So -- Why does healthcare cost so damn much? (warning: novel-length post)

#401
#401
milohimself said:
You've got the right idea in mind, I believe, that there clearly is a gap between being on TANF, Medicaid EBT etc. and when you move on to low-tier work then you're in a worse situation than when you were receiving benefits.
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Worse financially perhaps. Worse for your soul? Debatable.

If you have a place to live, a cell phone, TV with cable, and a car but don't work I see something wrong with that picture.

If we've set up a system that says if you work you lose some of the above but if you stay home you can have it then we have screwed up massively both financially and morally.
 
#403
#403
Redstater said:
Is it my imagination or are a disproportionate number of the working poor obese and smoke? Just askin'.
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Not your imagination. I've lived in that part of society my entire life. It has a lot to do with targeted advertising (dollar menu) and education, I would think. All on top of a lack of personal responsibility, of course.
 
#404
#404
VOLatile said:
Not your imagination. I've lived in that part of society my entire life. It has a lot to do with targeted advertising (dollar menu) and education, I would think. All on top of a lack of personal responsibility, of course.
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I might add that a good deal of foods loaded with saturated fat, corn syrup, etc are in many cases much cheaper. I do not discount personal choices. They are certainly a factor.
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#405
#405
JayVols said:
I might add that a good deal of foods loaded with saturated fat, corn syrup, etc are in many cases much cheaper. I do not discount personal choices. They are certainly a factor.
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Why is it that most Europeans are healthier than Americans yet a good portion of them smoke like chimneys? Lack of high fructose corn syrup in their daily diet.
 
#406
#406
JayVols said:
I might add that a good deal of foods loaded with saturated fat, corn syrup, etc are in many cases much cheaper. I do not discount personal choices. They are certainly a factor.
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That's just garbage. Canned veggies, rice, beans all healthy and dirt cheap. They eat dollar meals not because they are poor but because they are either too lazy to cook or don't know any bettter. I eat very well and I assure you most of my meals are cheaper than a fast food combo.
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#407
#407
droski said:
That's just garbage. Canned veggies, rice, beans all healthy and dirt cheap. They eat dollar meals not because they are poor but because they are either too lazy to cook or don't know any bettter. I eat very well and I assure you most of my meals are cheaper than a fast food combo.
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Easy killer. I didn't say ALL foods.
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#409
#409
droski said:
That's just garbage. Canned veggies, rice, beans all healthy and dirt cheap. They eat dollar meals not because they are poor but because they are either too lazy to cook or don't know any bettter. I eat very well and I assure you most of my meals are cheaper than a fast food combo.
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Yeah, this sums it up well. It also didn't help that fast food hid nutritional value of their meals until recently. BTW, sounds like you're a vegetarian. Damn Berkeley hippie.
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#410
#410
droski said:
Chips aren't cheap, nor are chicken fingers. Onions, mushrooms, much cheaper.
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I said personal choices were an issue. And, even canned veggies are not as healthy as fresh- loaded with preservatives. I'm lucky enough to live on 100 acres where I can grow and can my own. We buy little processed veggies.
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#411
#411
JayVols said:
I said personal choices were an issue. And, even canned veggies are not as healthy as fresh- loaded with preservatives. I'm lucky enough to live on 100 acres where I can grow and can my own. We buy little processed veggies.
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Mmm... send some my way. Lol. I used to grow some of my own veggies when I was younger, but then I moved and there's no room to do so. I used to snatch carrots out of the ground and eat them without even washing them.
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#412
#412
VOLatile said:
Mmm... send some my way. Lol. I used to grow some of my own veggies when I was younger, but then I moved and there's no room to do so. I used to snatch carrots out of the ground and eat them without even washing them.
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You can grow a surprising amount of veggies using wood boxes that take up very little space. We used to have about a 3 acre strawberry patch, but using a pyramid box, you can grow as much in smaller spaces.
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#413
#413
It's cheaper to eat a vegetarian diet then to include meat, and healthier.
Poor people if they would buy vegetables could eat well and as cheap as McDonalds.
Even McDonalds serves salads, people just make the wrong choices.

On the original topic.
Look at the salaries of the people who work in health care.
I knew a neurosurgeon, who was making a million dollars a year.
You cant pay people those kind of salaries and expect cheap health care.
 
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#414
#414
JayVols said:
You can grow a surprising amount of veggies using wood boxes that take up very little space. We used to have about a 3 acre strawberry patch, but using a pyramid box, you can grow as much in smaller spaces.
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Very true.

Im tryin some taters in a box this year along with some in the field. Don't need no ho. :good!: If the yield suits won't be breakin ground for spuds anymore. I grow a lot in a 1200 sq ft. greenhouse too. Et my first strawberry last week. Pretty tasty.
 
#415
#415
BeecherVol said:
Very true.

Im tryin some taters in a box this year along with some in the field. Don't need no ho. :good!: If the yield suits won't be breakin ground for spuds anymore. I grow a lot in a 1200 sq ft. greenhouse too. Et my first strawberry last week. Pretty tasty.
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Nothing signals summertime is a commin' more than strawberries coming in. Strawberry delight, strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie... (said in Bubba's voice)
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#416
#416
JayVols said:
Nothing signals summertime is a commin' more than strawberries coming in. Strawberry delight, strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie... (said in Bubba's voice)
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Yep.

I got pole beans that are already 10' high.
 
#417
#417
oklavol said:
It's cheaper to eat a vegetarian diet then to include meat, and healthier.
Poor people if they would buy vegetables could eat well and as cheap as McDonalds.
Even McDonalds serves salads, people just make the wrong choices.

On the original topic.
Look at the salaries of the people who work in health care.
I knew a neurosurgeon, who was making a million dollars a year.
You cant pay people those kind of salaries and expect cheap health care.
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I was a vegetarian for a while. It's not cheap if you buy fresh produce.
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#419
#419
Sorry I haven't had the time to catch up on this, I will, there's a lot of good debate to be had here.

Going through a physical inventory at Office Depot right now. :swoon3:

Will get back in as soon as I can.
 
#421
#421
Heard on the radio today, if Medicare was to switch to 5% generic drugs, they would save, I believe he said, 5 billion dollars a year.

I say why dont we switch to 100% generic :lol:
 
#422
#422
oklavol said:
Heard on the radio today, if Medicare was to switch to 5% generic drugs, they would save, I believe he said, 5 billion dollars a year.

I say why dont we switch to 100% generic :lol:
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Because the pharmaceutical companies and the stock market would crash.
 
#425
#425
It's in the marketing. People buy and doctors prescribe brand-name drugs when not needed and it can total up to billions a year in spending. 80% of all drugs have generic counterparts. Consumers buy brand names when equivalent generics are available, mostly based on old wives' tales about brand names being better (absolutely 100% false), doctors prescribe brand names so they can get kickbacks from pharm reps and this ends up feeding a machine that creates many new drugs every year that have no practical purpose being in the market and create demand based solely on marketing.

It's created a bit of a bubble, and if tomorrow the US were to become the last country on Earth to eliminate direct to consumer drug adverts, pharm company kickbacks to physicians and have a result of people being more intelligent of how they spend their money on drugs, the bubble would burst.
 
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