I’m not sure that I believe that report about Afghanistans burning the food dropped by Americans. It sounds too much like Taliban propaganda.
Did any of you see that documentary done by the undercover female reporter who wanted to see the area where her father grew up inside Afghanistan?
Many of those unfortunate people would happily trade the Taliban for a bit of fruit or rice.
Besides, they’re talking several hundred out of a hundred thousand.
ooooh, M.O’C - just full of interesting dilemnas today, aren’t we? 
In all probability your insurance rates for next year are already set in stone. You may not know them yet, but the final details are being completed between carriers and state regulators.
Generally most carriers file their rates for the following year, usually in the 3rd quarter, hoping to have them approved by early in the 4th quarter. This is because the great bulk of business renews in January, and renewal rates need to be presented by November.
Now here is the tricky part. If I go through the long and complex process of developing a rate filing to meet both the company’s revenue target and the state’s regulations (most states must approve, or at least have on record, a company’s projected rates and some details about underwriting), I generally have to start in June. But all insurers suffer from a thing called “lag” which basically means I get all revenue up front (called premium), but expenses (claims) take months to trickle in (and must be applied to the month services were rendered). This means that in June of 2001, if I was developing 2002 rates, I would have to use the expenses/trends of 2000 to develop my rates - 2000 data is the only data that is complete, because the data has no “lag” in it. Oh I can look at the first half of 2001 and analyze it (and do), but it is missing a LOT of expenses and even some revenue. So here we are, trying to project what is going to happen to expenses in 2002 based on what happened in 2000. Funky way to run a business, eh?
Now it isn’t all that happenstance - you can rely on medical economic forecasts and actuarial trends (aka withcraft and foretelling") to adjust your rates upward or downward according to what you think may happen, but these things have to be independently verified, and can’t be entirely in-house.
So the quick answer is in all probability this will not affect your 2002 rates - they are done, and states generally require really exceptional circumstances to approve revised rates. As a side note, the reason rates have escalated so sharply in the last few years was due to that lag effect. In the early 90’s, medical inflation was at an all time low, so carriers had minimal increases or even undercut their competitors, increased benefits and so on, while competing for market share. Then medical inflation started upward, led primarily by pharmacy costs. Due to the lag effect, it was more or less not reflected in the rates, and insurers get way behind the 8 ball - nothing like betting on a 3% increase in revenue for the next 12 months, then finding out that expenses had been increasing by 10% for the last 18 months, and are likely to keep doing so. By the time you can correct it, you have been shortselling your product for 36 months. This is considered “Not Good” in any business…
But on to what I think will happen… and boy, is this a shot in the dark. First of all, expenses such as screenings due to workplace hazards are not now, nor have they ever been the domain of health insurers. This is covered under workman’s compensation. Additionally, I would bet as we speak, whoever insured those press workers in FL and NY is subrogating against the workman’s comp carrier, since they can probably make a VERY good case that the disease was contracted primarily due to the workplace (I think that one clearly falls in the “uh, duh” category). So health insurers have dodged the bullet to a certain extent. They do have a small problem in that most of their pharmacy systems have no way of discriminating between types of drugs or purposem of such drugs. For instance while their contracts generally exclude antibiotics prescribed by dentists, they have no real way of enforcing that - same goes for painkillers from worker’s comp claims. They can manage specific cases that are flagged, but a lot more goes through on the premise that it costs more to administer the exclusion than to pay for it.
The thought of worker’s comp insurance going up is scary - that already eats a huge hole out of business pockets, and I believe worker’s comp has a lot more latitude for rating for specific risk than health insurers do. Could be quite a challenge for them to define the risk though…
Undoubtedly health and worker’s comp carriers will be closely evaluating their claims for the 3rd/4th quarters of this year, and attempting to make some order/projections out of it, but obviously this is whole new turf for actuaries (something they truly hate).
As for the uninsured, we do pay their costs - if not through our tax dollars going to support public hospitals, then through the increased DSH (disproportionate share) funding that makes up a portion of Medicare funding (some of the write off of uninsured costs shows up in the Medicare payment system). In fact one wonders if we just paid for 'em up front, before they end up in the hospital, if we may not end up paying less? But that is a thought for a whole 'nuther thread…
Now did you just learn more about health insurance economics than you ever wanted to know? 
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brookes:
Bush has never mentioned just what those consequences would be.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, there are those aircraft carriers headed to the Middle East…
Julie Montgomery,
I think the Bush vs Gore thread was the longest thread ever on the BB, mainly discussed by the same people posting here.
I think we are just a bunch of politicky horsey people who enjoy sharing our opinions!
Ride it Like You Stole It…
What was the point of your post? I don’t spit at the screen - what a rude comment and then you step back and say how wonderful you are. The good people in public service don’t have to defend themselves and are the FIRST to step forward and point out the fact that our government is TOO FAT. To defend the fact that we TWICE as many people employed in the Public sector than we need to get the job done?? Some efforts aren’t just duplicated, triplicated, etc. etc. etc.
If we should have government oversight it SHOULD be for security at airports - as we’ve come to realize our airspace is critical to OUR SAFETY.
This thread started - and I repeat myself - with sophomoric comments on Bush’s accent. I suppose these are the type of people who start laughing when they hear a horrible story - a reaction I’ve never understood. In the comment about accents - these people making a sweeping insult to those who live in the south or southwest but why argue details. I’m sure these gals have perfect diction and superior oratory skills - RIGHT!
No one disputes that Snowbird is fully entitled to post and express her opinion however and whenever she wishes, pt. That she’d do so without the self-laudatory insults, dismissiveness, historical manipulation, age-ism, and conceit would be greatly preferred. Punctuation is also a handy friend to have when feeling epic.
I haven’t read a singular statement by anyone cited that was anything less than an eloquent statement of their beliefs, measured by the seeming novelty of intellectual curiosity and reason. And unlike some, they’ve also expressed the ability, willingness and grace to actually ‘listen’ to the opinions of others.
Kudos to HYN, DMK, and Hobson!
I interviewed a romance novelist once, and learned that traditional moral values and FEMINISM are the bedrock upon which the soft porn rests. Yeah. Sure 
That while everyone was fully prepared to over look the office transgressions and they are so hung up on a speech accent, or even a lack of oratory.
To me it is sad that just because GW hasn’t resorted to being coached by Hollywood about proper presentation that somehow demeans GW. I personally felt that it was a pity that Nixon lost a debate just because he didn’t want to wear make-up.
I have no objection to anyone losing or winning a debate based on logic and merit. I have little patience with the Abdy Warhol method of approval to sociology. As a painter I have great respect for Warhol’s forcasts of what we would become unless we stopped then. While people forcused on the Campbell’s Soup can they missed his big point which was that it represented the Madison Avenue sales methods.
Awwwwwwwwwww what a cute puppy dog!
The witchy witch witch of south central NC.
I’d like to hope this thread can be closed now. As the air strikes go on and our country is asked to hold a steady course on the homefront - we just don’t need any comments on GEORGE W. BUSH’s, accent, IQ or whatever. He is the Commander & Chief of our Armed Forces. THEY need his direction and WE need to give them our support by supporting him.
No politics, no pettiness just good honest to God PRAYERS!
Suggestion:
Instead of attempting to assign blame to whichever presidential figure that we dislike, perhaps we should re-examine our national policy of propping up oppressive dictators. As examples I offer:
- The Shah of Iran
- Marcos
- The regime of terror instituted by the Dulles brother on the people of Guatemala.
- The royal family of Kuwait.
Why are we always so surprised when extremists who oust said dictators don�t like us ?
and thanks, DMK, for those stats - i think if more US citizens knew the numbers (especially those high infant mortality figures) compared with other countries in the “developed” and “undeveloped” world, attitudes might change…maybe.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Weatherford:
Another perspective - are we targeting the wrong person?
Interesting reading.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes, it’s very interesting, Weatherford!
[Edited to fix URL so page is not so wide.]
[This message was edited by Portia on Sep. 21, 2001 at 07:10 PM.]
Sorry can’t follow that remark at all. But then again if we look at that Independent Vermont rep…well I’m sorry I can’t see how you can put George W. Bush down as someone not up to the task!!! Criticize away - but he flew a jets that take more than parents in the right places to fly and while his heritage might have gotten him into an Ivy League Business School - it didn’t help him graduate. I did too and believe me NOONE gets through on connections. I look at the people who surround him and attest to respecting him - it’s the measure of the man.
I can’t sign on to your disrespect philosophy - the lack of any level of respect in our society has been it’s demise. Young children lipping off to strangers has become the norm, not the exception and goes hand in hand with lack of discipline and self-disclipine. We’ve bottomed out and I’m not some holy roller right wing conservative. I’m a social moderate and a fiscal conservative.
I believe RESPECT is an absolute necessity for a succesful Republic. The US is a Republic and not a Democracy. Nation of laws??? Remember.
As a stay at home mother, I believe the ability to stay at home to raise one’s child(ren) is a financial luxury, not a moral defect.
And as for Ted Nugent, well golly, I much prefered it when he was but a mere Jack Daniel’s-chugging, skirt-chasing, spandex-wearing, ‘b’ grade rock singer.
What about John Le Carre novels?
I don’t think it’s dead yet, Erin.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Inverness:
Kellybird, you are a remarkable going-on-16-year-old. Your perceptiveness, rational outlook, and open-mindedness show through your every word. Truly, I think your post demonstrates that going-on-16 intelligence and compassion is often superior to the geriatric variety.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Or is a case of a well spoken young woman who lives in a home where her parents vote for Democrats?? You know how children mirror their parents.
Were my 17 year old here posting she would be, like I, standing side by side with Snowbird. Ditto my father who is but a year younger than Snowbird.
SLW
Kreswyn. Such insightful and mature insights re the president. I wish I had such a deep perspective. I was so ignorant as to focus on policy and personal integrity. Thank you for pointing out all those very important physical limitations that I had overlooked. I always thought beauty was skin deep and ugly went right to the bone. You have driven that point home.
EEK, look at what has been happening whilst my fingers have been busy typing–I emerge from the “post reply” mode to find that strides toward peace have been made by our own hobson and pt…
You guys are cracking me up
– hobson’s “evil-doers” post! Yes, our leaders have become surreal in their description of our enemies!
pt–no spawns of evil, indeed!!!lololol…
“Onward marches the resurrected topical topic…”
