Fact check: Hospitals get paid more if patients listed as COVID-19, on ventilators

Via Anita

Dr. Scott Jensen, a senator and physician in Minnesota, was interviewed by "The Ingraham Angle" host Laura Ingraham on April 8 on Fox News and claimed hospitals get paid more if Medicare patients are listed as having COVID-19 and get three times as much money if they end up needing a ventilator.

While his claim originated during an interview on Fox News, it was published on April 9 by The Spectator, a conservative publication and syndicator. WorldNetDaily shared it on April 10 and, according to Snopes, a related meme was shared on social media in mid-April.

Jensen took it to his own Facebook page on April 15, saying, in part:

"How can anyone not believe that increasing the number of COVID-19 deaths may create an avenue for states to receive a larger portion of federal dollars. Already some states are complaining that they are not getting enough of the CARES Act dollars because they are having significantly more proportional COVID-19 deaths."

More @ USA Today

It’s Time to Stop Paying Government Salaries

So it’s time to start testing their resolve, their commitment to the health of the American people. It’s time to stop paying public employees. It’s time to stop paying Congress, stop paying the governors, stop paying Eric Garcetti and his bloated city council. Let them go two months without a paycheck and let’s see how that changes their perspective (and don’t be fooled, a lot of these people live paycheck-to-paycheck to fund their extravagance).

On March 1st I left the CPAC 2020 conference in Washington D.C. and  traveled back to my home in southern California. The trip was uneventful…pleasant, even. I have a memory of being in the Uber on a sunny afternoon, watching the scenery go by, not thinking about much at all besides the trip ahead. I guess it’s burned in my memory because it was the last truly “normal” day I had…although I couldn’t have imagined such a benign day would be so precious in mere weeks.

The first days of hashtag-quarantine-life were terrifying. The models were terrifying. Watching the President and Mr.Pence look more and more fatigued with each briefing was terrifying. Hearing how every nation in the world was shutting down their economy was terrifying. The United States was in the middle of the most thrilling economic boom in modern history and Donald Trump is a business man. If he was saying we need to shut it all down, that meant we must be on the brink of something historically dangerous. We were facing millions of deaths. It seemed unthinkable but to “bend the curve” to merely hundreds of thousands of deaths would be a victory and it would require an enormous sacrifice on the part of the American people.

More @ Red State

The Truth (and Lies) about Coronavirus

Via The Feral Irishman

 

REVISED April 23, 2020. This is actually much worse than we thought. According to worldometers.info from January 1 to April 1, 2020 the worldwide deaths from COVID-19 were 46,438 as opposed to 121,993 for influenza. To recap, during the same three months, with the same social distancing, the same shelter in place, and even handicapped with a vaccine against it, the flu still killed more than two and a half times as many people as COVID-19. In terms of deciding to shut down the economy, there were 11 causes of death on the list. Influenza and COVID-19 were ranked a distant 10th and 11th. On March 23, 2020, a Vox.com article by Dylan Scott outlined COVID-19 risks by age group. CDC figures cited a death rate of 2.7 percent for those 65 to 74, 4.3 percent for those 75 to 84, and 10.4 percent for those 85 and over.

Primary Author: David Williams, MD 

Revised April 23 with updates to section regarding COVID-19 deaths and the addendum.

The Truth (and Lies) about Coronavirus

This is being written on April 19, 2020. Although there is a central author, it is being written on behalf of multiple physicians in West Alabama and will be distributed through multiple medical offices. Between us we have well over a hundred years of practice and have treated hundreds of thousands of patients suffering infectious diseases. Including mission trips we have treated patients on five continents. We planned this date for several reasons. First, most of our patients now realize there is something “funny” about the coverage and handling of this disease. Secondly, if it wasn’t being handled differently by April 19, we knew it would take action from us and our patients to change that handling. Finally, we were told in March by our state officials that experts predicted New York, Florida, Texas, and Alabama were projected to have the median most fatalities from the COVID-19 outbreak with the peak in Alabama expected to be April 19. On this date, Alabama was supposed to be on pace for 5,516 deaths and be short over 21,000 hospital beds. The information just listed, and every piece of information discussed below, can be verified with a quick internet search. Many of the sources will be directly referenced. So here goes:

More @ Corona Virus Truths

Texas Salon Owner Ticketed for Re-Opening Salon During Coronavirus Shutdown

Dallas officials issued a citation to the owner of a hair salon who re-opened her store in defiance of a stay-at-home order issued by the county judge. The owner of Salon Á la Mode says she will not pay the fine and will continue to defy the order and run her business.

Dallas police officers and fire department investigators came to the local hair salon numerous times after the owner stood up to county and state officials, opening her business on a limited-service basis, WFAA ABC8 in Dallas reported. Shortly after lunch, fire department officials issued a citation for what they called her illegal re-opening.

More @ Breitbart

What I Learned From Nursing My Husband Through COVID-19

Via 4Branch

 

If you or your loved one has just had a diagnosis of COVID-19, your chances of surviving the illness will depend on your ability to gather your resources, make a plan, and adapt.

As told to her daughter, Carrie Severino. This article is personal information, not medical advice. Please consult your doctor with any health questions and decisions.

The past two weeks have been a rollercoaster as my husband and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary, learned we were both COVID-positive, spent multiple nights we thought could be our last ones together, and finally received a surreal email from the Kent County Health Department declaring us free and clear of any COVID-related quarantine. We are now allowed to take part in normal life again with “no restrictions” (whatever that means under total lockdown).

My husband Mark and I are both medical professionals: he an oncologist, and I a retired community health nurse. We put all our skills to use in fighting this virus. Here are some of the things we learned that can help you if you or your loved one has just received a positive COVID diagnosis.

More @ The Federalist

COVID-19: Doctors state the word 'safe' means controlling you and something else is at work + Time to open back up

Via  StephaniePart II
 
Dr. Dan Erickson of Accelerated Health Care talks about the impact of the coronavirus on Kern County.

Now that some actual data is available, better conclusions can be made. These doctors discuss:
-Review of COVID data: test results, recovery and death rates for their county (Kern Co, CA), NY state, US, Sweden, and Norway.
-Conclusion is that COVID is similar to flu and continued sheltering-in-place isn’t necessary. The virus is widespread, but the death rate is extremely small (less than 1%) and those dying have co-morbidities
-There are risk associated with sheltering-in-place that are significant: abuse, alcoholism, suicide, unemployment, etc. Many medical personnel are furloughed.
-They review how the immune system works; sheltering-in-place weakens the immune system
-Was the initial response reasonable? Yes, given it was a new virus. Now that the data is available, continued sheltering-in-place isn’t good.
-People’s immune systems will now be weakened so there will be illness once our society is opened up again. Accept it and move forward. Learn from this situation and know that sheltering-in-place isn’t the appropriate response. 

-Quarantine the sick and protect those at risk (elderly, sick, and immune compromised).


Via Herschel

Florida Kennel Empty ‘For the First Time in History,’ All Dogs Adopted

CBO: U.S. economy will plunge by 40% this financial quarter and the unemployment rate will soar to 14%

Via Billy

The unemployment rate will eventually rise to 27% — a number not seen since the Great Depression — and the recession caused by shutting down the economy during the coronavirus panic will nearly quadruple the federal budget deficit to $3.7 trillion, the CBO said.

There’s more bad news. The 2020 budget deficit will explode after four coronavirus response bills — with a price tag of $2.7 trillion and rising — will balloon the national debt to nearly $25 trillion in just the remaining six months of the current fiscal year, the report says.

The rate of debt and deficit haven’t happened since World War II.

But the report did offer a glimmer of hope.

More @ The Gateway Pundit

Dr. Fauci’s 11 Deadly Mistakes and Contradictions — Including His Worst Mistake of Delaying Herd Immunity While Destroying US Economy

Via Billy

"Only in government can someone with this record still keep a job."

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been wrong on the coronavirus pandemic — Every step of the way!

Here is a list of several errors, contradictory statements and dangerous gaffes by NIAID Director Dr. Tony Fauci:

1.)  Dr. Fauci says he warned Trump in January that the US was in real trouble but that is not what he said publicly.

In January Dr. Anthony Fauci told Newsmax TV that the United States “did not have to worry” about the coronavirus and that it was “not a major threat.”

More @ The Gateway Pundit

All the Marbles

The coronavirus lockdown was sold as a way to achieve sufficient beds for the sick, but in my state and many others, the advice from medical professionals is to stay home and send someone out for medication unless the symptoms are sufficient to require hospitalization. Okay, so, how are we going to overwhelm the hospital beds if somewhere along the lines of 70% of the people who get it are asymptomatic or can be quarantined on their own? Later, it became about not infecting others, but avoiding viruses by shutting down the world economies has never been an answer to pandemics in the past.

The coronavirus might be the most infectious virus to come along in a long time, but it is now suggested that the greater share of people who do get it, don't know it. That's somewhere along the lines of a rash you notice in the mirror and wonder where that came from, hardly a reason to destroy the livelihoods of upwards of 30 million people. Others will be impacted, of course, but 30 million are out of work. Those who can work at home are still hampered by not being able to live their lives without drones haunting their every move.

                                                               More @ Twelve Round

Mike Flynn, Who Trump Says He May Pardon, Files Court Documents With Evidence He Was ‘Deliberately Set Up’ By FBI

In supplemental court documents filed under seal by the Department of Justice Friday, the lawyers for General Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, say they have previously undisclosed evidence that proves that Flynn was “deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI.”

“This afternoon, the government produced to Mr. Flynn stunning Brady evidence that proves Mr. Flynn’s allegations of having been deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI,” the supplemental filing submitted by Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell reads. “It also defeats any argument that the interview of Mr. Flynn on January 24, 2017 was material to any ‘investigation.’ 

The government has deliberately suppressed this evidence from the inception of this prosecution—knowing there was no crime by Mr. Flynn.”

More @ The Daily Wire

The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation

 

The tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be entering the containment phase. Tens of thousands of Americans have died, and Americans are now desperate for sensible policymakers who have the courage to ignore the panic and rely on facts. Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for decades; and then thoughtfully restore the country to function.

Five key facts are being ignored by those calling for continuing the near-total lockdown.

More @ The Hill

GA Barbershop Owner Drops a Massive Truth Bomb About the Struggles of Being a 'Non-Essential' Business Owner

"Rev. Al, you might have a couple million dollars in the bank. Us non-essential owners do not," the barbershop owner said. "The only thing we can speak from is our perspective. For the last two months – I speak for myself – I had no income for the last two months. I own three barbershops, I also cut hair myself, and us being out of work is no money coming in at all. In the last few months, I have spent over $20,000 in rent, in mortgages, you know, stuff like that. I applied for the SBAs, applied for the unemployment. I haven’t even received the stimulus."

Those in the beauty industry – barbershops, hair and nail salon and spas – have all taken a massive hit during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. They have been deemed "non-essential" from the beginning. In some states, it will be another four to six weeks before these businesses are able to reopen. In other states, like California, they are closed with no reopening date in sight.

Critics, especially rich critics on the left, want beauty professionals to stay home. Taurean Overall, the owner of three successful Blessed Up Barber Shops in Atlanta, said what's being asked of them is unrealistic and unfeasible. He is, however, thankful that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has decided to reopen the economy and allowed these so-called "non-essential businesses" to reopen.

More @ Townhall

Protestor on Northam: I believe he’s a tyrant..President Trump said it best...when he said ‘Liberate Virginia.’ & State Health Commissioner: The first phase of reopening the state of Virginia “will be a two year affair,”

Via Billy

Kiss my ruddy, red rectum.

 

The first phase of reopening the state of Virginia “will be a two year affair,” State Health Commissioner Norman Oliver said on Friday.

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) shared the “blueprint” to reopen Virginia on Friday, dubbed the “Forward Virginia Blueprint,” which outlines a phased approach to reopening the state — an approach embraced by a number of other states.

“We cannot and will not lift restrictions the way you turn on a light switch,” Northam (D) said. “We will do it responsibly and deliberately, and it has to be grounded in data.”

More @ Breitbart