Healthcare and Politics are the heavy hitters tonight. I always feel like I missed something. Feel free to add articles to this in comments. I have a post to complete on the costs and prices on Pharma. You know there is a difference. Politicians usually talk about one or the other. A while back Germany was wondering if the pharma companies would accept their new pharma schedules. It is a reasonable doubt. How would one know if they did not understand all of the costs. The US embarks on a similar mission. I am wondering how this will play out for 20 drugs. In Politics, I am looking at the DeSantis news. This may catch up with him yet very much like Federal Judge Dearie’s decision to wrap everything up by October 7th for trump. Can Judge Cannon or
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run75441 considers the following as important: Healthcare, In-Box, Journalism, law, politics, US/Global Economics
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Angry Bear writes And It Makes No Difference Whether the Needed Fifth Vote is Missing Because . . .
Healthcare and Politics are the heavy hitters tonight. I always feel like I missed something. Feel free to add articles to this in comments. I have a post to complete on the costs and prices on Pharma. You know there is a difference. Politicians usually talk about one or the other. A while back Germany was wondering if the pharma companies would accept their new pharma schedules. It is a reasonable doubt. How would one know if they did not understand all of the costs. The US embarks on a similar mission. I am wondering how this will play out for 20 drugs.
In Politics, I am looking at the DeSantis news. This may catch up with him yet very much like Federal Judge Dearie’s decision to wrap everything up by October 7th for trump. Can Judge Cannon or will Judge Cannon oppose him? Battle of the judges ? The next few weeks are going to be interesting.
Ronald Dion DeSantis may yet have some squirming to do.
Hope all is well by you.
Worldly Things
“Union workers and rail companies avoid a major strike in the US” — Quartz (qz.com), Ananya Bhattacharya, Until yesterday (Sept. 14), nine unions had agreed to a deal—two have ratified the agreement, one has rejected it—while three others were still sitting at the bargaining table. But today (Sept. 15), US president Joe Biden celebrated a tentative agreement that “will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy,” the Associated Press reported.
“China and the Lore of American Manufacturing” | The New Yorker, E. Tammy Kim, Ohio’s recent industrial history is largely one of departure. Factories of all kinds have been lost not only to China but to the right-to-work South. “nafta” is still a bad word. Government officials at all levels have tried desperately to keep manufacturing jobs in place, mostly by awarding subsidies to firms.
“Ken Burns Turns His Lens on the American Response to the Holocaust” | The New Yorker, James McAuley, In 1933, all is still to come: the inhuman brutality of the Holocaust is still beyond the comprehension of well-to-do Jewish families like the Franks, and most everyone else. But now, after the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, in January of that year, it is clear that something in the air has shifted.
Healthcare
“Swiss regulator gives green light to first drug to prevent Covid-19,” SWI swissinfo.ch., This authorisation means that the drug, which is administered as an injection, can now be reimbursed by the federal government or health insurance under certain conditions. Evusheld, which is an antibody combination of Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab, is intended for people 12 years and older who aren’t able to build up sufficient immune defenses against Covid-19 from vaccines.
“About 50% of Latinas in Georgia are uninsured, new study shows” | 11alive.com, Paola Suro, Nearly half of women of reproductive age who identify as Latinas in Georgia are uninsured – 45.9%, according to a study recently published by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Angelica Salazar Jimenez makes up part of that percentage. For her, it’s about the high costs.
“Violence Against Nurses Worse Than Ever, Analysis Finds” | MedPage Today, Sophie Putka, On average, 57 nurses are assaulted every day in the U.S. That’s two nurses attacked every hour, according to a Press Ganey analysis using data from 2022.
“House Bill Would Fix Glitch in Medicare Non-Emergency Ambulance Transport Program” | MedPage Today, Joyce Frieden, Introduction of a bill in the House on Thursday that is aimed at fixing problems with Medicare’s program for non-emergency ambulance transport for certain low-income beneficiaries,
“Lindsey Graham’s Federal “Late-Term” Abortion Ban Is a Lie” (theintercept.com), Natasha Lennard, Graham’s proposal bans all abortions after 15 weeks with few exceptions, beyond risk to the mother’s life and cases of rape or incest, applicable only after fulfilling typically burdensome reporting requirements. Contrary to several spurious claims in the bill’s text, 15 weeks is an arbitrary time frame,
“Deconstructed: Democrats Could Codify Roe,” (theintercept.com), If women angered at the overturning of Roe v. Wade turn out at rates like we’re seeing in special elections and voter registration numbers, Democrats have a real chance to keep the House and Senate.
“Mass Shootings In The United States: Population Health Impacts And Policy Levers” | Health Affairs, Aparna Soni and Erdal Tekin, The United States is experiencing a gun violence epidemic, and mass shootings are one of its most tragic manifestations. During the past four decades, mass shootings have caused at least 1,000 deaths and another 1,500 injuries in the United States.
“The Relentless Momentum of the Status Quo in Healthcare” | MedPage Today, John G. Singer, The American Way of healthcare is protected by many weapons of mass entrenchment. Shaped by information asymmetries sustaining the businesses positioned as “control points” in the current system of markets. The calcification runs thick, and strategy born with yesterday’s economic thinking will always win the war for budget.
Legal
“Judiciary Gone Rogue: Federal Judge Overreaches in Georgia Medicaid Waiver Case” – Center For Children and Families (georgetown.edu), Leonardo Cuello, On August 19, 2022, a Federal District Court issued a decision vacating the Biden recission. Governor Kemp won the first round of the lawsuit, but only at the expense of Georgians, who may be stuck with a Medicaid expansion that would cover a small fraction of the population at a much higher cost per person.
“Judge invalidates ACA requirement to cover PrEP, other preventive care,” (statnews.com), Bob Herman, A federal judge in Texas has ruled that parts of the Affordable Care Act mandating health insurance companies cover many preventive services and drugs for free are unconstitutional. Judge Reed O’Connor also said the ACA’s requirement that health plans cover HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, at no cost violates religious freedom law. Here we go again . . .
What Seem Right . . .
“Billionaire Patagonia founder gives away company” (bangkokpost.com), The New York Times, A half-century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away. This article originally appeared in The New York Times
“Biden administration announces initiatives to develop floating offshore wind turbines” | CNN Politics, Ella Nilsen, Interior announced a new goal Thursday of adding 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind power capacity by 2035 – which alone could be enough to power up to 5 million American homes, Haaland said. That goal is in addition to Interior’s plan to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
International
“U.S. to Release Stolen Afghan Central Bank Funds to Swiss Bank,” (theintercept.com), Ryan Grim, US is preparing to announce the release of a significant portion of seized Afghan central bank funds after months of silence. The funds will be transferred to the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
“Do Russia’s military setbacks increase the risk of nuclear conflict?” | The Economist, The spectacular collapse of Vladimir Putin’s army in Kharkiv province has revived concerns that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons. “I fear that they will strike back now in really unpredictable ways,”
“China’s property crisis hasn’t gone away: it is getting worse” | The Economist, More than two-thirds of urban households’ wealth is tied up in property and the industry underpins a fifth of gdp. The housing market is slumping into a deepening hole, dragging the economy down and even causing small outbreaks of social unrest.
Politics
“DeSantis’s Heartless Migrant Stunt Provides a Preview of 2024,” | The New Yorker, America’s red and blue states are engaged in a “new politics of confrontation.” As if on cue, Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who often seems as if he is campaigning to succeed Donald Trump as the nation’s Provoker-in-Chief, staged his latest political stunt: using Florida taxpayers’ money to charter two planes to fly about fifty undocumented migrants, mostly Venezuelan, to Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis was not even relocating the group from his own state—the flights originated in Texas.
“The Missing Data Behind Manchin’s Dirty Pipeline Deal,” (levernews.com), David Sirota and Julia Rock, To deflect questions about why fossil fuel companies were celebrating the bill, party leaders and their media acolytes pointed to studies — one by an institution with ties to fossil fuel giants — asserting that even with its provisions expanding oil and gas development, the legislation would result in a huge net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
“Biden Says US Would Defend Taiwan From a China Attack on 60 Minutes” – ABC News, Ben Gittleson and Adam Carlson, President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. would militarily defend Taiwan if China were to attack — reiterating, again, his support for the island as Beijing responded with disapproval.
“Replacement theory in the US” – The one-handed economist (one-handed-economist.com), David Zetland, The racist part arises from the vapid conception of “race” and/or “White” which rests on no biological or scientific facts. As anyone can tell you, every country (or tribe or community) has its own ideas of race, purity, etc. (Here are some of my earlier thoughts on race.
“Fossil Fuel Industry Wants Free Speech for Corporations but Not Citizens,” (theintercept.com), Amy Westervelt, In her Committee on Natural Resources hearing, Porter highlighted the role PR firms play in blocking climate policy. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, and his selected witness, Amy Cooke, CEO of the conservative John Locke Foundation, expressed concern that preventing companies and their hired PR firms from spreading misinformation about climate change would have a chilling effect on free speech. Is free speech spreading lies and misinformation?
“Will Medicaid’s “great unwinding” when the PHE ends trigger a “great uninsuring?,” xpostfactoid, The moratorium will end when the federal government declares an end to the Public Health Emergency, which will happen in mid-January 2023 at the earliest (the PHE has been extended repeatedly in 3-month increments).
“Ted Cruz forced to admit trafficking migrants to Martha’s Vineyard is illegal in Sean Hannity interview” | The Independent, Graeme Massie, Ted Cruz was forced to admit by Sean Hannity the transportation of undocumented migrants from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard by Ron DeSantis was likely illegal. The Florida governor has been widely criticized for flying two planeloads of Venezuelans to the upscale island. Horrified they were not, the islanders gave them room, bread, and sanctuary.
Best of the Substacks
“The “little Eichmann, Steve Schmidt, The Warning (substack.com), Ron DeSantis is a “little Eichmann.” Twenty years after the Nazi who planned the logistics of the Holocaust was hanged in Jerusalem, the man who interrogated him gave the world a warning. It should be heeded. Avner Less: “There are Adolph Eichmanns everywhere, they are all around us, but harmless and latent in a democracy. The danger comes if democracy falls.”
“Home Is A Hole Where The Soul Goes,” Weldon Berger, (substack.com), Yesterday we wrote about a Swedish political party, Sweden Democrats, which was founded by neo-Nazis and other flavors of racist fascists and is now the second largest party in the Swedish parliament, after learning how to tone down the “Heils!” The Republican party in the U.S. is following a mirror image path, ever more clearly embracing fascism.
“September 19, 2022,” Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson, (substack.com), “The protection of law—the Rule of Law—is the foundation of our system of government,” the attorney general said. “The Rule of Law means that the same laws apply to all of us, regardless of whether we are this country’s newest citizens or whether our [families] have been here for generations.”
“What News was in My In-Box – Angry Bear,” (angrybearblog.com), September 14, 2022
“What News was in My In-Box – Angry Bear,” (angrybearblog.com), September 7, 2022