e p h e a l y . j o u r n a l

States Meme

Fri, 29 May 2009 09:18:10 GMT

Thanks to Comcast Corporation and Deloitte & Touche...

visited 48 states (96%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Best time to visit Belarus

ephealy.com is back

Wed, 27 May 2009 06:38:40 GMT

After years on hold, I've started using my home page again: ephealy.com

I'll still watch my friends here on LiveJournal, but I'll be posting there from now on. Feel free to drop by and keep in touch.

T-603 Days and Counting

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:59:39 GMT

I decided to check my enlistment contract for the US Army today. Why? I wanted to figure out how long I had until my initial 8 years is up. See, even though I'm not on Active Duty, I'm technically still in the Army until 8 years after my enlistment date - though classified as Inactive Ready Reserve during the remainer of my non-Active term.

I have 603 more days. You would think that, after those 603 days are up, I'm free and clear, right?

It's amazing the things you realize after it's too late to do anything about them...

Army enlistment contract (C)(9)(c): "In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States."

--> Thankfully, Congress hasn't issued a formal declaration of "war" since World War II. I'm not sure if that is how this contract uses the term, but I hope so. Otherwise, everyone enlisting in the US Army is technically on the hook until the end of time.

Army enlistment contract (C)(10)(b): "If I am a member of a Reserve Component of an Armed Force at the beginning of a period of war or national emergency declared by Congress, or if I become a member during that period, my military service may be extended without my consent until six (6) months after the end of that period of war."

--> After leaving the Active component of the US Army, I entered the Reserve component (603 more days to go). Unlike a Declaration of War, Congress declares states of national emergency all the time - about one every nine months since 1976, most of these for the purpose of restricting trade with certain foreign entities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Most recently, in 2008 Congress declared an emergency citing North Korea and the risk of proliferation of weapon-usable fissile material. Thankfully, these states of emergency can only exist for two years. However, since Congress seems to declare a new one every nine months, cascading "emergencies" can effectively lock any soldier into perpetual service. It's not that I think this will influence my term of service, or that I will be called back to Active Duty at any point. I could, though, and that is disturbing.

There are other clauses similar to the one above. But I think this last one is the most disturbing. In effect, once you enlist in the Army you are never technically free.

I don't regret enlisting. OK, a little bit of me does. I really want to see my kids grow up, and after two tours in Iraq I think I've earned the right. Anyway, I don't really regret it. Even knowing everything I know now, I'd still do it again. I enlisted to serve and that's what I did. I'm proud to have had the opportunity. It's the almost insidious nature of the contract that weighs a little on my soul right now.

I've written and erased a couple dozen paragraphs in the last hour. I can't really put into words what's going on inside me right now.

The world is a dangerous place and I thank God for all the people working to keep me safe while I throw birthday parties for my little ones. What's more, I loathe the evil in the world that requires brave young men and women to sacrifice so much so I can do it. The thought that the evil won't subside, or these guardians of our way of life won't get their well deserved rest...

603 days just can't pass fast enough.

Kicking Myself in the Teeth

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:13:41 GMT

Everyone has drama in their lives. I don't know a single person that has had something happen to them in the past that's left a permanent scar of some sort. Most of us are blessed to have small scars, but some aren't so lucky.

Some people really seemed to get kicked around by life. They may do well in some way. People may even look at them and think they lead charmed lives. Their blessings may be real, but for some... suffering the slings and arrows thrown at them has really taken a toll.

I have a friend like this. Someone whose company I enjoy and with whom I share many ideals and dreams. Unfortunately, I stepped on a land mine today... I poured salt into an unhealed wound without really understanding what I was doing.

If I had thought more with my heart than my head, I might have avoided causing them pain. I don't know.

Cause paid, though, I did.

Have you ever been in this situation? Ever hurt someone without realizing it and then wondered whether you should have known better and/or what you can do to mend bridges?

I don't know how this will shake out, but it makes me sad to know I hurt a friend.

Echoes

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:51:10 GMT

Turn out the lights.

Close the door.

Click Play.

Lean back.

Close your eyes.

Enjoy.

Online Banner Ads and ROI

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:41:15 GMT

It's important to measure ROI when spending marking dollars. Tactics change (both in price and effectiveness) over time, so I regularly evaluate them to see if I can find the ones that will give my clients the greatest bang for their buck.

Today, I'm thinking about online banner advertisements. Why? Because, for all their faults, online banners are one tactic that allow the advertiser to gather hard data on their effectiveness. When I place a banner on a site, I can tell how many people respond - allowing me to make better advertisements. I can even measure the quality of the response once people click thru to my site - allowing me to develop a better mousetrap on the other end.

If you purchase online advertisements, I'd love to read your answers to these questions:

(1) Why are you buying banner ads? What is the purpose?

(2) Branding: Do you place any value on the fact that people may see your advertisement, but never click on it? How much value?

I'd be interested in this study: What percentage of people actually notice a banner advertisement, regardless of whether they click on it?

(3) Response: What Click-Thru-Rate is acceptable?

What am I trying to figure out?

If I buy 1,000,000 banner impressions at $1 CPM (easy math), I'm paying $1,000. If the CTR is 0.3%, then I'm getting a response from 3,000 people (assuming one person doesn't click on my ads more than once, though that'd be another interested study). In essence, I'm paying $0.34 for the opportunity to communicate with each person that clicks on my banner. How does this compare to other forms of marketing?

And related to this... Let's say my 1,000,000 banners are seen by 30,000 unique individuals. Do I place any value on the branding that happens when someone sees my advertisement, but doesn't respond? How does this compare to other forms of marketing?

War Pig: State of the Sty

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:30:25 GMT

War Pig is a 24-hour streaming radio station, with programming that focuses on board games, RPGs, comics, and other geek content. You can find the stream at: http://www.warpigradio.com

Before launching War Pig, we contacted a number of our fellow podcasters, inviting them to contribute content for the station. Most of our initial contributors are now in place, including:

* Atomic Array
* Family Night
* Fear the Boot
* The Game Kennel
* Ogre Cave Gaming New Update
* Print & Play
* RPG Countdown
* Wapcaplets

We also have some new content launching shortly, including contributions from:

* The Escapist
* Sy Fy Radio
* Voice of the Revolution

With our current line-up we have great content, but not as much new material each week as we’d like. We’re looking for more.

War Pig is designed for a broad, public audience—including game stores—so we’ve determined a number of things we’d like to see from any shows we add.

1. It must be informative and entertaining.
2. It should be safe for listeners of most ages. No swearing or adult content.
3. It needs to be short-form. We prefer content that runs less than 15 minutes and will not likely be adding anything that runs more than 30 minutes.
4. It should offer something new—something that our current content doesn’t cover.
5. It should contain no irrelevant, divisive topics such as politics or religion.

If you have a show you’d like to submit, or a show idea you’d like to see us develop, contact us at warpigradio@gmail.com.

Our other major objective is to increase the number of places where War Pig is available. We recently made it possible for webmasters to add War Pig Radio to their websites by embedding a special widget using only two lines of JavaScript. The widget pops-up a player that can be custom branded to your site. Even if you don’t administer a website, you can help by encouraging your favorite ones to add the War Pig player.

We currently have twelve gaming shops playing War Pig Radio over their speakers. We’d like to quickly increase this number. If you are a retailer and playing War Pig in your store, let us know so we can tell people about you.

There are hundreds of stores that don’t even know about War Pig Radio yet. Please help us get their attention by telling them about us. If you don’t feel comfortable asking your local shop owner, let us know how we can contact them, and we’ll do it for you.

Website: http://www.warpigradio.com
Contact: warpigradio@gmail.com

Kobold Quarterly 008

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:40:20 GMT

Kobold Quarterly Issue 8 is out! Want to learn more about what's inside? Read on...

KQ8 Editorial: New Voices
Game Cryer: Review by Bill Bodden
Kore Dice: Interview with Cartographer Sean Macdonald
RPGAggression: Interview with Publisher Wolfgang Baur
Atomic Array: Episode 015: Kobold Quarterly 008

Drop by Kobold Quarterly.com to pick up your copy today!

PDF Supplements on Atomic Array Feed

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:59:24 GMT

Subscribers to Atomic Array will now receive PDF samples and previews in addition to our bi-weekly podcast episodes. This video is meant to be consumed by publishers, but it explains what we're doing so...

Syndicating War Pig Radio

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:03:07 GMT

How'd you like to offer Internet Radio for the Gamerati on your website of blog? Too easy...

The Scorpion Queen

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:50:08 GMT

I'll be attending Dungeons & Dragons Experience next week. On Friday and Saturday (8 AM!) I'll be running an adventure called "The Scorpion Queen," which you can find in the recently released In Search of Adventure from Goodman Games.

I was checking out the list of people attending today and noted that Ed Gentry ( edgentry ) will be sitting across the table for one of these sessions. I'm pretty excited; I've been wanting to meet him for some time.

Ed Who? Pick up his novel Neversfall.

Feedburner, Google and MyBrand

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:31:26 GMT

Back when I set up my feed for Atomic Array, I took Paul Colligan's advice and took advantage of Feedburner's MyBrand service.

Link to MyBrand: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mybrand

Paul Colligan's Explanation of how to set up MyBrand and Why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHNjzkWLyI

Last week, Feedburner told me I needed to port over to Google. Matt Dickman has a nice little video about the transition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcy74J72W40

Alas, while I followed Google's advice, my feed was still broken. I tinkered around and, Eureka! I figured out what was wrong. I even made a video about it: http://ephealy.blip.tv/file/1686705/

HERE'S THE BAD PART

I get up today and check to make sure my feed is still healthy. No dice. I go to Atomic Array and click on my RSS icon - this is what I get:

"HTTP Error Code: 502

Detail: There was a problem retrieving the feed: Error getting URL: 502 - Bad Gateway "

I'm desperate here. If you can get me out of this mess, please don't be shy. Send me an email. If you have my number already - call.

Thanks.

Ogre Cave Gaming News Update on War Pig Radio

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:37:52 GMT

If you listen to War Pig Radio, you'll now be treated to regular gaming industry news updates, courtesy of Ogre Cave’s Allan Sugarbaker. Each update will last 3-4 minutes.

Want to hear what these reports sound like? For a limited time, you can download the most recent update, directly.

NOTE: That link will go dormant in seven days.

War Pig Programming Update

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:47:09 GMT

We're working to develop some new content for War Pig Radio. In the meantime, this is our current line-up:

Atomic Array: Interviews, commentary, giveaways and cultural commentary.

Family Night: Bring your family together with some hidden gems of entertainment, and learn more about the value good games bring into your life.

Fear the Boot: An irreverent, roundtable discussion of tabletop roleplaying games.

The Game Kennel: Hosting a successful board game or card game means selecting the right game for the players at the table.

War Pig Radio

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:36:17 GMT

Enjoy gaming, comics, books, and movies? Hungry for entertaining and informative news, reviews, and interviews? War Pig Radio is for you.

At least, it will be. We have a couple kinks to work out, and we need to work up some more killer content before we're ready to really move on it, but it's live.

The idea? Provide entertainment and information to the gamerati 24 x 7. As we add more content to the line-up, we'll also be developing players so that webmasters can embed War Pig on their websites. I've also been in touch with a number of the people at your FLGS, asking what they would like to hear so that they can play War Pig in their stores.

Listen Now using Winamp, iTunes, or Windows Media Player.

Are you a gamer? What type of content would you like to hear on War Pig?

Are you a webmaster? Send me an email; I'll let you know when our flash player is ready.

Are you a publisher? We'd love to help you promote your products.

Are you a retailer? Let me know what content you'd like to hear over the speakers in your store.

Sherwood (Atomic Array 014)

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:58:20 GMT

Sherwood (Atomic Array 014)
When we heard that Battlefield Press was going to release a Savage Worlds edition of Wil Upchurch's Sherwood, we jumped at the chance to bring him on the Array. The legend of Robin Hood is a tricky subject to work with. There's so many tropes, from the locations to the iconic character types, we were interested to see how Wil handled it all.

Wil was all too willing to talk with us. We even convinced Marc Gacy to join us to talk about how he translated the original d20 rules into Savage Worlds.

Battlefield Press: Battlefield Press.com
Ed's Pick: Robin Hood (1991)
Rone's Rant: "Cheaters"

We wrap up the Alpha Omega giveaway, and tell you how you can win one a copy of Sherwood. Don't forget, you have until January 23rd to enter the CthulhuTech giveaway.

Want to learn more about Sherwood? Read on...

Atomic Array: Episode 014: Sherwood
Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin
Fear the Boot: Sherwood: The Legend of Robin Hood
The Game's the Thing: Episode 048
The Gamer Dome: Sherwood Adventure at DDX

Drop by RPG Now to pick up your copy today!

There is a lot more to Sherwood than we could fit into this one episode. Feel free to ask questions, or leave a comment on the site. You can also share Atomic Array with a friend, or contact us directly. In fact, we'd love to hear what you think about Sherwood. Tell us what you like (or don't), and what you'd like to see from Battlefield Press in the future.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a comment, and share it with others. Please consider subscribing so that you will get future episodes delivered to you - you won't have to remember to download each one.

Allan Sugarbaker and David "Zeb" Cook join Game Cryer

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:37:57 GMT

Allan Sugarbaker has agreed to act as content editor at Game Cryer. Allan served as tabletop games editor at Gamers.com for 2 years, editor for Game Buyer for 2 years, Administrator/Review Coordinator at RPGnet for over 5 years, and continue as Editor/Founder of OgreCave.com.

Veteran game designer David "Zeb" Cook will also contribute regular reviews of wargaming products. David's name graces the credits of too many products to list. We're excited to be working with him.

Being Normal

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:41:53 GMT

Today is my rez day. Today I am one year old.

For those of you familiar with Second Life, a rez day is not a foreign concept. For the rest, a rez day is your Second Life birthday—the day you signed up for an SL account and became a resident.

How was my first year in Second Life? Let’s take a look…

On 04 January 2008, Michael Stackpole posted a blog entry about Second Life. He announced his upcoming appearance on SLCN’s “Meet the Author” (now, “Meet an Author”) and encouraged people to come join him as a member of the live studio audience. I’d been meaning to get in touch with Mike for some time, so I decided to see what this Second Life thing was all about.

SL was intimidating at first, but not prohibitively so. I skipped most of the orientation as soon as I figured out that you could pull up a map and teleport to anywhere you wanted to go. Unfortunately, I didn’t know where anything was! Thankfully, Mike has posted a SLURL on his blog which brought me directly to his Second Life home: Third Life Books. After attending the taping of “Meet the Author,” I stuck around and chatted with Noble about his speculative fiction workshops. (Noble Charron = Michael Stackpole in SL)

SLesson #1: There is a ton of stuff in Second Life. It’s impossible to do or see everything. Thankfully, there are a number of communities that form around common interests. If you’re into music, you’ll find dozens of music communities filled with aspiring and established artists. If you prefer books, there are groups—like Third Life Books—that can help you meet like-minded people. Community is at the heart of Second Life. If you want to get anything out of your experience, finding groups of people who share your interests is key.

After the recording, Noble introduced me to Jilly Kidd, the host of “Meet an Author.” Jilly introduced me to a number of people from the Written Word, a group of authors in Second Life. I spent the next couple months attending writing groups and poetry readings, while getting to know some of the members of the SL writing community. I was still a n00b, but it quickly became clear to me that there was a lot of creativity going on in this virtual world.

SLesson #2: People love to express themselves. SL residents are no different. Creativity manifests in many ways in Second Life. There are novelists and playwrights, musicians and fashion designers, podcasters and entertainers. Second Life is filled with very creative people and experiencing the creations of others is one of the biggest draws.

By April 2008, I was comfortable in my virtual skin. In fact, I had a new one. Noble’s business partner, Kat, graciously took me shopping one day. I now looked like a veteran, and not a new immigrant, fresh off the rez.

It was about this time that Jilly told me that her television network, SLCN, was looking for someone to help them with their advertising sales. She knew I handled advertising for Kobold Quarterly and asked if I’d like to hear what SLCN had to offer. I didn’t have anything to lose, so I took the meeting.

I met with Starr Sonic, SLCN Executive Producer. Starr’s an energetic and optimistic person. It was obvious, from talking with her, that she really enjoyed her job. It was also obvious, from my experience watching SLCN, that the network had a solid product. What they didn’t have, according to Starr, was a reliable advertising manager. We exchanged a couple emails and had a couple meetings and, on 17 April 2008, I was the new SLCN ad dude.

SLesson #3: There are career opportunities in Second Life, but you have to treat them seriously. It’s hard to find people you can rely on, just like in real life. If you’re a competent person, and have skills coupled with drive, you’ll do well. Companies will not want to let you go.

For the last six months I’ve been working to establish SLCN’s advertising department. As the network has grown (from 8,000 episodes delivered in 2007 to 2.2 million in 2008), so have the opportunities. We film eighteen regular shows in Second Life which are aired 24x7 on seven network channels. Each month, more than a third of Second Life residents view our programming. The growth is phenomenal, and so are the opportunities.

SLesson #4: Second Life is not dead. I missed the SL hype from 2007. I came into SL at a time when, according to some of the pundits, virtual worlds were on the down swing. I’ve learned that the reason so many people were disconcerted with Second Life is that they didn’t understand what it was. SL is a community of creative people. If you understand the community and you engage it in meaningful ways, you will create opportunities.

I’ve enjoyed the first year of my Second Life. I’m hoping my second will be even better.

Drop in and say ‘hi’. Look for Normal Rayna.

SIDE NOTE: Ryan Dancey and I sat on a panel at GenCon this year. Entitled "Virtual Worlds: Making Imagination Come Alive," we discussed virtual worlds, from Second Life to MMORPGs like EVE Online. It was a great talk, during which we explored how these platforms can build community, provide unique services, and facilitate commerce. Have a listen.

CthulhuTech RPG (Atomic Array 013)

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:24:53 GMT

CthulhuTech RPG (Atomic Array 013)

I stumbled into a game of CthulhuTech at an FLGS back in January. It was a lot of fun, and I've been trying to get the creators on the Array since our first episode. It's no secret that I love my Lovecraft. Adding mecha? Yes, please!

Matthew Grau joined Rone and I to talk about this new game from WildFire LLC. We had a great time talking with him. It's obvious, from the start, that Matt really loves what he does. It's clear he loves his game, as well.

CthulhuTech RPG: CthulhuTech.com
My Pick: Robotech
Rone's Rant: "My Lead Foot, Part II"

We wrap up the Pathfinder give away, and tell you how you can win one of two CthulhuTech book sets. Each set will include the Core Rulebook, Vade Mecum (the CthulhuTech Companion) and Dark Passions (the CT cult book). Don't forget, you have until January 9th to enter the Alpha Omega give away.

Want to learn more about CthulhuTech? Read on...

Atomic Array: Episode 013: CthulhuTech RPG
Mad Brew Labs: CthulhuTech: The Game That Almost Wasn't
Critical Hits: When Horror Meets Awesome: CthulhuTech
Kore Dice: Interview with CthulhuTech’s Mike Vaillancourt
Stan!: The Stars Will Be Right
Arcane Underground: The Saga of CthulhuTech (Updated)

Drop by BattleCorps to pick up your copy today!

There is a lot more to CthulhuTech than we could fit into this one episode. Feel free to ask questions, or leave a comment on the site. You can also share Atomic Array with a friend, or contact us directly. In fact, we'd love to hear what you think about CthulhuTech. Tell us what you like (or don't), and what you'd like to see from WildFire in the future.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a comment, and share it with others. Please consider subscribing so that you will get future episodes delivered to you - you won't have to remember to download each one.

Game Cryer: Quality Game Reviews

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:35:14 GMT

A few months ago, I asked about game reviews and whose opinions you trusted.

Based on the feedback I received here, and other venues, I compiled a list of names - people considered to be the best. I approached each of them and asked if they would like to be a part of a new site that focused on quality game reviews. Many of them agreed.

Are you interested in quality game reviews? Come to Game Cryer (Game Cryer.com).

Current list of contributors:
- Gerald Cameron
- Dave Chalker
- Brian T. Clements
- Michael Erb
- Chris Gath
- Mark Gedak
- Ken Newquist
- Pookie
- Allan Sugarbaker
- Andy Vetromile

Up first? Gerald Cameron reviews Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons.

Thanks for the Conversation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:59:56 GMT

After taking down my personal blog, I moved over to LiveJournal. This was supposed to be a temporary sandbox - a place where I could piddle around until my blog comes back online. I never intended to stay here.

This has been a good year, and LiveJournal is a big part of that. LJ allowed me to connect with a number of new friends. While I can’t name all the interesting people I’ve met, I’d like to take the time to thank all of those who’ve taken the time to comment on my posts.

aaronace, adamdaigle, adamjury, angusabranson, avidreader514

bafadam, billzilla, brainstormfront

charlesatan

declench, delve_srm, dodging_fate, dragonspawnlair, duicarthan, dungeon_grrrl

e_cunningham, ewilen, eytan_bernstein

fossilapostle, frabjousdave, friadoc

graveyardgreg, greenfeyboy

haetmunky, highmoonmedia, thehussman

irishninja

jagdell, james_spence, jdigital, jediwiker, justinsluder

kenjelinek, kenosaga

lilithdarkmoon, locke1520

maliszew, mark_gedak, mdonle, merb101, mickbradley, mind_of_richard, the_monkey_king, mouseferatu, ms_monkey, mysticalforest, mytholder, mythusmage, neddiheht, nerdmonkey, the_never, nwah, open_design

philreed, pixelfish

quizro

realitydeviantx

saandcrawler, sambear, savageplanet, shellyinseattle, sigtrent, sir_ollibolli, sgazzetti

technomom, timitius, thetomeshow

urikson

varianor

xochizlan, xyanthon

yoda8myhead

Thanks to Charles H. Green for inspiring this post.

Siphonophore

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:48:02 GMT

I preparation for my upcoming Cthulhu game, I've been looking for inspiration from some cool real-world creatures. Enter, the siphonophore:

OK, I cheated. The siphonophore is not a creature, but a colony of jellyfish-like creatures, called zooids, all acting in concert. Anyway, I think the video speaks for itself. Enjoy.

The Size and Shape of RPG Books (Fear the Boot 129)

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:56:08 GMT

I stumbled into another episode of Fear the Boot last night. Inspired by a twitter conversation, kicked off by Adam Jury of Catalyst Game Labs, we kicked around the idea of non-standard book sizes.

Listen the the show and let us know what your thoughts are on the subject.

Internet Tech, All Grown Up

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:49:03 GMT

I bought my first domain eleven years ago - for the Conspiracy X RPG. Over the years, I've purchased, hosted and transferred a number of domains. Back 'in the day', domain maintenance took a decent amount of time. If you wanted to transfer a domain from one person to the next, it often felt like brain surgery.

Times have changed.

For years, I hosted my ephealy.com domain with a small service back in New York. I used to have an online journal, what would now qualify as a blog I suppose, but took it down when I deployed to Iraq. Since then, I’ve only used my domain for email.

Last week, I decided to change that - to make an actual site where I can talk about all the nifty things I’ve been up to. To do that, I wanted to move my domain, but was concerned about the transfer. Sure, I don’t have a site right now, but I was worried about losing access to my email account for days or weeks. It had to be done, though, so last night I pulled the trigger.

Man, was a surprised, and pleasantly so. Not two hours later, my domain was transferred and my email was working at the new mail server. I think I may have experienced 20 minutes of down time in the middle of the night. That’s it.

I’m in awe of how far internet technology has come. Not only can I buy domains for a couple dollars (as opposed to the $30 I paid back in 1997), but the maintenance of these basic building blocks of internet communication is now fluid and easy.

What a difference a decade can make.

Portable Health Insurance

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:46:59 GMT

During the campaign, the candidates told us what their policy initiatives would be for everything from taxes to the military. I usually don't focus much on health care policy, but delved into each candidate's platform en force after speaking with a good friend on the topic.

The campaign is over. Even though he lost, I'd like to talk about one of the items in McCain's plan. Here is the pertinent quote:

"Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines."

At first, this sounds like a great idea. Why shouldn't I be able to take my insurance from New Jersey to Washington? It would sure make life easier, right? Just ask those folks that live near a state border and have to constantly tune out 50% of the ads they hear / see since the products aren't available in their state.

But then I thought about the idea, and the ramifications of implementing it. What would portability mean in the long term?

For one, the federal government would take on the role of regulating which companies can offer health care. States currently fill this role. This would make it easier to get coverage, especially for those living near state lines. It should also free states of the burden of managing the insurance companies. But...

Would it hurt states that lose licensing revenue? If, on balance, it results in net savings for the industry then I'd be tempted to think it's a good idea. The states may not agree, though.

My big concern here is that removing the state barriers will likely result in consolidation in the health care insurance business. Right now, small regional firms can survive because they have marginal protection behind the artificial barrier of state lines. Without that protection, we'd likely see larger insurance companies swallow up smaller ones, much the same way banks consolidated in the 90s. Is that good?

Of course, opening up the system would also kill some of the near monopolies that exist out there. Well, for a time... until the consolidation results in us only having five insurance companies in the whole country.

Portable health insurance sounds like a good idea, at first, but I think it would have a net negative effect on the industry. Without other reforms, it would certainly hurt the consumer in the long run.

So why bring it up now? McCain lost, right?

Alas, the first part of President-Elect Obama's Health Care Reform Plan states:

"Give all Americans access to affordable, comprehensive, portable health coverage."

I hope that, when the new President and Congress sit down to talk about health care, they carefully consider the ramifications of consolidating health insurance regulation in Washington. Breaking down the state barriers may seem like a good idea, and may be publicly popular, but I don't think it is the best move.

Not yet. (And I'm not sold on the idea that it's necessary, anyway.)