The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

[Kepler]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

If they're that fiscally irresponsible as an 18 year old college freshman? Possibly. I'd like to think I would not enable their destructive behaviors.

But my wife and I are not planning to have kids. So it's all theoretical anyway.

This is why Amex was a good training wheels card. But having developed good habits, you should leave home without it as soon as possible.

We're debating on the best way to introduce our daughter to the wonderful world of debt slavery.

[Kepler]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Can the power of data sway people more than unproven demagogery?

So you guys are finally coming around on climate change?

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Medicare is actually a designed monopoly. It is a FELONY for a physician to accept a cash payment for a procedure that is covered by Medicare but cannot be funded at the time (1997 Balanced Budget Act, Section 4507). Also, in order to receive Social Security, you MUST enroll in Medicare.

http://www.cchfreedom.org/files/file...%204_14_12.pdf

[FreshFish]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Can the power of data sway people more than unproven demagogery?

There's evidence of how effective—and popular—[premium support] would be. In 2003, Congress structured Medicare's prescription drug benefit by using the "premium support" concept. Though more seniors signed up and used it more than expected, the Congressional Budget Office now says the 10-year cost of this popular drug benefit will be 43% less than it estimated in March 2004.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...pinion_LEADTop

[unofan]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

ah, but would you stop feeding him / her? would you not allow them back into your house?

If they're that fiscally irresponsible as an 18 year old college freshman? Possibly. I'd like to think I would not enable their destructive behaviors.

But my wife and I are not planning to have kids. So it's all theoretical anyway.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

I've had a credit card since I was sophomore in high school. Taught me a lot about financial responsibility. I've always paid it off in full at the end of each month.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

If I had a teenager who ran up a credit card debt on the emergency credit card, I'd cut up the credit card in front of him and tell him he's on his own until he pays me back (in fairness, I wouldn't give a credit card to any kid not in college - so my assumption is the kid should be somewhat self-sufficient anyway).

ah, but would you stop feeding him / her? would you not allow them back into your house?

That's what you suggested I would do in this situation, you know.

It's a gnarly situation with no easy answers, eh?

Everything doesn't always have to be constant warfare....

[walrus]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Of the health care people I've encountered I would say they're about 70:30 in favor. Keep in mind I live in a very rural area where everybody below the rank of full MD is living within 5 miles of where their great-grandparents founded the local snake-biter cult.

I've had a host of Medical issues in the last 2 years, I haven't talked to one Doc who is in favor of it. PCP, Gastros, Surgeons, Infusion Clinic Nurses, not one

[bronconick]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

You can take your vagina graph and cram it.

Or cream it.

Wait. What?

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

A nice illustration of this in one figure:

*****http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2010/03/FeatureAgingFigure1.png******

You can take your vagina graph and cram it.

[Kepler]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Whenever I visit my PCP he goes on a fifteen minute screed about how the insurance and pharmaceutical industries are destroying American medicine. Seriously, I always ask him if his blood pressure is high.

If we listened to our doctors those guys would be in jail.

Of the health care people I've encountered I would say they're about 70:30 in favor. Keep in mind I live in a very rural area where everybody below the rank of full MD is living within 5 miles of where their great-grandparents founded the local snake-biter cult.

[brookyone]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Next time anyone goes to see their primary care physician, ask him / her for their opinion on PPACA. They are the ones most directly affected.

Mine will not be accepting any new applicants until existing patients die or move.

I see myriad health professionals every week of my life. Every single one...doctors, nurses, surgeons and specialists of every practice I see are very supportive of the legislation. Have not encountered a negative opinion yet among them.

[Handyman]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, France (to an extent), and Iceland if we're including countries not in the Eurozone in the Eurozone (Norway???)... I don't know, I'd say only two have decent to good economies (Germany and I'll assume Austria based on your post). So we're talking six or seven that are deep in the red and two in the black. That's not a very good sign for the Eurozone.

All have had massive problems as of late.

Yes but that isnt because of Universal Health Care, it is because of about 12 different factors including the stupidity of the EU as a whole. The Euro needs to be flushed down the toilet.

And while Norway is not in the Eurozone, Sweden is.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Except that the potential pool of applicants we're talking about are "people who have passed their medical boards." Once people are through med school, they still have to choose to go into primary care rather than specializing or going into concierge care, so the reward for primary care has to be higher relative to those other medical career choices, not just higher than law, business, etc.

I certainly agree that keeping the pay higher than law and business will improve the quality of the med school applicant pool, but that does no good if none of them choose primary care post graduation.

Next time anyone goes to see their primary care physician, ask him / her for their opinion on PPACA. They are the ones most directly affected.

Mine will not be accepting any new applicants until existing patients die or move.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

However, as long as being a doctor is more lucrative than the typical profession, if you grow the supply of care recipients there will be more openings for doctors at providers, and where there are openings there will be applicants.

I think the quality argument is a much better one against caps -- you will attract fewer of the best and the brightest if they are paid less relative to law, business, academia, etc. Call it the Schoolteacher Dilemma.

It's the quality argument that is at the heart of the premium support model. Current Medicare capitation rates pay all providers the same, whether quality is good mediocre or lousy, whether there is innovation or stagnation. Premium support allows the good to drive out the bad.

Again, how is it premium support is controversial when the federal government has already been doing it for decades on their employees' health insurance plan, or the state of California on theirs? It's been around since at least 1978. There's plenty of empirical evidence to indicate that it works. It's also bi-partisan thanks to the Ryan (R) - Wyden (D) bill.