As to the MCD health care plan, it is bare bones and there are deductibles but as far as I kow it is prpvided to all employees.
Okay, a big selling point of Obamacare was to cut Medicare fraud and simplify the billing system. That sounded reasonable to me. But now the administration is pushing the insurance industry to adopt a new set of billing codes to use to determine what are reimbursable medical costs.
The current billing system has 18000 codes. Obama says that is not enough – the new code system has 140,000 billing codes.
This includes 9 different codes to cover parrot- caused injuries. Your insurance will cover you if you are “bitten” by a parrot. But if he just collides with you while you are walking down the street, that’s not covered. Not sure what the other seven categories are– I mean how many ways can a parrot cause injury.
There is also a code for injuries caused by “flaming water skis.” Okay, I’m a long time waterskier but I’ve never had one catch on fire.
Remember when DNCPhil provoked that bee and he was stung? Now poor Phil will have sit in the emergency room while they pour over 20 bee sting codes to see if he is covered.
But all this tells me that the cost of medical administration is going to go way up. There will be dedicated billing code experts who will be expected to learn the 9 ways to bill parrot injuries before they tell you if you are covered. Can you imagine how many codes they have for cancer?
Let’s hope the Supreme Court makes a quick kill of this ridiculous, unneeded, costly statute and we can return to the old system. Hey, if you can’t afford medical insurance, that is your problem, not mine,and certainly not the federal government's problem.
However, if it gets rid of the insurance companies disclaimer, even given after approval for treatment: "This is no guarantee of payment," then I'm all for it. It's amazing how many times insurance companies approve a treatment code during pre-authorization, then when it's time to pay for services, they deny it because "we don't cover that procedure code."
Mari, the old system had more Americans dying every year from the lack of health insurance than has ever died in terrorism, all years combined. Prior to the housing bubble popping it was the number one cause of bankrupcy in America. It produced some of the highest infant mortality rates in the industrial world (higher than Cuba, for fuck's sake), and created lower life expectancy rates.
The problem with "Obamacare" is that it is a protection racket for the for-profit disease industry.
Single payer health care would have been simplier and more efficient. You need medical attention, you go to the hospital, period, end of story. You pay your taxes, the gov't pays the doctor. Simple, easy.
Lastly, it seems that your attitude is that if you can't afford to pay private for-profit leeches for your medical care, then fuck you, you die. Rarely have I seen someone as honest as you about this, Mari. It seems you wish to enact the death penalty for the crime of being poor.
subject to the generous safety nets we already have in place such as free emergency room care, employer health insurance plans, and charitable organizations.
Being poor is a choice for most. McDonalds has an excellent health care plan for its minimum wage workers. Anyone can get those jobs. Those who make the choice not to do so should not expect me, or the federal government to provide their health care. This is the essence of a capitalist society
would be 100's of thousands of decent paying construction jobs to afford private benefits as well.
Of course, the DNC would lose the brown pawns support.
The weekly take home pay for a burger flipper is 300 bucks, and that's before taxes. Excellent health care plan? Is it free?
There's a lot of things in the federal budget I'd rather not pay for. I'd like a refund for the Iraq War for starters. Better yet, I'd like a refund for the corporate welfare McDonald's gets to promote chicken nuggets in foreign countries (yes, it's true).
But none of this has anything to do with capitalism. It has to do with democracy. The People are the sovereigns. Not an idiotic Randian philosophy that promotes sadism and psychopathy. If the People want the federal government to handle health care, then it is their right as the sovereigns to have it. If you don't like that part of the social contract, Mari, you're free to leave.
-- Modified on 3/13/2012 8:07:45 PM
As to the MCD health care plan, it is bare bones and there are deductibles but as far as I kow it is prpvided to all employees.