Buffett: Health care "tapeworm" drags on economy

[kpete]

Source: Reuters


Buffett: Health care "tapeworm" drags on economy
Reuters

By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel – Mon Mar 1, 10:29 am ET

NEW YORK, March 1 Reuters) – Warren Buffett said "out of control" health care costs are a "tapeworm" limiting growth in an economy recovering only fitfully from the financial crisis.

The world's second-richest person called on Washington policymakers to adopt fundamental reforms on such costs to address what he called a "national emergency."

He said health care eats up 17 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, at a time when many other countries pay only nine or 10 percent of GDP but have more doctors, nurses and hospital beds per capita.

"It's like a tapeworm eating at our economic body," Buffett said on CNBC television.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100301/bs_nm/us_berkshire_buffett;_ylt=AhFmAUQ_ywAOPwY0gKJ.iJSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNvZzhtb3Q3BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwMzAxL3VzX2JlcmtzaGlyZV9idWZmZXR0BGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDNARwb3MDMQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5l

[Hannah Bell]

1. Bell: Super-rich parasites like Buffett = drag on the economy

[Lorien]

3. How so? And why attack the messenger instead of discuss the message?

[Oregone]

8. In Capitalism, its difficult to amass such wealth without depriving numerous others of that ability

Yes, he was one man who walked out of a casino happy, but make no mistake, that there were thousands who were also crushed in the process.

By owning the means of production (and make no mistake, Buffet is an owner), that denies the workers of the right to profit from their labor and get ahead. That is the system of course, but he was a player in it.

[Hannah Bell]

13. let's discuss the capital gains tax first.

[Captain Hilts]

4. He's a progressive who thinks the tax code is unfair to lower income. nt

[Hannah Bell]

10. lol. that's because he's got his in an untouchable, tax free investment house called the gates

foundation.

as well as numerous other shady locales.

anyone who thinks mr. buffett is some friend of the little guy is deluded.

he's not talking about *himself*.

He wants your uncle henry's 1000 acres of farmland to get taxed.

& your cousin benny's small business.

[WriteDown]

28. I've never understood why he doesn't put his money in the Jobs Foundation. nt

[ShockediSay]

24. He was also opposed to cutting the estate tax nt

[Hannah Bell]

26. lol. because he's got his socked away in a series of tax-exempt investment funds called

"foundations".

he wants your grandpa who owns 1000 acres of prime farmland to pay. not him.

it is to laugh: warren buffett, who alternates for the "richest man in world" title, wants to increase *his* inheritance tax.

why people believe the bullshit from these people's PR firms, I'll never understand.

[Captain Hilts]

2. YES! GM/FORD/etc. have to pay healthcare costs. VW/Toyota, etc do not. nt

[kenny blankenship]

5. There's ONLY ONE WAY to cure this disease: kill the parasite

There are different ways to kill it, but REMOVAL OF THE PROFIT TAKING MIDDLEMAN IN BASIC HEALTH CARE IS THE ONLY WAY.

Pussy footing around the problem will only prolong and worsen the illness. In fact by pursuing ineffective remedies, attempting to alleviate symptoms without ripping out the cause, you will become the accomplice of the parasites. Even so, you will be poorer for it. Unless you are one of those selling out the people.

[Captain Hilts]

6. The president says insurance companies provide an important service. I'm not sure what it is.

[dflprincess]

27. They make lots of "contributions" to campaigns

and now, thanks to the Supreme Court, they can just write the checks themselves rather than going through those pesky PACs or laundering the contributions through employees.

[RKP5637]

9. Exactly True! Get the middleman profiteers out of the equation. The health

care solution is not that hard, it becomes hard because the politicians work around the edge of what needs to be done... because many in congress are so indebted to lobbyists and the health care profiteers. It is a cruel joke and a lot of people are suffering in this country.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. Until we have cradle to grave universal health care, we will have inefficiency. Prevention saves $$$

Every western European country is proof of this.

[RKP5637]

12. The US is a nation of slow learners and profiteers at almost any cost to people . There are,

as you say, many examples of how to do it the right way. I get so disgusted with the politicians in this country.

[fascisthunter]

11. Medicare for all would resolve a lot of Problems

it would good, rather than just something dictated by wealth. The system we live in is sociopathic, and a sham benefiting only the wealthy. That's why it's already failing.

[RKP5637]

15. And I wish the citizens of this country would wake up! Exactly, we live in a sociopathic

system.

[WriteDown]

29. At the rate Medicare pmts are being cut, it would bring a lot of dr's back down to Earth...

Which is a good thing.

[KittyWampus]

14. Health Insurance Companies are tape worms hanging off the anus of American society-

what an image.

[WriteDown]

30. All of the current system is that tapeworm...

Even if you took all the yearly profits of all the health care companies in the country it would only be 12 or 13 billion which is a pittance. The cost of healthcare services and dr's reimbursement is way out of whack. Most countries don't pay nearly the dr salaries that we do.

[hulka38]

16. The message/analogy is correct

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. the tapeworm is really the health insurance companies eating the people

[harun]

22. Correct, only problem in the system is the Health Insurers. They add nothing

to the system, only take. Hence the tape worm analogy to that relationship is accurate.

[Uncle Joe]

23. I totally agree, Rosa.

:thumbsup:

[cutlassmama]

18. Says Buffett = Bilderberg

Has to be profiting in some big way

[Nikki Stone1]

19. TAPEWORM is a Catherine Austin Fitts economic concept

http://solari.com/archive/tapeworm_economics/

[depakid]

31. Interesting conceptualization:

In a Tapeworm Economy, a small group of insiders consolidate political and economic power at the expense of people, living things, and our environment in a manner that destroys real wealth. A Tapeworm Economy is one in which it is considered acceptable to make money from doing things that cause the Popsicle Index to go down. Those who achieve money and power by driving the Popsicle Index down are considered socially acceptable, even admired. In investment terms, it is an economy with a negative return on investment.

It is parasitic in nature.

In this instance, the health insurance industry is as clear an instance of parasitism on a system is any you'll come across. It adds no value nor produces health, but instead sucks resources from the system itself, and also from other smaller and larger interdependent systems.

The popsickle index here looks to be, in essence- a measure of social capital in a community.

[unblock]

20. i can't begin to imagine how much more efficient companies and the labor market would be

if healthcare were removed from the employment equation.

employers could offer hours based on how many hours they need worked, rather than trying to make sure part-timers don't become full-timers and therefore eligible for health benefits.

people could work for the company they wanted to, or freelance, or start their own company, free of concerns about paying for healthcare.

employers could actually pay LESS and employees could earn MORE all at the same time!


i have to say i'm BAFFLED as to why there aren't non-health industry companies BEGGING for medicare for all. do they really think providing health benefits is part of their core competency?

[area51]

25. Why cos. aren't demanding it

Possibly because it would cause them to no longer have available the hammer of losing healthcare bennies to hold over employees' heads, and they don't want to give up that god-like power.

[scentopine]

21. MBA Parasites are killing their host. -nt