Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Health Care Thoughts: Which Law to Violate?

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: Which Law to Violate? Citing a state notice statute, the Insurance Commissioner of California has convinced Blue Shield NOT to cancel policies which are not grandfathered under the ACA. The policies will be extended until March 31, giving hundreds of thousands of policy holders more time to […]

The Truth About Obamacare’s Exchanges

Maggie Mahar at The Health Beat Blog writes bout the exchanges. Paul Krugman: “There are two remarkable things about this kind of doomsaying. One is that the doomsayers haven’t rethought their premises despite being wrong again and again — perhaps because the news media continue to treat them with immense respect.” If you Google “Obamacare,” […]

Junk health plans

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/03/junk-health-insurance/index.htm   Consumer Reports, which also destroys that story. They take a look at the Florida woman’s cancelled health policy and compare it to what she could—affordably—get by shopping on the exchange. Barrette’s expiring policy is a textbook example of a junk plan that isn’t real health insurance at all. If she had ever tried […]

Not even a cursory fact check

We all make mistakes sometimes, but there is a lot of this in the news. Lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts: Dianne Barrette of Winter Haven Florida claims that instead of paying $54 a month for health insurance (no hospital coverage and a $ 50 deductible for office visits) she will have to pay $ 591 […]

7 Million Insured versus 2.7 Million Millenials

The argument has been the ACA depends on a number of the young to sign up for healthcare insurance on the PPACA or at least this is what S.E. Cupp believes and suggested on This Week with George Stephanopoulis. “There’s two problems, one is the technological, sort of mechanics of this. Obamacare relies on Millennials, […]

Insurers “Had a Seat at the Table” when Reformers Hammered Out the ACA, but Things Didn’t Work Out Quite As They Expected . . . –

Maggie and I have discussed this topic on several occasions and she tackled it here at: The Health Beat Blog. In the general public, it always surfaces as accusations of a sell out to the insurance companies. It is unfortunate we could not have Medicare for all or single payor; but, the political environment at […]

Oh Mein Gott! President Obama Lied . . .

Click on the title to view the YouTube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0cW8Wo1uvyU If you like your plan and doctors, you can keep them . . . even if it will cost you twice as much as it might under the PPACA . . . huh??? What idiot would pay more for a plan with similar or fewer […]

Health Care Thoughts…Tom’s avalanche theory

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: Knowns, Unknowns, Unknown Unknowns, Unintended Consequences Tom’s Avalanche Theory– once an avalanche is started there is no controlling it Some of the probable unintended consequences (?) of Obamacare are started to play out. The convergence of 1) a mediocre economy, 2) a weak labor major and the […]