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Name: saxon1014
Location: Hanford, CA
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When I was a kid....

Posted by saxon1014 on Friday, February 05, 2010 12:00:00 AM

...wow, I'm finally at that age, when I can say those words! BUT, I remember being so excited to hear the first announcements that 'high speed rail service' was coming to California! It would go from SF to Sacto to LA in no time. meaning that it would be able to get me to Disneyland without worrying about a car 'healthy enough' to get over the dreaded 'grapevine'. Well, they fixed up the I-5, and that made the drive a tad easier, but then, yep, congestion set in. Now, to get down there, in a short enough time to have a 'day trip to Disneyland', you have to have a GPS and luck on your side if you don't want to get up before the crack of 'crazy early' and get home at about that same time the next day. For a teen, just getting her license, loving Disneyland, and not having a car (my own family cast off, or even there's) good enough to risk a 4 hr. drive over a mountain range (even a small one), I WANTED, nay, NEEDED that dang train! I even imagined, in my child's brain that Disney would somehow throw riding that train as a bonus for employees, so I could still live at home and have a way to get to work safely and for about the same travel time as getting a job in our closest 'big town' of Fresno. Going in the fog would not be taking your life into your hands. BUT (again with the buts), there was always a reason NOT to push it through...I'm assuming it was fiscal responsibility on someone's part in govt or community. *shrugs*. Our little piece of the world has been known as the 'breadbasket' of whatever, and this new-fangled train would have to buy up or into some much needed and hefty price tagged farm land. *sigh* I'd never get to Disneyland without the drive (and airfare was just too expensive). I'd always just imagined that it would be as cheap as the train used to be, which was just a bit higher than gas money.
Now, in my old(er) lady brain, who has kids who are planning on moving down South, I keep thinking, 'now I can go to Disneyland and see my kids for....'. :(
But, why, 40 years later would it be a good idea, when it wasn't all these years?
Obama used the line about health care, "If it was easy, someone would have done it already"...no, Mr. O, if it was COST EFFECTIVE and A GOOD IDEA, it would have been done. Grow up and realize that no matter how much you stamp your foot and play your manipulation games, it will not make your ideas 'good ones'.

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A few bugs in your ointment...

Posted by saxon1014 on Sunday, August 16, 2009 9:00:00 AM

irst off, the eavesdropping issue, I think you missed the point, if the man had gotten twice as many pills (of the same meds I'm assuming) before for the flat $10 copay, he should get the same number again. If not, go back to the doc who wrote the Rx and get that fixed. I too would be ticked if I got half the amount of anything for the price of 'full'. Secondly, in most situations we HAVE paid for the 'care'. With my husband's insurance, they take out HUNDREDS of dollars every two weeks to cover costs...all costs. I asked the other day at my docs how much a 'regular dr. visit' was, surprise, she quoted two different prices. For those with insurance it was TWICE what 'cash patients' pay. Yeah. So, since we have insurance, they bill our insurance double the price, yet I still have to pay $20 'co-pay', and then 20% of the office call. It averages out to about $37 a visit (that's just for things like the runny nose, med refill check in *no more just calling in Rx, they want to see you for refills*). So, I basically pay the same amount 'out of pocket' as a 'cash patient', yet they are taking HUNDREDS out of our check...even on those months that NO ONE goes to the doc? Now, I agree, the amount my husband pays is a 'matched' amount the employer pays...without the company's share, we could not afford health care either. You mentioned 'cobra', did you fail to remember that when your employee was working for you that YOU paid half of his insurance costs, but now, he'd have to pay ALL of it? Few people can afford that. Don't make it sound as if he were foolish or selfish or wanting a handout...without the 'benefit' of group insurance, people can't usually afford to pay for their own ins. My youngest will remain a full time student until she's 23 or married or has a job with health benefits...why? We can't afford to do the 'cobra' thing either. We tried it with the other two kids who wanted to either go into Missionary work full time, or do work/school (without being full time students, they were dropped from our plan at age 19). We could not afford the extra $400 per month that was asked for, when they'd been under the 'family plan' (my husband's 'share' did not drop when the kids left the plan).
I agree some changes need to be made. I don't think Obama has the right answers...but don't be mistaken that people think it's not worth it, they just can't afford it. We can't 'pay cash' at our docs, since we are enrolled in a PPO with the medical group through my husband's work. That isn't right. I do agree with the idea of 'hospitalization' or 'surgery' insurance. The few times over the years we've needed surgeries (from the 3 C-sections, to me and my daughter needing our gall bladders out, to my degernative discs in my neck), the insurance money we've 'pitched in' have come in handy. Yes, now we have a co-pay, and the routine 'doctor's office visits' don't go toward that, but since just the hardware they put in my neck came to $17,000...I guess we are getting our money's worth.