Clipping blog

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Clearing the Browser Tabs – Health Insurance Meddling Friday Edition Posted: 02 Sep 2011 03:10 AM PDT Something happened yesterday to your health insurance company that you might not know about. A provision inside Obamacare kicked in that gives the federal government the power to investigate any company that raises their premiums “in the individual and small group marketplace” ten percent or more, for any reason. So let’s say that Blue Cross sees that its costs have risen dramatically because of other provisions of Obamacare and they want to adjust their prices to keep pace. Well, your state or the Department of Health and Human Services can compel them to explain themselves and to post that explanation on their web site. Sounds fairly innocent, doesn’t it? Except for this question: What right does the government have to compel any company to explain itself? That is our job as consumers. We put pressure on companies to do business the way we wish or we take our business elsewhere. But then we run into a fundamental problem with health care insurance. We are not customers. Most of us who have health insurance through our employers do not choose the company that insures us. Our employer makes that choice for us and the insurance companies woo the employers and not us. However, thanks to government meddling that restricted our choices and turned is into liabilities instead of customers, we bring no economic pressure to bear. And now the government is meddling even more and you bet that we will not see a benefit from it. And now, links! I like Jamie Radtke. I think she’d make a fine Senator for the people of Virginia. I’m sorry that she’s had to endure what from my point of view is ridiculous political gamesmanship. I agree with this TIME article. Before we’re through with the year, the drought in Texas is going to be a far bigger story than the Virginia earthquake of Hurriance Irene (via memeorandum). The story of how Labor Secretary Hilda Solis believes she’s helping the American economy by driving around in a car built and assembled in Canada bought with money taken from American taxpayers and given to a company bailed out by the American taxpayers would be funny if she wasn’t actually in charge of a good chunk of our economy right now. Clean, safe energy is our future, right? Solar power that uses batteries made in part from lead? Don’t bet on it. Andrew Price nailed the reason that most superhero movies don’t do well. It’s not the subject matter but (as happens with so many failed movies) the story that is the problem. What’s frustrating is that superhero movies are relatively easy stories to tell. Hollywood just tells them wrong. I’m okay if alien life develops on desert planets so long as there’s no Fremen crusade later. I did not know that Waffle House was actually one of the indicators FEMA uses to tell how bad an area has been hit by a natural disaster. I love this idea for how to find inspiration in ordinary places. I may just try it myself. Hmmm…a quarterly magazine all about space travel? I could be interested in that. Today is a momentous day in sports history. On September 1, 1980, ESPN went to 24-hour programming. All sport, around the clock.

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