Obamacare - Beam Me Up, Scotty

The U.S.S Obamacrap is taking on water and listing to the side. In the last few months we have seen HHS grant over 900 waivers to unions and other special interest groups that have found favor with the Obama regime.Last Friday we posted on the massive vote buying scheme by attempting to soothe the gray panthers. In exchange for their support, HHS agreed to postpone cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage...

MVNHS© DeathWatch '11

Perhaps the most efficient way to ration care is to simply deny necessary and/or life-saving health care. That certainly seems to be the preferred method of the system most favored by our own CMS Honcho "Sir" Donald Berwick:"Dying cancer patients have been refused costly life-extending drugs on cost grounds"This comes after the Brits' "health care" system had explicitly promised "to end the "scandal"...

Waiving the Cross

When is health insurance not health insurance? When it's a share-and-share-alike program under the auspices of a church or church-related group. As we noted over 4 years ago, Christian ministry "sharing" plans offer an alternative to traditional health insurance, but they're not perfect; as Bob noted in 2007:"If your claim is not paid, where do you turn? They are not insurance and as such are not...

Another Day, Another Waiver

Medicare plans will not be altered, at least not yet. So if you like the plan you have you can keep it, until the next election. One of the linchpins of Obamacrap is "better management" of Medicare dollars.That is shorthand for cutting benefits, cost shifting and reduced funding for things like Medicare Advantage plans.The WSJ online noted the following seismic shift by HHS and the White House in...

The Volunteer State opts out

Tennessee state legislators have passed a bill allowing their citizens to take a pass on ObamaCare©. What's interesting about this effort is that, according to its sponsor, it "doesn't argue for or against the federal law but simply "gives Tennesseans a choice."Imagine that: Americans get a choice.Oh, wait, don't even think about ...

The MVNHS© Cuts Deep (For Some)

Let's play a bit of Jeopardy.The answer is: "(P)atient care would inevitably suffer"The question is: What is the likely result of "53,150 posts ... lost across 155 hospital trusts, 126 primary care trusts, 23 ambulance trusts and 54 mental health trusts in England, as well as 15 Scottish trusts, nine Welsh trusts and six trusts in Northern Ireland."Ooops.Proponents of national health care schemes...

YOUR tax dollars at "work"

Early last month, we reported that the folks behind ObamaCare© were using public funds to purchase webvertising on Google. Turns out, that's only part of the story:"If you type “Obamacare” into a search engine — whether Google, Bing, or Ask — you’ll find that the first site that appears at the top of the page is healthcare.gov ... it comes up first, before anything else, because your tax dollars are...

What's on your mind? ObamaCare© will tax it

Here's a little mind-game:If you think about buying a car, but end up keeping your current ride, is that "economic activity?"How about if you think about trying out the new Chinese place down the street, but opt to eat in instead?The answer to both questions, according to Clinton-appointed Federal Judge Gladys Kessler, is a resounding "yes:""It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes...

Cavalcade of Risk #125 now online

FreeMoneyFinance blog makes its CavRisk hosting debut with a great selection of risk-related posts. Please stop ...

So, What's Your Exchange Policy? [Part 2]

[UPDATE: For continuity purposes, I've consolidated both parts here. H...

Making Health Insurance (Un)Affordable

The Montgomery Reporter states that 61 Alabama residents have taken advantage of the PCIP insurance plan for those who cannot meet underwriting requirements of traditional major medical coverage.Nationwide enrollment totals around 12,000 participants, far less than the 200,000 that were expected to enroll.The insurance was made available under the new federal health care law. It's designed to bridge...

HHS Admits CLASS is Unsustainable

In a remarkable about face, HHS Secretary Sebelius admitted that CLASS, the taxpayer funded long term care program, is a Ponzi scheme. According to her testimony, CLASS, as it currently exists, is unsustainable. The CLASS long term care insurance program is being canned before it ever got off the ground.While it is good that the Obama administration recognizes and admits the plan is not sustainable,...

Grand Rounds: "Read This Quickly" Edition

In his characteristically caustic-yet-ironic style, DrRich (and no, that's not a typo) presents this week's collection of outstanding medblog posts. While you're there, you might also congratulate him on winning the 2010 Medical Weblog Award in the category of Health Policy and Ethi...

1.4 Trillion Reasons to Repeal The Bill

My better half believes that "there are no coincidences," which is helpful in considering these two news items:Under ObamaCare©, "The Department of Health and Human Services will become the nation's first-ever $1-trillion-per-year Cabinet department in 2014."One shudders at the thought of the damage that HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious can wrought with that much of our money.On the other hand:"The...

So, What's Your Exchange Policy? [Updated]

[UPDATE: For continuity purposes, I've consolidated both parts into this post. HGS]Bob and I recently participated in a conference call, brainstorming about the potential for "defined contribution" health insurance plans. So, what's a "defined contribution" (DC) plan? It's pretty simple, really: instead of your employer choosing your health insurance plan, he gives you a "voucher" to buy whatever...

Alzheimer's Update: Don't Forget that Martini

It's been a while since we've written about Alzheimer's disease, which is not necessarily an indication of our own state of mind (or lack thereof). The good news is that there's some heartening news on the Alzheimer's prevention front:"Our vulnerability to dementia is influenced by our genes ... Experts now believe it may be possible to curtail the expression of such genes... A daily cocktail or glass...

Die, Baby Joseph, Die: THIS is Government-run Health Care [UPDATED]

It doesn't get any more simple than this:"The father and relatives of one-year-old Joseph Maraachli wept outside a London courthouse after an emotional Justice Helen Rady upheld the earlier decision of an independent provincial tribunal forcing the baby's parents to comply with doctors' orders.With all of their legal avenues exhausted, the family will have to say goodbye to Joseph Monday morning —...

Obamacare is Good News for High Wage Earners

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Cavalcade of Risk #125: Call for submissions

Free Money Finance makes its Cav hosting debut next week. Submissions are due by Monday (the 7th), 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 ema...

ObamaCare© No Go? You Betcha!

FoIB Elena Marie tips us to this rather,um, provocative response to Judge Vinson's recent ruling:"Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday that he will not implement the federal health care overhaul passed by Congress last year after a judge in Florida struck down the law as unconstitutional."Which really begs the question: why isn't every governor doing this? A Federal District Court has ruled ObamaCrap...

Not so fast, David...

My good blog friend David Williams, proprietor of the usually well-informed and always interesting Health Business blog, takes a rare misstep in his post "Bye, bye brokers?" David's thesis is that, due to new Medical Loss Ratio rules, agents will be forced from the market and further, that that's no great loss.As one might imagine, I disagree on both counts.Let's start with his first point, that agents...

Health Wonk Review: VD (Valentine's Day) Edition

FoIB Louise Norris, blogress at Long Term Care Colorado, hosts this week's round-up of health care wonkery. As usual, she does an outstanding job of presenting each post with helpful and interesting conte...

Obamacare - More Waivers

Obamacare (the law) applies to everyone. There are no opt out provisions in the law, yet HHS is handing out waivers and exemptions without rhyme or reason.Latest count had us at 700+ groups covering over 2 million individuals that are granted spectator status for Obamacrap. Now word comes that 4 states also don't have to pay or play.the waivers have been granted to states that have programs allowing...

Pardon me Doc: Chart, Please?

Folks following along at home may recall the infamous "Doc Fix" that was touted as a way to control rising health care costs. Briefly: for the past dozen or so years, Medicare has been slated to cut physician reimbursements by 21%. And every time it comes up, it gets delayed...so far.But that hasn't stopped the proponents of...

Information Bleg: Utah

If you're a Utah health insurance agent, or a small employer in the Beehive State, we'd like to pick your brains regarding the Health Insurance Exchange. Please drop us a line.Your confidentiality will be respect...

Ye Olde MVNHS©

Here's what happens when you let the state determine your health care:"Mrs J ... had Alzheimer’s and lived in a nursing home. She was rushed to Ealing Hospital one evening when her husband found she was having breathing difficulties ... He spent three hours in a waiting room without staff realising he was there, and so missed the chance to be with his wife as she died."So compassionate and caring.And...

Grand Rounds: "Just the facts, ma'am" Edition

Grunt Doc presents this week's no-nonsense version of Grand Rounds. It's brief, clean and gets right to the point. Do stop ...

Carriers Blink [UPDATED]

Last month, we reported that at least one carrier was seeking substantial rate hikes in The Golden State:"California health insurer has stunned individual policyholders ... Blue Shield of California seeking cumulative hikes of as much as 59%."Ouch!Well, never fear, left-coasters:"Three California insurers agreed to delay any rate increases for two months at the request of Insurance Commissioner Dave...

It's not too late!

To present your beloved with what he or she really wants on Valentine's Day:Nothing Says “I Love You” Like Life InsuranceValentine’s Day is one of the more traditional holidays to express how you care for someone. However, according to a recent study published by LIMRA, fewer of us today have insured the financial future of our loved ones. In 2010, it was found that only 44 percent of U.S. households...

We do not have these things

In Judge Roger Vinson’s January 31 judgement that Obamacare is unconstitutional, he quoted the following comment from a previous Supreme Court: ‘‘Generally speaking, when confronting a constitutional flaw in a statute, [courts] try to limit the solution to the problem,’’ [page 64]Imagine that: Try to limit the solution to the problem. If only we had a Congress that tried to limit its solutions...

The Berwick Chronicles

As we've long noted, current CMS Honcho Donald Berwick is not exactly averse to health care rationing. In fact, as Bob noted last summer, Sir Donald's "a self-professed supporter of rationing health care."Of course, when he's trotted out in public, he sings a different tune. And he tries to dance around the simple fact that we can't keep the coverage we currently have and prefer. Or tries to, as he...

Obamacare is a Bust

Not even a year old, and already Obamacrap is a bust. Since the legislation became law, most carriers have ceased to issue policies with maternity benefits, some have stopped writing any business, most have stopped writing child only health insurance (except where bullied into it by local mandates), premiums have risen more drastically than they would have, over half the country wants Obamacrap repealed...

Stupid Politician Tricks

Continuing the "stupid trick" theme, it seems the folks in DC don't have a monopoly on stupidity. Apparently this affliction is contagious as there are signs it is spreading outward from Washington and infiltrating the 57 states.First up, from the land of fruits and nuts, California Senator Noreen Evans has decided it should be illegal for a health insurance company to deny coverage to someone who...

WaiverMania: Piling On

Earlier this week, Bob made a compelling case that the Employer Mandate was, like the Individual one, unconstitutional. As long as we're on the subject, then, let's open this can o'worms even further:"The Department of Health and Human Services has granted 733 waivers from one of the statute’s key requirements ... Congress can pass statutes that apply to some businesses and not others, but once a...

Not yet . . .

The recent Florida ruling found Obamacare is unconstitutional because the individual mandate seeks to regulate economic inactivity which is the very opposite of economic activity. And because activity is required under the Commerce Clause, Judge Vinson concludes that the individual mandate exceeds Congress’ commerce power. (page 56 of the Summary Judgement)Now notice the Judge’s footnote on pages...

Pots, Pans and EMR

Although the Brits' MVNHS© is frequently in our crosshairs, it's certainly not the only troubled nationalized health care scheme. Proponents often point to Sweden as a model of how well such systems can work. Leaving aside the fact that the Swedish population is much more homogenous than our own (or Britain's, for that matter), it's helpful to note that even that country's health care system is far...

How Health Insurance Companies Rip You Off

Health insurance companies are robbing you blind. Used car sales tactics like bait and switch are rampant. They trick you when you buy. They trick you when you renew, and you won't know it until it is too late.Every health insurance company has these plans. They look nice. They are relatively inexpensive. They appear to cover everything, so what's not to love?These sneaky plans do not cover prescription...

Cavalcade of Risk #124 now online

Dr Jaan Sidorov hosts this week's roundup of great risk-related posts from around the blogosphere. Jaan's thoughtfully (and helpfully) broken the Cav into two general categories, making it even more usef...

Speaking of ObamaTaxes©...

So, you're a Californian who added your non-dependent 24 year old to your group health plan. Before you send that Thank You note to Barry, Harry and Nancy, you might want to read David Fluker's little-known factoid:"California'stax law requires the state to levy taxes on any amount of premium paid by the employer for non-dependent children of employees."What's that mean to you? Follow the link for...

Schoolin' the Pool

Six years later, the Ohio legislature is again looking at reimplementing health insurance pooling for school districts:"Mandatory health-insurance pooling for schools, a concept that last saw heavy Statehouse debate in 2005, could be poised for a comeback."It's thought (hoped) that by joining together, they can leverage greater numbers into greater savings.How much savings?Well, it depends on whom...

Grand Rounds: Life's a Beach edition

Dr Ramona Bates hosts this week's round-up of great medblog posts, liberally sprinkled with warm and inviting beach scenes - a welcome respite inde...

ObamaRipples©

Twice in the past week, I've had to break the news to anxious parents: no, you can't insure your perfectly health minor child.Hunh?!Late last week, a gentleman called in looking for coverage for his 9 year old son. The family had been covered by CareSource, the local Medicaid insurer. Due to changing circumstances, the child was no longer eligible, and the parents needed to find alternate coverage...