Friday LinkFest

■ At Frontpage, Tait Trussell makes the case that ObamaCare© constitutes "Medicare Malpractice" by essentially shafting "millions of low-income folks, minorities, and Hispanics." As we've noted, a lot of seniors covered by Medicare Advantage plans have been thrown under the bus.

■ David Hogberg offers his fisking of the New Republic's Jonathon Cohn's take on efforts at repealing ObamaCare©. He notes that this train-wreck "will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums ... lavish subsidies on the private insurance industry ... [and] put life-and-death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats." Sounds like a hat-trick to me.

■ Finally, the AP reports that the ObamaPools© are off to an underwhelming start (something we've long since noted), including one that we missed: "California, which has money for about 20,000 people, has received fewer than 450 applications."

Enjoy!

The Sad (Real) Faces of ObamaCare©

Yesterday, I had to turn away two prospective insureds. That's happened before ObamaCare© was a gleam in Ol' Nancy's eyes, but it was particularly troublesome because there are fewer choices now on which these folks can "land."

Let me explain:

Steve is a 45 year old gentleman who was laid off from his job last month. He's eligible for COBRA, but his means are (obviously) more limited, and the cost is prohibitive. With ARRA subsidies gone, he's stuck. Compounding his troubles is the fact that he's way to short for his weight, and has a number of other health issues. In fact, but for one "glitch," he'd be a prime candidate for the ObamaPool©.

Unfortunately, he's been insured within the past half-year, so he's outta luck, and outta the 'Pool©.

Then there's Tonya, a young lady in her late 20's, a single mom with a healthy five year old. Her employer offers a very nice group insurance plan, which just experienced a 35%+ rate increase, much (most?) of which comes courtesy of ObamaCare©. She'd like to jump off, but she has a number of problems.

No, her height and weight are within normal guidelines, but she's a Type I diabetic, and therefore uninsurable in the "regular" market. The 'Pool© might be a great option for her, but - you guessed it - no can do. Adding insult to injury, she can't do what we used to do: peel Junior off the group plan and put him on his own, much less expensive, policy. It's really a nasty trick, because even though we could write Junior on a plan with Mom, if Mom doesn't qualify (and she doesn't), Junior's not eligible. Then again, it's doubtful now that they'd save any money if they could get him his own plan.

I guess now that we're seeing what's in the bill....

Irony, Thy name is Cliff Clavin

Let me get this straight: Postal Workers' union elections are on hold because ballots have been lost in the mail?

Yep:

"But the union announced that only about 39,000 ballots were turned in -- and that "a large number of union members had not received their ballots."

You're kidding, right?

Um, no:

"The American Postal Workers Union has extended its internal election after thousands of ballots appeared to have gotten lost . . . in the mail."

As Warner Huston notes, these are the folks that want to run our health care system?

It's a little known fact that...

Shecantbeserious Waivering: You want fries with that?

On the heels of the recent McDonad's/Mini-med kerfluffle, we now learn that over 2 dozen companies have been granted temporary ObamaCare© exemptions. This of course raises a number of -- shall we say uncomfortable? -- questions:

First, under what criteria were these waivers granted? What, if any, quid pro quo was extracted from the corporate coffers of those which benefitted?

Second, what happens next year, when these waivers expire? Will they automatically renew? If not, what process will be implemented to review whether or not such exemptions will continue?

Third, what companies applied for an exemption and were declined, and on what basis?

Fourth, why is it that not only employers and insurers were granted exemptions, but also unions?

One more little time-bomb that was in the bill we had to pass to see.

Obamacare - Is The Public Option Dead?

Is the so-called public option in Obamacare dead? Some don't think so. Left wing blogger Huffington is sporting a post today suggesting there is still hope for those who want a public health insurance option. According to Dr. Abrams who it appears has never practiced medicine nor run a health insurance company, Democrats can still exploit a little publicized provision in Obamacrap to sweep them into office and create even more bureaucracy at the state level.

Apparently no one told Dr. Abrams the states are broke.

Although a federal 'public option' failed to make it into the law, states were granted the power to generate their own public option.

There you have it. Public insurance run by the states. The same states that are complaining about the addition of millions of uninsured's to Medicaid and wondering how care for the masses will be funded without massive tax hikes.

There's your answer.

States, like the federal government, have almost unlimited authority to raise taxes at will. For some reason people seem to think if it comes from the government it must be free. Those are the same people who believe that corporations pay taxes and you can't get pregnant if you do "it" standing up.

If I were running anywhere this year, for governor or state legislature, I would propose that my state enact a public option for itself. Its costs would be negligible, as the federal government provides the necessary subsidies to enable those who cannot afford it to buy it, whether it is from a private insurer or the state.

Costs would be negligible. Gotta love it. 

Raise your hand if you believe in subsidies that will last forever, if they even materialize at all. If you raised your hand you probably live in one of the 57 states and voted for having your health insurance premiums lowered by $2,000 and still believe if you like the plan you have you can keep it.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, according to HuffPo, "Reports of the public option being dead are greatly exaggerated".

The Commish (An InsureBlog Exclusive!)

Although the Whitman-Brown (or is that Brown-Whitman?) race seems to be sucking up all the air in the room, there's another electoral competition going on in the Golden State. In California, the Commisioner of Insurance is an elected position. It's a tough race, but independent insurance agent Rick Bronstein aims to give it all he's got. Rick graciously agreed to an (Exclusive!) email interview with InsureBlog:

InsureBlog (IB): So, Rick, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself (including how long you've been in the insurance business)?

Rick Bronstein (RB): I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area all my life, graduating from UCLA in 1978. I’ve been licensed since August 1977 when I began working in a small P& C agency part time. Ultimately I became the office manager and remained there for 9 years. Since then I’ve worked for a credit union as their insurance department manager, as an outside salesperson for Secure Horizons, and been on my own since 1996.

I enjoy long walks on the beach golf, profitable trips to Las Vegas, and riding my motorcycle [ed: since this is a family-friendly site, no centerfold].

IB: How would you characterize the current state of CA insurance markets? I realize that this is a somewhat loaded question; maybe a little bit about the P&C side, and more on the life/health (especially health) side.

RB: Like most states, mandates and regulations have created more problems than they have solved. Carriers are forced to provide benefits that may not be wanted, and every benefit has a cost.

We have a state run workers compensation company that as part of its mandate is to be revenue neutral to taxpayers. A few months ago our insurance commission sent $5,000,000 to various district attorneys throughout the state to fight fraud. How is that revenue neutral? Insurance companies should fight their own fraud cases.

The insurance commissioner has been holding Anthem Blue Cross “hostage” and has not approved their plans with effective dates after 9/22/10. How is that helping residents of California?

We’ve gone from oversight to over-regulation.

IB: Why run for insurance commissioner instead of, say, letters to the editor, that kind of thing?

Letters to the editor are almost impossible to have published, and if so, are rarely more than one or two paragraphs. While I know it’s unlikely that I will receive more votes than the establishment candidates (Democrat and Republican), at least I can get out the message of allowing a free market to actually be free.

What are your Top 3 goals should you become elected? Or, if you prefer, the first 3 things you plan to address?

The most pressing issue right now is the ObamaCrap that the brain surgeons in Washington passed. So the first 3 things I would do is to encourage the state to do everything possible to have this overturned. Among all the other unconstitutional provisions, the entire bill violates states’ rights.

Since I do not believe the insurance commissioner’s job is to make it more difficult for insurance companies to do business in California, I would reduce the regulations that thwart competition and lead to higher prices.

The third item is to once again allow for gender rating for Medicare Supplements. Several months ago the state required unisex rates which had the effect of raising prices for women on many plans by 20% or more. Once again, regulation where none was needed.

IB: One last question: With all the news out of DC, what do you think about ObamaCare, and specifically as it might effect Californians?

RB: This is a family site, right?

Thanks, Rick, for your forthright answers, and your commitment to fight the good fight. Hopefully, at least some of your ideas will find their way to implementation.

[This interview is not intended as an endorsement of any candidate]

Movin' on up... (An IB Exclusive)

In the Wikio Health Blog rankings. The new numbers are out, and we've moved up quite a bit, all the way to the (lucky) 13 spot (pretty good for an insurance blog!).

Thanks to Wikio's Oliver Orlik for the heads' up, and for the (exclusive!) opportunity to post this before the official publishing date:

1	Well
2	Respectful Insolence
3	Science-Based Medicine
4	Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog
5	Dr. Wes
6	Health Beat
7	The Health Care Blog
8	In the Pipeline
9	Pharmalot
10	White Coat Underground
11	Better Health
12	John Goodman's Health Policy Blog
13	InsureBlog
14	The Last Psychiatrist
15	Health Care Renewal
16	Managed Care Matters
17	Healthcare Economist
18	Disease Management Care Blog
19	DB's Medical Rants
20	The Happy Hospitalist

Ranking made by Wikio