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For an example of just how heartless and profit-obsessed health insurers are, take a look at what is playing out in Connecticut, where Cigna is based. Low income people with diabetes in Connecticut and other states are having a hard time paying for the insulin that they must have to stay alive–even though they have insurance. That’s because in many cases, their copays and deductibles are so high they can’t afford to pick up their prescriptions. One in four Americans, many of whom are insured, are putting their lives at risk by rationing insulin. To provide some relief, Connecticut lawmakers have introduced legislation that would cap the cost of insulin supplies at $25 a month for people enrolled in health plans regulated by the state, including Medicaid. Unfortunately, the proposed law would NOT apply to people who get their insurance through an employer (as most Americans do) because employer-sponsored plans are exempt from state oversight. So even though the bill would only apply to a relatively small segment of the population in Connecticut–the poorest who have to buy coverage on their own without the help of an employer and those who are enrolled in Medicaid–lobbyists for the insurance industry are trying to kill the bill. The bill undoubtedly would save lives, but that is of little concern to the Connecticut Association of Health Plans, the lobbying group for the state’s insurers, which argues that “capping copays unfortunately doesn’t do anything to address the actual cost of the drugs and the supplies.” There are two things to understand here. One, we are talking about a relatively small amount of money, pocket change, really, when you consider the enormous profits the big insurers are making, especially during the pandemic, but the insurance industry doesn’t want to give up a dime in profits. It is putting the interests of shareholders above the interests of patients. The other thing to understand is that the insurance companies, through their public comments, are acknowledging that they are largely incapable of holding down the cost of medications by any means other than making their customers pay more out of their own pockets for life-saving drugs. The insurance industry’s top lobbyist in the state was quoted as saying that insurers use copays as leverage in negotiating lower prices with pharmaceutical companies. That is tantamount to an admission that insurers view patients as hostages and are telling drug makers, “I’ll deny this patient affordable access to a drug she needs unless you lower the price.” This should not be happening in America. If health insurers can’t come up with more acceptable ways to help their customers manage medical expenses than by using them as hostages, what is their “value proposition?” One of the things health insurance lobbyists will not admit is that health insurance executives and their shareholders actually benefit from rising health care costs. The more prices go up, the more insurers can force their customers to pay in premiums, copays and deductibles. Higher premiums translate into higher revenues and profits. By increasing copays and deductibles, insurers make their customers pay more out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in. As long as we allow this rigged game to go on, shareholders will continue to win at our expense. It is outrageous that people with insurance are dying every day in this country because of ever-increasing copays and deductibles. It is equally outrageous that industry lobbyists would try to block efforts that could save some of those lives. (Wendell Potter, Tarbell, 7/24/2020. Mr Potter used to be an executive at Cigna and is now a daily critic of the health insurance industry). My comment: I don’t know how those people sleep at night. |
Twelve Commandments for Seniors
#1 – Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.
#2 – “In Style” are the clothes that still fit.
#3 – You don’t need anger management. You need people to stop pissing you off.
#4 – Your people skills are just fine. It’s your tolerance for idiots that needs work.
#5 – The biggest lie you tell yourself is, “I don’t need to write that down. I’ll remember it.”
#6 – “On time” is when you get there.
#7 – Even duct tape can’t fix stupid – but it sure does muffle the sound.
#8 – It would be wonderful if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes, then come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller.
#9 – Lately, You’ve noticed people your age are so much older than you.
#10 – Growing old should have taken longer.
#11 – Aging has slowed you down, but it hasn’t shut you up.
#12 – You still haven’t learned to act your age, and hope you never will
Iceland: The dark underbelly of sexual equality
Iceland has long enjoyed a reputation as a paragon of sexual equality. For the past 11 years, it has led the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, and its women benefit from high levels of education and equality in the workplace.
But this masks some “insidious problems in Icelandic society”, say Sigrún Sif Jóelsdóttir and Grant Wyeth. In what has been labelled the “Nordic paradox”, women in Iceland and other Nordic countries have gained “significant structural equality” yet still face disproportionate violence against them. For instance, while globally 38% of murders of women are committed by a male partner, the figure in Iceland stands at 50%.
Sexual assault is also common: one in four Iceland women have been raped or sexually assaulted in their lives – compared to one in ten in Europe as a whole. One theory to explain this so-called paradox is that perpetrators of violence are protected by justice systems that tolerate and excuse their behaviour. Another is that increased gender equality “fuels male resentment” which is channelled into violence. But whatever the explanation, it has to change. If the world is to continue celebrating the country as a “global exemplar”, Iceland must confront its failure to end violence against women – and fast. (The Week, 25 July 2020, and Foreign Policy, Washington)
My comment: This is really weird. Why should men get violent because their partners are earning more than them and asserting their equality? Personally, I think gender equality is one of the best things in modern life. It means the whole onus of income and living standards is not on the shoulders of the man. One can relax a bit, do something for oneself, while scrupulously helping around the house( of course!), maintaining peace and amity. Grow up, guys! Be thankful you are not permanently stressed having to do more than your share!
Epicureanism, among other things, stands for gender equality and unwavering respect for one’s spouse or partner. No ifs or buts.
China and the internet
Not long ago we fondly believed that one thing all nations would have in common was access to the same digital technology, that is (mainly) the internet. We were wrong. Ever since Beijing began building its Great Firewall in 1996, its censored version of the web has diverged from the one used by the rest of the world. And as tensions between China and the US escalate, this divergence is now spreading to other tech areas. Beijing is creating more of its own bespoke computer hardware; it is investing huge sums in 5G technology and AI; it is poised to disconnect itself from GPS, the universally used satellite navigation system run by the US air force, and switch to its own BeiDou network.
Last year, Beijing ordered all government offices to remove foreign computer equipment and software within three years. Meanwhile, the US has blacklisted Huawei and other Chinese firms, leading Huawei – which can no longer license Google’s Android operating system – to start developing its own system, Harmony OS. The US and China seem to be priming the world for “a digital cold war”. Welcome to “the splinternet”. (The Week, 27 June 2020, and Margi Murphy and Matthew Field in The Daily Telegraph).
My comment: Anyone who knows any history could have warned politicians and big companies that China has for many years had a ( justified?) chip on its shoulder about being pushed around by, and a desire to get even with, the West (and Japan) for perceived humiliations of the past. Now China is becoming Major Power No. 1, with massive help from Western capitalist corporations, and is exerting huge economic influence in a ruthless fashion, based by large-scale theft of Western know-how and the incarceration of all who, even modestly, disagree with the Party, including the poor Uighers, who have done nobody any harm.
One used to be assured that a constitutional and democratic United States would defend Western values. Now that this can no longer be taken for granted and the US is becoming more like an average African country, with an autocrat-admirer in charge, the peace of mind I personally used to have in the political future has massively diminished. As China displaces the US, none of us can rest easy.
US universities are charging full fees for ‘virtual’ class this fall.
Schools with huge endowments are pretending remote learning is the same experience as learning together with your fellow students. Excuse me? Harvard is one of the colleges who will offer the bulk of their courses online. But they refuse to reduce the cost of tuition.
Colleges and universities are in a bind. Coronavirus continues to rage in many parts of America, making the sort of communal gatherings that are hallmarks of collegiate life outright dangerous. Lecture halls, libraries, football games and dorm-room parties can all be superspreader events.
Some educational institutions have already declared that almost the entire academic year will occur remotely, while others are forging on with in-person learning. For schools that have decided against in-person instruction, the caution exercised is understandable. The University of California system, Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Rutgers have all declared that the bulk of their course offerings will be online. About 60% of schools are meanwhile still planning an in-person start to the year.
What colleges are not doing is reducing tuition costs, even though a significant portion of the value these educational institutions provide is now lost indefinitely. Only Princeton has offered a 10% price cut. Harvard, with its $40bn endowment, is still charging full tuition. So are Rutgers and the University of California schools, both public universities.
Though they charge less than private institutions, Rutgers or a University of California school aren’t cheap. In-state students at California public universities still pay about $14,000 a year to attend. At Rutgers, in New Jersey, in-state students pay a little more than $12,000. (At both schools, out-of-state tuition is far higher, more than $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.) Altogether, college costs have soared, and now almost every institution, in the age of coronavirus, faces a reckoning.
Remote learning, no matter how well-intentioned, is a diluted product, and students deserve a tuition reduction for sitting at home and staring at a laptop screen. Professors cannot connect with students in the same way. And the ancillary benefits of college – making friends, networking with peers, joining clubs, playing intramural sports – are all lost.
There is an argument that students, especially at prestige schools, are still getting the value of a degree and therefore should pay the full freight. Isn’t the diploma ultimately what matters? But that’s not how colleges and universities pitch themselves to unsuspecting freshmen.
College life is not merely about scoring a dream job right after graduation. It’s supposed to be an experience. Behold our manicured lawns, our successful basketball team, our state-of-the-art fitness center, the newly revamped computer lab – and pay dearly for them. Part of the tradeoff of taking on crippling debt is supposed to be the creation of unforgettable memories, those four life-changing years you’ll never have again. Remote learning promises none of that.
Public schools are in a tougher position than their wealthier private counterparts. Tuition is how they generate much of their revenue, particularly after decades of cost-cutting by state governments. Many states have left world-class public institutions begging for money; the cuts after the 2008 economic crash were especially deep. Without a massive federal bailout package, public universities and community colleges will be suffering for years to come, starved of tax revenue in the wake of the pandemic.
Still, these public institutions can offer tuition discounts while seeking cuts elsewhere. Greg Schiano, the Rutgers football coach, for instance, makes an astonishing $4m annually! The athletics arms race means that scores of colleges, like Rutgers, have run up huge deficits.
College costs have soared over the decades owing to declining public aid, expensive athletics, increased demand, and the rising cost of staff. Now almost every institution, in the age of coronavirus, faces a reckoning. They can continue to overcharge students. Or they can attempt a measure of economic justice at a time when, from the White House on down, it’s utterly lacking.
- Ross Barkan , The Guardián July 11 2020. ( lightly edited for length)
My take: Start with taking a good look shrinking nonessential expenditures like athletics. But to charge for in-person tuition and only offer the internet is downright dishonest. Meanwhile, note the author’s question , “Isn’t the diploma ultimately what matters?” No, the objective is to educate you, to learn critical thinking, to set you up for a lifetime of learning. All that seems to matter is the piece of paper, alias a “ job”. Don’t get me started!