hello darkness, my old friend...

sigh... just when things seem to be going well (brother's team MAJORLY won last night, etc), the shit hits the fan.

blue cross blue shield of north dakota sent out an email to their "subscribers" "warning" them of the effects of health reform - namely, that their health insurance will go up. read about this sad and disheartening move from the nations 6th worst insurer here. this is absolutely despicable. using scare tactics, even embattled kent conrad is annoyed. here is a summary of the article from the daily kos that is important for north dakotans to realize:

• Health insurance premiums for North Dakota working families have skyrocketed, increasing 74 percent from 2000 to 2007.
• For family health coverage in North Dakota during this period, the average annual combined premium for employers and employees rose from $6,124 to $10,674.
• For family health coverage in North Dakota from 2000 to 2007, the average employer’s portion of annual premiums rose 70 percent, while the average worker’s share grew by 86 percent.
• From 2000 to 2007, the median earnings of North Dakota workers increased 26 percent, from $19,196 to $24,255. During that time health insurance premiums for North Dakota working families rose 2.8 times faster than median earnings.

i was kind of losing steam on writing my letter about being denied health coverage, but it is now my number one priority this weekend. i'll keep you posted. insurance companies have got to start thinking about their subscribers and not their profits.

for any non-believers, check out this video on the health care plan.


last week, i wrote about how north dakota is great and everyone i love should move there (no call-outs for people i dont like, obviously). here is another excellent article by a north dakota senator.

and yet more evidence that large companies don't care:

• for your own edumacation, this is an interesting article about goldman sachs.
• can we break up big banks?? naked capitalism explains that we can.
• and finally - some logic that makes me believe there is hope (despite the authors saying that they won't pass...)
• do you bank with wells fargo? read this.