Year: 2013

The cost of complying with Obamacare is forcing insurance companies to abandon many state markets.

6:23 pm

Finding out what’s in it: The cost of complying with Obamacare is forcing insurance companies to abandon many state markets.

In February 2010, a month before passage of the law, Obama explained at a bipartisan health care summit at the Blair House, “What we’ve said is that if you join one of these exchanges, you will have choice and you will have competition. You will have a menu of private insurance options that you’ll be able to purchase.”

Increasing the number of insurance options for individuals was one of the key ways in which Obama claimed the law would be able to drive down insurance costs. But with less than 70 days before the exchanges are set to open, large insurers are pulling out of states as a result of the health care law, resulting in less choice for consumers, not more.

This is exactly what happened in New York in 1992 when the state legislature passed a law with many of the same components as Obamacare. Insurance companies fled the state, and premiums went up.

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Congress fiercely divided over completely blank bill that says and does nothing.

6:05 pm

If only all bills were this lacking in details: Congress fiercely divided over completely blank bill that says and does nothing.

A blank piece of legislation that says nothing, does nothing, and contains no text whatsoever has been the source of heated debate in Washington this week, and has sharply divided Congress along partisan lines, Beltway sources confirmed Thursday. Known as S.0000, the bill, which doesn’t have sponsors, co-sponsors, or an author, has reportedly drawn starkly contrasting opinions from legislators in both the Senate and House of Representatives, and has paved the way for a major legislative battle in coming months.

Read the whole thing. It accurately captures the reality of present day Washington, with the Democrats pounding the table for this bill and the Republicans pounding the table against it.

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According to two industry sources, the U.S. government has demanded that major internet companies provide it the stored passwords of their customers.

4:24 pm

According to two industry sources, the federal government has demanded that major internet companies provide it the stored passwords of their customers.

“I’ve certainly seen them ask for passwords,” said one Internet industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We push back.” A second person who has worked at a large Silicon Valley company confirmed that it received legal requests from the federal government for stored passwords. Companies “really heavily scrutinize” these requests, the person said. “There’s a lot of ‘over my dead body.'”

So far at least, it appears that the companies are doing the right thing and telling the government to go to hell.

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A GAO report has found that heath insurance premiums will skyrocket next year when Obamacare takes effect.

9:31 am

Finding out what’s in it: A GAO report has found that heath insurance premiums will skyrocket next year when Obamacare takes effect.

Starting next year, a 30 year-old earning $35,000 per year would have to pay $2,739 annually for a cheap “bronze plan” on the new health insurance exchanges, even after receiving subsidies, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s subsidy calculator. That’s more expensive than any state in the current system, and seven times more expensive than in the cheapest state, Nebraska, where premiums are currently as low as $349 annually.

Even an otherwise comparable 30 year-old earning $25,000 next year, who would qualify for more generous Obamacare subsidies, would have to pay $1,142 annually for a “bronze plan.” That’s still more expensive than current cheap rates in 45 states, and double the current cost in 19 states.

The article has a fascinating table outlining the minimum cost for healthcare in all fifty states. Not surprisingly, in the states that have Obamacare-type regulations, such as Massachusetts and New York, the cost for heathcare is far higher.

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Aerospace defense contractors Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon all show better than expected profits despite sequestration.

8:56 am

Chicken Little report: Aerospace defense contractors Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon all show better than expected profits despite sequestration.

It seems that each of these companies, finding their profits from defense pork to be relatively flat or dropping slightly, worked harder to sell their other products to other customers, and were generally successful. What a concept!

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The Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the further prosecution of George Zimmerman.

10:04 pm

The witch hunt continues: The Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the further prosecution of George Zimmerman.

It not like these leaders in Detroit don’t have their own problems that they should be dealing with, eh?

As I said yesterday, they are thugs, jack-booted thugs. If they could arrange a kangaroo court to guarantee the conviction of those they dislike or disagree with, they would. And in fact, that is what they are trying to do right now.

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