Free Stuff ????

[moonshadow]

Here's a real map of actual facts in the U.S.

medicaid.jpg

Now this map could illustrate a few things...

At first glance, you might think it was a map of the most theocratic ("Christian") states in the union, and that would be a fair assessment. You might assume it was a map of the most "pro-life" states in the union and that too wouldn't be too far off....

But the fact is this is a map of states that have expanded medical care for the poor (Medicaid) as of 2021.

This is a map of states (grey) that have tied an individuals right to life saving medical care to their ability to pay.

Anyone who stands against live saving medical care for all regardless of the ability to pay is not pro-life. Anyone is welcome to their opinion, but to say one is pro-life while at the same time against universal healthcare is a contradiction. It's just that simple.

[moonshadow]

Which is why I refuse to call "pro-life" people that are against universal healthcare as "pro-life", rather I call them "pro-birth".

Just like I refuse to say that we actually have "healthcare" in this country... we have a "medical industry", whose primary function is to siphon money out of pockets. Even our Medicaid system is far from perfect.

People like my step-daughter Amber are in a very unique situation. She requires monthly injections that cost $10,000 each... yes, that's $10,000 per month. Even if she had a good job like I have with decent insurance, that cost might get whittled down to around $1,000 per month if she's lucky, but there in lies the problem. She has no college education and no real shot to make good money in a short amount of time.

She'd have to jump right into a $80k per year job with full health benefits in order to pay for these treatments. If she stops the treatments, within weeks, her skin begins to fall off again.

The end result is she is bound to a life of poverty now. She'll probably live with us forever. If she advances her life and makes too much money she'll lose her Medicaid, but again, even if she got a "good job" with "good insurance" she'd still not make enough money for the premiums and copays that this particular treatment requires.

So it's good that she's alive and getting treatment, but in essence, she has still fell through the cracks so to speak insofar as the "American dream" goes. All this could be avoided if my country actually believed that healthcare was a human right, but you know... socialism and all. We can't have that. God forbid.

[moonshadow]

And then there's my situation, I have a broken CPAP machine that my insurance refuses to pay for, Rotech can't pull their head out of their ass and bill the insurance correctly so I'm getting stuck with the bill. But again... it's broken, so I can't even use this machine that I'm forced to continue paying for now, which by the way was supposed to be paid for in February of this year, yet I'm still getting bills for it. Every month I protest the bills and they say they'll take care of it, and the following month I get a fresh bill. And I'm not talking about a bill from the prior month... no, I pay the bill every month, each new month is a NEW charge on my account.

I've pleaded with them to close my account all together, I started this plea last month... we'll see how it goes. I should know within a few weeks if I'm finally through this.

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive, which I think is a bit of a stretch (I mean, humans have survived for eons without CPAP machines after all), but at any rate, I just look at them, grin and say "well, if I die in my sleep, I'm told that's the best way to go!"

I'm not sending it back to get fixed, because they'll just charge me another $3,000 for another year, I'm not buying another one because I'm not going through this insurance nightmare AGAIN!

I've even debated on stopping all my medical care all together and just focus on pain management rather than any actual "treatments". It's just such a con! They just take your money and leave you with NOTHING.

I mean it man, if I should fall victim to some medical ailment, even if it's completely treatable, I've half a mind to just let myself go. It's just not worth it! Why stay alive? For what? So the 1% can pick me apart to the bone and leave me with nothing? So I can sit here day after day and watch as political liars advance legislation to make my life more and more difficult?

This is not me being suicidal... it's just me not wanting to play the game anymore. Dead people may vote, but they sure as hell don't pay taxes. My last gesture before I take my last breath will be that I hold out my hand and extend my middle finger before I drift off, as that's what I think about this system and the people that voted for it.

[Elisabetta]

And then there's my situation, I have a broken CPAP machine that my insurance refuses to pay for, Rotech can't pull their head out of their ass and bill the insurance correctly so I'm getting stuck with the bill. But again... it's broken, so I can't even use this machine that I'm forced to continue paying for now, which by the way was supposed to be paid for in February of this year, yet I'm still getting bills for it. Every month I protest the bills and they say they'll take care of it, and the following month I get a fresh bill. And I'm not talking about a bill from the prior month... no, I pay the bill every month, each new month is a NEW charge on my account.

I've pleaded with them to close my account all together, I started this plea last month... we'll see how it goes. I should know within a few weeks if I'm finally through this.

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive, which I think is a bit of a stretch (I mean, humans have survived for eons without CPAP machines after all), but at any rate, I just look at them, grin and say "well, if I die in my sleep, I'm told that's the best way to go!"

I'm not sending it back to get fixed, because they'll just charge me another $3,000 for another year, I'm not buying another one because I'm not going through this insurance nightmare AGAIN!

I've even debated on stopping all my medical care all together and just focus on pain management rather than any actual "treatments". It's just such a con! They just take your money and leave you with NOTHING.

I mean it man, if I should fall victim to some medical ailment, even if it's completely treatable, I've half a mind to just let myself go. It's just not worth it! Why stay alive? For what? So the 1% can pick me apart to the bone and leave me with nothing? So I can sit here day after day and watch as political liars advance legislation to make my life more and more difficult?

This is not me being suicidal... it's just me not wanting to play the game anymore. Dead people may vote, but they sure as hell don't pay taxes. My last gesture before I take my last breath will be that I hold out my hand and extend my middle finger before I drift off, as that's what I think about this system and the people that voted for it.

You have a nice home, good neighbors for the most part, a wife that adores you, a daughter that loves having Lego building wars and paint nights, a dog who while belongs to me adores you more than anything. Be happy let God sort the rest out.

[Barleymower]

Only thing that I can add is personal.
On 4 very specific occasions I have had life saving and changing brushes with the UK health system.
One is going on now and has the very great possibility of drawing a line underneath everything.
At no time has the subject of cost arisen as a question or concern.
That is in stark contrast to a lot of the dire reports that arise from other countries.
When the very rich of a nation fail to care for their impoverished neighbours there has to be something very wrong about that nation.
Anyone offended by this, not my problem.
Steve.

You are right Stevie and I'm very glad we have NHS that is affordable unlike the heavy burden the Swedish have.
How long will it last? We used to have bobbies on the beat. Libraries, swimming pools, child care, student grants. It feels like it's being whittled down all the time until we have an American system with expensive petrol

[Kirbstone]

OK, So we pay taxes here also, but nothing even remotely like the 'Community Charge' required of UK residents. We have a monthly 'property tax' to pay, which frankly is peanuts and no drain on finances.
In the 70s the then prime minister (Taoiseach) Charley Haughey hit on the vote-catching idea of offering the over 66s free travel throughout the Land, be it rail, bus, ferry or light aircraft (to Western islands). This was based on the assumption, right at the time that most people fell off their perches in their 70s or early 80s. Not so today and the burden on the State for transporting the whiteheads all over the place for nowt is considerable, but totally out of the question politically for anyone to try to rescind it. I don't avail of it half enough.

Same with the Health Board: Specs, jabs, hearing aids, you name it, most free or nearly so. Again, I personally have little need of all that...for now! Just recently I experienced some pressure on nerves to my fingers due to neck-region loss of tissue between vertebrae. Again, Radiographs and MRI scans on the House. Could be worse. At the moment I've been shunted over to a female physioterrorist. We'll see how that goes....

Tom

[Elisabetta]

And then there's my situation, I have a broken CPAP machine that my insurance refuses to pay for, Rotech can't pull their head out of their ass and bill the insurance correctly so I'm getting stuck with the bill. But again... it's broken, so I can't even use this machine that I'm forced to continue paying for now, which by the way was supposed to be paid for in February of this year, yet I'm still getting bills for it. Every month I protest the bills and they say they'll take care of it, and the following month I get a fresh bill. And I'm not talking about a bill from the prior month... no, I pay the bill every month, each new month is a NEW charge on my account.

I've pleaded with them to close my account all together, I started this plea last month... we'll see how it goes. I should know within a few weeks if I'm finally through this.

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive, which I think is a bit of a stretch (I mean, humans have survived for eons without CPAP machines after all), but at any rate, I just look at them, grin and say "well, if I die in my sleep, I'm told that's the best way to go!"

I'm not sending it back to get fixed, because they'll just charge me another $3,000 for another year, I'm not buying another one because I'm not going through this insurance nightmare AGAIN!

I've even debated on stopping all my medical care all together and just focus on pain management rather than any actual "treatments". It's just such a con! They just take your money and leave you with NOTHING.

I mean it man, if I should fall victim to some medical ailment, even if it's completely treatable, I've half a mind to just let myself go. It's just not worth it! Why stay alive? For what? So the 1% can pick me apart to the bone and leave me with nothing? So I can sit here day after day and watch as political liars advance legislation to make my life more and more difficult?

This is not me being suicidal... it's just me not wanting to play the game anymore. Dead people may vote, but they sure as hell don't pay taxes. My last gesture before I take my last breath will be that I hold out my hand and extend my middle finger before I drift off, as that's what I think about this system and the people that voted for it.

Here you go love this should cheer you up and food for thought.

[crfriend]

[Uncle Al]

To Moodshadow,

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive,
which I think is a bit of a stretch . .

A stretch you say
I can smell that collusion(money grabbing crap) farther away that you can smell a hog farm.

I have used a CPAP machine since mid-2004. Each machine ( I'm now on my 3rd one ) cost me about $20.00
per month, for 10 months. Then the machine was MINE This "plan" was from my Insurance Company, UHC.
As long as they're taken care of, they'll last quite a long time. I've found it less expensive to get "parts", and
supplies, from www.1800cpap.com and www.cpap.com. I don't have to "argue" with any insurance company.

I hope this information helps you in "fixing" your machine(s)

Uncle Al

[STEVIE]

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive,
which I think is a bit of a stretch . .
A stretch you say
I can smell that collusion(money grabbing crap) farther away that you can smell a hog farm.

I feel my case is quite proven here.
However, sorry Tom but without knowing how your tax system operates, "peanuts" could be a very relative term.

We have a monthly 'property tax' to pay, which frankly is peanuts and no drain on finances.

Also if by "community charge" you mean the Poll Tax introduced by Thatcher, that was replaced some time ago by Council Tax some years ago in Scotland anyway.
Personally, I'd prefer to see a local income tax but that is no vote grabber for sure.
Steve.

[Chris Schumann]

I can only talk about germany, but all the taxes collected are still not enough, and the government would need even more... - because they throw it away, faster than they are getting it... - and thats the same, no matter which party is elected... black (christian democrats), red (socialists), green (Eco/Nature), yellow (free democrats)... - always the same!

But yes: You get also money back!
The government takes a bunch of money, and throw it away for several things in other countries.
But they also invest a lot in railroads, healthcare or even the famous "german Autobahn"...
The "Blue-Lights-Corner" needs also a lot of money:
Police, Army, Fire Service, Federal Technical Assistance,...

And as you mentioned the healts-system:
Not even will no german citizen die, because he couldnt afford a medical action in a hospital.
All the "refugees" coming in here, get the same as we... - or still even better...

That is, what costs us much money...

And just to be sure you got it:
I've no problem with (political) refugees, but with (financial) "refugees"...

Greetings,
CES

[crfriend]

A stretch you say
I can smell that collusion(money grabbing crap) farther away that you can smell a hog farm.

Age/Generational check time.

Al dates to the mid-Baby Boomer generation and held a professional job that gave him a pension and health insurance that actually worked, and continues to work. Pensions are (or were) supposedly guaranteed by law and could not be toyed with. Thus, Al enjoys the last of the fruits.

I, whilst barely a Baby Boomer came along late enough that pensions and high-quality "insurance" were already beginning to become exceptions rather than the rule. In the mid-90s, I was fully vested for two pensions, with decent insurance -- both of which evaporated because the laws protecting pension funds had been repealed, watered down, or simply were no longer enforced, one finally paying out $106 (Yes, that's One Hundred Six) dollars for a professional gig I spent a decade at (this was the prototype Enron); the other company didn't feel like looking after the pension fund and paid it out in cash, and due to timing that left me with a five-digit (to the left of the decimal point) tax liability effectively zeroing that one out permanently -- and no insurance. Pensions completely disappeared in the early 2000s.

Moon is in the "Gen X" layer, I believe (which is the one I identify with because of timing), and has known nothing whatsoever of pensions -- only the entirely fraudulent IRA and the 401(k) scams. Also, even worse insurance than I had at his age.

Today, I get Texas minimum "health" "insurance" which is a joke in poor taste in Massachusetts and which just barely ticks the "minimum creditable" threshold at which point the Romneycare tax comes into play. So, there is reason for the different outlooks -- different life experiences and circumstances. I live frugally and have always been financially conservative, so I have several years' worth of salary stashed away -- however, I dread getting sick and seeing that cache go into the "insurance" companies and the pockets of the fat-cats that run them. That money is targeted toward my legacy after I'm dead, not to further fatten some billionaire.

[ScotL]

I hesitate to write this but feel the anger of this post permeates too many lives. In an unethical study due to lack of informed consent or even appropriate oversight, a study was done that showed negativity breeds negativity and positivity breeds positivity.

What I’m hearing from this thread is politicians are crooked, the youth are lazy good for nothing slackers, medical care is terrible, taxes are too high and don’t provide for what we need, governments waste everything and I’ll throw in there the sky ain’t blue enough. The same complaints of each and every generation.

Discussions are valid. But the one thing you can control is how you look at the problems.

We always say, “someone” needs to do something without realizing we are all “someone.”

In my opinion and NOTE this is only my opinion, please do not presume negativity towards others or that this broad generalization is a criticism of anyone on this forum. However, in my opinion, MY life is too short to walk around looking at each and every thing with pure negativity.

[ScotL]

Doctors, providers, and the insurance company tell me this machine is required for me to stay alive, which I think is a bit of a stretch (I mean, humans have survived for eons without CPAP machines after all), but at any rate, I just look at them, grin and say "well, if I die in my sleep, I'm told that's the best way to go!"

Just an FYI as this is something in my specialty.

Sleep apnea could kill you if left untreated. But that’s no guarantee. Moderate to Severe sleep apnea causes some not to breathe for long enough that you starve your body of oxygen to unsafe levels putting extreme stress on your vital organs. This eventually leads to congestive heart failure which will torture you for many years before you die typically requiring annoying diuretics that tie you to a toilet for hours after taking them.

More immediate, untreated sleep apnea means even though you become unconscious at night and think you sleep, sleep apnea disallows your body from going through the necessary sleep cycles to permit appropriate rest. This means you are left tired throughout the day and increases your chances of weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and dementia.

So yea, it is a stretch to say you will die immediately without CPAP unless really severe disease, instead untreated will just leave you exhausted, increase the chance of bad chronic diseases and may make you suffer for a decade before you die.

I recommend getting sleep apnea treated. Realize I don’t actually treat this disease, don’t actually like the disease, have no financial interest in the disease or equipment or companies that provide it, have a marked dislike of insurance companies and do not know who your doctors are or have any link to them. The conspiracy theorists will still find some way to twist this into a self serving post where I’m saying this just to generate financial gain for myself or the all powerful secret cabal that controls everything and still has time to maintain a Wikipedia page, but I can say I’m only interested in educating you about sleep apnea so you can make an informed decision.

[moonshadow]

I got a 500 server error on my response... I'm going to trim it down a bit...

Here's what I deal with every month Al,

rotech_eob.jpg

"Medical Electro Thereput" is "Rotech", but since they REFUSE to bill as such, it keeps kicking it back as "out of network", and I'm having to pay the difference every month. I'm currently 12 months into a 10 month "lease" on a machine that no longer works, and I suspect was actually used when I got it (it had someone else's data in the SD card I would later find out).

In a nutshell, I feel like I got scammed, and there's nothing I can do about it. I've checked. This is completely legal. The politicians don't care. If I was on Medicare or Medicaid I'd simply contact the state attorney general's office, however since this is private insurance it falls under private contract law, and thus, is a civil matter. It could be fought in court, and I'd likely win... maybe, but the legal fee's would be more than the bills I'm fighting... they know this.

I'm over a barrel.

Moon is in the "Gen X" layer, I believe (which is the one I identify with because of timing), and has known nothing whatsoever of pensions -- only the entirely fraudulent IRA and the 401(k) scams. Also, even worse insurance than I had at his age.

I'm technically in "Gen X" by four days, but as I grew up with "older millennials" I consider myself one of them, just an "older one". They also call people in my age group "Xinnials". The oldest millennials were born in a period where hardly anyone even had a computer (1981), and the youngest were born where most people were now on the internet (1996). That's quite a span. Anyway, I digress...

You are correct, I didn't even really know what a pension was until I just took the time to look it up one day. No, people in my age group don't have pensions, we're lucky to even have a job that offers paid vacation and insurance. In this case, I have both, however the insurance is better than most (for a non-union, non-government job), but insurance is only good if it actually covers stuff.

In my case, it seems it's covered everything Liz and I have thrown at it except for this blasted Rotech debacle. Even Liz's CPAP supplies have been covered at a more "normal rate" through my insurance, but she goes through Lincare. Once I get through this I will probably switch over to them, but I have to be careful. Insurance only cover's new machines so many years, I may be stuck with this one for four more years. So what I might do is just pay for a cheap one with cash and just get my supplies from Lincare until such time as I can get a new machine.

Or, I might just let it go all together as my sleep apnea is VERY mild.

I'm just so annoyed and downright angry about this whole situation. I halfway don't trust my insurance anymore. What's the point of having insurance if they can simply "not cover" things at their own will? Yes, I get somewhat angry when people (usually older people) who have been well taken care of by the American system stand up and attack every single proposal that someone makes that might offer an actual SOLUTION for people like me as "SOCIALISM".

It hurts... this thing cost me real money, and sometimes it puts real lives at risk, and I just feel like these "privileged Americans" just don't care.

I know Al and Fred are good men, and I have a lot of respect for them, I consider both of them friends. I just wish they realized how much the policies they support hurt people like me... and I don't mean "snowflake hurt", I mean it actually injures us, it costs us real money, and makes us have to make REAL decisions over whether to obtain life saving medical care... or pay the rent this month, pay the rent, or buy groceries.

We look at other countries, other members here tell us there is a solution, we have options, but we can't try any of them because.... socialism.

And so, me and people like me do without. We could do so much better.

I've just lost all faith in this country. And now I hear the oligarchs are wanting to reinstate the draft. And the Republicans are already frothing at the mouth to get these little sissy boys in a military uniform to beat the girly out of them. I've got some bad news for them [the hyper-macho politicians], I've known some formidable crossdressers that were once Marines, many members on this website have an honorable military background.

But I'm just sitting here thinking... why defend a country that prizes a system that screws its citizens over?

Why die for a country that hates us? As for me... if I had a say in it, I'd almost support being reinstated back under the crown. It is clear the "American experiment" has failed.