So, Obama era funded all those programs needed to advance research with goals of undermining our autonomous nervous system---muscular, vital signs, brain fight or flight reasoning-----and made sure that COCHLEAR IMPLANTS FOR ALL became the answer for any and all that ails our 99% US WE THE PEOPLE. As our 99% of deaf citizens fight these policies being sold as social benefit for them----as 99% of REAL left social progressive academics fight these medical policy goals because we KNOW the goals of MOVING FORWARD----all those national health care NGOs----all corporate medical media are creating data and telling us this is all a great success.
'ACA Marketplace Plans and Coverage of Cochlear Implantation
The ACA Marketplace plans typically cover cochlear implantation. One teen in Chicago purchased her own Marketplace plan when her parents' employer insurance refused to cover her cochlear implant surgery'.
So, as with all our last century medical devices and procedures-----all PHARMA having lost its patents no longer able to go generic------global banking 1% will stop funding HEARING AIDS-----stop manufacturing HEARING AIDS----and will push for COCHLEAR IMPLANTS FOR ALL through MEDICARE AND MEDICAID.
The second most highly funded 'social benefit' medical procedure is of course mental health and addiction treatment selling sugar cube LSD THERAPY as helping while providing FAKE DATA.
Cochlear Implant Support on The Affordable Care Act
- Advocacy/Awareness
- » Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act (abbreviated as ACA) was passed by Congress in early 2010. Some provisions went into effect immediately, such as extending coverage to young adults under their parents’ health insurance plans until they reach age 26 and prohibiting non-coverage of children because of pre-existing conditions. The Marketplaces opened for applications in October 2013. Over 8 million individuals were covered as of June 2014.
The new law has provided an opportunity for individuals and their families who do not otherwise have health insurance to secure coverage from the new marketplaces. Regardless of whether or not a state has opted to operate its own exchange, each state has its own Essential Health Benefits (EHB) plan, which determines what benefits must be covered by the state’s small group and individual health plans under the new health care exchanges (or marketplaces, as they are now called).
American Cochlear Implant Alliance in a non-partisan organization and has taken no position—for or against—the Affordable Care Act. Rather we recognize that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is the law and may provide opportunities or conversely, challenges for individuals or families seeking cochlear implant coverage. We want to work towards utilizing the law to improve access to care and also address any access problems that may arise. In order to proactively address access on a state-by-state and at the national level, ACI Alliance created its State Champion Program.
To proactively address coverage of cochlear implantation at the state and national levels, ACI Alliance has established a State Champion Program. At present, we have 40 states with one or more State Champions. The State Champions contact details are listed. Initially our State Champions will lead activities related to the Affordable Care Act. We expect that they will lead other access initiatives such as state coverage provisions under Medicaid.
Webinar on Cochlear Implantation Under the Affordable Care ActIn collaboration with Audiology Online, ACI Alliance conducted an online seminar on the ACA. The seminar was recorded and is available for free playback. CEUs are also available for those who are registered with the Audiology Online Open Access Program. (There is a charge to be registered but anyone can take the course without CEUs for free.)
Expanding Access to Cochlear Implantation Under the Affordable Care Act
The webinar was first given on January 15, 2014.
Course Description:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA for short), often referred to as "Obamacare,” offers coverage opportunities for individuals who previously may not have had access to health insurance. This course provides a primer on the ACA and the state Benchmark Plan process and discusses what we have discovered so far regarding cochlear implant coverage under the new State Health Insurance Marketplaces.
For more details, please visit the Audiology Online website:
Ongoing Public Policy Monitoring of the Affordable Care Act
ACI Alliance has engaged the firm of Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, PC to monitor and advice us on the ACA rollout and how we may positively involve our members in monitoring and addressing access issues. Theresa Morgan writes a regular column in our e-magazine, ACI Alliance Calling. The first two issues are available here:
The Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion and Coverage of Cochlear Implantation (First published: ACI Alliance Calling, February 2014, Vol 2, No 1)
Theresa Morgan, Public Affairs Consultant to ACI Alliance Legislative Director, Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, PC
Over the last months of 2013, most health policy stakeholders focused on the private market reforms which started this month under health care reform. States and the Federal government opened, with varying success, a number of "exchanges” across the country to operate as online shopping destinations for individuals and small employers looking to purchase health insurance plans. States and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certified new insurance products for the marketplaces, reviewing these plans to ensure they meet the new requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). President Obama’s administration was also busy addressing the significant technical problems, which have caused widespread enrollment problems for the 2014 plan year.
What has gotten less national attention as we enter the New Year is the work states continue to undertake to dramatically reform their Medicaid programs. Because of recent budgetary pressures at the local and state levels, many state legislatures and administrations have embarked on changes to expand the use of managed care and have implemented other measures to bring down the cost of health care. For its part, the Federal government has launched a number of state-level demonstrations to coordinate care for "dual eligibles” (individuals who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare) and funded programs to provide incentives to states to provide Medicaid services in the community and in the home, rather than in an institution.
In addition, about half of the states will expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014. The ACA encourages states to add a new mandatory eligibility category to their Medicaid program: low income adults who would otherwise not be eligible for Medicaid. For the expansion population, the Federal government will pay 100% of the Medicaid expenses in the first year, and phase down to paying 90% of expenses in future years.
The ACA stipulates that states offer the new eligibly population a benefits package separate from the state benefits plan. States can use existing "benchmark” plan authority to shape a package to the new group. Some states are also using this opportunity to reshape the benefits plan for multiple Medicaid eligibility categories.
By law, when states utilize the existing Medicaid authority to create benchmark or benchmark equivalent plans (now called "Alternative Benefit Plans” or ABPs), these plans must cover Essential Health Benefits (EHBs). EHBs encompass ten broad categories of benefits, including rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, and are intended to reflect the scope of coverage found in a typical employer plan.
Cochlear implantation is considered an optional service for adults under the Medicaid program. However, as states create ABPs for the new adult population and for other Medicaid eligible groups in the future, it is plausible that CI could become a required benefit when medically necessary because it is covered by most healthcare plans. Indeed, it is a stated goal of the administration that coverage under ABPs reflect similar EHB coverage to that covered under new private plans meeting ACA requirements so as to create greater consistency between the health care delivery mechanisms.
Many states are undertaking the ABP process as of January 2014. As 2014 state legislative sessions consider how to approach health care, states that have not yet decided to expand Medicaid will likely have the debate anew. Even in states that have opted to forgo expansion in 2015, there is an opportunity to use the Alternative Benefit Plan process to alter Medicaid coverage for other eligible groups in states.
To expand understanding of the Affordable Care Act and how it may impact access to cochlear implantation, ACI Alliance conducted a one-hour webinar on January 15, 2014 in partnership with Audiology Online. A follow-up course will be offered in August; watch the website and Twitter @acialliance for details.
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Here we see where the costs and ability for many of our 99% US WE THE PEOPLE to access HEARING AIDS--BATTERIES is being made harder and harder. Below we see as with all MEDICARE REFORMS ------to access the medical procedures and PHARMA we need, we must go to a PRIVATIZED MEDICARE INSURANCE CORPORATION -----
Now, AARP would be shouting against MOVING FORWARD MILITARIZED HEALTH CARE if it were not a global medical insurance corporation PRETENDING to help US seniors.
'Medical flexible spending accounts. For those with these accounts, the cost of a hearing aid and batteries is considered reimbursable'.
We are watching as US 99% of citizens are being unable to access ordinary health and medical treatments-----being pushed into medical and health systems having a goals of harming, disabling, and in cases killing our 99% of WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown citizens because we are allowing LOCALLY----our public health departments, our public medical universities to be controlled by global medical corporations----led by global banking 5% freemason/Greek players AS EXECUTIVES----BOARDS. We must act locally to take back our public health and public medical institutions by getting rid of all global banking 5% BARBER SURGEON EXECUTIVES at the top.
What happens when 99% of citizens in Baltimore stand up and demand the rebuilding of our strong local public health structure by refusing to participate in any of these ALT RIGHT ALT LEFT FAKE left social benefit NGOs? We can rebuild our US strongest in world history quality public health and stop installing MOVING FORWARD MILITARIZED MEDICINE.
Who installed militarized medicine? CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----so when all those far-right wing global banking 5% players start pointing to MADMAN TRUMP OR PENCE in decade or two ---remember who installed all these policies allowing these global banking 1% goals to MOVE FORWARD.
The REAL POPULIST fight for health care and medical justice STARTS IN OUR LOCAL US CITIES----COUNTIES whether right wing or left wing 99% US and immigrant WE THE PEOPLE.
Paying for Your Hearing Aid
Where to go for financial help
by Cathie Gandel, AARP Bulletin, Updated April 2016
(c) 678783
Financial help may be available to you to pay for your hearing aid.
Men and women who need hearing aids often feel they can't afford them, and that's not surprising. Prices for a single hearing aid can range from $1200 for a low-end device to $3,500 or more for a higher-end one, and 80 percent of wearers need two. Battery costs are $30 to $150 per year. A 2014 survey by Consumer Reports found that 40 percent of those who bargained got a price break. Other than that, there is some limited help available:
Medical flexible spending accounts. For those with these accounts, the cost of a hearing aid and batteries is considered reimbursable.
Medicare and Medicaid.
Hearing aids and most hearing tests are not covered by Medicare. Medicaid may cover hearing aids, but each state's requirements differ. The Hearing Loss Association of America's website has information by state.
Veteran benefits.
Vets get hearing aids if their hearing loss is connected to their military service or linked to a medical condition treated at a VA hospital. Veterans also can get devices through the VA if their hearing loss is severe enough to interfere with activities of daily life.
Federal employee assistance.
Federal employees and their families are entitled to coverage through some insurance plans. Health plans pay for a basic hearing aid, and employees pay for extras and upgrades themselves.
Nonprofits.
Sertoma helps people with hearing problems and runs a hearing aid recycling program, SHARP through its 420 clubs (1-816-333-8300). HEAR Now, sponsored by the Starkey Hearing Foundation provides hearing aids for people with limited income. Clients pay for evaluations and a fee of $125 per aid.
Private insurers.
Few private insurance companies cover hearing aids, but three states — New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Arkansas — require that insurers provide coverage for adults. New Hampshire insurance companies are required to cover the cost of no less than $1,500 per hearing aid once every five years. Rhode Island requires individual and group insurance policies to provide $700 coverage per individual hearing aid every three years for those over age 19. And in Arkansas, insurance companies are required to offer coverage to employers in the state. If a company takes advantage of this, the health plan must provide coverage of no less than $1,400 per ear every three years.
AARP Members Enjoy Health and Wellness Discounts
You can save on eye exams, prescription drugs, hearing aids and more
Affordable Care Act.
A few states include some coverage for hearing aids and related services, under their health insurance exchanges. Information about this coverage is available from the Hearing Loss Association of America and through the Department of Health and Human Services. This government site gives additional information on proposed essential health benefits benchmark plans by state.
Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
As with FSAs, these types of accounts cover the cost of hearing aids and batteries. Unlike FSAs, money in your HSA accumulates from year to year, allowing you to save toward the cost.
Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA)
It’s up to your employer, who funds this type of account, to decide if hearing aids and batteries are reimbursable. Check with your company’s benefits department.
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Anyone thinking today's legalization of marijuana has anything to do with populist rights or justice---has anything to do with creating small or local businesses ----needs to WAKE UP to MOVING FORWARD undermining people's autonomous nervous systems----in what will be decades of global banking 5% BARBER SURGEONS trying to find that right combination of neural pathway interference PHARMA to bring the results of ZOMBIE TRANCES needed for both WHISPERING ROOM POD PEOPLE and space travelling people hibernating like BEARS.
'This time, it’s in the form of a drug is called AMB-FUBINACA, which was patented by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2009.
By January of 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classified AMB-FUBINACA as a Schedule 1 drug. A few months later, a derivative of the cannabinoid was being sold as Train Wreck 2 in Louisiana'.
Our US national media is all ready to claim any of these PHARMA that hit the streets are a result of some VOODOO medicine man or local drug manufacturer gone bad. What will happen is the release by GLOBAL BIG PHARMA any number of these neural inhibitor PHARMA creating any number of symptoms tied to clarity of mind----loss of motor muscular autonomy.
ALL THOSE GLOBAL BANKING 1% OLD WORLD KINGS AND QUEENS----KNIGHTS OF MALTA HOSPITALLER----TRIBE OF JUDAH KNOW THESE GOALS AND AS EMPIRE ALICE SAYS---'THEY DON'T CARE'.
Who is handing global BIG PHARMA all the power to release these once illegal drugs known to be harmful and additive? Clinton/Obama championed all this as COOL, POPULIST-----knowing the goals of militarized medicine. ALL today's US medical institutions and national medical agencies are filled with global banking 5% freemason/Greek players working hard towards these goals.
Big Pharma Invented A ‘Zombie’ Drug, 85 Times Stronger Than Weed
CultureA
Pfizer experiment has made its way into the world of synthetic weed with a drug 85 times more potent than the natural herb that turns people into zombies.
Anna Wilcox
Dec 22, 2016
Synthetic cannabis strikes again. Also known as “spice”, the drug is made by spraying man-made cannabinoid compounds onto a different herb. The product is often smoked and is thought of as a safe substitute for cannabis. Unfortunately, that could not be farther from the truth. A new type of spice has been making the rounds, and this one is 85 times more powerful than cannabis and turning people into zombies. The mastermind behind the drug? Pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer.
Designer zombies
A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a new designer drug has hit the black market. While the focus has been on opiates for the past several months, this one is a synthetic cannabinoid.
This time, it’s in the form of a drug is called AMB-FUBINACA, which was patented by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2009.
By January of 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classified AMB-FUBINACA as a Schedule 1 drug. A few months later, a derivative of the cannabinoid was being sold as Train Wreck 2 in Louisiana.
It was quickly banned through an emergency ruling by the State of Louisiana.
This year [2016], the drug was found again in Brooklyn. Emergency workers arrived at a “Zombieland”. 33 people, all men, had taken an unknown drug and were listless. 18 were rushed to local hospitals.
Upon arrival, examiners were met with blank stares, groaning sounds, slow movements, and delayed communication from the patients. Bystanders interviewed at the scene described the group’s behavior as zombie-like.
Say no to spice
AMB-FUBINACA was disguised as a spice brand called AK-47 24 Karat Gold. The product is confusingly named after a cannabis strain, but this stuff is more Frankenstein than peaceful flower.
Though the original variant of the drug was created by Pfizer, the versions sold as quasi-legal products in convenience stores and smoke shops are manufactured overseas.
Much of the synthetic cannabis available to the public comes from illicit laboratories in China, which create chemical concoctions based on research conducted by pharmaceutical companies, universities, and medical institutions.
Pfizer confirmed to MarketWatch that the company has stopped development on AMB-FUBINACA. A Pfizer spokesperson commented,
Years ago we investigated a class of compounds for potential therapeutic value in treating cancer pain and inflammatory pain. Our work in this area was confined to the lab, never tested in patients, and eventually discontinued.
Yet, as the New York Times reports, access to a public patent may have opened doors to the creation of knockoff drugs. Synthetic cannabis is the fastest growing drug class on the market. Of 540 new psychoactive drugs that have been submitted to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 177 are synthetic cannabinoids.
Roy Gerona, a clinical chemist at the University of California in San Francisco, has concerns. He tells the New York Times,
There is this cat and mouse chase, with clandestine labs synthesizing new drug, waiting until it becomes scheduled and then moving to a new compound.
And they just keep getting stronger. Gerona closes out with the concern that while no single drug from illicit labs has killed thousands, it is a “scenario that is becoming more and more close to reality.”
Fortunately, a safer alternative is also rocketing around the United States. It is impossible to fatally overdose from real cannabis and the herb has a high margin of safety when compared to other, legal substances.
Unfortunately, synthetics are cheaper and will not show up positive on standard drug tests. Combatting this problem will take some serious reform.
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This is the other side of global banking 1% goals of myth-making and propaganda surrounding our once safest public interest medical device, medical procedure, PHARMA because of strong oversight and accountability ---because of strong regulation of public health systems------
We have ALT RIGHT ALT LEFT 5% global banking players and media making our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE afraid of what has been ordinary medicine, vaccination, and treatment across all disease vectors. Now, our US 99% black, white, and brown citizens are being made AFRAID to access health care which meets the goals of UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL----PREVENTATIVE CARE ONLY----the goals of MOVING FORWARD SINGLE-PAYER, FAKE MEDICARE FOR ALL, UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE all coined by UNITED NATIONS WORLD HEALTH-----is making our developed nation quality health care 99% of citizens afraid to even want to access all that ordinary care.
THERE IS NO INTENTION BY GLOBAL BANKING 1% OF ANY OF OUR US 99% OR IMMIGRANT CITIZENS OF ACCESSING ANY MEDICAL CARE NOT TIED TO MILITARIZED MEDICINE.
So, what do parents do when all our US national media and ALT RIGHT ALT LEFT FAKE populist groups tell us we will harm our children by simply getting routine vaccines----by simply following medical directions called EVIDENCE-BASED by barber surgeons not tied to HIPPOCRATIC OATH----DO NO HARM?
This is why our 99% of right wing and left wing US citizens----why our 99% of new immigrant citizens need to STAND UP NOW----BE US CITIZENS WITH RIGHTS, CHOICE, FREE WILL-----act locally in all US CITIES DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES-----to get rid of all global banking 5% freemason/Greek players.
It would be easy for any citizens to know if ordinary vaccines or 'wellness treatments' were using sugar-cube LSD therapy which indeed can lead to mind-control-----know the symptoms how it feels to be exposed to these far-right, authoritarian, militaristic, extreme wealth extreme poverty LIBERTARIAN MARXIST global corporate FASCIST medicine.
Flu Shot Causing Brain Disorders & Paralysis
by EVaccines on March 20, 2013 at 11:49 am
Posted In: Big Pharma, Bio Wars, GMO, Mind Control, NWO, Vaccines
Stepping to the edge of a giant precipice overlooking the medical mayhem and inoculation ineptitudes that have castigated our health and propagate our perceptions, a paralyzing revelation rises to the surface of the ongoing vaccination population reduction program known as immunizations. The H1N1 vaccination is the toxic injection connected to the new spike in the occurrence of Guillain-Barré syndrome a paralyzing nervous disorder in which the body’s immune system begins to attack itself. A new study out of the Lancet shows conclusive evidence that these cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome have been caused by the 2009 H1N1 Flu vaccination.
This isn’t the first time a flu vaccination has been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome back in 1976 the swine flu vaccine caused so many cases of GBS that the Center for Disease Creation and Proliferation had been forced to create a page on their website explaining the matter. Their explanation for the incident states that, “In 1976 there was a small increased risk of GBS following vaccination with an influenza vaccine made to protect against a swine flu virus. The increased risk was approximately 1 additional case of GBS per 100,000 people who got the swine flu vaccine.” This time the number of people poisoned by the toxic brew was 1.6 additional cases of GBS per 1,000,000 people injected with the vaccinators lancet.
Miami Man Nearly Dies Vaccines have been engineered to create more costumers for the pharmacratical dictatorships growing empire. The diagnosis of human has become a commodity with the diseased being the most valuable and the sick being the most traded. The eugenicist’s injections have sped up the timelines of profitability by exacerbating the condition of being alive. These snake oil salesmen with their elixirs of death and disease have been consuming humanity for centuries selling poisons for profits and pills for pain. Backing away from the edge of this nightmarish cataclysm filled with toxic inoculation we can see their end goal is fueled by greed with their lust for money being the only prescription they need.
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It is BALTIMORE MAYOR PUGH and our Baltimore City Council who appoint COMMISSIONER OF BALTIMORE PUBLIC HEALTH. It is MARYLAND GOV HOGAN who appoints COMMISSIONER OF MARYLAND HEALTH AND HYGIENE and fills these major local health agencies with global banking 5% freemason/Greek players who will MOVE FORWARD any global banking policy.
It is again MARYLAND GOV HOGAN AS PAST GOV O'MALLEY who appoints the CEOs and executives at our MARYLAND PUBLIC MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS. They then fill these executive positions with global banking 5% freemason/Greek players who don't care what MOVING FORWARD MILITARIZED MEDICINE has as a goal.
The US elections are rigged and fraudulent to assure only global banking CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA win elections -----this is how all these attacks on the best in world history Federal, state, and local public health system occurred. Now, both Clinton and Bush global pols are morphing into far-right wing LIBERATARIAN MARXISTS----so those candidates will be those winning US elections.
All of these EXECUTIVES of our Federal, state, and local public health agencies KNOW the goals of MOVING FORWARD. Here in Baltimore, global hedge fund IVY league JOHNS HOPKINS and its BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH controls all ROBBER BARON predatory and profiteering ----and militarized medicine.
How are board of health members appointed?
Jill D. Moore, Maureen M. Berner, Aimee N. Wall
The method of appointment varies by type of board, but in all cases, county commissioners are involved. The board of county commissioners appoints the members of a county board of health or a single-county public health authority board.[1] For a district board, the board of commissioners for each county in the district appoints a county commissioner to the board, then those commissioners appoint the remaining members.[2] Multi-county public health authorities are managed similarly, but each board of commissioners may appoint either a commissioner or a commissioner’s designee.[3] Although no law requires it, it is a common practice for the boards of all of these agency types to recommend appointees to the commissioners.
The appointment of consolidated human services board members is managed somewhat differently. The board of county commissioners appoints members from a slate of nominees. When a consolidated board is initially created, the nominees are identified by a nominating committee composed of members of the pre-consolidation boards of health, social services, and mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services. Subsequent members are appointed by the commissioners from nominees selected by the consolidated human services board.[4]
Local board of health
Method of appointment
Statute
County board of health
11 members
County commissioners appoint all members.
G.S. 130A-35
District board of health
15-18 members
Each county in the district appoints one commissioner to serve on the board. Those commissioners appoint the remaining members.
G.S. 130A-37
Public health authority board (single-county)
7-9 members*
County commissioners appoint all members.
G.S. 130A-45.1
Public health authority board (multi-county)
8-11 members*
Each county in the authority appoints one commissioner or designee to serve on the board. Those individuals appoint the remaining members.
G.S. 130A-45.1
Consolidated human services board
Up to 25 members
County commissioners appoint all members from nominees presented by a nominating committee (initial appointments) or the consolidated board (subsequent appointments).
G.S. 153A-77
* In some instances, a public health authority may want to apply to the federal government to become a community health center so that it may be eligible for additional funding from specific federal programs. The federal law governing community health centers has strict requirements related to board membership. Therefore, state law allows a public health authority interested in applying for that status to have up to 25 board members.
[1] G.S. 130A-35(b) (county boards of health), 130A-45.1(b) (public health authority board); 153A-77(c) (consolidated human services board).
[2] G.S. 130A-37(b).
[3] G.S. 130A-45.1(b).
[4] G.S. 153A-77(c).
The statute specifies that the area mental health board is represented on the nominating committee, even though in most cases mental health may not be part of a consolidated human services agency. The members of the initial board may be appointed to terms of different lengths in order to establish a staggered term structure. Subsequent members are appointed to four-year terms.
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It is indeed a myth that our US 99% of WE THE PEOPLE who sometimes do fall into categories labelled mental illness-----naturally, or genetically. What we KNOW is very, very few of these citizens turn to violence and it is so rare to find a citizen struggling with natural mental illness to organize and plan mass shootings and killings. REAL left social progressives have shouted these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----and MOVING FORWARD will make these kinds of mass shootings soar------when global banking 1% BIG PHARMA meets local LSD sugar cube therapy our citizens struggling with mental health issues are very easy to program towards these kinds of violence.
That was the theme of THE WHISPERING ROOM-----ordinary, peaceful, local citizens suddenly become captured psychologically and programmed towards extreme violence. THIS IS A TRUISM in a fictional story.
What our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE do not want to MODEL is THE WHISPERING ROOM hero JANE HAWK described as a rogue FBI agent who fills this novel with continuous crime and brutality creating the aura that sometimes VIOLENCE AGAINST VIOLENCE is acceptable. This is a deliberate FICTION. Our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE can fight and win by simply STANDING UP------BEING US CITIZENS and refusing to participate in jobs, NGO non-profits, attending church led by global banking 5% FAKE freemason/Greek religious leaders. Holding those global banking 5% players ACCOUNTABLE ---telling them to WAKE UP ---as they and their families will be under the bus soon.
Any group focused on gun policy tied to these violent behaviors and not focused on STOPPING MOVING FORWARD militarized medicine is not working to protect our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE.
Society
The Myth That Mental Illness Causes Mass Shootings
By Tage Rai
October 13, 2017
“A sick, demented man.” That was Donald Trump’s assessment of Stephen Paddock, who shot nearly 600 people, leaving 58 dead, during a concert in Las Vegas earlier this month. Echoing Trump’s rhetoric, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that “one of the things we’ve learned from these shootings is often underneath this is a diagnosis of mental illness.”
Most Americans think that there is a strong link between mental illness and mass shooting, and shifting the national conversation to mental health reform carries the advantage of avoiding the more politically divisive gun-control debate. But what if Stephen Paddock had no diagnosable mental illness? And what if his mental state was the rule, not the exception?
In the aftermath of a mass shooting, we naturally seek to understand the killer’s motives. Our first instinct is to assume that the killer must be mentally deranged somehow. He must be a sadist who takes pleasure in the suffering of innocents, or a psychopath who feels no empathy for his victims, or a schizophrenic haunted by paranoid delusions. How else could someone commit such an awful atrocity?
Research over the last 30 years has consistently shown that diagnosable mental illness does not underlie most gun violence.
Yet, there is no evidence that Stephen Paddock was any of those things. He had no history of mental illness. He had no criminal record. He was a successful businessman. Relatives and people who know him are in disbelief. Paddock’s father was a notorious bank robber, but the two men never met, and if Paddock inherited violent tendencies from his father genetically, they never manifested until now.
We may never know what motivated Paddock or whether he had a mental illness. However, if we expand out from this specific incident and consider gun violence as a whole, research over the last 30 years has consistently shown that Mr. Ryan’s information is incorrect and that diagnosable mental illness does not underlie most gun violence.
In their 2016 edited book Gun Violence and Mental Illness, psychiatrists Liza Gold and Robert Simon summarize the evidence debunking the myth that mental illness is a leading cause of gun violence. As they report, less than 5% of shootings are committed by people with a diagnosable mental illness. Like mentally healthy offenders, the mentally ill are far more likely to shoot people they know rather than strangers. The mentally ill are also far more likely to be victims of gun violence rather than perpetrators. These data suggest that the link between mental illness and mass shooting exists in our minds, not in reality.
This makes sense if we step back and think about it. Only four percent of the population will be diagnosed with a severe mental illness. Only one percent of the population is psychopathic, and only one percent of the population is schizophrenic, and sadism is so rare there is no agreed upon psychiatric diagnosis for it. As Gold and Simon report, the vast majority of people with these mental illnesses will not perpetrate gun violence. Therefore, even if the small fraction of the already small fraction of people diagnosed with mental illness were more likely to commit gun violence, they would not be able to account for most gun violence because of their low numbers.
Perpetuating the myth that mental illness is the cause of mass shootings only serves to stigmatize the mentally ill even further. In addition, it distracts from the more difficult conversation that must be had over gun-control in America.
Still, it can be difficult to accept that only five percent of shooting deaths are attributable to diagnosable mental illness because it feels like someone would have to be ‘crazy’ in order to shoot 600 strangers at a country music concert from a pair of hotel windows. But even if you believe that someone must be mentally ill in order to perpetrate a mass shooting, the key question is in whether that mental illness is diagnosable prior to the violent act. Remember, Paddock had no history of mental illness and no criminal record. This was not a question of adequate access to mental healthcare either. Paddock was successful and had the means to access care if he chose to. Thus, even if the most comprehensive and strictest mental health reforms were put in place, Paddock would have been unaffected; 95 percent of shooters would be unaffected.
Believing that mental illness causes mass shootings can feel reassuring. It helps to believe that only a mentally ill person could do something so horrific. We also think that if someone is mentally ill, they can be identified. But the evidence suggests that mental illness only causes a small fraction of gun violence. And even if some shooters have undiagnosed mental illness, there is no evidence to suggest that they could have been diagnosed prior to their gun violence or that such a diagnosis would increase the predictive validity of a diagnosis on gun violence.
Perpetuating the myth that mental illness is the cause of mass shootings only serves to stigmatize the mentally ill even further. In addition, it distracts from the more difficult conversation that must be had over gun-control in America.