Virtual Money For Real Lobbying

ogaraf writes "Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that health-insurance industry group 'Get Health Reform Right' paid Facebook users with virtual currency to be used in Facebook games in exchange for lobbying their Congressional Rep. 'Instead of asking the gamers to try a product the way Netflix would, "Get Health Reform Right" requires gamers to take a survey, which, upon completion, automatically sends the following email to their Congressional Rep: "I am concerned a new government plan could cause me to lose the employer coverage I have today. More government bureaucracy will only create more problems, not solve the ones we have."'" Relatedly, Trailrunner7 illustrates growing concern over realistic spammer profiles in social networking sites and their potential to wreak havoc, especially if these two methods were combined. "Many spammers now have large staffs of people working on nothing but building out completely fake personas for non-existent users on social networking sites and blog networks. The spammers use these personas to create accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot and other sites that have high levels of user interaction."

Comments

Facebook currency

[MikeMacK]

How many Facebook dollars does it take to buy a Congressman?

Re:Facebook currency

[ascari]

True. But by the same token I really doubt that most bribes are taxed no matter what the currency is. ;-) In a way I'd say the real problem is that immense wealth can be created by anybody without really adding commensurate value. Happens in real world as well as in the virtual ones.

How effective is this?

[Locke2005]

I would expect that congresscritters would be smart enough to discount any position expressed in the same exact email received 100,000 times. But perhaps I overestimate them; after all, I'd expect them not to try to pick up men in airport restrooms as well.

Re:How effective is this?

[Meshach]

I would expect that congresscritters would be smart enough to discount any position expressed in the same exact email received 100,000 times. But perhaps I overestimate them; after all, I'd expect them not to try to pick up men in airport restrooms as well.

How is that different from a petition? If a congressperson was given a petition with over 100000 signatures on it I would expect him or her to take action. Is an email petition any different?

I had one of those spam profiles already...

[BobMcD]

I got a request from a beautiful brunette that is friends with some of my friends and loves World of Warcraft and wanted to be my friend, too.

They really ought to work on making these things more believable...

Health reform for the stupid

[MosesJones]

For anyone in the US who thinks that the current system is any good whatsoever have a read of how losing your job can cost you your life.

This paying in Facebook games just sums up the level of "debate". On one side you have a bunch of people who, like the old tobacco company, will swear blind that the current system is perfectly okay despite it killing an estimated 45,000 people a year. That is 15 9/11s in terms of un-needed deaths as a result of the current system which is being actively supported by those who profit from it.

The irony of course is that the US not only has the worst coverage it also has the most expensive healthcare in the world while also having a lower life expectancy than most other 1st world countries.

So to everyone who decrys the systems in Switzerland, France, Canada, UK, etc remember this. They save more lives, they result in a longer average life expectancy and they don't kill their citizens because they've lost their job. and they cost less, often half or less of the US spend per capita

More deaths for more money. And this is the system people want? No its the system that corporations with marketing departments want and the sheep are fine to go along if they get thrown some facebook points.

How sad

Re:Health reform for the stupid

[Opportunist]

The reason is quite simple and can easily and cheaply be implemented: You're "encouraged" to get a checkup every couple years and your (mandatory) insurance pays for it. It's heaps cheaper to keep your system running than to fix it when it finally breaks down. Finding out that your blood pressure is through the roof and fixing it with a few pills (and some suggestions from your doc where you can improve your life style) is much cheaper (and much less painful) than a triple bypass.

Re:Health reform for the stupid

[causality]

The irony of course is that the US not only has the worst coverage it also has the most expensive healthcare in the world while also having a lower life expectancy than most other 1st world countries.

So to everyone who decrys the systems in Switzerland, France, Canada, UK, etc remember this. They save more lives, they result in a longer average life expectancy and they don't kill their citizens because they've lost their job. and they cost less, often half or less of the US spend per capita

I don't think it's reasonable to expect truly good reform from the same systems, bureaucracies, and political forces who created the current US system. The current healthcare debate in the US seems to gloss over this fallacy entirely.

The practice of having employers provide health benefits dates back to World War II. During this time, the federal government instituted a wage freeze. Put simply, this meant that your employer could not give you a raise even if he wanted to. However, the wage freeze only included the actual dollar amount of the paycheck. So to get around this, employers kept the amount on the paycheck the same but started providing benefits that the employee normally had to purchase separately. They either provided those benefits entirely or they subsidized them. The amount of money that this saved the employee was the same as the raise the employer would otherwise have given. This allowed employers to offer competitive compensation packages that attracted and retained desirable talent while following the letter of the law.

Like the income tax, this was a "temporary emergency wartime measure." That temporary measure destroyed any competitive market that existed for health benefits. It set a precedent where most people's benefits come from their employer, often a large one with many employees. The effect has been that to this day, an individual who independently purchases health insurance has no bargaining power. They are up against corporations with thousands of employees who can negotiate better prices in a way that individuals cannot. The individual generally receives a non-negotiable, "take it or leave it" offer in a market full of major players and little competition.

It also makes employees more dependent on their employers than what is strictly necessary. How many people stay with a job they don't really like because they are worried about losing their benefits? How many people lose their benefits when they lose a specific job, even though they could otherwise replace the income? In my opinion, the ideal balance is when the company needs its employees just as much as the employees need the company. Anytime that is not the case, the side which is more dependent gets the short end of the stick in any matter of bargaining or negotiation. Healthcare is just one of many ways that the corporations generally have us over a barrel, and know it.

I'd like to see all of that fixed. That would be real reform, or at least a good start. If that still doesn't work, then in the specific case of the USA I would be open to the idea of socialized health care. Right now most of what I am hearing in the news, from our leaders, consists of proposals for partial implementations of socialized care, except they go to some trouble to avoid calling it that, preferring to call it a "public option" etc.. I'm really not impressed. The unwillingness to call things what they are is better known as deception. The only reason for our politicians to be deceptive about this is because they are more interested in power than a smoothly-working system. I think this, above all, is what turns off many Americans to the prospect of socialism. If socialism turns out to be the right answer, it won't be because these clowns implemented it.

Re:Government Bureaucracy?

[selven]

In the realm of health care, Cuba does outperform the United States.

Re:Spam

[zippyspringboard]

As an Aussie I enjoy cheaper and higher quality health care than someone in the US

Good grief! As a U.S. citizen let me take a few moments of my valuable time to set you straight, you are most certainly confused. We have the finest healthcare system in the WORLD. And those of you so unfortunate to suffer with UCH Hate it. You hate the long lines, the refusal of service, and not having any say in who your doctor is. I pity the fact that you must regularly come to our country for lifesaving measures such as heart surgery. I truly feel sorry for the oppressive system you suffer under. Don't worry though, I am sure that American insurance companies are working hard to deliver you the freedom you so desperately need, perhaps some day you will be fortunate to enjoy the same level of care we do.