Trauma, PBMs, & State Based Single Payer Health Insurance

A free public service for a better community

Jul 24, 2024

A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare

If there are subjects you’d like to see or improvements made, please let me know using the comment button below.

Reproductive Rights - IOWA - Bad News

Thanks to Joyce Vance for posting this. The IOWA Supreme Court has decided that their state;s ban on abortion after 6 weeks goes into effect 8:00 am Monday July 29, 2024, Here is a link to the court order.

There is no other way to say it -

If you vote for Republicans this November 5th we can look forward to more oppressive laws that take away our rights.

PS Here is Project 2025. Health Care starts on page 449.

Emergency Departments and Trauma Levels

Here is some advice from my daughter who works at a hospital in New York. If you don’t need a level I\

trauma center go to one with a lower rating if possible. You will likely be treated quicker.

I mention this because she told me that wait times in her hospital’s Level 1 trauma center can be horribly long. Being level I means they get victims of major highway accidents, gunshots, stabbings etc. Those patients take a while to stabilize and treat.

Here is a link to the descriptions of trauma levels They vary from Level I to Level V. Have a look and see how different they are. Of course there are also special designations for adult or pediatric care. A quick overview of the levels is below.

If you aren’t in a highly populated area you may have no choice. For instance, Los Angeles County as 1 pediatric level 1 trauma center, 5 others level Is for adults, and a total of 15 trauma centers of all types. That’s for almost 10 million people.

In my state, Washington, there is only one level I trauma center and it also serves Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

Of course, those in rural areas are often on the short end of the stick.

Here is a list of the US trauma centers and levels and whether they are certified for pediatric care organized by state. Might be a good idea to flip through - fore warned is fore armed.

Level I

Level I Trauma Center is a comprehensive regional resource that is a tertiary care facility central to the trauma system. A Level I Trauma Center is capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury – from prevention through rehabilitation.

Level II

A Level II Trauma Center is able to initiate definitive care for all injured patients.

Level III

A Level III Trauma Center has demonstrated an ability to provide prompt assessment, resuscitation, surgery, intensive care and stabilization of injured patients and emergency operations.

Level IV

A Level IV Trauma Center has demonstrated an ability to provide advanced trauma life support (ATLS) prior to transfer of patients to a higher level trauma center. It provides evaluation, stabilization, and diagnostic capabilities for injured patients.

Level V

A Level V Trauma Center provides initial evaluation, stabilization and diagnostic capabilities and prepares patients for transfer to higher levels of care.

PBM Hearing in the US House of Representatives

Tuesday morning there was a hearing in the the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The drug middlemen that promise to control costs have instead steered patients toward higher-priced medicines and affiliated pharmacies—steps that increase spending and reduce patient choice, the House investigation found. The pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, have devised formularies of preferred medicines that encouraged use of higher-priced drugs over lower-priced alternatives, they discovered.

Shocking - Universal healthcare solves this problem too.

There is a bill in the Senate that goes a long way towards fixing the problem. Senators Sanders introduced it. It is S. 1339, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act.

ACTION

Remind our member of Congress and Senators that PBMs turn needed medication into unobtanium for so many Americans by taking bribes to include high priced drugs on their approved list (formualries) over lower priced alternatives. You can reach them here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials. You can use the script below as a template.

Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PAUYZU to 50409 on your cell phone to send that message to our Senators and members of Congress.

“I am your constituent and I am really tired of high drug prices made higher by Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Did you know that according to the National Health Interview Survey, in 2021, 8.2% of adults aged 18–64 who took prescription medication in the past 12 months reported not taking medication as prescribed due to cost. Women (9.1%) were more likely than men (7.0%) to not take medication as prescribed.

Look, universal healthcare, like HR 3421 fixes this. However, you could take action to get a bill like S. 1339, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act voted on in Senate and House and help all your constituents now. Please do that.”

Single Payer Universal Health Insurance

Let’s recall that this is the technique where a single insurance trust manages health care payments for everyone. In Congress the best and most comprehensive such bill was submitted by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington (no surprise). H.R. 3421.

Some states don’t want to wait for the federal program and are proposing to have their own single payer universal healthcare trust for all their residents. Oregon is one, Washington is another. In fact, about 20 states are attempting to go in this direction.

One obstacle in their path is a collection of about 7 federal waivers that are needed to make it work. Representative Ro Khana of California has submitted his State Based Universal Healthcare Bill to Congress. It would bundle all the waiver activity for a state, and make sure that they are financially capable of executing successfully. It’s a good idea. It is HR 6270.

Senator Markey wants to introduce the companion bill in the Senate and would like as many cosponsors as possible. He requests we take the extra credit action below to help.

Extra Credit - One Payer States - Action

Teammates, we’ve mentioned previously that there will be a companion bill in the Senate to the House’s State Based Universal Health Care Act. It bundles all the waivers a state needs to implement single payer health insurance.

Senator Markey asks us to help him and get our senators on board.

First, please view this list of constituents who have signed the SBUHCA petition. Please select signers from your state and email their names and locations to your two U.S. Senators, accompanied by your version of this cover letter to encourage your Senators to cosponsor this important legislation. You can reach your Senators here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.

It’s a little more involved action, but worth it. Thanks.

Resources

Find My Elected Officials

Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website

Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List

Important Healthcare Resources

League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit

Organizations to Contact

National Nurses United Medicare4All

Physicians for a National Health Program

One Payer States

Healthcare Now

Reproductive Health

NARAL - Pro Choice America

Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion

Planned Parenthood

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.

United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.

Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.