California
California
Healthy San Francisco Plan Finally Signs Up Some Hospitals
San Francisco’s tax-hiking and opaque pay-or-play business tax to fund its public health bureaucracy claims to have finally overcome one of the major criticisms that I had made of it. Namely, that it did nothing to improve the quality or delivery of health care to (previously) uninsured San Franciscans, because ...
Business & Economics
Big Brother Online
The bipartisan housing bill currently being debated in the Senate contains an unrelated amendment that will burden innovative Internet companies and threaten the civil liberties of every American. Without any discussion, Senators added a provision to H.R. 3221 (The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008) requiring electronic ...
California
California’s Health Insurance Rescissions: Hospitals Get Their Pound of Flesh
Yesterday, I asked the quasi-rhetorical question: “Why did California’s campaign against Anthem Blue Cross collapse?”, addressing state regulators’ failure to collect a $1 million fine for Anthem Blue Cross’ allegedly illegal rescission of individuals’ policies. Well, it looks like it didn’t collapse: the hospitals have just wrangled over $11 million ...
California
Why Did California’s Campaign Against Anthem Blue Cross Collapse?
I have written a series of blog entries about California’s health care regulators attacking health plans for “rescission,” which the regulators have equated with “post-claims underwriting.” The former consists of revoking a policy because the beneficiary made a material misrepresentation about his health status on his application. The latter consists ...
Commentary
Hidden provision could endanger economy, civil liberties
As the Senate prepares to vote on the current housing legislation, I would like to bring to your attention a dangerous hidden provision that will burden several innovative Bay Area companies and threaten the civil liberties of all Americans. Senators Christopher Dodd and Richard Shelby quietly attached to H.R. 3221 ...
Business & Economics
Turning POTS into PANS
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year-old price caps on basic telephone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. Yet, if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, why ...
Commentary
AB 32 is a breath of foul air for taxpayers, businesses
California is in the midst of economic turmoil. Headlines shout daily about the plummeting dollar and home values, disappearing jobs, soaring fuel and food costs, and a growing massive state budget deficit. Apparently oblivious to the strain on California households, some state legislators are trying to rush implementation of a ...
Business & Economics
Turning POTS into PANS: California Regulators Slam the Phone on Price Controls
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year old price caps on basic phone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. But if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, ...
Business & Economics
California City Will Take Over Abandoned Muni Wi-Fi System
The city council of Milpitas, California has unanimously approved a city takeover of the municipal wi-fi system installed a year ago by Earthlink. The company is abandoning the Milpitas infrastructure as it exits the muni wi-fi sector nationwide. Milpitas plans to maintain and operate the wi-fi system purely for city ...
Business & Economics
Senate Housing Bill Allows Government to Spy on Internet Commerce
The bipartisan housing bill currently being debated in the Senate contains an unrelated amendment that will burden innovative Internet companies and threaten the civil liberties of every American. Without any discussion, Senators added a provision to H.R. 3221 (The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008) requiring electronic ...
Healthy San Francisco Plan Finally Signs Up Some Hospitals
San Francisco’s tax-hiking and opaque pay-or-play business tax to fund its public health bureaucracy claims to have finally overcome one of the major criticisms that I had made of it. Namely, that it did nothing to improve the quality or delivery of health care to (previously) uninsured San Franciscans, because ...
Big Brother Online
The bipartisan housing bill currently being debated in the Senate contains an unrelated amendment that will burden innovative Internet companies and threaten the civil liberties of every American. Without any discussion, Senators added a provision to H.R. 3221 (The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008) requiring electronic ...
California’s Health Insurance Rescissions: Hospitals Get Their Pound of Flesh
Yesterday, I asked the quasi-rhetorical question: “Why did California’s campaign against Anthem Blue Cross collapse?”, addressing state regulators’ failure to collect a $1 million fine for Anthem Blue Cross’ allegedly illegal rescission of individuals’ policies. Well, it looks like it didn’t collapse: the hospitals have just wrangled over $11 million ...
Why Did California’s Campaign Against Anthem Blue Cross Collapse?
I have written a series of blog entries about California’s health care regulators attacking health plans for “rescission,” which the regulators have equated with “post-claims underwriting.” The former consists of revoking a policy because the beneficiary made a material misrepresentation about his health status on his application. The latter consists ...
Hidden provision could endanger economy, civil liberties
As the Senate prepares to vote on the current housing legislation, I would like to bring to your attention a dangerous hidden provision that will burden several innovative Bay Area companies and threaten the civil liberties of all Americans. Senators Christopher Dodd and Richard Shelby quietly attached to H.R. 3221 ...
Turning POTS into PANS
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year-old price caps on basic telephone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. Yet, if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, why ...
AB 32 is a breath of foul air for taxpayers, businesses
California is in the midst of economic turmoil. Headlines shout daily about the plummeting dollar and home values, disappearing jobs, soaring fuel and food costs, and a growing massive state budget deficit. Apparently oblivious to the strain on California households, some state legislators are trying to rush implementation of a ...
Turning POTS into PANS: California Regulators Slam the Phone on Price Controls
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year old price caps on basic phone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. But if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, ...
California City Will Take Over Abandoned Muni Wi-Fi System
The city council of Milpitas, California has unanimously approved a city takeover of the municipal wi-fi system installed a year ago by Earthlink. The company is abandoning the Milpitas infrastructure as it exits the muni wi-fi sector nationwide. Milpitas plans to maintain and operate the wi-fi system purely for city ...
Senate Housing Bill Allows Government to Spy on Internet Commerce
The bipartisan housing bill currently being debated in the Senate contains an unrelated amendment that will burden innovative Internet companies and threaten the civil liberties of every American. Without any discussion, Senators added a provision to H.R. 3221 (The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008) requiring electronic ...
