Giles, help! He's going to scold me!

Buffy ,'Never Leave Me'


Natter 75: More Than a Million Natters Served  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Jesse - Jul 28, 2017 5:34:55 am PDT #14554 of 30002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Very nice, Gud!

I would also add that the fact that future of the system has been so up in the air for the last six months has made companies even more squirrely, so people in some places have very few options for "Obamacare" plans on the individual market. Edit: Which is not necessarily a reflection of the profitability of the system, just the uncertainty.

I do think it's important to reiterate that most people have either employer-based insurance or Medicare/Medicaid government insurance.


Gudanov - Jul 28, 2017 5:35:04 am PDT #14555 of 30002
Coding and Sleeping

I don't think that conservative pundits have any idea what this whole orange fiasco is doing to the US's reputation in the world. Or perhaps they are just so convinced of American Greatness that they can't imagine anything could affect it.

Well, Fox News is stuck. They don't have a diverse viewership and that viewership is ardently behind Trump. So if they start saying anything negative about him, they will take a big hit. Meanwhile, they are the only news source trusted (along with a handful of super-conservative websites and radio shows) by that same viewership. They have to keep saying he's great and the more they do, the more they have to keep saying it. That drags the entire Republican party with it because Fox News is the most influential part of the party. Far more than the RNC or the Republican establishment.


Gudanov - Jul 28, 2017 5:35:59 am PDT #14556 of 30002
Coding and Sleeping

I would also add that the fact that future of the system has been so up in the air for the last six months has made companies even more squirrely, so people in some places have very few options for "Obamacare" plans on the individual market.

That's a really good point.


Fiona - Jul 28, 2017 5:36:56 am PDT #14557 of 30002

That's fantastic, thank you Gud. Wow, 45 wasn't kidding when he said it was complicated. It might be the most accurate thing he's ever said!

I read something recently about why Americans have an aversion to state-sponsored healthcare; individualism and pioneer spirit and all that. But of course some people have to pay more and may not take as much out. That's how insurance works!


Gudanov - Jul 28, 2017 5:38:01 am PDT #14558 of 30002
Coding and Sleeping

Sorry about all the typos. I was trying to be quick.


Fiona - Jul 28, 2017 5:39:33 am PDT #14559 of 30002

Yeah, uncertainty sucks. (I know whereof I speak, I've been in Brexit-induced limbo for the past year with no end in sight).


Gudanov - Jul 28, 2017 5:48:54 am PDT #14560 of 30002
Coding and Sleeping

I do think it's important to reiterate that most people have either employer-based insurance or Medicare/Medicaid government insurance.

It always seems a little weird to me that there is so much drama over a pretty small part of the health-care system.


Gudanov - Jul 28, 2017 5:51:51 am PDT #14561 of 30002
Coding and Sleeping

Wow, 45 wasn't kidding when he said it was complicated.

Yeah, it's crazy complicated and the rhetoric can be really misleading. The Republicans mostly complain about the exchanges, but the real target is usually Medicaid since there is more money there.


Laura - Jul 28, 2017 5:59:47 am PDT #14562 of 30002
Our wings are not tired.

I do think it's important to reiterate that most people have either employer-based insurance or Medicare/Medicaid government insurance.

And for those of us that don't, it is insanely expensive, with huge deductibles, and about everything isn't covered.


Dana - Jul 28, 2017 6:02:30 am PDT #14563 of 30002
I haven't trusted science since I saw the film "Flubber."

And when your source of insurance (along with your family's insurance) is your employer, you don't dare lose your job.