Marketing 101 - GOP Style

The GOP's answer to providing an alternative to "Obamacare" as they so gleefully call it, is to "Fire Pelosi".  When you say it out loud it sort of just hangs there.  OK, fire Pelosi.  I don't care for her either.  She's spent more time getting Botox and appearing at press conferences than working to make things better.  Then what?  What on earth will the GOP do next?  The GOP claims they have alternative legislation which is "common sense".  I read through this "common sense" summary.  The only thing certain about this summary is that it's VERY common.  It's more common talking points from a party with few real alternatives.  A party whose entire offering is based upon pointing out deficiencies in the Democratic health care plan.  Let's look at just a few of the statements taken directly from the GOP website. See the GOP Summary here.

• Lowering health care premiums. The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing Americans’ number-one priority for health care reform.

This is a great campaign point, but how exactly is this going to be carried out?  I wouldn't know.  There is no information to support this bullet point.

• Ending junk lawsuits. The GOP plan would help end costly junk lawsuits and curb defensive medicine by enacting medical liability reforms modeled after the successful state laws of California and Texas.

Sounds great...except California and Texas are number 5 and 9 respectively on the list of states which have the highest payments for medical malpractice claims. See the list here.  This means... "successful" is NOT a word any reasonable person would use to describe their reforms.  Then there is that whole California is bankrupt...thing.  Why on earth would their legislation be considered a good example of ways to cut costs?  

• Prevents insurers from unjustly cancelling a policy. The GOP plan prohibits an insurer from cancelling a policy unless a person commits fraud or conceals material facts about a health condition.

Hmmm... and who will decide what "material facts" will be defined as?  I am guessing the federal government.  Last time I checked that's still part of the makeup of social medicine.  

• Encouraging Small Business Health Plans. The GOP plan gives small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do.

• Encouraging innovative state programs. The GOP plan rewards innovation by providing incentive payments to states that reduce premiums and the number of uninsured.

These two statements use the word "encouraging".  This isn't an after-school special people.  The word "encouraging" is just a marketing word that really means government regulation and legislation...still social medicine.  It's STILL the same thing the GOP says we should all be fighting against.  Additionally, just HOW is the GOP planning to fund these "incentive payments"?  Monopoly money?  Reducing lawmaker salaries?  I think not.  Try higher taxes...which the GOP historically places on the middle class.  The GOP wants us to apply labor union methods to healthcare.  Look how well labor unions worked for the auto industry.  Oh wait...they didn't!  

My personal favorite...

• Allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ policies. The GOP plan encourages coverage of young adults on their parents’ insurance through age 25.

There's that word "encourage" again.  Do you think for a minute that insurance companies won't slap us with more fees and higher premiums if the GOVERNMENT tells dependents they are now allowed, by law, to remain on their parents insurance until 25??  

Finally... The GOP "Scorecard"

Scorecard: Speaker Pelosi’s Government Takeover vs. GOP Common-Sense Solutions

                         Speaker Pelosi’s Bill      GOP Alternative

Job Losses          Up to 5.5 million              0 (Prove It)

Medicare Cuts     $500 billion                     0 (Prove It)

Tax Increases      $729.5 billion                  0 (Prove It)

The Bottom Line:

Just because something is stated over and over again doesn't magically make it true.  The GOP gets an F for effort and an A+ for marketing.  Too bad marketing isn't accepted as a valid form of payment at the doctor's office.

Slow Prescription Drug Abuse: Create a National Prescription Database

The problem with prescription drug abuse in this country is spiraling out of control.  Perhaps the one good thing that can come from the deaths of stars like Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, and Corey Haim is that this problem can get the attention it desperately needs.

I've witnessed the effects of prescription drug abuse first hand.  I can tell you there is NOTHING glamorous or acceptable about this issue.  Creating a national prescription narcotic database which every pharmacy is required by law to subscribe to and update in real-time would go very far in slowing this problem.  It would subsequently drive down health care costs by perhaps millions!


The Basic Concept:  When I fill a prescription for a controlled substance, it is automatically updated to a national registry which ALL pharmacies have access to via the web and are required to check for current or pending prescriptions in other pharmacies nationally.  Now, this will also require legislation to make it illegal for doctors to prescribe drugs using pseudonyms.  This is key especially in the case of celebrities.  To remedy privacy concerns, we should mandate privacy laws for pharmacies which not only carry stiffer penalties for breaches in security but also make the breach punishable by mandatory imprisonment for no less than 1 year.  Remember, this is a basic concept, but a very sound one.

The Bottom Line:  It's time to prescribe a real and tangible solution to prescription drug abuse in America.  The only ones profiting from this abuse are the drug companies.  We all know how that story ends.  

Show your support for sound ideas by logging on to http://www.healthreform.gov/

  

Home Sweet Home

http://www.udr.com/

Nearly two years ago, I moved to my current apartment community.  I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting the only male in the office at the time.  He was snide.  He over compensated for being a straight man in an increasingly gay male profession by flirting with any woman who entered the room.  He was rude. He was juvenile.  He got my UDR relationship off on a sour note.  It was like one of those really bad American Idol audition clips that we have all grown to love.  My prayers were answered early on as this delight of a man moved away to Austin.  I don't recall his name because I had a medical procedure done to block it from my memory permanently.

Then there was James...

James didn't really get a fair shake from me because of that Neanderthal that ended up in Austin.  I figured James was Neanderthal Jr. and would typically steer clear of dealing with him. As fate would have it, there were several times I was forced to deal with James because there was simply nobody else to help me.  I started to realize that James might be OK.  He seemed interested in what I had to say for one thing.  That's always a GREAT way to start.  Then he did something else that took me by surprise.  He followed up.  While that may seem like a really lame thing to be surprised by, the apartment leasing world has changed for the worse over the years.  I've lived in apartments all my life.  I've seen just about every type of leasing "professional" you could imagine.  The chance that one of them would follow up with you on an issue or question is about as great as the chance that you would be hit by a truck-driving nun in a school-zone situated in an all Baptist community.  Let's just say that today's leasing professionals don't exactly measure up all the time.  James has always followed up with me.  If he doesn't have an answer...he gets one.

While all this is noteworthy, there is something that sets James apart from even the rest of the staff here in my community.  He has the uncanny ability of "knowing his audience".  He is able to assess WHO he is talking to and engage them in a manner that shows them that he's paying attention.  When he needs to speak slowly and with regard for his words...he does.  When he needs to "be real" and talk to you straight...he can.  When he knows you need a laugh...he makes you smile.  I've personally witnessed him in action.  He is keenly aware of who he is talking to and is able to present himself just as that person needs him to be presented.  This is a quality that is rare.  Most people are only satisfied with coming to terms with how they interact with others.  It's not often that you find those perceptive people who are willing to meet others half way in order to better communicate and build trust.

UDR should be taking notes.  James has a lot to offer any employer.  His abilities make him priceless.  In case you were wondering, I do not know James.  I don't even know his last name.  There is nothing in it for me except the pleasure of being able to brag on someone who is doing a stellar job at treating people like...well...people.  It's timeless.  It's classic.  It NEVER goes out of style.  James should be considered the "new black" in apartment leasing.  Every apartment community should have a James "hanging in the closet".  He goes with everything.

James:  I appreciate you for treating me like a person and not a lease.  I appreciate you caring enough to stay late on a Sunday to update me on an issue I was having with trespassers.  I appreciate you always taking the time to get back to me.  I appreciate you always going above and beyond for even the smallest things.  I wanted to take the time to say thank you and to make sure that everyone knows what a great person and great professional you really are.  It's because of your efforts that I continue to call my apartment...home.  UDR is lucky to have you.

Sincerely,

David by the pool.  :-)

Health Care Hoax: Smoke & Mirrors

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is a group of major health insurance providers that have banded together to resist health-care reform. They are now offering up a "report" which states that should health-care reform pass in Congress, it would increase deductibles for America's insured. I had to wonder why a group of major insurance companies would even have such a group. I did a little digging. The following is just a short list of some of the board members of this group. Everyone should know this...

George C. Halvorson
Chairman and CEO
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan

H. Edward Hanway
Chairman and CEO
CIGNA Corp.

Michael McCallister
President and CEO
Humana Inc.

Daniel P. Neary
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company


Ronald A. Williams
Chairman and CEO
Aetna Inc.

Any of those companies look familiar to you? There are also several CEOs from various Blue Cross - Blue Shield companies around the U.S.

Again, this is just a fraction of the CEOs that are a part of this "bipartisan health-care reform" group. Now why would all these major insurers be against health-care reform? Something is just "off" here...

Even more interesting...the "bipartisan" report claiming that reform would raise our rates by 111% percent in the next decade was created by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a tax, risk, and business strategy firm that all of these insurance companies are members of. This is a firm which helps the insurance companies be more profitable world-wide. Oh, and this tax firm, it's based in the UK...not the U.S. Do you really think they have OUR best interest in mind?

This same group has a tax-free research group (AHIP Foundation) set up to do research about the insurance industry. That means you and I are paying for them to research how to increase their business. Have you ever heard of such MESS???

This health-care reform bill represents massive accountability and regulation for the Insurance Industry and they are fighting it tooth and nail. They have their lobbyists and their pseudo reporting firms throwing lies at the American people and legislature in hopes of continuing to profit off the backs of every-day Americans like you and me. Don't fall for this report that premiums will increase for every American. The premiums have been increasing dramatically for years, well before talk of health-care reform. What's not being said is that insurers would no longer have a free ride at our expense and they do NOT like that idea at all. The sad part is all of this information that I've laid out here today is available to everyone. All you have to do is read. I simply went to each website and started connecting the dots. Don't just take my word for it...read for yourself.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/12/health.care/index.html
http://www.ahip.org/default.aspx
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/index.jhtml


Stay Free!

C.I.G.N.A. - Caring Is Generally Not Acceptable

Let me start by saying, that I have a job. I book travel for my client's executives. That said…please understand that I pay my premiums. I pay my deductibles. I play by the rules. Cigna, my insurance provider, does not.


Cigna proved to me today that they are NOT in the "business of caring". They ARE, however, in the business of making their policy holders micro-manage their health care to the point of lunacy. More directly, they are not in the business of caring at all. Let me explain...


On my current plan for prescriptions, I am to pay a yearly one-time deductible of $50 in addition to my RX co-pay. This was paid on my first prescription in January. Since then Cigna has tried to charge me my yearly deductible EVERY SINGLE MONTH. Here is how that goes... I call in the prescription. I drive over to pick it up. They tell me it cost some outrageous amount. It never fails that it's on a weekend or a holiday of some sort. The following business day I spend at least an hour on the phone, while at work mind you, to "resolve" the matter. Cigna has admitted to me on every occasion that it is a system issue that can be fixed. Every month since January, Cigna has promised me that this issue will be resolved and every month it's the same tired routine.


Then today there was Maura, Sherry, and Nicole...

All three are designated as Customer Relations Supervisors. Each and every one of these reps REFUSED to put another authorization for the correct co-pay amount on my account. They said it should not have been done in the past because it doesn't solve the issue and that they (would not) do it again. I explained to all of them that I could not afford the increased co-pay and wait on a reimbursement. I explained that Cigna already owes me $50 from a February over-charge which I have yet to see. I also explained that I could NOT miss taking the medication under any circumstances. I further explained that the medication was NOT an optional one. Their reply: "Well, that's all we can tell you. I'm sorry." Sorry they say… Sorry that I will get gravely ill if I don't have the medication? Sorry that Cigna is too stupid to have resolved this issue 5 months ago when I first brought it to their attention or in any of the following months? Sorry that because it's the Friday of a holiday weekend they could care less? Sorry that they every rep I've spoken to in the last 5 months didn't know how to actually do their job? Sorry that Cigna and its "caring" reps refused to assist me today? Sorry for what, I wonder.


It's clear to me after today that Cigna is not at all in the business of caring as they say. I am not basing my conclusion on one, two, or even three situations. I'm basing my conclusion on 5 months, 16 Cigna representatives, 4 Cigna Managers, 1 Cigna Site Director (who finally told Nicole to do her job and provide me with an override today), 3.5hrs in phone conversations all while on my job, 15 calls to CVS to make sure everything was correct, 2 emails to my company about the issue, 3 phone calls to my company about this, 0 actual solutions to this ongoing problem, and 1 Cigna Manager out of 4 that offered a sincere apology (last month). The numbers are in and it's not pretty.


Cigna 1 Consumer 0


Stay Free… if your healthcare company will let you!