Posted on 12/07/2004 3:50:26 AM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
If only the other patients ate the indigent sufferer, we'd solve both the health care problem, and the issue of hunger in Murrica.
balls
Wot, you've been up all night????
I'm with you!
BTW ... I spent two years in Blackbushe and West Malling, with the US Navy.
I was a baby of 18 and have great memories of your country and it's people.
I boxed for Gus Harris, who had a boxing club in Maidstone. Gus was welterweight camp from '30 to '33, I believe, and I admired him greatly.
Of course I spent many an idle hour at the Five Pointed Star in W. Malling, partaking of your very fine larger and stout beers, while playing darts on a "real" dart board. ;)
"In America, those who cannot pay MUST still be cared for. The hospital simply eats the cost."
No, they actually pass it on to those who can pay but don't have insurance. My wife's last surgery was billed at about $30,000. I payed my usual copay, the insurance paid about $3000, and the hospital adjusted the rest. Without the insurance, I'd have had to pony up $30K. Fortunately anyone in America can pay for insurance, if they want to. All they have to do is get a good education, and a good job. That's why my kids are in a private school. $6k a year, great education, less pressure on my local public school system. (Which supposedly spends $8k per year/per student.) That's my insurance for them. Am I drifting off-topic, or is all this interconnected? ;)
Unfortunately I think that's the only way we can prevent the complete takeover of health care by the government. Most Americans will wait for a job that offers good wages and health insurance benefits but far too many others are perfectly willing to take any job and just get their health care from the taxpayers.
I notice Bush has never mentioned who'll be paying for the health care and education costs of his millions new guest workers and their families --- I guess that means as usual, it will be taxpayers --- obviously the employers won't expect to have to do that.
kerry kare in action.
Soylent Green?
The other night in his emergency room, at a very well respected hospital in a weatlhy suburb of CO- they brought in a homeless man with no ID- no insurance and no papers whatsoever.
They worked on this man for 5 hours with the top medical technology. With all their hearts and abilities they worked- and worked -and they were not able to save him.
In fact they were doubtful they would be able to save him at all. But still they tried.
His body temp was 80 degrees when they brought him in.. They worked to save this man - no less than the richest person in their care.
We don't need Socialized health care to mess up our system.
"BTW ... I spent two years in Blackbushe and West Malling"
I'm in the next county to Kent and know West Malling a bit.
A lovely little town & still has lots of its old charm.
& The Five Pointed Star is still open and still called that.
That is absolutely not true. I was in the hospital in June. The lady in the bed next to me had no insurance. She had no primary care doctor so the hospital assigned her one (mine). She and I shared the same doctors an oncologist and primary care physician. When the doctors came to visit me they would then go to see her or vice versa (she had the bed next to the window that I so coveted, oh well). We both received the same quality care. I saw no difference.
we all have to die of something... and it was reported that smoking saved the long term medical costs by eliminating a lot of the problems of the elderly...
when people can no longer afford the high cost of treatment, not insurance... doctors will lower their costs to attract more people... by demanding insurance for everyone, the price of treatment will remain high...
it sounds cold and heartless, but free market medicine works best... eliminate the middle man.
this way, when charitable organizations provide free health care, people will appreciate it more and respect those that give it to them.
teeman
we all have to die of something... and it was reported that smoking saved the long term medical costs by eliminating a lot of the problems of the elderly...
when people can no longer afford the high cost of treatment, not insurance... doctors will lower their costs to attract more people... by demanding insurance for everyone, the price of treatment will remain high...
it sounds cold and heartless, but free market medicine works best... eliminate the middle man.
this way, when charitable organizations provide free health care, people will appreciate it more and respect those that give it to them.
teeman
All I can say is that the first rule of public policy ought be the same as the first rule in medicine: First do no harm. And, to my mind anyway, most of what you're suggesting violates that rule.
she was in a stall so there must have been other stalls... obviously she offed herself in a hospital with the hope that someone would find her before she died and save her... a cry for help... which went unheard...
teeman
....then the collection agency sends a guy named Vito to break your legs, then you go to an emergency room, where they *must* treat you, and then they bill you and send it to a collection agency when you don't pay....
Not quite. The collection agency goes to a judge for a court order to have your wages garnished. Maybe they will tell you of the court date...
IFpatient/debtor has a job, he then becomes even poorer. To avoid such garnishments, patient/debtor uses false social security numbers at job or hospital.
IF patient/debtor doesn't have a job, the garnishment waits until he tries to collect on a tax refund, lottery ticket, etc. Meanwhile, he buys furniture from expensive rent-to-buy places because they are the only ones who don't check with credit reporting bureaus....
I don't do this, my kids do.
...and don't start on me about my parenting skills....
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