Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 8-19-21 E-edition

Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
In my OPINION Less than a month until
historic recall election
It's hard to believe, but it's less than
one month's time until the recall elec-
tion of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Tuesday, Sept. 14 — the scheduled re-
call date — is just around the corner.
Political spinmeisters have trumpeted
that the election has been a Republi-
can generated action, but the truth is
that there aren't enough Republicans
in the entire state of California to pull
off such an event. We've begun to see big national Demo- cratic Party money being injected into the race which is a solid indicator of their concerns about the outcome.
With fully 46.2 percent of California's 19,978,419 voters being registered as Democrat, versus only 24.1 percent identifying as Republican, it hardly seems to be Repub- lican generated. Those folks who signed the recall peti- tion realistically must have contained a large number of Democrat voters. Small wonder there is suddenly a real concern about a possible negative result and huge amounts of national Democrat money being poured into California.
We've begun to notice that much of California's left- leaning media have started their campaigns to retain Gavin Newsom, citing the cost of such an election and demonstrating their deep-seated hypocrisy. Their ad- vocacy for Newsom includes “bringing out the knives” to attack the leading candidate to replace our current member of Democrat political royalty.
It's just a thought, members of corporate media, that the voters are fed up with everything that has gone wrong with our wonderful state that was once the “gold standard” for common sense management. We lead the nation in homelessness; unaffordable housing because of fees and regulations; the highest gasoline prices in the country; highest utility rates; undependable power; the highest tax rates in America; and increasing social- ism with all sorts of taxpayer-funded “programs.” That doesn't even include the $26 billion that is expended in the support of non-citizens. Maybe that's the reason!
When one takes a little time to thoroughly examine what is exactly at stake, big city media pundit, the few million dollars being spent on the recall could just be one of the greatest deals California citizens ever negotiated.
Years of absolute Democrat control of the state of California are bound to have produced citizens who re- member, and find themselves longing for the return of a period starting nearly 40 years ago during which we were governed by George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson. The good old days! A period during which California was truly the “Golden State.”
A changing demographic profile is probably one of the primary reasons for our increasing slouch toward socialism. Never forget the words of Benjamin Franklin who warned the nation of the repercussions of the popu- lation discovering they could vote themselves money from the public treasury. Think of all the money that was squandered and family businesses destroyed during this past year's pandemic. Far too many looked upon that check from government as being “free.” Trust me, there is no such thing as free money. Cynical stunts such as this are classic examples of politicians using your hard- earned dollars to help assure their re-election.
I'm not a big proponent of the use of surveys, but a recently completed one by Fox contained some really dis- turbing information. Interviewees were asked whether theylookedfavorablyonsocialismversuscapitalism. It's hard to believe, but fully 59 percent of Democrats looked favorably upon socialism. That may seem counterintui- tive, since we live in the freest country on earth, but there are a couple of considerations that support the results. One would be that the COVID-19 scare has convinced far too many to surrender personal freedoms for a small government check. Secondly, our educational system has regularly propagandized students with leftist garbage.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
Region's prep football teams carry plenty of optimism into 2021 season
Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Thursday, August 19, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Fred Hall
It's been a long, hot summer with continued drought, smoke- scarred lungs from wildfires sweeping the north state, and of course the pesky COVID-19 that stubbornly hangs around through the Delta variant strain.
So let's focus on a more op- timistic subject – high school football in the area.
Two of the Mid Valley Times region's teams will be defend- ing league championship won in Spring 2021 when we enter the traditional Fall 2021 sea- son beginning on Friday, Aug. 20. The Sanger High Apaches (County Metro Athletic Confer- ence) and Reedley High Pirates (North Yosemite League) are the reigning kingpins of their respective league affiliations, and both come off impressive 5-1 seasons in the unprecedent- ed spring football season that was delayed by seven months because of the pandemic.
Both teams lose some key contributors to their respective
championships, but feature a solid nucleus of players that should keep them in the hunt for continued success.
"We were pleased with how our kids competed, and we learned a lot about some of our younger, inexperienced guys," Sanger coach Jorge Pena in the wake of his team's scrimmage on Aug. 13 against perennial section power Central. "All in all a solid scrimmage versus a quality opponent." Reedley coach Tony Gates also was hap- py with his team's performance — especially on the defensive side — in a scrimmage against a strong Kingsburg High team. "I was really pleased defensive- ly, we held their run game in check," he said.
Dinuba High, a team that struggled during last season's reduced four-game campaign, is energized by new head coach C.J. Lester. The team's former defensive coordinator felt the Emperors played well in their scrimmage with Hanford High.
"We were physi-
cal through-
out the game,"
he said. "Had
some hiccups
early, which is
expected after
not seeing an
opposing team
in 11 [versus] 11, but they set- tled in."
Another new coach will draw the eye of many around the Central Valley – new Im- manuel coach Josh Henderson. He takes the reins of an Eagles squad after building a legiti- mate state power at Brethren Christian during his decade- long stay there.
The time for kickoff is here. It should be an exciting three months-plus. I wish great suc- cess, good luck, and most im- portant good health to all young student-athletes.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
QUOTE
“There are two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don't.”
— Robert Benchley (1889-1945), Benchley's Law of Distinction
Jon Earnest
Hospitals need to financially put patients first when it comes to medical procedures
By Sally C. Pipes
Guest columnist
Many hospitals are refusing to comply with a Trump-era re- quirement that went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year to pub- lish the prices for more than 300 "shoppable" medical pro- cedures.
This intransigence is alarm- ing — and expensive. The rule could save American patients and insurers up to $27 billion annually, but only if hospitals play ball.
Rates of noncompliance are extraordinarily high. Three- quarters of the highest-earn- ing hospitals in the country aren't fully compliant with the rule, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School. A March analysis found that two-thirds of hospitals weren't complying.
When hospitals don't pub- lish their prices, patients have no way of knowing if they're getting a good deal on elective surgeries and other procedures — or getting ripped off.
Prices for identical services vary widely, depending on the location and provider. Even in the same city, there are major price discrepancies. The most expensive 5 percent of hospi- tals in metro areas containing more than 3 million people re- ceive almost $1,400 for each
knee MRI, on average. The least expensive 5 percent of hospitals in those metro areas take in just $600 for the scan, according to Crowe, a consult- ing firm.
If a gas station or grocery store tried to slap a 133 percent premium on an identical prod- uct, they wouldn't get much business. Customers shopping for gas or food can easily com- pare prices and find a more competitive option.
That's why hospitals are so loathe to comply with the rule — the lack of transparency makes it much easier to gouge patients and insurers.
Hospital groups have al- ready lost two court challeng- es against the rule. Their at- torneys claimed that patients would be unable to decipher byzantine pricing schedules and could not be trusted to make responsible financial and health decisions. They com- plained that publishing their prices would be an expensive regulatory burden.
But consumers make weighty financial and health decisions all the time. Trans- parent prices make that task easier, not harder.
Perhaps the best example is Lasik eye surgery. Because the procedure is optional, ma- ny insurers don't cover it. Pa- tients must pay out of pocket.
That incentivizes them to shop around and compare different providers.
It's no coincidence that Lasik has gotten cheaper since the turn of the century in in- flation-adjusted dollars, while virtually every other hospital procedure has gotten dramati- cally more expensive.
The notion that publishing prices is some gargantuan reg- ulatory burden is ridiculous. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that the direct cost to hospi- tals in the first year would be around $12,000 — far less than a single administrative work- er's full-time salary, and a drop in the bucket for hospitals that bring in tens of millions of dol- lars each year.
The fight to make health care more affordable and ac- cessible for ordinary Ameri- cans begins with price trans- parency. It's long past time for hospitals to publish their prices — so that market competition can drive down costs and im- prove quality.
Sally C. Pipes is President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Insti- tute. Her latest book is "False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All" (Encounter 2020). Fol- low her on Twitter @sallypipes.