Emergency podcast download commencing...

This morning was one of those rare mornings when I ran out of podcasts on the drive into work.  Instead of doing the smart thing and enjoying the silence, music or even turning on NPR, I did the absolute worst thing:  turn on the news.

It was nice hearing the weather and traffic, but the headline story was just plain disturbing:

A new study today shows that we are paying more for health insurance.  Last year the average was $4,500.

What does "paying more" and "paid" have in common?  Absolutely nothing!  One is a difference and one is a value.  The only effect this has is to (at best) confuse people more about the news (if that's possible) and at worst lead people to assume its a very large number and freak out because they have no idea what they're paying now (which is probably more).

This rate is always increasing.  That's not news.  And the $4,500 is meaningless without context, so that's not news - so the whole headline is not news.  Fun!  And I thought this was a news station!  heh...cough...

If you're not entirely disillusioned (yeah, how's that possible!), here's a NYT article on the subject with a PROPER TITLE:  Health Care Costs Climb Moderately, Survey Says.

Excuse me while I go download some more podcasts.