IMS Health to be Acquired by TPG and CPP Investment Board

IMS Health to be Acquired by TPG and CPP Investment Board

Running For Congress

I have decide to run for congress in Pennsylvania's 8th distict. You can read more at JeffreySchott.com

The story of Jack-O-Lantern

Just completed a collaborative effort to publish a cute original children's story on YouTube. Check it out below:

Images in this video are available as free printable greeting cards at PrintSmiles.com

Aspirin shows promise for colon cancer patients

Aspirin is the medication that keeps on giving. First pain and fever relieve, then heart attack prevention, and now a treatment for colon cancer patients.

Read the full article in PhillyBurbs.com here

New website PrintSmiles.com

I helped launch a new website called PrintSmiles.com. It is the next version of ThirdAgeProductions.com and allows users to customize printable greeting cards that can be printed out to fit a standard number 6 envelope, quarter fold. It also allows you to customize a card and have them print it on greeting card stock and mail it for you (the first one is free and then $1.99 including postage).

Check it out!

The rich will pay for everyone's health care

Sounds good doesn't it? Most of us are not rich. However, that's how the government institutes all of their money and power grabbing schemes.

For example:

• The income tax (instituted in 1913) was only taxing the top 1% of Americans. Now the majority pay income tax
• The Alternative Minimum Tax was to cut loopholes for the top 1%. It was never indexed for inflation so now many middle class people are also hit by the AMT
• How many toll roads were implemented until "the road was paid for", but never became toll-free. Despite the fact that the cost of collecting the tolls exceeds the tolls collected
• Social security was for retirement and disabilities, but it became another funding source for Washington. They keep saying Social Security is in trouble starting in 2017. Well, if you actually look at the IOUs in the "trust fund", Social Security actually has funds through 2041. But, because Washington spent the trust fund, they'll have to raise taxes in 2017 to pay it back to the trust fund.

I agree that we need reform. However, the government should be responsible for fairness controls and regulations not total control.

And, if the plan is so great, why is there an exception for Congresspeople and Senators? They should be forced to take the "public plan".

IMS Health to cut work force by 11 percent

According to this Reuter's article, IMS health will be cutting their workforce by 850 (about 11%). The article blames the economic downturn and a "dearth of new products". I also think that the uncertainty of health care coverage/structure in the US is a big contributor.

Cap and Sue

I read this interesting article on townhall.com. Basically, the cap and trade bill will allow individuals to sue the government and companies if they suffer "harm".

Here's a quote from that article:

..."the measure sets grounds for anyone 'who has suffered, or reasonably
expects to suffer, a harm attributable, in whole or in part,' to government
inaction to file a 'citizen suit.' The term 'harm' is broadly defined as
'any
effect of air pollution (including climate change), currently occurring
or at
risk of occurring.'

This bill is shaping up to be a real disaster. These people in congress have lost any common sense they may have had. We can lower emissions in about a million better ways than this "tax and sue" bill that is going to force more jobs to China and India because they do not have to abide by any standards.

How does your state rate against others in healthcare?

Today, I read about a goverment web site that rates healthcare in several categories by state. You can fine the site at http://statesnapshots.ahrq.gov/snaps08/map.jsp?menuId=2&state= .

States are rated in the following categories:

• Types of care (Preventative, Acute Care, and Chronic Care)
• Setting of care (Home Health Care, Hospital care, nursing home care, and ambulatory care)
• By clinical area (Cancer, Diabetes, Heart disease, maternal and Child health, and Respiratory disease)

How did your state do?

Pay for delay. More waste in healthcare

In addition to the $1.2 TRILLION wasted each year in our health care system outlined in a Price Waterhouse Coopers study, the Wall Street journal found another $3.5 billion a year in a practice known as "pay for delay" where pharmaceutical companies pay generic manufacturers to delay the launch of generic alternatives. You can find the WSJ article here.

I'm in limited company in that I feel that pharmaceutical companies are entitled to make a profit during their patent time period. They are also a common target although they are not the majority of health care costs. However, this "pay for delay" amounts to bribes and unfair competition practices and should be stopped.