The plan from the get go, orchestrated entirely by the DNC, was/is to bankrupt this country, nothing less. They've done well. Just one component in the sustained work of brining us to heel before the world.
Thanks AJAshinoff, I unfortunately disagree that it was entirely orchestrated by the DNC. The weak effort by the RINO's to defeat Obmer and defend the individual's right Was and continues to be pathetic. Sadly this two-step dance is well choreographed.
The votes are entirely D and the scurrilous method of passing the legislation through the night unread was entirely the D as well. At that time recall that they, the D's, held the POTUS, the House and the Senate. The R's didn't have the numbers and did not vote for this. As the chart shows, not ONE R vote.
The complicity from the RINO's is that the problem (emergency rooms at hospital filled and closed in metro areas because uninsured went their for any ailment) this and other problems wasn't being addressed .The RINO's offered no alternative or explanation of its hazards and certainly since passage have been impotent to repealing it.
Sorry, alternatives were offered (health saving plan, allowing all insurance carriers to sell in all 50 states (driving down the cost), etc..) but health was never the reason behind the push. I dislike RINOs immensely (we have mccain) but the reason we have this unconstitutional law is firmly on every lock-step marching, you need to pass the bill to know whats in it,democrat and no one else.
I can't help thinking that this is the kind of opportunity that could fund seasteading. Imagine hospital ships, anchored just outside the 12 mile limit from every major coastal city in the US (and other countries with bad nationalized medicine), registered under some flag of convenience that won't regulate or tax them.
USN already has hospital ships which a re used off the coast of places in need. Sea bound habitations was/is a key component in Shadows Live Under Seashells and in my upcoming novel TBA.
I can see this becoming a reality for those with enough $$ to pay the toll.
Good evening Thoritsu , considering options to wring costs out of a bloated industry is the kind of approach that is practical and reasonable. One thought about the doctors is they wouldn't be influenced by the ins co.s and they could negotiate compensation for their inconvenience. To practice health with out the bureaucracy and pull from drug co.s and the malpractice fears.
Open competition will do that. The problem here is we would be setting up a system to reinstitute open competition leveraging low transportation costs and geography. It would be great to see this play out!
" It might be kind of yucky duty to live on the ship a week or month at a time." If you search on Blueseed or "Googleplex of the Sea" you'll get somewhat fantastical version of what it could be like. Blueseed failed, but I think some form of it will come true. They can make life on ship nice. It's not just about avoiding FDA and AMA, but also immigration and other regulations. I think it's coming eventually.
I wish I were as optimistic as you. My thought on this is that an organization (US government) will not give up power (let this succeed even just to show economic benefit) without significant bloodshed. It is the old decrepit leadership fighting for survival.
"It is the old decrepit leadership fighting for survival." 100 years ago women could not vote. That must have been hard because the people making the decisions, the old decrepit leadership of its time, didn't have to answer to female voters. The old decrepit leadership gave in. That, along with all the other amazing changes I've seen by age 41, makes me thing real change can happen. Gov't can be cut in half or less in my lifetime by something that sneaks up on us, something we can hardly conceive of now but our grandchildren will see as the flow of history.
Show me an example of government reduction in powers that came about without revolution or other bloodshed, and you get the Thor-star for the week! I would so love government cut in half in our lifetimes, but there is no evidence of reductions in government spending, powers or increase in personal freedoms in your, mine our fathers or our grandfathers times.
"Show me an example of government reduction in powers that came about without revolution or other bloodshed" In recent times, after WWII, gov't spending and interference in the economy decreased. Of course, it increased shortly after. The same thing happened to a much smaller extent after the Cold War.
But the trend is increased gov't. That's why we're talking about this. We're not talking about the problem of the big three TV networks' monopoly on video media b/c that problem went away. If your claim is this problem, unlikely the other problems I mention, cannot be solved peacefully, what is the solution? Do we simply need a little rebellion now and then?
The government reduced spending after WWII because the war spending ended. This is not an reduction in government powers or influence. See chart 2-21 and 2-22 in: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/s... The trend of increasing government is chronologically local and global, and it covers all countries unless I am missing an example.
I would love to believe as you suggest, that the electorate will drive a reduction in government, but I do not.
As Sean Connery said in the Hunt for Red October, "A little revolution is healthy now and then, eh Ryan?"
Why are you bringing up media? I recognize their influence and bias, but what does this have to do with reduced government?
"Why are you bringing up media? " I'm just saying we're talking about this problem (increasing cost and intrusiveness of gov't) because this is the problem at hand, not a sign that problems are increasing in general.
Do you think democratic republics won't work b/c they inevitably find a way around their constitutional limitations and causing the gov'ts to collapse under their own weight? Will we trend toward something like the Roman Empire, which also over-extends and collapses, but in a more slow fashion? Or will people find ways to work around the gov't until it turns into an armed conflict?
In my lifetime, in a couple decades, I've watched problems that seemed like basic unfortunate facts of human existence just disappear. So I want to see a solution to this too.
You posed a lot of questions. The summary answer is "yes". What problems went away in your lifetime, and how,does government intrusion account for the solutions?
Countless problems went away or decreased dramatically. Gov't does not account for the solutions. Gov't is the counter-example of one problem that got worse amid all the amazing progress. If you look at world focusing on just the problem of gov't, things can seem almost hopeless. With so much amazing progress, I can't conceive of things being hopeless. Even if I were in a hopeless situation, I'd want to work out positive things I could do rather than just thinking about the facts of how bad things were.
Can I correctly paraphrase your statement: "There are significant progress and solutions developed in the world, greatly improving the standard of living for all; however, government is not the source of these."?
I would change however to of course and add one sentence. "There are significant progress and solutions developed in the world, greatly improving the standard of living for all; of course, government is not the source of these. The fact that there is so much progress happening in other areas gives me hope that we might make progress in reducing the cost and scope of gov't."
Ok. I think we agree. However, I have less hope than you that the government (self-licking ice cream cone) will ever stop licking and feeding itself regardless. Certainly not with leaders like Hillary, Obama, Reid, Bernie Pelosi and RINOs.
Good evening jdg , I like how you are thinking. This is how a modern hero operates. Identify a possible solution to a problem. You don't get that from our statists they solve a fire by pouring gasoline on it.
Lawyers and politicians are the most arrogant bunch of bastards in the world, thinking that they can fix anything, let alone healthcare. I noticed that they didn't bother to ask the doctors and patients (the folks directly affected by it) about it, which proves that the hubris in DC is beyond belief.
Good eve, blackswan . It's acting, the arrogance is needed to pretend they know what the f they are doing. Who writes the legislation that no one knows what's in it until after the vote? Enjoy your weekend!
The question is will those who are supposedly getting free medical care going to revolt if the whole system is repealed? which it should be immediately. There will be a day in time when there will no longer be doctors to give them service and then what will the government tell these unfortunates who are loots as well.
"I would just like to be able to barter with my Doctor, Dentist and such." I usually can deal with them reasonably. The thing is their front-line people and even their business offices just mindlessly follow rules.
Our pediatrician's clinic stopped taking our insurance a few years back. We didn't care b/c we never hit the deductible. The business office told us we couldn't use the clinic anymore b/c they didn't "take our insurance". We explained we have two kids, happily make referrals to them, and just wanted a similar pricing to what we'd been getting. They were baffled. The doctor happened to come by. She stifled the urge to say, "they want to pay in cash and send us referrals, and you're telling them to go away!?"
We also had another experience where a specialist told us there were some approaches not covered by insurance, but we could look at XYZ. We asked about the other approaches; I can't remember, but it was something like a low-allergen blanket or something, but it was $100. We kind of had to politely tell him to forget about insurance, think medically, and then we'll evaluate pricing. Apparently so many people just turn off their brains in this area and let a company handle it.
I just saw on social media a post complaining of the ins co executives reaping millions in bonuses and then leaving the network. THE SOLUTION Single payer to Medicare. Promoting this as a good thing ....idiots
Might want a better source when it's available but one could just say. Just following the examples set by their government on he way to run government operations One would think after Freddie Mac And Fanny Mae The government would hace lerned but that's what happens when you elect the sticky fingers into office ...Trace the money and see where it leads..
"ins co executives reaping millions in bonuses and then leaving the network. THE SOLUTION" It's funny that people working in a difficult industry and getting paid for it is a problem requiring a solution in some people's minds.
I'm glad touch screens interfaces and "Internet of Things" wireless are not on their radar.
Good afternoon Gifford. I think the alternative of paying the ransome over the worthless insurance is appealing. A client who's 33 year old daughter had a major surgery and she required a plastic surgeon as well as the internist. Insurance would not pay for the plastic surgeon she had a bill of $14950 from him. My client wanted to help her pay and wanted to take money from his retirement acct. I strongly suggested she create a budget and set up a meeting with the business office telling them that she can pay them over the next dozen years based on her families budget or that they could pay in full a discounted payment . Much like an auto transaction they went back and forth and settled on $7000.00.
I found over the last obobo years that if I pay cash for my yearly health exam that it's costs me less than my "Insured Co-pay" used to cost me pre-obobo.
Or had the procedure down in Mexico or Panama or other places with good medicine available at 40% off inflationary rates or $5,980 and that's before a little dickering. But when it's an emergency . One cannot always barter or iis emotionally inclined. Prices are always jacked up to pay for liability insurance, those who can't or won't pay either one like illegals and a government system that was broken and broke before it started.
excellent question...it is a numbers game (democracy...no longer a republic where you earn the right to vote)...we are vastly outnumbered...the Fed has devalued the dollar to the point that it is no longer "if" we will collapse...only "when"...i would suggest meetup.com looking for "survivalist or prepper" groups and prepare...but, like you I will continue to speak out, trying to change one mind at a time...
Go where the choiices are. I was lucky in a sense on the Medical Disaster by retiring from the military. But as for the rest of it I chose to go where medicine is 40% of the costs in the USA and just as good or not better. I consider the Champus Tricare system to be the second payer and my own wallet the first payer.
I think Obama had expanded medicare and medicaid in mind. He launched Obamacare to pave the way, knowing all along that it would result in higher premiums that would set the whole system into a death spiral- and the people would then demand the government step in and allow everying into medicare/medicaid. It was obvious to me when the Obamacare law was initially passed.
"knowing all along that it would result in higher premiums" I agree with this one part, but I don't see it as sinister at all. Health insurance was usually tied to employment. That was a vestige from WWII price controls, where companies could offer increased benefits more easily the higher wages. Now it makes it hard for people to change jobs if they have a medical condition. The very notion of insurance was getting harder as medical technology got better at predicting the peril. It was less like a freak accident and more a function of our genes and behavior. The underwriting process to dig into this was onerous. We had the problem of insurance companies digging into underwriting details only when a customer made a large claim. We had people just not buying insurance, knowing they'd get emergency care even if they couldn't pay for it; and hospitals would shift the cost somebody. The somebody was usually someone who could not get insurance b/c they had a pre-existing condition. Following the insurance model, of course companies would not insure against a peril that's already happened.
So these people like President Obama and his supporters who see gov't as an answer thought up a solution. Reasonable people, they thought, would buy insurance before they got any illnesses, even before their genes were formed, if such a thing were possible. That would make premiums higher, but we wouldn't have to deal with all the problems I mentioned above, the problems of treated illness as a random peril to be insured against. So let's just make everyone buy insurance, they thought. Then we we can stop doing that onerous and expensive process of underwriting. We'll save costs we thought. Oh, but how are people going to pay the higher premiums, the wondered. Okay, let's have a subsidy for people who struggle to pay.
I don't agree with all that, but I completely see the logic. I lobbied my Rep, Tammy Baldwin, who was peripherally involved in crafting PPACA, to keep HSAs and to allow some kind of term health insurance similar to term-life insurance. I talked to her about it in person. HSA's were going to go, but they ended up staying with only very minor changes. My term-insurance idea was too far out there, and frankly Baldwin looked confused when I talked about it. She completely got my argument about HSAs: "why do we give workers a tax break for giving money to companies but not for spending on their families' healthcare?"
My point in all this is this is the people who crafted PPACA had their heart in the right place. Baldwin grew up a mile east of me, and I feel like I related to her. (Although I haven't talked to her sense she became our senator)
I really wish I could have gotten through to some staffer or someone with my idea of allowing term insurance with underwriting. I don't have all the answers. I think PPACA is a mixed bag, not a stepping stone in an evil plot to increase gov't power.
Interesting analysis. I would add to the discussion that everyone dies from some combination of illnesses. They say that most medical expenses happen in the last year of life. Maybe medical insurance isn't practical. Maybe each person just has to save up for the care he/she wants and that's that. That's sort of a lifetime HSA. If everyone is going to need 100k for lifetime medical expenses, insurance, which relies on protection from random unforeseen disasters, would require premiums from everyone adding up to $100k plus insurance company expenses and profits, making it doomed to failure
"making it doomed to failure" Your comments are exactly how I see it. Unfortunately many middle-class people think they could never save up $100k for these expenses, but they could pay into a system that provides the $100k. When someone realizes they're the grown-up, and they can mange building the wealth to cover these expenses better than someone else, it's really powerful. That's what I dislike most about PPACA (which overall I view as a mixed bag) -- it feeds into the notion that you can turn over life-and-death matters to someone else.
The more I think about it the more I think medical insurance can't really work. I have fire insurance on my house because I am pretty sure it won't burn down but in the unlikely event it does, I am protected from loss. With medical I am almost 100% sure that I (and everyone else) am going to get sick from some set of diseases that will kill us all. The only insurable part of that might be how much medical care I might need before I die. But I would have to pay premiums to a single company all my life to make that even possible. Unless I am missing something...
Consider in a few years you may be able to give a baby a genetic test for predisposition to heart disease, cancer, depression, or even risky behavior. Insurance against health problems will work even less in the future.
It works a little b/c we can't predict unlikely disease striking at a young age very well yet, and there are still accidents.
PPACA admits the notion of real "insurance" was falling apart by doing away with underwriting. This is why I lobbied unsuccessfully for allowing term-health insurance with generous HSAs. So you could still buy insurance at a young age against unlikely illness and save tax-sheltered for likely illness in old age. This is exactly what people do with term-life.
The counter-argument for my idea is what will we do with people who don't save and don't have family? We will probably find some way to tax other people's money to pay for their care, so let's just admit that and allow insurance without underwriting so it's effectively socializing the costs of healthcare, which was sort-of happening before anyway with people who couldn't pay. I don't agree with their argument b/c I think we could have done more keep the gov't out of it and keep customers in charge of their purchases.
Without a direct cost to the one receiving care there is nothing to limit demand. The one receiving care has a big incentive to demand all procedures regardless of cost or likelihood of successful treatment, and the provider has a big incentive to provide all those treatments regardless of cost. Demand causes increased cost of treatment and providers have no incentive to spend time treating those they can actually help. It perverts the entire health care system. It funnels funds away from developing products to cure disease and concentrates them in never ending palliative treatments. This is government creating a problem for everyone and using it to transfer earnings from individuals to those who provide funds for their campaigns. The only thing these government programs create is corruption and serfdom.
You have the most sensible arguments I have heard. I suppose your idea was actually tried with social security. People were forced to save a portion of their lifetime earnings into the ss trust fund which was then returned when they were retired or disabled. Unfortunately the government just stole the money and spent it- and turned it into a massive wealth transfer program. Same with Medicare. Government can't be trusted to manage programs like these, and I think their intention is to expand the Medicare/Medicaid and social security system to everyone and do away with private insurance altogether. But given government is based on thievery, they make the systems financially insolvent, eliminate underwriting, and render the programs into pay as you go based on arbitrary forced taxation as needed. This doesn't inspire confidence at all. So when I work, I have to pay for the previous generation's health costs, and I then have to rely on the government stealing money from younger workers to pay for my health care. I think the only way to fix this IS an HSA that each of us administers on our own behalf, and a free market in medical services to eliminate this ridiculous two tier pricing where I get a bill for $1000 lab tests, which are discounted by $900 IF I have insurance. !!!
"People were forced to save a portion of their lifetime earnings into the ss trust fund which was then returned when they were retired or disabled." I don't think "forced to safe" was ever true. The plan of the program was not for people to save but rather mostly transfer and spend it. So in this case the gov't didn't steal anything. They administered the program as planned, a plan which has its problems.
"I have to pay for the previous generation's health costs" Yes, and Social Security retirement too.
"This doesn't inspire confidence at all." It sets up a constant conflict of interest between people working and people receiving promised benefits. On top of that, when demographically there are many people in their top earning years, it creates a false sense that tax revenue is plentiful. When they retire and it's time to pay those obligations, it creates a the reverse problem.
" I get a bill for $1000 lab tests, which are discounted by $900 IF I have insurance." You have to get past the front-line people but administrators are sometimes willing to give a reasonable price (one somewhat close to the price they charge insured customers) to customers who negotiate. You have to be willing to walk. Sometimes you have to walk if they won't deal. If you're not willing or able to walk, say in the case of an unexpected emergency, you will pay an absurd price unless you have insurance or some pre-arranged deal.
On two separate occasions doctors have recommended I get expensive tests, but when I dug deeper I found they weren't needed. They were almost certainly conditions that would respond quickly to a safe and inexpensive medicine, but they have to recommend the test because customers might be mad (and might sue) if it turned out to be something serious. But an easy check was to try the medicine for two days and come back for further tests if it didn't work. Of course if insurance is paying for it, money's no object.
I thought this problem of clinics and hospitals assuming customers have turned off their business brains was primarily an issue here in Midwest where HMOs started. I'm now thinking it's everywhere. People who would send all day analyzing a $1000 TV purchase think of nothing of running up thousands of dollars of medical test without checking pricing, if it's the best test, etc..
My understanding of the SS system, and what they told me at the time, was that the money they took from me went into a "trust fund" that was to be used to pay MY benefits. Then the government borrowed against the trust fund and "spent" it on their stupid general programs. Now its empty except for IOU's that will never be repaid except by printing money.
Therefore I would dispute your statement below: I don't think "forced to safe" was ever true. The plan of the program was not for people to save but rather mostly transfer and spend it. So in this case the gov't didn't steal anything. They administered the program as planned, a plan which has its problems.
Social security is a forced extortion of a private sector employees wages up to a certain maximum Annual amount. Money extorted intended for a trust fund for retirement, has been looted by GOP and Dems alike. My opinion anyways.
"was that the money they took from me went into a "trust fund" that was to be used to pay MY benefits." My understanding is the program was designed as I said, with the only the excess due to demographic fluctuations being saved and most of the money simply transferred to recipients. The gov't doesn't invest this small fund containing the demographic excess in stocks and bonds b/c gov't outright owning private business would create problems. So they invest in US Treasuries, which are the most secure investment in the world and therefore provide a very low rate of return. Since Treasuries are a form of the gov't borrowing, this means the SS system lends that small bit of excess that it saves to the gov't by investing in Treasuries. Some people describe this as "the gov't raiding the SS trust fund for spending projects." I consider that an incorrect characterization; I have other problems with the how it's structured though: 1) It doesn't save the money up but rather relies on transferring someone else's earnings. 2) Even if it did save up significant money, it can't (and absolutely should not) invest in private business
This is NOT what was told to the people by the govt. if it was designed as you say, then it was a massive lie. If it was set up as they promised, it's outright theft
"then it was a massive lie." Yeah, I know nothing about how it was sold. Most people when they have the chance to opt out (by being a minister opposed to it on religious grounds or by S-Corp election or other business structure) they do it.
Good day term2 thanks for your comment. O is just a patsy he doesn't know shit. Who wrote the unreadable ACA not him or Pellosin He is the most ignorant leader , he is good at being arrogant He can ennounciate the language and rile up the rioters and looters. BTW Why when demonstrating to mourn a humans life do they need to break in to the liquor store and take all the alcohol.
I think it depends on what you value more relative to what is available in a particular place no country offers it all from what I see now. That would be a very good subject for a forum
There is a secession movement alive there. But Obama would send in the army to stop it under some national security excuse. I would move there if it happened
That will come out tomorrow or the next day but it's nothing to do with any of the members but two interpretations of the gulch operating rules. Since been fixed so just waiting to see what happens next.
Hillary on averag though is around three Plus and listed as declining. Trump as gaining . Johnson as Stagnant, Klein and the four way has been dropped by some major polling groups as statistically insignificant.
South of the border, down Mexico way for starters... We call it FNA for Free North America. USA priced itself out of the market in more ways than one and credibility is top of the list. There are currently about one million Gringos living down here from six months or so to full time.
To create a sorrow(break and enter) on someone else for your own needs (drowning their sorrows) is collectivism pure and simple. That behavior is not civilized.
Reading the Act was purely impossible. It was written that way. However, enough highlights were gleaned to tell that it was a plan to lead us down the road to single payer by its sheer incompetence. It is succeeding, not in providing affordable healthcare, but by giving the government increased control over our lives.
One obvious solution to their approach is to create a virtual Gulch society where the rules of engagement are the same as in the Gulch. No one in the Gulch in AS paid any attention to government rules. We need to do the same.
You forget that government has the gun. Disobey loud enough, long enough and resist successfully and you'll note that it always boils down to Ruby Ridge. The American justice system has gotten so far away from original intention that it is no longer recognizable.
Good evening Herb7734, That is well enough but also think of the victims of Hillandbill , plane crashes, suicides, murders.IRS, Media smears and cover ups no law for the law makers.
There are really no words strong enough to describe the depravity of those two and some of their acolytes. Grifters? Yes. False witnesses? Yes. Murderers? Possibly. Will they get theirs? Probably not.
Reminds me of an old joke. Hitler survives and manages to escape to Argentina.After a while, some followers who escaped with him tried to convince him to make a comeback. After a while he gave in. He said, "All right, I'll do it, but this time, no more Mr. Nice Guy."
Cliinton = A Sure thing Your going to lose. Trump = A gamble with better odds all the time. Klein and Johnson? Ever bet double zero on a roulette wheel?
+1 to offset a down vote? My state votes dems .We were the only state that voted Mondale in Reagans landslide '84. Us and the dist of Columbia . State voted for Carter in 1980. Last election as my wife and I went to vote We passed 8 burka clad women with I voted sticker on their black shrouds who, effectively canceled our votes x4. My vote has never counted for a win.
The Gulch in the book was two things. A place to escape to one month out of the year and metaphorically a state of mind. The place itself as described would be impossible to duplicate in North America but not impossible to attain by adapting. Just as the true motor was the mind itself the Gulch is what and where you create it.
Thanks Herb7734, Dominance and control . Let's see they have the Media..... The education system.....the state dept......the fed reserve.......irs....the EPA........the welfare class......the immigrants......the ignorant ostriches.
Shillary will make sick Obamacare that was sold on lies get well as sure as old dino is a libtard like some lady on TV who said the word "Obamacare" is racist even though Obama said he liked the nickname of the unaffordable Affordable Healthcare Act that was passed as a bill to see what was in it.
The Crimson Tide rolls against USC on ABC at 7 central time tonight. Roll Tide, Roll! We're number one! Nyah to all the other college football teams! One of my brothers calls Alabama winning and Auburn losing a perfect weekend.
Turned on the game USC up by 3 ...... Now the tide rolls. Double digit lead ....oops #40 USC gives me a quick reminder why I don't support football. I hate thugs. Our team used to have a disciplined coach Bud Grant who did not put up with bad behavior. If they didn't stand at attention for the national anthem or follow a dress code or they did break the law they were history. Since then the players like to beat their wives and girlfriends Or both plus many other disgusting behaviors. Like the folks you used to guard only these guys are adored and paid $millions.
Perfect weekend. Watched Auburn make a valiant effort at the end of the last quarter but Clemson won 19-13. Some previous thuggery by an Auburn player, shoving a Clemson player away by the face mask may have well cost the game. Bama got their offense act together big time and won 52 - 6.
I could see the fans were on their feet almost all the time . Front row seats would solve that but I suppose they cost a fortune. Sorry for my ignorance but wasn't Bear Bryant a legendary coach for the tide.
Yes. Bear got his nickname for wrestling a bear at a fair or some carnival before he became a coach. Saw an interesting statistic during the game. Bear Bryant has 6 national championships and Saban now has 5 won in way shorter time. So I anticipate that Saban shall become "THE legendary coach for the Tide": when his career is done.
Hello Dobrien, With each insurance company that leaves the exchanges we are brought either closer to single payer, or a collapse of O'care. I imagine it depends on who is in charge at the time. Respectfully, O.A.
Hello O.A. It will eventually end up single payer...the politicians are more interested in their careers than scrubbing the plate clean to prepare for the next meal. Who's in charge no longer matters.
I agree totally. They gave the insurance companies those initial bailouts to get them to allow Obamacare to be signed. But now the insurance companies are losing money and leaving- and the government will take over. Its DISGUSTING.
O.A. Thanks for your comment. My Carrier after a 45% rate hike last year ,sent notice in July that I will have to look elsewhere next year as they are canceling the "plan" we have. Regards, Dobrien
Mine is not cancelling, but I have been notified to expect rate hikes. O'care is a catastrophe. But we are supposed to be happy we are finding our own policies disappearing or becoming unaffordable since so many more Americans are now insured at our expense. It was bait and switch from the get go. Of course anyone with any sense knew this the moment Pelosi said "We Have to Pass the Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It." Right...
So true OA . In my industry you would be sued and lose your right and license to sell if you sold like these liars did. I find the RINO's complicit as well. With regards, Dobrien
Few in Congress may be held blameless, but it is true that the legislation was passed without a single Republican vote. It might be their only laudable accomplishment... ;-)
Health Insurance is NOT equal to Health Care This is a primary truth that has been covered up and ignored. Obama should be injected with 200 vaccines, and anonymously put in a Chicago VA hospital.
True, but health care is almost always tied to who pays..which is why O and his D's hand to install ocare. With Ocare they can manipulate many aspects of people lives - what is eaten, what you do, what you own, etc...
Any system that doesn't have a direct link and feedback of cost to the one actually receiving the service is doomed to corruption and failure. Insurance provided by employers started the process of accelerating medical costs and government provided "free" medical care has made it worse. Obamacare was intended as you said to manipulate and control people and increasing costs makes control easier. It was designed and planned to increase medical care costs. Gary Johnson is right. Insurance for everyday service must be stopped, and the payments must be made by those who receive services directly. Hasn't been that long since there was no health insurance at all for anyone, but the health care industry (including pharma) is the biggest problem, the insurance industry the second, and government as their tool is third. It's an unholy alliance that can only be defeated by herding the sheep to accept a different delivery system that centers on personal responsibility. Individual health insurance should not be mandatory for anyone.
Its already in a death spiral. The poor are in medicaid more and more as its expanded. The young dont want to spend high premiums. The others cant afford to actually USE the insurance they paid for (the deductables are ridiculously high, not to mention copays, andcoinsurance.)
I am an independent contractor and do not have insurance through an employer. Am I in a group of people that are suffering from this ACA .is this a widespread issue? I don't hear others complaining.
How do you complain to the fox that your fellow chickens are being attacked and killed? The unaffordable care act is terrible. Insurance for my friends has more than doubled and their deductibles have risen 5x. The statists did this on purpose to make single payer government insurance appear the "savior"
My 2 bits.
I unfortunately disagree that it was entirely orchestrated by the DNC. The weak effort by the RINO's to defeat Obmer and defend the individual's right
Was and continues to be pathetic. Sadly this two-step dance is well choreographed.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote...
It was more of a two step to the potty.
AJ:
And you can add my two bits as well.
There's more than one way to Go Galt.
I can see this becoming a reality for those with enough $$ to pay the toll.
I guess the problem would be getting doctors and nurses to go along. It might be kind of yucky duty to live on the ship a week or month at a time.
One thought about the doctors is they wouldn't be influenced by the ins co.s and they could negotiate compensation for their inconvenience.
To practice health with out the bureaucracy and pull from drug co.s and the malpractice fears.
It would be great to see this play out!
If you search on Blueseed or "Googleplex of the Sea" you'll get somewhat fantastical version of what it could be like. Blueseed failed, but I think some form of it will come true. They can make life on ship nice. It's not just about avoiding FDA and AMA, but also immigration and other regulations. I think it's coming eventually.
100 years ago women could not vote. That must have been hard because the people making the decisions, the old decrepit leadership of its time, didn't have to answer to female voters. The old decrepit leadership gave in. That, along with all the other amazing changes I've seen by age 41, makes me thing real change can happen. Gov't can be cut in half or less in my lifetime by something that sneaks up on us, something we can hardly conceive of now but our grandchildren will see as the flow of history.
I would so love government cut in half in our lifetimes, but there is no evidence of reductions in government spending, powers or increase in personal freedoms in your, mine our fathers or our grandfathers times.
In recent times, after WWII, gov't spending and interference in the economy decreased. Of course, it increased shortly after. The same thing happened to a much smaller extent after the Cold War.
But the trend is increased gov't. That's why we're talking about this. We're not talking about the problem of the big three TV networks' monopoly on video media b/c that problem went away. If your claim is this problem, unlikely the other problems I mention, cannot be solved peacefully, what is the solution? Do we simply need a little rebellion now and then?
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/s...
The trend of increasing government is chronologically local and global, and it covers all countries unless I am missing an example.
I would love to believe as you suggest, that the electorate will drive a reduction in government, but I do not.
As Sean Connery said in the Hunt for Red October, "A little revolution is healthy now and then, eh Ryan?"
Why are you bringing up media? I recognize their influence and bias, but what does this have to do with reduced government?
I'm just saying we're talking about this problem (increasing cost and intrusiveness of gov't) because this is the problem at hand, not a sign that problems are increasing in general.
Do you think democratic republics won't work b/c they inevitably find a way around their constitutional limitations and causing the gov'ts to collapse under their own weight? Will we trend toward something like the Roman Empire, which also over-extends and collapses, but in a more slow fashion? Or will people find ways to work around the gov't until it turns into an armed conflict?
In my lifetime, in a couple decades, I've watched problems that seemed like basic unfortunate facts of human existence just disappear. So I want to see a solution to this too.
What problems went away in your lifetime, and how,does government intrusion account for the solutions?
It's acting, the arrogance is needed to pretend they know what the f they are doing. Who writes the legislation that no one knows what's in it until after the vote?
Enjoy your weekend!
I usually can deal with them reasonably. The thing is their front-line people and even their business offices just mindlessly follow rules.
Our pediatrician's clinic stopped taking our insurance a few years back. We didn't care b/c we never hit the deductible. The business office told us we couldn't use the clinic anymore b/c they didn't "take our insurance". We explained we have two kids, happily make referrals to them, and just wanted a similar pricing to what we'd been getting. They were baffled. The doctor happened to come by. She stifled the urge to say, "they want to pay in cash and send us referrals, and you're telling them to go away!?"
We also had another experience where a specialist told us there were some approaches not covered by insurance, but we could look at XYZ. We asked about the other approaches; I can't remember, but it was something like a low-allergen blanket or something, but it was $100. We kind of had to politely tell him to forget about insurance, think medically, and then we'll evaluate pricing. Apparently so many people just turn off their brains in this area and let a company handle it.
Have a nice weekend!
Single payer to Medicare.
Promoting this as a good thing ....idiots
It's funny that people working in a difficult industry and getting paid for it is a problem requiring a solution in some people's minds.
I'm glad touch screens interfaces and "Internet of Things" wireless are not on their radar.
A client who's 33 year old daughter had a major surgery and she required a plastic surgeon as well as the internist. Insurance would not pay for the plastic surgeon she had a bill of $14950 from him.
My client wanted to help her pay and wanted to take money from his retirement acct. I strongly suggested she create a budget and set up a meeting with the business office telling them that she can pay them over the next dozen years based on her families budget or that they could pay in full a discounted payment . Much like an auto transaction they went back and forth and settled on $7000.00.
Have a great holiday mia767ca!!!
and my own wallet the first payer.
I agree with this one part, but I don't see it as sinister at all. Health insurance was usually tied to employment. That was a vestige from WWII price controls, where companies could offer increased benefits more easily the higher wages. Now it makes it hard for people to change jobs if they have a medical condition. The very notion of insurance was getting harder as medical technology got better at predicting the peril. It was less like a freak accident and more a function of our genes and behavior. The underwriting process to dig into this was onerous. We had the problem of insurance companies digging into underwriting details only when a customer made a large claim. We had people just not buying insurance, knowing they'd get emergency care even if they couldn't pay for it; and hospitals would shift the cost somebody. The somebody was usually someone who could not get insurance b/c they had a pre-existing condition. Following the insurance model, of course companies would not insure against a peril that's already happened.
So these people like President Obama and his supporters who see gov't as an answer thought up a solution. Reasonable people, they thought, would buy insurance before they got any illnesses, even before their genes were formed, if such a thing were possible. That would make premiums higher, but we wouldn't have to deal with all the problems I mentioned above, the problems of treated illness as a random peril to be insured against. So let's just make everyone buy insurance, they thought. Then we we can stop doing that onerous and expensive process of underwriting. We'll save costs we thought. Oh, but how are people going to pay the higher premiums, the wondered. Okay, let's have a subsidy for people who struggle to pay.
I don't agree with all that, but I completely see the logic. I lobbied my Rep, Tammy Baldwin, who was peripherally involved in crafting PPACA, to keep HSAs and to allow some kind of term health insurance similar to term-life insurance. I talked to her about it in person. HSA's were going to go, but they ended up staying with only very minor changes. My term-insurance idea was too far out there, and frankly Baldwin looked confused when I talked about it. She completely got my argument about HSAs: "why do we give workers a tax break for giving money to companies but not for spending on their families' healthcare?"
My point in all this is this is the people who crafted PPACA had their heart in the right place. Baldwin grew up a mile east of me, and I feel like I related to her. (Although I haven't talked to her sense she became our senator)
I really wish I could have gotten through to some staffer or someone with my idea of allowing term insurance with underwriting. I don't have all the answers. I think PPACA is a mixed bag, not a stepping stone in an evil plot to increase gov't power.
Sorry for the block of text. :)
Your comments are exactly how I see it. Unfortunately many middle-class people think they could never save up $100k for these expenses, but they could pay into a system that provides the $100k. When someone realizes they're the grown-up, and they can mange building the wealth to cover these expenses better than someone else, it's really powerful. That's what I dislike most about PPACA (which overall I view as a mixed bag) -- it feeds into the notion that you can turn over life-and-death matters to someone else.
It works a little b/c we can't predict unlikely disease striking at a young age very well yet, and there are still accidents.
PPACA admits the notion of real "insurance" was falling apart by doing away with underwriting. This is why I lobbied unsuccessfully for allowing term-health insurance with generous HSAs. So you could still buy insurance at a young age against unlikely illness and save tax-sheltered for likely illness in old age. This is exactly what people do with term-life.
The counter-argument for my idea is what will we do with people who don't save and don't have family? We will probably find some way to tax other people's money to pay for their care, so let's just admit that and allow insurance without underwriting so it's effectively socializing the costs of healthcare, which was sort-of happening before anyway with people who couldn't pay. I don't agree with their argument b/c I think we could have done more keep the gov't out of it and keep customers in charge of their purchases.
This is government creating a problem for everyone and using it to transfer earnings from individuals to those who provide funds for their campaigns. The only thing these government programs create is corruption and serfdom.
I don't think "forced to safe" was ever true. The plan of the program was not for people to save but rather mostly transfer and spend it. So in this case the gov't didn't steal anything. They administered the program as planned, a plan which has its problems.
"I have to pay for the previous generation's health costs"
Yes, and Social Security retirement too.
"This doesn't inspire confidence at all."
It sets up a constant conflict of interest between people working and people receiving promised benefits. On top of that, when demographically there are many people in their top earning years, it creates a false sense that tax revenue is plentiful. When they retire and it's time to pay those obligations, it creates a the reverse problem.
" I get a bill for $1000 lab tests, which are discounted by $900 IF I have insurance."
You have to get past the front-line people but administrators are sometimes willing to give a reasonable price (one somewhat close to the price they charge insured customers) to customers who negotiate. You have to be willing to walk. Sometimes you have to walk if they won't deal. If you're not willing or able to walk, say in the case of an unexpected emergency, you will pay an absurd price unless you have insurance or some pre-arranged deal.
On two separate occasions doctors have recommended I get expensive tests, but when I dug deeper I found they weren't needed. They were almost certainly conditions that would respond quickly to a safe and inexpensive medicine, but they have to recommend the test because customers might be mad (and might sue) if it turned out to be something serious. But an easy check was to try the medicine for two days and come back for further tests if it didn't work. Of course if insurance is paying for it, money's no object.
I thought this problem of clinics and hospitals assuming customers have turned off their business brains was primarily an issue here in Midwest where HMOs started. I'm now thinking it's everywhere. People who would send all day analyzing a $1000 TV purchase think of nothing of running up thousands of dollars of medical test without checking pricing, if it's the best test, etc..
Therefore I would dispute your statement below:
I don't think "forced to safe" was ever true. The plan of the program was not for people to save but rather mostly transfer and spend it. So in this case the gov't didn't steal anything. They administered the program as planned, a plan which has its problems.
My understanding is the program was designed as I said, with the only the excess due to demographic fluctuations being saved and most of the money simply transferred to recipients. The gov't doesn't invest this small fund containing the demographic excess in stocks and bonds b/c gov't outright owning private business would create problems. So they invest in US Treasuries, which are the most secure investment in the world and therefore provide a very low rate of return. Since Treasuries are a form of the gov't borrowing, this means the SS system lends that small bit of excess that it saves to the gov't by investing in Treasuries. Some people describe this as "the gov't raiding the SS trust fund for spending projects." I consider that an incorrect characterization; I have other problems with the how it's structured though:
1) It doesn't save the money up but rather relies on transferring someone else's earnings.
2) Even if it did save up significant money, it can't (and absolutely should not) invest in private business
Yeah, I know nothing about how it was sold. Most people when they have the chance to opt out (by being a minister opposed to it on religious grounds or by S-Corp election or other business structure) they do it.
Texas or Lone Star Republic an independent nation joins the USA with the righ tto secede or split.
Texas secedes exercising that right Feb 2, 1861
Texas joins the CSA March 2nd 1861
CSA loses the war.
All are brought back into the Union by force of arms June 19th 1865
In between Military Governors
Readmitted to Congress March 30 1870
Secession rights were not restored.
I very much appreciate your historical knowledge
I don't know why your comments are being hidden.
Hillary on averag though is around three Plus and listed as declining. Trump as gaining . Johnson as Stagnant, Klein and the four way has been dropped by some major polling groups as statistically insignificant.
There are currently about one million Gringos living down here from six months or so to full time.
It is succeeding, not in providing affordable healthcare, but by giving the government increased control over our lives.
That is well enough but also think of the victims of
Hillandbill , plane crashes, suicides, murders.IRS,
Media smears and cover ups no law for the law makers.
Murderers? Possibly. Will they get theirs? Probably not.
Reminds me of an old joke. Hitler survives and manages to escape to Argentina.After a while, some followers who escaped with him tried to convince him to make a comeback. After a while he gave in. He said, "All right, I'll do it, but this time, no more Mr. Nice Guy."
Trump = A gamble with better odds all the time.
Klein and Johnson? Ever bet double zero on a roulette wheel?
We passed 8 burka clad women with
I voted sticker on their black shrouds who, effectively canceled our votes x4. My vote has never counted for a win.
Dominance and control . Let's see they have the
Media..... The education system.....the state dept......the fed reserve.......irs....the EPA........the welfare class......the immigrants......the ignorant ostriches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL1Xt...
Have a great weekend Allosaur.
We're number one! Nyah to all the other college football teams!
One of my brothers calls Alabama winning and Auburn losing a perfect weekend.
Perfect weekend football included.
May you have a great perfect weekend yourself.
I hate thugs. Our team used to have a disciplined coach Bud Grant who did not put up with bad behavior.
If they didn't stand at attention for the national anthem or follow a dress code or they did break the law they were history.
Since then the players like to beat their wives and girlfriends
Or both plus many other disgusting behaviors. Like the folks you used to guard only these guys are adored and paid $millions.
Watched Auburn make a valiant effort at the end of the last quarter but Clemson won 19-13.
Some previous thuggery by an Auburn player, shoving a Clemson player away by the face mask may have well cost the game.
Bama got their offense act together big time and won 52 - 6.
Saw an interesting statistic during the game.
Bear Bryant has 6 national championships and Saban now has 5 won in way shorter time.
So I anticipate that Saban shall become "THE legendary coach for the Tide": when his career is done.
With each insurance company that leaves the exchanges we are brought either closer to single payer, or a collapse of O'care. I imagine it depends on who is in charge at the time.
Respectfully,
O.A.
It will eventually end up single payer...the politicians are more interested in their careers than scrubbing the plate clean to prepare for the next meal. Who's in charge no longer matters.
Many would say it was the plan all along... Difficult to argue the contrary.
Good to hear from you. Happy labor day!
O.A.
Regards,
Dobrien
With regards,
Dobrien
This is a primary truth that has been covered up and ignored.
Obama should be injected with 200 vaccines, and anonymously put in a Chicago VA hospital.
Hasn't been that long since there was no health insurance at all for anyone, but the health care industry (including pharma) is the biggest problem, the insurance industry the second, and government as their tool is third. It's an unholy alliance that can only be defeated by herding the sheep to accept a different delivery system that centers on personal responsibility. Individual health insurance should not be mandatory for anyone.
Well put , mandatory is the opposite of choice.
Solution. Brain washed useful idiots.