All Hank, all the time.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally posted by ironweed
Who would have thought that dry wit could be a symptom of chronic, voluminous-ejaculation-related dehydration? He is in our prayers.

I never come here, and then I hit the wrong link and come here by mistake and you guys are talking about me. Is it a coincidence or are you guys always talking about me over here? It is hard to understand why, given that I am completely apolitical.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
I never come here, and then I hit the wrong link and come here by mistake and you guys are talking about me. Is it a coincidence or are you guys always talking about me over here? It is hard to understand why, given that I am completely apolitical.

You can't fool us. You are so totally browsing the PB each hour on the hour, deciphering Hank posts and waiting breathlessly to see what part of the world Spanky wants to annex next. Despite your claimed disinterest on what happens here, you are biding your time about posting here, while putting the finishing touches on Volume 3 of your polemic, "Flower's Rules on Drug Usage: How Both Political Parties Got it Horribly Wrong" and waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
I never come here, and then I hit the wrong link and come here by mistake and you guys are talking about me. Is it a coincidence or are you guys always talking about me over here? It is hard to understand why, given that I am completely apolitical.

I thought my expression of heartfelt concern might make you uncomfortable if posted on a board you actually read. But the sad irony of the whole matter is that you will never read this explanation. Unless you hit the wrong link again, someday.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Are you sure he wasn't just being stupid again? He does that sometimes, remember?

BUSH LIED! FISH DIED!

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Bob
Um, Bill Clinton? Or George H.W. Bush?

Psst --

By that he means folks who will actually raise taxes and/or moderate spending as needed to balance the budget (or at least reduce the deficits).

I don't think Bush is stupid, so I think he is rather cynical in his quest for political advantage by pushing for large, permanent tax cuts combined with big spending increases.

S_A_M

[Replaced_Texan]

Autistic boy recruited to US Army as Cavalry Scout

and

Clinton Deploys Very Special Forces To Iraq

Only one of these is an Onion article.

ETA: Yes, this is a recruiting problem in general, not a Bush administration problem in particular (though the number of complaints have reached record highs under the Bush administration's watch). Still, it's bothersome that the push for recruitment means that the recruiters will go after wholely unsuitable people.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Autistic boy recruited to US Army as Cavalry Scout

and

Clinton Deploys Very Special Forces To Iraq

Only one of these is an Onion article.

ETA: Yes, this is a recruiting problem in general, not a Bush administration problem in particular (though the number of complaints have reached record highs under the Bush administration's watch). Still, it's bothersome that the push for recruitment means that the recruiters will go after wholely unsuitable people.

I'm not sure which is the bigger problem, the fact that the Army recvruiters tried to take an autistic child, or the fact that he passed the entrance exam.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Autistic boy recruited to US Army as Cavalry Scout

and

Clinton Deploys Very Special Forces To Iraq

Only one of these is an Onion article.

ETA: Yes, this is a recruiting problem in general, not a Bush administration problem in particular (though the number of complaints have reached record highs under the Bush administration's watch). Still, it's bothersome that the push for recruitment means that the recruiters will go after wholely unsuitable people.

Don't tell Bilmore. He'd be thrilled to get what he calls the "halt" out of the schools by sending them to Iraq.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I'm not sure which is the bigger problem, the fact that the Army recvruiters tried to take an autistic child, or the fact that he passed the entrance exam.

I'm not necessarily surprised that he passed the exam. I mean, Temple Grandin has a Ph.D. in Animal Science* and this kid sounds like his autism is not as severe as hers.

*I read her book Animals in Translation about a month ago, which I highly recommend to everyone.**

**Except maybe Hank. There is some discussion of evolution in there that he may not like.

[Replaced_Texan]

Oh, and this pisses me off.

I'm sure you all are shocked.

grumble grumble grumble the reason the panel wasn't ideologically balanced is because public health as a discipline is not ideologically balanced grumble grumble grumble this is almost as bad as joe barton's letters to those scientists who had the audacity to study global warming and come to conclusions he didn't like grumble grumble

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Oh, and this pisses me off.

I'm sure you all are shocked.

grumble grumble grumble the reason the panel wasn't ideologically balanced is because public health as a discipline is not ideologically balanced grumble grumble grumble this is almost as bad as joe barton's letters to those scientists who had the audacity to study global warming and come to conclusions he didn't like grumble grumble

Your link is broken.

You may already have seen this -- I found it sort of interesting. I have not been following the Association Health Plan stuff closely, though.

http://www.actuary.org/pdf/health/enzi_may06.pdf

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Your link is broken.

You may already have seen this -- I found it sort of interesting. I have not been following the Association Health Plan stuff closely, though.

http://www.actuary.org/pdf/health/enzi_may06.pdf

Link fixed.

I've tried, with very little success to put together small health plans for artists. I'm really interested in this sort of thing, and I understand that the objection is to eroding state insurance laws.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Oh, and this pisses me off.

I'm sure you all are shocked.

grumble grumble grumble the reason the panel wasn't ideologically balanced is because public health as a discipline is not ideologically balanced grumble grumble grumble this is almost as bad as joe barton's letters to those scientists who had the audacity to study global warming and come to conclusions he didn't like grumble grumble

And this scares the shit out of me:

"We see a direct connection between the practice of contraception and the practice of abortion," says Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, an organization that has battled abortion for 27 years but that, like others, now has a larger mission. "The mind-set that invites a couple to use contraception is an antichild mind-set," she told me. "So when a baby is conceived accidentally, the couple already have this negative attitude toward the child. Therefore seeking an abortion is a natural outcome. We oppose all forms of contraception."

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Link fixed.

I've tried, with very little success to put together small health plans for artists. I'm really interested in this sort of thing, and I understand that the objection is to eroding state insurance laws.

Yes, though, it seems like it might be nice to have a single set of laws. It's SOOOOO regulated, and with the ERISA preemption and prevalence of self-insured plans among larger employers, what proportion of health coverage is actually affected by the state regulation? But then, I don't think I've actually ever had health coverage that was regulated at the state level, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Yes, though, it seems like it might be nice to have a single set of laws. It's SOOOOO regulated, and with the ERISA preemption and prevalence of self-insured plans among larger employers, what proportion of health coverage is actually affected by the state regulation? But then, I don't think I've actually ever had health coverage that was regulated at the state level, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing.

In 1995, the Washington legislature effected sweeping changes to the state' s regulation of health insurance, and the Alternative Provider Statute (the "Act" ) is one part of that reform. The Act itself is relatively short:


Every health plan delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed by a health carrier on and after January 1, 1996, shall:

• (1) Permit every category of health care provider to provide health services or care for conditions included in the basic health plan services to the extent that:
  
  (a) The provision of such health services or care is within the health care providers' permitted scope of practice; and
  
  (b) The providers agree to abide by standards related to:
  
  (i) Provision, utilization review, and cost containment of health services;
  
  (ii) Management and administrative procedures; and
  
  (iii) Provision of cost-effective and clinically efficacious health services.

RCW 48.43.045(1).

The terms used in the Act are mostly defined in RCW 48.43.005 ("Definitions" ). In particular, a "health carrier" or "carrier" means a disability insurer, a health care service contractor, or a health maintenance organization. RCW 48.43.005(8). And a "health plan" or "health benefit plan" means "any policy, contract, or agreement offered by a health carrier to provide, arrange, reimburse, or pay for health care service," subject to a few exceptions. RCW 48.43.005(9). "Provider" is undefined in the statute, but refers to a doctor, dentist, acupuncturist, or other health care provider.

Thus, the Act forces every carrier (HMOs, disability insurers) to allow every insured to choose from an expanded list of providers (acupuncturists, massage therapists) for medical conditions covered by the insured' s policy. The Act does not force any carrier to contract with any particular provider (e.g., John Smith, M.D.) but merely forbids a carrier from excluding an entire category of licensed providers (e.g., all chiropractors or all naturopaths) from its policy.

a collection of HMOs and HCSCs, sought a declaratory judgment that the Act is preempted by ERISA and an injunction against its further enforcement. On cross motions for summary judgment, the district court ruled for the plaintiffs, finding that the Act "relates to" an employee benefit plan under ERISA, and that it is not saved as a regulation of insurance. Washington Physicians Serv. Ass' n v. Gregoire, 967 F.Supp. 424, 427-31 (W.D. Wash. 1997). The state appealed and the case was reversed.


They held ERISA provides for the federal regulation of employee welfare benefit plans. New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Ins. Co., 514 U.S. 645, 650-51 (1995). To ensure that such regulation would remain "exclusively a federal concern," Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 451 U.S. 504, 523 (1981), Congress enacted a broad preemption provision, which states that ERISA "shall supersede any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan . . . ." 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a). An exception is contained in 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(A): "[N]othing in this subchapter shall be construed to exempt or relieve any person from any law of any State which regulates insurance, banking, or securities."

Thus, an ERISA inquiry is a two-step process. a court first asks whether the Act "relates to" an employee benefit plan; and if it does, it then decides whether it is exempted from preemption by the savings clause in § 1144(b)(2)(A). The court concluded that the Act escapes ERISA preemption at the first step, but since it also thinks it would be saved as a regulation of insurance, it explains the second step as well.