DL Open Thread: Thursday, October 15, 2020
One Final Giuliani Scam Before The Election. Dog Bites Man.
Barrett’s On Her Way. Might as well resign ourselves to it.
High Rollers Had Advance Warning Of Seriousness Of Covid. Courtesy of the White House. Got out of the market. Uh, isn’t that criminal?
Neo-Nazi Group Recruiting Ex-Military. This is almost a ‘Dog Bites Man’ story. Scary. Predictable.
Andrew Cuomo Looking To Kill Working Families Party In New York. The Working Families Party is one of the key elements in the successful recruitment/training of progressive candidates in Delaware. They’re not on the ballot thanks to John Daniello and whoever his Rethug counterpart was (there have been so many) when they successfully lobbied the General Assembly to exclude them from having their own ballot line. Cuomo’s a piece of shit.
‘Nobody Outside Of The Beltway Really Cares’. That’s what Mark Meadows says of Trump’s blatant violations of the Hatch Act. He’s correct. Doesn’t make it any less illegal.
Enter Obama. Sooner the better.
What do you want to talk about?
Hunter Biden drops three “liquid-damaged” laptops off at Trolley Square computer shop for repair (“The Mac Shop”). Supposedly nobody picked up the third laptop, so of course the shop owner handed it over to a Rudy Guiliani operative. Shop owner evasive, vaguely claims he feared for his safety.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/10/14/meet-wilmington-repairman-who-reportedly-gave-biden-laptop-giuliani-associate/3655753001/
Thought about posting that. Figured I didn’t want to add any oxygen to the story.
I will say this: It takes an idiot of the Hunter Biden variety to take it anywhere other than an authorized Apple store for repair.
Unless Joe decides to appoint his family in top positions like a certain someone else, Hunter’s incompetence is a non-story.
Oh, it’s always worth keeping tabs on who the idiots are.
Navarro vs. Pillsbury
I’m going over ballots with my family tonight, and would like to present a straight blue ticket, but I’m having trouble finding a reason they should support a cop over a doctor for insurance commissioner beyond the letter after their name. Can DL provide some compelling arguments for or against?
Easy. Health insurance regulation is a small percentage of the work of the Department of Insurance. Medical doctors have zero experience in dealing with insurance companies (that is handled by office staff, let alone the vast responsibilities of running a state agency. The doctor in question here has stated no platform that would lead to the conclusion that she has the least interest in, let alone knowledge of, advocating for the interested of the insurance consumer.
The “cop” is completing a four-year term as THE Insurance Commissioner. His qualifications may have been an issue 4 years ago, but shouldn’t be now. He IS the Insurance Commissioner and he has a record for voters to review in order to decide if he is qualified for and deserves another term.
I “retired” as the Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner in February 2018, at least 10 months before I planned to. I was not personally thrilled. Yet, I served at the pleasure of the Commissioner, and my personal feelings aside, I had no difficulty voting to re-elect Trinidad Navarro when I cast my ballot last week.
An excellent response. Thanks!
I’ll still be watching until dinnertime if anyone else wants to chime in.
I’m also seeing a surprising amount of support for Mike Ramone (R) in the Barry vs. Ramone House race if anyone has opinions on that.
Also, quotes should be added around “Hunter Biden”. Kinda get the feeling they were stolen
No cops, not now, not ever. And doctors have to deal with insurance companies, staff or not. Worked in medical billing for a hellish year or two.
Also important. While Navarro’s years of experience as Insurance Commissioner have value, it does not erase his time as a cop (unless perhaps if he has renounced his police affiliation and support). My understanding is that the DE police unions have all formally backed Trump, which is simply unconscionable.
One could argue that he was not one of the (hopefully rare) bad apples, but if he was in a position of leadership, I believe he bears responsibility for the behavior of the people under him.
All that said, I’m not deeply familiar with the behavior of the police of DE during his time as a cop. Is there evidence that he should not be tarred with the “bad cop” brush?
RE: insurance commissioner
In talking with my PCP and specialist docs, they are VERY aware of how insurance companies operate, how they pay or deny based on which billing procedure and dx. codes are used and which supporting documentation is needed. And I do mean the MDs, not their staff.
Who to vote for? I’ve no horse in the race.
Two commenters now have asserted that doctors do have experience dealing with health insurance companies. I expect the Insurance Commissioner deals with all types of insurance (life, home, car, etc.), so only knowing health insurance does not make one fully qualified. That said, health insurance is (in my opinion) the most important.
I’d like to see government take a stronger role in health insurance, which seems like it might go against Pillsbury’s Republican values. I haven’t seen her stance on nationalized healthcare or public options yet, which would strong affect my decision.
Would value any additional input.
The Department of Insurance has the authority to regulate a small fraction of health insurance policies for Delawareans. Federal law prohibits states from regulating:
Medicare
Medicaid
Tri-Care
Self-insured plans ( which includes state and local governments and many large corporations )
States have jurisdiction only over policies issued in their state. So, if you work for an employer headquartered in another state, that state has jurisdiction over your policy.
My opinion of physician’s knowledge of health insurance is based on my experience handling and overseeing appeals from my insurers’ denial of necessary treatment and prescriptions. Most doctors did not know how to appeal that denial and are unaware of the internal and external appeal process overseen by the Department of Insurance
As to the incumbent Commissioner’s prior police work, I know he has been Commissioner for 4 years. He was New Castle County Sheriff ( not a “police” role) for the 6 years before that. Prior to that his job was as the spokesman for the New Castle County Police Department.
If he had a dark record in his early police work, I am sure it would have surfaced in his tough races against an incumbent sheriff and later an incumbent insurance commissioner
Navarro deserves your vote, even though no Democrats running statewide this year face challengers with serious chance of winning-especially when the Republican ticket is headed by Donald Trump and Lauren Witzke.
My lingering mistrust of Navarro is about his loyal service to Tom Gordon.
My personal mistrust of Navarro has to do with his getting a Coons spokeswoman fired because she was honest enough to tell him that he wasn’t being promoted because of his ties to Gordon.
That being said, I, too, will vote for Navarro, because historically Republicans have installed lap dogs in watchdog positions.
Thanks all for your input today. A few more ballots are cast. 🙂
I am the billing manager of an independent medical practice in Kent County.
Our providers know a great deal about the things they directly have to deal with, like pharmacy claims and other prescription information. They also have easy access to much of this information through portals and weblinks connected to our software.
Conversely, they know next to nothing about insurance policies, procedure codes, or “surprise billing.” If I had a nickel for every time one of our providers said “let me see my patients, you worry about the codes and charges,” I’d have many nickels.
So, a doctor surely has a non-zero amount of experience in understanding insurances, coverage, and the nuances of medical billing, but I posit that it’s less than I have learned in five years on the job in the basement of a family practice.
I watched Trump town hall for a laugh. Savannah fucked him up. I laughed the whole time. He’s an asshole and a liar. I love that she ripped him a new one. Unlike a “normal” debate. Good for her.
Biden takes the bait:
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-says-hell-announce-position-on-court-packing-before-election-day-014524703.html
that’s fucked up. I thought they had good people running this campaign?