Central Perk: 24 mar. 2012

sâmbătă, 24 martie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Ludicrous Taxifornia Healthcare Proposal: California Takes Yet Another Stab at Destroying Small Businesses; Obama-Care Supreme Court Arguments Start Monday

Posted: 24 Mar 2012 10:34 AM PDT

Ludicrous Taxifornia Healthcare Proposal

California keeps up its insane attack on businesses of all kinds, this time with a proposal to force small businesses away from money-saving self-insurance plans into the arms of more costly Obama-care plans.

The LA Times writes, California seeks limits on small-business self-insurance trend

Sensing a fresh threat to state and federal healthcare reforms, California insurance officials are seeking new limits on a controversial form of health coverage insurers are selling to small employers.

At issue is a new type of self-insurance for small businesses with as few as 25 workers.

Critics said insurers such as Cigna Corp. are using these new plans to game the system and cherry-pick companies with healthier workers. They said this could undermine a key goal of the federal Affordable Care Act to lower premiums by pooling together more healthy and sick Americans into insurance exchanges. Premiums could continue to escalate without a diverse pool of consumers. That prospect has federal health officials weighing action against this practice as well.

Self-insurance, in which employers pay medical providers for their workers' care, has traditionally been used only by large employers that have the financial resources to pay for expensive medical claims. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 60% of U.S. workers with health coverage were in self-insured plans last year.

Now some insurers are chasing after much smaller customers with new plans designed to limit employer payouts for big claims using what's called stop-loss policies. This guarantees that businesses won't be responsible for anything over a certain amount per employee, perhaps as low as $10,000 or $20,000, with the rest paid by an insurer. Regulators and health-policy experts say this arrangement undercuts the notion of self-insurance since employers aren't bearing much of the risk, and it allows companies to circumvent some state insurance rules.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones will unveil proposed legislation next week that would bar insurers from selling stop-loss policies below a certain amount. The specific dollar figure is still under consideration, but some experts recommend a minimum of $40,000 per worker.

Officials in the Obama administration are keeping a close eye on developments in California and other states where insurers are aggressively selling these plans.

"We are working carefully to ensure that consumers in all markets have the protections guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act and will provide more clarity on the tools available to reinforce these protections soon," a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments over the constitutionality of the federal healthcare law and specifically its mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.

Yet Another Stab at Destroying Small Businesses

Not only does Obama want to tell you that you have to have insurance, the State of California (with Obama giving a careful eye) wants to mandate self-insured businesses be responsible for the first $40,000 per person, in healthcare liability.

If this passes, any sane business would move to another state if possible.

Indeed businesses are exiting California in drove already. Please see California Tax Revenues Plunge; Businesses Exit "Taxifornia" in Droves; Piecing Together the Jobs-Picture Puzzle for details.

Those businesses with 25-40 employees who need to stay within the state will start firing employees to get below the 25 employee minimum. The rest will simply be screwed (some into bankruptcy).

This Taxifornia proposal is yet another huge step in the wrong direction, and the idiots running the state cannot even figure out why businesses are leaving.

Enough is enough. It's time to start all over with health-care. Hopefully the Supreme Court tosses out Obama-care next week.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Damn Cool Pics

The Real Meaning of MPH

Posted: 23 Mar 2012 07:54 PM PDT

Check out this video of a girl trying to figure out what it really means to go 80 miles per hour.

Largest Loop The Loop In A Car

Posted: 23 Mar 2012 07:02 PM PDT

Li Yatao of the Car Team of Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Company in Shanghai, China has made it into the Guinness World Book Of Records after successfully driving the largest loop the loop. The enormous loop had a staggering diameter of 42 feet, and a weight just under 73,000 lbs.

Weekly Address: President Obama Says House Must Pass Bipartisan Transportation Bill

Your Daily Snapshot for
Saturday, March 24, 2012

Weekly Address: President Obama Says House Must Pass Bipartisan Transportation Bill

President Obama is calling on the House of Representatives to pass a bipartisan transportation bill that would repair crumbling roads and bridges and support construction jobs in communities all across America. According to a new report, 90 percent of these construction jobs are middle class jobs. The Senate passed the bill with the support of Democrats and Republicans because if the bill stalls in Congress then constructions sites will go idle, workers will have to go home, and our economy will take a hit.

Watch the President's weekly address:

President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address to the nation in the State Dining Room of the White House, March 23, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Weekly Wrap Up

Your quick look at this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

A Pint with the President: On Saturday afternoon, the President left the White House and grabbed a pint of Guinness in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day at the Dubliner, an Irish pub near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

A Season of New Beginnings: In a video message Tuesday, President Obama sent his best wishes to all of those who are celebrating Nowruz around the world – a holiday when many Iranian families come together to celebrate the hope that comes with renewal. Noting the continued tension between the two countries, the President reaffirmed that “there is no reason for the United States and Iran to be divided from another.”

A Timely Visit from Taoiseach Enda Kenny: On Tuesday, President Obama welcomed Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the White House. Besides discussions on the economy and the benefits of trade, commerce, and investment between the two countries, the Taoiseach’s stay in Washington included breakfast at the Naval Observatory, a St. Patrick’s Day lunch at the United States Capitol and a St. Patrick’s Day reception in the East Room hosted by the President and the First Lady.

Solar Power in the Silver State: The President headed west to discuss energy, making his first stop in Boulder City, Nevada at the Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility – the largest photovoltaic plant in the country, with nearly one million solar panels powering 17,000 homes. Increasing the use of solar power is one piece of President Obama’s strategy to develop every available source of American-made energy – thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil, creating jobs, and keeping our environment clean.

Domestic Oil Production on Second Stop: Following his trip to Nevada, the President proceeded to the Maljamar Cooperative Association located on federal lands outside of Maljamar, New Mexico – a place that is home to more than 70 active drilling rigs. Drilling is one part of an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy, and the President is committed to expanding oil and gas production. Domestic oil production has increased each year he has been in office and is currently at an eight year high.

Sooners’ Energy Production: On Thursday, the President visited an oil town that is a major hub for connecting our nation’s crude oil supply with refineries along the Gulf Coast – Cushing, Oklahoma – where he discussed the Administration’s commitment to expanding domestic oil and gas production by modernizing pipeline infrastructure and expanding its ability to deliver oil to refineries and consumers around the country.

The Buckeye Bullet: The final stop on the President’s energy tour was at Ohio State University, which is home to the Center for Automotive Research and the Buckeye Bullet – an electric car that has already traveled at speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour. “I am not going to cede the wind and solar and advanced battery industries to countries like China and Germany that are making those investments,” the President affirmed. “I want those technologies developed and manufactured here in Ohio, here in the Midwest, here in America.”

The Affordable Care Act Turns Two: Two years ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, giving hardworking, middle-class families the health care they deserve. Though not fully implemented until 2014, the law is already making a real difference in many people’s lives.

West Wing Week: Your video guide to everything that's happening this week at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Watch here.

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Seth's Blog : Episode markers

Episode markers

Our lives are lived in compartments, like panels in a cartoon strip.

Where you sit and when you leave and how you walked in--they are all markers, ways we space things out. Walking into the doctor's office or the principal's office or the parole office are physical acts that change our psyche.

Don't underestimate the power of having a customer walk into the dressing room or on stage or to the cash register. Don't forget that as soon as your audience walked into the conference room, they changed.

One way to change the story, then, is to change the markers. To move people from one spot to another when you want them to change their attitude (inside the movie theatre is very different from the popcorn-sales counter in the lobby).

I'm serious. Get up and move. Start fresh.