"Was it something they said?"

 Michael Sean Winters has an interesting article on the NCR site today: Can Democrats learn to speak like normal people? | National Catholic Reporter

He writes about the necessity for the Democratic Party to form a coalition.  "The fight for the soul of the Democratic Party continues to percolate, mostly beneath the surface, as Democratic leaders try and discern a way forward. The party must ask itself: How did we lose to Donald Trump? How can we win in rural states again, without which, we will never secure a majority in the Senate? Most immediately, Democrats need to figure out how to take back the House of Representatives in next year's midterms."

Catholic enclaves and Pew Research on the “ Nones”

 The religious professionals (and, maybe the Church Ladies) continue to wring their hands about the defections from Catholicism.  Pope Benedict’s “smaller, purer” church does seem to be becoming the reality. The RCC in the US now seems to mostly hang on to old Catholics, unwilling to give up, and young "trads" who long for an era they never knew.

Paul Baumann in Commonweal discusses an article about the increasing rate at which the RCC in America is losing active Catholics.  The article he references apparently advocates something along the lines of Dreher’s Benedict Option - creating enclaves of co-religionists that keep their distance from general society. 

Disney: Model of the Upper Class Economy

Disney and the Decline of the Middle Class 

In the midst of its fixation on Trump, I found a great article in the NYTimes.  It is a beautiful illustration of what has happened to the American economy in the past decade or two.

The recently renovated 1,863-square-foot King Kamehameha suite at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, which offers a huge bi-level great room, views of Cinderella Castle and a soaking tub, can go for $3,000 a night. The sleek GEO-82 Bar and Lounge in EPCOT offers a package that includes a tower of small bites, champagne or cocktails and a table with views of the park’s fireworks show for $179 a person (entry to the park not included but required). A wine-paired prix fixe meal at the Michelin-starred Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian hotel starts at over $1,200 for two. And so on.

Medicare Experiment to use AI for Prior Authorization

NYT ARTICLE:

 Medicare Will Require Prior Authorization

A pilot program in six states will use a tactic employed by private insurers that has been heavily criticized for delaying and denying medical care. People enrolled in traditional Medicare who live in Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington State will be included in the experiment, which is expected to start in January and last for six years.

Private insurers often require a cumbersome review process that frequently results in the denial or delay of essential treatments that are readily covered by traditional Medicare. This practice, known as prior authorization, has drawn public scrutiny, which intensified after the murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive last December.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to begin a pilot program that would involve a similar review process for traditional Medicare, the federal insurance program for people 65 and older as well as for many younger people with disabilities. 

The federal government plans to hire private companies to use artificial intelligence to determine whether patients would be covered for some procedures, like certain spine surgeries or steroid injections. Similar algorithms used by insurers have been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits, which have asserted that the technology allowed the companies to swiftly deny large batches of claims and cut patients off from care in rehabilitation facilities. 

The A.I. companies selected to oversee the program would have a strong financial incentive to deny claims. Medicare plans to pay them a share of the savings generated from rejections.

Typically, these A.I. models scan a patient’s records to determine if a requested procedure meets an insurer’s criteria. For instance, before authorizing back surgery, the system might search for proof that a patient first tried physical therapy or received an MRI showing a bulging disc. Many companies say human employees are involved at the final stages, to review the A.I. evidence and approve the recommendations

On the Need for Discernment

 A couple of (sort of ) related things got my attention this past week.  One of them was a reading for Mass on Thursday, the 21st.  It was the troubling Old Testament reading, Judges 11:29-39, the story of Jephthah and his daughter:

Post-Mass encounter on immigration

A brief conversation after mass today left both of us unsatisfied.

"Love and hope are preferable to fear"

America Magazine has a nice little article sketching the differing attitudes through the centuries toward the frequency with which laypersons could receive Communion.  Here is how it begins:

One Holy Saturday sometime in the 10th century, a married couple dressed in sackcloth and covered themselves in ashes. They went to their parish priest, barefoot and weeping, begging to be able to receive holy Communion with the rest of the parish on Easter. The priest, although appalled by their audacity, given their sins, accepted their repentance and gave them absolution. However, he did not grant them permission to receive Communion. The couple was completely distraught and rushed to a nearby parish in hopes of receiving a different verdict from the neighboring priest.

What horrible action could this married couple have done that kept them from receiving Communion, and why were they so unhappy at being unable to receive on Easter Sunday?