COBRA has been and always will be a fkng joke ...!!! When I retired in 04, a good friend and co-worker was going out on the DL, or a temporary leave of absence; which we all knew would be a permanent or very long term LOA. The company policy for a LOA salary employee, allows for personnel to remain covered under the Health Insurance, and receive 100% of their weekly pay, with a minor adjustment in reducing ones pay after 6 mos, until their pay equals 60% of their weekly total. After one year, if one cannot come back to work. and if the company does not extend their LOA; they are then given their COBRA. He was was grossing >$1, 700 weekly; at the time of a near fatal car accident. His Cobra monthly premium for his Health Insurance alone, through, Blue Cross-PPO coverage (via Cobra), was approximately more than he made in one week, or $2,583 to be exact. Not enough years to retire, or draw his pension, he wound up on Medi-Care, where he still has no decent health insurance; couldn't afford his COBRA like most American's can't. It shocks me how many working American's think COBRA will cover them. It will cover them, but at a price so UN-affordable it's mentally dehabilitating to one who is already disabled physically, and doesn't need the head-case anger over bullshit cobra insurance, only designed for execs, high level pay jobs and the people who have them.... COBRA and Obumacare, or Donaldcutcare (manicures, pedicures, hair dye, spray on suntans all covered??? Xanax for all???), it's all the same bs- again.... more deception...
...^^^ This !...they gotta completely gut Obama Care first. ...the bill they are trying to get passed right now does very little as far as the big picture goes. Many of the Reps are concerned that a total repeal would cause too much confusion...but if you think about it, do you recall the initial confusion of Obama Care?...hell the website to enlist was not even running properly...yet we still survived that calamity. ... And the majority of the members of the House/Senate didn't even read what they were voting on...gee, I can't imagine why, it was only 2000 pages long ! ...IMO, the federal government has no business regulating who of us has insurance and how we acquire it...unless of course we're talking about a form of socialized medicine.
Tote, no offense ever toward you or your viewpoint, as you should know, always.... I admire ya' too much otherwise... Isn't that a big part of the GOP debacle itself, they never bothered to do anything like work on a proper replacement plan; (knowing they had a good shot at repeal)? To sit for 8 yrs, and not come up with a workable, feasible, sensible health insurance plan for American's. To do nothing to correct a noted problem in advance, and sit on their hands...! Honestly, the GOP had no more clue then, as to what to do, other than to do nothing, and they did nothing, but sit by, innocent bystanders? No.... no one watching was innocent. To sit back and do nothing would be indefensible to all. To do nothing is to shit on the American people. Keep in mind, many working employees, were told, "Your health insurance coverage will NOT change while you remain employed." They were told you are exempt from Obumacare under our own insurance contracts. Other corporations told their employees, we flat out don't know what to expect in the next year to come with Obumacare, and how it will effect you". These working stiff's health care did change greatly, much higher premiums, up to 400% higher, as well as Out of Pocket expenses, 500% increases, et al, on and on. To make matters worse, current retirees, or vets planning on retiring were told the same: "your benefits will remain the same as they were before Obumacare, and you will see no changes." What a crock of shit, they did change big time, excess costs incurred, an out of control health care system. In my opinion the GOP owes America a replacement plan. To say repeal, the try to figure out how to replace, or pick up the pieces without replacement, would be no different imho, than Nancy Pelosi saying: "we got to pass it to understand what it says". What is the difference, b/t repealing with no safety nets? It's imo one and the same, let's vote for repeal, then figure out how to fix this mega fk up, without making it worse; or "let's shoot first, ask Q's later, and while we're at it, lets make it a practice to shoot-from the seat of our half cocked Senate pants". Such a frame of mind, I see no difference b/t the two opposing sides. Again, imo, we will be thankful, and lucky if its not fucked up even more. Since the Un-Affordable Health Care Act should of never been instituted as it stands, yet there have been some huge benefits with the prior un-insured, as expenses to us-, the taxpayers. Taxpayers even under Obumacare, do not have to cover with paying the entire bills of those uninsured, ntm- local public hospital operating losses, which also come out of the taxpayer trough. I have no problem paying taxes to ensure those who have no health insurance, who truly need it, and are not fkng/milking the system, like millions are, right here n this state, ie: Single Mother's who have numerous children, with several different men/fathers, and have become Welfare baby makers, getting more pay for another child. This is an issue in our fkd up state of Ca. (well, yours too when you get back home, if you don't move to Seattle first). Men and women, capable of working, whose long lineage of prior males have never worked, and never will. Can we get a few 1K boats with a one way ticket to the Congo???? ^^^^ I do agree tho': the Fed Govt had no business intervening in our affairs to begin with. However now that they have, and fkd up everything with the (U)AHCA. I see no reason to totally eliminate it, rather fix it, revise it once and for all, and yep it does need some tweaking. I guess bottom-line, I have no confidence left in our Congress to fix anything much anymore. They sat by allowed Obumacare, then worst part, shoved it up our asses. If, all that comes of this, is to legitimately insure the un-insured, then I am all for that, but with specific concessions, not in excess of reason. 2ndly, I'd love but don't expect, those who were gainfully or are employed; whose insurance was effected with Obumacare; or replaced with a higher cost of HI, as well as retiree's who paid for their benefits long in advance, over decades of payroll deductions, should see their own insurance return to what it was prior to Obumacare. Hell any improvements, or returning what we had prior would be a huge bonus, but I don't see this ever happening again, ie a return to private enterprise amongst companies, and those who seek insurance, or get such as a benefit of employment, yet pay for it, just not with the same outrageous premiums, expenses. 2nd bottomline, I am beginning to see some improvement in- some reduction of local taxes in a state that only want's to continue to increase taxes. Already, the reduction of, and burden of paying for the un-insured is evident here in local taxes, and for the first time in years, the public hospital, which all taxpayers bail out, saw a profit this last fiscal year. my own out of pocket expenses are outrageous... Perhaps, one of the biggest probs with the U-AHCA, was allowing the Feds to tap into SSI, and allow Illegals access to these funds, when they've been getting free health insurance, and these fkrs do not even have any form of I.D. If you or I, went to an ER, and told them, we have no I.D. they'd tell us to fk off, even tho' legally a public hospital can't...Dr's offices will tho'; less the illegals. This is the shit I have seen to long with my own eyes..... 'was I unwise to leave them open for so long', Or should I opt for the ultra dark blind lenses? a healthy debate over a debacle, no offense meant to any one at any time, ... 合掌
^^^ "Doctor My Eyes" ...from the same guy who helped jump start the Eagles. ...and his Running On Empty album may very well be the greatest live album of all time.
^^^ indeed, Glen's first roomate prior to J.D. Souther, (around the Longbranch Pennywhistle days)- another favorite.... Jackson was often referred to as the 5th Eagle in the beginning years. the most Incredible 3 American musicians imo (for that era): Henley and Frey, Browne, - tho' JD was no slouch; all landing LP contracts with successful first LP releases in 72. Amazing how these greats started in the trenches together, and found infamy around the globe.... ntm- the tremendous amount of work with other greats, ie Rondstadt, Raitt, Jeff Skunk Baxter, shit, you name it; as I know I'm preaching to the choir... the music scene for these guys, was on huge Hollywood HIlls swimming party after another, greats to be, and come. Most of those parties were either held at Stephen Stills, David Crosby's houses, a slow fusion of Buffalo Springfield into CSNY, the Byrds, et al. Great time to be young, and love music. Spot on with "Running on Empty" as classic a sound, as it was mastered, like we once spoke of: in a motel room, on a bus, with Kunkel playing drums on wasn't it a cardboard box? Live, and on the road, a great glimpse into a Troubador bands life on the road. Ry Cooder and David Lindley are also two great inspirations, as much I've come to enjoy as any. But then I fell in love with everyone noteds music, when I first heard them all open their mouths and sing...! Radio or Live. I gotta' say 59, its a pleasure to come here and share musical knowledge, likes, dislikes with like minded people, who know their music like YOU DO...! no question about it, who else do I know who listened to Zappa when he was also young? A PF freak beyond most, as well as most music you've mentioned over all these years, is often as much my own favorite(s). Over a short period of time, (I know I've mentioned this before), I literally gave away over 500LP's, another 500 cassette's, and kept approximately 100 of each; when CD's first hit the market, thinking I'd slowly replace what i gave away with a better sounding system. Yet, you've mentioned Vinyl Masters, which are just as great sounding as anything, and some prefer Vinyl masters over anything else. I know one has to have primo equipment these days, to get great vinyl sound, equivalent to digital CD's, or as Neil Young said, one cannot get the same live nuances that are as much a part of a song, ie hiccups or mistakes, like hitting the wrong chord, on today's over polished error free recordings, or the live sound; or so Neil said. But what do you think? (Neils OP, comes more imo from a musician who doesn't like to over dub, and try to maintain a live barn sound, which he did record out of with Crazy Horse) Does a Master sound better than a CD gold? Using similar equipment, which I know you have the best of the best, headphones also.
...loves me some Bonnie Raitt. ================= ...Russ Kunkel was always a very under-rated drummer IMO...and yeah, he was playing a snare drum and used a cardboard box with a foot pedal instead of a bass drum on "Nothing but Time" which was recorded on a Greyhound Silver Eagle bus as they were traveling to their next gig...if you listen close you can even here the rumble of the bus' motor in the background. ...and Kunkel ended up marrying my heart throb Nicolette Larson and was at her side when she died. ======================= ...still listen to Zappa and The Floyd quite often. ====================== the MFSL master recordings are by far the best IMO...(I have several) https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=MFSL master recordings&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=MFSL master recordings&tbm=shop&* ...and as far as headphones, I still use my old reliable 40 year old Sennheisers but also have a newer set of Grado Professionals.
bbwwwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa I knew I should of covered those up, before you came over....my secrets forever ruined....lmao. Next, probably the Bearenstein Bears, or Sponge Bob Square pants....
You completely gut Obamacare first....Repeal the whole damn thing period. My point about Cobra or Cobra like bridge is to take away the Schumer and Pelosi show or parading out all the making America sick again poster children. Because with the repeal you have to do it quick or they will find judges to intervene. You demonstrate there is a bridge and that no harm being done to anyone. Next you remove state line boundaries. You think Kaiser CA is gonna let customers walk to plans in Arizona or Nevada? Miraculously their pricing drops. Next you let small biz collectives form to achieve numbers like large corps have. Let insurance companies keep AHA incentives for healthy lifestyles in return for pre existing conditions. Reduce coverage to dependents only, children back to 22, not 26. This opens Young folks to select health care savings accounts. Also drives home the point that college is a 2 or 4 year gig, not a career. I'd prefer to overhaul Medicare Medicaid completely and tie program into veteran care. Would also like to see means testing, entitlements only to those with measurable need. Your SSN is both your tax and medical plan ID. You chose not to have healthcare and end up in an ER, you Still have to pay your bill either lein against your SSI or some other form of financing, etc. If done right we don't have illegals showing up anyway to drain the system. So who gets left behind.... Unemployed. I'm fine with making corporations legally responsible for their headcount rather than burdening govt and general population for their poor hiring decisions. Corporate America is gonna get tax breaks and even more so, regulatory relief so they can maintain HC bene's for those they layoff.
...^^^unless I'm mistaken, as it is now, if you're 75 years of age or older, and you are diagnosed with cancer, they will not cover you, period. ...I can go along with "gutting Obamacare first"...and I can go along with "removing state lines"...but as far as the rest of your solution, I'm not so sure.
...lol...give me a fucking break; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/...conway-obama-microwave-surveillance.html?_r=0 ...seriously?
Trump through his holy ghost Spicer> "Obama didn't really wiretap me. His administration did it" ... Horse manure is the same as Bull S.
^^^ thanks for going into specifics, makes a lot more sense, other than repeal alone, with no end in sight. I'd feel a whole lot better about all this, IF we could get an amendment to this all, which allows for the citizens of Caly to hang and lynch Pelosi/Feinstein, at the Town Square (downtown L.A.) during the next Illegal Immigrant rally. That would be all I ask, throw in Gov Moonbeam; Harry Reid, a few dozen others, retired or not, they've made our lives miserable, as well as their colleagues, whom I'm sure: if murder were legal would join in on the fracas....
"seriously?" ^^^^ with Alex Jones on one's side, who needs a self imploding strategy, or enemies, it's all a conspiracy.....lol...! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones_(radio_host) Trump bombast's "fake news" then supposedly calls Alex Jones..... Some things just make no sense.... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/us/politics/alex-jones-trump-call.html
Not sure how accurate this is but if it's true it's more fucked up than Obama Care; "If the GOP plan is enacted, a 21-year-old making $68,200 would pay an average of $1,450 for a year’s worth of insurance premiums after the new tax credits, compared with $5,100 under the current law. On the other hand, the cost of a year’s worth of premiums would stay about the same for a 64-year-old at the same income level. For a 64-year-old making $26,500, the cost would rise sharply from $1,700 to $14,600." https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...4c860a-0829-11e7-93dc-00f9bdd74ed1_story.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-trumpcare-will-be-a-nightmare-for-women.html "On Monday, the long-awaited Congressional Budget Office analysis of the proposed GOP Obamacare replacement came down the pike. Like many on both sides of the aisle expected, it was an avalanche of bad news for Republicans who thought the American Health Care Act would be an easy sell to their constituents. It was also bad news for President Trump, who will have a hard time peddling a kneecapping of health care coverage for low-income and older women as some sort of “investment.” The report put actual numbers on how many people would be left uninsured by the ACA rollback—24 million kicked off insurance and an additional $880 billion gouged from Medicaid, all in the name of a measly 1 percent reduction in the deficit. The numbers don’t adequately convey the scope of humanity they debase. Overall premiums decrease under the plan, but that’s only because a large number of people are being kicked off, and older Americans will face a debilitating spike in premiums. Slashing the Medicaid expansion means that low-income families will see reduced access to health care. Allowing premiums for older people to shoot skyward means that a 64-year-old making $24,000 per year will see half of their income go toward the cost of covering medical insurance.?
This is why govt needs to repeal...put in a temporary safety net and let the market sort things out. Govt should not be in the position to pick winners and losers, only set some basic regulatory framework. Healthcare has associated cost and those costs are independent of your income and unfortunately dependent on your age, genetics and lifestyle. Have you read the Paul plan? https://www.paul.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ObamacareReplacementActSections.pdf
http://freebeacon.com/issues/cbo-american-health-care-act-will-reduce-deficit-337-billion/ http://www.weeklystandard.com/the-white-houses-cbo-blues/article/2007194 some alternative perspective to balance NYT and dailybeast, lol! oh and here's the plan from Heritage Foundation, like the Paul plan, opposed creation of any more entitlements. http://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/plan-repeal-and-replace-obamacare
excuse the language, but: This dumb bitch Pelosi, just doesn't ever get it; never has had a clue. How in the fk did anyone so damned stupid to life, politics, shit anything in general get elected. Is there that many fkng idiots, LIBTARDS in The Frisco area, sure as hell is....... http://freebeacon.com/politics/nancy-pelosis-health-care-tweet-gets-unintended-response/
..."alternative perspective'?...really?...how is that?...how does that counter what I posted? ...it doesn't. ...saving "$337 Billion"?...(sounds like a lot, but it's not...it's actually $33.7 Billion a year for the next 10 years)...(less than 1% of the current deficit, ...yeah, that's some HUGE deficit reduction)... that's what you and the rest of the Trumptians are hanging your hat on? ...we don't even know what the budget/deficit will be in 10 years so how do we know what effect this may or may not have? Trump promised he would "take care of everyone"...and he lied...again. ...like me, you've been preaching that Obamacare must be completely "gutted" first, yet you're defending this half baked version of Trumpcare...please, pick one or the other, you can't have it both ways.
