Podcasts about campaign money

There's a new stock trading game out there — and Matthew and his finance bro friends are really, really bad at it. On this week's TLDR, what their failures teach us about how hard it is to play the market… even if you know what the future holds. Plus, a look at how and why crypto industry money is flooding the U.S. election. And, what the aftermath of a coal disaster tells us about corporate power and the future of energy.This episode was hosted by Devin Friedman, business reporter Sarah Rieger, former hedgefunder Matthew Karasz and TLDR newsletter lead editor and author of Valley So Low Jared Sullivan. Follow us on other platforms, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter: linkin.bio/tldrThe TLDR Podcast is offered by Wealthsimple Media Inc. and is for informational purposes only. The content in the TLDR Podcast is not investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell assets or securities, and does not represent the views of Wealthsimple Financial Corp or any of its other subsidiaries or affiliates. Wealthsimple Media Inc. does not endorse any third-party views referenced in this content. More information at wealthsimple.com/tldr.

Mark breaks down Joe Biden's speech yesterday on Assault Weapons, and Biden has it all wrong about which guns are worse than others. The FBI raided the top aids to New York, for seized phones, that work with closely with Mayor Eric Adams yesterday. The Search continues today. This raid could ruin Eric Adam's reputation. Kamala Harris has allegedly spent all her campaign money. Mark Takes Your Calls! Mark interviews Executive Steve Forbes. Mark and Steve spoke about Steve's experience seeing Trump yesterday, at the economic club giving a speech on the economy. Mark and Steve also touched on how better off you will be under Trump's economic plan.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 2, 2024Is Organized Labor the Campaign Money Bogey Man the Right Claims?The Data Shows Otherwise.For most of the last century, labor unions could be counted on for financial campaign contributions to state and federal Democratic candidates.  That union support has also been vilified by Republicans as a thumb on the scale in elections.  But is it the bogey man that the Right claims?To view the whole script of today's report, please go to our website.Today's LinksArticles & Resources:PLEASE CHECK OUR WEBSITE LATER TODAY - Open Secrets' site is down for maintenance.Open Secrets - 2024 Spending - Labor SectorOpen Secrets - 2024 Spending - Transportation SectorOpen Secrets - 2024 Spending - Financial SectorCheck Your Voter Registration U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.orgWant ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network's Audioport and PRX#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #LaborVote #OpenSecrets #MoneyinPolitics

After her speech at the DNC last night, we'll hear what's next for Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign. A CNN analysis finds former President Donald Trump's businesses have been raking in millions of dollars from Republican political campaigns, including his own. A judge has dismissed felony charges against 2 former police officers charged in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid. Despite Ukraine's incursion into Russia, Moscow's forces are still pushing into Ukrainian territory. Plus, the last body has been found in the superyacht sinking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In May, President Joe Biden’s campaign said it had a hefty $91 million stashed in the bank. If Biden were to end his candidacy, what would happen to all that cash? We’ll get into it. And, we’ll explain why the federal government’s plan to phase out its purchases of single-use plastics could have a sizable impact on the country’s use of plastic overall. Plus, we’ll get nostalgic for DVDs and paper checks during a game of Half Full/Half Empty! And, would you talk politics in the office? Here’s everything we talked about today: “It’s time to stop arguing over the population slowdown and start adapting to it” from Vox “What happens to Joe Biden’s campaign money?” from Reuters “The White House Has a Plan to Slash Plastic Use in the U.S.” from The New York Times “FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Releases New Strategy to Tackle Plastic Pollution, Takes Action to Reduce Single-Use Plastics in Federal Operations” from The White House “What is Microsoft’s “blue screen of death?” Here’s what it means and how to fix it.” from CBS News “RIP Redbox, a Bad Idea at the Worst Time” from Wired “Hello Kitty Is Not a Cat and We’re Not OK” from E! News “Target will stop accepting this old-school form of payment” from CNN Business “How can we talk about politics in the workplace?” from Marketplace Got a question or comment for the hosts? Email makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

In May, President Joe Biden’s campaign said it had a hefty $91 million stashed in the bank. If Biden were to end his candidacy, what would happen to all that cash? We’ll get into it. And, we’ll explain why the federal government’s plan to phase out its purchases of single-use plastics could have a sizable impact on the country’s use of plastic overall. Plus, we’ll get nostalgic for DVDs and paper checks during a game of Half Full/Half Empty! And, would you talk politics in the office? Here’s everything we talked about today: “It’s time to stop arguing over the population slowdown and start adapting to it” from Vox “What happens to Joe Biden’s campaign money?” from Reuters “The White House Has a Plan to Slash Plastic Use in the U.S.” from The New York Times “FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Releases New Strategy to Tackle Plastic Pollution, Takes Action to Reduce Single-Use Plastics in Federal Operations” from The White House “What is Microsoft’s “blue screen of death?” Here’s what it means and how to fix it.” from CBS News “RIP Redbox, a Bad Idea at the Worst Time” from Wired “Hello Kitty Is Not a Cat and We’re Not OK” from E! News “Target will stop accepting this old-school form of payment” from CNN Business “How can we talk about politics in the workplace?” from Marketplace Got a question or comment for the hosts? Email makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

When Trump left the White House, his aircraft fleet was in rough shape. Now it's hauling in millions of dollars in revenue, thanks to a bit of self-dealing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4/16/2024 PODCAST Episodes #1309 - #1311 GUEST: Jeffrey Clark, Michael Faulkender, Rep. Andrew Clyde, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Jonathan Emord, Mark Earley, Edward Yeranian + YOUR CALLS! at 1-888-480-JOHN (5646) and GETTR Live! @jfradioshow #GodzillaOfTruth #TruckingTheTruth   Want more of today's show? Episode #1309 Trump Persecution Episode #1310 Marsha Blackburn, On Trump VP Short List, Vows To Fight FISA Abuse in Senate Episode #1311 Mark Early Skewers Skill Game VA Legislation As Disgusting Campaign Money Grab, Calls On Youngkin Veto   https://johnfredericksradio.libsyn.com/

In this “nah, I'm good” episode, Ernest talks about the major campaign finance differences between Biden and Trump, evaluating Mayor Cherelle Parker's first milestone, OJ Simpson's death, the rise in modern rap beefs, this disturbing new wave of Black television, and more.Ernestly Speaking! is executively produced and hosted by Ernest Owens. Check him out at ernestowens.com and follow him @MrErnestOwens on Twitter & Instagram.

An introductory chat with our new Guest PEPcaster, Iowa Campaign Manager Extraordinaire Eric Woolson 3:08 - Who Eric most enjoyed working for 7:10 - Grateful For…. (Eric's Wife/People Indulging The Segment/Eric's T-Shirts) 14:07 - What It Was Like To Work For Joe Biden 33:10 - Eric's Concern About Trump or Trumpism 50:27 - When The Republican Party Went Off The Rails 57:40 - How A Campaign Manager Thinks 1:06:35 - Eric On Polling 1:51:26 - Eric On The Economy 2:23.01 - Eric on the RNC and 2024 Campaign Money

Sam Miele, a fundraiser for expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with impersonating an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. According to court records, Miele misrepresented himself as a high-ranking congressional aide to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to deceive donors and then used their money to pad his own pocket and the coffers of Santos' campaign. Miele admitted he committed access device fraud by charging credit cards without authorization.  

Sam Miele, a fundraiser for expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with impersonating an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. According to court records, Miele misrepresented himself as a high-ranking congressional aide to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to deceive donors and then used their money to pad his own pocket and the coffers of Santos' campaign. Miele admitted he committed access device fraud by charging credit cards without authorization.  

When you get to the part of the ballot that asks you to vote for a local judge, have you ever thought, “am I qualified to make this decision?” While federal court trial and appellate judges are appointed and enjoy lifetime tenures, state court judges often have to run for election or re-election, and most voters have scant information on the candidates. In California, you can run to be a judge if you have been a lawyer for ten years, no trial experience necessary. And while we expect judges to be neutral, can they be when they have to run for office and take campaign donations? In our next installment of our “Doing Democracy” series, we look at what it means when judges have to stand for election. Guests: Michael S Kang, professor, Northwestern School of Law. Kang is the co-author of "Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections." He served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, retired judge, Superior Court of California. She is the author of "Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken and How to Change It" Teresa Johnson, incoming president, Bar Association of San Francisco. Johnson is a partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter

Its a second edition of the Ill Advised News, the dumb news stories of the day.      Support the show and follow us here Twitter, Insta, Apple, Amazon, Spotify and the Edge! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As state judicial elections become more and more expensive, it's worth asking whether campaign funding impacts judicial decision making. On this episode, Jeanne Hruska speaks with Michael Kang and Joanna Shepherd about their new book, "Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections." According to Kang and Shepherd, “campaign money profoundly affects how judges do their jobs.” Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org Today's Host: Jeanne Hruska, ACS Sr Advisor for Communications and Strategy Guest: Michael S. Kang, Class of 1940 Professor, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Guest: Joanna M. Shepherd, Thomas Simmons Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law Link: "Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections," by Michael Kang and Joanna Shepherd Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube ----------------- Production House: Flint Stone Media Copyright of American Constitution Society 2023.

Get Debt Free Course: https://4dmbox.teachable.com/p/master-your-money Newsletter: http://4dmbox.com Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxQT5W5soXUo1kkDWH1R_zg?sub_confirmation=1 #finance #business #money #investing #financialfreedom #investment #entrepreneur #trading #stockmarket #stocks #wealth #invest #bitcoin #success #forex #motivation #realestate #investor #cryptocurrency #accounting #personalfinance #crypto #financialliteracy #wallstreet #smallbusiness #credit #entrepreneurship #marketing #trader #financetips --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/4dmboxcom/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/4dmboxcom/support

DML is joined by his son Denny in the first episode of MAKE AMERICA SMART AGAIN, a new series within the DML Podcast offerings. The topic today is about the Trump campaign and the incredible amount of donor money that is going toward his legal fees. Is it legal? Can it last?

AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports on Election 2024-Campaign Money.

This show aired on Monday, July 17th, 2023 on 107.9 and 980 The WAAV in Wilmington, NC. Guests include Ken Cuccinelli. Campaign Money, School Choice Works, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 April 2023 PM Show - Ava Chen: Miles Guo, CCP Networks in NYC, Trump Indictment, Obama Campaign Money Laundering, Pras Michel Case Like, Comment, Share, and SUBSCRIBE! On Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/ConservativeDaily On Foxhole: https://pilled.net/profile/181316 Follow us on Social Media: https://libertylinks.io/ConservativeDaily https://libertylinks.io/JoeOltmann https://libertylinks.io/Apollo We might get canceled again…don't miss anything important. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/joinconservativedaily If you want to support the show, you can donate here: http://bit.ly/cd-donate https://www.americaneducationdefenders.com/ is a 501c3 that creates education content to enable children to have fun and develop their gifts! 10% off with Promo Code CD23 All proceeds enable Paul to create more amazing content! Support and protect your family and your second amendment NOW. DCF Guns is your one-stop-shop for firearms, ammunition, body armor, gear, and training. Get prepared for anything at https://www.dcfguns.co/ and use Promo Code JOE for 5% Discount online. Get the best coffee that only TRUE PATRIOTS can handle at https://beardedmancoffee.com/ and use Promo Code 1776 Support the fight for our nation by use promo code CD21 to get up to 66% off at https://www.mypillow.com/radiospecials or by placing your order over the phone at 800-872-0627. BUY 1 GET 1 FREE Special on the MyPillow 2.0 with Code CD21 Become a Conservative Daily member right now for massive savings on Faxblasts and member only perks! Use the link and sign up today! https://conservative-daily.com/forms/Step1b Text FREEDOM to 89517 to get added to our text list to receive notifications when we go Live! Privacy Policy: https://conservative-daily.com/Legal/Privacy Terms: https://conservative-daily.com/Legal/Terms Reply STOP to stop further text messages from Conservative Daily. Message and Data Rates may apply. Need help? (855) 954-6644 or reply HELP. Subscribe to our daily podcast at Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/ConservativeDailyPodcast We are also available on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/2wD8YleiBM8bu0l3ahBLDN And on Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/conservative-daily-podcast/PC:37034 And on iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-conservative-daily-podcast-53710765/ on TuneIn: https://tunein.com/radio/Conservative-Daily-Podcast-p1350272/ And now also on Audible! https://www.audible.com/pd/Conservative-Daily-Podcast-Podcast/B08JJQQ4M Support Joe Oltmann in his legal battle against Eric Coomer: https://givesendgo.com/defendjoeoltmann

In the second hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show: Hans von Spakovsky talks with Marc about Trumps possible indictment this week and why it's happening The Dems had problems with misspent campaign money in the past Jennifer Kushinka gives a market update and In Other News with Kathleen England   Coming Up: Candidates for the Francis Howell School Dist. and Mary Elizabeth Coleman.    

In episode 1411, Jack and guest co-host Pallavi Gunalan are joined by writer, humorist, and style icon, Dave Schilling, to discuss… The 5 Memphis Police Officers Were Part of Unit Designed Specifically to Stop Violence, Meta Welcomes Back Trump… ‘s Campaign Money and more! The 5 Memphis Police Officers Were Part of Unit Designed to Specifically to Stop Violence Donald Trump prepares for his return to Facebook and Twitter Trump allowed back on Facebook after 2-year suspension Donald Trump's Truth Social posts bode ill for his return to Facebook Meta just gave Trump the green light to push harmful misinformation and extremism on its platforms Meta is restoring full ad access to Trump — the company's biggest political advertiser Trump's pending return to Facebook is more about cash than speech LISTEN: sipping my tea by Zack FoxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rick Jensen discusses the FTX Crypto scandal that has embroiled the Delaware Democratic Party with Jane Brady, former DE Superior Court Judge, former DE State Attorney General and now Chair of the DE Republican Party. Jane calls for the Delaware Democrats to put the thousands of dollars givern to them by Sam Bankman Fried into a trust to benefit the FTX victims.

Back from Halloween 2022. 22-year-old arrested after kidnapping the mother of his children from a home in Clovis. A look at who is spending money on local measures.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back from Halloween 2022. 22-year-old arrested after kidnapping the mother of his children from a home in Clovis. A look at who is spending money on local measures.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Election Day is three weeks away and in many ways, it's all about the money. Over the weekend, candidates faced a federal deadline to report their campaign spending and fundraising through September. Lisa Desjardins joined Judy Woodruff to discuss the filings. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Election Day is three weeks away and in many ways, it's all about the money. Over the weekend, candidates faced a federal deadline to report their campaign spending and fundraising through September. Lisa Desjardins joined Judy Woodruff to discuss the filings. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Secretary of State Candidates on Both Sides of the Big Lie Raising Record Campaign MoneyToday's LinksArticles:CNN - At least 10 Republican nominees for state elections chief have disputed the legitimacy of the 2020 electionBrennan Center for Justice - Financing of Races for Offices that Oversee Elections: August 2022Center for Politics - Secretary of State Races: Election Deniers Carry GOP Banner in Several Key StatesGroups Taking Action:Brennan Center for Justice, Safeguarding Democracy Project, Campaign Legal CenterYou're listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.For most state elections, the races for Secretary of State are not on most voters' radar.   Not this year.  The pervasive Big Lie narrative that the election was stolen is being used by Secretary of State candidates to rile up the base and to raise money - on both sides of the issue.CNN reports on Secretary of State candidates in 10 states who are, or have previously, espoused that the 2020 election was stolen. Some, like Arizona's Mark Finchem and Massachusetts' Rayla Campbell, are still advocating for reviews of the results, despite no legitimate evidence of irregularities.The Brennan Center for Justice has looked at the fundraising totals in six of those ten states and reports that compared with past elections, money is pouring into Secretary of State races.   In Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin, the fundraising totals have doubled from 2018 levels to $16.3 Million dollars.  Among 12 election-denying candidates, Brennan finds that they account for $7.3 million, while candidates who've spoken out supporting the security of elections raised $8.1 million dollars.Stop the Steal donors like former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and Uline founder Richard Uihlein, are actively contributing to multiple election-denying Secretary of State races, too.  CNN and the Brennan Center's reports can be found at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org“Granny D said, Democracy is not something we have, it's something we do.”For the American Democracy Minute, I'm Brian Beihl.                       

Let's discuss money. Campaign money. How do you raise it? The difference between Democratic campaign fundraising vs Republican campaign fundraising.What is the money for?Why do you need it?Who are the big political donors in Texas?Hosted by Former Texas State Representative Gina CalanniLinks on the topics:https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/politics/texas-far-right-politics-invs/index.htmlhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Soroshttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Human-Rights-Watchhttps://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a40706999/texas-cradle-of-american-theocracy/https://www.texasobserver.org/meet-farris-wilks-kingmaker-of-the-texas-gop/https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-guardians-who-slumbereth-not/https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/power-issue-tim-dunn-pushing-republican-party-arms-god/https://www.mediaite.com/tv/two-texas-billionaires-pushing-state-to-the-far-right-contributed-about-two-thirds-of-the-funding-for-ted-cruzs-2016-superpacs-reporthttps://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/03/texas-conservatives-pac-house-primary/https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/resources/FAQs/2020election_faqs.phphttps://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-announces-2021-2022-campaign-cycle-contribution-limits/Support the show

Join Jim and Greg as they follow up on the Colorado Senate race and how Democrats wasted $4 million trying to influence the GOP primary. They also discuss Cassidy Join Jim and Greg as they follow up on the Colorado Senate race and how Democrats wasted $4 million trying to influence the GOP primary. They also discuss Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before the January 6th committee and how two Secret Service agents strongly deny her account of President Trump's behavior after the rally that day. And they welcome the sentence of Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell but lament that the many clients who violated underage girls will apparently face no consequences whatsoever.Please visit our great sponsors:My Pillowhttps://www.mypillow.com/martiniSave $90 during the MyPillow MySlipper Blowout Sale going on now!Presidential Election Projecthttps://presidentialelectionproject.comSign up for continued updates.

Join Jim and Greg as they follow up on the Colorado Senate race and how Democrats wasted $4 million trying to influence the GOP primary. They also discuss Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the January 6th committee and how two Secret Service agents strongly deny her account of President Trump’s behavior after the rally that day. […]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Cincinnati Edition 's weekly news review:

Vance Reavie, of https://junction.ai/, joins Christoph Trappe on this live recording of the Business Storytelling Podcast. We talk about how artificial intelligence can make our campaigns better. Check out Christoph's new book on how to livestream your podcast: https://lnkd.in/ecgwAyx --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ctrappe/message

Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush and member of his Senior White House Staff Brad Blakeman spoke to Bill about Northern battlegrounds could hold key to Trump-Biden outcome...There are still hundreds of thousands of votes left to be counted. Plus Campaign Cash spent on certain campaigns.

A special episode for election day! As you are waiting in endless lines to cast your ballot or obsessively refreshing your browser waiting for the results, tune in to The Ladies Who Crunch as they dig into the money behind the candidates. What is the history of campaign election financing in the United States? How does it compare to other democratic countries? Does the candidate with the most money always win? Or does the flood of big campaign donations just indicate who people think is most likely to win (and therefore who they want to curry favor with)? Do mega-donors represent a threat to representational democracy? How can "micro-donors" make small donations have the most impact possible? What exactly do candidates spend their money on and does it really impact the outcome of the election? Added bonus! Damien and LB discuss cross-border perspectives of how the democratic process in Canada and the US are different but similar and get into the classic debate of punks and anarchists everywhere: should we vote at all (spoiler alert: you absolutely should vote in this election if you can). Extra mini-previews of topics discussed to help search engines find us: The history and present of campaign financing in the US (in particular the presidential campaigns), political donations and tax credits, dark money, PACs, Super PACs, the efficacy (or irrelevance) of advertising in political campaigns, partisan electoral districts (gerrymandering), how American democracy works (primaries, the electoral college, etc), how Canadian elections work (parliamentary democracy), distrust of big government (federalism), Qanon and other conspiracy theories, feeling disempowered by billionaire donors, the temptation to not vote or engage in "voter boycotts", partisan gridlock, and choosing between the lesser of two evils (i.e. the two-party system). The Ladies Who Crunch are Hadassah Damien and Laura Boo. More information about us and this podcast can be found at ladieswhocrunch.club. Special thanks to our researchers Ariel Federow and Handy Levine.

Congressman John Sarbanes tells us about H.R.1 and why everyone in Maryland should care about the facts about who funds American political candidates with shadow money.

President Trump’s campaign says it just had its best-ever fundraising day, securing $26 million in the hours around last night’s debate. This just adds to what was already a record-shattering election season, in terms of money raised and money spent. Dan discusses the 2020 fundraising story, including what happens to a candidate's unspent money, with election law expert Ciara Torres-Spelliscy. Plus, Axios financial correspondent Felix Salmon joins to discuss Goldman Sachs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Podcast 179 is going to look into who is funding Ilhan Omar’s campaign and it’s not the people of her district in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Ilhan Omar is one of the most controversial members of Congress. This self-proclaimed “Socialist” is now a major voice for defunding the police. Omar has been a huge advocate for Black Lives Matter, ANTIFA, and Islamic Terrorists. So it makes one wonder who is funding Ilhan Omar’s campaign. Podcast 179 is going to look into who is funding Ilhan Omar’s campaign and it’s not the people of her district in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Podcast 179 IntroductionIlhan Omar is earning about $172,000 a year as a member of congress. She is also demanding all police departments defunded. The riots and protests that have taken place in her home district have ruined minority businesses forever. Given all this information, Omar may not have her district’s best interest at heart. When it comes to campaign finance, the people of her district in Minneapolis have only contributed 4.66% of the money for her campaign.Podcast 178 will also bring to light that only 8.26% of the money Omar has raised has been inside her home state. 91.74% of the money in Ilhan Omar’s campaign war chest comes from outside the state of Minnesota. Whose best interest does she serve? Is she fighting for the minority business owners in her district? Would it be more accurate to say she is supporting those in California which has given over $800,000 to her campaign?Links From Podcast 179Ilhan Omar Campaign Finance TotalsState Breakdown of Omar’s ContributorsOmar’s Questionable Immigration to AmericaSubscribe and ReviewDavid L. Marks would love to hear your thoughts on podcast 179. Be sure to leave a review and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Front Porch Politics is always pro-America, and free. Also, be sure to leave a review to help spread the cause for conservatism.

Since former Senator Sandoval has pleaded guilty, politicians have been distancing themselves from him and the red light camera company he was in cahoots with. Many have received donations from the company and now want to donate it to charity. ABC 7 Chicago Political Reporter Craig Wall joins John to talk about the disgraced former senator and what will happen with the tainted money.

The House Ethics Committee has announced that it is investigating Rashida Tlaib over internal messages that she allegedly sent in 2018 asking her congressional campaign for money for personal expenses, which is a potential crime. A federal judge has ruled against Hoda Muthana, the New Jersey-born daughter of a Yemeni diplomat who left Alabama in 2014 to join the Islamic State in Syria and subsequently married three terrorists, and in favor of the Trump administration, which contends that she is not a U.S. citizen because she was born on American soil while her father still had diplomatic status in the U.S. Just weeks after announcing that it had launched an investigation into Democrat Rep. Katie Hill – to which Hill claimed a double standard as she resigned - the House Ethics Committee announced that it has opened an investigation into Democrat Rep. Alcee Hastings over his relationship with his longtime girlfriend who just so happens to work for him as a government employee. Don't forget about the Edwards Notebook and the Veteran's Tip of the Day! All of this and more as time allows.

The House Ethics Committee has announced that it is investigating Rashida Tlaib over internal messages that she allegedly sent in 2018 asking her congressional campaign for money for personal expenses, which is a potential crime. A federal judge has ruled against Hoda Muthana, the New Jersey-born daughter of a Yemeni diplomat who left Alabama in 2014 to join the Islamic State in Syria and subsequently married three terrorists, and in favor of the Trump administration, which contends that she is not a U.S. citizen because she was born on American soil while her father still had diplomatic status in the U.S. Just weeks after announcing that it had launched an investigation into Democrat Rep. Katie Hill – to which Hill claimed a double standard as she resigned - the House Ethics Committee announced that it has opened an investigation into Democrat Rep. Alcee Hastings over his relationship with his longtime girlfriend who just so happens to work for him as a government employee. Don't forget about the Edwards Notebook and the Veteran's Tip of the Day! All of this and more as time allows.

Almost 40% of Americans WITH health insurance reported they had received a surprise medical bill in the past year from a doctor or hospital for a service they thought was covered by their insurance plan. Why is this happening? And what can we do about it?  Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Additional Reading Article: Went to the ER? You may be hit with a surprise medical bill by Tami Luhby, CNN, June 20, 2019. Press Release: House Supports Porter Amendment to Improve Affordable Care Act Enrollment by Representative Katie Porter, Porter House News, June 13, 2019. Article: Alexander-Murrary Bill, by Tammy Luhby, CNN, May 23, 2019. Bill: Bill S. 1531 Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 by Senator Bill Cassidy, Govtrack.us, May 16, 2019. Press Release: Trauma Coalition Press Release, by Trauma Association of America, May 16, 2019. Article: Trump calls for an end to surprise medical bills by Tami Luhby, CNN, May 9, 2019. Article: UnitedHealth's David Wichmann buys record $4.6 million worth of UNH stock by Alex Wittenberg, Biz Journals, May 7, 2019. Article: After Vox reporting, California moves forward on plan to end surprise ER bills by Sarah Kliff, Vox, April 24, 2019. Article: How to fight an outrageous medical bill, explained by Sarah Kliff, Vox, April 1, 2019 Bill: Bill S. 1266 Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills Act 116th Congress, March 1, 2019. Bill: Bill H.R. 861 End Surprise Billing Act of 2019  116th Congress, January 30, 2019. Article: A $20,243 bike crash: Zuckerberg hospital’s aggressive tactics leave patients with big bills by Sarah Kliff, Vox, January 24, 2019.  Article: After Vox story, Zuckerberg hospital rolls back  by Sarah Kliff, Vox, January 24, 2019. Document: NBER Working Paper No. 23623 Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States by Zach Cooper, Fiona Scott Morton and Nathan Shekita, NBER, January 2019 Article: LifePoint merges with RCCH, goes private by Ayla Ellison, Becker Hospital Review, November 16, 2018. Article: “It’s unacceptable”: Sen. Maggie Hassan explains her plan to end surprise ER bills by Sarah Kliff, Vox, October 29, 2018. Article: Gov. Rick Scott took responsibility? No, he took $300 million | Randy Schultz by Randy Schultz, Sun Sentinel News, October 2, 2018. Article: UnitedHealthcare issues warning to hospitals about out-of-network coverage for ER physicians by Susan Morse, Healthcare Finance News, September 25, 2018. Article: Three Ways Self-Insured Plans Can Leverage State Laws to Protect their Members from Balance Billing  by Matthew Albright, The Self-Insurer, September 2018. Article: The Last Company You Would Expect Is Reinventing Health Benefits  by Reed Abelson, NY Times, August 31, 2018. Article: As Health and Financial Challenges Grow, More Older Adults File for Bankruptcy by Lindsey Copeland, Medicare Rights Center, August 9, 2018. Article: A baby was treated with a nap and a bottle of formula. His parents received an $18,000 bill by Jenny Gold, Kaiser Health News and Sarah Kliff, Vox, July 20, 2018. Article: Air Ambulances Are Flying More Patients Than Ever, and Leaving Massive Bills Behind  by  John Tozzi, Bloomberg News, June, 11 2018. Case Docket: Case Proceeding Air Medical Group, KKR North America, and AMR Holdco, In the Matter of Federal Trade Commission, May 3, 2018. Article: Are Physician Staffing Companies Killing the Patient Experience and Bottom Line? by Berta Bustamante, InsideArm, April 10, 2018. Press Release: Ambulance Companies Air Medical Group Holdings, Inc. and AMR Holdco, Inc. Agree to Divest Air Ambulance Services in Hawaii as a Condition of Merger  Federal Trade Commission, March 7, 2018. Document: Letter to Christopher Holden-President and Executive Officer for Envision Healthcare US Senate, September 20, 2017 Bill: California Assembly Bill 72 by Ann Whitehead,JD,RN.,CAP Physicians, August 30, 2017. Report: AIR AMBULANCE Data Collection and Transparency Needed to Enhance DOT Oversight  Government Accountability Office, July 2017. Article: The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills by Julie Creswell,Reed Abelson and Margot Sangor-Katz, NY Times, July 24, 2017. Article: AB 72: No More Balance Billing for Out-of-Network Care In-Network by Staff, Word&Brown, July 14, 2017. Report: Health Policy Report Up in the Air: Inadequate Regulation for Emergency Air Ambulance Transportation Consumer Reports, March 2017. Article: One In Five Inpatient Emergency Department Cases May Lead To Surprise Bills by Christopher Garmon and Benjamin Chartock, Health Affairs, January 2017. Article: Trauma fees growing across the nation at 'absurd' rate by Alexander Zayas and Kris Hunley, Tampa Bay Times, November 21, 2014. Article: 10 Things to Know About HCA Becker's Hospital Review, April 16, 2014. Article: HCA to Eliminate Trauma Fees for Uninsured Patients Becker's Hospital Review, April 10, 2014.   Resources Profile Link: Connie Potter Profile, RN, BSN, MBA-HCA Link  Linkedin. Profile Link: Sherif Zaafran Profile, MD, FASA  Linkedin. Contact Us: Physicans for Fair Coverage  End of the Insurance Gap.org About Us: Independence Company (IBX)  IBX.com Document: License Agreement: Use of Current Procedural Terminology, Fourth Edition ("CPT®")  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2013-2018 Contributor List: Sen. Rick Scott Election Contributor List   Opensecrets.org Campaign Money Data Table: David Wichmann Political Campaign Contributions 2016 Election Cycle  Campaign Money.com Online Review Score: Regence Health Plan Company Profile Review  BestCompany.com False Claims Act: Nation’s Largest Healthcare Fraud Settlement Doesn’t Stop Medical Behemoth, WhistleBlowerJustice.net Visual Resources   Sound Clip Sources Hearing: NO MORE SURPRISES: PROTECTING PATIENTS FROM SURPRISE MEDICAL BILLS, Not on C-Span, Committee on Energy and Commerce, June 12, 2019. Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Sonji Wilkes: Patient Advocate Sherif Zaafran, MD: Chair of Physicians for Fair Coverage Rick Sherlock: President and CEO of Association of Air Medical Services James Gelfand: Senior Vice President of Health Policy at The ERISA Industry Committee Thomas Nickels: Executive Vice President of the American Hospital Association Jeanette Thornton: Senior Vice President of Product, Employer, and Commercial Policy at Americas’ Health Insurance Plans Claire McAndrew: Director of Campaigns and Partnerships at Families USA Vidor E. Friedman, MD: President of American College of Emergency Physicians Transcript 47:54 CEO Rick Sherlock: Emergency air medical services are highly effective medical interventions appropriate in cases where getting a patient directly to the closest most appropriate medical facility can make a significant difference in their survival in recovery. Today, because of air medical services, 90% of Americans can reach a level one or level two trauma center within an hour. However, since 2010, 90 hospitals have closed in rural areas and an estimated 20% more are at risk of closing. Our members fill the gap created by closures, but this lifeline is fraying as 31 air medical bases have also closed in 2019. 48:31 CEO Rick Sherlock: Emergency or medical providers never make the decision on who to transport. That decision is always made by a requesting physician or medically trained first responder. Air medical crews then respond within minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any knowledge of a patient’s ability to pay for their services. 48:45 CEO Rick Sherlock: Our members are unique in the healthcare system. The services heavily regulated by the states for the purposes of healthcare, as ambulances and the federal government for aviation safety and services as air carriers. It is their status as air carriers that allow rapid transport of patients over significant distances. Over 33% of our flights cross state lines every day. For that reason, the Airline Deregulation act uniform authority over the national airspace is essential to the provision of this lifesaving service. Exempting air medical services from the ADA would allow states to regulate aviation services, including where and when they’re able to fly, limiting access to healthcare for patients in crisis. 49:54 CEO Rick Sherlock: To prevent balance billing, our members are actively negotiating with insurance companies to secure in-network agreements. One member alone has increased their participation from 5% to almost 43% in the last three years. Despite that, some insurers have refused to discuss in-network agreements. That hurts both patients and caregivers. 50:30 CEO Rick Sherlock: Uh, covering air medical services in full, represents about a $1.70 of the average monthly premium. 51:50 CEO Rick Sherlock: $10,199 was the median cost of providing a helicopter transport. While Medicare paid $5,998, Medicaid paid $3,463 and the uninsured paid $354. This results in an ongoing imbalance between actual costs and government reimbursement and is the single biggest factor in increasing costs. 53:45 Senior VP James Gelfand: We’re focused on three scenarios in which patients end up with big bills they couldn’t see coming or avoid. Number one, a patient receives care at an in-network facility, but is treated by an out of network provider. Number two, a patient requires emergency care, but the provider’s facility or transportation are out of network. And number three, a patient is transferred or handed off without sufficient information or alternatives. It’s usually not the providers you’re planning to see. It’s anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, or emergency providers or transport or an unexpected trip to the NICU. Many work for outsourced medical staffing firms that have adopted a scam strategy of staying out of networks, practicing at in-network facilities and surprise billing patients. It’s deeply concerning, but the problem is narrowly defined and therefore we can fix it. 54:40 Senior VP James Gelfand: The No Surprises Act nails it. It takes patients out of the middle and creates a market based benchmark rate to pay providers fairly. The benchmark is not developed by government and it is not price setting. The committee might also consider network matching. It’s simple. If a provider practices at an in-network facility, they take the in-network rate or they go work somewhere else. Or base the benchmark on Medicare, you could set the rate higher, say 125% of Medicare and still make the system more affordable, sustainable and simpler. These approaches will eliminate the surprise bills. That’s a huge win for patients. 54:50 ** Senior VP James Gelfand: But not everyone wants to stop the surprise bills. Some provider specialties are saying, “let us keep doing what we’re doing, just use binding arbitration to make someone else pay these bills”. They’re asking for a non- transparent process that could force plans and employers to pay massive and fake medical list prices. It’s essentially setting money on fire. Funds that would have been used to pay for healthcare will instead be spent on administrative costs such as lawyers, arbitrators, facility fees, and on reasonable settlement amounts. Make no mistake, patients will pay these costs. 55:20 Senior VP James Gelfand: The ground and air ambulance companies are asking Congress to let them keep surprise billing too. Do nothing, wait for another study, another report, and there have already been four. They know patients cannot shop for them and many participate in no networks. State insurance commissioners are begging for help with air ambulances, but Congress has tied their hands. Employers think Congress should end this. Treat medical transport the same as emergency care. We should end surprise billing in the ER and on the way there. 56:30 Senior VP James Gelfand: Other providers figure they’re willing to stop surprise billing, but only if they can increase in-network rates. They’re calling for network adequacy rules to force insurers and employers to add more providers to their networks, even if those providers demand astronomical payments. Does anyone here actually believe that these hospital based doctors who services cannot be shopped for, who are guaranteed to see our patients, are begging to be included in our networks, but nobody will return their calls? That they have no choice but to go and join these out of network Wall Street owned firms? It doesn’t make sense. 57:00 Senior VP James Gelfand: Employers design health benefits to help our beneficiaries. We don’t sell insurance. We want networks that meet our patients’ needs. Why would we want to cover an operation, but leave out the anesthesia? We want our employees to be able to afford their health insurance too, and that means we must be able to say no when providers are gaming the system. 1:08:10 Dr. Vidor Friedman: Unlike most physicians, emergency physicians are prohibited by federal law from discussing with a patient any potential costs of care or insurance details until they are screened and stabilized. This important patient protection known as Emtala, ensures physicians focus on the immediate medical needs of patients. However, it also means that patients cannot fully understand the potential cost of their care or the limitations of their insurance coverage until they receive the bill. 1:10:40 Dr. Vidor Friedman: The goal should be a system in which everyone is in-network, or essentially that. That requires a level playing field between providers and insurers. Insurers are concerned that benchmarking the even median charges, favors providers. Providers are concerned that benchmarking the median in-network rates, favors insurer’s. What’s Congress to do? ACEP supports a system that has already proven to be balanced between insurers and providers. That is a baseball style independent dispute resolution process similar to that used in New York and noted in the legislative proposal put forth by Doctors, Ruiz Rowe and Busan. 2:02:30 Rep. Brett Guthrie: If there does become a federal arbitration system, what do you think congressional oversight should be? And I don’t know if that should be something that I’m supposed to talk about or…Sonji Wilkes: Well, I’ve been sitting here listening, thinking I pay my insurance premiums, I do my part and I expect the bill to be paid. I mean, there’s only so much I can do to control that and I don’t really care how the reimbursement works. And quite frankly, I think the insurance industry is doing probably better in their bottom line than my bottom line. Um, I want to go to the best provider possible and I want the best care possible. I don’t really care how the payment works. 2:34:50 Dr. Sherif Zaafran: Well, I can tell you that from the physician’s standpoint, for emergency room physicians for example; the average weighted cost of every visit is about $155. 3:49:00 CEO Rick Sherlock: The median cost of a helicopter air transport is $10,199 according to a study conducted in 2017. If you look at the cost of uncompensated care, because Medicare pays less than $.60 on the dollar of that 10,199. About $5,998, Medicaid pays significantly less than that. Less than $3,500 on average, and the uninsured pay about $350. Those make up…those three groups make up 70% of air medical transports. So when you take that cost of uncompensated care and you add it to the median cost of $10,200, that’s the average charge of $36,000 that the representative from New Mexico referenced earlier. When you…when those kinds of situations happen, no one in our industry wants to see a patient or their family placed in jeopardy because they’ve just had a health emergency. Our members will sit down with each individual and their families and work out a solution tailored for them. 3:54:30 Dr. Sherif Zaafran: Again, there is no such thing as an out of network provider. There is a provider who may happen to be out of network with that specific product. So the only one who knows what the product is, is of course the patient and the insurance carrier and they’re the only ones who really have the information as to whether they’re in-network or out of network. Hearing: The Need to Reauthorize the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, June 11, 2019 Hearing: Hearing on September 11 Victims Compensation Fund, June 11, 2019 Hearing: Watch on CSPAN-Surprise Medical Bills House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health-May 21, 2019 Committee website Watch on YouTube Witnesses: Rep. Katie Porter (CA) James Patrick Gelfand: Senior Vice President, Health Policy, ERISA Industry Committee Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Board of Trustees, American Medical Association Tom Nickels: Executive Vice President, Government Relations and Public Policy, American Hospital Association Jeannette Thornton: Senior Vice President for Product, Employer, and Commercial Policy at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Transcript *7:15 Chairman Lloyd Doggett (TX): Fortunately, there now appears to be a growing consensus. Most recently joined by president Trump that holding the patient harmless should form the foundation for any surprise billing proposal. Under the legislation that I advanced, patients would only be charged in network cost sharing rates in emergency situations and non-emergency situations out of network charges would be permitted only when the patient has agreed in advance after receiving effective notice regarding any providers and services together with estimated charges. No other bill addressing this issue has yet been filed here in the house, but there is a very useful discussion draft proposal that is being circulated on a bipartisan basis by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and there’s several proposals that have service in the Senate. While every proposal currently begins with the basic premise of the enterprise billing act, conflict remains over how to resolve insurer provider disputes. *13:40 Rep. Katie Porter (CA): I’m concerned about surprise billing, as someone who’s dedicated my life to protecting consumers, but also because I have had to fight my own battle with surprise billing. On August 3rd last year when I was on the campaign trail, I started to feel pain in my abdomen. At 1:00 PM I could not continue and I went home. At 4:31, I texted my campaign manager that I needed to go to the emergency room. I couldn’t safely drive through the pain and I remember sitting on my front porch, so if I lost consciousness, somebody might find me and I wouldn’t be home alone. I didn’t call an ambulance because I was concerned about the cost. I could not drive and I asked my manager to please take me to Hoag hospital. I chose that hospital even though it was farther away from other providers, because I knew Hoag was an in-network facility. When I got to the hospital, I waited six hours alone in the emergency exam room without treatment. When I finally went to surgery, my doctor told me it was nothing to worry about, just a routine appendectomy. I was given anesthesia and when I awoke, the team around me was panicking. They couldn’t get my temperature to drop and they couldn’t get my blood pressure to rise. My appendix had ruptured hours before causing an infection that was making my whole body very sick. I spent the next five days in the hospital receiving powerful IV antibiotics. A few weeks later, I received the bill from my insurance company. The idea of an astronomical hospital bill had weighed heavily on me and I was happy to see that the cost of my emergency room treatment and assessment and hospital charges, and nearly all of my inpatient services, were covered. I remember sitting at my kitchen table and taking a deep breath filled with relief, but a few days later I received another bill. This one from my surgeon. While the hospital I had gone to was in-network, the insurance company now claimed the surgeon was not, even though they had sent me a notification telling me that my surgeon was in-network . Enclosed in that bill for nearly $3,000, was a handout from my surgeon detailing the steps I would have to take while recovering in order to fight to have my insurance company cover the care. So many of his patients had been put in this situation, that this medical doctor had used his staff to address patient billing problems. That’s not what he trained for in medical school. Your so-called explanation of benefits and the surgeon’s handout explained that he was being treated as an out of network provider even though he was employed by and worked at an in-network hospital. As someone in an emergency situation, I had no ability to assess whether he was in or out of network, and in those cases insurers are supposed to cover the costs, but I got that bill because my insurer put profits before patients. I called insurance company to request an appeal. The benefits manager kept asking me questions to guide me and coach me towards saying that it was my surgeon’s fault to blame him for overcharging me. She asked me to call the surgeon and attack my doctor for his bill. Apparently, to Anthem Blue Cross, $3,000 was too high a price for saving my life. The tens of thousands in premiums I’d paid to that company over the years were not enough to have them, cause them to cover the lifesaving care. Nearly five months after I was hospitalized, the surgeon simply requested payment, and at that point I reached out to my employer of the University of California Irvine. That’s when I learned that U.C. Irvine has a designated patient advocate, a medical doctor, whose sole job is to help university employees get the health insurance that the university and the employees pay for. Can we just reflect on that for a moment? The university is paying a medical doctor to do nothing but navigate insurance. Finally, the patient advocate, invoking the fact that I had just been just elected to Congress, was able to get the insurance company to agree to pay my surgeon’s bill. But here’s what I learned from getting sick. I am well educated. I had an employer prepared to help me. I have professional experience fighting for consumer rights, but there are thousands of Americans with fewer resources than me who are surprised with bills far more devastating than mine. I’m here today because they refuse to accept this as the status quo. I refuse to stand idly by while families go bankrupt because of surprise medical bills. Any solution to this issue must rely, must not rely, excuse me, on the patient’s ability to go to war with the insurer or with their provider. That is not the solution. It’s time we start putting patients first. 31:00 Jeanette Thornton: We ask that federal legislation focus on four things. First, balanced billing should be banned in situations where inpatients are involuntarily treated by an out of network provider. This includes emergency health services at any hospital, any health healthcare services or treatment performed at an in-network facility by an out of network provider, not selected by the patient and ambulance transportation in an emergency. Second, health insurance providers should be required to reimburse out of network providers inappropriate and reasonable amount in those above scenarios. Third, state should be required to establish an independent dispute resolution process that works in tandem with the established benchmark. Fourth hospitals or other healthcare providers should be required to provide advanced notice to patients of the network status of the treating providers. We appreciate the health sub-committee chairman Lloyd Doggett has introduced legislation to end surprise billing act or HR 861, which would establish a role for hospitals in providing such notices, along with banning balanced billing. AHIP supports this bill. 46:00 Chairman Lloyd Doggett (TX): What I’m referring to is the difference… Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Right. Chairman Lloyd Doggett (TX): …in charges and why one one price for those who are in network and another for those that are out. Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Right. So there is a benefit for me to be in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for example. I get something from that. They sit with me, they show me their data. We had…we worked together on incentive programs to sort of curb costs. If there’s an insurance company that’s in town that does none of that activity to improve the care of the population in my town, but yet wants to benefit from the same rate of compensation to me, they’re doing nothing to earn that discount. Blue Cross sits across from me on a weekly or monthly basis to improve the care of my population. But Golden Rule insurance, that’s new in town for example, doesn’t do any of that work and yet wants to benefit from having the same provider rates. No, I mean, I take a discounted rate from Blue Cross because of all this other robust activity. But if you’re not offering me anything to participate in your network, then naturally, you should be expected to pay more for my services. Right? I get something from Blue Cross. I get nothing from Golden Rule. 53:05 Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Medicare is usually sort of the foundation upon which all the other insurance companies tend to set their rates. So when I participate in network, like with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, it’s usually about 110/ 115% of Medicare rates. So that’s one step higher. If I don’t participate with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, then that rate is so I can get the assigned rate from them and then I have a choice about what to do with the balance. And usually in my practice, I write that off. I don’t balance bill the patient. Uh, but Blue Cross Blue Shield sort of sets their rate and that’s it. My point is that, if-in Blue Cross Blue Shield, I have a great relationship with, we do a lot of constructive work together. But if a new insurance company comes into town and puts up billboards and markets their product and says, here, come, come buy our policy, and then they get 15,000 patients to sign up, but has never come to my door to say, you know, when they have an ear, nose and throat problem, we’d like you to be in-network and provide their care. Why should they get the benefit of the in-network price that Blue Cross Blue Shield gets? So, my point, is that that out of network price for this new insurance company that wants me to take care of their patient, but never came to sit down with me to sign a contract, ought to be something that I negotiate with them, not something that’s dictated to me. 55:50 Rep. Mike Thompson (CA): A staff person of mine went to the emergency room. He has insurance. His insurance covered nearly everything, including a cat scan. But a few weeks later, he got two separate bills from physicians he never saw and didn’t ask to see. They reviewed some of his test results and the bill for those two physicians was larger than the bill for his total ER visit. 56:15 Rep. Mike Thompson (CA): It’s also alarming that, uh, according to one study, 20% of hospital visits, one of every five of those visits, uh, that began in the ER, resulted in a surprise bill. 58:30 Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Uh, yes, sir. So, in answer to your question, there are multiple already cases documented of insurance companies shrinking their network in California because they can get the same service at that rate with physicians that are out of their network. And so, contracts are already not being renewed for physicians that have had contracts for 20 years, and then they go to renew it and they’re dropped from the network. 1:03:00 Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: My wife and I, we contract with probably about 30 insurance companies. When I take a kid’s tonsils out, one insurance company may be $200- may pay me $200, one pays me about $450 and everything in between. I can’t have a different fee in my fee schedule for each of those. So my fee for tonsillectomy is about $475, so that when I do it, I know that the highest paying payer, I’m still-they’re still within that threshold, right? Because if I charge $400, they’re not going to send me $450. They’re going to send me $400. 1:07:00 Jeanette Thornton: So it’s very interesting what we’ve seen and when it comes from a hospital perspective. It’s maybe only 15% of the hospitals nationwide that are causing this issue that results in, you know, 80% of the visits. One of the statistics had cited a lot that result in a surprise medical bill. So this is not every doctor. This is not every hospital that are resulting in these surprise medical bills. It’s really more of a targeted problem. 1:09:15 Tom Nickels: In terms of how much of this is really going on, I think there is a certain level of frustration. I don’t know that we all know with certainty. The only federal study that I’ve seen, that we’ve seen, is from the Federal Trade Commission, which basically said that they studied ambulances going to hospital emergency departments. 99% of hospital emergency departments in that study were in-network. So it’s not the hospital itself that is out of network. it is people, physicians who practice in our institution. 1:22:20 Tom Nickels: The federal government-state government need to acknowledge that they underpay. I mean, Medpack and others acknowledges that this isn’t just industries talking about ourselves. AMA has said the same thing on the physician side, but I think that the federal government and state governments have a responsibility to pay more adequately. The truth of the matter is, and we haven’t even talked about this, is the cost shift is that private insurers pay more than costs and the government pays less. That should end. The government should take responsibility. 1:38:00 Tom Nickels: We cannot force by law, physicians who are not employed by us to take in-network rates. That is-if we did that, um, we would be sued. It would be restraint of trade. Um, however, what we’re trying to suggest here and I think what the other panelists are trying to suggest, is we have a way to protect the patient from that surprise bill. To your question about who are these physicians that you don’t even know about who are treating you, if you come in in an emergency, you don’t know what’s going on. And you need to be taking care of it, who’s ever there is going to take care of you. The other situation which we’ve talked about is when you knowingly come into an inpatient in-network facility. You did all the right things, but an out of network physician, (anesthesiologists, perhaps radiologists, pathologists) takes care of you. And that’s where the, uh, the bill is generated from. So we cannot make people do that. We try to get physicians to be in our networks-in the same networks. But again, this is an issue of private contracting. 1:42:05 Rep. Mike Kelly (PA): I do agree with you. If there’s limited talent there to take care of that specific problem, there has to be a way of compensating for it. Because at the end of the day, it is a business. Dr. Bobby Mukkamala: Right. So the solution is if an insurance company is going to come into Flint, Michigan and sell insurance, they know that eventually they’re going to need a hand surgeon, right? How do they sell insurance to a town that’s an industrial based town, where there’s a lot of hand injuries and not have any hand surgeons in their network? When they put up the billboard saying, “we’re selling insurance here”, they should have at the same time look at their provider list and say, “you know what”?, we’re missing an orthopedic hand surgeon. "Let’s go find one and figure out how to get him in-network or get her in-network. Right? And that’s a step that’s skipped routinely, right? They’ll sell the product for years and then fill in this way with lack of a good provider network by trying to negotiate out of network rates that are the same as in-network because they’d skip that first step, right? Maintain a network adequacy-establish a network adequacy before you sell your product. 1:48:30 James Gelfand: Many of the hospitals are not doing what Zuckerberg hospital was doing. The hospital will be in-network, but they will have outsourced their emergency room to a Wall Street owned private company and that company won’t take insurance. And those guys are definitely making enough profits that Wall Street is suggesting that people should invest in those companies because of these relationships they have with the in-network hospitals and the out of network emergency rooms. Trump remarks on medical billing-Watch on C-SPAN, May 9, 2019 13:00 President Donald Trump: Today I’m announcing principles that should guide Congress in developing bipartisan legislation to end surprise medical billing. And these senators and congressmen and women that are with us today are really leading the charge. And I appreciate that they’re all here. Thank you all. Thank you all for being here. This is fantastic. And I think it’s going to be a successful charge. From what I understand, we have bipartisan support, which is rather shocking. That means it’s very important. That means it’s very good. But that’s great. First, in emergency care situations, patients should never have to bear the burden of out-of-network costs they didn’t agree to pay. So-called balance billing should be prohibited for emergency care. Pretty simple. Second, when patients receive scheduled, non-emergency care, they should be given a clear and honest bill upfront. That means they must be given prices for all services and out-of-pocket payments for which they will be responsible. This will not just protect Americans from surprise charges; it will empower them to choose the best option at the lowest possible price. Third, patients should not receive surprise bills from out-of-network providers that they did not choose themselves. Very unfair. Fourth, legislation should protect patients without increasing federal healthcare expenditures. Additionally, any legislation should lead to greater competition, more choice — very important — and more healthcare freedom. We want patients to be in charge and in total control. And finally, in an effort to address surprise billing, what we do is, all kinds of health insurance — large groups, small group, individual markets, everything. We want everything included. No one in America should be bankrupted and unexpectedly by healthcare costs that are absolutely out of control. No family should be blindsided by outrageous medical bills. And we’ve gone a long way to stop that. Examining Surprise Billing: Protecting Patients from Financial Pain-Not on C-SPAN, House Committee on Education and Labor, April 2, 2019 Watch on YouTube Witnesses: Christen Linke Young: Fellow at USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative on Health Policy Ilyse Schuman: Senior Vice President for Health Policy at American Benefits Council Frederick Isasi, Executive Director at Families USA Professor Jack Hoadley: Research Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute Transcript 7:15 Chairman Frederica Wilson (FL): This is the first hearing the United States Congress has held on surprise billing. 7:30 Chairman Frederica Wilson (FL): Surprise medical bills occur when patients covered by health insurance are subject to higher than expected out of pocket costs for care, received from a provider who is outside of their plan’s network. The victims of surprised medical billing often have no control over whether they’re medical provider is in or out of network. 8:15 Chairman Frederica Wilson (FL): A young San Francisco woman named Nina Dang suffered a severe bike accident. She was barely lucid when a bystander called an ambulance and took her to an emergency room at a nearby hospital. Before she knew it, doctors had done x-rays and scans and put her broken arm in a splint and then sent her on her way. A few months later, Nina was hit with a $20,000 medical bill because the hospital, which she did not choose, was an out of network facility. 8:30 Chairman Frederica Wilson (FL): But even patients who are able to take precautions to avoid out of network costs during a medical emergency, are not immune from surprise bills. Scott Cohan suffered a violent attack one night in Austin, Texas. He woke up in an emergency room with a broken jaw, a throbbing headache, and staples in his head. Despite his shock and immense pain, Scott took out his phone and searched through his insurer’s website to make sure he was laying in an in-network hospital bed. When he found out it was, he proceeded with unnecessary jaw surgery. Imagine Scott’s frustration and devastation when he received a surprise medical bill for nearly $8,000. It turned out that the emergency room was in his insurance network, but the oral surgeon who worked in the ER was not. 16:00 Rep. Tim Walberg (MI): 39% of insured working age adults reported they had received a surprise medical bill in the past year from a doctor, hospital, or lab that they thought was covered by their insurance. Of the 39% of individuals who received surprise medical bills, 50% owed more than $500. 27:05 Ilyse Schuman: While a number of states have sought to address this problem or risk that exempts self insured plans from State Insurance Regulations to ensure that national employers can offer uniform health benefits to employees residing in different states. Accordingly, the problem of surprise billing cannot be left to the states to solve. 33:20 Frederick Isasi: So what’s most important to remember about this issue? We are talking about situations in which families, despite enrolling in health insurance, paying their premiums, doing their homework and trying to work within the system, are being left with completely unanticipated and sometimes financially devastating healthcare bills. And this is happening in part, and I want to say this really clearly because hospitals, doctors and insurers are washing their hands of their patient’s interest. 33:50 Frederick Isasi: Take for example, one significant driver of this problem. The movement of hospitals to offload sapping requirements for their emergency departments to third party management companies. These hospitals very often make no requirements of these companies to ensure the staffing of the ED fit within the insurance networks that the hospitals have agreed to. As a result, a patient who does their homework ahead of time and rightly thinks they’re going to an in network hospital, received services from an out of network physician and a surprise medical bill follows. 34:20 Frederick Isasi: Let me give you one real world example. Nicole Briggs from Morrison, Colorado outside of Denver. Nicole woke up in the middle of the night with intense stomach pain. She went to a freestanding ER. She was told she needed an emergency appendectomy. She went to a local hospital. She did her due diligence. Confirmed repeatedly that the hospital and its providers were in network. However, months later she received a surprise bill from the surgeon who ended up, was out of network. The bill to Nicole was $5,000. Nicole tried to work it out with her insurance company, but within two years, a collection agency representing the surgeon took her to court and won the full amount, including interest. As a result, a lien was placed on her home and the collection agency garnished her wages each month. This came right before Nicole was about to deliver a baby and go on maternity leave. And by the way, this investigation found that there were over 170 liens placed on people’s homes in the Denver area by emergency department physicians. 38:05 Professor Jack Hoadley: Our research shows that today, 25 states have acted to protect consumers from surprise bills in at least some circumstances. Nine of these 25 meet our standards as offering what we consider to be comprehensive protection. For protections to be comprehensive, we look to number one, whether they apply in both emergency situations and an in-network hospital setting, such as electing an in-network surgeon, but being treated by another clinician who’s out of network. Second, that these laws apply to both HMO’s, PPO’s and all other types of insurance. Third, that the law does address both insurers by requiring them to hold consumer’s harmless from balanced bills and providers by barring them from sending balanced bills. And fourth, that the laws adopt some kind of a payment standard. Uh, either a rule to determine payment from insurance provider or an arbitration process to resolve payment disputes. Although these four conditions don’t guarantee complete protection for consumers, they combine to protect consumers in most emergency and network hospital settings that the states can address. But as you’ve already heard, state protections are limited by federal law, ERISA, which exempt states from state regulation’s, self insured, employer sponsored plans. 43:30 Chairman Frederica Wilson (FL): Under current law, who is responsible for making sure that a doctor or a hospital is in-network? Is it the doctor, the insurance company or the patient themselves? Frederick Isasi: Uh, chairman Wilson, thank you for the question. To be very clear, it is the patient themselves that has a responsibility and these negotiations are very complex. These are some of the most important and intense negotiations in the healthcare sector between a payer and a provider. There is absolutely no visibility for a consumer to understand what’s going on there. And so the notion that a consumer would walk into an emergency department and know, for example, that their doctor was out of network because that hospital could not reach agreement on an in-network provider for the ED is absurd, right? There’s no way they would ever know that. And similarly, if you walk in and you received surgery and it turns out your anesthesiologist isn’t in-network, there’s no way for the consumer to know that. Um, and I would like to say there’s some discussion about transparency and creating, you know, sort of provider directories. We’ve tried to do that in many instances. And what we know is that right now the healthcare sector has no real way to provide real actual insight to consumers about who’s in-network, and who’s out of network. I would-probably everybody in this room has tried at some point to figure out if a doctor’s in-network and out of network and as we know that system doesn’t work. So this idea that consumers can do research and find out what’s happened behind the scenes in these very intensive negotiations is absurd and it doesn’t work. 46:30 Professor Jack Hoadley: Provider directories can be notoriously inaccurate. One of the things that, even if they are accurate, that I’ve seen in my own family is you may be enrolled in Blue Cross-You ask your physician, "are they participating in Blue Cross? They say “yes”, but it turns out Blue Cross has a variety of different networks. This would be true of any insurance company, and so you know, you may be in this one particular flavor of the Blue Cross plan and your provider may not participate in that particular network. 47:30 Christen Linke Young: Notice isn’t enough here. Even if a consumer had perfect information, which is not a reasonable expectation, but even if they did have perfect information, they can’t do anything with that information. They can’t go across town to get their anesthesia and then come back to the hospital. Um, their-even with perfect information, they may be treated by out of network providers. And so we need to set a standard that limits how much providers can be paid in these out of network scenarios that makes it sort of less attractive for providers to remain out of network. And so instead, they are subject to more normal market conditions. 1:01:25 Rep. Phil Roe (TN): I’ve had my name in networks that I wasn’t in. That you-that you use, and many of those unscrupulous networks, will use that too to get people to sign up because this doctor, my doctor is in there when you’re really not. 1:10:25 Frederick Isasi: Um, there is a concept here, which is, what does in network mean, right? When you sit down with your husband or your partner and decide what kind of insurance do we want for our kids, right? We want to make sure that they can go to the ED if they’re playing soccer, they get hurt, all those sorts of things. The question is when you make that decision and you say, "Oh, look, this hospital is in-network, right? But what does that mean? If you can go to that hospital and all the services they’re providing are out of network, right? And I think as you’ve said, and as we’ve heard from other folks, the patient is not the person who should be responsible for that. It’s the folks who are negotiating. It’s the hospital, it’s the doc’s and the payers that should bear that responsibility. So let’s start by clarifying what does in-network mean, so that we have some way of making educated decisions about the insurance that we’re purchasing and putting our trust in. 1:29:30 Professor Jack Hoadley: There may be instances where consumers get bills sent to them, aren’t aware that they don’t need to pay them, so don’t start the process. And that goes to this sort of point of how do you really make sure it’s not the consumer’s responsibility to figure out that, oh, I don’t, by law, I don’t actually have to pay this bill. Now what do I do to make sure that happens? If you don’t know that, uh, that doesn’t really help you. And so what some other states like California has done, is to include a provision that says the provider really can’t send a bill and if they do end up sending a bill and the consumer pays it, there’s an obligation on that provider to refund the amount that was paid back to the consumer. And that’s something we haven’t seen in some of the other states. 1:39:15 Rep. Joe Courtney (CT): ERISA really has to be dealt with if we’re going to really have a comprehensive solution for America’s patients. Is that correct? Ilyse Schuman: That’s exactly right. Um, for the self funded plan too 60% of employer based plans that are not subject to these state laws, like in Connecticut or other states, we have to have a federal solution that addresses ERISA, so that we deal with this problem in a uniform nationwide way. Documentary: This is a clip from the documentary: 911, Toxic Legacy which aired on Canadian CBC 9/10.2006, September 10, 2006 Community Suggestions See Community Suggestions HERE. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

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Have you ever wondered what happens to all those campaign donations when a political campaign goes belly up? Or, even worse, is in debt! Wonder no more! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those campaign donations when a political campaign goes belly up? Or, even worse, is in debt! Wonder no more! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A study published this month and authored by self-described "critical race scholar-activists" Katie Ishizuka of The Conscious Kid Library and University of California Ph.D. student Ramón Stephens dives into such allegedly problematic and racist facets of Seuss and his work. The study is aptly titled, "The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti- Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books." Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, England had classes in which a program titled “No Outsiders” taught that “families look different,” in an effort to teach schoolchildren about homosexuality. The program was pulled after the school received a petition last month with over 400 signatures from parents, mostly Muslim, who have withdrawn their children from the school in protest. Saikat Chakrabarti, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, allegedly funneled over $1 million in political donations to his own private companies, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission. Don't forget about the Edwards Notebook and the Veteran's Tip of the Day! All of this and more as time allows. Listen live, join the chatroom, be a part of the show.  

A study published this month and authored by self-described "critical race scholar-activists" Katie Ishizuka of The Conscious Kid Library and University of California Ph.D. student Ramón Stephens dives into such allegedly problematic and racist facets of Seuss and his work. The study is aptly titled, "The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti- Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books." Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, England had classes in which a program titled “No Outsiders” taught that “families look different,” in an effort to teach schoolchildren about homosexuality. The program was pulled after the school received a petition last month with over 400 signatures from parents, mostly Muslim, who have withdrawn their children from the school in protest. Saikat Chakrabarti, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, allegedly funneled over $1 million in political donations to his own private companies, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission. Don't forget about the Edwards Notebook and the Veteran's Tip of the Day! All of this and more as time allows. Listen live, join the chatroom, be a part of the show.  

Michael Sullivan follows the money. Sullivan is the director of the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, which monitors and publicizes how candidates for office in Massachusetts raise and spend their campaign cash. He makes sure politicians follow the rules, and in some cases he has to set the rules. He recently proposed a new rule covering expenditures by unions on behalf of political candidates. Labor unions are currently allowed to give no more than $15,000, or 10 percent of their gross income, to a political candidate before having to register as a political committee and face tighter regulation. Sullivan's proposal would impose a $1,000 limit on union contributions to political candidates, a $500 limit on contributions to political action committees, and a $5,000 limit on donations to a political party's committee.

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Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn offers his views on key issues in the upcoming campaign. Then, the race between Glenn and Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet will be one of the most closely watched in the country, according to an analyst for the Cook Political Report. And, a look at campaign fundraising and advertising buys from digital journalist Sandra Fish.

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Washington Post Associate Editor and Senior Correspondent Robert Kaiser previews his forthcoming book, “So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government,” by offering an insider’s perspective on how special interests have distorted lawmakers’ priorities and damaged Washington politics. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15601]

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