{"id":76126,"date":"2017-06-23T17:15:42","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T21:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=76126"},"modified":"2017-06-23T17:16:14","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T21:16:14","slug":"100-million-dead-in-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=76126","title":{"rendered":"100 Million Dead In US"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Karl Denninger
\nThe Burning Platform<\/p>\n

Accordingly, I must communicate to you at this time the full extent of our dire fiscal straits and the potential disruptions that we face in addressing even our most critical core responsibilities going forward into the new fiscal year. \u00a0My Office has very serious concerns that, in the coming weeks, the State of Illinois will no longer be able to guarantee timely and predictable payments in a number of areas that we have to date managed (albeit with extreme difficulty) despite an unpaid bill backlog in excess of $15 billion and growing rapidly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are effectively hemorrhaging money as the state\u2019s spending obligations have exceeded receipts by an average of over $600 million per month over the past year. (ed: That\u2019s $7.2 billion\/year)<\/strong><\/p>\n

My cause for alarm is rooted in the increasing deficit spending combined with new and ongoing cash management demands stemming from decisions from state and federal courts, the latest being the class action lawsuit filed by advocates representing the Medicaid service population served by the state\u2019s Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).<\/strong> As of June 15, the MCOs, and their provider networks, are owed a total of more than $2.8 billion in overdue bills<\/strong> at the Comptroller\u2019s Office. There is no question that these obligations should be paid in a more timely manner and that the payment delays caused by the state\u2019s financial condition negatively impact the state\u2019s healthcare infrastructure. We are currently in court directed discussions to reach a workable and responsive payment schedule going forward, but any acceleration of the timing of those payments under the current circumstances will almost certainly affect the scheduling of other payments, regardless of other competing court orders and Illinois statutory mandates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now folks, you can call this a \u201cone off\u201d if you wish.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

It is also not a surprise\u00a0where\u00a0<\/em>the problem is centered. \u00a0It\u2019s in health care.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve only been yelling about this\u00a0since the 1990s<\/strong><\/em>, when I saw the impact on my firm\u2019s balance sheet and cash flow statement on a year-over-year basis for a few years running. \u00a0You don\u2019t need to see it for more than a couple of years to grasp the gravity of the problem\u00a0if you have a brain and are not politically poisoned to wave it off.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone with a $3 WalMart calculator can figure it out, given\u00a05 minutes<\/strong> and an IQ greater than their shoe size. \u00a0You merely need to run the exponential series out 5, 10, 20 years and what happens becomes\u00a0obvious.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

At ~9% expansion\u00a0the rule of 72\u00a0<\/em>gives you a close-enough approximation:\u00a0Costs double every 8 years; in 24 years you spend\u00a0eight times\u00a0<\/em>as much money as you did originally.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t 8x as much money\u00a0and you can\u2019t raise it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u00a0can\u2019t<\/strong> increase taxes by 800%. \u00a0You\u00a0can\u2019t<\/strong> expand the economy by\u00a0800% over 24 years; at a 3% GDP expansion rate (which we haven\u2019t had in the last two decades for any sort of time period, I remind you) the economic output expands by\u00a0200%<\/strong>. \u00a0This means that you\u2019d have to\u00a0quadruple<\/strong> taxes\u00a0compared against economic output,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>and if you try to do that GDP will collapse because you will consume\u00a0all of the expansion in economic output\u00a0and then some<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is only\u00a0one<\/strong> answer to this problem and that is to take the\u00a0entire<\/strong> medical system, which is where the\u00a0entire\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>problem resides, and dismantle it. \u00a0Prosecute\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>every single hospital administrator, owner of an imaging center, drug company executive\u00a0and physician<\/strong> that has\u00a0ever, even once,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>stuck his head in a hospital room and then billed someone $1,000 for a \u201cdrive by\u201d consultation \u2014 or anything like it, such as charging $90,000 for a drug here that\u2019s $2,000 in another nation, or billing one person $100,000 for a procedure where another is billed $5,000 or $10,000.<\/p>\n

Bankrupt them all by imprisoning every last ******ned one of these people and fining their firms out of existence using the 100+ year old and\u00a0still valid\u00a0<\/em>body of law found in 15 United States Code, Chapter 1<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Force\u00a0every single one\u00a0<\/em>of these institutions out of business\u00a0now<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Let the courts administer bankruptcy sales on\u00a0every single ******ned hospital and diagnostic center in the nation\u00a0<\/em>along with\u00a0every\u00a0<\/em>single pharma business in the United States. \u00a0Sell them\u00a0all<\/strong> off at 2, 5 or 10 cents on the dollar and make damn sure you tell everyone who bids that\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>repeat of the previous owners performances over the last 30 years will lead to\u00a0instant<\/strong> indictment and imprisonment \u2014 period, full stop, no exceptions.<\/p>\n

Tell all the remaining doctors and medical centers of any sort that (1) they\u00a0will<\/strong> publish a price on\u00a0everything,\u00a0<\/em>(2) they will charge\u00a0everyone\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>the same price for the same good or service and\u00a0(3)\u00a0any attempt to cheat or perform any\u00a0anti-competitive act will lead to\u00a0immediate indictment, trial and imprisonment of\u00a0everyone involved using perfectly-valid 100+ year old that has twice been confirmed as valid in the US Supreme Court over the last 30 years.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No bail, no kidding, no mansion, no Porsche, no exceptions \u2014 and no bull****.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time tell the AMA and all the\u00a0Colleges\u00a0<\/em>that if\u00a0they<\/strong> collude to (1) drive up the cost of learning to be a doctor or (2) limit the number of people who can go through school to be a doctor\u00a0in an attempt to fix prices and restrain trade, including attempting to continue or enforce state-specific licensing\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>you will lock all of\u00a0them<\/strong> up too and give the\u00a0people\u00a0<\/em>the controls of CAT D8 bulldozers\u00a0so they can take out their frustration on the ivory towers of said schools \u2014 after we chain the administrators and AMA board members to the columns.<\/em><\/p>\n

After all, a D8 beats\u00a0the destruction of our cities and state governments,\u00a0<\/em>along with 100+ million\u00a0dead<\/strong> Americans, which is exactly where we\u2019re headed over the next couple of decades if we don\u2019t cut this crap out\u00a0right now<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Go ahead and\u00a0believe\u00a0<\/em>if you wish that \u201cowning\u201d property in one of these cities \u2014\u00a0any<\/strong> of them \u2014 is real. \u00a0Go right ahead. \u00a0You have a nice piece of land and house there. \u00a0It\u2019s maybe worth what \u2014 $500,000? \u00a0If it carries a property tax levy of $12,500 a year\u00a0you paid for it again\u00a0<\/em>in 40 years\u00a0but got nothing of value for the money spent the second time<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

By the way,\u00a0how do you afford that $12,500 property tax bill\u00a0<\/em>on a middle-class \u2014 or even upper\u00a0<\/em>middle-class\u00a0income, say $80,000 or $100,000 a \u00a0year? \u00a0You\u00a0can\u2019t<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It would be bad enough if it stopped there\u00a0but it won\u2019t. \u00a0<\/strong>My former house near Chicago has seen its property tax levy\u00a0double<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0in 10 years time. \u00a0What makes you think yours won\u2019t have the same thing happen? \u00a0It not only will it has; I\u2019ve seen it on other properties I\u2019ve been watching\u00a0including property my family members own in such places.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why\u00a0<\/strong>would I provide services to the state of Illinois if they can\u2019t pay my invoices Net 30? \u00a0I would not \u2014 period. \u00a0I saw a\u00a0tiny<\/strong> bit of this with Chicago in the 1990s when they started trying to \u201cstretch\u201d my invoices. \u00a0I went into the computer room and yanked the line card out of the cage that fed the Washington Public Library and tagged it off with a warning that any tech that put the card back in would be fired. \u00a0<\/em>The caterwauling could be heard all the way to Waukegan (and came within minutes of my action)\u00a0but that card didn\u2019t go back in the cage until I had a check in-hand. \u00a0<\/strong>I don\u2019t get to pay my parking ticket\u00a0when I feel like it\u00a0<\/em>and thus\u00a0neither does the city \u2014 or state<\/strong> get to pull that crap on\u00a0me<\/strong>. \u00a0That was the end of the discussion.<\/p>\n

Will\u00a0someone\u00a0<\/em>\u201cfactor\u201d their invoice and thus allow people to provide services to the state? \u00a0Probably, for a while, but the factoring cost will get added to the bill. That\u2019ll work right up until the credit risk gets to the point that the discount rate on those factored invoices is 20% or more\u00a0at which point there\u2019s no chlorine for the water plant that keeps your drinking water safe.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How far are we from that folks? \u00a0How long does Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, New York, Newark or Philadelphia remain\u00a0standing upright and operating\u00a0<\/em>when there is no sanitary water to drink, the pumps don\u2019t work at the sewage plant so there is literal\u00a0<\/em>**** coming up out of the sewer manholes, the cops and firefighters don\u2019t get paid<\/strong>\u00a0and there\u2019s no food distribution in the city either\u00a0because the city and state try to tax the businesses at a rate they cannot pay and a pound of coffee winds up costing $20 and a gallon of milk is $10, which nobody can afford on a welfare check?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You think this is a joke or hyperbole eh?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

This was much-more easily resolved 20 years ago when I started raising hell about it.<\/p>\n

It was rationally resolvable in the 2007\/2009 time frame when I started writing\u00a0The Market Ticker.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s a real bitch, but we still have to do it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve laid it all out here, on the air multiple times, and in\u00a0Leverage.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been to Washington DC in the 2011 timeframe and spoke to Senate staffers\u00a0who confirmed<\/strong> they understand the math and what will<\/strong> happen if this crap doesn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

But they also told me they\u2019re unwilling to act because\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>are more-concerned about abortion, gays, boys pissing in the girl\u2019s room and how much you can get in welfare checks then whether your state and ultimately the federal government is going to be bankrupted by a bunch of jackasses in white coats who first told you to eat **** that makes you sick with\u00a0<\/em>government sanction, prescribed pills that gave you diabetes,\u00a0loved the\u00a0trillions of dollars\u00a0<\/em>they\u00a0stole\u00a0to treat the diseases they caused\u00a0at mark-ups of 1,000% or more against a\u00a0market price \u2014<\/em>\u00a0and all of that\u00a0<\/em>after they tossed your health in the ****ter on purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exactly when you do pull your head out of your ass, America?<\/p>\n

Is it before or after our cities lay in ruin and a third of you are dead?<\/p>\n

Oh, and if you\u2019re dumb enough to think that Trump gives a flying **** about any of this?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n

He knows good and ******ned well\u00a0exactly\u00a0<\/em>what\u2019s going on. \u00a0He\u00a0has to<\/strong> since he\u2019s run a company in this very environment for the last 30 years\u00a0and he\u2019s seen all of it and knows the math, just as I do. \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>I\u2019m not the smartest man in the room by a wide margin but I sure as hell can use a ******ned calculator and so can both Trump\u00a0and you<\/strong><\/em>, if you choose to.<\/p>\n

The very\u00a0day<\/strong>\u00a0Trump was elected\u00a0every bit\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>of the bullet points on \u201chealth care\u201d found on his campaign site that actually bore on the\u00a0real issues<\/strong><\/em> disappeared from public view\u00a0and not one word of it has been seen since anywhere\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 not on his transition site\u00a0and not in a single policy pronouncement since<\/em>. \u00a0<\/strong>There were\u00a0multiple\u00a0<\/em>entreaties made to his transition team on this exact point during those months\u00a0including by people I\u2019ve cited here and who were \u201csupposedly\u201d part of the group he was going to consult with.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>Those meetings were\u00a0canceled<\/strong> folks and they have\u00a0not<\/strong> been rescheduled\u00a0six months later.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Trump is an actual, willing and intentional co-conspirator in all of this \u2014 and that\u2019s a FACT<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

___
\nhttp:\/\/www.theburningplatform.com\/2017\/06\/21\/100-million-dead-in-us\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}