Sudden Confusion

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=A0 =A0 =A0 ...Jim Thompson

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Far from it.But Jim-out-of-touch-with-reality-Thompson is silly enough to think he can make the claim. He doesn't realise that confirming that you don't know what you are talking about is a tactical error.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

Seriously, calling Obama a fascist is one of the most moronic things Thompson has ever written, and he has written some mighty stupid stuff over the years.

The fooled, always learn the hard way.

Jamie

I just presently have Aetna, but it doesn't include an HSA. That ADDS costs to the policy!

Charlie

Monolingual Americans assume only nationalized models exist. But, the Dutch and Israelis manage to have universal health insurance with a multiplicity of providers. Germany has a two-tier system depending on one's income -- high income folks are free to buy insurance on the private market.

For-profit companies have steadily been buying up the non-profit Blue Crosses and Blue Shields formed decades ago. Obviously these companies saw money to be made in providing (or not) health care.

In many countries, doctors are either paid less, work longer hours, or both.

That is strange. Normally the HSA has nothing to do with the plan per se, it's only that the plan must be such that is qualifies you to run an HSA alongside it. For example, we have Kaiser but our HSA plan is administered by a credit union that has nothing to do with Kaiser.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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The total cost of eliminating all settlements for those maimed by our health care system, as well as "defensive" medicine practiced to eliminate claims, has been reliably estimated at 2% of what American spend on health care. While I am sure that there is waste in this amount, a 2% savings is negligible in a system that costs 125% to 200% of what other country's citizens must pay.

Those old people should be dead by now, right? Victims of inadequate health care. Yet there are proportionately more old Canadians than Americans.

But you can legitimately wonder why Canadians would want to go to the Mayo Clinic. Why did the President of Yemen come to New York for medical treatment last month? Because he was on a waiting list in Yemen? Why did the Shah of Iran come to the US back in the 70s, or the Saudi Crown Prince last week? Because some US hospitals and physicians are among the best in the world. The Mayo Clinic, in particular, is world-renowned. But what does having the Mayo Clinic say about the US health care system?

Ask yourself, when an American gets sick, does he start packing his bags for Rochester, Minn? Nuh-uh. Only if he is pretty goddam sick, and his local doctors are stumped. Even if your disease is not serious enough for the Mayo Clinic, your local hospital is likely to prove inadequate to successfully perform a bone-marrow transplant or a heart transplant. You would go to a place that performs them in high volumes, to maximize the probability of success. It may be in a nearby big city, or in a different state, or even halfway across the country.

Now, consider Canada. Canada has something like one-tenth the population of the US, stretched along a narrow band within 100 miles of the US border. Their hospitals are simply not going to have as much experience with unusual cases. Nor do they have the volume of folks who need unusual treatments that we do here. Thus it makes sense for them to send their unusual cases across the border, because it will never make sense for them -- even under a fee for service system -- to perform the difficult procedures or hire the subtle diagnosticians, because such skills will never be sufficiently utilized to stay sharp.

[about his good experience with Kaiser]

There are four errors in the preceding paragraph. The Aff'd'ble care act made future physician-owned hospitals (1), not health care plans, ineligible for Medicare reimbursement(2), not illegal. This was a sellout to the for-profit hospital inndustry, not the insurance industry. (3) Kaiser hospitals are owned by the non-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, not by physicians.(4) Physicians own the complementary Permanente Medical Group, which the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan contracts with.

The idea that Obama will be lionized by the health insurance industry certainly conflicts with the idea that universal health care will bankrupt the health insurance industry, leaving single-payer to pick up the pieces.

I started to write the same thing, and then I went to check on the minimum deductible you must have to qualify for an HSA. (family $2,400) I found that here;

But there are some other qualifiers like, HDHP Maximum Out-Of-Pocket Amount So that is something the insurance company must do, and that may add to costs. Mikek

The Brits pay half what we do, per capita, for health care. If Brits paid half what we do for rent, for energy, for food, etc., we would consider that to be a point in its favor.

Of fifteen comparable developed countries, we pay 50% more per capita than the next most expensive country, Switzerland -- the land of pharmaceuticals by the way.

Greece's government spending accounts for 50% of GDP, right in the middle of all European countries. (Averaged from 2001-2007, Sweden spent the most at 55% of GDP, with Ireland -- yes Ireland -- the lowest at 34%.) The problem was taxing too little (39.4% of GDP) -- just like in the US as you point out.

"The very best" is seldom necessary.

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What are you talking about billing? Other than copays, which are collected up front.

Kaiser can control its own costs. It cannot control other entities' costs. Safeway is far closer to me than Costco(where I am also a member), but I cannot demand that Costco reimburse me for my Safeway purchases.

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When I looked into HSAs, whatever I didn't spend became somebody else's money. Has this changed?

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Is this considered cosmetic surgery?

Seek help.

And a Muslim Nazi.

What's really funny about this is that Obama adopted a Republican plan - one originally implemented by that other fascist socialist, Romney. What do you nitwits think about that, eh? And what do you think about the upcoming election being a contest between two fascist socialists? Too funny.

Incorrect? It's duckwitted.

Basically, yes!