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

Try Something Different, Dems. Like Actual Defense of the ACA. There’s Nothing to Lose But Loss Itself. Really.

Reader Alex Bollinger posted this this morning in the Comments thread to this post of mine from yesterday: Not only would low-info voters benefit from actually knowing that the ACA is doing good, but a few lefties could use a reminder that it’s not just a neoliberal gift to the insurance industry. I responded: Yes, Alex. […]

PRESS RELEASE: Angry Bear Offers Dem Pols Free Political Consulting Service. Free!

Here’s our offer.  It’s a very good offer.  And a serious one.  Seriously. (Yeah, I’m venting my frustration.) Who, the HELL, is running the House and Senate Campaign committees? My guess: People who have some personal or financial connection to the usual-suspect Dem consulting firms. Or who just can’t even imagine that, y’know, maybe it’s […]

Here’s what “unaffordable” long-term leukemia care ACTUALLY looks like, Ms. Boonstra. And Rep. Peters.

Just when I thought I’d written my last post on Julie Boonstra, I read Kenneth Thomas’s post below, from Sunday.  The only comment to that post–mine, which I just posted–reads: How very, very, very sad that there was no ACA during his years of leukemia treatments and hospitalizations, and that we still do not have […]

Okay, so why was Julie Boonstra advocating for lower-cost oral chemotherapy treatment in Washington when she was getting that medication for a set, low monthly price under the insurance plan she liked and did not want to part with? Was she concerned about reaching her annual or lifetime coverage cap?

Boonstra is the ex-wife of Mark Boonstra, the former Washtenaw County GOP chairman whom Gov. Rick Snyder appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 2012. Julie Boonstra said she’s never been a political person beyond advocating for lower-cost oral chemotherapy treatment in Washington. [My boldface.] — Dexter cancer patient who called health care ‘unaffordable’ […]

Yes, Virginia, there really IS a (rapidly-increasing) possibility of a healthcare insurance public option. The private insurance companies are inviting it.

  When millions of health-insurance plans were canceled last fall, the Obama administration tried to be reassuring, saying the terminations affected only the small minority of Americans who bought individual policies. But according to industry analysts, insurers and state regulators, the disruption will be far greater, potentially affecting millions of people who receive insurance through […]

Guest post: Under Obamacare, Will You Receive a Subsidy…We Now Have Real Numbers

 by Maggie Mahar Under Obamacare, Will You Receive a Subsidy to Help You Buy Your Own Insurance? We Now Have Real Numbers That Will Let You Calculate How Much You Will Receive Note to Readers: A longer version of this post appeared yesterday on HealthInsurance.org. Up until now, when Obamacare’s supporters and reform’s opponents squabbled over […]

Conservative roots of Obamacare

by Kenneth Thomas  Conservative roots of Obamacare The pile-on continues. As I discussed in February, Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation wrote a breath-taking op-ed in USA Today (via Don Taylor) denying that he fathered the individual mandate. In fact, his revised 140-page research paper was published January 2, 1989, before President George HW Bush […]

Medicare Cuts: What is the Fight About?

by Run75411 “Water For Elephants” “carrying water for elephants” is a phrase that means carrying a heavy load, much like carrying a secret that you can’t tell even someone you love wholeheartedly, just as in the end Jacob does for his wife.An elephant drinks 25-75 gallons of water a day far more than any man […]

About Ann Romney’s—And Other MS Victims’—Darkest Hour (those who have healthcare insurance, those who have very high deductibles, and those who may lose their jobs and be unable to get new healthcare insurance. Or a dressage horse.)

  The DNC has apologized for using Ann Romney’s London Olympics-bound horse in an attack targeting her husband. The Hill explains that Democrats had used the dressage horse to illustrate its claim that the presumptive GOP nominee was “dancing around the issue” of his decision not to release his tax returns. (Dressage is a dance-like sport, but […]

Let’s try to stick to the real world when we talk about Medicaid,

The Incidental Economist addresses election snippets that keep on going, just like in the movies.  Read the whole thing: Let’s try to stick to the real world when we talk about Medicaid, by Aaron Carroll: (Note: Paul Krugman cites here. Tyler Cowen responds here. I respond to Cowen’s response here.) Tyler Cowen had a piece […]