Evidence that a for-profit bureaucracy does not so much facilitate performance as load costs. Much of the American economy and politics are rackets.Originally Posted by Eric the Green
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Evidence that a for-profit bureaucracy does not so much facilitate performance as load costs. Much of the American economy and politics are rackets.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Galen, Rani, Justin, Copperfield - talking to them about the health care system is like talking to the kids at a skate park about the nation's transportation needs -
‘Like it be so sick if everybody was skaters and bailed from those sketchy autos! And I’m no poser, I’ve done 360 backsides on freeways, no prob. Yea, I’m stoked when it comes to transportation policy.’
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Of course, having a heart-lung trransplant on the pay-as-you-go system may be a bit dicey ... to say nothing of the life-long follow-up treatment.The evolution of a "two-tiered" system was discussed earlier in this thread, with some people paying out-of-pocket and others using insurance.
Of course, the latter will be the less desirable tier.
If they try and ban private medical care, well, that will surely get interesting! I guess then we'll see outsourcing, maybe a line of clinics opening up across the Mexican border.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
That is a right-wing conspiracy fantasy; the actual talk of course is of banning private health insurance and substituting medicare for all. That is the best way to go.The evolution of a "two-tiered" system was discussed earlier in this thread, with some people paying out-of-pocket and others using insurance.
Of course, the latter will be the less desirable tier.
If they try and ban private medical care, well, that will surely get interesting! I guess then we'll see outsourcing, maybe a line of clinics opening up across the Mexican border.
Yeah, that's about right. They don't even represent all Xers either, and certainly not millennials who will be the decisive factor in bringing back more collective responsibility to our commonwealth. This will be quite different from the outcome which The Rani envisions, with a smiley.Galen, Rani, Justin, Copperfield - talking to them about the health care system is like talking to the kids at a skate park about the nation's transportation needs -
‘Like it be so sick if everybody was skaters and bailed from those sketchy autos! And I’m no poser, I’ve done 360 backsides on freeways, no prob. Yea, I’m stoked when it comes to transportation policy.’
What, you've never tried?Negotiate some thoracic surgery and get back to me.
And you just assume that the walls of your box are the walls of Reality, then. It's sad, kinda.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela, la loi ? On peut donc être dehors. Je ne comprends pas. Quant à moi, suis-je dans la loi ? suis-je hors la loi ? Je n'en sais rien. Mourir de faim, est-ce être dans la loi ?" -- Tellmarch
"Человек не может снять с себя ответственности за свои поступки." - L. Tolstoy
"[it] is no doubt obvious, the cult of the experts is both self-serving, for those who propound it, and fraudulent." - Noam Chomsky
Fortunately, the Millies will be the adults-in-the-room by then and take on the responsibility for keeping you all away from the sharp knives.Our definition of "need" is a lot different than yours.
And you really can't stand it, can you? I guess I don't blame you, since we'll be the ones deciding what happens to your old wrinkly asses in few more years.
Sayonara, suckers!!! bwa haa haa ha! :
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Is there really that much actual deciding to be done? I mean who is better than nomads at quickly calculating the cost-benefit analysis of keeping them around?Our definition of "need" is a lot different than yours.
And you really can't stand it, can you? I guess I don't blame you, since we'll be the ones deciding what happens to your old wrinkly asses in few more years.
Sayonara, suckers!!! bwa haa haa ha! :
Last edited by Copperfield; 05-30-2013 at 04:14 PM.
We could be in trouble if you guys decide!Is there really that much actual deciding to be done? I mean who is better than nomads at quickly calculating the cost-benefit analysis of keeping them around?
I expect that medical tourism will suddenly become much more popular and not just to Mexico.If they try and ban private medical care, well, that will surely get interesting! I guess then we'll see outsourcing, maybe a line of clinics opening up across the Mexican border.
If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.
- Ludwig von Mises
Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
- Lazarus Long
I would expect even more doctors to go to a cash basis or simply get out of the business altogether which is already occurring. Clearly, reducing the number of doctors is the best way to go.Once again, Eric the Obtuse shows an astounding ability come up with the perfect way to make everything worse.
If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.
- Ludwig von Mises
Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
- Lazarus Long
Don't sweat it, Eric. You're worth subsidizing for the comic relief, even if nothing elseWe could be in trouble if you guys decide!
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela, la loi ? On peut donc être dehors. Je ne comprends pas. Quant à moi, suis-je dans la loi ? suis-je hors la loi ? Je n'en sais rien. Mourir de faim, est-ce être dans la loi ?" -- Tellmarch
"Человек не может снять с себя ответственности за свои поступки." - L. Tolstoy
"[it] is no doubt obvious, the cult of the experts is both self-serving, for those who propound it, and fraudulent." - Noam Chomsky
The quicker X puts me out of their misery, the faster they get screwed by accelerating the cycle. Destroying the healthcare system is wonderful, indeed, from the cost benefit analysis of leaving the living envying the dead...
Any one doubt why Xers wind up being the old grumpy dudes yelling at the kids to get off the lawn?
They aspire to it.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Note that those physicians are opting out of both private insurance (from corporations) and from the government-subsidized insurance. Corporate bureaucracies simply add to the cost of medical care. Medicare, Medicaid, and SSI are under political pressure to keep costs down especially when right-wingers want an economic triage of poor sick people that results in poor sick people ending up in the potter's field.I would expect even more doctors to go to a cash basis or simply get out of the business altogether which is already occurring. Clearly, reducing the number of doctors is the best way to go.
Private insurance is basically a tax added on a cost-plus basis to any medical procedure. Medicine is best not decided by bureaucrats.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Libertarians definitely agree with this.
If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.
- Ludwig von Mises
Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
- Lazarus Long
(Bureaucrats - private and public. )
Agreed. It's also a a private good which should be a public good. The profit motive of health insurance is an internal contradiction of the actual provisioning of healthcare. IOW, the seller of the product prefers that the consumer NOT use said product.Private insurance is basically a tax added on a cost-plus basis to any medical procedure.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngood...0-of-the-time/
...In Monday’s New York Times column Krugman pronounced ObamaCare a success before it has even been tried. Why? Because the premiums to be charged in California health insurance exchange are apparently lower than what the experts thought they would be:
"Well, the California bids are in — that is, insurers have submitted the prices at which they are willing to offer coverage on the state’s newly created ObamaCare exchange. And the prices, it turns out, are surprisingly low. A handful of healthy people may find themselves paying more for coverage, but it looks as if ObamaCare’s first year in California is going to be an overwhelmingly positive experience."
I did a quick check and discovered that if a 25-year-old in Los Angeles chooses the least expensive plan offered on the California health instance exchange, the premium will be $142 a month. Yet the cheapest plan offered on eHealth today is only $92 a month.
Aah…let’s see…Everybody thought health insurance premiums would be 100% higher. In fact, they are only 60% higher…
Krugman points to the experience of health reform in Massachusetts in predicting how wonderful health reform is going to be:
"Massachusetts has had essentially this system since 2006; as a result, nearly all residents have health insurance, and the program remains very popular. So we know that ObamaCare — or, as some of us call it, ObamaRomneyCare — can work."
But what has really happened in the Bay state?
...Here is what is happening on the ground. Traffic to hospital emergency rooms in Massachusetts is higher today than before health reform. Traffic to community health centers is almost one-third higher than it was before reform. Yet, the time it takes to get care is growing. The wait to see a new doctor in Boston today is two months ― the longest wait in the entire country.
On balance, the only thing that seems to have changed in Massachusetts is that patients are waiting longer...
This is one of many post of yours where the only question is are you more dishonest than dumb or more dumb than dishonest.
The exchange plan is at least a Bronze level plan that covers 60% of all your health costs up to a maximum and then it covers 100%. This plan will be spelled out to you in a required standardize manner that allows you to compare it to all other offered plans. Moreover, if you are making under $46K per year as an individual ($96K as a household), the govt will subsidize some or all of the premium. Should the insurer use more that 20% of the plan's premiums for something (expenses, profits) other than for health care costs, the insure will have to reimburse you.
In contrast, your reference says nothing about how his eHealth plan compares to a Bronze or Silver plan in the CA exchange; he also doesn't even mention if his plan is one available in Los Angeles. I realize the govt has always cuddled you with health care coverage so you might not know that health care/insurance is likely much more expensive in LA that it would be in your Backward, USA so comparisons have to be at least on a state basis if not on intra-state regional basis. The eHealth plan is also a rate before mandates kick in for coverage regardless of prior condition.
Get a clue.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Krugman is such an asshole.
There's litlle difference. Obamacare just costs a lot more. Thanks.
I know, because you believe. You really really believe.
It's right up there with your belief in the Tooth Fairy and Magic Ponies that poop gold.
Don't worry, the adults in the room will take care of you. Yeesh.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Did you read anything? Krugman was jumping up and down for joy becayse Obamacare would only cost 60 percent more over the previous instead of the predicted 100 percent. Some victory.
Just so you know, comparing the ACA plans to a plan for perfectly healthy young people who live in good environments, and one that can be canceled as soon as it's used once, is a red herring. Yes, those current plans disappear and the replacements are both dramatically better and somewhat more expensive. So?
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
How physician-owned hospitals are making teaching hospitals pay
"Are you having trouble finding a doctor who will see you? If not, give it another year and a half. A doctor shortage is on its way,” writes John C. Goodman.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/05/...itals-pay.htmlI always believed that, if we could harness the entrepreneurial spirit of the American physician, we could be capable of great things. Physician decisions drive much of what is good and bad about our health care system. Their pens are the biggest driver of cost and their vigilance is the most significant driver of quality. It is a shame that physician-owned hospitals are accelerating the creation of a two-tier system by cherry-picking healthy, well-insured patients.There are overwhelming monetary incentives for physician-owned hospitals to market to the healthiest and wealthiest, who seek a narrow list of procedural interventions. But then those physicians are rewarded with value-based payments for high satisfaction scores and low readmission rates as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
What happens to the rest of the patients—the ones with one if not several chronic conditions and minimal if any insurance?
They find their way to teaching hospitals, which treat a disproportionate number of “dual eligibles” (seniors so poor they need both Medicare and Medicaid support), the disabled, and nonwhite patients. Teaching hospitals can quickly become underfunded and over-stretched, offering opportunities for physician-owned hospitals in the market to deliver better quality, albeit more expensive, health care to those who have the ability to choose. In spite of that, many teaching hospitals deliver excellent service and care.
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...pinion_LEADTop
...California reported that the rates would range from 2% above to 29% below the current market...
But Mr. Lee and his fellow regulators were making a false comparison. They weren't looking at California's lightly regulated individual insurance market that functions surprisingly well. They were comparing ObamaCare insurance to the state's current small-business market where regulations similar to ObamaCare have already been imposed...
We wouldn't be shocked if California deliberately abused statistics in the hopes that no one would notice that in some cases premiums would more than double. In any case, the turn among the liberals who touted the fake results has been educational.
They now concede that individual costs will rise but claim that it is unfair to compare today's market to ObamaCare because ObamaCare mandates much richer benefits. Another liberal rationalization is that the cost-increasing regulations are meant to help people with pre-existing conditions, so they're worth it.
So they're finally admitting what some of us predicted from the start, but that's also the policy point. Americans are being forced to buy more expensive coverage than what they willingly buy today. Liberals also argue that some of the new costs will be offset by subsidies, which is great news unless you happen to be a taxpayer or aren't eligible for ObamaCare dollars and wake up to find your current coverage is illegal...
