Originally Posted by Deb C

Personal experience.

I received a call from my step-sister this morning. Because of some major hardships the past couple of years, they have gone through most of their savings. When they went to apply for ACA, which is far from affordable, she left crying. They cannot afford any of the plans and the steep out of pocket expenses. The bronze plan isn't even offered in our state. Even if it was, it's a piece of crap that leaves people with insurance in name only. She told the navigator who was helping them that she would just have to opt for the penalty. The navigator said that most people are very upset with the hidden costs of ACA and are opting for the penalty. Both my step-sister and her husband have major health issues, ....

We could and should do better than the ACA.

Originally Posted by The Rani

Ohhhhh
Now I know which graph I was supposed to be reading. The "mine is bigger than yours" graph.

<chuckle!>

Did I come-off that way? I guess I was show-boatin' just a little!
Actually, I'm really more of a team-player(watching Mr. Playwrite's
"mad-skillz" is just a bonus! )

But anyway, I believe the graph that PW posted(the type is so tiny, so I'm not positive)
has the number and frequency of PW's OCD-like responses on the vertical-axis, and the
level of the insult on the horizontal-axis. As I believe you can see, the graph shows an
increase in his desperation(ie: not acknowledging any negative aspects of the ACA).
FWIW, I'm hopeful for a move to the right! I believe it wouldn't take much; Maybe even
just a 'waffle-thin mint'!


Prince

PS:

Originally Posted by Rani

Playdude's dick may have scored on his own goal, but be careful not to get too cocky yourself, PoP! <snip cool-smiley>

Aw, Rats! Ok. I'll defer to your understanding and expertise
in such matters going-forward; I've heard that you're pretty
good at what you do!

Got a nasty cold. Doctor and medicine ran to $200. Dry air from heating is not helping, and going outside in 10 F is not wise during current high winds. Making customers sick is a bad idea, so no client calls taken today...

I am not surprised that people are opting for the penalty. ACA has a long way to go.

With a broken society, its not surprising that Obamacare is screwed up.

Originally Posted by TimWalker

With a broken society, its not surprising that Obamacare is screwed up.

It's a 4T marker in more ways than one, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Bad Dog

Got a nasty cold. Doctor and medicine ran to $200. Dry air from heating is not helping, and going outside in 10 F is not wise during current high winds. Making customers sick is a bad idea, so no client calls taken today...

I am not surprised that people are opting for the penalty. ACA has a long way to go.

So sorry to read about that nasty cold. If the low humidity is making the symptoms worse, and you don't have a cool mist humidifier, you can try just boiling water slowly on the stove to add humidity to your home.

Take care.

Originally Posted by The Rani

He's a sexy bitch!

Now I know why he's been so busy.

Originally Posted by radind

We could and should do better than the ACA.

Theoritically, yes; politically, at the national level, no, not for a number of years.

The action is at the state level -. more states expanding Medicaid and a key state offering a public option; also eventually in the board rooms of the insurers deciding to get out of the private primary insurance model.

That's where the hard work is for the next few years. Something the intellectually lazy on the far Left don't want to acknowledge and something the Right wing nuts, like PrinceofPricks67, are more than happy to distract you from.

That's okay, people who do the real political Progressives' work, like me, will get it done - we always do, eventually.

Originally Posted by princeofcats67

...

But anyway, I believe the graph that PW posted(the type is so tiny, so I'm not positive)
has the number and frequency of PW's OCD-like responses on the vertical-axis, and the
level of the insult on the horizontal-axis. As I believe you can see, the graph shows an
increase in his desperation(ie: not acknowledging any negative aspects of the ACA).
FWIW, I'm hopeful for a move to the right! I believe it wouldn't take much; Maybe even
just a 'waffle-thin mint'!

I've been posting updates to that graph for nearly two months now with the link; here it is again -

http://acasignups.net/

The data there has been used and referenced by the NYT, WSJ, Wash. Post, LA Times, and a huge host of blogs.

For you not to know that let alone not understand the graph, is pretty moronic. For you to take the positions that you do with such little understanding is what makes you a prick. For you to attempt to cover up your intentional ignorance is what makes you the PrinceofPricks.

What you are good for is making it clear to the Progressives, the ones that actually get things done, what it is that we are up against - nasty, willfully ignorant, lying pricks.

Originally Posted by The Rani

He's a sexy bitch!

Given your low standards in so many other areas, I don't find your taste in pricks too surprising.

Originally Posted by TimWalker

With a broken society, its not surprising that Obamacare is screwed up.

12 million (and counting) would disagree with your characterization. But what do they know?

Originally Posted by radind

We could and should do better than the ACA.

Yeah, like legalizing marijuana for all purposes nationwide, taxing it, and using the money thus raised to pay for the uncompensated and undercompensated health care rendered to the poor and near-poor, respectively.

And no one gets anything taken away from them - except those who allow it to happen to them consensually, i.e., the pot smokers.

Originally Posted by Deb C

So sorry to read about that nasty cold. If the low humidity is making the symptoms worse, and you don't have a cool mist humidifier, you can try just boiling water slowly on the stove to add humidity to your home.

Take care.

On my list of things to get. Thanks.

Originally Posted by playwrite

One of you morons are actually going to try to defend one of your stupidities? Oh, this should be fun.

Tell us exactly, how Obamacare is screwing up 100 percent of health insurance. First, are you leaving out the 35% that are already covered by Medicare, Medicaid and VA? Are you leaving out the insurers and just talking about the 'screwing' of the insured? Are you talking about what has happen since the ACA or are you trying to blame all health insurance/care problems of the last century onto Obamacare? Do you know what the F you are talking about? (Wait, I know the answer to that last one - don't bother yourself with that one).



If people were signing up only because of the penalty, then they would wait until the last moment (mid-March, possible later) to do that and save the difference. We have 12 million people who signed up, and it's just January, dufus.

The penalty is for those free riders that drive the cost of medical care and insurance up for the rest of us, dufus. Amazing how you all's Libertarian horseshit goes out the window under the least bit of stress.

S, Playwrite. Tell me how popular you think Obamacare is outside of your magc pony land.

Originally Posted by playwrite

Yea, and there's a difference between you having a brain and being able to think. Outside of yourself, most people with a brain can think. Similarly, those with insurance tend to seek health care when needed, those without insurance, often go without or they go to emergency rooms for stuff that should be done by a typical visit to their doctor.

Try engaging your brain in what is called 'thinking.' Be sure to hang onto something first, it can be quite shocking to those who have never tried before.

And you know this, how?

Originally Posted by Wallace 88

S, Playwrite. Tell me how popular you think Obamacare is outside of your magc pony land.

Sorry, W, another dead end for you -

Most people either like it or believe it is not Progressive enough - the exact opposite of what you believe and want.

And that's after years of lying horseshit from the Right that Obamacare is going to have horrific effects on the majority (e.g. death panels) which will increasingly be known to be a joke. Oh, and it was before 12 million people are now benefiting from it.

You're living in the past, W.

3 Million People Have Signed Up For Obamacare Coverage

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewir...lment-sebelius

bringing =

Private QHPs: 3.03M • Medicaid/CHIP: 7.44M • Sub26ers: 3.10M

Total as of Jan 21, 2014: 13.57 Million

http://acasignups.net/

In other breaking news -

PrinceofPricks67 losses erection.
- Rani and Debs hard workin it to no avail

PrinceofPricks, "My heavily govt subsidized, employer-based insurance covers ED. With the blue pills and Rani and Debs hard pumpin, I will be back! up! I will have my happy ending!"

But perhaps TPM puts it best -

Gonna Give the O'Care Dead-Enders a Sad

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/...acare-sign-ups

Sad clowns, so sad -

Originally Posted by The Rani

Hey, playdude knows all!
Stuff like this study is just meant to, what was it, scare people? ---

Giving poor people health insurance, the belief was, would decrease their dependence on hospital emergency rooms by providing them access to more appropriate, lower-cost primary care.

But a study published in the journal Science on Thursday finds that's not the case. When you give people Medicaid, it seems they use both more primary care and more emergency room services.

"Medicaid coverage increases emergency department use, both overall and for a broad range of types of visits, conditions, and subpopulations," says Amy Finkelstein, an economics professor at MIT and one of the authors of the study. "Including visits for conditions that may be most readily treatable in primary care settings."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014...sits-in-oregon

Why is anyone surprised by this? The poor have always used the emergency room. It was their only option. The fact that this is no longer true doesn't retrain them overnight. In time, they will be redirected to Urgent Care, which is better for them and the provider system too. I doubt many will ever have a family doc, but who knows. In any case, it will take time to change old habits.

Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon

Why is anyone surprised by this? The poor have always used the emergency room. It was their only option. The fact that this is no longer true doesn't retrain them overnight. In time, they will be redirected to Urgent Care, which is better for them and the provider system too. I doubt many will ever have a family doc, but who knows. In any case, it will take time to change old habits.

Right now, where I work at Albuquerque Ambulance, we are running hundreds of 911 calls on "flu symptoms." For some god-damn reason, people think that if they call an ambulance that they "won't have to wait as long" when they get to the ER.

Some of the responses we get when we say, "So Sir/Madam, why did you call 911 today?"

* I don't have a ride.
* I don't want to wait around all day for service.
* Mom (or Dad) needs to be transported so that I can go to work. I can't hang around home all day.
* This cold (flu, whatever) has hung on for three weeks and I just can't stand it any more.

Originally Posted by TnT

Right now, where I work at Albuquerque Ambulance, we are running hundreds of 911 calls on "flu symptoms." For some god-damn reason, people think that if they call an ambulance that they "won't have to wait as long" when they get to the ER.

Some of the responses we get when we say, "So Sir/Madam, why did you call 911 today?"

* I don't have a ride.
* I don't want to wait around all day for service.
* Mom (or Dad) needs to be transported so that I can go to work. I can't hang around home all day.
* This cold (flu, whatever) has hung on for three weeks and I just can't stand it any more.

It's been like that forever. Some people want ambulances for everything, including stubbed toes, toothaches, and stomach aches. Some people won't call until the infection in their gaping head wound has made them pass out a couple times.

Originally Posted by TnT

Right now, where I work at Albuquerque Ambulance, we are running hundreds of 911 calls on "flu symptoms." For some god-damn reason, people think that if they call an ambulance that they "won't have to wait as long" when they get to the ER.

Flu symptoms eh? Uh, there's this thing called "flu shot". I highly recommend it. I'll take a short prick over a week of 104 temp fever and the attendant misery any day. Not so with my next youngest sister with 3 nephews. Flu shots = icky needles, no get flu shot. So they all catch flu and feel icky and bitch to mom over the phone. Just precious!

Some of the responses we get when we say, "So Sir/Madam, why did you call 911 today?"

* I don't have a ride.

Call a taxi, sheesh. If the town doesn't have taxi service, then perhaps the fire department can set up a deal where one of their guys picks up the oaf in his private car and claims milage. Said person should play obnoxious music during the ride as well.

* I don't want to wait around all day for service.

Add new option to menu. Route these calls to pizza joints. If you want fast service, then get a pizza. Who do you think we are anyway?

* Mom (or Dad) needs to be transported so that I can go to work. I can't hang around home all day.

See taxi option.

* This cold (flu, whatever) has hung on for three weeks and I just can't stand it any more.

Really? route to the "take 2 aspirin and call us in the morning". If that's a fail, then the quart of vodka option is a sure hit. You'll feel no pain after that "treatment". I propose vodka since it's the least prone to cause hangovers.

-----------------------

Originally Posted by kepi

It's been like that forever. Some people want ambulances for everything, including stubbed toes, toothaches, and stomach aches. Some people won't call until the infection in their gaping head wound has made them pass out a couple times.

Stupid is as stupid does. These sorts need a quart of vodka to make them smarter. In most cases, ethanol makes people dumber, but not here!

Originally Posted by Ragnarök_62

Flu symptoms eh? Uh, there's this thing called "flu shot". I highly recommend it. I'll take a short prick over a week of 104 temp fever and the attendant misery any day. Not so with my next youngest sister with 3 nephews. Flu shots = icky needles, no get flu shot. So they all catch flu and feel icky and bitch to mom over the phone. Just precious!






Call a taxi, sheesh. If the town doesn't have taxi service, then perhaps the fire department can set up a deal where one of their guys picks up the oaf in his private car and claims milage. Said person should play obnoxious music during the ride as well.



Add new option to menu. Route these calls to pizza joints. If you want fast service, then get a pizza. Who do you think we are anyway?



See taxi option.



Really? route to the "take 2 aspirin and call us in the morning".

Can't do any of that, because liability. Let's put it this way... If some guy says his stomach hurts, and turns up dead when you don't provide service, the only thing the jury will see is that you had an opportunity to act, but didn't. They won't understand that 80 or 90% of your callers misuse 911, they don't understand that at least half your callers are liars or exaggerators, and they don't care about the resource drain, or the average cost increase to themselves. All they think is "God, I'd have some the exact same thing in that dispatcher's position, and I need to send a message to me, because if I was the guy who died, I'd be dead." And they'll hold you responsible to an impossible standard. Thank God I'm out.

Originally Posted by Kepi

Can't do any of that, because liability. Let's put it this way... If some guy says his stomach hurts, and turns up dead when you don't provide service, the only thing the jury will see is that you had an opportunity to act, but didn't. They won't understand that 80 or 90% of your callers misuse 911, they don't understand that at least half your callers are liars or exaggerators, and they don't care about the resource drain, or the average cost increase to themselves. All they think is "God, I'd have some the exact same thing in that dispatcher's position, and I need to send a message to me, because if I was the guy who died, I'd be dead." And they'll hold you responsible to an impossible standard. Thank God I'm out.

Tort reform needed. Require all jury members who preside over 911 cases to ingest 1 quart of vodka during trial.

Originally Posted by Kepi

It's been like that forever. Some people want ambulances for everything, including stubbed toes, toothaches, and stomach aches. Some people won't call until the infection in their gaping head wound has made them pass out a couple times.

Drove myself in for a kidney stone to Urgent Care. Mom drove herself in to an ER with a broken arm. We're wimps. We suck. We need someone to sing paratrooper marching songs to us...

Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon

Why is anyone surprised by this? The poor have always used the emergency room. It was their only option. The fact that this is no longer true doesn't retrain them overnight. In time, they will be redirected to Urgent Care, which is better for them and the provider system too. I doubt many will ever have a family doc, but who knows. In any case, it will take time to change old habits.

Except, it seems, in Utah, which has maintained free/low-cost "community health clinics" for quite some time now.

And if this approach isn't too "liberal" for Utah, then where is it too "liberal"?