MD's WONT ACCEPT MEDICARE HERE?! (Fox: buy, cost, shop)

[quakinator]

Originally Posted by oneyear

3% of the UNITED STATES owns 97% of the wealth. And, that is a fact, not a myth!

Please back up this claim sir, from the searching I have done this appears to be a blatant lie.

[notreesininceland]

Krugman calls out the rightwing lies once again, with lucidity & clarity -

Op-Ed Columnist - Health Reform Myths - NYTimes.com

[nenette]

Originally Posted by quakinator

Please back up this claim sir, from the searching I have done this appears to be a blatant lie.

Interesting stats on power and wealth.

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

[AADAD]

Unfortunate. What I began as a post on Anchorage appears to have been nationwide and getting much worse quickly. Such a wonderful vision of a country now stickin' it to the people who have given the most. I hope something changes. I worry what form that change might take.

With Medicaid Cuts, Doctors and Patients Drop Out - NYTimes.com

[gdkodiak]

I am a military retiree and my healthcare is through TRICARE. TRICARE payments are linked exactly to what MEDICARE pays. As long as my medical care can be provided in a military treatment facility, everything is okay. Howver, when I am referred for services outside the military treatment facility the probloems begin.

I have had several doctors who would see me on a referral indicate that since TRICARE pays so poorly, they are not interested in and can't afford to treat me as they would those who have private healthcare insurance. I am in need of spinal surgery, but cannot get it done.

I hope that all of you who support a national healthcare system are aware of what you are getting into. You will get second-rate care, rationed care, and you will get what you deserve.

I am so fed up with what I get that I am willing to pay for private insurance so that I can get the care that I need.

[quakinator]

Originally Posted by nenette

Interesting stats on power and wealth.

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

Thanks for proving my point. The article states that the top 20% of the population owns 85% of the wealth, nowhere near the top 3% owning 97% as the original person falsely stated.

Table 3 of that report also shows that over the past 90 years there have been fluctuations in the % of wealth owned, but today's current distribution of wealth is within the historical bounds over the past 90 years. Granted Obama did say he thinks it would be good if all those top 20% would share their wealth around a bit, I say we let him start by offering his presidential salary to fund a portion of medicare that is going to get cut....

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by gdkodiak

I am a military retiree and my healthcare is through TRICARE. TRICARE payments are linked exactly to what MEDICARE pays. As long as my medical care can be provided in a military treatment facility, everything is okay. Howver, when I am referred for services outside the military treatment facility the probloems begin.

I have had several doctors who would see me on a referral indicate that since TRICARE pays so poorly, they are not interested in and can't afford to treat me as they would those who have private healthcare insurance. I am in need of spinal surgery, but cannot get it done.

I hope that all of you who support a national healthcare system are aware of what you are getting into. You will get second-rate care, rationed care, and you will get what you deserve.

I am so fed up with what I get that I am willing to pay for private insurance so that I can get the care that I need.

We have Tricare too (retiree) but we have Standard. I have not yet run into the problems you are describing. My Husband is Type 1 Diabetic and is seen by specialists all the time. My son also is seen by specialists. We do not have to deal with referrals though on Standard so maybe that is why.
I'm really sorry that you are having this issue, especially concerning surgery!
And I do agree with you about the national health care issue.

[juneaubound]

Originally Posted by nenette

Interesting stats on power and wealth.

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one's home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.7%. Table 1 and Figure 1 present further details drawn from the careful work of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2009).

My reaction to these types of articles is three-fold. My first reaction is that 95% of statistics can be manipulated to reinforce a hypothesis 70% of the time.

My second reaction is that 70% of statistics can be manipulated to reinforce a hypothesis 95% of the time.

The pendulum is swinging too far in the opposite direction from the money-making free-for-all orgy this country experienced throught the 90's and into the first half of the 2000's - and we are moving in a direction where "spreading the wealth" is the new financial battlecry. My third reaction is that class-warfare is un-American and contrary to much of what this country is supposed to stand for.

[notreesininceland]

Originally Posted by juneaubound

[b]The pendulum is swinging too far in the opposite direction from the money-making free-for-all orgy this country experienced throught the 90's and into the first half of the 2000's - and we are moving in a direction where "spreading the wealth" is the new financial battlecry. My third reaction is that class-warfare is un-American and contrary to much of what this country is supposed to stand for.

Hogwash. The guy who "spread the wealth around" was your semi-literate fratboy Dubya and his sidekick Dick. They spread the wealth around nicely to their fellow rich boys and brought the country to the edge.

All this squealing about socialism etc is thinly disguised racism. After around 10-15 years all this will be irrelevant. The generation of southern racists would have died off by then.

[juneaubound]

Originally Posted by notreesininceland

Hogwash. The guy who "spread the wealth around" was your semi-literate fratboy Dubya and his sidekick Dick. They spread the wealth around nicely to their fellow rich boys and brought the country to the edge.

All this squealing about socialism etc is thinly disguised racism. After around 10-15 years all this will be irrelevant. The generation of southern racists would have died off by then.

Where do I start with your sweeping generalizations? MY semi-literate fratboy? That Bush and Cheney are soley responsible for the financial crisis? That those who disagree with you are racists? That only southerners are racist? That all southern racists will be dead in 10-15 years?

Do you also speak out loud just to hear your own voice? Does your mother know that you are up past your bedtime writing drivel on the computer? You mentioned your interest in Iceland in one post - did you actually mean for your screen name to be notreesiniceland?

Yeah - I know. The spelling of your screen name has nothing really to do with this thread.

But then again, sweeping generalizations about previous presidents, vice presidents, racists, and southern people have nothing to do with concerns expressed by Alaskans who are on Medicare, that they will be able to find a health care provider when they need one.