The Unaffordable Care Act was passed based on per capita health care costs of $7,825 under the Bush Administration. Obamacare promised to save us money. So far, per capita health care has cost $8,054 in $2009, $8,299 in 2010, $8,553 in 2011, $8,845 in 2012, $9,146 in 2013, and it is expected to come in at $9,458 in 2014 and $9,800 in 2015, all under the Obama Administration.
Lib’ruls who can’t do math promised that when government runs this market your premiums would decrease. Mr. Obama promised a $2,500 a year drop.
How’d that work out for you?
And now the Unaffordable Care Act’s bait and switch has left consumers scrambling in 2016. Again.
At the end of each year, we tot up the people who died and I wonder if, years from now, if there will be any people of accomplishment whom we mourn. This year, we lost:
NASA’s Alberto Behar.
Batmobile creator George Barris
Civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs
Physicist Val Fitch
Medical researcher Alfred Gilman
Activist and Nearly an Astronaut Jane Hart
American chemist Richard Heck
Mathematician John Nash
Actress Maureen O’Hara
Marine aviator Frank Petersen
So what noteworthy, prize-winning event or invention or legislation happened this year?
It became illegal to pose for a selfie with a tiger in New York.
The Far Green got the largest city in the U.S. to ban polystyrene foam simply because the Far Green is determined to cut down our forests. Want to save the environment? Political “science” isn’t real. Study real science.
We caught Mr. Obama in 1,157 lies, starting with his first State of the Union and most recently with “I will give up vacations” which he did again this week.
!@#$%^Comcast earned its name, at least as far as “Asshole Brown,” “Super Bitch” Bauer, and “Bitch Dog” Govan are concerned. The company’s CEO, Brian “Dummy Whore” Roberts, approved.
A federal judge ruled that Boardwalk Pizza here in the Keys didn’t infringe on the Garden State Parkway’s trademark, basically ruling the Parkway’s lawsuit half-baked.
Miami-Dade Animal Services removed 42 Chihuahuas from a Miami-Dade home. There was no abuse; Animal Services cited “uncontrolled breeding.”
A 61-year old postal carrier managed to land his flying bicycle on the Capitol lawn.
The Marathon, Florida, Home Depot has ice scrapers for sale in the heart of the Florida Keys.
Texas A&M Professor Irwin Horwitz called his Strategic Management students “a disgrace to the school” for cheating and other academic dishonor. Then he flunked every last one of them. Results of today’s search of Texas A&M Faculty for Mr. Horwitz: “No matches found.”
We discovered that the same people in the First World who would fire Mr. Horwitz believe they can change the climate but not one of them could make it rain in California to end the drought there.
People nearly went on strike to return to the hyperinflation of the go-go 80s. A huge swath of American lib’ruls are too young to remember those extraordinary days of 15-21% mortgage interest.
Having learned how by stealing General Motors from stockholders like thee and me, Mr. Obama did the same to the coal industry: he broke it and handed it to George Soros.
Vermont’s plans for a statewide amnesty day made the news. “Drivers!” Billy Mays might have shouted, “get your suspended license reinstated for the low, low cost of just $20 per ticket.” It was a one day only deal! Until the next time.
Vermont Health Connect went offline for another software upgrade. The website went dark so the latest, newest, greatest, most perfect software could be uploaded. Again.
City residents in Plattsburgh NY learned that they will be fined if they don’t clear the snow off their own property.
Fortunately it pretty much hasn’t snowed in Plattsburgh NY or North Puffin since last spring.
We had the best pope and the worst politicians. I predickted that the 2016 general election would be Trump v. Sanders.
There was some light in 2015.
“Stephen Hawking dead”: After the Brief History of Time author was killed by an Internet death hoax, we found that he is, fortunately, still very much alive.
je suis Charlie came to life around the world after an horrific religious murder in Paris.
NASA found evidence of water on Mars.
Astronomers discovered “Fat Jupiter” which got kicked out of the solar system, twin planets that could host life, and a host of other findings about our galactic neighbors.
UNC researchers discovered “Q-carbon,” a new phase of carbon that makes it possible to create a diamond at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.
Scientists discovered 211 new species in the Eastern Himalayas.
3D-Printing moved into medicine to make a sternum and ribs for a cancer patient and prosthetic limbs for pets.
Nest Labs opened a new engineering center inside Google’s Kirkland campus to “enable other people to do it.”
Welcome back! Blue Origin test-launched its New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then brought it home land in Texas. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at Cape Canaveral with a payload of eleven satellites. The rocket returned to land upright.
It is hard, after decades of tying shoelaces the same way day-after-day to learn a new trick but it can be done.
The suburban town of Bethlehem, New York had a “Merry Christmas” sign and a “Happy Hanukkah” sign removed from the busiest intersection in town.
Hello?
Grinches in the town named for the birthplace of Jesus banned religious holiday signs so they “wouldn’t violate any laws or distract drivers.”
I so wish we could find three wise men and a camel. Heck, I’d settle for a smart camel.
Every radio station has defaulted to Christmas music. I’m surprised we haven’t lost that, too. I don’t particularly like Christmas music but my radio has an off switch. I don’t have to listen to it if I don’t want to.
I was raised in a family that was Quaker on one side, Presbyterian on the other. I may not be as organized now as I was when I reached the age of accountability and joined the Presbyterian church but I am still a Christian. And, of course, a WASP.
You don’t have to be either.
Tomorrow is the day Christians celebrate the birth of the Christ child and the meaning of Christianity. It was a pretty big day before the stock exchange took it over.
It doesn’t mean Do unto all the other religions, then cut out. Unless you are a Member of Congress.
Here’s the thing. If you offer food to the monks on Vesak, Buddha’s Birthday, I will honor your commitment to the poor. If you celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights, I will honor with you the victory of Lord Ram over the demon-king Ravana. If you fast during Ramadan when the Qur’an was revealed to Mohammad, I will honor your patience and humility. If you celebrate the most solemn and important of Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur, I will honor your atonement and repentance. If you light the candles of Kwanzaa, I will help you honor your heritage. And if you are a lib’rul atheist, I will not proselytize.
That maybe the most important message.
Not one American soldier in Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Honduras, Indian Ocean, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Netherlands, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, or the United States has forced any man, woman, or child to convert to Christianity at the point of a gun again this year.
You don’t have to be a Buddhist, a Hindu, Islamic, a Jew, a Kwanzaan celebrant, or an atheist. It is time, on this Christian holy day, to let Christians be Christians.
My right to impose my own beliefs stops at my property line (or the end of my nose when I’m out in public). The Bethlehem, NY, grinches’ right to idiocy should stop at pretty much the same place. It is time to stop accepting that “politically correct” credo and start honoring the true message of Christmas.
Scythian philosopher Anacharsis wrote in the 6th century BCE, “Wise men argue causes, and fools decide them.”
Peace.
This column originally appeared on Christmas Day, 2008. It required very little updating.
In Another Doc Gorn we saw that Dr. Laura Bellstrom closed her pediatric practice in St. Albans, Vermont. She’s number four in a county that had 11 pediatricians at the beginning of the year.
Will pediatric care be maintained?
Yes, it will. NMC and local physicians have been working to ensure that the greater Franklin County community will continue to be well-served by dedicated, caring Pediatricians and Family Practice Specialists. We had hoped to make an announcement of our efforts after all of the contracts were signed, but a recent press release from the Vermont Pediatric Association has created confusion and additional concern in some patients, so I need to take this opportunity to explain how we are proceeding.
The latest round of cuts to the Medicaid reimbursement to physicians has made it even more challenging for private practice physicians to stay in business and has increased the financial losses hospitals carry for the physicians they employ. This hits particularly hard in areas such as ours which have a high percentage of residents on Vermont’s expanded Medicaid program. For Pediatrics, it is a dramatic impact. I believe this has been a driving force in the decisions of four local Pediatricians to leave practice in our area and move out of state, close practice, or seek employment in Chittenden County.
Fortunately, a strong core of Pediatricians and Family Practice specialists continues to care for our community as they have for decades. Pediatrics is a vital preventive, primary care service. With the changes in the healthcare system threatening the sustainability of private practices, NMC has had to get involved to help maintain access to this necessary care.
For weeks, we have been in discussions with the physicians of Mousetrap Pediatrics (Dr. Chip Chiappinelli, Dr. Deanne Haag, Dr. Roya Mansoorani, Dr. Stacy Strouse, and Dr. Heidi Zvolensky) regarding employing them as “Northwestern Pediatrics.” They are currently reviewing the final contracts and have a letter drafted to send to their patients explaining the transition. We have worked closely with them to ensure the transition is as seamless as possible for their patients. We are currently working through the details of medical records transition, billing transition, etc. The great news is, we expect that these trusted physicians will continue to care for their patients. The office locations in St. Albans, Enosburg, Swanton, and MVU will stay the same. Their telephone numbers will stay the same. Nearly all of the familiar faces in the offices will stay the same. This will be a strong step in ensuring access to exceptional Pediatric care in our community continues.
At the same time, we are working with our Medical Staff to recruit additional physicians and advanced practice providers to our community. I am thrilled to announce that one of our strong pediatrician candidates has recently signed a letter of intent to join our staff in 2016. We also have additional strong candidates reviewing the opportunity and we are working to see if one of the physicians might reconsider with the stability of employment at NMC now a possibility.
At 1.9%, our projected operating margin to keep NMC healthy for Fiscal Year 2016 is lower than it has been in years. It is razor thin.
While this is promising news for our community, it is at the same time concerning for our hospital. We offer more “stability” than private practice, but we are not immune to the negative impact of reduced reimbursement. At 1.9%, our projected operating margin to keep NMC healthy for Fiscal Year 2016 is lower than it has been in years. It is razor thin. Taking on additional losses due to reduced reimbursement threatens that margin and our stability. We made this point to the Green Mountain Care Board, the State’s regulators of healthcare, at our budget hearing. Earlier in December, we made this point to our local Legislators, who act on the Medicaid budget. As we reform Vermont’s healthcare system, we must make it less costly through prevention of illness, elimination of waste and duplication, and prudent investment — not through underpayment of the physicians and advanced practice providers caring for the people of our communities.
I look forward to finishing our work with the Pediatricians and our Medical Staff to preserve and expand access to care in our community for children. I apologize to the patients of Mousetrap that this communication was necessary in advance of the letter from your physician; we just could not let parents who were hearing rumors continue to worry as we worked. If you have any questions regarding access to care for children in our community, please call NMC’s Community Relations Office at 802.524.1280. We will do our best to answer your questions and ensure you have the access to care you and your family need.
— Jill Berry Bowen
Jill Berry Bowen is the Chief Executive Officer of Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, Vermont. NMC is a 70-bed, private, not-for-profit, accredited community hospital. Dick Harper served on the NMC Board of Incorporators for a decade. This op-ed also appeared in the St. Albans Messenger.
Medicaid cut payments by 20% back on the first of January this year.
Dr. Laura Bellstrom closed her pediatric practice in St. Albans, Vermont, last week. She’s number four in a county that had 11 pediatricians at the beginning of the year. We have seven now. I know half a dozen of her now-former patients from North Puffin alone.
Yeppers, between ObamaDon’tCare and “expanded” Medicaid, we’ll cover everybody, absolutely.
Oh. wait.
The Guardian reported on the little costs that rack up thanks to what the Unaffordable Care Act doesn’t cover. Family members now have to pay for their own coverage. The co-pay for an asthma inhaler cost $7 before Unaffordable Care Act. “Then it went to $30. Then $60. Now it’s $100, every month.” A friend is fighting the mental fog of Lyme disease. Her insurance won’t pay for a treatment that will get her off Doxycycline therapy.
Kaiser reported that the “family glitch” in the Unaffordable Care Act means many mostly middle-income Americans remain uninsured because they can’t afford their insurance at work but make too much to qualify for the income tax prebate “subsidies.”
Several million did get coverage through the Medicaid program in states that opted to expand it. Now, since Medicaid ain’t paying its bills, look at what happens.
For the record. Voting for the Unaffordable Care Act in the House: Florida Democrats Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Alan Grayson, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein, Kendrick Meek, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Robert Wexler plus Vermont’s sole representative, Democrat Peter Welch. Voting for the Unaffordable Care Act in the Senate: Florida Democrat Bill Nelson plus both of Vermont’s senators, Democrat Patrick Leahy and “Independent” Bernard Sanders.
Dr. Laura Bellstrom. Gone. Three other pediatricians. Gone.
6,000 kids in northwestern Vermont lost their docs this year.
Six thousand.
Pediatricians are in the spotlight now, but similar problems face primary care providers for adults, said, Vermont Health Access commissioner Steven Costantino.
Shrinking provider networks under the Unaffordable Care Act mean you not only can’t keep your doctor, you may not find a doctor.
The solution hasn’t changed since the Unaffordable Care Act passed in 2009.
1. Do not raise taxes to pay for care. Do not raise government “fees” to pay for care. (Politicians are suggesting both. Again)
2. Throw da bums out. 3. Do not raise premiums to pay for care. (Politicians are suggesting that, too. Again)
4. Throw da bums out. 5. Reform the health care system. It’s still broken.
6. Did I mention, Throw da bums out?
