Breaking: Oy!

HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious is resigning:

"Sebelius leaves the administration after the tumultuous launch of the Affordable Care Act exchanges last fall. Despite calls for her ouster from Republicans at the time, she stayed on until the enrollment period ended at the end of March."

That;s the good news.

Now the bad:

"White House budget office director Sylvia Matthews Burwell [will] replace the outgoing secretary"

Hmmm.

Burwell.

What to do, what to do....

Ms Kathy has Sgt Schultz Syndrome

Just a reminder that, two weeks after the (ostensible) end of Open Enrollment, Ms Shecantbesrious still can't (or won't) say how many of the "billions and billions" who signed up were simply victims of the ObamaTax "You Can Keep Your Plan" Hoax.

Imagine that.

Obamacare Regulates Doctor Profit Margins

Here's one I bet you didn't know. 

A key provision in Obamacare requires doctors to spend at least 80% of their gross revenue on patient care, leaving them 20% for overhead.

It seems that the onerous MLR rules for carriers also apply to physician practices.

Some doctors say they need to charge the extra fees because of the rising costs of running a practice. Some even cite the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as adding to their costs.

Anthony Wright, of the consumer watchdog group Health Access California, says that reason doesn’t fly.

“The Affordable Care Act has another provision that puts a limit on how much your premium can be spent on patient care, rather than administration and profit. So, again, having an outside fee that is for administration is in violation in the spirit of the law, which is to try to limit the amount of money that’s spent on administration profit, and really target those dollars towards patient care,” Wright said.

CBS Local

It's on the internet, therefore it must be true.

Health Wonk Review: Not So Foolish (Early) April edition

Billy Wynne hosts this edition of the Health Wonk Review, and you'd be foolish to miss it. And definitely check out Julie Fergosun's take on Workers Comp and GoogleGlass.

Free Contraceptives aren't that important after all

Interesting fact among a few;

"The top 10 therapy classes by claims volume for exchange enrollees and those in a commercial health plan were largely similar, with a few notable exceptions. The proportion of pain medication was 35% higher in exchange plans; the proportion of anti-seizure medications was 27% higher in exchange plans; the proportion of antidepressants was 14% higher in exchange plans; the proportion of contraceptives was 31% lower in exchange plans." [emphasis added]

As major an issue as Saundra Fluke and free birth control was, those actually buying the plans don't seem to need it. By the time you're signed up for ObamaCare you have already been screwed so they don't need it?

Quelle surprise!

To the surprise of only those who haven't been paying attention, the latest ObamaTax "enrollment" numbers are in, and they're not pretty:

"People who signed up early for insurance through the new marketplaces were more likely to be prescribed drugs to treat pain, depression and H.I.V. ... early enrollees face more serious health problems and are older than those covered by their employers"

They also tend to use more expensive meds, further driving up costs for healthier folks who may have been suckered in signed up.

But don't worry, they'll make up for it in volume.

And speaking of which (volume, that is), rotsa ruck to all those "newly insured" folks who think they've successfully signed up for "health care:"

"As a proud new beneficiary of the Affordable Health Care Act, I’d like to report that I am doctorless. Ninety-six. Ninety-six is the number of soul crushing rejections that greeted me as I attempted to find one"

Hope and change, indeed..

Things you should know about business insurance

Before you take out an insurance policy for your business, take care of these things.

It is worthwhile asking your competitors which insurance agency and broker they use. When you take out insurance with someone, you want to be sure that they have experience in insuring people in your field. They may even know better than you about the risks and challenges your business faces. The last thing you want is to be paying your insurance company for years and years and then encounter a disaster that you aren't insured against.

Don't confuse risk management with insurance, they aren't the same thing.

Use a broker to get the best deal.

You can often include your own and your workers' health insurance on your business insurance policy. This could save you a lot of money.

Think very carefully about the risks that your business faces and discuss them with other people in the company before you take out insurance. Business interruption insurance, liability, and equipment are all essential.