Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 899

Why This Woman's Health Care Plan Costs 994% More Under Obamacare

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted on Monday what hundreds of thousands of Americans have known for a while now: under the Affordable Care Act you might lose your old health insurance plan. At a press conference reporter Ed Henry asked Carney if he would "admit that when president said, if you have a plan, you'll get to keep it, that that was not true?" Carney replied that President Obama was clear from the beginning that Obamacare would raise the bar on insurance plans, so people would know that their plan covers mental health benefits, preventative care, no annual or life time limits, etc. Some existing plans don't meet "those minimum standards," though some "can be grandfathered if people want to keep insurance that's substandard."

[image error]Well, plenty of people seem to want to keep their substandard health insurance. Florida Blue, a major health care provider in the sunshine state, is dropping the plans of 300,000 Floridians that aren't compatible with the higher standards of Obamacare, including the GoBlue 91 limited liability plan of 56-year-old Dianne Barrette. CBS News profiled her this morning. "When I got this bill, I was outraged," Barrette said. Technically she didn't get a bill — last month Florida Blue wrote to let her know that her old plan was being discontinued and she'd be offered a new, more expensive but more comprehensive plan, in its place. Currently she pays $54 a month. The new plan will cost $591 a month. "What I have right now is what I'm happy with, and I just wanna know why I can't keep what I have," Barrette asked. 

Well, here's why.

Yes, she's losing her old plan and her premium is definitely going up.

Even after subsidies are added in — Barrette said she doesn't know what subsidies she's eligible for because, Healthcare.gov doesn't work yet — she'll still be paying more than $54/month. According to Kaiser's Subsidy Calculator, however, she's probably eligible for a subsidy of at least $2,200 a year if she makes $45,000 a year or less. According to a 2008 summary of GoBlue plans, Barrette's GoBlue Plan 91 was "targeted toward the working uninsured and early retirees with annual household incomes between $25,000 and $50,000."

Okay, but Obama said she could keep her plan! Obama lied!

Regardless of what Jay Carney said, yeah. In June 2009 President Obama said the following in a speech on healthcare reform:

I know that there are millions of Americans who are content with their health care coverage – they like their plan and they value their relationship with their doctor. And that means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.

However, the health care law that was passed in 2010 outlined 10 essential benefits every plan has to provide: "ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care," according to Healthcare.gov. So while you can probably keep your doctor, you can't keep you bare bones limited liability plan. 

Barrette's plan didn't offer most of this. According to the same GoBlue summary mentioned earlier, and a GoBlue representative, her plan:

Only paid "up to $50 per provider per date of service for covered services."  Discounted medicines, but didn't cover them. "Contraceptives and self-injectable drugs are not covered. GoBlue pays up to $5 or $15 per prescription, depending on the plan purchased."  Didn't cover maternity/pre-natal care or hospital visits.

(Update: Comparing these summaries of benefits and coverage for the defunct GoBlue 91 plan and the new BlueOptions Essential (HSA) 1419, the main advantages of the new plan are the $6,250 cap on out-of-pocket expenses in-network, free preventative care/screenings and immunizations, no charge or a $4 copay on some prescriptions and free eye exams and glasses for kids. The GoBlue plan offers a $50 discount on all in-network services, and the patient pays the difference between that and the rate "negotiated" between Florida Blue and the provider. There's also no out-of-pocket maximum under that plan.)

But Dianne Barrette's new plan is 10 times as expensive!

That's true, though we don't know how much her new plan will cost her after her subsidies. More importantly, in Barrette's case you can't really compare her old plan to the new plan. Under her old limited liability plan Barrette wouldn't have been covered if she was admitted to the hospital, for instance. Limited liability plans have been controversial for years. In a 2011 USA Today article on the rise of limited liability plans, Julie Appleby wrote: 

Proponents say the limited plans should not be considered the solution to the problem of the uninsured, but rather one option to help people get basic medical care. Some patient advocates disagree, saying many of the plans leave policyholders more vulnerable to devastating medical bills than they might think.

And in August, The Washington Post found that low-premium, high-deductible plans were most likely going extinct starting next year. "Plans with $10,000 deductibles won’t make the cut, experts say, nor will many other plans that require high cost-sharing or provide limited benefits — by excluding prescription drugs or doctor visits from coverage, for example," Michelle Andrews wrote in the Post. 

[image error]That's not going to make Dianne feel any better.

Telling people like Dianne Barrette that their new more expensive, more comprehensive plan is better for them won't make the jump in price feel any better. Even with subsidies she has to pay for a higher quality product that she may not need, yet. And as Ross Douthat argued in The New York Times over the weekend, the new insurance plans may be better — both liberals and conservatives agree that the high risk plans left individuals financially vulnerable— but they're also taking money away from spending elsewhere. He wrote: 

Yes, for some that money would ultimately get eaten up, and then some, by unexpected bills. But for others it might be money saved for retirement, money that pays for child care, money used to hire a contractor or buy a house. And for the public sector, it would be money for all the priorities — liberal as well as conservative — that are being undercut by rising health care costs.

So, in a few years Dianne might be grateful she had better insurance — if she's admitted to the hospital, if she ever needs to buy medicine that costs more than $15, if wants a plan that covers more that $50 per provider per day of service. Or, she might wish she could have put some of that money towards retirement.

       

Putin Says Gay Athletes and Fans Are Welcome at the Sochi Winter Olympics

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised gay athletes won't be persecuted by the country's strict anti-gay laws during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. While this sentiment from Putin is significant and symbolic, the anti-gay uproar in Russia would be enough to give any athlete pause. 

Putin made his startling promise during an inspection meeting with Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, in Moscow on Monday. "We will do everything to make sure that athletes, fans and guests feel comfortable at the Olympic Games regardless of their ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. I would like to underline that," Putin told Bach. The show of support was completely unexpected, according to Reuters, and didn't come after any prodding from Bach. 

Russia's recently adopted a law that bans the distribution of LGBT "propaganda," or anything that suggests that gay is an okay way to be. And some athletes, fans, and Olympic officials worried gay athletes may face persecution upon entering the country. Russia promised not to enforce those laws during the Olympics, but hostilities towards LGBT culture took a dark turn last week. Two men broke into a Dutch official's home, tied him up with duct tape, trashed his house and wrote "LGBT" in lipstick on the mirror. 

The IOC, however, has constantly supported LGBT rights, so Putin's remarks to Bach can be seen as ameliorating their concerns. Through public statements, and policy changes, the IOC has worked to shame Russia for its anti-gay rights stance leading up to the 2014 games. The U.S. Olympic Committee have also pushed for a change in the Olympic charter to prohibit discrimination based on sexuality. 

       

STD-Ridden New Yorkers Aren't Using Condoms

If you don't use a condom the next time you have sex, you will be acting just like 66 percent of New Yorkers. "Only one in three adults in the city used a condom the last time they had sex — or just 31.8 percent of the more than 4 million sexually active New Yorkers," The New York Post reports, with numbers coming from a recent Health Department poll.

That's a lot of unprotected sex, when you consider that there's plenty of sex that's going on in this city. Plenty. A study by Trojan in 2012 found that New Yorkers have sex 156 times a year on average (around 3 times per week), a number much higher than the national average. So that's possibly 156 condomless sexual encounters a year for most New Yorkers, if we're combining the two statistics. And further, "some 771,000 New Yorkers had two or more sexual partners last year, it found. Of those, 457,000 boasted having three or more partners," The Post adds.

As the safe sex sages known as TLC once told us, all this unprotected sex comes with consequences. Of course, some of those consequences are taken care of by the pill. The other consequences, not so much. Last December a study from the Department of Health and Mental found that there are parts of the city which are plagued with rising rates of multiple STDs. CBS reported: 

The study said 33 percent of all the ZIP codes in New York City were in the top quintile citywide for multiple sexually-transmitted diseases during a survey taken in 2010. Among the most severe examples is ZIP code 10474 in Hunts Point, the Bronx, where rates of hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS all ranked in the top 20 percent of all New York City ZIP codes.

Manhattan was not spared either: 

HIV/AIDS and syphilis both ranked in the top quintile in 13 Manhattan ZIP codes – representing Chelsea-Hell’s Kitchen, Central Harlem-Morningside Heights, East Harlem, Washington Heights-Inwood, and Greenwich Village-SoHo, the report said.

... And, there you have all the reasons why you, New Yorker or not, may never want to take a New Yorker home with you. 

       

Tehran Removes an Anti-American Billboard Campaign

A new, anti-American billboard campaign in Tehran didn't last for long: Iranian officials removed at least some of the posters days after they went up, right before the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. Iran says that the posters were taken down because they went up without permission around the city, but the move was seen by many as a pushback against the country's conservative hardliners. 

Here's one of the posters in question. It depicts an American official, bedecked in symbols of negative American perception from the waist down, like military fatigues or an attack dog. The American is posed sitting across from an unnamed Iranian official bearing a resemblance to Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister: 

US- style honesty. You can see this poster across Tehran streets: pic.twitter.com/BBuXyqk38p

— Mahdi Fattahi (@mFat) October 23, 2013

Some of the campaign posters were reportedly replaced with a more peaceful message, reading "in a world that is filled with oppression, we don’t oppress, nor do we allow oppression:"

#IRAN: Replacement of Anti-American Poster pic.twitter.com/P6f0XUNnYZ

— Shahrzad Samii (@ShahrzadSamii) October 27, 2013

The move prompted criticism from hardliners in the country, many of whom already aren't exactly happy with moderate president Hassan Rouhani's new charm offensive (and actual, "serious" talks) with the west over the country's nuclear program. After Rouhani had a historic (if brief) phone call with President Obama after the UN General Assembly in September, the president returned to mixed signals from the Iranian public. The posters were distributed around Tehran by the Owj Cultural Organisation, whose leader Ehsan Mohammad-Hassani claimed to Reuters on Sunday that the group had permission from Tehran officials for the campaign, which wasn't intended as a direct rebuke of Iran's policies, despite its pretty specific visual references to the current nuclear negotiations. 

Meanwhile, a handful of conservative Iranian news agencies have provided another public outlet for anti-American sentiment in the country: the "First Major International Award of ‘Down with America'" photo, video and essay contest. Encouraged topics include "US & Self-conceit," "US & Oppression," "US & Islamophobia," and "US & Neocolonialism." First prize: 2,500 euros. 

       

The NSA Collected Data on 60 Million Phone Calls in Spain

Here's another item for the list of NSA projects that will likely make for awkward U.S. foreign relations. According to a report in El Mundo, the NSA collected data on 60 million phone calls in Spain over a 30-day period in December, 2012. That report, written by Glenn Greenwald and the paper's Germán Aranda, is very similar to an earlier story in Le Monde detailing the NSA's reported collection of data on 70 million French phone calls, also during a 30-day period in December of last year. Both were based on documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

El Mundo's story follows a similar piece in El Pais on Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the Snowden document trove. That story didn't really quantify the extent of the NSA's reach into Spain. But its claim that "millions" of citizens, along with government officials, were subject to NSA snooping prompted Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy to summon the U.S. ambassador to the country. It looks like the full El Mundo story won't go out until tomorrow, but Greenwald and others are circulating a preview of the report in the form of El Mundo's front page for Monday: 

My article with @german_aranda in El Mundo: NSA collected data on 60 million calls in Spain in one month pic.twitter.com/T99V7QHyGB

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 27, 2013

Nevertheless, what we know of the story so far is a good reminder that the revelations on the NSA's spying on foreign countries, including friendly ones, includes two major plot lines. First, there are the reports of NSA programs targeting the leaders of foreign countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and dozens of others. Then, there are stories like El Mundo's, detailing the NSA's programs targeting the citizens of foreign countries in bulk. Those stories can sometimes place U.S. allies in the interesting position of condemning American bulk surveillance while operating similar programs domestically — like France, for instance. 

A number of countries mentioned in the Snowden leaks have lined up to push a U.N. resolution implicitly criticizing the NSA's programs. That resolution would update a decades-old international protection of privacy rights to explicitly include online privacy. 

       

Banksy Really Hates the New World Trade Center Building

Banksy has some interesting thoughts about the new One World Trade Center. Namely, that it's ugly and shows the terrorists won. 

"Today’s piece was going to be an op-ed column in the New York Times," the street artist claimed on his website Sunday. "But they declined to publish what I supplied." The Times so far have not confirmed whether Banksy actually submitted the piece, let alone whether the Times rejected it. The only comment from Times staff was this, from Opinion news assistant Leah Finnegan:  

lol http://t.co/zE7dejwkZi

— Leah Finnegan (@leahfinnegan) October 27, 2013

Banksy's op-ed is a little short for the Opinion desk's usual Sunday offerings, for whatever that's worth, but boy does it pack a punch. He manages to insult the One World Trade Center, Canada, and the city itself in just a few paragraphs. "That building is a disaster," he writes. "Well no, disasters are interesting. One World Trade centre  is a non-event. It’s vanilla. It looks like something they would build in Canada." Our northern neighbors aren't exactly known for their advancements in architecture. They built an ugly concrete spire in Toronto and called it a day. Later Banksy says, clearly joking, that the building's blandness is a sign the terrorists won after September 11th. 

Here's the whole thing: 

[image error]

Obviously the piece's stronger statements are jokes, but his point remains: One World Trade isn't exactly a world wonder. We reached out to the Times to see if the paper rejected Banksy's op-ed but have yet to hear back. Banksy also has new artwork up today in New York today, too. Animal New York reports it can be found at the corner of Noble and West Streets in Greenpoint.

If the Times did reject his artwork, it would be another low moment for the artist's New York vacation. He's already had trouble with the mayor and the police force. And some intrepid photographers are determined to poorly snap "identifying" photos of the anonymous Brit. But the local news paper? Aren't New Yorkers supposed to be nice, welcoming people?

       

'The Counselor' Could Use Some Help

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where it's no surprise a small child dancing in drag to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" made millions and millions. 

1. Jackass Presents: Bad Grampa (Paramount): $32 million in 3,336 theaters 

Johnny Knoxville ditched his regular crew of pranksters for the latest Jackass movie, but still managed to take the top place at the box office, knocking off a three-time repeat champion. Jackass movies always do well, weirdly, despite the show being over a decade old now. This outing, with its old character in a longer setting and a new partner-in-crime, actually had the best opening internationally of any Jackass movie yet. Knoville's medical insurance suppliers can rest assured those bills will get paid. 

2. Gravity (Warner): $20.3 million in 3,707 theaters [Week 4]

Three weeks at the top is the longest a dominating movie can reign now, to put Gravity's fall in some perspective. The Avengers spent three weeks at the top that fateful summer, while The Hunger Games got four weeks after it opened nearly uncontested early in the blockbuster season. The eventual Oscar winner is knocking on the $200 million domestic door, but not quite there yet. 

3. Captain Phillips (Sony): $11.8 million in 3,143 theaters [Week 3]

Really strange that two Americans were kidnapped by pirates just weeks after this movie about Americans and pirates was released. Somewhere on the internet, a great "Tom Hanks and the Illuminati" conspiracy is being written right now. 

4. The Counselor (Fox): $8 million in 3,044 theaters 

Penned by Cormac McCarthy, directed by Ridley Scott, with Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem all starring, The Counselor should have been an easy home run. But the movie is quite flawed, and apparently no one wanted to see it. The marquee names attached should made it easy for Fox to put butts in seats. Somehow Fox managed to screw this one up, or people are still bitter about how terrible Prometheus was. It's probably some combination of the two. 

5. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sony): $6.1 million in 3,111 theaters [Week 5]

Meatballs is wildly successful, and congratulations to everyone involved, but when exactly did Despicable Me 2 turn into such a global juggernaut?  

       

Remembering Lou Reed

Former Velvet Underground lead singer, rock pioneer and all-around musical genius Lou Reed died Sunday at the age of 71, according to Rolling Stone. The cause of death is currently unknown. The singer did undergo a liver transplant earlier this year, though. Reed was confident his health was in tip top shape following the procedure. "I am a triumph of modern medicine, physics and chemistry," he said in a statement released to fans. "I am bigger and stronger than stronger than ever. My Chen Taiji and health regimen has served me well all of these years, thanks to Master Ren Guang-yi. I look forward to being on stage performing, and writing more songs to connect with your hearts and spirits and the universe well into the future."

Beloved by most, the tributes to Reed have already begun on social media, where many music lovers are holding an early digital wake for the influential songwriter and guitarist. We'll collect the best memories here. 

Aye RT @stphnmaher: Perfect Day http://t.co/GcuEsdJ0me

— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) October 27, 2013

:( @metromorning: Oh wow. Lou Read dead at 71. http://t.co/05A5gLYNfy

— kady o'malley (@kady) October 27, 2013

For a while whenever I needed motivation to work harder, I would play this Reed/Cale tribute to Andy Warhol: http://t.co/C7a19hTCG2

— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) October 27, 2013

lou did one of the most THIS-close-to-being-offensive-except-it’s-kinda-perfectly-hilarious ditty. http://t.co/yhxQVTePdU

— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) October 27, 2013

There are problems in these times, but none of them are mine. http://t.co/jhzJvQOfRJ

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 27, 2013

Crank this, my friends #loureed https://t.co/DrD1dkcaVX

— Ally Millar (@allyzay) October 27, 2013

Bye Lou Reed. You were the best there was. And I really liked how grumpy you always seemed walking… http://t.co/tTVzXtFXQu

— John Mulaney (@mulaney) October 27, 2013

This (except, not at all): http://t.co/QCTwdTopOo

— Michael Myers (@RichJuz) October 27, 2013

While you mourn Lou Reed's death, recall not only the Velvet Underground but his excellent solo career, including New York and Magic & Loss.

— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) October 27, 2013

If anyone understood the urgency of life, it was Lou Reed. #RIP http://t.co/fzwbTIQAh4

— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) October 27, 2013

Whoa, Lou Reed died. That sucks. http://t.co/uvQryETEFN

— Ryan Scary (@SoxMerry) October 27, 2013

My contribution to the global twitter Lou Reed mixtape: http://t.co/l0BknDNjcF

— kady o'malley (@kady) October 27, 2013

A man known for his wisdom almost as much as his music, Reed was a legendary interview, a well filled with beautiful quotes and insight. He was also a grouch. His gruff personality endeared him to the press, who started sharing their favorite Reed stories: 

This is good. RT @ScottRaab Only shot I got to interview Lou, in 2000. He scared the photog shitless. http://t.co/FhgDp4VRPl …

— Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire) October 27, 2013

Lou Reed and I went at it once: http://t.co/MrMKgC3wFA

— David Marchese (@david_marchese) October 27, 2013

Had b'fast w/Lou Reed and Laurie 3 yrs ago. Was icy till he learned I'd known Ginsberg and Burroughs; then warm, campy, hilarious. Thx, Lou.

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) October 27, 2013

Lou Reed on how he gets over his pessimism about the world: "I just bought a really great guitar.” http://t.co/F1YocRZNnf

— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) October 27, 2013

You really should read Rolling Stone's obituary, because it's perfect and touching and perfectly explains how important Reed was to modern music. He played it all, touched it all, and no one did it like him. He'll be missed. 

       

Cheney Picks His Daughter to Win; Jindal Punts on 2016

Former Vice President Dick Cheney predicted his daughter will win the Wyoming Senate primary against Mike Enzi and denied the two men were ever old friends during his appearance on ABC's This Week. The upstart Cheney offspring, Liz Cheney, will win in Wyoming because she doesn't get as much money from Washington, he said. "The fact of the matter is, Washington is not going to elect the next senator from Wyoming, the people of Wyoming will elect the senator," Cheney explains. "Mike has a record, if you go back and review his finances, of getting about 84 percent of his campaign funds from Washington-based PACS. That's more than any senator from either party." The former VP also denied he and Enzi ever went on fishing trips together. Enzi said he was blindsided and disappointed when Liz Cheney entered the race because he thought of Dick as a friend. "Mike also said he and I are fishing buddies, which is simply not true. Never happened," Cheney said Sunday. Ouch. 

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he's still trying to decide whether he'll run for President in four years. "I don't know yet, and I think it's too early," the popular Republican said on Fox News Sunday. Jindal pushed health care, education and energy as policies the party should try and push in the future if they plan on taking the White House. But Jindal also used his interview to attack the Obamacare roll out. The Louisiana Gov. thinks the administration should give it up and delay the individual mandate. "The pressure is only going to grow," Jindal said. "It's harder for them to justify why they wouldn’t delay the individual mandate." He sees Obamacare's problems extending well beyond the shaky technical problems with enrolment. "Fixing the website is the easy part," he said. "This is symptomatic of a bigger problem... Maybe they’ll bring in Al Gore, the guy who says he invented the Internet," he joked.

Rep. Mike Rogers thinks the French should be grateful the U.S. was spying on their communications. "I would argue by the way, if the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It's a good thing. it keeps the French safe. It keeps the U.S. safe. It keeps our European allies safe," Rogers said on CNN's State of the Union. "This whole notion that we're going to go after each other on what is really legitimate protection of nation-state interest, I think is disingenuous." Reports came out this week alleging the U.S. collected data on over 70 million French phone calls, including some private citizens. Rogers says that part simply isn't true. "There was one slide that the news media was provided and those who were interpreting it to the news media saw that the word France was on the top of it and started a huge amount of discussion about Americans collecting phone calls in France with French citizens. That is 100% wrong, and that's why this is so dangerous," he said. "So when you just go and do a smash and grab, grab a whole bunch of information, see the word 'France,' they misinterpreted some of the acronyms at the bottom of the slide and saw this 70 million phone call figure, this was about a counter-terrorism program that had nothing to do with French citizens."

       

The 'SNL' Wes Anderson Horror Parody Will Save Your Halloween

Halloween isn't technically until Thursday, but mostly everyone who isn't trick-or-treating celebrated the holiday this weekend. Maybe it went well, maybe it was a ghastly disaster, but Saturday Night Live's Wes Anderson horror sketch will make your October. 

Edward Norton hosted the show for the first time last night and, all in all, handled himself fairly well for an intense actor not known for his comedic chops. The night's best use of Norton was easily in "The Midnight Coterie Of Sinister Intruders," a sketch that dared to ask what a Wes Anderson horror movie might look like. The answer:

Pretty darn great, if you ask me. Norton is the Owen Wilson to Noël Wells' Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alec Baldwin narrates the proceedings. The murderers all look like they're straight out of, well, a Wes Anderson movie. They could not have hit every Anderson beat better. There are are callbacks to some of his beat work here, in a sketch with two actors who have worked with the twee director before: Alec Baldwin narrated The Royal Tennanbaums, and Norton starred in 2012's Moonrise Kingdom as the scout group leader. Baldwin was apparently hanging around 30 Rock this week, as he is wont to do, as he appeared in this sketch and Norton's pretty strong monologue:

The last sketch of the night was also Halloween themed, completely ridiculous, maybe brilliant, maybe hilarious and so we'll throw it on here at the end as an added bonus. Decide for yourself: 

Happy Halloween, everyone. May your bats be spooky and your candy not crushed.