Does leaving public office make you wiser?

It’s becoming a trend.

Alan Greenspan, a former Chairman of Federal Reserve, who strongly opposed government regulation, now admits that he was wrong and goes as far as to suggest that U.S. should consider breaking up banks that are “too big to fail.” Former Republican Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Bill Frist are breaking the partisan line to express their support for health care reform.

Here is a question: would these people express the same sentiments had they still been in office? Hardly. Which is sad.

Why do people oppose the health care reform?

In the Erron Morris’ documentary, “The Fog of War“, the former Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara, describes a conversation with the former Foreign Minister of Vietnam:

There aren’t many examples in which you bring two former enemies together, at the highest levels, and discuss what might have been. I formed the hypothesis that each of us could have achieved our objectives without the terrible loss of life. And I wanted to test that by going to Vietnam.

The former Foreign Minister of Vietnam, a wonderful man named Thach said, “You’re totally wrong. We were fighting for our independence. You were fighting to enslave us.” We almost came to blows. That was noon on the first day.

“Do you mean to say it was not a tragedy for you, when you lost 3 million 4 hundred thousand Vietnamese killed, which on our population base is the equivalent of 27 million Americans? What did you accomplish? You didn’t get any more than we were willing to give you at the beginning of the war. You could have had the whole damn thing: independence, unification.”

“Mr. McNamara, You must never have read a history book. If you’d had, you’d know we weren’t pawns of the Chinese or the Russians. McNamara, didn’t you know that? Don’t you understand that we have been fighting the Chinese for 1000 years? We were fighting for our independence. And we would fight to the last man. And we were determined to do so. And no amount of bombing, no amount of U.S. pressure would ever have stopped us.”

McNamara implies that both sides misunderstood each others’ intentions: North Vietnamese assumed that the U.S.A. were planning to replace France as their new master, while Americans saw Vietnam as a proxy of Russia and China readying to spread Communism in Asia. McNamara suggests that understanding each others real intentions back then could’ve helped the two countries avoid the conflict and saved millions of lives.

I wonder if McNamara’s idea could be applied to the health care debate. Would it make the dialog between the opponents and the supporters of the health care reform more civilized and productive? Would it help if both sides of the debate made an effort to understand the motivations of the other side?

I read hundreds of articles, research papers, studies, watched and listened to many interviews, heard multiple personal stories, and have a couple of my own. Knowing what I know, I cannot understand how anyone can object the reform, but many of those who do are among my friends, co-workers, and neighbors, mostly intelligent people. Why don’t they see what I see? Can I understand their motivations? I want to give it a try.

From my liberal, pro-reform, and what some may call “biased” viewpoint, I see that the opponents of the health care reform represent different groups, each with its own motivation:

Profiteers include health care executives, investors betting on health care industry profits, and all those making insane amounts of money and who have most to lose. Of course, UnitedHealthcare CEO Stephen Hemsley does not want to shake the system that brings him $100,000 each waking hour. He and his buddies are fighting for their self-interests. I can understand that.

The richest 1.2% — although not all — obviously do not want the proposed 1%-1.5% surtax on the income amounts exceeding $280K/$350K per year (individual/family) to pay for poor people’s health care. If you make $1,280,000/year (individual), you rather spend the extra $10K (thank you, George W. Bush) on things better than someone else’s health care. Understood.

Beneficiaries are those who don’t make fortunes on the current system, but somehow directly or indirectly benefit from it, such as rank-and-file employees of health care companies, administrators handling insurance paperwork for health care providers, and so on. Although health care reform will probably bring more jobs (with more people having access to health care more medical professionals will be needed), some of the administrative and/or non-productive positions will be eliminated. While losing a job is not the end of the world (people lose jobs even without reforms), I can see this group’s perceived threat to its well-being, so I can understand its opposition, too.

Politicians are actually split between the two groups, but they both have the same goal: being re-elected. Non-conservative politicians opposing the reform most likely get significant campaign contributions from the insurance companies and other interest groups opposing the reform, so they want to continue the flow of contributions in future. Conservative politicians must please their base, which mostly opposes the reform, so they play along. Again, motives understood.

Hate media jockeys – Beck, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Savage, & Co. — would not say that they like anything about the policies or intentions of Democratic government (and President Obama in particular) even if they did (I’m stretching my imagination here). The more angry they sound, the more outrageous and preposterous claims they make, the higher their rating climb. This is how the entertainment/propaganda machine brings ratings/profits these days, so it would be stupid for them to move this machine into a different direction on the issue of health care, even if it contradicted their own opinion. Consider this one clear, too.

Seniors are a special case. They seem to like Medicare, yet they do not want government-run services to be extended to people without health insurance. Some seniors don’t realize that Medicare is a government-run program, but what about others? It seems to me that Medicare recipients opposing the reform are afraid that any change will negatively affect their services. What I do not understand about this attitude — besides the obvious selfishness — is that it should be clear that the Medicare system is more likely to be affected by spending cuts without the reform. With medical costs escalating, just wait for the next round of legislators to get the Republican majority and you will see the job Newt Gingrich started finished. Grandpa and grandma: GOP does not liked Medicare: never did and never will. How one cannot understand this, I do not understand.

Conservative Christians oppose the reform for several reasons, but only one of them is relevant to the Christian teaching: abortion. Although, FactCheck.org believes that the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans, other interpretations are less certain. I do not see even the FactCheck.org’s interpretation to be different from the current system where employee health care contributions can be used to cover abortions of other plan members. If you oppose the reform because of your position on abortion, what about your current health plan to which you make contributions? Does your current health plan cover abortions? If so, shouldn’t you cancel it? On a different note, it’s hard to imagine that extending health care to the uninsured will somehow result in explosion of abortions, but okay, I can understand the desire to protect the unborn. What I do not understand is: why the same people caring about the lives of the unborn do not care about the lives of the living. Shouldn’t both be protected? How can you advocate one and not the other? Being a Christian, Christians’ opposition to the health reform puzzles and upsets me the most. How can you spend Sundays preaching about the Good Samaritan, helping the poor, taking care of the needy, and healing the sick, while at the same time opposing the efforts of the society to do the very same things. I don’t think I can understand that.

Libertarians hate all things government (and especially Democratic government), including taxes, social programs, etc. Since health care is a sort of social program funded by taxes, libertarian opposition to the reform seems logical, at least more logical than Christian opposition. Yet the whole concept of libertarianism seems strange to me. I’m all for self-reliance and against bureaucracy and government waste, but I definitely do not want to live in a medieval society. Hey, I don’t like paying taxes either, but I like to drive on public roads and visit public parks. I expect police to to protect us from criminals and the army to defend against foreign aggression. I’m glad that public schools, colleges and universities offer free or affordable education. I don’t visit libraries that often, but it’s nice to know that they are open. And I want health care to be available to all: healthy and sick, young and old, rich and poor. It seems civil. So even thought there is no plan to raise taxes on 98.8% of the population, if I have to pay a bit more in taxes for someone’s medical care, it’s okay with me (it’s probably the best use of my tax money). Libertarians also tend to believe that government cannot do anything good, which again is not accurate, since the existing government-run health care programs (like Medicare and VA hospitals, which already cover about 28% of the population) are managed cheaper and get higher customer satisfaction than private insurance.  Even the most vocal opponent of the government-run health care admits that U.S. government-run health care is best. Puzzled? Me too!

Anti-entitlement groups oppose social programs intended to help disadvantaged. From their perspective, people are not entitled to anything including health care. If someone is sick, it’s his/her problem. If you don’t have health insurance, it’s your fault. If you had insurance, but your benefits were rescinded after you got sick, you must have done something wrong. We’re not gonna pay for you, period. I don’t understand this attitude on a number of level. First, it operates under a false assumption that all needy are bums, which is so Old Testament: poor=sinful, rich=righteous. Sure some people without health insurance are bums, but the majority is not. Second, it’s not civil. A civil society takes care of the vulnerable, and I want to live in a civil society. Third, people don’t like to think about bad things, but bad things happen. You may be healthy and well-to-do now, but what if you get cancer and can’t work? What if you exceed your lifetime benefit cap? Wouldn’t you want the society to take care of you?

Fiscal conservatives, who fear that the reform will add to the budget deficit, would’ve made sense had they been consistent in their strive for balanced budget. Had they opposed the Iraq War, which costs more than the health care reform would, or Bush Tax cuts, which over 10 years will cost 2.5 times more than the health care plan, then their opposition would’ve made sense, but thus far, it does not go beyond hypocrisy. Beside, one of the goals of the reform is to contain the ever escalating cost of health care (which is already highest in the world), so if done right, in the long run it will actually help balance the budget.

Anti-immigrant league, which blames the evils of society on illegal (and sometimes legal) immigrants, is afraid that it will have to pay for the new wave of illegal immigrants seeking “free” health care. Being an immigrant myself, I do not appreciate the bigotry directed at newcomers (both legal and illegal). After all, the forefathers did not get the permission from Native Americans to land here, so directly or indirectly we’re all in this country illegally. Most of the anti-immigrant rhetoric is based on false assumptions and wrong facts (even the Cato Institute — a libertarian think tank — concluded that the legalization of undocumented workers would be beneficial for the native-born). And regardless what Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) thinks, the health care bill does not ensure access to health care to illegal immigrants, which is a shame because doing so would make more sense. So I understand the anti-immigrant rhetoric, but it is not supported by facts.

Obamaphobs don’t like the President, and this seems to be a sufficient reason to oppose the President’s policies. “We’re afraid of Obama,” people say. I’m not sure what exactly they fear: they seem to be in no imminent danger, and most are doing quite well. I guess, for some it’s a racial issue, for others it’s a Democrat-is-a-President issue, and for others it’s a mental problem that could be treated with therapy and/or medication (I’m not trying to be sarcastic here). So the “bad Obama=bad reform” logic is simple, but it sure is weird… and unhealthy.

Neo-McCartyists see communist conspiracies everywhere, even in such well-meaning projects as health care expansion. Ronald Reagan made the very same arguments when he warned about the dangers of Medicare in 1961, so it’s not new, but equally baseless. The whole logic is flawed: communist/socialist countries have public health care, therefore if the U.S. adopts public health care it will turn into a communist country. By the same assumption we can say that the U.S. is already a communist country since it has public schools.

Conspiracy theorists see health care reform as yet another government plot against them. This is the group that believes in the concept “death panels”, “Obama will kill your grandma”, “universal health care=slavery”, and other equally stupid concepts. I do not even try to understand this.

Misinformed is the group made of people who take the common myths about health care at their face values. They claim that the U.S. health care is the best in the world, although they probably haven’t experienced health care in France, Canada, U.K., Germany, or any other industrial country (and they probably did not have a serious encounter with U.S. health insurance either). They assume that the escalating health care costs are driven by malpractice law suites and illegal immigrants. They believe that you can get a cancer drug at Walmart for $10, that free county and city hospitals are open to people without health insurance, that special programs and sponsors are ready to pick up your bill for emergency treatment. People from this group have at least three things in common:

1. They get their news from Beck, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Savage, and other Fox pundits.
2. They either (a) have health insurance (most likely via employer) or (b) are healthy.
3. They did not experience major health problems, especially when holding individual health insurance policy or without insurance.
4. They do not consider a possibility of losing health care coverage (people do not ask themselves: what if I get laid off? what if my working spouse loses job?).

I know it’s possible to hold onto these assumptions and live in a knowledge shell until something bad happens to you (then you’ll find first-hand whether these assumptions were right or wrong), but come on: have some intellectual curiosity. How do you know that U.S. health care is the best? How do you know that health care in Canada is worse? Dow you know how much malpractice law suites contribute to rising health care costs? Have you actually tried to find a free clinic? There are answers to these and many other common questions available online. Google is your friend (or you can start with my own Everything you need to know about U.S. health care reform post, which addresses many questions).

I’m not sure if any attempts to understand the opposition will do any good or lead to a more constructive dialog, but I wonder what the opposition thinks about the pro-reformers. If you are against the reform, do you really think that Obama has a secret plan to kill your grandma and turn the country into the Soviet Union? Seriously, what do you think about the motivations driving the reform supporters? I’d really like to know.

Everything you need to know about U.S. health care reform

Everything you need to know about U.S. health care reform

If you’re interested in the health care debate, check out these resources.

FACTS

Number of uninsured (per U. S. Census Bureau, 2007): 45.7 million (15.3% of the population) and growing.
Number of adults discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the past three years (per White House, 2009): 12.6 million.
Number of states where adults without dependent children are ineligible for Medicaid no matter how low their income (per Families USA): 43.
Number of deaths due to lack of health insurance (per American Journal of Public Health, 2009): 45,000/year (one death every 12 minutes).
Percentage of bankruptcies linked to medical expenses in 2007 (per American Journal of Medicine, 2009): 62% (78% of those had health insurance).
Health care spending (as % of GDP per U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004): 15.3% (highest among all industrial countries).
Growth rates of national health expenditures (vs. GDP from 1960 to 2007 per National Center for Policy Analysis, 2009): 4.79%/year, 721% cumulative vs. GDP at 2.27%/year, 174% cumulative.
Average employer-sponsored premium for a family of four (per McKinsey and Company, 2009): $13,000/year (employee foots about 30% of this cost).
Increase in employer-sponsored premiums (per The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2008): 114% in the last 10 years (employee’s share increased from $1,543 to $3,354).
Ranking of U.S. health care system among 190 nations (per World Health Organization, 2000 [latest report]): #37 (worse than France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco, Canada, Finland, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Dominica, Costa Rica).
Rating of patient-reported access problems, continuity of care, and waiting times (per The Commonwealth Fund, 2005): #5 (worst of the surveyed 5 countries, behind Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and UK).
Rates of survival for breast and prostate cancers (per The Lancet Oncology, 2008): #1 (highest [i.e. best]; Japan has highest survival rates for colon and rectal cancers among men; France has highest survival rates for colon and rectal cancer among women; Canada and Australia have very high survival rates for most cancers).
Infant mortality (per CIA World Factbook, 2009): 6.26 per 1,000 (highest among industrial countries).
Ranking of preventable deaths due to treatable conditions (per Health Affairs, 2008): #19 (worst of 19 surveyed countries; if the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of the top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the U.S. per year).
U.S. population using government-run health care, such as Medicare, VA, etc (per U.S. Census Bureau, 2008): 83 million (27.8% of the population).

HISTORY

Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine
Lesson from the history: if you believe the line of arguments about the dangers of Medicare presented by Reagan and now parroted by Sara Palin & friends then you should believe that we have been living under communist dictatorship for many years including two Reagan terms (audio).
Missing Richard Nixon
Paul Krugman compares health reform proposed by Richard Nixon to the current reform (The New York Times).
The Ghosts of Clintoncare
Ezra Klein remembers history and provides some stats on health care costs, insurance company market shares, etc (Washington Post). Quote: “Private [health] insurance is a bit like a fire department that turns a profit by letting buildings burn down.”
Obama v. Nixon
Analysis of the President Barack Obama’s address on health care reform with the similar address by President Richard Nixon.

ANALYSIS

Health Care Realities
Paul Krugman explains the role of the government in regulating health care (Washington Post).
Getting There from Here
Journalist and surgeon Atul Gawande analyzes why American health care needs a reform in the context of health care reforms in other capitalist countries (New Yorker).
Bill Moyers Journal: Health Care Reform
Trudy Lieberman, director of the health and medical reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine talk about the problems of health care system and ways to address them (PBS; video/transcript).
Bill Moyers Journal: Jamieson and Altman
Media analyst Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO Drew Altman discuss the messages in health care ads today, and how well they reflect the real issues of health care reform (PBS; video/transcript).
Bill Moyers Journal: David Frum
Former special assistant to George W. Bush David Frum is calling on Republicans to come up with their own plan for health care reform and suggests changes that conservatives can support; some of the points actually make sense… if you do not pay close attention to details (PBS; video/transcript).

STATISTICS

Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries
American College of Physicians present the numbers on how the United States stacks up to other countries in a variety of criteria, and what we can learn from the best in the world.
Myth: The U.S. has the best health care system in the world.
Various statistics comparing U.S. health care to other rich nations (with sources).
OECD Health Data 2009 – Frequently Requested Data
Includes lots of most current and historical statistics for U.S. and European countries: expenditures on health (% of GDP, per capita), pharmaceutical expenditures, practicing physicians and nurses (density per 1,000 population), and lots more.
By The Numbers: ‘The Breaking Point’ For American Health Care
Some national health crisis facts.
Swiss Health-Care Costs
Ezra Klein compares health care costs in U.S. and Switzerland (also includes a nice graph showing per capita health care expenditures in different countries).
Simple Arithmetic
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest Employer Benefits Survey is out, and they’ve got some numbers worth remembering.

THE UNINSURED

The Uninsured
The New York Times editorial describes the groups of people who lack health insurance.
Who Are the Uninsured?
A few statistical data points related to uninsured.
Counting the Uninsured in the U.S.
The income group between $50,000-$70,000 is the fastest-grown segment of the uninsured population.
Yes, Those Uninsured Numbers Are Legit
Why the critique of the number of uninsured — including the arguments that 1) the number includes immigrants; 2) the number includes people who are eligible but not enrolled for public health programs like Medicaid and SCHIP; and 3) the number includes people who make more than a certain income, and supposedly could “afford” coverage — is misleading.
Covering the Uninsured in Medicaid
Explains who can and who cannot receive government-sponsored health care, such as Medicaid and Medicare.

PERSONAL STORIES

The Joy of Rx
A newborn baby is denied health coverage because of “pre-existing condition” (video).
We Love Eric
Eric De La Cruz died while awaiting a heart transplant that was denied and delayed because he could not get insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
Robin Beaton: This Is America And We Deserve Good Health Care
This story illustrates the practice of rescission: retroactive cancellation of health insurance when individual insurance holders become seriously ill (video).
Stories of Health
See stories about people who were injured on the job, are self-employed, cared for a sibling, were affected by the California budget cuts and died.
Firm cancels health insurance coverage for girl, 17, after celiac disease diagnosis
American Community Mutual’s rescission numbers ’cause for concern,’ says director of Illinois Department of Insurance (Chicago Tribune).
How Our Health-Care System Wrecks People Who Play by the Rules
Steve Taylor tells a story of his parents’ struggle with health care bills.
Gambling With Health Care
NOW travels to Nevada, where a huge budget deficit, spiking unemployment, and cuts in Medicaid and other public services are forcing people to gamble with their own lives (PBS; video/transcript).
Critical Condition
Documentary in which ordinary hard-working Americans tell their stories of battling critical illnesses without health insurance (video).
Dawn’s Story: Standing Up for the Health Care We All Deserve
Dawn Smith is fighting brain tumor and CIGNA.
On Mental Health
This is a story about a descent into madness, but not like you think.
Off Topic: I Have Swine Flu & Blue Shield Is Evil
The author of this post explains why he could not get health insurance.
Until Medical Bills Do Us Part
People sometimes divorce husbands or wives to escape their medical bills.
My Encounter with [Insert Scary Music] … Socialized Medicine!
Jim Wallis of Sojourners describes his experience with English health care system (there are some interesting comments).
Marsha Coupé: A life-and-death case for universal coverage
Marsha Coupé describes her experience with English health care system after her husband was diagnosed with a rare and deadly cancer.
We’re Making the Victim of a Murderous Rampage Pay for Her Hospital Stay
An unemployed victim of a murderous rampage is paying the bill for a 5-night hospital stay.
Young People Living, And Laughing, With Cancer
Interesting stories of young women battling cancer (NPR; audio).
The Golden Rule, Insurer Style
What if you or your wife or your daughter had a C section and then were told you couldn’t get health insurance unless you got sterilized? That’s what happened to Peggy Robertson when she tried to buy coverage through UnitedHealthcare’s Golden Rule insurance.

HEALTH CARE DEBATE

Is The Government Responsible For Health Care?
Six experts — three on each side — debate whether universal health coverage should be the federal government’s responsibility.

ETHICAL AND MORAL ASPECTS

Bioethics And The Obama Administration
Bioethicist Arthur Caplan discusses the health care challenges facing the Obama administration (NPR; audio/podcast).
End Of Life Care In America, A Doctor’s Diagnosis
Doctor Robert Martensen illustrates the problems and complexities of American health care system, and argues that safeguarding the quality of a patient’s life sometimes trumps the urge to sustain life at all cost; very interesting personal story (NPR; audio/podcast).
American Values
A recent Brookings poll suggests caring for one another isn’t as far from the American psyche as some like to think.

WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE?

Health Insurance Costs
National Coalition on Health Care examines health care costs in the U.S. using various studies (you can find info on projected spending growth, % of GDP spent on health care, etc).
U.S. Health Care Costs
Another look at the health care costs by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (includes a nice graph showing percentages spent on administration, profits, etc).
Why Does Health Care Cost So Much?
Shannon Brownlee argues that the main culprit in the soaring cost of American health care is overtreatment… and all that extra care is making us sick; includes info on cost of malpractice insurance (AARP Magazine).
It’s The Prices, Stupid: Why The United States Is So Different From Other Countries
Recent studies by Gerard Anderson, PhD, professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and his colleagues show that Americans are paying considerably more for health care than any other developed nation (PDF; see also It’s the Prices Stupid — Why Americans Pay More for Health Care)
Healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year
This is what the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
Money-Driven Medicine
In this report, the Maggie Mahar reveals how a profit-hungry “medical-industrial complex” has turned health care into a system where millions are squandered on unnecessary tests, unproven and sometimes unwanted procedures and overpriced prescription drugs (PBS; video/transcript).

MALPRACTICE

Myths Debunked: Rising Cost of Medical Malpractice Insurance Is Due to High Jury Awards
References to various articles and studies explaining limited implication of malpractice law suites on the rising costs of health care.
Would Tort Reform Lower Costs?
A pretty comprehensive discussion on the effects of malpractice law suites on medical costs (New York Times).
Would Tort Reform Lower Health Care Costs?
The Wonk Room takes a look at malpractice and tort reform.
Medical Malpractice Costs
Ezra Klein mentions several issues related to malpractice that are rarely raised.
Some Thoughts on Malpractice
In a number of studies doctors and nurses did blind evaluations of malpractice suits and overwhelmingly found them meritorious.

SINGLE PAYER

Bill Moyers Journal: Wolfe and Himmelstein
Doctors Sidney Wolfe and David Himmelstein explain the benefits of the single-payer system (PBS; video/transcript).
Bill Moyers Journal: Donna Smith
Donna Smith and her husband were fully insured, but they lost everything and were forced into bankruptcy after major illnesses and surgeries; today, Donna Smith works as a community organizer and legislative advocate for the California Nurses Association, whose 85,000 members across the country were early champions of a single-payer program (PBS; video/transcript).

SUPPORTERS

Supporters of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
List of organizations supporting the reform.
Physicians for a National Health Program
Non-profit research and education organization of 17,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. Check Single-Payer FAQ; also lots of other helpful references on single-payer systems are available including overview, facts and myths, economics and financing, quality and malpractice, problems of for-profit care, and more.
Boehner Claims He Doesn’t Know Doctors Who Support House Health Bill, Trashes AMA For Endorsing It
The opposition wants you to think that doctors do not support health care reform.
Doctors Support the Public Option
Doctors overwhelmingly support either a public option or a public system.
Consumers Union
A prominent consumer advocate supports the reform (see also ‘Consumer Reports’ Chief Backs Health Overhaul).
Not All Republicans on the Train to Crazy Town
There are a number of prominent Republicans coming to the fore to endorse health care reform, unfortunately, none of them happen to be in Congress.

THE OPPOSITION

Rewriting Conservatives for Patients’ Rights’ Script
Check the credentials of this spokesman (video/analysis).
Betsy McCaughey’s Ideas Called “Hyperbolic… Dangerous” By Jon Stewart
Betsy McCaughey, who originally suggested that health care reform would result in “death panels” (she did not call them that, though), explains her understanding of the health care bill (three videos; analysis). Now, Betsy McCaughey has ideas on improving health care of her own, like cutting Americans aged 65 to 69 from the Medicare program. It’s good stuff.
Bill Kristol Extended Interview
A key ideologists of the reform opposition admits that government-run health care is the best, but Americans do not deserve it… seriously (video).
Steele: Don’t Raid Medicare To Fund Health Changes
Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele opposes a government-run health care system, as do most members of his party, but he seems to like the government-run Medicare… or does he (NPR; audio/podcast/transcript)? Joe Wilson’s Dirty Health-Care Secret
Rep. Joe the “You [President Obama] Lie” Wilson (R-SC) is passionate about stopping government-run health care… unless it’s his health care.
GOP-Cited Firm Owned By Insurance Company
Information on Lewin Group which “research” and projections data are cited by the reform opponents (SEIU).
Healthcare foes use fear, not reason
Leonard Pitts reflects on the tactics used by the opponents of the health care reform (Maiami Herald).
Who’s Afraid Of Public Insurance?
Mostly people who haven’t tried it.

ALTERNATIVE PLANS

No Alternative: An Analysis of the GOP Plan
Analysis of the health care plans by Republican Senators Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint.
A Critque of the Republican Response to Obama’s Health Care Speech
Review of the Republican response to President Obama’s health care reform speech.

LIES AND LIARS

Frank Luntz warns GOP: Health reform is popular
In a 26-page confidential report, Dr. Frank Luntz, a top Republican consultant on the language of politics, gives examples of the talking points that the opposition should use (the ones you hear all the time now).
Conservatives Push ‘End of Life’ Smear
Lies, lies, and more lies… (video).
Drag Me to Health
Republicans warn health care reform will be the worst thing ever (video).
Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back
Rebuttal to the most common lies about the health care reform with supporting data.
Truth-telling and Responsibility in Health Care
Jim Wallis talks about one important moral principle for the health-care debate: truth-telling.
Americans Lives vs. Insurance Company Profits: The Real Battle in Health Care Reform
The real story of Shona Holmes — the current poster girl for the liars slandering Canadian health care in an attempt to discredit reform — who alleges she was horribly endangered by Canada’s health care system.
Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Criticizes “Astronomical” Top Tax Rate That “Shocks The Conscience”
Fox’ claims on tax burdens debunked (video/analysis).
Call ‘Em Out: Bachmann
When it comes to lying about health reform, Michele Bachmann is in a class by herself.
Huckabee: Kennedy Was Fighting Cancer To Deny Cancer Patients Ability To Fight The Disease
Huckabee is a lier, too.

HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Bill Moyers Journal: Wendell Potter — Profits or Patients
Wendell Potter, a former health insurance insider, explains what is fundamentally wrong with the for-profit health insurance industry (PBS; video/transcript).
Rep. Stupak Questions Witnesses On Rescission Triggers
Over the past five years, almost 20,000 individual insurance policyholders have had their policies rescinded by the three insurance companies: Assurant, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint; the CEOs of these three companies confirm that they will continue the practice (video/transcript).
State attorney general targets health insurers
The nurses union said some of the companies had denial rates between 27% and 40% during the first 6 months of 2009. PacifiCare rejected 39.6% of claims it received, Cigna 32.7%, Health Net 30%, Kaiser Permanente 28.3%, and Blue Cross 27.9%.
Profit and the Insurance Industry
Ezra Klein argues that the insurance industry is not a particularly profitable industry.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) calls out health insurance company practice
Sen. Jay Rockefeller summarizes major issues with health care industry.
Sick for Profit
Do you know that UnitedHealthcare CEO Stephen Hemsley makes over $100,000/hour? What is his value added to health care?
The Health Insurance Racket
CIGNAs Edward Hanway spends his holidays in a $13 million beach house in New Jersey. Meanwhile, regular Americans are routinely denied coverage for the care they need when they need it most.
Anthem BCBS Of Maine Proclaims Entitlement To Profits, Demands Government Guarantee 3 Percent Profit
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, argued [in court] that the government must guarantee the company a 3% profit.
Someone Else’s Money
Very insightful and entertaining episode examining health care industry from different angles (NPR; audio).

POLITICS

Legislators for sale
Keith Olbermann slams members of Congress for acting more in the interests of their health industry campaign donors than their constituents who so clearly favor health care reform (MSNBC; video).
Senate Republicans Block Own Amendments on Health Care Bill
Sen. Mike Enzi (R) refuses to allow approval of 64 Republican amendments in an attempt to obstruct the process.
Bill Moyers: Robert Reich
Former Labor Secretary talks about the influence of lobbyists on policy, the economy, and the ongoing debate over health care (PBS; video/transcript).
Let Congress Go Without Insurance
Nicholas Kristof offers a modest proposal: If Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured.
The Politics of Spite
If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
The End of Politics
The New Republic and the American Prospect both had good editorials this month on the underlying realities of our politics that have been exposed by health care.
Alan Grayson: “If the President has a BLT tomorrow, the Republicans will try to ban bacon.”
This is Alan Grayson discussing health care on the floor of the House on 10/8/09 (see also Congressman Alan Grayson Says Don’t Get Sick [HQ]; this clip includes quotes from prominent Republicans).
How Drug-Industry Lobbyists Got Their Way on Health Care
Karen Tumulty and Michael Scherer explain how the drug lobby influences the politicians.

ABORTION

Does Health Care Cover Abortion?
Steven Waldman offers a very comprehensive look at aspects of health care reform related to abortion (Wall Street Journal).
In Health Care Battle, a Truce on Abortion
Neither abortion opponents nor abortion rights advocates would use the overhaul effort to advance their agendas.
Abortion and the Baucus health care bill
PolitiFact analyzes the issue of abortion in the Baucus bill.

US VS. THEM

How Does the Quality of U.S. Health Care Compare Internationally?
This brief brings together available evidence on how quality of care in the U.S. compares to that of other countries and comments on the implications of the evidence for the health reform debate.
Sick Around the World
A Frontline documentary (available online) in which T.R. Reid examines pros and cons of health care systems in United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan (adopted universal health care in 1995), and Switzerland (adopted universal health care in 1995); there is also a good comparative summary (PBS). See also T.R. Reid’s follow-up interview with Charlie Rose. There is also an interesting interview (audio/podcast) in which T.R. Reid explains to Terry Gross (Fresh Air) the four basic health care models and how U.S. has all of them; he also describes treatment options — for his wounded shoulder — that he received in different countries (NPR).
Sick Around America
A follow-up to the “Sick Around the World” documentary that focuses on the problems with health care in the U.S. (PBS). Note: T.R. Reid did not like this sequel.
5 Myths About Health Care Around the World
T.R. Reid explains how different industrial countries implemented health care (Washington Post).
5 Myths About Our Ailing Health-Care System
Shannon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel dispel a few myths about how health care works (Washington Post).
The health of nations: here’s how Canada, France, Britain, Germany, and our own Veterans Health Administration manage to cover everybody at less cost and with better care than we do
Ezra Klein compares quality and costs of health care in Canada, France, Britain, Germany, and U.S. Veterans Health Administration (The American Prospect).
How Does the Quality of U.S. Health Care Compare Internationally?
A study by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines where the U.S. health care does well, and where it does not, as compared to other countries.
Lessons From the French Health-Care System
Compared with the U.S. health-care system, the French system covers everyone, spends less, and sees its costs rise more slowly.
Why France’s Health Care Is So Good, The Public Option So Bad and the Co-Ops So Incomplete: An Interview With Kent Conrad
Ezra Klein spoke to Conrad about what Americans can learn from other health-care systems, why he opposed the public option and what had felled the Gang of Six.
Beyond Hysterics: The Health Care Model That Works
As America agonizes over remaking health care, it might check out a private/public system that has been in place for years–the one in Germany (Forbes Journal).

OH, CANADA!

Does Canada’s Health Care System Need Fixing?
Sarah Varney discusses pluses and minuses of Canadian Health care (NPR).
Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts
Canadian doctors and health care officials speak about their health care system (video).
Canadian healthcare: Fact vs. fiction
Flaws in Canadian system due to lack of democracy and funding, not lack of privatization.

REFORM

Obama Health Care Speech
Video extracts, full video, and transcript (see a critique by Healthcare Economist).
Healthcare Napkins All
Slide show explaining the reason and purpose of health care insurance reform.
Frequently Asked Questions About Health Insurance Reform
White House answers to common questions about the reform.
Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform
White House offers some facts.
8 Questions About Health-Care Reform
Answers to common question addressing affects of the proposed health care reform on different people and economy.
Health Insurance Reform in Three Steps
A simple graph that makes the effects of the reform more clear.
What health care reform really looks like
Chart shows how health care would work under H.R. 3200.
How Does The Baucus Mark Handle The Most Contentions Issues Of Reform?
Answers to the most common questions (abortion, etc).
Explaining the excise tax: part 2
Ezra Klein explains how the proposed excise tax is supposed to work.

MEDICARE

Tapping Medicare to Pay for the Uninsured
Dean Baker comments on The New York Times article discussing the effects of the health care reform on Medicare.
Michael Steele: GOP Opposes Government Health Care, But Supports Medicare
Republican Party and Medicare (see also McConnell Opposes Medicare Cuts He Once Championed and Better Message Discipline, Please).
Health Reform and Medicare: Part I
Thomas L. Greaney reflects on the history of Medicare (see also Medicare and Health Reform: Part II).

PUBLIC OPTION

Robert Reich Explains the Public Option
Very short but clear explanation (video).
What Is the Public Option?
Tim Foley explains the meaning of the public option in the current version of the health care bill.
Grassley Flustered When Challenged By Schumer On Public Option
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) admitted that Medicare is part of the “social fabric” of America and praised the competition between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, but he could not explain why younger Americans should be afforded the same choice of coverage.
Shep Smith destroys GOP senator on public option
A voice of reason from a Fox News anchor.

HEALTH CARE IN STATES

Why We Should be Listening to Howard Dean
The Commonwealth Fund has completed a state-by-state scorecard which “assesses states’ performance on health care relative to achievable benchmarks for 38 indicators of access, quality, costs, and health outcomes.”

IMMIGRATION

Immigration + Health Care = Run Away
For ten years, our members of Congress and our Presidents from both parties told us it was intolerable for kids to have to go to the emergency room for asthma attacks… unless they weren’t born here.
Do we spend too much on immigrant health care?
Not as much as it is commonly believed.
What The Congressional Research Service Report Really Says About Immigrants And Health Care Reform
Seriously, what does it say?
Why Democrats Should Not Submit To Nativists’ Health Care Demands
Quote: “Another study by the Government Accountability Office found that documentation requirements used to prove medicaid eligibility caused thousands of eligible U.S. citizens to lose Medicaid coverage without saving taxpayers any money: for every $100 spent by taxpayers to implement documentation requirements in six states, only 14 cents were saved.”
Sen. Kay Hutchison Blames Texas Uninsured Rate On ‘Illegal Immigrant Population’
People say illegal immigrants are a large part of the uninsured population (in Texas) but according to the studies by the Texas Department of Insurance, it’s less than 20% of uninsured are illegal immigrants.
Louisiana Senator Says Health Care Reform Will Benefit Undocumented Immigrants Because “It Always Does”
In the case of Medicaid, citizenship requirements led to thousands of Americans being denied or losing coverage, new administrative costs that “far exceeded the savings” by millions of dollars, and only a small handful of undocumented immigrants were caught all within the first two years alone.
Stephanopoulos Checks Pawlenty On Verification: “They Spent $8 Million,” “Caught 8 Illegal Immigrants”
Another case in point: when Colorado passed a series of stringent measures requiring applicants for most state benefits to prove their immigration status, it cost the state $2 million in its first year alone and state officials could not prove that any undocumented immigrants applied for the program in the first place.
Shout Draws Focus to Illegal-Immigrant Issue
“Will some illegal immigrant get [help]? Probably. Will it be this big problem? Probably not,” said Gerald Prante, an economist with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
Immigrants, Health Reform, and “Lies”
This controversy should remind us that immigrants remain in a sort of health care purgatory, caught in our two most dysfunctional systems — immigration and health care.
The Case for Insuring Illegal Immigrants
The problem isn’t that health-care reform won’t include illegal immigrants. It’s that it doesn’t, and it should.
Mexico’s health care lures Americans
Thousands of American retirees have quietly found a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year… in Mexico (USA Today).
Americans Find A Retirement Haven In Paris
Forbes recommends retiring Americans to move to move abroad, partly because of great health care offered over there.

RELIGION

MSNBC Talks About President Obama’s Meeting with Religious Leaders
Jim Wallis talks with MSNBC about President Obama’s conference call with faith leaders.
Three Moral Issues of Health Care
Three fundamental moral issues that the faith community can focus on and call our political leaders back to: the truth, full access, and cost.

COST OF REFORM

The Baucus Bill: CBO Luvs It
According to Congressional Budget Office, the health care bill will keep reducing the deficit as time goes on.
Baucus: Medicaid Expansion Will Not “Cost States Nearly As Much As Was Originally Feared”
The Medicaid costs with expansion are not going to cost states nearly as much as was originally feared.
Health Reform Subsidy Calculator
Online tool that allows the user to start with the provisions from one of several proposals and examine the impact at different income levels.
CBO Estimates for the Gazillionth Time that Public Option Saves Money
No more, no less.
The Obamacare Shell Game?
Johathan Chait explains how Obama and the republicans are treating fiscal policy.

TAXES

Debunking the NY Post’s Health Care Tax Hysteria
Clear explanation of how health care tax would affect incomes: 1%-1.5% tax is on the incomes above $280K/$350K actually applies to the difference, e.g. if your income is $280,100/year (single), your health care surtax will be 1% of $100 = $1.
To Calculate Huge Top Tax Rate, Fox Pretends All Of Health Reform Will Be Paid For With Tax Increases
Fox News falsely claimed that the entirety of the $1 trillion cost of health care reform is going to paid for with tax hikes on the richest one percent of Americans; not true.
Over Ten Years, Bush Tax Cuts Cost 2.5 Times As Much As House Democrats’ Health Care Plan
Comparison of the Bush’s tax cuts to the cost of the health care reform.

“DEATH PANELS?”

Commentology: Obama and End-of-Life Care
A member of a hospital geriatric emergency team gives her perspective on end-of-life issues.

RESOURCES

Health Care Blog
Daily updates and analysis of events related to health care reform.
Wonk Room
Wonk Room follows offers analysis of economics and political news including health care issues.
Daily Kos: The State of Nation
Focuses on many issues including health care reform.
Healthcare Economist
Jason Shafrin is a Ph.D. Economist aggregates info related to healthcare policy and economics, the health insurance market and, and Medicare research.
The Health Care Blog
Everything you always wanted to know about the health care system but were afraid to ask.
Ezra Klein
Ezra Klein is an associate editor at the American Prospect; he writes on various topics including the health care reform.
Robert Reich’s Blog
Former Secretary of Labor writes about politics, economics, health care and other issues.

HUMOR

Healther Skelter – Obama Death Panel Debate
The Daily Show correspondents debate their preferred form of death panel (video).
Alright Republicans, We Give Up
Rahm Emanuel’s brother will not kill Sarah Palin’s baby (Daily Kos).
What’s Not to Like?
Jonathan Alter: Reform? Why do we need health-care reform? Everything is just fine the way it is (Newsweek).
Drag Me to Health – Universal Health Care
Sam Bee and John Oliver argue over whose country has the worst universal health care system, while Wyatt Cenac is thankful to be an uninsured American (video).
The Bright Side of Death
Satirical song about Blue Cross Blue Shield (video).
Glenn Beck’s Operation
Glenn Beck praises health care which he trashed just a little over a year ago (video).
Don’t Ruin American Healthcare!
Really funny ad (video)!!!
Protect Insurance Companies PSA
Hollywood speaks out to help insurance companies (another funny ad; video).
SNL: Update Thursday: Part 1
The real story of Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie” outburst (ha-ha; video).

TOOLS

Health Reform Subsidy Calculator
Online calculator that shows what health care premiums would cost under different proposals (bills) adjusted for various conditions (age, family size, etc).

If you have an interesting reference or data point, please leave a comment.

Rep. Lungren’s (R-CA) Town Hall Meeting

Rep. Lungren (R-CA) held a town hall meeting in Rancho Cordova yesterday. It was the last meeting out of the three-meeting series focused on health care reform. As in the other two meetings, participation was overwhelming. Although I came about 20 minutes before the meeting started, the room was full. I did not see the point of staying much longer, so I left after 30 minutes or so.

Based on what I saw and overheard, the majority, including many seniors of the Medicare age, were vehemently against the reform. Lots of folks seemed bitter about the Government in general and President Obama in particular. I could not quite figure out what they were angry about: they were dressed nice, came in expensive cars, did not seem hungry or sick, and made an impression of above-average-income earners. I heard lots of crazytalk about panels that would be evaluating people’s worth based on age before making medical decisions, socialism and Nazism coming (apparently together), and other nonsense. A lady was driving in a car along the line advertising an upcoming “Tea Party”. It was rather depressing.

I only heard the beginning of Rep. Lungren’s speech, in which he expressed a deep concern about the growing budget deficit, at which point the crown started applauding. The questions that immediately popped into my mind were: “When exactly did Rep. Lungren and his supporters turn into fiscal conservatives? Did they express the concerns about the Iraq war, Bush’s tax cuts, or the Medicare Part D?”

Anyway, I had not not expected to get a chance to ask Rep. Lungren any questions, but if I had, this is what I would’ve said:

“Mr. Lungren, do you believe that U.S. should have a system that would guarantee health care to its people — young and old, poor and rich, employed and unemployed — as in the rest of the civilized world?”

“Mr. Lungren, since you strongly oppose the public health care options, what do you think about Medicare, VA, and over government-run systems? Would you want to dismantle these services? If not, why would extending Medicare or another public program to the currently uninsured be so bad?”

“Mr. Lungren, do you believe that the goals of private insurance companies and health care providers aimed at maximizing profits (less care=more profits) conflict with the need of people to get health care? If so, what do you think about making private health care providers non-profit, as in all other capitalist democracies, such as Switzerland or Germany?”

Would’ve I gotten a chance at an honest answer? Nah, don’t think so.

On Universal Health Care

Despite my enthusiastic support of the new president, I’m rather disappointed with Barak Obama’s apparent lack of interest in leading the country to a universal health care system. I’m afraid that the feeble attempts of the office of Tom Daschle (who now heads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is most likely to be in charge of the health care reform) to reduce health care costs and make healt care more affordable (whatever this means) will do more bad than good. Nevertheless, I hope that some day the U.S.A. will join the rest of the civilized world and guarantee all its citizens — young and old, rich and poor, working and unemployed — access to health care.

Here are some facts pertaining to the U.S. health care:

• Number of uninsured (per 2007 Census): 45.7 million (15.3% of the population)
• Number of people whose health care is already covered by the government (per 2008 Census): 83 million (27.8% of the population)
• Health care spending as percent of GDP (per 2007 HHS report): 15.3% (highest among all industrial countries)
• Infant mortality (per 2008 CIA World Factbook): 6.3 per 1,000 (highest among industrial countries)

If you are interested in the subject, here are some references, which will help you learn about different aspects of universal health care in other industrial countries and efforts to bring universal health care in the U.S.A.:

Universal Health Care (blog dedicated to universal health care)
A Primer on Universal Health Care (controversies, videos, articles, actions)
House Resolution (H.R.) 676 (The United States National Health Insurance Act; “Expanded & Improved Medicare for ALL”)
Physicians for a National Health Program (a non-profit research and education organization of 15,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance)
Frontline: Sick Around the World (video: an online documentary examines how five other capitalist democracies — United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland — deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and failures; also, see a discussion with Charlie Rose and film’s director T. R. Reid)
Fresh Air: Bioethics And The Obama Administration (audio: bioethicist Arthur Caplan discusses the health care challenges facing the Obama administration)

My “This American Life” favorites

I have been listening to This American Life (a radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio) for a several months and I can say that it has become one of my favorite (non-technical) shows. This American Life may be not as well known as my other favorites, which include Fresh Air, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, and Car Talk, but it often tells the most fascinating stories. Where else can you hear about an apartment super plotting murders of his tenants, a mortgage broker making $70K per month, or foreign-born wives and husbands of U.S. citizens who are being departed from the country because their spouses die before the green card interviews.

If you haven’t heard This American Life before, each episode of the show consists of several parts which follow a common theme. A show normally starts with a short prologue, followed by one or more acts, and sometimes concluded with an epilogue.

Here are some episodes that moved me (I’ll try to keep this list updated once I hear more interesting podcasts):

379: Return To The Scene Of The Crime: I liked Act One (D-U-Why?!): Mike Birbiglia recalls being in a car accident with a hit and run drunk driver, and in the weeks that follow, Mike’s brush with death turns into a full blown nightmare when the police report is so poorly filled out that somehow Mike, winds up owing the drunk driver 12 thousand dollars … not because it’s fair, but because he can’t get anyone to listen to him. I also enjoyed Act Three (Our Man of Perpetual Sorrow): Dan Savage points a finger at the Catholic Church for being the kind of criminal organization that drives him to atheism—despite the fact that he still wants to believe he’ll see his mom in heaven someday.
375: Bad Bank: This show could’ve been part of the American Banking for Dummies series.
374: Somewhere Out There: Of all the 6 and a half billion people in the world, what are the odds that any two people are a real match? Stories from people who know they’ve beat the odds, and the lengths they’ve gone to do it—including an American professor who sings Chinese opera for anyone who’ll listen, to get one step closer to his mate, and two kids who travel halfway around the country to find each other and become best friends.
370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us: Stories of people who ruin things for everyone else…or who are accused of that. Prologue explains what happens when a bad worker joins a team. Act One tells a story about an unvaccinated 7-year-old boy who infected 11 children with measles, and caused more than 60 kids to be quarantined (interesting, especially for parents who consider not subjecting their children to immunization). In Act Two, comedian Mike Birbiglia talks about the time he ruined a cancer charity event (funny).
369: Poultry Slam 2008: Act Three — A Pastor and his Flock — tells the story about worker rights advocates who have been using the church to intervene with company management in a very, very personal way.
365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy: Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported the Giant Pool of Money episode—discuss the $700 billion bailout package passed by the U.S. Congress and Senate, and explain what regulators could’ve done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place.
364: Going Big: I liked Act One, a report about the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Baby College project, an 8-week program where young parents and parents-to-be learn how to help their children get the education they need to be successful.
363: Enforcers: Act One tells about three Internet vigilantes who spend their free time scamming Internet scammers. Act Two reports on how one of Wall Street’s main regulators, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, doesn’t seem all that interested in regulating anything.
360: Switched At Birth: It’s a fascinating story. Two infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. Find out how the truth changed two families’ lives—and how it didn’t.
359: Life After Death: Act One tells the story of what it’s like to live with being the accidental cause of someone’s death.
356: The Prosecutor: The politics of the Department of Justice (DOJ) shown through the eyes of a prosecutor-turned-into-defender.
355: The Giant Pool of Money: Dissects the forces that brought about the current housing and credit crisis.
353: The Audacity of Government: Act Two made me really angry. It tells the story of foreign nationals marrying U.S. citizens, who die before their Green Card interviews, which leads to their denial of residence by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and deportation from the country.
350: Human Resources: Act One tells a story of New York teachers, who spend months, and sometimes years, in secret rooms, while they are being investigated by the Board of Education for something they may, or may not, know they did.
349: Valentine’s Day 2008: Is a collection of not very traditional love stories.
347: Matchmakers: I liked Act One (a story about realities of love in modern day Afghanistan) and Act Three (an illustration of racial prejudices shown through a window of the toy store FAO Schwartz).
344: The Competition: Both acts offer interesting stories: one is about a group of Indian workers who have been short of enslaved by an American steel tank maker and a pastor who helped them; the other describes the act of courage by a journalist who chose not to report about a former sex offender working with kids at a local ice rink.
340: The Devil in Me: Act One tells the story of the unusual action an Iraq War veteran, who came home from the War plagued by feelings of hate and anger toward Muslims, took to change himself, and the Muslim students who helped him do it.
323: The Super: All three acts are worth listening, but I liked the first one — the story about an apartment super with mob connections and dark past — most.
322: Shouting Across the Divide: Act One offers a disturbing story about the prejudice a Palestinian family encounters in suburban America.
318: With Great Power: This episode focuses on people who have power to help and hurt other people and their decision to use or not to use this power.
304: Heretics: The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a renowned evangelical pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who cast aside the idea of Hell, and with it everything he’d worked for over his entire life.
291: Reunited (And It Feels So Good): Stories about getting back together. I really liked Act One: the story of an Iranian couple who were unhappily married for 27 years, split up, got divorced, and then, two years after that they fell in love and married each other again.

“Ghosts of Rwanda” or “Hotel Rwanda”

It’s always a bummer when you read an interesting book and then watch a movie, which does not quite meet your expectations. Maybe this is why, after seeing “Ghosts of Rwanda” (a great documentary produced by PBS), I could not bring myself to watch “Hotel Rwanda”, a move based on the same story. Even though most critics and movie goers gave it favorable reviews, I was afraid that the movie would spoil the effect of the documentary.

Nevertheless, I recently read an old post written by Scott Hanselman in which he recommended the movie, and knowing Scott’s interest and knowledge of Africa, I thought I would give it a try. After watching the movie, I can say that I liked it as well. I did not pick such subtleties mentioned by Scott as inconsistencies in names, languages, and dialects, although I suspect that being produced by Westerners for Western audiences, the movie is not 100% authentic; however, I think it is a great movie, which tells a fascinating and moving story, and it does it well.

Between the two — the move and the documentary — I still like the documentary better, so for those who saw only of them, I recommend watching the other. You should not be disappointed.

The banks are losing money… Your money!

Anyone paying attention to the news must know that financial institutions have been losing money, and they have been losing big. The amounts of write-offs are mind-boggling: Washington Mutual: $1.4 billion, Bank of America: $6.5 billion; Citigroup $13 billion… And these just first-quarter losses (for 2008).

Anyway, while banks are losing money, it’s time to check your own statements, because you may have been losing money, too. It may be a coincidence, but for some reason, within the last 3-4 weeks I was charged four times, all by mistake. First, Citibank imposed a monthly finance charge on the account I had for years. I’m sure that I met all requirements of the free account, but the charge sneaked on me, and I would not have detected it if not for a warning from Mint.com (after this notification, I came to appreciate Mint’s services). Then I received an annual charge for my free AAdvantage card (a customer service representative said that it was a mistake). Then, I got a charge for an annual credit card transaction summary, which I had never requested, nor received (I don’t even know what it’s for). Finally, one of the credit cards suddenly enrolled me in a protection plan (it’s one of these deals when they send you check for $6 or so, cashing which you get automatically enrolled in the plan; I’m pretty sure I have not cashed any such checks lately).

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but this seems very suspicious. (BTW, these incidents do not seem to be related to my identity theft issue, since these are legitimate accounts belonging to me.) Fortunately, banks agreed to reverse the charges, but if I were less attentive, I would’ve lost $50-$60 in few weeks. In the big scheme of things, $50-$60 is not a big amount, but I would rather spend it on things other than erroneous finance charges. I suspect you would, too, so go ahead and check your bank statements.

Someone stole my identity. Now what?

The 2007 tax season brought me an unpleasant surprise: my (e-filed) federal tax return was rejected. The Federal EF Rejection Diagnostics form indicated the problem:

“Reject: Error Code 0515: Your Social Security number cannot be used more than once in the return or on another return.”

Apparently someone had already filed a tax return using my name and Social Security number. A classic case of identity theft. So what do I do now?

I started by visiting the local IRS office. After waiting a couple of hours, I talked to a nice lady who appeared genuinely surprised to learn about my problem. Based on the IRS computer record, the person using my identity filed his (her?) tax return in New York, NY (I’m in Northern California). The IRS lady instructed me to send my tax return forms via regular mail and recommended to contact Social Security Administration to make sure it did not issue a duplicate number (I can’t imagine how this can happen, but who knows). She also suggested to file ID theft reports with the Federal Trades Commission (FTC) and police.

From the IRS office, I headed straight to Social Security Administration. As I suspected, my number had not been issued to anybody else (duh!) and my record (address, employer, etc) looked fine.

Then I called Equifax to set up a fraud alert. Equifax promised to alert the other two credit bureaus — Experian and TransUnion — and indeed, a few days later I received confirmation letters from both of them (I did not have to call them). I do not remember if I requested a credit report, or if it was part of the fraud alert process, but in about two weeks, I also got my credit report from Equifax (in future, I would recommend getting a credit report first, because once a fraud alert is set, getting a credit report will be more difficult). I did not find any suspicious activities in the credit report.

Next stop was the local police station (I think police reports are supposed to be filed at the department based on the home address). An officer filed an identity theft report and gave me the report number. Several days later, I got a call from an investigating officer, who said that they would’ve transferred my case to New York, but since they did not know the exact address of the scammer, they did not know which precinct should’ve handled the case. He said that they would transfer the case to IRS (I assume, to the Criminal Investigation unit).

Finally, I filed an ID theft complaint with FTC. The FTC form and instructions are a bit confusing. For example, in one section, it asks for the information related to police report (name of police department where report was filed, report number), but the instructions tell you to take the FTC complaint form to police so it can be filled there. I guess the order does not matter as long as both FTC and police are notified.

About a month later, I called IRS to check out the status of my case. I did not find out much. An IRS representative mentioned that me that my tax return still listed the New York address (which, I assume is phony) and that the case was handled by a different department. She said that I should expect IRS to contact me within 45 days of the call. I think this is the same promise I heard in the IRS office, but it has not been 45 days, yet, so I’ll be waiting. Based on accounts of other people who experienced the same problem, I do not expect a quick resolution. I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, here are some suggestions for people who run into a similar problem.

First, report the problem to IRS. Either visit a local IRS office or call the advertised number (1-800-829-1040; you may need to check the number in case it changes). If you call, you need to navigate the maze of voice prompts to get to a real person, and you may get a message saying that there are too many callers. Don’t give up, try calling at a different time. For example, I had to wait about 10 minutes around 4 PM PST on Monday before reaching a person, while a few hours before I got disconnected because of the high call volume. When you talk to an IRS representative, try to find as much about the thief as possible (reported address, date when tax return was filed, etc). Also record the representative’s name and ID. And mark the date, so you do not forget to follow up if you do not hear from IRS within 45 days. Second, contact Social Security Administration to verify your personal information: address, employer, etc. It’s very unlikely that someone else gets your Social Security number, but check it just in case. Third, request credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and then set up a fraud alert (you can set up a fraud alert at on of the credit bureaus). Forth, file a police report with your local police department. Record the report number. Fifth, submit an ID theft complaint to FTC. Finally, call IRS again to verify that your case is being investigated.

Here are some helpful links:
What can I do if I think someone has filed a tax return using my social security number?
What To Do If Your Personal Information Has Been Compromised
Identity Theft and Your Tax Records
Has Your Identity Been Stolen?
ID Theft Complaint Instructions
Recover From Identity Theft
Your Access to Free Credit Reports
Helping Victims

More on IRS and identity theft in the news:
IRS Promises Identity Theft Protection in Testimony to Senate Committee
IRS chief to tackle identity theft

UPDATE: My case was eventually resolved in July 2008 with the help from Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). After a trip to a local IRS office and three phone calls which despite the promises led nowhere, an IRS representative suggested that I open a case with TAS, which I did (actually, the same IRS representative opened the case for me). Within a few days, I got a phone call from a TAS worker, who was genuinely nice and seemed to be eager to help me. She asked me to mail (or fax) her a copy of my tax return, police report, and documents confirming my identity. She promised to call me back in a couple of weeks and gave me the timeline (i.e. when I could expect the case to be resolved, etc). She called me a few more times to inform me on the progress and finally, when I got my return (with small interest), to close the case. Overall, I was very impressed with the TAS service. She told me that may file was marked in case someone tries to use my SSN for tax return in future, so I’ll see how it goes in 2009.

Merry Christmas!

Here is a sweet Christmas animation — created by the award-winning Russian animator Mikhail Aldashin — that you may enjoy:

Best wishes!