tonight i stopped at the whole foods at third and fairfax to pick up my weekly organics, only to find a couple sign-waving protesters outside urging me to boycott--i figured they were worked up about grape-pickers or something, ignored 'em, went in and bought my usual shit.
when i got home, still curious, i googled "whole foods" and "boycott", and found the real reason.
see, this is what happens when i sober up and slack off on my blog-reading--i lose touch with not only the idiot right, but the idiot left as well. sorry this one's a day late and a dollar short.
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i remember a couple years ago, abc's john stossel devoted a whole hour of 20/20 to healthcare--called the show "sick in america."
i like stossel a lot--he's a pure libertarian so i don't always agree with him, but he's one of the smartest guys on tv (not saying much, i know), and he has a way of cutting through all the bullshit surrounding a given issue in a way i admire.
what i remember most about this particular show was a segment he did with john mackey, the hippie-vegan who not only co-founded what would become whole foods back in 1978 with a few thousand dollars, but who then masterminded its mass success throughout america and the united kingdom.
this was a guy who, even when faced with razor-thin profit margins and fierce competition from non-organic grocery chains who could offer food for far less, still managed to not only take his company public, but then turn a healthy profit for its stockholders, while at the same time offering great pay and primo health-insurance coverage to his employees--i.e., the prototypical american success story.
how did he do it? well, that's what fascinated me--in fact, everything he said in his segment with stossel made so much goddam sense to me that i've never forgotten it, and it's informed my opinions on healthcare ever since.
i managed to find the segment (thank god for youtube). watch it--you'll find it instructive.
basically, what he did was involve his employees in the cost of their own healthcare--which is, of course, as it should be. in so doing, he saved his company a bundle of money, which allowed him to offer insurance to part-time employees as well as full-time employees--and how many corporate employers can you name who have done that?
even better--after initial resistance, the employees fuckin' love the new system. win-win, right?
yeah, you might think.
problem is, he made the grave mistake of laying out not only his philosophy but the principles by which he made health insurance so affordable for his company and employees in a recent piece in the wall street journal--and omigod, the fallout that has ensued.
he was immediately branded an evil capitalist by the left for even daring to propose that healthcare should be cost-effective, and the boycott was on.
good god--the rhetoric i've just read on liberal blogs and other websites concerning this issue easily equals in both stupidity and ignorance anything i've seen from the right-wingers who wanna see barack's "real" birth certificate.
case in point: on the one hand, the boycotters are slamming whole foods because it's expensive (and therefore, elitist)--and then at the same time, slamming mackey because he's anti-union (because god knows, going union wouldn't make the place even more expensive). in other words, he's being pilloried because he stubbornly refuses to take his company down the road to bankruptcy hell previously paved by gm and chrysler, and thus put most of his employees outta work--that bastard.
and do these same critics take into account the fact that whole foods' employee salaries and benefits are such that people fuckin' fight for those jobs when they come available, even without union "enhancement"? somehow that subject never comes up in the boycott hysteria.
but back to the topic at hand: am i saying mackey's way is the entire solution to our healthcare mess? of course not.
what i'm saying is, it's thinking like this--from successful, bottom-line-oriented professionals who have been in the trenches and solved the problem in their own companies--that needs to be brought to bear in order to cost-effectively and comprehensively solve the healthcare problem on a national basis.
and this is my main bitch with obamacare--i see this bottom-line thinking nowhere in obama's solution. has he brought john mackey (or anybody else who's actually figured out a way to make healthcare cost-effective) into the process? hell, no--instead, it's all pie-in-the-sky horseshit from a bunch of politicians and policy wonks who have never met a payroll or turned a profit in their whole goddam careers.
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maybe here's where i should reveal my own bias: in austin, texas in 1979, if you were a college student like me and wanted real food, you had but two choices: wheatsville co-op up on guadalupe, or this ramshackle little store called whole foods market down on south lamar.
30 years later: wheatsville is long gone, but today i can walk into any one of hundreds of slick new incarnations of that original whole foods market and not only find the same high-quality foodstuffs i found back then, but even inhale deeply and be greeted by the same smells i smelled back then when i walked in the goddam door for the first time.
yeah--let's punish this company for its success in bringing the ethos of healthy food to fat america.
idiots.
12 comments:
John Stossel has done some good by showing Costco's model of business, which I support wholeheartedly. But, otherwise, John Stossel is an arrogant man whom thinks everybody else has got it wrong and he has found the solution to the problem at hand. He tries to come across as a rebel, going against conventional wisdom, but, he is really very conservative, doesn't want government interference in businesses, and believes in privatizing everything.
He makes my blood boil.
John Mackey doesn't believe Americans have an intrinsic right to healthcare. He claims: "All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments." Of course, the type of people whom shop at Whole Foods are wealthy people whom are trying to be liberal, trendy, fashionable, and green, are going to have a problem with his statements.
I'm glad the Whole Foods store I pass by everyday has closed down. Went in there once and didn't buy a single thing. I felt everyone was looking down on me being part of the working class. I thought, "suckers!"
In my experience, the people I know whom are on Social Security Insurance and Medicare get way better medical care than I do and wait for treatment less than I do.
I pay, through work, one of those medical insurance plans where they give me $350. a year in a Healthcare Savings Account. After I use it up, I have a thousand dollar deductible, and when I reach that they cover 80%. It is $25 to see my Primary Doctor (in network) and $35 to see a specialist.
One of the problems with these types of plans is there is no law which requires medical providers to give you a "good faith estimate" for their services. I have been told by my doctor and a specialist that I need to have 4 different MRI's. I asked my health insurance how much it would cost(repeatedly) and they said it was information they could not disclose. I called hospitals and they said it was information not open to the public. So, how am I to make a decision when the information I need is private? They want you to wait for the bill and then deal with it. I asked how much it would be without insurance and they said about $6000+. (20 years ago I had an MRI and it only cost $350.) I'm going to just wait and if it is nothing, it is nothing. If it is something, they can give me an MRI after I collapse. Probably, in the end, costing the insurance company more.
The reason why Insurance companies are switching to Healthcare Savings Plans is not altuistic. They realize consumers are less likely to use these types of Insurance plans.
Whatever John Mackey's view -- no matter how right or how wrong -- it is completely out of step with his customers.
Surely he is a good enough businessman to understand that is a problem.
Instead, he blames the tempest on the Wall Street Journal's title to his op-ed.
You can say all these liberals are stupid, but why should they shop at an overpriced store that does not reflect their values (particularly if the biggest reason for going there is because you think it reflects your values)?
A boycott is using economy leverage to force social change. That's capitalism. Something, I would think, guttermorality would approve of.
If I were to go to get medical treatment without insurance, I would be charged different from someone with insurance and different if it is a Healthcare Spending Account. What is happening now is people are being charged more when they use these accounts. Insurance companies don't negotiate as well when it is "your money."
I had to have a couple of stitches 2 years ago and since it was Sunday, I went to the hospital. After waiting for a couple hours, they did 10 minutes worth of work. The hospital sent me a bill for $1200. I called up my insurance company to see why they didn't negotiate for a lower price. They told me that is the negotiated amount. The hospital had initially charged $1300. For some reason, nothing had been taken out of my H.S.A., so I called up the hospital billing department and said I would like to take care of my bill, but, I wasn't going to pay $1200. I managed to bring it down to $600. The insurance company paid what was left of my H.S.A. to the hospital, not knowing what I had done, and I eventually got reimbursed for the overpayment.
If I hadn't managed to negotiate through that window, I would have had to pay twice the price.
Right now, I am fighting with the insurance company over money taken out of my H.S.A. for procedures which should have been covered in my $25 doctor visit. Once they take the money out of one of these accounts it is next to impossible to get the money back or to negotiate for a lower amount. If the provider is paid and the insurance company is spending "your money", the patient is left fighting for their mistakes.
I'm sure there are plenty of Whole Foods employees whom hate their current healthcare plan. Of course, John Stossel is not going to give us honest and accurate reporting. He has an agenda and it isn't to show you what is really going on here.
Something needs to be done about this system. The people I know from Canada and the U.K. complain, but, only on t.v. have I heard anyone say that America's private insurance companies are better. If anything, Medicare should be available to all.
chuck: first, about stossel--i guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
second, about your healthcare experiences: as frustrating as they've been, you really think adding a layer or two of government bureaucracy is gonna make it better? and if so, how exactly?
noblesavage: you're absolutely right--in a free-market country such as ours (i'm speaking facetiously here, of course) people have a right to do any dumbass thing they wanna do. they wanna boycott? go for it.
you're also right in your observation that mackey should've been shrewd enough to realize that his target demographic couldn't handle the truth about what it takes to get their organic arugula to 'em on a reasonably cost-effective basis.
whatever--if there's any justice, they'll succeed in their boycott, shut down the evil whole foods market nationwide, and then the magic golden unicorns can descend from utopia and deliver their precious untainted-by-pesticides produce to their dinner tables free of the taint of unholy commercialism (you know--as the perfect-world manifesto says it should be).
i forgot that i had wanted to say something to Chuck about Medicare and how 'wonderful' a program it is:
are you serious? you must not be from the US, or a Medicare recipient. My mother couldn't get a marrow transplant because MEDICARE WOULDN'T COVER IT. She was 66, and was going to have to pay out of pocket ($100K+).
My pharmacy patients couldn't get medications when Medicare D kicked in 3 years ago because MEDICARE D sucks, is expensive, and doesn't pay for shit. It is a federal program, just like what HR will ultimately be (should it ever pass).
The reason the hospital couldn't give you a 'good faith estimate' is due to at least two factors:
1. hospitals are not car shops.
2. the negotiated rates are different from hospital to insurance company to different plans within said insurance company. whomever you were speaking with couldn't tell you because *gasp* they didn't know. I've been working for an insurance company for over a year now and *I* don't know the negotiated rates. I know that they won't drop below the Medicare allowable because that's the general rule of thumb, but I have no idea what rates are for MRIs for any of our products (plans). Simply put, it's not my job. But I can get you to the person who can give you that information.
As for my take on socialized medicine? There's a reason Canadians flock to Hollywood, FL in the winter and it's not all about sun and sand. See, they have "Canadian Hospital" where it's far easier to get healthcare than in their own country.
And there's also this: had we had socialized medicine back in 2002, when i had my catastrophic accident, two things would have happened:
1. the trauma team would not have felt the need to try and save my husband's life for 2 hours.
2. my very broken arm would probably have been back burnered and allowed to knit because it wasn't life threatening. My arm would be useless by now, had socialized medicince existed back then, because i ultimately needed three surgeries to repair broken plates and finally have a bone graft when nothing else worked.
but that's just my .02. Take it for what it's worth. I'm not in the industry or anything.
judi,
I never said Medicare is "wonderful." I am serious. The PA in "Chuck in PA" stands for Pennsylvania, a state in the U.S.A.
I don't work for the healthcare industry on any level. I was just sharing my own personal experience. As far as your accident goes, what you think would have happened if you were in a country with Socialized medicine is only speculation. Americans travel to Canada all of the time to get cheaper medicine. Americans travel to other countries to get medical treatment, because it is often cheaper in other countries.
The video posted was arguing that we should shop around to get our medical treatment, like shopping for work done on your car. How can we shop around when the negotiated rates are a secret?
no. people get their MEDICATIONS from Canada, not MEDICAL TREATMENT. Bit difference.
I was being facetious when i made the comment about you being from another country.
NEGOTIATED RATES ARE NOT A SECRET. Call your member services department. They have the comprehensive information as to what your plan does/doesn't cover and at what rate.
It's funny that you gloss over the fact that my husband was worked on for two hours. Even in my eyes that was a bit excessive, considering the dire circumstances in the first place. To HR, he would have been a better risk vs. my father, who has/d prostate cancer. That is based on age and potential/future value to society alone. 28 vs. 66. Because of the age issue in the HR bill (and i can't quote pages, sorry), my father--who is in remission quickly thanks to early detection--would have to wait while my husband is taken care of (again, the husband didn't make it).
You explain to me how it is so that a 66 year old man is less worth saving than a 28 year old who will die in a short few minutes regardless of what happens.
Now I pose this to all of you:
it is damned near impossible to get private health insurance if you have been diagnosed bipolar, even if you've *never* been hospitalized as a result. How will HR deal with the 'crazies' of society?
And Mikey, I don't see the heads of *any* MCO working on the bill. Color me kooky, but I kind of expected my CEO to be spending quite some time in DC.
judi,
I reread what I wrote and, yes, I made a mistake. I wrote "Socialized medicine" when it should have been "Socialized healthcare." I did say that people go to Canada for cheaper medicine, not treatment.
Otherwise, I made my comments about Healthcare Spending Accounts. That was my intention.
I have called my healthcare insurance company numerous times and they will not disclose the negotiated rates. Believe me or not.
Chuck: http://www.theadvocates.org/freeman/8903lemi.html
more importantly, extricated from the article:
The most visible consequence of socialized medicine in Canada is in the poor quality of services. Health care has become more and more impersonal. Patients often feel they are on an assembly line. Doctors and hospitals already have more patients than they can handle and no financial incentive to provide good service. Their customers are not the ones who write the checks anyway.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather fight with my insruance company about negotiated rates (and if I haven't touched on it, ask for the Medicare Allowable when talking to your insurance carrier/hospital insurance office), than not being able to get in to see my doctor under HR.
Here's a good interview about the Canadian healthcare system:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/18/actor_kiefer_sutherlands_grandfather_tommy_douglas
Here's a good report about health savings accounts and high deductible healthcare plans: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Testimonies/2006/Sep/Health-Savings-Accounts-and-High-Deductible-Health-Plans--Why-They-Wont-Cure-What-Ails-U-S--Health-C.aspx
Medicare is a sham, and it's shitty 'insurance'. We do have Medicare, at the federal level, available to anyone who has worked (btw, 16 years old, that video is) enough quarters. Amazing how Keifer Sutherland is in that video, and yet says nothing--he's a shill to get people to believe this crap. You do realize that Saskatchewan has a population of 1.3 (or so) million people, yes?
He never once says how long it takes to get an appointment, what determinations are made as far as testing and surgery. Hmmm...
As far as the extra billing and reconciliation employees? Yeah, I'm one of those. That's my job/career. I've spent a dozen years in the healthcare field in one way or another, and i'm not about to start over because of some yutz's idea of HR.
AH. He said it! Longer wait times for elective care. Not boob jobs--shit like heart stints are elective as well. Chemo? Falls under 'elective' procedure.
Assessment centers? Really?
He tries to brush it all under the carpet at the 55:20 mark.
i promise, chuck, that i will watch the other video tomorrow. i'm exhausted from live blogging.
judi and chuck: thanks so much for your insights, both of you--i needed to hear from an insurance insider as well as an insurance victim.
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