Monday, December 16th, 2024
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

HEALTHCARE IN LOUISIANA AND THE U.S. A REAL MESS!

A vigilante killing takes place in New York City, and the shooter is called by some as a hero. The story of this murder has been covered nationally and internationally for over a week. Unfortunately, this tragedy has evolved into not the killing of a single individual, but a reflection of the major crisis that is directed at the healthcare industry in America today.

Healthcare companies are under assault, and for good reason. I dealt with any number of claims against healthcare companies during the time I served as Louisiana’s insurance commissioner throughout the 1990s. Back then, health insurance companies seldom rejected health related claims. And if a claim was rejected, my office rigorously investigated. United healthcare, the company that was headed up by the recent shooting victim Brian Thompson, only rejected 1.1% of filed claims 20 years ago. In a recent national survey, conducted by insurance consultant Premier, major companies like United healthcare are refusing to pay on average 15% or more of claims that are filed.

Under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) of 2010, the federal Department of Health and Human Resources is directed to study and monitor claim results of individual companies, and make this information public. But they don’t do it. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that some insurance companies deny almost half of all claims. Which companies? You can’t find out. Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, there’s been a failure to follow the law, and the public is left in the dark.

If your healthcare claim is denied, you have the right to appeal. But consumers rarely do. It’s just too cumbersome. You spent hours on the telephone with the healthcare company, fill out numerous forms, have to make your doctor fill out copious correspondence, and the average claimant just gets bogged down in tons of paperwork. If you appeal, yes it makes a difference. Kaiser reports that 41% of claims that have initially been denied are reversed on appeal. What does this tell us? Way too many claims are being denied in the first place.

The bottom line is that there is too much coziness between federal agencies that are supposed to be monitoring healthcare results and the healthcare companies they are supposed to oversee. And you and I pay the price. Unfortunately, state regulators are not doing any better job. Insurance commissioners supposedly collect data of claims have been denied, but with only a couple of exceptions, these regulators do not make this information public. Connecticut and Vermont do, but Louisiana keeps it hidden.

Back in the 90s, I proposed and was successful in getting the legislature to pass laws that outlawed insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Louisiana was the first state in the country to do so, and other states quickly followed. In addition, I created a healthcare bureau of last resort. If a person was not qualified to receive healthcare coverage through Medicare or Medicaid, and could not afford buying it in the private sector, they could turn to the Department of Insurance program that created an agency of last resort. The insurance cost was a little higher than what the average citizen paid, but at least there was a program available to help those who could not find any health insurance.

Here’s what healthcare researcher, The Commonwealth Fund reports about the state of our healthcare in America today. “People in the United States experience the worst health outcomes overall of any high-income nation. Americans are more likely to die younger, and from avoidable causes, than residents of peer countries. The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and among the highest suicide rates.”

Bottom line? Americans are being dramatically shortchanged in terms of the healthcare they are receiving, the quality of the healthcare, the skyrocketing cost of health insurance, and regulators who allow healthcare companies to deny legitimate claims. The system is a real mess. And it’s a nationwide problem. Here’s hoping President Trump and his healthcare secretary pick Robert Kennedy will put finding a way for affordable healthcare on their front burner agenda.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownla.com.

DONALD TRUMP, JESSE JAMES AND REDNECK LOUISIANA!

December 9^th, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

DONALD TRUMP, JESSE JAMES AND REDNECK LOUISIANA!

 

The tough guy outlaw image.  That’s what President Trump has often portrayed himself. He said on a number of occasions that he has been investigated “more than Jesse James,” and call the famous outlaw “a great bank robber.”  There is no doubt that Jesse James and the James gang were colorful characters who liked to think of themselves as Robin Hoods that robbed Banks of the rich guys and spread it among the poor Missouri dirt farmers.

 

And would you believe that my grandmother, who was delightfully named Sweetie Pearl Brown, claimed to me that she had met Jesse himself? Sweetie Pearl was about the most entertaining person I ever knew. She relished telling me yarns about growing up in the Missouri foothills of Clay County.  She swore to me (and I believe her) that her father, William Hull, hid out Jesse James and his gang as the bank robbers crisscrossed the Midwest.

 

 According to Sweetie Pearl, she would hear the James gang come riding up to the Hull farm in the middle of the night, enter their family cabin, and lie down on the floor in front of the fire to sleep a spell.  After they left in the early morning hours, Sweetie would see the spur marks in the wood floor. The gang members kept their boots on in case a quick getaway became necessary.

 

She swore that Jesse James never was killed by one of his own men. This was all a ruse, so she said, to get the lawmen off his tracks. The official version in the history books is that gang member Robert Ford shot Jesse in the back for a big reward in 1882 in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Not true, said Sweetie Pearl. She swears the Robin Hood-like folk hero made his way down to northeast Louisiana and spent some ten years in the small community of Floyd in West Carroll Parish, about two miles south of Poverty Point.

 

I somewhat doubted her version until I read a story in the Bastrop Enterprise dated June 23, 1938, about how Jesse and some of his gang holed up in northeast Louisiana for over ten years after his reported death. One local account is from a Mrs. W. A. Ober, who told the paper: “It happened on a boat on Bayou Bartholomew tied up at Old Lynn Grove. During a card game, a card shark was discovered winning the game and Jesse pulled out his pearl handle pistol with his name engraved on it. The card cheater, in a sharp tone, demanded, “˜To whom do I owe my disgrace?’ The reply came, “˜to Jesse James.'”

 

Could it have been that one of the most famous outlaws in the nation’s history pulled a ruse and spent his final days right down here in Louisiana?  We know that Bonne and Clyde met their just rewards in the northwest parish of Bienville, near the small town of Sailes back in 1934.  There is even a small memorial stone to mark where the shooting took place.

 

So who knows?  Maybe, instead of being gunned down by a fellow gang member as many history books tell us, Grandmother Sweetie Pearl could have been right on the money in both having met Jesse James, and knowing that his final resting place was right here in the Bayou State.  There is no doubt Jesse was a tough guy. So it’s not surprising that President Trump admired the outlaw that might have ended up right here in Louisiana.

 

Peace and Justice

 

Jim Brown

 

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownla.com.

 

 

EDWARDS AND DUKE – THE RACE FROM HELL!

Monday, December 2^nd, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

EDWARDS AND DUKE – THE RACE FROM HELL!

 

It was 33 years ago this past week that perhaps the most consequential and controversial election in the nation’s history took place here in the Bayou State. Edwin Edwards and David Duke squared off in a run-off election for Governor. Not only were voters across the nation fascinated by what was taking place down in the deepest of the deep Southern states. There was worldwide interest in a showdown between a controversial former Governor and the former head of the Ku Klux Klan.

 

Incumbent Governor Buddy Roemer was squeezed out of the runoff, as Edwards outflanked him to the left and Duke overwhelmed Roemer among conservative voters. Louisiana is the only state in America that has a convoluted election system where all candidates run against each other the same time, irrespective of political affiliation. It’s been called the “jungle primary,” and was the downfall of Roemer.

 

He tried to run as centralist, and you just can’t do that under Louisiana’s current system. I know this from personal experience as a candidate for governor, as I was cut out in the same convoluted system four years earlier. Roemer was left on the sidelines as the showdown pitted conservative white Louisianans against populist southern democratic voters, with moderates stuck in the middle trying to figure out just what was the least offensive vote to cast.

 

I had an up-close view of the race as I was running myself statewide for Insurance Commissioner. My path would cross with both candidates several times a week as we each crisscrossed Louisiana in our efforts to garner votes. It was retail politics at its best as all the statewide candidates “pressed the flesh” at fairs, parades, festivals and campaign rallies all over the state. Today, candidates try to influence votes by raising money and going on TV. It’s a sad commentary on the current political atmosphere that those who hope to get elected generally ignore the chance to get out and visit with voters.

 

A surreal moment took place for me a week before the election. My wife and I took a break from our own campaigning, and drove over to a large crawfish restaurant in Breaux Bridge with some friends. I felt comfortable that I would win handily in my own race for insurance commissioner, and we just wanted to get away from all the campaigning. Some of the locals recognized me, but our group mostly stayed to ourselves in one of the corners and focused on enjoying the crawfish.

 

Just as we got settled, Edwin Edwards walked in the door. He made a beeline for our table, took a seat, ordered a tray of crawfish, and, in typical Edwards fashion, began entertaining our group and surrounding tables with his Cajun humor. Not 10 minutes later, in comes David Duke. Spotting our group, he too joined us as the whole restaurant focused on our table. The banter and joking went on for a good while between the two candidates. Then they each went to their own separate tables. In the next hour, patrons of the restaurant lined up at the tables of their chosen candidate, either Edwards or Duke, often leaving a cash donation. Just another night on the campaign trail.

 

Edwards went on to soundly defeat Duke receiving 61% of the vote, served out his fourth term as governor, went to jail, ran for Congress, had a new son at the age of 86, and passed away at the age of 93. A birthday celebration  following his release from prison was a sell out at the grand ballroom of a New Orleans hotel, and a recent poll pegged him as the most popular  governor in Louisiana’s last one hundred years.

 

Duke also went to jail, ran for U.S. Senator in 2016, and continued to rant about white supremacy. He was a factor in Donald Trump’s first presidential election as Duke endorsed Trump, and Trump refused to disassociate himself from the former Klan leader.

 

Gubernatorial elections in Louisiana are never bland and boring. But it will be hard to top the Edwards-Duke knock-down-drag-out election of 1991 that will go down in history as “the race from hell.”

 

Peace and Justice

 

Jim Brown

 

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com

 

 

 

KENNEDY’S CONTROVESIAL VIEWS ON OUR HEALTH!

Monday, November 25^th, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

KENNEDY’S CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS ON OUR HEALTH!

 

The person who heads up the federal Department of Health and Human Services is quite essential to Louisiana.  Louisiana citizens, bless their souls, are in large numbers, poor, unhealthy, and aging at a higher rate than many other states. There is a major reliance throughout the state on Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and a number of other services offered by this federal agency. President Donald Trump’s picked for this important post is Robert F Kennedy, son of the assassinated brother of JFK.

 

I will have to say that some of Kennedy’s views on America’s health can be considered a little bit “off-the-wall.” I had written a few weeks ago that I met Kennedy this past summer at Phil’s Oyster Bar in Baton Rouge, and listened to him expound at length on his concerns about various vaccines and fluorides in our drinking water.  I felt he was too extreme on both these issues although there is public disagreement across the country.  But one area where  we both strongly agreed was our concern about the food protections, or lack thereof, from the federal Food and Drug Administration in Washington.  Simply put, this federal agency has failed to offer basic protections to the American people, and have ignored the well-being of our children for way too long. If there is one agency where the president should clean house, it’s the FDA.

 

There is a child health crisis all over America. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that more than one in three children throughout the U.S. are overweight or even obese. More than 40% of our kids have a  chronic health condition, reports a study from the National Survey About Children’s Health.  There has been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autism. It was one child in 150 some two decades ago whereas today it is one in 36.  There has been a dramatic increase in our kids who experience seasonal allergies, food allergies, eczema, childhood cancer , and Type two diabetes.

 

The chief executive of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Dr. Richard Besser, says that: “If R.F.K. Jr. is concerned about chronic disease in America, that’s a good thing, because chronic diseases are real and there are things you can do to address them.” Chronic disease is a huge health problem all over America, and shame on both recent Democratic and Republican administrations for simply failing to realistically address this problem in the past.

 

Why do we allow people who receive federal food stamps to go out and buy products that are processed junk food?  How safe are all these breakfast cereals with artificial food coloring in them? Kids love them, but are they safe? And sugar.  We all love our sweets, but oh the damage that too much can cause. Why hasn’t the FDA fully investigated?

 

Let me put it bluntly. There is something fundamentally wrong with our government oversight and even support for a nutrition system that allows it’s people to consume, even fully live off of processed junk food. Sure, I want to see us make America great again. But to do that, you have to begin by making America healthy again.  This junk food consumption is creating major problems for the health of millions of Americans. We unfortunately have a system that seems more designed to treat these illnesses rather than to prevent them.

 

The medical community is certainly not immune from Kennedy’s criticism, and I 

agree.  And our medical schools are also not immune from their share of the blame. We have created a system that does not address the root causes of a country’s health problems. Instead, way too many doctors treat health problems with pills and shots. When was the last time a doctor sat down with you and said, “Let’s talk about nutrition, and what we can do to prevent future medical problems, not treat them after they have already festered.”

 

So I’m cutting RFK some slack with the hopes that he will use common sense in recommendations involving vaccines and the use of fluoride in our water. He has put forth some solid ideas about why our food system is broken, and is doing great damage to millions of Americans.  I say right on. And please Mr. Kennedy. Come back to Louisiana to eat some more of our healthy oysters.

 

 

Peace and Justice

 

Jim Brown

 

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com

 

 

 

 

 

Monday November 18^th, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

IS TRUMP AN ABERRATION OR IS AMERICA CHANGING?

 

Listen.  Put your hand to your ear. Can you here it?  (Silence). That’s the sound of the Trumpites hollering about all the election fraud.  Oh, that’s alright.  You see, the Republicans won. There’s only election fraud when Trump and Republicans loose.

 

Trump said in Pennsylvania a few days before the election that there was “massive cheating and fraud.”  “Stop the Steal” the Trumpites shrieked.  That is until the election outcome was secure for the GOP The results came in and Trump strongly carried Pennsylvania.  Then the previous election deniers changed their tune, and the issue simply faded away.

 

I followed the charges of election fraud closely, as I was Louisiana’s chief elections Officer for eight years back in the 1980s. From that time forward, I rarely  saw any evidence of widespread election fraud.  There were occasional charges of vote buying and registering of unqualified voters on the local level. But any evidence of a pervasive organized effort in any state across the nation just did not exist. Unless the Mega gang thinks otherwise and wants to have a new election….,.Yeah! Right!

 

My Democratic friends (I’m a registered independent by the way) are appalled at Trump’s hold on the nations politics, and swear it’s just an aberrant and temporary happening.  His opinions are “just not who we are,” they are saying.  But are they right? Are not  a majority of Americans  in agreement with Trump’s opinions, no matter how outlandish, as an example of  exactly who we are? And don’t buy into the view that the new President has changed the opinions of a majority of voters in our nation.  I would suggest that what he did was to reveal how his positions are the same as  the millions of Americans who voted for him.  

 

Let’s just be honest.  The America many of us grew up in has changed.  I don’t mean “the good old days” that some would aspire to.  I mean the lack of a moral code; basic decency and concern for others that was more apparent in days gone by.  Let me offer a few examples.

 

When I was growing up, volunteering in one’s local community was a part of the culture.  It was what we did. Recently, a report was issued by  Census Bureau and AmeriCorps concluding that volunteering has taken a major reduction in recent years.  Yet the need has never been greater.  There is a demand for volunteers to help in schools, churches, local food banks, and many other local groups.  Membership in civic clubs has dwindled significantly, with a number of clubs shutting down.  When volunteer organizations ask for help, the response they too often receive is that “we are just too busy.”

 

Church attendance has dropped significantly. In my younger years, I felt guilty if I didn’t attend church on Sunday, My family took us to church Sunday morning and Sunday evening. So many Americans, even those who say they love the church, feel no guilt in there disassociation from religious attendance. (And by the way, my most recent book, Jesus, Jews, Jihad and Me, deals with my personal struggle of trying to relate more to religious beliefs).

 

Volunteering to serve in the military or national support groups like AmeriCorps is passe’ to so many. “We are just too busy with our lives,”  is a general response. President John Kennedy’s charge to the nation, “Ask not what your country can do for you. As what you can do for your country,” is not reflective of how many Americans feel today.

 

And where did all the open swearing in the public domain begin? It seems like it was just a few years ago where no one would use a four letter word in a public pronouncement or speech. Now four letter words abound from the President to numerous public figures. I sat with my grandsons to listen to the Alabama football coach, following a recent game, sprew out four letter words, one  after another. His foul mouth offers a terrible image for our kids. Someone should wash his mouth out with soap.  

 

These changes (not for the better) cannot be blamed on America’s new President. He just has recognized  how America has changed for so many. Look in the mirror. Trump is just a reflection of so many of us.  As columnist Carlos Lozano wrote recently, “What was considered abnormal, even un-American has been redefined as acceptable and reaffirmed as preferable.”  How sad. What did Pogo say? We’ve seen the enemy, and the enemy is us.

 

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com

 

WE NEED TO DO MORE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY!

Tuesday, November 12th, 2021

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

WE NEED TO DO MORE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY!

This week marks an important day to remember for all of Americans. Many of us don’t even know the difference between Memorial Day (honoring those who died defending our country) and Veterans Day (honoring all service men and women). Only 5% of Americans attended local military events or parades. I joined a gathering of veterans at the World War II museum in New Orleans.  The museum houses the Solomon Victory Theater  named after my father-in law, T.G. Solomon.

Is it enough in this day and age where so few serve their country who take their freedom for granted to holler USA, USA at sporting events, or to say “Thank you for your service” when you see a service man or women in uniform? Should Americans be required to do more?

I  join a long line of distinguished military officers who never hesitated to serve their country. They did not try to find ways to sidestep such service like so many others, including most of our politicians today as well as several recent presidents.

Relatives on both sides of my family served their country with honor and distinction. My first father-in-law Dick Campbell who was an ace fighter pilot, rose to the rank of full colonel in the Army, and twice escaped from German prison camps. My Dad stayed stateside coordinating military transportation coast to coast for the Army. Second father-in-law Teddy Solomon was sent by the Army to the South Pacific. My younger brother Jack volunteered and joined the National Guard for a six-year hitch.

My mother’s brother had quite a navel military career. In the final months of World War II, Commander Jack Gentry was flying a reconnaissance mission over the Pacific when his flight cameras captured photos of the Japanese flotilla. He made the cover of Life Magazine as his pictures allowed a direct attack on the enemy fleet that sped up the ending of the war with Japan. He went on to command the battleship USS Enterprise until his retirement from the Navy in the 1960s.

With this strong family military background, I felt an obligation to continue the service to my country. I make no bones about the fact that I feel every American should either serve in the military or perform voluntary service in the city or state where they live. The American flag flies outside my home 365 days a year. I wear my military dog tags while I broadcast my syndicated radio program each week (NG25520050).

This is not an effort to pat myself on my back. Like so many other young men and women who love their country, it was something I felt a strong obligation to do. So despite the fact that I was draft exempt, I signed up for service in the Army, then stayed for ten additional years in the Louisiana National Guard.

Our nation has been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan going on two decades. The Middle East is a powder keg that might explode at any time.  Our military is putting out brushfires all over the world. Yet many Americans look on war as a spectator sport. So few have any real skin in the game.

I recently read a book by military scholar George Wilson called “The Mud Soldiers,” where he laments over the problems with an all-volunteer army. He quotes Vietnam veteran Col. Steve Siegfried who states: “Armies don’t fight wars. Countries fight wars..... Yes a country fights a war. If it doesn’t, then we shouldn’t send an army.

War should be every citizen’s business. We should all perform some volunteer service, military or otherwise. This should be an easy decision if we love our country and care about our freedom.  Think about this as dedicated veterans all over America remember their colleagues this week on Veterans Day.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com

 

THINKING PAST ELECTION DAY!

Monday, November 4th, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

THINKING PAST ELECTION DAY!

 

As you read this, it’s a matter of hours before voting in the presidential election is over. That’s not to say that a final verdict will be determined. As we saw four years ago, if the election is close as every analysis indicates that it will be,  it may be weeks before the actual victor knows the final results. Remember the 2020 election where Vice President Al Gore thought he had won, but the Supreme Court determined otherwise? So let me pass along some pre-election commentary from a guy who oversaw the election process in Louisiana for eight years back in the 1980s.

 

First of all, I like the idea of voting on election day. Oh I suppose it’s more convenient to be able to vote by mail or by absentee in the few locations offering this option. I just think there is something special of casting my vote on election day itself. Taking one of my grandchildren along to watch me pull my lever as I vote, visiting briefly with voting commissioners who often have been precinct workers for a number of years, and feeling the special spirit of the democratic process all taking place as we pick our future leaders.

 

I continued that special feeling of an election day commitment even during the time that I was Secretary of State and ran the Louisiana elections process. My voting precinct was located at Ward one, Precinct one at the Summerall Flying Service located off a dirt road just outside of the town of Ferriday on Lake Concordia.  I suppose because I was running the elections that no one really objected to my keeping an election day commitment even though it took a lot of driving. I was up at 3 AM and drove the 2 ½ hours from Baton Rouge to my voting location. I had called in advance to the owner of the local donut shop in Ferriday to have me a box of donuts ready for a quick pickup to give them to these early rising elections commissioners, all whom I have known for a number of years. I was the first to cast my ballot, and after a short visit with my old friends, I headed back to Baton Rouge and the State capital to oversee the election day process. Now that’s a commitment to vote on election day, right?

 

Oh, and I generally made a quick visit to the local coffee shop with my old friend Sam Hanna, newspaper publisher of the Concordia Sentinel. For years, we have been meeting early on election day to make our projections, and maybe even share a bet or two on several of the candidates.

 

And let me tell you this. Both small and large newspapers were extremely important then, and every bit as important today. Election ballots are often quite long with local, state and national candidates to consider as well as local propositions and constitutional amendments. I just don’t see how someone can be an informed voter without doing a little pre-election research , and by following the key issues and candidates in their local newspapers. Since 2005, more than 2900 local newspapers of shut down across the nation. Just this week, The West Side Journal in Port Allen closed after 88 years of publication.  Such endings leave many communities without any source of local news. The Internet, in my opinion, just does not serve as a satisfying alternative. There is nothing as enjoyable and practical as sitting down with a good cup of coffee and my local newspaper to start off the day.

 

I also wonder how each of us who vote are individually affected by who is elected as our next national leader. Will the new president really make any difference in our lives? Fodder for a new column later down the road.  For now, I’m like many of you readers who are glad the campaigning is coming to an end.

 

Peace and Justice

 

Jim Brown

 

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.