[smearcase]

Already tapped, tal.

"The leech is invaluable in microsurgery when faced with the difficulties of reattaching minute veins. Ears have such tiny veins that, in the past, no one was able to successfully reattach them. Then, in 1985, a Harvard physician was having great difficulty in reattaching the ear of a five-year-old child; the tiny veins kept clotting. He decided to use leeches and the ear was saved. This success established leeches in the modern medical world. Since then, leeches have saved lives and limbs, reducing severe and dangerous venous engorgement post-surgery in fingers, toes, ear, and scalp reattachments; limb transplants; skin flap surgery; and breast reconstruction. "
NATURE. Bloody Suckers. Leech Therapy | PBS

[paraclete]

everything has a purpose

[speechlesstx]

Yes leeches are useful but I prefer hospitals equipped with cutting edge equipment over those equipped with snake oil.

[talaniman]

Hospitals never have menus or price lists.

[speechlesstx]

Menus? Why yes, "I think I'll have a frontal lobotomy today. What's that run"

[talaniman]

With or without leeches?

[speechlesstx]

With or without leeches?

The question now is with or without drugs?

No, You Can't Keep Your Drugs Either Under Obamacare

[excon]

Hello again,

So, you can't keep your policy. You can't keep your doctor. You can't keep your hospital, and now you can't keep your drugs. The deductibles are out of sight. The premiums are unaffordable, the co-pays are wayyyy too high, and the caps are wayyy to low. Plus, Obamacare DOESN'T cover babies!

Hmmmm... Now I know what those FEMA death camps are for.

excon

[speechlesstx]

I did not know Obamacare wouldn't cover babies, I don't recall having used that one do you? Feel free to rebut the Forbes column though. Meanwhile, from your state...

Guest: I like my insurance plan but I can't keep it under Obamacare | Opinion | The Seattle Times

[talaniman]

The burden is between regulators, insurances, and drug companies and there are 50 different approaches. There is no universal standard. Except when you turn 62/65. One reason that makes buying insurance across state lines impossible.

If you're smart you investigate global drug markets online for drugs, or talk to your doctor, and let them deal with each other. My doctor has a great staff in that regard. But of course you may not be aware that doctors and hospitals are forming their own regional cost sharing groups to get around state restrictions that limit federal dollars for drugs and care access.

I think your article specifically applies to the private insurance market, and how some states are still scrambling to finalize regulations that save them all a few bucks. That's often what market solutions are about. Even the employer reporting exemption only affected a very narrow group of larger employers.

[excon]

Hello again, Steve:

I did not know Obamacare wouldn't cover babies,

That was a FOX Noise scare for a few days, until their crack reporters revealed that the guy who MADE that claim, forgot to put his youngest kid on the application..

excon

[talaniman]

He still blamed Obama. But that's not unusual, that's what they have been doing for a long time. This is an old story, but the tactic is the same still.

Revealed: Letters From Republicans Seeking Obamacare Money | The Nation

Whether cutting a ribbon or signing a letter, no Republicans have acknowledged that the health programs they are endorsing are provided by Obamacare.

If these grant letters—sent since the ACA's implementation in 2010—are any guide, GOP opposition to the law will be seriously tested when the open enrollment period for ACA exchanges begins this fall. What will these Republican lawmakers say to their uninsured constituents who want to sign up?

To the extent that the law is successful, it places its Republican critics in a bind, which is why they're working so hard to undermine it. “The thing about reading these letters is that they're well-drafted. If you were to read them as stand-alone, you would say, 'Gosh, the Affordable Care Act is great,' not 'Let's repeal the bill,'” says Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a pro-reform advocacy group. Rome points out that Republican lawmakers are not “holding press conferences in front of a community health center saying, 'I'm here to get this defunded.'” He adds, “Now that would be political courage.”

Facts don't matter just blame Obama.

[speechlesstx]

Facts don't matter just blame Obama.

Congressmen looking out for their districts? Quelle horreur!

[talaniman]

If you are going to holler, throw rocks, and call names, at least be honest.

[paraclete]

You are so busy looking for someone to blame, you have forgotten the game you are playing. It's not about wealth distribution or redistribution, it is about public health. The more sick people you have who are untreated for whatever reason the bigger the pool of potential disease. there is a cost, and because the system has degenerated the costs are bigger than they should be. Studying medicine should not mean acquiring a license to print money. the ACA has tried to address the access problem, no person should be excluded from medical assistance by reason of income or relationship with an insurer

[speechlesstx]

Nice try Clete, but this is about power and redistribution.

[paraclete]

No it is about access, they shouldn't have included a tax the way they did, but the whole idea is imperfect anyway, you can't have half a public system

[speechlesstx]

Obamacare Wealth Redistribution: Health Reform To Add $52,000 To 1 Percenters Tax Bill To Pay For Benefits For Poorest Americans

[talaniman]

How Did the 1 Percent Get Ahead So Fast? - Bloomberg

A disturbing implication is that if the top earners experience big income growth while everyone else gets stuck, there will be growing disparities in the opportunities of rich children and poor children.

A lot of work needs to be done to specify the reasons for the post-1970s increases in economic inequality. But one point is clear: Through 2012, the gains from the current recovery were concentrated among the top 1 percent, and that pattern, extreme though it is, fits with a general surge in economic inequality over the last 40 years.

.95 cents of a dollars goes to 1% of the people and you say that's fair? So its okay to redistribute the wealth upward and nothing trickles down? That's hoarding.

[excon]

Hello Steve:

Obamacare Wealth Redistribution: Health Reform To Add $52,000 To 1 Percenters Tax Bill To Pay For Benefits For Poorest Americans

This is supposed to elicit what from a liberal like me???

Look, wingers... Any tax that ISN'T flat, ISN'T going to appeal to you.

Personally, MY interests are with the POOR. Yours are with the rich.. I DON'T understand that.. I've NEVER understood that. I NEVER will understand that, and I'm GLAD I don't.

excon