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Don't Waste Tears On The Insurance Industry
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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If you have, out of the goodness of your heart, been concerned for the continued welfare of the insurance industry in America under Obamacare, don't waste the tears nor the time worrying.

Believe me, they have been well cared for under the ACA. 

I recently discovered just how well the insurance industry has been provided for by Obamacare by way of an article at businessweek.com.  The article was written by John Tozzi and it is entitled:  "A Guide to Obamacare's Backstop for Anxious Insurance Companies"  It is an eye opener!  We hardily recommend that every American read and thoroughly digest the contents of Mr. Tozzi's article.  You will find it at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-19/a-guide-to-obamacares-backstop-for-anxious-insurance-companies

The rumors have been flying for weeks that a huge bail out is coming for the insurance companies (from the national treasury's tax payer money) toward the end of this year.  Plus, the rumor that next year will definitely bring rate increases for all of us. 

But written into the law are provisions that will preclude the insurance industry from losing its , uh, well, losing a fortune.

I dare say for most of us the term "risk corridors" is something new, and unheard of.  But it is extremely important that we  familiarize ourselves with the meaning of "risk corridors" post haste. 

Consider this:  "The risk corridors are part of an obscure set of Obamacare rules intended to protect insurance companies from deep losses if they sign up too many sick people—an insurance policy for insurance companies. It’s one of the so-called Three Rs—reinsurance, risk adjustment, and risk corridors—meant to backstop health plans through Byzantine adjustments in the transition to a new marketplace where carriers can’t turn sick people away."  -- SOURCE:  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-19/a-guide-to-obamacares-backstop-for-anxious-insurance-companies

This is just one of the three "R's" neatly tucked into the fine print of Obamacare which most Americans will never find the time to read.

The three "R's" are:  reinsurance, risk adjustment, and risk corridors.  Above we've provided a bit of insight to our readers concerning risk corridors.

Reinsurance is a "temporary program intended to keep rates down  by paying insurance companies much of the cost after a patient’s medical costs exceed $60,000 per year, drawing on a $10 billion pot of money for next year funded by a $63 tax on every single health plan." -- SOURCE:   http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-19/a-guide-to-obamacares-backstop-for-anxious-insurance-companies

"The end result of this program, which is really transferring money from the group market to the individual market,” according to Hans Leida, an actuary at consulting firm Milliman, is designed to last  for only three years, and it will -- most certainly -- drive up insurance rates when it ends in three years.

Then there is yet another program called  known as "risk adjustment."  It takes some premium money from health plans that paid out less than average—that is, their members were generally healthier—and gives it to plans with higher medical claims.  It's designed to encourage insurance companies to sign up people with less than rosy cheeks and glowing health. Now here's the clincher:  It is a permanent program  intended, they say, to spread the risk out over all the companies. -- SOURCE:   http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-19/a-guide-to-obamacares-backstop-for-anxious-insurance-companies

 Senator Marco Rubio has called the risk corridor a “taxpayer-funded bail out of the health insurance industry.”  Rubio had introduced a bill that would kill the risk corridor program for insurance companies.  But frankly, there's not much chance that Rubio's bill will get anywhere in the Democratic Party controlled US Senate.

According to an article at the Daily Call;er dated December 26th, 2013, Byron York of the Washington Examiner told Fox News that there would be an insurance company bail out this year (2014).  York is reported to have said:  a bail out “absolutely will happen” under Obamacare.  York claimed that a government lifeline is actually “built into the law" (Obamacare) for the Insurance companies.”-- SOURCE:  http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/26/byron-york-insurance-company-bailouts-absolutely-will-happen-under-obamacare/#ixzz2pwO5buMO
      
Washington denies there will be a bail out, but, dear reader, that bail out is already written into the Obamacare law! 

"First, Section 1341, the "reinsurance" fund collected from insurers and self-insuring employers at a nifty $63 a head. (Who do you think the cost is passed on to?) This yields about $20 billion over three years to cover losses.

Then there is Section 1342, the "risk corridor" provision that mandates a major taxpayer payout covering up to 80 percent of insurance-company losses." -- SOURCE:  http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140103/PC1001/140109881
 
So what happens if the insurance companies don't get the bail out they have been guaranteed? 

Well, they could just pull out of Obamacare.

Look. Insurance is a BUSINESS.  They are not about to allow their companies to go bankrupt over some hair-brained socialist scheme dreamed up by a group of egg-head, elite, academicians in Washington, DC.  No.  They'll either pull out of Obamacare, or they will get a huge bail-out of taxpayer money from the government.   Since the latter is already in the law -- guess what's coming later this year?

The GOP has an opportunity here to pass a "no bail-out bill" and shuffle it over to the Democratic Party controlled Senate.  With dems facing an election in a little over 300 days, it would be interesting, to say the least, to see how they would handle THAT hot potato --   pass the bill -- or fall on their own swords.

Or -- Congress could do the right thing and repeal Obamacare. But, of course, that's not going to happen until the GOP controls both houses of Congress and, quite likely, the Presidency, as well.

J. D. Longstreet

Lizzie Velasquez

News Observer reports police say three people were shot Thursday afternoon just southeast of downtown and they’re looking for the shooter, who took off on foot.

Three public schools were ordered on lockdown following the shooting, but an official said there are no indications that school personnel or students were among the shooting victims. All three were taken to WakeMed with what police said were not life-threatening injuries.

The shootings happened about 2:20 p.m. near the intersection of Tipton and Coleman streets, three blocks east of Ligon Middle School, said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue. Police cordoned off three blocks just west of Rock Quarry Road, as detectives and investigators from the City-County Bureau of Identification looked for evidence.

Police say the suspected shooter was described as a black man in his late teens to early 20s who stands about 6 feet tall and weighs about 185 pounds. He was wearing a white jacket with some type of black writing or graphics on it and was last seen fleeing on foot toward Rock Quarry Road.

Volunteers were sorting clothing at the Helping Hand Mission on Rock Quarry when they heard a series of gunshots, said executive director Sylvia Wiggins.

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The media has built Chris Christie into the only worth the GOP nomination and now it’s time to destroy him. 

Chicago Tribune reports Federal authorities Thursday launched a probe into allegations that officials in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office orchestrated a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge to settle a political score.


As Christie apologized publicly for the abrupt lane closings and denied knowing about them beforehand, the office of the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey said it was reviewing the allegations, which are already the subject of a state legislature inquiry and a Port Authority inspector general review.

Christie also Thursday fired a top aide who apparently engineered the move, saying he had been blindsided in the scandal that threatened to tarnish his political image.
"I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team," Christie said. "I am who I am, but I am not a bully."

Revelations that his staff may have had a hand in plotting the four-day lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in September, causing hours-long jams that stalled commuters, school buses and ambulances, come as Christie has emerged as a powerful figure in the Republican Party and a possible presidential contender.

'Is it wrong that I'm smiling'

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Daily Mailreports two men have been arrested in connection with a New Year's Eve shooting that claimed three lives and left another person critically injured after police tracked them down using GPS.

Brothers Eric Donta Hendon, 31, and Michael Deon Hendon, 22, are accused by police of breaking into the Barberton, Ohio home and shooting two teenage siblings dead. The teens' father died Friday from his injuries, their stepmother remains hospitalized.

Ashley Carpenter, 18, and David Kohler-Carpenter, 14, were pronounced dead at the scene. Father John Kohler, 42, was taken off life support last week. Stepmother Ronda Blankenship, 38, remains hospitalized, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

The elder Hendon is a registered violent sex offender out on parole, GPS surveillance placed him at the slain family's home at the time the shooting occurred, police told the paper.

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by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

While looking for something of interest, since the daily regular debates are getting rather stale and becoming pointless in my never humble opinion, I stumbled upon The Free Capitalist Network and decided to stay awhile. During my meandering through the site I came across a interesting comment post. The comment was posted in 2011 by EmperorNero.

All socialist countries are poor, and all poor countries are, or have until recently been, socialist. All rich countries are capitalist, and all capitalist countries are rich.

I would be interested in some counterexamples or arguments against this rule. It seems to hold true as long as we are clear what we mean by "socialism". Socialism here is defined as government ownership/control of the means of production, and not in the 'European meaning' of capitalism with welfarism, or the 'original meaning' of absence of private property rights.(Emphasis mine)

Scandinavia is often used as an example of rich socialist countries. But when using unequivocal definitions they are among the most capitalist countriesin the world. What about Bangladesh, India or Haiti as capitalist countries? Nope. All of those have a strong history of government ownership of the means of production. We just didn't read about their history, so we assume they are capitalist.

Can you think of any exceptions to above stated rule? If it holds true, why don't libertarians ever state it this clearly?

"They all look upon progressing material improvement as upon a self-acting process." - Ludwig von Mises

Thoughts anyone? It seems quite often socialism gets bandied about without any frame of reference and often that results in misinformation or confusion.. Especially by conservatives and libertarians.

Chicago Tribune reports in September, according to a report from the Bergen Record, paramedics trying to reach an unconscious 91-year-old woman in Fort Lee, N.J., got stuck in a traffic jam that had apparently been created by associates for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as retaliation against a Democratic mayor.


Multiple lanes were forced to merge into one, gridlocking traffic for days. The woman later died at a hospital of cardiac arrest, according to a Sept. 10 letter that EMS coordinator Paul Favia sent to the borough's mayor.

Although Favia did not explicitly blame the woman's death on the traffic delay -- the paramedics got to her in seven minutes -- it was one of four such delays reported by the coordinator, the Record reported.

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