The Devlin Deception: Book One of The Devlin Quatrology

by Jake Devlin

  Donne reached behind the desk and placed a tablet PC on a small easel, facing the camera. The screen was blank, other than the words “MEDICARE 2013.”

  “Now for the main message I have for you all tonight. And while it initially concerns Medicare, especially Medicare Advantage, it will also be relevant for each and every one of you, no matter your age. It won't go into effect until next year, 2013, and we'll have lots more opportunities to go into all the details, but I would encourage all of you to pay attention to this introduction and to study the details in the months to come so you can make an informed choice later.”

  As Donne went through his speech, he tapped the tablet to reveal a new graphic in turn, illustrating each of his points.

  “Today, the way Medicare Advantage is structured, the Medicare Trust Fund pays about 850 dollars to the insurance companies each month for each person they've enrolled in their plan. 850 bucks per person per month. And the insurance companies administer the program, standing in for the government.

  “But starting with the open enrollment period at the end of next year, you'll be able to select an alternative Medicare Advantage program for 2013, and here's how it'll work.

  “First, out of that 850 bucks, we'll take 500 and put it into a Health Savings Account for each enrollee. The new insurance company will issue you a debit card, which, along with a thumbprint, will be good for doctor visits, medicine, even aspirin at the pharmacy. At 500 a month, that's six thousand a year in your HSA ... for medical expenses only. If you don't use it, it'll roll over to the next year, when you'll get another six thousand dollars. That will build up until you die, and at that point it'll pass on to your heirs, at least 50% into their HSA, which will be tax-free. The remainder can go into that account tax-free, or the heir can choose to take it outside the HSA account, but it'll be taxed at a rate of 25 percent.

  “Another $250 will pay the premium on a catastrophic policy, which will have a high deductible, $10,000 the first time you reach it, then down to 5,000 the second year and beyond.

  “Pre-existing conditions will be covered immediately when you reach 65 and enroll.

  “Now, if you're a non-smoker, you'll get a 50-dollar-a-month discount on the catastrophic policy, and that will be added to your HSA; and if you are not overweight, meaning you have a body mass index of 25 or below, you'll get another 50-buck discount, which will also go into your HSA. So that could mean an extra hundred bucks a month, twelve hundred a year, into that account if you take care of yourself.

  “The catastrophic coverage will be 80/20 from the deductible up to $50,000, then 90/10 up to a hundred K, and 100% above that, with no lifetime maximums.

  “The hundred bucks a month per person that we save will stay in the Medicare Trust Fund and act as a backup and reserve fund for the first few years as we see how this works out over that time.

  “This subsidized combination of HSA and catastrophic coverage will also be available through Medicaid, administered nationally, not state-by-state.

  “We will also make this combination available to people under 65 in age, nationally, at their own expense, with a limit of $20,000 per year for contributions to the Health Savings Account. Again, a debit card will be issued by the insurance companies for that account, and customers will have a choice of deductibles on the catastrophic policy. Premiums can also be risk-based, and pre-existing conditions will be covered, but with a five-year waiting period.

  “Insurance companies may also offer other kinds of policies, up to and including what we now call Major Medical. Optional riders for other conditions and/or treatments will be available, sort of a la carte.

  “My new Health and Human Services Secretary, Gigi Maitlin, and her staff and I will be working closely on several aspects of this new program, including very tough negotiations with the drug companies for much, MUCH better prices than Medicare and Medicaid have been able to get, and with medical professionals and hospitals and device manufacturers to not only start bending the cost curve, but to significantly bend it down.

  “Also, the past practice of charging the uninsured up to five or six times what the insurance companies pay, that's over and done with. That practice is illegal as of right now, and in four months, all advertising to consumers for prescription drugs and medical devices will be illegal.

  “We will establish an impartial rating system for all the policies that people can choose, and it'll make it really simple to compare policies and see which one is right for you and your situation.

  “And since we're also allowing for national, cross-state policies, nobody will be stuck buying a higher-premium policy as an individual. Everybody will get the lowest group rate available.

  “I'm also encouraging medical professionals to establish low-cost urgent care clinics in or next to every emergency room in the country, staffed by nurse practitioners and pro bono volunteer doctors. Every patient coming to the emergency room will first be thumbprinted and triaged at the clinic and treated there, if possible, and only sent to the emergency room if it's absolutely necessary.

  “I'm sure that once you have your HSA, you'll be happier paying, just for example, fifty bucks at one of those clinics rather than nine hundred at the ER for the exact same treatment.

  “Now, this has just been an overview, and there are lots of details to go over, and as you've heard often enough, 'The devil is in the details,' so we'll be looking this whole concept over very carefully between now and a year from now, but we'll be posting everything we have on this on the web site at ten o'clock tonight, so you'll be able to review it all and take whatever notes you might want to whenever you want to, and talk it over with your health insurance agents and your other advisers.

  “Again, this won't go into effect for Medicare and Medicaid clients until 2013, but I'd expect we'll soon be seeing some pretty innovative ideas coming from insurance companies that want to get a piece of the action, and I'll have the joy of letting them all know that not only will the playing field be absolutely level, but that any chicanery on their parts will definitely NOT be in their best interests. They, like I and the entire federal government, will always put their clients' needs first. Word to the wise.

  “So on that note, I'll wish you all a very happy and informative Monday evening and night, and a great rest of the week and year.”

  As soon as the camera was off, Donne leaned back in his chair, sighed, cracked his knuckles and stretched mightily. Then he buzzed his chief of staff.

  Emily's voice came through immediately. “Yes, boss?”

  “I think we're ready to do the Munich on our guests down in the basement.”

  “Tony's all set, Gordy, and looking forward to it.”

  “Good, good. Let him loose.”

  “Will do. And you sleep well, okay? You need to take better care of yourself; long days and nights ahead.”

  Donne chuckled. “I promise, Mom; off to hit the sack right now.”

  Emily also chuckled. “Good night, boss.”

  “Good night.” Donne clicked off, picked up another sheaf of papers and his tablet and headed out of the Oval Office and over to the Residence, chuckling. Two Secret Service agents, the military aide carrying the nuclear football and two of his private guards followed.

  -46-

  Four Months Earlier

  Saturday, August 13, 2011

  11:45 a.m.

  Bonita Beach, Florida

  Pam lazily rolled over on her towel, propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at Jake, who was still writing in his notebook.

  “Jake?”

  “One second, Pam.” Jake wrote a little more, then looked over at Pam. “Okay; sorry.”

  “It's okay. Just a thought here. What kind of love life does Donne have?”

  “Love life? I haven't thought about that, not at all.”

  “Well, he's not married, is he? No kids?”

  “Nope, but that's just so his enemies don't have anyone to kidnap or threaten. He's just focused on his polic
ies.”

  “Well, what does he do, have an affair, bring a hooker in now and then, get a blow – I mean oral sex from an intern under his desk?”

  “I don't know; it's really not something I've considered.”

  “Well, does he eat?”

  “Yeah, and that I have thought about. He's comfortable with a simple diet; like his usual meal is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, sometimes a cheeseburger. In fact, he let the White House chef go, since he knew he wouldn't be happy doing simple menus. But he gave him his choice of head chef positions at six of DEI's restaurants, and the guy took one in Paris. They stay in touch, and Donne occasionally invites him back to do the very rare state dinners he has to do, but they bore the bejesus outa him. And he absolutely hates getting all formal; he's been there, done that, probably has ten tuxedos. But I can't justify writing that whole scene out between the two of 'em.”

  “But, Jake, that does give him some personality, some regular guyness.”

  “Well, I'll stick that info in somewhere, just not the whole scene and the dialogue.”

  “Cool. And does he sleep?”

  “Oh, yeah. I've got a scene where he gets awakened for some sort of emergency; still gotta figure out what that is, but it'll go in there. And his chief of staff, who's sort of a motherly type, gets on him about not getting enough sleep, eating a crappy diet and needing to delegate more.”

  “Well, I think you ought to give him at least SOME kind of love life, or at least some kind of a sex life.”

  “I guess I could throw in a line or two about that somewhere.”

  “Oh, Jake, you should do more than that, have a whole scene with him and someone, super-erotic and sexy. Maybe more than one scene.”

  “I don't --”

  “He's not gay, is he?”

  “No, he's – you know, I hadn't even thought about that, either.”

  “Well, then I think you need to put in a really erotic scene, maybe with him and a woman, or maybe a couple of women, lots of rolling around and sweat and toys and maybe handcuffs and leather and ropes and feathers and --”

  “Wait, Pam, wait. Feathers?”

  “Yeah, feathers. They can be really sensuous, sexy, erotic. Just imagine a really soft one, with him running it slowly and teasingly all over a naked woman's body, slowly and then even more slowly, light as a whisper, just barely touching her, running incredibly slowly across her belly, up and down her sides, under her chin, across her face, her lips … especially her lips ... her eyes, her nose, her ears, then down to her --”

  “Pam, wait, wait. You're getting way ahead of me. I wouldn't have the faintest idea of how to even start writing something like that.”

  “Oh, Jake, haven't you ever read a romance novel?”

  “Nope, never. If there aren't car chases, CIA guys or some kind of spies, I don't bother … well, in fiction. I do read a lot of nonfiction, especially since I started this whole project.”

  “It's a very popular genre. And putting some great sex scenes in would help sales, I'd bet.”

  “I'm not writing this for the money, Pam, just to – you know, I'm not sure I know exactly why I'm doing it anymore; it just seems pretty important to do somehow. I guess I'm just curious how his policies might – oh, and that whole debt ceiling showdown last month, and the rating downgrade, that all sure added to my motivation. That debacle got me royally pissed off, and --”

  “That got a lot of people pissed off.”

  “And for Obama to tell seniors that they may not get their Social Security checks? Geez, I hate politicians.”

  “Hate? That's a pretty strong word, Jake.”

  “Well, both sides were using the public as sacrificial pawns, but that comment was pretty damned low; it's disgusting, all of it.”

  “Easy, Jake, easy.”

  “It's okay, Pam. I just need to talk politics at least five times a day to get my blood pressure up to near normal.”

  Pam laughed and Jake smiled, his anger apparently dissipated.

  Then Pam said, “But back to your guy, if you make him a little more human, less nerdy, people might like him better.”

  “You think the union guys, the Pope, televangelists and lawyers will accept his policies more just because he --”

  “The who?”

  “Oh, you haven't seen that stuff yet. Those guys and a lot of others are pissed at him because he --”

  “No, no, no, Jake, not them, not the characters. The readers, they might like him better.”

  “Oh.” Jake puzzled and thought for a moment. “Hmm; maybe you're right.

  “I'd thought maybe the Asperger's would help explain his style and personality, but maybe --”

  “Asperger's? You gave him Asperger's?”

  “Yeah. Wasn't that in the – oh, I think I put that in the press conference. Maybe it'd be better if I stuck it in his first speech.”

  “The one they watch at … oh, what was the bar --”

  “Slinky Joe's.”

  “Right.”

  “I don't have the press conference online. I'll move that chunk up. I thought about giving him Tourette's Syndrome, but then I had Debbie Jackson swearing a lot, to flesh out her character, so I thought his doing that might be overkill. So I just went with the Asperger's instead.”

  “Yeah, maybe if you moved it to the speech, that'd be good, but I really think he'd be much more interesting and sympathetic – you do want him to be sympathetic, right? Not a bad guy?”

  “Well, Pam, I'm not gonna give that away yet. He's gonna be pretty complicated and I'm hoping readers will be surprised by the ending.”

  “You can't tell me? I'll keep it to myself.”

  Jake smiled, but shook his head. “Sorry, Pam, can't do that. It's a secret.” He held a finger up to his mouth. “Shhhhh.”

  Pam looked closely at Jake. “You haven't even figured it out yet, have you?”

  “Oh, no, no, Pam, you're wrong there. One of the first things I wrote was the ending and some alternate ones, and everything I'm writing now fits with the one I picked. But some of the stuff can fit with any of them.”

  “Does he die?”

  “Oh, c'mon, Pam.”

  “Sorry; can't blame a girl for trying.”

  “Everybody dies … sometime. But he does have a pretty clever plan for what happens to the country when he does go. At least I think it's pretty clever. We'll see.”

  “Well, it's your book. I'm sorry for trying to mess with it.”

  “That's okay, really; I'm enjoying it. This is the first … and only … substantive conversation I've had about it, with anybody.”

  “Really? But I still think you oughta think about his sex life.”

  “Okay, okay. I will. By the way, do you know the difference between erotic and kinky?”

  “I think so.”

  “No, no, you're supposed to say no.”

  “Oh, a joke. Okay. Geez, no, suh, I do not know the difference between erotic and kinky. Could you puhleeze enlighten me?”

  “Sure. Erotic is when you use a feather; kinky is when you use the whole chicken.”

  Pam laughed so quickly and loudly that heads all around the beach turned to look … some, mostly the older men, to ogle.

  “I've got to remember that one,” Pam said, still laughing.

  “Glad you liked it.”

  She rolled over and sat up, slid into her beach chair and lifted her sunglasses.

  “You know, Jake, I'd like to try something.”

  “Oh? What?”

  “I'd like to write a love scene for Donne, see what you think of it.”

  Jake, again totally perflutzed, could only blurt out, “What? Really?”

  “Really. No pressure; I'd just like to try, see what I can do.”

  Jake, still perflutzed, frowned, rubbed his forehead, pursed his lips and finally said, “I guess I couldn't stop you, could I?”

  Pam smiled a winning smile. “Probably not. But you wouldn't have to read it if you don't want to.”


  Jake shrugged and dropped his hands in surrender. “Okay. And I will read it; promise.”

  Pam gave Jake an even broader smile and reached over to grab his hands, but from where she was, she couldn't reach them, so she put both of her hands on his shin. “Oh, thank you, Jake. You won't be sorry; promise.”

  “Okay.”

  “Cool.”

  Jake sighed, leaned back on his lounge and closed his eyes. Pam leaned back in her chair and closed hers, a tiny smile lingering on her face.

  After a minute or so, Jake opened his eyes and looked over at Pam.

  “Hey, Pam, I'm getting hungry. Want to join me for a hot dog? I'll buy.”

  Pam opened her eyes, sat up and stretched. The oglers ogled.

  “Sure. But I thought you always had stuff in your cooler.”

  “Yeah, but I've got a hankering for one of Deb's jumbo dogs.”

  “Oh, over at the Seabreeze?”

  “No, not that Deb. The one right up there in the parking lot.”

  “Oh, the little stand with the umbrellas? I saw that when I walked over from the condo.”

  “Yup, that's it.”

  “Cool. But didn't you say you're supposed to wait an hour after swimming before eating?”

  “I did?”

  “Yup, back at the Seafood Shack just before we got the Fischers.”

  “No kidding?”

  “No, you were kidding, but you did say that.”

  “Boy, you have a great memory.”

  “Yup, nearly photographic. And you can just call me Pam.”

  “Okay. Pam. And by the way, noodling ain't swimming.”

  She got up and looked at Jake, chuckling. “Ready?”

  “Yup.”

  “Want some help up?” She held out her hand; Jake took it and climbed up out of his lounge, knees cracking.

  “Sorry; forgot to warn you to plug your ears. I've deafened nine people in the last month with those.”

  Pam chuckled.

  “In fact, I've been thinking about getting them replaced … maybe with hands.”

  Her chuckling turned into laughter. “C'mon, old man; let's go feed our faces.”