Quote: boymimbobecause the USA is the only western country with medical bankruptcy.
Boymimbo you quote the usual left wing mumbo jumbo that has no basis in fact. I life in Canada and have grown up with Medicare although I am old enough to remember when it came in.
Many people in Canada end up declaring bankruptcy because of medical costs. We don't pay for doctors but we pay for almost everything else to some extent. We pay for our own drugs up to a maximum amount. This amount floats with your taxable income 'from the year before'. If you have just lost a good job or retired, the first year can be a bitch if you need a lot of drugs. Not all drugs are on the list, HID/Aids drugs were not on the list for years and paying for them bankrupt hundreds of people.
We pay users fees for most medically rated items including many hospital visits, renting crutches etc. My grandsons cast to correct his club foot ($2800) was not covered.
To be clear I am glad I live in Canada and have medical coverage but don't pretend it something it is not. The last several years my wife has needed a lot of medical care. The medical expenses for these years have been $4K to $6K per year. They are tax deductible, which for me means I get 20% back after reaching a minimum self-pay deductible that floats with income. I am still $13K out of pocket over this time
You don't pay for surgeries, doctors, hospitals, etc.
You pay for prescriptions up to extent determined by where you live and your income level.
You pay for medical supplies unless you have supplementary insurance (extended health coverage).
Likely, if you look around, you might be able get relief from your medical supplies that you are paying.
How much out of pocket would you be in the USA?
Quote: boymimbo120,000 Canadians declared bankruptcy in 2009. 13,500 were due to medical reasons or about 11%. The percentage is 63% in the USA, or about 900,000, in 2009.
You don't pay for surgeries, doctors, hospitals, etc.
You pay for prescriptions up to extent determined by where you live and your income level.
You pay for medical supplies unless you have supplementary insurance (extended health coverage).
Likely, if you look around, you might be able get relief from your medical supplies that you are paying.
How much out of pocket would you be in the USA?
Back to my original point. Instead of having a reasonable discussion which we are having now you claimed that there were no medical bankruptcies anywhere in the world but the US. This is the why it is so hard to have realistic discussion when it starts with such blatant lies which you now readily admit.
A big piece of the medical costs for all of us in smaller communities is travel costs and the hotel costs when we get there. I can handle my medical costs but it is about 10% of my income. The ones I feel sorry for are the families of the kids that need to spend weeks and sometimes months in a major center. One if not both parents need to be there so the have to keep 2 homes going and sometimes even give up their jobs. This is not automatically covered by government and the family is often helped out by fund raising in their home community.
The unfair thing and it is appears to be true in the US as well is that you are punished if you are a working stiff since then you have to pay significant amounts out of pocket.
If you are on welfare with no income then you get a free ride, drugs, doctors, transportation, orthopedics, out of town expenses.
Yes BM I feel I am better off in Canada but it is not as rosy as most paint it and comes at a tremendous cost to the government. 78% of the Provincial budget in BC is spent on healthcare and education. The remaining 22% pay for everything else the Province does. The biggest winers in the Province are the teachers union and nurses union telling how little they get.
Not necessarily. A driver with a clean record, which many have, faces blatant risk determination based on factors like age, sex, residence, nature of the vehicle, distances and frequency driven, economic status and so on.Quote: boymimboThe biggest factor, however, is your driving record which indicates your risk.
Is that a figurative or a literal pool?Quote: boymimboIf you decided to put health insurance in a pool, obviously the elderly would be unable to pay.
To be clear, the BC government is running a surplus in its budget. Its Debt to GDP ratio is 18%. Families pay $1,596 in MSP premium (medical services plan) per year, individuals half that amount. They also have capped spending in other areas. If you are working for a company, you are normally covered by an extended health care insurance policy fully paid by your employer that covers a range of services that the core services do not provide. You can also purchase this insurance yourself and it runs at about $200 - $300/month for myself anyway.
The BC government collected 42.2 billion in revenue in fiscal 2012/3. The Ministry of Health's actual numbers was 18.4 billion in that year (4.2 billion transferred from the Federal government) so a net cost of 14.2 billion. That works out to a cost of about $3,690 per individual, less than 1/2 of the per capita ($8,680/pp) health care expenditure for each American. Infant mortality is 3.6/1000 (USA 5.9). Cancer mortality rate is 144/100,000 (US rate 186), Diseases of the heart mortality rate of 91.9/100,000, all of these the lowest in the nation, probably due not to the spending (2nd lowest per capita) but probably due to its Asian influences.
US residents have the same issues with travel and hotel costs, and their costs are more than double, whether they are covered via employment or not.
Quote: kenarmanBack to my original point. Instead of having a reasonable discussion which we are having now you claimed that there were no medical bankruptcies anywhere in the world but the US. This is the why it is so hard to have realistic discussion when it starts with such blatant lies which you now readily admit.
.
+100
Change the subject. Ignore facts and questions. Distort.
This is why it is a complete waste of time to try and have a discussion with him.
And people think I exaggerate when I say 47% of America willingly gives up freedom for "free health care."
Quote: boymimboYeah, I'm the problem.
LMAO...post of the thread. The Canadian's the problem with the American health care system. (cue South Park music). Blame Canada! Oh, yeah!
Americans are the healthiest people of the planet, and you definitely get what you pay for. And even if you don't have insurance, you can find your way to free health care.
And if you can't afford your payments and happen to get sick and die an early death, well then there's just one less of the 47% that AZ talks about: the lazy, thoughless, welfare-collecting, meth-lab creating, stupid, bankruptcy-deservin', gun-hating, tree-huggin', climate-change believin', god-hating, lying, Obama votin', capital L Liberals, ain't cha? Because there is no other kind, right?
Don't bother arguin' with me, now, y'all. I've got my shovel and my manure delivery is on its way.
Cleanin' out the garage now, gotta throw that old' anti-Romney sign into the compost and clean off the solar panels. Then I gotta go cash my wife's welfare check and get my free prescriptions for all the psychotropics, sorry, I mean, crazy pills, that I keep overdosing on -- I can read them damned instructions.
Quote: boymimboI didn't call any particular person a name. ;) That would require me to me banned, and dog-gun-it, I've already served three days before. I'm just talkin' on a different, more fact-ual method. I've got a degree in science from a prestigious university, and that automatically qualifies into the aforementioned group of 47% that everyone keeps talkin' about.
Cleanin' out the garage now, gotta throw that old' anti-Romney sign into the compost and clean off the solar panels. Then I gotta go cash my wife's welfare check and get my free prescriptions for all the psychotropics, sorry, I mean, crazy pills, that I keep overdosing on -- I can read them damned instructions.
Fight it BM fight it I am sure you can beat it. I also have a science degree from a prestigious university but through perseverence and hard work I was able to climb out of the 47%. I can PM you the address of my support group if you need help.
Seems like the insurance firms copied organized crime's success plan.
Quote: Beethoven9thThe Obamacare website must be racist since it's making Obama look so bad.
Nobama makes hisownself look so bad HE must be a racist...;-)
call in center and she says nothing works and when
people do get thru, nobody likes what they find out.
Pretty funny.
Didn't Florida vote for Obama? lol...
Quote: Beethoven9thFlorida Blue cancels 300,000 policies
Didn't Florida vote for Obama? lol...
Every time an Obama supporter loses their health insurance due to Obamacare I smile.
Quote: AZDuffmanEvery time an Obama supporter loses their health insurance due to Obamacare I smile.Quote: Beethoven9thFlorida Blue cancels 300,000 policies
Didn't Florida vote for Obama? lol...
I really hate to admit it.....but I do too! ;)
This is the greatest country on the planet even with our problems. GO USA
They're likely web-connected; they're just stuck on that healthcare website, still waiting.Quote: AlanWith all the anti-Obama I see in a lot of reader comments(yahoo news, etc.) I'm under the impression that anyone pro-Obama must not be web connected, which wouldn't surprise me.
LOLQuote: rob45They're likely web-connected; they're just stuck on that healthcare website, still waiting.
Quote: rob45They're likely web-connected; they're just stuck on that healthcare website, still waiting.
I'll second the LOL. And the programmers only have to write 5 'effing million lines of code to get it right.
-As in, Mission146 v. Large Boxer. Boxers are generally nice, but this one didn't seem so. I'm doing the whole Trick or Treating thing with my son, and we're going down this back alley to shortcut to houses we'd not yet hit and this boxer comes running up a yard barking his head off. I figured it wasn't a big deal, electronic collar, something like that, until I notice he runs right into the alley and is making a beeline straight for my son. I ended up stepping in front of my son and rearing back my right leg, so the dog would understand that I had no qualms about kicking it in the face, if necessary. The dog stopped, but it took a few seconds to turn back around, spending that time growling and barking (not in a playful way) to see if I would show any fear. Growing irritated with the game, I started walking aggressively toward the dog figuring I'd just kick the stupid thing in the teeth and get it over with, but he turned around and went back wherever he came from, stopping halfway to turn around and bark at me one last time.
Who leaves a crazy dog unattended on Halloween night!?
2.) VideoPoker.com
-Friggin' 100-Play daily contest today. I hate this crap, it takes forever! That's why I didn't do the monthly contest last month, all 100-play. I have to play today, though, or I'd be shooting myself in the foot on Winner's Challenge. The Texas Hold 'Em Poker Room on there is awesome, too, if anyone wants to look at that. The link is halfway down the homepage on the right, I discovered it when I decided not to play in the monthly challenge. Most of the tournaments are scheduled for times that I do not have the ability to play them, but it's still fun.
Being a dog lover, I knew the dog must be hungry if he was into my garbage. So I started putting some fresh hamburger meat balls in them. But after a few days , the neighbor no longer let the dog run loose each morning.
Wonder if it had anything to do with the exlax inside each meatball ?
Okay, more Videopoker.com complaining. In addition to the fact that 100-play takes forever, it likes to freeze computers, which is also part of the reason it takes forever. Anyway, I had a successful 50,000+ first session, get the second session done 55,400, and it fails to submit!!! The thing completely froze, and didn't re-submit no matter what I did. It also counted the play against me, so instead of 2/2 winners I was 1/2. I just lost another one, nowhere close to EV 39,xxx credits. I never got any dealt trips that session.
Quote: Mission146Awesome!
Okay, more Videopoker.com complaining. In addition to the fact that 100-play takes forever, it likes to freeze computers, which is also part of the reason it takes forever. Anyway, I had a successful 50,000+ first session, get the second session done 55,400, and it fails to submit!!! The thing completely froze, and didn't re-submit no matter what I did. It also counted the play against me, so instead of 2/2 winners I was 1/2. I just lost another one, nowhere close to EV 39,xxx credits. I never got any dealt trips that session.
Just got a score of 58,300.
I've played 5/8 and won one. I'm going to try to squeeze in the other ones today, but I'll certainly not use my bonus play (or plays) on this game!!!
50,170
46,545
The last one is sad because I was so far behind with five hands left I threw away a pair of Queens in favor of Three-to-a-Royal AKQ, hit a Royal on one of the hands, and still fell nearly 3500 credits short, on a successful Hail Mary!!!
The middle one was strange because I was up to 47,600 with ten hands to go, and just barely limped into a 50,000+ finish!
This is about as silly as a game premise can get. Okay, it starts out as some kind of BS 4OaK Triple Supreme Ultimate Awesome Tremendous Magnificent You're Guaranteed to F****** Lose Bonus Poker, but here's the kicker, if you have trips and the two values of your other two cards add up to the value of the card for which you have trips, then that counts as a 4OaK.
The strategy changes are fairly intuitive, I'm sure I made a few mistakes, but certainly nothing fundamental.
Here are my results (1800 needed for winning session):
1420
1430
1730
2270
1310
1450
1715
1380
1755 (Bonus Game)
The interesting this is that my butt was saved in the only session that I won because I drew three Aces to a single Ace held for the 800 credits, also in that game, I had a Quick Quad Fours which would have otherwise been a Deuces inside of Fours Full House.
However, this interesting thing was contrasted by my last game in which I had 1,410 credits with 30 hands to go, so I only needed to average 13 credits per hand. Didn't happen, in fact, four of my last five hands were hold nothing hands.
Also, in 900 hands, with a probability .0211 of being dealt 3OaK, I should see almost exactly 19 if I'm not mistaken. I saw seven hands in which I was dealt 3Oak, and only one resulted in Quads...which was also a losing game.
In summary, Quick Quads absolutely sucks, thank you.
As a negative expectation non-table game, I wouldn't be willing to venture more than $20 in any given session, I basically look at that the same way I do Video Keno, though the ER is clearly better on VP.
Great sessions today, though!
1800 Needed
Result: 1620
Dealt Trips: 1
Quads: 1
Quads off dealt Trips: 0
Result: 1150
Dealt Trips: 2
Quads: 0
Result: 890
Dealt Trips: 1
Quads: 0
Result: 2035
Dealt Trips: 4
Quads: 2
Quads off Dealt Trips: 1
Result: 2250
Dealt Trips: 4
Quads: 2
Quads off Dealt Trips: 2
Result: 970
Dealt Trips: 4
Quads: 0
Result: 4620
Dealt Trips: 6
Quads: 4
Quads off Dealt Trips: 1
DEALT QUADS: 1 (3/4 total Quads)
Result: 1940
Dealt Trips: 2
Quads: 1
Quads off dealt trips: 0
In 800 hands, I should see roughly 17 dealt Trips and I saw 24, I also saw dealt Quads which shouldn't happen.
Four of eight sessions were winning, which is good. I have four bonus entries, but I am going to hopefully make a run at the most winning sessions in a month Winner's Challenge, so my strategy is to save these for a game (wish I HAD done this with the other three) with less Variance because playing skillfully will be more relevant.
The bonus game has a lower expected win than Wheel Poker, less Variance, and as a result, the overall return is worse.
Goal score is 1800:
Score: 1,640
Dealt Trips: 1
Quads: 0
Score: 1,960
Dealt Trips: 4
Quads: 1
Quads off Dealt Trips: 1
Score: 1,075
Dealt Trips: 3
Quads: 0
Score: 1,455
Dealt Trips: 1
Quads: 0
Score: 1,085
Dealt Trips: 2
Quads: 0
Score: 2,190
Dealt Trips: 1
Quads: 1
Quads off Dealt Trips: 1
Score: 905
Dealt Trips: 4
Quads: 0
Score: 1,000
Dealt Trips: 0
Quads: 0
Two wins, and overall, the results were horrible. It's tough to complain about not getting any looks, though, 16 dealt trips is only one shy of the expected. Further, I had a three total Four-to-a-Royals dealt in the last two games, but none of the three amounted to a win of any kind.
Six Bonus Games I'm holding now, again, saving them for a game with less Variance. These, "Anything that's not a 4OaK is worthless," games are getting pretty old. I'm looking forward to the days when Two Pair will be worth 2-For-1, like it's supposed to be, again.