TOP FIVE: From third worst drivers to one of five with one insurer

Our weekly Top Five feature offers big stories or views from the past week with policy and legislative implications.

1. South Carolina has nation’s third worst drivers, The Post and Courier, Dec. 1, 2016

Rural roadways, speeding and careless driving are factors in South Carolina’s being ranked among the deadliest states. An excerpt:

“According to CarInsuranceComparison.com‘s analysis of NHTSA data for 2014 — the most recent year all data is available — South Carolina ranked first in the nation for vehicular fatality rate.  The state ranked 34th for failure to obey traffic signals, wear seat belts or for driving with an invalid license, according to the study. South Carolina placed 10th in drunken driving and seventh for speeding and careless driving.”

2. America’s 2016 political divide — mapped, Tim Wallace in The New York Times, Nov. 16, 2016

Th story highlights two different maps of America – the Donald Trump-centric, Republican parts of America of suburbs and rural areas, and the Hillary Clinton-centric, Democratic America of urban and poor areas.  It’s an interesting read that may help people visualize the divide among us.

3. Defending liberal democracy, The Weekly Standard, Nov. 29, 2016

Republican and conservative editor Bill Kristol of the The Weekly Standard and Brookings Institution scholar William Galston, a Democrat, generally disagree on issues.  But they defend the “basic institutions and principles of liberal democracy,” which they say are under assault now.  An excerpt from their full statement:

“We stand together in defense of the institutions of world order conducive to peace, prosperity and freedom that the past 12 presidents, 6 of each party, have worked to build and uphold. We stand together in defense of constitutional, orderly, and civil self-government that respects civil liberties and equal rights and the rule of law, and rejects bigotry of every kind. We stand together in our conviction of the continued vitality of the American Dream, secured by engagement with a hopeful future based on pride in the accomplishments of the past.

“And we stand together against an alternative right disdainful of the traditions of American conservatism and a vocal left that blends socialist economics with identity politics. We stand together against a dangerous impatience with the legal forms and constitutional constraints that are guarantors of our liberty. We stand together in defense of an open, generous liberal democracy as the strongest foundation for addressing the very real challenges that we face and the legitimate frustrations with the status quo that we feel.”

4. S.C. is one of five states will just one Obamacare insurer, Donald F. Kettl, Governing, December 2016

This story focuses on the coming health-care dilemma for President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress as it heads toward changing the Affordable Care Act which insures millions of Americans.  In addition to the program having features that many Americans like, there are other dilemmas, including this:

“The third dilemma lies in the proposal to give insurance companies flexibility to sell their plans in more places. The original plan was for the states to create exchanges that would give individuals a choice among insurance plans, but in some markets the major insurers are scaling back or withdrawing completely. In 2017, five states — Alabama, Alaska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming — will have just one insurer for the program. Kaiser estimated that 19 percent of enrollees across the nation may be limited to just one plan, up sharply from 2 percent in 2016.

“Trump wants to let insurance companies sell their health plans across state lines. The logic is that more flexibility will bring more competition, lower prices and happier consumers. But this would also bring federal regulatory changes in an arena that’s been a state function since the 1850s. There could be no bigger irony: The campaign to pull back federal regulations  could insert the federal government more deeply into regulation of the states.”

5 Gender equality is good for business, Cecile Fruman, The World Bank, Nov. 17, 2016

Gender is a new dimension in the World Bank Group’s annual Doing Business report as a way of attracting attention to gender equity issues in the workplace where half of the workforce across the world is comprised of women.  An excerpt:

“There is ample evidence that those countries that have integrated women more rapidly into the workforce have improved their international competitiveness by developing export-oriented manufacturing industries that tend to favor the employment of women. Legal gender disparities are also associated with lower female school enrollment and labor-force participation.”