Success = Failure [STUNNING UPDATE]
[Scroll down for update - you won't might be sorry]
Tthe ObamaTax and its chief enabler are having a no good, very bad week. The chief enabler's vaunted sidekick TOTUS was nowhere to be found, leaving the President to sob inconsolably continue to communicate his message of Hope and/or Change:"Repeating his lament that buying insurance turns out to be “complicated,” President Obama also repeated his omission that even applications processed by mail and by telephone have to go through the same computer system that is causing healthcare.gov its many problems."Oy.Well, the good news is that at least the folks that h...
Source: InsureBlog - November 19, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Substandard?
Although the original Evil Mandate meme was predicated on the (long discredited) comparison to mandatory auto insurance, perhaps the latter may serve as a useful tool for comparison to the latest drivel from Our Betters in Government©.The latest to weigh in on the matter is California Governor Mr Linda Ronstadt Jerry Brown:"It’s not really a cancellation,” Brown said during the station’s Sunday Morning Q & A segment ... “these are Marylanders who are getting notices ... that you can renew your policy today and into 2014 but in 2014 you won’t be able to renew your current plan because it’s a substandard pla...
Source: InsureBlog - November 19, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
The 80% Solution
So according to the Obamastration, up to 80% of those who try will succeed in signing up for their shiny new "metal" plan.That is, their metric for success is 80%.You know what had a better than 80% success rate?Our now extinct health care system.Exit question: so according to ObamaMath, if 80% of airplane landings were "successful" that'd be okay?Good to know.
Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - November 19, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
The ObamaTax Coast-to-Coast
Say what you will about the ObamaTax "fix" - no, wait, that's not right: don't say one word about it, unless it's "kudos," as the (now former) DC Insurance Commish has learned:
"Commissioner William P. White was notified Friday ... that his services are no longer needed ... White issued a press statement Nov. 14 saying that the [ObamaFix] ... undercuts the purpose of the exchanges"
Which is a rather roundabout way of observing that the Emperor has no clothes. Can't have that, of course.
And FoIB Jeff M tips us that over on the Left Coast, the Beaver State's Exchange is, well, kind of a bust.
And by "kind of," we mean "...
Source: InsureBlog - November 18, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Customer Service: How to do it right
So last night, the Better Half and I were shopping at our local Kroger's (grocery store) when two things happened:Her phone went off with a weather update - a Tornado Warning had been issued for our immediate area.And as we started to exit the store, the tornado sirens started going off.At that point, the Kroger associates (their term for employees) invited us to join them and other customers in the back of the store (a "safe area") until the storm had passed. No panic, no flustering, just very calm, very professional people doing their best to keep their customers safe.Of course we took them up on the offer, and guided ou...
Source: InsureBlog - November 18, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Calling All Agents
Anyone listening to the news over the last several years would think that the only way to buy your
#Obamacare health insurance plan is through Obama's website.
Yes, that would be the healthcare.guv we hear so much about.
You can also visit with a #navigator that may be hanging out in the parking lot of your local 7-11 or liquor store and sign up on the spot.
Allegedly.
But it is a little known fact, very little known, that licensed insurance agents that have been helping people make coverage decisions are still around. If you did not know any better, and you may not, you would think health insurance agents were beamed...
Source: InsureBlog - November 16, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Some additional thoughts on this past week
I share Bill's frustration, which is why I've been noodling two areas of concern regarding the current state of the train-wreck:First: while all the oxygen in the room is currently being sucked out by the disastrous roll-out of Healthcare.gov and the world-class ineptitude of the administration vis the "keep your plan fix," I believe that the real nightmare is still under the radar.Last night, I had the privilege of sharing a meal with three very accomplished, very experienced IT infrastructure nerds experts. As one might expect , the talk eventually turned to the HC.gov debacle. I opined that "we ain't seen nuthin' yet;" ...
Source: InsureBlog - November 15, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Banging my head on my desk...again...
Like Henry, I despair that our good politicians will never learn. Allowing carriers to rescind the legally mandated policy cancellations is an actuarial disaster.Pricing in the exchanges is predicated on the assumption that healthy people are going to enroll along with the sick. If healthy people can keep a lower-cost plan, they will. The population in the guaranteed issued ACA compliant plans will have an even higher average claims level than originally projected.Yes, it's for a limited period of time. But it's going to do major damage until things stabilize...and it's like hitting a bell every tim...
Source: InsureBlog - November 15, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
In Video Veritas
Earlier this week, we reported that James O'Keefe's "Project Veritas" had uncovered abuses by the unvetted Navigators (as we'd predicted would happen). Lest one think that this was a "one off," isolated incident, Mr O is out today with another example (one suspects that he has a trove of these gems):So between low turnout, increased risk of identity theft, and outright fraud, tell me again why this was such a great idea?Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - November 15, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
The Face of Stupid
Every so often someone says something so completely brainless you're left to wonder how they live day-to-day. The fact that so many of those people teach at places like MIT or have degrees from supposedly prestigious places of learning just shows how broken our education system is. This is Jonathan Gruber"The only way to end that discriminatory system is to bring everyone into the system and pay one fair price. That means that the genetic winners, the lottery winners who've been paying an artificially low price because of this discrimination now will have to pay more in return. And that, by my estimate, is about four ...
Source: InsureBlog - November 15, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
And another fine mess...
What a difference a day makes:"How can the government force carriers to re-file cancelled policy forms, and how do they handle the immediate problem that these plans are unlawful under the ObamaTax?"Twenty-four hours later, we have our "answer:""President Barack Obama said Thursday that insurers will be able to continue health-insurance coverage next year for current policyholders"Uh-hunh. Go on...."The first caveat requires insurance companies to inform consumers of what their plans do not include"Oh, well, that's simple then: just send out millions of additional confusing letters to policyholders already befuddled by the...
Source: InsureBlog - November 14, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Why Obamacare is Broken
The low information crowd is grasping at straws in an effort to defend the #trainwreck also known as #Obamacare. This exchange between Megyn Kelly and Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is priceless . . . unless you buy into the lies that got us into this mess.Go Megyn!Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - November 14, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
BREAKING: Rousing Success!
Do you recall the SNL skit a few weeks back? The one that (presciently) predicted that only 6 people would sign up?Well guess who gets the last laugh, Lorne Michaels?Wait, what?No!"Obama admin: Fewer than 27,000 signed up for health care using federal website."And that includes folks who haven't actually bought anything, just have something "in the cart."Ms Kathy must be so proud.[Hat Tip: Ace of Spades]Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - November 13, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Toothpaste and the ObamaTax
It seems that Our Betters in Capital City never learn. Four years ago, they rammed through a piece of legislation with virtually no input from folks with actual industry experience. We've seen the results: "no, you can't keep your insurance."Now various Congresscritters, in an effort to at least mitigate the damage wrought by that broken promise, are proposing bills to allow - or force - insurance companies to rescind all these cancellations.The latest twist is in California, whose Insurance Commissioner has forced Blue Cross to delay 104,000 such cancellations to February.Here's the problem with all of this:It's one...
Source: InsureBlog - November 13, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Speaking of Presidential "misspeaking" . . .
President Obama's defenders claim he "misspoke" when he said "you can keep your insurance if you like it". They claim Obama really meant that you can keep the insurance you like . . . if you bought it before March 21, 2010 and if it meets HHS standards that were written after March 21, 2010.Well, America now knows for a fact that Obama never said all that. As a result, most people now doubt Obama ever meant all that, either. Besides, how likely is it that the president "misspoke" more than 30 times on the record?Well - surprise - that is not the only such incident.During the campaign in 2007-2008, c...
Source: InsureBlog - November 13, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
