Neverending Covid-19 Coronavirus

RenegadeMonster said:
Open enrollment is coming up on November 4th for me. Just now got the first communications about what our plans will look like for next year.

Our medical and vision planes are staying the same. However, the price of each medical plan is going up by 50% for next year. For me that's a $35 per pay period increase or $70 a month with keeping the same medical plan next year.

This is just obscene.

Arn't the insurance companies getting record profits this year? Why are they jacking up the rates so much?

Is it because they expect the ACA to not stand throwing the industry into chaos next year or are they being weary of COVID?
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Insurance companies aren't doing great because although there are record profits, there are also record pay outs. On top of that, they are seeing member lists decrease because as businesses either cut workers or go out of business. The insurance companies are losing their easiest income source, the commercial employer. Most insurance companies don't make much money on Medicare or Medicaid business (a large number of states partner with private insurance companies so those companies can help run Medicaid--fox meet hen house). Insurance companies make their money off of commercial business, largely due to businesses purchasing health care for their workers. Fewer workers, fewer revenue. Closed businesses means no revenue.

Right now there are teams of actuaries going over data tables looking at member drop off and adjusting profitability models from there. What everyone fails to take into account is that if we keep on applying these same models, they will continue to inflate prices and no one will be able to afford to use health systems. As of now, there is a term in the insurance industry called "under insured". This applies to a person who can pay their premium each month but because they have such a high deductible, they can't actually use their insurance benefits because they don't have the few hundred dollars it would take to use their health insurance.

The survey found that the underinsured rate increased the most among U.S. adults enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans. That rate grew from 17% in 2010 to 28% in 2018, reaching about 44 million U.S. adults in 2018, according to the Commonwealth Fund. However, U.S. adults enrolled in health plans purchased in the individual insurance market had higher underinsured rates than those enrolled in employer-sponsored coverage. Among U.S. adults with coverage from the individual market, the underinsured rate increased from 37% in 2010 to 42% in 2018.

Who's underinsured in America, in 4 charts

The U.S. uninsured rate and has declined since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2010, but the percentage of underinsured U.S. adults has grown, according to a survey brief from the Commonwealth Fund released Thursday.
www.advisory.com www.advisory.com

These are people with jobs that couldn't afford to meet their deductible in 2018. Now apply 2020 numbers to this and project out, and it's not a pretty picture. Those of us with employer sponsored healthcare will see large price increases and fewer services for those increases. But what I worry about more are the 20% or so of newly jobless Americans who don't have insurance or who are going to run out of COBRA benefits. This is yet another way that our private health care system is failing us. It's great to have care that's "the best in the world" but it doesn't mean a hill of beans if none of us can actually afford that care.
 
The United States just set the record for the most ever new cases in a single day. We have passed the record set this past spring.

Meanwhile Trump said last night that doctors inflate the number of cases because they make more money when someone dies of COVID.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
The United States just set the record for the most ever new cases in a single day. We have passed the record set this past spring.

Meanwhile Trump said last night that doctors inflate the number of cases because they make more money when someone dies of COVID.
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So, no matter how you slice that the system is totally broken and his plan is...
 
RenegadeMonster said:
The United States just set the record for the most ever new cases in a single day. We have passed the record set this past spring.

Meanwhile Trump said last night that doctors inflate the number of cases because they make more money when someone dies of COVID.
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I'm not sure whether it's a bigger indictment of our president that he believes that doctors make more money when people die of Covid, or our system that is so screwed up that people believe this is plausible.
 
Individual states might have lockdowns and should but I think sadly we blew that possibility over the summer when everyone thought we had this thing won. We won't see any sort of national policy unless Trump is voted out. He simply does not care and if he loses, he'll have zero incentive to do anything.
 
www.cnn.com

Trump suggests he might fire Fauci after election

President Donald Trump suggested to a Florida crowd he may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election, escalating his feud with the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases and providing a window into a potential post-November 3 administration purge.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
Speaking after midnight following a full day of campaigning, the President was complaining about the news media coverage of Covid-19 when the crowd broke out into a "Fire Fauci" chant

"Don't tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election," Trump said to cheers. "I appreciate the advice."
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Sadly, this would not surprise me if Trump fires Fauci.
 
My company attempted to implement a mask rule here at work. The problem is, they didn't tell everyone. In fact, they haven't told me yet, or had a meeting about it....and the people that were told are already not wearing them. The owners are mostly worried about a health department violation of 7500 bucks. Last I heard they decided to lock the front door, then scramble for masks if someone official-looking comes to the door.

Meanwhile, my wife's hospital is now starting to fill up again with Covid patients.
 
www.masslive.com

Stay-at-home advisory: New curfew requires Mass. businesses close by 9:30 p.m. nightly

“We’re doing much better than many other states and many other countries, but hereto we’ve let down our guard,” he said.
www.masslive.com www.masslive.com

We just got a stay at home advisory issued in MA by our governor. The order includes a curfew closes businesses at 10:00pm. Restaurants must seat the last table by 9:30pm. No gatherings larger than 10 people.

Also, my first hearing about this new advisory was my father texting me that our governor is a Natzi.
 
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm in quarantine for the next week.

A student was conspicuously absent last week, and has not been in the building for ten days. Because I am his specialist and that is considered "close contact," I have to stay home the rest of the week.

Good thing a big ol' box from Polyvinyl arrived today.
 
www.cnn.com

A 13-year-old Missouri boy's last day of school was in late October. He died from Covid-19 days later

An eighth grade student from Missouri passed away from complications related to Covid-19, officials in his school district said.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Meanwhile locally here in Boston, there is immense pressure being put on the school system, even by the Governor to open back up for in person classes. They say all the data shows it's safe. No super spreader events have been linked to schools reopening.

Okay, sure, there may not be super spreader events among the children, especially in grade school. But that's not to say they can't get it and that it can't be deadly like in the case of the 13 year old boy in the story above.

Also, who's to say that super spreader events linked to Churches such as in Fitchburg MA where more than 200 cases are now linked to a service didn't originate by a parent catching COVID from their kid who got it in school?
 
Updated info on my company's mask policy:
They aren't going to police it. They did their diligence by recommending that we wear one. Now it's your own choice as to whether you do or not. The caveat is that if OSHA comes to our place, the person not in compliance covers the $7500 fine. But, they have NEVER come to our building in the 30 years we've been here. So the one guy who is proudly walking around without one won't be told to wear it, or punished or anything. This is the same guy that posts racist bs and QANON theories while on the company Wi-Fi.

I can't even deal with this guy...I hope his orange hero loses hard tonight.
 
ranbalam said:
Updated info on my company's mask policy:
They aren't going to police it. They did their diligence by recommending that we wear one. Now it's your own choice as to whether you do or not. The caveat is that if OSHA comes to our place, the person not in compliance covers the $7500 fine. But, they have NEVER come to our building in the 30 years we've been here. So the one guy who is proudly walking around without one won't be told to wear it, or punished or anything. This is the same guy that posts racist bs and QANON theories while on the company Wi-Fi.

I can't even deal with this guy...I hope his orange hero loses hard tonight.
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File a Complaint | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

www.osha.gov www.osha.gov
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