[ale] [OT] Re: Political but on topic... How Team Obama's tech efficiency left Romney IT in dust

[Jim Kinney]

(resending with snippage - no failure found)

On 11/21/2012 01:05 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> At least we're just pissing and moaning.  It's still November, after 
> all.  Many representatives of the public on the other side of the 
> fence promised riots if they lost.

And I for one am glad that has so far been nothing more than 
mouthing-off. I put the secession crap in the same bucket.
>
> Warning - ranting follows.
>
> I'm trying to figure out how I'll pay my bills if (when) my taxes go 
> up radically and how I'll get healthcare if (when) they drive Blue 
> Cross, Cigna, Aetna, etc. out of business.  Yeah, they're profiteers, 
> sometimes even bloodsucking and overbearing.  (By the way, there's 
> nothing wrong with reasonable profit, else why be in business.)  But, 
> the fact remains that, right now, my family has coverage, and, if 
> needed, can get access to state of the art medicine and only pay for a 
> small portion out of pocket for it. EVERY nation that has tried 
> nationalized health care has failed miserably.  Look at Canada.  
> People there have to wait months to get critical care, sometimes don't 
> get it at all, and sometimes cross the border into the USA to get the 
> care they need, if they can afford it.

I, and many others, see the current implementation of mandatory 
insurance to be the biggest public sector support of private profit 
outside of the military-industrial complex. The insurance companies are 
gloating over the anticipated profits. Yes, they will have to pay out 
more for the previously "uninsurable" but it's more than compensated for 
by the huge boost in people paying in that don't cost them anything. 
Access doesn't change unless your in one of the states that is refusing 
to setup the exchanges (yeah - us!) and the lack of state-run exchanges 
is still not a known factor in access yet as the "problem" is still 
under study.

I do laugh when people complain about things changing from "get access 
to state of the art medicine and only pay for a small portion out of 
pocket for it" to the same thing but it includes everyone. If I get 
something without paying "full price" it's called a a discount or a deal 
or some other term with positive connotation. But someone had to pay 
EXTRA so I could get my good deal. So now add the word "government" in 
the mix and some people just spin and slobber like crazy people. IT'S 
THE SAME THING!!!! We pay into "The Big Gamble" (insurance) hoping we 
pay in less than we take out (i.e. socialism if there's government 
involved). But the reality is if we score big in The Gamble we LOSE 
because we're sick. (Don't even get me started on life insurance!). 
Every nation that has tried a national health care plan is still doing 
one. Some are running it better than others. Right now, unless I am 
sick, a basic check-up appointment is a 2 months wait. It's the same 
everywhere - non-emergency care takes last place on the schedule. 
Critical care in other countries is available the same as it is here - 
as needed. Just like here, if an expensive piece of equipment is needed 
and you are rural, you have to travel.

My brother-in-law's wife is Canadian. I've had the opportunity to speak 
at length with her parents who still live in Canada (spring through fall 
and winter in Florida about the Canadian health care system. They spoke 
very, very highly of it. The care is excellent, the time between need 
and care is related to urgency and when the dad had a heart palpitation 
in Florida, the bill was covered as if he was in Canada. He had a 
similar event happen at home and the care he received was better in 
Canada (he got more rest in the hospital there as they didn't wake him 
every 2 hours for repeated test - it was all automated and remote).

UK health care is having funding issues. They are trying to straddle the 
fence between a Canadian system and a US system. But their greatest 
issue is due to the current economic malaise, the number of people 
actually paying in has declined.

The Scandinavian countries are doing just fine thank you very much.
>
> My Dad, who's studied the Obamacare issue a bit, says he'll have to 
> either pay $ 2000 per year for a health care policy, which he probably 
> cannot afford, or pay the IRS (of all people) an $ 800 fine, which he 
> also cannot afford.  Those increased mandatory expenses may very well 
> keep him from paying for some other critical things until he can 
> improve his finances.  Some choice.

My health insurance right now costs over $400 a month. Granted that's 
for 4 people (2 under 24). But kick them off and it STILL over $300/mo. 
If you can get decent coverage at less $200 a month you've found "the 
deal" (see above discussion on the deal). And if you don't have 
insurance, that $800 fine is applied towards insurance and not just 
"feeding the government coffers".

Paying $2k/year in insurance is dirt cheap compared to what you would 
pay out of pocket for your dad if you were self-insured. Each time my 
mom has "an incident", it's $4-5k. The ambulance trip alone is $500. 
It's happened so many times the ambulance company almost had a key for 
her house so we wouldn't have to keep repairing the door.
>
> One more thing.  The manager of a local restaurant said the owner is 
> considering whether he can even stay in business if he has to provide 
> mandatory health care for all employees.  As an alternative, he can 
> demote all employees below 30 hours / week so they don't fall under 
> the mandatory rules.  The taxes and overhead caused by the new 
> legislation WILL drive many small businesses out of business, and, 
> very likely, deepen or extend the recession.
Right now, the "full-time and must provide coverage" hours are 34. So 
WalMart works people to 34 hours and sends them home. So do many other 
large corps trying to skirt the law and use every loophole they can to 
keep profits up at the expense of their workforce. So, yes, when the 
hours change to 30 to try and force the cheap bastards to provide a 
living for the people that put the $$ in their pockets, those cheap 
bastards will simply cut hours.

And my poor friend who works at WalMart (10+ years now) voted for the 
loosing side because WalMart made it plain they would cut hours if 
Obamacare went into effect. He doesn't understand why I DESPISE WalMart.

Yeah. My stomach turns at what the bastards are going to do. Make the 
world a better place by squeezing the staff even more. This ENTIRE 
economic fiasco should have been nothing more than a 6-9 months blip and 
a drop of home prices. It should NOT have resulted in millions of 
unemployed and tens of millions of under-employed. The bastards made a 
decision to shed staff and require the remaining staff to pick up the 
extra work or else.

Just like the last time.

And the time before.

> Yes, happy times are here ... right.
>
> End of rant.
</eor>

-- 
James P. Kinney III

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain

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