Politics: Onward from New Hampshire

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
Outed!!

From the Guinness Book of World Records:

"Strangest Diet

Michel Lotito (aka Henri Mangetout) from Grenoble, France, has been eating metal and glass since 1959. Gastroenterologists have described his ability to consume 900 g (2 lb) of metal per day as "unique". Mangetout - Michel's nickname - literally translates as "eats everything". Michel says bananas and hard-boiled eggs make him sick."

You would hate bananas.

I thought Ty seemed kinda French.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
And, not to open a can of worms, but isn't Medicare fairly well-run?

No. The HCFA is a mess.

Originally posted by ltl/fb Wouldn't you have to figure out what a reasonable catastrophic premium would be for each individual? Or do you give everyone the most it would cost? Or the least? Whatever you do, it will be an approximation.

No. This is the whole purpose of a group insurance plan. You don't rate people individually. You rate the group's risk and then everyone pays the same premium. It is called spreading the risk throughout the insured pool and it is the theory behind health insurance underwriting.

Then you use a sliding scale based on income to determine how much of the premium if any will be subsidized. Just like welfare benefits, people would apply for the subsidy.

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Also, this would provide an incentive for fly-by-night crap companies to sell "insurance" and then disappear with the premiums.

There are ways to control that.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
I am sad that I am restricted to being funny only occasionally. Please alert me as to what I am to try.

Ready......go?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
Outed!!

From the Guinness Book of World Records:

"Strangest Diet

Michel Lotito (aka Henri Mangetout) from Grenoble, France, has been eating metal and glass since 1959. Gastroenterologists have described his ability to consume 900 g (2 lb) of metal per day as "unique". Mangetout - Michel's nickname - literally translates as "eats everything". Michel says bananas and hard-boiled eggs make him sick."

You would hate bananas.

you've sapped the humor out of this thread.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Not Me
No. The HCFA is a mess.

Good to have the definitive word from you on that. Do tell me though, when is your knowledge from? HCFA is now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This kinda indicates to me that you are not as up to speed on Medicare as you seem to purport to be. You need to check for the most recent "insider name" before throwing around acronyms to seem knowledgable.

Originally posted by Not Me
No. This is the whole purpose of a group insurance plan. You don't rate people individually. You rate the group's risk and then everyone pays the same premium. It is called spreading the risk throughout the insured pool and it is the theory behind health insurance underwriting.

I think states are already required to offer this kind of coverage and there is a big adverse selection issue. Presumably we would get around this by having some kind of sanction if you don't get it (to make all the healthy uninsured people be in the pool as well). What type of sanction do you feel would be appropriate? A fine? Jail time?

Originally posted by Not Me
There are ways to control that.

Again, good to have the definitive word on that.


I have to say, I am incredibly relieved to see you being freakishly troll-y again. For a while some of your posts actually seemed to contain thoughts and stuff that might be backed by more than "Because I said so."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Now, why do you need government to do this, beyond a mandate and a subsidy to those who can't afford it?

Not Me was assuming you need a government to require catastrophic coverage. There's a market failure here. So we're just debating what sort of government role would best address it.

If there's a bureaucracy either way, would you prefer it to be federal employees or private sector cos.?

All else equal, I don't care.

I just don't see why if it's private sector, having the government intervene beyond a mandate is likely to make things better. Unless you want to do it to advance a redistributive agenda, which is an entirely different matter.

Because the mandate is not the sort of thing that will work well. You know that lots of people will not sign up.

No, it's not a redistributive agenda. I'm working within Not Me's parameters.

The only thing that having it run by gov't is that you ensure 100% participation. But to those who say "I prefer not to join" I say fuck 'em, and refuse 'em at the ER door.

You have got to be kidding me. Doctors won't and can't do this, so the question is whether you're going to decline to pay doctors who treat these people. And if you won't, they'll find some other way to hit your for this money.

[Atticus Grinch]

So Mitch Daniels (GWB's former budget director) is running for Indiana governor as a Republican.

At a GOP fundraising dinner last monthy, he tells an old chestnut of a joke about, oddly, Kentucky. ("Q. Why isn't Louisville ever the setting for police TV shows? A. Because there are no dental records there and all the DNA is the same.")

To quell the minor uproar, mostly from non-constituents, he claimed on Friday he was actually complimenting Kentucky by saying Indiana has fallen so far under Democratic leadership that Kentucky jokes aren't funny anymore. In other words, he told the joke to prove it wasn't funny. (Major premise: Jokes about Kentucky are supposed to be funny because we're superior. Minor premise: This joke about Kentucky is Not Funny. Conclusion: Democrats have ruined Indiana!)

Link.

He should have taken a page out of the California playbook and simply announced he would hire the best investigators to find the real killer, groper, and/or bigot.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Ready......go?

Either you are requesting that I absent myself from this board (in which case, be happy, I have to go to dinner) or you need to reread the post to which you are replying, paying particular attention to the differences between "and" and "to" as well as between "when" and "what."

My lawyer will be serving papers on you shortly. You are too dumb to be any husband of mine. I will have to make do with husbands 1-9. SAM, Coltrane, please inform the others that schedules will be changing accordingly.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
In your comments re: children, are you already taking into account the CHIPs stuff that did get thru during the Clinton Admin (even though the whole thing did not go). I think CHIPs may have been expanded since then (and since Clinton left office).

CHIPS is expanded Medicaid eligibility for children. It only applies to those from families with certain incomes. Middle class people don't have to provide health insurance for their kids in this system. And the rate of reimbursement through Medicaid is so low, that it is often tough to find doctors willing to take these patients.

I advocate mandating health insurance for kids paid for by their parents. They would get tax credits for providing it and fines for not providing it and subsidies would be offered for those with incomes below a certain level on a sliding scale.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Because the mandate is not the sort of thing that will work well. You know that lots of people will not sign up.

I am sure that 100% complaince will never occur. But I think if there were both incentives for signing up (tax credits) and penalties for not signing up (fines), you would get a sizable portion of the uninsured population signing up, especially if low income people are subsidized. I think many low income people, especially if they have children, would jump at the chance to get subsidized health care. The problem people are those healthy childless 20 somethings who would rather spend their money on other things.

I think most people want health care. It is just that people don't want to pay for it. I think mandating catastrophic coverage through existing insurance companies will go a long way toward helping some of the problems we have in our system.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
I'd guess not, though your response was a non sequitur.

S_A_M

Only to someone who wanted it to be so.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
humor is banned here. soon you, I and ncs will be escorted out

Why? These two statements make no sense.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
I think states are already required to offer this kind of coverage and there is a big adverse selection issue.

What are you talking about? States aren't even required to offer Medicaid. All of them do, but it is not required. What kind of coverage are you talking about?

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Presumably we would get around this by having some kind of sanction if you don't get it (to make all the healthy uninsured people be in the pool as well). What type of sanction do you feel would be appropriate? A fine? Jail time?

Yes, fines and if necessary, garnishment of wages and siezure of assets, just like the IRS can do if you don't pay your taxes.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
He should have taken a page out of the California playbook and simply announced he would hire the best investigators to find the real killer, groper, and/or bigot.

Just don't go for "My opponent supports the Nazi party", "i will tax breast implants" or "what you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
Those didn't work in Cali.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
SAM, please inform the others that schedules will be changing accordingly.

Atticus, fringe is dating brain damaged. Wait, this might be some sort of commentary. Like she is really commenting on how bush has screwed up the country so that SAM isn't really a handicapper, n'est pas? fringe, tu et une supurb nah-nah! vous souhaitez être ma sixième épouse.