Monday, March 22, 2010

More Of The Same

"Hey, America! You know those wealthy, politically connected corporations who totally trashed our economy? We've decided to reward them with more of your money."

That's what the government did with the bank bailouts, and now they're doing it with the health insurance companies, too. Frankly, I suspect an outright single-payer program might be better than the hybrid mess we have now, where taxpayers will be on the hook for any expenses the health insurance companies won't pay, after said companies skim a healthy profit for themselves off the top. Privatize the profits, socialize the losses. More of the same.

In other news: thanks and apologies to all who have written to ask if I'm still alive. Yes, I am, though I've not been blogging because this business of working two full-time jobs in addition to any freelance gig I can scrounge has got me fraying around the edges.

MUCH-LATER-EDIT: In a rare bout of productivity, I expanded on this theme in the Guardian's America blog: The Healthcare Law is an Ass.

6 Comments:

Anonymous A Moose said...

Hey, Jennifer, you still alive? (I am, obviously, sorry for being so infrequent but the same kind of demands on my time)

8:21 AM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

"Alive" might be giving me more credit than I'm due, Moose, but I continue breathing if nothing else.

10:39 AM  
Anonymous A Moose said...

And a fine job of doing that is you, to be sure.

It's ok, I'm sure health care will be there shortly, as long as you've managed to maintain the quit smoking, aren't too overweight, don't eat red meat, don't have to work so you can exercise all day, etc.

10:53 AM  
Anonymous Jeff P said...

Still alive...
despite my best efforts...

2:56 PM  
Blogger Jennifer Abel said...

I'm curious to see how this all plays out, Moose. 13 state attorneys general looking to sue the feds as I type this; the number may yet increase. Who knows what might set people off?

9:38 PM  
Anonymous A Moose said...

It shall be interesting. Took me a while to read through the bill. The stuff that's technical that nobody gets too concerned about such as mandatory loss rates seem, to me, to eliminate high deductible plans as an option. The backhand of the individual mandate is that it will force people to buy more insurance, and with employers now forced to contribute 60-70%, I think, can't remember, it can't help but drive up costs.

I had a guy who claimed "just like car insurance" to me yesterday. Red cape in front of a bull. After a long drawn out comment battle, it turns out he didn't really grasp liability insurance payment requiring some form of negligent conduct.

5:58 AM  

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