When the two-part employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was issued on Friday, the news was modestly positive: from its business “establishment” data it noted that employment increased by 162,000, a little less than expected but not far from the average of 175,000 new jobs a month that the economy has been generating for the last three months. The estimates for May and June were revised downward slightly but
Tag Archives: Insurance
Jobs Reports Show the US Turning into a Part Time Worker Economy
- Monday, 07 September 2020 08:54
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Trump Waffles on Ending ObamaCare Subsidies to Insurance Companies
- Monday, 07 September 2020 08:54
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, October 18, 2017:
For a moment there, it looked like the president was going to follow through on his promise to cut off the illegal and unconstitutional ObamaCare subsidies to health insurance companies providing coverage. But it turns out it was just a ploy, a negotiating strategy, to get liberal politicians from both parties to cobble together something in the middle. Said the president after his announcement, “If the Democrats were smart, what they’d do is come and negotiate something where people could really get the kind of health care they deserve.”
If the threat had been carried through, those subsidies, called “cost-sharing reduction payments,” which go to insurance companies to offset their costs of reducing out-of-pocket expenses such as deductibles and co-pays for low-income customers, would end. Under ObamaCare, however, those insurance companies would still be on the hook to provide coverage for those customers, forcing them to increase premiums. As the New York Times noted ruefully,
Unwinding ObamaCare
- Saturday, 14 October 2017 06:31
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, October 13, 2017:
Those in the freedom fight know how to get rid of unnecessary, unconstitutional programs: starve them and/or let the free market compete against them. Either way, they’re done for. President Trump’s Executive Order issued on Thursday does both.
That’s why his order was so much more than just allowing the free market to operate in providing healthcare coverages. It set a pattern for further rescissions and reductions of other unnecessary and anti-freedom government programs. What President Trump said was music to the ears of those committed to free market principles and who have been fighting for years to see a day like Thursday arrive and hear a president say the following:
New York Fed: Economy Will Benefit From Harvey and Irma
- Tuesday, 12 September 2017 05:47
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, September 11, 2017:
Frédéric Bastiat
In a statement reflecting a worldview taught by all major universities and espoused by central bankers around the world, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William Dudley, said on Friday that, on net, the destruction wrought by the hurricanes will be positive for the economy: “[The initial] effects tend to be pretty transitory. [But] the long-run effect of these disasters unfortunately is it actually lifts economic activity because you have to rebuild all the things that have been damaged by the storms.”
Dudley got the first part right:
Trump Threatens to Cut Off Insurance Company Subsidies After ObamaCare Repeal Vote Fails
- Tuesday, 01 August 2017 06:31
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, July 31, 2017:
Sounding rather testy that the Senate didn’t give him what he wanted on Thursday, President Trump tweeted on Saturday morning that he would not only punish senators and their staffs but cut off the government funding of subsidies — estimated to be $8 billion — to hungry insurance companies. He tweeted: “After seven years of ‘talking’ Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!” He then tweeted the not-so-subtle threat:
If a new HealthCare bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!
He added verbal insult to the potential financial injury:
Trump Keeps Another Promise: Ignore Social Security’s Impending Shortfalls
- Thursday, 13 July 2017 05:38
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, July 12, 2017:
During his presidential campaign, Republican Party candidate Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that he would not do anything to restore the financial integrity of Social Security:
I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid. Every other Republican is going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they don’t know what to do because they don’t know where the money is. I do.
Now that he is president, he no doubt has discovered just “where the money is”: It’s been spent by the government. And likely due to the commitment by the Democrats to oppose anything and everything he’d like to do, he’s just going to leave the failing and shrinking program alone.
This has caused angst among realists who see the federal program failing to meet its promises in less than 17 years and offering various ideas and suggestions on how to “fix” it.
Aetna Next to Leave Connecticut for Better Business Climate
- Wednesday, 07 June 2017 05:41
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 6, 2017:
Aetna Insurance Company and Aetna National Bank, Hartford, Conn, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views
Aetna, the $50 billion health insurer that has had its headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut, since 1853, confirmed rumors last week that it was looking to move out of state. The company said, “We are in negotiations with several states regarding a headquarters relocation, with the goal of broadening our access to innovation and the talent that will fill knowledge-economy type positions … and hope to have a final resolution by early summer.”
Hartford’s Mayor Luke Bronin expressed his disappointment:
What’s Wrong with Connecticut?
- Tuesday, 06 June 2017 05:18
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, June 5, 2017:
Aetna building in Hartford, Connecticut
The state has a staggering deficit of more than $5 billion, home prices are about where they were a decade ago, unemployment is rising (not falling as it is elsewhere in the northeast), and big companies who have been there for decades are leaving.
What is going on?
Uber Facing “Existential Threat” From AVs?
- Tuesday, 09 May 2017 05:55
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, May 8, 2017:
When ride-sharing company Uber bought Otto, the company developing autonomous car driving software, last August, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said the purchase was “existential” to the company: “The world is going to go self-driving and autonomous … a million fewer people are going to die a year [worldwide]. Traffic in all cities will be gone. [There will be] significantly reduced pollution and trillions of hours will be given back to people — quality of life goes way up. Once you go, “All right, there’s a lot of upsides there” … If we weren’t part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by.”
No less an authority than the Wall Street Journal agrees.
Social Security Disability Fraud Hides the Biggest Fraud of All
- Thursday, 13 April 2017 05:26
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, April 12, 2017:
Mug shot of Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949).
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General reported in 2015 that nearly half of the nine million people receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Insurance) benefits were being overpaid, running up $17 billion in excess disbursements over the previous 10 years.
Such overpayments were just the beginning of the story. On Monday, a former Kentucky attorney pleaded guilty to filing more than 1,700 false SSI disability claims in a scheme that netted him millions in fees that he lavishly dished out to his co-conspirators: a Social Security administrative law judge and a psychologist, among others. In his plea bargain, former attorney Eric Conn fingered Judge David Daugherty (whom he said birthed the scheme originally) and Dr. Alfred Adkins.
The fees that Conn collected ran into the millions, while Social Security dished out some $550 million in benefits to beneficiaries who willingly participated, some of them saying later that they didn’t really know what was happening but were happy to pay Conn $200 in cash under the table for his “advice” and assurance that their claims would be approved.
The setup was simple:
How Trump Can Accelerate the Failure of ObamaCare
- Tuesday, 28 March 2017 05:53
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, March 27, 2017:
With the withdrawal of a House bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare, Market Watch explored the options the Trump administration has to hasten the collapse of the ACA. ThinkProgress has reported that the process has already started.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, in announcing the withdrawal of the bill on Thursday, said that ObamaCare would remain in place “for the foreseeable future.” He didn’t define that future.
The government healthcare plan is already fraying around its edges. Premiums are rising far beyond original estimates, partly due to the withdrawal of major health insurers UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and Aetna from offering coverages. And those remaining in the market have only until June 21 to submit their bids for offering coverages starting in November. But without certainty, a stable market and a broader pool made up more of healthy customers than those who are sick, those bids are almost certain to push premiums even higher.
Trump’s head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tom Price, an opponent of the ACA, has already ordered the ending of the promotion of ObamaCare, which has caused a drop-off of enrollment of 400,000 compared to last year.
In addition,
The PBGC is Falling. Where is Superman When He is Needed?
- Saturday, 04 March 2017 06:42
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, March 3, 2017:
In the 1978 film Superman, Lois Lane is caught mid-air by Superman who says: “Easy, miss. I’ve got you.” Responds Lois: “You – you’ve got me? Who’s got you?”
Concerning government agencies making promises, the answer is always and everlastingly: the U.S. taxpayer.
For example, consider the 42-year-old government agency backing up single-employer and multi-employer pension plans:
Federal Insurance Agency Backing Union Pensions Facing Crisis Itself
- Friday, 03 March 2017 06:38
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, March 2, 2017:
When Teamsters Local 707’s pension plan ran out of money in February, it sought assistance from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Said PBGC Director Tom Reeder:
This is a big issue for us. It’s a big issue for Local 707 and it’s a big issue for others in the same situation across the country.
We’re projected to run out of money in eight to 10 years. Many union pension plans are projected to run out in 20 years.
The federal insurance agency is now paying out $1.7 million every month to the stranded retirees of Local 707.
707’s problems have been decades in the making.
ObamaCare Replacement Plan Introduced in Congress
- Friday, 17 February 2017 06:47
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, February 16, 2017:
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Representative Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) introduced their ObamaCare Replacement Act (ORA) on Wednesday. It would simultaneously repeal nearly all of ObamaCare’s most onerous demands and mandates while opening up the health-insurance market to individuals to purchase, or not to purchase, coverage. The bill, S.222, might more appropriately be named the “Health Insurance Freedom to Purchase Act,” putting the decision to buy, or not to buy, coverage back in the hands of individual citizens and taking it out of the hands of the federal government.
Senator Paul said,
First, Big Taxi. Next, Big Box Stores. Now, Big Car Dealers.
- Wednesday, 25 January 2017 14:27
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, January 25, 2017:
A Tesla “Gallery” storefront
An unfettered free market has but one goal in mind: to serve a customer – the guy with the money in his pocket – better. It’s driven by the profit-motive: better service means more customers bringing more money to the improviser who has figured out how to do it profitably. Adam Smith said it much more elegantly:
There is No “Permanent” Fix for Social Security
- Wednesday, 14 December 2016 06:46
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, December 12, 2016:
Social Security Poster:
There’s no doubt that Texas Representative Sam Johnson means well. He and his constituents are concerned about their financial futures and about the viability of Social Security as an important part of those futures. So on Thursday he offered his plan “to permanently save Social Security.” He calls it the “Social Security Reform Act.”
The plan doesn’t deserve a close look.
More Proof Clinton Foundation was “Pay to Play” Scheme: Donations off
- Saturday, 26 November 2016 13:20
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday,k November 25, 2016:
In his captivating and popular 90-minute speech to students on college campuses around the country, Dinesh D’Souza makes many telling points. High on the list is his conclusion that America “dodged a bullet” with the election of Donald Trump. Another is just how the Clinton Foundation’s “pay to play” scam worked.
It was a three-part deal:
Social Security to Announce Tiny Increase in Benefits for Next Year
- Tuesday, 11 October 2016 13:33
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This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, October 11, 2016:
Next Tuesday the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will announce Social Security’s COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for 2017. It is widely anticipated to be between nothing and $3 a month for the average beneficiary.
But Medicare premiums (retirees are often expected to pay a monthly fee for coverage) for seniors receiving Social Security retirement benefits are expected to jump nearly $30 a month. That premium increase would reduce the average retirement benefit by about $25 a month, except that Congress had inserted a “hold harmless” provision into Medicare law. Instead, the premium increase will be funded by Medicare, thereby hastening the day when that part of Social Security runs out of money.
The statistics reflective of the current gradual liquidation of Social Security’s so-called Trust Fund are familiar to most recipients:
ObamaCare is Failing, Just as It was Designed to Do
- Friday, 12 February 2016 13:01
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This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, February 12, 2016:
Barack Obama signing ObamaCare into law.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid must be proud. The health insurers behind ObamaCare are losing money and some are considering leaving the monstrosity altogether. Many of the co-ops that sprang up during the rollout have closed their doors, despite receiving millions in government aid.
Harry knew exactly what he was going when he built it. In an interview at “Nevada Week in Review” in 2013, before the rollout, Reid said:
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