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How the Candidates Compare – Pre-Existing Conditions

The 2012 Presidential Election is coming up in just a few weeks. It is vital that everyone become an informed voter and understand exactly where each candidate stands on major issues. Since this is the Insurance Blog, I am focusing on issues and topics that relate to health insurance coverage. Here is where the candidates stand on pre-existing conditions. A pre-existing condition is a health condition, disease, or situation that a person has experienced in the past, or is continuing to experience today. An insurance company could consider anything at all to be a pre-existing condition: cancer, allergies, asthma, diabetes, … Continue reading →

Those ‘Other’ Candidates

In any presidential election, there are always more than two candidates. We don’t always hear about those candidates but they’re there. Ron Paul Ron Paul is having his own convention in St. Paul Minnesota. The timing of this is not to be missed though as he’s having the convention on September 2, the Tuesday of the Republican Convention. That same Republican convention by the way to which Ron Paul was not invited, and that same Republican party that has not embraced Ron Paul but rather John McCain. Support Without Supporting What’s really interesting about Ron Paul at this point is … Continue reading →

What Hillary Clinton’s Pennsylvania Win Does

On Tuesday, Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary. Yesterday we talked quite a bit about primaries and their role in the run for President. Had she lost, her ability to be elected would be next to null. . .a mathematical impossibility. Actually, it still is nearly a mathematical impossibility. But her win yesterday was important for her campaign and has some serious implications for Obama’s campaign as well. What Hillary’s Win Does for Her First and foremost, it keeps her in the race. Had she lost on Tuesday, I think that she would’ve needed to bow out gracefully. (I’m not saying … Continue reading →

What does it take to be a “Major Candidate”?

An interesting side discussion developed following a recent article, and I would like to expand on it. I hope we can get some good debate going. What exactly is the criteria for “major candidate” status? One Republican candidate, the only one besides McCain that is still running after all nine of the others dropped out, doesn’t seem to have it. It almost seems as if there are only three major party candidates still running… 1). Must one be running as a member of one of the major or main parties to attain major candidate status? The candidate referenced as not … Continue reading →

Is it a Tax, or is it a Penalty?

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Republican candidate for President, Mitt Romney, now says that the individual mandate requirement is a tax. However, he has previously stated that the exact same thing, when enacted in Massachusetts, was a penalty. Is it a tax, or isn’t it? According to the Supreme Court, the individual mandate is a tax. The individual mandate is the most controversial part of the Affordable Care Act. In short, it requires Americans to have health insurance coverage is 2014. Those who cannot afford coverage will receive a credit in order to be able to buy health insurance. Those who choose not to buy … Continue reading →

Why You Should Vote

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I was recently discussing politics with a friend who said, “I’m not even going to bother to vote. It’s like the lesser of two evils.” Feeling that Obama was inexperienced on the Iraq war and McCain represented more of the same type of politics we’ve had over the last eight years she feels like there’s not really a good option. Add to that the voting debacles over the last few years, and by her reasoning, what’s the point? Do We Little People Really Make a Difference? Call me idealistic, but I think that we little people do make a difference. … Continue reading →

Should We Have More Than Two Parties?

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The Democratic National Convention is next month and the Republican National Convention is shortly thereafter at the beginning of September. While Obama has announced that he’s going to accept his nomination from the stadium–presumably to a full stadium. McCain on the other hand has a different problem. Ron Paul, who has officially ended his campaign recently, is holding his own convention, the same night as the Republican convention. Not only that, but he’s holding it right around the corner from the Republican National Convention. Let’s not forget Bob Barr either, who by many is seen as this election’s Ralph Nader … Continue reading →

When Politicians Choose Bad Campaign Songs – Part 2

Yesterday, I was talking about really poorly chosen campaign songs. These are the ones that apparently, the candidates have selected without fully listening to all the lyrics For example, George W. Bush occasionally used “Still the One” by Orleans while on the campaign trail. Guess he missed the line that said, “Sometimes I never want to see you again.” Good grief, it was the second line of the song! How could you miss that? So far, I’ve been picking on Republicans. But, let’s take a look at the Democrats. How about Barack Obama? One of Obama’s choices was the U2 … Continue reading →

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Campaign Finance

Subtitle: Broken System or Broken People? McCain remains committed to the public funding for campaign finance. Most voters would like to do away with it. Obama did away with it. McCain can’t do away with it legally. Obama broke a promise. And I’m still not sure if the system is really broken. Obama’s decision to eliminate public campaign finance was historic. No major party candidate has ever done that before. While his people and McCain’s people supposedly sat down to hammer out an agreement, one of Obama’s lawyers said it was clear, they would not be able to come to … Continue reading →

Politics 101: Focus on Barack Obama

We are continuing today with our focus on Barack Obama and his major running platforms. I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t point something out that I find very interesting about his campaign. He takes suggestions. Yep, you read that right. Barack Obama takes suggestions. If you go to his website, in numerous places you’ll see a links that say things like, “Let Your Voice Be Heard” or “Present your ideas.” I am sure some would argue that these are actually fielded by junior campaign staffers and/or that he never reads them, etc. I am not venturing … Continue reading →