Jihad needs scientists
in [Design]
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From: unsettled on 10 Nov 2006 23:20 Ben Newsam wrote: > On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:02:02 -0600, unsettled <unsettled(a)nonsense.com> > wrote: >>He also doesn't seem to mind a large part of that going to >>pay medical care for random strangers including those who >>are getting medical care for their ongoing smoking and drug >>addiction. > Do you seriously believe that your insurance premiums are > used only to fund *your* medical needs? Since you asked. My insurance premiums are insufficient to cover my medical expenses. I am at a slight loss in the medicine coverage if I use Canadian pricing as the basis, but way ahead if I use USA prices. I pay for the coverage because it is quite likely I'll need more as I age and there's a penalty if one doesn't sign on when it becomes available to them. Now reread what I wrote and take the narrow meaning: "He (add emphasis to that word) also doesn't seem to mind...." For the most part private US insurance severely limits benefits available for addictions and mental health issues. I can pretty much guarantee that we won't do lung translants for folks still smoking.
From: lucasea on 11 Nov 2006 01:33 "Ben Newsam" <ben.newsam(a)ukonline.co.uk> wrote in message news:kkcal2ll82lsuqk1pk5uanjcat876o49ei(a)4ax.com... > On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:51:47 GMT, <lucasea(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > >> >><jmfbahciv(a)aol.com> wrote in message >>news:ej22vn$8qk_014(a)s995.apx1.sbo.ma.dialup.rcn.com... >>> >>> It is decreasing towards zero as conversion to a few payers >>> increases. What do you think will happen when the few payers >>> become one? >> >>When that one payer doesn't have the profit motive that's currently >>driving >>prices? Everybody will have access. Check out the cost (and I'm talking >>the total cost to society) and availability of the UK system versus ours. > > AFAIAC, the biggest advantage of our (UK) system isn't the quality of > the service, although it is very good at day to day stuff like mending > broken bits and plugging leaks, but the peace of mind that comes from > not having to worry about whether one is covered or not. If you need > to see a doctor, you go and see a doctor, and if you need treatment, > you get it. It's as simple as that. Yes, of course the system is > strapped for cash, and certain treatments and drugs aren't available > on the National Health, but that will always be the case with whatever > system is in place, whether public or private. That's the price that society pays for controlling the cost of health care. If everything possible is available to everyone, then you get a system of which the costs are untenable. There's simply no way around it. If you want to control the costs from the current US system (I don't think *anybody* would seriously argue that 20 % of GDP spent on health care is sustainable), we're going to have to do two things: 1) Get rid of the profit motive in those who handle the money that pays for health care, and 2) Make some hard decisions and put some realistic limits on what is freely available (covered) and what is considered a luxury (not covered). There is simply no way around it. Eric Lucas
From: lucasea on 11 Nov 2006 01:39 "JoeBloe" <joebloe(a)thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org> wrote in message news:g1eal2dosisofr40ccnm98kcgi8pbtiar0(a)4ax.com... > > Even Western Digital has its products made and assembled elsewhere, > but it is still an American company. ....and what fraction of their workforce would be American? Eric Lucas
From: lucasea on 11 Nov 2006 01:44 "unsettled" <unsettled(a)nonsense.com> wrote in message news:51ce8$45554041$4fe71df$2477(a)DIALUPUSA.NET... > > The underdog is universally favored by humans. Actually, no, it's a US thing. All of my adult life, my foreign friends have commented on the odd American trait of rooting for the underdog. Eric Lucas
From: lucasea on 11 Nov 2006 01:52
> krw wrote: >> As the "minimum" grows those are the jobs that will disappear, whether >> those people need them or not. >> Sounds good in theory, but the *facts* of history belie that assertion. Eric Lucas |