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#16
04-26-2007, 12:15 PM
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Other causes too
Hey Rocky, I'm picking on you cause I know you are about my age. so here goes. Remember when doctors had 1 nurse in their office..or even none.? You paid the doctor 5-10 bucks for an office visit..even less but I don't want to tell my age. Heck I went to a doctor in 1972 trying to finagle a day off work(shame on me) and the office visit was 3 bucks...and he gave me a couple of pills. (another story)
Forward to present day. With so much government red tape they have to have 3 bookkeepers and a host of other people to help keep things straight. And really most is caused by government and insurance company requirements. You are right. insurance for the big stuff. reduce prices and red tape and pay for the small stuff out of pocket. Boy a really novel idea. Less government equals less cost!! Who woulda/coulda thunk it??!!  
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skeet@huntchat.com Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" Benjamin Franklin 
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#17
04-26-2007, 12:56 PM
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I agree with you whole heartedly Rocky, and I think that is the way the country is going. Congress has created the HSA and HRA accounts. My wife and I just went away from the Traditional Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan this year and went with an HRA. With these high deductible plans, people will be less likely to go to the doctor for a mere sniffle. With an insurance policy that covers almost everything, people are going to the doctor for the slightest reason whatsoever. Now, when they have to pay $80 out of pocket for that visit, they will think twice about it.
As long as the insurance company was going to pay the bill, you can bet that I didn't care what was on the bill or what it amounted to. Last year, we had to pay the deductible portion of our health plan out of our FSA and you can bet I was looking over those bills. I'll be looking over the bills very intently this year and you can bet I will not be going to the doctor unless I really have to, not that I did before anyway. Kind of like the "Need a penny, take a penny" jar. Sometimes, people just abuse it. I have seen a guy take out 15 cents to round out his bill. Now, it doesn't say "need a dime and a nickel" does it. There will always be those that abuse things and ruin it for the rest of us.
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The pond, waterfowl, and yellow labs...it don't get any better.
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#18
04-26-2007, 07:29 PM
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Fabs said, "I went to Italy in 2001 for a 3 week vacation, and I never noticed any obese people. It was insane."
Yes. It does make one wonder. Now this is just something I have thought about, but maybe it will makes sense to you and others as well. A rancher raises his beef to sell to the owner of a feed lot. The owner of the feed lot feed the beef (could be pigs, sheep, whatever) grain laced with hormones designed to make the animal gain weight rapidly. He also laces these animals with massive doses of antibiotics because of how the crowded situation that these animals are kept. I think we can pretty much agree on that. So you go to the store and you buy this hormone and antibiotic laced meat, what happens? Does all that hormone and antibiotic go away when the meat is cooked? I seriously think not. My question is this; and yes, I know we Americans have crappy diets, Could those hormones used to make animals gain weight rapidly also be contributory towards the obesity problem here in the U.S.? And, as long as I am asking questions, could all those antibiotics used to prevent disease in those meat animals be a big part of the cause of antibiotic resistant germs? Is there a causal effect? Somehow, my gut tells me this may be a big part of the problem. Maybe that greasy Big mac may have hidden factors that we don't hear about. After all, the meat packing industry, like the pharmacutical companies has a strong lobby. When I lived in Nevada, I was told that it was illegal for me to go to a ranch and buy a beef animal to slaughter. I would have to pay a brand inspector to come out and check out the brand prior to the sale. The brand inspector is not about to come out and check one brand as he gets paid by how many brands he checks out. Guess what lobby place that into effect? yet the rancher could slaughter a beef cow to feed his family and ranch hands. I was fortunate in that I had "connections" on a couple of ranches due to the fact that I shot pocket gophers literally all year round. When rancher would do a beef, I would get a hindquarter sometime, other times a front quarter and one Christmas was give a whole side of beef. He could give me the meat but he legally could not sell it to me. At least that meat was not laced with garbage in order for a greedy meat packer to gain more profit at the risk of my health.I do believe there is some merit to what I think is part, yes a big part towards the obesity problem in this country. Paul B.
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#19
04-26-2007, 08:14 PM
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I live in Canada and I am here to tell you that our system does not work al that well. I bet that my overall tax burden is much higher than yours. I wrecked my ACL a few years ago while out elk hunting. The doctor told me that he just went in and cleaned things up and did not repair the ligament. I was in no way consulted about this. I would gladly have paid more money in order to get that ligament repaired. The problem was that I was over a certain age and that the policy wasthat once you got over a certain age they did not repair the ligament. This knee occasionallly causes me some problems (more frequently as more time passes). I would have loved to have been consulted about this decision. This is socialized medicine at its' best.
On the other hand I have heard stories of people coming out of the hospital in the US and being greeted by the sherriff and going to jail because they could not pay their bill. Are these stories true? It would be better up here if the health care system was run more like a business. The cost to the taxpayer is way higher than it should be because there is no one monitoring where and how the money is spent. There are pros and cons to each system. I'm not sure that there is a perfect system.
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#20
04-27-2007, 01:11 AM
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Scalerman,
Nobody goes to jail in the US for not paying a bill, unless it is a Court ordered fine or Court ordered reparation. Reparation is usually ordered when a crime is committed that damages somebody's property. If a person is really poor in the US, they will qualify for Medicaid and Medicaid will pick up the bill. I have poor clients that have gone to the hospital under emergency circumstances and had tests and procedures done on them. One guy got out of the hospital owing $5,000. The only thing he owned was a 1992 Chevy Beretta that might have been worth $500. Sure, the hospital wanted to get paid, the emergency room physicians wanted to get paid, and the radiologist wanted to get paid. I worked out payment plans with all of them, and only one of the required that a judgment be entered in Court. By the way, my client could have avoided all of this headache if he decided to declare bankruptcy, but he decided to pay the bills instead. Debtor's prison was something used in England many centuries ago. In the US, nobody goes to jail just because they owe somebody money, except for the two circumstances mentioned above. Forgot one more instance, Court ordered child support. The Court will hold a parent in contempt if the child support is not paid, and the parent will be put in jail for contempt.
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The pond, waterfowl, and yellow labs...it don't get any better.
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#22
04-27-2007, 05:35 PM
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Quote:
 Since my treatment for prostate cancer, theings got a bit messed up. between being 69 years old and a radiated prostate gland, things were not looking all that good.  However, that little blue bill was a life saver. My ex-son-in-laws dad is in his mid to late 70s. He too had prostate cancer and the little blue diamonds work quite well for him as well. Of couese, now we shoot blanks, but we still can shoot.  Paul B.
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#24
04-30-2007, 03:35 PM
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Quote:
 Keep it UP!
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