Bit, you are an idiot, totally ignorant of how the system works. My inability to come up with a ttl cost is due only to the fact that I have yet to recieve more than one bill. I am going off ONLY what my insurance has sent me so far.

\

Since I can only work on what you tell me, how am I to blame for making a judgement based on incomplete info?

I note, however, you can't tell me where the prices would ahve been absent the Unions. You know full well they'd be substantially lower, and therefore can't answer my questions.

I do have a question tho: Why do you have a problem with 20,000 people making $50,000 or less, pulling together to fight for their rights against one guy who makes a billion dollars?

Because that money isn't yours to steal, by whatever means?

Hahahaha... That is why you hide behind your keyboard, right? C'mon to a jobsite, and try your chickensh*t crap. We will see how all my "little union thug buddies, punks with big mouths in communist organizations don't scare" you...

lol, don't need a keyboard to talk crap to liberals, come down to the job site blah blah blah........

1345 Deane blvd Racine WI. were I live. I'm to poor to fly out to you.

I do have a question tho: Why do you have a problem with 20,000 people making $50,000 or less, pulling together to fight for their rights against one guy who makes a billion dollars?

I'll try to answer the question that makes my point and spell it right like that matters.

because I do not covet.

lol, you know, F me?

Yeah, I know you GA. You are like all the rest of your union bashing buddies, you tried, you couldn't hack it, you couldn't keep up (either that or you didn't have the balls to try)

FU and all your little union thug buddies, punks with big mouths in communist organizations don't scare me dude.

Hahahaha... That is why you hide behind your keyboard, right? C'mon to a jobsite, and try your chickensh*t crap. We will see how all my "little union thug buddies, punks with big mouths in communist organizations don't scare" you...

lol why would a sniveling little liberal give me penis envy, I thought I explained to you man lovers how I am happy with my own own penis more then once.

Funny... You were the one that was sniveling about the "free health care" I have been paying for, for years....

As to the penis envy, you had that long before I came along... I just pointed it out.

think fondly of at lest part of me and my tax money.

For the record, I do not think fondly of you at all (and I know how to spell l-e-a-s-t), and when it comes to your "tax money", I do not know how much you pay, but it would not surprise me in the least if I pay more.

I do have a question tho: Why do you have a problem with 20,000 people making $50,000 or less, pulling together to fight for their rights against one guy who makes a billion dollars?

Here is a hint GA... it is, at best, equal on the dollar amounts... and money is power.

Do you realize that we just said FU to each other on a blog, lol, what a couple losers.

On that note, I can finally agree with you.

thanx.

FU GA, I been paying for this a long time (do the math, allow for inflation) and just in case you haven't yet figured it out...

lol, you know, F me?

FU and all your little union thug buddies, punks with big mouths in communist organizations don't scare me dude.

One more thing GA... WTF???????????????? Personally, I think you just have penis envy.

lol why would a sniveling little liberal give me penis envy, I thought I explained to you man lovers how I am happy with my own own penis more then once.

but I guess I'm happy to know you still love and think fondly of at lest part of me and my tax money.

Do you realize that we just said FU to each other on a blog, lol, what a couple losers.

some time I think I should vote for liberals, cause I'm so childish.

get well bro, and stay honest.

I do not comment in OTB without first reading the links that our host may present, and I certainly read any links that participants in a thread may present. Having spent time in the Academics doing research and teaching, data is important, and criticism of thought is always neutral, offered to advance the exploration of the topic on hand.

That said, we can proceed to this gem:

I also would like to note that I have at least pointed to study whereas our anonymous friend Our Paul points to nothing when it comes to supporting the 20% to 30% claim.

Also, he does seem to agree with the industry provided study in regards to Medicare administrative costs of 5% (approximately). Steve Verdon (May 15, 2009 | 04:39 pm)

This time I will not go to primary sources, but will quote Dave Schuler from the link he kindly provided above, to wit:

Although I’m predisposed to be a bit of a free-marketer I believe we need to go to a system somewhat along the lines of the one in France, a hybrid system but largely a single-payer system based on payroll deductions. We can’t get anything like the reductions we need and still leave the insurance companies in the picture.

Finally, a careful read of the paper you linked to by the CHAI will show that it is a re-worked technical paper by Mark Litow (page 4) and the criteria used to analyze Litow’s data can be found on page 15, to wit, under Methods they say:

This is based on our experience and judgment.

You got it baby, self proclaimed experience and judgment will always carry the day...

I'm glad you guys in the unions that are destroying this county

One more thing GA... WTF???????????????? Personally, I think you just have penis envy.

I'm glad you guys in the unions that are destroying this county still have free health care,free for you that is,

As usual GA, You don't have a clue. You want to know what my health care costs me? (actually "Health and Welfare", we have other things under that phrase, like disability ins., and more)

$212.00 per 40 hr week... I been doing this stuff for almost 30 years, and have only needed my health insurance in a serious way 2 times (once for me, once for my son)

FU GA, I been paying for this a long time (do the math, allow for inflation) and just in case you haven't yet figured it out...

That is what health insurance is for.

Does ANY of that make sense to anybody else????

I have to ask, then why are they so afraid of competing with the gov't?

Hmmmm... Maybe it is because there are no easy answers? Or maybe because the answers do not fit our preconcieved arguments?

Hmmmmmm....... Food for thought.

thank god I have a union behind me who understands that we all get sick from time to time and takes a little more now, to cover that which is yet to come. And let me remind all: I WAS LAID OFF FOR 6 MONTHS when I got ill.

man sorry you got sick bro but it happens to us all, and I'm glad you guys in the unions that are destroying this county still have free health care,free for you that is, and hell you never know, you wait a few more days and maybe 0bama will take over your company and give it to you.

That should make you feel even more better.

and remember its not the little they take that they save for your health care, it's the massive donations that they give to the baby murdering liberals democrats that really matters in the long run, what would you do with out your masters to tell you how to live , think, vote?

The thread began with a quote from Megan McArdle (Center Right commentator at the Atlantic Channel). A glance at Megan’s post shows shining scholarship, and insightful thinking, presented into four brief paragraphs. No need to even mention that Megan wraps her gibberish in a prom dress, and proceeds to scare the bejesus out of us by with the usual Center Right piggy story that we are headed towards (gasp) a Canadian style system that outlaws private care. (Pssst: as others have pointed out, private medical practice in Canada has not been “outlawed”).

There are ways to control Medical costs, the most obvious is to control the Medicare Advantage boondoggle (see my link above), and to introduce price controls on medications. Neither sister Megan, nor brother Steve wishes to bring these points to your attention. Nor will they point to any studies with meat on them – by meat I mean that they have data that can be examined, and references that can pursued.

One thing is certain, we cannot get a grasp the problems within our Health Care system, unless we are willing the compare it to others. Correspondents in this, and other threads have pointed out that we pay more, have worse out come results, and that the rate of increase in health care costs is greater than other industrialized countries. In the past I have referenced the most recent OECD study detailing these facts and potential areas for reform.

A logical approach to the data in the OECD studies can be found in the Jan’07 study by the McKinsy Global institute study titled Accounting for the cost of health care in the United States. It is a groaner as to length, but can be scanned read because of its logical and easily understood graphics.

Even now, after more than six hours of thinking on the matter, I still do not understand why I deserve an F for my previous humble offering. I did not disagree with his thesis that insurance companies would be able to decrease premium costs to their customers if they limited coverage to catastrophic illness and excluded folks with prior existing medical conditions. All I stated is that Insurance companies are in the business of Health Care to make money, not to improve the health of their policyholders, and certainly not to improve the quality of health care.

Pssst: The original metaphor to wrapping gibberish in a prom dress can be found In Megan’s post quoted by Steve Verdon. How could I resist?