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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110127/ap_on_re_us/us_medicare_republicans

It is in the talks, but nothing concrete, but the GOP is proposing to privatizing it and use vouchers. Is it true that is more "deeper cuts" than the Dems did it? So the Tea Party saying that they will fix medicare (and thus get re-elected) just blowing smoke and will hurt medicare even more with this move?

Man... so many stuff today. This is my last article for today

Chibi, I'm going to come over to your house and remove the "." key from your keyboard.

Any change to the Medicare system will fail without forcing the medical providers to reduce costs.

Tress said:

Chibi, I'm going to come over to your house and remove the "." key from your keyboard.

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I guess I could just do <sigh> or <pause>

AshburnerX said:

Any change to the Medicare system will fail without forcing the medical providers to reduce costs.

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Change heck... even leaving medicare alone will fail if medical costs don't go down. The problem is we have a capitalist system that has managed to shield the consumer from actually having to think about the cost of their actions. There's no bargain-hunting in medical care because the insurance mentality (not just medicare, but private insurance too) says "I pay my premiums, now the rich insurance company gets stuck with the bill and I get everything I want or need, without even considering the cost at all."

Thus, providers are largely removed from the essential element that keeps capitalism working: competition. Oh sure, one doctor might compete with another over bedside manner or an unquantifiable "quality of care," but for the most part a doctor is a doctor is a doctor to most people... and if you can get what you need on your first stop for as-good-as-free, why shop around or argue price? Insurers (and medicare) fought back in the form of "networks," in that for a doctor to be "in network" they have to agree to certain prices - which are STILL inflated, just not as badly as those NOT in-network.

Price competition needs to be reintroduced into the medical care industry. Association of cost needs to be reintroduced to the patient. Once providers start undercutting each other, suddenly things will get a lot more efficient and reasonably priced. It's easier said than done, though, I realize. Patients have gotten too used to not having to think about the cost of their health care, and Doctors, as always, feel entitled to an upper class standard of living. And I'm saying this as the son and stepson of two doctors.

Price competition in health care. Heh. Heh heh heh.

Adammon said:

Price competition in health care. Heh. Heh heh heh.

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Yeah, I know the Medical community isn't exactly the most appreciable to having the apple cart rattled. After all, when one doctor said maybe there'd be less postnatal infections leading to death if doctors would maybe wash their hands when going from the cadaver room to the delivery room, they pretty much ran him out on a rail.

Added at: 19:49

Adammon said:

Price competition in health care. Heh. Heh heh heh.

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Hilarious. Fuck, even the French got it right.

Because that's what you want to do when you're sick. Shop around. Find the doctor who will save your life for the bare bottom most price. That broken arm can wait. I'm sure those chest pains are nothing. Your kid's fever isn't that high is it?

"Tired of fancy, expensive hospitals? Does your doctor bother with fancy extras like autoclaves and properly educated staff? Then stop wasting your money and come to Doctor Bargain Billy's Discount Surgery and Oil Changes!"

"No, no, we can't go to County General! St. Mark's is having a sale on sutures!"
"Sir, you're bleeding out. St. Mark's is unnecessarily far away."
"Shut up! It's my money, I'll decide what hospital you worry wart EMTs take me to!"

I'd rather not see a world where medical care has an equivalent to Sav-A-Lot. I don't feel like trusting my life to the pharmaceutical version of "Dr. Pop" and "Thirst" brand sodas.

"Hi everybody!"
"Hi Dr. Nick!"

I should elaborate that, while I agree that adding some competitive elements to the medical industry would most likely help alleviate prices to some extent, it also has a possible catastrophic downside that worries me.

Price competition creates innovation, but it does so in both directions - it encourages people to find ways to offer the best services for the best prices and encourages people to create the most watered down, poor quality, dirt cheap version of the product/service possible. The dollar store option, if you will. While, in an ideal world, these crappy products would be laughed right off the market, the reality is that people of low means end up using them to save money. And if we end up with "dollar store" medical care, people will use it. And people will get hurt. And people will die.

I would further submit that poor quality health care could potentially be worse than having none at all. When you have none, you notice. When you have shitty care, you might notice how bad until something goes REALLY wrong.

Or have governments regulate shit themselves?

Jay said:

Or have governments regulate shit themselves?

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If you think GasBandit would suggest government regulation over raw, naked, throbbing free market competition to handle poor quality products, one of us isn't reading his posts closely enough.

And I don't think it's me.

Heh, I give up.

A message to all...

Americans can take their broken "health care system" or lack thereof, the entirety of their political parties that go up an' arms at trivial bullshit, the corrupted insurance companies who control everything yet noone will openly state it in the office and quite frankly shove it up their collective asses.

The fact that every few months I get the pleasure to read news of "proooooooogressssss" on this agenda that quite frankly ISN'T, as a patchjob is technically a patchjob and should be treated as nothing but a goddamn patchjob. Yet even shitty patchjobs fuck up the problem even more because the government lacks the balls to change things like real country have, and some have done at the worst moment in their history (ex: U.K during WW2). The whole ordeal is honestly, enraging to me and it doesn't matter to me in the least if people listen to me or not, I just want to vent.

I feel bad for people who are victims in a terribly run country with a complete lack of direction. I've seen the news. I've heard the real life stories of friends in the U.S. I've seen Sicko. I've seen how badly the U.S is compared.... to 3rd world countries. You voted in a President who can't do shit and now in his 2nd half of his term because the sheer masses of simpletons elect even bigger corrupt simpletons who only give a shit about the rich and block the "progress" on the agenda. If you feel otherwise, don't bother to answer and spare yourself to be labeled a simpleton by me.

Let me go out on a limb and say this, (and I don't give a shit about the reaction from the locals), if the U.S applied as much interest in local affairs such as health care instead of being overseas for a fucken decade, PERHAPS, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. So, how much does the U.S war effort cost a day? $300 million a day. A lot of that can be used in another way.

But let me tell you, jack shit will happen because the government is massively run by corrupt tools voted in by bigger tools and even men with good intentions like Obama can't really do shit. For fuck's sake, Palin had a marketing campaign up to a few weeks ago that literally promoted assassinating supportive members of this "progress". She's a MILF though, so she's alright, eh?

Ah venting made me feel good. And after a long week this week of being sick and all, I'm happy I was in and out of my doctor's clinic within an hour and didn't have to directly pay a penny for his time and a few mere dollars($12.50) for some anti-biotics send me well on my way of being able to lamb blast.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH CAAAANNNAAADAAHHHHHH

All I know is, having no medical insurance in the US means basically you go without medical services.

What's a lamb blast?

-edit-

Eh, never mind, I figured it out

Null said:

All I know is, having no medical insurance in the US means basically you go without medical services.

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This statement is so wrong I'm not sure where to start.

The only thing having no medical insurance does is prevent you from getting preventive care. If your willing to sit for a few hours, you can go to the emergency room and they'll look at you for free. However, they aren't obligated to treat you for anything that isn't going to kill you... there is no assurance of quality of life, only quantity of life (I.E. they will keep you from dying, not from suffering horribly for a few months). They will also kick your ass out of your room the second you can physically survive on your own.

In some ways it's more cruel than just letting people die, but it's still a long shot from having no medical help like you would in a true third world country.

Norris said:

Because that's what you want to do when you're sick. Shop around. Find the doctor who will save your life for the bare bottom most price. That broken arm can wait. I'm sure those chest pains are nothing. Your kid's fever isn't that high is it?

"Tired of fancy, expensive hospitals? Does your doctor bother with fancy extras like autoclaves and properly educated staff? Then stop wasting your money and come to Doctor Bargain Billy's Discount Surgery and Oil Changes!"

"No, no, we can't go to County General! St. Mark's is having a sale on sutures!"
"Sir, you're bleeding out. St. Mark's is unnecessarily far away."
"Shut up! It's my money, I'll decide what hospital you worry wart EMTs take me to!"

I'd rather not see a world where medical care has an equivalent to Sav-A-Lot. I don't feel like trusting my life to the pharmaceutical version of "Dr. Pop" and "Thirst" brand sodas.

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It should be patently obvious that the answer is to shop around BEFORE you are sick or injured. Most doctors I know actually like to have a long session with new patients so they can give them a checkup and start in on the preventative medicine before there's an urgent situation. After all, one of the things we're doing very wrong is being reactive, not proactive. Most places around the world that have managed to lower health care costs seem to have a common thread of "oodles of preventative medicine." If you're not going to the doctor regularly even when you AREN'T vomiting up your insides or bleeding like a stuck pig, you're doing it wrong.

If a major medical expense entered my life I'd be homeless. I make too much to get on government assistance & the insurance at my work is so high that I can't afford it and pay bills. I and my family are uninsured and I work a full time job. The health care/insurance system in this country is broken beyond all fuck. But the haves won't care because it doesn't affect them.

Thankfully the GOP will fix the issue by un-funding and nullifying the health care reform.

It's because we keep forgetting that the health care reform magically reduces the cost of medical expenses.

Dave said:

If a major medical expense entered my life I'd be homeless. I make too much to get on government assistance & the insurance at my work is so high that I can't afford it and pay bills. I and my family are uninsured and I work a full time job. The health care/insurance system in this country is broken beyond all fuck. But the haves won't care because it doesn't affect them.

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I feel ya.

Tell you what, if you can't afford a doctor, go to an airport. You'll get a free x-ray, a breast exam and if you mention Al Qaeda you will also get a free colonoscopy.

Covar said:

It's because we keep forgetting that the health care reform magically reduces the cost of medical expenses.

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Apparently it does. We've known for quite a while now that repealing the health reform bill will cost roughly 230 billion dollars. I'm surprised you hadn't heard. I'm sure the weeper of the house knows best, though.

Jay said:

Tell you what, if you can't afford a doctor, go to an airport. You'll get a free x-ray, a breast exam and if you mention Al Qaeda you will also get a free colonoscopy.

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What i want to know is how many people they actually caught with explosives thanks to those x-ray machines... because if it's not i know where they can cut costs by getting used x-ray machines...

@Li3n said:

What i want to know is how many people they actually caught with explosives thanks to those x-ray machines... because if it's not i know where they can cut costs by getting used x-ray machines...

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0. There has never been a single person of obvious terrorist intent who has been apprehended by TSA at security in an American airport. They've been apprehended at check-in, at the gate, on the plane... but never at security.

It's because it's not really security, just "security theater."

Right, the metal detectors, and x-ray... etc. is to discourage some one from trying to get through.

sixpackshaker said:

Right, the metal detectors, and x-ray... etc. is to discourage some one from trying to get through.

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All while monstorously inconveniencing (and recently, invading bodily) the legitimate travelers.

Meanwhile, what conventional wisdom would tell you is the most targeted airport in the world for terrorists hasn't had a terrorist able to get on a plane since the 70s. What are they doing differently?

GasBandit said:

All while monstorously inconveniencing (and recently, invading bodily) the legitimate travelers.

Meanwhile, what conventional wisdom would tell you is the most targeted airport in the world for terrorists hasn't had a terrorist able to get on a plane since the 70s. What are they doing differently?

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But that means TSA have to actually train their people? *rimshot*