News Alert: Newsom and His Administration Are Corrupt

 

I know that is a shocker to see for anyone with two eyes, but there it is.

Our fearless Serene Highness Emperor Governor Gavin Newsom has authorized a sweetheart deal for medical management group Kaiser Permanente to take on new Medi-Caid (Medi-Cal in CA) patients.

LA Times indicates that it is concerning. Not because Kaiser is a bloated entity that exists primarily to give the appearance of “health maintenance” while denying actual treatment to actually sick people. But because the siphoning of state funds directly to Kaiser puts the dream of single-payer in jeopardy.  Sorry, I mean “Medi-Cal reform.”

Regardless, healthcare realists examined the announcement and found other items more concerning:

  1. This was a no bid-contract decided behind closed doors.
  2. No other insurers were brought to the table to even make a proposal.
  3. One of the biggest concerns of the other health insurers is that if Kaiser is only responsible for certain types of patients, then the sickest and most costly patients could be left to them. Health plans say that allowing Kaiser to limit its enrollment to certain people could mean that their population will be healthier, less costly and easier to manage.

Kaiser, of course, sees it differently.  By dealing with Medi-Cal and MediCare dual coverage patients, they say they will be dealing with sicker patients.

This is what they say.

If anyone has had dealings with Kaiser, one knows exactly how they deal with sicker patients.

With the Gov’s approval, Kaiser will only be required to take the following patients: those who were previously enrolled in an employer plan or private insurance before joining MediCal, foster youths, and Medi/Medi patients (Medi-Cal and Medicare).  As a nurse, I have a very different perspective.  I have seen Kaiser’s care first-hand at my own SoCal hospital and with my own family members.  These populations are not necessarily easy, but at least two of the three populations included are lower-risk and lower-need.

Kaiser is a Health Maintenance Organization. They perform this pretty spectacularly. Their educational programs, their willingness to use technology, and their devotion to primary prevention is admirable. Whatever my issues with Kaiser, this is not one of them. They really do a stellar job in this capacity.

However, when it comes to: acute patient care in a hospital, innovative treatment, willingness to refer out of network, ability to provide even minimal mental health services, and ability to individualize care they fail.

They fail spectacularly.

Newsom’s sweetheart deal is not only unfair but it is likely a response to Kaiser’s overwhelming support of his agenda, both with their unions and with their business dollars as they donate to his pet causes.  Their hospitals are often his staging ground for political stump speeches; their employees wave signs at protests.  His own advisor Jason Kinney, of French Laundry fame, is known to have ethical and legal … let’s call them “issues” … that resulted in him being fined or disciplined.  He was replaced by fellow lobbyist DeBoos, who stands in his stead (and is also very chummy with Kinney).

It does not take a genius intellect to look at these articles and do the math.

It adds up to cronyism and corruption, plain and simple.

It is just unfortunate that California is composed of a majority of voters that are either too stupid to take this into account or have been brainwashed through generations of sole Democratic control into believing that the nepotism is acceptable.  That is long as it is a Democrat and not one of those awful Republicans.  There is enough media coverage of the incompetence and egregious back-slapping, backdoor deals, and absolute arrogance by this Governor that it cannot only be a lack of media coverage.  It must be willful ignorance.

I suppose in that way California voters have met their perfect match.

Published in Healthcare
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There are 14 comments.

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  1. The Girlie Show Member
    The Girlie Show
    @CatIII

    Always appreciate these posts that inform me about issues I was unaware of. This one slipped past my radar. Thanks, TRN.

    • #1
  2. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Just terrible.

    • #2
  3. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    And he looks like a soap opera actor.  So cheesy.

    • #3
  4. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem?  Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter?  :-)

    • #4
  5. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    Hahahahaha no

    • #5
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    Hahahahaha no

    Why else would they vote for him?  And apparently, lots do.  Or have in the past.

    • #6
  7. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    Hahahahaha no

    Why else would they vote for him? And apparently, lots do. Or have in the past.

    Pretty sure it’s that (D).

    • #7
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    Hahahahaha no

    Why else would they vote for him? And apparently, lots do. Or have in the past.

    Pretty sure it’s that (D).

    Justin Trudeau is a (D)?

    • #8
  9. TheRightNurse Member
    TheRightNurse
    @TheRightNurse

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    He likes to think so.  He also likes to think he’s the next Kennedy.  Just wait until he runs for president in a few years.

    • #9
  10. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    Hahahahaha no

    Why else would they vote for him? And apparently, lots do. Or have in the past.

    Pretty sure it’s that (D).

    Justin Trudeau is a (D)?

    Minus the parentheses, yes.

    • #10
  11. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Dr. Drake Ramoray takes umbrage at the description.

     

    See the source image

    • #11
  12. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Picking a lousy provider can be a boon for progressives. If Gavin Newsome were clever and known to think a few moves ahead (stop laughing and go along with me for a bit) he might have intentionally set up a system in which service delivery sucked. 

    Recall how the Obamacare architects set up exchanges with absurd predictions of participation rates.  If they actually wound up working, then it’s a win and the planners take credit.  If they fail, the planners would then say “Golly, we tried to give the free market approach a shot and it failed so it’s one-payer time.”  An angry population and a GOP Congress ended (postponed?) that latter scenario. 

    Even if Newsome is as shallow and dim as I think he is, he may still be unwittingly playing the chess game to finally impose Govt-owned single-payer medicine.

    • #12
  13. Cosmik Phred Member
    Cosmik Phred
    @CosmikPhred

    TheRightNurse (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    And he looks like a soap opera actor. So cheesy.

    Is that a problem? Doesn’t he make womens’ hearts go all aflutter? :-)

    He likes to think so. He also likes to think he’s the next Kennedy. Just wait until he runs for president in a few years.

    His entire career has been about the next job, not the job he’s in.  He didn’t finish out his last term as SF mayor so he could be Lt. Governor.

    I’ve seen his type through my corporate career:  come in, make a splash, and don’t stick around so you can be blamed for the failure of your policies. 

    When he came on TV every day during COVID it was like listening to an IT consultant.  I got paid to listen to these guys so I was not receptive to his act.  Policies were weighted towards wokery and not the issue at hand. He really has a gift for wonky consultant blather.  I stopped watching him after a few days.

    Mountain towns get incinerated and he shows up in his windbreaker to talk about global warming and how CA will be the leader in electric cars.  Meanwhile, we’re told to conserve power during certain hours of the day, Diablo Canyon (2 Gigawatts of power) will leave the grid, and incentives for residential solar may be pulled back or even taxed. 

    Putz.

    • #13
  14. TheRightNurse Member
    TheRightNurse
    @TheRightNurse

    Cosmik Phred (View Comment):
    His entire career has been about the next job, not the job he’s in.  He didn’t finish out his last term as SF mayor so he could be Lt. Governor.

    Yes, but SF is a cesspool and he knew it even then.  Lt. Governor was one step away from the job and he knew all he really needed was to get the appropriate face time in order to get put there.

    Then, CA being reliably Democrat, he knew that he could be Governor.  His aunt is Pelosi.  He has the money and the connections.  And being Governor was always just a step to the White House (which was always his goal).

    He has the money, he has the Democratic cred and support.  The real question is just how woke they’re willing to go in their nominations.  He might be too late, being white and male, to be in the running for the Presidency the next cycle.  It just depends on how much they want to lean into identity politics and if they will still insist on a POC female/gender-fluid candidate.

    …and Buttegieg will be VP.

    • #14
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