Third Saturday Seminar 2008-2009

“Your Money Or Your Life!”

The Problems Associated With Healthcare in America
Peter McGehee, MS Information Systems, MBA
7th Meeting

Saturday, 21 March 2009
Session 9:30 am -12:00 noon
Room B-102, Lone Star College – Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000

Amongst all the other excitment in the news, President Obama is already starting war on another front, healthcare. Peter has spent most of his life around the healthcare industry. I have told you I would find someone to talk about healthcare and happily I found Mr. McGehee. GCGPeter McGehee was employed in healthcare for much of his career, starting as a Med Tech, then moving on to healthcare information systems as a programmer, analyst and manager; he managed the Computer Department for St. Louis Univ. Health Science Center for many years as Director of Information Technology, Director of Information Systems at a South Dallas hospital, Director of Information Technology; Mississippi Regional Health Center, Executive Director of Information Technology for St. Louis Public Schools. He has earned a BS Medical Technology, a MS Information Systems and a MBA.
Did you know:a

A. Healthcare spending rising 2% faster than the economy since 1970
B. 1/5 of US GDP goes to healthcare
C. 45 million (15%) of US citizens uninsured; millions are under-insured
D. Half a million patients/families file for bankruptcy each year
E. 20% of chronically ill patients account for 80% of healthcare costs
F. #1 cost driver – Americans are getting far too much unnecessary care

The “Stimulus” for “reform”…
Obama: Summit shows need for health care reform
By LIZ SIDOTI,
Associated Press
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/obama-summit-shows-need-for-health-care/n20090305165009990040
Posted: 2009-03-05 16:50:20
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says the clear consensus from the White House health care summit is an immediate need for reform. Wrapping up the nearly daylong session, Obama said the participants – doctors, lawmakers, insurers, even skeptics – were universal in agreement that the need for health care reform “is here and now.”

Obama entered the room with Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is battling a brain tumor. After brief remarks summarizing the participants’ observations, Obama called on Kennedy. The veteran Democratic senator said he looked forward to being a foot soldier in the push for health care reform and said: “this time we will not fail.”

For those who like to read ahead:(If it’s blue, click it to take you to the indicated site on the Internet)

Hope you can find time to view “Sick Around the World”
[Frontline]
Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health care system? Does it care?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

If you can figure out what they in the below-linked article intend to spend so much money for, you’re a better man than I am … Such big numbers and so little information …
Health care overhaul may cost about $1.5 trillion
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR,Associated Press, Posted: 2009-03-17 18:52:51
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/health-care-overhaul-may-cost-about-15/n20090317185209990032

Creative Disruption
How to Heal the Health Care System
Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman and Jason Hwang 10.29.08, 6:00 PM ET
Forbes Magazine dated November 17, 2008
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1117/097.html

Obama Holds Health Summit at White House (You can watch the video of tonight’s broadcast)
Looking to kick start his campaign to reform health care, President Barack Obama called health care leaders, practitioners and business owners to the White House Thursday to debate ideas for overhauling the nation’s system.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/jan-june09/healthcare_03-05.html

RELATED INFORMATION
Obama: The First 100 Days
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/white_house/obama100/

Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Advancing fair access to Medicare and health care
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/

Medicare Overpayments to Private Plans
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/MA_Overpayments.htm

This is what’s going on in recovery
http://www.recovery.gov/

Monday, March 2, 2009
President Obama Announces the Release of $155 million of ARRA Funds for Health Centers Across America       
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=node/185

Here’s what Obama “promised.”
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_reform_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_care_reform

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) Center
This is a one-stop resource for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).
www.cms.hhs.gov/center/fqhc.asp– 23k – Cached – Similar pages

Many feel that, one practical solution is to create a single health insurance system with equal access to healthcare for all. They are becoming very active are intent to force themselves into the dialog. There has been a bill introduced into the House which presently has 61 endorsers.
http://healthcareforalltexas.org/
HR 676: “The United States National Health Insurance Act (Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act)‛
http://healthcareforalltexas.org/hr676.htm
Text
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.676:

Hopes, Fears At Vermont Health Care Forum by John Dillon (NPR)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102015902

Will Health Benefits Be Taxed?by Michele Norris and Julie Rovner(NPR)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102015905

Public Service Announcement:

1.           NEW — LWV series on Local Government Issues
The series will be held on Thursday afternoons 1-3 in Room 121 of the University Center from March 26th through April 30th (except for April 16th ). Room 121, The University Center.
The series is sponsored by the League of Women Voters to inform voters about those county government entities with publicly elected boards of directors. Board of directors’ elections for contested positions on the MUDs and the Community College District take place in May, 2009. If you’ve ever wondered what the taxing entities on your tax bill do, here is your opportunity to ask the experts. Helen Bostock, League of Women Voters, Montgomery County, is the coordinator for the series.

http://www.montgomery.lonestar.edu/all . To join ALL, enroll in classes, or ask questions about the ALL program, contact ALL at 936-273-7446. The ALL office is located on Lone Star College – Montgomery campus in Building C-Room 228 for in-person registration.
While this is an ALL program, a limited number of guest passes are available by contacting Donna S. Burns at 936.273.7259 or email at Donna.S.Burns@lonestar.edu

Current Events: (It’s late.)
Isn’t it amazing that so many of our leaders and people who were supposing charged with the responsibility to make sure the bailouts were used properly, such as Mr Bernanke and Mr. Frank are so OUTRAGED that AIG gave 400 or so of their whiz kids in the department that produced the SWAPS a total of $165 Million dollars in bonuses. Oh, and even the the President is siccing his Treasury Secretary onto AIG with the hope he can leverage the release of the last $30 billion into AIG clawing back the bonuses. Who knows, stranger things have happened with a disturbing increase in frequency, but as Larry Summers put is so succinctly, the Law is the Law, and we are (?) a nation of laws. To fail to pay the bonuses per the contracts would have invited a rash of lawsuits.

My guess is that the “Egg on their face club” is hoping desperately for heaven to send the media some massive new breaking news that will distract them from the incompetence of the lawmakers and cabinet secretaries that dropped the ball while they were handing out money and forgot to include provisions against inappropriate use of the funds that they promised the American people would be in the enabling legislation.

According to a report on NPR, apparently boards of directors are actually starting to hold or claw back bonuses for/from poor performing executives. Why is this newsworthy? Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

Hillary is cutting her diplomatic teeth on the the Asians and Middle Easterners, and might do quite well. Paneta become the first non-spook, non-military head of the CIA. It can only improve the variety of “intelligence that reaches the president. Currently all they do is count the tanks and missiles in holiday parades, but frustratingly, Charles W. Freeman, a seasoned Middle Eastern hand back away from the National Intelligence Council Job, claiming others within the administration poisoned the environment.

Haven’t heard anything new about Senator Burris and his two stories about the same thing. Old news, we forget about it.

The Sun still hasn’t returned to showing it’s spots. When this has happened in the past for a decade or two it meant things got colder. What if the dreaded climate change turned out to be cooling, (which according to some is way overdue, to start the next ~100,000 year glacial cycle period. Since the end of the last glacial period, mankind has developed from primitive tribesmen to the information age. What do you supposed is in store for the future generations that follow us.

In the meantime, please, “DON’T (be) PANIC(ed)!”

About The Third Saturday Seminar:
This is the 7th meeting of the Third Saturday Seminar for the 2008-2009 season. We run from September to June.
Started in January 2000, We are about personal empowerment through demystification. Our subject matter is broad but it always tries to be about understanding ourselves and others better; and, having fun.

The Third Saturday Seminar (TSS) is sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) Program at Lone Star College – Montgomery http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/25959/

There is no fee for ALL members to attend TSS. You can find the ALL Schedule at: http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/142962.pdf

Course Information – Meets mostly on Third Saturdays. I have been assured that we will meet every time in B-102 during the spring semmester

For information about Lone Star College Montgomery : http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/

Maps:
http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/14972/
http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/14970/
http://map-it.woodstock.edu/map_pdf/B_floor_1.pdf

As usual, if anything in this notice doesn’t work or make sense (It is midnight somewhere), please let me know so I can warn the others. If the spelling and syntax seems more fractured than usual, chalk it up to the fact I am (still) breaking in a new laptop computer (or, perhaps it’s the other way around.) Down with Vista!! Bill Gates is a nebbish!

Hope to see you Saturday.

Best regards,

Curt Gibby
Spring, TX
281-353-4350 (cell-)
Fax: 281-288-8230
gcgconsult (at) n-star.com
http://www.northstarinst.org/TSS/ (REALLY OUT OF DATE)