J Holmes, when Mick stands on his money he is both tall and good looking.

i agree with Eileen, Ms Wells.  More info about everybody spending money as if drunk? We are interested in the details of your observations.

I only ask a question, how does that make me wrong?

Ms. Amy from simpletown,

Have a CVA or need heart surgery or brain surgery and need to be on a vent for weeks, or a terrible accident and rack up hundred’s of thousand’s of dollars in medical expenses and tell me about negotiating with health care providers.

 

Amy, I was not trying to challenge you. Just to give you the benefit of my work experience of 20 years with an insurance company. I know doctors and hospitals all around my state. Most will donate services for indigent patients. But they can’t and won’t donate to all who need help. As far as negotiating with patients the majority of doctors and hospitals will not do that. Can you imagine if they negotiated with every non-insured patient for services?

I am a nurse and know that I could probably get a cosmetic surgeon to work with me on the charge for a cosmetic procedure but, believe me, the hospital services and anesthesiology professional would not give me any relief.

Also, for any hospital treatment and procedure you will find that there will, in most cases, be charges from independent contractors to the hospital for labs reporting, pathology, anesthesia, and other charges too long to list. Trying to negotiate charges with each of these suppliers would not  be feasible.

  After going back and reading your response I think I missed your point. Did you already owe the charges to the physician and the hospital and not pay? Maybe the doctor and hospital decided that 1/2 of a pie was better than no pie at all.

Sincerely,

Dab

Yeah, Belinda. You understand so well what is happening. What I don’t understand is why seemingly intelligent people who work and take care of their families are so against health care reform. I know of a close family member who called people like me, who support the President a ditto head. What was so funny was she, at the same time, admitted that for 3 years she was uninsurable due to a stroke at age 28. (She married and her husband’s insurance keep her as pre-existing for 3 years). During those three years she had physical rehab with occupational and physical therapists whose services were donated by a local rehab hospital due to her young age. She also had the services of a neurologist, primary care physician, labs routinely for monitoring her blood thinners and heart surgery to close the hole in her heart responsible for the stroke. She did not know she was born with it until the stroke. Who paid for all her services during those 3 years? Medicaid. And a very generous health care community that was stunned when such a lovely young lady had a massive stroke. Not everyone has the benefits of community and case managers who bend over backwards to get an ill person health coverage. The young lady does not like President Obama and does not want health care reform. She can’t see past her nose and realize that although she was treated well, not everyone is as lucky to get the services she received.

Well said, Phyllis.

Mr. Clark, you are so right. I started reading the comments and thought I would try to give some information about how insurance and our present health care system works. However, the consumers do not understand how it works at all and have been brain washed by the insurance companies into thinking there cannot be another way of handling the problems. Baby steps is another way of putting off til some future time any changes in the way business, which health care is, continues.

Amy, if you pay your doctor and/or hospital directly, without a middle man, you will be paying 50% (approximately) more than would be paid by the insurance company. The insurance company and the physician and hospital have a contractural agreement for reimbursement at a specific charge depending on the coding for the service/procedure. That is why people without insurance can’t survive in the health care system….they are charged the going rate and without any bargaining power as an insurance company has, the amount required is prohibitive. I’m sorry if I’m not explaining this to you clearly, but it is a complicated process that the average consumer does not know about.

Hi, Caren, I had the same experiences working for a local Tennessee newspaper in the classified dept. I can’t believe you lasted 20 plus years!!! That was a very hard job, trying to meet the deadlines for the larger commercial ads. I quit one day after a terrible day without any break from the phones at all. I thought I was going to die, lol.

I went to nursing school thinking I would have an easier job….how dumb was that?  

Well, people can always find ways to throw stones at others. I think it is silly for people to assume the woman/women Dave had sex with were under duress and it was not consensual. So far as we, the public know, it was consensual and therefore, none of our business.

The cradle does WHAT?

My first thought was my mother and then I realized it is suppose to be a living woman. I have  to say that it was Gloria Steinmen. When I was a young mother I watched Phil Donahue almost everyday and she was a frequent guest. She said things I had never heard before. I came to realized I needed to be able to not be dependent on a man for all my needs. That realization took me to places I had never thought I would go. There have been times I wish I hadn’t heard what Gloria said. Maybe I would have been happier if I had not become so independent. I just don’t know.

Another "person" who influence me, and does not qualify as an answer,  was Scarlett O’Hara. The scene where  she stood in that field holding that turnip and declared she, and her family, would never go hungry again influenced me more than I realized. During years of therapy I came to understand that I had taken that same vow and that my mother, who saw the movie as a young mother, also had become that person who took on the responsibility of her whole family. I see that persona in so many women in the south. My daughter is the same….the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Thank you, Phyllis.

I also grew up in the south among right wing christian conservatives. However, the Kennedys always "spoke" to me, to my inner voice, to my soul. Through them I realized that a person with great ideas, great vision and great accomplishments could be weak in some areas of their lives. I hope that knowledge gave me some wisdom and compassion for others’ faults and weaknesses.

 I will miss Senator Ted Kennedy very much..He suffered a lot in life , endured, and still gave many of us hope.

Thank you.