And now for something completely different... [BUMPED and UPDATED]
Tom Ireland published his first paper (which took First Place in a Big 8 competition) while in college, and never looked back. As an Air Force officer, and then in private industry, he developed and honed his unique and successful leadership style, and now you, too, can benefit from his many years of successful experience.For the next two days (today and tomorrow), you can download - Gratis! [ed: Peruvian for Free] - his newest effort: Information Technology Strategic Leadership. All he asks in return is that you give it a positive comment on Amazon if you like it.Tom says he's making this generous offer because he "feels ...
Source: InsureBlog - July 17, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Oops!
A newly discovered glitch in the main ObamaCare website reportedly is giving thousands of people the wrong information about whether they qualify for premium subsidies. Because of the glitch, some people may be initially told they qualify for subsidies when they don't. Others may be told they don't qualify when they do. Fox NewsCan you say clawback?Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 26, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Preview
Care to take a stab at where premiums will be on 2015 Obamacare plans? Here is a preview of things to come.   Two months before health insurers must submit rate proposals for 2015 to government regulators, WellPoint Inc. fired a surprising shot across their bow by predicting it may ask for “double-digit-plus” increases.BenefitsProDouble digit.As in 10% and higher.My money is on higher.Of course this rocket surgeon has his own thoughts.“The double-digit increase surprised me,” said Stephen Zaharuk, a New York-based analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, in a telephone interview. “If everything’s worki...
Source: InsureBlog - March 26, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

About that *Other* Big ObamaTax case
Cato's Michael Cannon has been following the Halbig case for quite some time. Last we checked, it looked like a US District judge had shot down this case, which argues that IRS enforcement of the (Evil) Mandate was illegal in 34 of the 58 states.Reports of the case's death, however, are greatly exaggerated. As Michael reports today:"[A]ppellate Judge Thomas B. Griffith clarified that an Exchange established by the federal government is not “established by the State.” When the government’s lawyer argued that federally established Exchanges meet that requirement, Judge A. Raymond Randolph cut him off: “That is a leap...
Source: InsureBlog - March 25, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Cost Accounting
Never let a simple thing like the cost of enforcement get in the way of a government give away program.The conservative American Action Forum (AAF), which is often critical of the Obama administration,released a study Monday that estimates the regulatory costs have totaled $27.2 billion since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.On average, the regulatory costs add up to $6.8 billion each year, while the benefits account for $2.6 billion annually.The HillPrivate industry would go bankrupt with this kind of business plan.Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 25, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Shecantbesious vs Hobby Lobby
A simple, factual accounting of tomorrow's SCOTUS hearing on Ms Kathy vs Hobby Lobby:"Quite simply, if you read a newspaper to find out about the contraception mandate cases, you will read lies. Here are the top six."Read the whole thing.Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 24, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

The Morally Bankrupt MVNHS©
[Content warning - this is NOT for the squeamish. To access this post, click on the "Read More" button. But I'm serious, this is a VERY disturbing article. HGS]So, it's winter and you need to heat your hospital. What would be a readily available, natural resource with which to do so?Why, of course:"The remains of more than 15,000 babies were incinerated as 'clinical waste' by hospitals in Britain with some used in 'waste to energy' plants"In the past two years alone, almost 16,000 "foetal remains" were disposed of this way, by over 2 dozen Much Vaunted National Health System© "trusts" (hospitals).Words fail.Original conte...
Source: InsureBlog - March 24, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Impeach Mitt Romney!
Close your eyes and let yourself go back in time. What if this had been our last few years...It's November 7th of 2012 and Mitt Romney has just defeated Barack Obama to become the President of the United States. Much has been made of this being a referendum on Obamacare but Mr. Romney has come out and said it is the law of the land. Even before taking his oath of office Romney takes to numerous talk shows, dances with Ellen, and spends a morning with the ladies at The View. He shares his vision for health insurance and promises everyone that they can keep their current insurance and doctors. Period.Not even a month into of...
Source: InsureBlog - March 24, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Happy Anniversary, Baby: The ObamaTax at 4: - "Success!"
For a certain value of "success."It seems appropriate to note, four years to the day of its passage, that the over-arching purpose of the ObamaTax - insuring the uninsured - has managed to cover....wait for it...hmmm:"[J]ust 1.4% of uninsured Americans."Ta-da!Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 23, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Ms Kathy Overreaches (Again)
What rational person confuses Critical Illness (CI) coverage with major medical? Well, apparently Ms Shecantbeserious believes it's a pretty substantial demographic, because she's proposing new reg's to significantly decrease the availabiolity of CI plans.We've reached out to the Director of Health Product Sales of one of the most successful CI carriers, who told me that this was a surprise to him and his colleagues, as well. He thinks there may be some push-back from the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) as this infringes pretty far on their own autonomy and authority.In the event, we'll have an in-de...
Source: InsureBlog - March 21, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Shocker: Ezekiel Emanuel doesn't know anything about employee benefits
It always amuses me when academics and politicians who think themselves so smart really know so little."Mr. Emanuel expects the law to produce an unadvertised but fundamental shift in where most working Americans get their health insurance — specifically, a sharp drop in the number of employers who offer coverage to their workers" "But now Mr. Emanuel thinks that a number of well-known national companies will break the mold and begin a trend. By his estimation, the proportion of private-sector workers who receive health care from employers will fall below 20 percent by 2025. Currently, just under 60 percent of p...
Source: InsureBlog - March 21, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

AMA Plays Catch-up
Almost a full year ago, Bob noticed that:"... exchange participants [have] a 90-day grace period to pay their premiums ... but in the second month, if the patient is still delinquent, all claims can be held as pending. By the third month, if the patient still has not paid, the insurer can terminate him or her."Thus leaving the provider stuck with the bill.Fast forward a year, and the providers finally get a clue:"The American Medical Association ... warned the rule could pose a "significant financial risk" for doctors and hospitals"Just now figuring that out, are ya?Hunh.Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 21, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Clearing the ObamaTax Spindle
■ As we recently reported, getting off an ObamaPlan is almost a hard as getting onto one:"When there is something that needs to be changed on the policy through the marketplace, no one seems to know how to fix it — not people at the marketplace nor their supervisors."Mr and Mrs Carpenter may have had it easy, though, compared to the plight of Florida resident Melissa Battles:"When I tried to enroll my entire family... it is very convoluted and it takes a very long time to enroll.”But enroll she did, and eventually even qualified for a subsidy. Soon after, though, she was fortunate enough to find a new job - complete ...
Source: InsureBlog - March 20, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Hey, Big Spender
Stimulus is not dead, just redirected.From January until the end of March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the HealthCare.gov site and administers the Affordable Care Act, will have spent $52 million on paid media, officials said. BreitbartThat may not sound like much to folks inside the beltway but I wonder how much money is spent reminding people they must file an income tax form?Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 20, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Cavalcade of Risk #204: Bountiful edition
Once again, Van Mayhall presents a cornucopia of risk-related posts, from  frat boys to folks who've fallen and can't get up (hmmm, may be some overlap there).Do check it out. Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - March 19, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs