Barack O'Carter Praises Cuban Health Care System

Former prez Jimmy Carter in a speech at the University of Havana pimped the Cuban health care system by declaring the following.

“My nation is hardly perfect in human rights. A very large number of our citizens are incarcerated in prison, and there is little doubt that the death penalty is imposed most harshly on those who are poor, black, or mentally ill. For more than a quarter century, we have struggled unsuccessfully to guarantee the basic right of universal health care for our people. …but Cuba has superb systems of health care and universal education.”

And this guy wasn't even running for public office or making a movie!

Of course Carter is not the only one to be misled about the status of Cuba's health care system. Notables in the main stream media have also praised their system including Peter Jennings (ABC, 1989), Barbara Walters (ABC, 2002) and Katie Couric (NBC, 1992).

Contrary to the above “news analysts” and Human Rights spokespersons, Cubans have a drastically different story to tell. And even more unluckily for Castro and his MSM auxiliaries, the internet has pulled a stunning and (to them) infuriating end run around his traditional MSM defenses. Word is getting out about the disastrous state of Cuban health care.

During that cold snap in mid-January, Cuban dissidents snuck out, via internet, a report claiming that over forty patients had somehow frozen to death in Cuba’s Mazorra mental hospital — not far from the one featured in Michael Moore’s paean to Cuban health care, Sicko.

It appears the media and others have twisted the truth about universal health care in Cuba. Just 90 miles north of Cuba is where the truly greatest health care system in the world resides. Of course if you listen to politicians, nothing could be further from the truth.

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On the Record with Joe Wilson (Again)

Late this afternoon, I had the privilege of speaking (again) with Rep Joe "You Lie!" Wilson (R-SC) about a number of issues, most prominently ObamaCare v?.0. Rep Wilson began by mentioning his new site, Joe Means Jobs, Rep Kucinich's "Retreat from Afghanistan" resolution, and the recent vote in Iraq (interestingly, they had a 62% turnout; we're thrilled to see 55%).

I was joined on the call by Jeff Dunetz of Yid With Lid and Richard Zuendt of Conservatives With Attitude. Both of these fine sites belong primarily in the political sector of the blogosphere (as opposed to IB, which is considered a MedBlog).

Both Jeff and I asked Rep Wilson about the late-breaking Slaughter "Rule" in the House [ed: the SlaughterHouse Rules?]. This is a desperate, almost laughable, attempt to bypass a formal vote on ReidCare (more here for those who are interested). Rep Wilson was unfamiliar with the details of this latest gambit by those bent on the destruction of the world's best health care system, but quickly came up to speed.

I asked the congressman about the dozen or so states taking pre-emptive action to opt out of a gummint-run system, and he replied that not only is he quite pleased, but that it is, in fact, an organized and concerted effort, led by the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). ALEC is a group of state-level legislators working together on a national level.

The congressman also pointed out that the current version(s) of "reform" have been compared to both TennCare and MassCare, both failed systems. In fact, it's his contention (and one with which I agree) that MassCare is the overarching reason that Scott Brown was elected to the Senate.

Mr Zuendt (of Conservatives With Attitude) asked about the impact of "reform" on states' budgets, and Rep Wilson replied that these are classic examples of "unfunded Federal mandates."

I then asked him how firm he felt the vote on the 18th really was, and he answered that, much to his own surprise, he agreed with Rep Waxman that "there's not a date." Looks like I might have to reset (or delete) the countdown timer on our sidebar.

Following up, I asked about reconciliation; his response was to point me to a new report by Representatives Kyl and Cantor which effectively confirms our view on the matter. TThe Kyl/Cantor document can be found here.

Our own Mike Feehan had wondered about whether or not legislators would be bribed with stimulus funds, and Bob had wondered the same about other "favors;" Rep Wilson answered both of them by characterizing the current process as "The Chicago Way." That is, a combination of carrot and stick, regardless of legality or propriety, and felt it would backfire.

He was also quick to point out the value of blogs and social media for breaking through the wall of silence thrown up by the Main Stream Media. I'm sure we all blushed.

All in all, a very interesting call, and I appreciate the Congressman's time.

A very special IB Thank You to Lyndsi Thomas for setting this up.

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Outstanding Carrier Trick: UHC Reads IB

According to an email I just received, the head honcho of United HealthCare (along with four other industry titans) recently met with HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious, as well as some folks from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, to discuss health care costs.

Mr Hemsley (the aforementioned CEO of UHC) tried to explain to Secretary Shecantbeserious, the NAIC folks and President Obama (who attended for a short time before heading out, presumably for a smoke break) that, in order to continue providing increased access to the quality care to which we've become accustomed, something must be done to rein in the costs of that care.

Or, as he put it (obviously quoting InsureBlog):

"The cost of insurance is driven by the underlying cost pressures we see throughout the health care system."

Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

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Health Videos from NHS Choices

Pardon me for being a little late in pointing this out but if you head over to the NHS website there is a very handy library of videos on a huge variety of health topics. There are some particularly valuable videos featuring people discussing their 'real life' health experiences.

The full list of videos can be seen on this page.

Are there any other health video sites that we should be aware of?

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Props to CMS Guy

Received an email yesterday from Jack Cheevers, Public Information Officer for the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). In it, he updated the Fox Insurance story, confirming that CMS has now "terminated its contract" with the carrier.

The headline of the actual press release says "Members Will Be Provided Access to Drugs While Transitioning to New Plans;" I questioned the choice of words "access to drugs." Although this was mostly tongue-in-cheek, kudos to Mr Cheevers for replying thoughtfully:

"As to your second point, I think the overall context of the release makes it clear that we’re talking about prescription drugs."

Quite so, and I appreciate both his honesty and how promptly he replied to a late-in-the-day email.

Which begs the question: given his candor and thoughtfulness, can we swap him for HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious?

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Cavalcade of Risk: 100th Edition!

Russell Hutchinson presents this week's collection of risk-related posts. Take a chance and check it out!

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