NY Times: Obamacare Looking For Big Rate Increases For 2016

By William Teach July 4, 2015 – 7:16 am

Those darned ultra-conservative Ocare haters at the ultra-rightwingnut NY Times

Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016

Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans — market leaders in many states — are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

Jesse Ellis O’Brien, a health advocate at the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, said: “Rate increases will be bigger in 2016 than they have been for years and years and will have a profound effect on consumers here. Some may start wondering if insurance is affordable or if it’s worth the money.”

The hell you say! Of course, these are just the premiums. Will deductibles, already generally unaffordable, stay the same?

It is far from certain how many of the rate increases will hold up on review, or how much they might change. But already the proposals, buttressed with reams of actuarial data, are fueling fierce debate about the effectiveness of the health law.

That’s because there tends to be pools of sicker and older people signing up, and, it’s great that they have insurance. Someone has to pay for it, though. Instead of putting together a package that would actually address methods that would actually make the plans affordable and stable, we got Ocare.

“Our enrollees generated 24 percent more claims than we thought they would when we set our 2014 rates,” said Nathan T. Johns, the chief financial officer of Arches Health Plan, which covers about one-fourth of the people who bought insurance through the federal exchange in Utah. As a result, the company said, it collected premiums of $39.7 million and had claims of $56.3 million in 2014. It has requested rate increases averaging 45 percent for 2016.

Many companies are finding out that they aren’t just spending the required 80%, but 100% or more. Of course, don’t feel too bad for the companies, who were cheerleaders for the law.

The law is so complicated, and structurally deficient, that it may well collapse under its own weight. Which will lead to calls for a simpler law that actually addresses ways to cover citizens at an affordable rate single payer. Because that’s the ultimate goal: a health system run by and controlled by the Federal government.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Happy Independence Day!

By William Teach July 4, 2015 – 7:03 am

Never a bad day for a patriotic pinup.

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Mussels To Totally Become Poisonous From Hotcoldwetdry Or Something

By William Teach July 3, 2015 – 4:14 pm

Today’s scary fable from the Cult Of Climastrology

(UK Telegraph) Mussels will become inedible within the next 100 years as rising sea temperatures turn the dinner table favourite poisonous to humans, scientists have found.

A study has indicated that a change in temperature of just 2 degrees celsius could make mussels, oysters and other popular shellfish too poisonous for humans to eat.

They must have some serious hard facts to make this prediction

Climate change models* predict that sea temperatures will rise significantly in the next century, causing massive disruption to marine habitats.

photo worf-startrek-facepalm_zps01f51f46.gif

* For sake of acknowledging inside baseball occasionally, we’re talking about the idiocy of garbage in garbage out political belief computer models.

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If All You See…

By William Teach July 3, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrendous hamburger made out of evil meat, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A View From The Beach, with a post on the rain tax repeal.

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Salon Suddenly Upset Over Threat Of Using “Nuclear Option”

By William Teach July 3, 2015 – 11:17 am

Salon has been back and forth on the use of the nuclear option, mostly in favor of doing away with filibusters when Democrats are in charge. Of course, now that there is a possible threat to repealing Obamacare through the nuclear option (as opposed to using the parliamentary shenanigans used to pass the law, which was underwater in approval ratings before it was passed, while it was passed, and since it has been passed)

GOP’s Obamacare nuclear option: Will they nix the filibuster to obliterate the law?
The court challenges are over. Will they play legislative hardball if they unify control of the government?

Now that a certain court case about whether four not perfectly clear words in the Affordable Care Act invalidate the statute has been laughed out of the Supreme Court, the theater for future Obamacare-killings returns to the legislature.

Senate Republicans are considering an experiment this Congress to see how much of a full repeal package they can move through the chamber under the simple-majority rules of reconciliation. If any bill made it out of that arduous process, it would get vetoed by the current president. But at least Republican leaders could know how much they’d be able to chew off in 2017 under potentially unified Republican control of government.

So then the question becomes: Would you support using the “nuclear option” to kill the filibuster in order to move an Obamacare repeal to the president’s desk?

We raised this possibility last week, and it’s beginning to filter into candidate interviews. It sounds like Jeb Bush, for example, is finally learning how to contend in a Republican presidential primary. When pressed about nuking the filibuster in an interview with Hugh Hewitt last Friday, Bush said that he “would certainly consider” it if the right elements of a replacement plan were in place. Scott Walker had an even more definitive answer for Hewitt:

You’ll have to hit the link to read that part. Hey, even nutcases like Salon deserve the hits (somewhat off topic, it annoys me to no end, plus, it is really bad form, when blogs excerpt virtually an entire article, especially all at once. At that point, it is no longer Fair Use of intellectual property)

If Mitch McConnell and colleagues found themselves under pressure from the Republican base to nuke the legislative filibuster but opted not to, it wouldn’t just be because they’re worried about preserving their rights when they’re inevitably back in the minority. It would also be about protecting themselves while they’re in the majority.

So, now that the GOP is controlling Congress, Salon wants them to remember (well, concern trolls) that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Funny how that doesn’t happen when Dems are in charge.

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NY Times Loves How Communism Is Good For Cuba’s Environment

By William Teach July 3, 2015 – 7:03 am

Well, yeah, when people have no money, live in 3rd world conditions, sure, that’s great!

(Daily Caller) The New York Times has published a story bemoaning how American companies looking to do business in Cuba could threaten the country’s “pristine” environment that’s the product of decades of communist dictatorship.

“The country is in desperate need of the economic benefits that a lifting of the embargo would almost certainly bring,” the Times article reads. “But the [embargo], combined with Cuba’s brand of controlled socialism, has also been protective, limiting development and tourism that in other countries … have eroded beaches, destroyed forests, polluted rivers, damaged coral reefs and wreaked other forms of environmental havoc.”

Cuba came under communist rule in 1959 after Fidel Castro successfully overthrew the Batista government. For decades, Castro ruled as a dictator and ally of the Soviet Union, imposing a harsh communist regime on the Cuban people that stymied economic growth and people’s standards of living, leaving much of Cuba’s environment untouched.

“Already, American corporations are poised to rush into a country only 90 miles from Florida’s shores,” the Times article warned, but not without noting the despair faced by many Cubans who suffer from a lack of prosperity.

“Despite modest economic advances in the last 15 years, much in Cuba can seem frozen in time, crumbling Havana buildings and old Chevys and Ladas serving as markers of how far the country has been left behind,” the Times reported. “But that has also meant that much of Cuba’s more than 3,500 miles of coastline has remained undeveloped.”

Yes, their environment is great. And, I’ll agree that over-developing the coastline is a blight. I have to wonder how many who work at the NY Times will forgo their own trips to the beach, either down at the Jersey Shore or along the Long Island coastline. Oh, and they forget about the deplorable environmental conditions in other Communist countries, such as the Soviet Union and China. They also do not seem too concerned over the environmental degradation caused by “green” companies like Solyndra.

Cuba’s centralized economic system means frequent shortages of food and other basic products. The Economist noted in 2010 that Cuba’s farms barely produced 20 percent of the country’s food needs, and even with recent agricultural reforms under Raul Castro there are still shortages.

Reuters reported last year that the “communist-run country still encounters chronic shortages” and that “Cubans have come to consider shortages normal, providing both a source of frustration and humor.”

Well, at least it wasn’t caused by “climate change”. Over to the NY Times

Cuba’s green sensitivities evolved as much out of necessity as ideology.

The collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991 and the continued isolation by the United States forced the country to fend for itself. With the tools of big agriculture — fuel for heavy machinery, chemical fertilizers, pesticides — out of reach, farming moved away from the increased sugar production that characterized the Soviet era, turning more to organic techniques and cooperatives of small farmers. Oxen replaced tractors, and even today, a farmer walking behind his plow is a common sight in the countryside.

Huh. So, they were kinda forced to live like it’s a couple hundred years ago. Much in the same way Warmists/Enviroweenies want to do everywhere else for Other People.

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People Totally Concerned About Offending Arrestees In Baltimore

By William Teach July 3, 2015 – 6:45 am

Issues that are of Serious Concern. And by people being concerned, I mean those in the media and typical Social Justice Warriors, because most in the comments couldn’t care less about offending criminals

(WBALTV) The Baltimore City Police Department has launched an internal investigation after a WBAL-TV 11 News viewer shared four photographs of a sign inside a city police wagon.

The photos show the doors of the parked police van left open. On the inside of the back door is a sign, attached or possibly stenciled on, that reads: “Enjoy your ride, cuz we sure will!”

The sign’s placement makes it clear that this is a message for people who are arrested to see after they’re put in the back of the van and the doors are shut.

Police Department officials told 11 News the photos are real and they triggered an internal investigation.

The high mucky-mucks in the Baltimore PD are Very Concerned about offending people who’ve been arrested and are being transported to jail.

BTW, it’s doubtful the sign can be seen when the door is closed. It’s most likely intended to be seen by people who broke the law, were arrested, and about to be transported as they enter the van.

There used to be a saying “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Now it’s apparently “we worry about your feelings, hardened criminal.”

Another BTW, some are saying that the photo is altered. City Paper says that, to the best of their knowledge, it is real. But, the photographer, who refuses to be identified, hasn’t give up the originals as of yet. Personally, I see no reason to doubt the authenticity. Cops have a funny sense of humor.

A third BTW: one would think people would be more concerned with all the crimes and shootings in Baltimore. The BPD’s Twitter feed shows lots and lots of shootings.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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What’s Scarier Than Shark Attacks?

By William Teach July 2, 2015 – 4:18 pm

Real environmentalists tells us, and have a really, really good point

(NJ.ccom)  When Marilyn Schlossbach stopped offering straws to customers at her restaurants last month, it was not her expenses she was trying to reduce.

An environmentally conscious restaurateur and surfer who has participated annually in beach trash sweeps, Schlossbach said she’s trying to reduce her consumption of plastics.

And while she’s been able to cut down on her expenses because of it, she said she’s more interested in the message of environmental responsibility it sends to her customers and staff.

“When I go on the beach, one of the biggest problems is straw consumption,” Schlossbach said at a press conference at her Langosta Lounge restaurant on the boardwalk in Asbury Park. “I’m hoping our one little thing can ignite people to want to do something similar and cut back on their plastic usage.”

Clean Ocean Action on Wednesday used Schlossbach’s restaurant to kick off its annual summer campaign to educate the public about the dangers of plastics on the marine environment.

While the focus of the article may be on plastic straws, with a mention of some other plastics, especially micro-beads, overall, entirely too much of all the various types of plastics make it into the waters, especially the seas. Bottles, straws, bags, you name it. Over the years, other types of pollutants have been seriously diminished. There was a time when you’d see all sorts of crap, including medical waste from companies illegally dumping it off of NYC (I’ve personally seen empty bags of blood and used needles floating, along with so much other nasty crap), at Jersey beaches. People, unfortunately, also just leave their garbage on the beach, sometimes burying it in the sand, rather than throwing it out.

And then it ends up in the ocean. And it makes it into the ocean from so many other ways. Not all environmental regulation and law is a bad thing. It was rather easy to solve the medical waste issue, and significantly update ocean waste disposal. How do you deal with straws and plastic forks?

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If All You See…

By William Teach July 2, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is a sea that will rise up and kill everything sometime soon, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Last Refuge, with a post on Cuba demanding the return of Gitmo.

Yes, switching up to American flag hotties for the rest of the week, going through next week. I think I’ve made the point with the Confederate flag.

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David Suzuki: We Totally Need To Eliminate Fossil Fuels And Go Carbon Zero

By William Teach July 2, 2015 – 10:38 am

Hey, remember how members of the Cult of Climastrology told us they aren’t trying to eliminate all use of fossil fuels? Yeah, about that, hyper-Warmist David Suzuki tells the truth

Zero Carbon Emissions: The New Language Of Climate Change

If nothing else, the G7 countries’ recent agreement to end fossil fuel use for energy by 2100 signals a shift in the way we talk and think about global warming. Previous agreements were about reducing carbon emissions from burning coal, oil and gas. This takes matters a step further by envisioning a fossil fuel–free future.

There are reasons for cynicism: the long time frame means none of the politicians involved in the commitment will even be alive, let alone held accountable, for meeting the target in 2100; Canada and Japan watered down Germany’s proposal to end fossil fuel energy by 2050; and many governments, including Canada’s, haven’t met even their current weak commitments. But in calling for deep emissions cuts by 2050 and an end to fossil fuel energy by 2100 — “decarbonization” — the non-binding pledge at least shows governments recognize the need to confront climate change. (snip to the end)

Moving toward zero carbon emissions — in a much shorter timeline than agreed upon by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — is absolutely necessary, and not just for the climate. Eliminating fossil fuel energy will cut dangerous pollution, create new economic opportunities and ensure resources are available for wiser applications.

The words of scientists, government leaders and other experts — and now Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama — make it clear that it’s time to turn the page on this destructive and relatively recent chapter in our history. Now we must ensure our leaders strengthen and act on their commitments.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if Warmists are so concerned about fossil fuels, why do they use them themselves? If we’re all doomed, why do they continue to use vast amounts of fossil fuels themselves?

Of course, Suzuki mentions the need for a carbon tax and a cap and trade scheme, which, surprise, puts lots of money into the hands of the government, rather than in the private sector. That’s one of the real goals.

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