Government Shutdown

[OlDawg]

1 hour ago, DCT said:

 Never thought I’d see so many MAGA happy to see people loose there jobs placed on unemployment.  
This is all apart of the great economy and the Big Beautiful bill.  Even the farmers who voted for him are complaining.

Federal workers are a drain on the economy. Not an adder.

[OlDawg]

2 minutes ago, baddog said:

I’m not so much against it, but it screwed up everyone else’s insurance. I’ve paid all my life to get where I am. I have always stood on my own legs. Thank you.

Company or private insurance…..$3000-$5000 deductibles will never be met unless hospital stays are involved. Taking family for yearly checkups, one would be better off without insurance. My stance is still correct. People who tout it aren’t even on it.

My wife meets her OOP every year just due to injections and medicine to try to slow her progressive palsy, and helping keep her from choking on her food and asphyxiating herself, or contracting pneumonia and dying. Her OOP is $3600.

You really don’t know until you’re in someone else’s shoes.

I’m a less government guy. But, when they take away choices to push an agenda, you deal with it as you can.

ACA had no bearing on your Medicare.

[LumRaiderFan]

15 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

The people against it are either on true socialized medicine (Medicare, Medicaid) or employer based. You gripe about it, but you’re on socialized care with Medicare. You have no leg to stand on.

Sorry.

If you were over 60–but not yet 65–retired (either through choice or not), and needed insurance due to health reasons, you’d sing a different tune. You’d be glad you could get anything.

Our ACA coverage has been better than any I ever had under my employers. It’s just expensive as crap. But, we’ve had zero issues with it. Even for high level experimental treatments for my wife’s Parkinson’s Plus.

My gripe is that my employer provided insurance went up drastically when Obamacare kicked in.  The promises made about it turned out to be all lies, my insurance went up to subsidize others.

I’ll be on medicare in the near future and I’ll still have a leg to stand on to gripe about this mess because I’ve actually been paying for it for over 40 years, even though I would have gladly opted out, but I  didn’t have the option, just like social security.

[OlDawg]

5 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

My gripe is that my employer provided insurance went up drastically when Obamacare kicked in.  The promises made about it turned out to be all lies, my insurance went up to subsidize others.

I’ll be on medicare in the near future and I’ll still have a leg to stand on to gripe about this mess because I’ve actually been paying for it for over 40 years, even though I would have gladly opted out, but I  didn’t have the option, just like social security.

At going on 63, we’ve paid our share as well. Our employer based insurance went up as well while we were still working. We didn’t ask for the ACA. There were other ways to do things. But, that ship has sailed. Now, we don’t have a choice for 2 more years if we want any kind of insurance coverage.

[baddog]

4 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

My wife meets her OOP every year just due to injections and medicine to try to slow her progressive palsy, and helping keep her from choking on her food and asphyxiating herself, or contracting pneumonia and dying. Her OOP is $3600.

You really don’t know until you’re in someone else’s shoes.

I’m a less government guy. But, when they take away choices to push an agenda, you deal with it as you can.

ACA had no bearing on your Medicare.

Sorry about your wife. My Medicare covers my cancer treatments. 

[baddog]

6 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

My gripe is that my employer provided insurance went up drastically when Obamacare kicked in.  The promises made about it turned out to be all lies, my insurance went up to subsidize others.

I’ll be on medicare in the near future and I’ll still have a leg to stand on to gripe about this mess because I’ve actually been paying for it for over 40 years, even though I would have gladly opted out, but I  didn’t have the option, just like social security.

Same here. Great post.

[LumRaiderFan]

Just now, OlDawg said:

At going on 63, we’ve paid our share as well. We didn’t ask for the ACA. There were other ways to do things. But, that ship has sailed. Now, we don’t have a choice for 2 more years if we want any kind of insurance coverage.

Understood, OlDawg, you are a veteran, correct?

[OlDawg]

11 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Understood, OlDawg, you are a veteran, correct?

Yes. I’d go to the VA if I wanted to die. Besides, my wife still has to have coverage. We still would be dealing with ACA. She doesn’t qualify for Medicaid automatically for disability because she was diagnosed with Cortical Basal Degeneration vs Progressive Supranuclear Palsy even though they can’t know for sure until an autopsy of her brain. If diagnosed with PSP, she would have automatically qualified for Medicaid because of the average life expectancy of 7 years. CBD is about the same. But, it’s classified differently because they know so little about it.

She was denied Medicaid because of someone’s definition and classification.

[OlDawg]

17 minutes ago, baddog said:

Sorry about your wife. My Medicare covers my cancer treatments. 

Covered my dad’s as well. He denied chemo though. At 86, he said he lived well, and didn’t want to spend his remaining days going through that. He was ready to be with my mom. So, his last months were spent with us after dialysis failed to work any more.

[LumRaiderFan]

Just now, OlDawg said:

Yes. I’d go to the VA if I wanted to die. Besides, my wife still has to have coverage. We still would be dealing with ACA. She doesn’t qualify for Medicaid automatically for disability because she was diagnosed with Cortical Basal Degeneration vs Progressive Supranuclear Palsy even though they can’t know for sure until an autopsy. If diagnosed with PSP, she would have automatically qualified for Medicaid because of the average life expectancy of 7 years.

Very sorry to hear that, reason I asked is that for any veteran, I have always felt that the best private plans such as what you could have with a company should be available for veterans, choice of doctors, etc.  No veteran should have to jump hurdles like you are doing for good health insurance, you’ve earned it.  

I also understand there’s the way things should be and the way they are, I just feel our government rewards those that don’t deserve it and ignores those that do, simply for votes.

It’s why I’m not a fan.

[OlDawg]

Meanwhile, Kaiser employees don’t think a 21% pay increase is enough…

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[DCT]

51 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

Federal workers are a drain on the economy. Not an adder.

Federal workers are the ones facing what you fear.  They are the gate keepers. They do the work so you can sleep at night. They work at your USP, Low, Medium and Minimum prisons.  Some are contract workers behind the fence. You really don’t know what you speak of.

[DCT]

34 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

Yes. I’d go to the VA if I wanted to die. Besides, my wife still has to have coverage. We still would be dealing with ACA. She doesn’t qualify for Medicaid automatically for disability because she was diagnosed with Cortical Basal Degeneration vs Progressive Supranuclear Palsy even though they can’t know for sure until an autopsy of her brain. If diagnosed with PSP, she would have automatically qualified for Medicaid because of the average life expectancy of 7 years. CBD is about the same. But, it’s classified differently because they know so little about it.

She was denied Medicaid because of someone’s definition and classification.

People won’t understand until it hits closer to home.  Thank you for sharing. My heart goes out to you and your family.

[OlDawg]

21 minutes ago, DCT said:

Federal workers are the ones facing what you fear.  They are the gate keepers. They do the work so you can sleep at night. They work at your USP, Low, Medium and Minimum prisons.  Some are contract workers behind the fence. You really don’t know what you speak of.

As I said, they are a cost to the economy. Taxes are used to pay for their services. No different than the military.

Doesn’t mean they don’t perform a critical service.

I sleep pretty well with my Glock 27 in reach at night. Thanks.

[DCT]

9 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

As I said, they are a cost to the economy. Taxes are used to pay for their services. No different than the military.

Doesn’t mean they don’t perform a critical service.

Placing US soldiers in US cities is a cost to the economy.  Yes, taxes are used to pay for their services.  
Do you suggest we privatize the government?

[OlDawg]

7 minutes ago, DCT said:

Placing US soldiers in US cities is a cost to the economy.  Yes, taxes are used to pay for their services.  
Do you suggest we privatize the government?

Yes. In many—if not most cases—I suggest we privatize services the government currently provides. At the least, move the services more to the state level.

Federalism. A novel concept.

[thetragichippy]

11 hours ago, OlDawg said:

You really don’t know until you’re in someone else’s shoes.

I know everyone's situation is different. 

I, by choice, have put off a cat scan/MRI, whatever they were gong to do, on my chest because it's the end of the year and I have not came close to meeting my $3300 deductible. (not too serious, checking to see if I may have asthma). It makes zero sense to have the procedure this year, when if I have it in January the rest of that year all of my medical care will be free or close to it. 

Good thing it is not too urgent.  It shouldn't be that way.....

[thetragichippy]

10 hours ago, DCT said:

Placing US soldiers in US cities is a cost to the economy.  Yes, taxes are used to pay for their services.  
Do you suggest we privatize the government?

If the state governments could protect the Federal buildings properly we would not need to send troops. 

May I remind you of Seattle and the "Chaz" - took over several blocks, vandalized businesses, ran off police, rape and couple murders happened. All those businesses in that area were vandalized and closed for business. 

Do you recall in Minneapolis on 2020 protestors ran an entire police dept out of their building and burned it down. 

Would you rather your tax dollars send in troops to keep all of the above from happening or spend who knows how much more rebuilding parts of a city that if local law enforcement would have been able to do their job would of never happened?

 

[OlDawg]

21 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

I know everyone's situation is different. 

I, by choice, have put off a cat scan/MRI, whatever they were gong to do, on my chest because it's the end of the year and I have not came close to meeting my $3300 deductible. (not too serious, checking to see if I may have asthma). It makes zero sense to have the procedure this year, when if I have it in January the rest of that year all of my medical care will be free or close to it. 

Good thing it is not too urgent.  It shouldn't be that way.....

We schedule things for my wife all the time that way. That's just smart economics--if you physically can afford to do so. There are many simple things that shouldn't be as difficult as they are. Prescription renewals during hurricane season. If you're running low, and want to make sure you have a supply in case you're unable to get renewals due to storm effects, insurance still won't allow refills early.

Our healthcare system is a mess, and ACA didn't fix anything except pre-existing conditions. As I've said, there were better ways to handle things. But, the push was on for single payer. I'm beginning to think single payer would be preferable to the mess we have now. You don't hear many griping that are on Medicare. (Except for the sometimes confusing paperwork/approval process.)

I still don't agree with young people being able to stay on their parent's plan until they're 26. But, that's just me, and my son is grown. So, that is a lesser concern to me. To others, it means more.

I always said ACA wasn't about actual healthcare. It was a payoff to insurance companies/lobbies to move towards single payer, and stay in their good graces for political purposes and political donations. I still think that.

My dad had some things he would have preferred where he had to have a 'lesser' procedure--or medical device--because of cost, and Medicare wouldn't pay for the more expensive desire. But, for the most part, he was never denied any critical treatment for his cancer or anything else.

[thetragichippy]

1 minute ago, OlDawg said:

That's just smart economics--if you physically can afford to do so.

That is the thing, if it was life/death, I have the money.....it just seems wasteful to do it now and have to start over in a couple months. 

What is strange to me, is what ACA did.  In SE TX, before ACA, we had at least 6 hospitals in the area and only a few quick clinics.  After ACA, we have 3 hospitals, well 4 if you count the one in Lumberton, and it seems like 700 quick clinics. They started popping up everywhere. Was there something in the ACA that set those things in motion or was it private businesses that realized the ACA was making everything expensive and people need a cash option......

[OlDawg]

6 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

That is the thing, if it was life/death, I have the money.....it just seems wasteful to do it now and have to start over in a couple months. 

What is strange to me, is what ACA did.  In SE TX, before ACA, we had at least 6 hospitals in the area and only a few quick clinics.  After ACA, we have 3 hospitals, well 4 if you count the one in Lumberton, and it seems like 700 quick clinics. They started popping up everywhere. Was there something in the ACA that set those things in motion or was it private businesses that realized the ACA was making everything expensive and people need a cash option......

From my reading, the limitations on repayment to try and reduce cost, coupled with medical professional shortages, forced hospital systems to create secondary care outlets that didn’t have the overhead costs of the main system. Most of the ‘urgent care’ facilities are actually owned by either insurance companies, or larger hospital conglomerates.

In La Porte, all of our local, private doctors were bought up by United Healthcare. Obviously, they then limit the insurance accepted. Not a fan of insurance companies buying up all the medical practices.

[OlDawg]

45 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

If the state governments could protect the Federal buildings properly we would not need to send troops. 

 

I think I would change this to 'if the state governments/local authorities were allowed..."

[UT alum]

13 hours ago, OlDawg said:

Federal workers are a drain on the economy. Not an adder.

That includes air traffic controllers? The military? Your statement is blanket. Zero sum. All or nothing. Civil service has a place in civil societies.

[OlDawg]

56 minutes ago, UT alum said:

That includes air traffic controllers? The military? Your statement is blanket. Zero sum. All or nothing. Civil service has a place in civil societies.

Air traffic controllers in this country aren’t all federal employees. There’s also a good case to be made that ATC’s should be employed by private, non-profit firms that are compensated by the airlines, airport systems, and other users of their services.

The military has personnel that you couldn’t dream of—in numbers that would astound you—that are private contractors. They operate in areas that rarely make the news. If they make the news, someone poached the goat.

Yes. When you confiscate money from the creators, and give it to a government entity to then redistribute, you lose efficiency, and it is a drain on the economy. Period. Zero sum.

Now, how much loss vs. possible payback is an ROI question that is use dependent.

Very few functions that are now civil service/government employees were always that way. The government encroached, and took them over. Followed shortly by the unions to make them almost untouchable.

Most civil service jobs began as private functions.

[Reagan]

2 hours ago, UT alum said:

That includes air traffic controllers? The military? Your statement is blanket. Zero sum. All or nothing. Civil service has a place in civil societies.

 

You think we would miss these people?  I say it's morally wrong to continue having these people employed.  You should also feel the same way.  Think about it, how much more in the government is this going on?!