The Idaho Ministry of Plenty (And Still No Audits)

We are certainly living in a dystopian upside-down world that was anticipated in George Orwell’s NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. With that classic novel in mind, I would like to respectfully submit to Idahoans and especially our political leaders a plan to restructure our state government based on the “Orwellian Model”

The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell.^[1]

The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.

— Part II, Chapter IX

In the coming weeks I will write an article about each ministry and how they will streamline State government. For today I would like to focus on the Ministry of plenty and review the machinations between the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and its symbiotic partners in the non-profit, public, and corporate worlds the large hospital systems, insurance carriers, and corporate pharma and medical device companies whose profits and salaries of CEO’s have skyrocketed since Obama Care came into being. WE had no corporate CEOs in the hospital industry making $18million/2yrs until the ACA—”Access to Cash and no Accountability” came to Idaho.

The ministry of plenty (Idaho Department of Health and Welfare) promised in 2010 “Access, Quality, Cost” Through Medicaid expansion and the State run Health Insurance Exchange more people would have access to health care, and pay less for their care, not have waiting lines for doctor’s appointments, and quality will improve. We argued many times that in the micro analysis of such a system when aggregate supply is incentivized to go down—fewer doctors and nurses to serve an increasing demand for services that is also subsidized prices (and I might add CEO salaries) will always go up. And if you are an employer paying for your workers health insurance or if you are paying for you and your families health insurance premiums and co-pays, you know that the department of plenty (DHW) lied to you. Nationwide pre–Obama Care there were 45 million uncovered lives in the USA. Today almost $12 trillion later that number has been cut only by 55%. Provider (doctor) and nurses’ productivity has gone down 15% according to The American College of Surgeons, and inefficiencies and economic frictions have risen by well over the same number. Coordinating the message handed down by The Department of Truth (a future article) help of The Department of Truth, otherwise known as “fake news”, and propagated by a sycophantic uninquisitive media, the reality that people are seeing as health care dollars are being used for “woke” sensitivity trainings, when operating room availability is worse than it has ever been and waiting times for all services are going up. The mismanagement of the Covid crises at all levels of government has been extraordinary. The doctor patient relationship was replaced with a corporate theology that marginalized physicians and nurses and their judgements, knowledge, and skills, and placed people in charge who had never taken care of a sick patient or stood at the bedside with a grieving family. We may never know the “truth” about what happened in Idaho because legislators and government commissars refuse to have an independent out brief and Morbidity and mortality review. That is all reasonable people are asking for, not to condemn, but to make sure the same bad decisions aren’t made the next time. In my opinion the reason this isn’t happening today is that the people that made those decisions know they didn’t follow “best practices themselves”, they know they created great harms in the economy, education, and in patient care, and most of all—THERE IS AN ELECTION COMING UP SOON

Despite the political spin, and despite trillions of dollars of additional transfer payments paid out during most of the pandemic, people, families, businesses—especially small businesses—most Fortune 500 companies fared well during the pandemic, have all suffered significantly as the result of transfers. By any measure—productivity, GDP, median income, retirement savings, and most importantly the great Biden tax—inflation, government transfers caused more harm than good. With rising prices millions are being priced out of homes and apartments to rent. Mental health—just look a suicides and drug abuse have skyrocketed. Many of the ACA subsidies that were supposed to stop last September have continued. Today lower income families with two children are still receiving $24000 of government payments not including their Medicaid coverage. In March 2020, the Feds created a law restricting people from being cut off Medicaid Funds and Exchange Based insurance premium support even though they are making more than the threshold level to have supports withdrawn. In Idaho we have no idea about what the number of people “gaming the system” is. The Biden Ministry of Truth tells us there are more people with health insurance coverage now than before the pandemic, but the dirty little secret is that the number of people with private plans fell by 1.2 million and the number of people with government plans went up by 3.2 million. Medicaid spending during the pandemic increased by a third and for new enrollees amounts to $33,000/ enrollee.

Progressive socialists in Washington DC and in Boise—many call themselves Republicans, expanded the welfare state over the past 12 years. During that time real income for citizens who pay taxes and who either through their employers or themselves pay for their health benefits, are paying the cost of this government largesse and have seen their incomes and standards of living decrease. And the suppliers of goods and services are laughing all the way to the bank—$18million/years for a CEO really! Who are our politicians and corporate heads serving? We the people or themselves?

When aggregate supply goes down, and aggregate subsidized supply goes up, prices always go up—”As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be” If I had one question to ask Governor Little and Leadership in our legislature it would be this: Do you support independent outside audits of Government Departments and those private organizations that are involved in the redistribution of over $100million of transfer funds? Yes—No. Why not? Please explain to the people of Idaho who are footing the bill for these perpetual Ponzi payouts (PPP)