Finally Friday!

I have to be quick today -- I had a lot of complicated emails from overnight so I'm behind already this morning.  So here are the highlights:

Interesting to me how controversial the President's words about the Supreme Court have turned out to be. While it's true that he misspoke a bit, and it probably would have been better had he not commented, I can't imagine having your most important act as President be trashed like it was last week, especially when you know that it's politics rather than law that is driving things.  It's not as though he's the first President to criticize the Court.  I was really glad he spoke -- I needed to hear him voice his support for the law and for the right result from the Court.  When the GOP rants about activist judges, nobody reacts like this.  It's really somewhat remarkable. 

Ann Romney has MS and, as a result, she would not be able to buy insurance on the open market, or if she could, it would cost a mint.  Real people -- people who work for a living and aren't gazillionaires -- don't have the option of paying for their own care if they can't get insurance.This article compares Ms. Romney to another woman with MS who isn't quite so privileged.

The NY Times has launched a new series -- a young woman with leukemia who will be going through bone marrow transplant will write a column each week chronicling her experience.  She's introduced herself to us, and now we will follow her journey. 

The California Insurance Commissioner is blasting Aetna's 8% rate hikes -- Connecticut approved the same rate hikes on April 4.  The California Commissioner is trying to get the legislature to give him authority to regulate premiums, so that probably accounts for the difference in their positions.  Connecticut's Commissioner already has that authority.  Indeed, Connecticut's Commissioner Leonardi just announced that the insurance companies will be sending consumers a notice of rate increases when the increases are filed so consumers have a chance to comment before the rate increase takes effect.  A small but dedicated group of advocates have been pushing for this for a long time, so we are very pleased to see this result, and we thank Commissioner Leonardi for his leadership.

Here's a nicely done piece on what to do if your insurance company refuses to pay for emergency room visits.

And that's it for this morning.  Have a great day!  Jennifer