Let's stay on topic.
Let's drop this topic. This is NOT supposed to be a FIDO conference JW>TN> to flame others.

Nobody's flaming; we're just having a discussion. And I am learning
from it. It is admittedly off topic and I would stop in a flash if
the moderator requested it but in recent months there has been
almost no traffic so perhaps just about any conternt is OK.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was enjoying the topic. I certainly didn't notice any flaming going on and I think it is a good idea to exchange views no matter how much one thinks theirs is better than the others. Like Bob, I'm learning something I didn't know before and at my age, I won't take anything for granted.


Regards,

Roger

... There is no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation.
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

In 2004 I spent 3 days in a hospital and the bill was $49,000
Tricare - which I call Medicare for the military - paid a total
of about $18,000 of all of that and the providers wrote off the rest

Interesting. Here, the total cost would have been lower and would
have been covered 100%, with my share being zippo.

So do providers ever attempt to collect the shortfall from the
patient? I read about medically caused bankrupcies...

Absolutely! I noticed when I became eligible for Medicare, an office visit to my doctor, whom I've had since 1982, went up. So, in essence, he is still collecting from me and Medicare. I actually questioned him about that and he shied away from answering, which told me that they all do it. I call it double
dipping, but the proper name for it is stealing.


Regards,

Roger

... It's a chain saw. I always carry one for emergencies.
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

Right now it's somewhere below zero, I haven't looked - and
I think my outside thermometer is frozen anyway; it didn't
register below +10F yesterday (Tuesday) and the recorded
high temperature yesterday was +5F.

The thermometer on my digital clock shows 70F. When I began
this missive, it was 69.5F. I am only really comfortable
in this room when the the temp is precisely 74.5F.

That inside or outside temps? Inside temp here is 65F.

FWIW this past week not counting this (Saturday) morning we've
tied two record lows and set a new one. This morning's low is
supposed to be on the order of -25F but didn't feel like it when
I was outside a short while ago; the old record low for this date
is -14F, so if it did get down to -25F that's another new record.

According to KMA, the winter of 1936 set record low temperatures
on five consecutive days that remained record lows for over sixty years.

I should live in Hawaii, but can't afford to.

Too humid. I've been through there at least five times, never did stay
more than a couple of hours though.

I've had to
deny moving to Canada at the behest of my friends there
because I couldn't take the subzero temps.

It's not so much the cold - apparently it's colder here than in many places
in Canada and Alaska, it's the wind (which has for the most part been nearly nonexistent this week - although it did pick up enough to move a lot of snow around on Thursday).

I hope you are wrong about Medicare Part D. I can buy my
Rx's cheaper from various places and the monthly payment to
Medicare for Rx coverage would far exceed my out-of-pocket
costs at the present time.

I have no doubt about that. Right now Tricare (or the Air Force) is
paying for my eight prescriptions. I'll probably go broke real quick
if I have to start paying even part of that (Plavix alone is $475.00
for 90 pills, that's over $150/month for that alone).

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

Replying to a message of JIM WELLER to BOB ACKLEY:

In 2004 I spent 3 days in a hospital and the bill was
$49,000 Tricare - which I call Medicare for the military -
paid a total of about $18,000 of all of that and the
providers wrote off the rest

Interesting. Here, the total cost would have been lower and
would have been covered 100%, with my share being zippo.

My share was a whopping $33.00.

So do providers ever attempt to collect the shortfall from
the patient? I read about medically caused bankrupcies...

Insofar as Medicare is concerned, it is against the law for providers
to bill patients (or their families) for charges Medicare doesn't pay.

Insofar as Tricare is concerned the provider signs a contract with
Tricare to accept whatever Tricare decides to pay as payment in full - excluding contractual deductibles and co-pays. I believe that's the
case for most big insurors. I have noted an item on the final statement
of medical bills called "contractual adjustment," which is what the insuror didn't pay and I'm not responsible for; it's usually between 1/3 and 1/2 of
the bill as presented but sometimes it's more.

Those bankruptcies are generally due to somebody without sufficient insurance being hit by an accident or other expensive medical problem. Back in 1948
my mother contracted polio and was in the (county owned) hospital for three years, six months of which were in an iron lung. My dad had very good insurance at the time, and it still took until about 1961 to get all of the hospital and doctor bills that his insurance didn't pay paid off, but paid off they were (of course in those days providers didn't add monthly interest and finance charges to the amount of the bill).

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

Actually, he's not stealing anything. Your cost went up because you pay a co-payment as required by medicare. He increased his prices because medicare discounts his bill before they pay it. And they don't pay the
bill like ordinary businesses do, they take 90 days to do it. I know I couldn't afford to carry anyone for that amount of time when I was in business.

If that's true, he could have told me that. How else can it be explained that one month an office visit was $45 and the following month $65? You are absolutely right about one thing. Medicare does take 90 days to pay and it makes my record-keeping difficult. For example, a recent bill from my doc stated I owed $75 from my last visit. A few days later, I get mail from Medicare stating that they paid all but $11 of that fee.


Regards,

Roger

... Communism is like one big phone company.
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

I still can't get a handle on Obama's health plan. The facts are few
and far between. Lots of opinions though!

When you're discussing a 1,000+ page document affecting the health care of every individual in the Excited States, opinions are going to vary even if no one got past the first paragraph of page one.

I still can't help but think that a move towards universal health
care is a step in the right direction. And yes it won't be free.

It appears we are going to have it whether we like it or not. Only time will tell.


Regards,

Roger

... Drag me, drop me. Treat me like an object.
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

In Canada basic health care is universal but dental is not. There is
a patch work of coverage. Many large employers offer dental
insurance as a fringe benefit and most Natives ("Indian" and Inuit)
are covered under treaty rights, but for many of us it's pay as you
go. I am now getting some limited free dental for the first time
under my medical coverage now that I've turned 60. The GNWT plan is administered for the Dept of Health by Blue Cross of Alberta.

I never had dental under any employer's plan. I had to pay extra for that.

My dentist, who is excellent, charges more than the NWT Dental
Association suggested tariff and therefore more than what Blue Cross
will cover. But he has a sign in the office stating that up front.

When I lived in New Orleans, I had the best dentist I ever went to. He is very
expensive, but does quality work.

My bills show his fee, the Blue Cross portion and a small extra
balance. For him, I don't mind, as his service IS excellent in
every way. His equipment is state of the art, his technique totally painless and comfortable, his staff friendly. I don't need him
often, but when I do he is accessible. Once I broke a tooth on a
shotgun pellet hidden in a wild duck breast; I was able to call him
at home on a Sunday and see him in half an hour! And the bill waited
until Monday when the rest of the staff was in and they mailed it to
me. (He got a bottle of wine that Christmas as well as his 25% Blue
cross surcharge.)

Blue Cross is what my long-time employers carried, Very good coverage, except for dental as I mentioned above.


Regards,

Roger

... MEDICAL STAFF: A doctor's cane.
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

[...]

I have no doubt about that. Right now Tricare (or the Air Force) is
paying for my eight prescriptions. I'll probably go broke real quick
if I have to start paying even part of that (Plavix alone is $475.00
for 90 pills, that's over $150/month for that alone).

Yeah, I heard that was expensive. Even my doctor wants to "cure" my hypertension with medication, but I truly believe all I need to do is shed a few more pounds and everything will be normal -- or as normal as it can be for my age. As for Plavix, if you had Internet access, you could get it much cheaper from one of the drugstores in Canada. You'd need your doctor to FAX them your Rx or you could mail it to them. I don't know the strength, but one of them advertises it thusly: 90 tablets for $27.00. That may be generic, but there isn't much difference that I've noticed in the ones I've had to buy there.

To compound things even more and continue with the (ahem) rape of the American consumer, gasoline prices here have risen 14 cents per gallon over the past several months. The cheapest I can find premium here is $2.73.9.


Regards,

Roger

... Explain counter-clockwise to someone with a digital watch
--- D'Bridge 3.44
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

From the 2010 Farmer's Almanac: "If your dog is getting fat
you aren't getting enough exercise." <g>

What if I have 5 dogs?

Dunno. I have ten (I had eleven but found another home for one of them).

Just expen$e. Plus I'd rather not be taking any meds if I
don't really need them.

I don't blame you there. I don't even like to take aspirin
if I can fight my way through without it.

20 years, 6 months, 11 days, 13 hours and 40 minutes.
About <g>.

You didn't count the seconds? (-:

Nope. In point of fact I didn't count anything, I just figure backwards. Retirement
is effective at midnight on the last day of the month, I enlisted at about 1020
in
the morning on May 20th.

I do, however, have a 'short' calendar the folks in the computer room on Okinawa ran
off for me. It's a booklet of nice calendar pages that begins the day I arrived and ends
the day I left - six years later, on the same date I arrived; IIRC 2200 and some odd
days.

As I noted in another post yesterday, heating oil is up to
$2.565/gallon as of Tuesday morning. That's up from $1.88
a year ago - but there's no inflation, sayeth the
government.

Nope! No inflation here. Just everything rising in price.
I was at the market today and noticed those Hubig 5 cent
fried pies (half mooon shaped) are now selling for 89
cents. I really liked them when I was a kid; even when the
price for them was 10 cents.

I can remember when one could stop at a gas station, put 15 gallons of
gas in the car, buy a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of coke - and get
change for a $5 bill. Today that much gas will set one back about $45,
a pack of cigarettes is at least $2.50 (I don't smoke and don't keep track)
and that bottle of coke is about $1.50. Everything's just about ten times
as expensive as it was back in 1960 (or the dollar has 1/10 of the value
it had in 1960, take your pick).

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

Don't forget we have a "Blue Moon" tonight. It doesn't happen

often.

My friend came over the night before and said that the moon was unusually bright, but it wasn't blue. Had to explain to him what "Blue Moon"
actually means.

Although it wasn't blue, I did take a snap of it with my camera, since I haven't seeen one since 1990. A Blue Moon is the 2nd occurrence of a full moon
in a month, for those who don't know. Hence the saying "Once in a blue moon."

It's 28F as I type this and I suspect the temp is the same where you are. Gonna
have to let the dogs back in to thaw out, although I know one of them likes cold weather.


Regards,

Roger

... Spaced Aliens: Columbian drug lords in US.
--- D'Bridge 3.44
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Dunno. I have ten (I had eleven but found another home for one of them).

My daughter's m-i-l is always finding strays to give her and there used to be four dogs until I was given a Yorkie. All of them are small and the Yorkie likes to push them around even though he barely weighs 5# soaking wet.

Nope. In point of fact I didn't count anything, I just figure backwards. Retirement is effective at midnight on the last day of the month, I enlisted at about 1020 in the morning on May 20th.

Okay.

I do, however, have a 'short' calendar the folks in the computer room on Okinawa ran off for me. It's a booklet of nice calendar pages that
begins the day I arrived and ends the day I left - six years later, on
the same date I arrived; IIRC 2200 and some odd days.

That was nice of them. I began writing a book back in the early Sixties, but then I got married and don't know what happened to the pages.

I can remember when one could stop at a gas station, put 15 gallons of
gas in the car, buy a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of coke - and get change for a $5 bill. Today that much gas will set one back about $45,
a pack of cigarettes is at least $2.50 (I don't smoke and don't keep
track) and that bottle of coke is about $1.50. Everything's just about
ten times as expensive as it was back in 1960 (or the dollar has 1/10 of the value it had in 1960, take your pick).

I quit drinking Coke when the fiasco about New Coke came into being. How a company can discontinue a top-seller for something no longer on the market is a
mystery to me. When I called Atlanta to give them my opinion, I was given a song and dance routine answer Fred Astaire would have shunned. I've switched to Sprite in the 2-liter bottles and they sell here for $1.50 each. I quit smoking in October, 1986 and haven't touched one since. I can't stand to be around those who do. Some of them are my friends and neighbors, so I have to make allowances.

I also remember when gasoline was 29 cents a gallon. Also, check out the ridiculous prices on cars.


Regards,

Roger

... Relativity all depends on how you look at it.
--- D'Bridge 3.45
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

If they're earthquake proof, they may survive.

I don't believe anything is earthquake proof, but how many have they had in D.C.? (-:

I haven't either. No biggy...

I wish I could go.


Regards,

Roger

... Divers do it deeper and stay down longer.
--- D'Bridge 3.44
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

I have no doubt about that. Right now Tricare (or the Air
Force) is paying for my eight prescriptions. I'll
probably go broke real quick if I have to start paying
even part of that (Plavix alone is $475.00 for 90 pills,
that's over $150/month for that alone).

Yeah, I heard that was expensive. Even my doctor wants to
"cure" my hypertension with medication, but I truly believe
all I need to do is shed a few more pounds and everything
will be normal -- or as normal as it can be for my age.

That plus exercise will help a lot.

I suspect I could probably get off my diabetes meds now that I've
dropped down to 165 or thereabouts.

As for Plavix, if you had Internet access, you could get it
much cheaper from one of the drugstores in Canada. You'd
need your doctor to FAX them your Rx or you could mail it
to them. I don't know the strength, but one of them
advertises it thusly: 90 tablets for $27.00. That may be
generic, but there isn't much difference that I've noticed
in the ones I've had to buy there.

I don't think Plavix is off patent yet, so there shouldn't be any (legal) generics of it yet. There are similar drugs, such as coumadin, but I
think that's still on patent too. Right now - and subject to change at
any whim of the government despite its expressed and implied promises
- my prescription drugs are still free.

To compound things even more and continue with the (ahem)
rape of the American consumer, gasoline prices here have
risen 14 cents per gallon over the past several months.
The cheapest I can find premium here is $2.73.9.

It's around $2.49/gallon in this area - or at least it was a bit over
a week ago when I last bought some (I don't get out much and don't
use nearly as much gasoline as I used to). IIRC it was around $2.10
the beginning of last year - but of course there's no inflation because
the government says so.

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

Yeah, I heard that was expensive. Even my doctor wants to
"cure" my hypertension with medication, but I truly believe
all I need to do is shed a few more pounds and everything
will be normal -- or as normal as it can be for my age.

That plus exercise will help a lot.

Absolutely! I get my lion's share walking and bowling.

I suspect I could probably get off my diabetes meds now that I've
dropped down to 165 or thereabouts.

I don't know if I would if I were you, but you know your body better than anyone else. What are the drawbacks?

I don't think Plavix is off patent yet, so there shouldn't be any (legal) generics of it yet. There are similar drugs, such as coumadin, but I
think that's still on patent too. Right now - and subject to change at
any whim of the government despite its expressed and implied promises
- my prescription drugs are still free.

In that case, I could get their toll-free number for you and you could call them before deciding on what you want to do. Anyone who put in their 20 should
get what they were promised. The politicians get theirs.

It's around $2.49/gallon in this area - or at least it was a bit over
a week ago when I last bought some (I don't get out much and don't
use nearly as much gasoline as I used to). IIRC it was around $2.10
the beginning of last year - but of course there's no inflation because
the government says so.

Our prices rose another 2 cents for regular just yesterday. I should have put gas in my car Sunday when premium was $2.73.9 and didn't, so yesterday at the same station, I paid $2.81.9 for it. That's some bump in premium prices in just two days, isn't it?


Regards,

Roger

... Change is inevitable...except from a vending machine.
--- D'Bridge 3.44
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Hopefully there will be an earthquake in California and Washington DC
will slide off into the ocean with all hands on board.

If at all possible, I would like to keep the buildings and monuments in D.C. because they are shining examples of the honor and courage of the men and women
who fought for and established this republic. I haven't been to them yet.


Regards,

Roger

--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

[...]

That's why I don't bother with the books until all correspondence has
been
passed back and forth and then I wait until the biller sends me a 'past due' notice.

I waited, too. I was about to send the full amount in when a letter arrived from Pinnacle stating what they paid. The last time I was at my doc's was the end of Sep or early Oct.

Don't forget we have a "Blue Moon" tonight. It doesn't happen often.


Regards,

Roger

... Bureau of Natural Disasters - Planning Division
--- D'Bridge 3.43
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Replying to a message of Roy Witt to Roger Nelson:

It's 28F as I type this and I suspect the temp is the same
where you are. Gonna have to let the dogs back in to thaw
out, although I know one of them likes cold weather.

<snort> the temperature here at 0700 Tuesday morning was -19F without the
wind chill (fortunately, no wind); a new record low for the date by two degrees.
It isn't supposed to get above +10F until Monday - maybe.

Right now it's somewhere below zero, I haven't looked - and I think my outside thermometer is frozen anyway; it didn't register below +10F yesterday (Tuesday) and the recorded high temperature yesterday was +5F.

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

Replying to a message of Roy Witt to Roger Nelson:

It's 28F as I type this and I suspect the temp is the same
where you are. Gonna have to let the dogs back in to thaw
out, although I know one of them likes cold weather.

<snort> the temperature here at 0700 Tuesday morning was -19F without the wind chill (fortunately, no wind); a new record low for the date by two degrees.
It isn't supposed to get above +10F until Monday - maybe.

That's to be expected of a state three states above Louisiana, isn't it? (-: On a serious note, it is threatening to snow this weekend. If it does, it will
be the first time I've seen it since I lived in Mandeville.

Right now it's somewhere below zero, I haven't looked - and I think my outside
thermometer is frozen anyway; it didn't register below +10F yesterday (Tuesday)
and the recorded high temperature yesterday was +5F.

The thermometer on my digital clock shows 70F. When I began this missive, it was 69.5F. I am only really comfortable in this room when the the temp is precisely 74.5F. I should live in Hawaii, but can't afford to. I've had to deny moving to Canada at the behest of my friends there because I couldn't take
the subzero temps.

I hope you are wrong about Medicare Part D. I can buy my Rx's cheaper from various places and the monthly payment to Medicare for Rx coverage would far exceed my out-of-pocket costs at the present time.


Regards,

Roger

... Government Tagline. Takes up space, no known function.
--- D'Bridge 3.44
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)

Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

Yeah, I heard that was expensive. Even my doctor wants

to RN> "cure" my hypertension with medication, but I truly
believe RN> all I need to do is shed a few more pounds and
everything RN> will be normal -- or as normal as it can be
for my age.

That plus exercise will help a lot.

Absolutely! I get my lion's share walking and bowling.

From the 2010 Farmer's Almanac: "If your dog is getting fat you aren't
getting enough exercise." <g>

I suspect I could probably get off my diabetes meds now
that I've dropped down to 165 or thereabouts.

I don't know if I would if I were you, but you know your
body better than anyone else. What are the drawbacks?

Just expen$e. Plus I'd rather not be taking any meds if I don't really
need them.

I don't think Plavix is off patent yet, so there shouldn't
be any (legal) generics of it yet. There are similar
drugs, such as coumadin, but I think that's still on
patent too. Right now - and subject to change at any whim
of the government despite its expressed and implied
promises - my prescription drugs are still free.

In that case, I could get their toll-free number for you and
you could call them before deciding on what you want to do.
Anyone who put in their 20 should get what they were
promised. The politicians get theirs.

20 years, 6 months, 11 days, 13 hours and 40 minutes. About <g>.

It's around $2.49/gallon in this area - or at least it was
a bit over a week ago when I last bought some (I don't get
out much and don't use nearly as much gasoline as I used
to). IIRC it was around $2.10 the beginning of last year
- but of course there's no inflation because the
government says so.

Our prices rose another 2 cents for regular just yesterday.
I should have put gas in my car Sunday when premium was
$2.73.9 and didn't, so yesterday at the same station, I
paid $2.81.9 for it. That's some bump in premium prices in
just two days, isn't it?

As I noted in another post yesterday, heating oil is up to $2.565/gallon
as of Tuesday morning. That's up from $1.88 a year ago - but there's
no inflation, sayeth the government.

---
* Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)

From the 2010 Farmer's Almanac: "If your dog is getting fat you aren't getting enough exercise." <g>

What if I have 5 dogs?

Just expen$e. Plus I'd rather not be taking any meds if I don't really need them.

I don't blame you there. I don't even like to take aspirin if I can fight my way through without it.

20 years, 6 months, 11 days, 13 hours and 40 minutes. About <g>.

You didn't count the seconds? (-:

As I noted in another post yesterday, heating oil is up to $2.565/gallon
as of Tuesday morning. That's up from $1.88 a year ago - but there's
no inflation, sayeth the government.

Nope! No inflation here. Just everything rising in price. I was at the market today and noticed those Hubig 5 cent fried pies (half mooon shaped) are now selling for 89 cents. I really liked them when I was a kid; even when the price for them was 10 cents.


Regards,

Roger

... Compile, run, curse. Recompile, rerun, recurse.
--- D'Bridge 3.45
* Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)