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  • Predictably (and predicted), Obamacare is in some more choppy waters. The anticipated rising premiums are well-discussed. Vox...VOX, for chrissakes, takes up the choppy waters: http://www.vox.com/2016/8/16/1249992...e-marketplaces

    Understanding Aetna’s decision-making process is important for understanding what decisions other insurers might do in the coming months and years.

    Aetna’s decision definitely means the Obamacare marketplaces will have significantly less competition in 2017. The insurer was a decently sized player in the individual market, covering 911,000 marketplace enrollees as of April 2016.

    The insurer will pull out of some really big states like Texas, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Its exit may be especially tough on Arizona and South Carolina. At least one Arizona county is at risk of not having a single carrier who will sell there — a situation that Obamacare is unprepared to handle.

    Aetna’s exit will make some markets less competitive. But the bigger question is whether other plans will begin to look at the marketplaces differently. They’ve now watched United and Aetna — two of the country's largest insurance plans — decide that the marketplaces were not a good opportunity. And that could give other insurers a reason to pause and reevaluate their options.

    To be sure, there are some insurance plans that are succeeding in the Obamacare marketplaces. These are insurers who have experience helping states insure low-income Medicaid patients — not those who have sold contracts to large companies. These insurers had already set up narrow insurance networks that are especially adapted to the needs of lower-income consumers.

    But there are also a decent number of losers in the marketplaces. And it’s fair to say that at this point, Obamacare is going through a major test of its viability. It relies on private insurers to willingly participate, and it is not clear they want to keep participating — or at least it is not clear that enough of them want to keep participating to create the nationwide coverage and competition Obamacare envisions.
    Duh. What will be fascinating is that when Obamacare hits a failure threshold sufficient to reevaluate, will the move be toward single-payer or back to pre-Obama.
    Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
    Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

    Comment


    • Good lord, the Boston Globe is even a little concerned about the Clinton Foundation and "appearance" of conflict of interest: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...b5O/story.html

      My favorite, most Clintonian thing ever is that the Clintons gave $1M to charity last year and all of it went to the Clinton Foundation. Heh. Genius. I need to create a Talent Foundation post haste!
      Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
      Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Wild Hoss View Post
        Its also fact that FNC viewers test out as the least-informed of cable-news subscribers. Even less than people who do not subscribe to cable news at all.



        But....we know. Bias.

        http://www.businessinsider.com/study...-at-all-2012-5

        I'm sure that the people performing that survey are perfectly unbiased and did not slant the questions towards material that Fox covers less and away from material that Fox covers more.

        I'd love to see a survey of which viewers of which networks have bought into media lies like "hands up, don't shoot"? Or a question like:

        "During a recent presidential election, which network ran a story against a sitting President using forged documents that amateurs immediately outed as fake?"
        A. CBS
        B. NBC
        C. Fox
        D. ABC
        Last edited by Hannibal; August 17, 2016, 12:27 PM.

        Comment


        • I'm still baffled by Obamacare and how everyones premiums are skyrocketing. Maybe cause I've never had to deal with it, but Cliff notes...how and why?

          Comment


          • Rising premiums are the pretext to single-payer. I don't think we can get the toothpaste back in the tube. And I think that the architects of PPACA knew exactly that this would happen. I mean, c'mon, it wasn't a secret.
            "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham Lincoln

            Comment


            • I'm sure that the people performing that survey are perfectly unbiased and did not slant the questions towards material that Fox covers less and away from material that Fox covers more.
              The folks who listen to just Talk Radio (predominantly Rs), scored 3rd and 2nd best behind the Daily Show viewers! Based on the conclusions from the link, that means the Daily Show is more informative than, e.g., CNN and Talk Radio (thank you, Rush!) is more informative than, e.g., CNN, MSNBC, etc.

              More importantly, the best score on Domestic Questions was 1.51 correct answers out of 4 or 37% correct vs FOX's 26% correct.

              I haven't a clue what this has to do with media bias as, well, it doesn't have anything to do with it. Which, as noted above, I reckon was the reason Hoss posted it.
              Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
              Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

              Comment


              • Rising premiums are the pretext to single-payer. I don't think we can get the toothpaste back in the tube. And I think that the architects of PPACA knew exactly that this would happen. I mean, c'mon, it wasn't a secret.
                Yeah, I agree on all points. It was the long con/incrementalism at its finest. That's why I don't blame the Rs for their incessant and seemingly silly flailing against Obamacare. I think they get that they're against the much bigger issue.
                Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by The Oracle View Post
                  I'm still baffled by Obamacare and how everyones premiums are skyrocketing. Maybe cause I've never had to deal with it, but Cliff notes...how and why?

                  * Many employers contribute up to 50% of the premium in traditional health insurance as a benefit.

                  * The government financially propped up PPACA with extra payments to insurers in the beginning. This has ended.

                  * The risk pool is still too small with PPACA.

                  * Wage-based premiums have an inverse cost-risk ratio. The lowest income pay the least and utilize more services when covered than those in the middle class and above. Probably because of lifestyle and that they had put off treatments and never had preventative.
                  Last edited by AlabamAlum; August 17, 2016, 12:55 PM.
                  "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham Lincoln

                  Comment


                  • Oracle:

                    My general understanding of it is that the insured pool has added way more high-risk folks than low-risk folks. People under 35 aren't enrolling as "expected" and would rather pay the fine than make a bad insurance buy. It also could be that the higher risk folks they have to cover are sicker and costlier than anticipated.

                    **EDIT**

                    Or what AA said!
                    Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                    Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by iam416 View Post
                      Yeah, I agree on all points. It was the long con/incrementalism at its finest. That's why I don't blame the Rs for their incessant and seemingly silly flailing against Obamacare. I think they get that they're against the much bigger issue.
                      You're wrong! You must be. CNN and The New York Times told me that Obamacare would work out perfectly fine and I know they wouldn't lie to me.

                      Comment


                      • So I guess my question is, why are some people killed by this and then others not affected at all? Based on employers?

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by iam416 View Post

                          I haven't a clue what this has to do with media bias as, well, it doesn't have anything to do with it. Which, as noted above, I reckon was the reason Hoss posted it.
                          I was just taking a shit on Geez' post about FNC's viewership numbers, which I assume he thought was some kind of victory lap.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by AlabamAlum View Post
                            Rising premiums are the pretext to single-payer. I don't think we can get the toothpaste back in the tube. And I think that the architects of PPACA knew exactly that this would happen. I mean, c'mon, it wasn't a secret.
                            An Online Database of the Left and its Agendas, a Guide to the Political Left


                            First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the Cloward-Piven Strategy seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
                            1. Point out flaw with capitalism
                            2. Impose wildly unrealistic government mandate on capitialism to fix flaw
                            3. Attribute new and even worse flaws created by government on capitalism.
                            4. Repeat

                            Comment


                            • In State politics, those states that accepted Medicaid expansion are about to see significant costs. The Feds picked up 100% of the expanded Medicaid coverage through this year. Starting in 2017, I think it drops down to 90%. That's still a good deal, but for a state like Ohio with Medicaid expansion adding up to 450,000 persons to Medicaid, the bill in 2018 will be roughly $1.5B ... and that ain't money that Ohio (and a lot of other states) will have lying around.
                              Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
                              Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by The Oracle View Post
                                So I guess my question is, why are some people killed by this and then others not affected at all? Based on employers?

                                Lots of it depends on what the insurer is set up for. If you're already doing a lot low reimbursent stuff, you already have the infrastructure to eke out a profit. It won't last, though. Also, the demographics of the area you cover and serve is huge.

                                More and more insurers will be forced to drop their offerings on the exchange and the call for single-payer will be presented as a mandate and a necessity.


                                It's really a brilliant and savvy move by the people pushing this agenda.
                                "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham Lincoln

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