damn_registrars's Journal: Surprise! You owe another $117k!

Funny how we didn't do anything about this problem. After Surgery, Surprise $117,000 Medical Bill From Doctor He Didnâ(TM)t Know (new york times, 9/20/2014).

Oh, wait. We didn't actually do anything - aside from handing out the largest government handout in the history of government - with the affordable care act. If you want to know who owns the congresspeople and senators that are supposed to represent you, look only as far as the insurance card(s) in your wallet.

It was all a river of lies

[smittyoneeach]

Culminating, of course, in the one that the ultimate goal of it all is other than Single Prayer.
But who will bother with wallets anymore, once paradise is fully legislated? Private property is so capitalist.

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[damn_registrars]

Culminating, of course, in the one that the ultimate goal of it all is other than Single Prayer.

Yawwwwwn.... Can't you find a different conspiracy theory? The Lawnchair Administration has been moving at glacial speed since inauguration. If they were going to make a play towards jettisoning the Health Insurance Industry Bailout Act of 2010 in favor of something that isn't pro-business, they would have needed to do it before now. You need to either accept that your FUD on the matter is baseless or find someone else to magically pin it to.

Of course, the latter would require you to forecast a fu

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[BarbaraHudson]

Well, the drug companies are against single payer, because they no longer have a reason to spend $4 on advertising to the consumer for every $1 on actual drug development.

The media are against single payer because they get a LOT of their revenue from those marketing dollars.

Some doctors are against single payer because they can no longer prescribe higher-markup drugs and let the insurance companies pay.

Insurance companies are against single payer because they can no longer say "we need to charge rates th

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[damn_registrars]

Some doctors are against single payer because they can no longer prescribe higher-markup drugs and let the insurance companies pay.

I can't speak for all 50 states of the country I live in, but I have lived in two that have addressed that matter in a way. Both states have a check (or initial) box for "dispense as written", ie no generic substitutions allowed for a given drug. The default behavior - with the box left alone - is to allow pharmacists to provide the patient with the generic substitute of the drug if it is available.

Not once have I seen a physician fill in that box, and I've had a fair number of prescriptions over the

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[BarbaraHudson]

The "Affordable Care Act" doesn't go at all far enough. It is to be lauded as a first step, but only a first step - in the sense that at least SOMETHING was done. The health insurance industry is no longer quite the untouchable sacred cow it was.

People keep complaining that government doesn't do enough, or that it's more efficient in private hands. And yet if you ask residents of countries with single payer plans if they'd switch to a US-style plan, they cringe. WE had to put photo ID on our universal

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[damn_registrars]

The "Affordable Care Act" doesn't go at all far enough.

I agree with you on that one.

at least SOMETHING was done

Indeed something was done, but it was of almost no value. All it really did was demonstrate how much power the insurance industry has over Washington DC.

health insurance industry is no longer quite the untouchable sacred cow it was.

I could hardly disagree with you more on that one. The ACA is, from my vantage point, the largest handout to industry in the history of government. The ACA makes very nearly every American citizen an obligate consumer of for-profit health insurance. It didn't even include a single payer option for those who would want to

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[BarbaraHudson]

You're right - I forgot that the obligatory provisions (without a government-run option) were a huge funding grab.

What would happen if individual states decided to offer a single-payer option? Is there the will to do it?

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[damn_registrars]

What would happen if individual states decided to offer a single-payer option?

I think it happened in Vermont, if I'm not mistaken. Not sure if it is still in effect or not. I believe it happened when Howard Dean (who was assassinated by the media during his attempt to run for the democratic presidential nomination - for being >gasp!

Is there the will to do it?

It is generally viewed as political suicide anywhere else in the US.

I do think it could be offered, though. To the best of my knowledge there is nothing in the ACA preventing it from being done. Of course being as the insurance industry owns t

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[damn_registrars]

It looks like I accidentally mangled my comment there while talking about Howard Dean. I was attempting to use greater-than and less-than brackets to show emphasis but neglected to realize that the less than would be interpreted as the opening of a tag. If you don't remember how Dean was assassinated in the media for being enthusiastic, here's the "Dean scream" [wikipedia.org] - which ultimately led to his political demise. Some claim that he might make another attempt in 2016 [cnn.com] but I'll believe it only when I see it. I

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[BarbaraHudson]

I guess when it comes to politicians, we have a problem. To get elected, they have to seem like "everyman", someone who will promote stability and confidence. And yet, they have to seem just different enough to be able to make enough change to give people a reason to vote for them.

Get too enthusiastic about ANYTHING, and you're a kook. You're not "aware enough" of your "public image". Be passionate about anything, no matter how important, and you're "one-dimensional", with "a one-item agenda", "not ca

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[damn_registrars]

Be passionate about anything, no matter how important, and you're "one-dimensional", with "a one-item agenda", "not capable of seeing the big picture."

That was what really ground my gears watching Dean get pulverized. He wasn't even getting excited about an issue; he was showing enthusiasm for the primary process itself. He basically said "we did great in a previous state, OK here, but we're going to states A, B, C, ... then eventually to the white house, yeah!". That seems pretty big picture to me. Nonetheless the media latched on to it and successfully painted him as some kind of unstable mental patient (with an MD, no less, but whatever...).

(I'm probably the only person in the western world who, if you showed me pictures of 3 women, would not be able to identify Kim Kardashian)

If I

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[fustakrakich]

Let go of the stinkers, man... That old tripe don't fly no more.

See? I told ya. There is no end. You just restart the cycle. Only this time, bleh...

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[damn_registrars]

That sounds like a crappy way to end an evening; my sympathies. It doesn't sound quite as dire as the guy in Sicko who accidentally cut off two of his fingers with a table saw and was forced to choose which one he wanted reattached as his insurance wouldn't cover both. Nonetheless I hope you heal up.