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I really want to comment in the "United States has the Worst Health care" thread...but I don't wanna get yelled at by all the people satisfied with the current state of affairs.
 
RoboChicken said:
I really want to comment in the "United States has the Worst Health care" thread...but I don't wanna get yelled at by all the people satisfied with the current state of affairs.
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if you dont like it you can giiiiittttt outtttt
 
RoboChicken said:
I really want to comment in the "United States has the Worst Health care" thread...but I don't wanna get yelled at by all the people satisfied with the current state of affairs.
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No one should be satisfied with the current state of affairs - liberal or conservative. Its a mess. The health care reform was a good effort, and the soul behind it is a step in the right direction, but in all practicality it was butchered by special interests, the insurance lobbyists, obstructionist politics, and compromising with a side that had no interest in compromising other than to weaken the bill and its potential effects so their party wouldn't look so bad and have a mid-electoral chance rather than putting the American people first. It resulted in a weak bill that has some good qualities but doesn't do enough, and became essentially a hand out for the insurance companies to get even more profits by having all these mandated individuals to be insured without any mechanism of controlling costs or a competing public insurance to increase market competition. The irony of it all is that the bill which was passed is nearly identical to Republican proposals in the 90s and Nixon's own. Yet conservatives claim it is a socialism. Pot calling the kettle black a bit?

So we've put a short term band-aid on a huge problem, and took a step back by empowering insurance companies even more to screw over workers and health care practitioners.
 
Longshanks said:
No one should be satisfied with the current state of affairs - liberal or conservative. Its a mess. The health care reform was a good effort, and the soul behind it is a step in the right direction, but in all practicality it was butchered by special interests, the insurance lobbyists, obstructionist politics, and compromising with a side that had no interest in compromising other than to weaken the bill and its potential effects so their party wouldn't look so bad and have a mid-electoral chance rather than putting the American people first. It resulted in a weak bill that has some good qualities but doesn't do enough, and became essentially a hand out for the insurance companies to get even more profits by having all these mandated individuals to be insured without any mechanism of controlling costs or a competing public insurance to increase market competition. The irony of it all is that the bill which was passed is nearly identical to Republican proposals in the 90s and Nixon's own. Yet conservatives claim it is a socialism. Pot calling the kettle black a bit?

So we've put a short term band-aid on a huge problem, and took a step back by empowering insurance companies even more to screw over workers and health care practitioners.
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I'm neither a fan of controlling costs nor insurance. I have a feeling adcomms would murder me if I said that.
 
FlowRate said:
I'm neither a fan of controlling costs nor insurance. I have a feeling adcomms would murder me if I said that.
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But it works so amazingly in other high-tech healthcare societies like Japan and France! At one point in my life I agreed with you, but then I learned about the way some other countries have managed to solve the same problems we are facing in America. Most of them managed to solve the problems in a much better way than canada/britain, who have really been sort of a evil spectre in our public discourse about healthcare, keeping the US from any good changes. But the way Japan and France did it was by forcing insurance companies to be non-profit (still private, tho). It works amazingly but I can't see something like that passing in the US for a while, so don't worry about it if you're not a fan 😛
 
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Suncrusher said:
But it works so amazingly in other high-tech healthcare societies like Japan and France! At one point in my life I agreed with you, but then I learned about the way some other countries have managed to solve the same problems we are facing in America. Most of them managed to solve the problems in a much better way than canada/britain, who have really been sort of a evil spectre in our public discourse about healthcare, keeping the US from any good changes. But the way Japan and France did it was by forcing insurance companies to be non-profit (still private, tho). It works amazingly but I can't see something like that passing in the US for a while, so don't worry about it if you're not a fan 😛
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I would still argue that a free market system is inherently cheaper and more efficient and--even better--with the current information age, informed consumerism is totally possible. (psh like most consumers of anything these days are totally informed 🙄)

But I can see the merit in other systems. I've heard Australia works okay. However, I much prefer freer systems over governmental involvement. (non profit insurance companies is a pretty good idea.. although I still think "insurance" is a misnomer for the most part.)
 
I like government intervention when it means all people having access to medical care. But then again, I am a bit of a socialist at heart.

I, however, realize it's impossible to just go cold turkey on our current system, and change instantly. But universal healthcare is something I'd like to see happen while I'm alive.
 
RoboChicken said:
I like government intervention when it means all people having access to medical care. But then again, I am a bit of a socialist at heart.

I, however, realize it's impossible to just go cold turkey on our current system, and change instantly. But universal healthcare is something I'd like to see happen while I'm alive.
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Access to medical care is a really loaded but ambiguous catchphrase of the HC debate. To me, it means 1. available physicians. 2. affordable cost.

Almost all of my visits are a $12 copay. That's pretty darn affordable, I think. I'm not sure how much insurance is annually, but I seem to recall the number 4,000. What if, instead of paying that 4,000, you could just use that money at your doctor? So instead of paying a $12 copay and then your doc being reimbursed another $36, what if you just gave him $50? It's just as affordable. Maybe that's a simplistic view, but I think it's totally plausible.

As for having docs in rural/underserved area, I think THAT is a much more difficult problem. Supply/demand can't work with government intervention, so the govt has to manufacture the cost disparity, or people won't want to do it. Again, just shifting money to the government. But in this case, I don't disagree as much. I'm not a total anarchist, I just think the answer is not ALWAYS government.
 
So I just saw inception and omg it was amazing. One of the better movies I've seen in a long time. So awesome. Though the ending was irritating. I hate endings like that
 
all i know is that insurance companies at present in the US suck ass

and because they are for-profit and want to make big dividends for their shareholders, they only put $0.85 out of every dollar they are paid in insurance premiums towards actually providing healthcare, the rest of the money goes towards their profits, their tangled administrations, their teams of rescindors, etc. Every time they actually have to pay out for someone's healthcare, they consider it a loss. Other countries have shown it's possible to have $.96-98 (USA Medicare = $0.98) of every dollar go towards actually providing care. Losing 13% of our premiums right off the bat is not the most efficient way we could be doing things. If (when) I get asked this question at interviews, I'm going to leave typical USA political views on government out of it, and just hold up other countries as examples that perhaps we could learn from. After all, the US has the best educated doctors, the best equipment, and the best infrastructure. All we need now is a better way to pay for it, and other countries can help give us good examples that we can pick and choose from. Having competing, private but non-profit insurance companies has really been amazing in some other wealthy countries that successfully achieved universal coverage.

...I guess I know a lot more than just that they suck ass. 😛
 
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Elijah05 said:
So I just saw inception and omg it was amazing. One of the better movies I've seen in a long time. So awesome. Though the ending was irritating. I hate endings like that
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Inception= pure amazing awesomeness. I smiled like a dork the entire time.
 
FlowRate said:
Access to medical care is a really loaded but ambiguous catchphrase of the HC debate. To me, it means 1. available physicians. 2. affordable cost.

Almost all of my visits are a $12 copay. That's pretty darn affordable, I think. I'm not sure how much insurance is annually, but I seem to recall the number 4,000. What if, instead of paying that 4,000, you could just use that money at your doctor? So instead of paying a $12 copay and then your doc being reimbursed another $36, what if you just gave him $50? It's just as affordable. Maybe that's a simplistic view, but I think it's totally plausible.

As for having docs in rural/underserved area, I think THAT is a much more difficult problem. Supply/demand can't work with government intervention, so the govt has to manufacture the cost disparity, or people won't want to do it. Again, just shifting money to the government. But in this case, I don't disagree as much. I'm not a total anarchist, I just think the answer is not ALWAYS government.
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Well, it may be affordable for you and me. But not for many, many Americans.

I don't necessarily think the govt. should take it over, I just think that simple steps, like:

- not allowing insurance companies to deny anyone
- flat rates for procedures (i.e. MRI's...etc.)
- support for the poor

would already help a lot.
 
Elijah05 said:
So I just saw inception and omg it was amazing. One of the better movies I've seen in a long time. So awesome. Though the ending was irritating. I hate endings like that
Click to expand...
HEY! That's like a half spoiler! NOOOOOOOOO... I was gonna go see it tonight!
Suncrusher said:
all i know is that insurance companies at present in the US suck ass
Click to expand...
I can agree with that!
 
Suncrusher said:
But it works so amazingly in other high-tech healthcare societies like Japan and France! At one point in my life I agreed with you, but then I learned about the way some other countries have managed to solve the same problems we are facing in America. Most of them managed to solve the problems in a much better way than canada/britain, who have really been sort of a evil spectre in our public discourse about healthcare, keeping the US from any good changes. But the way Japan and France did it was by forcing insurance companies to be non-profit (still private, tho). It works amazingly but I can't see something like that passing in the US for a while, so don't worry about it if you're not a fan 😛
Click to expand...

But in Japan doctors get paid nothing....

Wasn't sure if you post was sarcastic or not 😀
 
FlowRate said:
HEY! That's like a half spoiler! NOOOOOOOOO... I was gonna go see it tonight!

I can agree with that!
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lol sorry i didnt think it would spoil things too much. The movie was serious so amazing i cant put it into words. It was so hyped i thought i was going to be dissapointed but i def get the hype behind it.
 
FlowRate said:
I would still argue that a free market system is inherently cheaper and more efficient and--even better--with the current information age, informed consumerism is totally possible. (psh like most consumers of anything these days are totally informed 🙄)

But I can see the merit in other systems. I've heard Australia works okay. However, I much prefer freer systems over governmental involvement. (non profit insurance companies is a pretty good idea.. although I still think "insurance" is a misnomer for the most part.)
Click to expand...

I prefer free markets as well. Its just right now there's really isn't a free market, since there's little competition. Government intervention is needed sometimes to help markets work better, like busting up the monopolies in the early 19th century.

FlowRate said:
Access to medical care is a really loaded but ambiguous catchphrase of the HC debate. To me, it means 1. available physicians. 2. affordable cost.

Almost all of my visits are a $12 copay. That's pretty darn affordable, I think. I'm not sure how much insurance is annually, but I seem to recall the number 4,000. What if, instead of paying that 4,000, you could just use that money at your doctor? So instead of paying a $12 copay and then your doc being reimbursed another $36, what if you just gave him $50? It's just as affordable. Maybe that's a simplistic view, but I think it's totally plausible.

As for having docs in rural/underserved area, I think THAT is a much more difficult problem. Supply/demand can't work with government intervention, so the govt has to manufacture the cost disparity, or people won't want to do it. Again, just shifting money to the government. But in this case, I don't disagree as much. I'm not a total anarchist, I just think the answer is not ALWAYS government.
Click to expand...

I understand where you're going with your last paragraph and generally agree.

For the rest though, some people may not have to ability to spend $50 on a visit. It all depends on their socio-economic level and their job, what their weekly budget is and the benefits from such job (which less and less exist). In terms of cost, I meant earlier on the insurance premium side. There's always inflation and new treatments will cost more, but by adding more people to the insurance pool isn't the theory that it should spread out liability and each individual puts in a little less money but you'd still have more money overall in the pool? I understand they would never lower rates, but at least keep them stable for a while since now they have all these more people paying into programs (or the government subsidizing them) so that it reflects inflation and the job market. We're one of the richest nations, there's plenty of money in the pool, its just there's no competition or incentive to keep premiums down, so they keep rising and line the pockets of CEOs while not reimbursing practitioners or supporting patients.


edit: I don't want this to be a thread killer or downer... I just find the people in that thread get so visceral and don't argue with any logic, those both sides.... so let's get back to fun topics like cupcakes, Cosby, MMOs, secondaries...
 
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yay UCLA and UCSD secondaries back to back. Super happy, but a bit overwhelmed. I've gotten so many today. Maybes they realized it was my birthday and wanted to be nice.
 
Longshanks said:
But in Japan doctors get paid nothing....

Wasn't sure if you post was sarcastic or not 😀
Click to expand...

It wasn't sarcastic. Japanese doctors get paid average, and their medical school and college is free. But controlling physician compensation is not even close to the major way that Japan controls its healthcare costs, so I didn't mention it. Japan's system could be implemented here in America without changing physician compensation and it would work just as well

But yeah i agree: back to fun topics--food, sex, etc.
 
FlowRate said:
:scared:Chuckie returns?
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Ew!! ew ew ew ew. I am afraid of Chuckie.
Ew.

RoboChicken said:
WTF???!!! That is SOOOO WEIRD!

I just passed by a gas-station and was like, today on SDN, I will post an ice-breaker question: what is your fave scent? and I will put gasoline.

And you guys beat me to it. That is creepy.

Also, it's my birfday todaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!😀
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YAY Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

whimsical said:
My lips are sealed.

Now now cliff, let's not get hasty. I said you would tell them you're awesome. Not that you are awesome.


Admit it, you love me. 😛
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:laugh:
RoboChicken said:
sorry about the rant.
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Ranting is what this thread is for.
RoboChicken said:
yay UCLA and UCSD secondaries back to back. Super happy, but a bit overwhelmed. I've gotten so many today. Maybes they realized it was my birthday and wanted to be nice.
Click to expand...


Yay!! Congrats on getting screened in!

In Other News: Trader Joes' frozen vegetable pad Thai is AWESOME.
Too awesome.
 
Suncrusher said:
It wasn't sarcastic. Japanese doctors get paid average, and their medical school and college is free. But controlling physician compensation is not even close to the major way that Japan controls its healthcare costs, so I didn't mention it. Japan's system could be implemented here in America without changing physician compensation and it would work just as well

But yeah i agree: back to fun topics--food, sex, etc.
Click to expand...

I wasn't sure, Sun. Got thrown off by the wink emote. haha
 
my workouts have been hella good this week. this huge bowl of pasta with meatsauce is even better.
 
I am finally catching up on my TV watching....and of course watching SYTYCD first....from 7/7.....and I am crying about Alex🙁

Please, no one tell me what happens. I want to see what's going to unfold.


So. Freaking. Sad.


Also....sad that this happened 2 weeks ago and I had no idea🙁
 
I wanna go see inception again 😡 RIGHT NAOW!

In other news, tomorrow I learn how to perform surgeries on mice to implant little drug-releasing capsules 😎 suh-weeeeeet!

The mice are so effing cute, seriously. I'm glad this is what's known as a "survivor surgery." I don't think I have the heart to do the other kind, even when it's necessary for research
 
CougarMD said:
I am finally catching up on my TV watching....and of course watching SYTYCD first....from 7/7.....and I am crying about Alex🙁

Please, no one tell me what happens. I want to see what's going to unfold.


So. Freaking. Sad.


Also....sad that this happened 2 weeks ago and I had no idea🙁
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get...a...life... 🙂
 
I just spent ten minutes staring at a sentence of my secondary essay where I had used the word "youth" in both the singular and plural. Eventually, I decided it might trip up a reader, and used the alternate plural "youths" in stead of one of them, but THAT DOESN'T GET ME MY TEN MINUTES BACK 😡
 
Suncrusher said:
I just spent ten minutes staring at a sentence of my secondary essay where I had used the word "youth" in both the singular and plural. Eventually, I decided it might trip up a reader, and used the alternate plural "youths" in stead of one of them, but THAT DOESN'T GET ME MY TEN MINUTES BACK 😡
Click to expand...

I suggest a drink. Then at least if you lose ten minutes of your life you were doing something fun. 🙂
 
Suncrusher said:
I just spent ten minutes staring at a sentence of my secondary essay where I had used the word "youth" in both the singular and plural. Eventually, I decided it might trip up a reader, and used the alternate plural "youths" in stead of one of them, but THAT DOESN'T GET ME MY TEN MINUTES BACK 😡
Click to expand...

I feel you. I've spent the past 30 minutes tweaking bits and pieces of a secondary essay just so it fits within the character limit. Boy do I hate essay limits...
 
whimsical said:
Not a whole lot. Deciding on a new haircut and seeing if I missed any of my shows.

What's up with you?
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a few more secondaries. i want to be extremely happy, but then i look at my inbox and see the ratio of done/not done and it scares me lol

so i keep distracting myself into making plans for tomorrow night and the then when i get bored again i think about the following night....you get the picture lol
 
i have just been officially welcomed to the 21st century.
 
bigballer27 said:
a few more secondaries. i want to be extremely happy, but then i look at my inbox and see the ratio of done/not done and it scares me lol

so i keep distracting myself into making plans for tomorrow night and the then when i get bored again i think about the following night....you get the picture lol
Click to expand...

lol, don't look at the ratio. You should make a to do list with things you've already done to make yourself feel better. That's what I do...

Haha, I have been living very spontaneously (aside from all this friggin' work) and it's been great. Oh, I'm going to miss this summer.

cliffhuxtableDO said:
i have just been officially welcomed to the 21st century.
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:laugh: This is definitely fodder for a 2015 chat.
 
unfortunately, my pcom essays will have to wait til the morning. sorry pcom, i do love you though!
 
bigballer27 said:
i like to think of it as "brainstorming" 😉
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I like that! I got one last week that I'm really struggling with. Not because they are hard questions but I just really don't feel like answering them. I keep coming up with excuses (clearly the best new one is summer school).
 
I think if I was a med school one of my essay prompts would be the following:

Tell me a joke. (200 characters max).
 
duckgirl24 said:
I like that! I got one last week that I'm really struggling with. Not because they are hard questions but I just really don't feel like answering them. I keep coming up with excuses (clearly the best new one is summer school).
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im learning from you and baking some cookies right now, though yours probably shoot mine out of the water.....and they smell so goooooood but they're taking FOREVER!
 
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