There is little sunlight in MA in the winter months, the sun is at a very low angle, reducing panel efficiency and increasing shading due to trees. Summer months I near 2,000kwh.

My non-heat, non-ev average energy use in December is 354kwh, my 38 solar panels will only produce 283kwh in December.

Renewable energy is cheaper when it's used as it's made. It is much more expensive when you need to build storage, both the storage cost as well as the loss of power in the storage process (as much as 60% loss). Natural Gas pipelines would provide a cheap stable source of energy when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. Nuclear would be a good alternative, I'd love to see it, but I don't think it's making a comeback in MA.

Plenty, we have a great place that's both in a city and in the woods... just watch the operating expenses of a house here. Depending on where you are from, a $900,000 house month to month will feel like a $2.2M house, with our property taxes, high electricity rates that are 300% the national average, not to mention it costs more to heat a home than cool it and at least my town, water rates are 4x where I came from. Depending on your living budget, you may need to consider a lower priced house, so watch those expenses!

Lots of states use natural gas as their primary electricity supply. We are the only state that can't import the natural gas we need, causing these massive rate hikes. 195% increase in National Grid's electricity supply rate is based on one thing, the Natural Gas supply not being available. We have to ship it in via cargo ship which runs on bunker oil, rather than pipelines that once built, they are relatively maintenance free and don't continue to consume fossil fuels to deliver the natural gas like a ship.

I went out for breakfast and lunch and I found the workers in the restaurant much happier and friendlier than normal. Maybe they are compensating for customers?

I have a fantastic plan too, the plan isn't the point, its how much they pay physicians that dictate the cost of the plan. They agreed to pay that otolaryngologist $850, when it would have been $250 with a provider in any other state, that raises our insurance costs, which was the OP's self-described rant.

In most states, $240 is a lot; I used to pay cash to my dentist in NY $173 per year for THREE cleanings and one exam (if you have healthy teeth you have no need for a bi-annual exam, that's just a dental scam, all you need is cleanings and one exam a year, I liked having a cleaning ever 4 months). Even my exam I just had last month was a near joke, he didn't even count off the teeth, just looked in for about 20 seconds.

Of course I do hope for my own sake you do prove me wrong! In the event my premium goes up, can I send the bill to you? Lol!

Every insurance company has profit, even the non-profit ones. They keep reserves for future claims and growth, and of course, other charitable donations. Harvard Pilgrim had $700M in carried surpluses when they merged to Point32.

I don't think Delta is just going to give it up. And they aren't the only dental insurance company, that's not who I have, there are dozens of them. I'm guessing mine doesn't make much profit on the $19.99 to just keep the rates as is.

You think they will run Massachusetts without a profit?

Yes, but say you currently have operating costs and profit of $32 on $100. Your operating costs don't magically go down to $17 because this passes. Maybe they can lay off some people and outsource claims to India to get it down to $25, which means to hit the 87%, they'll raise your rate to $147, and just pay your dentist more to compensate for the remainder of the money. They aren't going to be able to lower their costs to $17, they will raise rates to get to their overhead and just pay out the rest to dentists.

Doctors are the ones negotiating the rates with the insurers. In MA, really much of the northeast, a person is very loyal to their doctor, its why Massachusetts BCBS has close to 100% doctor participation, they want everyone, and they are willing to pay higher rates for it. Doctors have formed large bargaining groups to make sure they take advantage of that. If doctors request large contracts, and the insurer declines, the physician group threatens to pull out and send letters to their XX,XXX customers to tell them to find new insurance. (I've seen that done countless times). The insurer finally gives in and pays what the doctor wants, and raises insurance premiums.

If you look at states with lower doctor participation in their health plans, premiums are less. Florida Blue, I can't find the statistic right now, but I believe I saw it was in the mid 70%'s of doctors in the state participating. Florida prices insurance by age and smoking for the under 65 market, so I can't compare very well between them, so I'll compare the over 65 market where rates are the same regardless of age or smoking. The lowest price MA BCBS plan is $0 a month, the lowest Florida Blue is negative $75 a month, yes they put $75 a month into your social security check. Doctor copays, drug deductible, hospital copay, ambulance copay, it's all lower with the Florida Blue plan. Because if a doctor wants an excessive amount of money, Florida Blue, says no, we want to provide the best deal for our members. They still have doctors in every field and geographic region of the state, covering the vast majority of the doctors, but the ones who want payments that are well more than average, aren't helping medical costs, they are hurting them, so insurance companies pass on their participation. If we did that in MA, our insurance could be 10-15% cheaper, maybe even more.

Heck no, I offered them $250 and when they said "that's not how we operate" I said then either $0 or take me to court and I'll tell a judge how you tried charging me $2400 an hour for an office visit, your choice. They opted for the $0.

It was in network. The negotiated price with MA BCBS was $850. The point isn't about the insurance coverage, it's the high rates doctors charge here, that's what makes the insurance so expensive here.

Funny you mention it, because i had put that in my post, then deleted it. From what I have seen, we have tapped out our hydro capability in MA.

Renewable themselves are cheap when they are funtional (sun shining, wind blowing). Storage is expensive to build, and can have losses of 40%, making renewables cost more than stable sources like natural gas or nuclear.

Doctors do cost way more out here than the rest of the country. I get sticker shocked everytime I go to a doctor. I had one bill I flat out refused to pay because it was damn near extortion. It was an otolaryngologist.. $1200 for an office visit. Back home in NY, I visit my cancer doctor for $75. Doctors may be good here, but they aren't $1200 a visit good.

Markey or Warren have to step up. I certainly do not see Markey doing it because this is somewhat Pro fossil fuel, and Warren likes to talk more than she likes to provide action, so we're pretty much screwed.

Exactly, there is a reason the dentists PAC is supporting it, premiums are likely to go up so their expenses meet the Medical Expense Ratio, and dentists will be the ones profiting, no change to the insurance company, just more cost to you and me.

I personally loved Sakura Sushi in Winchester when I lived up that way.

I don't know what to tell you about how, I just shopped around and got the best deal for me. I never had dental insurance before, but moving to MA, dentists were so expensive, it's cheaper to buy the dental insurance than it was to pay cash. If this passes, I doubt that will be the case and I will see my premium go up.

Everyone seems to think if they have a limit to their MCR the premium will go down to fit the MCR, rather than the premium going up so their current operating costs are met. Delta and others aren't magically going to make less money in MA, they are going to raise rates to continue to make the same amount, and just pay dentists more to compensate.

The problem with dental insurance is its a low cost item, but there is still the overhead of health insurance, like billing premiums, paying claims, network development, online portal, etc. There is no way they can offer my $19.99 a month insurance plan with an 83% medical loss ratio, which means they will have to raise my insurance rates and spend more on care - well, I get all my care covered at 100%, so the only way to spend more is to give more to dentists. Insurance company doesn't care if this passes, they'll just raise rates to compensate, they make out even, I end up paying more each month, and dentists whose PAC is spending a boatload on this end up the winner with more money for the same work.

The Jones act prevents a foreign vessel from transporting goods between US ports. Kind of like modern day rules that protect US labor, like the recent change in the Build Back Better plan to eliminate EV credits on cars not made in North America. The passenger vessel services act, which was modeled after the Jones act was suspended last year so cruise ships not registered in the US could take tourists to Alaska without a midway stop in Canada, when Canada was shutdown to tourists. So, it's not a far reach to suspend that provision of the Jones Act as there is now precedence to do so. Just need Markey or Warren to propose it, like Murkowski did for Alaska - it received unanimous vote by the way.

Well, to be honest the 64% is also wrong. The supply increase is 195% and the total cost is 87%. I think one person in the media didn't have a calculator and the rest followed along. If you look at the monthly rate, most of us pay a seasonal average, but the monthly power rate, increases from November to January by 12¢, which is 100% increase over the summer rates on its own, just the additional increase from November to January, so I'm thinking they are really prepping for much higher natural gas supply rates later in the winter.