Politics As Usual

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
The major Shi'ite religious leader, what's-his-name, polled at 70% in the same poll. Chalabi's approval rating needed three or four decimal places, FWIW.

If the polls say it's going poorly there, well then the polls must be broken, right? The polls that showed Sadr with much less standing a few months ago were presumably more accurate, though.

God Ty. i meant it more as a This American Life muse on how strange the concept must be for Iraquis. But surely there is a chance of them being influenced, don't you think? even so, within my short post I allowed for the results being accurate and based upon the general hatred felt for America in the mid-east.

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Do you think the polls are possibly accurate? Don't you think there is still a likely fear of reprisal?

You mean they secretly love us and can't wait to shower us with flowers as soon as we get rid of the big bad man who's oppressing them and making them tell all those nasty lies? This sounds familiar.

Remember the lady who cheered the British

Off Slave's corner, ho!

Its like on Fashion when people ask if you think T's funny you say of course or you could get yelled at.

First they came for Penske's socks, but because I was not a sock I said nothing.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by sgtclub
That's funny - especially coming from someone who always feels the need to level personal attacks.

Boo-hoo. You are the pussiest pussy that's ever pussed out on this board. Go back to Walnut Creek and have dull, distracted missionary sex with your dental hygienist trainee wife, ya pussy.

[Replaced_Texan]

So the testimony starts today in Congress about not-for-profit hospitals and billing practices, the class action lawsuit was amended yesterday to include more hospitals, and it looks like the very shaky system that we've been operating under for the last fifteen or so years is about to collapse.

What do we do?

Yes, I agree, people who don't have health insurance get screwed and they are probably the people who can least afford to get screwed. Yes, I agree, insurance companies negotiate very low rates, lower than the average rates. Yes, I've seen the bills for someone who has no insurance against the bill for someone who is insured, and yes, the rates charged to the uninsured is higher than the rates charged to the insured. BUT. Managed care screwed everything. The negotiated rates for the insurance companies are so low that 1.) the marginal revenues have fallen significantly for the insured and 2.) there's very little wiggle room to give away care or deeply discount it.

I don't see how it's possible to keep managed care contracts in place and not charge uninsured or out of network patients a higher rate than the rates negotated by the insurance companies. It's not just the not-for-profit hosptials, it's also the public hosptials and the for-profit hosptials that operate this way.

I'm generally pissed off at the entire situation. I'm pissed off at the plaintiffs lawyers for bringing up this suit, which is going to be expensive to defend (thus deferring funds that could go to, say, charity care). I'm pissed off at the government for ignoring the problem of the uninsured for so long while scaring every hosptial in the country with EMTALA. I'm pissed off at the insurance companies for taking so much control over health care. I'm pissed off that somehow or another we've gotten to the point that the quality and quantity of health care that we get is entirely dependent on who your employer is.

The plaintiff suit doesn't really make sense though. The underlying problem is that health care is expensive and no one wants to pay with it. Whether an uninsured patient gets a $50,000 bill or a $25,000 bill doesn't really matter if the patient can't pay for any of it. No one wants to pay for these people's care. Not Congress, not the patients, not the insurance companies, and not the hospitals.

This has always been a shaky system.

I would like to divorce employment from health care. I would like to give everyone in the country very basic coverage (similar to those crappy plans you could get in college for about $400 a year), and set up a system where people can buy (through an MSA) more comprehensive coverage if they wanted to. The insurance companies would have to market their products to individuals, not the companies, and individuals would be responsible for deciding what kind of care they want. A kid in her 20s with no real health problems doesn't need anything more than disaster coverage and maybe a yearly physical. The HMO product would be fine for her. The 40 year old accountant who hasn't been eating right for years may think about getting more a comprehensive indemnity policy.

I'm irritated that they're reducing this underlying problem to how hospitals price their products. That ignores the larger problem that isn't going away any time soon.

I have no idea how either candidate for president feels about this issue, though I haven't seen Tommy Thompson running to take charge of the problem of the uninsured.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Boo-hoo. You are the pussiest pussy that's ever pussed out on this board. Go back to Walnut Creek and have dull, distracted missionary sex with your dental hygienist trainee wife, ya pussy.

not to step in here, but club isn't in it for the boring. remember this is the guy who was coming on to not me for quite awhile- and there are 2 explanations for the quiet there lately.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
God Ty. i meant it more as a This American Life muse on how strange the concept must be for Iraquis. But surely there is a chance of them being influenced, don't you think? even so, within my short post I allowed for the results being accurate and based upon the general hatred felt for America in the mid-east.

I find myself wondering how they take polls in a country where the security is for shit and the telephones and electricity can't be counted on.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by ironweed
First they came for Penske's socks, but because I was not a sock I said nothing.

Then they came for Penske, and I cheered "huzzah!"

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
If you're talking about the American electorate, you may have a point -- the country is so polarized that even if Rummy were carving Satanic pentagrams on Iraqi prisoners with a dull steak knife people like you would defend him and call anyone who didn't a traitor (this is the flip-side of your argument "you hate him anyway, so there").

C'mon, Sidd, it's not like Rummy's flying airplanes into the WTC or anything. Get some fucking perspective.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
C'mon, Sidd, it's not like Rummy's flying airplanes into the WTC or anything. Get some fucking perspective.

Sidd thinks there is likely a memo where he encouraged it though

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Then they came for Penske, and I cheered "huzzah!"

Ah, the intermoderator power struggle.

When do you guys come up for re-election?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Yes, I agree, insurance companies negotiate very low rates, lower than the average rates.

Let's think of this like capitalists. Why can the insurance companies negotiate lower rates? Answer? Because there is excess capacity in the system.

Insurance companies wouldn't have so much power to lower rates if there were less hospital beds and operating rooms. If some of these hospitals went under, and when they do, then we will have a problem with too little capacity and then the hospitals will have the power.

Niether is a good situation. The only reason that the non-profits don't go under is because they are supported by endowments/donations. That is the market flaw - they are kept in business by donations.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Me
Or perhaps people who are not so politically motivated that they cannot learn from their mistakes and admit they were wrong? If it were a Clinton administration, there would have been a cover-up and a denial.

So, what is your position today?

Approving harsh interrogation tactics, and potentially "torture" against suspected terrorists was/would be "a mistake"?

You suggest that this decision was not politically motivated? Nonsense. As for denial and cover-up , they could write a book. [And someday will, splease read it for me. I'd hate to actually learn first-hand what the other side thought. TIA]

S_A_M

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Not Me
Let's think of this like capitalists. Why can the insurance companies negotiate lower rates?

Because they control the patient populations.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
Ah, the intermoderator power struggle.

When do you guys come up for re-election?

38. Beauty Is As Beauty Does


Gilligan suggests a beauty contest to decide which of the three women will become "Ms. Castaway." Mr. Howell attempts to sabotage the other contestants by spreading glue on the stage before Mary Ann's big dance scene, and by shooting spit-wads at Ginger while she performs. The Professor then distorts the music when it is Mrs. Howell's turn. Then, when all the competitions are complete, the final decision rests with the judge.....Gilligan!


b: 23-Sep-1965 w: Joanna Lee d: Jack Arnold


Now if someone would just say smart chicks are ugly.....

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
C'mon, Sidd, it's not like Rummy's flying airplanes into the WTC or anything. Get some fucking perspective.

Look, neither of you, and none of your buddies, were directly affected by the WTC incident. Therefore, you are not permitted to have any fucking opinions on what is or is not appropriate in Iraq or, really, anywhere, about anything to do with any kind of security or policing. Yeah, that includes opinions on Thurgreed getting stopped for DWB.

But Ashcroft may certainly outlaw abortion.