Wal-Mart Hates its Workers

If you didn't already believe that, they are suing an employee who was injured on the job to recoup some of their medical payments.

Two thoughts:
1. Remember this the next time that you are thrilled by the prospect of a toaster oven for $29 and,
2. If this typical of the kind of behaviour that one can expect in a private health insurance regime, then no thank you, I'll throw in with Tommy Douglas.

Cabinet Shuffle and Priority No. 5

I suppose we'll find out who is doing what this afternoon. I can't really get worked up over this sort of thing. Harper's biggest move so far was to replace Rona Ambrose (cluelessness) with John Baird (cluelessness and ANGER!) at Environment. Anyway, Harper is his own minister of everything so I doubt he's looking for anything but better spokespeople.

Supposedly, this shuffle will set up a fall session focusing on law and order as well as foreign policy. Apparently the Conservatives have been ignoring health care concerns ever since the election and correspondingly, they have simply gone away. I remember a while ago people tried to call him on this, and yet nothing else of substance seems to have been done. Either this means that the health care concerns of a couple years ago were manufactured or that Harper is simply allowing the system to deteriorate to the point where he can impose radical measures (i.e.: large-scale privatization, for-profit clinics and hospitals) on Canadians.

Cognitive Dissonance on Private Health Care

That's what we get from the Canadian Medical Association's new statement on for-profit medicine in Canada. What's so dissonant? Well they claim

Recent polling conducted for the CMA shows that a growing proportion of Canadians may be ready for that debate, with 62% of respondents considering medicare plus [what a nice name for privatization] a "good plan."

Elsewhere in the report though they say:

"the CMA is trying to kick-start a debate that many Canadians, including politicians, would prefer to avoid."

If Canadians think that medicare plus is such a great plan, why aren't they interested in this debate? Why are even the Conservatives not really interested in attempting such a plan? If so many people think it's so swell, what's holding them back? Methinks that the CMA is bullshitting us.

Quote of the Day: Private Health Insurance Edition

From Matthew Yglesias:

"It's the logic of the system and on some level it's no different from any other business. But whereas Apple or Toyota or Starbucks make money by delivering their products to people, insurance companies make money by not delivering health care to sick people."

It sort of reminds me of Crash where Matt Dillon's character can't get his dad the medical help he needs. Of course part of the movie is that Dillon's character is a racist jackass and therefore his own worst enemy in dealing with the system, but regardless his nemesis (the black woman he offends) is merely playing by the private health insurance rules by not approving care not included in the father's coverage.

It's the same anywhere in the insurance business, not paying a claim is the way to profit - even if the claim is 100% legitimate. Members of my family attempted to make a perfectly legitimate homeowners claim a few years ago and sure enough, the insurer attempted to use language that was patently absurd to re-categorize flooding as "seepage." I'm just glad it was over a carpet and not, say, cancer that this problem occurred.

Surprise! Public Healthcare Does Not Cause Terrorism

There had been some noise from the usual suspects about how the fact that a group of foreign born doctors working for Britain's NHS were behind the latest terror plots somehow indicates the evil of public healthcare. Well, now it appears the very same doctors were attempting to get into the private American system too. They simply had yet to write an aptitude test. There would appear to be lots of "bureaucracy" in which one can "hide" in the American medical system.