Month: August 2017

This stuff does get legitimately aggravating when you do need to avoid any of the common allergens they’re supposed to label for, though. Especially given how common this labeling approach is.

Examples like that one are ludicrous enough that I have to get a dark laugh. One of my other favorites? Items like chocolate which the company won’t guarantee aren’t full of celery and mustard cross-contamination either. Hard to imagine how that could even be relevant, right?

But, it’s also an insultingly good indication that the brand in question isn’t even pretending to try. (No surprise with that particular label, but hey.) It’s enough cheaper and easier that–as a blanket policy–they are not willing to guarantee that anything they are selling is not contaminated all to hell with pretty much any substance they are actually required to list. To the point that they’re afraid of liability over the quality of their supply chain.

They almost may as well not have to warn for any allergens, if they’re unwilling to guarantee the bay leaves they’re selling don’t contain traces of completely ridiculous other foods.

(Also, what other inappropriate substances might be in there in trace amounts, which they don’t have to warn for? They probably don’t even know or care, if that’s the kind of quality oversight involved.)

Would I expect dry bay leaves to reasonably come into contact with egg in processing? Not really, unless the same factory is packaging powdered eggs or something. Soy or wheat? So many other seasonings do contain those ingredients, and there could possibly be a shared facility risk. And dust gets everywhere. Hopefully not the same production line, but they’re not willing to guarantee that much.

As someone with celiac and not anaphylactic food allergen responses, I might go ahead and take the risk with those bay leaves. Worst case, give them a good rinse before putting them in my food to try and get rid of any possible traces of wheat flour dust.

This is a simpler case than many others, dealing with a single ingredient product consisting of readily identifiable whole leaves. And again, I don’t have any known risk of more immediately fatal reactions, “just” autoimmune misery.

When at least half the products you look at in the store carry shotgun cross-contamination warnings like that? It’s a problem.

argumate:

meta-plastic:

meta-plastic:

Petroleum, when you think about it, is definitely an escaped piece of worldbuilding from a twee gothic fantasy dystopia

“The elven civilization gets energy from poisonous, flammable rock juice mined deep underground, sometimes causing earthquakes in the process. It’s slowly roasting their planet, but they keep doing it anyway to light their disposable palaces and fuel nihilistic displays of opulent wealth. Its stabler aethers are used in cosmetics rubbed upon the skin.”

Like, all it needs is a sinister glowing magenta aesthetic to be absolutely ludicrously fake

“where did it come from?”

“oh just the bodies and bones of great beasts of legend, crushed for aeons beneath mountains of stone”

United States healthcare related updates coming soon.

justsomeantifas:

(August 1st 2017)

Just because the Senate failed to pass their three healthcare bills does not mean the problems are over. Over the next couple months there will be some big choices that need to be made that could alter your coverage. Here’s what you need to know.

What Donald Trump Is Saying

“As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” – Trump tweet

There are many decisions that will need to be made by the Trump administration starting now until the end of the year. So far the administration HAS been making cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments every month despite threatening to stop every month. However, this month and September will be different because we’re reaching the time when people will start to sign up for 2018 coverage. 

After failing to get a healthcare bill passed through the Senate, Trump started making threats that he will now stop the “bailouts,” for insurance companies. This isn’t an entirely accurate statement, what he’s doing isn’t a bailout – the CSR payments simply reimburse insurers for providing required financial assistance to low-income consumers which reduces their copays and deductibles. The money given by the government is to help make healthcare more affordable and accessible. 

What This Means For 2018 Premiums and Subsidies

We might see Trump cut off these CSR payments or we might see him end the enforcement of the individual mandate. Both which will make enrollment harder for people and drive up the costs. Insurers are already talking about the possibility of bigger premium costs if Trump pulls out of the CSR payments which currently helps millions of people afford coverage. Others might boost premiums if the individual mandate isn’t enforced because it discourages healthy people from signing up meaning higher costs for them. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has already said they might end the enforcement of the individual mandate. 

Trump will have to make the decision about August’s payments over the next couple weeks. Even if he does make the CSR payment for August there’s still September that is in jeopardy and these months could shape what the 2018 marketplace will look like. If these subsidies are cut we will likely see a 20% increase on premium rates. 

What This Means For The 2018 Marketplace

The end of September is when insurers will make their final decisions about whether or not they want to sell plans in the Obamacare marketplace. Depending on what we see from the Trump administration over these next couple months, this could mean big changes. 

Currently there are a few counties with no options in the marketplace and more with only one option – we might see this increase even more. Trump’s constant threats mean that the payments are uncertain. He might now pay the CSR payments in August and September which would definitely influence the insurer’s decisions but they might not want to jump in with this amount of uncertainty that these payments will continue. 

By September 27th we will know what insurers will enroll in the marketplace and where, then in November open enrollment will begin for us. HOWEVER in that small timeframe between the 27th and November Trump could make decisions to pull out of the CSR payments. If he does this before open enrollment begins then insurers still have the opportunity to drop themselves from the marketplace.

Upcoming Bipartisan Senate Hearings

The health committee in the Senate is asking Trump to continue making the CSR payments and the GOP head of the committee is asking fellow Republicans to fund these subsidies. The health committee is also proposing that a one-year funding plan be enacted for 2018. This would keep premiums lower and ensure stability which, as I said above, is a big concern of insurers right now. According to the hearing announcement, these discussions should start the beginning of September.

As of right now, the administration is currently saying that some of these decisions will be coming any day now but some will be decided over the next couple months so keep an eye out.