The Sad Case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

[DrDemento]

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

Great to hear from you. Sounds like you got to work the equivilent of a mash unit. Hopefully the No'Easter will peter out.

No real major trauma cases. Mostly people that were a little sick but more scared than anything else that if they did not get seen things would get worse. Glad i did not have to do any deliveries-my last one was 1969! I think I practiced more psychiatry than anything else but even after 43 years since medical school-it still feels good. The hospital of course accepted whatever medical insurance people had-but the look on patient's faces when they were told we would not charge for any of our medical services was priceless.

 

[leswp1]

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

No real major trauma cases. Mostly people that were a little sick but more scared than anything else that if they did not get seen things would get worse. Glad i did not have to do any deliveries-my last one was 1969! I think I practiced more psychiatry than anything else but even after 43 years since medical school-it still feels good. The hospital of course accepted whatever medical insurance people had-but the look on patient's faces when they were told we would not charge for any of our medical services was priceless.

Certainly not jealous of the circumstances that brought you to that but jealous of the being able to just care for people without constraints. It must have been heavenly.

 

[FreshFish]

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

Hey, here's an idea! Let's pass a really unpopular law with lots of draconian restrictions, and then assume no one will then change their behavior as a result!

oops.....

Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul's requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.

Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker.

The shift is one of the first significant steps by employers to avoid requirements under the health-care law....

Ah, just what we needed in an economy stuck in chronic under-employment!

 

[joecct]

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

Hey, here's an idea! Let's pass a really unpopular law with lots of draconian restrictions, and then assume no one will then change their behavior as a result!

oops.....


Ah, just what we needed in an economy stuck in chronic under-employment!

The upside is that they will have to hire more part time workers to cover the 10 hours (or more) not worked.

It was a badly written law that needs to be repealed and replaced. This time, TAKE YOUR TIME AND GET IT RIGHT (Momma always said Haste Makes Waste)!! Imagine if they tried passing the 1986 Tax Reform like they passed the ACA? Who knows what mess we would have gotten?

 

[FlagDUDE08]

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

Hey, here's an idea! Let's pass a really unpopular law with lots of draconian restrictions, and then assume no one will then change their behavior as a result!

oops.....





Ah, just what we needed in an economy stuck in chronic under-employment!

That's the problem with the left: they don't understand Newton's third law (yet boast about their edu-ma-cation). They don't want to drop expenses because it means more profit for the greedy corporations while they assume rate of revenue will remain the same. They tax those evil corporations while thinking the end product value will remain the same, and the tax won't be thought of as an expense that needs to be factored into the value.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

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

Hey, here's an idea! Let's pass a really unpopular law with lots of draconian restrictions, and then assume no one will then change their behavior as a result!

oops.....





Ah, just what we needed in an economy stuck in chronic under-employment!

Just highlights how screwed up it is to have Health Care attached to employment. It should be illegal for employers to offer it as a benefit. That way all employers would be on the same footing. Then we'd get rid of employee pools and have one big pool of consumer based Health Care. Move it to insurance companies and I can one stop shop for all my insurance needs if I want to.

 

[LynahFan]

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

Just highlights how screwed up it is to have Health Care attached to employment. It should be illegal for employers to offer it as a benefit. That way all employers would be on the same footing. Then we'd get rid of employee pools and have one big pool of consumer based Health Care. Move it to insurance companies and I can one stop shop for all my insurance needs if I want to.

I would absolutely support this. All you have to do is end the tax deduction on health care benefits - helps cut the deficit and allows the market more control of insurance pricing in one fell swoop. What's not to like?

 

[ScoobyDoo]

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

I would absolutely support this. All you have to do is end the tax deduction on health care benefits - helps cut the deficit and allows the market more control of insurance pricing in one fell swoop. What's not to like?

I've been wanting this for years. I'm sick of employers whining about Health Insurance costs. It's a win-win. I may even get a rebate on my Health Insurance if I have my homeowners and car at the same place.

 

[busterman62]

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

Certainly not jealous of the circumstances that brought you to that but jealous of the being able to just care for people without constraints. It must have been heavenly.

Natural disasters are probably going to be the only times that will happen.

Just had to post this for you & DrD. (glad you're safe and helping). New record for me today.

45y/o F with an RBS of 2050mg% alert and not acidotic at all. Really....2050. Rechecked 3 times.

 

[sagard]

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

The upside is that they will have to hire more part time workers to cover the 10 hours (or more) not worked.

It was a badly written law that needs to be repealed and replaced. This time, TAKE YOUR TIME AND GET IT RIGHT (Momma always said Haste Makes Waste)!! Imagine if they tried passing the 1986 Tax Reform like they passed the ACA? Who knows what mess we would have gotten?

The problem is that there was really only a tiny window in which anything could be passed. Republicans completely disagreed that health care should be a fundamental right for citizens in the US. This led the Dems to rush to implement something while they had power, knowing full well if they waited until their 2010 trouncing nothing would ever get done.

The beauty is that no matter who is in charge, it will cost our kids trillions. With the Reps it will be disastrous foreign policy, with the Dems it's domestic.

 

[FreshFish]

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

Just highlights how screwed up it is to have Health Care attached to employment..... Then we'd get rid of employee pools and have one big pool of consumer based Health Care. Move it to insurance companies and I can one stop shop for all my insurance needs if I want to.

widespread concurrence on this point at least.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

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

Just highlights how screwed up it is to have Health Care attached to employment. It should be illegal for employers to offer it as a benefit. That way all employers would be on the same footing. Then we'd get rid of employee pools and have one big pool of consumer based Health Care. Move it to insurance companies and I can one stop shop for all my insurance needs if I want to.

One thing that needs to be done if you do this, though, is the insurance equivalent of repealing Glass-Steagall. What that means is that you need to be able to purchase insurance across state lines. Some smaller states (e.g. Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota) may end up having only one insurer due to population size, which creates another issue in and of itself.

 

[leswp1]

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

Hey, here's an idea! Let's pass a really unpopular law with lots of draconian restrictions, and then assume no one will then change their behavior as a result!

oops.....Ah, just what we needed in an economy stuck in chronic under-employment!

Can't speak to any other profession but in hospitals the trend toward PT workers to avoid benefits has been going on a lot longer than the Bill has been here (Somewhere >10 yrs where I am). This is true of all positions, not just medical staff. With less FT workers you need less FT bennies, less cohesiveness to organize if you don't like something. Now I think of it 15 yrs ago my Mum ran into this in temp work- they hired her for temp stuff but never made her FT to avoid the bennies. I don't buy the Bill being the cause of it all. There is a shift to mobility rather than loyalty in companies and workers. This is a symptom.

Natural disasters are probably going to be the only times that will happen.

Just had to post this for you & DrD. (glad you're safe and helping). New record for me today.

45y/o F with an RBS of 2050mg% alert and not acidotic at all. Really....2050. Rechecked 3 times.

Holy crap

 

[dxmnkd316]

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

I would absolutely support this. All you have to do is end the tax deduction on health care benefits - helps cut the deficit and allows the market more control of insurance pricing in one fell swoop. What's not to like?

I've been wanting this for years. I'm sick of employers whining about Health Insurance costs. It's a win-win. I may even get a rebate on my Health Insurance if I have my homeowners and car at the same place.

How would this affect companies that self-insure?

 

[DrDemento]

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

Certainly not jealous of the circumstances that brought you to that but jealous of the being able to just care for people without constraints. It must have been heavenly.

Knew you would understand-for a couple of old fogies like Jenny and I-it was like turning the clock back. Have not felt these emotions in years. Practicing old time medicine the old fashioned way and it was wonderful!

 

[DrDemento]

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

Natural disasters are probably going to be the only times that will happen.

Just had to post this for you & DrD. (glad you're safe and helping). New record for me today.

45y/o F with an RBS of 2050mg% alert and not acidotic at all. Really....2050. Rechecked 3 times.

2050??? Holy cow-i would sell at that level and buy it back when you get her back down to the 150 range. In all seriousness in my 44 years in medicine i have not seen that level or even close to it without ketoacidosis.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

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

2050??? Holy cow-i would sell at that level and buy it back when you get her back down to the 150 range. In all seriousness in my 44 years in medicine i have not seen that level or even close to it without ketoacidosis.

Never treated someone who each day drank a case of pop, eh?

 

[DrDemento]

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

Never treated someone who each day drank a case of pop, eh?

We did have a lady from Ireland who was an old time Irish whiskey maker. From the time she was a child she would take some profit by drinking a quarter of what she made each day and replacing it, diluting it to 100 proof, with water. We figured she averaged about 1-2 quarts per day of pure alcohol. When we treated her she was long retired from the business but still drinking about 1 quart of whiskey per day (starting at 6AM for breakfast). She often came into the office at 8AM completely toasted to the gills. I lost track of her so do not know how old she was when she died but I took the last skin cancer off her forehead when she was 98 years old!

 

[ScoobyDoo]

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

How would this affect companies that self-insure?

Not sure I know what self insure means. I'm saying we need to change the law so employers cannot under any circumstances provide Health Care. That way we can truly have a consumer based system. May actually drive some of the costs down.

 

[FreshFish]

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

A new Obamacare requirement has just been implemented. If you run a small business, you now must submit to daily prostate exams, even if you are a woman.