Mildly political, but I think it's safe!

[T2K]

and another thing... why do we have to buy lottery tickets before the numbers are selected. Why can't we wait until after the drawing?

Keith

[garyrc]

When I was very young, my father had a friend who was a custodian at a local hospital in Syracuse, NY. He was a kind, gentle, hard working man. His employer did not provide him with health care coverage. Imagine, a hospital not providing their unskilled workforce with insurance. I will never forget the day (I was probably 10 years old) when I saw him tear up after the death of his wife from cancer. He was telling my father that he found out that his wife, prior to her death, had been cutting her pain pills in thirds because they had no insurance and the pain pills were expensive. She did not want her husband to know that she was stretching out the medication because, even though she was dying, she did not want HIM to feel bad that he could not afford her medication.

I am sorry, but in the richest nation in the history of time, how can ANYONE deny health care coverage to another? Are we savages?

Some are.

[garyrc]

not choosing sides (maybe I am though) but I've yet to see a government program that's efficient, consumer friendly and well run.

Medicare is the most cost effective medical insurance program in the United States. By "cost effective" I mean it has high customer satisfaction and the LOWEST administrative costs of any medical plan.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/Crossroads/06_13_03.html

Yes, and one of the better proposals before the ACA was voted in was to simply expand Medicare to cover everyone.

[tube fanatic]

Medicare is the most cost effective medical insurance program in the United States. By "cost effective" I mean it has high customer satisfaction and the LOWEST administrative costs of any medical plan.

Medicare, although decent from the patient viewpoint, is loaded with problems which if fixed would save billions of dollars. For example, there are medical conditions which are monitored through automated testing (taking only a few minutes) often performed by technicians in the doctor's office. If you, as a patient, need to have multiple tests for that condition, they will need to be performed on different days as only one test at a time will be covered. But, each time you go back, the doctor will charge for another office visit. Think of the saving to the program if all of the tests could be performed in a single visit. This situation is likely to get worse when the new diagnosis codes kick in on October 1. 2015. The level of specificity in describing a condition will be an administrative nightmare for doctors, but will allow for even more separation of tests to different days on which they can charge for additional office visits. Some predict that eventually you won't be able to get the wax cleaned out of both ears on the same day!

Maynard

[eth2]

It is the same with my Primary Care Doc. My typical annual visit consists of sitting in his waiting room for 45 minutes, being called in for my weight, BP, and height measurements (like I am going to grow at this point in my life). Then I am quizzed by a LPN who inputs the info into a laptop. After a 15 minute wait, the smug doctor arrives, speaks to me for 5-7 minutes (no more as this is his Practice's imposed limit) and then I am sent for a blood workup. Two weeks later,, I am back in the waiting room, followed by a RN reviewing my results. Wouldn't it make more sense to do the blood work FIRST and limit the visits to ONE? It's not like the blood work ever varies - it is the same panel every time. And BC/BS never blinks at the two visits.

[beeker]

um,...well,..will somebody that dont have a cold or herpes on their lip share one with me...can i spilt one with you...im not sick...phisically at least and do not have a herpe nor plural on my lip/s,...please,...i'll pay and sell straw drawn sips...? anybody?? please ???

Not sure this will fly, but here goes;

If someone has genitile herpes on their lip and it gets on the straw, and Someone else uses the straw and gets this herpes on their lip, do they have a cold sore, oral herpes, or genitile herpes?

And will this affect effect the type of music they like to listen to?

Confused

I dont know man. I just know in high school there was a girl who had them on the upper set(oral)...i will put it that way. I got about another $200 today so im almost able to buy a coffee without help.

You know...interestingly enough years later i had a friendship with this girl in particular. She had a very wide variety of music and tastes(i dont know how that effected the herpe' and her music tastes but i bet it did lol somehow...just imagine)She even let me use the last of her hair die(on scalp of course) once to die my hair blonde. She was a good gal. I dont think she meant harm to anybody...although the herpe subject never came up...And i wasnt about to press my luck against hers. Besides she was another(actually famous now, believe or not lol)buddy of mine' girlfriend.

I have learned to be open and honest very fast and up front in them days especially(20years ago)and i dont have anything not even Hep c. God bless those who do. I am on terms or have been in my 20's(now 40) at least to know who had what to stay "clean"myself....LOL...although kinda not funny

[Ski Bum]

not choosing sides (maybe I am though) but I've yet to see a government program that's efficient, consumer friendly and well run.

Medicare is the most cost effective medical insurance program in the United States. By "cost effective" I mean it has high customer satisfaction and the LOWEST administrative costs of any medical plan.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/Crossroads/06_13_03.html

Yes, and one of the better proposals before the ACA was voted in was to simply expand Medicare to cover everyone.

That proposal never made it out of committee. It smelled too French, or didn't provide enough largess to our corporate overlords. Thank goodness, we all so much better off thanks to this "market based" approach we have now, as opposed to the icky, Euro-socialist style Medicare for all. /s

[garyrc]

For example, there are medical conditions which are monitored through automated testing (taking only a few minutes) often performed by technicians in the doctor's office. If you, as a patient, need to have multiple tests for that condition, they will need to be performed on different days as only one test at a time will be covered

I'm on Medicare, have several serious conditions, but have never run into that. My doctor's office really doesn't do much of the testing (except BP, etc.) but it is done in a few other buildings on the same campus. I have monthly INR testing, twice yearly thyroid testing, and the usual blood panels. Once I had an ultrasound and a blood panel done on the same day, in the same building, with no problem with Medicare paying.

Does it say anything about "one test a day" in the Medicare booklet?

By the way, the time limit at my doctor's office is 30 minutes, and we have run over a few times. Same with a specialist's office accross campus.

[Taz]

um,...well,..will somebody that dont have a cold or herpes on their lip share one with me...can i spilt one with you...im not sick...phisically at least and do not have a herpe nor plural on my lip/s,...please,...i'll pay and sell straw drawn sips...? anybody?? please ???

Not sure this will fly, but here goes;

If someone has genitile herpes on their lip and it gets on the straw, and Someone else uses the straw and gets this herpes on their lip, do they have a cold sore, oral herpes, or genitile herpes?

And will this affect effect the type of music they like to listen to?

Confused

I dont know man. I just know in high school there was a girl who had them on the upper set(oral)...i will put it that way. I got about another $200 today so im almost able to buy a coffee without help.

You know...interestingly enough years later i had a friendship with this girl in particular. She had a very wide variety of music and tastes(i dont know how that effected the herpe' and her music tastes but i bet it did lol somehow...just imagine)She even let me use the last of her hair die(on scalp of course) once to die my hair blonde. She was a good gal. I dont think she meant harm to anybody...although the herpe subject never came up...And i wasnt about to press my luck against hers. Besides she was another(actually famous now, believe or not lol)buddy of mine' girlfriend.

I have learned to be open and honest very fast and up front in them days especially(20years ago)and i dont have anything not even Hep c. God bless those who do. I am on terms or have been in my 20's(now 40) at least to know who had what to stay "clean"myself....LOL...although kinda not funny

I never meant for my comment to be a put down of any type for anyone's illness that they might suffer from. For some reason some illnesses have a more negative stigma then others. Mental health is one of the illnesses that has a stigma that seems to be worse then something like a heart condition. I know that people that suffer from either of these would rather they did not. I have not worked on a cardiac unit, although some of the patients I've worked with have had cardiac health concerns.

I will bare a small piece of my soul so to speak. I spent the more then 10 years working on a mental health unit. A locked unit where patients could not just come and go as they please. I had the keys. I had to make judgement calls that affected my patients care. I tried to do what was right for these people as did my co-workers. Now even though I know that someone with a mental illness does not choose to be that way. I find it difficult, as do some of my co-workers, to admit that I have mental health issues. Yes I have spent time on a locked psychiatric unit both as a nurse, and as a patient. Fortunately for me in both cases it was my choice to make. Some people do not have the option to be treated for their illness. Some just can't get the treatment they need. Often due to flaws in the system. Others have treatment forced upon them whether they want it or not.

There are a lot of Good People that suffer from illness that they wish they did not have. Often the illness may be the butt of a joke, and they just grin and bare it while keeping their mouth shut.

To anyone that I may hurt with my insensitive statement, I want to say I'm sorry. Also this is another illness I have suffered the shame and the butt of jokes while keeping my mouth shut since my teenage years,

John

[oldtimer]

not choosing sides (maybe I am though) but I've yet to see a government program that's efficient, consumer friendly and well run.

I never heard anyone who did not complain about their health insurance company and its policies either. Government can provide services in a well run, efficient and consumer friendly manner, it is sad that it is the exception rather than the rule.