For those here who want gov run health care...

General General Discussion
1

Took a trip to the local Social Security office this morning with my wife so we could get her a replacement ID card.

Waiting room full of people. Old haggled security guard keeping the crowd in line. We got our ticket to wait for our number to be called. Sat there for 30 minutes before a single person was helped as the 2 people handling customers seemingly disappeared from their posts. Then it took another 30 minutes to be seen. We were taken in the back once called, and to find row after row of cubicles with people not seeming to be doing much. The lady next to the one helping us was on a private call based on her conversation. Had to be 30 people back there yet it took us waiting for an hour + 15 minutes in the back to just get a replacement card application turned in, and then another 2 weeks before we will get it in the mail.

The lesson here is there is something about government run operations that always seem to be grossly inefficient. The workers don’t seem to care much about the quality of service. After all what are you going to do? We rely on them to do basic things like show a SS card to an employer so we can get paid. We need them to renew our registrations. To get licenses. If you walk out what are you going to do? There is no other option, and its illegal to operate in society without going through them. So if you want these types taking care of you and your family’s medical care don’t be shocked when you go to the doctors office, and you are greeted with this lack of service.

Thats the beauty of having options. If you are dissatisfied with the level of service you get somewhere take your money somewhere else. In the private sector a lack of customer service hurts your bottom line. In the government world they don’t give a fuck. Sorry to be blunt but its the truth. If you act out of line their security guard can show you the door, and then what are you going to do? Yes there are wrongs in the private sector. No system is perfect. But put both on a scale. Would you rather deal with people who could care less if you walk away happy or not? Or would you rather deal with people who’s paychecks depend on how satisfied you and everyone else are?

Just substitute this with going to see a doctor in 10 years…

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3

my doctors office is similar and it’s private practice ! I pay medical insurance as well. The staff there is useless.

4

I’d rather get kicked in the nuts than make a trip to the DMV.

On the original topic my wife just went to our local SS office yesterday and said it was quick & easy for her to finally change her last name, after over a year, at the Las Vegas location. Increasing lines, abysmal customer service and total frustration in general will continue to rise with more .Gov in our lives.

5

The thing there is, you can go somewhere else and get better results. But when it is a gov thing there is no where you can go. It is all the going to be crap

6

Exactly. If you want to wait an hour to even be helped by anyone then that is up to you. With the government running the show there is no other option. If you leave there is no where else to go, and in this case my wife will not get paid until she sits at the SS office, and they decide to do what they are supposed to.

Its also about the fact that with so many employees working there they only had a few that seemed to helping customers (part time). If you go into a typical doctors office, and have to wait its because the staff is most likely actually doing something, and working as hard as they can to get everyone through. Here people seemed to be playing around on their computers or engaged in personal phone conversations on the clock. You would never go to a doctors office, and see 30 some people look like they are trying to look busy or just looking like they are not doing anything.

7

DMV in Missouri have all been contracted out. They get paid by their throughput so they are pretty dang quick actually.

Not that I am for government run health care, but I could see a situation where they simply contract out the various work and pay them based on throughput. Now for the DMV this works because as long as the paperwork is processed correctly, your good. In a medical setting I can see problems with this because doc’s will be trying to push patients through and maybe mis-diagnosing things correctly or at all.

8

Isn’t that basically what the government programs already do?

Gov pays for a service for people in their program, and private doctors provide a service. Except they force doctors to take payments that don’t even cover the cost of business, and to make up for it they charge private insurance more.

9

From another forum. Original post in green, reply in standard text. I am not the person who researched this or posted it originally.

We were told, by our insurance company, that beginning in 2018 the IRS
would be taxing awarded benefits, not our premiums. Our boss, who
survived cancer, calculated his taxes for one year would be around
$80,000. I’d like to check to see if the insurance company is right.

While I do not have the exact page, here is a description of the 2018 Cadillac Tax and on 1st read it sounds like your insurance company is right.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/26037.html

Provisions going into effect in 2018

40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $10,200/$27,500 (subject to adjustment for unexpected increase in medical costs prior to effective date) and increased thresholds of $1,650/$3,450 for over age 55 retirees or certain high-risk professions, both indexed for inflation by CPI-U plus 1%; adjustment based on age and gender profile of employees; vision and dental excluded from excise tax; levied at insurer level; employer aggregates and issues information return for insurers indicating amount subject to the excise tax; nondeductible

Here you go on the actual bill.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3590enr.txt.pdf

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h4872eh.txt.pdf

The section you are looking for is section 9001 pg729 in HR 3590 and section 1401 pg82 in HR4872.

On 1st blush it looks like the Trinity of Stupidity "F"ed Up and your insurance company is right, due to the wording of Section 9001. The meant premium cost, but used "

EXCESS BENEFIT.—For purposes of this section—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘excess benefit’ means, with

respect to any applicable employer-sponsored coverage made

available by an employer to an employee during any taxable

period, the sum of the excess amounts determined under paragraph

(2) for months during the taxable period.

‘‘(2) MONTHLY EXCESS AMOUNT.—The excess amount determined

under this paragraph for any month is the excess (if

any) of—

‘‘(A) the aggregate cost of the applicable employer sponsored

coverage of the employee for the month, over

‘‘(B) an amount equal to 1⁄12 of the annual limitation

under paragraph (3) for the calendar year in which the

month occurs.

‘‘(3) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—For purposes of this subsection—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The annual limitation under this

paragraph for any calendar year is the dollar limit determined

under subparagraph (C) for the calendar year.

‘‘(B) APPLICABLE ANNUAL LIMITATION.—The annual

limitation which applies for any month shall be determined

on the basis of the type of coverage (as determined under

subsection (f)(1)) provided to the employee by the employer

as of the beginning of the month.

‘‘(C) APPLICABLE DOLLAR LIMIT.—Except as provided

in subparagraph (D)—

‘‘(i) 2013.—In the case of 2013, the dollar limit

under this subparagraph is—

‘‘(I) in the case of an employee with self-only

coverage, $8,500, and

‘‘(II) in the case of an employee with coverage

other than self-only coverage, $23,000.

It looks like the morons may have REALLY effed up, either that or if you believe in their inherent nefarious nature they deliberately delayed the tax so that a later congress would get punished for basically tax EVERY insurance plan with a 40% excise tax, because if you hospitalization you WILL rack up more than the listed amount, if the IRS goes by what is written and not the public statements by Congress.

10

I always ask where the English ONLY line is as I don’t need to see the interrupter. Oddly most don’t find that as funny as I do. :smiley:

11

what time did you go there??? i always have a saying that you have to get there before all of the lazy fatasses get out of bed, no matter what you do…grocery store, wal-mart, car repair, etc…i am always first or second in any line i must go to…

12

I have been lucky when I go the SS office. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes, however i was there just a few miutes after it opened. Like was previously said, if you can be there before the lazy ones get out of bed.

13

Have you guys heard the “where’s my obama health care?” calls to insurance agencies…

What the hell are we doing to ourselves. Fire them…Fire them all!

14

Wait, who here wants government run healthcare?

Admit it!

15

Anyone who has served in our military knows exactly what the problems that comes with socialized or state-run health care. It’s not always the case of bad customer service or individuals who only do the bare minimum to keep their jobs. People can be replaced.

Even if you have good people manning and running the system; the processes that are inherently a part of such a system usually prevents any of them from providing top-notch help.

The biggest problem with government run health care is that it takes away our ability to choose. As someone who have had to deal with Tri- Care, the VA, and the Socialized Medicine provided to Canadian subjects; I have seen how detrimental this lack of choice can be. They also do not have the option to have “elective” procedures such as an inflamed gall bladder done when they want to.

I have a niece who could not have her gall bladder removed until more than 9-months after her Physician made the diagnosis that it should be removed. Why? because the Canadian system did not consider her condition as “life-threatening”. Even though she was rapidly loosing weight and color, throwing up whatever she ate, and was generally miserable; they kept canceling her scheduled procedure for based on “priorities”.

My sister (he Mom) finally managed to get her a last-minute operation a couple of weeks just before they went on a 5-week vacation overseas. It just so happen that a scheduled operation was canceled just as my sister called one afternoon. My niece had her very inflamed gall bladder removed the next day. The effect was immediate - she stopped throwing up everything and her color started coming back. To this day she still can’t handle fatty foods and such.

When I told my sister that my gall bladder was removed within 4-weeks from when I made the decision (at my Physician’s suggestion); she wouldn’t believe me. And my gall bladder wasn’t inflamed; they detected polyps in it (via ultrasound).

In the current system, if a doctor tells me that I have to have a certain procedure; I have the option of going to one or more doctors in order to receive a second or third opinion. It may cost me more, but that’s my choice. In a socialized environment, they have no choice. All the doctors are under the public health care administration’s control and outside of the black market; none of them can see you without a referral regardless of how much you have to pay them.

I personally think that our current Health Care system does need an overhaul. But I don’t believe the way the obamists did it is a step in the right direction. JM2CW.

16

Here is some gov’t run health care… read around and see if its for you and try and call them and see how many hours you are on hold.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/DWC/dwc_home_page.htm

17

Ask anyone that has had to deal with the VA how “great” it is…

Govt run services have no incentive to be run efficiently, because they essentially have no competition, and it takes a miracle to fire a non productive employee. :mad:

18

10 years…more like 3 years. we had 35 providers walk out this week due to us adopting this lovely system. 35 docs who were making less than some of their staff and were told to push them through as quickly as possible, and order as many tests as you can; or sink…they sunk. we filled half the spots already with fresh new foreign grads…its terrible.

19

I thought the government run health care was for those that can’t get it on there own. Meaning that you can always stick with what you currently have. Did I hear things wrong?

20

That is who is going to be filling the ranks. I expect within 10-20 years a large percentage of docs will be foreigners willing to work for far less than American doctors can, and quality will go down.