Unhappy Meal

I know it's been a while since we've shone a spotlight on our friends down south, but the tradition lives and continues tonight with "Seriously Florida, WTF?" The Dangers of Fast Food edition:

Man allegedly assaults girlfriend with burger

VERO BEACH, Fla. – A Vero Beach man faces a domestic violence charge after authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend with a cheeseburger. An Indian River County Sheriff's Office arrest report said a 22-year-old man and his girlfriend got into an argument as they sat in a car in front of their home.

The report said the man would not let the woman out of the vehicle, so she threw his drink out of the car. In response, the man allegedly grabbed her arm and smashed the cheeseburger into her face. The pair got out of the car, and authorities say the man again took the McDonald's sandwich and put it on her face.

The man was released on $1,000 bond Wednesday.

Since I don't eat red meat, this crime seems particularly egregious.

Miles To Go

I first had the pleasure of working with Miles O'Brien on American Morning back in January of 2007. At the time, I was trying out to be the network's new Technology/Internet correspondent. Dan Sieberg's departure left a hole in coverage, and I thought moving from straight Internet/Blogs to a more comprehensive Internet/Technology niche would be a good transition considering my experience in technology and video game reporting.

CNN gave me a two-week shot, and the reviews were terrific. All looked promising until the process started to drag, and the decision-makers mysteriously started to clam up. Then came the announcement that Soledad and Miles were off American Morning and Miles was going to take over the Technology beat.

I contacted Miles and told him I couldn't have lost out to a better guy. He's the master. He was not only incredibly generous and gracious when I stepped onto his AM set out of the blue, but he was always forthcoming with information and conversation that just made you look good working alongside him. When he subbed in on Situation Room months later, he was not only fun to watch and work with, but he also selflessly rounded out my segment on the Virtual ISS by giving me little nuggets to mention beforehand and showing true interest and excitement when we hit air.

I can't say enough great stuff about him.

To hear he's being let go - along with 6 other producers - is a real disappointment. I'm still waiting to hear who those 6 might be. I fear they may be some of the amazing people who worked with me during my tenure. And if that's the case, then once again, CNN has proven they should be considered - at least to those who've given them their all - the least trusted name in the news business.

UPDATE: Word is CNN did let go the guys I know and love. These are veteran producers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes for years. No flash. No ego. Just amazing guys who knew their stuff and wanted to put out the best news possible as often as possible.

To say I'm livid would be an understatement.

UPDATE 2: As always, Chez is right on.

News: Late Additions

So the goal for today was to make sure whenever reporters mentioned AHIP (and their crappy plan), they also mentioned HCAN (and our rejection of their crappy plan). Mission accomplished.

Boston Globe (take 2):

Health Care for America Now, a coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations, including the liberal group MoveOn, immediately issued a statement criticizing the insurers, saying their plan would still allow insurance companies to charge older and sicker people huge premiums and would do nothing to cap CEO salaries.

"We call on Congress to join with President-elect Obama to enact health care reform in 2009 which puts the health of our families before the profits of the insurance industry," the coalition's director, Richard Kirsch, said in a statement.

Bloomberg (no link):

Industry opponents attacked the initiative as a self-serving “bailout” to protect company profits and autonomy. The proposal doesn’t involve fundamental changes in the way insurers operate and asks the government to pick up more costs, said Richard Kirsch, the national campaign manager for Health Care Now, a coalition of labor unions and activist groups.

“This plan lets them continue to profit on people when they’re healthy and, when people get sick and have high health costs, to push as much of those costs as possible onto the taxpayer,” Kirsch said in a phone interview today.

Politico:

But Health Care for America Now said the insurance industry’s proposal doesn’t make insurance more affordable. For instance, it doesn’t prevent companies from charging sick and elderly beneficiaries more.

“What they’re trying to do politically is to get ahead of health care reform and shape health care reform in such a way to protect their bottom line as opposed to actually fixing the problems in the health care system,” said the group’s national campaign manager, Richard Kirsch.

He criticized the industry’s plan to prevent medical bankruptcy by providing tax credits to low-income families that would cap total health care expenses instead of offering more affordable plans – a move that Kirsch put this way: “We’ll continue to let you go bankrupt, and we’ll have the government bail you out.”

LA Times:

Several consumer groups sharply attacked the insurance group's plan on Wednesday.

"The health insurance industry's vision of healthcare reform lets them keep charging whatever they want and increase their profits while sticking families and taxpayers with high costs," said Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now.

Not Easily Impressed

From the AP: Insurers like Obama health plan, with reservations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The insurance industry embraced many of President-elect Barack Obama's ideas for better health care coverage Wednesday, though it opposes a key piece of his plan to require employers to help pay for that coverage.

(...)

The trade group's recommendations for health care reform were unveiled at the National Press Club.

(...)

But not everyone was impressed.

"Of course, there's nothing in the industry's plan that would limit their multimillion dollar CEO salaries or require companies to spend the lion's share of health insurance premiums on providing health care instead of on administrative costs, fat cat salaries, and skyrocketing profits," said Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for Health Care For America Now, an advocacy group.

Here's the full statement we put out today:

“The health insurance industry’s vision of health care reform lets them keep charging whatever they want and increase their profits while sticking families and taxpayers with high costs. Remarkably, the health insurance industry’s solution to medical bankruptcy isn’t to give people good health coverage but to have the government bail-out families who go bankrupt because they have lousy health coverage. How can the health insurance industry propose reform which still lets families go bankrupt and expect to be taken seriously?

AHIP’s plan still lets insurers charge higher premiums for older and sicker people and for women. Their proposal pushes high-deductible plans and still lets insurance companies decide whether or not to approve the care your doctor says you need.

Of course, there’s nothing in the industry’s plan that would limit their multi-million dollar CEO salaries or require companies to spend the lion’s share of health insurance premiums on providing health care instead of on administrative costs, fat cat salaries, and skyrocketing profits.

We call on Congress to join with President-elect Obama to enact health care reform in 2009 which puts the health of our families before the profits of the insurance industry. We don’t need another industry bailout like that proposed by AHIP. We need a guarantee of quality, affordable health care that serves our needs, not lines their pockets.”

Games They Play

Morning. It should be an interesting day in health care reform news. AHIP is releasing its proposal at a press conference here in DC in about a half an hour. They're allegedly standing up with PWC who's going to say something about health care costs. How much you want to bet the insurance industry's not to blame in their little report?

Lisa at the Boston Globe has a big write out today about health care lobbying efforts. It's the first time I've seen us juxtaposed with Families, but if they're going to fall for the 'we're on your side this time' line, then I don't mind being the more skeptical of the two:

Doubtful that the healthcare industry will sacrifice profits for a more efficient and inclusive system, Health Care for America Now, a coalition of mostly left-leaning groups - including MoveOn.org, the massive liberal grassroots organization - is preparing for a multimillion dollar public relations campaign to push through health reform.

"We bring a lot of skepticism to some of the posture that the insurance industry and the small-business community and the drug companies have taken in terms of their professed support for reform," said Richard Kirsch, the national director of the group, which issued a statement challenging AHIP's new proposal yesterday, even before today's announcement.

But Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, a left-leaning healthcare consumer advocacy group, said he believes real progress is quietly being made. He helped organize a 'strange bedfellows' group of 18 organizations - including the Federation of American Hospitals, AHIP and the US Chamber of Commerce - that are meeting regularly with a professional mediator in hopes of reaching common ground on substantive issues.

"If the 'strange bedfellows' participants reach agreement and find common ground, this clearly would be a game-changer," Pollack said. "It would make sure that the contentious atmosphere that pervaded every health reform debate in the past would become a much more cooperative exercise."

From the list of the 10 questions we'd like to see the media ask today, here are 7-9:

7. Does your plan limit the amount that insurers may spend on administration, marketing, and profit?

8. Insurance premiums have been rising four times faster than wages while health insurance profits rose more than 1000% from 2001 to 2006. Given this, why should we trust you to control health care costs?

9. The average health insurance company CEO earns $8 million. In recent years, the Aetna CEO earned $57 million, the CIGNA CEO earned $42 million, and executives at WellPoint made more than $150 million in gains. Will you agree to limit CEO compensation as part of your health insurance reform proposal?

Still think AHIP's got your best interests at heart?

Playing Catch Up

Who knew 5 days could put a girl so far behind?

Your missing links from the weekend: poem of the week and John's Sunday column

We're written up in Esquire today:

Nearly fifteen years after the Clintons tackled America's health care crisis, a new group called Health Care for America Now may just tip the tide, scaring the bejeezus out of Conservatives.

Read the whole thing here, including this:

"They're obviously going to fight tooth and nail," says Jacki Schechner, the spokeswoman for HCAN. "Even as they say they're coming to the table now, they have a real clear vision of what they want to see that reform look like, and that protects their bottom line."

Chris has got another piece in Politico today talking about us versus single-payer, and my boss sums it up perfectly:

Kirsch added that the attacks by single-payer advocates are aimed in the wrong direction and “are more of a distraction than anything else.”

“It’s great for them to go out and advocate for single-payer, but we think they’re misplacing their energies by attacking us,” Kirsch said. “They should be focusing their energies on those that don’t want to see any public health insurance plan and don’t want to see stringent regulations of the private insurance industry.”

And finally, just for fun, I found this in a circular on Sunday:



My First Male Chauvinist Boyfriend sold separately.

The Heat Is On

I know most of the masses are back at work this AM, but flying home yesterday would have been more expensive than feasible so my Thanksgiving weekend has been extended by default.

There's a good write out on HCAN today. Alternet:

"We're part of a lot of coalitions, but HCAN is edgy in a unique way," says Linda Tran, an SEIU spokesperson. "It has a 'street heat' that we're known for as well. The combination of grassroots and new media and online organizing gives it a special force and energy."