You Can't Do This On A Postcard

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Thursday November 30, 2017 · 8:58 AM PST

2017/11/30 · 08:58

Pointing out the lies being told in furtherance of tax “reform” is hardly an original exercise. Borrowing the successful Obamacare repeal playbook, the strategy for passing this monstrosity is to keep the bill secret as long as possible, lie about what the bill will do, and then attack anybody calling out said lies. And the strategy just might cobble together a bare majority to put this thing on Trump’s desk.

There has been much written about how terrible the bill’s overall structure is. There has been much written about its regressive provisions, like ending the estate tax, while raising taxes on the middle. And also about its loopholes, like the lower rate on pass-through entities. Don’t forget the provisions obviously intended to benefit the Trump family directly, like tax breaks for golf course owners. Each of these facts about the bill is expressly disclaimed by its proponents, who say the effect are the opposite of reality. Instead of discussing these lies, I’m going to focus on a smaller lie, but a vile one.

nhcohen

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Friday July 28, 2017 · 12:41 PM PDT

2017/07/28 · 12:41

It was a long night in the Senate Chamber...

John McCain is not the favorite Republican Senator here. That being said, his moment last night was a rare piece of Congressional theater that lived up to and beyond the hype. Never a strong voice on health care, his quick buy emphatic thumbs down adds a complex piece to a complex and occasionally apocryphal legend. Past sins are not all forgiven in one fell swoop, but few people in history have been in a position to singularly, in an instant, do so much for so many. Credit is due.

nhcohen

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Thursday June 22, 2017 · 12:53 PM PDT

2017/06/22 · 12:53

no image description available — Yup, it fits

I’m still hoping to do something drastic like drink whiskey while reading this new Trumpcare bill (tagline: “Like the House bill, but now needing Ted Cruz’s vote”). But that will have to wait while I’m up at 30,000 feet.

nhcohen

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Tuesday June 20, 2017 · 1:03 PM PDT

2017/06/20 · 13:03

16-obamacare-pmpm-chart.nocrop.w710.h2147483647.png — One of these lines, is not like the others...until Obamacare

Again and again and again, they tell the same lie. Yes, a lie, that’s what it’s called when you know something is not true and you say the opposite. Especially if you are in a position of public trust, i.e. an elected member of the government, you can’t use willful blindness. Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump – I’m looking at you.

nhcohen

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Thursday May 25, 2017 · 9:40 AM PDT

2017/05/25 · 09:40

Enjoy that beer, guys. For many of you, the taxpayers won't be paying for em much longer...

The Report is forty-one dense pages.

If you want to know the basics of what’s in it, there are plenty of headlines today. If you want more in depth analysis, there is also no shortage out there. As always, I’m left with the luxury of writing about only what I want to. Today, I’m going to leisure cherry-pick sections of the report I find interesting and/or underreported. Now – we know about cognitive biases here, and I don’t deny that I’m more likely to choose the sections that re-affirm my priors, proving that I was right all along. I don’t claim to be impartial about a bill that I think is utter garbage, written by a group of people who I think have no little interest in improving the market for health insurance. After reading this report, it seems pretty clear that the CBO agrees with me, but hey, maybe we’re both wrong, along with basically every health advocacy group, policy shop and think tank.

nhcohen

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Monday May 22, 2017 · 12:17 PM PDT

2017/05/22 · 12:17

As you may have seen, there was a bit more news about the various investigations into the Trump Administration. I would say they were into the Trump-Russia-Election Meddling connection, but it seems clear that the findings of the investigation would cause the scope to widen. Which you would expect when a core-corrupt organization is put under the spotlight.

nhcohen

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Thursday May 18, 2017 · 11:20 AM PDT

2017/05/18 · 11:20

We might have committed a little light treason.

Lost in the ether between the appointment of a special prosecutor and the knowledge of deep, undisclosed ties between the Drumpf Campaign and the Russian Government and the fact that Drumpf chose his NSA director with full knowledge of his foreign ties, a Washington Post story detailing a meeting among GOP House Leadership hasn’t received as much oxygen. There has even been significant criticism of the reporting – many have said that the Post should have accepted the explanation that the recording was a joke. The Post clearly stated that the recording had significant laughter, and included six instances of laughter in the transcript posted, but I digress. I don’t like the idea of posting internal meeting recordings without the knowledge of the participants – so easy to take what is said out of context. But hey, we have this, and I think we can really learn a lot from it about how GOP leadership was thinking about Russian interaction with the Western world.

nhcohen

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Tuesday May 09, 2017 · 8:33 AM PDT

2017/05/09 · 08:33

A Father Happy with Obamacare's Protections

I know – I can’t yell back at everybody who yells on the internet. But sometimes I read something so cynical that I just have to comment. If it also distills the faults in the Republicans’ health care plans to their core, it might even prove instructive. Let’s see.

nhcohen

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Friday April 28, 2017 · 6:24 AM PDT

2017/04/28 · 06:24

Interstate Insurance Sales: Less Good than Interstate Highways

If you’ve watched Republican leaders talk about health insurance reform for more than a few minutes, you know they really want you to be able to buy insurance policies that are sold in other states. It is their Big Idea™ to lower health insurance premiums. Their other ideas tend to be more controversial, such as kicking out Medicaid beneficiaries or allowing insurance companies to deny coverage to sick people.

Superficially, interstate insurance sales make sense. In a market for a “normal” product – where the rule of supply and demand is paramount – trade usually lowers prices and makes economies more efficient. This is as true between states as it is between countries; Ohioans save a lot of money when they buy their oranges from Florida instead of growing them locally.

nhcohen

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Thursday April 20, 2017 · 8:40 AM PDT

2017/04/20 · 08:40

Well if you are going to be completely unimaginative, you could write a summary of the first 100 days of the Trump White House. Admittedly, the Legislative achievements are just a bit lacking. Feel free to overharvest bears in Alaska’s various wildlife refuges (Public Law 115-20) or to visit the Abie Abraham VA Clinic if you are ever in Butler County, Pennsylvania (Public Law 115-9). (For what it’s worth, Abraham had quite a life and we should definitely name a VA Clinic for him). Congressional action is most notable for a vote not even taken.

But Donald Trump’s much-publicized Executive Orders? Maybe that’s what is really getting America back on track. As a tribute of sorts to the lunacy coming out, I thought it would be fun to go through them all and see what we’ve won.

nhcohen

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Tuesday April 18, 2017 · 7:51 AM PDT

2017/04/18 · 07:51

As you probably know, I don’t think very highly of the GOP’s views on how to improve (fix?) our health care system. Their rhetoric involves improving choice, lowering deductibles, and putting “you and your doctor” back in control. Worthy goals perhaps. But when forced to put together an actual plan, they failed completely to create a coherent way to implement any of these goals.

Republicans claim to be the party of personal responsibility. There is nothing wrong with personal responsibility; a market economy doesn’t work when people don’t face the consequences of their decisions. But I’m far from the first to note that health care (or, health insurance) creates a number of problems that can’t be solved by an Adam Smith-style model of supply-and-demand.

nhcohen

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Friday April 14, 2017 · 7:17 AM PDT

2017/04/14 · 07:17

Don Siegelman was the last of his breed: a true progressive Democrat winning statewide office in the Deep South. He wasn’t bashful about his politics. He forcefully promoted public education, voting rights and what we would now call criminal justice reform. He was also “business friendly,” instrumental to signing major deals bringing Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Honda to Alabama. He spent on the infrastructure of his state, rebuilding over 1,000 of Alabama’s schools, along with other large projects.

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You Can't Do This On A Postcard

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Why We Make Laws: Policy and Implementation and Trumpcare

Not-Failing-Obamacare: One Chart

The Fine Print of Uninsuring 23 Million People

Looking Back: Evolution of TrumpRussia over 3 Months

The Other Bombshell From Last Night

You Left Out Some Important Bits About Jimmy Kimmel

Blurred Lines...of State Insurance Regulation

First 100 Days: The Executive Orders

My Journey Through Patient-Centric Healthcare

A Tale of Two Alabama Governors