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Comments: Sandy Mc, just read up on the GB and I will be adding your niece and family to my prayer list. Linda P. and others whom I may have missed happy belated birthday. I love the fact that shortly I will be filing and receiving SS also. Take it while we can!!! As for health coverage, if anyone cares to research "other" countries close by you will find doctors (educated in the US) still making house calls, some not even charging...Medicare soon to be allowed in Mexico, etc., etc., prescription drugs at 1/2 the cost or less and on and on and on. Not to mention a slower much more enjoyable pace of life, and of course SS is paid anywhere in the world. Biggest drawback...pulling the plug leaving our friends and families, but hey they would have a great place to vacation!! What we are dealing with unfortunately didn't happen overnight and won't be fixed overnight. NOW...aren't you glad you got me started??? HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!
Comments: Wow - most traffic I have seen on a Saturday in a loooong time
Comments: Boy, it's Saturday afternoon and we're typing away. We gotta get lives. Speaking for myself, Mary Ann is in Scottsdale for my daughters bachelorette weekend (...who invites their mother to that...but, Mary Ann's cool). So, I have no one to play with and thought I might as well aggravate JD & Jack for a while.
Comments: Wow, ya'll have certainly been vocal this mrng!  I'm not gng to go off the deep end, but I will answer a few of Sally's questions. First, to set the record straight, ALL Ins has LIMITS. If you don't believe me, read the very small print in your booklet of about 200-300 pgs & it is hidden in there somewhere. Most of us with ins are safe unless we have a catastrophic illness (like a non curable cancer or a long term incurable disease) & then you'll hit the "Maximum Life Payable Amt". There are also deductibles & Copays. Most of us have savings & are fortunate enough to handle the day-to-day illness & life's little bumps. But sometimes life throws us a curve . . . our illness has left us unable to return to work!! With out work our ins will end, except for 18 mo of COBRA, then we're out of luck! Also it causes a working member of the family to have to quit work to take care of the person full time. This is what causes hardships!! The other scenario is you were diagnosed with a disease that has no cure & you are lucky enough to live with it for many yrs, BUT ins companies will not give you ins. And yes, right now that is legal!! The two times I asked our GB friends & other classmates for donations were for these exact scenarios. One ended up dieing of brain cancer but it put a lot of hardship on her family & husband who was much older. The other was for someone who has never been able to get ins because of an incurable disease he was born with. These are the two things I believe should be changed in the ins business. 1. allowing everyone the ability to pay for ins. Note I said PAY FOR IT. 2. IF you have ins & are paying the premiums they can't cancel you or cut off your benefits when you get sick! I personally know a lady who does not have ins. She is divorced & works as a receptionist at my beauty shop. She got throat cancer. Asocial worker helped her get treatment & she had 25 radiation trtments & had 5 chemo trtmts. They killed the cancer & she is in good health tda. She pays $40 a month to the hosp to repay for her care. As several others have said & I agree, the Govt can't run SS or Medicare without loosing money & hve all but Bankrupt both entities. I was hoping to get at least a little of the money I've paid into it all my life! I have a lot of experience dealing w/SS & Medicare as I handled all my Dad's affairs for 15 yrs. They are paper oriented & set in their ways. You can't t/w any one without waiting 30 to 50 mins on hold & then they tell you you need to come down in person! If the Govt gets a hold of our ins we will all see just how good our old ins was!! They will have control over who we see, how often we can see a Dr & what care, based on age, we are allowed to get. Don't be mislead into thinking the Govt can solve all our problems . . . they will only give you more problems & forbid you from getting the care you need.
Comments: Susan, your comments are the most correct. The system needs an overhaul. The issue is how to do it and which proposal will do the trick. I suspect none of them will do it, but will make some progress. It'll takes a number of years to fine tune it and it'll never be perfect. However, none of the proposals include life/death choices...I've read at least one and it's just not there. The reason Congress is having such a tough time with it, is the insurance industry's lobbying efforts; they're quite rich you know and fund lots of politicians. They certainly don't want change, so they put a label on it. Anytime a lobbying group's income is in danger it's tagged "socialist" and anti-American...utter nonsense. As far as Jack's "free" medical services; he's talking about tax supported hospitals and medical care. I think he once said Parkland was supported by the people. Well that is a socialist program...you just don't like the name. In a very few years this group is going to see clearly why our health care needed a fix today.
Comments: Thank you Susan, it is about people. I don't have anything nice to say right now and since I don't, I'm going by what my mom told me and I've told my kids. "If you can't say any thing nice, don't say anything at all"  "I'll never grow up, I'll never grow up"!!! Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz
Comments: I don't think anyone is saying our current healthcare/insurance system is perfect. They cost too much money and yes, it needs some overhaul. But the plans that are on the table are not the right way to address the problems. I don't want some government official deciding whether I live or die. This is about more than money ... it's about people. And if the plans Congress is making for us are so great, why don't they want it?
Comments: Yes, it is a shame that health insurance companies take people off their books when the people get sick. Only a few North Eastern states have laws that do not allow this. Others just cannot get insurance because they have pre-existing conditions. So, next time I hear about such a person, I am telling every good Texan here to write a check. By the way, if you could not get health insurance now, would you want charity from this group, kind as it is? Or would you rather be eligible for insurance that covers your catastrophic illness. Not only this but as has been said the price of medical services has gone so high even health insurance companies don't want many people. So, Sandy, what are you suggesting? Pool JDs money and have him pay for all the sick hardworking people we hear about here who cannot afford the high cost of medical services or just send them to the emergency room and see what happens next? What does happen next to a person who needs help beyond lipitor and blood pressure medication? I would like to know what happens in TX--honestly, I am interested. What happens to a person who cannot get a job that provides insurance and gets cancer ? Who helps? I am interested. So far no answers. And, please don't change the subject to government interference-- this IS the subject. BUT tx is losing so I have to go! UGH!
Comments: God Bless America! 2 Chronicles 7:14
Comments: Linda P - you are a party girl !!!! JD-Jack-RN no time now to discuss. TX/OU; Tech/Neb but is anyone looking at the sliding dollar? Sliding the wrong way and this ties into this administrations spend spend with Bush's last term, we ain't got no money honey. Sally that is Texas talk that says we are broke. Can anyone guess what the average tax payer is in the hole with Government debt, Credit Cards and a Mortgage?
Comments: Linda, I think we needed that. But I do have a little to say. JD, took the words right out of my mouth,only he had a little more to say than I had. Sally, that honestly breaks my heart. The people that you are referring to are honest hard working people. Some illnesses you cannot get coverage for period. They've not just crossed the border and expect to get FREE medical. And yes, maybe some should have planned better. Is it wrong to love your friends and try to help then in anyway you can? Most of us have been paying for SS for years thinking that we would be able to retire, medicare would be our "insurance"......ha...ha! Have we been duped by the G O V E R N M E N T.
Comments: Little Fluff Here -- I'm going to be eating and shopping in McKinney today, so beware. My oldest daughter Audra and I are going to birthday lunch and shopping while dad and granddad babysit kids and work on dishwasher and buy pumpkins. Then we're birthday partying for the evening at my middle daughter's house in McKinney. What a beautiful day here in Texas to have a little fun.
Comments: If the health care "we" have is so good, why does the Guest book, HERE, request money for sick people who cannot pay their medical bills? What happened to their health insurance or their ability to pay their medical bills or for a funeral? CAn't the emergency room take care of them? Do you know anyone who has gotten radiation or chemo therapy in the emergency room? Or any type of long term care, especially in TEXAS?
Comments: Richard...Please remember that you live in California. Where a 2500 sq ft frame house cost $700,000. Also, please remember that insurance costs are shared over a large number of people...and California has been losing thousands of residents and businesses over the past 3-5 years so I would expect costs to go up. And last but not least, I applaud your firm for paying the entire costs of the employees benefits...but most people in the united states pay a share of their employer insurance plan. Mass and Hawaii had gov't health plans and they both are opting out because they can't sustain the costs...what makes anyone believe that our Federal government can do any better when they can't help themselves from stealing money from the military budget for 48 billion in pet projects and can run Amtrak nor social security, nor medicare without a loss every year...I love you my friend but this debate is so one sided it's scares me. Now I say the people who really need health care coverage...write them a check...it would be cheaper. Besides Jack is correct, no one who really needs health care only needs to go to the emergency room. They can not be turned away from those hospitals that are non-profit...which is most. And last but not least...the last time I looked...about a month ago, the insurance industry profits were about 3-4% on average. I would say that is not gouging people...would you? I do love you like a brother...but say we can live with the disagreement as long as we still see each other for what we are...good men with great families and as patriotic as any. I love this country but I don't want us to become socialists...and that is where this administration apparently wants us to go.
Comments: Richard, I too have felt the pain of raising costs. But I believe this, like most other items that price themselves out of the market, will self correct, if left alone. If enough people don't or can't buy insurance, the business will close or lower prices. Forcing people to buy insurance and/or getting the government involved will not lower the cost of anything. I feel it will increase times to see a doctor and get treatments. If they control the purse strings, they will control who and what gets treated, how and when. |
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