[Parallax]

I love it when the best a contard can come up with is more name calling.
It takes debate to a whole new level.
It's like being in grade 4 again with you guys.

Peace, baby!

[Wheatfield]

The same a$$ hats that run immigration will be doing health care. This is a health care thread not immigration but unfortunatly the 12 to 15 million illegals are a huge part of that. For the folks from Oz, that's over 1/2 of your 20 million total population to illustrate the scale of this. Ditto with Canada.

The population of the USA is 10 times that of Canada, 15 times that of Australia, just to illustrate the scale of the scale you are trying to illustrate.

And another thread down the toilet.

[Kguru]

Just a couple of points to temper Kguru's accurate observations:

My wife broke an ankle three years ago that required surgery, screws, plates etc for the repair. The only snag was a slow pay reimbursement for the ambulance ride. That was an 8 mile trip by the local private ambulance service the city has here and that was a flat $1,200. Insurance covered it after a small fight. Everything else was handled well at reasonable cost.

You speak of overcharging, much of the health care industry is break even. So many hospitals are semi charity operations and are non profit. The exceptions are Big Pharma and Insurance Cos. The average Dr, nurse and med technician make reasonable incomes. Most are not excessive. Most work damn hard and long hours. I would like to point out the the current crop of politicians are in bed with Big Pharma and the Ins Cos. I would not necessarily blame them for doing what they do, I would blame the politicians.

The overcharging wasn't directed at just the hospital administrations but the healthcare industry as a whole: the operating theater, the specialists, Big Pharma Cos, the pharmacists ... As a small example, a general pharmacist doesn't manufacture doesn't prescribe drugs, mostly they ensure drugs are dispensed correctly. In Australia they do a 3-4 year university course, evidently quite sufficient as Australia is not notorious for wrongful dispensing. So why is it in the US it has to be Graduate school with the resultant higher salaries to employ them?

To counter your cost examples, when my daughter broke her ankle playing school netball she was given first-class treatment including physiotherapy afterwards when she started walking unaided again. All covered by public medicare I didn't even need to claim on my private extra insurance, unlike your wife having to pay $1200.

When I recently had a colonoscopy done I was $200 out of pocket after insurance. For my brother in US, even with employer-funded insurance it was over $1000 on him. There's no denying US medical costs are way more expensive than elsewhere. Well and good for those who can afford, but have pity for the numerous who can't.

[Phil1]

'The overcharging wasn't directed at just the hospital administrations but the healthcare industry.....'

Your point is well taken. There are areas of abuse. MRI/CRT costs I believe have come down as the proliferation of the really expensive machinery has expanded. It seems to be more competitive but I might be wrong. My knee work ups wer fully covered. I didn't see the bill.

'To counter your cost examples, when my daughter broke her ankle playing school netball she was given first-class treatment including physiotherapy afterwards when she started walking unaided again........'

Well we have a good differance of opinions as to what insurance should be. I believe a shared cost is the only way that expenses can be controlled. Carte blanc full 100% coverage will be a financial disaster to the US. Like I indicated there is no free lunch unless China is going to finance our med care. Not likely.

When I recently had a colonoscopy done I was $200 out of pocket after insurance.

I believe mine was about the same cost.
Since we are table brothers you might enjoy this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI1go72c5H8

[Rupert]

And another thread down the toilet.

Not really Graphic....we learned that this stinking bill is worthless, almost as bad as the non-existant bill you guys came up with in your eight years of stranglehold on America. We learned that Wheatfield thinks our Troops are criminals, and wants to meet those terrorists head on without any help from others, and the most amazing thing of all was that we discovered that some politicians (like in ALL) are scum sucking crooks. So it wasn't a total waste....was it?
Regards!

[Parallax]

....and the most amazing thing of all was that we discovered that some politicians (like in ALL) are scum sucking crooks. So it wasn't a total waste....was it?
Regards!

Yeah, I was shocked! Who knew?

almost as bad as the non-existant bill you guys came up with in your eight years of stranglehold on America.

Or the non-existent one that Slick Willie came up with in the 8 years before that? In fact, it was a very specific campaign promise of his.

We learned that Jane (Wheatfield) Fonda thinks our Troops are criminals,

Had to fix that one for ya.

---

Last edited by Parallax; 12-23-2009 at 10:53 AM.

[Phil1]

How this wonderful Obumma Care bill got passed at misnight on a week-end:

With the bill hanging in the balance, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) won a provision exempting his state from paying the usual share of costs for new Medicaid patients. The deal, which critics have dubbed the "Cornhusker Kickback," is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years.


Before a close vote last month, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) won an even larger break for her state -- an estimated $300 million in extra federal spending, in a move now derisively called the "Louisiana Purchase."


Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) made sure that certain insurance companies in his state are off the hook from a new $7 billion dollar tax.


Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) got his kickback -- a $100 million bonus for the University of Connecticut… to do with whatever they want.


Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) was "persuaded" to drop his concerns after Senator Reid offered his state a $10 billion grant for "community health centers"-money that could easily be funneled to facilities that perform abortions.


Three states -- Pennsylvania, New York and Florida -- all won protections for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries at a time when the program is facing cuts nationwide.


Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) won a promise from Reid to support his plan to expand eligibility for health insurance.


The Senators from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming will get the "Frontier Freebie" -- they'll see an increase in Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors, because "at least 50 percent of their counties are ‘frontier counties,' defined as those having a population density less than six people per square mile."


Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate health committee, got a provision inserted to increase Medicare payments to certain "low-volume hospitals" in Grinnell, Keokuk and Spirit Lake, treating limited numbers of Medicare patients.


Even the Democrats themselves are starting to complain about this obvious "Cash for Cloture" bribing going on. When Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) couldn't get past the reporters swarming Ben Nelson on her way to the cloture vote, she quipped, "I know I'm not as important as Senator Nelson. I didn't get the money for my state. I was too stupid."


>>>>Oh yes, this is a great big turd.

[Parallax]

This is the text of an email i sent to Senator Tim yes-mr-president-anything-you-want Johnson:
Where were you on this? You voted for a bill that will do nothing except spend more of my money. Why didn't you at least get South Dakota a deal like Nelson got for Nebraska. If you were going to vote for a bill that serves only to steal more of taxpayer money, you could have at least arranged to steal more from other states' taxpayers to benefit SD.

[Wheatfield]

"We learned that.. our Troops are criminals,'

Had to fix that one for ya.

Just the ones who are engaged in the illegal war of aggression in the Middle East.
But then, since the contards only see things painted with very big strokes, I don't expect you'll understand this.

[straightshooter]

...bravely defending their country against a regime that never showed you any more hostility than farting in your general direction.

Uh Wheatfield, if it's Iraq you are referring to, look up the USS Stark. While it's been more than 20 years, I would still consider an Exocet and 37 dead slightly more than a fart.

CW

[Parallax]

Uh Wheatfield, if it's Iraq you are referring to, look up the USS Stark. While it's been more than 20 years, I would still consider an Exocet and 37 dead slightly more than a fart.

CW

Save your breath, straightshooter, he's on their side.

[straightshooter]

We have plenty of those "big talkers" right here too...completely full of crap and unwilling to face off against bigotry and racial hatred....I am trusting that you are not one of them. If you are, you are most welcome to visit my Church anytime.......
Regards

As long as it's not Southern Baptist I would visit. LOL Tell you what, if you're ever in Atlanta, bring your camera and we will go shoot a covered bridge I know of. Then I'll buy you a beer or a coke or whatever. Of course I might end up busting the glass over your head if the talk turns to politics but if I do, I'll buy a second round.

CW

[Mallee Boy]

As long as it's not Southern Baptist I would visit. LOL Tell you what, if you're ever in Atlanta, bring your camera and we will go shoot a covered bridge I know of. Then I'll buy you a beer or a coke or whatever. Of course I might end up busting the glass over your head if the talk turns to politics but if I do, I'll buy a second round.

CW

and some people want to see General Talk closed down.

I think the statement above encompasses all that is good in this forum.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or Happy "whatever you want to call it", Ladies & Gentlemen.
Have a Great Day.

For the New Year Anne & I wish you all peace, goodwill, good fortune, Love and good light.

Grant

The Democrats are right. Sleazy bribes and pork payoffs didn’t start with their government health care takeover bill. They’ve been doling out taxpayer-funded goodies for votes all year. Harry Reid’s latest Cash for Cloture deals are the culmination of Washington’s 2009 shopping spree at our expense.

Go back to January and February. The multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bill was the Mother of All Legislative Christmas Trees. The ruling party used the economic downturn to redistribute wealth from struggling Americans to favored congressional districts, phantom districts, special interests from golf cart makers to fly-by-night beauty salons. According to a new study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Democrat districts have raked in nearly twice as much porkulus money as GOP districts – without regard to the actual economic suffering and job loss in those districts.

In fact, the researchers found far more stimulus money went to higher-income areas than lower-income areas.

That includes Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s backyard – where a $54 million no-bid contract was awarded to a firm with little experience to relocate a luxury Bay Area wine train due to flood concerns.

And it includes Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois, which reaped the single biggest earmark in the porkulus bill – $1 billion for the dubious FutureGen near-zero emissions “clean coal” plant earmark championed by disgraced Democrat and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin.

And it includes Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s backyard – where he secured billions in high-speed rail stimulus earmarks from which he plans to fund a pie-in-the-sky public transportation line from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.