randomness

[Ash]

Yotogi's Answer to the Health Care Problem:  Grab every illegal immigrant that jumps the border and ship them off to Medical School.  I guarantee you in 10 years we'll have the cheapest, quickest and most available health care system on the planet.

[Heironymus]

I really hope that's a joke. Illegals are here Illegally, why are they as American as me? That's actually offensive. If someone comes into my home and starts cleaning and cooking, that doesn't mean its now their home. Its mine. Stop cleaning, cooking and GTF out before I shoot you for trespassing. I don't owe them anything.

DUDE.. we are all AMERICAN.. North AMERICAN!!!! jeeez.. read some geography.. haha

[Lits]

I think it's worth pointing out that the BIGGEST problems with healthcare in this country is the cost of treatement. Drug companies (which are privately owned) have little to no restriction on what they can charge for their product, regaurdless of how necessary it might be to a patient. First and foremost we should find some way to curb the indredible markup on these drugs (some just ARE NOT available in generic, and even some generics are outrageous).  Some CEO is getting rich exploiting the people in pain he's claiming to help.

For example... my boyfriend (who makes between 20K and 50K a year and therefore cannot get medicare or afford private coverage and works for himself, so is not covered under any employer) just spent a week in the hospital for a seriously painful condition. The hospital stay alone was 2K a day for the room, the CT scan was a little under 5K, and we haven't even recieved the bill for the antibiotics and pain killers he was constantly recieving. We guesstimate that the total bill will be just over 20K.

WHY? some will claim that doctors need so much cash to pay off med school loans, but the fact is hospital docs and techs don't actually make that much. So where is the money going? The hospital higher ups who never actually see the patients or do any work for them, and the drug companies.

Four years ago I went to the ER for a cut in my hand. The doc spent LITERALLY 10 mins with me, gave me a tetanus shot, put surgical superglue on my cut and then charged me 2K. For ten mins, a $30 shot, and $4 worth of surgical superglue. THIS IS FUCKED TO HELL.

ALSO hospitals generally tack on extra charges because they "need" to cover those who recieve treatment and walk out never paying because they CAN'T. How does  that make sense? They charge more money from the ones who will pay to cover for those who don't pay because the bill is already too high?

Now because I only make 12K a year I qualify for the free clinic in Venice. My regular checkups at the gyno are free, and any medications I may need are also covered. I love this idea. If I made more money, I would pay for these visits. These are necessary services that should not be restricted to the rich... or even to the rich and the middle class! If you can pay, pay. If you can't, we'll help you out. It seems fine to me.


IF I WERE FIXING THIS SHIT:


Perhaps the solution is the system of the Venice Free Clinic on a macro scale.

1. Curb the drug companies' power
   a. Make is federal law to ensure there is a generic form for all prescriptions (ie anti-monopoly laws)
   b. Restrict prices on necessary medications OR
   c. Charge a different price for different levels of patients' income


2. Tweak the HC system we already have in place to cover everyone with a SSN
   a. Free coverage, treatment, and drugs for the lowest income bracket
   b. Small copays for lower middle class
   c. Medium copays for upper middle class
   d. Higher copays for everyone above
...........you get the idea

And here's the kicker... keep the free market system in place! If someone wants an elective proceedure, they will have to pay for it themselves (breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, etc). AND if you prefer to have a doctor not on the government payroll, pay for one yourself.

The trick to having GOOD doctos working for Universal Healthcare AND still having a Free Market is to offer tax breaks to docs:

Offices who treat 60% - 90% of patients under UHC recieve a tax break corresponding with the number --of people who qualify in the above UHC stratus I've outlined.
Offices who treat 90%-95% of the above patients who qualify will be tax exempt
And Offices who treat 96%-100% of the above will be tax exempt AND on the government payroll.

That way a hybrid of the two (UHC and FM) creates just enough space so that everyone can be covered and recieve treatment and meds, and if you want to pay for extras you CAN.


Call me a socialist. Go ahead. But this and education are the ONLY issues I'll be a socialist on.
Everything else I'm basically a near-Libertarian.

[Eroz]

Eroz changes topic title to: Politics.

[Fuse]

blah blah blah (everything Lits said)

I love my beautiful Socialist. You look so good in red! <3

So you think healthcare is a right?
http://lostlocalhost.com/?view=plink&id=240

A quote from a comment from that link...

I do not think the healthcare and insurance system is perfect - it is vastly flawed and does indeed need an overhaul. But it needs an overhaul that doesn't involve one person paying for another persons healthcare. Healthcare reform should be more focused on lowering costs, while maintaining or improving level of care. Competition does this. Capitalism does this. Socialism and Fascism does not.

[Da6onet]

Anyone going to be in the bay area October 15-18?

[Lits]

Which bay?

And I don't think healthcare is a right, I think helping those who can't help themselves is a neccessity for the advancement of the human race as a whole. "Become the change you wish to see in the world" - Ghandi

[Broin]

You know what I have to say...?

Broin for 2012

Give me your monies and I'll take care of it all...

TRUST ME  

[Fuse]

I think helping those who can't help themselves is a neccessity for the advancement of the human race as a whole.

I agree. What we seem to disagree on is how we should help. I don't think people should be FORCED into helping. i.e.taxes. Here in Illinois we already give free healthcare to people with low income all the time, and it's sad because those people for the most part abuse the system. The local hospital also offers complete bill writeoffs if an application is completed and it is deemed appropriate that they really can not afford the care. That's just one example of a private organization helping. Keep government, and more importantly, my money, out of "your" medical bill.

I have a quote of my own too.
“I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” – Ben Franklin

[Lits]

There is an amazing homeless shelter on Skid Row called The Midnight Mission. They will provide night time security and food to the homeless women and children, and occassionally men. The reason they only occassionally give handouts to men is becuase during the day, they are a men's only homeless rebuilding center. The homeless come there, sign a contract to stay in a bunk bed so long as they work for the shelter (cleaning, cooking, etc). Within the center they can work up to higher and higher resbonsibility for earning their keep, all the while attending mandatory computer classes, GED classes, and in most cases drub rehad classes, all located in the Midnight Mission itself. After three months, they can move up to apartment style suites on the top floor that they must pay rent for (like $100/mo) and stay there as long as they are employed and saving money to get a place on their own. And it's all privetly funded and owned so there is no government bullshit causing redtape.

Tell me that's not the kind of fabulous you're talking about.

Unfortunately places like the Midnight Mission, The Venice Free Clinic, and your hospital are far too few, hence the need for government intervention. If the government does it RIGHT for once, it's a system that can work extremely well and since healthcare providers that aren't down with the UHC Reform will be competing with the more manageable government prices, the overall cash cow will be reduced to a cash squirrel and be accessible to everyone, like it should be.

[Fuse]

hence the need for government intervention.

I'm now calling you my sexy ruskie.

[Subb]

NSFW:

http://www.rathergood.com/buffy

And as an avid hater of horses - this made me LOL

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2592917/Horse-is-thrown-into-the-air-in-rally-car-smash.html

[Tecknik]

$100 pricedrop for the current PS3 to $299.

PS3 Slim announced for release next month at $299.

[Lits]

Question: my headphones have a "Right" and "Left" bud.... is there a reason behind that? Cause it sounds like the same stuff is coming out of both

[Pirus]

well if its computer headphones then im assuming its because you can just turn the right one on or the left one on not to mention that if your sound card is good enough it can distinguish between the sounds on the screen being to the right of you or to the left of you much like you would have with surround sound speakers when a plane flies at you and then past you and you can hear it coming from different directions.  That would be my best guess anyway/