Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[entropy]

DSL... perhaps you missed my other posts... but this race has been over for months.

[Ghengis Jon]

The lack of Infrastructure structure spending has been a long term issue that spans both Republican or Democratic administrations. Everybody in Congress wants to vote for it but big spending bills on infrastructure are a political winner for the President in power.

And therein lies the problem. The elected POSes are more concerned about political 'wins' and 'losses' than they are about getting important stuff done. Amend the Constitution. Politicians are limited to two terms - one in office and one in prison.

[entropy]

or amend it to force balanced budgets and a certain level of infrastructure re-investment.

I've said this for years.. right and wrong are based upon political affiliation and not about morality, doing the right thing or what is best for the country.

[Da Geezer]

I heard this morning that Michael Phelps' net worth is $ 55 million.

[entropy]

This will hurt if the proposals come true..

[CGVT]

That is why we need to go to a single payer system.

[Hannibal]

Yet another brilliant execution of the Cloward-Piven strategy.

[CGVT]

[entropy]

That is why we need to go to a single payer system.

I'm not a fan of what I see overseas in medical care..

[AlabamAlum]

I'm not a fan of the tax rates over there.

I think the answer was to bolster Medicare/Medicaid to cover the working poor.

[entropy]

I'll get the stats wrong but they'll be directionally correct for this purpsose..

According to a study by John Hopkins our health is made up of the following:

40% genetics
25% Choices and Behaviors
25% Environment
10% Hospital and Long Term Care

In the US 80% of the medical costs are associated with acute care

Perhaps a shift in focus would result in better Health and less need for Care

[AlabamAlum]

So, 50% choices and behaviors?

[entropy]

crap.. 25% should be environment, 25% choices and behaviors

[entropy]

Environment = where you live, where you work, married/house life
Choices and Behaviors = do you smoke, diet and exercise, drugs

[Ghengis Jon]

That chart illustrates what evil bastards the insurance racket is. Its gov't approved ass raping of the consumers. My wife is getting ready to sell her practice (before I retire!!) due to gov't regs and insurance companies. She is FED UP. Insurance companies are changing the payout structure due to incessant Board of Director's mandates for revenue growth. Over the last few years, patient deductibles have been 0-20% of the billable rate. Not that much if you come in for a $40 visit. Insurance companies are now trending toward a fixed deductable per visit - from $50 to $150. Now the whole cost is coming out of your pocket. One (fairly) local teacher's union has the shittiest insurance on the planet - they will pay all of $10 for the office call. Thats it, and the doc is not allowed (contractually) to bill for the balance. Most insurance companies do this sort of thing. The provider must sign a contract not to charge the customer more than the insurance company's "reasonable and customary" fee. If the ins co says ten bucks is all a visit is worth, thats it, you get no more. You must agree to the policy or you will not be reimbursed for services rendered. You can't just say, I don't accept the insurance as patients will go to someone who does. The ins co attitude is you can make some money or no money, and we don't care if it doesn't even cover your office staff's time. We're the insurance company and we can do whatever we want. It sickens me to hear that cartel whine and moan they're losing money. BULLSHIT. "Oh we took in $100 million in premiums but had $110 million in payouts." What about the $10 trillion dollars you have in assets accumulated when premiums exceeded payouts? They refuse to talk about that - its only income and outflow. The piles of gold in storage is not to be spoken about.

And how about that insurance cartel? Obamacare was set up with the exchange program (as opposed to single payer) so that insurance companies can compete, and the 'invisible hand of the market' will insure (pun intended) quality at fair pricing. How's that working out? Costs are leaping, consumers are getting screwed and doctors are quitting the profession.

Regulations? Holy shit, micromanagement on a world class level. One small example: the laptop your personal health info the doctor inputs on. Its good to have centralized records so the records follow you no matter where you are. BUT you must have THIS type of laptop, you must use one of the following software packages (avg cost $6k), you must have this type of door with this type of lock if you store the machine in the office. If the laptop remains in the room, it must be anchored with this type of locking mechanism using this type of bolts to secure the anchor mechanism. You must maintain 3 backups (done daily) with 2 stored off site. Thats just for the computer. Everything, including how you practice, is regulated.

My wife barely put up with the regs. But the insurance cartel is the last straw. Thanks bastards, for destroying the dedication and motivation of health care professionals. Its bad enough to be over regulated. It's too much with the intent to drive people with a genuine concern for their fellow man out of the profession, all for your insatiable demand for increased revenue.


<gets off soapbox>