Thanks for the compliment.

Think many doctors are going to want to go through medical school for brain surgery when they make $50k a year?

Doctors earn than $50K, Most RN's make over $50K.

Job satisfaction is much of the reason to go to med school not
the money. If want to get rich there are easier ways IMHO

A lot has changed since then. I have only been in the business for the past few years and even since I started, the whole mentality has changed--thankfully for the better. The smarter companies (read: those who are still surviving okay) are braced for reform and welcome it as long as everybody else is on board.

If it isn't medically necessary then insurance isn't going to cover it a lot of the time. If YOUR doctor says that its kind of "oh...well...it'll be nice" attitude then it raises some red flags on the HI end. On the other hand, this causes doctors to overdiagnose quite often in order to have their patients' treatments fully covered, further deepening the problem - and therefore causing insurers to question referrals/approvals even more. It is a problem, to say the least. Add it to the list of issues with our system today. (HI companies guilty as charged)

Sorry, I just don't get what you're saying with this one.

I'm not saying I don't like to earn money:P but I do think that there is a big difference between a CEO who sincerely cares about the industry he/she is in, and those out to make money. That mentality trickles down to the employees. Personally I could make more money working at another company, but I like what I do and I love the people I work with on a daily basis. As I said my job is almost 100% about transparency - helping people understand and become informed about their plans, processes, and inner workings in order to prevent future problems. We put our pants on one leg at a time like everyone else...meaning we pay for our insurance and have to submit claims, get referrals, etc. like anyone else, so we are pretty (painfully) aware of the shortcomings of the system.

It is paid for by tax revenue generated by government, which would include individual and corporate taxation, sales tax applied at point of purchase and any other way that non-municipal governments tax (property taxes are a municipal tax and don't get funneled into health care) are collected. All tax revenues collected go into the pot, and this pot funds all government expenditures. Health care is one of those expenditures, quite possibly the single most expensive expenditure.

There are no co-pays for people receiving government benefits (employment insurance or welfare), just as there are no co-pays for taking advantage of other government services that citizens or permanent residents have the right to access.

I meant the old system too...PARTICULARLY THE OLD SYSTEM...THEN, with a fine-toothed comb, pull out the crap that's fraught with troubles and ills and prevent it from coming back...again. I'm not expecting utopia...leave that for dreamers and those that want communism back...I want penalties for fraud...not a slap-on-the-wrist and a pat-on-the-back for buddies at the top...real, down-to-earth-let-the-heads-roll-in-the-streets kind of penalties...Pillars of the communities...beware... :eek: :mad:

I'm asking that ALL GOVERNMENT WONKS use the same plan that's being proposed as "Universal"...their current plans gets scrapped...what's good for the goose is good for the gander...And I would EXPECT that the military's healthcare plan should be, at minimum, better than anything a Congressperson (or you and I) gets NOW. They are the ones that have the most to lose (and usually do) and they are the ones that get treated like chit...give a Congressperson the level of service a Serviceperson gets...and I'll bet the improvements would be instantaneous...

I want to see them hashed out, traded upon, compromised on, eliminated and/or accepted BEFORE anything gets signed...otherwise...it's just someone p*ssin' in the wind...and it won't get cleaned up or fixed...ever....

ATCs got too "uppidy" and took on the wrong fella...and how many DEMOCRATIC SENATORS AND CONGRESSPERSONS reversed Reagan on THAT ONE? EH?

Friends of the working stiff. Yah...we saw who got stiffed...and you can bet it's going to happen, again, with this rammed-through legislation...anyone for another heaping helping of stimulus?

Ever hear of an "Executive Order?" "O" has EO'd more since the being of his term than B-43 probably did during his whole last term. The EO is suppose to be for the Executive Branch's use to handle "emergencies" and the like. "O" is using it to bypass the will of the people and circumvent Congress. He's riding the crest of a wave that he has no idea how big it is...and if someone doesn't pull him back, soon, he's in for one hell of a wipeout...Congress has at least two weeks to KHA...and "O" is already sending out his DAG-squads to beat it into everyone's head that if Congress doesn't bend to his will...he's going to...whatever...

Do we really have to put up with this?

The healthcare "crisis" is really whatever little "Miss Tuffet" (or the boy that cried "WOLF!") tells us on the glowing cube in the corner of our rooms every night...the media plays it up for ratings and when it finally quits bleeding, we move on to the next "train/car wreck" of the minute...

The Economy...
Wall Street...
Bernie...
Prison Overcrowding...
Too Many Prisons...
Fatherless Families...

Somehow, we're always 6° of separation from the next "crisis" when, if we took the time, we'd see that we have people already either working on the problem or just about have the current problem under control...

Somehow, we're making mountains out of molehills.

And for some unexplainable reason, we're making a "god" out of a mole...

One final thought on this...

If we've had a "Healthcare Crisis" going on for however long some wonk says it's been going on...why didn't we take the time, then and now, to fix it?

And if we're going to fix it by bringing in a whole new cabinet-position of Government to run it...what makes you, or anyone else for that matter, think that any problems that haven't been addressed before this crap-piece of legislation is going to be signed into irreversable law, will EVER get straightened out...let alone see the light of day?

Government can't even audit the Federal Reserve...and you think they can run something as critical as healthcare? We're DOA before the first ambulance will ever leave the bay...

When was the last time you ever filled out a single-page 1040? :confused:

You made the comment, "...Overall profit margins are in the vicinity of <1% for many of the better HI companies."

My response was a sacastic "Oh...and they go into hock to build those nice multi-story, million-dollar-monuments to themselves along the Interstate Highways...for the purpose of what? Why couldn't they have bought out some of the abandoned office buildings in towns around this country? Put our money back into the communities?

Overall Profit Margins are at 1%?

Someone reading a "cooked book" in the restroom at work?

That's the type of garbage managers tell subordinates to keep them from bugging them for pay-raises...

How many managers have been "furloughed" during the last two quarters? :confused:

How about in the past year? :confused:

I'm willing to bet that the subs are getting shorter work weeks and being asked to "tighten their belts" and the premiums keep going up when the next renewal period comes around, "...due to the economic times we are experiencing..."

And Mr. Big? Well, in that top-floor office, he keeps getting better "options" for compensation...while his salary is..."frozen" as the case may be...but his "expense" account is a bit more "open" than in the past and is, probably, a little more "flexible" in what's OK, or not OK... :rolleyes:

And another office building is in the works...ground-breaking ceremony notices will be posted only where there are folks that have an appreciation for the finer things in life...

Hummmmmm????

A view from our French and Canadian friends:
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/07/20/healthcare-reforms-warnings-from-france-and-canada/

My restroom newspaper = access to financial records (although they might as well be the same thing these days:cool:). I can't really elaborate too much on it since most are internal but I can tell you that profit margins are very low and yes, less than 1%.

Sadly, many.

Subs are the cheapest "bail out" workers so they are doing great.

CEOs are always overpaid, if you consider the industry and market, the CEO pay is pretty much on mark. I don't like it either but that is how a corporation is run.
Ground breaking ceremonies? Please. You have an extremely idealized view of this industry if you think everything is rosy and money flowing everywhere. Many of my coworkers are working from home, as I will be in about a month. The company is closing and selling a number of buildings, trying to consolidate as many employees to as few HQs as possible. The structure I work in has been around since the 1970s (so not too old) and had thousands of employees working here. It is being shut down in January, property sold to development firms for retirement homes. Layoffs are a reality, I haven't gotten the cut but 2 of my co-workers have, and there will probably be more to come. It's not all fun and games here...

Major attempts to fix health care come about once every 20 years, but every time it seems right-wing misinformation and fear mongering derail any reforms. I think if reform fails again this time, it will be even longer than 20 years before anyone attempts again.

I don't understand why anyone with intelligence would not be insulted by the RNC chairman's BS comments on the current health care proposals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090720/ap_on_go_ot/us_health_care_overhaul

Gee, thanks Mr. Steele for the enlightening information. I didn't know that.:rolleyes:

Thankfully according to the latest polls, not many people are buying this BS. Only about 34%, which is still a scary number. I'd have a lot more respect for the GOP if they at least made an attempt to engage in an honest discussion and propose a better system.

Job satisfaction is part of it, but earning $300k-$1m plus is quite a motivator to get $200k+ in debt with student loans.

You might be able to get really smart people to throw away three years of their life and get hundreds of grand into debt for chump change, but I'm going to bet not.

So is the government going to pay doctors what they want?

Numbers i heard on the way to work this morning showed a definite weakening of support.

I think its as i said earlier---Everyone is in favor of "some" health care reform plan---in the abstract.

Hoever, when the details begin to be fleshed out, fewer and fewer people are on board for "THIS" health care reform.

College professors.

Dear god the thought of one doing brain surgery on me is scary!:eek: