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I thought I'd share the results of my application for individual health coverage.
Although I am actually healthy (not taking any prescription drugs, a recent echo stress test says my heart is looking good, latest blood pressure reading at the doctor's was favorable, and was merely opting for the catastrophic high deductible coverage as insurance against the unknown risks), my application was denied.
I recently had minor "chalazions in the right eyelid" and they were removed in the doctor's office. It's basically acne and I could have easily covered the cost even without health insurance. I put this treated condition on my application in the name of full disclosure. The person who scored my application for risk apparently did not know what chalazions are and opted to call it glaucoma instead (which is a VERY serious health condition). Unbelievable!
Needless to say, I'm appealing the decision.
If I am dealing with a company (any company) then I pretty much expect for mistakes to be made at every step of the process these days (been dealing with Comcast a lot lately, which is no doubt "helping" the trend). Further, I absolutely cringe every time I think of my girlfriend being fired for simply doing what her boss told her to do (having her log in as someone else because he was too lazy to get her a login and password in a timely manner). Has incompetence become a national epidemic?
5 Ways Companies Breed Incompetence
Incompetence is a national epidemic.
Oh. That explains it then. Well, that's sure to make us more competitive and productive in the future if it is true. *sarcasm*
Kids leave high school not knowing how to spell, C-level executives think they can supercede macroeconomic laws, government executives practically sell incompetence wholesale.
We seem to have a glut of C-level executives trying to supercede macroeconomic laws these days (especially in finance if the government bailouts are any indicator). Meanwhile, the government executives are doing more than "practically" selling incompetence wholesale.
Govt Health Care: Lessons from the People’s Republic of Massachusetts
Without even looking at government inefficiencies, incompetence and lack of accountability, any time you dispense something for “free,” you’ll always dispense more of it.
How can one possibly argue with that logic? Perhaps I'm an easy sell. I think "free lunches" tend to be the most expensive and "sure things" are often the most risky (Madoff!).
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8 comments:
Stag,
I think "free lunches" tend to be the most expensive and "sure things" are often the most risky (Madoff!).
No doubt.
Most of our so called "growth" is based on the "free lunch" of inflation. In that light, it's not surprising we have so much incompetence. In fact, I've been arguing that the system now demands incompetence. It absolutely requires that we delude ourselves in so many ways. Think about it. We set up a debt/money system that is based on uninterrupted exponential growth. To ensure the necessary CONtinous growth, we introduce an element of theft (inflation). Efficiency, automation, quality, etc. are all desirable, but inevitably become secondary to exponential credit growth. Seems like a "sure thing" scheme for incompetence to me. And to top it off, we then set up a system that rewards bankers for credit issuance, not sustainable credit issuance.
Since 1970, we've had twice as much inflation (free lunch) in the system as actual growth. While sad, it's not surprising that the stupidity and distortions are so wide spread and large. That's the nature of exponential growth. A slowly steepening curve becomes a vertical curve. Weird things happen quickly in the vertical zone. And how do you turn it off? By Bernanke's own admission, if he didn't hand out trillions to the banksters, the global credit system would have collapsed. And now, even ordinary joe six pack types (me) understand the sham.
As you can imagine, I fully expect the idiocy to keep worsening. On this I have complete CONfidence in the Fed!
I can't wait to be a multi millionaire and poor.
What is a "C-level executive"? It certainly sounds rude.
StagflationaryMark,
You have a cool blog.
mab,
I'm just curious, does the mab stand for "mad at banksters"? : )
Words to remember and think about:
"I can't wait to be a multi millionaire and poor."
Devaluation, its whats for dinner!
"I can't wait to be a multi millionaire and poor."
Devaluation, its whats for dinner!
GYSC,
I should point out the somewhat CONflicting views that I hold simultaneously.
On one hand, I fear a general inflation/devaluation as a result of a massive increase in base money. However, this outcome is so obvious that I'm discounting it heavily.
On the other hand, I fear that we will have targeted inflation within the CONtext of a widespread deflation. This outcome, while less obvious and ultimately unsustainable, is in keeping with the longer term trend that excess central bank money makes the majority poorer and the "systemically important" minority wealthier.
So far, Bernanke's helicopter drops have been surgically targeted towards the "systemically important" sector - banks. The recipients of Bernanke's helicoter drops (banks) are further surgically targeting the helicopter money into financial assets, key commodities (oil) and the critically/systemically important banker bonuses. Why are banks targeting money in this manner? Simple. By doing so, they increase their own solvency, wealth, power and influence. What about morgage losses at banks? Those losses are being dumped on the public via the GSE's, the Fed, the PPIP, etc. This outcome is actually far worse than a general inflation as it leaves the majority over-burdened with debt with no chance of relief from wage or property inflation. The over-arching theme is that systemically important bankers don't share central bank grift. Am I a cynic? You bet!
So what's for dinner? Well, if you're a systemically important banker you'll be enjoying delicious (and free) central bank money -mmmmmmmm! If you're not "systemically important" you'll be choking on a gruel of debt for a generation.
Welcome to the new (e)CONomy!
dearieme,
C-Level executives are often rude. I believe they are currently rapi... um, well, hurting the taxpayers with that last round of banking hijinks!
watchtower,
Thanks for the kind words!
GYSC,
It's what's for dinner? Yes!!!
mab,
"A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future." - Sydney J. Harris
Cynic since 2004. Sigh.
"I absolutely cringe every time I think of my girlfriend being fired for simply doing what her boss told her to do"
- decades ago, I interned at a big company. First assignment, first day, boss says: "Make a copy of this" handing me a ~30 page schematic. Every page was marked "Do not reproduce without written permission."
Was this some kind of test?
I had a cold sweat as I made the copies.
.
Turned out, no, it wasn't a test, boss just needed a set of copies.
But it's odd: the world is full of rules we're supposed to ignore.
Darned if you do, darned if you don't.
- jus me
-jus me
jus me,
"I had a cold sweat as I made the copies."
I bet!
"Darned if you do, darned if you don't."
Murphy's Law of Scapegoats
Heads your boss wins, tails you lose!
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