Sex Sells! Who'd a Thunk It?

Turns out even hospitals use sexy models in short skirts to sell their services. In Boston, Caitlin Raymond International, a so called "nonprofit subsidiary" of UMass Memorial Medical Center, was paying as much as $60,000 per week to young hot-ties in minis to urge young men to have their mouths swabbed at the mall while getting the insurance companies to cover the costs, which ran up into the thousands of dollars per test. Presumably, the game was about building a data base of potential bone marrow donors. (See The New York Times' story.)

Here's a clue: "nonprofit" does not mean lots of money ain't being made. It just means no one is paid dividends on stocks. The people who run "nonprofits," especially those connected to the healthcare industry, often pocket fabulous paychecks and bonuses.

Republican Judge Invalidates Health Care for Working Class:

Republicans are busy finding friendly judges around the country whom they can count on to rule against Pres. Obama's health care law. Judge Henry E. Hudson, a federal judge in Richmond, VA, is one such man. (See The New York Times' story.)

Judge Hudson has recently ruled that the government lacks the authority to require its citizens to purchase health insurance. Frankly, I'm sympathetic. The health care system should be nationalized, and not just the insurance/pay portion of it. I would happily advocate a 99 percent tax rate on all income over $1 million with no exemptions as a means of helping to pay for it.

Swift Boating Health Care:

The group that managed the swift-boating of John Kerry's presidential campaign are back at it, trying to destroy health care reform so that those who reap massive profits from the current system can continue to do so. This time they are being funded by Rick Scott, a former business partner with George W. Bush. Scott was once the CEO of a health insurance company found guilty of fraud and fined record amounts of money. He is now the founder of an advocacy group self-titled "Health Care for America Now" (sic), bent on funding misleading advertising intent on undermining any meaningful reform in the U. S. (See The Washington Post story.)

Your Privacy? The Farmer Knows the Cow's Privacy Is a Delusion:

Turning our health care records into electronic data has been the battle cry of administrations from both parties in terms of solving the health care industry financial crisis. It's supposed to save tons of money and deliver better health care much faster.

But low and behold, the cost is loss of privacy. Robert Pear reports in today's New York Times that "The Bush administration has no clear strategy to protect the privacy of patients as it promotes the use of electronic medical records throughout the nation’s health care system, federal investigators say in a new report."

That's right, your health care data is up for sale to the highest bidder. Or maybe it'll just be given away. Think this is unimportant? Well, Pres. Bush has stated otherwise: “One of the things I’ve insisted upon is that it’s got to be secure and private. There’s nothing more private than your own health records.” Evidently Bush thinks it's important, he just doesn't have a clue what to do about it. Or maybe he just doesn't care.

As the pundit said, we are just so many cattle in the field, so shut up and eat the grass so the farmer can milk you.