GOP Seeks Divine Intervention To Defeat Health Insurance Reform

Rachel Maddow, on her Dec. 17, 2009 broadcast, highlighted the GOP's latest attempt to defeat health insurace reform: divine interverntion.  Participating in an online PrayerCast, Senators Jim DeMint (South Carolina) and Sam Brownback (Kansas) along with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann joined a number of Christian leaders in praying that health care reform will be defeated.

During the PrayerCast, DeMint said:  "If we have the government making decisions about the most personal and private part of our lives, it's so naive to think that that coverage is not going to include a number of things that cause people of faith a lot of heartburn, whether it's funding abortions, whether it's rationing care, whether it's funding medical marijuana, whether it's euthanasia."

Maddow added that none of this is in the health insurance reform bill in the Senate. More to the point however, is the apparently ignored question: Who Would Jesus Insure? Would he keep the least of us uninsured and suffering, and even dying?

One of the commenters at Raw Story had an interesting question:

I don't understand..... somebody please explain to me WHY these peoples "God" would allow such heartache for the average American and condone the greed on Wallstreet and condone the greed, death and destruction of war while condemning abortion, and condone these government officials to speak in his name for profit over healthcare for babies already born. Somebody please explain this to me....

To this, there came an excellent response:

because if you pray hard enough, and lead a good Christian life, you won't get sick and need healthcare. If you do get sick, well obviously your a demon-possessed sinner. Or liberal. Or both.

Although that may seem simply sarcastic, it's actually true, at least from a Calvinist point of view.  If you are a good Christian, you won't suffer.  If you suffer, you deserve.  That's a very simplistic intepretation, but it's quite often the one the extreme right wing Conservative movement takes.

Watch the video:

Lone GOP Rep. to Vote For Health Reform Says Was "A Decision Of Conscience"

The lone GOP House member to vote for the House health insurance reform bill on Saturday night admitted on Sunday that his vote was one of "conscience."

While Cao was the only member of the GOP to vote for the bill, thirty-nine Democrats voted against it. Cao voted for the bill because, as he put it,

"I had to make a decision of conscience based on the needs of the people in my district. I had to make a decision and I felt that last night's decision was the right decision for my district, even though it was not the popular decision for my party."

Cao's decision to vote his conscience is something not done much on either side of the aisle in recent years. Many vote alomng party lines no matter what, and no matter what the effect on their constituents.

It is interesting that, if you listen to the video below, you will also see Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) say that the bill is an affront to morality, because patients and doctors are not allowed to independently decide on their care.

This is again one of the talking points of the GOP, which is an obvious way to try to keep the insurance industry rolling in the dough. That's because, without this bill, insurance companies do what Price says the government will do. I would much rather put my life in the hands of some independent government agent than those of an underwriter who receives bonuses based on how many cases he / she denies.

If there is a lack of morality, ist is among those in the government, and yes, those Americans who would deny health care to those who are not insured. A Harvard study recently noted that more than 40,000 people die annually due to lack of insurance.

Let me ask a question for those on the right: who would Jesus insure?

Watch the video:

Private Health Insurance the "Worst Product in American History": Former Industry Shill

He's not the first former health insurance company ex-employee to speak of the extent to which the health insurance industry will go to ensure its profits, but he's the latest. Andy Cobb, a former Blue Cross spokesman, is fed up and has teamed with Brave New Films for a new ad.

"I was a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. Call me a spokesjerk. We're people who make money for buying things you don't need. And we're telling you lies.

It's cheaper than your cell phone bill. Sure, if your cell phone bill is $400 a month. American health care is a mess, and everybody knows it. But no matter how bad it gets, insurance companies trot out their spokesjerks, to charm you into buying their insurance and avoid a public option.

"They, by which I mean I, make money by standing in the way of reform. It's time for change.

"That's why I'm calling on leaders from the spokesjerk industry. The freecreditreport.com guy. The Shamwow dude. And Senator Bill Nelson, recipient of big money from insurance companies -- to lead us. To walk away from their cash cows and tell American people the truth.

"And us spokesjerks, we'll be fine. There's plenty of room in entertainment for people who tried to sell you the worst product in American history. Private health insurance."

Many have wondered why we need insurance companies. And not just health insurance companies, but any insurance companies. As they are, by the very fact that they are corporations, driven to maximize profit for their shareholders, how can they do anything but try to reduce costs. And that means, denying care to those who most need it.

Watch the video:

Grayson Starts Website to Honor Those Dead From Health Insurance Denials

Rep. David Grayson (D-FL), has started a new web site, to honor the dead. However, not the dead from a war or other such calamity. Rather, Grayson's site, Names of the Dead, will honor those "more than 44,000 Americans who die simply because have no health insurance," annually.

Grayson has been hitting the GOP hard over health insurance reform, calling the GOP plan "Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly."

Since then, he's been making the rounds of talk shows and news shows. He's refused to apologize for the comment, and one might say he's upped the ante with this site.

Every year, more than 44,000 Americans die simply because have no health insurance.

I have created this project in their memory. I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us. Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved.

A recent Harvard study showed as many as 45,000 deaths annually are tied to lack of health insurance. That's where Grayson got his statistics.

Watch Grayson unveiling his site on the floor of Congress Wednesday.

N-Word Used in Anti-Health Reform Sign

"N**** Rig It." That's the sign outside the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Paulding County, Georgia. It's been put up by restaurant owner Patrick Lanzo to protest health insurance reform.

As CBS Atlanta reported:

When you walk into the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Paulding County, you feel like you've walked into a different era.

First, the restaurant has a mannequin in a Klu Klux Klan costume standing behind the pool tables, but the sign outside is the real shocker. It says: "Obama's plan for health-care: N***** rig it."

According to the Urban Dictionary, that term means either:

• To put something together in a very poor manner, or
• To temporarily "fix" something using whatever materials are at hand. Perfectly acceptable in an emergency, but not as a general rule.

Hey, it says "perfectly acceptable in an emergency," which is what our health care system is in right now, is it not?

At any rate, Patrick Lasko claims he is not a racist, but that instead, he has simply "used that term all his life." He also says the sign is about a "substandard health care plan."

Now, if he means that in terms of a lack of a public option, I agree with him. If he means that in terms of any change at all, that's something different. At any rate, Lasko said “I stand by my president, but I also stand by my First Amendment right to criticize him if I feel he’s wrong."

It's not the first time Lasko has put up these sorts of seemingly racist signs. And that prompted the The West Metro NAACP to issue this statement:

"This latest ploy for attention by Mr. Lanzo is not surprising. What is of concern however, is the total lack of leadership and action from the elected officials of Paulding County, who repeatedly have allowed this type of toxic public display."

Watch a video report from CBS Atlanta, via Raw Replay:

Alan Grayson: No Apology to GOP; America Doesn't Care About Your Feelings

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who earlier said the GOP health reform plan is "Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly," has refused to apologize since then. Today, he responded yet again, saying that America doesn't want an apology, they don't care about the feelings of the GOP, and that voters want results.

Here's the short form transcript. You can read the full text here.

What America wants is health care reform. America doesn't care if it gets fifty one votes in the Senate or sixty votes in the Senate, or eighty three votes in the Senate-- in fact America doesn't even care about that. It doesn't care about that at all.

What America cares about is this. There are over one million Americans who go broke every single year trying to pay their health care bills. America cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that there are 44,780 Americans who die every single year on account of not having health care. That's 122 every day. America sure cares a lot about that.

America cares about the fact that if you have a pre-existing condition even if you have health insurance, it's not covered. America cares about that a lot. America cares about the fact that you can get all the health care you need as long as you don't need any. America cares about that a lot. [...]

That's an extra 44,789 Americans who die, whose lives could be saved-- and their response was to ask me for an apology... to ask me for an apology. That's right... to ask me for an apology. Well, I'm telling you this-- I will not apologize. I will not apologize.

I will not apologize for a simple reason. America doesn't care about your feelings. [...]

But America does care about health care in America and if you're against it, then get out of the way. Just get out of the way. You can lead. You can follow-- or you can get out of the way. And I'm telling you now to get out of the way.

America understands that there's one party in this country that's in favor of health care reform and one party that's against it and they know why.

They understand if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world, the Republicans would blame him for over-population.

They understand that if Barack obama could somehow bring about world peace, they'd blame him for destroying the defense industry.

In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich tomorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.

But that's what America wants. America wants solutions to its problems and that begins with health care.

Watch the video:

CIGNA Employee Flips Off Mother Of Girl Who Died, Denied a Transplant

You may recall the case of Nataline Sarkisyan, 17, who was denied a liver transplant by CIGNA, on the grounds that the operation was "too experimental." Nine days later, following a number of protests, the company changed its mind, but it was too late: Nataline died hours later, on Dec. 20, 2007.

Ten months later, Hilda and Krikor Sarkisyan went to CIGNA's Philadelphia headquarters, along with members the California Nurses Association, who have long supported Medicare for All, to confront CIGNA CEO Edward Hanway over the death of their 17-year-old child.

Naturally, they were not allowed to talk to Hanway. Far worse, however, was the fact that a CIGNA employee flipped the group off from a balcony. That finger may cost CIGNA dearly, despite a later CIGNA apology.

The Sarkisyans filed a wrongful-death suit againt CIGNA, but a Los Angeles judge threw out the suit, saying it was barred by a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects employer-paid health care plans from damages with regards to their coverage decisions. That's the bad news.

The good news, from U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess, is that the Sarkisyans could pursue damages for any emotional distress caused by the Philadelphia incident. Indeed, that's where the finger comes into play.

Essentially, as Hilda Sarkisyan admitted herself, it's ludicrous. They cannot sue because CIGNA denied treatment, essentially killing their daughter, but flipping the bird, that they can sue for. Admittedly, it would seem a jury would be sympathetic to the family.

The family is not interested in the money. They are interested in change.

"If you don't sue, you can't make changes," Hilda Sarkisyan said. "It's not about the money. It's about the principle. They are just going to keep denying people care if we don't stop them."

Watch a video showing the Philadelphia "incident."

Fox's Shepard Smith Schools GOP Senator on the Public Option

Wait, I don't hear much about Shepard Smith. Perhaps its because he doesn't toe the line with Fox News' conservative commentary. That doesn't make news. Maybe it should.

Earlier this afternoon, Fox News's Shepard Smith schooled Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) on why we need a public option. What just happened here?

SMITH: Why would we not want a public option?

BARRASSO: Well let’s take a look at what we do know. My concern is a public or what I consider a government take over of health care.

SMITH: Well I know, right.

BARRASSO: Is going to make it very challenging.

SMITH: It’s not a government take over Senator. That’s not fair and we both know it.

It’s not a government takeover because what it would be is a government option if you have insurance now and you like it you can keep it. If you want the government option, a government run, paid for by those who buy it, government-run option to try to keep costs down. That’s not a government take over if we’re being fair, is it Senator? [...]

SMITH: Over the last ten years, health care costs in America have skyrocketed. Regular folks cannot afford it. So they tax the system by not getting preventative medicine. They go to the emergency room and are at a last case and we all end up paying for it. As the costs have gone up, the insurance industry’s profits on average have gone up more than 350% and it’s the insurance companies which have paid and have contributed to Senators and congressman on both sides of the aisle to the point where now, we can’t get what all concerned on Capitol Hill seem to believe and what more than 60% of Americans say they support, is a public option. This has been an enormous win for the health care industry. That is an unquestioned fact.

But I wonder, What happens for the American people when we come out with legislation now which requires everyone to have health care insurance, or many more people, but does not give a public option, therefore millions more people will have to buy insurance from the very corporations that are over charging us and whose profits have gone up 350% in the last ten years. It seems like ‘we the people’ are the ones getting the shaft here.

BARRASSO: And we’re not even allowing the people of America to read the bill or know what it costs. You’re absolutely right. I’m not going to defend the insurance companies. I’ve been fighting them for the last twenty-five years of practicing medicine.

SMITH: But with every vote against the public option, is a vote for the insurance companies, sir.

BARRASSO: No, it’s not, no I disagree with you.

SMITH: It is. How can you disagree with that? It is the public option that would keep costs in check, which would keep prices in check, which would stop the big corporations, which have made 350% improvements in their profits over the last ten years. A public option would stop it, what else would stop that?

BARRASSO: I don’t believe that — you know — I don’t believe that at all, and that’s why they can’t even get the sixty votes that Senator Baucus had for it. [...]

All of the studies in Washington show that Washington is incapable — incapable — of dealing with the waste and the fraud and the abuse in the system, and you’re going to see more of that. The more government take over you have of that the more that Washington runs the system, the worse it’s going to be for the American people.

SMITH: I want to make clear. This wouldn’t be Washington running the system Senator. It would be a government-run plan paid for by the people who sign up for the plan.

BARRASSO: Well, that’s a Washington-run plan.

SMITH: Yes. Paid for by the people that sign up for the plan. A not-for-profit to try to keep health care costs down. And that’s what in recent polls that more than sixty% of Americans say they favor

BARRASSO: 100% of Americans want to keep the cost down, and so do I, that’s what I’ve been working for by the medical director of something called the Wyoming health fairs, to give people positive incentives to get their costs down and stay healthy.

I'm thinking Smith needs to send his resume to MSNBC or CNN pretty quickly. During the health insurance reform debate, many continue to call the public option a government takeover. It's nice, though surprising to see a Fox News analyst say it like it is: not a takeover.

Even if it was, who cares? Americans pay so much more than other countries and yet our lifespans and health care outcomes trail other countries. We are the only industrialized country not to have some form of universal health care.

Rep. Grayson: "GOP Health Plan: Don't Get Sick. If You Get Sick, Die Quickly:"

On Tuesday night, Rep. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) took to the House floor to give his take on the GOP health care plan. His opinion: Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.

Grayson said he was inspired to read the GOP health care plan by the GOP lawmakers waving it around at Obama's recent health care reform address. He summarized the proposals of the GOP on posterboard.

"The Republicans' health care plan for America: don't get sick. That's right, don't get sick. If you have insurance, don't get sick. If you don't, don't get sick. If you're sick, don't get sick. Just don't get sick. That's what the Republicans have in mind for you, America. That's the Republicans' health care plan.

But I think that the Republicans understand that that plan isn't always going to work. It's not a fullproof plan. So the Republicans have a back up plan in case you do get sick, If you get sick in America, this is what the Republicans want you to do. If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly! That's right, the Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.

Now the Democrats have a different plan. The Democrats say that if you have health insurance we're going to make it better. If you don't have health insurance we're going to provide it to you. If you can't afford health insurance, then we'll help to afford health insurance. So America gets to decide: Do you want the Democratic plan, or do you want the Republican plan? Remember, the Republican plan, don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly."

Alan Grayson didn't stop there, however. On Wednesday, he continued his assault on the Republicans.

House Republicans called on Alan Grayson to apologize. He refused. I say, if Joe Wilson didn't apologize to the House (he apologized to the President through Rahm Emanuel), why should Grayson?

Alan Grayson did apologize, of a sort. He said, “I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America. “I think that the Democrats are sick and tired of being kicked around with death panels. We’re sick of it. They have nothing to offer (on health care) themselves.”

Watch the video:

Ensign: Exclude Gunshot Wounds from Lifespan Stats; We Love Our Guns

It's been tried before: those against the public option for Universal Health Care like to say that we should exclude deaths from guns from statistical evidence that the U.S. lags behind other nations. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) made not just that statement, but also that deaths from auto accidents should be excluded as well, as both are "cultural factors." Here's an exchange between him and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).

ENSIGN: The first one you said on preventative deaths — Are you aware on that if you take out gun accidents and auto accidents, the United States actually is better than those other countries?

CONRAD: You can rack and stack –

ENSIGN: Auto accidents don’t have anything to do with health care. I mean, we’re just a much more mobile society. On the preventative deaths, if you take out auto accidents — because we drive our cars a lot more, they do public transportation — and so you have to compare health care system with health care system.

If you compare cancer rates, survival rates after five years, cardiovascular disease after five years, the United States does better than Europe.

CONRAD: We do very well.

ENSIGN: We do better than any of the countries that you pointed out.

CONRAD: Well, I can tell you this: I’d go back to the statistics that have been generated by lots of organizations on quality outcomes, and other countries that do have universal care and do a much better job of controlling costs than we do, on metric after metric, finish ahead of us. And I’d just direct you to the T.R. Reid book which is loaded with analysis from objective observers as to quality outcomes. And those countries, much lower costs than we do as a share of GDP, high quality outcomes — whether we’re first in a category or someone else is first — nonetheless, high quality outcomes in those countries, at much lower costs.

The problem with jobbing statistics as Ensign wants to do, is that we can't ignore those losses. It's not like you can say, OK, no auto accidents and no gunshot wounds in this hospital. I guess we need to stop having those whiny police officers complaining about gunshot wounds.

In reality, the United States currently ranks 50th out of 224 nations in life expectancy, with an average life span of 78.1 years, according to 2009 estimates from the CIA World Factbook.

We're the only industrialized nation without some sort of universal health care. A recent Harvard study said as many as 45,000 people die annually due to lack of insurance. How sad is that?

Update: the Senate Finance Committee has defeated the public option for health care.

Watch the video:

White House Announces Health Reform Video Challenge

Barack Obama and the Obama administration announced on Saturday America's Health Reform Video Challenge. The administration is seeking entries from the public to make an ad supporting health insurance reform.

There are plenty of folks out there capable of such stuff. After all, things like a young woman dying of swine flu because she didn't have health insurance, and a woman whose visit to the ER was not covered because a bleeding breast is not an emergency.

In reality, something like this could be a full-length movie, showing horror stories about insurance companies denying medical care, other countries with universal health care and how their lifespans are longer than ours, and insurance executives awash with money. Oh wait, it's been done already. It's "Sicko."

Don't expect a big prize: your only prize is that all or part of the winner's video may be used in a television advertisement associated with Sponsor's health reform campaign (approximate retail value: $0). Whoops.

This is what an email I received said:

This is your chance -- you ingenious, insightful, funny people out there -- to make a 30-second ad telling the story about why the status quo has got to go, or explaining how the Obama plan will ensure we get the secure, quality care we need without breaking the budget.

Here's what the site says you should focus on:

• Personal stories: It’s hard to get more powerful than sharing a personal story about how the broken status quo has affected you and the ones you love.

• The cost of inaction: There’s lots to cover about how spiraling costs are breaking the budgets of families, governments and businesses, and the high price we’ll all pay if we don’t act.

• The opponents of reform: It’s amazing the levels some will stoop in order to score political points or protect their profits. This is your chance to call them out.

Thirty seconds? Maybe Michael Moore should enter the trailer for "Sicko."

Insurer Denies Claim: Bleeding Breast is Not An Emergency

As rumors and misstatements continue to swirl about death panels and government limitations on insurance coverage, these are the stories insurance companies do not want you to hear. They are stories of insurance companies, their own death panels, and their own health care rationing. Would any woman out there, waking to a shirt soaked with blood and blood coming from their nipple, not rush to the ER?

To put it in a context men might understand, would any men out there not rush to the hospital if you woke to underwear soaked with blood and blood coming from your penis? Exactly.

That is the health insurance horror story faced by Daly City, CA resident Rosalinda Miran-Ramirez. She awoke one morning in April to find her left breast bleeding from the nipple, and the shirt she had been sleeping in was saturated with blood. So her husband took her to the ER at Seton Medical Center. Common sense, no?

Initially, the doctor believed it was breast cancer, but after the growth was removed and biopsied, it was benign. End of story? Not according to her insurance company, Blue Shield of California HMO.

The insurance company, which had initially approved the claim for the ER visit, changed its mind and sent her a bill three months later requiring her to pay the total charges for that visit: $2,791.00. The reason? Blue Shield states that after reviewing the case they believed that Miran-Ramirez "reasonably should have known that an emergency did not exist."

Really? She is not a doctor, so how is she supposed to know that? Even the original doctor thought it was breast cancer. This makes no sense to anyone sane! It's basically an excuse to not pay.

Here's what an attorney interviewed by CBS5 said:

"If you reasonably believe it's an emergency, it's an emergency. They don't have the right to second-guess you. They're clearly looking for a way to deny a claim here, when it's clearly unreasonable to do that, that's the definition of bad faith."

"Bad faith" is defined as "Intent to deceive. A person who intentionally tries to deceive or mislead another in order to gain some advantage."

And people wonder why we need a "public option" for health insurance, or even better, a single-payer system like Canada.

GOP Rep. Says Uninsured Woman Should Seek Charity

At the Richmond Times-Dispatch “public square” forum yesterday, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) took questions from his constituents on the health reform debate for the first time this summer. One such constituent, Patricia Churchill, spoke about a close family member, now unemployed and thus uninsured, who is dying of tumors. Cantor suggested that Churchill’s relative seek “existing government programs” or find charity.

This is all interesting, because Cantor is against a public option, yet he wants Churchill to find a government program (or charity). Yeah, we know how easy that is.

CHURCHILL: I have a very close relative, a woman in her early forties, who did have a wonderful, high-paying job, owns her own home and was a real contributing member of society. She lost her job. Just a couple of weeks ago, she found out that she has tumors in her belly and that she needs an operation. Her doctors told her that they are growing and that she needs to get this operation quickly. She has no insurance. I am just wondering gentlemen, we can talk about high-flown ideas and we can talk theory all we want to. But this person is a very close member of my family, she's ill, and she has no way to get this operation. So I'm asking you, what would you do if this were your close relative [...]

CANTOR: First of all, I guess I would ask what the situation is in terms of income eligibility and the existing programs that are out there. Because if we look at the uninsured that are out there right now, there is probably 23, 24% of the uninsured that is already eligible for an existing government program [...] Beyond that, I know that there are programs, there are charitable organizations, there are hospitals here who do provide charity care that if there’s an instance of indigency and the individual is not eligible for existing programs that there can be some cooperative effort. No one in this country, given who we are, should be sitting without an option to go be addressed.

What? Cantor is saying no one in this country should not have an option? That would be the public option, or universal health care, that all other industrialized nations have, in one form or another, Rep. Cantor.

Afterwards, Churchill said that the information she was passed showed waiting lists, income eligibility, etc. that may in fact cause ineligibility on the part of her relative. As she added, this is no where near as helfpul as true health insurance reform.

Will Ferrell Stands Up for the Real Health Care Victims: Poor Insurance Companies

A number of celebrities have banded together to make sure we poor peons in the general public don't forget who would really be harmed by health insurance reform. That's right, insurance companies and their profits.

The satiric PSA by Funny or Die stars Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, Donald Faison, Linda Cardellini, Masi Oka and more, and asks us to protect insurance companies. As many have said, insurance companies are all about the bottom line, and are the real "death panels."

Thomas Lennon: "People are saying a lot of mean things about health insurance companies and their executives and it's gotta stop."

Linda Cardellini: "These great business men are American heroes."

Will Ferrell: "So why is Obama trying to reform health care when insurance companies are doing just fine making billions of dollars in profit?"

Realistically, the serious part is at the end, when the PSA asks Americans to call congress and ask for a strong public option.

Watch the PSA:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Expectant Fathers, Firefighters, Police Officers, Those With Toenail Fungus Denied Insurance: Report

This is disturbing, and it shows, as Bill Moyers said recently to Bill Maher, lack of morality in American Society. He told Maher that Universal Health Care is evidence of a "deeply moral society," yet our finest and bravest* are excluded from private health insurance?

Granted, in general those professions, in large metropolitan areas, would receive insurance as part of their job, but what about small, rural communities, or volunteer firefighters? A report released Friday by the California group Consumer Watchdog shows, via the direct underwriting documents of a number of insurance firms, just how focused these companies are on the bottom line.

Of course, if you are looking for profits, these exclusions make sense, right? Other examples of professions excluded from private health insurance include off-shore oil workers, stunt people, ski patrol. Other rather arbitrary health conditions that may cause exclusion are infertility, premature birth (within 12 months), and sex reassignment.

Here's the kicker, from PacifiCare's guidelines:

Currently experiencing/experienced within the last 12 months symptoms for which a physician has not been consulted.

Based on the horror stories of people who have their coverage revoked when an insurance company finds some condition they neglected to tell them about, this could be taken to the extreme: "Sorry, Mr. Johnson, you forgot to tell us about that runny nose you had in March."

It is obvious, that we need a public option, or at least some law that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, as well as from charging exorbitant fees to those who had them.

Jerry Flanagan, Consumer Watchdog's Health Policy Director said:

“These documents show that just giving the insurance industry an uncontested franchise by requiring Americans to buy policies will not solve the health care crisis. Americans need a strong 'public option' which would not have the tendency to game the system like private insurers and strong regulation to watch over the industry day-to-day."

Carmen Balber, Consumer Watchdog's D.C. Director added:

"These documents show why health care reform must include serious curbs on insurance companies including regulation of rates and practices so insurers can't continue to price gouge or find new ways to refuse customers as part of their business model."

A Harvard study released earlier this week noted that some 45,000 Americans die annually because of a lack of health insurance. So what do you say, America, particularly those in the right (to life) group? Are we a moral society?

* New York police officers are called "New York's Finest," while their firefighters are called "New York's Bravest"

Bill O'Reilly Supports a "Public Option?"

There must be something behind this that I'm not getting. Bill O'Reilly, on his Wednesday show, seemingly endorsed the public option for health care reform. It is, of course, possible he was endorsing the public co-ops proposed in Sen. Max Baucus' bill, but it sure sounds like it's the public option.

He was speaking to the Heritage Foundation's Nina Owcharenko.

O’REILLY: The public option now is done. We discussed this, it’s not going to happen. But you say that this little marketplace that they’re going to set up, whereby the federal government would subsidize insurance for some Americans, that is, in your opinion, a public option?

OWCHARENKO: Well, it has massive new federal regulation. So you don’t necessarily need a public option if the federal government is going to control and regulate the type of health insurance that Americans can buy.

O’REILLY: But you know, I want that, Ms. Owcharenko. I want that. I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive, they can’t afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.

Naturally he doesn't want, or need, it personally for himself, rich as he is, but it's still something I never thought I would hear him say. I have to wonder, what's the catch?

How Joe Wilson's Outburst Was Planned: SNL

While "Saturday Night Live" is a scripted comedy show, some have theorized that Rep. Joe Wilson's (R-SC) "You Lie" outburst during Barack Obama's address on health insurance reform last week was scripted as well. After all, the full text of the speech was known long before the actual event.

SNL took on that theory on last night's premiere of their spinoff show, a half-hour prime-time version of "Weekend Update." The show is hosted by Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers.

According to SNL, the "outburst" was planned to be a group effort by the GOP leadership. Unfortunately for Joe Wilson, he went to the restroom, and the rest of the folks reconsidered the plan.

Watch the video:

Nearly Three-Quarters of Doctors Favor a Public Option: Survey

The New England Journal of Medicine released the results of a national survey of physicians on Monday. Of the 2,130 physicians surveyed, nearly 3/4 of them support some type of public option.

A total of 62.9% of physicians said they favored a public option along with private health insurance. Another 9.6% favored a completely government-owned health care coverage system. Total them up, and that's 72.5% who favor some sort of public option.

To be clear, the completely government-owned system would be similar to Canada's or the U.K.'s, and is usually called "Medicare for All" or "Single Payer."

General practitioners or primary care providers were the most likely to support a public option (65.2%). Specialty groups, those in fields that have less regular direct contact with patients, such as radiology or anesthesiology, were the least likely to support a public option, though a majority (57.4%) still did so.

A majority in every part of the country supported a public option, ranging from ranging from 58.9% in the South to 69.7% in the NorthEast. Those old, stodgy, conservative folks IDed as AMA members also showed majority support for a public option (62.2%).

This survey shows that physicians as a whole solidly back the public option. As I've said before, forget about price arguments. Forget about big government arguments. People should not be allowed to die because they lack health insurance. It's not a health issue, it's a moral issue. Obviously, these physicians are remembering their Hippocratic Oath.

Racism At Heart of Anti-Obama Sentiment: Carter

What's behind all the uproar from certain circles about Barack Obama, health insurance reform and just about anything about you can think of? What's behind all the signs purporting to socialism and naziism (which are mutually exclusive, by the way; just think of how Hitler felt about the U.S.S.R.)? Jimmy Carter summed it up in one word: racism.

When bringing up racism, Jimmy Carter was specifically addressing the "You Lie!" outburst by S.C. Congressman Joe Wilson last week during Barack Obama's speech on health insurance reform.

"I think it's based on racism. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care. It's deeper than that."

Earlier Jimmy Carter outlined his concerns about racism against Barack Obama in an interview that aired Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News.”

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American.

“I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shared the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

In fact, Jimmy Carter's comments on racism and Barack Obama may be true, but perhaps too simplistic a view of what is happening. Comparing a black man to a Nazi is obviously ridiculous, based on Hitler's views on blacks. Speaking to a psychologist, it may be more deeply rooted than that.

Things are changing. For example, in the relatively near future, whites will no longer be the majority in this country. While there are white supremacist groups chanting that whites need to take back the country, in reality, if any taking back of this country needs to occur, it needs to be from Native Americans. But I digress.

The GOP is predominantly male, and white. In general, people do not like change. Change has come in the form of an African-American president. That frightens people. As the GOP has been known to stir the pot of the "politics of fear," it would seem that fear, pure, unrelenting fear of the type that FDR warned against, is causing these outbursts.

Readers?

Watch a video report:

Rep. Saves Urine at Town Hall; Refuses to Pee on Man's Leg

Well, at least we know the rather crass behavior at health insurance reform town halls isn't just coming from one side of the aisle. In this case, the latest incident involves Rep. Don Stark, (D-CA).

It was a town hall in Fremont, CA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a constituent stood a few feet away from Stark relating why he was opposed to the "smoke and mirrors" in President Obama's health care plan, he closed his remarks by saying to Stark:

"Mr. Congressman, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

Showing it's not just the GOP who have been engaging in this less than polite discource, Stark replied:

"I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine.

Ouch!

Watch it, about 1:30 into the video: