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My February birthday fund-raising campaign for this website, Behind the Black, is now over. Despite a relatively weak initial three weeks, the last week was spectacular, making this campaign the second best ever.

 

Thanks to every person who donated or subscribed. It continues to astonish me that people who can read my work for free like it enough to donate money voluntarily. Words cannot express my appreciation for that support, especially in these uncertain times.

 

If you have been a regular reader and a fan of my work and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider doing so. I take no ads, I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands (most of the time). Thus, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652


States okay big insurance premium increases caused by Obamacare

Finding out what’s in it: State insurance regulatory agencies have been routinely granting the gigantic rate increases requested by health insurance companies due to the costs imposed on them by Obamacare.

It’s the third year in a row for huge rate hikes, all due to the uncertainties built into the mandate-driven system of ObamaCare. The White House explained the hikes after the first year as an artifact of sudden access to care, but by year three that explanation has worn thin. The cost curve isn’t bending downward in any phase of health care, and it’s not even bending upward any longer. It’s skyrocketing, and insurers are reflecting that in their premium hikes.

At the same time that premiums have escalated, of course, deductibles have expanded almost exponentially for some families. Consumers are paying outrageously high premiums for insurance they will almost certainly never access, thanks to the need to spend thousands more out of pocket on top of these premiums before insurers have to cover anything but wellness checks.

Obviously this is the fault of Bush-Reagan and the evil Republicans in Congress, none of whom wrote or voted for Obamacare and in fact opposed it vehemently. Obama and the Democrats, who wrote the law and then forced it through Congress, are obviously innocent of any blame for that law’s disasters. Let’s vote for them again!

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • wodun

    I think mine might have dropped $25 or so but I have to spend around $12,000 before insurance picks up the tab for anything other than a yearly physical. Even doctor visits to manage preexisting conditions or go over blood tests cost $40-50 out of pocket for something that lasts less than 15 minutes and deals with pretty much nothing. Then there is whatever they charge the insurance company.

    Its all a racket from the exam room, to the insurance providers, to the government.

  • Phill o

    Maybe it is calculated to ensure folk will accept a government run insurance like Canada’s where wait times can exceed life expectancy. Do not laugh, this happened to one brother-in-law who died (age under 50) before the government got around to testing the heart valve replaced about 15 years ago.

  • NormD

    Recently my family actually had to purchase an Anthem BlueCross Obamacare plan.

    It is sooooo much worse than you imagine.

    Compared to the plan we had before, it costs way more. Many, many doctors don’t accept it. Deductibles and drug prices are very high. We are being forced to convert to getting drugs in 90 day increments via mail rather than at the local pharmacy, even when this results in negligible cost savings. This means we have to pay upfront for three months of an expensive drug rather than spread the costs out.

    And the bureaucratic mess to find and sign up for a plan with all kinds of strange you-must-do-something by dates.

    As an example, we were paying $70 per month per child for great insurance. Now we are paying $200 per month per child for crap.

    It’s a goddamn mess.

  • 1. Who did you vote for?
    2. Are you going to vote for any Democrats in Congress in the next election?

    I read and hear a lot of complaints about Obamacare and other Democratic legislation from people who then always turn around and vote for Democrats. For example, the year after Obamacare was passed I was visiting my brother and listened as he, his wife, and several of their friends, all in the medical profession, complained loudly of the stupidity of forcing digital records on the field when the medical field simply couldn’t afford it and wasn’t ready for it. When I politely mentioned that this stupidity was a feature of Obamacare, required by it, and was the reason digital records were happening prematurely and so stupidly, they got very huffy. I have no doubt they all voted Democrat in the next election, being liberal Jews.

    Nothing is going to change until the ordinary voters stop voting for the incumbents, for the names they know, and for Democrats. Nothing. No point complaining if you aren’t willing to take that action.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

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