Posts by James Bremner
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
B Jones, I got the term wrong, I meant epidural injection.
-
Steve, take a hike weiner.
-
Kong,
My God mother is 74. This has been going on for about 18 months or so, so that puts the initial stage at 72.Joe,
No I am not misinformed or a scoundrel. This happened to her. As I understand it there are waiting lists for most heart related procedures, so why would a waiting list for anything else be a surprise? Go to the UK, Canada etc, it is all the same. -
I'm amazed - amazed! - by the numbers of Republican-friends-and-relatives suffering so, so terribly in countries with socialised medicine at the moment. It's funny that you never hear about them at any other time...
Well the topic has never come up here has it? Not that I have seen anyway. It is very real in my Godmother's case. I don't understand why she dropped her Southern Cross coverage.
-
Okay so I used the wrong term, epidural injection of an anti inflammatory steroid.
I thought a lumbar punch was the same as an epidural injection. Apparently not. Big deal Steve.
-
Joe, what I described happening to my Godmother did happen, it is still happening. In fact the govt has probably spent far more on her care since she became inoperable than they would have spent if they had operated immediately.
When you have politicians, bureaucrats and unions involved, as you do in most national health systems, how can the consumer get a good deal? They are last on the pecking order.
From what I read in NZ newspapers and hear from talking to NZ rellies, waiting lists for treatment in NZ are very real. Same for Canada and the UK. Medical tourism to the US by Canadians avoiding waiting lists is far from rare. If national care in Canada was so good and healthcare in the US so bad, why would that happen?
Despite all the noise, Govt systems aren't perfect or a total disaster and private systems aren't perfect or a total disaster. But on balance across many industries, private solutions work better than govt systems.
Would you want the National Food Service to provide your food, or private companies? I know my choice. Same for my healthcare.
-
safe small local nuclear power stations
Read an article a while back that laid out the current and future developments in this area. Might sound a bit out there, but apparently the technology it is on the way.
-
Danielle, that medical bankruptcy number is wrong by a mile. It is another bs number like the 45m uninsured number you hear about. I can't remember the real number right now, I will dig around and find out the correct one
Russell, who cares if the 2.2 jobs lost for every green job created is “not a new talking point”, it is a correct one and blows a hole in the green job fantasy.
On another topic, Russell, over the last number of years you were very strident in criticizing Bush and the Repubs for their deficits and debt. Fair enough. Perhaps I have missed it but you seem to have been rather silent, to say the least, while your beloved Pres O and the Dems have taken deficits and debt to unprecedented and previously unthinkable levels. And no, don't tell me it was all Bush's fault, O has piled on the spending on anything and everything these last 7 months.
What gives Russell?
-
Danielle wrote:
"NZ's health system is better and cheaper by every measure than the US".
As the Tui ad says, "Yeah right!!". If NZ's national health system is so good then why do so many NZers buy private medical insurance? Because they want healthcare when they need it, rather than having to go on a waiting list. You pay taxes for a system you pay private insurers to avoid. How is that a good deal?
I much prefer the care I receive over here than in NZ. Compared with the dumps of hospitals in NZ (don’t try to tell me Wgtn Public, or even worse Hutt Hospital are great facilities), the hospitals I have been to in the US are excellent facilities. If you need something done, you can get it done when you need it. I slipped a disk in NZ, I waited weeks and weeks to see a specialist, and then was told that there was a 6 week waiting list to get a lumbar punch at Wellington Public (I paid to go private 2 days later). No thanks. Not doing that again. If you need a lumbar punch over here, you can get it done within a day or two.
My Godmother in Chch got a cancerous lump on her chest, had to wait over 6 months to see a specialist by which time the cancer was inoperable, so now she is on palliative care waiting to die. No thank you very much, you can keep your national health nonsense and I and the 70 or 80% of Americans who are happy with their healthcare will have healthcare when we need it.
That is not to say that there isn't a lot of reform that is needed over here to improve access and reduce costs. The most painfully obvious reform (of the many reforms) that is needed is tort reform, but the Dems don’t want to screw their trial lawyer buddies who fuck over the rest of Americans on a daily basis (and pay the Dems huge donations etc. to keep the racket going). Bob Beckel lays out tort reform in the article linked to below. Beckel is right, if Obama wants to reboot his failing healthcare push, offering up tort reform would do it in an instant. Tort reform, insurance reform and no public option. I would go for that tomorrow.
Healthcare is a monstrous topic. I will have to piece meal it
When you eliminate illegal immigrants, people eligible but not enrolled for Medicare etc, people who are wealthy enough to buy med insurance but don’t bother, the true number of uninsured in the US is about 8 to 10m, not the 45m you here about all the time, that is a bs number. For $25b a year you could create a food stamps style program to help them, the govt would fund a basic insurance policy that could be used with private providers. I am all for that. Do it tomorrow. But not a public option that will so damage private insurers that according to many experts it will result in 80 to 100m Americans ending up on the public option costing untold billions a year when the US govt is already upto its eyeballs in deficits and debt.
When Medicare was started, it was forecast that by1990 the program would cost $10B. It actually cost $100b. Only out by a factor of 10. Good enough for Govt work I suppose. And you wonder why people are leery of more govt involvement?
Here is a good article explaining one of the many ways the big O is screwing the pooch on his healthcare push. He has yet to lay out anything resembling a coherent plan and constantly offering up contradictory and frankly ridiculous statements which have greatly reduced his credibility. If the big O is so smart, he is keeping it very well hidden in his efforts in this policy area.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aJ01reSCujDQ
Some polling info showing the lack of enthusiasm for the current reform plan
More polling info showing that most are happy with their current coverage. Of course everyone wants better and cheaper, but without fucking everything up and resulting in screeds of additional govt spending, and there are reforms that would do that, but not Obama and the Dem’s (so far).
Not a comprehensive analysis by any means, but that is all I have time for now. It is a huge topic, you could write a book on it and I don’t have the time.
-
One more point on so called "green tech" jobs that are going to be so wonderful. A study in Spain found that for every one "green job" created, 2.2 other jobs were destroyed. Maybe not after all.
Important to sort out the bs from reality.