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Vicki Ibarra opens a late medical bill for her son at her home on Saturday, February 2, 2019 in Fresno, California. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Lie of Healthcare 'Choice'
In our corporate-run health system, consumer "choices" are shaped entirely by profit-seeking monopolists.
Feb 22, 2020
Lyndon Johnson had a saying about special interests trying to get his support to pass some blatantly self-serving legislation: "They can't make chicken salad out of chicken (bleep)!"
Yet chicken (bleep) is all that the corporate health complex has to work with as it frantically tries to defend its current system of mass malpractice. After all, as most Americans have learned the hard way, profiteering insurance giants, Big Pharma, and hospital chains grossly overcharge us while constantly trying to shortchange -- or outright deny -- care to millions of our families.
"Our 'care' is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests."
So, unable to win public support on their own merit, the corporatists and their hired political hacks are going all out to continue their gouging and keep control of America's dysfunctional system. They're now running a multimillion-dollar PR and lobbying campaign of lies to trash and kill all reforms that would deliver quality, comprehensive care to everyone, at far less cost than they can deliver.
Masquerading as a "Partnership for America's Health Care Future," the profiteers warn ominously that such reforms as Medicare for All or a public option for health insurance would take away people's "choice" and our "control" over health care.
Hello: we presently have no choice or control.
Our "care" is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests. And the undeniable, ugly truth is that they can only continue ripping us off by killing real reform.
That's one reason the American Medical Association and others are dropping out of the Partnership's political front. Honest health care practitioners no longer believe it's in their best interest -- or the public's -- to be part of its chicken (bleep) PR campaign.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Lyndon Johnson had a saying about special interests trying to get his support to pass some blatantly self-serving legislation: "They can't make chicken salad out of chicken (bleep)!"
Yet chicken (bleep) is all that the corporate health complex has to work with as it frantically tries to defend its current system of mass malpractice. After all, as most Americans have learned the hard way, profiteering insurance giants, Big Pharma, and hospital chains grossly overcharge us while constantly trying to shortchange -- or outright deny -- care to millions of our families.
"Our 'care' is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests."
So, unable to win public support on their own merit, the corporatists and their hired political hacks are going all out to continue their gouging and keep control of America's dysfunctional system. They're now running a multimillion-dollar PR and lobbying campaign of lies to trash and kill all reforms that would deliver quality, comprehensive care to everyone, at far less cost than they can deliver.
Masquerading as a "Partnership for America's Health Care Future," the profiteers warn ominously that such reforms as Medicare for All or a public option for health insurance would take away people's "choice" and our "control" over health care.
Hello: we presently have no choice or control.
Our "care" is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests. And the undeniable, ugly truth is that they can only continue ripping us off by killing real reform.
That's one reason the American Medical Association and others are dropping out of the Partnership's political front. Honest health care practitioners no longer believe it's in their best interest -- or the public's -- to be part of its chicken (bleep) PR campaign.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Lyndon Johnson had a saying about special interests trying to get his support to pass some blatantly self-serving legislation: "They can't make chicken salad out of chicken (bleep)!"
Yet chicken (bleep) is all that the corporate health complex has to work with as it frantically tries to defend its current system of mass malpractice. After all, as most Americans have learned the hard way, profiteering insurance giants, Big Pharma, and hospital chains grossly overcharge us while constantly trying to shortchange -- or outright deny -- care to millions of our families.
"Our 'care' is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests."
So, unable to win public support on their own merit, the corporatists and their hired political hacks are going all out to continue their gouging and keep control of America's dysfunctional system. They're now running a multimillion-dollar PR and lobbying campaign of lies to trash and kill all reforms that would deliver quality, comprehensive care to everyone, at far less cost than they can deliver.
Masquerading as a "Partnership for America's Health Care Future," the profiteers warn ominously that such reforms as Medicare for All or a public option for health insurance would take away people's "choice" and our "control" over health care.
Hello: we presently have no choice or control.
Our "care" is managed by a handful of insurance, drug, and hospital monopolists whose primary objective is not improving our health, but feathering their own cushy nests. And the undeniable, ugly truth is that they can only continue ripping us off by killing real reform.
That's one reason the American Medical Association and others are dropping out of the Partnership's political front. Honest health care practitioners no longer believe it's in their best interest -- or the public's -- to be part of its chicken (bleep) PR campaign.
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