Rail Paul Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Having read the last few pages, I am now opposed to extending health care. Seems like an awful waste of money. A very intelligent man who has a very good grasp of economics and statistics made that same statement to me recently. He said he could prove that we would save more money and sacrifice less of our collective health if we had no health care insurance except for catastrophic. Others have made a very strong and credible case that if half the money spent on "health care" went into increasing the incidence and frequency of preventive behavior (moderate exercise, not smoking, sound but not extreme diet, weight control) we would have a huge decrease in illnesses and the costs attendant to them. getting rid of insurance creates an economically efficient system. everything costs what it should. My sister retired from a major telecommunications company and has the benefit of a prefunded postretirement healthcare plan. Neither she nor her husband pay a dime toward copays, coinsurance, or anything else. None of that is taxable income, and she has absolutely no incentive to economize, choose generics where appropriate, or price compare any services. (The assets are in a VEBA, so the chances of change are pretty slim.) The guy who delivers her pizza, on the other hand, pays for healthcare out of his own pocket, or does without. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rebecca Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Well, modern medicine saved my life. I think that counts. Me, too, but it was 95% the diagnostic skills of the physician and 5% pharmacology. Oh, and did you see the Wall Street Journal article today on how anti-cholesterol pills like Lipitor "makes women stupid"? " . . .anecdotes linking statins to memory problems have been rampant for years." So what matter cleanliness, sanitation, flu shots and diet? I still say we are all being cooked electronically. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ghostrider Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My sister retired from a major telecommunications company and has the benefit of a prefunded postretirement healthcare plan. Neither she nor her husband pay a dime toward copays, coinsurance, or anything else. None of that is taxable income, and she has absolutely no incentive to economize, choose generics where appropriate, or price compare any services. (The assets are in a VEBA, so the chances of change are pretty slim.) The guy who delivers her pizza, on the other hand, pays for healthcare out of his own pocket, or does without. Sister lucky. Telecom company stupid & extravagant. I stumbled into the retiree plan of the major health insurer that downsized me 5 yrs ago. Copays & (comparatively reasonable) premiums go up every year. You pay thru the nose for drugs when generics are available. They control costs by giving you substantial $$ incentives to stay in-network. I'm still paying considerably less than folks who are on their own, but a lot more than I was just 5 years ago. Meanwhile the pizza guy finds it harder & harder to afford any sort of health care. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ghostrider Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Getting back to hedge fund managers, there's this guy: The hedge-funder Seth Tobias was found dead in his pool. His hard-partying wife has been accused of his murder by her Internet psychic, who also says the hedge-funder was having an affair with a male stripper named Tiger. And it just gets more sordid from there. http://nymag.com/news/features/43914/?imw=Y Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ghostrider Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Well well well. NY State Att'y General Andrew Cuomo is suing United Health & investigating 16 other health insurers for price fixing. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/business...amp;oref=slogin http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2008/feb/feb13a_08.html Does anyone know where I can find a complete list of the 16 insurers that have been subpoenaed? Cuomo has made 3 of them public, why not the rest? I've been googling like crazy & am not coming up with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
splinky Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Well well well. NY State Att'y General Andrew Cuomo is suing United Health & investigating 16 other health insurers for price fixing. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/business...amp;oref=slogin http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2008/feb/feb13a_08.html Does anyone know where I can find a complete list of the 16 insurers that have been subpoenaed? Cuomo has made 3 of them public, why not the rest? I've been googling like crazy & am not coming up with them. it's possible that the others may not have been served, as yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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