Just the facts, ma'am

You might have seen Mr. Mark Bertolini, CEO, Aetna, announcement the other day that Aetna will “stop offering policies on the exchanges in 11 of the 15 states where it currently operates” due to incurring a loss of “$430 million in its individual policies unit since the 'Obamacare' exchanges opened in January 2014”. "Providing affordable, high-quality health care options to consumers is not possible without a balanced risk pool," he said. (1)

I wondered about Mr. Bertolini’s announcement. For some reason I was reminded of how Sgt. Joe Friday* of the long ago TV series Dragnet, would focus on “facts” in order get a handle on “truth”. “Just the fact, ma’am”, I remember him saying.

Here are the facts:
1. Aetna made a boatload of money between April and June of 2016. Both revenue and profits were up considerably over the same period in 2015. Aetna’s operating earnings increased 8.5 percent, from $722.1 million during the second quarter of 2015 to $783.3 million in the second quarter this year. Total revenues for the quarter increased to almost $16 billion.
2. During the first six months of this year, Aetna actually got almost as much revenue from taxpayers via the government’s Medicare and Medicaid programs ($13 billion) as it got from its privately insured customers ($14 billion). In fact, Aetna’s government business is growing while its commercially insured book of business is shrinking.
3. Since Jan 2014 Aetna reported operating profits of $6.7 billion
4. Since March 5, 2009 — the day President Obama kicked off the debate on what would become Obamacare — Aetna’s stock price has increased 631 percent.
5. Aetna revenue growth “was primarily due to higher Health Care premium yields and membership growth in Aetna’s Government business, partly offset by membership declines in Aetna’s Commercial Insured products.”

"So even though Aetna is still hugely profitable, it will stop offering coverage in most Obamacare markets because its bean counters recently noticed what Bertolini described as a spike in “individuals in need of high-cost care.”

Aetna’s not alone. Most of the other for-profit insurers have also been losing private-paying customers for some time but more than making up for that loss from revenue they get from taxpayer-financed government health care programs. (2)

Conclusion
Aetna’s announcement only underscores this American Capitalistic fact: even when the for-profit insurance companies are making billions, they will dump the most vulnerable people in favor of making more bucks. Let’s get the job done in service to our people. It’s way past time to cover everyone under Medicare / Medicaid.

References
1. Aetna to pull out of most Obamacare exchanges, Tami Luhby, CNN Money, 16 Aug 2016. 
2. Cry Me a River, Aetna, Wendell Potter, Moyers & Co., 29 Aug 2016.

*Jack Webb, played the role in the TV series. Later Dan Aykroyd was Sgt. Joe Friday in the movie version.

About Mice and Breakthroughs

It literally mind boggling how much is happening everyday in the worlds of science and technology. Below are just three breakthroughs. By the way, thanks to the thousands of mice who have given their all for science:

“Our understanding of Alzheimer's, a neurodegenerative condition that, according to Alzheimer's Disease International, affects a staggering 46.8 million people across the globe, is constantly improving. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute have taken another step in the right direction. They're using a laboratory mouse model of the disease to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific protein at breaking up plaques in the brain, that are central to the progression of the condition.”

“Medical researchers have been interested in the potential of the protein, known as Neuregulin-1, to tackle neurological diseases for a while. It has many functions across the brain, and according to the Salk team, might be useful in tackling everything from Parkinson's to schizophrenia.”

Protein successfully combats Alzheimer's in mice, Chris Wood, New Atlas, 25 Aug 2016

About those Rainbows

“There's more to rainbows than meets the eye. Knowledge gained from studying these multicoloured arcs of scattered light can be incredibly useful in ways that may not immediately spring to mind. Rainbow effects can warn of chemical contamination in the atmosphere, help to develop more efficient combustion engines and possibly even provide insight into the mechanics of reinforced concrete.”

“Writing in European Journal of Physics, Alexander Haußmann of the Institute of Applied Physics at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, has reviewed the latest developments in the field of rainbow research. His article takes a comprehensive look at natural rainbows and touches on the many practical applications of this fascinating interaction between light, liquid and gas.”

Rainbows in nature: recent advances in observation and theory, Alexander Haußmann, 2016, Eur. J. Phys., (as cited in Physorg.com)

Your Roof Can Multitask!

Elon Musk has decided to make and sell Tesla solar roof tiles. Other companies have been trying to create and sell them, but their efforts have failed to bring home the bacon.

Mr. Musk has a history of bacon-bringing. He plans to make your roof keep you dry and produce your electricity, too.

There’s a name for it, too, Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV).

BIPV “replaces materials of the building envelope with photovoltaics. This is in contrast with traditional rooftop solar installations, which entails attaching a PV module to a building separately. The goal of BIPV is to integrate installation as part of a construction project, rather than a separate post-construction addition. In theory, this would result in significant savings by reducing labor and installation costs and eliminating the need for separate racking equipment. With BIPV, solar becomes an efficient building material rather than a luxury add-on.”

Please go here for the rest of the story:
Will Tesla’s Solar Panel Roof Be the Next Solar Shingles?, energysage,com

Stop Whining!!

For the complete story, please go here:

What the Mylan Epipen Scandal Tells Us About American Capitalism

Dr. Joseph A. Palermo, Huffington Post, 28 Aug 2016.

Seriously

Come this November I know who will win my vote! So, whatever happens later...

(Maybe they will be pre-marked on your ballot, too.)

*Please forgive me Berkeley Breathed, my newly adopted cartoon-philosopher-in-chief! For real humor, go here: https://www.facebook.com/berkeleybreathed/

Gerrymandering, too

Hartmann is right. I’d add one more important factor: gerrymandering. Most recently, throughout the U.S., under Republican control, districts have been gerrymandered to favor continuation of Republicans in Congress and on the state level and hence continuation of the status quo.

In a Word... or, two...

Well... just thinking....

Goin' for the GOLD Today!

Goin' for the Gold Today... in my own style.