We'll Score This As "Not A Like"

With the calm and civility we have learned to expect when the object of their affection is questioned, the "Booman" denounces a NY Times contributer who complained about her insurance premium hikes under Obamacare as "either misinformed or the worst kind of liar".

Yeah, yeah. Ms Gottlieb is writing as a single (well-paid) mom in California with at least one child who complained that her new replacement plan would cost $5,400 more than the plan being cancelled. I can't compare precisely, but here in My Blue Heaven of Connecticut, my wife's personal Anthem plan was also cancelled as non-compliant. To replace it with a new Anthem plan with the same deductibles and copays (i.e., a Gold plan) would have cost an additional $600/month, or $7,200 per year.

Or, to replace it with a plan at a slightly lower premium than we currently pay we could have increased our deductible by $9,600 and an annual out-of-pocket max by $6,600. For various reasons hitting the deductible is a bit of a sure thing, so when I engage in cocktail party chit-chat and tell people that my wife's insurance cost under Obamacare rose by $6,000 or $7,000 dollars I am neither lying nor misinformed.

As to Ms. Gottlieb, her story is consistent with my experience, but how can I be sure? However, as to the choice between (a) she's lying, and (b) the Booman is suffering from an ObamaCare induced anal-cranial impaction which we hope is covered by his insurance, well, I have to go with (b). Also based on experience.

It is interesting to observe the rage and denial displayed by the reality-based community when introduced to reality. Prof. Althouse has more on that.

AND SPEAKING OF ESCAPE FROM REALITY... Garance Franke-Ruta, writing in Tha Atlantic, offers five ideas that might be even better than an apology from Obama for fixing health care. I love this exhortation:

2. Enroll "Young Invincibles": The second most urgent problem is getting enough young healthy people into the exchanges to keep rates low in 2014. Between Healthcare.gov's technical troubles, the complexity of signing up through the exchange sites, and the fact that many of the uninsured are not the most civically engaged people in America, it's no surprise that most of the uninsured haven't even visited a single exchange website. It is going to take a lot to get them insured. 

To get the young people whom the system needs to succeed into the exchanges will require more than just "navigators" and microtargeting key populations. Fortunately, if the Obama campaigns in 2008 and 2012 were good at anything, it was turning out and engaging young people, and that knowledge ought to be deployed in the campaign to sign people up for insurance, too. The campaigns made electing Obama a community project and a community conversation that involved meeting people where they were to talk about politics and voting. It involved barbershops and hair salons, coffee shops, laundromats, community organizations. Getting the insurance equivalent of low-information, unlikely-turnout voters to sign up for insurance—something much more complicated than going to the polls—will require tremendous work.

More "complicated" than going to the polls? It's also an awful lot more expensive!  Getting callow youth to think Obama was cooler than Hillary, McCain or Mitt - easy. Getting them to translate that sense of shared cool purpose into a willingness tio stand in line for an hour and vote (twice!) - not so hard. Getting them to translate that into a willingness to spend hundreds of dollars a month on insurance they don't need in order to subsidize the old and sick? Good luck. They may be dumb enough to have voted for Obama, but they aren't that dumb.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-12/former-fed-quantitative-easer-confesses-aplogizes-i-can-only-say-im-sorry-america

[BB Key]

MM, Warren was a Government Grant magnet for HL

[Stephanie on kindle armchair QB Statue of Liberty FTW]

Then put a poisoning pulling in there that the dems have to swallow but Obama never will and impeach his ass when he balks. At this point I'd throw the kitchen sink in there and dare the dems to vote it down at their peril.

[MarkO]

Carville: reptilian, musteline.

And the horse he rode in on.

Has there ever been anyone so fully odious?

[clarice]

I didn't see the Vidal piece. I detested him so I'll go look for it.

[Jack is Back!]

Whoa, Nellie: Its early, of course, but Michigan State is up 55-44 over Kentucky with 12:37 to go in the game. But the Spartans keep pouring it on.

Can March be that far ahead?

[Threadkiller]

"Has there ever been anyone so fully odious?"

I was hoping no-one would make such an inquiry around here.

[MarkO]

Duke and Kansas up next. I'm nervous.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Miss Marple the problem I have with that approach is it lets the donks off the hook. The Repubs tried to talk some sense to these clowns before and got nothing for their efforts. So they can serve that turd sammich up as is.

I'll settle for nothing less than major shrinkage of the welfare state

[Jack is Back!]

OL,

Its the nature of DC. They smell disappointment and will make an adjustment that will end up being worse than the cause. Anything these collective morons do is going to end up killing people or breaking them financially. They know not what they are doing. I give you the CFR issued every week just so you can keep up with their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

[Gus]

Captain, asking the Commies not to use the raw power the had, to finish the wettest of wet dreams was like asking a rapist to STOP. It wasn't going to happen. The people who forced this on America are Communists, and like the scorpion, to expect them not to sting you is futile and ridiculous. The GOP is too stupid to see what is happening.

[Account Deleted]

Here is the Keep Your Health Plan Act to be voted upon Friday. AFAICT, it provides a fig leaf for Dems while damaging BOzocare in '14 and leaving the issue wide open for the elections.

It's a repudiation of BOzo and his lies and the fig leaf isn't big enough to wrap around and cover Dem butts.

[Jack is Back!]

Kentucky is now within 3 pts of the tie up and lead.

[Stephanie]

The last thing the reps need is to be seen not assisting those people who lost their insurance.

I love that the dems are over a barrel, so lets smile, fix the problems and bury in the bill lots of rollbacks of out of control spending and goodies the republicans want to fix.

Clip the IRS bigtime (I'd be all for stopping all audits for 12 months until the IRS cleans up its own house and recoups the money paid to all the BS stuff and make any accidental payments hit the IRS as budgetary reductions and bundle that into a one time payment to republican 501C3s that are in limbo), roll back spending to 2008 budgetary levels, repeal the CR for spending and include a budget for 2014 that sharply curtails all the dem folderal for this year, institute voter ID, fire the czars and let em fume.

What are the dems gonna do?

[jpe]

I just enrolled for our new, shiny Obamacare compliant policies at work, and its 1/3 cheaper for my family.

[Miss Marple]

On another subject, Jonathan Martin's mother is an expert in workplace harassment litigation. Quelle suprise!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-martin-mother-1112-20131111,0,152863.story

[Miss Marple]

jpe

I suggest you read the fine print.

[Danube on iPad]

"I have to admit I am stumped here."

No kidding.

[Baby Huey Lives]

" and its 1/3 cheaper for my family."

Something's wrong. Go back and check. It's supposed to be more expensive so the taxpayer can be double-billed instead of the insurance co. That's a feature not a bug.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

I'm ok with Stephanie's plan.

[Miss Marple]

Good night, everyone!

[mad jack]

I hope you are right in your take on that bill, Rick.

[Stephanie]

Alice is correct in that as the insurance contracts expire on 12/31 so do the network provider contracts and the doctor contracts and the prescription drug contracts and all the other stuff necessary to get your healthcare through the insurance paperwork jungle mucking up the relationship between your doctor and you.

That jungle existing only because the government has so much experience in mucking up in the first place. CONS for hospitals, mandatory coverages, refusing to cap med liability...

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

You can't go back. You can't force insurers to insure people. You have to deal with 50 different insurance commissioners. You simply cannot go back. If Obama orders it we may as well flush the constitution down the toilet. You can't go back. Remember, insurers are prepared for this change. Their websites work.

The best you can do is make Obamacare optional so people who can't get coverage after being dropped will have a place to go.

[Gus]

Has Obama explained Fast and Furious yet? Benghazi?? Those 2 ROGUE IRS agents in Cincinnati?? Etc etc.

[Stephanie]

Captain, I can come up with another chunk of bargaining chips we might be willing to add to the start from point...

EPA funding reduced to 10% of current
Eliminate common core funding
Repeal ethanol subsidies
Outlaw anchor babies
Outlaw funding for advocacy groups
Outlaw funding for planned parenthood

Hell if you put 30 things in the bill and get 15 of them its a bigger roll back than anything the reps have accomplished in years.

And you do it in a take it or leave it no amendment fashion. Make em vote it down over and over again reducing the poison one pill at a time until they flip out.

I find it mentally satisfying to take the prezzy up on his fantasies and start with the gun to their heads that he 'knows' is there, we can devolve to just shooting them in the liver, but first we gotta make em sweat by pulling the trigger again and again and again... Chicago style. ;)

[Stephanie]

Probably true, Jane, but I think it is an opportunity too big to miss if it can be done. With full ransom attached, of course. At this point no one wants to be seen as the stumbling block in 'keeping the promise' and that includes the insurance companies that can swoop in to the rescue for those folks (working with 35 or so republican governors and their admins). So much for the 'evil insurance company meme.

[jimmyk]

the insurance companies that can swoop in to the rescue for those folks

Is that realistic? Can insurance companies really turn back the clock and reinstate previous policies on short notice? I would think the more likely scenario is that a window dressing "fix" is passed, and when the insurers fail to fall into line, Obama and the Dems will have someone to blame. "See, it wasn't our fault after all!"

[Stephanie]

IDK, but I think those that lost their coverage ARE paying attention. For now. They've already been lied to once, how trusting are they gonna be that the prezzy claims to have fixed it?

[Danube on iPad]

"Outlaw anchor babies"

Can't do it. 14th Amendment.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Stephanie,

If you push it you are being as lawless as Obama. Of course it would be the best outcome, but it is not possible.

The best we can do is capitalize on the massive hardship that is coming. This may be the biggest political screw up of all time.

[Gus]

Jimmy, the Insurance companies cannot survive under Obamacare. Free stuff is expensive.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/03/from-feudalism-to-consent-rethinking-birthright-citizenship

[Stephanie]

I don't care at this point if I'm being 'lawless' with my demands (which I don't believe I would be) but for sake of argument let's say that I am... at least mine would be codified in law (and passed with a bipartisan vote in both houses of congress with a veto proof majority, giggle) and not under cover of executive orders and judicial malfeasance.

I'll take constitutional convention by fiat for $1,000 Alex.

[Stephanie]

Guess who is gonna be on the Tonight Show on Nov 19th? Set your DVRs.

[Some Guy]

I just enrolled for our new, shiny Obamacare compliant policies at work, and its 1/3 cheaper for my family.

I just saw a unicorn flying out of your butt, and it looked painful.

Has anyone ever seen "jpe" post here before?

[Stephanie]

DoT, I put that in there for TK.

Don't say I'm not a giver. ;)

BTW the surgery is rescheduled for Nov 26, coming home on the 27th if all goes well. They are coding the surgery for a laparoscopic hysterectomy/bladder work as 'outpatient' with a 23 hour discharge after recovery. Sounds insane, but whatever.

Waited on hand and foot for Thanksgiving? Awesome! Can't wait to see my husband standing in the cold for Black Friday deals for once.

[narciso]

Like with Detective Carter, sometimes you have to go 'Rogue', talk about playing with gelignite; 'this court is out of order,' crossing metaphors here, yes that an inadvertent Judge Roberts reference,

[Some Guy]

I'll take constitutional convention by fiat

In my youth I had a couple of Fiats, which were allegedly unreliable. Well, those cars were better engineered and worked more flawlessly than anything this Admin has touched.

[jimmyk]

Aside from the problem that the fix won't work, if the Republicans add on a bunch of stuff like voter ID, they will be painted by the DeMSM as obstructionist, just as they were for putting in perfectly reasonable things into the funding bills to keep the government open. I still think they should do it, as I think most people will see through the media spin, but the rule seems to be that if you don't give the JEF exactly what he wants, it is your fault if he vetoes the bill and further sinks the economy. He's like a spoiled child and the Dems and the media are his enablers.

[Danube on iPad]

Bernard Goldberg:

"Chris Christie can attract moderates and independents that would give him a shot in swing states that Republicans must win to take the White House. He could win Florida and Ohio and North Carolina and Colorado and New Hampshire, and maybe even Iowa and New Mexico. But he might not be able to win his party's nomination because it's conservatives who make up the majority of primary voters, and they — at least as of now — don't want a Chris Christie. They want a Ted Cruz or a Rand Paul or some other candidate who can't win a national election despite what they think.

"What the hard right needs to understand is that if they really want change, first they have to win elections. I know it sounds obvious, but it's one of those obvious facts the Tea Party never seemed able to grasp. They picked a bad candidate in Nevada a few years back when a good candidate might have defeated Harry Reid. And they picked a candidate in Delaware who had to go on TV and tell everyone that she's not a witch. She also lost. And there have been other Tea Party favorites who appealed to the hard right base, but because that's never enough, they also lost."

I don't endorse every quote that I post. I just throw them out there so I can watch the fur fly.

[Threadkiller]

Thanks Stephanie!

You must have known that I knew you were right about anchor-baby legislation.

[narciso]

Well there's McCain and Romney, any questions,
and Allen, Mack, Thompson, Rehberg, McMahon,
I forgot the New York one,

[Threadkiller]

Utilizing quotes to set a "fur flying" tone, for self amusement, does not violate perceived rules of decorum at JOM.

[clarice]

Goodnight. Steph I'm bad on dates so let me wish you the best now for then.

[narciso]

And then there Sue 'Barter with Chickens' Lydon, what could go wrong, the Tarkanian lad was no big shakes either.

[jimmyk]

I'm not going to take the bait, DoT. It's well-worn territory by now.

SG, someone has trolled here in the past under the name 'jpe.' No reason to believe anything he says, but if it's true he got a much cheaper policy it's only because you and I are paying for it.

[narciso]

heh,

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/radical_posers/#131935

Abbott won the first time, but the wheelers and dealers stole the prime ministership, and gave it Gilliard.

[Annoying Old Guy]

2. Interested in meaningless sex above all else

Haven't many already pointed out this is in fact how the Modern American Left views life, at least the Lackwitz sisters contingent? It's not just for the under 35's, but almost all policy seems to be "if we say it helps single women have casual sex, it's a winner!". I know a number of JOMazons have commented on that However, it seems to work, so why not another trip to that well?

Obama may have abetted and sung the bill with his legacy attached to it but it was the denomic duo of Reid and Pelosi who did the passing.

That's why I prefer calling it POR-care : "Pelosi/Obama/Reid care".

[Stephanie]

And there have been other Tea Party favorites who appealed to the hard right base, but because that's never enough, they also lost.

Let's see exhibit one... who did Cruz beat in the primary? Oh, yeah. Dewhurst, LT GOV of TX. And he started in the polling with a paltry 2% of voters in his first poll...

And he beat the 'moderate' choice and favorite of the establishment in Texas.

Also, see Rubio, Paul, and moar for those who appealed to the hard right base......

and won.

Trying to appeal to a 'moderate' citified voter who votes d as often as r is a fool's errand. Particularly if you can capture a larger part of the tea party base than you can capture the 'moderate' base such as it exists. Especially when a large number of the 'moderate' base readily defects to the ds on a whim.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Stephanie,

What you are advocating is government telling business what they MUST sell and who they MUST sell it to.

Sorry, I can't support that.

[Some Guy]

SG, someone has trolled here in the past under the name 'jpe.' No reason to believe anything he says, but if it's true he got a much cheaper policy it's only because you and I are paying for it.

It's not true. That post is a fine example of the kind thing that O's political operation thinks is effective.

Ironically, they don't think actual competence or governance is effective.

[narciso]

We're already past that rabbit hole, jane,

[Some Guy]

but the wheelers and dealers stole the prime ministership

Hey, you leave Mike and Edd out of this!

[Danube on iPad]

The Heritage analysis acknowledges that the law concerning anchor babies has been settled by the Supreme Court decision in the Wong Kim Ark case. They simply argue that the decision was "wrong."

In 1973 Professor John Hart Ely published an article in the Harvard Law Review in which he laid out the case that Roe v. Wade was wrong. I agreed with him strongly, but I would never suggest that today the congress could outlaw abortion. It can't. Like Wong Kim Ark, Roe is the law of the land.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

TK is right, DoT; you troll this place as hard as he does.

[Stephanie]

Actually, no. Giving the insurance companies themselves a chance to help reset the clock to before cancellation and providing a safety net to those who don't get reset. You'd be surprised how many insurance companies would like to have their old clients back. Not all of them, but a large chunk. That's why I provided for a one year safety net for the hopeless cases using OCare funds... Gives the Rs time to get high risk pools for the 30mil that we are trying to help...that were the alleged cause of this 'crisis' and it resets the policies to sensible no males need maternity care coverages and other such idiocities that Ocare tried to implement.

Not one insurance company would be coerced under my solution. It would be the insurance commissioners of the 50 states in partnership with the insurance companies and the healthcare providers that would be teaming up to 'reset the clock' with the republicans only required to nix Ocare and let the 'free market' work.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Really Narc? When was that?

[narciso]

The date the ACA bill was passed,

[narciso]

Of course you know this means war;

http://riehlworldview.com/2013/11/nrsc-dayspring-threaten-blogger-private-emails-black-listing.html

btw, this was the apparatchik who thought being involved with the Huffington Post constituted outreach, well it is of a sort,

[Threadkiller]

"Wong Kim Ark decision is actually much broader than the actual holding of the case. Congress should therefore adopt a narrow reading of the decision that does not intrude on the plenary power of Congress in this area any more than the actual holding of the case requires. Wong Kim Ark's parents were actually in this country both legally and permanently, yet were barred from even pursuing citizenship (and renouncing their former allegiance) by a treaty that closed that door to all Chinese immigrants. They were therefore as fully subject to the jurisdiction of the United States as they were legally permitted to be, and under those circumstances, it is not a surprise that the Court would extend the Constitution's grant of birthright citizenship to their children. But the effort to read Wong Kim Ark more broadly than that, as interpreting the Citizenship Clause to con­fer birthright citizenship on the children of those not subject to the full and sovereign (as opposed to territorial) jurisdiction of the United States, not only ignores the text, history, and theory of the Citizenship Clause, but also permits the Court to intrude upon a plenary power assigned to Con­gress itself."

Inquiry:

Where does the author suggest the decision is "wrong?"

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Boy was I wrong about McConnell.

Lesson learned.

[Account Deleted]

Stephanie,

I don't know which way BlueGovIns will jump if the GOP bill passes with heavy Dem involvement on Friday. We can hope they climb on board (their losses beyond 3% are covered by Uncle Sugar) but they sure have been reticent about disclosing scenes from the Obamacare Rape Room during the run up.

If it happens, it will reveal the true cost of this farce.

[Danube on iPad]

Begin reading at "The Supreme Court's Wrong Turn in Wong Kim Ark."

I disagree, CH. I post stuff that some people here will disagree with, while others will agree. Neither side can fairly call me a troll.

[Stephanie]

Under my plan, their losses would be covered, too (for one year til the high risk pools are expanded). And they get the goodwill of having stepped up to the plate to protect their policy holders not the new status quo.

I hear which way the wind is blowing in the insurance bidness and it's not to support a sinking ship. The insurance companies are also in need of being made whole again in the court of public opinion. A gesture towards Ocare that would be back breaking for Obama would be quite the move.

Once the first insurance company breaks another preference cascade will be unleashed. Don't forget those doctors and hospitals who are currently in network and are soon to be out in the cold are exerting influence, too.

It's been interesting watching TV and noting all the commercials for hospitals touting their advanced practices and realizing that the commercials are inoperative under OCare and how ground shaking the change really is. How many people currently assume they can just decide to choose to go to Cancer Centers of America or a rehab location of their choice 'as advertised on TV' if they get sick and haven't realized that those choices are no longer there and the care they offer is out of reach by decree from on high?

[Threadkiller]

One is not a troll if at least one person agrees with one of tbeir posts.

[Gus]

Danube, you're not a troll, you just stir the pot.

[Threadkiller]

"Wrong turn" is synonymous with "Wrong decision."

[jimmyk]

So Obama and the Dems broke a giant egg with the ACA, made a big mess, and now they're just going to pass a law that says "The egg is unbroken, the mess is gone," and that will make it happen?

[Stephanie]

I might add, those doctors out in the cold want their patients back, and many are provided through the networks that they contract through INSURERS. Ocare upends that and tears apart those networks that people depended upon for years with many of those plans.

The breathtaking hubris of the HHS thinking they could just juggle around doctors and hospitals and networks like so many widgets in a widget factory is mind boggling.

Every ad for 'the best cancer center' or 'the best heart center' or 'the best children's hospital' in the area is going to piss people off every day.

[Stephanie]

Nope, jimmy. The republicans will (if they have any sense) pass a law giving insurers the right to reconstitute contracts with their insureds and networks and provide a safety net of funds that aren't needing to be spent on Ocare to those who need more than that.

[Account Deleted]

jimmyk,

The bill to be voted on Friday gives insurance companies the right to offer policies which were effective on 1/1/13 for coverage in '14. It doesn't "fix" anything at all. It just allows the Lyin' King the opportunity to keep his word.

He won't take it.

[Stephanie]

it's also due to the fact that insurers are still deciding what doctors they want on their networks and often haven't informed doctors if they are including them on their networks.

Some insurers have clauses in contracts with their existing doctors that say the doctors have to participate in any plans the insurers offer in that state. Doctors who don't want to participate on the exchange plans might have had to opt out, which some may not have realized, says Sam Unterricht, a Brooklyn ophthalmologist who heads the Medical Society of the State of New York.

A survey released this month by the New York medical society found 40% of 405 doctors said they didn't know how they wound up on insurers' exchange plans; 6% said they chose to be on plans; and 16% said they had to participate as part of a contract. The rest said they declined to participate. Three-quarters of the doctors said they had never received a fee schedule from insurers for the plans.

It's common that doctor and hospital networks are updated throughout the year, says Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents insurers. And all of the networks have to meet "adequacy standards."
Some doctors say they're still waiting to hear what rates insurers are paying -- or they are appalled by how low they are.

Michelle Berger, an Austin-based ophthalmologist, says she signed a contract to be on Blue Cross of Texas' exchange plans before she saw the fees she would be paid, which she says are only slightly better than Medicaid. "I'm not going to be able to take a full day of exchange patients and keep my doors open," she says.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2013-11-12-Doctors-confusion0_ST_U.htm

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

By comparing you to TK I wasn't implying anything negative, like the annoying pests. It's just something predictable you do to get a reaction. Some sports boards I go to call that trolling.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

And having explained that I'm going to bed.

[Danube on iPad]

Guilty ss charged on that one, CH. I see this as a place for spitited discussion, for the most part marred only by a few trolls and obsessed loons.

Nytol.

[jimmyk]

The bill to be voted on Friday gives insurance companies the right to offer policies which were effective on 1/1/13 for coverage in '14.

Understood, but if passed, will they be able to do that? They've sent out cancellation letters, offered new policies, no doubt many people have actually signed up already, and so on. So they'd be given the option to undo all that somehow, it's just not obvious to me that they can turn on a dime like that.

[Threadkiller]

Danube is down with being compared to TK in a non-negative way.

A new beginning?

[Skoot]

Clinton is signaling that the website won't be operational 30 Nov. 404care is now buried in teh sand and the tide is rising.

[Account Deleted]

jimmyk,

The plan is grandfathered. The relationship with the customer (or a brand spanking new customer) is up to the insurance company.

The purpose is to reveal the depth and breadth of the Lyin' Kings lies - and, perhaps, the tightness of his bond to the fascists and theirs to him.

[Account Deleted]

jimmyk,

I don't believe it's actually feasible. I'm just touched by the GOP's offer of a bright, shiny anchor for the President to cling to as the Obamic slips beneath the waves.

[Gus]

The whole Obamacare theory is a dead end.

[daddy]

Meanwhile in South Africa, the cave girls bring up a mandible.

Tomorrow they should bring up a cranium!

[anonamom]

Stephanie, in my state, insurers are not "deciding which doctors they want in their networks"---doctors are deciding whether or not they want to participate. And many won't be.

From a anonymous MD posting site I frequent, doctors who have stayed on their own--not becoming hospital employees-- are not joining up as the payments are too low, and a number are going to cash-only practices. If you drop the insurers, you also can get rid of all those women in the front office---and cut overhead dramatically. They also cut their fees, as they become a meaningful number--not something to negotiate with the insurers about.

The other thing they are doing is dropping out of Medicare. The burden of compliance now exceeds income for physicians who don't do procedures.

[John Scotus]

Young people really like Obama and really want to do everything to help out all the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, but pay money for something they don't need and can't afford, especially for something they assumed would be free? That's just not going to happen.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

So Stephanie, you are advocating stripping the states of all their power to regulate the insurance companies? Do you propose that as permanent or just at the whim of Congress?

[peter]

Just a few random thoughts on the insurance industry. Insurance is an inherently capitalist activity. Companies contract with people, that if x occurs, they will do y. They hire teams of actuaries to determine if they can undertake the risk of extending such promises and still make a profit. If they don't make a profit, they go out of business. If it can be profitable, capitalists will raise the capital and enter into the insurance industry. However, it is a highly regulated industry. What Obamacare does is regulate the health insurance industry to death. People should not be concerned Obamacare means that a vigorous health insurance industry can never come back. However, in order to do so, the industry must be sufficiently deregulated so as to allow profits. Requiring carriers to take on pre-existing conditions is a death knell. Lifting that and other choking regulations is the only way the industry can come back. Believe me, with all the trillions of dollars of capital on Wall Street, if the insurance industry is massively deregulated, new health insurance companies will come into existence in droves. Unfortunately, due to Obamacare, even if it is repealed, there is going to be a transition period before they are launched. And repeal will only be successful if it is fully repealed. You can bet that there will be plenty of lobbyists for existing companies that will not want new competition that will fight deregulation. One way to deal with the transition period would be emergency legislation to allow more tax deductions for health catastrophes, more health savings plans, and modified bankruptcy laws. my $0.02

[Jeff Dobbs]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SBW!!!

[Miss Marple]

Good morning!

Maybe we should pass a law cancelling all insurance and let everyone start over.

Or pass a law allowing insurance companies and consumers to modify policies as they see fit.

Could it be any more chaotic than what we see now?

You could pass a law saying the Obamacare policies were done under coercion and are therefore null and void.

Bah. I am simply throwing out ideas.

[henry]

HB SBW! I am enjoying your book.

[anonamom]

Miss Marple, if I had your address I'd send you this book--my son used it extensively the four months he was in Rome. Great pocket-size guide to all kinds of places to eat, and everything else too.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Books-Pauper-Hardcover/dp/144130665X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384342399&sr=1-1&keywords=rome+black+book

Little Black Book of Rome, 2012 edition

[Miss Marple]

anonamom!

Thank you! I just ordered it since it was only $10.55. I don't have a small guidebook and that looked like just the ticket!

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

HB SBW!

The democrat meme has emerged. "Obama's lies on Obamacare are not any different than George Bush's lies on Iraq, EXCEPT Obama did it to help people.

I kid you not. And what exactly was it Bush was supposed to have lied about?

[Miss Marple]

Cheney agrees with Bill Clinton.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/dick-cheney-bill-clinton-obamacare-99780.html?hp=r1

This is getting more and more interesting. LOL!

[narciso]

Happy birthday, sbw,

[Bela1]

Daddy,
Thanks so much for sharing updates on the cave girls. It's so refreshing!

Have a great day, everyone.

[rse]

HB sbw.

Janet-http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/20774/ron-kirby-dc-regions-top-transportation-planner-murdered/

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

HB SBW

[clarice]

HB, SBW.

I always find daddy's posts interesting and informative.

[pagar56]

Happy Birthday, SBW!
----------------------------------
"Riddle of the Day — What Do John Kerry and Ayatollah Khamenei Have in Common?"

http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2013/11/12/riddle-of-the-day/