Freakazoid Health Insurance

It stumped me for a couple of seconds there. Why in the world would the Kentucky governor want to make it much easier for Big Insurance to fuck over his already poor and poorly-insured constituents?

Media Czech:

Get off their backs!

Gov. Steve Beshear's administration confirmed Monday that Kentucky is seeking a waiver from a portion of the federal health care overhaul that requires large insurance companies to spend at least 85 percent of premiums on medical care.

Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark made the request in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier this month, saying she feared it will create a financial hardship on some insurers and insurance agents.

"Quite frankly, I just thought it was the responsible thing to do," Clark said Monday.

The intent of the federal regulation is to prevent insurers from using huge shares of premiums on costs associated with administration, marketing or executive bonuses.

Thank God Steve Beshear is not only standing up against Barack Obama's cruel persecution of King Coal and their right to pollute Kentucky's water without punishment, but also Obama's oppression of health insurance companies' right to spend their dough on TV ads and CEO bonuses.

Phil Moffett commended Gov. Beshear for the move, so hopefully this will give him some Tea Party mojo going into this November. Oh, and maybe some insurance company campaign contributions, that wouldn't hurt either!

Yes, Beshear's a moron for thinking the teabaggers will ever vote for him or that any amount of Big Insurance blood money would make a difference, but there had to be something more.

And there is. PZ Myers:

This country recently managed to pass a rather lame compromise on health care: there is now a mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance, even if it is from a hodge-podge of insurance companies, with the intent of fairly distributing the expense. Unfortunately, one group got singled out with an exception from this requirement. Can you guess who?

Yep, Christians.

Did you know that if you are a Christian you are exempt from the taxes, penalties and regulations imposed by the recently enacted health insurance law?

All you have to do is to affirm a statement of Christian beliefs and pledge to follow a code that includes no tobacco or illegal drugs, no sex outside of marriage, and no abuse of alcohol or legal medications and pay a monthly fee to join a religious health care sharing ministry plan, a plan that specifically does not guarantee the payment of your medical bills in any fashion and holds members solely responsible for payment of said bills.

And the reason for this exemption? According to the spokeswoman for the Senate committee responsible for writing much of the legislation, lawmakers granted the exemption out of respect for religious freedom.

That's a rather large loophole, and it's also preferentially sectarian. It's also non-surprising. What it means is that a few Christian scam-artists get to get richer, while lots of gullible Christians get screwed. The con is to set up a Christian "bill-sharing" cooperative in place of a real insurance plan; members send in monthly premiums, which can be quite substantial, but do not have to buy in to any other insurance plan, and then the bill-sharing program offers to help cover medical expenses, but "The payment of your medical bills…is not guaranteed in any fashion." It's a great deal for the Christian bill-sharing plan; if your medical expenses get so high that they cut into their profits, they can just elect not to pay, and then you have to go begging to join some other insurance pool.

Absolutely brilliant. Send me money now, and maybe, if I feel like it, I'll help you out with some bills later. But I am not obligated.

And this is such a profitable plan that they managed to lobby congress to support it, all under the cloak of Christianity.

It's even more insidious than that, PZ! By lifting the requirement that health insurers spend premiums on actual health care, governors like Beshear remove any temptation freakazoids might have to purchase secular insurance.

Thanks to moronic opposition to ACA, secular insurance is still as expensive-yet-worthless as freakazoid insurance.

Now that's a level playing field.

Have you talked to your Democratic neighbors today?