How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[Gaspar]

LOL!

Using the published information from the obamacare exchange and the database hub provided by the insurance companies, 3 20yo kids build a fully functional Obamacare website in 3 days, and they did it for free.

http://www.thehealthsherpa.com/


Meanwhile it looks like healthcare.gove may end up being the first billion dollar website.

[Gaspar]

How about when you drop something on a toenail or thumbnail and have to drill through the nail to relieve the pressure?  Dremel is your friend!!

Done it several times.  Here is the best way.  Heat a paperclip under a lighter and then just let it sizzle through.  More sterile than the Dremel.  Dr. Redding (good man R.I.P.) used to do it for patients in the waiting room to avoid them from having to fill out a chart and pay an ER fee. 

OOps! I guess the statute of limitations is expired on that, and he has since passed away, so the hospital can't come after him.  He was one of the best ER docs to work for.

[Cats Cats Cats]

LOL!

Using the published information from the obamacare exchange and the database hub provided by the insurance companies, 3 20yo kids build a fully functional Obamacare website in 3 days, and they did it for free.

http://www.thehealthsherpa.com/


Meanwhile it looks like healthcare.gove may end up being the first billion dollar website.

Just giving quotes isn't the only thing the websites do.  I can do that in an afternoon on a spreadsheet.

[Gaspar]

Just giving quotes isn't the only thing the websites do.  I can do that in an afternoon on a spreadsheet.

Actually, yes it is.  The participant still has to deal directly with the insurance company to receive the final quote.  The data hub, simply passes information through the federal government (or state exchange).  Hell of a way to add efficiency.

[Conan71]

I would take advantage of the situation. I would re-arrange the furniture, buy a bigger TV, and fill the bar with expensive Bourbon. Then I would say that it was all her idea while she was drugged.

The kegerator was just delivered about an hour ago.

They gave her about 1/2 a push of morphine and she said that was enough.  She never went loopy, never cried, and wasn't in shock.  Her pain threshold must be off the charts.  I took her lunch and she said the bruises and scrapes on her legs are what hurt the most right now.

[Cats Cats Cats]

The kegerator was just delivered about an hour ago.

They gave her about 1/2 a push of morphine and she said that was enough.  She never went loopy, never cried, and wasn't in shock.  Her pain threshold must be off the charts.  I took her lunch and she said the bruises and scrapes on her legs are what hurt the most right now.

Somebody I know had that happen and said that the fact all the nerve endings aren't exactly connected after that happens.  Which is why it isn't a crazy amount of pain.  ACK lets just stop talking about it.  I'll get PTSD from thinking about it.

[Conan71]

Somebody I know had that happen and said that the fact all the nerve endings aren't exactly connected after that happens.  Which is why it isn't a crazy amount of pain.  ACK lets just stop talking about it.  I'll get PTSD from thinking about it.

You and me both.  Too many flashbacks from that today.

[Gaspar]

Not even funny any more.
Remember the silly "Cover Oregon" ads that went viral on youtube weeks before October? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2UUcXCo9g  

Turns out the governor of Oregon, John Kitzhaber, spent over (are you ready for this?) $300 million on the website and several million more on billboards and TV commercials to promote the site.  To complicate things, they have refused to release their exchange pricing data to websites like thehealthsherpa.com, so there is currently no way for enrollees to obtain quotes, except to do so by paper form.  As a result they are now hiring 400 additional employees to process forms manually.  

So far:
0 Enrolled

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2013/11/11/oregon-health-care-exchange-has-yet-to-enroll-a-single-person/

"We stuck to the vision, and we're experiencing now the bumps that go along with having a grand vision that doesn't work out exactly the way you hope it will," said Amy Fauver, chief communications officer for Cover Oregon.

Grand Vision: DMV style healthcare that will be a model for the nation.

[guido911]

Here is a story that makes me smile, although I will not believe any "numbers" from the media. We are supposed to hear something from the gov. this week, and their numbers are probably accurate. Must be because no one has lied to us thus far about Obamacare.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/11/breaking-fewer-than-50000-people-have-enrolled-in-health-plans-via-obamacare-website-thus-far-says-wsj/

[guido911]

I would take advantage of the situation. I would re-arrange the furniture, buy a bigger TV, and fill the bar with expensive Bourbon.

I like the way you think. BUT, you know who from above will not like Conan buying expensive things...

[heironymouspasparagus]

Done it several times.  Here is the best way.  Heat a paperclip under a lighter and then just let it sizzle through.  More sterile than the Dremel.  Dr. Redding (good man R.I.P.) used to do it for patients in the waiting room to avoid them from having to fill out a chart and pay an ER fee. 

OOps! I guess the statute of limitations is expired on that, and he has since passed away, so the hospital can't come after him.  He was one of the best ER docs to work for.

Might have to try that....the reason I haven't used the hot needle (paperclip) approach is it always started out requiring to much pressure, so I thought it would go badly on the break through.  Reading that, it seems like the idea is to let the heat do the work rather than applying pressure.

Dremel is still fun....plus, if use it on a kid, it sets their nerves on edge from the grinding....kind of like a coarse burr at the dentist's office will rattle your head.

[Conan71]

In case anyone thought I was kidding.  RM, your timing is immaculate!

[MyDogHunts]

Beware what you ask for.  When you remove profit from any market, you remove the primary motivation behind innovation and invention.  There is no such thing as free.

Profit is not what created the monster we call health insurance, as that those margins are relatively thin compared with other markets.  What gave birth to the monster was collusion and all of the remoria's that come with it, as well as liability associated with perceived tort..  

Back in the day, the doctor sent a copy of the bill to the insurance company and received a check.  If the doctor prescribed the wrong thing and you got worse, you went back and he would try something different.  There were only three parties involved and only a few people to pay or get paid.  

Today the patient has to be in-network (employer/state/Insurance company collusion), and the procedure must be coded by a medical coding specialist and meet the requirements set for treatment by the insurance company and commission in that state (state/insurance company collusion).  Any medication prescribed must be listed on the clinic or hospital approved formulary, as well as the approved formulary for the insurance company for the specified employer plan in that state, and in some cases approved prior to reimbursement (government/corporate/pharma/clinical/insurance company collusion).  X-rays and lab tests and many procedures can no longer be performed or interpreted in-office, and are restricted by the insurance company to age limit (chest, abdominal), risk pool, or pre-approval (pharma/clinical/insurance company collusion). When the patient arrives at the pharmacy the prescribed treatment must again be reviewed and approvals obtained.  The patient must also choose an approved pharmacy (pharma/clinical/insurance/retail collusion).  Today, your trip to the doctor means thousands of extra people are involved in paying and being paid, and they each take their share.

Physicians are no longer the sole providers.  Your employer, the state and the insurance company (as well as hundreds of extra bureaucracies)  share this position.  The state hates competition.  Employers hate cost. Insurance companies hate risk.  Together they build bureaucracy, because bureaucracy limits competition, spreads out cost, and mitigates direct risk.  

Unfortunately bureaucracy is never sustainable because its only purpose is to grow itself, and its only enemy is competition.

I boil it down to a simple aspect.  We want to live longer.  We will die.  People make money.

I watched an old movie based on James Michner (SP?)'s Hawaii.  In it some babies were left to die.  Is this wrong... oh, such an age old question.  Caesar,  your slip is showing.  It's fun, but life is an illusion

We don't care. So long as we are OK, it is hard to give enough that some slacker gets to have a heart transplant.  We are funny humans.  I find myself going back towards a Super Human concept.  Should I argue with the psychos?  Super Humans don't care.  If we care that weakness will only bog us down.  shoot... feeling German.

[Gaspar]

Enter Mr. Bill Clinton, aside from Jimmy Carter, the only president to consistently criticize his successors, has now joined the attack on Obama.  Get ready for the "I told you so" offensive.
"So I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,"

[Cats Cats Cats]

In case anyone thought I was kidding.  RM, your timing is immaculate!

This wasn't some sort of plan was it?