Monday Morning: Lots of News Today

First, a quick update: there's no news (yet) concerning our friend's missing brother-in-law. I will keep you posted.

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Second, yesterday was the longest day of the year, in terms of daylight. Naturally enough, the skies clouded up overnight on Friday, and we've been socked in almost continuously, ever since. But what the heck ... at least it's not snowing, right?

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Third: the wildfires are still burning to the north and south of us, but the northern fire is about 80% contained. The southern (Kenai) fire is only at about 20% containment, but far fewer homes are threatened, as the fire is burning in an unpopulated forest/wildlife refuge. Well, unpopulated by humans, anyway.

The Card Street Fire near Sterling is roughly one-fifth contained as a turn in weather conditions aids hundreds of firefighters on the ground and in the air, officials with the management team coordinating efforts against the blaze said Sunday.

There are over 2,000 firefighters now working around the clock to battle the flames. Over 1,100 of them are from the Lower 48, and we're grateful for their help.

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Fourth: three more health insurers have pulled out of Alaska, leaving only two in the market. Thanks, Obamacare!

And oh yes, at least one of the remaining two companies has already announced a significant rate hike for this year.

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And finally, do you recall that I recently mentioned how fake the various Alaska-based "reality" shows are?

The tip that launched an investigation into an Alaska reality TV family came from outside the state, Department of Revenue officials said Thursday.

Scott Stair, chief investigator for the department's criminal investigation unit, would not discuss in detail accusations that six members of the Brown family lied on Permanent Fund dividend applications.

Asked what application requirements the stars of "Alaskan Bush People" violated, Stair replied in an email. "They (the Browns) didn't meet the physical requirements for the PFD application between October 2009 and August 2012. That lead to false statements on the application."

I'd say, "Color me surprised." But why waste a crayon?

Making History - Ignoring Reality

Today's headlines at Drudge:

- Widespread Glitches in 34 States

- "Expect Months of Glitches" [@ Barry]

- 20% Plan to Not Buy Insurance

- Sebelius: "We're About To Make Some History"

Minutes after its inaugural 'launch' the ACA aka ObamaCare aka the Democrat's Socialist Health Care Plan crashed.

- Hard.

They have had THREE YEARS to get ready, and this is the result.

- Possibly the most "historic" government FUBAR ever...and that's saying something.

And yet the Democrats are saying the Republicans are somehow at fault for daring to 'suggest' that this gross swindle be delayed a year?

- I guess they have to 'blame' somebody, but notwithstanding the charade or the theatrics, the Democrats (C) completely 'own' this one...yes YOU Barry, Nancy Reid, Harry Pelosi and all the rest of you.

I think it was Ayn Rand who said: "You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality."

- Democrats (C), let me introduce someone you've apparently not met yet...I present Messrs. Reality and Consequences.

h/t Rico @ Theo's place

Affordable Care Act = Much Higher Prices in Alaska

Quelle surprise.

From the Associated Press:

Alaskans could pay some of the highest premiums in the country under the new health insurance exchanges.

Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department show the average individual premium for a benchmark policy known as the "second-lowest-cost silver" plan is $474. Of the 48 states analyzed, only Wyoming is higher in that category, at $516.

... Insurance exchanges are scheduled to go live Oct. 1. Alaska elected to have the feds set up the exchange, rather than the state taking the lead.

Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska and Moda Health have announced plans to offer plans on Alaska's exchange.

So.

High prices.

Limited choices.

If you're one who voted for those who enacted this monstrosity, I hope you're happy. Much good may it do you as it destroys what has been, up until now, the best system in the world.



p.s. You'll note I never claimed that the existing system has been perfect - far from it - but it's still better than what anyone else had.

And NO ONE was without medical care. Everyone and their brother knew that if you were sick, you could go to any emergency room anywhere, and receive treatment.

That's an inconvenient fact that politicians and their willing accomplices in the media neglected to mention. They tried to scare us with claims that "millions of Americans are without coverage." That's a half-truth. 

True: those millions had little or no insurance. But the lie implies that if you don't have insurance, you couldn't get treatment. 

That's the big lie upon which the entire governmental takeover of one-sixth of our economy is based.

Obamacare: Implementation Failures

From the Heritage Foundation:

Obamacare’s Dirty Dozen Implementation Failures 07/08/2013 Last week, the Obama Administration attempted to spin its announcement of a one-year delay in Obamacare’s employer mandate as an effort to implement the law “in a careful, thoughtful manner.” Don’t be fooled. Even Democrats have admitted the law has turned into a massive “train wreck,” with delays, glitches, and problems aplenty. Here are a dozen more Obamacare implementation failures. 1. The CLASS Act: ABANDONED, THEN REPEALED One Democrat famously called this new long-term care entitlement “a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of”—and so it proved. In the fall of 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) admitted CLASS could not be implemented in a fiscally sound manner—and Congress eventually repealed the program outright. 2. Exchanges: MISSED DEADLINES Most states resisted Obamacare’s call to create insurance exchanges, choosing to let Washington create a federally run exchange instead. However, a Government Accountability Office report released last month noted that “critical” activities to create a federal exchange have not been completed, and the missed deadlines “suggest a potential for challenges going forward.” 3. HHS mandate: DELAYED; UNDER LEGAL CHALLENGE Last year, the Administration announced a partial delay for Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate. However, many employers have filed legal actions against the mandate, which forces them to fund products they find morally objectionable or pay massive fines. >>> Get the latest on Hobby Lobby’s case against the HHS mandate 4. Small business plan choice: DELAYED The Administration announced in April that workers will not be able to choose plans from different health insurers in the small business exchanges next year—a delay that liberal blogger Joe Klein called “a really bad sign” of “Obamacare incompetence.” 5. Child-only plans: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES A drafting error in Obamacare has actually led to less access to care for children with pre-existing conditions. A 2011 report found that in 17 states, insurers are no longer selling child-only health insurance plans, because they fear that individuals will apply for coverage only after being diagnosed with a costly illness. 6. Basic health plan: DELAYED This government-run plan for states, created as part of Obamacare, has also been delayed, prompting one Democrat to criticize the Administration for failing to “live up” to the law and implement it as written. 7. High-risk pools: UNDERPERFORMING; FUNDING LOW This program for individuals with pre-existing conditions faced higher costs and lower enrollment than advertised. Though it was originally projected to cover up to 700,000 individuals, only about 110,000 have enrolled—yet the Administration had to halt new enrollment and take other radical measures to prevent the $5 billion program from running out of money. 8. Early retiree reinsurance: BROKE The $5 billion in funding for this program was intended to last until 2014—but the program’s money ran out in 2011, two years ahead of schedule. 9. Waivers: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES After the law passed, HHS discovered that some of its new mandates would raise costs so much that employers would drop coverage rather than face skyrocketing premiums. Instead, the Administration announced a series of temporary waivers—and more than half the recipients of those waivers were members of union health insurance plans. 10. Co-ops: DEFUNDED Congress blocked additional funding to this Obamacare program in January, and with good reason: In one case, a new health insurance co-op was called “fatally flawed” by Vermont’s state insurance commissioner. 11. “Employee free choice”: REPEALED This provision, which would have allowed certain workers to use contributions from their employers to buy exchange health plans, was repealed in April 2011, as businesses considered it too complex and unworkable. 12. Medicaid expansion: REJECTED BY MANY STATES Last year, the Supreme Court made Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion optional for states, ruling that Obamacare as written engaged in “economic dragooning” that puts “a gun to the head of states.” Many states are resisting Obamacare’s call to expand Medicaid, knowing that expansion will saddle them with additional, unsustainable costs. As these examples demonstrate, it’s not just the employer mandate that’s flawed—it’s the entire law. Recognizing these myriad, massive failures, Congress should hold the line and refuse to spend a single dime on Obamacare implementation.

Cold Start

It's five degrees this morning, but no snow yet. We've had 6.5" of snow so far, which is a bit below normal; the weatherman mentioned a "very large system" that might be here by early next week.

On the other hand, that's a week out ... and anything more than four hours in advance is a guess*.

I see where the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs (formerly known as the VA) is moaning that "more than half" of the nation's veterans have "little or no understanding of the benefits due them". I disagree.

Let me fix that: "More than half of the nation's veterans see how the DVA runs its hospitals and clinics, and - having experienced Tri-Care once - have no desire for further involvement with the uncaring bureaucracy."

I'll stipulate that there are exceptions, and your mileage may vary. If you've had a positive encounter with post-service treatment or services, then GOOD. The only positive service I received, way back when, was the G.I. Bill checks which helped me through college. The health care? Not so much. And yes, I'm a disabled vet with service-connected injuries.

Readers are welcome to leave comments about their experiences, of course.  What say you, fellow veterans?



* Or so opined a Navy meteorologist in my presence, back in the day.

Alaska Says No to ObamaCare Health Insurance Exchange

On Tuesday, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell "rejected the idea of a state-run health insurance exchange under the federal health care law."

In a statement, Parnell said using state funds and personnel to design and implement an exchange is the most expensive option before the state. 

"It doesn't make sense to spend Alaskans' dollars to set up an exchange when so much uncertainty exists about how to implement it and how to gain federal approval," he said. 

Alaska was one of the states that sued over the health care law. During a news conference following the court's decision, Parnell said that, where reasonable, he wants to shift back to the federal government costs associated with implementing the law.

 

It Bears Repeating

 The portion of this post related to an international healthcare survey has been removed; it referenced a U.N. organization that doesn't exist, and the survey results can't be found anywhere else, either ... at least, not so far, by me. So, 'tis gone.
 
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The percentage of each past president's cabinet who had worked in the private business sector prior to their appointment to the cabinet. You know what the private business sector is a real-life business, not a government job.  Here are the percentages.


            T. Roosevelt.................... 38%

            Taft.................................. 40%

             Wilson ........................... 52%

            Harding........................... 49%

            Coolidge......................... 48%

            Hoover............................ 42%

            F. Roosevelt................... 50%

            Truman........................... 50%

            Eisenhower................ .... 57%

            Kennedy......................... 30%

            Johnson.......................... 47%

            Nixon.............................. 53%

            Ford................................ 42%

            Carter............................. 32%

            Reagan........................... 56%

            GH Bush......................... 51%

              Clinton  .......................... 39%

            GW Bush........................ 55%

            Obama..................... 8%


      This helps to explain the incompetence of this
administration: only 8% of them have ever worked in private business!

     That's right!  Only eight percent---the least, by far, of the last 19 presidents!  And these people are trying to tell our big corporations how to run their business?

     How can the president of a major nation and society, the one with the most successful economic system in world history, stand and talk about business when he's never worked for one?  Or about jobs when he has never really had one?  And when it's the same for 92% of his senior staff and closest advisers?  They've spent most of their time in academia, government and/or non-profit jobs or as "community organizers."  They should have been in an employment line. 

h/t Sandi-with-an-i