The Truth About Health Insurance Coverage Since Passage of Obamacare

In recent days the Administration and much of the press have trumpeted the rising percentage of young people, below 26 years old, who now have health insurance coverage.  Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services press release asserts:

The Affordable Care Act allows children to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26.  This policy took effect for insurance plan renewals beginning on September 23, 2010, and was designed to address the fact that young adults are the age group least likely to have health insurance.  This is one of the important early provisions in the Affordable Care Act designed to expand insurance coverage to uninsured Americans.
New results released today by the National Center for Health Statistics show that this policy has had a significant impact on improving insurance coverage among young adults. Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that in the first quarter of 2011, the percentage of adults between the ages of 19 and 25 with health insurance increased to 69.6%, from 66.1% in 2010.[1]  This 3.5 percentage-point increase represents approximately one million additional young adults with insurance.

That is true as far as it goes.  However, the same press release provides additional data from the survey that shows that during the same period, health coverage for people ages 26 - 64 has shrunken dramatically.  Here is the chart they provide:

The trends lines are moving together.  The added health support of young people under 26 is likely to have maxed out since most parents were advised of the changes in the law and took advantage of it in the first year.  The only ongoing variable is likely to be the changing number of this age cohort in the population.

In fact, as reported by Gallup itself, although not mentioned in the HHS press release:

The percentage of uninsured 26- to 64-year-olds, however, continues to increase, rising to a high of 19.9% in the second quarter of this year. Among all Americans, 17.4% reported being uninsured in the second quarter of the year.

Another chart accompanying their report shows this drop in the numbers of people reporting that they have health insurance.

So, what we have is a reality in which the much ballyhooed 40 million Americans without health insurance before Obamacare has now become some number north of 40 million.  The net effect of Obamacare to date is therefore to have, arguably, only slowed the continuing shrinkage in the number of Americans with no health insurance.  Not yet worth celebrating.  And given the legal challenges to the mandatory coverage provisions of the law, the future doesn't bode well for improvement in these numbers.

Is Kabul U.S. Embassy Attack I.S.I. Payback for Our Hit on Bin Laden?

The Times reports that the American and Afghan officials believe that the attack on the US Embassy in Kabul was the work of the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan.  Isn't it reasonable to believe that the Pakistan intelligence services (ISI) promoted this attack in retaliation for their embarrassment over our keeping the hit on Bin Laden secret from them?

Big Lebowski Connection To Mel Brooks Story

One of the great scenes in The Big Lebowski is of Walter and the Dude obtaining Donny's ashes and scattering them.  The scene can be viewed at this European site that doesn't facilitate embedding videos.

I have always loved this scene, so I was doubly amazed to hear Mel Brooks tell a very similar story about Howie Morris, an actor on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" on early TV, on an HBO special tonight with Dick Cavett.

Here is a video of Mel telling the same story on a much earlier TV show:





I've looked for some reference to this story as the inspiration for the Coen Brothers, but have not found any.  I'd appreciate it if someone knows of a reference where the Coen's acknowledge hearing Mel's version.  God knows it is certainly worth paying homage to Mel by using the story and, as enhanced by the Coen's it works perfectly as a coda for Walter and the Dude's relationship.