Month: July 2009

Daily Chart: Pet Theories About Health-Care Spending, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

My wife works in the veterinary field, and from listening to her discuss her work for the last five years, I can tell you that Conor Clarke is missing a few details in tracking vet spending.  First, there is veterinary insurance as well as wellness plans for routine procedures / shots, etc.  The primary reason for this is the move away from dogs and other animals as utilitarian (a barn dog or hunting dog) to the concept of animal as family member.  People have insurance and regard their pets as members of the family, and therefore needing insurance as well.  Price structuring for different plans is different, but that’s a whole other ball of wax.

Malpractice liability DOES happen fairly frequently in an age of boutique breeds that cost more than some people’s cars.  If Miss Princess dies in surgery, you bet your sweet bippy that there’s going to be a lawsuit because Miss Princess cost $8,500 and won four Best in Shows.  

The main thrust of Conor Clarke’s point is very true.  However, veterinary practices use very similar (if not identical) technologies as human medicine (X – Rays, ultrasounds, etc.) and the overall cost of these technologies in human practices increasing would lead to an increase in vet practices as well.  The two parallel more than one would think, but probably not as much as the charts suggest.

The Kidney Dialogues: “A Preexisting Condition,” Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

I donated a kidney a couple of years ago. The story about kidney donation affecting ones ability to get insurance is bogus. The first test that they conduct on you to see if you are a possible donor is to find out if you have two. Quite a few people are born with one and they don't seem to have any trouble getting insurance. Second, at least at the University of Minnesota where I donated mine, The University makes a commitment to the donors that if you have a problem with your remaining kidney you will be put at the top of the list to receive a new one and the procedures will be covered by the U. Three, prior to the donation you receive one of the most thorough medical exams possible, the ran me through the CT scanner at least 5 times. If there is any thing wrong with you they will find it, a bonus in and of itself. Fourth, you receive follow up care for years to find out if the donation has had any long term affect.

In my opinion there is no down side to being a live donor.  It was easy, and a minor inconvenience compared to someone going through dialysis.

If someone does have an insurance problem they should contact the hospital where they donated.

I doubt that the first reader's e-mail was "bogus." Perhaps all hospitals aren't as generous?

Rafsanjani’s Moment

by Chris Bodenner

Abbas Milani previews his highly anticipated speech tomorrow:

The former president and speaker of the parliament has been a regular on the Friday circuit over the past 30 years, but has been eerily absent for more than two months. More crucially, though the reformist cleric has met with families of those arrested in recent weeks (an important symbolic act), his words since the controversial elections of June 12 have been characteristically ambiguous. This Friday is his hour of reckoning. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mohammad Khatami have both announced that they will also attend the prayer, and have invited their supporters to do the same. The day has the potential of becoming yet another massive show of force by the opposition.

For at least four years, Rafsanjani has been unhappy about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's inordinate power, the direction of the country, and Ahmadinejad's demagoguery–particularly spurred by his sharp attacks against the Rafsanjani family. In the weeks before the election, Rafsanjani clearly sided with the reformists and put his considerable assets–financial and political–in the service of Moussavi. Rafsanjani today must know what most Iranians know: Unless he stands up to this most recent power grab by the triumvirate of Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and the Revolutionary Guards, he and his family will be next on the chopping block. Should he, on the other hand, be too defiant in his support for the opposition, he invites the wrath of the triumvirate. This Friday's sermon is thus shaping up as the most important in Rafsanjani's storied career.

Nico will be live-blogging the event for those interested.

The Politics Of Rage

by Patrick Appel

Rod Dreher discusses partisans on the right and left who only want to express anger, not ideas. First, the right:

They want to talk about Obama, and they talk about him as if he were two tics away from the Antichrist. The lack of proportion is what's so striking. I get that they don't like him or his policies, and are dedicated to opposing him. Fine, good luck to you. But what I can't put my finger on is why they take him for such a monster (and I do not exaggerate). I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to say to someone who believes the president to be a socialist Snidely Whiplash and/or a Muslim Manchurian candidate. During the later Bush years, I'd run into lefties who felt that way about Dubya, and while I certainly — and publicly, in my writing — had more than had it with him as a politician, the deranged conviction that he was some sort of monster made it impossible to have a normal, analytical conversation with some people. So you just sort of nod your head, and extricate yourself from the situation as soon as you can. I do that these days with some conservatives who make it clear that they are so filled with fear and loathing toward Obama that they really have nothing interesting to say about him.

How to Be a Great American

by Conor Friedersdorf

Joe's story is the iconic American tale. He's a patriot who became instantly famous for simply asking a question that millions of us wanted asked. As my friend Sean Hannity would say, Joe is a great American! — Mike Gallagher, Syndicated Talk Radio

Yes, "Joe" the "Plumber" has "written" a book. What strikes me about that promotional blurb, taken from its Amazon page, is what it implies about our national standards: these days, it is apparently instant fame that confers status as an iconic American. In order to be "a great American," one need no longer distinguish oneself by achievements in commerce, science or the arts, nor display valor on the battlefield, nor serve fellow citizens as an exceptional leader.

On the populist right, asking a question is now a sufficient achievement to be a great American. And the unironic metric for measuring a good question? How successfully it spreads in the 24 hour news cycle. It is disconcerting that Mike Gallagher's blurb was chosen due to a belief that it would make the book appealing to the widest possible audience on the right. My faith in the conservative base's ability to elevate credible leaders wanes daily.