Planning v. Action

Planning, the buzz word of the modern era. Unfortunately this word is a bit nebulous. Be it Republican , Democrat, Tea Partier, independent or liberal the meaning implies a result sympathetic to their respective desires. The military uses this word but we prefer the word action. Action ensures that results, be they good or bad are achieved now not later. The the difference between those choosing between the two verbs is that some are willing to be accountable for their actions others would rather change the plan.

Steve Moran is a frequent contributor to Palpable Business Cognizance. He is a pilot in the Rhode Island Army National Guard who owns and operates a Land Surveying Business (www.moransurveying.com) with what little spare time he has not devoted to his family. He received his MBA from the University Of Maryland University College.

Affordable Health Care Act?

taken from the Cape & Plymouth Business magazine

Study: Obamacare tax to hit middle class in Mass.
Published on Thursday, October 11, 2012

STATE HOUSE (MA) NEWS SERVICE

While the Affordable Care Act might have taken its inspiration and ideas from the groundbreaking 2006 health care reform law in Massachusetts, the Bay State will not be exempt from some of the costs associated with the federal law.

An excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans is set to take effect in 2018 and could wind up costing middle class workers, such as small business owners, police officers and teachers, according to a study released by the Pioneer Institute on Wednesday.

"[What] ended up in the final law is less of a 'Cadillac tax' and more of a 'Ford tax,'" wrote the study's author, Josh Archambault. The federal law passed in 2010 levies a tax on sponsors of self-funded group health insurance plans and health insurance issuers that would kick in for individual plans exceeding $10,200 and family plans exceeding $27,500, the study said.

According to Pioneer, that could translate to costs of $86,905 over 10 years for a small business owner with three or more full-time employees, $53,907 for a police officer over that same time period, and $20,807 for a teacher over that period.

The Congressional Budget Office has also looked into the implications of the so-called "Cadillac" health plan tax, and estimated the federal government would collect $11 billion in revenue from the tax in 2018.

Pioneer's data on the potential costs to the insured is in contrast to data released in a recent Families USA study that found the ACA, or Obamacare, will provide more subsidies to help families buy insurance and will cap out of pocket spending.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman acknowledged that his members are not happy about the upcoming tax but said the benefits of Obamacare outweigh the trade-offs.

"It is one of the compromises that they had to make in order to get the good parts of the bill," Tolman said. He said, "We recognize the importance of compromise; we're not happy about it."

Other elements of the omnibus federal health care law make the new tax worth it, Tolman said.

"The most important part of Obamacare is the preexisting conditions. The fact that an insurance company can no longer deny you coverage, that outweighs everything in my book," Tolman said. He said the ability for children to stay on family plans until they turn 26 was also a benefit that outweighs the tax.

According to Archambault, the Cadillac tax could affect more than people with luxury plans because health insurance costs in Massachusetts are already higher than most other states.

"Over time, if insurance costs are not significantly contained, most of the working population in Massachusetts will pay this tax," the study says. The state is aiming to reduce the rate of health insurance increases with this summer's passage of an omnibus health care law some dubbed "health care 2.0."

While he acknowledged that there was displeasure felt toward the tax, Tolman also called it a "wedge issue" and pointed out that it would not go into effect for another six years.

Pioneer cited a Sept. 13 Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority presentation, which he said shows the state will need to make at least 124 steps to have the already existing connector approved by the federal government.

"Conventional wisdom is that healthcare in Massachusetts will not change significantly under the federal Patient Protection Affordable Care Act," Archambault wrote, continuing, "However, a careful review of the law reveals that many big changes are ahead for the Commonwealth."

When did the digital age begin?

Did you ever wonder when the digital age actually begun. Well according to Martin Hilbert and Priscila Lopez it began in the year 2002.
Hilbert and Lopez did a study which they published in the August 2012 issue of "Signifigance, statistics making sence".
Over the course of five years they inventoried analog mediums like paper, vinyl and digital storage products. After completing their research they determined that in 2002 more data was stored in digital format than any other analog form.
I hope they got paid well for that study. Seems a bit bit boring to me.

Ref: Hilbert, M & Lopez, P. (August 2012) "How Much Information is there in the information society", Signifigance, statistics making sence, August 2012 volume 9, issue 4, pg.8

Value Added

My daughters orthodontist office is a model of efficiency and value added. When we walked into the office Samantha checked herself in at a computer kiosk dedicated to the clientele. Before I sat down to contemplate the empending cost I made myself a cup of Green Mountain coffee from the well stocked Keurig coffee maker. I published this Blog via the guest WiFi provided for those in the waiting room. My youngest, Sarina kept herself busy alternating between watching the 50 inch LCD TV or playing with the computer games provided for the waiting siblings. All of these features enclosed in a modern decorum awash in natural lighting.
The value added to waiting parents make the wait a bit more pleasent and reinforce the decision to use this orthodontist.The doctor must have taken business electives while attending dental school. Nice job doc.

Economic food for thought

A few facts pieced together from reliable sources. Noted economist Milton Friedman said,

"All economic actors seek the most beneficial opportunities, and in doing so , help move the economy toward maximum prosperity. The role of the state in the economy is thus reduced to that of a "night watchman", playing a very minor role in facilitating this activity-protecting private property rights, maintaining law an order, and defending the system from external aggression".(reference, "30-Second Economics, edited by Donald Marron, copy write 2010)

If only it were that simple. The government now has to manage healthcare, social security, wealth fare and Medicaid.

The trustees of the Social Security & Medicare system report that,"Social Security and Medicare are the two largest federal programs, accounting for 36 percent of federal expenditures in fiscal year 2011. Both programs will experience cost growth substantially in excess of GDP growth in the coming decades due to aging of the population and, in the case of Medicare, growth in expenditures per beneficiary exceeding growth in per capita GDP. Through the mid-2030s, population aging caused by the large baby-boom generation entering retirement and lower-birth-rate generations entering employment will be the largest single factor causing costs to grow more rapidly than GDP. Thereafter, the primary factors will be population aging caused by increasing longevity and health care cost growth somewhat more rapid than GDP growth.
(Reference: www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum)

Dear Barnes and Noble Customer Service

The following rebuke has the potential of being quite a marketing annoyance for your Nook Color. When it comes to moderately advanced technical issues with the Nook Color your technical support staff adds no value to owners of these devices.  They in fact can cost owners of these device hundreds of dollars in lost opportunity cost and money. My recent experience with BN’s technical help is proof of this statement.

This admonition stems from the inability of the BN technical staff to deduce and subsequently solve a Nook Colors WiFi connection problem. Although the staff members are very personable they do not possess the core knowledge base to solve this type of Nook Color problem. This lack of knowledge cost the author of this article $199.00 in service fees and over ten hours of lost opportunity cost. Instances like these do not bode well for the Nook given its competition and the competitors associated services.  

My odyssey began when my device would not connect to my home Wifi network I took it to one of the local BN stores knowing there would be a Nook kiosk in the store that might be able to solve my problem.  After several failed attempts the staff member helping me spoke with somebody on the phone who suggested de-registering the device. After verifying the software version the technician did that. The de-registering and subsequent re-registering worked. However it wiped out all of my book data. Before leaving the store I spent some time retrieving all of my books and magazine subscriptions. I was not able to finish given the fact that I had other appointments that day. I intended to finish the process once I got home.

Once I got home I again tried to connect the Nook to my network. The Nook exhibited the same problem; it received a WiFi signal but would not connect to the internet.  I contacted the BN technical support via live chat and explained the situation and the previous attempts at fixing this problem. They told me to power off the Nook then restart it. We went through the exact same procedures that were completed previously. The BN technician alluded to the fact that it might be a router problem. I told them that all of my other WiFi devices worked fine in my home. The BN technician responded by suggesting I disable the security settings on the router. At this point I needed to call a representative of the router company.

The router manufacturer required a $199.00 service contract to turn off the security and then reset it. I agreed to do this because the BN technician emphasized the point that all BN store Wi-Fi signals are not secure and the problem may lie in this area. Furthermore the router technician agreed to try and help solve the Nook connectivity problem. After giving control of my computer to the router company they spent four hours checking every setting possible to make sure the problem was not in the router.  The router staff verified that the Nook was indeed receiving a signal by having me cross check the MAC address registering on the Nook to the devices registering on the router.  While the router technicians were checking my devices I used another family lap top computer to “live chat” with a BN technical support staff member. My intent was to update the BN staff and make any additional changes they might suggest while I was connected to the router staff via phone line. The router staff willingly agreed to check anything the BN staff suggested. The BN staff member suggested that I power down the router again. It was at this point I realized the limit of the BN technical support staff knowledge base.  However the BN staff did make one new suggestion. He told me that I should call my internet provider (Comcast) and inquire about additional security settings that they might be broadcasting. He also said to go back to the BN store and check again to see if the WiFi was working there.

I queried the internet provider and found out that there are no additional security signals broadcast via the router. Frustrated I typed the phrase “Nook Color WiFi problems” in a Google search engine. To my complete surprise the solution popped up in the BN support page. Can you imagine how frustrated I was when I saw that? The problem lie in the fact that the router was sending out data faster than the Nook could read it (150Mps v. 54Mps (Nook)). The solution was written by somebody not in the employ of BN. It also lambasted the BN technical support people for not being aware of this problem. Adding to my frustration was the fact that I asked the Nook technicians to think of any other differences in WiFi networks that might be checked. None of the BN technicians thought to check download and upload signal speeds. I finally called the router people back to change the settings to those recommended in the lambasting article. The changes worked but I spent another 70 minutes on the phone with the router technician. My Nook immediately received a signal, connected to the internet and I was able to complete my book down load.

To conclude it is very hard for me to believe that your support staff was not able to discern the WiFi problem. The solutions they suggested were no profounder than those listed in the owner’s manual. It would seem to the common person that upload and download speed issues are something support staff should be aware of. The inability of BN staff to properly address this issue amounted to me spending $199.00 and losing over ten hours of economic opportunity. When you consider the fact that somebody other than BN’s support staff  derived a solution to this problem it becomes evident that my case is not isolated. It would follow that other Nook owners have also lost opportunities and money stemming from this technical issue. Having established the likely hood that other owners have experienced the same problem it would also follow that this issue has the potential of being a marketing nightmare to distributers of this device given the options in the e-pad market.

Steve Moran