October 5, 2023

Canadians may not know the name Kaiser Permanente. It is the USA's largest non-profit health insurance and hospital network. It is also the largest "managed care" health organization that delivers "integrated delivery" across its network of clinics and hospitals.

"Managed care" is a process to try to keep patients out of hospital by making patients pay for lower-quality health care through increased insurance rates. It was sold as a way to keep health care costs for major hospital companies from growing too fast.

Managed care is also about hospital companies outsourcing health services to contractors at the lowest possible rates.

Even though KP is a non-profit, it engages in the same anti-poor activities as other health companies in the USA including patient dumping where it sends those without insurance to other emergency rooms. Emergency services are supposed to be for everyone in the USA. It is also one of the worst providers in terms of implementing COVID controls during the pandemic.

The company has huge cash reserves and pays its administrators as if they ran for-profit companies. Strikes are common at KP.

The strike is mostly about staff shortages, but low wages are also part of it.

• Suncor (finally) purchases Total's Fort Hills stake for $1B

  • adds: 61,000 barrels a day of bitumen production capacity
  • adds: 675 million barrels to Suncor’s reserves (though, these estimates are kind of irrelevant)

“They get the bitumen feed that they will need post-2030, when their Base Plant runs out" (Eight Capital)

• Saudi Arabia and Russia will not adjust its oil production even as recession fears increase and the price of oil goes from above $95/bbl to $85 in just on week.
• Germany will bring back online its coal generation plants that were recently shut-down to make-up for the loss of energy from Ukraine war-related gas supply interruptions.

• French Train Maker Alstom Slumps After Cash Flow Warning

  • shares down 38% when they reported problems on a major UK Bombardier-related Aventra project (a year late on trains) contract. Inventories are now also "too high" after it continued to make trains when supply chains were tight, but deliveries were disrupted.
  • banks are saying capital support is going to be needed to keep the stock investment grade.

All the above are indications of a troubled investment program on the climate front. More oil sands investment and fewer higher-speed train purchases are not really what people are calling for.

• General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. posted 21% and 19% growth in US new car sales

  • Stallantis saw a small decline in sales except in the hybrid Pacifica Minivan (likely due to price subsidies).
  • major concern is interest rates hitting leasing costs as rates hit 7.4%, the highest since 2007.

The UAW strike is having an impact on production at GM in it s ability to increase assembly of EVs. (BN)

Tesla has also reported slow-downs in production, so it isn't like anyone is making out very well right now in the USA

There is continued drama in Chile over its constitution. The new draft is far to the right and includes curbs on the right to strike among many anti-women's rights parts. Right wing constitutions tend to be about telling people what they cannot do.

Chile is not in a good place right now after their lefty constitution was rejected by a vote and now has shift to the right.

It is a process to remind left-wing leadership that just because they won elections doesn't meant the right-wing have given up.

Luckily, it seems the population will reject the new right-wing constitution if put to them too.

Just 24 per cent of Chileans say they plan to approve the constitution, while 54 per cent say they will reject it, according to a survey published on Sunday by pollster Cadem.

Don't forget about Hubble. It is releasing images all week:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/

Global firesright now