MAYOR’S OFFICE RE-PROMISES THAT $500K TO HOMEBOY…BY SEPTEMBER
After reading Thursday’s blogpost about the money that the mayor’s office had promised—and not delivered—to money-strapped Homeboy Industries, Tim Rutten called Rev. Jeff Carr about the matter and Carr told him that Father Greg Boyle and Homeboy would have the money by September. Intending to hold Carr and the mayor to the promise, Rutten put it in his Saturday column.
Whether or not Homeboy will be able to keep its doors open until September, remains to be seen.
(In the meantime, don’t forget Homeboy’s virtual car wash.)
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SUMMER NIGHT LIGHTS SHOUT OUT FROM NY TIMES
On Sunday, the New York Times had a very nice story about the mayor’s Summer Night Lights program. Here’s a clip:
“I used to stay away and stay at home at night,” he said. “But I’m really not an indoor type. Now we can be here and have support.” Maybe Maximum, he said, “could grow up more free.”
Laura Lomeli, 24, waiting in line for popcorn nearby, agreed. “It’s not just for the kids; parents come and get to know each other,” she said. “We start to know who lives next door.”
After the softball game ended, two women pushed strollers across the empty field under bright lights. A toddler ran ahead into the shadows. Juan Duran, 13, and Joey Martinez, 16, stood near small skateboard ramps on an outdoor stretch of asphalt.
“My school doesn’t have summer school this year,” Juan said. “So it’s pretty cool having this.”
“You meet more friends here” than by “having nothing better to do and getting in trouble,” said Joey, one foot on his board. “I always stay here until midnight.”
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MORE ON ERIC HOLDER & THE POSSIBLE TORTURE PROBE
As news continued to break about former Vice President Cheney keeping information about…well…a whole lot of things from Congress, over the weekend both the Washington Post and Newsweek reported that Eric Holder may appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration’s interrogation practices—something that Obama chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel is dead set against.
The Newsweek piece is the one to read if you haven’t already.
(SIDE NOTE: When I was in D.C. last month, I saw Holder speak on an entirely different issue in a small-ish venue, and found him, at least in that instance, to be intelligent, cautious, deliberative to a fault—overly so, if anything—not in the least arrogant, and very thoughtful in his reasoning.
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BILL MOYERS TAKES ON THE MEDICAL INSURANCE LOBBY
Friday night on his show, Bill Moyers was as fierce as any time within memory as he spent the hour showing the way that the big medical insurers like CYGNA and Blue Cross Blue Sheild have effectively controlled the discussion—and in some cases the media— when it comes to healthcare reform, while denying more and more Americans more and more coverage.
Moyers most impressive guest was former CYGNA executive-turned-whistle blower, Wendell Potter.
The whole program may be watched online—and I strongly recommend it. Moyers is furious. We all need to be enraged. And do something about it.
It is a disgrace the way insurers deny or revoke insurance based on the flimsiest evidence. You can literally have had a minor routine thing like teen acne and gotten medication for it, then have your insurance rates doubled — that’s the true case of what happened to my OB/GYN’s very healthy 20-something daughter here in L A, with Blue Cross, and she’s a doctor on staff at Cedars. She wrote about that for the LA Times OpEd a while ago. There are similar cases involving routine yeast infections, etc.
All of which discourages patients from seeking treatment and/or revealing their true histories to doctors who are generally quick to scribble all info on those computerized forms, making the patient’s appropriate healthcare and relationship with their doctors even more marginal. Because in fact, doctors who work for HMO’s or PPO’s especially are in effect working for the insurance company. These days with the prevalence of electronic records, I’ve had to look long and hard for a doctor who does NOT operate this way, and actually keeps records private.
Then there’s the Catch-22 that if you don’t declare something as minor as these conditions and they find out later, they’ll revoke your insurance altogether when you file a claim for something ELSE that may be expensive.
Electronic records actually make this problem worse (as well as facilitating snooping — so everything about you is visible at literally a quick glance by ANYONE remotely associated with your care, including a temp booking appts.). This also enables them to share info about you for financial promos not only without your permission but, again e.g. Cedars supposedly a premier facility, if you do NOT consent you’ll be denied even planned surgery. (Based on my personal recent experience.) A side letter I wrote objecting “disappeared” from their files.
When you go in as a new patient and are required to fill out those electronic bubble forms (or update them annually), you’re asked if you EVER had a condition, say anemia. Let’s say you’re a woman who had it for a brief period but took iron pills and are now normal, you’re still listed as “anemic” as a “condition” of your health. I was also surprised to see how general the questionnaire was (standard at Cedars) for new patients to ascertain AIDs risk: the SAME question asked if you’re dating more than one partner OR use or share needles for drug injections (i.e., being a junkie and dating 2 people are listed as similar risks). ANYTHING contrived to work against you.
That’s why I and many others have grave concerns about the privacy and denial of benefits aspects inherent in Obama’s plan to require all records to be computerized. From what I can see there’s no thought to these downsides and for now, they actually play into insurers’ games to deny or significantly increase coverage.
I meannt at the end above, to deny or significantly increase COSTS for (the same or less) coverage.
WBC, the computerization issue is certainly one worth discussion. Yet, I suspect it’s toothpaste that’s pretty much out of the tube. Now it’s a matter of making it more efficient and universal. But surely the things you bring up should be part of the conversation.
Yet, to me, the larger problems are the issues that you bring up so well in the main part of your post about people being denied coverage or, as Moyer’s show talked about, with those of us who have coverage (as far as it goes) having the financial burden mostly shifted to us, with huge deductibles, gigantic premiums jacked up for the flimsiest of reasons, and all kinds of things that are simply disallowed.
One of my son’s young, extremely healthy, rock-climbing friends had her health premiums triple because of a single health issue that has long-ago been corrected.
Watch the Moyer’s thing. It’s totally enraging—particularly the segment with the whistleblower, Wendell Potter, who is very eloquent—and horrifying.
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