I bet that WWW (Pelosi, the wicked witch of the west)
just called for the baked-over and once-failed Hillary
plan plus all of the MIT Goober's "stupid public" tricks
which had been stacked up for years, and said,
"Let's pass this!"

and so it came to pass, I bet. . a mashed-together conglomerate
coagulation of pieces ill-designed and poorly-fit to reality. -- j

There are ways to beat the inheritance tax, but it takes some planning and there is some cost, but your heirs come out much better than losing 50 percent of everything and having to sell off assets to pay the tax.

The reimbursement model being used by the government reduces the fees paid to smaller hospitals and surgery centers to the point that they can't operate. Of course big government gets big votes from big cities and it's no wonder that the government panders to those votes. The cost of medical devices is so high that small hospitals and surgery centers make no profit when they have to buy the device and the reimbursement doesn't cover their cost. You would think that the volume in larger hospitals would bring costs down, but it seems to work the other way. It seems that the government bureaucrats want to load all services into fewer hospitals.

after all of the nation-saving businesses which have
been passed down through the generations, how
can the "libtards" stomach this process of raping
inheritances? . makes me go ballistic! -- j

that's a line which I might borrow, if I might. . how
do you define objectivist? . freedom lover to the
right of libertarian! -- j

letting 2 evils run might be the problem ... ? -- j

my friend who just had an aneurism repair job done
(on medicare) has 2. . at one point, I reminded him
that he has no objective proof that he needed the
surgery -- he just believed the doctors. . they needed
him for the income. -- j

I do think it is funny for an AMA member to be so negative on leftists though. The AMA is one of the most powerful, self-policing, union mafias on the planet.

Aside from all the great comments on insurance and hospital management, doctors have been controlling their monopoly on healthcare for ever. The AMA, not government, controls enrollment, and silly terms of study and forced apprenticeship to make it to their lofty realm of being able to prescribe penicillin. There are some pretty smart doctors, but there are even more that simply are practically incapable of critical evaluation. They simply match diagnosis and treatment with experience, not biology and physiology.
It became so obvious and bad that we now have the Nurse Practitioner or Physician's Assistant. These more simply and efficiently trained people take care of a majority of medical issues, leaving the expensive stuff to the expensive doctors.
As freedomforall said, a free market in healthcare would lower costs faster than anything managed. If the government has to intervene, the money should go to the patient, not the service provide, and the patient should chose to spend the stipend how they see fit.

Just awesome! Thanks!

I wonder if some enterprising person could set up a service to drive people in a small town that has lost its hospital to the nearest full service hospital? Maybe a two/week schedule. I know that emergencies would have to be handled as they are now in small towns but for normal doctors visits it might work out. Just a small bus that would hold maybe a dozen people. People sign up in advance and make the schedules with their doctors to coincide with the bus trips. That's what they do here in the apartment complex I live in. Just a thought.

Another reason to vote for Cruz. ;-)

What a co-inkydink. My granddaughter is going after a chemical engineering too. She just missed out on a full ride scholarship at MIT

With an idiot like Pelosi writing the thing I don't see how she could be smart enough to have come up with this "wealth redistribution" scheme.

If there's ever another bill written with the "you've got to vote for it before you know what's in it" tag, all the politicos that vote for it should be taken out and hung from the street lights while the church wives club serve a cold chicken dinner with tater salad and baked beans. That is exactly what is going on with the "agreement" with Iran. Personally I'm happy that the Senators sent that letter to the high poobah in Iran. They should have "cc'd" Barry with a copy. It's time that his nibs starts getting his toes stepped on every time he does anything (except resign).

I'd bet the insurance on such an operation would be sky high. Good idea though.

Yes, my son is doing that has gotten 2 years of school done by working hard and plugging away, no loans yet. He does plan to get some loans for 2nd 2 years but small state school that cost is not too bad and he is ok with taking on the debt to get the higher income. My youngest daughter is going for chemical engineering and while she has some scholarships (another subsidy I know!)... she is getting loans for the rest (and would have for all), knowing that chemical engineers have excellent salary potential and she should be able to pay it back... Others did 2 years at Community college or are looking at other options.. With 5, we told them now way we can pay so they will have to figure it out!

I advised my kids and grandkid to go to a junior college and get the English, history etc. out of the way, then transfer to the university with the best record for the specialty they want.

Exactly right! I try to education everyone who will listen that the problem with health care costs is the same as that with education costs. Systems (regulated or supported by government) that separate the individual from the costs. In health care it's insurance - pay a little deductible and see the dr. whenever you want, meanwhile doing nothing to take responsibility for your own health or control the costs. In education, it's the ease of government backed money allowing any fool out there to go to college. There are a LOT of people out there who should probably do 2 year degrees or tech schools as they are better suited to those jobs and roles and will get better return on their money. Just so no one accuses me of stones and glass houses.... I've encouraged a couple of my kids to do 2 year degrees, tech schools, etc. Out of 5, 2 will have 4 year degrees, which fits their drives, temperaments and so on. As for health costs, we do use my insurance thru work but do our best to eat healthy, deal with minor illnesses and so on ourselves rather than going to the dr for every little thing and so on..

In summary, the answer is NOT government. The answer is to go back to individual costs, care and so on.

Yikes. It sounds remarkably like Canada's healthcare. There was a time when they would come here to the States for medical care. We have a friend who said they all think we are nuts for going in for socialist medicine.

That was what I was alluding to based on your comment. ;-)
It's crazy. And we are expected to foot that bill.
The small hospital in my town used to be affiliated with Columbia Presbyterian. It changed hands and is now part of the Western CT Health Network. Since then, the maternity ward has been shut down, and now the latest is the er is being phased out to only have two beds. BUT, it has a stellar cancer treatment center, and is getting a new cardiac wing. The thing is, around here, which is mostly rural, there are all sorts of reasons people use the emergency room. Farm accidents, builders and other trades use it. I did last September when I got stitches.... (Long stupid story. Typical spazz me...)
Point is, it's shrinking in the areas that get a lot of use. People are losing their jobs. And I mean surgeons, er nurses, the gamut of those who provide care in the specialties that are becoming phased out. It concerns me, because the other two hospitals are not exactly close...

NMA, a lot of these diseases are being brought by illegal aliens, but you won't hear that in the media.

Chilling. That's why the plug getting pulled was the only remedy. Let it all crash.

And notice the resurgence of TB, measels and scabies in this country. I'm waiting for polio to make a comeback.... Oh, THANK you, o terrible BO...

yea, um get some sealegs in here jt. we're a reasonable bunch. A is A

Like the Atilla reference. I often say I make libertarians look liberal!

I guess you'd need 2 docs instead of one. Or choose a cardiologist/surgeon in private practice. Hell, I don't know. In my case, my cardiologist recommended a certain surgeon whom he claimed was the best around. After the bypass, his idea of a hospital follow-up, was to stand in the doorway of my room, smile, wave, and disappear.