211–220 of 317 posts
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Done - and anyone else reading this should do. It takes seconds and you won't even miss the 3 lattes it could buy you.
Side note - is that really what people are paying for lattes now?
I donated $50, but I really wish US (and other countries) would reconsider their broken healthcare systems. My dad died of cancer a few years ago and I am really glad we lived in Denmark when he got it - - with a great public healthcare system. He lived 2 years with his cancer, which is a lot when you are counting days. Not many normal people can afford these things (as each of my dads treatments cost about 20.000USD…
I don't particularly see this as being a strong problem with American healthcare. You can buy health insurance to pay for any and all medical expenses. The healthcare system is broken if you do an honest day's work and can't afford insurance, but that's not what we're talking about here. There is a reason that most of the best hospitals in the world are American, and the way we fund our healthcare is that reason. Yes…
But that IS what we are talking about here. Millions of americans do a hard days work and can't afford insurance. You know where they get their care now? At the country (public) hospital emergency room. Don't believe me? Go and have a look. Most of the people waiting in the waiting room are not emergencies. Their waiting for standard care. And they got no place else to go.
And this impacts us all. As in property taxes going up to pay for the public hospitals. Oh wait.. don't tell me - we don't need public hospitals either right? I mean you got yours... fuck the rest right? Until you get sick and facing cymo treatments that cost $75,000 a pop. And your insurance company only covers 75% of the bill.
Then you're complaining "where's my medicare disability?"
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It saddens me that some people look at travesties like this and think "fuck him, the system is great, three cheers for the status quo." This despite the fact that any honest reading of our medical outcomes shows that America gets very average medical care, and that we pay about twice per capita what the best care in the world costs. I mean, I know there's a lot of propaganda out there, and I know there are a lot of s…
The top can get the best care for the right price, the bottom has been inadequately supported though much progress has been made with ACA, and lots of people in the middle are inadequately prepared, because given the choice, they choose a higher standard of living instead of more safety for the future. To be given that choice is engrained in a lot of American culture. You won't find much sympathy for the middle class…
The average cymo treatment is about $75,000 a hit. So, you know anyone who is prepared for that? The top 1% are, of course. But the rest of us? Those who don't have insurance are fucked. Those that do are ok until they get a bill for services not covered by their insurance. And god help you if you want a non-standard treatment. Then it's ALL on you. And then the house is up for sale. Then the cars. Then you are applying for medicare disability. Only to be dined because you made too much money last year.
This happens all the time. My hope is that Obamacare deals this. But I have my doubts.
Tell you what.. get cancer then come back and comment. I bet you change your mind. ;) No offense of course. Just don't come to my county hospital for care.. my property taxes are high enough. ;)
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That's why I qualified it with "if you're lucky to live long enough". So, yeah, you might be lucky enough to unexpectedly drop dead before some other scourge takes you However if you don't happen to fortune into a sudden unexpected death, your body will inevitably decay to the point that you will become a large financial and emotional burden on someone. (Or die homeless and friendless). But we can't take care of thos…
If the probabilities were as bad as you suggest, there would be no such thing as health insurance. They need to bring in more than they spend on health-care costs. Most people can't end in a devastating health-cost manner.
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My god you're a privileged, elitist, self centred... calm, be calm. The fact that you keep posting this crap on a thread about some I look up to who is DYING OF BRAIN CANCER is really upsetting. So please stop.
If you don't like discussing the costs and methods of delivering health care, downvote the parent comment which mentioned it initially, not a person whom you disagree with. If you can't handle an opposing viewpoint without becoming extremely upset and resorting to petty insults, you are part of the broken political system that has led to many of the problems we face, not me.
But hey, as far as you're concerned, that's okay; he should've lived out of his car or something to be able to afford it.
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> "you can get this public picture that everything is great" I'm not aware of anyone, from any political background, who thinks the US system is anything above "pretty crappy". I've heard some people express positive sentiments regarding small parts of the system -- the quality of certain types of care, for example -- but never for the system as a whole. The primary disagreements I'm aware of concern how to fix the c…
You would be surprised. It wasn't long ago when I met an intelligent and otherwise very well informed American who truly believed that the "socialized" Canadian healthcare system was a 3rd rate disaster and feared any change to the precious US system would lead to a similar situation. Don't get me wrong he acknowledged it wasn't great, but there is more than sufficient doubt and confusion amongst most Americans with…
Just last month my pregnant fiancée was very ill with an infection and she was examined straight away at A&E, bypassing the 3 hour waiting time. It's for cases like here that the 3 hour wait is in place. There was no cost to me for any of that, perhaps except national insurance which is very small payments out of my pay packet each month a d the £7 for the course of anti-biotics
The real problem is how do we adequately reward doctors who spend such a massive amount of effort and time not just in school but in work? The NYS cannot do this, there are targets like "15 mins per patient on ward rounds". Each doctor needs to spend 10 years in the NHS before private practice. How is a system like this sustainable with a massive budget deficit to boot and government that would like to see its end?
Oh jeez... seeing Rich's name made my heart jump. I worked with him in the late 90's. He's a great guy, smart dude, and he wrote some hilarious poetry about Microsoft in his code comments during his late night coding sessions. I hate to hear about what he's going through. During the year we worked together, Rich was probably the #1 driving force in PHP support worldwide. This was a time when PHP was still gaining tra…
I'm completely broke (dealing with my own circumstance, but it's got nothing on his) but I still kicked in $20AUD -- I'd rather it help Rich as a thanks, no matter how little.
You're right, Rich truly does deserve it.
My grand father got diagnosed with cancer recently and my mother got cluster headaches. We are in France so everything is mostly taken care of and I couldn't imagine what it would have been otherwise.
FWIW it's retirement homes that broke family around here.
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You would be surprised. It wasn't long ago when I met an intelligent and otherwise very well informed American who truly believed that the "socialized" Canadian healthcare system was a 3rd rate disaster and feared any change to the precious US system would lead to a similar situation. Don't get me wrong he acknowledged it wasn't great, but there is more than sufficient doubt and confusion amongst most Americans with…
I'm from the UK. The NHS is shambles and is spread very, very thin. Doctors are pissed off. Patients are pissed off. The government seems to be too. However I would prefer the 3 hour A&E (ER) waiting times, being spoken to like shit if it isn't as serious as originally thought and epic waiting lists for outpatient services than having companies profit from my health and the massive vulnerability that puts me in (on t…
In 2013 my son received treatment from NHS Scotland for a very serious eye infection and, later on, a nasty shoulder injury - in both cases the care was fantastic and even though I have private health insurance I never thought about using it.
I know lots of people have problems with the NHS (a few years back my wife got some care that was less than "caring" - but that seemed to be a staff problem) but generally the experiences of our family has been excellent.