Best of luck with this and all other health matters! We need you as strong as possible in this fight!
On a related note, when I see the pure madness that millions of citizens are somehow still ignoring, I am reminded that we are a country that has accepted a healthcare system that forces families to bankrupt themselves trying to get help for sick children....and it sort of makes sense. Somehow, we have been beaten into believing things are and always will be how they have been, even if it means that we inflict pain on and refuse to protect our most vulnerable population.
Easy. Run candidates who support Medicare for All! Everybody is disgusted with our healthcare system except for private equity predators and health insurance corporations. But the rest of us far outnumber them.
I'm so tired of hearing Republicans say private for profits will always be better for us then government run programs. Its just billlshhit and everyone knows it.
Yes, medicare for all. But medicare also needs changes, the primiums are increasing to fast, the 20% and deductible are making it harder for retirees like me to keep up. There will quickly come a time when most of us will need to dip so deeply into our SS benifits and pensions that there won't be much left to do anything else.
The Medicare we have only pays 80% which requires a GAP policy if you don’t want to go bankrupt. Thank baby Bush for that as well as no bankruptcy for student loans no matter what. People on SS are having student loan payments taken out of their SS benefits. We need Medicare to return to 100% payment for medical care. Don’t let anybody convince you that there is no difference between the Dems and Repubs. There still is despite the difference narrowing due to the donar class influence.
I’ve had some people reply to my comments that Medicare for All will create a shortage of providers. Probably in the short term, but that’s already the case. I wonder how many doctors, nurses, and providers will come out of early retirement to practice in a humane, fair system.
There already is a shortest of primary care physicians.
My left to join a VIP group. It has taken me over a year to find a good PC doc.
Medicare for all will in the short run have some negative issues. But as more younger and healthier people join the group the cost of Medicare will decrease.
Perhaps a "shortage" given the current conditions. If we are restricting immigrants (so many bright people come to our country for medical training) then yes there will be a shortage. The other option is LPNs serving as primaries. My LPN is the best primary care person I've ever had. She takes care of more routine matters (high blood pressure maintenance for example), while I still see specialists for my chronic issues. Costs overall will come down when you factor in that everyone is included and you are cutting out that very expensive middleman layer (insurance executives).
LPNs are licensed practical nurses. They are less qualified than RNs. I believe you're thinking of CNPs, certified nurse practitioners. They are about as qualified as a physician assistant. They are probably a good group to serve as front-line care as you mention.
Along with any legislation for health issues we need $$ incentives for people going into medical careers. The cost of ed for doctors and nurses and PAs to prohibitive for too many.
Gail - Your suggestion is dead on the money. Most of my family are either working/worked in the military, government, law enforcement, fire department or nursing fields. My soon to be daughter in law is finding it hard to get further education because of a policy that T just put out that limits the amount of money that she can borrow to go from a nurse to a physician assistant. T put a cap on how much she can borrow because of her chosen profession. He doesn’t see the benefit of nurses. Most of the time I never see my actual doctor but I definitely have been handed off to their nurse practitioner or physician assistant. So far I have not had a problem with any of them. Plus, it bugs me when the offices hang up signs saying that they will cancel your appointment if you don’t arrive 15 minutes early but they are running a half an hour late or longer. With the assistants they have started to cut down on how far behind they are running.
I worry I have is that there’s a move to convert Medicare to ‘Medicare’ Advantage. There is already a pilot program I believe west coast somewhere I don’t recall.
I get 'bombarded' with robo phone calls re "HealthCare" and allegedly from Kaiser Permanente (my insurer) then get a standard script (if I do answer out of curiosity) about Advantage plan augmentation. I don't respond to any of them or call back IF ? there is NO message left to - explain ~
I just switched dentists because my corporate dentist wanted to have me pay for a crown rather than a filling. 4 people in his office came from the first dentist. People who go into medicine do it for the job…not paperwork and less educated people tellimg them what to do. I think doctors would stay I their field.
We certainly need more doctors, and much of what doctors do now can be done by medical practitioners and nurses. By abstaining from junk food people would significantly improve their health. Tax incentives are needed.
Respectfully, no. I saw a Nurse Practitioner recently for an issue. She gave me a boilerplate answer and when it didn't work, she had to refer me to a doctor.
It used to be that being a doctor was a respected and pretty good living. That is no longer true. Many of the brightest college grads want to go into IT, instead of medicine. Locally, there are more women in medical school than men.
One of the problems is those who have more than they need using it to buy up all the health care delivery complies. Provider groups being bought up by private equity firms bc the returns are better and more reliable than the bloated stock market.
THAT needs to come to an end.
Oh and Reagan's legal-to-compensate- with -stock bullshit. That was illegal before that moron came along, because it was considered to motivate insider trading and not the benefit of the company. Stakeholders NOW, not shareholders.
Medicare for All doesn't have to be a painful or expensive transition to health care like most of the developed world enjoys. It's never going to be perfect. But it can be a Hell of a lot better and cheaper.
Aside from the ripoffs perpetrated by PBMs, the insurance companies are getting rich by collecting "overhead" in excess of 20%. Medicare costs about 4% to operate.
Phase One: Include all children. Period. And provide financial incentives to medical students and current specialists to join primary, geriatric and pediatric care.
Phase Two: Include all adults over 50. And legislate to provide financial assistance to anyone who can qualify via merit (grades?) for medical school.
Phase Three: Include all adults in Medicare. 100%. Everyone. Reward physicians for keeping people healthy and healthier with preventative care.
Fund this with a wealth tax. According to HCR, over $80 trillion has been transferred to the top few oligarchs. Time for a major redistribution of stolen American assets. We are the richest nation to have ever existed. There is NO EXCUSE for any American to go without top quality health care. None. Nada. No reason other than greed and "othering".
Time for another American Revolution. Time for some Good Medicare Trouble!
I had to fight one of mine when my husband had an aneurysm. One company didn't want to pay because it was a month after we had signed up. They tried to say that it must have been an existing condition. My question to them was" What test is there to predict an aneurysm?" and mentioned that we had signed up during open enrollment month. They shut up and paid.
Breaking up monopolies would also help. For example, Optum should not be an insurance provider, health care provider, and PBM. When Optum took over Health Care Partners, the quality went down. I have been told that Optum is a slow payer.
With regard to Primary Care Provider shortages: Easy to fix. Now many providers take high paying jobs (Specialist heavy rather that Primary Care heavy) because of educational debt. Subsidized Primary Care Provider programs can address that. Economic incentives are driving the increase of specialty care at the expense of primary care. Economic incentives can help to reverse that trend.
That was then original plan, to drop the eligibility age for Medicare by 5 years every few years until everyone is covered.
Make a buy in option as well, make orovate equity firms divest the health care providers an and raise the reimbursement rate for Medicare. Our healthcare system is so mangled right now it's almost impossible to untangle what real costs and savings are.
Bill - Another thing that they should look into is how they make a person who was in the medical field in the military have to pay to retake classes that they are already qualified for and did in the military. My oldest is a medic in the Navy but when they retire after 30 years of service they will be forced to take unnecessary classes all over again just to get into the medical profession outside of the military. Most of them already have the training and experience required but they are still forced to jump through hoops.
And it will be essential for candidates running on single-payer healthcare systems to explain in detail how these will work. For example, Medicare for All can work as a transition to a single unified healthcare system like the UK and other countries. California is looking at making this available on a state level. So are NY, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. So it may look a bit chaotic in the beginning, but this may serve to better educate the entire country. Having been a beneficiary of the military healthcare system, I've always wondered if it wouldn't be better for the country to enlarge this system, rather than isolate it for military only. Certainly, there care some emotional issues for this. But I can imagine many benefits.
As a Canadian who enjoys socialized medicine (and having grown up in the Unequal States of America), I'd say you first have to get your compatriots to stop worshipping the dollar, and also stop with the overwrought fear of the word "socialism..." it's absolutely bizarre. Now, I do want to make clear that our approximately 60 year old system is far from perfect, and some provinces are managing better than others. Still, it's a far sight better than yours. Your quality of care is great, but is NOT universal. I pay higher taxes than Americans, and am proud to do so for the privilege of services you guys can only dream of.
Oh, and by the way, we're happily welcoming fed-up American physicians to our wonderful country... they kinda don't like your prez.
I wish I knew. I think the main question is how we use this mess of everything to register new voters. Sadly, I think there are still way too many people trying to change the minds of GOP supporters, when the larger group we need to reach is those sitting on the sidelines as voters and activists.
Democracy is messy. It’s imperfect. It’s subject to, well, aging. Like humans. I find the older I get the less I like being around humans. Unless they are paying me for services. Then I like them. I have a bunch of once abandoned cats running around my house. And right about now at pre dawn, they are swirling around me waiting to be fed as usual. But I like animals. I don’t like the demands that humans place on me to think one way or another. And if I don’t kowtow to their demands. And speaking of cows, I like cows but I haven’t figured out how to get a cow inside my house and forget about being able to take her to bed. She would squish me if she turned over on me.
Moooooooo. And I don’t eat red meat. But those poor little chickens. I feel bad that we all eat chickens and turkey in my house. I wonder if we are going to make it. Just a few really bad people can really Fung goo the system up for their own selfish ends. I guess I’ll need to interact with some humans today.
I just booked a 3-day trip to Orlando for a convention and those conventions are really boring. But business calls. Does anyone know if there is any exciting things to do in Orlando? I like doing stand up maybe I can find a venue and talk about not leaving New England in my older age to swing with the old ladies in The Villages.
Yeah, poor chickens... I'm trying to avoid beef (environmental costs) but I'm not a vegetarian, so... poor chickens! I haven't been to Orlando in years but I bet you can find a Gator Farm near there -- big fun! :)
Bill You (almost) had me ROFLMAO except that I couldn't get back up again if? I did ("I've fallen and I can't get up" = remember that old commercial ?)
In NY state, tell folks about the NY Health Act (A1466 Paulin / S3425 G Rivera). Ask them to contact their NY Senator or Assembly member ("find my" links are prominently places on the NYSenate.gov and NYAssembly.gov websites).
The federal government’s One Big Beautiful Bill slashes billions from New York’s healthcare system. That means:
-- 1.5 million New Yorkers losing coverage
-- $13 billion in healthcare cuts to our state
-- 70 hospitals at risk of closure around the state
-- Skyrocketing premiums for working families
-- Longer ER wait times and fewer services
While Washington lines the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, New Yorkers are left to pay more for less care.
The New York Health Act is the answer:
The New York Health Act (NYHA) is how we fight back. It’s the only plan that:
-- Guarantees healthcare for every New Yorker — medical, dental, vision, hearing, long-term care, and more
-- Eliminates deductibles, and copays — real care, not surprise bills
-- Covers prescriptions — no more worrying if you can afford your medications
-- Protects our hospitals from closure and keeps care local
-- Saves families money by cutting out profit-driven middlemen
A moral and fiscal imperative
This moment demands courage. New Yorkers cannot wait on Washington to fix what they broke, or insurance companies to prioritize us over their profits. Our legislature has the power — and the responsibility — to protect us.
Passing the New York Health Act isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do.
I'll have to look at thst. Your bullet points make a plan but not how to pay for it.
Colorado's Bill Evans did a study a couple decades ago now on what was paid to provide healthcare, including Medicare, Medicaid, corporate costs, premiums and deductibles, and concluded we could actually cover everyone in the state for less if we did a single payer system.
America suffers from the myth that shooting someone solves problems. It doesn't.
"The man who shot Liberty Valance... he was the greatest of them all."
I like better the attitude of Commander Ernest Krause, Captain of the destroyer USS Keeling, played by Tom Hanks, in the film "Bloodhound." He fought off the U-boats with verve and decision, but regretted the need to kill the German crews.
It's a thrilling film, and I've watched it several times. Portrays the crew of the "Bloodhound" as carrying out their duties with discipline. Well-trained and skillful.
Starting back in the early 70's Congress let the camel of for profit healthcare companies get its head under the tent... We now have the most expensive per capita healthcare costs in the world because we have this giant pipe sucking dollars which should be going toward rational healthcare - into corporate coffers. I don't approve of murder but a United Health exec got himself put down by a guy off the street who understood this. We need to turn all health insurance entities into not for profits and same for all PBMs.
Which is why I have always donated to St Jude Children's Hospital and still do!! And I imagine they will be even more overwhelmed than they already have been!!!
I didn’t read Robert Reich’s piece as a personal anecdote. I read it as a diagnosis.
What he describes isn’t a quirky failure or an unfortunate detour — it’s the system working exactly as designed. The confusion, the delays, the opaque decision-making, the sense that no one is actually accountable for your care. That’s not a bug. That’s the business model.
What hit me hardest is how quickly health care stops being theoretical the moment you’re the patient. All the rhetoric about “choice,” “efficiency,” and “innovation” evaporates when you’re sick and trapped inside a maze built by insurers, pharma, and a Congress that protects both. At that point, you’re not a consumer — you’re inventory.
And let’s be honest: lawmakers know this. Many of them will never experience this version of the system themselves. They exempt themselves, then lecture the rest of us about costs and discipline while preserving a structure that profits from delay, fear, and exhaustion.
Reich isn’t asking for pity. Neither am I. I’m angry — because this is a political choice, reaffirmed year after year. We could negotiate drug prices. We could simplify care. We could center patients instead of shareholders. We just don’t, because too many people in power benefit from keeping it broken.
If reading this makes you uncomfortable, good. That discomfort is the point. Illness strips away abstraction. It forces clarity. And the clarity here is brutal: our health care system isn’t failing us — it’s exploiting us, and Congress is complicit.
In civilized countries, healthcare is a right. In America, it's a commodity. Healthcare shouldn't be about profits. It should be about humanity. The healthcare system in the United States is vicious capitalism.
The days after Luigi shot the CEO of United Advantage, I began the change over to Medicare. I always knew the advantage programs were a fraud. Delay, deny and wait till you die. But offer free dental cleaning and a free pair of glasses each year. So now I pay. It’s insurance against eventual illness. This nation was built on the concept of indentured servitude and enslavement. It never ended. The founders weren’t goo goo eyed over freedom and liberty. They wanted freedom from paying taxes and duties while keeping their slaves fed and housed like old Tommy Jefferson who had figured out the profits of his nail making company; the cost of iron, the time it took to forge so many nails in a day. How many slaves worked on the nail production. The cost to feed and house said slaves. And his profit margins. Now that’s America.
You're right, Bill: The Founding Fathers weren't goo goo eyed over freedom and liberty. They were a bunch of rich white men, lots of them slaveholders. Vicious capitalism is in America's roots.
Vicious capitalism is what drove most of our immigrant ancestors to come here. If they had been satisfied in their original countries, they would not have taken the risk to come here. Yes, it's in our DNA.
The Supreme Court has almost always favored viscous corporate capitalism, and in the end, they are running our country. They decide whether any laws made by Congress adhere to their reading of our Constitution. Anyone who has ever read two different reviews of any writing knows that any reading is highly biased by the reader's personal views.
Bill- open eyed, I knew what I was buying when I signed up for Advantage- it has not been a fraud at all, it’s paid for everything (including 2 surgeries). It is what I can afford- and yes, I like the OTC allowances and bonus $$ ( I used it for gift cards)- and for me, after March, my meds will be zero $ for the rest of the year. As a nurse, I just wish everyone could sign up for whichever plan works best for them.
Then all those stories of private insurance denying coverage are false. You should write a story it. You get what you pay for in life. Glad you are happy. As the title or subtitle of one of my songs go, “Don’t Get Sick Before You Die.” Or there will be sadness in your eyes.
The stories aren’t false, some do (I knew which companies to avoid from the experiences of my patients). I also know if a new diagnosis occurs that makes this a bad choice- I can convert. The point being, the system is deliberately difficult to prevent transparency. It shouldn’t be this hard- it should be standardized in all 50 states
I have an Advantage Plan and am very happy w it. Is free, and all my Healthcare needs are taken care of. As with any Healthcare plan here in the US, you need to do your homework and choose one that is best for you. 😉
🙏Amen, HK Jane. Let’s start prosecuting from the bottom up? That’s how we proceeded when I was a middle school guidance counselor, responsible for investigating incidents of HIB (harassment, intimidation, bullying). Outcomes were best when we focused on the underlings instead of the kingpins. It didn’t take long for the house of cards to collapse.
I’ve learned of an additional option: State-level criminal charges for “Misprision of Treason.” 47 can’t pardon state-level charges (even for Miller, Wiles, Hegseth, etc.) and they don’t have 47’s presidential immunity.
“Anyone with knowledge of treason who fails to report it can be charged with misprision of treason, punishable by up to seven years in prison.”
This criminal charge applies to misprision of treason at the state OR federal level. You DO NOT have to be a state resident of those states to file formal complaints with OAG (office of Attorney General).
I urge readers to consider contacting the following Attorneys General immediately. They need to take action while we still can.
Virginia (§ 18.2-482): Class 6 felony for failing to report known treason within a reasonable time. Email: mailoag@oag.state.va.us
We could also concentrate on preventative care and I don't mean the chemical kind being pushed by pharmaceutical companies. I mean, getting rid of all the chemicals in our food supply that build up in our bodies over a lifetime that stop our bodies' system from protecting us. Every week, I see a commercial for a new disease with new pharmaceuticals to band-aid the problem. It needs to stop.
If "private" health care was going to deliver efficient results to all Americans, it would have done it by now. And it hasn't done it because of incompetence. It has excluded millions from care because of corporate greed! It is cruel It is abusive. It is theft. It is calculated money grubbing - KNOWING that Americans will suffer and die because of it.
What this points toward, for me, is the need to stop treating health care reform as a technical problem and name it as a values choice. If illness clarifies anything, it’s who we believe the system is for.
The real question isn’t whether change is possible, but whether we’re willing to design a system that prioritizes care, dignity, and accountability over profit—and demand that our politics catch up to that reality.
Congress does not care. After all, they have long paid vacations and great benefits for themselves and their families. They will never..ever give that up.
It’s up to us to give them their marching orders. Please consider contacting the OAGs in RI, VA, and IL? Miller, Wiles, and Hegseth et al could be arraigned in different three states.
There are many yet unnamed craters on the Moon. The next time an unmanned probe augers in on the lunar surface we can name it for the President: "Trump's Lunacy Crater". MAGA might call it "TLC" for short -- but history will refer to it as "Trump's Hole".
Steve Bannon, you know, the guy that told Trump to flood the zone with distractions, said this yesterday.
“You’re damn right, we’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November. We’re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
Trump and his sycophants will try anything and everything to rig the November elections.
ALL of the plans of their coup-plotting are accelerating, whether it's thump's expansive and expanding con-games to possess all the world's treasure or it's furtherance of their transformation of our government and nation into a fascist police state. It's hard to get any sense of WHY he/they seem indifferent to the possibility (or worse) of the collapse of our economy, of fomenting war, of the destruction of this nation; do they imagine that they can escape catastrophe via the accumulation of more and more wealth, if they have enough money and peons in their service? The combination of their arrogance, their amorality, their stupidity is stunning, but we are all caught in the toxic whirlwind of the accelerating destructive forces at work.
And eventually they will get sucked into the black hole as well, since they are still part of this country. No one will be exempt from the morass of greed!
"It's hard to get any sense of WHY he/they seem indifferent to the possibility (or worse) of the collapse of our economy,"
If YOU were living in a country with 340 million people AND you sincerely believed that it needed to rid itself of 100 million in a matter of a decade, how would you do it?
Steal the country again you pos??? THAT IS YOUR ROLE. YOUR GUY IS IN CHARGE MORON EPSTEIN FRIEND. POS. GO BACK TO YOUR DARK CAVE. UGH. FING CRAZY PEOPLE. MUSK STOLE ELECTION FOR KING TRUMP. KING T STOLE 2 ELECTIONS, THINKS HE WON 3X. ALL FING CRAZY. GET OUT.
What's so interesting, Keith, is this crowd around "t" has told everyone what they're going to do, all of it! Yet, what, 40% of voters still think "hey, good by me!"
And thanks as usual for an excellent explanation of how wide spreading the effects of our oligopolized economy are. Congress is at least applying a patch, but would that we change the structure.
Probably six years ago I was explaining to my son the difference between oligopoly-- just a few firms with market power dominating a product market as sellers-- and oligopsony-- just a few firms with market power dominating labor and other inputs markets as buyers. I told him that when I was learning microeconomics, professors customarily dismissed oligopoly as relatively unimportant-- a phenomenon of company towns. He stared at me and asked, though in politer terms I don't remember, "Were you all stupid?"
I realized that U.S. oligopolies had used their more-than-product-specific power to swing employment and contract law to allow an oligopolist to become an oligopsonist, with things like required non-compete contracts with employees.
More recently, I realized that we are so oligopolized that it's broken the price mechanism-- that market factors like demand, input cost, and taxes no longer affect prices firms charge so quickly or predictably as was the case for centuries.
In the late nineties I read about Sharon’s Sorbet in the Washington Post(RIP). Sharon was a real person who had created a delicious product. The chocolate and lemon were favorites of President and First Lady Clinton. Then Hagen Daz decided to go into sorbet and bought up all the supermarket freezer space. Sharon couldn’t compete. So much for free markets and supply and demand.
I wonder if that’s when Ben and Jerry decided to sellout.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be "defunded and disbanded" after the second fatal shooting this month of an American in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.
Sharon's sorbet has a website and appears to be available to consumers, upon contact.
If I was managing a supermarket and knew my customers loved her product, I would make sure it had space -- ie, not allow others to "buy" / hog all the freezer space.
If a company threatens to withhold product if they don't get all the space, then that's a legal issue. I will always take some time to tell a manager when I find a product that I really enjoy, and thank them for carrying it. "This is one of the main reasons I shop here." -- and they see me every week -- and it's like gold to them.
One thing that many of the posts impress on me is how people prefer to feel victims of some system rather than examine what part they might play -- using agency and power* -- to create a better outcome. As for power, people have a LOT more than they are willing to accept -- because then they would face the truth that they share in the responsibility. This explains a LOT of why our country is where it is today.
The estradol patches came about AFTER the awful side effects of the main treatment -- what had been the main treatment -- were identified. Many of the researchers and scientists involved have prostates too. The testosterone treatment may very well be needed for those cases that don't respond to the estradol.
It's only the beginning! Small businesses are meant to be eaten by the Big Raptors who will jack up prices, and then the former small-biz people are supposed to starve.
If this were happening in another country, we’d call it corruption. Here, we call it healthcare.
Everyone should read this—not because they’re worried about prostate cancer today, but because this is how the system treats every illness once you stop being profitable.
Thank you for reminding me to get my PSA! The actor William Hurt passed away recently from prostate cancer at 71. It’s highly preventable yet cuts too many lives so short.
I had a similar scare about 5 years ago. I was quickly referred to our local hospital for tests and was given the all clear to my relief. In the UK this didn't cost a penny. In the US if I didn't have health insurance I'd have a hefty bill. Our system is far from perfect but no one loses their shirt.
What Bob describes about the use of drugs for this condition is morally and ethically indefensible.
The vote should usually go to the best treatment, not the costliest. I spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and of course we do need money to fund further research, but this is taking things much too far. It's greed pure and simple.
H Guys from UK. I had Bicalutamide 7 years ago for Prost Cancer. It costs £9 a packet of 28 over here and $1600 over there for the SAME box of 28 tablets. Sort this out ... Good luck with that. Q for you. If Gods such a good bloke and all that why does he ( she ) keep giving us jerks and aholes like trump all around the world instead!???
I sure wish I had an answer for that million dollar question, John! Sometimes it feels like the world is playing whack-a-mole with these evil spawn! We get one tamped down and another rears its head!
I was diagnosed at 56, and all of the biopsy samples on one side showed 100% cancerous. I opted for surgery with the DaVinci Robot. 19 years later my PSA is still so close to zero it's essentially undetectable.
I also was diagnosed with Prostate cancer at 58-years-old with a measured Brinel factor of 8.2 (very aggressive cancer). Given an estimated 2 years of life if left untreated, I opted for surgery and was then given 35 radiation treatments spread over seven weeks because of its location at the prostate margin. I'm now 89, and still with an undetectable PSA level. It's been a good 31 years for me and my family. Men, have your PSA checked: it's better to find out early than too late. I've been told a change of "3/4 point" within a year indicates that something bad may be going on, and it still may be "curable" as opposed to "incurable" after it spreads to other parts of the body outside the prostate.
Wow, that's an excellent outcome, I'm happy for you! My husband took a different route. Diagnosed at 72, it looked like the slow-growing type, and he didn't want the side effects of any treatment (the docs recommended Cyber Knife surgery). So he opted to let nature take its course (i.e., no treatment), and is still symptom-free and vigorous 13 years later (despite a PSA now approaching 30). He has been lucky, and every case is different. With so many unknowns, it's not easy to decide what to do. Thank you to RR for highlighting this new treatment.
Been down that road, and the Casodex comes in a six month dose. It means no warp drive, only impulse engines. You might have to be old enough to have prostate cancer to get that reference…
The estrogen patch probably would've also made it easier to bounce back from radiation treatment.
Becareful with the estrogen patch. Estrogen is related to breast cancer of which men can get as well as women. These companies make billions off women's health issues because after menopause our estrogen decreases, but supposedly estrogen causes cancer, so instead of one patch, we are taking multiple other products. So does estrogen really contribute to cancer or have we been lied to and this is another way to make buck?
In the 1980s, research on women's health was misinterpreted to find a causal link between HRT and cancer. They have revisited this research and the FDA recently removed the warning labels off of packaging. It is horrific that a generation of women are now suffering with physical/cogntive/emotional decline due to this misinterpretation.
Wonderful to hear about your very positive health care outcome. I've lived in the UK for over 25 years. The health care system may not be perfect but it's compassionate and inclusive. Doctors are not after the big payouts from my experience.
We don't have a healthcare system. There's no money in health. We only have a sickness-care system. And when we get sick, privatized insurance will spend a fortune to find ways to NOT reimburse us. We're not worth two cents to any big corporation or billionaire! And that's just how the Heritage Foundation wants it.
Glad you are doing better and the right thing.. not the Steve Jobs approach. Oh the hubris…. Anyways... Very informative article. Thank you for your insight as always.. if only there were a patch to fix the trump problem/democracy…
Best of luck with this and all other health matters! We need you as strong as possible in this fight!
On a related note, when I see the pure madness that millions of citizens are somehow still ignoring, I am reminded that we are a country that has accepted a healthcare system that forces families to bankrupt themselves trying to get help for sick children....and it sort of makes sense. Somehow, we have been beaten into believing things are and always will be how they have been, even if it means that we inflict pain on and refuse to protect our most vulnerable population.
How do we use this mess of a healthcare system to register new voters?
Easy. Run candidates who support Medicare for All! Everybody is disgusted with our healthcare system except for private equity predators and health insurance corporations. But the rest of us far outnumber them.
I'm so tired of hearing Republicans say private for profits will always be better for us then government run programs. Its just billlshhit and everyone knows it.
Yes, medicare for all. But medicare also needs changes, the primiums are increasing to fast, the 20% and deductible are making it harder for retirees like me to keep up. There will quickly come a time when most of us will need to dip so deeply into our SS benifits and pensions that there won't be much left to do anything else.
The Medicare we have only pays 80% which requires a GAP policy if you don’t want to go bankrupt. Thank baby Bush for that as well as no bankruptcy for student loans no matter what. People on SS are having student loan payments taken out of their SS benefits. We need Medicare to return to 100% payment for medical care. Don’t let anybody convince you that there is no difference between the Dems and Repubs. There still is despite the difference narrowing due to the donar class influence.
I’ve had some people reply to my comments that Medicare for All will create a shortage of providers. Probably in the short term, but that’s already the case. I wonder how many doctors, nurses, and providers will come out of early retirement to practice in a humane, fair system.
There already is a shortest of primary care physicians.
My left to join a VIP group. It has taken me over a year to find a good PC doc.
Medicare for all will in the short run have some negative issues. But as more younger and healthier people join the group the cost of Medicare will decrease.
All health care legislation needs to include assistance for medical education
I agree, Bret.
Perhaps a "shortage" given the current conditions. If we are restricting immigrants (so many bright people come to our country for medical training) then yes there will be a shortage. The other option is LPNs serving as primaries. My LPN is the best primary care person I've ever had. She takes care of more routine matters (high blood pressure maintenance for example), while I still see specialists for my chronic issues. Costs overall will come down when you factor in that everyone is included and you are cutting out that very expensive middleman layer (insurance executives).
LPNs are licensed practical nurses. They are less qualified than RNs. I believe you're thinking of CNPs, certified nurse practitioners. They are about as qualified as a physician assistant. They are probably a good group to serve as front-line care as you mention.
Yes!
Along with any legislation for health issues we need $$ incentives for people going into medical careers. The cost of ed for doctors and nurses and PAs to prohibitive for too many.
Gail - Your suggestion is dead on the money. Most of my family are either working/worked in the military, government, law enforcement, fire department or nursing fields. My soon to be daughter in law is finding it hard to get further education because of a policy that T just put out that limits the amount of money that she can borrow to go from a nurse to a physician assistant. T put a cap on how much she can borrow because of her chosen profession. He doesn’t see the benefit of nurses. Most of the time I never see my actual doctor but I definitely have been handed off to their nurse practitioner or physician assistant. So far I have not had a problem with any of them. Plus, it bugs me when the offices hang up signs saying that they will cancel your appointment if you don’t arrive 15 minutes early but they are running a half an hour late or longer. With the assistants they have started to cut down on how far behind they are running.
I worry I have is that there’s a move to convert Medicare to ‘Medicare’ Advantage. There is already a pilot program I believe west coast somewhere I don’t recall.
It s not actually Medicare.
There are many pilot programs across the country. I have no intention of letting an insurance company "manage" my care.
I get 'bombarded' with robo phone calls re "HealthCare" and allegedly from Kaiser Permanente (my insurer) then get a standard script (if I do answer out of curiosity) about Advantage plan augmentation. I don't respond to any of them or call back IF ? there is NO message left to - explain ~
I just switched dentists because my corporate dentist wanted to have me pay for a crown rather than a filling. 4 people in his office came from the first dentist. People who go into medicine do it for the job…not paperwork and less educated people tellimg them what to do. I think doctors would stay I their field.
We certainly need more doctors, and much of what doctors do now can be done by medical practitioners and nurses. By abstaining from junk food people would significantly improve their health. Tax incentives are needed.
Respectfully, no. I saw a Nurse Practitioner recently for an issue. She gave me a boilerplate answer and when it didn't work, she had to refer me to a doctor.
It used to be that being a doctor was a respected and pretty good living. That is no longer true. Many of the brightest college grads want to go into IT, instead of medicine. Locally, there are more women in medical school than men.
One of the problems is those who have more than they need using it to buy up all the health care delivery complies. Provider groups being bought up by private equity firms bc the returns are better and more reliable than the bloated stock market.
THAT needs to come to an end.
Oh and Reagan's legal-to-compensate- with -stock bullshit. That was illegal before that moron came along, because it was considered to motivate insider trading and not the benefit of the company. Stakeholders NOW, not shareholders.
Except one thing.
Medicare for All doesn't have to be a painful or expensive transition to health care like most of the developed world enjoys. It's never going to be perfect. But it can be a Hell of a lot better and cheaper.
Aside from the ripoffs perpetrated by PBMs, the insurance companies are getting rich by collecting "overhead" in excess of 20%. Medicare costs about 4% to operate.
Phase One: Include all children. Period. And provide financial incentives to medical students and current specialists to join primary, geriatric and pediatric care.
Phase Two: Include all adults over 50. And legislate to provide financial assistance to anyone who can qualify via merit (grades?) for medical school.
Phase Three: Include all adults in Medicare. 100%. Everyone. Reward physicians for keeping people healthy and healthier with preventative care.
Fund this with a wealth tax. According to HCR, over $80 trillion has been transferred to the top few oligarchs. Time for a major redistribution of stolen American assets. We are the richest nation to have ever existed. There is NO EXCUSE for any American to go without top quality health care. None. Nada. No reason other than greed and "othering".
Time for another American Revolution. Time for some Good Medicare Trouble!
Every biz person knows the best way to reduce costs is to eliminate the middleman. Insurance is the middleman
I had to fight one of mine when my husband had an aneurysm. One company didn't want to pay because it was a month after we had signed up. They tried to say that it must have been an existing condition. My question to them was" What test is there to predict an aneurysm?" and mentioned that we had signed up during open enrollment month. They shut up and paid.
Linda - It seems to me that they hire more people to tell you no and see who is willing to fight for their rights. I’m glad you fought!
Breaking up monopolies would also help. For example, Optum should not be an insurance provider, health care provider, and PBM. When Optum took over Health Care Partners, the quality went down. I have been told that Optum is a slow payer.
With regard to Primary Care Provider shortages: Easy to fix. Now many providers take high paying jobs (Specialist heavy rather that Primary Care heavy) because of educational debt. Subsidized Primary Care Provider programs can address that. Economic incentives are driving the increase of specialty care at the expense of primary care. Economic incentives can help to reverse that trend.
There are schools that subsidize medical education already.
Yes.
That was then original plan, to drop the eligibility age for Medicare by 5 years every few years until everyone is covered.
Make a buy in option as well, make orovate equity firms divest the health care providers an and raise the reimbursement rate for Medicare. Our healthcare system is so mangled right now it's almost impossible to untangle what real costs and savings are.
Impossible to untangle is another lie to deter change.
Bill - Another thing that they should look into is how they make a person who was in the medical field in the military have to pay to retake classes that they are already qualified for and did in the military. My oldest is a medic in the Navy but when they retire after 30 years of service they will be forced to take unnecessary classes all over again just to get into the medical profession outside of the military. Most of them already have the training and experience required but they are still forced to jump through hoops.
^^^This^^^
And it will be essential for candidates running on single-payer healthcare systems to explain in detail how these will work. For example, Medicare for All can work as a transition to a single unified healthcare system like the UK and other countries. California is looking at making this available on a state level. So are NY, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. So it may look a bit chaotic in the beginning, but this may serve to better educate the entire country. Having been a beneficiary of the military healthcare system, I've always wondered if it wouldn't be better for the country to enlarge this system, rather than isolate it for military only. Certainly, there care some emotional issues for this. But I can imagine many benefits.
Medicare for all AND Single payer system - already implemented in several states and about to be (hopefully) in Colorado
"Easy" might not be the best word, but the concept is spot-on.
The OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Traitorous Trumplicans support it! Last I heard, it was in the seventies.
As a Canadian who enjoys socialized medicine (and having grown up in the Unequal States of America), I'd say you first have to get your compatriots to stop worshipping the dollar, and also stop with the overwrought fear of the word "socialism..." it's absolutely bizarre. Now, I do want to make clear that our approximately 60 year old system is far from perfect, and some provinces are managing better than others. Still, it's a far sight better than yours. Your quality of care is great, but is NOT universal. I pay higher taxes than Americans, and am proud to do so for the privilege of services you guys can only dream of.
Oh, and by the way, we're happily welcoming fed-up American physicians to our wonderful country... they kinda don't like your prez.
I wish I knew. I think the main question is how we use this mess of everything to register new voters. Sadly, I think there are still way too many people trying to change the minds of GOP supporters, when the larger group we need to reach is those sitting on the sidelines as voters and activists.
Democracy is messy. It’s imperfect. It’s subject to, well, aging. Like humans. I find the older I get the less I like being around humans. Unless they are paying me for services. Then I like them. I have a bunch of once abandoned cats running around my house. And right about now at pre dawn, they are swirling around me waiting to be fed as usual. But I like animals. I don’t like the demands that humans place on me to think one way or another. And if I don’t kowtow to their demands. And speaking of cows, I like cows but I haven’t figured out how to get a cow inside my house and forget about being able to take her to bed. She would squish me if she turned over on me.
Moooooooo. And I don’t eat red meat. But those poor little chickens. I feel bad that we all eat chickens and turkey in my house. I wonder if we are going to make it. Just a few really bad people can really Fung goo the system up for their own selfish ends. I guess I’ll need to interact with some humans today.
I just booked a 3-day trip to Orlando for a convention and those conventions are really boring. But business calls. Does anyone know if there is any exciting things to do in Orlando? I like doing stand up maybe I can find a venue and talk about not leaving New England in my older age to swing with the old ladies in The Villages.
FUNG GOO! Good one!
Yeah, poor chickens... I'm trying to avoid beef (environmental costs) but I'm not a vegetarian, so... poor chickens! I haven't been to Orlando in years but I bet you can find a Gator Farm near there -- big fun! :)
Bill You (almost) had me ROFLMAO except that I couldn't get back up again if? I did ("I've fallen and I can't get up" = remember that old commercial ?)
Excellent idea 👌
In NY state, tell folks about the NY Health Act (A1466 Paulin / S3425 G Rivera). Ask them to contact their NY Senator or Assembly member ("find my" links are prominently places on the NYSenate.gov and NYAssembly.gov websites).
For more info, see the Campaign for NY Health (https://www.nyhcampaign.org).
From the website:
The federal government’s One Big Beautiful Bill slashes billions from New York’s healthcare system. That means:
-- 1.5 million New Yorkers losing coverage
-- $13 billion in healthcare cuts to our state
-- 70 hospitals at risk of closure around the state
-- Skyrocketing premiums for working families
-- Longer ER wait times and fewer services
While Washington lines the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, New Yorkers are left to pay more for less care.
The New York Health Act is the answer:
The New York Health Act (NYHA) is how we fight back. It’s the only plan that:
-- Guarantees healthcare for every New Yorker — medical, dental, vision, hearing, long-term care, and more
-- Eliminates deductibles, and copays — real care, not surprise bills
-- Covers prescriptions — no more worrying if you can afford your medications
-- Protects our hospitals from closure and keeps care local
-- Saves families money by cutting out profit-driven middlemen
A moral and fiscal imperative
This moment demands courage. New Yorkers cannot wait on Washington to fix what they broke, or insurance companies to prioritize us over their profits. Our legislature has the power — and the responsibility — to protect us.
Passing the New York Health Act isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do.
I'll have to look at thst. Your bullet points make a plan but not how to pay for it.
Colorado's Bill Evans did a study a couple decades ago now on what was paid to provide healthcare, including Medicare, Medicaid, corporate costs, premiums and deductibles, and concluded we could actually cover everyone in the state for less if we did a single payer system.
Little Colorado
How to pay for it? We're paying for health care now. This plan will actually save money compared to the existing for-profit system.
https://www.nyhcampaign.org/howwepayforit
Well shooting the CEO of a huge health insurance theft company didn't seem to do the trick....
America suffers from the myth that shooting someone solves problems. It doesn't.
"The man who shot Liberty Valance... he was the greatest of them all."
I like better the attitude of Commander Ernest Krause, Captain of the destroyer USS Keeling, played by Tom Hanks, in the film "Bloodhound." He fought off the U-boats with verve and decision, but regretted the need to kill the German crews.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_(film)
It's a thrilling film, and I've watched it several times. Portrays the crew of the "Bloodhound" as carrying out their duties with discipline. Well-trained and skillful.
Wow! What a good idea!
Starting back in the early 70's Congress let the camel of for profit healthcare companies get its head under the tent... We now have the most expensive per capita healthcare costs in the world because we have this giant pipe sucking dollars which should be going toward rational healthcare - into corporate coffers. I don't approve of murder but a United Health exec got himself put down by a guy off the street who understood this. We need to turn all health insurance entities into not for profits and same for all PBMs.
Which is why I have always donated to St Jude Children's Hospital and still do!! And I imagine they will be even more overwhelmed than they already have been!!!
Well said, Ian, and I agree completely!
I'll give you cause for concern. In a moment of divine wisdom Donald Trump has just appointed Steve Bannon to be Pete Hegseth's designated driver.
Thanks for the laugh
Yes. Stay healthy, Robert.
The American philosophy of health care: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB-rQMJgFn8
I didn’t read Robert Reich’s piece as a personal anecdote. I read it as a diagnosis.
What he describes isn’t a quirky failure or an unfortunate detour — it’s the system working exactly as designed. The confusion, the delays, the opaque decision-making, the sense that no one is actually accountable for your care. That’s not a bug. That’s the business model.
What hit me hardest is how quickly health care stops being theoretical the moment you’re the patient. All the rhetoric about “choice,” “efficiency,” and “innovation” evaporates when you’re sick and trapped inside a maze built by insurers, pharma, and a Congress that protects both. At that point, you’re not a consumer — you’re inventory.
And let’s be honest: lawmakers know this. Many of them will never experience this version of the system themselves. They exempt themselves, then lecture the rest of us about costs and discipline while preserving a structure that profits from delay, fear, and exhaustion.
Reich isn’t asking for pity. Neither am I. I’m angry — because this is a political choice, reaffirmed year after year. We could negotiate drug prices. We could simplify care. We could center patients instead of shareholders. We just don’t, because too many people in power benefit from keeping it broken.
If reading this makes you uncomfortable, good. That discomfort is the point. Illness strips away abstraction. It forces clarity. And the clarity here is brutal: our health care system isn’t failing us — it’s exploiting us, and Congress is complicit.
In civilized countries, healthcare is a right. In America, it's a commodity. Healthcare shouldn't be about profits. It should be about humanity. The healthcare system in the United States is vicious capitalism.
The days after Luigi shot the CEO of United Advantage, I began the change over to Medicare. I always knew the advantage programs were a fraud. Delay, deny and wait till you die. But offer free dental cleaning and a free pair of glasses each year. So now I pay. It’s insurance against eventual illness. This nation was built on the concept of indentured servitude and enslavement. It never ended. The founders weren’t goo goo eyed over freedom and liberty. They wanted freedom from paying taxes and duties while keeping their slaves fed and housed like old Tommy Jefferson who had figured out the profits of his nail making company; the cost of iron, the time it took to forge so many nails in a day. How many slaves worked on the nail production. The cost to feed and house said slaves. And his profit margins. Now that’s America.
You're right, Bill: The Founding Fathers weren't goo goo eyed over freedom and liberty. They were a bunch of rich white men, lots of them slaveholders. Vicious capitalism is in America's roots.
Vicious capitalism is what drove most of our immigrant ancestors to come here. If they had been satisfied in their original countries, they would not have taken the risk to come here. Yes, it's in our DNA.
The Supreme Court has almost always favored viscous corporate capitalism, and in the end, they are running our country. They decide whether any laws made by Congress adhere to their reading of our Constitution. Anyone who has ever read two different reviews of any writing knows that any reading is highly biased by the reader's personal views.
Bill- open eyed, I knew what I was buying when I signed up for Advantage- it has not been a fraud at all, it’s paid for everything (including 2 surgeries). It is what I can afford- and yes, I like the OTC allowances and bonus $$ ( I used it for gift cards)- and for me, after March, my meds will be zero $ for the rest of the year. As a nurse, I just wish everyone could sign up for whichever plan works best for them.
Then all those stories of private insurance denying coverage are false. You should write a story it. You get what you pay for in life. Glad you are happy. As the title or subtitle of one of my songs go, “Don’t Get Sick Before You Die.” Or there will be sadness in your eyes.
The stories aren’t false, some do (I knew which companies to avoid from the experiences of my patients). I also know if a new diagnosis occurs that makes this a bad choice- I can convert. The point being, the system is deliberately difficult to prevent transparency. It shouldn’t be this hard- it should be standardized in all 50 states
I have an Advantage Plan and am very happy w it. Is free, and all my Healthcare needs are taken care of. As with any Healthcare plan here in the US, you need to do your homework and choose one that is best for you. 😉
But Trump has a concept of a plan...
I’m not holding my breath for that one!
"...you're not a consumer- you're inventory."
WIDGETS WE R!
Yesssssss
🙏Amen, HK Jane. Let’s start prosecuting from the bottom up? That’s how we proceeded when I was a middle school guidance counselor, responsible for investigating incidents of HIB (harassment, intimidation, bullying). Outcomes were best when we focused on the underlings instead of the kingpins. It didn’t take long for the house of cards to collapse.
I’ve learned of an additional option: State-level criminal charges for “Misprision of Treason.” 47 can’t pardon state-level charges (even for Miller, Wiles, Hegseth, etc.) and they don’t have 47’s presidential immunity.
“Anyone with knowledge of treason who fails to report it can be charged with misprision of treason, punishable by up to seven years in prison.”
This criminal charge applies to misprision of treason at the state OR federal level. You DO NOT have to be a state resident of those states to file formal complaints with OAG (office of Attorney General).
I urge readers to consider contacting the following Attorneys General immediately. They need to take action while we still can.
Virginia (§ 18.2-482): Class 6 felony for failing to report known treason within a reasonable time. Email: mailoag@oag.state.va.us
Rhode Island (11-43-3): Explicitly prohibits the misprision of http://treason.Email: ag@riag.ri.gov
Illinois: References misprision of treason in relation to state treason laws. Contact: https://forms.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Forms/OAG_ContactUs
Additionally, federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2382) criminalizes the misprision of treason against the United States.
(The following states have Misprision of Treason laws but red leadership)
Louisiana (La. R.S. 14:114): Defines it as the concealment or failure to disclose treason, punishable by up to 10 years at hard labor.
Florida (876.33): Defines it as a third-degree felony to conceal treason and fail to report it to the Governor or a judge.
Nevada (NRS 196.030): Category C felony for concealing knowledge of treason.
The "start with the underlings" approach has been used in a number of criminal mob cases ending up with the successful prosecution of mob bosses.
🙏 Thank you, Ian. Please consider emailing the OAGs in RI, VA, and IL?
You're welcome, ISOequanimity. I will consider it.
What specifically would we say to the OAG’s?
I’m a social worker not a lawyer so I just urged them to “file criminal charges for misprision of treason” against all suspects.
We could also concentrate on preventative care and I don't mean the chemical kind being pushed by pharmaceutical companies. I mean, getting rid of all the chemicals in our food supply that build up in our bodies over a lifetime that stop our bodies' system from protecting us. Every week, I see a commercial for a new disease with new pharmaceuticals to band-aid the problem. It needs to stop.
Very well said.
If "private" health care was going to deliver efficient results to all Americans, it would have done it by now. And it hasn't done it because of incompetence. It has excluded millions from care because of corporate greed! It is cruel It is abusive. It is theft. It is calculated money grubbing - KNOWING that Americans will suffer and die because of it.
Private health care is immoral and criminal.
What this points toward, for me, is the need to stop treating health care reform as a technical problem and name it as a values choice. If illness clarifies anything, it’s who we believe the system is for.
The real question isn’t whether change is possible, but whether we’re willing to design a system that prioritizes care, dignity, and accountability over profit—and demand that our politics catch up to that reality.
Congress does not care. After all, they have long paid vacations and great benefits for themselves and their families. They will never..ever give that up.
It’s up to us to give them their marching orders. Please consider contacting the OAGs in RI, VA, and IL? Miller, Wiles, and Hegseth et al could be arraigned in different three states.
SPOT-ON
🙏 Thank you, Susan. Please consider emailing the OAGs in RI, VA, and IL?
Please post this on FB!
It deserves a wider audience.
Inventory. Wow
Well said! I agree 200%!!
Someone should inform Mr. Trump that "lunacy" is not a body of water he can rename.
There are many yet unnamed craters on the Moon. The next time an unmanned probe augers in on the lunar surface we can name it for the President: "Trump's Lunacy Crater". MAGA might call it "TLC" for short -- but history will refer to it as "Trump's Hole".
Love it 🤣
Hahahahahahahaha! That was excellent!
Thank you for my first chuckle of the day!
Try naming it after him
B
Steve Bannon, you know, the guy that told Trump to flood the zone with distractions, said this yesterday.
“You’re damn right, we’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November. We’re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
Trump and his sycophants will try anything and everything to rig the November elections.
ALL of the plans of their coup-plotting are accelerating, whether it's thump's expansive and expanding con-games to possess all the world's treasure or it's furtherance of their transformation of our government and nation into a fascist police state. It's hard to get any sense of WHY he/they seem indifferent to the possibility (or worse) of the collapse of our economy, of fomenting war, of the destruction of this nation; do they imagine that they can escape catastrophe via the accumulation of more and more wealth, if they have enough money and peons in their service? The combination of their arrogance, their amorality, their stupidity is stunning, but we are all caught in the toxic whirlwind of the accelerating destructive forces at work.
And eventually they will get sucked into the black hole as well, since they are still part of this country. No one will be exempt from the morass of greed!
“The Reality Show in Hell.”
"It's hard to get any sense of WHY he/they seem indifferent to the possibility (or worse) of the collapse of our economy,"
If YOU were living in a country with 340 million people AND you sincerely believed that it needed to rid itself of 100 million in a matter of a decade, how would you do it?
Keith, for me he was saying that republicans will always cheat to win. Everything that came out of his mouth is exactly what republicans are doing.
He knows they can count on what passes for…a U.S. Congress…and not-so-supreme court…
Steal the country again you pos??? THAT IS YOUR ROLE. YOUR GUY IS IN CHARGE MORON EPSTEIN FRIEND. POS. GO BACK TO YOUR DARK CAVE. UGH. FING CRAZY PEOPLE. MUSK STOLE ELECTION FOR KING TRUMP. KING T STOLE 2 ELECTIONS, THINKS HE WON 3X. ALL FING CRAZY. GET OUT.
I'm thinking we have time to have meetings with our local police, governor and National Guard people to counteract the ICE thugs, before the election.
We know it but we must stop them!
Steve Bannon really ought to shut his mouth and watch his back -- he is one big, fat target.
Oh yeah, and I'm no genius and my husband and I live pretty modestly. What do these people hear that I don't hear?!!
What's so interesting, Keith, is this crowd around "t" has told everyone what they're going to do, all of it! Yet, what, 40% of voters still think "hey, good by me!"
To your good health, Professor Reich.
And thanks as usual for an excellent explanation of how wide spreading the effects of our oligopolized economy are. Congress is at least applying a patch, but would that we change the structure.
Probably six years ago I was explaining to my son the difference between oligopoly-- just a few firms with market power dominating a product market as sellers-- and oligopsony-- just a few firms with market power dominating labor and other inputs markets as buyers. I told him that when I was learning microeconomics, professors customarily dismissed oligopoly as relatively unimportant-- a phenomenon of company towns. He stared at me and asked, though in politer terms I don't remember, "Were you all stupid?"
I realized that U.S. oligopolies had used their more-than-product-specific power to swing employment and contract law to allow an oligopolist to become an oligopsonist, with things like required non-compete contracts with employees.
More recently, I realized that we are so oligopolized that it's broken the price mechanism-- that market factors like demand, input cost, and taxes no longer affect prices firms charge so quickly or predictably as was the case for centuries.
Stunning.
In the late nineties I read about Sharon’s Sorbet in the Washington Post(RIP). Sharon was a real person who had created a delicious product. The chocolate and lemon were favorites of President and First Lady Clinton. Then Hagen Daz decided to go into sorbet and bought up all the supermarket freezer space. Sharon couldn’t compete. So much for free markets and supply and demand.
I wonder if that’s when Ben and Jerry decided to sellout.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be "defunded and disbanded" after the second fatal shooting this month of an American in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.
Ben is still fighting the good fight!
Thank you, Ben Cohen. When schoolchildren are assigned to write about an American hero, they will have you to write about.
Sharon's sorbet has a website and appears to be available to consumers, upon contact.
If I was managing a supermarket and knew my customers loved her product, I would make sure it had space -- ie, not allow others to "buy" / hog all the freezer space.
If a company threatens to withhold product if they don't get all the space, then that's a legal issue. I will always take some time to tell a manager when I find a product that I really enjoy, and thank them for carrying it. "This is one of the main reasons I shop here." -- and they see me every week -- and it's like gold to them.
One thing that many of the posts impress on me is how people prefer to feel victims of some system rather than examine what part they might play -- using agency and power* -- to create a better outcome. As for power, people have a LOT more than they are willing to accept -- because then they would face the truth that they share in the responsibility. This explains a LOT of why our country is where it is today.
The estradol patches came about AFTER the awful side effects of the main treatment -- what had been the main treatment -- were identified. Many of the researchers and scientists involved have prostates too. The testosterone treatment may very well be needed for those cases that don't respond to the estradol.
Yowza, thanks.
It's only the beginning! Small businesses are meant to be eaten by the Big Raptors who will jack up prices, and then the former small-biz people are supposed to starve.
Thanks for this.
You made me smarter today, thank you 🙏
If this were happening in another country, we’d call it corruption. Here, we call it healthcare.
Everyone should read this—not because they’re worried about prostate cancer today, but because this is how the system treats every illness once you stop being profitable.
Yes!!!
Thank you for reminding me to get my PSA! The actor William Hurt passed away recently from prostate cancer at 71. It’s highly preventable yet cuts too many lives so short.
I had a similar scare about 5 years ago. I was quickly referred to our local hospital for tests and was given the all clear to my relief. In the UK this didn't cost a penny. In the US if I didn't have health insurance I'd have a hefty bill. Our system is far from perfect but no one loses their shirt.
What Bob describes about the use of drugs for this condition is morally and ethically indefensible.
The vote should usually go to the best treatment, not the costliest. I spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and of course we do need money to fund further research, but this is taking things much too far. It's greed pure and simple.
Be well Robert. You are such a treasure and we need you so take good care.
H Guys from UK. I had Bicalutamide 7 years ago for Prost Cancer. It costs £9 a packet of 28 over here and $1600 over there for the SAME box of 28 tablets. Sort this out ... Good luck with that. Q for you. If Gods such a good bloke and all that why does he ( she ) keep giving us jerks and aholes like trump all around the world instead!???
I sure wish I had an answer for that million dollar question, John! Sometimes it feels like the world is playing whack-a-mole with these evil spawn! We get one tamped down and another rears its head!
I was diagnosed at 56, and all of the biopsy samples on one side showed 100% cancerous. I opted for surgery with the DaVinci Robot. 19 years later my PSA is still so close to zero it's essentially undetectable.
I also was diagnosed with Prostate cancer at 58-years-old with a measured Brinel factor of 8.2 (very aggressive cancer). Given an estimated 2 years of life if left untreated, I opted for surgery and was then given 35 radiation treatments spread over seven weeks because of its location at the prostate margin. I'm now 89, and still with an undetectable PSA level. It's been a good 31 years for me and my family. Men, have your PSA checked: it's better to find out early than too late. I've been told a change of "3/4 point" within a year indicates that something bad may be going on, and it still may be "curable" as opposed to "incurable" after it spreads to other parts of the body outside the prostate.
Wow, that's an excellent outcome, I'm happy for you! My husband took a different route. Diagnosed at 72, it looked like the slow-growing type, and he didn't want the side effects of any treatment (the docs recommended Cyber Knife surgery). So he opted to let nature take its course (i.e., no treatment), and is still symptom-free and vigorous 13 years later (despite a PSA now approaching 30). He has been lucky, and every case is different. With so many unknowns, it's not easy to decide what to do. Thank you to RR for highlighting this new treatment.
Been down that road, and the Casodex comes in a six month dose. It means no warp drive, only impulse engines. You might have to be old enough to have prostate cancer to get that reference…
The estrogen patch probably would've also made it easier to bounce back from radiation treatment.
Glad it all worked out for you Bob!
Becareful with the estrogen patch. Estrogen is related to breast cancer of which men can get as well as women. These companies make billions off women's health issues because after menopause our estrogen decreases, but supposedly estrogen causes cancer, so instead of one patch, we are taking multiple other products. So does estrogen really contribute to cancer or have we been lied to and this is another way to make buck?
In the 1980s, research on women's health was misinterpreted to find a causal link between HRT and cancer. They have revisited this research and the FDA recently removed the warning labels off of packaging. It is horrific that a generation of women are now suffering with physical/cogntive/emotional decline due to this misinterpretation.
Lesley, if the FDA removed the warning in 2017-2020 and 2025 or more recently, I wouldn’t trust the decision.
I agree, Leslie,
HHS Advances Women’s Health, Removes Misleading FDA Warnings on Hormone Replacement Therapy | FDA https://share.google/hX6Mg0jCA9ZKfrfXF
Right on Professor Reich!
We will pray for your health and for your clear mind to keep you grounded 🙏
Wonderful to hear about your very positive health care outcome. I've lived in the UK for over 25 years. The health care system may not be perfect but it's compassionate and inclusive. Doctors are not after the big payouts from my experience.
We don't have a healthcare system. There's no money in health. We only have a sickness-care system. And when we get sick, privatized insurance will spend a fortune to find ways to NOT reimburse us. We're not worth two cents to any big corporation or billionaire! And that's just how the Heritage Foundation wants it.
Glad you are doing better and the right thing.. not the Steve Jobs approach. Oh the hubris…. Anyways... Very informative article. Thank you for your insight as always.. if only there were a patch to fix the trump problem/democracy…