The soldiers fight and the kings are heroes.
Hebrew proverb
Towards a Different Medical Services Paradigm
I have a sister and two nieces whom are registered nurses, but oddly enough (despite many relevant posts on health care plans) I've never discussed the topic with them. But, among other things, my first IT professional gig was in the actuary department of a well-known insurer, I've also worked on government databases for a CMS contractor, and I hold two advanced business degrees.
There are a few things we have to be acknowledge: government policies and regulations have been dysfunctional. For example, since the government exempted health insurance policies (from employers) from taxable compensation, there was/is a natural incentive to load ordinary health expenses into the insurance concept, a perverse effect that fuels inflationary costs of virtually "free" products and services; since companies often subsidize, in part or even in full, the premium costs, the employee is insufficiently vested in the decision. The consumer may overuse services since he pays only a portion of the true cost. Then there are special interests trying to socialize expenses by having regulators approve gold-plated mandated coverages. You have artificially lower barriers of entry for medical malpractice lawsuits and guaranteed acceptance policies that give people the incentive to wait under they are sick to purchase insurance.
Mark Perry of the Carpe Diem blog posted an interesting item, noting the greater appeal of high-deductible health insurance; a relevant news segment video is embedded below. This is a franchise operation which provides very competitive pricing for common lab test bundles (e.g., drug tests, blood tests, STD's, paternity, etc.), starting at just under $50; you can order tests, most with one to 2-day turnaround, without going through a doctor or having to schedule inconvenient appointments. I just remember over 10 years ago, I had left a position with my health coverage paid through the end of the month and during that period my doctor had wanted a blood test. For whatever reason, the lab doing the blood test thought I no longer was covered and charged me around $400, over twice the cost what it should have charged given my plan's discount. Never mind outrageous lab pricing I saw with a more recent insurer where the invoices would show a list price of about $200 but my insurer was paying just $25; there's no doubt if I had gotten the invoice instead of my insurer, I would be paying more towards the inflated list prices. Individuals simply don't have the necessary pricing power to force the lab testing duopoly to be cost-competitive. It's unconscionable that, say, someone unemployed living off his savings would be forced to pay sometimes magnitudes more than a large insurer.
The point here is just like Walmart, this company is providing a low-price/high-volume business model to reliable lab testing which provides those consumers whom are vested in out-of-pocket transactions below the high deductible (or no insurance) cost-effective alternatives. No doubt if the lab test duopoly finds businesses like this cutting into their business, they will have no choice but to match prices cuts.
Some Comments About the Casey Anthony Acquittal
I watched portions of the trial, mostly while working on other projects, and have not studied the tragic death (and likely murder) of a beautiful gift from God, Caylee Anthony, in detail; the Orlando Sentinel has a basic timeline here.
There are some very strange things that happened during the trial (and/or events preceding the trial) involving the breakdowns on the stand by the Anthony father and brother, the convenient, unsupported allegation that Caylee drowned in a family pool, a suicide attempt by the grandfather so he could be in heaven with Caylee, and previously unreported and unsubstantiated allegations of incestuous behavior. I'm not sure why a missing child wasn't found earlier given the corpse's relatively close location from the Anthony home.
I flatly do not believe for a second this was a case of a family drowning. Unfortunately too many fatal accidents occur to children, including drownings. The vast majority of parents in these circumstances contact 911; they don't try to hide evidence of the accident; they want to say a proper goodbye through a funeral. They don't repeatedly lie to police and others, as Casey was declared guilty on multiple counts.
I view the drowning and incestuous sex allegations as likely little more than pathetic, additional lies from a proven pathological liar whom will do or say anything to divert attention away from her role in the Caylee tragedy, even to the point of throwing her own family members under the bus.
There is plenty of evidence that the senior Anthony loved his granddaughter, including a landscaped dollhouse in his backyard. I simply cannot see how he would have aided and abetted leaving her remains to the elements. At minimum, he would have insisted on the proper burial of that precious girl.
The problem is that the state had a high burden of proof and didn't have a smoking gun linking Casey Anthony to her daughter's death. For example, it's possible that a boyfriend or other acquaintance may have physically done and/or contributed to any or all relevant actions against Caylee and/or Casey Anthony aided and abetted.
I'm convinced, in my judgment, that Casey Anthony was aware of the circumstances of her daughter's death and that she lied because of the nature of the death--i.e., it was no accident. This is corroborated by the evidence of chloroform and the duct tape, inconsistent with an accidental death, and the nature of the late-surfacing allegation of a drowning.
Perhaps the prosecution overreached with the charges. I probably would have voted not guilty, not because I believe Casey Antony is innocent but because it is fairly difficult to tie Casey directly to the crime. Consider even the chloroform kerfuffle: what if Casey's boyfriend or other acquaintance at the home had access to the family computer and did the searches in question? I would need to see more of a pattern or context, e.g., Casey admitting to other people before the crime that being a mother was tying her down, her boyfriend and Caylee were not getting along, etc.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
ELO, "Showdown"
