Greg Hardy... Even though it's right, it's wrong

Ever since the video of Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiance, followed quickly by Adrian Peterson and the discipline of his son, domestic violence has been a topic of conversation in the NFL. Ray Rice lost his career as a result of his actions and Peterson lost nearly a full season. Most recently, it's Greg Hardy.

Hardy's case is disturbing, to say the least. He was found guilty of assault and “communicating threats” but somehow he was able to set aside the conviction and opt for a trial jury. This after the victim courageously testified against her attacker, detailing the beating, the choking, the guns. Not surprisingly, and as it happens in too many cases of domestic abuse, she stopped cooperating with the prosecution and charges were dropped. Nonetheless, Hardy had to serve an NFL-imposed suspension.

During his suspension, he was signed to a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Many were openly critical of the move by Jerry Jones, but Jerry assured everyone that Hardy was deserving of a second chance, knew he had done wrong and had learned from his mistakes. Immediately upon his return to the Cowboys, following his suspension, he talked big about coming out “guns blazing” and making really creepy remarks about Tom Brady's wife. People everywhere, except Dallas, were outraged.

Now the photos of the woman he assaulted last year have been made public. People everywhere are even further outraged. Hardy's peers, across the league, are openly condemning him. On ESPN's “NFL Countdown” show that aired on November 8^th, reporter Wendi Nix went on the attack (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wendi-nix-greg-hardy_563f87ede4b0411d307161a3). One of the comments that she made really infuriated me, and it made me think about a lot of the commentary and rhetoric being thrown around by all the experts. The statement was that people didn't need to see the pictures to know what happened.

BULLSHIT. People are acting like Ray Rice and Greg Hardy are the first and second pro football players to ever hit their girlfriends. The conversation went on to say that Hardy should have had to earn the second chance he was given by the Cowboys. Show some regret, contrition. Show that he's changed his ways. BULLSHIT. Ray Rice did all the things that people say Hardy should have done in order to get a second chance. Where is Rice's second chance? He came out immediately very apologetic, taking full responsibility for his actions, pursuing anger management counseling, etc. It wasn't enough. But then again, he was approaching the end of his career, with his best days behind him. In comparison, Greg Hardy is 27 years old and in his prime. If Rice had a few good, dominating years on the field left in him, you'd see him in someone's uniform.

The truth of the matter is that the NFL is not outraged by the violence. If they were, incidents like Janay Rice and the cocktail waitress who had the snot kicked out of her by Hardy wouldn't have been needed in order to exact change. The only reason that the NFL is taking a hard stand against domestic violence is because the videos and the pictures were public, and it's the public who is demanding the outrage.

And so to all those who are acting so shocked and horrified at Greg Hardy and are sitting in judgment of him, I say this: Get off your high horse and stop being such hypocrites. Unless and until every person involved in the NFL, from coaches and owners and players to journalists and talking heads, current and former and future, unless and until a TRUE Zero Tolerance policy is embraced, you are a part of the problem.  

Obamacare... Next Steps

Obamacare transformed the landscape of the health insurance market for individuals. It also set standards for required/mandated services that all health plans (individual and group) must cover. The demand for full-coverage preventive care services is very women-centric and, to be honest, needs to be updated to include additional coverage for men's health services. In addition, the Unites States Preventive Services Task Force, the agency that sets the parameters for the preventive services that are covered, needs to consider additional variables. For example, for screening colonoscopies, the age parameters are set to allow beginning at age 50. However, African Americans are at a higher risk, and should be allowed to begin screening at age 45.

But simply making insurance more available to individuals is not enough. First and foremost, Obamacare is slang for the Affordable Care Act. Yet, for many, the individual plans are not affordable at all. A single person living in NYC, making $50,000 a year, does not qualify for a subsidy. He or she has to absorb the full cost of their health plan.

Looking at one of the bigger insurance carriers offering insurance in the NYC area (Empire BlueCross BlueShield), the cheapest plan offered has a monthly price tag of $435.20 per month, a deductible of $5,850.00 and an out-of-pocket maximum of $6,850.00 per year. What this means is that if you are single and need to actually use your insurance, you can expect to pay up to $12,072.40 for health services each year, with NO financial assistance. Over 20% of your gross salary. And if you're single in NYC, you can expect to lose at least 28% of your paycheck to taxes.

So... your $50,000 income feels more like $36,000, which means that $12,000 for insurance and healthcare services is actually more like 1/3 of your income. And you haven't paid a penny in rent, or utilities, or food or clothing or your Metrocard.

On top of that, Empire has many different network options, however all of their ACA plans are linked exclusively to their Pathways network. Pathways includes a fraction of the number of providers that their more robust PPO networks offer. The reimbursement to Pathways providers is so low that the majority of doctors and hospitals will not join. So I can't help but wonder why a plan that pays its providers so little AND has such a high deductible is also so ridiculously overpriced?

It's not just Empire though. Most insurance carriers have various network options for providers. Joining one network does not mean that the provider is in-network for all of their products. And for all carriers, those who are purchasing insurance off of the exchange (Obamacare plans), are stuck with very narrow networks of providers. And to make things even more difficult for consumers, ALL marketplace plans are either HMO plans or EPO plans, which means that there are NO out-of-network benefits.

And for those of us who are lucky enough to have employer-provided health insurance, we're not safe from these issues either. Insurance has always been divided into 3 groups: large group (50+), small group (2-50) and individual. Large groups are being redefined as groups of 100 enrollees or more. Small group is now considered 2-100 enrollees. Many of the small group plans offered are very similar to the individual plans, meaning no out-of-network benefits and the narrow networks.

It is my belief that as long as health insurance is part of the for-profit industry, HEALTH is not a major consideration, and we the consumers will always be on the losing end. Profits will continue to be the driving force and people will continue to be a second thought. There needs to be sweeping changes to the healthcare industry as a whole. Not just to insurance companies, but to pharmaceutical companies and to healthcare providers as well. Each carrier has ONE network. Either a doctor/hospital/provider is in or out. And reimbursement should be based on Medicare/Medicaid rates. It is ridiculous for the federal government to assign a fiduciary value to a service, yet allow providers to bill 20, 30 or more times that value to commercial insurers and to private pay patients. And we as consumers need to be more invested and involved in our WELLNESS rather than seeking out care only when we're sick. There has to be a concerted effort on all fronts, but we can fix this healthcare industry crisis.