Both Rags and PRB should get KMOX, 1120, at night.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

Where I live I can reliably get AM signals from Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston, and Winnipeg. Reception is a little shakier from Albuquerque, ...

So who gives a shit?!! There's nothing from KKOB in ABQ worth listening to anyway.

Which reminds me of something ... back in the day there used to be kind of a "radio station of record" in most areas of the midwest and Rocky Mountain west. Everyone pretty much tuned it in in the morning, got the news, the pork-belly futures, local commentary and whatnot. Nowadays, there seems to be little other than the cacophony of conservative radio claptrap.

Originally Posted by TnT

So who gives a shit?!! There's nothing from KKOB in ABQ worth listening to anyway.

Which reminds me of something ... back in the day there used to be kind of a "radio station of record" in most areas of the midwest and Rocky Mountain west. Everyone pretty much tuned it in in the morning, got the news, the pork-belly futures, local commentary and whatnot. Nowadays, there seems to be little other than the cacophony of conservative radio claptrap.

The format you miss is called full-service country, and is expensive to produce (lots of news staff).

It's lots cheaper to just broadcast a BS session, and more profitable if the BS is directed to a demo that objects to reality.

Originally Posted by TnT

So who gives a shit?!! There's nothing from KKOB in ABQ worth listening to anyway.

Which reminds me of something ... back in the day there used to be kind of a "radio station of record" in most areas of the midwest and Rocky Mountain west. Everyone pretty much tuned it in in the morning, got the news, the pork-belly futures, local commentary and whatnot. Nowadays, there seems to be little other than the cacophony of conservative radio claptrap.

The station your grandparents would have on in the house all day... yeah, I remember that. WCCO was sort of that for the Twin Cities and large parts of Minnesota--and I think they still have that kind of format, although radio isn't the ubiquitous household institution it once was.

My grandparents in Virginia also had that kind of station on all day, out of Harrisonburg.

Today's count of the health care dead and broke for profit in the U.S.:


The 2014, to date, U.S. medical-financial-industrial -complex system dead: 18,450


The 2014, to date, U.S. health care system bankrupt: 296,700


** These figures are calculated based on the Harvard University studies on excess deaths in the U.S. due to lack of insurance coverage or the ability to pay for needed health care, and the Harvard University study that calculated the high percentage of personal bankruptcies attributable to medical crisis and debt in the U.S. 123 people die daily due to lack of coverage or cash to pay for care; 1,978 go bankrupt every day due to medical crisis and debt though the majority had insurance at the time their illness or injury occurred. This statistic is also based on the 1.2 million bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2012, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and calculating those medically-related bankruptcies from that number.


Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum? Killing People, Dreams and Ambition


by Donna Smith

It has been nine days since I updated my numbers of health care dead and broke. Who noticed? Well, I am sure the dead and the broke did. The profit-first, greedy health care system in the U.S. continues its march toward ever increasing profits for those who are already wealthy.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/01-0

Originally Posted by Deb C

Today's count of the health care dead and broke for profit in the U.S.:


The 2014, to date, U.S. medical-financial-industrial -complex system dead: 18,450


The 2014, to date, U.S. health care system bankrupt: 296,700


** These figures are calculated based on the Harvard University studies on excess deaths in the U.S. due to lack of insurance coverage or the ability to pay for needed health care, and the Harvard University study that calculated the high percentage of personal bankruptcies attributable to medical crisis and debt in the U.S. 123 people die daily due to lack of coverage or cash to pay for care; 1,978 go bankrupt every day due to medical crisis and debt though the majority had insurance at the time their illness or injury occurred. This statistic is also based on the 1.2 million bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2012, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and calculating those medically-related bankruptcies from that number.


Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum? Killing People, Dreams and Ambition


by Donna Smith

It has been nine days since I updated my numbers of health care dead and broke. Who noticed? Well, I am sure the dead and the broke did. The profit-first, greedy health care system in the U.S. continues its march toward ever increasing profits for those who are already wealthy.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/01-0

What a crock of crap. The Havard study is from 2012 - TWO YEARS BEFORE THE ACA WAS IMPLEMENTED!

This moron is extrapolating what happened before the ACA and suggesting it is continuing after the ACA was put in place - not bothering to even recognize that the findings of the Harvard and earlier studies were exactly the driving force behind the ACA that now stops pre-condition exclusions, limits Out of Pocket Payment, enforces Medical Loss Ratios, and many other aspects that should make medical bankruptcy about as common as a farting dinosaur walking down 5th Avenue (and I'm talking real live dinosaur, not Donald Trump!).

This is exactly the kind of horseshit hyperbole and outright lying from the Far Left that does such great political damage to moving forward toward public option and single payer potentials ...and the Far Left continues to be just oo damn stupid to grasp that. Thank God this moron has moved out of DC! The best thing she could possible to do if she's really interested in single payer ever coming to fruition. Now if we could only get her to become an advocate for dirty coal fire plants or social security benefits for retiring al Qaeda members - let her kill those ideas off instead of continuing to do her best to make single payer nothing but a pipe dream.

By the way, I've been meaning to mention, it is really fascinating to watch all of the old people having these technical discussions about radio in a way later generations do computer stuff. I mean, it's one thing to understand that people your age would understand these sorts of things as an abstraction, and another to watch it in practice. It's good stuff.

Who knows, maybe it'll make a big comeback sooner than one might think. You guys should keep it up.

Originally Posted by playwrite

What a crock of crap. The Havard study is from 2012 - TWO YEARS BEFORE THE ACA WAS IMPLEMENTED!

This moron is extrapolating what happened before the ACA and suggesting it is continuing after the ACA was put in place - not bothering to even recognize that the findings of the Harvard and earlier studies were exactly the driving force behind the ACA that now stops pre-condition exclusions, limits Out of Pocket Payment, enforces Medical Loss Ratios, and many other aspects that should make medical bankruptcy about as common as a farting dinosaur walking down 5th Avenue (and I'm talking real live dinosaur, not Donald Trump!).

This is exactly the kind of horseshit hyperbole and outright lying from the Far Left that does such great political damage to moving forward toward public option and single payer potentials ...and the Far Left continues to be just oo damn stupid to grasp that. Thank God this moron has moved out of DC! The best thing she could possible to do if she's really interested in single payer ever coming to fruition. Now if we could only get her to become an advocate for dirty coal fire plants or social security benefits for retiring al Qaeda members - let her kill those ideas off instead of continuing to do her best to make single payer nothing but a pipe dream.

Donna Smith has ACA. She suffers from breast cancer. Had you read the entire piece, you would know this:

Today's count of the health care dead and broke for profit in the U.S.:
The 2014, to date, U.S. medical-financial-industrial -complex system dead: 18,450
The 2014, to date, U.S. health care system bankrupt: 296,700
** These figures are calculated based on the Harvard University studies on excess deaths in the U.S. due to lack of insurance coverage or the ability to pay for needed health care, and the Harvard University study that calculated the high percentage of personal bankruptcies attributable to medical crisis and debt in the U.S. 123 people die daily due to lack of coverage or cash to pay for care; 1,978 go bankrupt every day due to medical crisis and debt though the majority had insurance at the time their illness or injury occurred. This statistic is also based on the 1.2 million bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2012, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and calculating those medically-related bankruptcies from that number."

It's hard to know how others live when your looking out from your ivory tower. Now back to not reading your propaganda.

Originally Posted by Deb C

Donna Smith has ACA. She suffers from breast cancer. Had you read the entire piece, you would know this:

Today's count of the health care dead and broke for profit in the U.S.:
The 2014, to date, U.S. medical-financial-industrial -complex system dead: 18,450
The 2014, to date, U.S. health care system bankrupt: 296,700
** These figures are calculated based on the Harvard University studies on excess deaths in the U.S. due to lack of insurance coverage or the ability to pay for needed health care, and the Harvard University study that calculated the high percentage of personal bankruptcies attributable to medical crisis and debt in the U.S. 123 people die daily due to lack of coverage or cash to pay for care; 1,978 go bankrupt every day due to medical crisis and debt though the majority had insurance at the time their illness or injury occurred. This statistic is also based on the 1.2 million bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2012, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and calculating those medically-related bankruptcies from that number."

It's hard to know how others live when your looking out from your ivory tower. Now back to not reading your propaganda.

And I thought this level of dumb was reserved for those on the Right.

Again, real slow...

THE.... STUDY....IS....FROM....2012.

THAT'S....2.....YEARS....BEFORE....THE....ACA....W AS....IMPLEMENTED.

Do you really believe that it is propaganda to point out the outright lying of YOUR propaganda???

If you were really interested in getting people health insurance, you'd be fighting to get the millions of the most needy being needlessly denied Medicaid coverage by their STATE governments.

But that's not your shtick is it?

No, your shtick is mindless Obama bashing even if it means posting outright lies over and over again.
And you wonder why no one listens to the Far Left.
Pathetic.

If you can't figure out why this -

The current 13.4% average for the second quarter of 2014 is the lowest level recorded since Gallup began tracking this measure in 2008.

- should make an anti-ACA deadender breakdown in tears,

then you must be one of truly dumb deadenders.

Originally Posted by playwrite

- should make an anti-ACA deadender breakdown in tears,

then you must be one of truly dumb deadenders.

Wrong award, playwrite, Let me help you out.





I hand out dodo awards to folks who say dumb things. I hereby grant you access to my Monty Hall zonk inventory so you can hand them out.
Eric has managed to accrete a whole flock of these.

PS

For God's sake go clean out your visitor's messages. That crap from the spammer is wasting disk space here.

283 Visitor Messages

Originally Posted by Ragnarök_62

Wrong award, playwrite, Let me help you out.





I hand out dodo awards to folks who say dumb things. I hereby grant you access to my Monty Hall zonk inventory so you can hand them out.
Eric has managed to accrete a whole flock of these.

PS

For God's sake go clean out your visitor's messages. That crap from the spammer is wasting disk space here.

283 Visitor Messages

Thanks, Rags, I had no idea that was clogging up the works.

Holy crap, I have to click on each individual message, then click delete for 10 at a time, then click to go to the next page!

This is not going to happen. Is there another way to do this in bulk??

Also, can we track down utinforboloubo and tausteratgflat and bloody beat the shit out of them?

Originally Posted by playwrite

If you can't figure out why this -



- should make an anti-ACA deadender breakdown in tears...

-Playwrite, still defending the indefensible, I see. He's trumpeting the fact that people bought health insurance whether they needed it or not because they face tax penalties if they don't.

Back in 1940, millions of men registered for the draft. Millions more would register over the next few decades. That draft must have been a real hit with the public.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...plan-1130.html

...certainly more popular than Obamacare.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articl...ll-Cut-Deficit

One of the Obama administration's major selling points in passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010 was a Congressional Budget Office forecast that the controversial legislation would reduce the deficit by more than $120 billion over the coming decade.The CBO has consistently projected that President Obama's overhaul will reduce the deficit, and the agency estimated that the Republicans’ 2011 effort to repeal the legislation would increase deficits by $210 billion from 2010 to 2021...

In April, the agency quietly signaled that it can no longer make that projection...

Now it’s unclear whether the law is still on track to reduce the deficit or end up adding many billions of dollars more to the current $17 trillion national debt. CBO and JCT currently estimate that the insurance coverage provisions alone of the ACA will have a net cost of just under $1.1 trillion over the 2012–2021 period...

“The ACA’s financing provisions were assumed to be effective so as to get a favorable score out of CBO upon enactment,” he said. “But no one is keeping track of whether they’re being enforced. . . .

I'm SHOCKED.

Originally Posted by playwrite

Thanks, Rags, I had no idea that was clogging up the works.

Holy crap, I have to click on each individual message, then click delete for 10 at a time, then click to go to the next page!

No problem. I'm just glad it's no longer using YOUR space, so to speak. I call that theft.

This is not going to happen. Is there another way to do this in bulk??

Not really. Normal people don't send others hundreds of messages at a time. Vbullentin isn't designed for spam removal in folks' personal items spots.

Also, can we track down utinforboloubo and tausteratgflat and bloody beat the shit out of them?

Believe me, I'd take the job of spam cop here. [There's no moderator[s] it seems. So if whoever is running this joint would just let me be spam cop, I'd do that. The moderator thing, nawww, things are OK without that, I think.]

I think what is going on is that these yahoos are using this site's disk space and serving the contents up someplace else. If I got admin privs and nuked their stuff here, it would wreak havoc on their server with a bunch of 404, page not found errors. I'm sure you've done that with your clean out. It has some stuff pointing to the garbage you wiped out and since it's gone, when someone clicks a link pointing to the stuff you deleted, a 404 error will happen.

Now I'd really like to nuke the payment page, since the html code for that is quite complicated or go in and edit it to make it screw up.. Now that would be devious right? I could edit the html to accept the payment and send the merchandise and then send the actual payment details off to the bit bucket so they don't get paid.

The sad reality is that way too many people live pay check to pay check in this country. Given the facts that the ACA's co-pays and out of pocket expenses are considerably high with the lower rungs of the program, medical bankruptcies will continue to be high. Not to mention that needed health care will be put on the back burner by many who have limited funds.

Medical Debt: A Curable Affliction Health Reform Won’t Fix


By David U. Himmelstein, M.D., and Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H.
Communities & Banking, Summer 2013


Millions of Americans are deep in medical debt. Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will throw a lifeline to very few. According to the Congressional Budget Office, even after health reform is fully implemented in 2014, 30 million to 36 million people will remain uninsured. And tens of millions who do have insurance will have coverage that is too limited to ensure financial protection against an expensive illness. Many families will remain just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2013/june/m...%E2%80%99t-fix

High cost sharing. The games that the insurance and pharmaceutical corporations play.

Large variation in cost-sharing reductions in silver plans harms patients

Analysis of Benefit Design in Silver Plan Variations

The large variation in co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles required by CSR plans may not be clear to exchange enrollees with limited income.

Across all CSR plans, there is broad variation in how issuers reduce cost-sharing across benefit categories relative to the standard silver plans. Because issuers have a high level of flexibility in designing these CSR plans, cost-sharing amounts vary across services and in some cases mirror the cost-sharing in standard silver plans.
The large variation in how plans apply the cost-sharing reductions across covered benefits may not be clear to consumers while they are shopping and comparing plans.
Notably, consumers with the lowest income who qualify for the highest level of financial assistance (100% to 150% FPL) could encounter some 94% AV CSR plans with cost-sharing requirements for specific services that are identical to standard silver plans. Even for CSR plan cost-sharing that is reduced, out-of-pocket costs could still serve as a barrier to accessing care.

Comment by Don McCAnne M.D.

What is particularly egregious is the intolerably high cost-sharing required of low-income individuals who need higher-tier drugs. High cost drugs, such as those used to treat hepatitis C or those that meet the expanded recommendations for HIV prophylaxis, will be unaffordable for individuals with low incomes, in spite of the cost-sharing reductions.

By making these drugs unaffordable, the insurers accomplish two ends: 1) the cost sharing is so high that many lower-income individuals will not fill their prescriptions, saving the insurers those costs, and 2) those with chronic hepatitis C, those at high risk of HIV exposure, or the many others who have disorders requiring expensive tier 4 drugs will likely select other insurers once they realize that the drugs that they need will be unaffordable (favorable selection). These are some of the newer innovations that the insurers are using since they are now prohibited from using medical underwriting to deny insurance to individuals with greater anticipated health care costs.
More administrative complexity. More insurer chicanery. More inequity in the provision of health care. And this is because our politicians selected the most expensive model of health care reform - one that places insurers and pharmaceutical firms above patients. Many studies have shown that the most efficient and equitable model of comprehensive health care coverage - single payer - is also the least expensive of the comprehensive models of reform. Amongst other important measures, it would put pharmaceutical firms in their place, and it would dismiss the intrusive and wasteful insurers from the scene.
We can still do that.

What is particularly egregious is the intolerably high cost-sharing required of low-income individuals who need higher-tier drugs. High cost drugs, such as those used to treat hepatitis C or those that meet the expanded recommendations for HIV prophylaxis, will be unaffordable for individuals with low incomes, in spite of the cost-sharing reductions.

By making these drugs unaffordable, the insurers accomplish two ends: 1) the cost sharing is so high that many lower-income individuals will not fill their prescriptions, saving the insurers those costs, and 2) those with chronic hepatitis C, those at high risk of HIV exposure, or the many others who have disorders requiring expensive tier 4 drugs will likely select other insurers once they realize that the drugs that they need will be unaffordable (favorable selection). These are some of the newer innovations that the insurers are using since they are now prohibited from using medical underwriting to deny insurance to individuals with greater anticipated health care costs.


More administrative complexity. More insurer chicanery. More inequity in the provision of health care. And this is because our politicians selected the most expensive model of health care reform - one that places insurers and pharmaceutical firms above patients. Many studies have shown that the most efficient and equitable model of comprehensive health care coverage - single payer - is also the least expensive of the comprehensive models of reform. Amongst other important measures, it would put pharmaceutical firms in their place, and it would dismiss the intrusive and wasteful insurers from the scene.


We can still do that.

I guess those who support the ACA as the great gift to the American people thought that as soon as the program went into affect, the Republican heads of conservative states would miraculously change and expand medicaid. Now we have millions of human beings without access to healthcare. That's millions! But just as Madeleine Albright said about the death of thousands of babies and children due to our sanctions on Iraq were worth it, I guess the same mentality applies to the millions uninsured.

State opt-outs from Medicaid expansion to result in thousands of deaths

Republican state lawmakers' refusal to expand Medicaid will result in thousands of deaths

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler: 8 million Americans will be excluded from the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/januar...ands-of-deaths

Originally Posted by Deb C

I guess those who support the ACA as the great gift to the American people thought that as soon as the program went into effect, the Republican heads of conservative states would miraculously change and expand medicaid. Now we have millions of human beings without access to healthcare. That's millions! But just as Madeleine Albright said about the death of thousands of babies and children due to our sanctions on Iraq were worth it, I guess the same mentality applies to the millions uninsured.

State opt-outs from Medicaid expansion to result in thousands of deaths

Republican state lawmakers' refusal to expand Medicaid will result in thousands of deaths

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler: 8 million Americans will be excluded from the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/januar...ands-of-deaths

Did those states have medicaid before they opted out of the ACA?

In any case, you can't blame the ACA for the political crap and resistance of Republicans.

Republicans plus a few Senate DINOs are also responsible for the fact that we don't have a public option; single-payer will need a more-progressive electorate; quite possibly in the 2020s.

Originally Posted by Ragnarök_62

Eric has managed to accrete a whole flock of these.

None of them deserved.

Proof of their inapplicability: you have given none to Vandal.

Originally Posted by Eric the Green

Did those states have medicaid before they opted out of the ACA?

In any case, you can't blame the ACA for the political crap and resistance of Republicans.

Republicans plus a few Senate DINOs are also responsible for the fact that we don't have a public option; single-payer will need a more-progressive electorate; quite possibly in the 2020s.

Most states have Medicaid. This is why I am just amazed why lawmakers even had any hope what so ever, in regards to Republicans buying into an expansion. So they knew that millions would be left out in the cold.

I am grateful for those who can now afford some form of health care, but also see the whole picture of the millions left behind. If you were hospitalized, or needed extensive medical tests, could you afford the out of pocket expenses now that you have bought into the ACA?

Originally Posted by Deb C

Most states have Medicaid. This is why I am just amazed why lawmakers even had any hope what so ever, in regards to Republicans buying into an expansion. So they knew that millions would be left out in the cold.

To be fair, the lawmakers probably didn't know or predict that the Supreme Court would strike down the provision for states to accept/implement the Medicaid expansion. (Should they have anticipated at least the possibility of that though, maybe is a fair question.) As you know, SCOTUS has made some rather disappointing decisions (from a progressive standpoint) as of late. Citizens United thwarted some efforts to reform campaign finance--so shame on those efforts?

Of course now that they have made that decision, the ACA will have to be adjusted somehow to fill those gaps you describe. But Congress would have to pass those changes, and, well, you know.

So the most practical place to apply pressure now would be on those Republican state lawmakers and governors, where appropriate. That is where the rubber will or will not hit the road on this issue.

I am grateful for those who can now afford some form of health care, but also see the whole picture of the millions left behind. If you were hospitalized, or needed extensive medical tests, could you afford the out of pocket expenses now that you have bought into the ACA?

Could you before? Yes it is unfortunate that not everybody is seeing improvement--but a lot of people are. Including millions in states which did accept the Medicaid expansion.

As caustic as Playwrite can be sometimes (although I must say of late, he's gotten more mellow overall, although he hasn't posted near as much lately), I do think he may have something as far as the idea of one of the "diverse laboratories of democracy" (states) coming up with a public option of its own on its exchange--and if that proves its merits as it should, that idea would have hope of catching on in other states. Maybe not the ideal course some of us had in mind, but the only one we have of realistically navigating at the moment. So perhaps that, again (the state level), is where progressive efforts should be applied.

Originally Posted by Eric the Green

None of them deserved.

All of them were properly dispensed, I assure you.

Proof of their inapplicability: you have given none to Vandal.

1. He really doesn't write new stuff, but rather points out what he considers errors you make when discussing chemistry.
2. The stuff he does write wrt chemistry is correct, so I can't give him a dodo award.
3. Now, if you think he writes snark, you can dish him out some honey badger awards.
4. So basically, you can consider yourself lucky. On the topic of chemistry, if Vandal hadn't intervened, you'd have a shitpot more of dodo's from me.

Originally Posted by Alioth68

To be fair, the lawmakers probably didn't know or predict that the Supreme Court would strike down the provision for states to accept/implement the Medicaid expansion. (Should they have anticipated at least the possibility of that though, maybe is a fair question.) As you know, SCOTUS has made some rather disappointing decisions (from a progressive standpoint) as of late. Citizens United thwarted some efforts to reform campaign finance--so shame on those efforts?

Of course now that they have made that decision, the ACA will have to be adjusted somehow to fill those gaps you describe. But Congress would have to pass those changes, and, well, you know.

So the most practical place to apply pressure now would be on those Republican state lawmakers and governors, where appropriate. That is where the rubber will or will not hit the road on this issue.



Could you before? Yes it is unfortunate that not everybody is seeing improvement--but a lot of people are. Including millions in states which did accept the Medicaid expansion.

As caustic as Playwrite can be sometimes (although I must say of late, he's gotten more mellow overall, although he hasn't posted near as much lately), I do think he may have something as far as the idea of one of the "diverse laboratories of democracy" (states) coming up with a public option of its own on its exchange--and if that proves its merits as it should, that idea would have hope of catching on in other states. Maybe not the ideal course some of us had in mind, but the only one we have of realistically navigating at the moment. So perhaps that, again (the state level), is where progressive efforts should be applied.

You have some valid points. Perhaps because our state did not expand medicaid, I am seeing up front and personal some of the suffering, mental and physical, that's happening. My step-sister is one person of many that I know who's having a terrible time with her health but has no insurance. Since her husband lost his job over two years ago, they can't afford the silver plan or buy COBRA. So while insurance and big pharma make millions of dollars through the American people being mandated to have insurance, millions of human beings are left out in the cold.

My step-sister is not alone in her attitude that if she is hospitalized and she runs up large bills, she will have to declare bankruptcy. She and millions like her, will possibly be forced to leave hospitals and doctors, who are already being faced with lower payments from Medicare, without compensation for services. This affects every single one of us. Hospitals are laying off people left and right in this state, resulting in staff deficits and affecting patient care. It's a downward spiral.

We are in a mess. So when I hear people praising the ACA, I cringe. It's not the great accomplishment that so many hold it up to be. It's a band-aid for a hemorrhaging wound. So I will keep working to bring single payer to our country. And yes, your idea of state to state is a good idea. It's just a shame that so many will die or go without care in the mean time. This in the supposedly greatest country in the world.

It is so hard for those of us who have the money to give to the gangsters in the insurance and pharmaceutical industry, paying them a high price for our protection, to understand the plight of those who don't have the means to pay.

A country can be judged by how it cares for its citizens.

Originally Posted by Deb C

You have some valid points. Perhaps because our state did not expand medicaid, I am seeing up front and personal some of the suffering, mental and physical, that's happening. My step-sister is one person of many that I know who's having a terrible time with her health but has no insurance. Since her husband lost his job over two years ago, they can't afford the silver plan or buy COBRA. So while insurance and big pharma make millions of dollars through the American people being mandated to have insurance, millions of human beings are left out in the cold.

My step-sister is not alone in her attitude that if she is hospitalized and she runs up large bills, she will have to declare bankruptcy. She and millions like her, will possibly be forced to leave hospitals and doctors, who are already being faced with lower payments from Medicare, without compensation for services. This affects every single one of us. Hospitals are laying off people left and right in this state, resulting in staff deficits and affecting patient care. It's a downward spiral.

We are in a mess. So when I hear people praising the ACA, I cringe. It's not the great accomplishment that so many hold it up to be. It's a band-aid for a hemorrhaging wound. So I will keep working to bring single payer to our country. And yes, your idea of state to state is a good idea. It's just a shame that so many will die or go without care in the mean time. This in the supposedly greatest country in the world.

It is so hard for those of us who have the money to give to the gangsters in the insurance and pharmaceutical industry, paying them a high price for our protection, to understand the plight of those who don't have the means to pay.

A country can be judged by how it cares for its citizens.

Deb, our state can also be judged by our meth problems and puppy mills. It's pretty sad. I'm serious.

Originally Posted by Bad Dog

Deb, our state can also be judged by our meth problems and puppy mills. It's pretty sad. I'm serious.

Very true.