On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss Medicare’s quarter-billion dollars spent on penis pumps for elderly men, how this is indicative of larger Medicare fraud and how lobbyists perpetuate the system.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Quarter-Billion Taxpayer Dollars Spent on Penis Pumps
Erectile Pump Scam? Gary Winner Sent Penis Enlargers To Diabetes Patients, Prosecutors Say
2011 Original Medicare Improper Payment Error Rate
swedish made penis enlarger (austin powers)

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The hosts and guests of Coffee and Markets speak only for ourselves, not any clients or employers.

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss the departure of Don Berwick from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, his controversial views on government controlled healthcare, and how his legacy will be impacted by the fate of Obamacare.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Ben: Consumer Power Report: Farewell, Don Berwick
Don Berwick, Martyr for Socialized Medicine
Medicare chief steps aside in political impasse
Don Berwick Online

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The hosts and guests of Coffee and Markets speak only for ourselves, not any clients or employers.

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss today’s crashing market, then Ben discusses Don Berwick’s probable exit at CMS, and finally Pejman Yousefzadeh discusses the nuclear disaster in Japan.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Futures Plunge as Japan Nuclear Crisis Weighs
Ben: Could Don Berwick be Done at CMS?
Ben: Alas, Don Berwick
Democrats giving up on Donald Berwick
Already Angling for Berwick’s Replacement
What’s Happening in Japan, and the Future of Nuclear Power

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss Donald Berwick’s testimony on Capitol Hill today. Then Pejman Yousefzadeh talks about Mubarak and the White House.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Berwick to Testify Before House for the First Time
Don Berwick Online
Politico Arena: Has Mubarak Already Won? – Pej responds

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The report issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” would increase health care costs from the current level of 20.8 percent of GDP up to 21.1 percent a decade from now. It also adds yet another voice to the chorus now showing that preventive care and wellness programs do NOT decrease long-term costs.

In a fascinating development, the White House has now actually admitted, apparently for the first time, that the House bill would increase health care burdens despite President Obama’s repeated assertion that he seeks a health care bill that would reduce costs. In response to the CMS study, Obama aide Nancy-Ann DeParle said, “the good news was that, despite extending coverage to 36 million people, health care spending would rise by only by 0.8 percent.”

The CMS findings could make it very difficult for Congressional Democrats and other proponents to follow through on what might be the central argument for their plan of massive tax hikes, subsidies, and regulations: that it would reduce crippling health care costs.  Several Members, particularly those facing tough re-election fights, have committed themselves to only voting for a plan that would cut long-term health care costs.

Perhaps more importantly, this report adds yet more evidence to the case that the House health care bill does little, if anything, to address the fundamental problems in health care and is actually counterproductive in many respects. Our employer-based health care system creates problems with transitional lack of insurance due to job changes or layoffs and hides the cost of health care services behind massive walls of bureaucracy. Instead of addressing these issues or injecting real competition by allowing for insurance purchases across state lines, the Democrats’ bill resorts to a predictable package of over $700 billion in tax hikes, coupled with huge new government subsidies and strict regulations.

In addition, it adds a so-called “public option” government insurance program, ostensibly to provide “competition” to major health insurance companies. But the logic of creating a government-run plan for insurance is tenuous at best, as the National Taxpayers Union pointed out in a recent letter to MoveOn.org, asking “Why not a public option in everything?”

The onus is now on the Senate, where debate on their version of a health care bill is expected in the next few weeks. The sharp divisions witnessed in the House are sure to be even sharper in the Senate in light of recent developments.

The full report from CMS’ auditors is below.

OACT_Memorandum_on_Financial_Impact_of_H_R__3962__11-13-09_ –

Let Freedom Ring today submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demanding answers after The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched a massive investigation into Humana’s role in influencing the healthcare reform fight.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) called for the investigation, slamming Humana for inciting fear among its beneficiaries.  

The FOIA letter requests “access to and copies of all correspondence, notes, emails, faxes, telephone logs, office visit logs, records of meetings and related documents exchanged between United States Senator Max Baucus’ office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (CMS) directly or indirectly related to a letter that Humana, Inc. sent to its Medicare Advantage policyholders suggesting that proposed health-care legislation could lower their benefits.”

 “We filed the FOIA letter today to dig deeper into the possible political pressure that was applied to CMS, and what implications that could have in the middle of a pitched fight over the future of healthcare,” said Let Freedom Ring President Colin Hanna.  “Our letter requires the government to provide timely and complete information that could shine some sunlight on what is driving the investigation.

 “This latest effort led by Sen. Baucus is just another example of Congress not being accountable to the American people.  The way this investigation came about is sketchy, and we are calling for complete transparency. 

 “Senator Baucus appears to be on a crusade to rush through the healthcare bill his committee crafted.  We want to see if he applied improper political pressure to intimidate Humana in order to crush their dissent.  As Americans, we should at the very least be able to see what is behind this,”   said Mr. Hanna.

Full story here.