And Now, a Public Service Announcement

[Metcarfre]

Anyways. I think we can agree to the sentiment. "If you have a medical issue, and the means to seek professional help, please do so."

This goes for mental issues and addictions, as well as medical ones.

[EnglishMQ]

On the one hand I want to go to the Doctor, on the other hand from a Darwinian point of view, the food was really out of date and my diet is rubbish, I should probably just let myself die.

[Deedles]

I'm mainly surprised that a thread that obviously posted in good nature has gotten so edgy and glum.

[empath]

I'm torn between feeling alternately amused, confused or smug at reading this thread after getting back from a doctor visit for a somewhat serious inconvenience of a health issue that yet was of no real detriment to quality of life[/i].


And Wraith? You might wanna get a new record on the turntable there; that one is old, tired, and probably starting to get somewhat scratched.

[gcninja]

Ahem, I do believe Dreamer posted this with the intention of "If you're ill/in pain/hurt/etc, and have health care available to you, instead of sitting at home simply wondering, go and get yourself checked out.".

Even with Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal, emergency room visit is 800 dollars, and thats still an 80 mile drive.
The local walk in now charges 75dollar urgent care fee for walking in without an appointment. So unless I get hurt at work, I'm not going in.

[TheRocket]

And Wraith? You might wanna get a new record on the turntable there; that one is old, tired, and probably starting to get somewhat scratched.

Says the man who just got home from the doctors for nothing.
Which would have cost us $300 + ...... MMMHMMMM.

I hate this thread. It jsut reminds me of all the potentially horrible things I need to see the doctor for and cannot afford to quite yet because I live in awful USA.

More importantly this thread jsut ruined Wraiths weekend because now he will be hearing about this funk nonstop.

[JustAName]

I will say, despite all the conflict, it's kind of soothing to see Wraith around more again. It was weird when he wasn't as much.

[TheRocket]

You can blame Dragon Age for that.

[Wraith]

And Wraith? You might wanna get a new record on the turntable there; that one is old, tired, and probably starting to get somewhat scratched.

Yea, you know who else has a broken record? Bill collectors. "Pay for your medical bills! Pay for your medical bills! Pay for your medical bills!"

I keep talk about it frequently because it's frequently an issue. It's not beating a dead horse if the horse is rearing up and trying to kill you.

[Tally]

I think it's fair to say that the more nothing gets said, the more nothing gets done... and the US' health care is in a truly abysmal state, so I'm hoping something gets done, because there are a lot of people I care about living down there.

[Deedles]

I agree with Tally on that.

Ahem, I do believe Dreamer posted this with the intention of "If you're ill/in pain/hurt/etc, and have health care available to you, instead of sitting at home simply wondering, go and get yourself checked out.".

Even with Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal, emergency room visit is 800 dollars, and thats still an 80 mile drive.
The local walk in now charges 75dollar urgent care fee for walking in without an appointment. So unless I get hurt at work, I'm not going in.

People who can go, who don't have to pay money for it that they don't have, should seek out health care instead of taking a risk.

[Avistew]

Don't worry, as soon as I'm back in France in April, I'll get treated for everything. I think health is an important investment, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'm even allowed to get insurance here.

[Tim]

Canada! Yay!

*shifty eyes*

[TheRocket]

Don't worry, as soon as I'm back in France in April, I'll get treated for everything. I think health is an important investment, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'm even allowed to get insurance here.

You are allowed. They will take your money no matter what. Now filing a claim on the other hand....

[empath]

I think it's fair to say that the more nothing gets said, the more nothing gets done... and the US' health care is in a truly abysmal state, so I'm hoping something gets done, because there are a lot of people I care about living down there.

I think this is something just about EVERYONE (except maybe a homicidal misanthrope) can get behind; I'm just seriously getting tired with the petty and selfish down there ACTIVELY THWARTING attempts to resolve a huge problem affecting almost all of America's citizens and residents.

[tamaness]

I think it's fair to say that the more nothing gets said, the more nothing gets done... and the US' health care is in a truly abysmal state, so I'm hoping something gets done, because there are a lot of people I care about living down there.

I think this is something just about EVERYONE (except maybe a homicidal misanthrope) can get behind; I'm just seriously getting tired with the petty and selfish down there ACTIVELY THWARTING attempts to resolve a huge problem affecting almost all of America's citizens and residents.

I absolutely agree that it's broken, and that all of the solutions that have gained any traction are either abysmal or merely self-serving.

I'm not saying I'd do any better.

But for now, we, as a country do have bills to pay, and a budget to balance. Adding new costs isn't going to help that. We need to get the current spending under control first (there are steps in the right direction, but no big movement yet).

I also can't say I'd do any better at that part of it. I'm terrible at budgeting.

[Lord Chrusher]

The United States already has the largest public health care system in the world. Unfortunately in the United States public health care is only available a fraction of the population.

[AlexanderDitto]

The United States already has the largest public health care system in the world. Unfortunately in the United States public health care is only available a fraction of the population.

It's also wasteful and expensive, in large part because it's disorganized and inefficient as shit.

I work on trying to drag hospitals into the 21st century, and it's painful, partially because private industry has completely fucked things up in hospitals by selling tons of shit that doesn't do what it's supposed to, partially because the government has fucked things up by blocking access to information and change through restrictive litigation that prevents new ideas from entering the system and entrenches big companies like GE and Phillips, who refuse to innovate, and partially because nobody has the balls to put their foot down and say "this is how we need to reorganize our healthcare information infrastructure, and we're going to do it NOW. Not in ten years when my golden parachute has deployed and I'm on a beach in Malibu somewhere, but NOW."

Working with hospitals and physicians is a nightmare. People are political and protective of their territory, refusing to work even with other floors in the hospital. They don't think like scientists, they're not rational, and frankly they don't know what they're doing. It's a mess, a wasteful ugly mess that is costing people their lives.

Until that mess is sorted out, healthcare in the US is going to be expensive and really low quality.

[Season's Beatings]

Ah, so.

You guys should really get that looked at. Your health care system, that is.

Sure. Tell you what. You foot the bill for taking point on shit like this, which we usually take the point on because "we have the biggest military" (why do you think that is? because we spend a metric-shit ton of our money on it because no one else will) and we'll see about putting some of that back into our broken health care system.

You're not one of those "World Police" types, are you?

[Drinnik]

I went to see a nurse! And she sent me to see a doctor. Who sent me to see another doctor. Who has now sent me to see some ultrasound people, who will eventually send me to see the second doctor. After that, I don't know.

But I'm hoping there will be ice-cream.

[JayBlanc]

But for now, we, as a country do have bills to pay, and a budget to balance. Adding new costs isn't going to help that. We need to get the current spending under control first (there are steps in the right direction, but no big movement yet).

I also can't say I'd do any better at that part of it. I'm terrible at budgeting.

Well, there was the small, minor point, that the estimates of 'cost' of taking up a 'Public Option' health care system in the US would have been a net reduction in what the government spends on health care, as well as increased tax income from a stronger economy due to a healthier work force.

Directly because it would have operated as a low cost insurance plan people paid into, but also because it would have allowed the government to influence hospital and pharmaceutical costs. It's openly admitted that those prices are over-inflated by the 'free market' of only having private health insurance, because they can demand a price as high as the insurance companies are willing to pay, and the insurance companies just put up premiums and restrict access to compensate because after all they have a 'captive market'.

The political argument made against 'Public Option' was both that it would be so awfully efficient that it would put the private companies out of business, *and* that it would be so awfully inefficient it would mean the government would spend more money on health care.

(An aside mention of the US Post Office, might be warranted. The US Post Office is extremely efficient, and would be running at a net profit towards the US. But for a law passed that required the US Post Office to fully fund it's pension fund for the next 70 years, something no other company or branch of government in the US does, which makes it appear to be in deficit. Except that all the money is there, and even earning the US Post Office interest, they're just ordered to count it as a loss. One might suspect a political motive for that unusual accounting requirement.)

[Lord Chrusher]

I thought that the United States Postal Service was going broke because people were not sending anywhere as much mail as they used to and the USPS is forced to provide an unrealistically high level of service.

More organisation should be forced to fully fund their pension obligations. If you want to talk ticking fiscal time bombs you can not do better than America's under-funded pensions.

[JayBlanc]

I thought that the United States Postal Service was going broke because people were not sending anywhere as much mail as they used to and the USPS is forced to provide an unrealistically high level of service.

Strip out the pension funding mandate, and the USPS operates at a large surplus. And of course the USPS can't go broke, it's not a business, it's a constitutionally required US Federal Government service that happens to be run as if it were a business. But then saddled with lots of rules that real businesses don't have to follow, and even then would be running a notational 'profit' if not for it's pension fund mandate.

More organisation should be forced to fully fund their pension obligations. If you want to talk ticking fiscal time bombs you can not do better than America's under-funded pensions.

It's not that their having to fully fund their pension obligations... It's that they were ordered to fund the whole 75 year fund right away, and for employees they haven't even hired yet. Because of these mandates, the USPS Pension fund is currently growing by around $13 billion a year over what it has to pay out. Even after emergency measures taken to 'default' on some of the mandated payments!

[TomBrend]

I'd just like to add that none of you are allowed to die, either. Or fall into a coma, or anything serious like that.

Dammit, I had a coma pencilled in for Wednesday.

[plummeting_sloth]

@jay

It is then with some considerable glee that I see the part of law that did pass, mandating that insurers must spend a certain percentage of their income on actual care, is looking like it's doing the same thing. Public and non-profit options in the state markets are looking to make a killing, as they don't have nearly the same amount of administrative overhead to worry about. Of course, this is causing some insurers to pressure states to nullify the exchanges and lawmakers to overturn the law.