"Faith is like radar that sees through the fog." - Corrie Ten Boom
Michigan Recall of Paul Scott May Have Unintended Consequences
... Well, guess what? There seems to be no plan to change course....Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) named state Representative Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) to serve as the interim chair of the Education Committee. The Michigan Information and Research Service recently named McMillin as the lawmaker in the state with the most conservative voting record, and he's long been opposed by the MEA because of his support for public school privatization.
Ohio Voters Emphatically Reject Kasich's Anti-Union Law
Ohio Democrats, who got absolutely creamed in the 2010 elections, have now won a major victory over Republican Gov. John Kasich - massively winning a referendum to repeal Kasich's anti-public employee union law.
Nov. 8th, 2011. Kasich on SB5 Defeat (four minutes and thirty-six seconds)
FYI: Priority Health of Michigan
Priority Health has two small group products which require an explanation of the rate increase. These are Health Savings Account (H.S.A.) Products written as an HMO product or a POS product. In both cases, there are multiple deductible and other benefit options available. These products have been significantly under-priced in the past, primarily because the expected impact of consumerism did not materialize. The rate increases for existing members as they renew are capped at 24.5% . The new business rates are increasing by significantly more than that, though those increases will not affect any existing members. Because of these rate increases, we expect the profitability of these products to improve over time. However, due to the magnitude of the rate increases, we expect adverse selection to temper the impact. That is, faced with a large increase in rates, members who are less apt to use the coverage are more likely to drop their coverage whereas those members who are more apt to use the coverage pay the increased premium to keep the coverage. This raises the average cost of those remaining covered over and above normal health care cost trend.
