Politics & Policy: (BusinessWeek) "Sí, la gente está perdiendo su seguro con OBAMACARE"

Health Care

Yes, People Are Losing Their Insurance Under Obamacare

By John Tozzi                                                                                                                          October 29, 2013

 

 

Six months into his presidency, Barack Obama promised that his proposed health reforms wouldn’t force people who were happy with their insurance to change. “If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period,” he said. But hundreds of thousands of people are finding out that’s not the case. Insurance companies are terminating policies for many people whose insurance doesn’t meet the standards of the new health law. Here’s what you need to know:

 

 

Why is this happening?

The Affordable Care Act sets standards that private insurance companies must follow. Health plans must pay for at least 60 percent of their members’ medical costs on average. They also have to provide 10 areas of coverage, called essential health benefits, such as hospitalization, mental health treatment, and maternity care. Plans that don’t meet these standards generally can’t be sold after 2013, unless they’re grandfathered (more on that below). Insurers are ending these plans and pushing people to buy more comprehensive policies, some of which may also have higher premiums. For low- and middle-income people, the law provides subsidies to make health coverage more affordable.

 

Which plans are getting canceled?

The change mostly affects people who buy their health plans on their own, rather than those getting coverage through an employer. Most employer health plans already meet those standards. There were about 11 million people in the individual market in 2011, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Not all of their plans are being terminated, because some of them meet the law’s requirements. A study published last year in Health Affairs found that half of the people in this market had plans that pay for less than 60 percent of their medical costs, falling short of the law’s requirement. Even more plans may not have offered all 10 essential health benefits, but the study didn’t look at that.

 

STORY: Democrats Warm Up to a Delayed Obamacare

 

What about “grandfathered” plans?

Health plans that existed before Obamacare was passed in 2010 could avoid some of the new standards if they didn’t change much else. It’s up to insurers and employers to decide whether they want to keep offering so-called grandfathered plans. But plans that significantly increased what people have to pay or changed the benefits offered in the last three years would lose their grandfathered status, and they have to follow the new rules starting in 2014. The grandfather option also gives some political cover to the White House, because it puts the decision to terminate a plan on insurance companies, not the government.

 

How big a deal is this?

Politically, it’s awful for Obama. The promise to let people keep their doctors and health plans was one of his biggest talking points when he sold the health law to Americans. The line underplayed how Obamacare’s many moving parts would affect the health insurance market, with some unforeseen consequences for consumers. People are getting letters from their insurance companies saying their old plan is ending just as the healthcare.gov marketplace, where they theoretically could shop for new plans, is limping along. The situation angers and confuses ordinary consumers and gives fodder to the president’s critics.

 

Beyond the politics, though, insurers are being forced to replace skimpy coverage with more robust health plans. These will cost some people more, but the law also helps those with modest incomes pay for them. Obamacare’s market reforms keep insurers from turning people with preexisting conditions away, so those people whose plans are terminated are guaranteed to be able to buy new coverage. It’s one more difficult step in the messy process of changing the health-care system.

STORY: Why Obamacare's Success Rides on Hispanic Enrollment

Tozzi is a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek in New York.

10 síntomas de que llegó la hora de dejar ir a un empleado...( TechRepublic)

10 signs it's time to let an employee go

By Jack Wallen in 10 Things, October 9, 2013, 12:54 PM PST

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For some it's tough to let an employee go, even when the signs are obvious. If you see these behaviors, prepare to make a personnel move.

Everyone has done it – held on to an employee too long. For whatever reason (family, friends, fear), you just can't seem to muster up the courage to get rid of that one particular employee. For some managers/owners, it's quite a simple process. For others, the prospect of releasing an employee is a gut-wrenching experience they'd rather avoid. It doesn't have to be. Not when you have tell-tale signs it's time to let that employee go. Sometimes, they are practically asking for it.

I have brought together ten such signs. Use these as guideposts to help gauge your own instincts on the release of employees.

1. Apathy

When they no longer care, you should no longer care. The biggest problem with apathy is that it not only prevents people from doing their jobs, it's quite contagious. Should you wind up with an outbreak of apathy, recovery can be quite a chore. If apathy has set in with an employee that previously displayed no such behavior, it would behoove you to get a feel for what is going on. If the employee is undergoing a personal issue, make sure they understand that, although you respect their personal lives and might even offer some form of support, they need to keep the apathy in check. If the employee indicates no issues going on, very likely that apathetic approach is aimed specifically at work.

2. Disappearing acts

If disappearing acts are preceded by the employee dressing up (beyond the norm) or other changes in behavior, it could mean they are already scouting out new employment. If not, they could simply be skirting their duties. Either way, ducking out beyond regularly scheduled breaks is a sure sign you have an employee that feels they are above and beyond the job. Not only do you risk other employees assuming unscheduled disappearing acts are allowed, you will have resentment boiling up from employees who actually follow the rules.

3. Arguments

This usually takes two different forms: those employees that feel strongly about their positions and those that have grown weary of their environment and wish to argue for the simple act of releasing their aggression. If the former, congratulations, you have a passionate employee! If the latter, you have someone on your team who has reached the point where a blowup is imminent. When the latter type of employee begins frequently arguing with you, other management, fellow employees, or clients...that's a very good sign it's time for that employee to go. If you're very kind hearted, you could (and probably should) bring said employee in for a conference to see if any issues can be resolved. Otherwise...it's hit the road. 

4. Productivity decline

Production loss can come for many reasons. Some times staff can become overloaded with work or be placed on a project they have no business on because they lack the skill set. Other times, a drop in production can come for no apparent reason. It's when this type of slow down occurs that attention must be paid to the culprit. If the employee in question seems to be spending more time with his or her eyes in places other than their work, it's time to bring that employee in for a chat. When that happens, the employee will either deny your claims or make excuses for their (in)action.

5. Secrecy

Huddled employees who scatter when you appear are a problem. When you start hearing whispered tales around the office, that could mean dissension is spreading like wildfire. In some cases, those tales can be traced back to one particular member of the team. It is always best to get to the heart of the matter before that discontent (or false information) is spread among the masses.

6. Disaffection

Cleaning house is a bad sign. When you see employees slowly removing their personal effects from their desks, you should take that as a sure bet the employee is starting to disassociate themselves with their job and the company. The end game in this scenario is a slow severing of the ties that bind. During that process bad blood can be spilled. If you find this employee already dangling on an unsteady precipice, it's time they were cut loose.

7. Pot-stirring

This one of the most damaging behaviors you'll find in the office. When you see signs of this behavior, the first thing you must do is find out who is holding the spoon. The one fomenting trouble, whether it's by spreading rumors or setting employees against one another, is doing so for a reason (either legitimate or not). That staff member must be dealt with quickly or you'll never calm the sauce of your department/company.

8. Unreasonable demands

When employees become dissatisfied with either their jobs or their work environments, they start asking for things that aren't realistic. In some cases they are practically begging for you to let them go. If you find this to be the case, oblige them. Do take one thing under consideration – if more than one employee seems to be making unreasonable demands, it is upon you to figure out if there is one employee driving this coup or if you have actually created an environment that breeds such behavior. Take responsibility and try to view the situation objectively; you might discover something that can be easily remedied.

9. Redundancy

If you're lucky, you can afford to keep someone around for the times when his or her skills are a necessity, even if that need ebbs and flows. When business is in high demand, those redundancies can keep you afloat, but when business is slow, you're spending more than you need. The most important thing is to try and strike a balance. But economics might lead to the hard decision to cull the herd a bit, and rely on a contractor if and when the situation requires it.

10. Internal affairs

I'm not talking about run-of-the-mill office politics. I'm talking about emotional and sexual affairs. It's tough to devise a policy that prevents dating among employees, but it's smart. As much as we don't want to admit this, inter-office romance can be a breeding ground for slapping Scarlet Letter A's on the blazers of employees. When this happens, you'll find yourself cleaning up messes you don't want to be involved in. Try to avoid this altogether by creating a strong policy concerning relationships in the workplace. If someone breaks that policy – they have to go.

The hiring and firing of employees is a tough business. This is especially true when you are trying to create an environment of trust and ease. In the end, there will always be hard decisions to make. Finding employees that fall into any of the above behaviors can help to make that decision a bit easier.

About Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for Techrepublic and Linux.com. As an avid promoter/user of the Linux OS, Jack tries to convert as many users to open source as possible. His current favorite flavor of Linux is Bodhi Linux

Cómo obtener ganancias del cierre del Gobierno (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

 Government Shutdown

An Investor's Guide to Profiting From the Government Shutdown

 

To most of the U.S., today’s government shutdown comes as a maddening peak in a long-rising fever line of political dysfunction. For hundreds of thousands of federal employees and their families, on the other hand, the shutdown means lost work and missing paychecks. And to the biggest private-sector contractors doing work for the government, the shutdown carries real business risks.

 

To the folks at Goldman Sachs (GS), that means today could be a big trading opportunity. The investment bank has been sending clients a number of strategies to protect themselves and possibly profit from the gridlock in Washington. The main gambit: Find companies that do a lot of business with the government and then buy puts—contracts for the right to sell a company’s shares at a certain price in a certain time period.

 

Let’s say you have a put option to sell one share of a hypothetical company called, I don’t know, “Congress” at $10. If squabbling and poor results drive the price down to $4, you can buy a share on the open market for $4 and exercise the put to sell at $10, booking a $6 profit.

 

In light of Goldman’s strategic advice, we crunched data from Bloomberg Government on the top U.S. contractors in a number of categories to see what public companies might get pinched in a protracted shutdown. Here’s the list:

 

Company (Industry) | Outstanding Contracts in Dollars | Percent of Revenue (12-month trailing)

 

• Lockheed Martin (LMT) (Defense/Aircraft) | $36.9 billion in contracts | 80 percent of revenue

• Shaw Group (SHAW) (Construction) | $900 million in contracts | 15 percent of revenue

• Textron (TXT) (Defense/Drones) | $2.4 billion in contracts | 20 percent of revenue

• General Electric (GE) (Engines) | $2.7 billion in contracts | 2 percent of revenue

• BAE Systems (BA/:LN) (Defense) | $6.3 billion in contracts | 24 percent of revenue

• Caterpillar (CAT) (Facilities/Parts) | $500 million in contracts | 1 percent of revenue

• Tyson Foods (TSN) (Food) | $600 million in contracts | 2 percent of revenue

• Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA:NA) (Fuel) | $2.9 billion in contracts | 1 percent  of revenue

• Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) (Consulting) | $4.1 billion in contracts | 71 percent of revenue

• Oshkosh (OSK). (Vehicles) | $1.6 billion in contracts | 20 percent of revenue

• Fluor (FLR). (Logistics) | $2.1 billion in contracts | 7 percent of revenue

• Vesuvius (VSVS:LN) (Metals/Mining) | $300 million in contracts | 19 percent of revenue

• Humana (HUM) (Medical Services) | $3.5 billion in contracts | 9 percent of revenue

• McKesson (MCK) (Medical Supplies) | $4.6 billion in contracts | 4 percent of revenue

• Northrop Grumman (NOC) (Defense/Research) | $12.5 billion in contracts | 50 percent of revenue

• General Dynamics (GD) (Defense) | $15.4 billion in contracts | 49 percent of revenue

• Ball (BLL). (Aerospace) | $300 million in contracts | 3 percent of revenue

• Dell (DELL) (Technology/Equipment) | 1.2 billion in contracts : 2 percent of revenue

• FedEx (FDX) (Transportation) | $1.4 billion in contracts | 3 percent of revenue

• Raytheon (RTN) (Defense/Weapons) | $14.5 billion in contracts | 59 percent of revenue

 

Given the scale of business these companies do with the government, this week’s shutdown might be a mere hiccup. And many of the names on the list above rely on Uncle Sam for only a tiny slice of revenue. But the longer the government remains dark, the cloudier the forecast will be for some of these contractors.

Stock is an associate editor for Businessweek.com.