Dane, if you are hungry you'd probably be glad to have access to a half empty grocery store that has lousy customer service.  The people that have no ability to get health care matter too.  That those of us with insurance will now find longer lines at the doctors office is a poor reason - certainly and un-American reason - to say we just let people continue to do without.

The USA does not have the best health care system in the world. Not by any ranking. We are - compared to the other 190 or so countries in the world - well above average. Top 15-20%. No where near the best. We don't live the longest. We are fat and out of shape. We waste a lot of medical money on unneccessay tests. Too many people can't go to the doctor.  And for some of the most advanced treatments - like cancer - rich Americans head for Europe.

Jerry. You realize the point is that you have health insurance and at least 30 million - maybe more like 40 million - Americans do not. That is why you went to the doctor and it cost you a $20 co-pay. Just for the fun of it, why don't you call your doctor anonymously and ask them what a private pay, no insurance office visit costs? Bet it's over $100.

And there is the worst part of the irony. Just having insurance makes things cheaper. Because the insurance companies negotiate discounted rates. Those individuals without insurance are the ones that are charged the most for services. The difference can be huge. For the last several years I've been on a Consumer Driven Health Plan with a Health Savings account. My statements show the normal charge and the discounted plan charge. Sometimes the insurance plan price is  about a third of the normal charge.  40% less is common.  Our office visits - btw - are normal price of $140 and the insurance company discounted price is $81.

There are a lot of small employers - employers that pay decent wages - that would like to offer insurance to employees but cannot due to costs. Just letting these small employers pool together in large groups be treated like a large employer helps a lot.  A friend at Church is one of those employers. Small tool and die outfit. 10 employees. They had one guy that had a heart attack five years ago and the next year the premiums were through the roof. No one could afford it.
The solution in place is far from perfect - the result of a failed effort at a bi-partisan plan. But at least it recognizes the problem exists and moves towards a fix.

Ive Been w/o insurance. Ive been treated well & for low$$$. The dr knows what he will get, & when, no cost to him to pay someone to file, no cost for handling pmnt..Cash CAN do ya right,, YOure not gettin out for $20.00, BUT,youre not payin premiums monthly, either,.

You can pay that out so long & slow you dont even feel it, except for the hassle of sending a payment,,

Was your deductible not yet met?

Vitamin C is what the body uses tomake stufflike vessels,, If you have high colesterol And leaky veins,, go study

If youre not eating organic,, yep
If youre drinkin loads of fluoridated water, yep.
If you use a microwave you destroy the food value inmany ways,
Do you eat Any raw vegetables?

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 08/22/13 at 08:53:45:


I don't know. I go to the doctor maybe twice a year, kicking and screaming the whole way. Unless I'm out cold, or have leaked enough red stuff to be loopy.

I don't trust doctors as far as I could throw them, used to be alright, until malpractice insurance premiums drove most American/European born out of the health care field. If I'm aware of what is going on, and get a 3rd world or Chinese born doctor, I leave.

Paraquat wrote on 08/22/13 at 11:13:18:


Thanks to jogging, more perfectly healthy people are dropping dead of heart attacks than ever before.