so, are centrist Democrats for or against at this point some combination of wealth tax / progressive income tax that would render accumulations of wealth at Musk, Bezos, or even Gates levels unachievable and unsustainable?
“We could version UIs, but we don’t. We change UIs constantly, remorselessly. Every reason for providing stable interfaces applies just as well for human beings as they do for robots – but somehow we only respect the robots.” @phillmv http://okayfail.com/garden/uis-should-be-versioned-just-like-we-version-apis.html
@BenRossTransit i never understand drug pricing. sometimes it is absurdly cheap for me (with my ACA marketplace insurance). sometimes not. like everything in healthcare a random reinforcement regime, you never know when you’re gonna get the electric shock.
since we have now all read ChatGPT responses and seen Midjourney pics, all of our creative work is now derivative of AI. soon we’ll be required to pay licensing fees.
Basically, it feels like much of how US health insurance works is like Las Vegas hotel/casino comps. The hotel rooms, the hotel restaurant dramatically inflate undiscounted top-line prices, so that when high rollers are comped, the value of their benefit relative to the entirely fictional prices seems gratifyingly large. Doesn't seem like a great way to run a fifth of the economy.
So, this is for an emergency room visit. I'm far from having met my deductible. The phrase "insurer covered" suggests my insurance company is paying something, but I think in fact they've just negotiated a less ridiculous price, and the only actual cash flow is coming from me.
Am I wrong? If I am not, isn't this presentation misleading? Is it legal? Should it be?
Partial screenshot of billing statement: Billed $6,693.82 Insurance Covered - $5,577.14 Your Balance $1,116.68
@dangillmor @Callalily it’s the Pacific version of Atlantis.
i can’t believe that they’re hypocrites!
“Donald Trump, alleged leader of…populist Republicans, scuttled a spending bill primarily to shield the richest man in the world’s investments in China and the profits of UnitedHealth Group, owners of the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager.” @ddayen https://prospect.org/politics/2024-12-20-government-shutting-down-elon-musk-factories-china/
@akkartik it looks like they are voting on some kind of stopgap now. if it succeeds, no shutdown, if not almost certainly a shutdown. but it looks like lots of democrats are voting for it, i think it's likely to pass. i'm curious what concessions were made by whom.
@akkartik people i'm reading are pretty despondent, view it as a cave by Democrats. https://bsky.app/profile/ddayen.bsky.social/post/3ldrf2blajc24
@realcaseyrollins i guess i think horse trading — i'll assent to your priority if you assent to mine — is an important part of the legislative process. it'd save money if only individual line items a majority supports git funded, but i don't think it'd lead to better government over all. your community might really need some Federal support of a health clinic, and mine might need a bridge repaired. funding both might be better overall, from a national perspective, than neither.
@admitsWrongIfProven every day cars kill people. if there's no good day to make the joke, any day must be a fine day to make the joke.
"your subscription will renew" is such a nice way of saying "we will take your money".
@realcaseyrollins you know, facts of the case actually matter.
@realcaseyrollins absolutely. the one they negotiated in good faith for weeks and remain perfectly ready to pass.
it'd really suck if your family had planned a trip — maybe bought plane tickets, prepaid a hotel room — to one of America's national parks over the holiday break.
[new draft post] Wreckresentative democracy https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/12/20/wreckresentative-democracy/index.html
i wonder if Trump has so internalized the idea that money is the game of life’s ultimate scorecard that he just can’t defy Elon, a man two orders of magnitude greater than he is.
@BenRossTransit maybe. but the result we got is pretty bad. yes, the margins are tight, but ultimately we’ve ceded control to fascists for at least two years, desperately hoping they’re too inept to cement for themselves permanent control. we can have our theories about the counterfactual. but i’d go for a timely, full primary over this result in heartbeat.
it’s a bit pathetic that we watched RBG undo herself and the country because of career and ego and a misguided sense of unique capability. then we watched JRB do just the same.
now we have to live in the country their failure, our failure, bequeathed to us. it’s not clear we’ve learned anything.