Our hospital gives millions of dollars worth of care to poor people every year and we get paid 75% of what it actually costs to treat someone on Medicare and only 50% of what it cost to treat someone on MediCal. --- better your hospital's profits than my tax dollars
On Jun 30, 11:59 am, RICHARD BROWN <[email protected]> wrote: > Our health care system sucks, because of government interference. I > know. I work in it. Our hospital gives millions of dollars worth of > care to poor people every year and we get paid 75% of what it actually > costs to treat someone on Medicare and only 50% of what it cost to > treat someone on MediCal. When I began in the health field a patients > chart for a hospitalization might be half-a-dozen pages. Now it is > hundreds. Nurses and doctors spend so much time charting and filling > out government mandated forms that it takes up nearly half their > time. Who suffers? The patient. > When you give something away everybody wants it and soon you have a > shortage. I saw free government health care at a hospital I worked at > in the early sixties. We had 750 women show up with their kids every > day. Our doctors and staff were overwhelmed and nobody was being > treated promptly or well. We started to charge 50 cents per patient > visit and suddenly our average dropped to 150 per day. > I watch patients who don't have to pay a dime for their > hospitalizations calling for nurses every few minutes. They want ice > cream, pudding, more coffee ("This one's cold now." 10 minutes after > they got it.), adjust my pillows (They have ten, at their request.) > etc. And when it is time for their discharge they complain because > they enjoy having servants for a change. And then they try to take as > much as they can home with them. The electronic thermometers belong > to them, right? They must wear their gowns home and they try to take > the bedding and the flashlights and anything that is not bolted down. > Yeah, let's have the government take it over and it will just become a > real nightmare. If you want to help people get good health > care...donate some of your money for a health policy for them, but > don't force everyone to pay for a government run health care program. > It is a total waste of money. > I see companies advertising that they will get you a motorized chair > through Medicare without paying a dime. I have seen patients get > those chairs, sell them and use their old wheel chair as they always > have. We are being ripped off big time because of government programs > like this and all people want to do is pretend it isn't happening and > maybe government programs will work if we just give them another > chance to solve our problems for us. The definition of insanity is to > keep trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different > result. > > On Jun 30, 9:26 am, Frederick The Moderate > > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Right okay Richard. Our healthcare system is just peachy. Drinking a > > bit of the kool-aid are you? > > > On Jun 30, 8:59 am, RICHARD BROWN <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > France? Isn't that the country where the kids went on vacation in > > > August and a heat wave hit and 10,0000 elderly folks died? I guess > > > their socialized medicine almost worked...give it another chance. We > > > have a form of socialized medicine. It is called Medicare. When we > > > were sold on it we were told by the "experts" that by this time we > > > could expect that it would cost $1.2 billion. So, thirty years or so > > > later, how are we doing? What? The cost is $120 billion? Well, it > > > is just a slight miscalculation right? Not to worry, the government > > > will handle it, like everything else they handle. > > > I lived in a very expensive country. Ten years ago it cost $120 for a > > > pair of Levi jeans, $30 for a medium cheese pizza at Pizza Hut. The > > > de facto minimum wage was about $25 per hour though. The government > > > there did not set minimum wage standards. They also did not get > > > involved with medical care, so there were not a lot of rules and > > > regulations and paperwork to file. They simply required that all > > > people have a health insurance policy and that it would cover > > > everything, including alternative health care treatments. Of course > > > your premiums would be low if you lived a healthy life style and your > > > co-pay was high. If you were unable to pay for your insurance, the > > > local government would pay the premiums for you. That's it. That > > > country has the best health care in the world. When Gorbachev needed > > > to be cared for, he went there. So you can imagine how very expensive > > > their health care is compared to ours right? It is 70% of what we > > > pay. Why? Because, for the most part, government stays the hell out > > > of the business of health care. It also stays the hell out of the > > > business of the people it represents. Wouldn't it be nice if ours did > > > the same? But we have people who want the government to be involved > > > in every aspect of their lives or other people's lives. When will we > > > ever learn? > > > > On Jun 29, 2:12 pm, Frederick The Moderate > > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > From personal experience: France, Germany (by far!). Vicariously from > > > > I've heard from friends who live there, Spain. I also lived in the > > > > Ukraine for a short while and I would say that (shamefully) they are > > > > close to the US in ER and all non-critical / complex care. > > > > > On Jun 29, 1:59 pm, Keith In Tampa <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > What Nation-State is it that you believe has more quality health > > > > > care, or a > > > > > superior health care system than the United States?? > > > > > > On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Frederick The Moderate < > > > > > > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > I can't stand Nancy Pelosi. I'm not happy with the cap & trade > > > > > > bill. I > > > > > > want healthcare legislation and I want single payor. I have lived in > > > > > > countries that have much lower standards of living and yet, much > > > > > > better healthcare than America. So I'm all for that. > > > > > > But like you say, this is a far cry from transparency. > > > > > > > On Jun 29, 10:35 am, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > From: *Travis* > > > > > > > Date: Mon, Jun 29, 2009 > > > > > > > Subject: Pelosi Won't Give Public a Chance to Review Text of > > > > > > > Health-Care > > > > > > > Bill Before House Votes on It. > > > > > > > > Of course not...that would be too democratic for the arrogant > > > > > > > bitch! > > > > > > > > B > > > > > > > >http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=... > > > > > > > > Pelosi Won't Give Public a Week to Review Text of Health-Care > > > > > > > Bill Before > > > > > > > House Votes on It > > > > > > > Monday, June 29, 2009 > > > > > > > By Marie Magleby and Monica Gabriel > > > > > > > > *(CNSNews.com) *- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) will not > > > > > > > give > > > > > > the > > > > > > > public a week to review the final text of a health-care reform > > > > > > > bill > > > > > > before > > > > > > > it is voted on later this year. > > > > > > > > Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) has also declined to > > > > > > > commit > > > > > > to > > > > > > > giving the public a week to read and consider the final > > > > > > > health-care bill. > > > > > > > > At her press briefing on Thursday, Pelosi was asked whether the > > > > > > health-care > > > > > > > bill would be handled differently than the stimulus bill, which > > > > > > > came up > > > > > > in > > > > > > > February. The 1,071-page final text of that bill was posted on > > > > > > > the House > > > > > > > Appropriations Committee’s Web site late on a Thursday night and > > > > > > > then > > > > > > voted > > > > > > > on the next day. > > > > > > > > “When the stimulus bill came out earlier this year, members and > > > > > > > citizens > > > > > > had > > > > > > > less than two days to review the final version that came out of > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > conference committee before it was voted on,” CNSNews.com asked > > > > > > > Pelosi on > > > > > > > Thursday. “Will you commit to giving Americans at least a week to > > > > > > > review > > > > > > the > > > > > > > full conference version of the health care bill before it is > > > > > > > voted on? > > > > > > And > > > > > > > also will you commit to submitting the final version to the CBO > > > > > > > [Congressional Budget Office] so that they can report the cost to > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > public?” > > > > > > > > Pelosi would not commit to giving the public a week to review the > > > > > > > bill, > > > > > > and > > > > > > > did not respond to the question of having the CBO report on the > > > > > > > cost of > > > > > > the > > > > > > > final bill. > > > > > > > > “Well, we will abide by the regular order. You heard the > > > > > > > question,” she > > > > > > > said. “It was about having the health care bill out there a week > > > > > > > in > > > > > > advance. > > > > > > > We will have the regular order in terms of the appropriate amount > > > > > > > of > > > > > > time, > > > > > > > 48 hours in advance for amendments before you file the bill, > > > > > > > another day > > > > > > > before you can take up the bill. > > > > > > > > “But this bill is something that has been unfolding before the > > > > > > > American > > > > > > > people for a long time now. The areas of controversy are well > > > > > > > known,” > > > > > > said > > > > > > > Pelosi. > > > > > > > > “The issue of a public option is probably the most significant > > > > > > > debate > > > > > > that > > > > > > > we will have in the House on the legislation, as I see it now. > > > > > > > But the > > > > > > bill > > > > > > > will come forth under the regular order, and that's why the three > > > > > > chairmen > > > > > > > put out the draft now,” she said. “They put out some principles > > > > > > > earlier > > > > > > on. > > > > > > > The President put out his principles. We had a month before the > > > > > > > Memorial > > > > > > Day > > > > > > > break for everyone to see what was happening there to take ideas > > > > > > > from our > > > > > > > members. > > > > > > > > “So it was in the public domain, but not as a bill,” said Pelosi, > > > > > > continuing > > > > > > > to respond to the question of whether she would give the public a > > > > > > > week to > > > > > > > review the final bill. “Now they have put out this draft which > > > > > > > has been > > > > > > well > > > > > > > received, and I'm very proud of the work. It's a well managed > > > > > > > approach to > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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