Finally listened to the news
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Chris Austin wrote:
What if every employer in the US who currently pays for health care were to announce that in 18 months they would no longer be contributing to health care for employees?
I actually think that could be an unintended consequence of the Obama plan to pay for his health care coverage extensions by taxing the company paid portion of employee health care. Since the employer contribution can really already be seen as a "tax", required to compete with other US firms for employees, once this becomes taxable to the employee, it ceases to be any more advantageous to provide health care as a benefit than it does to simply increase employee pay by a similar amount and let the employee buy insurance (or not) with it. This would relieve a large administrative cost and essentially put US firms on a level footing with foreign competitors (who don't directly fund or administer health care). Like you I think it is remarkably hypocritical that the insurers can find a Trillion in savings to avoid single payer all of a sudden. The implication is clearly that they have been ripping off that $T all this time, and are now willing to forgo this bounty to survive. One wonders just how much more profit they take that could be saved by eliminating the crooked bastards.
Rob Graham wrote:
This would relieve a large administrative cost and essentially put US firms on a level footing with foreign competitors (who don't directly fund or administer health care).
I am surprised this hasn't happened yet. When we began our business we understood their would be no way we could offer good health care to workers and be able to build a war chest to grow the company. A vendor that used to work for my wife was really helpful when we were planning the company and even let us see some of their expenses; it was pretty shocking to me at the time that health care was their biggest expense.
Rob Graham wrote:
One wonders just how much more profit they take that could be saved by eliminating the crooked bastards.
Yeah. And the irony is that they have become so powerful because of previous government intervention. But, if their access to the middle class were to be suddenly cut off....whoa nelly.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
modified on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:22 AM
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Crops...600 gallons of rain water. . . how defensible is your place?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
Oakman wrote:
Crops...600 gallons of rain water
:laugh: You left out solar powered. But, the water is really just about enough for the veggies and fruits. I'd love a Hawaiian style 3K gallon tank.
Oakman wrote:
how defensible is your place?
Not to good on our own. But, we are at the end of a large cul de sac so I think we could work out a plan of sorts with the neighbors. Now, I just need to replace my toothless old retriever with a couple of strapping young dobermans.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
air, water.
I don't know about air but, T Boone Pickens is working on the water part. He is gobbling up water rights as fast as he can get them here in TX. I wonder if in the foreseeable future my two 300 gallon rain water collection barrels will become illegal here as they could violate some corporate water right.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
Does that mean he's given up on natural gas? I haven't seen his commercials lately. That guy is certainly interested in something... I just can't quite put my finger on it... But I think it's green. :~
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
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Chris Austin wrote:
Well, this wouldn't be a problem if the hospitals administrators reserved the use of an emergency room for emergencies.
not possible. by law an emergency room must treat anyone that walks in, regardless of circumstances.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
by law an emergency room must treat anyone that walks in, regardless of circumstances.
Now that is a stupid law. I am pretty sure we used to have lots of county and city ran 'clinics' for check ups, and medications.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
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Does that mean he's given up on natural gas? I haven't seen his commercials lately. That guy is certainly interested in something... I just can't quite put my finger on it... But I think it's green. :~
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
BoneSoft wrote:
Does that mean he's given up on natural gas?
No. He is trying to lock in water, gas and, wind rights all over Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and a few other states. He and his people are smart and realize that we are in the middle of a dramatic population shift where a lot of people are moving to coastal and South Western states.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
by law an emergency room must treat anyone that walks in, regardless of circumstances.
Now that is a stupid law. I am pretty sure we used to have lots of county and city ran 'clinics' for check ups, and medications.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
Chris Austin wrote:
Now that is a stupid law.
agreed. as a Texan you're probably aware that illegals make great use of this law.
Chris Austin wrote:
I am pretty sure we used to have lots of county and city ran 'clinics' for check ups, and medications.
Parkland in Dallas is one such very large organization that, if I remember correctly, charges on the basis of ability to pay - but, Dallas County taxes are astronomical as a result and the emergency room is always at capacity unless soemthing has changed dramatically since I last checked. That has been a year or so ago since I dumped my Dallas propertys.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
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Chris Austin wrote:
Well, this wouldn't be a problem if the hospitals administrators reserved the use of an emergency room for emergencies.
not possible. by law an emergency room must treat anyone that walks in, regardless of circumstances.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
The smart hospitals have staffed 24 hr. walk in clinics for "non-emergency" visitors. The result is treatment of those who can't pay still happens for free, but not at the emergency room cost. A few States have begun to fund these out of MedicAid, since they produce big cost savings over ER as the only "free" alternative.
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
by law an emergency room must treat anyone that walks in, regardless of circumstances.
Now that is a stupid law. I am pretty sure we used to have lots of county and city ran 'clinics' for check ups, and medications.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
Chris Austin wrote:
Now that is a stupid law.
I agree. I was recently involved on another board in a debate with a Canadian over which country had better health care delivery (not quality, just delivery.) She reported that in the US, dying people were turned away from hospitals unless they had a credit card. I guess I shocked her when I said that I wished that hospitals were allowed to do that and suggested that one, non-profit, state/church/private foundation-supported hospital to be set up in each metropolitan region would be enough to handle those who couldn't pay and that anyone unable to prove citizenship should still be treated (see? I'm really a softie), but then arrested for illegal entry and forced to work off their debt to the hospital before being deported. Later in the debate she mentioned that if you were really, really ill in Canada, you could count on getting an MRI in only three months, otherwise the wait time after the Dr requested the appointment was six months. :omg: Perhaps not surprisingly, she didn't convimnce me that we needed a Canadian-style health care delivery system. Which is not to say that I think ours works all that well, either. I remain interested in what little I know about the Australian system.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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Chris Austin wrote:
Now that is a stupid law.
agreed. as a Texan you're probably aware that illegals make great use of this law.
Chris Austin wrote:
I am pretty sure we used to have lots of county and city ran 'clinics' for check ups, and medications.
Parkland in Dallas is one such very large organization that, if I remember correctly, charges on the basis of ability to pay - but, Dallas County taxes are astronomical as a result and the emergency room is always at capacity unless soemthing has changed dramatically since I last checked. That has been a year or so ago since I dumped my Dallas propertys.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
agreed. as a Texan you're probably aware that illegals make great use of this law.
:laugh: I'm no texan.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
Dallas County taxes are astronomical as a result and the emergency room is always at capacity unless soemthing has changed dramatically since I last checked.
Same way in Collin County and Tarrant County. But regionally high property taxes I really don't mind since I prefer not to pay state income tax.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
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Oakman wrote:
Crops...600 gallons of rain water
:laugh: You left out solar powered. But, the water is really just about enough for the veggies and fruits. I'd love a Hawaiian style 3K gallon tank.
Oakman wrote:
how defensible is your place?
Not to good on our own. But, we are at the end of a large cul de sac so I think we could work out a plan of sorts with the neighbors. Now, I just need to replace my toothless old retriever with a couple of strapping young dobermans.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell
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Chris Austin wrote:
I just need to replace my toothless old retriever with a couple of strapping young dobermans.
My wife probably has thoughts along those lines. :)
Bob Emmett
Bob Emmett wrote:
My wife probably has thoughts along those lines.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell