Radio Bob

Bob's on the radio (again!) in the morning (7:00 AM!!) to talk about today's court ruling outlawing "ObamaCrap." Click here and then hit the "listen live" butt...

Breaking News: Judge Rules ObamaCare© Unconstitutional

The good news is that the US District Judge in Florida - you know, the 20+-state case judge? - has ruled the (Evil) Individual Mandate unconstitutional. Further, he found that it was such an integral part of "The Act" as to render the rest moot.The bad news, if it can truly be deemed that, is that it is not dispositive; that is, the case will continue "upstream" to the Supreme Court, where it will...

HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious in HD?

Maybe she just can't help herself; after all, when you're not the sharpest scalpel on the tray, you're not really expected to make a lot of sense. And, of course, Ms Shecantbeserious is rather dull, which may explain this little non-sequitor:"[I]f I don’t have a 27-inch TV for the Super Bowl, I can’t demand on the day of the Super Bowl that somebody deliver that TV because I have a right to it. On...

ObamaTolls©

PowerLine's John Hinderaker gets the WaiverMania impetus exactly right:"[T]he vicious strategy at the heart of Obamacare [is to] pass terrible legislation, and then collect a toll by exempting your friends--those who pay you lots of money--from that legislation, while your enemies have to live with it."In this case, the toll actually came before the legislation: look at how many of these waivers go...

Guess what! We're THIS MANY Years Old!

Yes, six years (and 4,000+ posts) later, we're still going strong. Thanks to our readers for sticking by us, and a Special Thanks to my co-bloggers for their great insigh...

Shecantbeserious Channels Barney Fife

When she's not granting ObamaWaivers© to PresBo's minions, HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious manages to help an escaped convict elude Federal Marshals:"While one federal agency was doggedly hunting a fugitive drug smuggler who fled the country 31 years ago, others arranged for his return to South Florida and even loaned him money for housing when he landed here."And who were these mysterious "others?"...

Obamacare - Another One Bites The Dust

Obamacare has led to one more health insurance company withdrawing from the market. This means less competition, fewer choices, higher rates. Aetna is pulling out of the Colorado market as of 2/1/2011. They will no longer offer health insurance for individuals, families or self employed in Colorado.Aetna decided to withdraw from the small group health insurance market in Colorado last October (2010),...

Seeing through the MVNHS©

As we've long since noted, our country's cancer survival rates put those of our Cousins Across the Pond to shame. And it's episodes like this one which help explain why:"At least one of four people whose cancer diagnosis was delayed at Londonderry's Altnagelvin Hospital has since died ... The delays happened after written assessments of 18,500 X-rays were not carried out."Ooopsy.Here's a poser:"It...

Seniors in the Crosshairs - Medicare and Social Security

Seniors are caught up in a financial heart attack over funding for Social Security and Medicare. Reports out of Washington, released AFTER the State of the Union speech, hold daunting news for seniors dependent on SS and Medicare to get by.As reported by NPR, the CBO has this to say about Social Security.Social Security will run at a deficit this year and keep on running in the red until its trust...

Ceridian's 2-cent Moment

As you may have read, cancer patient Ron Flanagan lost his insurance coverage because his premium payment was $.02 short.Problem is, that's only part of the story, and as we've seen before, the press rarely looks beyond the popular narrative to see if, perhaps, there's more to the story.And there is.First, a quick primer on how COBRA works: when one leaves a COBRA-compliant employer (generally, any...

Email on Email: Retirees and HSAs

About three years ago, we answered a reader's email about HSA's and retiree medical coverage. Recently, we received a follow-up email from another reader:"Hello,I just read your ... entry on HSA's and those eligible for Medicare. We have a related question: If the employee is 63 and has an HDHP with an HSA, and his wife is 65 and has Medicare Parts A and B, can she still be on his HDHP? Can he make...

WaiverMania: Catch the Waive! [UPDATED & BUMPED]

By our most recent count, 222 plans had been granted waivers from all or part of ObamaCare©.You just knew there'd be more, but who could have known just how many?IB readers had a clue.And they were right:"President Obama’s health department made public new waivers for more than more than 500 groups."Although I was told that there'd be no math, that figure is more than double the previous total. At...

Sure beats the lizard!

Now this is a great car insurance commercial:[Major Hat Tip to Russell at Chatswood Moneyblog for the v...

California Gold Rush

First we were delivered from the evil health insurance companies by Obamacrap. As originally written and signed in to law, Obamacrap prohibited health insurance companies from excluding pre-existing health insurance conditions from coverage on children under the age of 19.And the mob was pleased.But the clowns that wrote the law, which they never read until after it was passed, left the insurance...

ACO's - How They Work

Yesterday we learned how an Accountable Care Organization might be set up. Today we will look at an ACO in practice.Or maybe not . ....

This Just In: ObamaLied©

Not to put too fine a point on it, of course, but here's what the (ostensibly) non-partisan Medicare Actuary just officially announced:"[ObamaCare©] probably won't hold costs down, and it won't let everybody keep their current health insurance if they like it."In other related news, the sun is expected to rise in the east tomorrow, and next month is expected to be February.That is a...

ACO's - Accountable Care Organization

Accountable Care Organizations will deliver a more affordable health care system, save money, and allow Obama to be re-elected. Well, maybe . ....

Cavalcade of Risk #123 now online

Notwithstanding blog presents this week's roundup of risk-related goodness. Take a chance and stop on by!And please note: If your post is included, you are expected to link ba...

Another One Bites the Dust

Remember that ObamaPromise© that "if you like your health insurance, you can keep your insurance?" And remember when (just 3 short months ago) The Principal and UHC put the lie to that vow? Well, it just got kicked again:"Today, Guardian announced plans to withdraw our medical insurance product line from all states, pending regulatory approval. This means we will no longer quote any new medical insurance...

1 + 1 = 0

As we've long since noted, one of the (unintended?) effects of ObamaCare© is a shortage of physicians. As we reported last month, "40% of doctors said they would "retire, seek a nonclinical job in health care, or seek a job or business unrelated to health care." Dr Bradley Wertheim, looking at the facts through a slightly different lens, finds that new physician training standards will exacerbate...

Oprah, Tom and Tiger vs MLR

What do a talk show host, a movie star and a golf legend have to do with Medical Loss Ratios (MLR)? This clever video has the down low:My only real quibble with the vid is that it continues the conflation of health care with health insurance. For a more detailed explication of MLR, be sure to check out Mike and Bob's take on the subject.[Video Hat Tip: Avik R...

Health Care Reform - Walking Down Memory Lane

Been there, done that.For those too young to remember, here is a refresher course on health insurance mandates and how it affects small (and large) business.Godfathers is a large, small business.Godfather stores are mostly franchises, with about 100 that are company owned. Franchise owners are small business men and women who must balance costs, including payroll, against prices they can charge in...

Stupid Carrier Tricks: Empty Threats Edition

Got this in email from United HealthsCare:"All Savers will require notification from all groups at renewal, regardless of whether or not a plan change is being made."AllSavers is UHC's latest rendition of group coverage. At renewal time, groups have several options: stay with the current (or similar) plan, change benefits, and/or shop around. Typically, a group has to respond only if it's going to...

Wherefore art thou, Gramps?

Another ObamaPromise© under the bus:"After health care reform was enacted on March 23, 2010, we chose to grandfather most of the medical plans in our portfolio ... Since that time, we have seen muted market interest in retaining grandfathered status."This is from Anthem, but I suspect that other carriers share this experience. It's simple, really: all 'grandfathering" does is tie a group's hands:...

Benefits Package #4 is up!

Jennifer Benz takes the baton from us, and presents a great roundup of benefits-related posts. Do stop ...

Windmill Tilting?

As tempting as this idea may be on paper, one wonders whether it's the least bit legit:"Idaho's Republican-dominated Legislature now plans to use an obscure 18th century doctrine to declare President Barack Obama's signature bill null and void.Lawmakers in six other states -- Maine, Montana, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming -- are also mulling "nullification" bills"The basic premise of "nullification"...

Cavalcade of Risk #123: Call for submissions

Notwithstanding Blog hosts next week's roundup of risk-related blogetry. Submissions are due by Monday (the 24th), and must include:■ Your blog's url■ Your post's url■ The post's trackback URL (if available)■ A (brief) summary of the postAnd PLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like).You can submit your post via Blog Carnival or email.NB: The Cav is about...

About that RepealIt vote...

Regular readers may be wondering why we haven't yet weighed in on this historic occasion. There is no question that it represents an important first step in the abolition of ObamaCare©. Frankly, though, it's something we've been touting all along, so it's surprising to us only that the new Congress fulfilled a campaign pledge. I do have some concerns about how one begins to undo the damage wrought...

Silly Interweb Insurance Info

So I log off email, and see this link on the home page: "Seven Insurance Policies That Aren't Worth the Money." Intrigued, I click over, curious to see what profound wisdom is to be had. Turns out, not much. Here are the 7 policy types, a brief description of each, the author's take, and my own: 1. "Mini-Med" Insurance The agent quoted here is not a fan of these policies, claiming that "(b)uyers should...

Godwin's Law and "Representative" Steve Cohen

Godwin's Law is a well-known (if often misquoted) internet meme that says:"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches."Today, Democrat Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee broke it in the real world, managing also to ignore President Obama's request for rhetorical civility:“They say it’s a government takeover of health care, a big...

Doc's On ObamaCrap

A (moving) picture's worth...[Video courtesy The Heritage Foundati...

More BS from ShecantBeSerious

What to make of this:"The Department of Health and Human Services study ... concludes that somewhere between 50 million and 129 million non-elderly Americans have a pre-existing condition."And?First, way to laser in on the actual numbers there, Kathy! The forces of ObamaCare© have now given up all pretense of rational, fact-based debate and are resorting to just picking numbers out of their Pelosi's.More...

Death and Taxes (But Mostly Taxes)

As might be expected, we tend to look at the insurance (and health) aspects of ObamaCare©, but as Bob's pointed out, there are some pretty significant tax issues, as well. Some are hidden, of course, but two readers, Bob D and Sam B, have drawn our attention to some of the more overt tax increases contained in the bill we had to pass to see. As we've discussed before, the (Evil) Individual Mandate...

Grand Rounds is up...

George Van Antwerp hosts an engaging 'Rounds, focusing on patients' access to and understanding of health ca...

You say that like it's a *bad* thing!

Quick, who said this:"(P)romising fundamental changes to the country's expensive and over-stressed ... health care system ... the reforms would cut red tape and improve treatment, but critics claim they will cause chaos ..."Nope, not BarryNancyHarry. This is "The New MVNHS©" and it's the rallying cry of Prime Minister David Cameron. The primary issue seems familiar: who's in charge of health care...

The MVNHS© Strikes Again. And Again.

No, these aren't the opening sentences of a bad prose contest, they're for real:"It was a bitterly cold night in January when Geraldine Weller gave birth in the car park of a London hospital. Three hours earlier, the maternity unit had sent her away."The good news is that Mrs Weller (the article points out that this isn't her real name) and her baby survived the ordeal, no thanks to the understaffed...

Blues vs Shecantbeserious: The Plot Thickens

Last week, we reported that the California Blues were playing a bit of "chicken" with their rate hike request. To wit, an astounding 59% increase in premiums. The Golden State's Department of Insurance responded by asking the carrier (and others) to delay their proposed increases for two months, but lacks any enforcement powers to make them comply. Which turns out to be a good thing, given this:"The...

RepealIt Update [UPDATED & BUMPED]

The House vote to repeal ObamaCare© is back on track:"As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the health care bill next week"Meantime, the forces of the 10th Amendment continue to march on the judicial front:"That brings the number of states on the Florida suit to 23 and the total number of states suing...

California DOI: FAIL!

This is hysterical:"Dave Jones, the new California insurance commissioners, is asking big carriers to refrain from increasing premiums for at least 60 days after the effective dates of their most recent rate filings."Remember, it was folks like Mr Jones who rushed ObamaCrap through Congress, and now he wants to slow things down? Hey Davey: Why don't you approve the rate hikes so you can see what's...

Good on the MVNHS©!

It appears that the Much Vaunted National Health Service© has learned a lesson from us Colonials:"The lives of more than 5,000 cancer sufferers will be saved each year under an £800 million [about $1.25 Billion] government drive to make England’s survival rates among the best in Europe ... Under the plans, GPs will be given the power to order a range of cancer tests direct from hospitals without...

Cavalcade of Risk #122 now up!

David Williams presents this week's roundup of risky posts. Take a chance and stop on by! And please note: If your post is included, you are expected to link back to the Cav in a timely mann...

On the Oregon Trail

FoIB Holly R forwarded the link to this story, about which I can only ask "on what planet is Hannah Wallace living?" It is so full of inconsistencies and outright misinformation, one wonders how The Onion could possibly do better.Let's start at the beginning, shall we?"For a writer living in New York state, there were plenty of reasonably priced plans"Really? The actual numbers tell a different story.Ms...

Grand Rounds: It's (Not Really) Complicated

Tony Chen presents an outstanding edition of Grand Rounds. It's obvious that he's read every submission, and worked hard to make them flow together (no mean feat when you consider subjects from diabetes to autism). Best of all, it's not overly long (as these things can grow to be), so it's easy to read throu...

ObamaCare© Repeal Update

The vote on the (aptly named) "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act" has been postponed due to Saturday's tragedy in Tucson.There is no question that the events over the weekend were horrific, but I have to question whether this is an appropriate response. I'd be very interested in our readers' take on this:Should Congress postpone the vote to repeal ObamaCare©?YesNoview resultsFree vote...

Ohio Department of Insurance News: Update

FoIB Holly R just dashed my hopes....er, alerted us to this new development:"In his first official acts as governor after the inauguration, Kasich named Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor director of the Ohio Department of Insurance..."Mazel Tov, Ma...

The Blues play chicken with Shecantbeserious

The term "neener-neener!" comes to mind:"Another big California health insurer has stunned individual policyholders ... this time it's Blue Shield of California seeking cumulative hikes of as much as 59%."But, but, but:"HHS will require that health insurance companies “disclose and justify any rate increases of 10 percent or more.”What to do, what to do.Well, as Mike pointed out in his post, "rate...

The Benefits Package: New Year's Edition

Welcome to the first Benefits Package of the new year (and, indeed, of the new decade). We're grateful to Evan for the opportunity to be the first "non-Evan" hosts, and to this week's participants for sharing their insights and ideas.I'm also pleased to help launch a new "niche carnival;" that is, one with a more narrowly defined...

CBO Yo-Yo

Have you ever watched a game of Ping-Pong? Your head constantly swivels back-and-forth, following the ball as it (hopefully) passes over the net. That's kinda how it feels watching the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) whipsaw over how much repealing ObamaCare© will cost.Er, save:"The Congressional Budget Office, in an email to Capitol Hill staffers... has said that repealing the national health care...

ObamaCare©: "Wait" for it....

Courtesy of the "evil" folks at Anthem, we learn about a few more gotcha's in the bill we had to pass to see. In health insurance, there are two very important, and different, uses of the term "waiting period." One refers to how long a carrier can put off covering pre-existing conditions, and the other to how long an employer can put off adding a new employee to an existing plan.First, regarding pre-ex,...