How do health insurers continue to see huge profits during this crisis? “If medical claims start to rise uncontrollably,” @bobjherman reports, “they’ll increase everyone’s premiums next year.” Humana CEO Brian Kane put it more opaquely: “We would price for this for 2021.” (7/11)
They’re already prepping for big rate increases next year. California officials say they expect insurers to hike premiums up to 40% next year for plans in the state’s Obamacare exchange. Those getting coverage through employers should also brace for big premium hikes. (8/11)
In addition, Anthem’s CEO said his company expects to realize a “net saving” because hospitals are canceling non-emergency & elective procedures due to COVID-19. And we already know insurers are refusing to waive copays & deductibles for COVID-19 treatments. (9/11)
This is all music to investors’ ears, who are rushing to buy these stocks.
Another Clueless White Guy in a Position of Power
“I can’t believe we’ve been doing remote learning for a week,” Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings said. “It feels like a year.”
More than 100 Chromebooks were distributed to students around Grafton, several by Cummings himself. What he discovered during the visits surprised him: students whose parents did not speak English, homes without Internet access.
I think it’s very bad that the superintendent was surprised at the plight of the working class and poor families . Seriously, the white guys who run this country have to wake up to the reality and start taking from the rich & corporations to help the working class and poor in this country.
Source: Grafton struggles with lessons, technology, lunch in first week of online schools – Grafton Common
Why Trump should be blamed for the situation we’re in
Keep that video in mind while you read this:
The cost of Trump’s ignoring and demonizing of the intelligence community just got much higher. It turns out that Trump was being warned by the intelligence reports as early as January that the coronavirus was likely to become a pandemic and hit the United States just as it had hit other countries. […]
Source: Intel Reports Predicted Coronavirus Pandemic in January | Ed Brayton
Finally see the latest way the President is likely to increase the harm:
Our president is going to get people killed. I don’t say this lightly. His actions today fall nothing short of reckless. Earlier today, President Trump tweeted: …
Bigots Plans Claimed as a Civil Right
Forcing more segregation at taxpayer expense is not promoting worthwhile civil rights.
Old segregationists’ aims and efforts are becoming a new civil right in education. And states and the federal government are increasingly OK with that.
Source: School Vouchers Are Just Code for ‘Segregation Forever’
One of the Best Reality Based Plans
Go read it Now!
Dew Point Idiots
I keep encountering idiots who claim some particular dew point temperature is always comfortable. This is so absurd that anyone who says it has absolutely no understanding of the word comfortable or what dew point is.
Dew point is literally the temperature at which dew will form if the current air mass is cooled to that temperature. It also corresponds to 100% RH. This of course means that if the dew point is 10°C (50°F) and the temperature is 10°C (50°F) then the %RH is 100% and water is condensing out of the air and dripping down everything that’s at or below the air temperature.
So if you ever encounter somebody who claims that some dew point temperature is always comfortable ask them, Do you really think that dripping wet 100%RH is comfortable.
If you want to judge comfort go for relative humidity where above 80% feels yucky damp and below 30% feels horribly dry (cracked skin and static electricity problems)
Engineers Are Upset They Have to Actually Read
“For I2C, you’ve got 100KHz and 400Khz versions, and often there will be conflicting addresses on the bus that need to be dealt with, requiring the engineer to actually read the data sheets.”
Source: The Trouble with Sensor Interfaces | FierceElectronics
<sarcasm>This is terrible engineers actually having to read a data sheet.</sarcasm>
I get it, management, like the guy quoted above, would like to be able to use closer to minimum wage illiterate bumpkins rather than well paid literate engineers to help the bottom line. Gee I wonder if this kind of thinking is a source of why the quality of engineered products just keeps getting worse.
The US spends more than any other nation on health care and gets worse health outcomes by almost any measure.
Go read the details, it’s been the reality all my 60 years of life and yet most US citizens seem fine with paying way more to get less.
Source: The Disaster of America’s Healthcare System | Ed Brayton
The Problem with Pence
Source: Pence Absurdly Links Suleimani to 9/11 Attack | Ed Brayton
We can presume that Pence, then, is deliberately lying to gin up public outrage and support for his killing. Or he’s as ignorant as Trump is. Either prospect is frightening.
Trump Wrote His Own Playbook in Tweets Six Years Ago
Go read the whole article for the evidence and details.
During the 2012 election, Trump repeatedly claimed that Obama was going to start a war with Iran in order to fire up patriotic sentiment to help him get reelected.
Source: Remember When Trump Accused Obama of Starting a War with Iran to Get Reelected? | Ed Brayton
