So how was your day?

[Graybrew1]

Only medicare (part of social security after retirement or disability) medicaid (for the poor) are partially subsidized, all the rest are on their own to buy insurance or forgo it if you can't afford insurance.

This is only true to an extent. Their are free clinics in most every town for the non emergencys and it is illegal for a hospital to turn ANYONE away in a emergency, including illegal immigrants. People are not dying in the streets as some would have you believe. If you are "poor" then you get free care and it is the same damn providers with same level of care. The worst part is the pre existing conditions which are going to be a thing of the past soon enough. The cost of the premiums are way too high too, but our taxes are much less than most of Europe. Heck, Obama wants us to pay the same for gas as them too.

If you look around you can find cheaper insurances these days. I found a dental plan for pennies on the dollar. Blue Cross wanted hundreds a month and I got it for under 50.

 

[Rac80]

Sorry, missed that. I don't disagree with that but I thought most health insurance companies were nation-wide.

they are large nationwide companies but unlike auto & home insurance companies the states do not allow the health insurance companies to treat the entire nation as one "pool" of customers...liability and profits are not allowed to be shared by say Indiana blue cross & blue shield and Kentucky blue cross and blue shield. Why??? who the heck knows.

 

[Bluce Ree]

they are large nationwide companies but unlike auto & home insurance companies the states do not allow the health insurance companies to treat the entire nation as one "pool" of customers...liability and profits are not allowed to be shared by say Indiana blue cross & blue shield and Kentucky blue cross and blue shield. Why??? who the heck knows.

That sounds like an accounting exercise and a poor excuse to jack prices. In the end, it's a single group of shareholders and a single board of directors.

 

[Rac80]

That sounds like an accounting exercise and a poor excuse to jack prices. In the end, it's a single group of shareholders and a single board of directors.

it's government(state in this case) regulations that don't allow them to make it simpler.

 

[Bluce Ree]

it's government(state in this case) regulations that don't allow them to make it simpler.

The money flows up to a single group of shareholders and they are controlled by a single board of directors. They may be individually incorporated in each state to comply with regulations but they're all held by the same group, making it nothing more than an accounting exercise internally.

If we take State Farm, for example:

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=MUTF:SNPAX

Or Humana:

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:HUM

For all intents and purposes, each one is a single entity no matter how many operations they have split across the country.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I just arrived home from My Big Fat Greek Adventure (™) today, and I'm completely wiped! I'm too tired now, but tomorrow I'm gonna post some pics and share with you a few of the things I did there.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I just arrived home from My Big Fat Greek Adventure (™) today, and I'm completely wiped! I'm too tired now, but tomorrow I'm gonna post some pics and share with you a few of the things I did there.

YAY! I love "vacation picture" posts! Make it a thread.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Winter is coming....

 

[shavedape]

View attachment 7685

Winter is coming....

Coming? Looks like it has already arrived.

Don't feel bad as you're not alone -- yesterday it dropped from a humid 70 to a dry, cold 40 in a couple hours here. :grey:

(P.S. -- You have the same garbage can as me. Small world indeed! )

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Coming? Looks like it has already arrived.

Don't feel bad as you're not alone -- yesterday it dropped from a humid 70 to a dry, cold 40 in a couple hours here. :grey:

(P.S. -- You have the same garbage can as me. Small world indeed! )

Yep, unfortunately it has. :dread: Oh sure it does look kind of nice from inside, but it's just plain annoying when you to go outside...

Heh.

 

[Graybrew1]

Getting screwed over royally by more greedy ass thieving doctors. It is not enough that they take their pound of flesh they now need to make sure they grab some other body parts as well.

 

[lady_maneth]

View attachment 7685

Winter is coming....

Looks pretty much like that here too!

 

[Graybrew1]

I don't mind the snow, I just don't like the cold rain.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I don't mind the snow, I just don't like the cold rain.

I just wish that when it snows for the first time it actually stays and doesn't semi-melt into wet slosh after a few days.

 

[Graybrew1]

I just wish that when it snows for the first time it actually stays and doesn't semi-melt into wet slosh after a few days.

Yes, especially at Christmas Time. I hate a muddy Christmas. I won't be over here for the next one so I am hoping that it least the next one won't be muddy. I am fully prepared to get my behind to the North or West to go see some snow too.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Yes, especially at Christmas Time. I hate a muddy Christmas. I won't be over here for the next one so I am hoping that it least the next one won't be muddy. I am fully prepared to get my behind to the North or West to go see some snow too.

Well most of the times the snow has come to stay by Christmas time over here, though I few years ago I can remember that there wasn't any snow at all by christmas, all we got was freezing rain, which isn't exactly very Christmas-y.

 

[Graybrew1]

Well most of the times the snow has come to stay by Christmas time over here, though I few years ago I can remember that there wasn't any snow at all by christmas, all we got was freezing rain, which isn't exactly very Christmas-y.

Yeah, oops, I meant East, btw. The West would put me squarely in the Atlantic. LOL.
I have been warned not to expect much snow at all for the entire winter. I bet Germany gets some though, do you know?

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

Yeah, oops, I meant East, btw. The West would put me squarely in the Atlantic. LOL.
I have been warned not to expect much snow at all for the entire winter. I bet Germany gets some though, do you know?

Well generally the continent doesn't get as much snow as us Northern Europeans, espcially those who live around the Atlantic coast or on the British Isles. But it might come some snow but it probably won't stay for very long. Though it's always possible that you get one of those big snow storms which can sometimes hit the more central parts of Europe, though mostly those don't tend to arrive until January/February (at least that's the case up here).

 

[Graybrew1]

Drat. That means it will be similar Christmas to what I get here. I will be there till March so it does sound like I can find some snow SOMEWHERE at some point throughout the winter. :congratulatory:

 

[Overmind One]

Drat. That means it will be similar Christmas to what I get here. I will be there till March so it does sound like I can find some snow SOMEWHERE at some point throughout the winter. :congratulatory:

Winter in Los Angeles looks like Fall. No snow, and it can be very warm. But then we get our worst weather in February, which is cold, tons of rain and snow in the mountains. Its like the seasons shifted forward about two months. I remember when those rains came in December during the winter. That picture of the snow looks awesome to me!