The Health Care Conundrum Solved
Dear Solvers:
No, of course there is no easy solution for the health care crisis in
DC, or for health care problems nationally. But the hard solutions will
only come when both liberals and conservatives admit that the other side
of the debate is right. Conservatives are right that government, either
local or federal, is a lousy provider of health care. Government is the
most inefficient, ineffective, expensive, and wasteful way to provide
any service to individuals. And liberals are right that there are
tremendous holes in the health care that private sources, whether
emergency rooms, hospitals, clinics, private physicians, HMOs, or
pharmacies, can provide to the poor and uninsured. But the national
battle between conservatives and liberals, in which DC is a pawn, is
waged as an all-or-nothing fight over privatizing or governmentalizing
practically all elements of Americans' health care.
The current issue of The New Republic has an article on the
health care problems of Los Angeles County by Jonathan Cohn (http://www.thenewrepublic.com/doc.mhtml?i=20021202&s=cohn120202).
Los Angeles seems to have many of the same problems as DC, just on a
larger scale, as befits its larger population. It has closed one of its
six public hospitals and, reports Cohn, may close two more of them. But
Tom Scully, the same director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid
Services who promotes the “Washington model” of privatization and
who gave a temporary bailout to Greater Southeast Hospital just two
weeks ago, refuses to consider any further federal aid for LA,
apparently because it hasn't sufficiently privatized services. The
irony, of course, is that the Washington model has stumbled from a
public hospital (DC General), to a public hospital run by a
semi-independent agency (the Public Benefits Corporation), to a private
hospital run by a private corporation with public subsidies (Greater
Southeast and Doctors Community), and soon to a system run directly by
an agency of the executive branch of the government (the Department of
Health) featuring a private hospital with questionable funding and
stability. This next step may well be the final one, since there seems
to be no further depth of incompetence to which we can fall.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Those of us in the Green Party often get blamed for calling the
Democrats no different from the Republicans. The accusation isn't fair;
what Greens say is that as Dems have retreated from their populist
positions and colluded with Repubs, they've given the GOP the license to
move to greater extremes. (Liberal Nancy Pelosi now says she'll
acquiesce in Bush's imperial war plans.) But here in DC, the convergence
of the two parties is undeniable, with Council members Schwartzman and
Catania defending some traditional Democratic Party positions while
Mayor Williams conspires with Congress and the White House and embraces
their ideology of privatization of public resources and services. Even The
Washington Post begrudgingly admits that the Statehood Green Party
is now DC's real opposition party: “We can't help noting how this
year's council races highlight the low state of the Republican Party in
the District and the Statehood Green Party's growing presence on the
political scene. . . . [Statehood Green] candidates are running on a
platform of many issues that we don't support. But [they are] well
versed in their party's positions and eager to make their views
known.” (October 28)
The Post's editorialist, true to form, failed to inform us
about what that “platform of many issues” might be. The Post
has always been happy with the one-party rule that Paul Dionne lamented
in themail on December 1. Statehood Greens vigorously opposed the
Mayor's privatization of public health care long before Council chimed
in; criticized plans for taxpayer-funded Olympics facilities and
ballpark (still on the table); offered a feasible alternative to the
FY2003 budget that would have reversed the Council's budget cuts for
public schools, libraries, Interim Disability Assistance, the Housing
Production Fund, etc.; and run their campaigns without the corporate
funding that compromises D's & R's alike. The 8-15 percent achieved
by Statehood Green candidates seems to coincide with the percentage of
DC voters that actually heard them speak publicly or took time to learn
about what they stood for.
So why do people vote party line, regardless of their own interests,
and keep reelecting people like Mayor Williams, Jack Evans, Harold
Brazil, and other patent flunkies for big real estate firms, developers,
hotels, PEPCO, insurance companies, and other elite interests? I recall
the horror and consternation among so many (mostly white,
west-of-16th-Street) DC folks over all those black votes that returned
Marion Barry to the mayor's office in 1994. Barry's scandals were penny
ante next to Anthony Williams' accumulation of cronyism, dishonesty,
acceptance of improper funding, diversion of public resources, election
shenanigans, etc., unless womanizing and self-medication cause more
public damage than, say, concealing $200 million in order to make DC's
only full-service public hospital appear insolvent and then destroying
it. But that didn't stop the same Barry-haters from voting Williams back
in office. Can someone explain this to me?
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You Gotta Pay to Play
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
If you want a health care contract in DC, you know what you have to
do. Doctors Community Healthcare Corporation got the contract to manage
the day-to-day operations of the DC Healthcare Alliance and to provide
inpatient, specialty, and correctional care. Doctors Community
Healthcare and its corporate officers were the largest contributors to
Mayor Williams' campaign fund. The DC Chartered Health Plan got the
contract for administrative services (management enrollment, care
coordination, and utilization management) for the Healthcare Alliance.
DC Chartered Health Plan, its owner, Jeffrey Thompson, and Thompson's
partners at the accounting firm of Thompson, Cobb, and Bazilio were the
second largest contributors to Mayor Williams' campaign fund.
Now that the bankruptcy of Doctors Community and Greater Southeast
make it inevitable that they will be replaced as the day-to-day
operations manager of the Healthcare Alliance, there are two leading
contenders to take its place and pick up its administrative
responsibilities — either the DC Chartered Health Plan or the District
government's Department of Health. Whichever organization wins, Karen
Dale, the current Chief Executive Officer of Greater Southeast Hospital,
should be secure, since she is closely tied to all of the players. Dale,
who is a registered nurse with a Masters of Science in Nursing degree,
worked as Senior Deputy Director of Public Health Services at the DC
Department of Health as recently as January 2000. Then she became Chief
Operating Officer of the DC Chartered Health Plan until July 2002, when
she was named as Chief Operating Officer of Greater Southeast Community
Hospital, Hadley Memorial Hospital, and DC General's ambulatory and
emergency care centers. She was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of
the hospitals in mid-October. (The Washington Post's flattering
profile of Dale, published on November 24, glided over these ties with
the statement that she came to Greater Southeast “after a string of
successful managerial jobs at large for-profit health care businesses
and one year as a senior deputy in the DC Department of Health.”)
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Left Hand, Meet the Right Hand
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
Once again a city government agency has demonstrated that it could
screw up a one car funeral. The DPW recently changed the designation of
some of the city's byways to “Snow Emergency” Routes. This
designation means that no cars can be parked on those roadways when a
snow emergency has been declared. No one made sure that the residents on
these newly designated routes were informed of the change, and the maps
that were on line did not properly show what roads were, indeed, snow
emergency routes. The result: ticketed and towed cars on those newly
designated snow emergency routes.
The DPW needs a healthy dose of vitamin “C”: cooperation,
coordination, and communication. All it takes is a coordinated plan,
coordination between all the elements of the DPW and the DC Police, and
communication within the DC government and with the affected residents.
The left hand has to know what the right hand is doing.
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Let It Snow, But Slip Sliding Away in the
Neighborhood
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
Gary may have been thinking of the Mediterranean, but it's too much
fun here. Most of us northerners who've adopted DC as our home recognize
that snowy days in Washington are one of the most entertaining times of
year. I'm looking out my window at snow covering everything -- not a lot
of snow. Not enough to slow anyone down in my upstate New York college
town, not enough to cause more than a hiccup in rush hour in Boston. But
here, everyone's holed up at home with the massive quantities of bread,
milk, and toilet paper they bought last night, sitting out the
“disaster.” I actually like this; up north this would just be
another day, but here it's a reason to work at home. Everyone in my
office thinks that one needs a four wheel drive vehicle for this kind of
snow (my little Honda did just fine in the October-to-April snows of NY
state, thank you very much), and I have no desire to deal with other
commuters out there. So I enjoy this quirk of DC, the strange amnesia
that makes each snowstorm seem like the first anyone's seen, put on some
coffee, fire up the laptop, and get to work in my home office.
However, now that a few days have passed since the snowstorm, we see
one of those DC things that I just don't understand — lots and lots of
sidewalks covered with packed-down snow. They're a hazard to
pedestrians, who either risk falling or have to walk in the street and
risk getting hit by cars. I'm assuming that in DC, like most cities,
it's a property owner's responsibility to clear the sidewalk in front of
his or her building. (Even if it's not, it's just a matter of basic
courtesy and concern for other people. Am I really naive to think this
exists?)
Maybe I have different expectations after spending most of my life in
snow country, but why isn't the city out ticketing properties with
uncleared walks? In Boston you could count on this happening in any
central city neighborhood shortly after the snow stopped. And there, icy
walks were far less frequent. (If any readers out there haven't bothered
to shovel their walks, I'd be sincerely interested in your reasoning —
I am honestly mystified by this.)
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Not Fun and Fun
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
The Peace Pageant with the Christmas Tree lighting on the White House
ellipse was definitely not fun. It may have looked great on TV but was a
nightmare for those who attended with little kids. Arriving at 3:45 p.m.
for a 5 p.m. start of the ceremonies one would get on a very long line
to go through security. Then one would have to get on an equally long
line inside the fence to go through a second security checkpoint. Never
could figure that one out. We finally got to our seats with the two
grand gals just one minute before 5 p.m. to watch some mediocre
entertainers headlined by Barbara Eden (Hey she's older than even I am).
One woman with a very young infant inside her coat in a chest sling was
alerted by the youngster that he was hungry after all the waiting on
long lines. His mom tried to get back out of the second line only to be
manhandled by two male US Park Police, one under each arm, and telling
her that she could not leave. She was rescued by two female Park Police
who escorted the woman to a place where she could feed her young baby.
She managed to do that and then was cordially escorted out to the
entrance. A bad place to bring young kids with the interminable security
checks that make the airports look like a walk in the park.
Ah, but the fun part. That was sliding down the big hills in the new
snow. Haven't had my chin three inches above the ground on a sled while
racing headlong down a steep slope in more than half a century. I
occasionally take a spill while doing some semi-reckless downhill skiing
each year but the thrill of doing that headlong bit while on my belly
with a grand gal on my back was just exhilarating. It brought back very
fond memories of the hills in Farragut Woods in Brooklyn. Now that's
fun.
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Mr. Second Vice President
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Mayor Tony Williams, as people are finally beginning to note, travels
out of town far more often than the peripatetic past Mayor, Marion
Barry. For most of the past week, while the health care crisis continued
and the snow fell, Mayor Williams was in Salt Lake City successfully
campaigning for the position of Second Vice President of the National
League of Cities. Williams is now in position to advance to become
president of the NLC in 2004. In fact, when Williams hired his current
Chief of Staff, Kelvin Robinson, in July 2001, one of Robinson's main
selling points was that he had worked for the Florida League of Cities
and had contacts in the NLC. For Williams, the post will raise his
national visibility and result in even more future travel outside the
District. In the press release announcing his election, Williams
indicates that he “plans to use the position to enlighten thousands of
city officials throughout the nation about the District's efforts for
autonomy from the federal government and voting rights in the US
Congress.” (This raises the question of what “autonomy from the
federal government” means. Does Williams want DC to become not just a
city-state, but an independent nation?)
Williams' travel to Salt Lake City contrasts with a trip he didn't
take over the past month — to Louisiana. For the last four weeks, Mary
Landrieu, Democratic Senator from Louisiana, was engaged in a tight
runoff reelection race against Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell. Landrieu
won that race yesterday by just 36,000 votes. Terrell had the personal
backing of President Bush and substantial financial and political
support from the national Republican party. Landrieu's victory hinged on
energizing black voters, and she received support in getting out the
black vote both from black local officials and the Congressional Black
Caucus. However, although in the past term Landreiu served as chair of
the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on the District of
Columbia and had been very supportive of the District and the Williams
administration, Williams didn't campaign in Louisiana during the
four-week runoff campaign. Could it be that Williams, the summertime
Democrat, was afraid of offending the Bush White House? Or did Landrieu
calculate that support for the District of Columbia was a losing issue
in Louisiana, even among black voters?
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Helicopters. I didn't get it when I would hear my neighbors complain
about the noise and vibrations. I came to mildly tolerate Falcon 1
sweeping my neighborhood with its search light or the passing medical
chopper or even SkyFox. They all where in motion, so the interruption
was fairly brief. Saturday morning at 7:00 when the windows started to
vibrate and the sound of a helicopter roused me from my sleep, I assumed
it would pass. It didn't. I finally got up and looked out the window.
There were two military choppers. One emblazoned with the slogan “Go
Army,” the other with “Beat Navy.” They continued hovering without
moving for a couple more minutes until they went off to buzz some other
neighborhoods. If I didn't have to put up with helicopters all the time,
I would have laughed it off. But it was completely unnecessary,
especially considering the result of the game, and a waste of time and
money.
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DC College Savings Plan: Moola Moola
Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org
A reminder: DC has finally gotten off its administrative keister and
established a so-called “section 529” educational savings plan. (For
what it's worth, we managed to beat out Florida and Washington, the
remaining states with no 529 plan. See http://www.401kid.com/tools/analyzer/statebystate.asp.)
Stashing away college money in DC's plan has several potential
advantages over other vehicles, including a) a DC tax deduction for
contributions (up to $3K/year/donor; up to $6K/yr for joint filers), b)
income free of federal and DC income tax, c) no tax on withdrawals for
qualified post-secondary education expenses, and d) treatment as an
asset of the donor, not of the beneficiary (which improves the odds for
financial aid). Also, several of the funds available in the DC plan are
“socially responsible” Calvert funds, if you prefer to make a
political statement with your filthy lucre. (Alas, this only works in
one direction; there is no “Merchants of Death Growth and Income
Fund” available.) For the gory (but very clearly written) details, see
http://www.dc529.com.
A caveat and a disclaimer: Unlike with IRAs, you don't have until
next April to make a contribution for tax year 2002; the deadline is
Dec. 31. Also, I owe no fealty to Calvert or the DC plan; I don't even
like fealty pictures.
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Insurance in DC
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
Are there rules about when insurance companies can cancel auto
policies in DC? I just received notice that my company is going to
cancel my policy because of two claims in 2001 -- one a minor incident
where I rear-ended someone at very low speed, the other a single-vehicle
accident that resulted in some damage to my car. No injuries, no
violations. I am shocked by this because these are the only accidents
I've had in ten years; I haven't gotten a violation of any kind since
1987; and because my policy's already been renewed once since these
incidents. This seems really arbitrary, and after paying lots of good
money to this company (my rates more than doubled moving from Virginia
to DC!) it seems like I'm being punished for actually needing the
insurance I've paid good money for.
It's bad enough that insurance companies charge dramatically higher
rates in the District than in Maryland and Virginia, but to add to that
by canceling policies if policyholders actually make a claim seems just
wrong to me. I'm wondering what the rules are (the DISR section of the
city web site was not too helpful) and how much of a fuss it's worth
making.
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Catalan Oath of Allegiance
Nury Vandellos Reichert, a very proud Catalan, nuryotto@hotmail.com
The oath is true and exactly right and has given Catalans great
pride for centuries. I used to know its exact origin and can get it for
you if you are interested (have forgotten it right now).
[Yes, please do find out the story behind the oath and send it to
themail. — Gary Imhoff.]
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Is DC’s Financial Security a Federal
Responsibility?
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
A new Brookings report by Drs. Rivlin and O'Cleirecain tries to make
the case that the Federal Government should guarantee the District's
financial well-being with a permanent, no strings, annual handout to
make up for the inconvenience of putting up with being the nation's
capitol instead of a state government. Shouldn't such arguments be based
on good data and analysis? Should DC be a permanent federal ward?
Wouldn't it be better if the federal government used its powers to make
sure that DC could achieve real financial independence? How could the US
Congress do that? Is a new kind of discrimination being ignored?
NARPAC's answers can be found in the December update of its web site at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM.
Try a new approach to making DC better: get positively involved.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Elevator Speech Workshop, December 14
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org
The Capital PC User Group Entrepreneurs and Consultants SIG (CPCUG
E&C SIG) is having a special meeting workshop led by presentation
coach extraordinaire Bob Bailey of ebiz. During this meeting you will
learn how to set yourself apart from others and a step-by-step fail-safe
approach to creating your introduction. Attend this workshop and learn
how to get results, rather than disappointment, and attract the people
who can help you in your business at networking events. Join us for fun,
networking, and more! Invite your colleagues!
This workshop is Saturday, December 14. Check-in is at 12:30 p.m.
Meeting program begins promptly at 1:00 p.m., at the Cleveland Park
Library (Second Floor Large Meeting Room), 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW.
Location is just a block and a half south of the Cleveland Park
Metrorail station, half a block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie
theater. Meetings of the CPCUG E&C SIG are free and are held each
month. For more information about this workshop, the speaker, CPCUG and
its E&C SIG, and to register for this and/or future SIG meetings,
visit http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/1202meet.html.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Large collection. Will sell the lot for best offer. Call 331-4418 for
details.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FREE
E-mail me at vchudows@yahoo.com if you want one or both of these
amplifiers: 1) Kenwood KR6050. Late 1970s/early 80s vintage, 120 watts
per channel receiver/amplifier. This thing is a monster. It is big and
weighs a ton, but some people swear by these old things. The receiver
works only OK, one channel occasionally does get some static, so it may
need some tinkering. The sound is amazing. Wood veneer with brushed
stainless steel front. 2) Fisher amplifier, 1980s vintage, no receiver,
100 watts per channel. As far as I know it works great.
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CLASSIFIEDS — PETS
A special home is urgently needed for a very sweet, sadly neglected
dog. Indy is a beautiful shepherd/collie mix, 13 years old, deaf and
currently unable to walk up stairs. (This may just be temporary due to
being left outside for two consecutive twelve-hour days in this 20
degree weather with no shelter, food or water.) He is gentle, calm, and
good with children, just needs a quiet loving home to live out his last
few years. He is current on all shots and will be professionally groomed
by the friends who have rescued him. We will also pledge support as far
as dog-sitting for vacations, etc. Please contact Victoriamck@mindspring.com.
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CLASSIFIEDS — SPACE
Housing to Share: Four Nights a Week or Full
Time
Don Lewis, donald.lewis@starpower.net
N. Cleveland Park/Tenley area, NW. Furnished large attic room in well
appointed home. Professional, considerate, cleanly, responsible couple
(and friends) seek same to share home. Seven minutes to Metro, close to
AU/GU; gourmet kitchen, 3 1/2 baths, D/W, A/C, W/D, cable, basement rec
room, porches, and lots more. Rent and security deposit: $900 including
utilities ($800 for year lease); four nights a week $600; can contribute
to shared phone or get own. Short term OK; flexible move in date or
January 1; Contact 362-9494 or E-mail to donald.lewis@starpower.net.
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Office Wanted
Matthew Gilmore, dcgis6@hotmail.com
Small company looking for 1,000-1,500 square feet of office space to
lease/sublease. Contact Matthew Gilmore, 352-4378, dcgis6@hotmail.com.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
I am contemplating renovating my kitchen and bathroom, and would
appreciate recommendations for general contractors that specialize in
this. I seem to recall that some years ago someone on this list sent me
a list she had compiled from other themail readers. Is that list still
available?
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