Understanding MLR

It means Medical Loss Ratio! It isn’t something dreamt up overnight, but known about and monitored for some long enough time by now, by our very own DC – Disenfranchised Congress. The Medical Loss Ratio dictates how much money that you and I spend on out of pocket medical insurance along with employer contributions - for the lucky - that goes back into the system to support the medical establishment. For things like new equipment, research and other sorts of hi-teach gadgets to make for a better system. It was supposed to be “we pay” and they pave the way, instead of “we pay they play”. Basically, medicine was supposed to be a system of merit wherein we paid and they came through, not entirely for profit but in efforts to provide the best medical treatment and coverage a modern day society could imagine. It was at one time a showoff model like approach towards medical coverage for all involved and an envy to even socialistic type medical coverage. Remember when we could brag that this country’s medical was better then that of our neighbor? When Canadians wanted to come this way for treatment. Well, how come people are flocking north these days, especially for generic type drugs that perform the same outcome but at a price sensible to affordable treatment? It used to be for every dollar spent on medical stuff, 97% was exhausted towards facilitating medicine with the remaining 3% allowed for a reasonable fee, which included administrative costs and a profit – 3%! It was a safeguard like system, wherein it limited how much was profit with respect to what the provider put out to keep it affordable and at the same time the best care available. But over a short period of time, which started during the Clinton era and extended through the Bush years, there came a collapse in the system and it became not a system of medical merit but a system bent on maximizing profits at the expense of the medical recipients. The payers! We continue paying good money that sees nowadays 1/3rd being rewarded to crooks bent on robbery! Wherein comes an era of mismanagement that chose to reject one-in-three medical billings, based on the fact that CEOs now shield themselves behind powerful lawyers that could easily arm wrestle away a persons assets – for non-payments. Especially if the covered were in the dieing stages of life and had more important things to think about then that call from the bill collector! There are enough horror stories behind the modern day medical billing and rip-off establishment that there should be a debut of a new-age Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide, as the CEOs and staff indeed went after clients’ hides! Where do the CEO goons come from that resort to this type of tyranny? If Harvard and Yale are turning out crooks, maybe they should review their ideals. It is ruining America. Of course maybe for Yale it is a curse to produce crooks or in honor of a long-standing tradition, for hiding away Geronimo’s skull. But who is to blame for this medical billing creep-show? You can’t blame a CEO, as that is what they are hired for, to maximize profits. The more they save, the more summer cottages they can afford. The sad thing, Congress has been well aware of this profit “creep” for years and decided to do nothing! Why? Just ask Bill Frist, once upon a time the Senate majority leader and heavily endowed with the medical profits establishment of family businesses telling him what to do. It happens because they are our representation supposedly – having the fortunate opportunity not to worry about this dereliction upon society, as they have their own semi-private for competition like medical coverage, all paid for by the American Taxpayer. And they are free to use a CEO’s summer cottage, anytime of the year, as payback. That is why it is considered nowadays the DC - Disenfranchising Congress - for disenfranchising Americans. And now the Congress is at panic, as they have been caught allowing the medical establishment to rip-off Americans. And ripping off an American can have drastic consequences, come the election cycle. There is living proof that once a party tanks, that party cannot ever establish credibility. The Democratic Party lost forever any semblance of leadership many years ago, and surfaces now a winner only because the Republican Party goers went down the same road to ruin, with Tom "Funny Dancer" Delay at the helm. So today we see two non-dominant parties trying to run this country, it cannot work. It is time to abolish the present representation, as those in power seem not to really understand what it is like to be a true hard working American. It is time for all America to unite, under one umbrella, not as a political force, but as a working force. Call it a union if you like, whatever, as it will work for us and not against us. We can no longer trust the representation before us in session with the 111th Congress. And it is not only the untrustworthily medical reality that is sinking this country. We see the same malfeasance with respect to a rocky economy and the so-called “bail out” crap. Bottom-line, this country’s economy will continue to sag and go nowhere positive until we get energy costs under control. For the first time in a long time of record, EXXON has shown a loss in profits. This is astronomical, so lookout! The price of oil is slowly going up, but that is because it is wintertime, a time when it is reasonable to take advantage and see an increase – all for a greater profit margin. But come this spring, this country needs energy costs to decrease back below $45 dollars a barrel, in efforts to get the economy running not on empty but with a full tank of affordable energy, regardless of how the Tiger feels about its corporate portfolio. Energy is the cornerstone of a vibrant economy. Without energy stability, the economy will continue to do nothing. It is all based on a supply and be damned theory. If the oil companies are bent on performing a medical lobotomy upon our wallets like the medical establishment got away with, the economy will continue to be a sad subject upon this country. And we must stop saying it is out of control, because Congress…It is controllable, because it belongs to US!