by the Republicans and Senate controlled by Democrats.

 

Now where I come from that gives the Obama Democrats control of two thirds of our government process, the White House and Senate, and the Republicans one third.

 

 

If you listen to the news media you are told the Republicans are holding the government hostage.  But the media never mentions that the two party system is the culprit.

 

How could they, the bottom line profit of all America's cherished fourth estate comes from the political campaign expenses from the Democrat and Republican candidates, political parties, political action committees and private donors.

 

 

Media companies are totally dependent on advertising purchases from the candidates and the supporters of the candidates for survival and reporters are equally dependent on them for their paychecks so they better kiss the butt of the party they favor the most.

 

The largest corrupting influence in politics, business, health care, housing, defense contracting, government policy and government regulation is the God Almighty dollar and the way it is used to control people and manipulate systems.

 

 

Obamacare was never about reducing health care costs, healing people, or even making it more comfortable to die.  That would not make financial sense to the "Shadow" force behind the government.

 

It was always about maintaining the health care system we have and expanding it to all those without health insurance.  So what is the health care we have and want to expand to everyone?

 

 

Let's see...

 

Basic health care means a Chris Craft and Mercedes for every doctor and dentist.  It means a limo and house in the Hamptons for investors and brokers in health care.  It means a yacht and European villa for every pharmaceutical executive.

 

Well the truth is we don't have a health care system, we have an addiction for a cash cow called health care whether we need it or not and whether it heals us or not.

 

 

As long as there is an open spigot with billions of dollars flowing to our politicians through our two party system there will never be a free America.  Ban all political contributions and strip the two party system of control of our government and America can get back to the business of being the shining light of democracy, individual freedom and equality the world so sorely needs.

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Obama's ‘il dolce far niente’ - the sweetness of doing nothing

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Leave it to the Italians to define the Obama presidency.  Of course in Italy "doing nothing" means taking the time to enjoy life unlike the Americans who are supposed to be so motivated in life they are not capable of doing nothing, and that includes being happy, less stressful and having time for your family.

 

With over half our population on prescription drugs for stress, I think the Italians just might have something.  When I worked for the governor in New Jersey I had an Italian secretary, a true Joisey girl, who introduced me to the wonderful world of ‘il dolce far niente’ through her immediate and extended family in the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey.

 

 

The Ironbound is one of the most incredible pockets of Old World cultural preservation anywhere in America.  I know there are Italian and Portuguese sections but I never got beyond the Italian.  We had a governor's office in Newark, the main office being in Trenton, and for a time I was assigned to the Jersey Department of Energy located in Newark.

 

Over a period of six years I got to witness the art of sweet nothingness where you could drop into a dinner of 15 underway without notice and have plenty to eat.  At the table the language was more often than not Old World Italian yet you always knew you were welcome and appreciated.

 

 

As for topics discussed around the table, anything under the sun as long as you contained your passion out of respect for those who might disagree.  I was a very motivated and well-informed chief of staff so I was always prepared to talk about the state, the federal government or international affairs.

 

 

It seems the Italians had such few expectations for our governments they did not spend much time on the subject.  It was also a potential source for stress.

 

 

One time one of the many uncles around the table asked me what I did for the Energy Department and I said that week we were working on the clean up of Three Mile Island, the worst nuclear accident in American history.  He rolled his eyes and made some comment which I assumed meant "and that is another reason we don't talk about the government."

 

 

Makes sense.  Family dinners are no place to discuss nuclear catastrophes and TMI is a lot more likely to stress out someone than comparing pastas.  Everyone should have occasion to join an extended Italian family for a three hour dinner before they start taking those prescription mind benders.

 

 

In time I went to the marriage of my former secretary in the largest Basilica in America and to the wedding party where lobster was an hors d'oeuvre sitting on carts around the grounds of the party palace.  There is nothing like an ethnic Italian wedding.

 

 

As for Obama, well he has the "sweetness of doing nothing" down pat but it costs the taxpayer over a billion dollars a year for our president to do nothing.

 

In the process he continues to set back international relations week by week as all the "Arab Spring" incidents have backfired on America.  We can't even leave Iraq and Afghanistan behind after a decade of wars without alienating someone and leaving civil unrest in our place.

 

 

 

Forget about the two nations in the best position to help us with Syria, Iran or North Korea, our mortal enemies if you are to believe White House spin.  Russia and China are so put off by Obama that no problems between our nations have been resolved and they have blocked us from using the United Nations to punish the rogue trio.

 

Then there is the forever lingering "financial crisis."  Our greed seems to have spilled over to the rest of the world and we nearly brought down the global financial system in a series of amazing rip offs of government.

 

 

Anyone who believed the American financial system, the most powerful by a long ways in the world, ever intended to serve the public interest as opposed to their own selfish interest is obviously under-medicated.

 

As near as I can tell it costs us about $27 million a week for the president and his White House operation.  That is a lot to pay someone to do nothing.  Throw in the cost of congress and military protecting us around the world and we are suddenly paying about $19 billion a week.

 

 

The World Health Organization estimates we spent $8608 per capita on health care in 2011.  In other words, about $2.7 trillion, or put in other terms, another $50-60 billion a week.

 

I don't care how you cut it, we seem to be paying way, way too much for people to enjoy ‘il dolce far niente’ on a 24/7 basis.  People like that need a wake up call, like being dropped kicked through the end zone goalposts.

 

 

So health care prices including medication, treatment, hospitals and health insurance continue to increase and we have a long ways to go to even begin to implement the law.  Nowhere in the law do we address in a meaningful way the cost of health care although the law talks a lot about Medicare fraud.

 

Unfortunately, the biggest fraud in Medicare is not even addressed.  When it comes to diseases and drugs profit is the first consideration and there is no profit in getting you well.  Instead we get a battery of meaningless tests to prove what we do not have, all the while being given multiple prescriptions of dangerous drugs to keep us happy during the many tests.

 

There is nothing good about a system where healing comes way down the priority list.  Nor is there when a system can spend tens of thousands of dollars or more when cat scans or other exotic tests are given.

 

 

Our medical community lives in a constant conflict of interest and makes money off everything they do to keep you sick, keep you medicated and keep you believing that doctors and medical people are the most trustworthy people in America.

 

 

So maybe our president and congress can enjoy ‘il dolce far niente’ because they have conditioned us to accept nothing as good for the country.  Just think of how many things would be wrong if they actually passed more laws and did something.

 

 

 

One the other hand, we would all be a lot happier and better off spiritually and morally at least if we did follow the advice of our Italian friends,‘il dolce far niente’, enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing.  

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Campaign 2012 - The Seven Cardinal Sins of Politics

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Sins of the past, present & future

1.  Failing to do something about the national debt!

2.  Failing to cut government deficits!

3.  Failing to attack the unemployment and under-employment problem!

4.  Failing to adopt a national energy independence plan!

5.  Failing to stop unnecessary gas, prescription drug and food price increases!

6.  Failing to reduce medical and health insurance costs!

7.  Failing to improve relations with China and Russia!  [They can solve our problems with Iran, Syria, North Korea and the Middle East.]

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Health Care in America - Increasing Criminal and Civil Monetary Penalties Against the Pharmaceutical Industry

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The Broken American Health Care System

Rapidly Increasing Criminal and Civil Monetary Penalties Against the Pharmaceutical Industry: 1991 to 2010

Sammy Almashat, M.D., M.P.H, Charles Preston, M.D., M.P.H, Timothy Waterman, B.S., Sidney Wolfe, M.D.

Public Citizen’s Health Research

Group EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

U.S. spending on prescription drugs has increased from $40 billion in 1990 to$234 billion in 2008. In this era of rapidly rising drug costs, the illegal pharmaceutical company activities that have contributed to such inflated spending have garnered a significant amount of media attention. Recent billion-dollar settlements with two of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, provide evidence of the enormous scale of this wrong doing.  However, the total size, varied nature, and potential impact of these illegal and potentially dangerous activities have not been previously analyzed. This study examined trends from 1991 to the present in federal and state criminal and civil actions against pharmaceutical companies in order to address these questions.

Analysis

The purpose of this study was to compile a comprehensive database of all major criminal and civil settlements between federal and state governments and pharmaceutical companies. Press releases from both federal and state governments, in addition to existing online databases, were used to identify all settlements of at least $1 million during the past 20 years.

Main Findings

• Of the 165 settlements comprising $19.8 billion in penalties during this 20-year interval, 73 percent of the settlements (121) and 75 percent of the penalties ($14.8 billion) have occurred in just the past five years (2006-2010).
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• Four companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough) accounted for more than half (53 percent or $10.5 billion) of all financial penalties imposed over the past two decades. These leading violators were among the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
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• While the defense industry used to be the biggest defrauder of the federal  government under the False Claims Act (FCA), a law enacted in 1863 to prevent defense contractor fraud, the pharmaceutical industry has greatly overtaken the defense industry in recent years. The pharmaceutical industry now tops not only the defense industry, but all other industries in the total amount of fraud payments for actions against the federal government under the False Claims Act.
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• The practice of illegal off-label promotion of pharmaceuticals has been responsible for the largest amount of financial penalties levied by the federal government over the past 20 years. This practice can be prosecuted as a criminal offense because of the potential for serious adverse health effects in patients from such activities.
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• Deliberately overcharging state health programs, mainly Medicaid fraud, has been the most common violation against state governments and is responsible for the largest amount of financial penalties levied by these governments. This type of violation is also the main factor in the considerable increase in state settlements with pharmaceutical companies over time.
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• Former pharmaceutical company employees and other “whistleblowers " have been instrumental in bringing to light the most egregious violations and have been responsible for initiating the largest number of federal settlements over the past 10 years. From 1991 through 2000, qui tam (whistleblower) cases made up only 9 percent of payouts to the government, but from 2001 through 2010, they comprised 67 percent of total payouts.

Conclusion

Over the past two decades, especially during the past 10 years, there has been a marked increase in both the number of government settlements with pharmaceutical companies and the size of the accompanying financial penalties.  The reasons for these increases are likely related to a combination of increased violations by companies and increased enforcement on the part of federal and state governments.  The danger to public safety and the loss of state and federal dollars that comes with these violations require a more robust response than the government’s current practices. Given the relatively small size of current financial penalties when compared to the perpetrating companies’ profits, both increased financial penalties and appropriate criminal prosecution of company leadership may provide a more effective deterrent to unlawful behavior by the pharmaceutical industry.

Worst Offenders and Largest Settlements

Individual Companies: Total Penalties, 1991-2010

There are 20 pharmaceutical companies that paid a total of at least $100 million each in financial penalties over the past 20 years. The four worst offenders, with at least $1 billion in penalties each, were GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough. Together they accounted for more than half (53percent) of all financial penalties paid out by pharmaceutical companies.

Twenty Largest Settlements, 1991-2010

The 20 largest settlements over the past two decades follow. In the largest settlement of the past 20 years, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay the federal government $3.4 billion in 2006 for failing to pay required taxes over a 17-year period.

The second and third largest settlements included the two largest criminal fines ever levied by the federal government against any company. In January 2009, Eli Lilly was forced to pay $515 million (the largest criminal fine ever received by a corporation at that time) and Pfizer, later that year, was fined$1.2 billion (the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S.). Both companies were fined for illegal off-label promotion.

The majority (14) of the 20 largest settlements have occurred within the past five years (2006-2010), consistent with the dramatic increase in pharmaceutical industry financial penalties in recent years.  Of note, almost all cases (16 of 20) involved violations of the federal FCA, at least in part. Multiple blockbuster drugs (i.e., those with sales exceeding $1 billion per year), such as Neurontin (gabapentin), were involved in these settlements. For example, in the Pfizer case of 2004, the company was charged with illegal off-label promotion of Neurontin, a drug which in 2002 generated 94 percent of its $2.27-billion revenue from off-label use.

Table 2. Pharmaceutical Company Penalties: Worst Offenders

Company - Fine in millions of dollars - Percent of Total

GlaxoSmithKline                                     4501              22.7

Pfizer                                                            2935             14.8

Eli Lilly                                                        1712               8.6

Schering-Plough                                      1339               6.8

Bristol-Myers Squibb                             890                4.5

AstraZeneca                                               883                4.5

TAP Pharmaceutical Products            875                4.4

Merck                                                           806                4.1

Serono                                                          704                3.6

Purdue                                                         620                3.1

Allergan                                                      600                3.0

Novartis                                                       524                2.6

Cephalon                                                     425                 2.1

Johnson & Johnson                                353                 1.8

Forest Laboratories                                313                 1.6

Sanofi-aventis                                           310                 1.6

Bayer                                                            301                 1.5

Mylan                                                           267                 1.3

Teva                                                              181                 0.9

King Pharmaceuticals                          167                 0.8

Other                                                          595                 3.0

*Parent company names are current names without corporate (e.g. inc. or plc) designations. If company is non-existent now, name at time of most recent settlement was used.**Data for 2010 include only the first 10 months of the calendar year (through Nov. 1, 2010)***Percent of $19.813 billion in overall penalties. Percents do not add up to 100% as some cases were excluded due to inability to determine individual company share in settlement.

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