Posts made by aadam101

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

are can be fixed very easily.  We need to have a public option.  A state run health plan would force costs down because most people are going to choose the public option.  This isn't unheard of. This is exactly how Medicare operates.  85% of people on Medicare choose the public option.  Medicaid operates the same way in my state (and a few others).  Most people choose the public option there too but I do believe there are benefits to the private plans.

• 1. Private businesses/companies shouldn't be allowed to give their employees healthcare as a perk.

• 2. The state should have its own health plan (I'm guessing this is how Medicaid/Medicare work)

• 3. The federal government should operate a public option that individual businesses can pay into rather than pay for their employee's healthcare themselves.

  I don't know if the federal government necessarily needs to offer the public plan.  It could be administered at the state level provided that it  is portable and a person can freely move from state to state.  This has risks as states like Alabama and Mississippi will happily create the worst plans in the country.  They seem to like to be at the bottom.

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

@cteavin:

@Adam, when a hospital charges 78,000 dollars (or 5000 in my school's case), where does that money go? Doctors aren't that rich. Seems like someone's getting a larger piece of the pay than they deserve.

udents anyway.

Wait, are you saying the insurance companys don't actually pay that large amount?

Insurers pay MUCH less than the bill you receive in the mail.  A $5000 charge to you would probably be paid at around $400 by an insurance company.

What?  :blink:

Then why do hospitals make a big show of putting those super high costs on our bills, well, your bills. One step in making the healthcare industry seem less evil would be to show them charging less.

The industry does it to force people to buy health insurance.  It's either that or go bankrupt (or die).

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

@cteavin:

@Adam, when a hospital charges 78,000 dollars (or 5000 in my school's case), where does that money go? Doctors aren't that rich. Seems like someone's getting a larger piece of the pay than they deserve.

Almost nobody pays the cash price.  Insurers reimburse at MUCH lower rates.  I wouldn't have paid the money.  They would have treated the students anyway.

Wait, are you saying the insurance companys don't actually pay that large amount?

Insurers pay MUCH less than the bill you receive in the mail.  A $5000 charge to you would probably be paid at around $400 by an insurance company.

@cteavin:

@Adam, when a hospital charges 78,000 dollars (or 5000 in my school's case), where does that money go? Doctors aren't that rich. Seems like someone's getting a larger piece of the pay than they deserve.

Almost nobody pays the cash price.  Insurers reimburse at MUCH lower rates.  I wouldn't have paid the money.  They would have treated the students anyway.

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

My fix for healthcare is to prohibit employers from offering insurance.  The employers are an unnecessary middle man who only drive up costs.  Let everyone buy their insurance individually.  This will force insurers to actually compete for customers and drive costs down.

This would hurt me personally as I work for a large hospital system and pay almost nothing for healthcare.

Now that you mention it, that's how Japanese healthcare works. It's paid automatically from my employer to the government (like Social Security in the states).

Do you think that will ever happen, the perk of health care given up for a government system?

It's already starting in MA.  Under RomneyCare the rule was that if you had insurance AVAILABLE to you then you had to take it and you were not eligible to buy from the exchange.  That changed under ObamaCare and a lot of low wage workers  just went on Medicaid instead of paying for the insurance via the employer.  Medicaid is MUCH better insurance in most cases so it was a huge benefit to both the employee and employer.  As a result, the Medicaid rolls have increased astronomically.

The Governor has now imposed a fee on businesses for every employee they have that is on Medicaid.  In most cases, the fee is still less than what it would cost to cover the employee via private insurance.

I believe this is a first step at separating employers from health insurance.  I think most business owners would gladly just pay a fee to cover their employees instead of having to buy private health insurance for them.

The worst part about eyeglasses is that one company has a near monopoly.  Luxotica makes 90% of the glasses in the US and they own both LenCrafters and Pearl Vision. Only the consumer gets screwed.

The Democrats don't have any power.  Any plan they come up with will be rejected by Republicans.  The GOP promised to save healthcare.  They lied.

I read a story the other day about the rise of TODDLERS shooting themselves and other people.  This is what happens when you give everyone a gun.

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

I work in healthcare.  A single payer system would likely put me out of a job.  I will find something else to do.

A few years ago a few states decided  to allow plans to be sold across state lines.  Not a single insurer was interested.  The  only way it would work is if the thousands of insurers across the country consolidated into a small number of companies.  That is the opposite of what the GOP is trying to accomplish.

This is really interesting. Working in healthcare you have insight that most of us don't.

From your perspective 1) I The Affordable Healthcare Act working as it should and 2) how do you think it should be amended (or should it be repealed and replaced with something else)?

The ACA is actually working better.  Every county will have a plan next year despite Trump telling us that it's a total disaster.  The places with only one plan option are mostly rural areas so maybe something needs to be done in those areas.  Any business is tough for rural areas.  The FCC just allowed Verizon to cut off a bunch of rural customers (some of them fireman and police officers) because they were too expensive.

ObamaCare can be fixed very easily.  We need to have a public option.  A state run health plan would force costs down because most people are going to choose the public option.  This isn't unheard of. This is exactly how Medicare operates.  85% of people on Medicare choose the public option.  Medicaid operates the same way in my state (and a few others).  Most people choose the public option there too but I do believe there are benefits to the private plans.

My fix for healthcare is to prohibit employers from offering insurance.  The employers are an unnecessary middle man who only drive up costs.  Let everyone buy their insurance individually.  This will force insurers to actually compete for customers and drive costs down.

This would hurt me personally as I work for a large hospital system and pay almost nothing for healthcare.

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

It won't create competition.  It will be a total nightmare for consumers.  The reason it won't work is because of provider networks.  It takes a lot of time and effort to build these networks.

I live in MA.  If I buy a plan in Idaho then none of my doctors will be contracted with my plan.  I can ask them to contract but that process can take months or even years.  My doctor will need to do that for every patient that comes in with an out of state insurance and I will need to go through this process for all of my doctors.  The amount of administrative overhead  to manage all of this would be enormous (and it's already enormous today).

The doctor will now have to follow the rules of hundreds of insurers and will need to bill them all separately and fight to get paid.  In the end it will be the patient who loses because the insurers won't pay for these non-contracted providers and the patient will get stuck with the bill.  The doctors will never see a dime and will only see patients with certain types of insurance.

That's an interesting point I've never considered or read elsewhere. Is this something you came up with yourself or did you read it someplace?

Ann Coulter reminded me in her article this week that another way to cut healthcare costs is to reform medical malpractice lawsuits/payouts. That would go a long way in simplifying the rules and regulations already in place which might help smooth things out for insurance to be sold across state lines.

I work in healthcare.  A single payer system would likely put me out of a job.  I will find something else to do.

A few years ago a few states decided  to allow plans to be sold across state lines.  Not a single insurer was interested.  The  only way it would work is if the thousands of insurers across the country consolidated into a small number of companies.  That is the opposite of what the GOP is trying to accomplish.

@cteavin:

When she went back to the states she had another issue and went to the doctor under Obamacare. She said the first thing that the doctor's office did was make sure her insurance was all in order and that all the forms were signed before they would consider looking at her.

This is pretty standard and it has nothing to do with ObamaCare.  They likely would have still seen her even if she didn't have insurance or if the insurance wasn't active.  Providers spend a great deal of time and effort (and money) trying to get their money from insurance companies.

There is very little opposition to gay marriage. MA was the first state to legalize it.  I'm a big guy.  I don't worry much about my safety but I'm also not flamboyant and I don't hold hands or kiss or anything in public either  (I wouldn't if I was straight either).

I do have a Boston accent.

I live in Boston.  It's Irish Catholics all the way!

I loved the new episode.  It didn't miss a beat.  I wish it was a little less about Trump.  I'm not much of a political person.

This show is really funny.  Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are amazing in it.

I really liked Iron Fist.  I don't understand all the hate for it.

It won't create competition.  It will be a total nightmare for consumers.  The reason it won't work is because of provider networks.  It takes a lot of time and effort to build these networks.

I live in MA.  If I buy a plan in Idaho then none of my doctors will be contracted with my plan.  I can ask them to contract but that process can take months or even years.  My doctor will need to do that for every patient that comes in with an out of state insurance and I will need to go through this process for all of my doctors.  The amount of administrative overhead  to manage all of this would be enormous (and it's already enormous today).

The doctor will now have to follow the rules of hundreds of insurers and will need to bill them all separately and fight to get paid.  In the end it will be the patient who loses because the insurers won't pay for these non-contracted providers and the patient will get stuck with the bill.  The doctors will never see a dime and will only see patients with certain types of insurance.

The reason he won't show his tax returns is simple and it has nothing to do with Russia.  He has been lying about how much money he has his entire life.  He went around for years telling people that his 58 story Trump Tower had 68 floors.  He over exaggerates everything to make up for the fact that he has such a tiny penis.

The reason he showed some of his 2005 returns is because The Apprentice started in 2004.  He likely did very well in 2005.  It was probably the most successful year of his entire career.

Trump is a failed business man time and time again.  He had to turn to reality TV to make a living.  Things got so bad at one point he had to resort to selling steaks at the mall.  He was quite successful at being a reality star.  He and Honey Boo Boo's mom have had a remarkably similar career.

@Frederick:

@cteavin:

@aadam101:

Maybe you don't care but Trump does.  He said so himself.  It's obvious he is hiding something…..that's what HE said.

Can you show where he said that? I don't recall him saying that.

I knew way back at the beginning of the 2016 campaign that Trump would never show his tax returns. Why? In making a big deal about Obama's birth certificate candidate Trump, and I quote, said, "I got him [Obama] to show his birth certificate."

That right there said that Trump was playing a power game with the media to get Obama to do something. Trump wasn't going to let anyone bully him into making him show his tax returns. Trump was being an alpha-male and, love him or hate him for it, that play worked, Trump was and is seen as a strong leader walking his own path by his base.

Russia is Trumps Birther controversy: He earned it, but ultimatly it's _fake new_s.

You won't get aadam to reveal his sources.  I can tell you his sources.  Most of them are his own imagination, some are anonymous, some are Rachel Madcow, some are Don Lemon, the rest are assorted moonbats.

By the way.. how is it possible for someone to be elected president of the USA without providing a birth certificate?  Putting aside the debate over the authenticity or legitimacy of Obama's birth certificate, there is NO EXCUSE for him not producing that "birth certificate" until forced to by Donald Trump 1.5 years after being elected. 
FURTHERMORE.. the constitution would be as long as a set of encyclopedias or more if they specified ever detail.  Obviously when it was written, the founding fathers MEANT that to be president, one had to be born in the CONTIGUOUS USA,  and the assumption is that the person would be RAISED in the USA as well.  Not only was Osama not born in the contiguous USA, he was not raised in the USA at all.  He spent the first 13 years of his life being raised in muslim Indonesia.  Of course when Obama did move to the USA, he got mentored by know terrorists… whoopee.
If John McCain was not a complete idiot, he would have focused on this in 2008 and god help us - won the election.  (bite my tongue).

My source is almost always the same.  My source is Donald Trump.  I just provided you with the quote where he implied that Obama was hiding something.  The same statement applies to Trump.  These are his words.  You can google the quote.  It's real.