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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (717892)	5/26/2013 7:14:30 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580613

Those illegal aliens have to get their free health coverage.

To: Alighieri who wrote (717892)	5/26/2013 7:16:28 PM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1580613

>> Competition I suppose...but I don't know...don't think you do either. Those companies have been competing successfully all over the country. In particular, UHC has been able to squeeze out competition in many places by getting so many insureds they dominate the market, then cutting reimbursements to be barely above what Medicare pays. Here, I've been recommending docs stay out of network with them for probably ten years because they reimbursement rates are so lousy. They're not afraid of competition. But they do know what it costs to deliver health care. There is great cause for concern when the three most competitive insurers in the country just decide to sit on the sidelines in the biggest state in the country. The real point here is that we're very early in the process. For you (or anyone else) to be suggesting that this preliminary, even premature, discussion of rates is somehow indicative of "success" in Obamacare is absurd. The really serious question that remains unanswered is "How many people sign up?" And we won't know this for a while. The basis for my (and others who are informed about the health care payment system) concern is that many of us know that all the regulation has a terrible downside. Most alarming is the decrease in weekly hours worked -- the largely such decrease in modern times -- which suggests that businesses are shedding employees to avoid the provisions of Obamacare. As many of us predicted, Obamacare has begun to create a society of part-time employment, which will be devastating to economic growth over time. Is it possible we'll still grow? Of course, but it is NOT possible that we'll grow at the rates we otherwise would have. This is clearly the worst piece of legislation in our lifetimes (although some would argue Medicare/Medicaid in 1965 was and still is).

To: Alighieri who wrote (717892)	5/26/2013 7:18:11 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580613

Memorial Day violence in Chicago--17 shot--6 dead ,...................................................................................................... abclocal.go.com ^ \| May 26 2013 \| abclocal.go.com May 26, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- At least 17 people have been shot over the Memorial Day weekend, and six of them died. The most recent victim was a man shot on the Near North Side just before 3 a.m. Sunday. Chicago police say the 42-year-old victim was shot in the head in the 1000-block of North Branch Street. Another man died after he was shot in the head in a possible drive-by Saturday night in the 7300-block of South Dorchester. Among the other victims was Leetema Daniels, 17, who was shot in the head Friday night in the 400-block of North Central Avenue. Another 18-year old man was seriously wounded in the same shooting. (Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...

To: Alighieri who wrote (717892)	5/27/2013 12:03:03 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580613

UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna opt out of California insurance exchange Kaiser Permanente, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California are all expected to participate in the state-run market for individual health coverage. May 22, 2013\| By Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times Some prominent health insurers, including industry giant UnitedHealth Group Inc., are not participating in California's new state-run health insurance market, possibly limiting the number of choices for millions of consumers. UnitedHealth, the nation's largest private insurer, Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. are sitting out the first year of Covered California, the state's insurance exchange and a key testing ground nationally for a massive coverage expansion under the federal healthcare law. Meanwhile, the biggest insurers in the state — Kaiser Permanente, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California — are all expected to participate in the state-run market for individual health coverage. Covered California, the state agency implementing the federal Affordable Care Act, is announcing the winning bidders and proposed rates Thursday for its insurance exchange, where as many as 5 million residents are expected to shop for coverage next year. The state has picked a group of health plans for each of 19 regions across California. The insurers will be selling policies with uniform benefits packaged in four broad categories of coverage. For the first time in the individual market, consumers will be able to make easier price comparisons among companies. But the threat of higher premiums in next year's revamped market has been a major concern for policymakers who can't risk alienating too many middle-income, healthier customers who are needed to offset the increased costs of covering sicker, poorer people who have been shut out of the healthcare system for years. UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna are small players now in California's individual health insurance market. More of their business is focused on large employers, where most Californians receive their health coverage. But the companies signaled a wait-and-see approach on these new government-run marketplaces. Together, in 2011, those three big insurers had 7% of California's individual health insurance market, according to Citigroup research. In contrast, Kaiser, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield had nearly 87%, collectively. Anthem Blue Cross is a unit of WellPoint Inc., the nation's second-largest health insurer. Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, declined to comment on specific companies ahead of Thursday's announcement. But he rejected any criticism that diminished competition could lead to higher premiums and fewer choices. "There will be plenty of price competition for California consumers," Lee said in an interview Wednesday. "They will be benefiting from robust competition." A spokesman for Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth said, "We are simply taking the time to carefully evaluate and better understand how the exchanges will work to ensure we are best prepared to participate meaningfully in their development." Joseph Mondy, a spokesman for Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna, said the company chose to participate in exchanges in only half of the 10 states where it sells individual health policies. Those states include Arizona, Colorado and Florida. "We will continue to offer individual plans going forward, but we've decided not to participate in Covered California in 2014," Mondy said. articles.latimes.com