How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[Hoss]

One anecdote hardly supports the POS that Obamacare is.

My son-in-law would have been a great doctor.  He had his choice of medical schools and had a real passion for medicine.  His father, a cardiologist, is also an innovator in the cardiac field, much like Dr. Foker.  Their take is the opposite of Dr. Foker, and that's why my SIL chose a career in something construction-related.  That, after the donkey-pain of suffering and studying for the MCAT and registering a very high MCAT score.  I don't know I'd be so bold to walk away from that opportunity after that much work in pre-med and then working for a high MCAT.  To me it's telling.

He's hardly alone.  

But as I said, one anecdote isn't absolute proof whether it's a turd or a winner.  The preponderance of evidence so far, though, suggests, it's something brown, squishy, and has a slightly sulfuric odor.

12 days in and one won't be able to tell.

My opinion?  It should have been single-payer.

Hell, this thread got started well before the law got started.  My feeling is that opponents are afraid it will be a success.  I count you in that group.

It's already a partial success in that it makes dropping someone's coverage due to pre-existing conditions unlawful.

[Red Arrow]

My opinion?  It should have been single-payer.

Even Medicare isn't single payer when you consider all the necessary supplemental private policies.

[Hoss]

Even Medicare isn't single payer when you consider all the necessary supplemental private policies.

True, but I'm not talking about Medicare for all.  I'm talking about a true, single payer system.  I've seen first-hand what happens to families when insurance cuts you off after so long.  It nearly happened to my family when I was in high school.

My mother has medicare, but has Soonercare as her supplement (she's considered disabled).  I cannot remember a time where she has had to pay out of pocket (aside from the $1.20 prescriptions of which she has exactly three monthly) for anything that has happened to her, including the pulmonary embolism they found last year when they were looking at a hernia she had.

Wonder what would have happened without that evil old government subsidy?

[Red Arrow]

True, but I'm not talking about Medicare for all.  I'm talking about a true, single payer system.  I've seen first-hand what happens to families when insurance cuts you off after so long.  It nearly happened to my family when I was in high school.

My mother has medicare, but has Soonercare as her supplement (she's considered disabled).  I cannot remember a time where she has had to pay out of pocket (aside from the $1.20 prescriptions of which she has exactly three monthly) for anything that has happened to her, including the pulmonary embolism they found last year when they were looking at a hernia she had.

Wonder what would have happened without that evil old government subsidy?

I think maybe the government should be only the umbrella for young folks.  Pick a deductible, maybe $1 Million.  You buy insurance for up to $1M (MM for you guys in the natural gas business) and if you exceed that, the government covers it.  This would be paid for by a tax on EVERYONE similar to Social Security.  Flat rate for all on the first dollar you earn.  Medicare is, at least in theory, a paid for insurance policy.  My mom has deductions from her Social Security for Medicare.  I assume your mom does too.  I believe that the UK has a single payer program.  I also believe I have read that private insurance in the UK is used to cover what the wonderful single payer system does not.

[Gaspar]

I think maybe the government should be only the umbrella for young folks.  Pick a deductible, maybe $1 Million.  You buy insurance for up to $1M (MM for you guys in the natural gas business) and if you exceed that, the government covers it.  This would be paid for by a tax on EVERYONE similar to Social Security.  Flat rate for all on the first dollar you earn.  Medicare is, at least in theory, a paid for insurance policy.  My mom has deductions from her Social Security for Medicare.  I assume your mom does too.  I believe that the UK has a single payer program.  I also believe I have read that private insurance in the UK is used to cover what the wonderful single payer system does not.

Most diagnostics beyond x-ray or CT scan, as well as any medicines off state formulary.  We have British friends who say it's great if you fall off a barstool at the pub, but if you are really sick, it sucks.

I think the rapid growth of private and boutique care systems in Canada and the UK is evidence of how great those systems are.  I have a client in Saskatoon that was down here a few months ago, and we had a nice long conversation on healthcare over dinner.  Basically the Canadian system provides excellent first-aid, but if you require continued care or have something chronic, you end up paying cash for one of the new private diagnostic clinics because most tests have a long wait list.  Even the private clinics now have fairly lengthy waits for diagnostic care, and many still travel to the US and even India.  Apparently India has created a huge medical tourism program that they market heavily in Canada.

[Gaspar]

OMG this just keeps getting funnier.  How hard is it to hire an interpreter instead of using Google translate?  They spent billions on the Spanish site alone!

Apparently the new Healthcare.Gov site for those who speak Spanish was written in Spanglish, and is pissing off Hispanic visitors.

Mirroring problems with the federal health care website, people around the nation attempting to navigate the Spanish version have discovered their own set of difficulties.

The site, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, launched more than two months late.

A Web page with Spanish instructions linked users to an English form.

And the translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated — the name of the site itself can literally be read "for the caution of health."

"When you get into the details of the plans, it's not all written in Spanish. It's written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them," said Adrian Madriz, a health care navigator who helps with enrollment in Miami. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/health-care-website-frustrates-spanish-speakers-21503559?singlePage=true

The count still stands at 2.1 million signed up as opposed to the 6 million canceled. Looks like Obamacare may have maxed out.  A glorious way to spend more than a trillion dollars!

[guido911]

The count still stands at 2.1 million signed up as opposed to the 6 million canceled. Looks like Obamacare may have maxed out.  A glorious way to spend more than a trillion dollars!

You keep forgetting all the good that is coming from this. I mean, no one is being inconvenienced by this idea designed to benefit everyone, I mean a very small percentage of Americans--most importantly Sheen.

As for the trillion in cost, let me remind you that Bush wasted that much on his illegal wars, so Obama is therefore entitled to waste money also on his policy.  That's how this logically works.

[RecycleMichael]

As for the trillion in cost, let me remind you that Bush wasted that much on his illegal wars, so Obama is therefore entitled to waste money also on his policy. 

No. Obama is not entitled to waste money.

But you seem to think that unlimited and unchecked money for war is perfectly justified, but trying to help Americans stay healthy is somehow wrong. Yes, the government has screwed this up. But at least they are trying to do some good for Americans rather than interfere with other countries and steal their oil under the premise that we were fighting for democracy.

[guido911]

. But at least they are trying to do some good for Americans rather than interfere with other countries and steal their oil under the premise that we were fighting for democracy.

You earned it.

[Red Arrow]

Yes, the government has screwed this up. But at least they are trying to do some good for Americans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions

[Conan71]

You earned it.

Nice bong. 

[RecycleMichael]

That is what guido posts when he loses an argument.

[Red Arrow]

That is what guido posts when he loses an argument.

In this case, he would be correct.

[Hoss]

In this case, he would be correct.

Correct in losing the argument?

[Red Arrow]

Correct in losing the argument?

Ha Ha.