CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk

[triplehorn 2664]

Sweden: 2,500 randomly selected individuals were tested for ongoing covid-19. All samples were negative.

Looks like Sweden is basically done with Covid.  Wonder what their stance on future use/need of a vaccine will be.

[SizzleChest 8284]

1 hour ago, triplehorn said:

Sweden: 2,500 randomly selected individuals were tested for ongoing covid-19. All samples were negative.

Looks like Sweden is basically done with Covid.  Wonder what their stance on future use/need of a vaccine will be.

Counterpoint:  Sweden's essentially had their population in a prison defined by their borders since their decision to let COVID-19 burn through their population.  Additionally, a 0.02% population study may not be a statistically significant enough sample size, but I'm sure their public health authorities would disagree.  After all, they went against just about the rest of the world with their strategy, so they'll do just about anything to prove themselves right.  If they decide against vaccination, we'll see how well that works for them.

Edited September 5, 2020 by SizzleChest

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

410,000 for the hoax.

Oh wait, sorry not a hoax, just like the flu. 410,000 for just like the flu.

[jimmyjazz 46049]

32 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

410,000 for the hoax.

Oh wait, sorry not a hoax, just like the flu. 410,000 for just like the flu.

No, it's only 6% of 410,000 which works out to ~ 25K.  In other words, a standard flu season.

Except we don't ignore the comorbidity deaths with the flu.

Oops.

[Francisco 2.0 32406]

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/05/austin-texas-coronavirus-test-insurance-emergency-room/

 

Quote

When Dr. Zachary Sussman went to Physicians Premier ER in Austin for a COVID-19 antibody test, he assumed he would get a freebie because he was a doctor for the chain. Instead, the free-standing emergency room charged his insurance company an astonishing $10,984 for the visit — and got paid every penny, with no pushback.

The bill left him so dismayed he quit his job. And now, after ProPublica’s questions, the parent company of his insurer said the case is being investigated and could lead to repayment or a referral to law enforcement.

 

Quote

The case is the latest to show how providers have sometimes charged exorbitant prices for visits for simple and inexpensive COVID-19 tests. ProPublica recently reported how a $175 COVID-19 test resulted in charges of $2,479 at a different free-standing ER in Texas. In that situation, the health plan said the payment for the visit would be reduced and the facility said the family would not receive a bill. In Sussman’s case, the insurer paid it all. But those dollars come from people who pay insurance premiums, and health experts say high prices are a major reason why Americans pay so much for health care.

 

Quote

Sussman, a 44-year-old pathologist, was working under contract as a part-time medical director at four of Physicians Premier’s other locations. He said he made $4,000 a month to oversee the antibody tests, which can detect signs of a previous COVID-19 infection. It was a temporary position holding him over between hospital gigs in Austin and New Mexico, where he now lives and works.

 

Spoiler

In May, before visiting his family in Scottsdale, Arizona, Sussman wanted the test because he had recently had a headache, which can be a symptom of COVID-19. He decided to go to one of his own company’s locations because he was curious to see how the process played out from a patient’s point of view. He knew the materials for each antibody test only amounted to about $8, and it gets read on the spot — similar to an at-home pregnancy test.

He could even do the reading himself. So he assumed Physicians Premier would comp him and administer it on the house. But the staff went ahead and took down his insurance details, while promising him he would not be responsible for any portion of the bill. He had a short-term plan through Golden Rule Insurance Company, which is owned by UnitedHealthcare, the largest insurer in the country. (The insurance was not provided through his work.)

During the brief visit, Sussman said he chatted with the emergency room doctor, whom he didn’t know. He said there was no physical examination. “Never laid a hand on me,” he said. His vitals were checked and his blood was drawn. He tested negative. He said the whole encounter took about 30 minutes.

About a month later, Golden Rule sent Sussman his explanation of benefits for the physician portion of the bill. The charges came to $2,100. Sussman was surprised by the expense but he said he was familiar with the Physicians Premier high-dollar business model, in which the convenience of a free-standing ER with no wait comes at a cost.

“It may as well say Gucci on the outside,” he said of the facility. Physicians Premier says on its website that it bills private insurance plans, but that it is out-of-network with them, meaning it does not have agreed-upon prices. That often leads to higher charges, which then get negotiated down by the insurers, or result in medical bills getting passed on to patients.

Sussman felt more puzzled to see the insurance document say, “Payable at: 100%.” So apparently Golden Rule hadn’t fought for a better deal and had paid more than two grand for a quick, walk-in visit for a test. He was happy not to get hit with a bill, but it also didn’t feel right.

He said he let the issue slide until a few weeks later when a second explanation of benefits arrived from Golden Rule, for the Physicians Premier facility charges. This time, an entity listed as USA Emergency sought $8,884.16. Again, the insurer said, “Payable at: 100%.”

USA Emergency Centers says on its website that it licenses the Physicians Premier ER name for some of its locations.

Now Sussman said he felt spooked. He knew Physicians Premier provided top-notch care and testing on the medical side of things. But somehow his employer had charged his health plan $10,984.16 for a quick visit for a COVID-19 test. And even more troubling to Sussman: Golden Rule paid the whole thing.

Sussman was so shaken he resigned. “I have decided I can no longer ethically provide Medical directorship services to the company,” he wrote in his July 13 resignation email. “If not outright fraudulent, these charges are at least exorbitant and seek to take advantage of payers in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic.”

Sussman agreed to waive his patient privacy so officials from the company could speak to ProPublica. USA Emergency Centers declined interview requests and provided a statement, saying “the allegations are false,” though it did not say which ones.

The statement also said the company “takes all complaints seriously and will continue to work directly with patients to resolve issues pertaining to their emergency room care or bill. ...The allegations received pertain to a former contracted employee, and we cannot provide details or further comment at this time.”

Physicians Premier advertises itself as a COVID-19 testing facility on its website, with “results in an hour.” According to the claims submitted by Physicians Premier to Golden Rule, obtained by Sussman, the physician fee and facility fees were coded as emergency room visits of moderate complexity. That would mean his visit included an expanded, problem-focused history and examination. But Sussman said the staff only took down a cursory medical history that took a few minutes related to his possible exposure to COVID-19. And he said no one examined him.

The claims also included codes for a nasal swab coronavirus test. But that test was not performed, Sussman said. The physician’s orders documented in the facility’s medical record also do not mention the nasal swab test. Those charges came to $4,989.

The claims show two charges totaling $1,600 for the antibody test Sussman received. In a spreadsheet available on its website on Friday, Physicians Premier lists a price of $75 for the antibody test.

For comparison, Medicare lists its payment at $42.13 for COVID-19 antibody tests. That’s because Medicare, the government’s insurance plan for the disabled and people over 65, sets prices.

Complicating matters, Texas is the nation’s epicenter for free-standing emergency rooms that are not connected to hospitals. Vivian Ho, an economist at Rice University who studies the facilities, said their business model is based on “trying to mislead the consumer.” They set up in locations where a high proportion of people have health insurance, but they don’t have contracted rates with the insurers, Ho said. They are designed to look like lower-priced urgent care centers or walk-in clinics, Ho said, but charge much higher emergency room rates. (The centers have defended their practices, saying that they clearly identify as emergency rooms and are equipped to handle serious emergencies, and that patients value the convenience.)

The day after he resigned, Sussman texted an acquaintance who works as a doctor at Physicians Premier. The acquaintance said the facility typically only collects a small percentage of what gets billed. “I just don’t want to be part of the game,” Sussman texted to him.

Shelley Safian, a Florida health care coding expert who has written four books on medical coding, reviewed Sussman’s medical records and claims at ProPublica’s request. The records do not document a case of a complex patient that would justify the bills used to code the patient visit, she said. For example, the chief complaint is listed as: “A generic problem (COVID TESTING).” Under “final acuity,” the medical record says, “less urgent.” Under the medical history it says, “NO SYMPTOMS.”

Safian described the charges as “obscene” and said she was shocked the insurer paid them in full. “This is the exact opposite of an employee discount,” she said. “Obviously nobody is minding the store.”

Congress opened the door to profiteering during the pandemic when it passed the CARES Act. The legislation, signed into law in March, says health insurers must pay for out-of-network testing at the cash price a facility posts on its website, or less. But there may be other charges associated with the tests, and insurers generally have tried to avoid making patients pay any portion of costs related to COVID-19 testing or treatment.

The charges for Sussman’s COVID-19 test visit are “ridiculous,” said Niall Brennan, president and CEO of the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonprofit organization that studies health care prices. Brennan wondered whether the CARES Act has made insurers feel legally obligated to cover COVID-19 costs. He called it “well intentioned” public policy that allows for “unscrupulous behavior” by some providers. “Insurance companies and patients are reliant on the good will and honesty of providers,” Brennan said. “But this whole pandemic, combined with the CARES Act provision, seems designed for unscrupulous medical providers to exploit.”

It’s illegal for medical providers to charge for services they did not provide. But ProPublica has previously reported how little insurers, including UnitedHealthcare, do to prevent fraud in their commercial health plans, even though experts estimate it consumes about 10% of all health care costs. For-profit insurance companies don’t want to spend the time and money it takes to hold fraudulent medical providers accountable, former fraud investigators have told ProPublica. Also, the insurance companies want to keep providers in their networks, so they easily cave.

In mid-July, Sussman used the messenger system on Golden Rule’s website to report his concerns about the case. Short-term health plans are typically less expensive because they offer less comprehensive coverage. Sussman said he appreciated that his plan covered the charges, and felt compelled to tell the company what had happened.

That led to a phone conversation with a fraud investigator. They went line by line through the charges and Sussman told him many of the services had not been provided. “His attitude was kind of passive,” Sussman said of the fraud investigator. “There was no indignation. He took in stride, like, ‘Yep, that’s what happens.’” The investigator said he would escalate the case and see if the facility had submitted any other suspect claims. But Sussman never heard back.

Maria Gordon-Shydlo, a spokeswoman for UnitedHealthcare, which owns Golden Rule, would not provide anyone to be interviewed. She said in an emailed statement that the company’s first priority during the pandemic “has been to ensure our members get the care they need and are not billed for COVID testing and treatment. Unfortunately, there are some providers who are trying to take advantage of this and are inappropriately or even fraudulently billing.”

“Golden Rule has put processes in place to address excessive COVID-related billing,” the statement said. “We are currently investigating this matter and, if appropriate, will seek to recoup any overpayment and potentially refer this case to law enforcement.”

Golden Rule’s 100% payment of the charges may simply come down to “incompetence,” said Dr. Eric Bricker, a Texas internist who spent years running a company that advised employers who self-fund their insurance. Insurance companies auto-adjudicate millions of claims on software that may be decades old, said Bricker, who produces videos to help consumers and employers understand health care. If bills are under a certain threshold, like $15,000, they may sail through and get paid without a second look, he said.

UnitedHealth Group reported net earnings of $6.6 billion in the second quarter of 2020. Bricker said the company may be paying bills without questioning them because it doesn’t “want to create any noise” by saying no at a time its own earnings are so high, Bricker said.

Texas has a consumer protection law that’s designed to prevent businesses from exploiting the public during a disaster. The attorney general’s office has received and processed 52 complaints about health care businesses and billing or price gouging related to the pandemic, a spokeswoman from the office said in an email. The agency does not comment on the existence of any investigations, but has not filed any cases related to overpriced COVID-19 tests.

Sussman said he got one voicemail from a billing person at Physicians Premier, saying she wanted to explain the charges, but he did not call back. He said he spoke out about it to ProPublica because he opposes Medicare-for-all health care reform proposals. Bad actors in the profession could cause doctors to lose their privilege to bill and be reimbursed independently, he said. Most physicians are fair with their billing, or even conservative, he said. “If instances like these go unchecked it will provide more ammo for advocates of a single-payer system.”

 

[HenryJames 66148]

Normal healthcare system.

[Neonmoon 38130]

23 hours ago, triplehorn said:

Sweden: 2,500 randomly selected individuals were tested for ongoing covid-19. All samples were negative.

Looks like Sweden is basically done with Covid.  Wonder what their stance on future use/need of a vaccine will be.

Fuck it, let's do the Sweden model, right?

[DDD Dad 14346]

Fuck it, let's do the Sweden model, right?

What do we have to lose?

[27-25 2047]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Fuck it, let's do the Sweden model, right?

Which one?

[Wanker Bob 379]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Fuck it, let's do the Sweden model, right?

Wait, you mean we aren't already?

[Francisco 2.0 32406]

21 minutes ago, 27-25 said:

Which one?

 

One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

 

If you go to the second pic have fun counting masks (easy math on a Sunday morning).

 

[WhatTheBuck 28795]

4 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
 

Only one natural blonde?

[Dnaguy 12034]

4 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
 

 

46 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Only one natural blonde?

Wrong.

Only one was on RK Prime. The rest were on Bratty sis.

[DDD Dad 14346]

Wrong.
Only one was on RK Prime. The rest were on Bratty sis.

I don’t know what either of those is. I’m guessing I should not Google them on a work computer.

[Anastasis 23481]

7 hours ago, 27-25 said:

Which one?

The brunette. 

[Wanker Bob 379]

3 hours ago, Anastasis said:

The brunette. 

5 of them are brunettes

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I'm inclined to agree. Plus second from right needs her roots retouched.

 

For some COVID spread news, it was reported here on Surly that the Sturgis, SD motorcycle rally had some cases travel across the US but no one will know for sure just how many. I think the latest was well over 200 potential links plus at least one confirmed fatality. After the rally ended and people dispersed, SD has continued with its masks suggested but not required philosophy. The counts were climbing as students returned back to campuses in the state but the hospitalizations had stayed somewhat stable. Until recently. Because that lag between case counts and hospitalizations just can't quite stick in the public's mind. As there counts have been slowly climbing, guess what happened this week (today is the final day)? The South Dakota State Fair. Fortunately, most of the events are outside in the open air so dispersal is diluted. But few masks and apparently few cares given.

 

[Neonmoon 38130]

Texas passed California in total deaths with 13,777 and is currently 3rd behind New York and New Jersey. We should surpass New Jersey’s 16,091 in October. Who knows if California will retake us or not. I don’t foresee us reaching New York’s 33, 072 but this state is the Merica of America so anything is possible. Way to go everyone. Good job. SMH

[4th&Five 41575]

 

[Red Five 40879]

Ran it through the Dotard Translation Device. "We are not getting high marks on the handling of the virus, especially compared to other countries. There will not be a vaccine anytime soon."

[Nivek 16961]

20 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Texas passed California in total deaths with 13,777 and is currently 3rd behind New York and New Jersey. We should surpass New Jersey’s 16,091 in October. Who knows if California will retake us or not. I don’t foresee us reaching New York’s 33, 072 but this state is the Merica of America so anything is possible. Way to go everyone. Good job. SMH

But those are just comorbidity numbers you dunce.   This may speak to the state of the health within the United States of our people but since I don't want to look at that either, oooohhh squirrel! 

[Neonmoon 38130]

17 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

He is right about the very high marks. USA is already #1 in total deaths but it continues its climb up the charts in deaths per thousand. We’re at #12 now with 583 but we should continue to climb into the top 10 and possibly top 5 before this is over. Some of the smaller counties like San Marino will never be caught with 42 deaths and only 33K population. 

[GRHorn 105]

A lot of distrust out there. 

 

[Macanudo 13005]

Humble ISD announced cases at Kingwood High and Kingwood Middle School (one of three feeders).   I only got the email about KHS because they are only notifying you if cases happen at your kids campus.  Friend works at Kingwood Middle so she knew. 

The plan was not to open the high schools to all day, every day for a few weeks.  Got a separate email on Thursday that the Board is meeting tomorrow to discuss and vote on going back full time before the original plan. 

Yep, the district is run by and populated by morons.

[jimmyjazz 46049]

25 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

A lot of distrust out there. 

 

Nothing like a drive-by half-truth to create a false narrative.  The media has apparently ALWAYS been less trusted than Donald Trump, at least going by what information is presented on that chart.  (As it turns out, 46 > 45.)

It's good to see that Trump has partially succeeded in destroying the credibility of the CDC, though.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

25 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

A lot of distrust out there. 

 

The article that accompanied this tweet was very interesting. The major thrust of the article was about a vaccine. How Americans felt about a vaccine. Did they believe that it was being "rushed" through development? Was it safe? Would they get one? And so on. As the article went on, it highlighted the percentages shown above in the tweet.

I would argue that the absolute contradictory, political, and misleading rhetoric coming from the WH administration is responsible for the growing lack of trust. Not to mention the bot armies attacking Dr. Fauci, the failure of Dr. Giroir with testing, the push by Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro to discredit government agencies.

It's a hot mess. I expect Luntz to select that graphic out of the six or so that were in the article because he is a communication specialist and that's his gig. But it is a little misleading.

[Red Five 40879]

How would you even answer that question, in regards to "the media"? Who are we talking about here? PBS? Sanjay Gupta? Tucker Carlson? OAN?

[Dnaguy 12034]

1 minute ago, Red Five said:

How would you even answer that question, in regards to "the media"? Who are we talking about here? PBS? Sanjay Gupta? Tucker Carlson? OAN?

The ones run by Soros and the greedy Jews that don’t vote for me.

/Trump

[JimmyJames 12271]

43 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Nothing like a drive-by half-truth to create a false narrative.  The media has apparently ALWAYS been less trusted than Donald Trump, at least going by what information is presented on that chart.  (As it turns out, 46 > 45.)

It's good to see that Trump has partially succeeded in destroying the credibility of the CDC, though.

Yep. Trump singlehandedly destroying the credibility of the CDC is the real story here. People always like to bitch about the media. Who cares? 

[4th&Five 41575]

 

[Gap03 3310]

8 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Jesus Christ - if you're going to try to whip up the dipshits with a conspiracy theory, perhaps you should remove the fucking link to the WaPo story on which he was commenting ... ahhh, who am I kidding, his audience is too fucking stupid to pick up on it.  

[SizzleChest 8284]

26 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

[Sawbonz 27582]

Anybody know the context of this quote? Seems crazy. 

 

 

[Anastasis 23481]

Just now, Sawbonz said:

Anybody know the context of this quote? Seems crazy. 

 

 

If  you have a penis you are a terrible human being. Pretty straight forward actually. 

[bolverk 29705]

3 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

Anybody know the context of this quote? Seems crazy. 

 

 

Skimmed the bit.ly link and it's more clear. Yeah, on the face of it, I took it as a wtf!?! But, within the context of the speech and its audience, it makes more sense what he's referring to:

The COVID-19 pandemic has in the past six months turned our world upside down. Beyond the virus itself, the response has had a disproportionate and devastating social and economic impact on women and girls.

COVID-19 is deepening existing inequalities, including gender inequality.  Already we are seeing a reversal in decades of limited and fragile progress on gender equality and women’s rights. And without a concerned response, we risk losing a generation or more of gains.

Since the start, women have been on the frontlines of the response, as healthcare workers, teachers, essential staff and as carers in their families and communities.

Between 70 and 90 per cent of healthcare workers are women, but their salaries and conditions often fail to reflect the lifesaving roles they occupy. Personal Protective Equipment is often made to fit a standard man, which means women care workers may be at greater risk of infection, and fewer than 30 percent of decision-making roles in the health sector are occupied by women. 70 to 90 percent of healthcare workers doing the work, with only 30 percent in decision-making roles.

In the broader economy, the majority of women around the world are employed informally. Many have been thrown into financial insecurity by the pandemic, without regular income and lacking any social safety net.

The pandemic has exposed the crisis in unpaid care work, which has increased exponentially as a result of school closures and the needs of older people and falls disproportionately on women. Before the start of the pandemic it was clear that care work – unpaid in the home and underpaid in the formal economy – has long been a contributing factor to gender inequality.

Now, the pandemic has exposed the extent of its impact on physical and mental health, education and labour force participation.

There are also disturbing reports from around the world of skyrocketing levels of gender-based violence, as many women are effectively confined with their abusers, while resources and support services are redirected.

In short, the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the considerable hurdles women face in achieving their rights and fulfilling their potential.

Progress lost may take years, even generations, to recover. We know from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that when teenage girls leave school, they may never return.

Today, millions of teenage girls around the world are out of school, and there are alarming reports of an increase in teenage pregnancies in some countries. Each of these issues is a crisis within a crisis.

[jimmyjazz 46049]

8 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

I've been laughing at this for a solid half hour.  I mean . . . I can't even . . . surely there are celebrities on the left that are equally as stupid?  Give me some names, I need to right the ship.

My wife thinks I've lost my mind, and she's probably right.  

[InkaUtexas 26037]

18 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Skimmed the bit.ly link and it's more clear. Yeah, on the face of it, I took it as a wtf!?! But, within the context of the speech and its audience, it makes more sense what he's referring to:

The COVID-19 pandemic has in the past six months turned our world upside down. Beyond the virus itself, the response has had a disproportionate and devastating social and economic impact on women and girls.

COVID-19 is deepening existing inequalities, including gender inequality.  Already we are seeing a reversal in decades of limited and fragile progress on gender equality and women’s rights. And without a concerned response, we risk losing a generation or more of gains.

Since the start, women have been on the frontlines of the response, as healthcare workers, teachers, essential staff and as carers in their families and communities.

Between 70 and 90 per cent of healthcare workers are women, but their salaries and conditions often fail to reflect the lifesaving roles they occupy. Personal Protective Equipment is often made to fit a standard man, which means women care workers may be at greater risk of infection, and fewer than 30 percent of decision-making roles in the health sector are occupied by women. 70 to 90 percent of healthcare workers doing the work, with only 30 percent in decision-making roles.

In the broader economy, the majority of women around the world are employed informally. Many have been thrown into financial insecurity by the pandemic, without regular income and lacking any social safety net.

The pandemic has exposed the crisis in unpaid care work, which has increased exponentially as a result of school closures and the needs of older people and falls disproportionately on women. Before the start of the pandemic it was clear that care work – unpaid in the home and underpaid in the formal economy – has long been a contributing factor to gender inequality.

Now, the pandemic has exposed the extent of its impact on physical and mental health, education and labour force participation.

There are also disturbing reports from around the world of skyrocketing levels of gender-based violence, as many women are effectively confined with their abusers, while resources and support services are redirected.

In short, the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the considerable hurdles women face in achieving their rights and fulfilling their potential.

Progress lost may take years, even generations, to recover. We know from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that when teenage girls leave school, they may never return.

Today, millions of teenage girls around the world are out of school, and there are alarming reports of an increase in teenage pregnancies in some countries. Each of these issues is a crisis within a crisis.

How dare you read.

And yes, this a major issue impacting the globe. Here in the US it is bad, but think about the situation in India, Brazil, etc. We were at a great point for equity in some places where 10 years ago this never would have been expected. A lot of this momentum is being lost. 

[Sawbonz 27582]

23 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Skimmed the bit.ly link and it's more clear. Yeah, on the face of it, I took it as a wtf!?! But, within the context of the speech and its audience, it makes more sense what he's referring to:

The COVID-19 pandemic has in the past six months turned our world upside down. Beyond the virus itself, the response has had a disproportionate and devastating social and economic impact on women and girls.

COVID-19 is deepening existing inequalities, including gender inequality.  Already we are seeing a reversal in decades of limited and fragile progress on gender equality and women’s rights. And without a concerned response, we risk losing a generation or more of gains.

Since the start, women have been on the frontlines of the response, as healthcare workers, teachers, essential staff and as carers in their families and communities.

Between 70 and 90 per cent of healthcare workers are women, but their salaries and conditions often fail to reflect the lifesaving roles they occupy. Personal Protective Equipment is often made to fit a standard man, which means women care workers may be at greater risk of infection, and fewer than 30 percent of decision-making roles in the health sector are occupied by women. 70 to 90 percent of healthcare workers doing the work, with only 30 percent in decision-making roles.

In the broader economy, the majority of women around the world are employed informally. Many have been thrown into financial insecurity by the pandemic, without regular income and lacking any social safety net.

The pandemic has exposed the crisis in unpaid care work, which has increased exponentially as a result of school closures and the needs of older people and falls disproportionately on women. Before the start of the pandemic it was clear that care work – unpaid in the home and underpaid in the formal economy – has long been a contributing factor to gender inequality.

Now, the pandemic has exposed the extent of its impact on physical and mental health, education and labour force participation.

There are also disturbing reports from around the world of skyrocketing levels of gender-based violence, as many women are effectively confined with their abusers, while resources and support services are redirected.

In short, the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the considerable hurdles women face in achieving their rights and fulfilling their potential.

Progress lost may take years, even generations, to recover. We know from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that when teenage girls leave school, they may never return.

Today, millions of teenage girls around the world are out of school, and there are alarming reports of an increase in teenage pregnancies in some countries. Each of these issues is a crisis within a crisis.

All of that has much more to do with poverty than gender, especially from a global perspective.  And yes poverty disproportionately affects women and girls, and that is systemic, especially as the world moves from agrarian to urban cultures.  But he seems to be saying that but for patriarchy we wouldn’t have poverty. That’s a huge leap IMO

[bolverk 29705]

10 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

All of that has much more to do with poverty than gender, especially from a global perspective.  And yes poverty disproportionately affects women and girls, and that is systemic, especially as the world moves from agrarian to urban cultures.  But he seems to be saying that but for patriarchy we wouldn’t have poverty. That’s a huge leap IMO

You were asking for context, and I provided it to you. I wasn't sure if you had noticed the bit.ly link. It's too late and I'm too tired to got into the dynamics of gender and education/income inequality, but suffice it to say that "it's a thing," particularly in non-Westernized nations around the globe.

Edited September 8, 2020 by bolverk

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2682]

JFC. Yes, women are paid unequally and are often not paid at all for their labor, around the world, and C19 is going to affect them disproportionately. The less educated women are and the fewer opportunities they have, the more children they have ... and that's a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty.  Patriarchal insistence upon views regarding the inferiority/sexuality/menstrual cycles of girls and women is an enormous aspect of keeping half the population down in huge swaths of the world. Even here, we hem and haw about equal pay requirements because holy shit, can't regulate the Corporate Gods. As we forget that it's not  just "women" benefiting from equal pay regs only--'cause who gives a shit about them.--women also happen to be part of every community, and nearly every single family and household. So equal pay would benefit even dumb Trumpers iffen they got wimminfolk in their lives whom they allow to work outside the home. 

The "othering" by dudes and especially white dudes is really fucking tiresome. 

P.S. where should I be seeing that the UN says there'd be no poverty without patriarchy?

Edited September 8, 2020 by ChuckNorrisActionJeans

[pyrohornIII 4817]

This is where the bit.ly link leads.  You can either read or watch the speech there.

 

https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-08-31/secretary-generals-remarks-town-hall-young-women-civil-society-organizations-delivered

[bolverk 29705]

3 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

JFC. Yes, women are paid unequally and are often not paid at all for their labor, around the world, and C19 is going to affect them disproportionately. The less educated women are and the fewer opportunities they have, the more children they have ... and that's a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty.  Patriarchal insistence upon views regarding the inferiority/sexuality/menstrual cycles of girls and women is an enormous aspect of keeping half the population down in huge swaths of the world. Even here, we hem and haw about equal pay requirements because holy shit, can't regulate the Corporate Gods. As we forget that it's not  just "women" benefiting from equal pay regs only--'cause who gives a shit about them.--women also happen to be part of every community, and nearly every single family and household. So equal pay would benefit even dumb Trumpers iffen they got wimminfolk in their lives whom they allow to work outside the home. 

The "othering" by dudes and especially white dudes is really fucking tiresome. 

In spite of my exhaustion, I'll chime in one more time this evening. I bet that if we looked at a ranking of nations by GDP per capita or GNI, we'd see that those which offer equal access to education and income to women would also be the richest. I don't think it should be a surprise where "the patriarchy" is the strongest (and literally half the population, workforce, talent is repressed) is where we see the highest poverty rates for women AND men. I'd also argue that those places also have the highest birth rates as well, which further ties women to unpaid work at home.

Oaky, back to watching Lucifer.

[staboner 4984]

4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I've been laughing at this for a solid half hour.  I mean . . . I can't even . . . surely there are celebrities on the left that are equally as stupid?  Give me some names, I need to right the ship.

My wife thinks I've lost my mind, and she's probably right.  

surely it has to be fake or a joke. I mean I know his dumb is dumber from the tweets linked here but damn that's an award weiner there

[Macanudo 13005]

The James Woods and Travis Tritt meltdowns on Twitter over the weekend were fun.

[jimmyjazz 46049]

Got a link to the Tritt tweets?  I don't twit.

[4th&Five 41575]

 

[CowboyFred 1151]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Got a link to the Tritt tweets?  I don't twit.

he just retweeted the 2nd one

[CowboyFred 1151]

another one that cracked me up...

 

[Anastasis 23481]

23 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

~20% of national cases seems improbable, but the analysis is pretty neat. 

http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf