Feb 27
Fr0zt commented on Go to the Opera Stoned.
The funny thing is that back during the days of Mozart, people would talk and carouse and play cards at the opera, occasionally paying attention to what was on stage. It's only more recently that absolute respectful silence has been insisted upon.
Feb 26
Fr0zt commented on Frat Brothers Raise Money To Cover Trans Member's Top Surgery After Insurance Company Denies His Claim.
@45,
I'd actually agree with you on that. The free market isn't always better, and like any business, health insurers put profit ahead of the well-being of their customers. To the extent we want to put access to healthcare first, the free market is an inferior mechanism. To the extent that we are resigned to leaving it in the hands of the free market, we have to accept that they won't pay any more than they are legally obligated to.
I'd actually agree with you on that. The free market isn't always better, and like any business, health insurers put profit ahead of the well-being of their customers. To the extent we want to put access to healthcare first, the free market is an inferior mechanism. To the extent that we are resigned to leaving it in the hands of the free market, we have to accept that they won't pay any more than they are legally obligated to.
Feb 26
Fr0zt commented on Frat Brothers Raise Money To Cover Trans Member's Top Surgery After Insurance Company Denies His Claim.
41,
I'm not saying that there aren't sleazy insurance companies out there, or that most wouldn't love to avoid paying claims, but it wouldn't be a good business model. Who would buy insurance from a company that never pays claims.
The reason for a lot of the vilification is that people buy insurance for one type of thing, but expect it to pay for everything. The wind/flood distinction in Katrina was a particularly heinous example, but more common disputes are akin to someone who buys only fire insurance and demands coverage when his house floods. Insurance companies usually pay up right away when it's clear they owe on a claim (they suffer huge penalties in bad faith claims and lose customers otherwise), but they'd all go out of business if they paid on claims they didn't owe.
As for my nefarious role, most often it involves explaining to insurance companies that they do in fact have to pay on a claim that they think they can avoid (or that they don't, but the chance of an u favorable judgment is high enough that they should just pay anyway). Other times it involves telling them not to pay for a claim where an insured clearly violated the contract, or generally telling them how courts in a given state have interpretted a relevant provision.
The blood money / satan's den stuff sounds pretty cool, but the truth is a bit banal.
More...
I'm not saying that there aren't sleazy insurance companies out there, or that most wouldn't love to avoid paying claims, but it wouldn't be a good business model. Who would buy insurance from a company that never pays claims.
The reason for a lot of the vilification is that people buy insurance for one type of thing, but expect it to pay for everything. The wind/flood distinction in Katrina was a particularly heinous example, but more common disputes are akin to someone who buys only fire insurance and demands coverage when his house floods. Insurance companies usually pay up right away when it's clear they owe on a claim (they suffer huge penalties in bad faith claims and lose customers otherwise), but they'd all go out of business if they paid on claims they didn't owe.
As for my nefarious role, most often it involves explaining to insurance companies that they do in fact have to pay on a claim that they think they can avoid (or that they don't, but the chance of an u favorable judgment is high enough that they should just pay anyway). Other times it involves telling them not to pay for a claim where an insured clearly violated the contract, or generally telling them how courts in a given state have interpretted a relevant provision.
The blood money / satan's den stuff sounds pretty cool, but the truth is a bit banal.
Feb 26
Fr0zt commented on Frat Brothers Raise Money To Cover Trans Member's Top Surgery After Insurance Company Denies His Claim.
Why are people now chiming in that understanding isn't important? It's always important. Saying "I don't have to understand" is how you end up w people who think gays are pedophiles or that vaccinations cause autism, and no evidence will ever change their mind because "they don't have to understand."
By all means, be kind and respectful, but a crucial part of that is an open-hearted desire to understand more about what it is that you are accepting.
By all means, be kind and respectful, but a crucial part of that is an open-hearted desire to understand more about what it is that you are accepting.
Feb 26
Fr0zt commented on Frat Brothers Raise Money To Cover Trans Member's Top Surgery After Insurance Company Denies His Claim.
I just want to say how impressed I am at the level of discourse here. As an insurance lawyer, I am used to everyone assuming the insurance companies are always the bad guys. Whether the decision in this case was right or wrong, I appreciate the implicit understanding I see here that there is a genuine dilemma over what should be covered. Personally, I think it should be covered as much as any other physical, genetic disorder, but I can appreciate the reasoned debate over whether it is necessary or correcting a physical or psychological ailment.
Jan 28
Fr0zt commented on Boy Scouts to Allow Gay Members?.
@4' still a big deal. Even if som branches will stay homophobic, it will be nice to take the handcuffs off the chapters that want to welcome gays but can't b/c of national rules.
Jan 17
Fr0zt commented on Can Judges Refuse to Officiate Gay Weddings?.
@3 there is never a lack of people to perform marriages. Go to the church of light website and you can be vested with the authority to perform marriages in a few minutes. It's harder to become a notary public than to gain the authority to officiate marriages.
Jan 7
Fr0zt commented on What Do You Think of the Trillion-Dollar Coin?.
Would it fit into a parking meter and let you stay there until the end of time?
Jan 6
Fr0zt commented on Apparently, It's Time for Football.
Ditto @1: I also have no real idea of the rules of football, but I recognize that as an weakness rather than something to be proud of. Bragging that you don't understand something is always sad, whether you're saying you don't need to understand that high-falutin' "science" or those plebeian "sports."
Dec 29, 2012
Fr0zt commented on Congratulations, Maine.
@8,
As a supporter of gay marriage, I have two reasons for opposing polygamy, and I'll let subsequent commenters call me on my bullshit.
The first is logistical: government and private industry offer numerous rights and benefits to a "spouse" and while it makes no difference in terms of cost or law whether that spouse is same-sex or opposite sex, multiple spouses throw the whole affair into disarray. I hate to say that bureaucracy and paperwork is a reason to deny people the right to marriage, but that's number one.
The second reason is history. In my understanding, polygamy is rarely the result of three (or more) people of equal power making a joint decision, but more often the result of one powerful person collecting spouses as property. Maybe I'm wrong and a number of bad apples should not spoil the institution for the possibly-existing groups that wish to enter such an arrangement, and if so, I welcome the chance to be proven wrong.
As a supporter of gay marriage, I have two reasons for opposing polygamy, and I'll let subsequent commenters call me on my bullshit.
The first is logistical: government and private industry offer numerous rights and benefits to a "spouse" and while it makes no difference in terms of cost or law whether that spouse is same-sex or opposite sex, multiple spouses throw the whole affair into disarray. I hate to say that bureaucracy and paperwork is a reason to deny people the right to marriage, but that's number one.
The second reason is history. In my understanding, polygamy is rarely the result of three (or more) people of equal power making a joint decision, but more often the result of one powerful person collecting spouses as property. Maybe I'm wrong and a number of bad apples should not spoil the institution for the possibly-existing groups that wish to enter such an arrangement, and if so, I welcome the chance to be proven wrong.
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