LA Times: Health insurer tied bonuses to dropping sick policyholders

Health insurer tied bonuses to dropping sick policyholders

By Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 9, 2007

    One of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved.

    Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed.

    The revelation that the health plan had cancellation goals and bonuses comes amid a storm of controversy over the industry-wide but long-hidden practice of rescinding coverage after expensive medical treatments have been authorized.

Code Pink Veterans Day SF event Sunday honors war resisters, chalks war dead
Code Pink will do a "River of Blood" chalking action to commemorate the dead in the Iraq war and will honor war resisters on November 11. Here is Code Pink's press release about Sunday's actions:

PRESS RELEASE
Baykeeper Response to Cosco Busan Oil Spill on San Francisco Bay
The massive Cosco Busan oil spill on San Francisco Bay and the adjoining ocean waters continues to kill and injure birds, sea mammals and fish. It is a huge environmental tragedy, caused by corporate and government incompetence and mismanagement. This is the action alert about the oil spill from the Baykeeper from their website, http://www.baykeeper.org.
Science Friday: Warding off Staph Infections with good hygiene, and yes ... SILVER

Football Frenzy: Dangers in the Locker Room

Careful Hygiene Can Ward Off Staph Infections
    November 1, 2006 — Drug-resistant staph infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus have become more common outside prisons and hospitals, and have been known to spread among athletes in the locker room. Athletes can develop aggressive skin infections when small cuts or scratches come into contact with MRSA through contaminated equipments, clothing, or towels. Preventative measures, such as ultraviolet light filters in the locker room Jacuzzi, and adjustments in the players' behaviors are crucial steps to preventing the spread of MRSA.

Killing Germs

In Hospitals, Air Ducts with Silver-Based Coating Stay Germ-Free

    September 1, 2005 — Preventing hospital infections -- from such stubborn bugs as Staphylococcus aureus -- could get a little easier with a new non-toxic, silver-based material. Used in coating, it helps keep hospital air ducts bacterium- and fungus-free. The material is also used in a number of products including athletic footwear, door hardware, pens and business supplies.

    DUARTE, Calif.--For more than 6,000 years, humans have used silver to fight germs, also known as microbes. Now, some hospitals are using a silver compound to reduce hospital infections.

    You can't see them, but millions of microorganisms are living quietly among us, in places where we least expect them.

AT&T whistleblower: I was forced to connect 'big brother machine'
AT&T whistleblower: I was forced to connect 'big brother machine'
11/07/2007 @ 9:17 pm | Filed by David Edwards and Jason Rhyne

A former technician at AT&T, who alleges that the telecom forwards virtually all of its internet traffic into a "secret room" to facilitate government spying, says the whole operation reminds him of something out of Orwell's 1984.

Appearing on MSNBC's Countdown program, whistleblower Mark Klein told Keith Olbermann that a copy of all internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office -- to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access -- via a cable splitting device.

"My job was to connect circuits into the splitter device which was hard-wired to the secret room," said Klein. "And effectively, the splitter copied the entire data stream of those internet cables into the secret room -- and we're talking about phone conversations, email web browsing, everything that goes across the internet."
Ron Paul Is NOT the answer
After seeing so many Ron Paul supporters at the Oct. 27 anti-war rally in San Francisco, I thought it would be a good idea to let people know that there is a lot more to Ron Paul than his anti-war view of Iraq and his support for the Constitution (and it is NOT all good). I came across this blog that was written in June. It is actually the final part of a 4 part series.
--Bill



Ron Paul Hates You

by phenry
Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 04:34:14 PM PST

Daily Kos is very definitely not the place you'd expect to see a lot of fulminating praise for right-wing conservatives. Yet the diaries are full of people who can't find enough nice things to say about Rep. Ron Paul, whose smiling face is at this moment being beamed to America from the site of the Republican debate in New Hampshire--after which, we may be sure, we will see yet another round of diaries brimming with joy about Paul's sweet words against the Iraq war. You, dear reader, may even be considering writing one or more such diaries yourself.

Before you do, fellow Democrat, please understand just one thing: Your affection for Paul is far from mutual. Through his words, his actions, and his votes in Congress, he has made one thing abundantly clear over the decades: Ron Paul hates you. By building him up, by supporting him, by taking him seriously, you are not driving a wedge into the heart of the Republican Party--you are only giving him a helping hand along the road to his goal of destroying just about everything you stand for.

Click here for the full blog with all the links:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/5/193414/2787
Faith and War - by Cindy Sheehan
Faith and War
Cindy Sheehan

A friend of mine, who is Chair of the Economics Department, invited me to speak to the students and faculty at the University of Dallas (where the Veterans for Peace convention was that I spoke at the day before I went to Crawford on August 6th, 2005), which is a small, non-culturally or non-racially diverse, Catholic college.

Surprisingly, my friend Sam, received little protest over inviting me, but there was a “Support the Troops” rally in the room next to where I spoke. Some Camp Casey friends accidentally went into that room and only heard the speaker call me names like “scum” and he called the rest of the people at my event “peace fairies.”

I was heartened to find the first three rows of my speech were filled with young people who were smiling and vigorously nodding their heads at everything I said. Most of the audience clapped or laughed in the right places so I was feeling pretty good. However, I was a little sad when there were some snide snickers when I had the unmitigated gall to call Iraqis “human beings.”

During the “Q and A” part, the first question I received amazed me. Now, I was raised Protestant and received an excellent training in the Christian scriptures and I know after being a Catholic for 25 years and a Catholic youth minister for nine of those years, that the average Catholic does not know a great deal about the Bible as most of their religious training is in the tenets of the Catholic faith. Here’s how many Catholics quote scripture: “It’s somewhere in the Bible,” when, in my experience, many times they are actually quoting: “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”
Tabasco Flooding Appeal
International Community Foundation
Tabasco Flooding Appeal

November 5, 2007

Dear HispanicVista readers:

In an effort to respond to the needs of the over 800,000 displaced flood victims the recent flooding in the Mexican state of Tabasco, the International Community Foundation (ICF) has initiated a campaign to raise monies to provide safe drinking water and direct aid to reduce the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases through the foundation’s International Water Emergency Relief Fund which provides immediate relief to communities and victims of natural disasters in need of safe drinking water and health and sanitation systems in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

All donations made to ICF's International Water Emergency Relief Fund will go to benefit the Mexican Red Cross delegations in Tabasco to provide emergency relief to the flooding victims in those states.

Without question, the Tabasco flood is the worst natural disaster in Mexico’s recent history with its long term community based impacts paralleling the 1985 Mexico. So, ICF encourages donors to give generously to those in critical need of assistance.

Donations to the benefit Tabasco flood victims can be made to the International Community Foundation either online at http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2190915:1125648548:m:4:26884932:78BD31153574D5FC08E42D3AF4383780 or by mail to:
Great explanation about why the Writers Guild is on strike.
A simple explainer as to the issues causing the Writers Strike.
Heckava job there Bushie

The dollar’s slide: 1/3 down and falling faster

    We’ve posted this before - but as the ailing US currency drops through $1.47 against the euro and $2.10 against sterling, it merits a second (and updated) airing.

    The chart comes from Sempra Metals, who make a couple of additional points:

    * The US dollar has now lost more than a third of its value (-35%) against a basket of major currencies since Feb 2002.

    * The decline is accelerating. The USD has shed -12.5% of its value in the last year, -3.5% in the last month, and -1.5% in the last week alone.

Act Now for Darth Cheney's Impeachment!
Yesterday in a stunning development, a bipartisan majority of Congress rejected the attempt to kill the privileged resolution brought by Dennis Kucinich to impeach Vice President Cheney, for his unprecedented constitutional high crimes. Instead the bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which is exactly where we want it to build momentum. Now all we have to do is pressure them to follow through, and impeachment will be a reality.

We have created a special action page which not only sends your personal message to your individual House members, but also sends a copy to BOTH Nancy Pelosi and the House Judiciary Committee itself.

This is now a whole new ballgame. Please submit this page now to reiterate your support for impeachment of Cheney first, H.Res 333.

H.Res 333 Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/hres333.php

Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum709

We asked you to take action over the weekend and you did. And the result was a dramatic jump in support for impeachment of Cheney in
Congress.

We told you that we were shipping 25,000 full color 11x17 glossy Impeach Cheney posters last week and we did. We now have nearly 1,000
volunteers putting them up all over college campuses right now. And even before the amazing victory yesterday we had already made a
commitment for yet another 25,000 for delivery next week. You can see the poster at this page.

Impeach Cheney Poster:
http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_flyer.php
Group to Call on US Government to Re-Open its Investigation of UFOs
Experts from seven countries will divulge what they have discovered about UFOs at a November 12 panel discussion moderated by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. The Coalition for Freedom of Information is calling on the US government to re-open its investigation of UFOs.

NEWS ADVISORY
For immediate release: Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
For further information Contact: Leslie Kean 415 250 9791

UFO Close Encounters

The Reality as Seen by Former High Level Government and Military Officials
Pilots to Tell Their UFO Stories for the First Time

Group to call on US Government to Re-Open its Investigation

The American public is not alone when it comes to sighting what the US Air Force has labeled Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). So too have former governors, high level military and government officials, highly trained airplane pilots and aviation experts. The phenomenon is real. It happens worldwide. No one is sure about its nature. Experts from seven countries will divulge what they have discovered about UFOs at a November 12 panel discussion moderated by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) at the National Press Club.
National Lawyers Guild Votes for Impeachment of Bush and Cheney
National Lawyers Guild Votes for Impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney

WASHINGTON - November 6 - The National Lawyers Guild voted unanimously and enthusiastically for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney at its national convention in Washington, DC. The resolution lists more than a dozen high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush and Cheney administration and "calls upon the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately initiate impeachment proceedings, to investigate the charges, and if the investigation supports the charges, to vote to impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney as provided in the Constitution of the United States of America."

The resolution provides for an NLG Impeachment Committee open to all members that will help organize and coordinate events at the local, state, and national level to build public participation in the campaign to initiate impeachment investigation, impeachment, and removal of Bush and Cheney from office without further delay.

The resolution calls on all other state and national bar associations, state and local government bodies, community organizations, labor unions, and all other citizen associations to adopt similar resolutions and to use all their resources to build the campaign demanding that Congress initiate impeachment investigation, impeach, and remove Bush and Cheney from office.

The full text of the resolution can be found at
http://nlg.org/convention/2007%20Resolutions/Impeachment%20resolution.pdf
Veterans for Peace: Rep. Matsui's 'end the war' words ring hollow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Contact: Cres Vellucci, Vets for Peace, 916/996-9170

ATTN: News Desk

Rep. Matsui's call for end to Iraq war
rings hollow, charges veteran organization;
Vet cites Matsui's refusal to sign peace declaration

SACRAMENTO – Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento, CA5) on Tuesday issued a
statement calling for a "responsible" end to the war in Iraq – but the
words ring hollow to U.S. troops in Iraq, said a spokesperson for a
veterans organization here.

"We are about to mark another Veterans' Day on Nov. 11, but Rep. Matsui
still cannot bring herself to call for an immediate withdrawal of our
troops from Iraq, without qualifiers," said Cres Vellucci, of Veterans for
Peace, Chapter 87 (Sacramento).
How many Republicans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Click


1. One to deny that the light bulb needs to be changed

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed.

[more below]
Book Claims Dennis Kucinich Saw a UFO: He's Definitely Got My Vote!
I don't care if Dennis Kucinich isn't a Democratic front runner in the presidential campaign - I'm going to write him in regardless and I urge everybody else to do so. Not only is he against the war, for impeachment of Darth Cheney, and against weapons in space, but he's done the ultimate really cool thing - see a UFO! I just hope he comes out for full disclosure of the hundreds of thousands of pages of UFO documents that the U.S. national security state has covered up.

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2007/10/kucinich_see_ufo_new_book_clai.html

Kucinich sees UFO, new book claims
Posted by Mark Naymik October 22, 2007 16:25PM

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has seen a UFO, writes Shirley MacLaine in her new book, "Sage-Ing While Age-Ing."

Kucinich, she writes on page143-144 of the book, "had a close sighting over my home in Graham, Washington, when I lived there. Dennis found his encounter extremely moving. The smell of roses drew him out to my balcony where, when he looked up, he saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, and observing him. It hovered, soundless, for ten minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."
'Why Not Waterboard Mukasey to Help Speed Up His Ability to Define Torture?'
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5252
Sent in from a reader, as purportedly published in the Charlotte Observer...
To The Editor:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has been unable to extract a yes or no answer from Mr. Mukasey, Bush's candidate for attorney general, about whether waterboarding does or doesn't constitute a form of torture. Why not do what the C.I.A. would do to get him to answer the question and that is, waterboard Mr. Mukasey himself so he could find out about it firsthand? Wouldn't that speed things up?

Yours truly,
Bernie Hargadon
Huge Numbers Of Threadfin Shad Show at Delta Pumps
The massive federal pumps that export water from the California Delta to agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley entrained (trapped) over 370,000 threadfin shad, a major forage species on the Delta, in one week.

On one day, October 16, Bureau of Reclamation biologists observed 250,000 shad in collection buckets in the pumping facilities. After collecting the buckets, the federal workers put the fish into a tanker truck and released them into the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

“We were able to salvage most of the fish and get them back into the Delta,” observed Jeff McCracken, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, dismissing an earlier media report that some of the fish had to be buried.

McCracken said the large number of shad being taken in one week occurred when large schools of shad moved into the area of the Delta pumps, resulting in the entrainment of the introduced species.
Moral Clarity
From Garry Shay...

Dear Readers:

Feinstein and Schumer say Mukasey is the best we can get. That may be true. And I will concede there may be times when that kind of logic is correct.

This is not one of them.

The entire world, yea verily, even the Bush Administration, agrees torture is wrong.

This has devolved into an issue of semantics as to what constitutes torture in an attempt to obfuscate reality.

I believe water boarding is torture. Torture is not limited to "organ failure" or whatever it is the Bush Administration defines it as this week.

You only need to think of the Chinese Water Torture to be aware of that. The steady drip of water on the forehead will not induce organ failure, nor anything they define as torture. Yet, I think all agree it is in fact torture.
Calling the Question — In the House — on Impeaching Cheney
Calling the Question — In the House — on Impeaching Cheney
by John Nichols | Published on Friday, November 2, 2007 by The Nation

Broadcast media’s gate-keeping “stars” have done just about everything in their power to keep the matter of presidential accountability off the radar of the American people. That was evident during the most recent Democratic presidential debate, when NBC anchors Brian Williams and Tim Russert meticulously avoided following up on Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s three references to impeachment but somehow found time to grill the contenders on UFOs and what costume Barack Obama would be wearing on Halloween.

Pollsters are almost as bad. Rarely are questions about impeachment included in statewide or national surveys.

Despite the lack of media coverage, however, when citizens are asked what they think about holding members of the Bush administration to account, they respond with an enthusiasm far greater than that displayed for impeaching Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal. It is this reality — as opposed to the state of denial fostered by so much of the media and the political class — that Congressman Dennis Kucinich will act upon next week, when he offers a privileged resolution on the House floor to bring articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Kucinich will face an uphill fight in a chamber led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who continues to say that impeachment is “off the table.”