Coronavirus:

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I am not going to pretend I know anything about any of this. But something seems grossly inflated

Have you ever been to a hospital emergency and see the hundreds of people that are waiting and then read the signs that tell the people if they don;t have insurance it will be taken care of "through MEDICADE"

Actually, no. I've never seen any of that even when I worked the ER or when I was there as a patient.

[Neil]

"ou speak of democracy but stealing elections is just fine with you."

Not at all. Just so happens that all election officials, and I mean all, both Republican and Democratic officials have stated confidently that the election was both fair and honest. You want to believe Trump's lies, whining, self-pity and treason, nothing I can do for you.

[gregj410]

I am not going to pretend I know anything about any of this. But something seems grossly inflated

Have you ever been to a hospital emergency and see the hundreds of people that are waiting and then read the signs that tell the people if they don;t have insurance it will be taken care of "through MEDICADE"

Nobody works for FREE.

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

I wish you a lot of luck on all.

[Neil]

You don't need to see a physician regularly if you feel fine. The only screening tests that make sense for people in their 40s and 50s or younger are blood pressure (hypertension is asymptomatic) and glaucoma (ditto). For women, HPV tests (used to be Pap smear, but HPV is better). Perhaps the occasional blood glucose determination to screen for type 2 diabetes (likewise asymptomatic) and maybe a lipid profile every five to ten years to see who could benefit from statins. Older individuals should be screened for colorectal cancer at some point by either fecal blood testing, colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. There is no need for regular physical exams, blood tests, etc. (except as a bonding exercise) as there is not a shred of evidence these reduce mortality or suffering. There is growing evidence that older folks could benefit from a polypill (low dose aspirin (81 mg), a statin and an anti-hypertensive). The annual physical is largely, except as a bonding exercise, a waste of time. Most Americans need to exercise, eat a more plant based diet and lose weight. You don't need a doctor to tell you these things.

[HONDO74]

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

I wish you a lot of luck on all.

If you don't have an elite private insurance plan. GOOD LUCK on even getting a doctor that will take you. Unless you can pay cash up front for what they charge.

New people that are now going on medicare are finding it difficult getting a doctor that will take them. They will only take on so many as they have to balance it with private insurance that pays the rate they charge and medicare doesn't.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

You don't need to see a physician regularly if you feel fine.

But it's nice to have one you can actually go and see when you do need to see one, given that it's just about impossible to get in to see one as a new patient around here.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

I wish you a lot of luck on all.

If you don't have an elite private insurance plan.

Was not aware that BC was elite.

[gregj410]

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

I wish you a lot of luck on all.

It’s hard to gauge one’s sincerity on the typed word, but why do I suspect a hint of sarcasm in that post.

[Neil]

Many people are not aware that about 25% of each health care dollar goes to administrative expenses in the USA (mostly red tape and profit for private insurers). That compares with about 5-10% in Canada, France, England, Germany etc. So there's a lot of room for improving care by paying nurses and doctors instead of administrative personnel. We have the most expensive and most wasteful system in the history of the world. Medicare is comparable to most national systems in having a very low overhead, so Medicare for all would actually enable spending more on health care and less on the erratic and inefficient system we now have. It doesn't even have to be government run, just more highly regulated and cutting out the profit motive, which serves no one except the insurance company executives who have boat payments due .

Even our not for profits, like Blue Cross/Blue Shield are a financial drag on the system. Locally, we have dozens of executives who are paid more than I am (and I am an ancient and thus well paid salaried physician) and many who earn more than any of our neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, etc. who are the highest paid physicians. This isn't sour grapes, it's a simple statement that there is no reason for paying hundreds or thousands of executive vice presidents more than our highest paid physicians and nurses for doing essentially nothing to improve healthcare. This is capitalism at its worst.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I haven’t been to a hospital or a doctor for years. Probably not a good thing but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know that will change as I get older, but I currently don’t even have a doctor.

I wish you a lot of luck on all.

It’s hard to gauge one’s sincerity on the typed word, but why do I suspect a hint of sarcasm in that post.

No idea other than your wanting to? It's the very rare person that wish ill health upon.

[rogruth]

What gets me is the amounts that pro athletes are being paid.
They may think they are but no jock is worth a million dollars.

[gregj410]

What gets me is the amounts that pro athletes are being paid.
They may think they are but no jock is worth a million dollars.

Charles Barkley would fully disagree with you. I heard a clip of him saying all NBA and NFL plus staff should be fully vaccinated first because of the millions they pay in taxes.

[robert.]

What gets me is the amounts that pro athletes are being paid.
They may think they are but no jock is worth a million dollars.

If the money was not there. Their pay would be less. with no fans in the stands and TV revenue dropping. Things may change.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

What gets me is the amounts that pro athletes are being paid.
They may think they are but no jock is worth a million dollars.

Charles Barkley would fully disagree with you. I heard a clip of him saying all NBA and NFL plus staff should be fully vaccinated first because of the millions they pay in taxes.

This is an old argument - folks did not think Babe Ruth was worth the amount he was paid.......

What they get paid is up to the owners that apparently know a lot more about their worth and value that we do. It's multi-billion dollar business that we really know very little about other than there are big numbers involved.

As for taxes, they pay then in every state that they play games in - very complex tracking vs. contract numbers. Understand that Harden moving to NY will be paying close to $20 mill in taxes.