Evil Obamacare

[Vrede too]

Let Medicare negotiate lower prescription drug prices! (petition to Congress)

[Vrede too]

Petition to Congress:

"Lower prescription drug prices and crack down on Big Pharma monopolies by supporting the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act."

[Vrede too]

Co-Sponsor H.R. 1884, the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act

[Vrede too]

We need Medicare for All, not more Trumpcare (Petition to Congress)

[Vrede too]

http://www.blueridgedebate.com/forum/vi ... nor#p98136

Governor Cooper: Stand Up For Clean Air and Water in North Carolina!
Veto budget provisions that delay hog farm permits from taking effect

'Overall, this budget is bad:' Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes budget passed by General Assembly



No mention of hog farm permits in this article. Instead:

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday vetoed the Republican-drawn state budget that passed a day earlier, likely setting up tough negotiations with GOP leaders over the future of Medicaid expansion, school construction and tax cuts....

"I'm vetoing this budget because it fails in many ways," Cooper said at the news conference. "This budget is an astonishing failure of common sense and common decency."

This will be the third time in as many years as governor that Cooper has vetoed what's annually the most important piece of legislation. His previous two vetoes were overridden. But he now sits in a stronger position because Democratic seat gains in the House and Senate have eroded the Republicans' once veto-proof majorities.

Republicans will attempt to override him after the July 4 weekend, their but success appears unlikely given only a few Democrats in the House joined with the GOP in this week's votes for the actual budget. Even Democratic senators who voted for the budget this week because it contained provisions they favored were in attendance Friday to stand with Cooper....

The governor said he doesn't like corporate tax cuts in the budget and wants a school and infrastructure bond package instead of the pay-as-you-go proposal in the final measure. The focus of his unhappiness remains on the absence of Medicaid expansion, which he said would inject money into rural hospitals, create jobs and save lives of people lacking insurance.

"Many are dying because North Carolina has yet to say an important word: Yes. Yes, we will accept Medicaid expansion," Cooper said.

A new report released this week from George Washington University researchers estimates expansion under the federal health care law would provide Medicaid coverage to 634,000 low-income people, while another recent report said the ranks of the uninsured would fall by 365,000....

[O Really]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/15- ... 00693.html

"15,000 Americans Died So Republican Governors Could Stick It to Obama"

[O Really]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/ho ... &ocid=iehp

How a bachelor party hangover cost a Colorado man $12,000


OK, so they shouldn't have gone to Emergency in the first place. And they should know that running trauma places is expensive and everybody gets dinged for a share when they go there. They should also know that hospitals actively try to discourage people going to emergency unless they've got a serious emergency. They should know that insurance companies discourage use of Emergency with higher co-pays and separate deductibles. Yada and yada. But still - When people ask "how we gonna pay for" universal coverage, one answer might be to get stuff priced for value and not charge a high price just because you can. Another answer might be for the healthcare providers to keep the urgent care centers open at night. But for whatever reason it occurs or whatever the potential answers, there's seldom been a clearer, more vivid example of a healthcare system off the rails than this example.

[Vrede too]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/ho ... &ocid=iehp

How a bachelor party hangover cost a Colorado man $12,000

OK, so they shouldn't have gone to Emergency in the first place. And they should know that running trauma places is expensive and everybody gets dinged for a share when they go there. They should also know that hospitals actively try to discourage people going to emergency unless they've got a serious emergency. They should know that insurance companies discourage use of Emergency with higher co-pays and separate deductibles. Yada and yada. But still - When people ask "how we gonna pay for" universal coverage, one answer might be to get stuff priced for value and not charge a high price just because you can. Another answer might be for the healthcare providers to keep the urgent care centers open at night. But for whatever reason it occurs or whatever the potential answers, there's seldom been a clearer, more vivid example of a healthcare system off the rails than this example.

The metabolic panel is standard with his complaint. Lots of things can cause vomiting and its effects can be severe. The price is outrageous.

The IV fluid is standard. These are things I would order and maybe complete before the MD ever saw him, perhaps a CBC, too, for ruling out infection. The price is outrageous.

The drug screen is iffy, maybe just a blood alcohol given the admission of drinking. I think the price is outrageous, but don't know for sure what a drug screen is where I've worked.

The "facility fee" is outrageous. Should be in the hundreds of dollars for an uncomplicated ER visit. This probably explains at least part of it:

At a freestanding ER outside of Denver ...

Most ER's lose money, but that loss is made up by patients that are admitted through the ER. Doesn't happen at freestanding ERs.

[O Really]

Yeah, I didn't question the specific services, only the charges. But it's an unsustainable system where a person, known to be miserably sick at the time, can "authorize" a blank check to the facility, and the facility can send out a bill for $12,000 that ostensibly is legally enforceable/collectible, but the insurance company can negotiate after-the-fact for a bill down to $4,000 (one third of the original), and then actually pay only half of that. And maybe a different carrier would have paid all or most of it - or denied it entirely as being medically unnecessary to go to Emergency. It's been calculated by various knowledgeable people that it's not a matter of raising more money to pay for universal coverage, it's re-allocating money that's already being spent. Candidates supporting universal coverage of any style ought to haul up those figures and pound them constantly everytime they mention universal coverage.

[Vrede too]

Agreed.

Yeah, I didn't question the specific services, only the charges....

I know, sorry if it sounded like I was correcting you. The article does question the services, and I figured I'd just add some expert context.

[O Really]

Agreed.

Yeah, I didn't question the specific services, only the charges....

I know, sorry if it sounded like I was correcting you. The article does question the services, and I figured I'd just add some expert context.

Understood. And some would question the services because they have no idea why they might have been needed. But really, doing a test that may not actually be necessary but might be useful wouldn't be that awful if it is priced reasonably or if the reason for it is explained at the time.

[neoplacebo]

I don't recall my employer provided insurance increasing in price after the ACA was passed; in fact, it didn't go up after I had four way bypass surgery in 2010 (about $111,000 of which I was left to pay about $4,000). The statements I got showing these figures was not itemized but I suppose it was in the insurance company copies. I do remember being taken in a wheelchair more than once to have x rays of my head which I never understood the reason for. I hope those fuckers didn't move my heart to my head and my brain to my chest. Oh, well.

[Vrede too]

... I do remember being taken in a wheelchair more than once to have x rays of my head which I never understood the reason for....

A guess, if you really mean CTs rather than x-ray: Worry about your bypasses throwing off a clot leading to a stroke - either routine or for some reason specific to you.

Alternative guess: They don't know you like we do and were concerned something was going haywire.

[neoplacebo]

... I do remember being taken in a wheelchair more than once to have x rays of my head which I never understood the reason for....

A guess, if you really mean CTs rather than x-ray: Worry about your bypasses throwing off a clot leading to a stroke - either routine or for some reason specific to you.

Alternative guess: They don't know you like we do and were concerned something was going haywire.

No, I think it was x ray; the guy running the machine was standing behind a shield. Not being a medical type I didn't consider clots. I just figured they were trying to make extra money. Anyway, is the brain the most likely place for a clot? Is that where the vessels are the smallest? If all the blood vessels in the human body were about 1/4" diameter at least, I guess we'd all be a lot bigger with great big heads and hands and feet.

[Vrede too]

No, I think it was x ray;

If so, I don't know why. Maybe they dropped you on your head in the OR.

the guy running the machine was standing behind a shield.

They're shielded for CTs, too. Was there a donut, or just a pointy device?

Not being a medical type I didn't consider clots. I just figured they were trying to make extra money. Anyway, is the brain the most likely place for a clot?

It, the heart and the lungs are the most devastating.

Is that where the vessels are the smallest?

No, but it is a significant choke point.

If all the blood vessels in the human body were about 1/4" diameter at least, I guess we'd all be a lot bigger with great big heads and hands and feet.

See? That's the kind of thing that makes me wonder about option #2 above.

[neoplacebo]

No, I think it was x ray;

If so, I don't know why. Maybe they dropped you on your head in the OR.

the guy running the machine was standing behind a shield.

They're shielded for CTs, too. Was there a donut, or just a pointy device?

Not being a medical type I didn't consider clots. I just figured they were trying to make extra money. Anyway, is the brain the most likely place for a clot?

It, the heart and the lungs are the most devastating.

Is that where the vessels are the smallest?

No, but it is a significant choke point.

If all the blood vessels in the human body were about 1/4" diameter at least, I guess we'd all be a lot bigger with great big heads and hands and feet.

See? That's the kind of thing that makes me wonder about option #2 above.

If they dropped me, I didn't know it. No, it was no donut, more like some kind of ray gun. Logical to think if all those vessels were a lot bigger there would be virtually no clots except very large ones. And they took part of a vein from my leg and put it in my heart; since then the leg has been partially numb or at least less sensitive to feeling. Not sure if it made my heart partially numb or less sensitive to feeling, though. I've not noticed any change in my empathy or feelings toward others so I guess it's ok. I think trump must have had a vein from his ass removed and put in his heart, though. Could explain why his mouth often looks like an anus.

[Vrede too]

If they dropped me, I didn't know it. No, it was no donut, more like some kind of ray gun....

X-ray then, no clue why.

[Vrede too]

Column: Supreme Court overturns key GOP sabotage of Obamacare, granting insurers $12 billion


Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) fired a shot at Obamacare and hit consumers instead. Now the Supreme Court has said he was wrong all the way.

Of all the Republican attempts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, which began almost instantly after its enactment on March 23, 2010, one stands out as the most cynical and damaging.

That's the GOP's undermining of "risk corridors," a provision designed to protect participants in the healthcare marketplace from undue losses as the system got rolling.

On Monday, the Supreme Court overturned that effort.

A principle as old as the nation itself: The government should honor its obligations.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

... Monday's opinion was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor for an 8-1 majority — an unusual confluence of judgment.

... Republicans were inordinately proud of this stunt. During his short-lived presidential campaign in 2015-2016, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) claimed parentage of the risk corridor block.

“Only one candidate has actually done significant damage to Obamacare,” his campaign boasted. Rubio, who derided the risk corridor provision as a "bailout" of insurers, claimed to have “saved the American taxpayer $2.5 billion.”

In truth, however, the risk corridors were not an insurer bailout, but an important consumer protection measure. Their aim was to keep insurers participating in the new market by limiting their financial exposure. More insurers would mean more competition, with the effect of moderating spikes in premiums, which of course are paid by consumers.

The financial carnage of the riders was epic. As Sotomayor observed, in the first year of the new market (2014), insurers compiled an overall loss of $2.5 billion, followed by $5.5 billion the second year and $3.95 billion in the third — nearly $12 billion all told. In that first year, the plans owed money were told they'd collect only 12.6 cents on the dollar, due to the rider.

For some insurers, this was an unsustainable loss. The new co-op serving 80,000 customers in Iowa and Nebraska — nearly eight times the enrollment it had expected, got $16 million to cover $140 million in claims. So they shut down, leaving their patients high and dry....

An 8-1 majority - Ouch, Rubio and the Repugs get caught breaking the law and screwing both insurers and all Americans.

[Vrede too]

Hah, I love seeing these kind of headlines at the right-wing National Review:

Oklahoma Adopts Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion with Slim Majority

... Oklahoma, which has the second-highest uninsured rate in the country, is now the fifth red state to adopt such a measure, which covers low-income adults with incomes up to roughly $17,000 a year. Amber England, the initiative’s campaign manager, has said close to 200,000 low-income Oklahoma residents could gain health insurance under the expansion.

Called “Yes on 802 Oklahomans Decide Healthcare,” the ballot initiative is an amendment to the state constitution, stymieing efforts by elected officials to restrict the program....

Oklahoma, represent!

[neoplacebo]

Hah, I love seeing these kind of headlines at the right-wing National Review:

Oklahoma Adopts Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion with Slim Majority

... Oklahoma, which has the second-highest uninsured rate in the country, is now the fifth red state to adopt such a measure, which covers low-income adults with incomes up to roughly $17,000 a year. Amber England, the initiative’s campaign manager, has said close to 200,000 low-income Oklahoma residents could gain health insurance under the expansion.

Called “Yes on 802 Oklahomans Decide Healthcare,” the ballot initiative is an amendment to the state constitution, stymieing efforts by elected officials to restrict the program....

Oklahoma, represent!

Sometimes I will post a comment on an article from National Review that I found to be particularly stupid or embarrassingly wrong and always end my comment by calling them "Irrational Review."