Heart doctors outraged Florida dumps hospital standards after big gifts to GOP

[sabra]

Source: CNN

(CNN)The state of Florida is putting thousands of children with heart defects at risk, a group of cardiac doctors say, because of a change in policy that came after Tenet Healthcare contributed $200,000 to Florida Republicans.

In a widely publicized investigation in June, CNN revealed that a program at a Tenet hospital in Florida had failed to live up to state quality standards for children's heart surgery.

Less than two months later, the state decided to get rid of those standards.

That decision came after the giant for-profit hospital chain made contributions to Republican Gov. Rick Scott and his party that dwarfed those the company made to candidates or parties in other states.

"The whole situation is outrageous. It's just outrageous," said Louis St. Petery, a pediatric cardiologist in Tallahassee and former executive vice president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/13/health/florida-hospital-standards-republican-gifts/index.html

[drm604]

1. K&R

[randys1]

2. If the GOP takes back the WH, you can expect this and much worse. ACA

protects us from overpricing, pre existing exclusions, caps, etc

All goes away if they get in

[atreides1]

3. As much as I hate to say it

Maybe the deaths of several thousand Americans will finally wake people the fuck up! Because so far nothing else has worked...

[randys1]

5. Certain folks wont "wake up" until the death is a close family member.

Their hatred for minorities and Gays will make sure of that.

In this case, if enough children of poor white folks are put at risk, some might wake up.

[busterbrown]

10. Not a death... but close to death and survives

because of a Democratic inspired program..... But a death? They find away to blame liberals..Unbelievable..

[Dont call me Shirley]

18. That's kind of like saying people will wake up when several thousand homes are foreclosed on.

I almost died beacause of no health coverage, so it's real personal with me. My family is glad that I'm alive today, and so will the families of several thousand people who aren't going to die because they have health insurance.

The alarming rise of disease in this country needs to be the wake up call.

[Hortensis]

27. In a nation of the affairs of over 300 million people,

large blocks and trends of deaths largely go unremarked. And there are so many blocks and trends of death and suffering that we turn away to protect our comfort and just don't want to hear it. That's why TV reports on an occasional attractive young woman who's been strangled may be good for ratings, but daily tallies of all the women who were strangled that day would be very, very bad for ratings.

[Dont call me Shirley]

29. THIS is an epidemic...

"How Many People Die Each Year From Lack of Health Insurance?
Depending upon the study, we can derive that between 20,000 and 45,000 Americans die each year due to a lack of health insurance. To understand where this number comes from, we will need to look at the studies done, compare them to other statistics, and try to separate the role that income inequality plays in the mortality rate of the uninsured."

http://obamacarefacts.com/facts-on-deaths-due-to-lack-of-health-insurance-in-us/

[Hortensis]

30. Oh, I agree. I've been singing this song for

years myself. There are other epidemics.

Kidney disease alone. Millions on dialysis. If all those who were going to need it this year alone hit the roads and walked, while TV covered them, to states with the Medicare extension, we might start realizing just how bad it is. As it is, the disaster and all the committed people battling to find out why it's happening and stop it are completely unknown to most Americans. How can they vote to stop the GOP from blocking these efforts if they have no idea it's happening?

[Dont call me Shirley]

41. I was 15 minutes from being one of the 20,000-40,000......for them........

Sickness and emergency treatment is a right. Healthcare is a right that everyone needs to have easy access.

[Hortensis]

46. Glad you weren't, Shirl.

I've always believed that if good healthcare services are a right they are a right we give ourselves--and should. Where's the virtue in being constantly surprised that many people, not a tiny few, can frequently be evil toward others and not building in what safeguards can be to protect against large, systematic protections? That's for suckers.

We're all potentially at risk if we fail to examine our candidates for likelihood that they will use the power we give them against the wellbeing of the people. And I don't mean setting the bar where it'd knock out all national-level politicians but in actual unconscionable decisions that simply won't bear scrutiny -- like the subject of this thread. Most of them have records, and according to their own documented actions Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, and Bush are all dangers to the wellbeing of ordinary people.

[Dont call me Shirley]

50. Thank you, Hortensis...

Maybe a psychological well-being test? We really really do need to start weeding out the sociopaths from positions of power and leadership.

[Hortensis]

53. :) I was just thinking of what that debate told analysts.

We've discovered so much more about personality in just the past handful of years than was known in the whole span of human history. I'm hoping that as much becomes fairly common knowledge we'll learn to think that way as we look at our politicians.

Of course, conservative propagandists have already convinced the credible right that liberal fascism is a big threat to the country -- they must stop us, no need to look right, just left. Someone even wrote the only book ever on the subject to back it up. There'll be a whole lot of denial to wipe out before ordinary conservatives learn, if ever, that there literally is no such thing as liberal fascism, that regardless of left- or right-wing form of government structure, it's a an extreme conservative phenomenon.

[Doctor_J]

52. actually these people die from a lack of healthCARE, not health insurance

I am unsure why people use those terms interchangeably. The main function of a health insurance company is to keep people from getting healthcare.

[Dont call me Shirley]

54. Try getting healthcare/disease treatment without health insurance. Please just try.

[Scalded Nun]

31. Like it worked so far with gun deaths

NOT

[Kelvin Mace]

4. The return on investment from buying politicians wholesale

yield staggering profits.

[leftynyc]

6. K&R

[appalachiablue]

7. Runaway corruption and greed, pure evil.

K & R

[Ed Suspicious]

8. We need more Bernie minded people in government to

prevent this.

[jwirr]

9. The gop has not honesty in anything they do and it is no

wonder that we cannot reason with them.

Hillary/Bill how can you possible lean right toward this corrupt bunch of politicians?

For the big bucks they put little children at risk and claim they are helping the country.

[Roy Rolling]

11. Next up:

Tenet's new advertising campaign: "Our Pediatric Heart Hospital meets the latest standards for customers..., er, patients... set by the state of Florida. Send your customer, er, child to us."

[MoreGOPoop]

12. K & R

IMHO, right-wingers of the World are not a part of any 'government'. They are
interlopers bent on destroying any remnants of Democracy. It pays well.

[Angry Dragon]

13. After I win the PowerBAll I am going to buy Congress and a bunch of states

[rladdi]

14. We all know that Gov. Rick Scott is a 14 times felon from TX. He was charged and pay a huge fine

for frauding Medicare when he ran a Healthcare organization. But he never went to prison in TX, being the TX conservative judges let him off easy. Then the GOP moved him to Florida to run for Governor, to hide his background and guess what. He got elected. The GOP had moved several GOP criminals to other states who have won either state or nation elections.
Voters don't care about who is controlling them either in states or in DC.

Republicans do care about abortions, life of unborn, but after your born they forget about your healthcare and well being.

BTW I get censored on here so I have to be careful what I say.

[neohippie]

15. sounds worse than what landed Gov Siegelman in jail

This seems pretty much like quid pro quo, they got something for giving something, and Gov. Siegelman sits in jail for less

[d_legendary1]

16. This is what happens when we vote in CEOs

Our state bends over backwards in exchange for some green.

[Marie Marie]

17. Hey Sarah - here's your Death Panels.

Shameless.

[Enthusiast]

36. Precisely.

[Dont call me Shirley]

19. For profit disease care is an open mass grave of innocent victims, a genocide one could say.

[Enthusiast]

37. One could accurately say.

[Dont call me Shirley]

42. Thank you, Enthusiast...

[seafan]

20. Funny, that. Jeb Bush served for nearly 8 years on Tenet's board.

Tenet CEO donates big to Jeb Bush super PAC, September 9, 2015


Tenet Healthcare Corp. CEO Trevor Fetter

.....

The Center for Public Integrity, a not-for-profit investigative journalism outlet, recently reported that Fetter donated $100,000 to Right to Rise USA, a so-called “super” political action committee that supports Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush. Super PACs fill a murky space in electoral politics, collecting unlimited amounts of cash from companies like Tenet and individual people like Fetter.

A spokesman for Tenet said that while Fetter's personal donations were his own affair, "the company has not donated to Right to Rise USA or any other Super PAC involved in presidential campaigns."

Bush served as a board director of Tenet, the Dallas-based hospital chain, for almost eight years. He resigned this past December when he started exploring his presidential run. But Bush certainly reaped the rewards.

He earned $2,375,870 during his time on Tenet's board, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that date back to 2008. The compensation was a mix of cash and stock.

.....

It's not surprising Fetter, ranked No. 9 on Modern Healthcare's 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare this year, is throwing money behind a candidate that supported his business. But it's interesting that that candidate, like all Republicans, also has routinely bashed the Affordable Care Act—a law that Fetter has said on many occasions has directly helped Tenet grow.

The Center for Public Integrity also reported that Richard Jackson, CEO of staffing firm Jackson Healthcare, of which Bush was a board member, donated half a million dollars to Right to Rise USA.

And, today in Florida, we read this:

Heart doctors outraged Florida dumps hospital standards after big gifts to GOP from Tenet HealthCare, January 13, 2016 (hat tip to DUer sabra)

(CNN)The state of Florida is putting thousands of children with heart defects at risk, a group of cardiac doctors say, because of a change in policy that came after Tenet Healthcare contributed $200,000 to Florida Republicans.

In a widely publicized investigation in June, CNN revealed that a program at a Tenet hospital in Florida had failed to live up to state quality standards for children's heart surgery.

Less than two months later, the state decided to get rid of those standards.

That decision came after the giant for-profit hospital chain made contributions to Republican Gov. Rick Scott and his party that dwarfed those the company made to candidates or parties in other states.

"The whole situation is outrageous. It's just outrageous," said Louis St. Petery, a pediatric cardiologist in Tallahassee and former executive vice president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Doctors from around the state say the decision came right from the governor's office. Representatives for Tenet and Scott deny conversations took place between them about getting rid of the standards.

.....

SCOTT KEELER | Times
Florida Gov. Rick Scott didn’t mention at least 10 issues that are state priorities. Instead he spent nearly 30 minutes talking about his $1 billion tax cuts and lobbied for more corporate welfare.


Evil incarnate occupies Tallahassee right now.

[Marie Marie]

40. Ugh - that picture of Scott...

looks exactly like the weasel that he is.

[Snarkoleptic]

45. This is what corporatocracy looks like.

Unlikable, anti-humanist defrauds Medicare at the expense of people's medical care.
Takes his massive stack of cash, buys his way in to governor's mansion.
Pushes corporate agenda at the expense of everything else.
And people vote for this kind of candidate...sigh.

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. Wow

[MynameisBlarney]

22. One more reason to nationalize the healtchare system.

nt

[Dustlawyer]

23. At the root of it all is the inevitable Quid Pro Quo for the big campaign donations.

We need to get Bernie in the White house and immediately go after campaign finance reform! It corrupted Republicans first, then they bough most Democrats after they realized how cheaply they could own Congress and how much money that would make them. It amazes me that people cannot connect the two, campaign donations for favorable treatment under the law. Why do we allow the rich and powerful to openly buy our Representatives?

Sadly, I bet most of the doctors supporting keeping the standards still vote Republican. They like being able to charge whatever they want without risk of competitive pricing. Owning interests in testing facilities and then ordering every patient to undergo loads of unnecessary tests. It is no wonder our health outcomes rank 17th while our costs are three times higher than any other country!

Our country is rotten to the core with corruption. It will only get worse if we do nothing about it. It is time for a big change in our political system, media, banking, and energy. We need Bernie and he will need us in order to accomplish the change that we need. Electing one bought off politician in place of another bought off politician serves no purpose except to benefit the ones doing the bribing.

[turbinetree]

24. Let me guess...........................

the entire republican power structure in the state along with the corrupt governor is in some aspects just like those criminal enterprise's in Wisconsin ( what can you say he's running to be vice-whatever of corruption with help), and Michigan ( neo-fascist water lords who likes to posion people), Kansas (he just plain sick), for starters----------------------THEY JUST DON'T CARE FOLKS----------------it's that simple-----------------THEY DON'T CARE------------------------------about children, homeless, immigrants, you name they JUST DON'T CARE................




Honk----------------for a political revolution it is about getting a progressive U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, State and Local Legislatures


Democracy begins with you------------------Tag your it ( Thom Hartmann/ Bernie Sanders)

Bernie 2016

[LittleGirl]

25. and it's legal for them to do it

damn it.

[valerief]

26. This is what Bernie's talking about non-stop--the rich buying the government they want. nt

[Enthusiast]

38. That is it, exactly.

[BlueJazz]

28. It's Florida. I live here. Land of Alligators and crooked politicians

[Enthusiast]

35. Who knew Double Whammy was a documentary.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/carl-hiaasen/double-whammy.htm

[BlueJazz]

43. Ah..one of my heros. I read somewhere that "He's just about pissed off everybody in Florida"

Last edited Thu Jan 14, 2016, 10:30 AM - Edit history (1)

Love it!

[Enthusiast]

44. He is a true hero.

[BlueJazz]

47. Rats. Meant "pissed off everybody.."not pissed of"

[Stuart G]

32. Let's hear it for Gov Rick Scott, he joins that asshole in Michigan, Rick Snyder..

Now, there are 2 killers out there, not one, but 2............Snyder and Scott...killers both.......

[Stuart G]

33. Here is another story on this from JUne 2, 2015...and it is equally ugly..

http://floridafaf.org/death-rate-for-children-at-florida-hospital-cnn-news/

About the Tenent Hospital that had a very high death rate for children who had cardiology surgery..

St Mary's Hospital. ..... 901 45th St, West Palm Beach, FL 33407

[Enthusiast]

34. There should be no for profit health care.

That is why they compromise standards, as a means to increase the bottom line. Anyone that denies that isn't looking very close.

[McCamy Taylor]

39. This is how Citizens United is supposed to work.

[lark]

48. Voldemort (aka Scott) is now and has always been on the "take".

First he stole from seniors and the government at HCA and now he's stealing health from anyone with a heart condition. He's all about him and the other 1%ers. If it doesn't benefit the rich, it doesn't happen in the state of FL. He's a total scumbag and a cancer on the state. He's causing us to pay millions of dollars of legal fees in his dumb ass lawsuit against the federal government for holding FL to the law. I am so embarrassed for my state that the jerks here elected him twice.

[packman]

49. Rick Scott - twice elected gov. sleezeball

A crook who stole millions from the gov. before he was elected and is continuing in that greasy tradition - killer of children, but, what the heck, there's money to be made.

[Ilsa]

51. Must be another "let-the-market-decide" policy enacted.

Nevermind that parents don't have the energy to give a shit and run a pr campaign against a hospital that kills their child. I guess Scott figures they'll have a replacement baby.