Tuesday, August 4, 2009

But... But... What About PROCEDURE?!?!?

Did you know that Megan blogs on senate procedural matters? Neither did I!

Jonathan Zasloff's defense of using budget reconciliation for health care?
First, Ezra's assertion that the reconciliation rules ban health care reform is at best unproven and contrary to the plain language of the law. Those rules bar putting things in a reconciliation bill that have only an "incidental" effect on the budget. But, say, prohibiting discrimination against pre-existing conditions would have more than an incidental effect. Such a move, for example, could save billions from Medicaid, because it would allow people to get insurance in the private market who might otherwise have to go to Medicaid.
Hey, Megan, what's reconciliation? 'Cause you might wanna provide a little bit of background on topics you've NEVER FUCKING MENTIONED BEFORE. Oh, wait, but I wrote that with the false premise that Megan wants anyone to understand her rather than hear just herself talk. My bad.
As far as I know, Medicaid eligibility is generally restricted to those who are pretty low income[sic]. And[sic] the waiver-program[sic] premia[sic] (Intellectual fail.) are usually lower than any private entity would charge, even in Europe (Which is not a country.). With community rating (WTF is community rating? Oh, there I go again!), the prices of private insurance[sic] will go up even further. What the heck is Zasloff talking about (NOT the price of private insurance)? How many people does he really think are quiting[sic] their jobs and deliberately impoverishing themselves in order to qualify for Medicaid, rather than earning an income which can support the $350 or so per person that gets charged for an HMO in a community-rated[sic] state like New York (Which is also not a country.) with generous mandatory benefits (Not sure if this deserves a sic, but fuck, I thought I wrote sentences that had too many long clauses)? I'm sure that there are enough for an enterprising New York Times reporter to write a trend piece, but enough to make a noticeable dent in the budget? The best ways to get Medicaid are to go on welfare, or disability. Both of which imply insufficient income to buy insurance. Or substantial fraud. (Welfare and disability imply substantial fraud?)
Italics mine, of course.

Megan doesn't seem to realize that there are, in fact, disabled people with money who simply cannot get insured because of their preexisting disability. What a shock, her failing to realize that some people's problems aren't their own fault. She also mocks the idea of impoverishing oneself to get into Medicaid, which is something many people do when they learn they are terminally ill.

My favorite bit of cognitive dissonance, though, is buried in the middle. Notice how she says that community rating raises prices and then subsequently says that its existence in NY is what allows people to get insurance when they might not be otherwise able. Implicit in how SHE chooses to frame the problem is the worry of what the cost is to the comfortable and NOT what the worry of the cost to the struggling person with the preexisting condition.

Oh, and did I miss any "sic"'s?

10 comments:

Dillon said...

McArdle makes me [sic] to my stomach.

NutellaonToast said...

Ooops, missed one after the last instance of "disability." Missed another just before it, too. I love how they clump together like that.

Susan of Texas said...

Here's fun--Ezra has a couple of posts that happen to refute McArdle and she has a post that happens to call him a poopyhead.

Downpuppy said...

You missed the lede. She comes in in the comments stating that since she paid $400 in 2002, $350 now sounded right.

It were a defining moment.

Blake said...

Q: Why does Megan think health care costs have fallen 15% from 2002, the last time she had to buy health insurance on the free market?

A) Because the free market has had seven additional years to work its magic;

B) Because big pharma has developed a shitload of new wonder drugs that cure, prevent, and treat all kinds of ailments a hell of a lot cheaper than the old Florence Nightingale business model;

C) George W. Bush;

D) Ezra says health costs have risen;

E) All of the above.

Susan of Texas said...

It was the Free Market Fairy.

bulbul said...

Interesting (almost as much as NoT's math nerdout): "are pretty low income" gets over 200 raw ghits where, just like in Megan's example, "low income" is a predicative adjective modified by "pretty". I don't think it's ungrammatical - see e.g. "pretty/very/quite high brow" - so it doesn't really deserve a [sic], but yeah, there's something not quite right about it.

NutellaonToast said...

We need just a big rubber stamp to put across all of her posts that say [sic]

AWS said...

She lost me at "As far as I know,..." Yeah, that says it all, right there.

bulbul said...

We need just a big rubber stamp to put across all of her posts that say [sic]
Wouldn't [EPIC FAIL] be more appropriate?