On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:48:47 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:01:51 -0400, Wizard of Woodstock
wrote:

And you have to be suspicious of this Obamacare if Congress critters
aren't getting the same Obamacare as the average citizen.

I'd agree, but in Waukon Iowa on June 30, 2009 Republican Senator
Chuck Grassley (ranking senator on the Finance Committee) made the
point that, if you want insurance equal to his, the only way you are
going to get it is to go to work for the Federal Government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_1y...layer_embedded.

That doesn't sound terribly compassionate, to me.....

Well, look at it from the other angle.

What he's saying that is if you work for the government, or are a
Congress critter, you will be fine.

If you don't, you're screwed.

You're right - that isn't compassionate, but that's the way the system
is being set up.

The way this is being promoted, it's the answer to everything - it
will solve all the problems.

Which is not true - it's rationed health care. Assuming that you even
qualify for a treatment, that doesn't mean you are going to get it
right away.

Believe it or not, our system works, but people don't understand the
way it works. Again, I'll use me as an example. My treatments cost
roughly $200,000/yr, 1/4 of which I pay in co-pay - not because I have
to by the way - it's just the right thing to do. The rest is paid for
by employer insurance up to $20,000 at which point a re-insurer is
involved - so the total cost to the employer is $20,000/yr plus a
$10,000 re-insurance premium.. The re-insurer is part of a large pool
of patients who require exotic treatments who pay a premium to obtain
the re-insurance - essentially it's cost neutral - the re-insurer gets
an administration fee and parcels out the money as necessary to a
negotiated price for said treatment.

Part of the reason it works is that I have a vested interest in
keeping my general costs low as it applies back to my co-pay - the
less I use general health care, the more my co-pay is reduced. This
year I've been very healthy and I'll get back about 2/3rds of my
co-pay for the RA treatments. As long as I have a general
comprehensive physical once a calendar year and adhere to the
generally accepted standard and practices for pro-active health style,
I'm golden.

The key is that you have to participate personally in your own health
care and be pro-active in maintaining personal lifestyle choices and
follow the guidelines.