23
Mar
Insurance has passed the point of being an inconvenience. It’s gotten to the point where it is affecting business decisions and in my area of the country, it’s causing social programs to be cut, thereby causing people to lose their jobs and the people who need the services to do without. This is causing the poor to become more of a strain on our community. And there is no remedy in sight. None. Tom Delay is not passing legislation to stop it. President Bush isn’t chastising the courts to stop it. It just quietly eats away at our society.
It’s time people started shouting about the insurance problem as loudly as they do the price of gas. This is much more critical than the price of gas, but no one is shouting. Starting today, I am. This may be a free market society, but when a market acts in collusion that jeapordizes the welfare of the country as a whole, Congress has the authority to take it over and regulate it. Now is the time for that to happen.
Step one is the most critical and the easiest politically to get passed. Eliminate the state insurance commissions and replace it with a federal commission. The reason this is critical is that states can not deal with problems of insurance any more. Smaller states are held captive by the threat of losing what few companies are left. And, IMO, insurance companies have "protected" areas that allow for monopolies in rural areas. This allows insurance companies to set their own rate without any oversite or fear of regulation. Going to a federal commission will mean the playing field is even all accross the country. Insurance companies will no longer be able to simply walk away from a state that attempts to reign in exorbatent rates. It also would mean states that make no effort to protect their citizens, such as South Carolina, wouldn’t have any control. The need for errors and omissions policies would no longer exist as violations would be handled on the federal level. Which leads to:
Federally re-insuring policies. This would limit the liability issue of unscrupulous agents and companies selling bogus policies. In the old days that was limited to disability and small life insurance policies, but today has escalated to full blown third party administered scams involving millions of dollars. Usually these scams are handled by errors and omissions policies, but some states set their limits so low it doesn’t even touch the damage done. By federally regulating the industry, it will deter such scams as they will carry felony weight and permanent loss of license. By federally re-insuring the policies, it will limit the damage done. IMO, the money saved to the public by federally regulating the industry will more than offset the expense of re-insuring policies.
That’s the start. By federally regulating the industry, it will also put malpractice issues in the hands of federal courts ( arbitration ) as opposed to civil courts that have no clue how to do the math of a damages claim.
I obviously have no sympathy for the insurance industry and they get the initial brunt of my wrath. Coming closely on the heels will be unscrupulous lawyers looking for a lawsuit with every fender bender and misdiagnosed cold. That’ll be handled in another post.
I can fix this mess. Just let me do my thing.
Tell me what you think.
– Moon
I’ve given this quite a bit of thought. I want some ideas from the economists that visit here. Here’s my plan for social security reform:
- Remove the social security cap on income. Sure it will penalize the Bill Gates’, but they can afford it. It puts a lot more money in the social security system RIGHT NOW. This move alone will make social security solvent for the next generation.
- Remove the limits on IRA contributions. Sure it favors the rich, but that’s the trade-off for the additional taxation.
- Federally insure IRA contributions up to a certain amount, say $50,000 per year. That assures that those people who invest heavily in the "retirement system" don’t lose it all.
- Raise retirement to 70. The problem hammering at social security right now is the increased age of mortality. People are living longer and healthier. Most don’t even want to retire at 65. Keep them working. Keep them active. And, give the rich a reason to contribute to the system by being able to keep their good employees longer if they so choose.
I see this scenario as a win-win-win situation with no logical downsides. Everyone "suffers" a little, everyone gains a little. And, I think it’s a lot more politically sellable than "messin with my retirement".
– Moon
22
Mar
"The legislation said we don’t want to see that anymore or we might cut your funding later."
Edwards said the sexually suggestive routines send the wrong message to teenagers.
This is nuts.
Now, I’m going to do the unthinkable and make this suggestion: They are doing what comes naturally. At that age, boys are becoming men and girls are becoming women. Boys release their testosterone playing football and some girls release hormones dancing and cheerleading. Now, we could ban all that and let them figure it all out in the backseats of cars, or we can encourage it in more productive ways. Al Edwards apparently prefers they do it in secret and unsupervised ways, I prefer they do it in constructive, supervised ways. Grow up, Al. Normally adjusted adults aren’t scared to death of a little provocative taunting.
And besides, everyone has always known cheerleaders were just a little hotter than your average babe!
21
Mar
Kofi Annan presented his ideas for a new United Nations. It is curious to me how it is being reported. This is CNN’s take:
OK, that is benign enough. They even list some of the major new emphasis of the "new UN":
- a comprehensive convention on terrorism;
- guidelines to halt nuclear proliferation;
- creation of a unit to help countries recover from war;
- recognizing the special needs of Africa;
- ensuring the establishment of timetables in the developing world for development assistance;
- generating global action "to mitigate climate change," and;
- pursuing the establishment of a worldwide early warning system for natural disasters.
-
"If the United Nations is to meet the expectations of men and women everywhere — and indeed, if the organization is to take the cause of human rights as seriously as those of security and development — then member states should agree to replace the Commission on Human Rights with a small standing Human Rights Council."
They omit one MAJOR change tho:
For the US, our current domestic product is about $11,733,500,000,000. .7% of that would be about $82,000,000,000 ( that’s 82 billion ). I have heard that is about three times what we pay now. That ain’t happening. The mood right now is to save our money by pulling out of the UN. Annan’s not suggesting changes that will prevent the abuses ( his son taking money ) that have occurred from happening again, he’s not suggesting changes to the Security Council that will prevent one country such as France from blocking another country’s efforts ( bribery scandal ), and, he’s not suggesting changes to prevent the sex abuse scandals from happening. And for that, he’s asking the US to shell out an additional $50 billion. Now way, Kofi. It ain’t happenin.
Sounding like a big deal, right? Here’s the public outcry that accompanied "some of the world’s worst polluters":
That’s it.
19
Mar
I have received, and read several theories on who Deep Throat might be. None are as compelling and well documented as the one I received last night from Rex. As per the norm, he convinces us it’s someone that’s not even on the list I have to vote for. However, per the norm, he should be. Rex makes the argument it is……
Yes, THE Ben Stein. And, after reading his article, I have to agree with him. However, my gut feeling is still that Deep Throat is a composite of people. Ben Stein may have been a major contributor, but I don’t think one person did it all. The Bradlee Riddle IMO is that no one person was at all of the locations mentioned.
If it is Ben Stein, and I won’t say it wasn’t, it will be a long time before we find out. And that’s OK with me. I really admire Ben Stein and don’t want to find out if he is or is not Deep Throat any time soon. Unless he wants to tell us himself.
This is such a clever move I had to laugh when I read it ( Thanks to Charles ). It’s simple, it doesn’t actually affect any laws or lawsuits, and just puts everything on hold for a couple of weeks. Very clever move Senator Frist. Now, that Committee meeting needs to be delayed a few times.
From Mauldin’s letter of the 11th…on the current account deficits and the dangers inherrent there-in. Published with full disclosure and reprint permissions:
I did a piece on Digital Medical Records over in the Spacedream. Basically it addressed the situation that since the medical community always resists change. I probably should have stuck it here, but I was thinking of the scientific aspect of modern computerized record keeping. However, this little article caught my eye:
Health care lags behind the information age, a new study found. Fewer than a third of hospitals and only 17 percent of doctors’ offices check electronic records prior to treating patients or prescribing medicine.
Only 8 percent of physicians use a computerized physician order entry system. The setup, advocated by government officials, is designed to compare orders for drugs and diagnostic tests against dosing standards and a patient’s medical records. The computerized system checks for allergies or drug interactions, and warns of potential patient problems.
The survey, released today, was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"The use of electronic records in health care lags far behind the computerization of information in other sectors of the economy," the report concludes.
Now, this one is here, even though it addresses the same issue, because I see this as the coordinated effort of those inside the Beltway to put the heat on the medical community to get these changes in place. Bush didn’t just wake up one morning and realize the medical community was lagging in their documentation and billing practices. Someone has advocated this issue. Now that Bush has latched onto it, someone is getting the word out "educating" the public as to why this needs to happen.
IMO, both of those "someones" are the same one. Just as with the tobacco persecuation that started in the early 90′s, we’re seeing exactly how federal advocacy works. These stories, which I have complained about for a decade since I work in the field, never got mentioned. Now, all of a sudden, I am quoting a story a week. It suddenly has become important. It is suddenly an issue whereas it wasn’t before even though Medicare has demanded electronic submissions for nearly ten years. Why is it suddenly on Livescience.com among others?
This to me is just a good example of a political process at play. Regardless of how it gets in play, it desperately needs to be. The medical industry wastes a lot more than it makes due to nothing but lazy accounting and documenting practices. They complain of all the paperwork when an efficient software package will do the trick in seconds compared to hours. When the medical community catches up with the local automotive parts supply store, then I’ll be more receptive to their complaints of over-burdensome administrative requirements.
14
Mar
This is very impressive from Powerline:
According to Powerline, 800,000 people showed for an anti-Syrian, pro-freedom rally in Beirut. This is good.
