Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Constants and variables 3
News coverage on the rollout of Romneycare is focusing on glitches in the system of websites and "navigators".
Wrong focus. There will always be glitches in a startup. That's an inevitable CONSTANT. No amount of testing substitutes for an assault by actual users.
The VARIABLE here, the NEW thing about this system, is the use of state and federal tax money to PAY insurance salesmen. That's exactly what these Exchanges and Navigators are. Everyone pays the salaries of these salesmen, and only the insurance companies benefit from their work.
Well then, the insurance companies are getting a break, so they must be passing the break along to customers? Nope, all premiums are going up.
Supposedly bringing in all those new "young and healthy" customers will pay for the increased services to "old and sick"? Nope, it's the other way around.
In those terms I'm something like "old and moderately healthy". My premium will go up by 50% to pay for MATERNITY AND CHILD VISION AND DENTAL SERVICES, which I will never need in any conceivable universe, and which obviously serve a "young and healthy" population.
Nice compromise, President Romney. Nice balance of inputs and outputs. You charge me extra for services to the "young and healthy", and in return I get .... what? The comforting knowledge that young people can pay $90 a year to avoid making their own contribution to MATERNITY AND CHILD VISION AND DENTAL SERVICES? The comforting knowledge that insurance companies are getting a government-enforced total monopoly plus vastly increased premiums plus government paid salesmen?
I'm not comforted, President Romney.
¶ 5:29 AM 
