Tag: Affordable Care Act

Rush Limbaugh’s Show Is Underwritten by the Right-Wing Think Tank Responsible for the Individual Mandate and Romneycare

Jon Ponder

logo-heritageProduct placement has become such a subtle art form these days that it’s hard to tell the difference between advertising and the editorial or entertainment content. Case in point, right-leaning Politico.com a reports that the tea party astroturfers, Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, and the Heritage Foundation, a Reaganite intellectual boneyard, are quietly underwriting the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck radio shows, at a cost of several millions dollars:

POLITICO: In search of donations and influence, the three prominent conservative groups are paying hefty sponsorship fees to the popular talk show hosts. Those fees buy them a variety of promotional tie-ins, as well as regular on-air plugs – praising or sometimes defending the groups, while urging listeners to donate – often woven seamlessly into programming in ways that do not seem like paid advertising.

Those fees buy them a variety of promotional tie-ins, as well as regular on-air plugs — praising or sometimes defending the groups, while urging listeners to donate — often woven seamlessly into programming in ways that do not seem like paid advertising…

The Heritage Foundation pays about $2 million to sponsor Limbaugh’s show and about $1.3 million to do the same with Hannity’s…

Those millions also buy lies. […]

Health Insurers Report Record Profit – But Leave 50 Mil Uninsured, Shift Uninsureds’ $49 Bil Unpaid Hospital Bill to Taxpayers

Jon Ponder

art-leechesFour recent health-care related stories in the news, taken together, put the current state of the crisis into perspective:

  • Despite failing at its core mission of providing insurance to everyone, the insurance industry rakes in record profits:

    The five largest insurers — WellPoint, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and Humana — which along with some other competitors boasted a 250 percent return over the past decade, earned over $15 billion in 2010. That’s 22 percent growth over their combined $12.2 billion earnings in 2009.

  • And yet, the insurance megacorps are demanding large premium hikes:

    Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care.

  • These companies have rigged the system so that one-sixth of the U.S. population can’t afford insurance:
    […]

Americans Confused About Health Care Law

Trish

48%

Total proportion of Americans who are confused about the Affordable Care Act, according to a new Kaiser poll. 22% said they thought the law was recently repealed, while another 26% weren’t sure if it’s still in effect. We’re betting this 48% refers to the reforms as “Obamacare.”