When healthcare providers end up really being healthcare deniers

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

I got the email below on Jan 1, 2024.  This pt’s story is not a unique issue. Another example of bureaucrats and politicians attempting to “solve” our fabricated opioid crisis by creating a “one size fits all” on pain management.

After having this blog for 12-13 yrs, I have developed a fairly sizeable network of chronic pain pts, chronic pain advocates, and numerous healthcare practitioners.  I shared this woman’s email with a couple of select people that I believed might be able to STEP UP. And one did:

When a pt’s long term medical records mean nothing when seeing a new practitioner

When everything seemed to start to fall into place for this young lady. This young lady’s pharmacist and the mid-level practitioner who was forcing her to reduce her pain meds had to step in to make sure that things were not going to change the way that this mid-level practitioner wanted things to happen. Here is a video this young lady sent that she personally explains what has happened.

Hi Steve,

I have sent you my story before. I am a single disabled palliative care sick patient in Maine. In September of 2021, my doctor and I were targeted by the assistant attorney general, Michael Miller. We think it was for 2 reasons-he was very effective at getting patients disability, testings, procedures, equipment, etc and because I require a high dose of opiates to physically and mentally function. Dr. Lommler believes Michael Miller made a deal with the insurance companies and profited somehow for taking him out. Michael Miller used at least 2 agencies to target, harass, and destroy us. They suspended Dr. Lommler’s license for going over the 100 MME limit on my prescription. However, Maine has a palliative care exemption that allows people (like me) to have access to opiates for pain control and disease treatment options. It also allows us to go over the 100 MME limit. They refused to lift the suspension unless he transferred to a “board approved” facility. He chose to retire because he wanted to stay at his independent office with his 200 complicated and unique patients. They gave neither one of us any due-process! They used backdoor methods and I believe they were illegal! There was a covering LNP seeing me for a year. We tried to find a doctor everywhere in Maine to see me but because of the Opiate Task Force and doctors getting red-flagged for going over the 100 MME limit and being dragged in front of the board, no one would see me. I was forced to transition to the hospital where all of my specialists are. You see, Maine and New Hampshire were the 2 states prescribing the most Opiates so they created a New England Opiate Task Force and sent them to work with the Governor Mill’s administration to red-flag doctors prescribing over the 100 MME limit and drag them in front of the board of medicine! They have forced independent providers to either retire or transfer to a “board approved” facility. These “board approved” facilities all have anti-opiate one-size-fits-all policies. The hospital that I am at has an anti-opiate provider masquerading as a “pain specialist.” She believes Opiates are life threatening and dangerous to everyone. She is force tapering me off all my pain medication! I am complicated and unique-I have multiple health conditions. I had an original medical nightmare that left me with life altering physical deformities and severe debilitating pain. I have Crohn’s disease, vitamin and bone deficiencies, and neuropathy-all of these cause malabsorption so I have to take double doses of all of my medication! I cannot have the conventional pain management treatments because I am allergic to everything and sensitive to anything and I have a prosthetic heart valve. I have Scoliosis and severe Osteoporosis with dangerously low Scores. I am 46 in an 86 year old’s body.
They are stereotyping anyone on opiates as addicts and forcing them off pain medication. The only option they give you is Suboxone-I cannot take this because the side effects would be catastrophic to my body. I had nothing but recovery and progress with my 8 1/2 year stable pain regimen. I was able to semi function independently with a decent quality of life. Since this provider has been force tapering me, I can no longer function independently at all and I have zero quality of life! According to Maine’s own definition and standards, what this facility and provider are doing to me is disability abuse! I tried to contact patient services for an advocate but was told there wasn’t one. The woman I spoke with for 2 minutes, asked me what my concerns were. I explained to her what was happening to me. 2 days later I received a letter stating my concerns were forwarded to the Medical Director and Operations Manager and they agree with the provider force tapering me. They also said there was no medical justification for my pain medication. I filed a public accommodation discrimination complaint with the Maine’s Human Rights Commission but haven’t heard a word since intake months ago! The letter gave an 800 number to call if you disagreed with their decision. It was the board of licensure telling you to submit a complaint. I already filed a complaint with the board of medicine and nurses months ago. So, you have to go to the same people that are red-flagging and harassing doctors going over the 100 MME limit. I won’t hold my breath! These are the same people that asked Dr. Lommler how he didn’t know that I was taking half of my pain medication and selling the other half! Dr. Lommler provided them with 7 1/2 years worth of passed urine screens and passed frequent random pill counts! I wasn’t even allowed to attend or participate into the investigation into my opiate use-I could’ve answered that question myself-I have never misused my pain medication! In fact, I did everything that I was supposed to do! How in the world can I trust they will help me!
Since this provider has been forcing me off my pain medication, I have had sky high blood pressures-202/129, severe bloody noses, I have been discharged from aquatic therapy-which I needed to get into my Crow Walker boot, I am completely dependent on my sons, I have had to quit tutoring for supplemental income, I can no longer walk on my crutches so I am trapped in my wheelchair, and I cannot mentally or physically function! My counselor and former providers have tried talking with this provider but she refuses to listen because she knows best. I had to spend my Christmas in the ER and I am now watching my right leg and foot do exactly what my left leg and foot did in my original medical nightmare. When my body is in severe stress, my multiple conditions play off of one another and wreak havoc on my body. Last time, the severe stress was an allergic reaction to hardware (we didn’t know why at the time, it took years to figure it out). This time, it is force tapering my pain medication! This time, it’s the providers choice to force taper me because of her personal feelings about a medication! Medical providers are supposed to do what is in the best interest of the patient, not what is in the best interest of their personal feelings! I have cellulitis in my right leg and foot with ulcers everywhere! I maintain my left leg and foot with Cuban for compression. I tried to wrap my right leg and foot but it’s not used to being wrapped, and I get continuous Charley Horses. They are intolerable with all of my pain medication being taken away! I have severe PTSD and zero trust in doctors from my original medical nightmare! I never ever wanted to go back to that sick person trapped in a wheelchair, I thought I left it behind for ever! This time, I don’t have a heart valve to lose! I am petrified and profoundly devastated because I worked so hard for 8 1/2 years to recover and progress and now that has been destroyed! I see people helping doctors that have been arrested but what about people, like me, who have been targeted, harassed, discriminated against, and literally going through disability abuse-who tells our story and helps us?
My counselor gave me a brochure for adult protective services and she told me to call because what they are doing to me is discrimination and disability abuse. I called and the lady said there is no process for this situation. She told me that it does qualify but the only thing I can do is file a complaint with the board of medicine and nurses because they are the only entities that have authority and jurisdiction over medical providers. I told her that I already filed complaints but it will take months because they only meet one day a month! I told her my body won’t make it that long and I asked her, “what if I die in the meantime?” She said, “let’s hope it doesn’t come to that but good luck!” WHAT? It’s like a nightmare that I cannot wake up from! I have contacted every politician in Maine and asked for their help. Crickets…I requested assistance from Governor Mills but she doesn’t even think she has to answer to her constituents. I have reached out to every volunteer lawyer’s projects and disability rights groups but they all claim no to have the resources to help me. I have documented, taken pictures, recorded videos, screenshot messages from my portal between her and I, audio recorded my video appointments exposing her discrimination and disability abuse! I cannot find an attorney in Maine to help me. This provider only saw me one time in person! She never looked at any areas causing my pain, she’s not monitoring my vitals or everything that is happening to me, she doesn’t even have the correct MRI’s-she’s going by a 2008 one when I was a normal person and could walk on my own, and she’s retaliating against me for filing a complaint! I need help and I don’t know where or who to go to! I even have an appointment with cancer care, January 23rd. I have MGUS and the blood work markers and symptoms all point to it turning into Multiple Myeloma. I asked her to please pause the force taper until I can get into my appointment. She said, “Oxycodone will not cure Multiple Myeloma so the force taper will continue!” How cruel is that!
I was hoping that you may have some direction or advice to help me. If I knew how to file a civil lawsuit against the hospital and provider, I would do it myself. Since September of 2021, I have had to be my own advocate, case manager, and attorney!
I already missed about 6 years of my sons’ lives because of my original medical nightmare! I can do no physical activity without my pain medication! I really don’t think my body will make it through this force taper! Opiates are literally life saving for me! They knew that I wouldn’t be able to find another doctor to see me and Michael Miller and the board of medicine took 2 doctors from me! The provider force tapering me filed a complaint against the LNP that saw me for a year. In it, she said that she felt compelled because Kaye endangered my life by prescribing these life threatening and dangerous medications. She also accused me of bribing Kaye in her complaint. That is ludicrous-I have never bribed anyone! Kaye made it very clear in her response that no one forced or bribed her. She also made it clear that I was the only patient she ever prescribed narcotics for in her entire medical career! I have been accused of selling half of my pain medication and bribing doctors! I am a law abiding Mainer and American just trying to live my life!
Thank you for taking your time to read my email. You can reach me any time at xxx.xxx.xxxx

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

most societies/communities have 1 or more agitators, disruptors, false prophets, scammers, traitors, saboteurs and cult leaders

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Pharmaciststeve

Some believe our country is on the verge of a Civil War, they may be right, but it won’t be a bilateral war like our last Civil War..  Our society has voluntarily divided itself in – for lack of a better description – TRIBES.

The chronic pain community is not all that different from our country of as a whole.

Recently a fellow chronic pain pt who had been advocating for end stage pediatric pts in a large hospital system that has a “no opiate” policy.  All of a sudden the advocated was told that he was no longer permitted to advocate for these end of life pediatric cancer pts.  I suppose that this major hospital system will return to treating these pediatric pts with NSAIDS and Acetaminophen and let them live the rest of their lives in a torturous level of pain.

There are rumors as to who said what and to whom… I am not going to elaborate. However, they know who they are and what was said to cause this to happen.  One can only imagine the deprived mental status of those who have been involved in this.

Some have told me that this tribe of malcontents have monetized chronic pain pts’- personal information  and several other covert processes. I started my blog in 2012 and have tried to motivate and educate chronic pain pts in some ways that they can navigate their way to getting their pain management back.  Some chronic painers have told me that I should charge for my advice.  My Pharmacy degree, license and career has provided for Barb and myself a comfortable retirement.

After this issue with these end of life pediatric pts,  Going forward… I am going to ASK of people that want my advice to make a contribution to one of the four national charities listed below, these are all about THE KIDS… and charities we support.  Maybe in some small way, my advice can help more than just one person/family. 

 

https://www.stjude.org/ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – deals with kids dealing with cancer and/or life threatening health issues

https://lovetotherescue.org/ Shriners Hospital – deals with kids, born with “broken bodies” and birth defects

https://rmhc-kentuckiana.org/ Ronald Mc Donald House – this is near us and just a few blocks from a very large regional pediatric hospital ,3 other major hospitals within blocks, one being a teaching hospital and having the only LEVEL ONE TRAUMA CENTERS for 100 miles and part of a medical university and  helps provide housing for families with kids in the hospital

https://t2t.org/ Tunnel to Towers Foundation – helps get handicapable housing for veterans, first responders with “broken bodies” , families with spouse/parent killed in the line of duty and Gold Star Families

 

 

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

ProPublica Creates a Tool to Hold Payers Accountable

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

ProPublica Creates a Tool to Hold Payers Accountable

https://www.daily-remedy.com/propublica-creates-a-tool-to-hold-payers-accountable/

Series: Uncovered: How the Insurance Industry Denies Coverage to Patients

Health insurers reject millions of claims for treatment every year in America. Corporate insiders, recordings and internal emails expose the system and its harm.

Just outside public view, the American health insurance industry’s algorithms, employees and executives process tens of millions of claims for people seeking medical care.

Sometimes, as ProPublica has reported, insurers base decisions on what’s good for the company’s bottom line rather than what’s good for the patient’s health. Sometimes, insurers make mistakes. In one case we learned about, a company denied a child’s treatment because it based its judgment on adult guidelines instead of pediatric ones. In another, an internal reviewer misread what type of surgery the patient sought and denied coverage based on that error.

At first, these patients had no idea why they were denied treatment. But in each instance, insurance employees left a paper trail — in notes, emails or recordings of phone calls — explaining what happened. Patients and advocates used what they found in those records to craft appeals and ultimately receive the care they needed.

Federal law and regulations require insurers to hand over exactly this sort of information in response to a written request. And they have to do it fast: Most people who get insurance through an employer should get the records, called claim files, within 30 days.

There’s just one catch: Some insurers aren’t turning files over like they’re supposed to. We followed ProPublica readers through the process with five different insurers. Several companies only shared documents with patients after we reached out.

Our team discovered how useful claim files can be after a patient shared internal notes and calculations that a health insurer had made about his case. But few health insurers advertise this service or offer clear instructions for getting these records. To help fill that gap, we published a guide explaining how to submit a claim file request. We also shared resources with health care providers and patient advocates nationwide, including request letter templates.

More than 120 people have told us that they have since requested or intend to request their claim files. Though a handful say they received information that helped them understand why their health insurer denied coverage, many more have been running into challenges. They’ve told us about insurers blowing past deadlines, wrongly requiring subpoenas and — in several cases — misinterpreting their request entirely.

We shared a summary of these examples with Tim Hauser, a deputy assistant secretary with the Department of Labor. His office oversees claim file laws that cover more than 131 million people. He said insurers who fail to provide records are breaking the law. “The claimant really needs to be able to see what the relevant evidence is so that they can respond to it,” he said.

We brought our findings to five insurance companies. We presented them with details about the requests patients had made and how the company had responded, and we asked for an explanation of what happened in each case.

All of the insurers acknowledged that the patients were entitled to the material they’d asked for. Four began sending the files after our inquiry. Two, spokespeople told us, are updating policies to handle future requests. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield spokesperson Michael Bowman said the company needed to better train staff on the rules “to close any gaps to prevent this from occurring in the future.” Cigna spokesperson Justine Sessions admitted that patients do not need a subpoena to access their records, contrary to what the insurer had told a member. She said the company would update its “policies and communications to reflect that for future requests. We regret that we did not make these updates sooner and apologize for any frustration or confusion this has caused our customers.”

By crowdsourcing people’s experiences, we identified some patterns in health insurers’ behavior. Here are some of the most common issues people encountered — and what to watch out for if you submit your own request:

Insurers Asking for Unnecessary Subpoenas or Court Orders

Cigna and Anthem told members that they would need to obtain a court order or subpoena to access their claim file records.

“This is completely unheard of,” said Wells Wilkinson, a senior attorney with the nonprofit legal group Public Health Advocates who regularly files these requests. “It also sounds completely illegal. The consumer has the right to any information used by the health plan in the context of the denial.”

On July 12, Lisa Kays, a Maryland resident, asked Cigna for phone call records related to its decision to deny coverage for her 4-year-old son’s speech therapy. “We couldn’t afford to just give up,” Kays said.

In September, Cigna sent her a letter saying she would need to submit a subpoena to get any transcripts or recordings.

After ProPublica inquired, the company sent Kays partial transcripts of the calls. It also reimbursed her for some of the previously denied coverage. She is still waiting for the recordings.

We asked Anthem about a similar case. On July 19, a call center agent told Pamela Tsigdinos she would need a subpoena to receive her claim file records. Tsigdinos had submitted the request 50 days earlier.

Bowman, the Anthem spokesperson, told us the response was an error and apologized. The company compiled the claim file and sent it to Tsigdinos.

Insurers Confusing Claim File Requests With Appeals

At least five people told ProPublica that, after submitting a request for a claim file, their health insurer mistook the request for an appeal.

We brought three cases to UnitedHealthcare. S.J. Farris requested her claim file from the company on May 10. Five days later, she received a response stating that her request for an appeal had been received. Farris sent a clarifying letter but was met with a call from an appeals agent based in Ireland. “I asked her to send the claim files,” Farris said. “She had no idea what I was talking about.”

After ProPublica sent the company questions, Farris received a call from UnitedHealth in October. They told her that the insurer was working on her claim file and that she should expect it soon. In a statement to ProPublica, UnitedHealth spokesperson Maria Gordon Shydlo said: “We take our responsibility to provide members access to their records seriously and have processes in place to comply with the law. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”

After Beth Tolley sent Anthem a claim file request on behalf of her granddaughter, she received a letter from the health insurer stating, “We’ve received a request from Beth Tolley for an appeal.” This left Tolley confused since, in its last communication, Anthem had said all avenues of appeal with its office had been exhausted.

In early October, Anthem sent the Tolley family a check for the amount it had initially declined to cover. Bowman told ProPublica that the company would be sending the records soon.

Insurers Blowing Past the 30-Day Deadline

For most people who get insurance through their employers, insurers are required to send claim files back within 30 days, according to federal law.

Twelve of the people whose requests ProPublica followed did not receive their records within that time frame even though they had these types of plans. Five of those had been waiting for responses from their insurers for more than 70 days before ProPublica contacted the companies with questions.

Isabella Gonzalez submitted a claim file request via certified mail on Aug. 8. When she called Aetna to get an update, a representative told her they did not see it in the system and advised her to upload it onto the insurer’s online portal, which she did. She called back a few days later. A different customer service employee told her Aetna would respond in 45 days.

Alex Kepnes, the executive director of communications for Aetna, said the company at first did not recognize what Gonzalez was asking for and therefore did not respond to it.

Kepnes declined to respond to follow-up questions about why staff failed to correctly identify the request and whether the company would be taking action to ensure this does not happen again.

Other companies that failed to follow the 30-day timeline include UnitedHealth, Anthem and Cigna.

“It’s really important that these responses be timely,” said Hauser, the Department of Labor official. “If that’s not happening, it’s really contrary to the regulation.”

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

FTC makes strides to boost competition and hold PBMs accountable

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

FTC makes strides to boost competition and hold PBMs accountable

https://ncpa.org/newsroom/qam/2024/04/24/ftc-makes-strides-boost-competition-and-hold-pbms-accountable

Two pieces of news about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that will affect the health care community. Chair Lina Khan revealed this week that an update into the agency’s investigation of pharmacy benefit managers will be released in the coming months, far sooner than planned, bowing to pressure from Congress and taking into account NCPA’s tireless advocacy efforts. (In March, NCPA co-hosted a Small Business Rising Coalition event with Khan, and earlier this month, Khan participated in a roundtable of community pharmacists in Pennsylvania co-hosted by NCPA—among the first organizations to cheer the FTC when it launched its inquiry into insurer PBM practices in 2022.) The second piece of news will have a broader impact on the health care industry. On Tuesday, the FTC finalized a rule banning noncompete agreements for all American workers—agreements that hospitals have widely used for years to retain their physicians and prevent them from bouncing to another hospital. “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism, including from the more than 8,500 new startups that would be created a year once non-competes are banned,” said Khan in an FTC press release. “The FTC’s final rule to ban non-competes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.” To counter, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to block the noncompete ban, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and other outlets. This is an ongoing story and we’ll keep you posted.

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

APDF goes to Washington DC to lobby members of Congress -042424

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Filed under: General Problems | 5 Comments »

New Cash Rx Discount Card that won’t take everyone to the cleaner

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

It is becoming more and more evident that the PBM industry – the top 4-5 PBM companies controls ~ 90% of all third-party Rxs. Below are a couple of recent posts on my blogs that show how these PBM’s are financially screwing both the pts and especially the independent pharmacies.  I had my own independent pharmacy for 20 yrs, my heart belongs to that group of pharmacists.  Below is a link for a new “Rx discount card” that has been cobbled together by a group of independent pharmacists, that I have belonged to since its creation a year or so ago.  I just got this email announcement about this new “cash discount card”. They did not ask me to promote it, nor do I make any money for doing so.  The graphic on this page does not have active hyperlinks. Click on the last hyperlink below to go to the original graphic where the hyperlinks are active.

https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/pbm-rebate-schemes-to-suppress-biosimilar-humira-cost-patients-6b-iqvia-analysis-finds/

https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/cash-crunch-pushes-independents-to-the-brink-data-shows-pbms-the-cause/

https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/pts-being-robbed-at-the-pharmacy-counter-and-totally-unaware-of-it/

https://www.rphally.com/rx-savings-card?cid=d95d02e9-fc60-4549-88eb-30c1035c7ed1

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

APDF goes to Washington DC to lobby members of Congress -042324

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

The Biden administration has finalized new Title IX regulations:new regulations officially add “gender identity”

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Biden revises Title IX

protections for pregnancy,trans people and assault victims

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/biden-revises-title-ix-protections-for-pregnancy-trans-people-and-assault-victims/ar-AA1njyNs

The Biden administration has finalized new Title IX regulations that codify protections for transgender people, as well as enhance protections for victims of sexual assault or harassment and pregnant people.

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement on the revision. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”

The new regulations officially add “gender identity” onto the list of protections from sex-based discrimination for the first time, though the administration said it has already been applying this standard.

A decision on the administration’s proposed Title IX rule that would prohibit a blanket ban on transgender athletes from participating on teams aligned with their gender identity was not included in today’s announcement. That process is still ongoing, according to a senior administration official.

The Title IX update also now offers full protection from all “sex-based harassment,” broadening the definition to include “sexual violence and unwelcome sex-based conduct that creates a hostile environment by limiting or denying a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from a school’s education program or activity.”

These changes roll back the narrowed definitions of sexual harassment implemented by former President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The regulations update also enhances protections for students, employees, and applicants against discrimination “based on pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions.”

The final regulations, which take effect Aug. 1, also require increased accountability for schools in promptly responding to information about misconduct based on sex discrimination, according to the Biden administration.

Schools will be required to train employees “about the school’s obligation to address sex discrimination, as well as employees’ obligations to notify or provide contact information for the Title IX Coordinator” and strengthen requirements for schools conducting “reliable and impartial” investigations of all complaints.

“These regulations make crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and that respect their rights,” Cardona said.

The original Title IX law was < 100 WORDS. This new proposed change is > 1000 PAGES. It seems that no matter if a person has Chromosomes “XX” or “XY” historically the determination of the “sex” of a human. If this becomes law, each individual can arbitrarily decide which “sex” they identify as.

Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »

Payvider: Health Insurance Payer and Healthcare Provider Combination Explained

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

APDF goes to Washington DC to lobby members of Congress

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

Two Years And $113 Billion Later, D.C.’s ‘America Last’ Crew Has No Plan For Ending The Russia-Ukraine War

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

When you look into the rearview mirror, “we” seem to like to be “in a war”. The last time that we won a war was 1945 – almost 80 years ago – and that took TWO A-BOMBS.  When Obama came to office we were 9 trillion in debt and when he left we were ~ 20 trillion and in the last 8 yrs we have added nearly 15 trillion. Our National debt is approaching 35 trillion. When Russia first invaded Ukraine, “we” gave them enough “stuff” to not lose this battle but not enough to win this battle. “we” gave them – compared to what Russia had – bows/arrows, slingshots, BB-guns.  As the battle went on, “we” provided Ukraine with a little more powerful and longer-range “stuff” several times. The House just approved 95 billion to be given to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. With Ukraine getting the lion’s share.

Isn’t anyone concerned about those politicians/bureaucrats within the DC Beltway? It took us 235 yrs +/- to amass a 9 trillion national debt and our national debt has nearly quadrupled in 16 yrs?  The Congressional Budget Office projects that our national debt will hit 50 trillion by the end of the decade. This year, the cost of the interest on our national debt will exceed ONE TRILLION DOLLARS more money than we spend on national defense! The proposed budget for the next Federal fiscal year – starting Oct 1, 2024, will be REDUCED for the FOURTH year in a row!

There are 435 members of the House and at least 33 Senate seats up for this election. Is it time to CLEAN HOUSE – vote out all the incumbents? We can start FRESH with at least the House. Members of Congress expect that 95% will get reelected, regardless of what they promised to do and didn’t or promised not to do and did! 

To CLEAN HOUSE would be a BLACK SWAN EVENT!  I suspect that those newly elected members of Congress would listen to their constituents about their concerns.

Two Years And $113 Billion Later, D.C.’s ‘America Last’ Crew Has No Plan For Ending The Russia-Ukraine War

https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/19/two-years-and-113-billion-later-d-c-s-america-last-crew-has-no-plan-for-ending-the-russia-ukraine-war/

You don’t have to be a Putin stooge to see that dumping endless U.S. funds into Kyiv without proper oversight is a terrible idea.

Another week has come and gone, and America’s political leaders are still focused on one thing: shipping more money to Ukraine.

On Friday, the GOP-controlled House advanced a rule allowing the lower chamber to pass what effectively amounts to a massive foreign spending package. The bills under consideration seek to ship U.S. taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, Israel (and Hamas-controlled Gaza), and Taiwan. A “divest-or-ban” bill that would prohibit TikTok from operating in the U.S. under its current China-based ownership will also reportedly be considered.

The aforementioned rule was passed Thursday night by the House Rules Committee with help from Democrats. The rule effectively allows the House to vote on each funding measure separately without having to combine them into one package before sending it to the Senate for consideration.

As Federalist Senior Tech Columnist Rachel Bovard explained, “[I]f each title passes, they will all be fused into one package without a final vote (known as a MIRV),” and that “package is then added as a House amendment to the Senate foreign aid bill (the two are effectively the same); in parliamentary speak, the House concurs in the Senate amendment with a House amendment.”

More Democrats than Republicans voted for the rule during Friday’s vote. The foreign funding bills are expected to be considered by the House on Saturday, according to The Hill.

The Republican-controlled House’s fast-tracking of the measures further puts to shame Mr. “Wartime Speaker” Mike Johnson, who has gone above and beyond to break his repeated pledge to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before advancing foreign funding. This betrayal — combined with his prior surrenders on major policy fights — has prompted at least two House Republicans to back a motion to remove Johnson as speaker.

No Plan and No Statesmen

It’s no secret that the D.C. political class cares more about fortifying Ukraine’s borders than America’s.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell let the cat out of the bag in May 2022 when he admitted that President Biden and congressional leadership agreed “the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine.” That sentiment was still true for Kentucky’s senior senator nearly a year later, when he regurgitated the same talking point during a Fox News interview.

“[D]efeating the Russians in Ukraine is the single most important event going on in the world right now,” McConnell claimed, as America’s southern border remained open, inflation rose, and the federal government abused its intel agencies to target Republicans.

Of course, neither McConnell nor any other D.C. politico who backs U.S. funding for Ukraine has ever bothered to articulate what America’s strategy is for accomplishing such a feat — and therein lies the main problem.

More than two years and $113 billion later, Ukraine isn’t any closer to beating Russia than the day Moscow launched its invasion. There has been no explanation from the Biden administration or any “Ukraine First” member of Congress on what they view as a reasonable resolution to the conflict.

Those claiming the end goal is a total defeat of Russia are living in a fantasy land. Russia is a nuclear power and possesses one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world. Barring a sudden collapse of Russian governance, there is no scenario in which Ukrainian soldiers are going to be parading through the streets of Moscow, as blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags wave atop the Russian White House.

Instead of fantasizing, America’s leaders must recognize the current situation in Eastern Europe for what it is. And that means acting like statesmen and negotiating a settlement to end the bloodshed and blank checks.

You don’t have to be a Putin stooge to recognize that dumping endless amounts of U.S. funds into Kyiv without proper oversight and a clear, obtainable objective is a disservice to the American taxpayer and the tens of thousands of Ukrainians being slaughtered in a war they can’t win.

https://i0.wp.com/thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/President_Joe_Biden_and_Vice_President_Kamala_Harris_meet_with_Leader_Chuck_Schumer_Leader_Mitch_McConnell_Speaker_Mike_Johnson_and_Leader_Hakeem_Jeffries_in_the_Oval_Office-1200x675.jpg?resize=468%2C263&ssl=1

Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »

Federal Agencies Launch Portal for Public Reporting of Anticompetitive Practices in the Health Care Sector

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Pharmaciststeve

Federal Agencies Launch Portal for Public Reporting of Anticompetitive Practices in the Health Care Sector

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/federal-agencies-launch-portal-public-reporting-anticompetitive-practices-health-care-sector

Today, the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched an easily accessible online portal for the public to report health care practices that may harm competition.

The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. The launch of the new portal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs and help create more competitive health care markets that are fairer to patients, providers, payers, and workers.

“All too often, we hear how unfair methods of competition and monopolistic practices may be depriving Americans of access to affordable, high-quality healthcare,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “This joint initiative between, FTC, DOJ, and HHS will provide a crucial channel for the agencies to hear from the public, bolstering our work to check illegal business practices that harm consumers and workers alike.”

“Competition in health care is crucial to ensuring fair and competitive wages across the healthcare sector and affordable and quality healthcare for all Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s launch of HealthyCompetition.gov – a one-stop shop to report potential violations of our competition laws to the Justice Department and FTC – will allow the agencies to collaborate early and often, helping to promote economic opportunity and fairness for all.”

“Americans depend on competitive health care markets to provide quality choices and lower costs for coverage. That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health care markets,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The Biden-Harris Administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anti-competitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans. The information provided by the public will help to root out these behaviors.”

Complaints will undergo preliminary review by staff at the FTC and Justice Department, Antitrust Division. If a complaint raises sufficient concern under the antitrust laws or is related to HHS authorities, it will be selected for further investigation by the appropriate agency. This action may lead to the opening of a formal investigation.

The privacy and confidentiality policies that govern information submitted through the portal, including any personal information members of the public choose to provide, can be found at: DOJ Privacy Policy, DOJ Antitrust Division Confidentiality Policy Regarding Complainants, and FTC Privacy Policy.

HealthyCompetition.gov is the latest effort by the FTC, DOJ, and HHS to promote competition in health care markets to ensure that every American has access to high-quality, affordable care. As announced in December 2023, the FTC, DOJ and HHS have continued to partner on new initiatives, which included a joint request for information to seek input on how private-equity and other corporations’ control of health care is impacting Americans.

The Federal Trade Commission develops policy initiatives on issues that affect competition, consumers, and the U.S. economy. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

Contact Information

Media Contact

Office of Public Affairs
415-848-5121

Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »

Next Page »