Friends of mine have convinced me that the imminent overhaul of Health and Health Insurance industries will open floodgates to an enormous enrollment stampede, if the new government mandates universal coverage. Below is a review of related media reports on key health care reform and economic issues.
Shining Some Light Between Doctors, Drugmakers
http://www.npr.org/...
What's In The Health Care Overhaul For Us?
http://www.npr.org/...
Congress Woozy With Health Care Sticker Shock
http://www.npr.org/...
Affordable Health Insurance Elusive In Rural U.S.
http://www.npr.org/...
Governors Fear Medicaid Costs in Health Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Doctors' Payments Snag Health Bill
http://online.wsj.com/...
Obama, Congress Ready For Overhaul Fight
http://www.npr.org/...
An Obstacle for Obama's Health Care Plan
http://www.thetakeaway.org/...
Obama's Announcement: Trillions in Health Care Savings
http://www.thetakeaway.org/...
Insurance Broker Critical Of Democratic Plan
http://www.npr.org/...
Where Does Health Care Legislation Stand?
http://www.npr.org/...
Budget Chief: Health Care Bills Would Raise Costs
http://www.npr.org/...
Rx For Change: Legislation
http://www.npr.org/...
Health Care: How Much Reform Can Society Tolerate?
http://www.thetakeaway.org/...
Your Health: The Cost of Prevention
http://www.thetakeaway.org/...
I receive contacts several times a month about health care affiliate training, Allied Healthcare positions, IT positions in Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical industries. One of my strategies is tracking Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans, Kaiser Permanente project IT requirements. The challenge is anticipating how the new health plan will be implemented. Whether it will be tweaking existing systems state by state, or developing a new system fully integrated with leading edge technologies. Cutting cost is a major objective.
Where is the next technological bubble?
The flow of investment funding has always sought traditional opportunities to buy low and sell high. This is the pattern hinted at by NY Times technology blogger, Saul Hansell:
‘ In 1995, people woke up, saw the Netscape browser, said, " This is going to change everything," and started the world’s biggest land grab. They raised billions of dollars for grand schemes to reinvent entire industries — Webvan, VerticalNet, Homestore, and so on. Meanwhile, hoping to cash in on the revolution, investors bid up the prices of the flimsiest shells of companies to astronomical levels.
The greed bubble collapsed like a Ponzi scheme. It turned out that these companies had spent all the money they raised on Super Bowl ads, robotic warehouses, and gleaming offices to hold hundreds of people. Yet there just wasn’t enough money to pay the bills, especially since the biggest source of revenue for many Internet companies was advertising from dot-coms that had just raised a round of venture capital or gone public. Most of these companies were so overextended they couldn’t adjust to the new reality: The Internet may change everything, but it takes a while. ’
http://dilbert.com/...
The Fear Bubble
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...
From 1970 to 2000 the Financial Services provided thousands of jobs in computer technology with an IBM mainframe running the data center. I think consolidation among banks that began before the 1990s had an effect on the IT job market that is analogous to the global warming effect melting the polar ice caps and glaciers. A few hundred middle management and IT professional layoffs per merger here and a few more hundred layoffs for data center personnel with every merger for a decade or more around the country compounded the problem.
JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup are examples of this trend.
Chase - History of Our Firm
http://www.jpmorganchase.com/...
Citigroup
http://a4.g.akamai.net/...
The Citigroup presentation presents an image of significant accomplishment on behalf of the investor and growing global markets. There is a wealth of contrary views regarding Citigroup’s future success.
Citigroup Failure Imminent
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/...
Citigroup at brink of failure
http://www.ajc.com/...
Citigroup failure undermines synergy claims: merger that drove GLB passage exposed inherent flaws in bank-insurer combos.(Best Laid Plans)
http://findarticles.com/...
Citigroup played a major role in financing trans-Atlantic cable, Civil War, railroad construction in US, Japan , Europe in the 19th century. It expanded its financial services from merchant banking to national banking to international banking. It evolved technologies to provide these services. It began merging with other financial institutions and therein began complicated management requirements.
How is it possible to manage risk across a diverse conglomerate?
http://dilbert.com/...
Examining the 'Squandering' of American Promise
http://www.npr.org/...
Citigroup Saw No Red Flags Even as It Made Bolder Bets
http://www.nytimes.com/...
What school of management could have provided guidance to financial conglomerate executives to calculate and manage risk? Financial Engineering is a relatively new discipline. It has components of artificial intelligence, advanced data models and computer simulated agents. A full scale market simulation isn’t possible. I developed what could be called computer simulated agents for Sears Roebuck Credit Division in 2001-2002. The theory and potential application is safe in academic settings, but very risky when real money is involved. It had reached a level of maturity by 2004.
My Personal Credit Crisis
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Computational Finance
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Computational Finance Research
http://www.bracil.net/...
Operational Research and Financial Engineering
http://orfe.princeton.edu/
Best Practices
http://dilbert.com/...
The meltdown containment procedure was to use US tax payers as the firewall.
Paulson Defends Bank Deal To Lawmakers
http://www.npr.org/...
How did the nation’s largest banks become too big too fail?
Why Citi's Failure Costs More than Saving It Does
http://seekingalpha.com/...
Banks have been failing in record numbers since 2005. Without Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), billions of dollars in those bank accounts would be lost.
Bounce These Bozo Bankers
http://www.nypost.com/...
Another acquaintance complained that GE was slashing salaries by 50%.
Financial Turmoil Grips World Markets
http://www.npr.org/...
Up To 50,000 Jobs at Risk Due to Bank’s Collapse
http://www.npr.org/...
Chernobyl disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , then part of the Soviet Union . It is considered to be the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history and the only level 7 instance on the International Nuclear Event Scale. It resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive power excursion which destroyed the reactor. Two people died in the initial steam explosion, but most deaths from the accident were attributed to radiation.
Chernobyl Accident
http://www.world-nuclear.org/...
The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety. The resulting steam explosion and fire released at least five percent of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind.
I don't believe the financial meltdown was a design problem. It may be that the SEC personnel were inadequately trained. Questions raised by the mysterious Bernie Madoff case showed that befuddled SEC investigations struck out at least 3 times. Madoff was easily able to fool the SEC, which subsequently took responsibility for its failure.
"We apologize to the Madoff investors and to the American public for not fulfilling our mission," SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said. The SEC inspector general found that Madoff could have – and should have – been stopped 16 years and billions of dollars ago, blaming his ability to slip through the cracks on inexperience, ineptitude and bureaucratic laziness.
It would be necessary to build into financial engineering projects insulation, isolation and containment procedures to protect the public from system failures. This is an afterthought and possibly isn’t as profitable. Banks have been failing in record numbers since 2005. Without Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), billions of dollars in those bank accounts would be lost. How did the nation’s largest banks become too big too fail? They are getting even bigger with Bank of America merging with Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase inhaling Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo swallowing Wachovia. The IT positions in the financial services sector are disappearing like radioactive decay.
http://dilbert.com/...
Inside the Great American Bubble Machine
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
"Goldman's success in the midst of a deep recession, is still unfathomable to many, however. But to those who know Goldman’s business model, it is not. The bank has long prided itself on not only its breadth, but its ability to spot trends early."
Goldman Sachs' Financial Boom: A Political Mess for Obama?
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Goldman Sachs: hero or villain?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
http://dilbert.com/...
Careers at Goldman Sachs
http://www2.goldmansachs.com/...
"Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 by German Jewish immigrant Marcus Goldman. In 1882, Goldman’s son-in-law Samuel Sachs joined the firm which prompted the name change to Goldman Sachs. The company made a name for itself pioneering the use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs and was invited to join the New York Stock Exchange in 1896.
In the early 20th century, Goldman was a player in establishing the initial public offering market. It managed one of the largest IPOs to date, that of Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1906."
Goldman Sachs Story
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
"In December 2005, four years after its report on the emerging ‘BRIC’ economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), Goldman Sachs named its "Next Eleven" list of countries, using macroeconomic stability, political maturity, openness of trade and investment policies and quality of education as criteria: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam."
JPMorgan Chase became the latest big bank to announce stellar second-quarter earnings. Its $2.7 billion profit, after record gains for Goldman Sachs, underscores how the government’s effort to halt a collapse has also set the stage for a narrowing concentration of financial power. "One theme here is that Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan really have emerged as the winners, as the last of the survivors," Robert Reich, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, told The Times.
Both banks now stand astride post-bailout Wall Street, having benefited from billions of dollars in taxpayer support and cheap government financing to climb over banks that continue to struggle. They are capitalizing on the turmoil in financial markets and their rivals’ weakness to pull in billions in trading profits.
Two Giants Emerge From Wall Street Ruins
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/...
One minor problem America has to solve is multinational corporations taking American intellectual property overseas to avoid paying American workers fair wages and then shipping the products produced overseas by cheap labor back to the United States at ridiculous profits.
The next technological bubble may have been already exported offshore.
Offshore Outsourcing
http://lieberman.senate.gov/...
Senator Joeseph Lieberman writes in 2004:
"Since November 2000 , close to three million Americans have lost their jobs. While higher productivity and a weakened economy have largely been responsible for this loss, a growing trend of jobs moving overseas has further exacerbated our nation’s jobless economic recovery. Once limited to manufacturing, the globalization of information technology (IT) has given rise to a new offshoring phenomenon. Forced to lower costs in the face of fierce global competition, a growing number of U.S. firms are now moving services work abroad. This trend threatens Americans working in a wide array of industries that use IT in their business functions, ranging from data entry to aeronautical design. Many of these are the high skill jobs that Americans assumed would always remain in the United States . This shift from manufacturing to high-end services and R&D jobs going overseas is critical and presents a potential threat to U.S. long-term competitiveness and to our national security."
What are the big banks and corporations really doing for US today?
Why were millions of jobs transferred out of USA? Could it be because American Labor, who built this country, was too expensive, and it would be more profitable for Investors to outsource the work overseas? An Indian rupee is worth about 2 cents. Would you believe it is possible for someone to live 10 days in India on $1? Whatever they call "living" over there, they can do it for 1 dime per day. Might this mean that $36.50 is an annual salary for the majority of workers in India? An American laborer could not survive on daily wages of $36.50 without additional subsidies. It would be beneath the minimum wage in every state and therefore illegal. By these estimates someone in India could live 100 years or 100 people could live 1 year on $3,650! Unbeliveable!! This is an example of an emerging market where Goldman Sachs, GE, Citigroup and Chase are pouring billions of dollars into.
A Long View Of The Wall Street 'Dream'
http://www.npr.org/...
http://dilbert.com/...
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage - and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
India is still developing. The question is why is India taking American jobs? Why are GE and American multi-national corporations sending jobs to India? It may be both a moral question as well as economic. Could it be greed? Americans have mortgages, utility bills, and needs that are essential to sustain a highly advanced standard of living. Does India understand the United States? The share holders couldn't care less.
Here is another instance of multinational entities placing profits above our national security. If our healthcare industry is outsourced for higher profitability for the share holder what choices will Americans have in selecting the kind of health plans, and who they want to access their medical records?
The health care industry in India is expected to more than double in size from 2008 to 2012, to $75 billion, according to Technopak Advisors, a consulting company. In 2007, Americans spent $2.26 trillion on health care, according to the government.
Mr. Immelt’s comments were made at a news conference related to the restructuring of G.E.’s health care business in India. The company said it was aiming to simplify operations, allowing it to take advantage of the growing market.
GE Healthcare, based in Chalfont St. Giles, England, employs 46,000 people in 100 countries around the world. Revenue from the health care division was $17.3 billion in 2008, less than 10 percent of G.E.’s total.
Many analysts and health care executives say they share Mr. Immelt’s belief that innovations from emerging markets, particularly India, could lead to big changes in the United States health care system. Already, American health care companies are cutting costs by outsourcing services to India like reading X-rays or scheduling nursing visits.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Electricity losses in India during transmission and distribution are extremely high and vary between 30 to 45%. In 2004-05, electricity demand outstripped supply by 7-11%. Due to shortage of electricity, power cuts are common throughout India and this has adversely effected the country's economic growth. Theft of electricity, common in most parts of urban India, amounts to 1.5% of India's GDP.Despite an ambitious rural electrification program,some 400 million Indians still have no access to electricity.While 80 percent of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just 44 percent of rural households have access to electricity.According to a sample of 97,882 households in 2002, electricity was the main source of lighting for 53% of rural households compared to 36% in 1993. Multi Commodity Exchange has sought permission to offer electricity future markets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Why was Union Carbide in India in the 1980s? Who invited them to come? Did the Indian government fully understand the hazard of producing methyl isocyanate before the disaster in 1984? Was there any chemical engineer in the country that said don't build that factory here in India, build it somewhere else? I am sure the share holders thought it was very profitable to build this factory in India where environmental concerns could be left unanswered.
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was an industrial disaster that took place at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At midnight on 3 December 1984, the plant released an estimated 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to MIC and other chemicals. The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. The government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.Others estimate 8,000-10,000 died within 72 hours and 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
The Bhopal disaster is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster.The International Medical Commission on Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the long term health effects of the disaster.
Some 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the Union Carbide plant continue to pollute the ground water in the region and affects thousands residents of Bhopal who depend on it. There are currently civil and criminal cases related to the disaster ongoing in the United States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India against Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical Company, with arrest warrants pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Do you suppose there is connection between outsourcing high technology to emerging markets and the rise in unemployment, home foreclosures in the United States and the worldwide recession?
How about pesticides?
India is the world's largest producer and user of endosulfan, an insecticide used on cotton and other crops that is banned in 62 countries. This toxic substance certainly does an effective job of killing pests. But it has also been linked to physical and mental defects in poor farmers and their families within India and across the globe. Studies have shown endosulfan to accumulate in a mother's breast milk and it has been linked to appalling birth deformities.
India remains predominately a nation of impoverished farming villages. Its rural lands are the world's biggest and most enduring poverty trap, with malnutrition levels higher than those seen in sub-Saharan Africa. The Indian government constantly falls over itself to declare love for the aam aadmi, or common man – and also proudly flogs him cheap endosulfan to help him grow crops. Scores of Indian firms produce it. One of the largest is Hindustan Insecticides, which is owned by the government of India.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
There's plenty of work to do in India for India.
Millions of American jobs lost through company mergers, company failures and outsourcing. With the lost jobs also go lost medical benefits, financial stability, a higher standard of living and lower wages.
The Mortgage Crisis is far from being resolved. No one is saying how big the problem is. It’s a political volleyball for Republicans and Democrats. This has frozen financial services and real estate. The Bank Bailout and economic stimulus packages are costing over $1 trillion. Prevention of a repeat crisis in the foreseeable future would necessitate more government regulation. Republicans have been and still are against more regulation. Does the government have the political will and the technology to manage this crisis?
Health Care reform will be on a faster track once the Congress has decided what it will be. It’s not clear how speculation could seize control of health care reform. The tide seems to be against health care for profit. That is where the battle lines will be drawn. Billions of dollars in profits are on the line. Billions of investment dollars are flooding in. This is good for the country as long as they don’t outsource the new IT requirements offshore. There are 50 million uninsured enrollees, which is comparable in size to the current Medicare enrollment. This represents a great expansion in health care services and administration.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/...