The Arrogance of Our Soon to be Former President of The United States

For the past two weeks I’ve been hearing (in the media) a lot about President Obama’s effort to “protect his legacy.”  It reminds me of the last week of my Junior year of high school when I jumped into my big economics project.  I’d blown it off for the entire year but still thought I could pull an A.  Nobody remembers that project now.  If they did, it would serve as a study on how not to approach life’s big challenges, and of one student’s incredible arrogance.

Because this site is oriented around healthcare, I want to focus on the legacy question in that context.  To the degree I have been personally involved in self-insuring my family since before the ACA, I believe I have some credible perspective.  My situation is representative of at least some individuals who have been directly involved in Obamacare.

 A good place to start with an assessment of the ACA is to go back to the President’s original statement of his objectives for what he wanted to accomplish with his healthcare initiative.  On June 11, 2009 at a speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin, President Obama launched his presidential push for universal healthcare.

He stated,  “After decades of inaction, we have finally decided to fix what is broken about healthcare in America. We have decided that it’s time to give every American quality healthcare at an affordable cost.” He also said, “We have decided that it’s time to give every American quality healthcare.”  And this one was very powerful too,  “The status quo is unsustainable. If we don’t act, and act soon to bring down costs, it will jeopardize everybody’s health care. If we don’t act, every American will feel the consequences in higher premiums.”

In my opinion, if we want to  assess the President’s legacy related to his accomplishments on healthcare, we must answer the questions stated as objectives in his 2009 speech.  Specifically, have we given every American:

1. quality healthcare?
2. at an affordable cost?

As the “deal was done” the White House published an outline of the meat of the ACA  on its website (article pasted below as link above may not be live much longer).

Again, in my opinion, the President’s legacy as it relates to healthcare should be judged against his efforts to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare.  For at least one reader of Robert Pirsig’s, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the question of whether the President’s legacy will support the objective in an improvement in the “Quality” of healthcare leaves him scratching his head.  Instinctively, I would say the quality of healthcare has not been significantly impacted for positive or negative by the ACA.  However, were one to apply Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ) to the question, I suppose an argument could be made that “quality” has improved.

Is Medicaid better?  Is Medicare better?  Do we have better drugs as a result?  Have the quality of outcomes improved? Are Americans living longer?  Is it easier to see a doctor?  Are our Emergency Rooms more efficient? Is infant mortality down? Are accidental pregnancies down?  Are those enrolled in Obamacare healthier than they were before?

What about the ACA’s success at achieving better healthcare at an “affordable cost?”  Based on my personal experience with Obamacare and more recently the $6,500 bill for an MRI of my son’s ankle presently in dispute; survey of one says, the ACA has been less than successful.  In fact I get rankled every time I hear a statistic that correlates the number of individuals enrolled in Obamacare as a metric for success.  I wonder how many folks there are like me out there who paid for 100% their own insurance prior to the ACA but because of it were basically forced into Obamacare. Why?  Because their premiums skyrocketed (mine well over 100%), and they were now eligible for/needed a government subsidy/hand out.  I wonder, how many individuals enrolled in Obamacare believe they are receiving healthcare at “an affordable cost?”  Let us not forget the concepts of “insurance” and “healthcare” are not synonymous.

I have no problems with the objectives outlined by President Obama. I believe there are admirable and successful pieces of Obamacare but on the whole it appears fatally flawed.

I think if  Congress, the outgoing, and the incoming administration would conduct a study of those enrolled in Obamacare to survey its performance against the original “promises of Obamacare,”  it might level the policy playing field a bit.  It would be  enlightening for all of us.

In the meantime, I suggest a reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Emperor’s New Clothes. 

QED.

Overview below from:  the White House President Barack Obama website referenced in link above

Overview of Health Reform

Health reform puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care.

• It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today.  This helps over 32 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more. Under the plan, 95% of Americans will be insured.
• It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the same choices of insurance that members of Congress will have.
• It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
• It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
• It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by more than $100 billion over the next ten years – and more than $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Health reform bridges the gap between the House and Senate bills and includes new provisions to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse. 

It includes a targeted set of changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Senate-passed health insurance reform bill.  Health reform reflects policies from the House-passed bill and the President’s priorities.  Key changes include:

• Eliminating the Nebraska FMAP provision and providing significant additional Federal financing to all States for the expansion of Medicaid;
• Closing the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” coverage gap;
• Strengthening the Senate bill’s provisions that make insurance affordable for individuals and families and increase protections for out-of-pocket costs;
• Strengthening the provisions to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid;
• Increasing the threshold for the excise tax on the most expensive health plans from $23,000 for a family plan to $27,500 and starting it in 2018 for all plans.

Man Up President Obama

As a general rule of thumb, the primary focus of this blog is health care and specifically, health savings accounts.  Those of you with HSAs know a fair amount about responsibility, since they are highly oriented toward personal responsibility. 

It is my observation that individuals who do not take responsibility, tend to have been in positions in their lives for which little responsibility has been required. 

Blame is something generally heaped on others whereas responsibility is something generally heaped upon oneself.  Blame is about dumping.  Responsibility is about seizing.  Blame is about taking care of oneself.  Responsibility is about taking care of others.  Blame is selfish.  Responsibility is selfless.

I have to say I am getting a bit weary of our President pointing the finger of blame.  Everyone knows that all the problems of America are not his fault.  Even if he didn’t remind us at every bend in the road.

Do you think the President’s focus on blame is a function of his past?  A past in which he has had to take little responsibility?  

One of the big knocks on him during his campaign was his inexperience and how that might affect his ability to lead.   I think for the President, the first step in his quest to become a great leader is to grab and yank the reins of responsibility.

The job’s not easy.  But didn’t anyone tell him that when he campaigned like a bad assed champion to get it?  When it comes to great leadership nobody cares who caused the problems.  They only care about the person willing to take responsibility, the person who will seize responsibility and get ‘em fixed.

 “… From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48 (NIV)

Or if that does not compute, two words: Man Up!

Light Rail. State of The Union Address. Mr. Spock.

No, this is not the answer to a Karnak the Magnificent question. Nor is it something that would be logical in a 1960’s sci-fi television show. Or should I say, “logical Mr. Barack?”

I’m clueless as to the direction of the country, but I did pick up a few new Spanish phrases.

I live in Atlanta, Georgia where we have this little transportation outfit called MARTA which began rail service back in the 1970s. It’s a government entity that looks and feels like it is still operating off a strategic plan, that was probably all aces 35 years ago…. It is a government operation, and I’m pretty sure it has never been able to pay for itself through pure ridership and advertising. I’m guessing local sales tax and federal money keep them trains a comin.

Last night, having arrived home from Newark, I headed to the MARTA station to catch the train home. As I waited 20 minutes in a dark dreary station for the train to show up and then leave the station, was informed I would have to transfer trains due to a reduced evening schedule, was pan handled on two separate occasions, all the while snuggled up with about 100 bedraggled strangers, and was ultimately deposited in another dreary station, I was not left scratching my head as to some of the reasons why MARTA is fiscally challenged.

I did notice a sign announcing a public meeting to solicit ideas on how to address some of their issues. I can only imagine the enthusiastic crowd that’s going to schlep down to the MARTA offices for that meeting to help solve all their problems. Maybe if they are giving away free coffee…. My advice; “Go LOOK in the mirror people!”

The problem with Mr. Obama and his Starfleet Command is its government approach to government. Don’t you think that if some smart company or investor thought for a minute they could make a buck off of light rail, they would have done it already?? Warren Buffet could scratch a check in a heartbeat if thought it was viable. He could add that to his choo choo collection.

I read that Obama wants to drop $8-$13 Billion to fund high-speed light rail, and I’m thinking for my family of 4 we spend $3,000 per year on a high deductible health plan with an HSA which includes well care. A little quick math and I’m figuring with $8B we could cover the health care nut for about 2.6 million families or over 10 million lives. Now, I’m not proposing the government buy health insurance for 10 million people; there are just better ways to piss away my borrowed tax dollars.

Obama’s government approach to government is kind of like when your mamma gives your kid a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart, and the boy promptly goes and blows it on $100 worth of Yugioh cards. He then trys to convince you it’s a good investment! The purchase feels pretty good for about 5 minutes and then the reality of stupidity begins to set in. The only difference with government is that it can even rationalize reality. They will always make believe it was a good investment, even when the cards are dog-eared and tired.

Here’s an idea. How about a little bit of Un-Government? Now there’s a little change I could believe in. If President Obama could grasp that concept, who knows where he could lead this country? That might even be statue-worthy. Definitely a cut above an installation at Madame Tussauds.

So what about this light rail thing? Maybe I am living in a cocoon with my only perspective being a local public transportation system that has given me a jaded perspective, but I don’t think I’m off by much. Change? My butt! Simply a government approach to government. Can someone please pass me the Lysol?

Executive Compensation – Where’s The Damned Lactobacillus Acidophilus?

I believe people should be able to make obscene amounts of money.  Huge ridiculous piles of cash.  Stacks that reach to the moon.  I even believe those who earn it should even get to keep some of it.

At the same time I have huge problems with executive compensation packages.  In fact, for a guy who works hard to stay healthy, a lot of what I read about executive comp makes me sick.  I think I am getting a sore in my mouth just thinking about it now.

I cut a deal once with a consultant who said during the negotiation that he did not want to be “unduly enriched.”   I was inclined to agree with him; especially not on my blood and sweat.   Those two words are what throw the wheels off my proverbial bus when I think about executive compensation.  Or in many cases, executive overcompensation.

Bill Gates, has made billions of dollars over the years. Obscene money by most average Joes’ standards.  As far as I am concerned, he earned every penny of it.  The guy, besides being brilliant, had an idea (or a dozen) figured out how to execute, market and sell it and in the process made himself, and a lot of other hard working folks a spitpile of cash.  While he certainly was enriched, he was not “unduly enriched.”

However, when I look at say, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs who earned $42.9 Million in compensation in 2008 (down from $53.9 Million the year before),  or the CEOs of say Bank of America, American Express, and JP Morgan Chase who, between the three of them made nearly $200 Million from 2007-2008, the sore in my mouth begins to swell.  There is a pretty good chance these guys didn’t invent anything, they didn’t take a lot of personal risk, they didn’t personally created something novel that is changing the world, they didn’t part the sea and lead their employees, customers and shareholders to the Promised Land, nor did they cause manna to fall from Heaven.   In fact, I’m of the opinion that often times the thing some of these executives did best, was not to “F” their companies up. These types of executives fall into the category of “unduly enriched” in my opinion.  For your own mouth sores, you can check out the AFL-CIO website on executive compensation and draw your own conclusions.

I actually own a small amount of stock in two of these companies.  One I’ve owned for a couple of decades and the other for many years as well.  One is worth 4x what was paid for it and the other a couple of bucks more than was paid for it.  I only have enough of one of the stocks to wish I had enough to be worth something.  As for the other…whatever…I don’t have enough to do much good either way.  For my loyalty and risk, I have been neither duly nor unduly enriched.  I think I could say I have been unduly unenriched.

A lot of times when executive compensation is bandied about in the media, we hear compensation is high because it is a competitive thing.  We are asked to willingly suspend our disbelief and buy into this line that the talent is so thin, and the demand for top talent is so high, that Boards have to offer obscene packages to their execs to obtain and retain them.  I would argue that the Boards are out of touch and/or have personal agenda’s as it relates to their own compensation at the companies for whom they work. 

If this is the case then tell me, why is it that a guy like Steve Ballmer at Microsoft, pulled in a whopping $1.3 million last year and has earned about $5.5 Million over the past 5 years according to Forbes Magazine?  He’s also been at the company about 30 years to boot.

Under normal market conditions I don’t believe it is the Government’s job to dictate executive compensation.  When huge tax dollars are involved with a company’s survival, I think the Government as the voice of its own shareholders, does have a say in the matter.  While I don’t think corporate Boards are intentionally corrupt, ones that approve obscene executive compensation packages are out of touch, improperly influenced by personal and institutional agendas and are not properly representing the individual shareholders of the company.

Obscene executive compensation is merely a symptom.  The cure involves treating the cause.   When Boards and shareholders align around addressing the cause, then perhaps the collective sores in our mouths will begin to subside.

 Where’s the damned lactobacillus acidophilus?

Free Our Health Care WOW!!

Over the past almost 60 days, the link to the “Free Our Health Care NOW” petition has been the 5th most clicked link out of the 200 or so postings on this site.  Which means you (if you were one of them) helped contribute to the over 1,012,000 signatures to date on the petition.  I first stumbled across the petition in Forbes Magazine in early June, and several radio talk show hosts have helped blow the doors off this thing by encouraging folks to give some thought to their health care as well as the general and future health of our nation. 

Like a snowball down the side of a mountain, the engagement of the American public in the discussion around their future health care has been profound in my opinion, and the snowball has an enormous amount of momentum which will hopefully influence, in a positive and productive manner, the ultimate outcome of the debate.

If you have already taken a look at the petition and it represents a vision of healthcare with which you approve, I would encourage you to share it with as many friends and colleagues as possible (please feel free to send the link to this posting or straight to the petition).  If you have not yet seen the petition, have a look below and you can take it on your own from their.  Be a part of keeping  the momentum going through September and as long as the debate continues.

Over 1 million signatures.  I would say this is definitely a Free Our Health Care WOW kind of moment.

http://www.freeourhhealthcarenow.com

The Principles vs. The Realities of Obama’s Health Care Initiative.

On one hand I applaud Mr. Obama on the drive and energy he is putting forward to “get something done” in Washington around health care.   I think to get things done the furnace has to be stoked and the heat turned up on Congress to work through the issues diligently to a greater good.  I think this is a good tactic.

I also applaud Mr. Obama for his stated principles for providing health care to americans.  Better product, lower cost, everybody covered, portability, if you like what you have you can keep it, etc.

The problem is what is coming out of the other end of the sausage grinder.  And this is where the American public needs to be on their toes.  The reality is that what has come out of the House of Representatives thus far, does not achieve the goals of the stated principles.  And while the Senate package seems to be a little closer to the mark, neither is in the ballpark yet.

There is an enormous distance to travel before this deal is done and we, as Americans, need to do our job and keep the pressure on our politicians.  Otherwise we can expect extraordinary pain with very little, if any gain.

If you have not read the petition, please read it.  If you agree with it and have not signed it, please do.  

http://www.freeourhhealthcarenow.com

Health Care, Raw Meat And the Media

Once again, my theory on the media is playing out in the health care debate.

Basically it goes like this, despite my belief that much of the media is biased toward liberal politics; at their core, most journalists are carnivores, and when raw meat is involved, they will take the meat.  In fact they will do all they can to destroy it.

Such is the case with the media’s seeming love affair with Barack Obama.  They want to believe him.  They want to adulate him.  However, they are beginning to smell blood on this health care thing, and their animal instincts are kicking in.

Right now, the current version of the House health care reform bill is getting bludgeoned as the result of some level headed politics, a great deal of public out cry, and probably some pretty disgusting lobbying efforts.  As ugly as what is going on, it is what makes our system of government special.  But that’s not the point here.

Let’s watch this thing over the next few weeks and months and see how the media reacts as this pig goes through the sausage grinder.

When It Comes to Health Care, If You’re Smart Enough To Drive…

So get this, my daughter is taking driver’s education this week. Now I’ve been driving around with her for a year, going gray, losing hair, and generally clinching my buttocks. I am actually quite pleased that once the classroom course is over, she will be foisted off on some professional instructor who no doubt has already lost his or her hair and boasts buns of titanium.

 But this is not an article about buttock flexing or particularly about driving. It is really more about the mentality in Government that Americans are unable to take care of themselves when it comes to healthcare.

I want to know why is it the Government believes that pretty much every Tom, Dick, and Bubba is responsible enough to drive a car, yet not smart enough to manage their own health and health care?

I mean an automobile is an enormous responsibility. Huge amounts of information have to be assimilated just to be able to earn the privilege of stepping in front of the camera and have some surly DMV employee snap the crummy mug shot that gets put on your drivers permit. Then they let you get behind the wheel of a multi-thousand dollar piece of precious metal and plummet down the highways and byways while talking on the phone, applying mascara, reading the paper, and hopefully dodging fellow citizens. I mean, if you can shop at Wal-Mart you can pretty much get a drivers license (I rarely drive by one with out stopping in).

Yet. Yet the same folks who are capable of driving a car are not capable of taking care of themselves. Come on people; what’s wrong with this picture?

 I am of the decided opinion that every person with a driver’s license has the mental capacity to tend to their health, and needs to be contributing to their own health and health care. Pretty simple huh?

I think we are smart enough to drive our own health care. Consumer DRIVEN Health Care so to speak. Now there’s a novel concept.

Health Care 101 – A Wii Fit Under Every Roof.

Nancy Pelosi’s comments yesterday on putting a value on  preventative healthcare have still got my blood pressure up.  If you missed our post yesterday entitled “An Oink of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure,” because it is a good read and entertaining.

After posting the article, I hopped on my bicycle and took off for a nice steamy hot summers Atlanta ride.  Still tumbling around in my brain is this notion that Ms. Pelosi was pretty much blowing off the CBO and talking about how the Democrats in Congress will  put a value on preventative medicine.  If her comments weren’t so absolutely terrifying, they would actually be pretty funny.

Anyway, whilst riding and tumbling, I had this brilliant idea.  If the Democrats are so hot on preventative medicine, why not put our money where their big fat mouths are and issue every household in America a Wii Game console including Wii Fit.   I mean, crap, if they can issue every household in the U.S. a gizmo that enables an analog television set to convert a digital signal, which, by the way has got to be one of the dumbest pieces of legislation in the history of these great United States, why can’t they give everyone a Wii and then mandate (the Democrats love mandates) that every man, woman and child tall, short fat, or thin plug that sucker into their digital de-scrambling television set and start working out with their own virtual personal trainer?

Now, for those of you, who like me until yesterday, were generally unfamiliar with Wii Fit, let me tell you a little something.  Basically it is another gizmo you hook up to your TV, but in order for it to work you have to get the lard off the couch and interact with it.  It works like this:  You turn it on, step on this pad that kind of looks like a scale, you put some basic information into it and it tells you your “health age” is about 20 years more than your actual age, that you are all out of balance, and that you could use a little getting in shape.  The gizmo then provides you with your own virtual trainer and you can then begin a preventative health regimine that includes yoga, strength training, aerobic training , and other healthy activities.   But it just gets better.  The gizmo keeps up with your progress and shows you how good a job you are doing at getting in shape.  Aka preventative medicine.

I can say for a fact, this is a far better plan than anything I have heard out of Washington on preventative health care and think of the benefits.

First the cost of the program is absolutely quantifiable.  The CBO could figure it out in about 5 minutes.  A little quick math on my part figures we could put these babys into all 112 million US households at a cost of around $350 per unit for a grand total of under $40 billion.  Now this is way less than the $1.6 trillion estimate rolling around Washington.  And if you apply a little Nancy Pelosi math to the eqation of money saved by keeping people from being sick through preventative care, the program probably nets itself out to being free.  Now that if fiscal responsibility.

Secondly, this program would be a political windfall for our friends in Congress.  Americans love television, and who’s not going to vote to re-elect the guys and gals who mandated that they spend several more hours a week in front of the television.  This would represent a political lovefest the likes of which has never been seen, ever.

Thirdly, it would represent an economic boon because in addition to the $40 billion infused into the retail economy by Uncle Sam, lots of folks would become so enamoured with their new Wiis they would feel compelled to buy trillions of dollars more in accessories for their units.      

O.k. so maybe this sounds a little bit silly, but it is “out of the box.”  Health care does not have easy solutions, but creativity and some common sense can get us there.  And getting folks up off the couch is about as common sense as you can get.   

The cost of the Democrat proposed health care reform is something like $1.6 trillion dollars over the next 10 years and that assumes the government runs their health care plan efficiently.  That

How Does One Even Think About Health Care When They Are Droppin Jacko In The Ground?

I suppose one good thing about Jacko’s death is that it has overwhelmed the political rhetoric around health care for a few days.  Or at least it has tamped it down.

In fact it has really quieted pretty much all of politics as well as anything else either newsworthy or masquerading as news.  We’ve sort of replaced one stink with another, in a refreshing kind of way…. 

The battle that is taking place inside the Beltway is not, nor is it going to be, a pretty one.  We can only hope and/or pray politics gets pushed far enough to the side to allow some light to come through, and for some decent ideas and policies to push through the morass.

The question that keeps rolling around in my noggin’ is whether, at the end of this debate around health care, we will have witnessed the very best of American politics or the very worst.  And by that, I don’t mean the debate itself.  That is nothing but butt ugly.  I’m talking about the end result.

To that end, I recommend that anyone who reads this post, make some noise.  Do what you can to be heard.  Help be part of the collective roar.  This Jacko thing is not going to last forever, and when it quiets we need to fill the void with our voices.