Wisconsin

[mu_hilltopper]

Indeed, I always think of auto insurance as a comparative.  Caught speeding?  DUI?  Accident your fault?  Your insurance costs go up as a future indicator of risky driving.

Not sure why health insurance is different.   (Yes, it's understood some health issues are genetic.  Fully understand some mechanism needs to protect that class from preposterous insurance costs.)

[The Sultan]

They do still exist. A pharmacist friend of mine just got from 2.5 years in Alaska and now she has zero loan debt plus got paid a pretty penny to be stationed in some remote village.

I always liked the show "Northern Exposure" back in the day.

[GooooMarquette]

They do still exist. A pharmacist friend of mine just got from 2.5 years in Alaska and now she has zero loan debt plus got paid a pretty penny to be stationed in some remote village.

Yep. There are plenty of opportunities for healthcare workers to relocate to rural locations. The issue is that it comes at a price, where somebody subsidizes the relocation through above-market salaries, loan forgiveness or other perks.

It's a great (and necessary) system, but the high cost limits how many workers can be relocated. In the end, rural areas still struggle for access to quality care.

[GooooMarquette]

I always liked the show "Northern Exposure" back in the day.

Ditto. Funny, but in an offbeat way.

[MUBurrow]

Indeed, I always think of auto insurance as a comparative.  Caught speeding?  DUI?  Accident your fault?  Your insurance costs go up as a future indicator of risky driving.

Not sure why health insurance is different.   (Yes, it's understood some health issues are genetic.  Fully understand some mechanism needs to protect that class from preposterous insurance costs.)

I think part of the problem is how common claims are.  Whereas auto insurance is insuring against specific types of events that are, in the grand scheme, relatively rare, health insurance is trying to insure against inevitabilities for just about all of their policyholders. 

If the only health policies out there were catastrophic, high deductible type plans, then there would be a lot of similarities between auto and health insurance.  But saying a 65 year old needs health insurance is like if you made a claim against your auto insurance every time you needed to fill your car with gas or get an oil change.  Its not insurance in the typical sense because it isn't insuring against a (again, relatively) narrow swath of high cost events. Its basically trying to subsidize inevitabilities across its entire client-base, at a profit.

[🏀]

My company does this. We're a self funded health insurance since our company is over 500 people (almost all companies over 500 people are self funded). The only time actual health insurance comes into play is for major medical. Anyway, every year if you're a non smoker you get a discounted rate and you have access to the best plan. If you're healthy, get access to the best plan. If you're unhealthy, you can go through coaching to get access to the best plan. There are other incentives to better lifestyle choices that also get you funds towards your coverage.

Very similar.

We don't have any premiums. If you are a smoker, you have premiums from day one. If you are 'obese', you are given a health coach. If you have progress towards a better weight, you don't have any premiums. If you trend the other way, you have premiums. Not sure what this all applies to other conditions, just the two I've heard of.

[Billy Hoyle]

Who determines what's a bad habit?
Is not exercising at least 30 minutes a day a bad habit?
Where do you draw the line between healthy and unhealthy eating? Once scoop of ice cream is hunky dore, two makes you a glutton?
Where does a social drinker end and a big-time drinker begin?
What if you're a drug addict because your doctor pumped you full of OxyContin after Purdue insisted it wasn't habit-forming?
When is being overweight the result of bad decisions vs bad genes?
I just don't see any way this just wouldn't lead to insurance companies to arbitrarily deny coverage. Which they do enough already. This would just give them more latitude.

smoking? yes.
obesity? yes (provided it is not caused by diseases such as hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome, and Cushing's syndrome).

the others you mention are too subjective (e.g. drinking).

Insurance companies should also provide incentives for exercise. One plan I was on paid 75% of my gym membership was documentation of certain attendance during each month (I think it was 15 days a month).

[GooooMarquette]

Today: 5,262 new cases and 64 deaths. Both blew way past WI's previous highs. Ugh...

[Jockey]

Today: 5,262 new cases and 64 deaths. Both blew way past WI's previous highs. Ugh...

I think that means we're winning again.

[tower912]

Badgers could lose Saturday due to COVID and quarterbacks.   And who knows, that one loss could keep them out of a playoff.   Now THAT would be irony.    But would it wake any Cheeseheads up?

[jesmu84]

Badgers could lose Saturday due to COVID and quarterbacks.   And who knows, that one loss could keep them out of a playoff.   Now THAT would be irony.    But would it wake any Cheeseheads up?

No. They'd just get mad at the libs at UW that insist on testing at all.

[GooooMarquette]

No. They'd just get mad at the libs at UW that insist on testing at all.

I'd bet anything there are fans who are blaming Mertz's 21-day absence on testing, not the virus itself....

[MU82]

From NY Mag/Intelligencer columnist Jonathan Chait:

Badgers Football COVID Outbreak Might Doom Trump in Wisconsin

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/wisconsin-badger-football-coronavirus-outbreak-trump-polls-matter-biden.html

If you are a Wisconsin football fan, your past week has been an emotional roller coaster. Friday night, the Badgers crushed Illinois in their season opener, while their highly touted freshman quarterback, Graham Mertz, completed a mind-boggling 20 of his 21 passing attempts. From the heights of delirium came a series of crushing blows: Mertz, his top backup, and head coach all tested positive for COVID-19 and then the team canceled its next game, throwing the season into doubt.

Does it matter to the presidential election? Both candidates seem to think it does. When the Big Ten initially canceled its fall season, Joe Biden ran ads displaying empty stadiums as a symbol of the administration's failure to contain the pandemic.

The league eventually decided that once it obtained rapid-result point-of-care testing, it could resume play. After bitterly complaining in public about Biden's ads, Trump absurdly claimed credit for the reversal.

Lots of Americans like football. Wisconsin is a football state. News about football breaks through to people who don't follow political news. And Donald Trump is closing out the election complaining that "COVID, COVID, COVID" is a media hoax just like Russia, Russia, Russia.

Wisconsin is suffering one of the most severe coronavirus outbreaks anywhere in the country, and Trump is signaling very publicly that he doesn't plan to do anything about it until a vaccine arrives. And Wisconsin happens to be an extremely important swing state.

So, yes, canceling the football game the weekend before the election probably matters.

[The Sultan]

I really doubt that a cancellation of a football game is going to change anyone's minds at this late date.  At least not enough people to matter.  99.6% have either voted or have their vote set.

[MU82]

I really doubt that a cancellation of a football game is going to change anyone's minds at this late date.  At least not enough people to matter.  99.6% have either voted or have their vote set.

I agree. I just thought it was an interesting Wisconsin-related take on COVID-19, UW-Madison, the election and the person who repeatedly proclaimed, "I saved Big Ten football!"

[Jockey]

I'd bet anything there are fans who are blaming Mertz's 21-day absence on testing, not the virus itself....

Can't we just refuse testing to people who come into hospitals? Why just make cases go away? Let's get rid of deaths too.

[#UnleashSean]

Can't we just refuse testing to people who come into hospitals? Why just make cases go away? Let's get rid of deaths too.

You joke, but a worst case scenario route may be rationing healthcare. Fatties and oldies? Go into the corner and die.

[tower912]

Remember Sarah Palin trying to scare everybody with the idea of death panels?

[Galway Eagle]

Remember Sarah Palin trying to scare everybody with the idea of death panels?

Remember when she was on the ridiculous side of the Republican Party as opposed to just another one?

[GooooMarquette]

I really doubt that a cancellation of a football game is going to change anyone's minds at this late date.  At least not enough people to matter.  99.6% have either voted or have their vote set.

Agree. And even if it does change minds, I could actually see it cutting both ways.

Some people might (finally) see it as proof that we aren't really 'rounding the turn' and vote for Biden...while others could see it as 'those effing liberals taking these cancellations one step too far' and vote for Trump. Non-issue, IMO.

[Jockey]

The city of Racine announced Tuesday it would begin "proactively" enforcing its health orders and mask mandates with the help of the Racine Police Department. The city had relied on responding to complaints submitted by residents to the health department.

The penalties for violating the mask mandate are:

$25 for the first conviction for an individual
$50 for the second conviction as an individual
$100 for the third conviction as an individual
Between $50 to $500 for a business or organization and/or revocation of a business license

[GooooMarquette]

Wisconsin broke 5,000 cases for the first time today, with a positivity rate of over 27%.

[Skatastrophy]

Wisconsin broke 5,000 cases for the first time today, with a positivity rate of over 27%.

Yeesh, WI is going to pass Illinois and we have tons more people.

[tower912]

Well, at least everyone is staying positive.

[Jockey]

Yeesh, WI is going to pass Illinois and we have tons more people.

We have bigger brains. We are able to identify a hoax when we see one.