the-future-of-medicaid-may-be-found-in-indiana-where-the-poor-pay

[Orlong]

I broke my leg/knee and a few ribs in an accident a few years back.
Got picked up by an ambulance helicopter, surgery, ambulance to a hospital closer to home, a week in bed.

Don't think it even cost me $100.

And Im in the US with our evil health insurance system and had a rotator cuff repair surgery that cost $20,000 to my insurance company. I paid $25 total.

[Masark]

Its about principle. People shouldnt get anything that they didnt earn.

So inheritance should be prohibited?

[Total Crica]

And Im in the US with our evil health insurance system and had a rotator cuff repair surgery that cost $20,000 to my insurance company. I paid $25 total.

For premiums?

[Captain N]

For premiums?

He has a Union Healthcare Plan that's paid completely by his employer -- About the only thing he has to worry about is his ER Co-Pay. Orlong is a Government Employee that likes to gripe about Unions and the Government but he'll never actually leave that job because the benefits outweigh what nearly every other private sector job could offer him

http://www.afscme.org/union/employment/benefits - This is the Union the covers Pennsylvania State Employees

Full employer-paid health insurance for employee and family, including major medical, hospitalization, prescription drugs, vision, dental and orthodontia
Health insurance for domestic partners
Paid long term disability
Defined benefit pension plan (jointly paid)
401(k) savings plan
Full employer-paid life insurance and accidental death benefits
3 weeks earned vacation per year
12 days earned sick leave per year
13 paid holidays per year
Holiday release between Christmas and New Year's Day with pay
Tuition assistance reimbursement plan
Dependent care assistance plan (flexible spending account)

[Total Crica]

He has a Union Healthcare Plan that's paid completely by his employer -- About the only thing he has to worry about is his ER Co-Pay. Orlong is a Government Employee that likes to gripe about Unions and the Government but he'll never actually leave that job because the benefits outweigh what nearly every other private sector job could offer him

Oh. Government medically takes care of it's own so far in my experience. Father was military, husband is military, whole family was always medically taken care of. Wonder why civilians don't want the government to take care of them as well? Are they afraid they won't be? I mean, I know there are individual problems sometimes, but that happens even in the civilian medical industry, doesn't it?

[Spectral]

He has a Union Healthcare Plan that's paid completely by his employer -- About the only thing he has to worry about is his ER Co-Pay. Orlong is a Government Employee that likes to gripe about Unions and the Government but he'll never actually leave that job because the benefits outweigh what nearly every other private sector job could offer him

Just so we're all clear, Orlong isn't a real person, he just plays one on MMO-Champ...

[Total Crica]

Just so we're all clear, Orlong isn't a real person, he just plays one on MMO-Champ...

Um, now I am confused...and paranoid...grrr.

[Captain N]

Oh. Government medically takes care of it's own so far in my experience. Father was military, husband is military, whole family was always medically taken care of. Wonder why civilians don't want the government to take care of them as well? Are they afraid they won't be?

Honestly I think a lot of the arguments that people have against a Single Payer System are exactly the same as the arguments made against wage increases. They had to go into debt, and bend over backwards to find a place that would offer them medical insurance so they don't believe that others should be privy to that benefit. More or less the same old "I got mine so fuck off and get your own" argument.

Just so we're all clear, Orlong isn't a real person, he just plays one on MMO-Champ...

His kind to exist in the real world though. I unfortunately have the honor of working with a few guys with 25+ years of experience who feel exactly as he does about single payer health insurance even though they only pay $200/month to cover themselves, their wives, and their four kids with only $2500/year out of pocket.

[Zephyr Storm]

Indiana seems desperate to race full speed ahead towards 3rd world shithole status.

And yet, Indiana is in the black (compared to most states that are in the red with their budget) and has some of the best services I've ever seen. I don't see anyone suffering at the level two trauma center that I work at in Indiana...everyone is getting the care they need. I have yet to see a single person turned away for care because they couldn't afford it.

And I came from Illinois (a democratically controlled state thanks to Chicago), and that place is a bigger shithole than Indiana ever has been. Illinois is fucking broke as a joke and has a much worse Medicaid situation than Indiana does. My mother is an RN at a hospital in Illinois, where she deals with Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance companies in the billing/discharge department of the hospital. Believe me, Democratically controlled Illinois is much, much worse in the healthcare department than Republican controlled Indiana.

[Spectral]

Um, now I am confused...and paranoid...grrr.

I could, of course, be dead wrong, but I'm tolerably sure that Orlong is just playing the part of an absolutely ridiculous parody character. He rails against handouts and government spending while stating that he has a do nothing government job. There's various other semi-hilarious contradictions if you've followed the character's saga. It's really nothing like trolling though - this is fine art!

[primalmatter]

Daily reminder you are taking advice from a country with designated shitting streets...

[Orlong]

Can we stop repeating this myth, please? The 'Canadian healthcare tourists' are people with deferable conditions wanting to skip the queue.

And if their healthcare system worked so well, there would be no queue to skip. There are no queues in the US when you buy good insurance that doesnt lock you into a network

[BeatdownBrigade]

And yet, Indiana is in the black (compared to most states that are in the red with their budget) and has some of the best services I've ever seen. I don't see anyone suffering at the level two trauma center that I work at in Indiana...everyone is getting the care they need. I have yet to see a single person turned away for care because they couldn't afford it.

And I came from Illinois (a democratically controlled state thanks to Chicago), and that place is a bigger shithole than Indiana ever has been. Illinois is fucking broke as a joke and has a much worse Medicaid situation than Indiana does. My mother is an RN at a hospital in Illinois, where she deals with Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance companies in the billing/discharge department of the hospital. Believe me, Democratically controlled Illinois is much, much worse in the healthcare department than Republican controlled Indiana.

I'm not sure you can qualify Indiana being in the black when 33.4% of their state budget is covered by Federal tax dollars. Thats the 10th highest of any state in the nation. For every $1 a resident in Indiana pays in federal taxes they get $2.03 back. So Indiana can go ahead and thank the wealthy coastal urban centers for helping them pay for their state to exist.

[Zephyr Storm]

Welcome to most red states. They do this shit constantly then want to call liberals and urban residents evil despite their city centers and states like California and New York bailing them out by paying for their social spending and infrastructure.

Nice try. But, Indiana is in the black. And has been for years.

https://eresearch.fidelity.com/erese...e=article&gic=

Indiana also has a AAA credit rating.

[Orlong]

Just so we're all clear, Orlong isn't a real person, he just plays one on MMO-Champ...

Not true at all. Im a person just like you!

[Sargerasraider]

So, the article does not back up your statements. "Pressuring" =/= "forcing".

Yes, you've got me. There is a huge difference between "forced" and "pressured by an authoritarian government". /facepalm

Regardless, you're comparing apples to oranges. If I exclude all of the infants with congenital anomalies / genetic syndromes / extreme prematurity and also have the ability to compel mothers with diabetes / high blood pressure / etc. to be hospitalized, I could dramatically improve infant mortality too. (Additionally, if I have exclusive control over the reported numbers and I am under significant pressure to have a good report, I guarantee you my numbers will be even better!)

[BeatdownBrigade]

Again, cutting your own taxes and just taking more federal dollars to balance the budget does not count as being in the "black". A 1/3rd of Indiana's state budget is subsidized by federal dollars. And for every dollar a resident there pays in federal taxes they get $2.03 back. As far as any reasonable person would understand Indiana is a debtor state that is being subsidized by wealthy coastal states like California, New York, etc.

[Rhaide]

Six months, shit.

Why are we even still having this conversation? The majority of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills. The majority of those are people who have insurance. Our system is too expensive and isn't working well. Maybe, just maybe we can look at places where they are doing a better job for a lower cost? Or would that be too much to ask?

I agree, our system sucks... but the conversation about how to fix it is full of shitty arguments about how others do it better. There is not ONE single other government in the world in a situation like ours that is doing better. Canada has a questionable healthcare system that leaves seriously sick people with few options other than to come to the US for treatment (http://www.usnews.com/news/best-coun...or-health-care), Sweden has extra-governmental subsidies that make healthcare a snap to fund (http://www.ekopolitan.com/swedes-pay...es-capita-oecd)...

Again, I agree that the US medical machine is horrible... but is there really a better solution? I don't believe that anyone really has come up with one at this point, all the comparisons point to countries who aren't comparable to us.

[Azadina]

And if their healthcare system worked so well, there would be no queue to skip. There are no queues in the US when you buy good insurance that doesnt lock you into a network

You mean there's no queues in the US, because most people avoid healthcare like a plague, when it's financial suicide to step in?

[Zephyr Storm]

I'm not sure you can qualify Indiana being in the black when 33.4% of their state budget is covered by Federal tax dollars. Thats the 10th highest of any state in the nation. For every $1 a resident in Indiana pays in federal taxes they get $2.03 back. So Indiana can go ahead and thank the wealthy coastal urban centers for helping them pay for their state to exist.

https://www.cato.org/blog/how-much-d...-federal-funds

It's from 2013, but shows that California is almost as much as Indiana and New York is actually more than Indiana. So what's that about the big, democratically controlled coastal states? Just as much, if not more of their yearly revenue comes from federal aid as Indiana's does.