Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.
"We're losing more Americans every day because of inaction ... than drunk driving and homicide combined," Dr. David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said in an interview with Reuters.
Overall, researchers said American adults age 64 and younger who lack health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who have coverage.
This is well up from a 2002 estimate showing 18,000 preventable deaths per year from a lack of health insurance. And the increase is directly related to the increase of the uninsured, as well as the scaling back of public hospitals or free clinics or access to care, particularly for those in poor areas. Diabetes and heart disease are two of the most common preventable diseases among this class of the uninsured. As one of the professors in the study puts it, "it's completely a no-brainer that people who can't get health care are going to die more from the kinds of things that health care is supposed to prevent,"
If anything, we're going to see this get worse, if nothing changes. Jobless rates are expected to remain high for years, according to the OECD. With the rapid job loss in this Great Recession, nobody expects as rapid a return. And that means more people dropping off the health insurance rolls. In addition, employers will raise costs and lower coverage, if they even keep it. And for every new member of the ranks of the uninsured, the chances increase exponentially for a preventable death.
The need for fundamental health care reform isn't just a statistical issue, or about budgets, or bending cost curves. It's a matter of life and death.
(I have been doing some work as a blogger fellow with Brave New Films on their Sick For Profit campaign. Visit us on Facebook.)
Today Brave New Films released their second installment in the Sick For Profit series, taking a look at the corrupt practices of CIGNA, denying care to their customers while their lead executives rake in millions and lead lavish lifestyles.
Meet Jo Joshua Godfrey. She had cancer without knowing for over a year.
"I would go to CIGNA and they would tell me I had bronchitis and give me medicine and send me home. No matter what medicine they gave me I wouldn't get better. Then the CIGNA Director called me up and she told me that there was nothing wrong with me at all. I called the doctor, and I came with my film and my CAT scan and he just put it in, it took exactly thirty seconds. He told me, 'You have cancer,' and he said the reason CIGNA did not want to give you your records is they've known right way back for years that you have cancer and they're not going to treat you."
CIGNA took in $19.1 billion dollars in revenue last year, with a $292 million dollar income. That doesn't include the salaries given to people like CEO Ed Hanway. He made a cool $12 million last year, and over the past five years he took in $120 million. Hanway has $28 million in unexcercised stock options. The company corporate jets, also not seen in profit statements, cost $68 million. This money is gained, as former communications director Wendell Potter says in this video, through denying claims and dumping the sick, enhancing the value of the company for Wall Street investors. The effect on people's lives, meanwhile, is tragic. Nataline Sarkysian, featured in the Americans United For Change advertisement, lost her life after CIGNA repeated denied her a liver transplant, despite the family having full coverage.
Meet Stephen Coddington, the wife of Marian, a stroke victim:
The case manager at the nursing home called me in and was really upset, and she said, "CIGNA is wanting to discontinue therapy with her. The doctors called and appeals were denied." It has been a day-in and day-out fight. Every talk that I've had with them, it's been, how can we wiggle off this hook.
This is the human cost for an insurance company's existence, for the record profits and supreme lifestyle of their executives. Welcome to the American health insurance industry. Instead of helping policyholders attain the health security they need for their families, big insurance companies get rich by denying coverage to patients. Now they're sending lobbyists to Washington, DC to twist the arms of lawmakers to oppose reform of the status quo. Why? Because the status quo pays.
CIGNA is not a special case in the insurance industry. It's perfectly normal and expected for a corporation to maximize profits. The difference with insurance is that the profit comes at the expense of your well-being, and frankly, all the regulations in the world won't substantively change that. The best way to fight back is through exposure, a juxtaposition of the human luxury paid for by human misery.
So help us shine this spotlight. CIGNA's advertising tagline is 'A Business of Caring.' We think they ought to come up with something more appropriate for their actual practices. If you come up with one, post it on our Facebook page. Here are some examples. We'll send the best over to CIGNA. In addition, Jo Joshua Godfrey will join SEIU Healthcare 775NW outside the CIGNA corporate offices in Seattle, Washington today as they demand quality and affordable health care for every American as a fundamental right and not a privilege.
And send this video to your friends. Everyone needs to know what's at stake in health care reform. This kind of denial of coverage can happen to anyone under the current system.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty held a press conference this afternoon to tell the media that he's not planning on running for a third term for governor.
A source close to Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty confirms to First Read that Pawlenty will announce today that he will not be running for a third term in 2010.
This announcement, of course, will raise speculation about whether Pawlenty plans to spend the next three years preparing for a presidential bid in 2012.[..]
Pawlenty gave a firebrand speech at the Republican Governor’s Association meeting in Miami, a week after the party’s sound November election losses. He gave some tough medicine to the party, saying, “It needs to get younger, more diverse and build a broader coalition,” we wrote at the time. "If we're going to successfully travel the road, as a Republican,” he said at the time, “we need to see clearly, and be honest about where we've been and where we're headed. … If we're going to be the majority, we're going to have to see we need to grow the party. We cannot compete in the Northeast, the West; we're losing seats in the Great Lakes region. We have a large deficit with women, Hispanics, African Americans -- people with modest financial circumstances. That is not a formula for a majority." In the halls at the meeting, Pawlenty was lukewarm toward another potential 2012 GOP candidate, Sarah Palin. In fact, during his speech “he delivered a line that might sound like an opening 2012 shot at Palin,” we wrote then.
"'Drill baby, drill' by itself is not an energy policy," he said. "It's not enough. We're going to need wind and solar and bio mass."
Pawlenty neglects to mention that even if he did dare try for a third term, he'd be unlikely to win re-election. Just a few days ago he acknowledged to local press that winning a third term would be an uphill battle, even though last year he has said he'd make his decision in early '09. His continued support of Coleman hasn't helped him at all in his state. The Minnesota DFLs tell Pawlenty "Don't let the door hit you..."
You can't really talk about serious health care reform without looking at major changes in the American way of childbirth. The L.A. Times this morning points out that one of the things driving costs ever upward is the U.S. Cesarean rate, a major surgical procedure now performed in almost one-third of hospital births:
Once reserved for cases in which the life of the baby or mother was in danger, the cesarean is now routine. The most common operation in the U.S., it is performed in 31% of births, up from 4.5% in 1965.
With that surge has come an explosion in medical bills, an increase in complications -- and a reconsideration of the cesarean as a sometimes unnecessary risk.
It is a big reason childbirth often is held up in healthcare reform debates as an example of how the intensive and expensive U.S. brand of medicine has failed to deliver better results and may, in fact, be doing more harm than good.
"We're going in the wrong direction," said Dr. Roger A. Rosenblatt, a University of Washington professor of family medicine who has written about what he calls the "perinatal paradox," in which more intervention, such as cesareans, is linked with declining outcomes, such as neonatal intensive care admissions. Maternity care, he said, "is a microcosm of the entire medical enterprise."
As the No. 1 cause of hospital admissions, childbirth is a huge part of the nation's $2.4-trillion annual healthcare expenditure, accounting in hospital charges alone for more than $79 billion.
Because spending on the average uncomplicated cesarean for all patients runs about $4,500, nearly twice as much as a comparable vaginal birth, cesareans account for a disproportionate amount (45%) of delivery costs. (Among privately insured patients, uncomplicated cesareans run about $13,000.)
Pregnancy is the most expensive condition for both private insurers and Medicaid, according to a 2008 report by the Childbirth Connection, a New York think tank.
"The financial toll of maternity care on private [insurers]/employers and Medicaid/taxpayers is especially large," the report said. "Maternity care thus plays a considerable role in escalating healthcare costs, which increasingly threaten the financial stability of families, employers, and federal and state budgets."
Are there other options, other solutions? Yes. Off-site birthing centers and home deliveries have lower C-section rates and healthier outcomes for mothers and babies. For decades, the all-powerful American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has managed to prevent any truly rigorous review of statistics here (preferring to use data that counts miscarriages as home deliveries), but the Netherlands have done it for us.
They found that births where women actually prepared to deliver at home (as opposed to precipitous labors where sudden complications forced them to deliver there) were just as likely to have a safe delivery and healthy baby as those who delivered in a hospital under the care of a midwife.
The group who chose to give birth in hospital rather than at home were more likely to be first-time mothers or of an ethnic minority background - the risk of complications is higher in both these groups.
[...] But Professor Buitendijk said the study did have relevance for other countries like the UK with a highly developed health infrastructure and well-trained midwives.
In the UK, the government has pledged to give all women the option of a home birth by the end of this year. At present just 2.7% of births in England and Wales take place at home, but there are considerable regional variations.
Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said, the study was "a major step forward in showing that home is as safe as hospital, for low risk women giving birth when support services are in place.
Here are just some of the things you can avoid in a home delivery: Hospital "supergerms"; birthing positions that actually make fetal distress (and thus, a C-section) more likely; the use of powerful labor-inducing drugs that not only increase the likelihood of a C-section, but also of uterine rupture; and an episiotomy that may be painful for years.
I did it both ways: A hospital birth with a doctor and nurse-midwife, and a home delivery attended by lay midwives. (I told my then-husband I would "never" have another child in a hospital after they almost killed my first-born and then bragged about how they "saved" him.) Not only did I give birth at home with my youngest, I was up cooking breakfast for everyone just a few hours later. It was an experience I wouldn't trade for the world. It was better in every possible way.
Another week, another guest host handling the blog round-up here at C&L. Good morning. I'm Lance Mannion and I have a blog. Don't we all?
Mine's called with wry cleverness Lance Mannion and I post about politics, movies, TV, books, and occasionally yard work and home repair. I'm also the television editor for the arts and culture blog newcritics. All our posts come with the James Wolcott Good Blogkeeping Seal of Approval. What this means for you is that since my focus isn't solely on politics, my linkages here won't do that either. For example, over at newcritics right now for your listening and dancing pleasure we have three dueling reviews of the new Bob Dylan fantasy biopic, I'm Not There.
"Dazzlingly fresh and original," says Jason Chervokas, "Makes me wonder what went wrong with movies over the past thirty years." The movie offers "20 REASONS TO BE STUCK INSIDE A MULTIPLEX WITH THE OVERPRICED POPCORN AGAIN," promises the Shamus. "All bizarre medicine show bread and circus with no real insight into Dylan’s connection to the past," grumps Tom Watson.
MediaBloodHound explains why Tom Brokaw is still the only one of the big three network anchors who doesn't understand how he and his colleagues failed us in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq: His "professionalism" gets in the way.
That's all for now. Lots of good reading for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with a shorter introduction and links to shorter posts for your Monday morning drive time.
Send tips to me at lance at sign lancemannion bigolddot com.
Bob Geiger: Yet another government report showing that the Bush administration ignored critical pre-war intelligence in their rush to invade Iraq.
Obsidian Wings: More troubling than of Bush's rhetoric is that of the Republicans who wish to succeed him. They're saying things that are basically insane
Your New Reality: Giuliani's press secretary has a reporter arrested. What country are we in?
Pet food tainted with the chemical melamine was found in feed rations on a California hog farm and may show up on other U.S. farms, state and federal officials said on Friday.[..]
California officials said Diamond Pet Foods sold pet food to American Hog Co., which used it as a feed ingredient. Tests found melamine in feed at the farm and in urine from the hogs.
Richard Breitmeyer, the state veterinarian, said it was "not uncommon" for pet food makers to sell scrap material to feedlots.
"In the course of our investigation, we may find similar situations in other parts of the country," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, referring to sales of scrap pet food.[..]
State and U.S. Agriculture Department officials said there was no evidence that pork products from the farm entered the food supply but that they were still tracking the whereabouts of all the hogs produced there since April 3. Some 126 of the hogs are known to have been slaughtered for meat
A key part of the Democrats’ ‘06 platform was allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on prescription medication. The idea enjoyed broad public appeal, would save the government money during a difficult budget crunch, passed the House with bi-partisan support, and had the votes to pass the Senate. Right up until Republicans filibustered the legislation to death.
The Senate blocked legislation on Wednesday that would let the government negotiate Medicare drug prices. Democrats couldn’t muster the 60 votes needed to bring the bill up for a vote.
Under the Medicare drug benefit, private insurance plans negotiate with drug makers over the price of medicine for their customers. About 22 million seniors and the disabled are enrolled in such plans. Some lawmakers, mostly Democrats, contend the government could use its leverage to drive a better bargain than individual insurers, which would lower the cost of the program for taxpayers and seniors.
Republicans insist that drug prices have already “come down” and medication is already cheap enough, making the change unncessary. It’s a fairly odd argument to make, since taxpayers “could save as much as $190 billion over the next 10 years” if Medicare negotiated prices with drug makers. The Veterans Administration already negotiates with pharmaceutical companies, and it pays a lot less for medication.
Dems needed 60 votes to break the filibuster and give the legislation an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. They came up four votes short. Dems lost — as did America’s seniors.
As for the big picture, has everyone noticed how Republicans used to whine incessantly about "obstructionism," but now filibusters everything that moves?
The hits just keep on coming on this story. There's a chance that this gluten will show up in human food now. It's telling that the FDA has yet to release the name of the US distributor of this gluten.
Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.
"Yes, it is food grade," Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query. Del Monte issued a voluntary recall Saturday for several products under the Gravy Train, Jerky Treats, Pounce, Ol' Roy, Dollar General and Happy Trails brands.
Wheat gluten is sold in both "food grade" and "feed grade" varieties. Either may be used in pet food, but only "food grade" gluten may be used in the manufacture of products meant for human consumption. Published reports have thus far focused on tainted pet food, but if the gluten in question entered the human food supply through a major food products supplier and processor, it could potentially contaminate thousands of products and hundreds of millions of units nationwide.
Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this "with 100 percent certainty." Wheat gluten is a common food additive used as a thickener, dough conditioner, and meat substitute. It is widely used as an additive in commercial bakery items and special purpose flours.
The FDA announced today that it has traced the contaminated wheat gluten to a single processor, Xuzhou Anying Biological Technology of Peixian, China, but has not released the name of the U.S. distributor who supplied the product to Del Monte, Menu Foods, Nestle Purina, and Hills Nutritional. In all, more than 70 brands and over 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food are now part of this massive recall, as well as at least one brand of dry cat food.
