Is Barclay Afraid to Speak?

I've heard Barclay's first radio commercial, and I've seen the YouTube of his first television commercial. Only an announcer's voice can be heard in either commercial. At this point, I wonder why the young man appears to be afraid to speak. I suspect he isn't able to deliver his message with much conviction. It must be hard to speak convincingly to voters about how you want to go to State Senate in Albany to work for us, when it is so clear that you want the job to help yourself and your family protect their interests.

I haven't been able to secure Mr. Barclay's Financial Disclosures yet, but it is hard for me to believe that his father, who was on the Board of Directors of Key Bank, or some close relative doesn't own some insurance stock. Actually, I find it hard to believe Key Bank doesn't have some interest in the insurance business. Maybe that's because as recently as October of last year Key Bank was part of a deal to extend $575 million in credit to HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., an insurance company involved in the health insurance industry. You can read about it here.

Let's consider the legislation that Mr. Barclay has sponsored recently in the Assembly, for example, A 03835 that amends the insurance law to allow people to cancel their health insurance on 20 days notice to their carrier, and requires the insurance company to refund the unearned premium to their beneficiary. Currently the law doesn't require insurers to provide their clients with such a mechanism, but nothing prevents insurers from providing for such a mechanism contractually. The bill looks reasonable on its face, but who benefits from this bill? Seriously, are there a lot of people worried about getting a refund from their health insurance company when they cancel the policy? Are there a lot of people worried that they will be sued by their insurer if they simply stop paying premiums during the contract period and switch to another insurer? How many people honestly believe this is necessary legislation?

Who benefits from this legislation? I could see how the insurance companies could benefit from this legislation through guile. Let's assume that you become seriously ill and will require treatment that will be expensive. Let's assume, as anyone who has seen "Sicko" might, that the insurance company doesn't want to pay for your care. Let's assume you are denied initially for a "pre-approval" of a claim for a test you need, that hasn't been performed. Let's assume appropriately, that you dispute this denial. Let's assume that included in the packet of materials sent to you to dispute the claim is a form that provides the insurer notice that you are canceling the policy. You fill out all of these mountains of forms, including the signature on this notice of cancellation. 20 days later, the insurer cancels your policy, refunds the unearned portion of your premium, and you are no longer insured against a catastrophic illness.

If you don't think the insurance companies would do this to one of their clients, you really haven't seen "Sicko," and you really should watch the documentary.

Is there an epidemic of Americans looking to cancel their health insurance, demanding a refund of the unearned portion of their monthly premiums?

Thankfully the bill was referred to the Assembly's Insurance Committee where it died.

Let's Compare That With Darrel's Insurance Reform

Darrel was the sponsor of A 01301, a bill that amended the Social Services law to allow the exclusion of certain depreciated farm assets from consideration when a self-employed farmer was applying for Family Health Plus. This bill allowed more working farmers to become eligible for Family Health Plus, dramatically expanding access to affordable health insurance for family farmers.

The bill was so correct in its approach that fellow St. Lawrence and Jefferson county Assembly member Dede Scozzafava (R-Gouverneur) co-sponsored the legislation along with several other members of the assembly. Noticeably absent from such co-sponsorship was Assembly member Barclay, who has allegedly garnered support from a lot of farmers in the 48th State Senate district. Maybe they are pretend farmers like President Bush, who his family has supported with many campaign contributions.

Thankfully Mr. Barclay did do the right thing when it came time to vote, along with another 140 of the 150 Assembly members and voted to pass the bill that Darrel sponsored, which has since been signed into law by Governor Spitzer.