Tag Archives: horrors

Obamacare’s Competitive Markets Are Starting to Work Pretty Well

by FerdinaKimber Posted on April 27, 2016

Mother Jones

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The decision last week by United Healthcare to drop out of Obamacare got a lot of attention, but the truth is that UH was a pretty small player in the exchanges. What’s more important—but hasn’t gotten much attention—is the fact that more and more Obamacare insurers are getting close to profitability. Richard Mayhew comments:

2014 was a year where there were only guesses about both the Exchange population, the market structure, and federal policy structure (specifically the risk corridor revenue neutrality restrictions. 2015 had a bit more clarity on who was coming into the market, what was working and what was not working, and what federal policy on risk corridors would actually be. 2016 is the first year where the policies are priced on functionally decent real information and some of the amazingly dumb strategic decisions have been unwound through either course changes or through exiting the market.

As a simple reminder, competitive markets should see some companies make money and some companies that offer more expensive and less attractive products lose money. I would be extremely worried if everyone was making money after three years, just like I would be extremely worried that everyone was losing money after three years of increasingly better data.

Obamacare critics have spent a lot of energy trying to pretend that premiums on the exchanges have skyrocketed, but that’s never been true. What is true is that premiums started below projections and have since risen moderately as insurers get a better grasp on their customer base. This is how competitive markets work: players enter the market with prices designed to attract market share; customers pick winners and losers; prices adjust over time; and some companies are successful while others drop out. Eventually you reach a rough equilibrium, which we’re getting close to with Obamacare.

It’s ironic (or something) that the problems conservatives are making such a fuss about are the result of precisely what they say they want: competitive insurance markets. Apparently Obamacare has produced a little more competition than they’re comfortable with.

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Obamacare’s Competitive Markets Are Starting to Work Pretty Well

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Evil Dex Update

by LRTJoeldnli Posted on April 23, 2016

Mother Jones

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With the evil dex reduced to 12 mg, I thought I’d try taking it in the morning instead of at bedtime. I won’t be doing that again. Even at the lower dose and with a sleeping pill, I’m wide awake at 3 am. I suppose I’m slightly less wide awake than before, but that’s small comfort.

Oh well. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. I guess dex reaches its full effect after about 18 hours or so. Keep that in mind in case any evil doctor ever talks you into using it.

On the bright side, this is giving me plenty of time to Photoshop a new bit of desktop wallpaper with a better picture of the furballs. As usual, then, the score is Cats 1, Humans 0.

UPDATE: Here it is:

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Evil Dex Update

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Friday Cat Blogging – 22 April 2016

by Antoinette3030 Posted on April 22, 2016

Mother Jones

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Our cats enjoy dark, cozy spots, so a few days ago I thought I’d buy them an enclosed pod to see how they liked it. Have I gone a little pod crazy? Perhaps. But it’s a cheap and harmless hobby.

Anyway, the only one I could find locally was a sort of cat yurt, so I shelled out $14.99 and took it home. It was…problematic. But the problem, it turned out, wasn’t the yurt concept per se, it was the pillow inside, which was so thick and soft that the cats rolled around on it like drunken sailors. As you can see in photo #1, Hopper solved that problem by burrowing under the pillow and using it as a door.

That worked well, but it caught the eye of her brother, who promptly stepped on the yurt and then decided to camp out on it. He eventually got bored with that, and when it was all over I removed the pillow entirely and moved the yurt. At first, everyone happily had their own pod. The Hilbert decided he wanted to try out the yurt, and as you can see, he eventually got his way.

But he’s a little too big for it, so it’s mostly a Hopper yurt. I’ve now customized it further by putting their old red blanket inside. We’ll see how that works out.

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Friday Cat Blogging – 22 April 2016

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Factlet of the Day: Youth Turnout in New York Wasn’t Much Different Than in 2008

by MaureenHoffmann Posted on April 20, 2016

Mother Jones

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For the record, here’s the Democratic turnout in New York in 2008 and 2016:

Total Turnout

18-29 Turnout

2008

1.82 million

273 thousand

2016

1.81 million

322 thousand

The turnout rate among all residents aged 18-29 was up from 9.8 percent to 11.5 percent. That’s a nice increase, but as I recall, Obama didn’t spend a whole lot of time in New York in 2008. When you take that into account, it’s hard to see much evidence here of a massive surge in youth interest caused by the Bernie Sanders campaign.

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Factlet of the Day: Youth Turnout in New York Wasn’t Much Different Than in 2008

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In the 21st Century, We All Want Smart, Gorgeous Mates

by GwenJosehvf Posted on April 19, 2016

Mother Jones

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Wonkblog points us today to a chart from Max Roser showing how men and women rated various aspects of potential mates in 1939 vs. 2009. (Since 1939 is the comparison year, it goes without saying that we’re talking about straight, cis, and most likely white folks here.) You can see the entire set of data at either of the links above, but I was interested mainly in the traits that have moved up or down significantly over that period. Here they are, in a handily color-coded pink and blue chart:

What can we tell from this? For starters, keep in mind that this is what people say they value, not what they actually value. “Similar political background,” for example, has allegedly moved up only one spot, from dead last to almost last, so it’s not in my chart. But there’s considerable evidence that a lot of people today would rather have their big toes cut off than associate with someone of the opposite party. So take all of this with a grain of salt.

Anyway, obviously chastity is out the door. No one cares anymore. Refinement is now decidedly old-fashioned, replaced by a desire for the more egalitarian virtue of sociability. And love has zoomed up to the top of the chart. (Allegedly, anyway.)

Beyond that, the two big movers are education and good looks. Apparently we all want mates who are both smart and gorgeous, which might go a long way toward explaining why marriage seems to be in decline. How many smart, gorgeous people are there in the world, after all? And if they have to be gregarious too—well, you’re just being mighty picky. Good luck.

Notably, the boring traits haven’t changed much: dependability and stability were near the top of the chart in 1939, and they’re still there now. I guess meat and potatoes are always in fashion. Or so we tell the pollsters, anyway.

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In the 21st Century, We All Want Smart, Gorgeous Mates

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Chart of the Day: Americans Think Hard Work Is the Key to Success. Europeans, Not So Much.

by TomasObrien Posted on April 19, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here’s a fascinating result from the plucky pollsters at Pew Research:

I’m not surprised that the US ranks highest. But I am surprised at how much higher. Only a quarter of the French think that hard work is important for getting ahead in life? How about that. Even the famously diligent Germans clock in at only 49 percent.

Granted, in order to make the grade, you have to score this as 10 (or “10,” as Pew puts it) on a 0-10 scale. Maybe Europeans tend to score it as a 9—still pretty important, but not quite totally life-engulfing. Either way, though, apparently we Americans continue to believe in the importance of hard work a lot more than our Europeans peers. No 6-week vacations for us!

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Chart of the Day: Americans Think Hard Work Is the Key to Success. Europeans, Not So Much.

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Weekly Flint Water Report: April 9-15

by VanColbygtoflcf Posted on April 18, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here is this week’s Flint water report. As usual, I’ve eliminated outlier readings above 2,000 parts per billion, since there are very few of them and they can affect the averages in misleading ways. During the week, DEQ took 905 samples. The average for the past week was 10.63.

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Weekly Flint Water Report: April 9-15

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Raw Data: Illegal Immigration From Mexico

by EdytheGates Posted on February 28, 2016

Mother Jones

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Are unauthorized immigrants “pouring across the southern border”? Since Donald Trump said it, there’s automatically a strong chance that it’s a lie, and sure enough, it is.

According to Pew Research, the population of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico peaked in 2007 at 6.9 million and has been dropping ever since. Currently it stands at 5.6 million. As the chart on the right shows, net migration from Mexico has been negative every year since 2008. But maybe the ones that are here are disproportionately murderers and rapists, as Trump also says. Nope. The number of unauthorized immigrants in US prisons is relatively small, and the bulk of the available research suggests that they’re incarcerated at lower rates than US citizens. It’s just another lie.

Source – 

Raw Data: Illegal Immigration From Mexico

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Chris Christie Gets Another 15 Minutes of Fame

by FedericNesbitt Posted on February 26, 2016

Mother Jones

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Apparently Donald Trump has promised to appoint Chris Christie attorney general. Or secretary of state. Or, I dunno, maybe Christie will be in charge of a special task force to lock up Marco Rubio and his entire family in Guantanamo Bay and take their oil. Bada bing. It’s a mystery.

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Chris Christie Gets Another 15 Minutes of Fame

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Raw Data: Increase in Life Expectancy at Age 65

by NolanPopp7849 Posted on February 23, 2016

Mother Jones

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Among advanced countries with high life expectancies already, how is the US doing at increasing the life expectancy of men and women once they reach age 65? Not so good! Raw data below.

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Raw Data: Increase in Life Expectancy at Age 65

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