The "Be Evil" Business Model

You'd think if the health insurance companies were serious about not being relieved of their business model by legislative fiat they'd try not acting like super-villains, at least temporarily. Seriously, it's pretty messed up. It's bad enough that such companies seem to have developed a business model along the lines of:

1. Find some way to make more money by acting like a total monster
2. Act like a total monster
3. PROFIT!

But now they seem to think that they can divert even more of those actuarial costs to CEO bonuses if they just skip step one and assume that any evil scheme will be profitable, even when the full light of public attention is upon them. They're convinced that even worst come to worst, Congress is so bought that healthcare "reform" will amount to mandates requiring people who can't afford it to pay for a broken system that won't support them when they most need the services this system allegedly provides.

Anyways, here's what's changed since my last post on the subject:

• The Senate Finance Committee produced their travesty of a bill, putting Kerry firmly back into the "people I won't vote for" box. Their sacrifice-everything-to-get-Olympia-Snowe's-vote plan worked, except they didn't need her vote to get the bill out of committee, and she made it clear the same bill doesn't necessarily have her vote on the Senate floor.
• Other comities (Senate and House) produced bills that are much better. Now the sausage-making begins, but it's likely that at least one (maybe both) houses will produce something worthy of the name "reform".
• Burris (remember whose seat he's filling) has become the first Senator to join a coalition of House Democrats in refusing to vote for any "reform" without a public option.
• Pelosi seems to be taking a strong stand on having a public option.
• On the other hand, Reid looks like he might wimp out on having a strong bill brought to vote in the Senate, and he might not even require a real cloture vote (much less a real filibuster) if he doesn't think the Democrats have the 60 votes. (Now which member of the Democratic caucus is he protecting, who would be willing to stand with the Republicans in filibustering their own party? I wonder.) Probably the best thing to be done bothering-Congresspeople-wise now is pressuring Reid on this issue (especially if you're from Nevada).
• Alan Grayson has definitely become one of the legislators to watch out for. Al Franken is holding his own very well, too.
• Obama is still hedging way too much on this issue.